hello! i'm bonnie and going home to roost is where i like to spread some love and share my inspirations. grab a cup of tea and make yourself cozy and welcome, we look forward to getting to know you!
have questions or want to find out more about roosting? read more here!
{3.8.10 - 3.15.10}
try buying rechargeable batteries. you'll save money since one rechargeable battery can replace around 1000 single-use batteries. americans throw away about 179,000 tons of toxic batteries every year.
well, it’s that time of year again. time for indie businesses to shed tears over tax forms and grow a few grey hairs. though many of you may decide to hire a professional to do your taxes, after doing a little homework you may be able to do them yourself, in true diy style. our previous shop help post on separating your finances is a good place to start, do you remember it?
though we may start out on etsy to fuel a hobby, the reality is, as soon as you sell your first item, you’ve become a business. it’s important to stay organized and file correctly. to help, etsy has partnered with booking business outright.com to try to make filing taxes for indie businesses a little simpler.
if you’re in the u.s. and are selling on etsy, you must file a schedule c with your income taxes (unless you’ve incorporated). if you would like to read more on if you qualify as a hobby or a business, outright has a great article called, “business or hobby?“.
the truth is, no matter how much money you make (even if it’s just a little!) you’re still a business. outright.com simplifies tax forms and hosts everything online which makes the headache of taxes a little less ‘taxing’. from providing a mileage calculator to deduct your expenses to help with filing for your consultants or contractors, outright is worth any indie owner looking in to.
rather than list them here, i’m going to send you over to etsy to read outright’s top ten tax tips. it’s helpful and informative and definitely worthy of a read.
next i’m going to send you over to jjm finance’s forum post about filing taxes. he provides links to answers on just about every possible tax question you could have. it’s a great one-stop place to find all the relevant info you may be looking for. from which forms to fill out to help with deductables to how to contact the irs, it’s got just about everything.
honestly, this articles was difficult to write. as finance and accounting were not my best subjects i would love to hear from you who have success with doing your own taxes. any experts out there?
today we’re going to talk about maintaining success, (or achieving it!) and some small measures that are easily-forgettable, that really do make a difference!
the importance of connecting can really never be overstated. networking both online and offline can easily provide the biggest boost of traffic and sales to your shop. nothing spreads faster than word of mouth!
small measures:
* make it known that you welcome convos and make it a point to convo others that you like- even if it’s just to say hello!
* make a habit of tweeting, facebooking and hearting your favorite shops and items.
* participate in the forums and curate treasuries.
* be personable in your convos and in your profile, let us get to know you!
ever feel like the lights are on but nobody is home? make a point to keep your shop up to date and be pro-active with everything that goes on there. one thing that makes etsy so different is the how ‘at home’ buyers feel. it’s a place where you can really get to know other like-minded people, find support and build real relationships- make sure you don’t miss out!
small measures:
* make sure that your profile, shipping policies are up to date.
* make a point to reply to convos as quickly as possible.
* send an immediate thank you to any buyers and let them know you got their order and when it’s suppose to ship.
* maintain relevant info (i.e. vacation, sales, and important announcements) up to date in your shop announcement.
are you tired of hearing about photography yet? the most important thing you can do to get recognized, increase sells and get face time on blogs and etsy’s homepage is have incredible photos.
small measures:
* create a ‘theme’ and general feel to your shop. this way, you can make your buyer feel like they just walked in to a real brick and mortar.
* always use natural light and simple backgrounds.
* take a class, e-class or read a book on simple photography skills.
hi lovelies! today we’re going to talk about using bundling as a market strategy. also, i thought i would kick off february love with this valentine’s themed post! i meant to start feb, 1- but what do ya know, it’s already the 3rd!
bundling means combining two or more of your products in one sale. items that look great together or are otherwise compliments work great for this (think all inclusive). it’s common to offer the bundle at a slightly lower price than if your customer had bought all of the pieces separately, but is not necessarily a must.
bundling can be used as a marketing strategy to attract a broader range of consumers. if your buyers are looking for deals, convenience or advice on which items compliment each other, bundled pricing can help aid in your consumers decision.
as an etsian (or any other indieprenuer) bundling your goods and prices can offer lots of benefits. you can save on shipping, showcase your items together and potentially sell more to each individual consumer that comes your way.
by offering complimentary items as a bundle, your consumer will feel like they are not only getting a great deal, but may also be more inclined to buy the bundle then if all of the items were listed seperately. think packaged deals, gift ideas, and matching sets.
bundling is also a great way to (somewhat) disguise the prices of the individual items. separately, a consumer may feel like one item is overpriced, while the other item is reasonable or even too cheap, but since they’re bundled the final price may feel ‘just right’.
bundles are a great way to simplify consumer’s purchasing decisions, when many people may not be able to ’see your vision’. i’ve caught myself doing this, knowing that this apron really looks good with this tea towel, but assuming that the customer would see that, i haven’t decided to bundle. after researching for this article though, i’m going to work on adding bundles to my shop! it never occur ed to me that some buyers may not want to spend the time trying to mix and match items, so it’s really a service to them in making it easy to see what goes together.
