Lessons Learned

When I opened my shop on Etsy four years ago, I knew virtually nothing about selling online.  Since then, I've learned so much ~ mostly through trial and error, but also through the Etsy forums, blog and by comparing notes with my seller friends.  Four years and two shops later, I consider myself far from being any kind of pro at all of this.  It is a constant learning experience, but that's partly why I love it.

Recently I was thinking about the secret to having a successful shop.  My suspicion is that many sellers would like to know the secret to success.  Of course, each of us has a different idea of what it means to be successful, and how to get there.   Unfortunately, I am still in search of the magic formula.  

I am an observer by nature, and I can tell you one thing I have observed when it comes to selling online ~  Having a terrific product surely helps, and finding a niche really helps.  Selling jewelry is especially challenging, when there are over 1,000,000 pieces for sale on Etsy.   So what is the secret?  Marketing, of course.   I truly believe you can sell anything, and sell it well, if you market it right.   By that I mean ~ take awesome, artistic photos, give your shop a clever name, and make your product names especially cute and catchy.    It seems to work for many.   That has to be it.  If it was based on hard work alone, then my sales would be in the gazillions :)

Obviously marketing is not my forte'!   

So . . . I would love to hear your thoughts, if you sell on Etsy or anyplace online.    Please share them!  What have you learned from running an online business?

Oh, you're probably wondering what the photo above is all about.  That is the front window of a Fluevog shoe store in San Francisco.   I snapped the pic when we were there in October.   I thought the sign was pretty clever . . . it caught my attention anyway!