i’m sure for many shops, it will be hard to try to read your buyer’s mind in picking out complimentary items. so, i would only offer the bundle as an option, and keep the items listed separately as well. this way, you’re not being pushy, just creating combinations that you feel will enrich your customer’s browsing and buying experience.
if you decide to offer some sort of discount for your bundle, it doesn’t take much to excite a potential consumer. things like a total savings of 10% off, free shipping or $10 off will help them feel like they are making a good decision. discounts of any kind will help them see why buying a bundle benefits them.
today we’re going to talk about two subjects not necessarily related (hopefully!): filling custom orders and how to handle unhappy (or rude, wacky or otherwise offensive) customers.
let’s begin with the first subject: filling custom orders. of course, you can do this right from the comfort of your own shop, but also through a service etsy calls alchemy. alchemy is a space on etsy where buyers can post requests for custom goods, and sellers then bid on the opportunity to turn that idea into a real item. personally, i’ve never ventured into the land of alchemy, but i’ve heard good things. do you have any experience? {for more on alchemy specifically, read this article on building a better alchemy listing}.
i love doing custom orders. nothing get’s me more excited than to get inspired by someone else, and make something just for them. regardless on whether you’re using alchemy or making a custom listing in your shop, custom orders do come with a few questions and policies that you should consider before you begin.
first, you need to decide on how to charge your customer. some charge 100% up front and others charge 50% down and 50% after approval of the finished product (before shipping). if you charge 50% upfront you may want to specify that it is not refundable, in order to cover the costs of materials and your time. here’s a great forum on what other sellers are charging as well as their how & why for doing it.
secondly, you need to decide on your refund policy for custom orders, specifically. if it’s something you could resale in the future, you may be able to keep your existing refund policy. however, if it’s something very specific, like a portrait, you need to let the customer know up front that once you begin, it is not refundable.
now let’s talk about the unhappy, inconsiderate or otherwise unreasonable customer. this could be in regards to a custom listing but applies to any off convo that gets your teeth to grinding! some customers just aren’t the warm and fuzzy crafter like we all imagine. as sellers, we must always put forth our best work. even though difficult customers aren’t the norm, it’s nice to know that there are tons of help available to you from etsy & other great sellers!
this article outlines how to turn a negative experience into a positive one, and also gives you some suggested responses to common issues.
*first things first, always contact your customer to acknowledge their order, thank them for it and let them know when it will ship. making the buying experience personal from the beginning will always help put your customer at rest.
*if you do end up getting an upset customer, try to remain calm and ever so professional. even if they are being uncooperative and unfair, it’s in your best interest to make the outcome a positive one. so, seek help and take a deep breath (maybe even some yoga?) before you begin typing. be understanding, kind, and offer as many solutions to the situation as possible.
*try your best to avoid getting defensive. it can be really easy to try to defend your work (or should i say 2nd child?), but placing blame or showing impatience won’t help the unpleasant situation get resolved. try to avoid any negative, demeaning, or accusatory language like, ‘it’s not my fault’, ‘you must have’ or ‘did you not read my policies’.
*make right any mistakes you make. wether it’s slower than promised shipping or not your tidiest work, leave the customer feeling like you care. offer upgrades on shipping or shipping refunds, future discounts or in the most extreme cases, refunds for the product. having a clear and thought-out refund policy clearly stated in your policies section can make these difficult situations much easier.
*finally, if you get a real stickler and despite your sweet tones, apologies and suggested solutions, it might be time to thank them and move on. better to get on with your work then spend much valuable time on someone who is just not willing to cooperate.
finally, the lovely lucinda has created one of the most useful forumsi’ve ever read! there are (currently) 94 pages of incredibly thought out & positive responses to potential buyers unhappy comments and conovs. she must have an incredible background in human resources because her answers to these issues are ever so polite, thoughtful and productive towards a solution.
“how will i know your xxx won’t fall apart?”, “did you know xxx sells this for a lot less than you?”, and “can you tell me where you get your resources online?”.
whew! these are sticky questions! if you can’t find your answer within the forum already, she welcomes you to add your questions- and her response are definitely worthy of your read!
so that concludes this (kinda lengthy?) shop help post. we would all love to hear you stories, experiences, thoughts & suggestions. will you meet us in the comment section?
let’s talk finances! tax season is just around the corner, so i thought it time to start easing into to the money mindset. we’ll start simple though, don’t worry!
this article about business growth by amandadailyworth outlines the reasons why you should carefully separate you personal finances from you business finances. as i did, i’m sure many of you started your etsy shop as a hobby, as a way to ‘get your toes’ wet and see how things went. however, soon the sales start rolling in and you are now in need of a website, business cards, more supplies, and maybe you’re even some advertising around the web.
a simple, free and very important step to take is to open your own business bank account. this way, you won’t be dealing with a tangled account of not really knowing what money is going where, let alone where it came from. when it comes to tax season, it can take days to filter through one account, trying to separate it into your personal and business expenses.
sharing one account for your personal and business expenses will not only make taxes difficult, but will also make proving your income difficult. when you’re revenue goes into the family account and your using a personal credit card for your business expenses, you can see how quickly confusing it can get. and, if you’re planning on buying a new home or getting a loan from your bank- it is essential to be able to prove your income.
you should know that it’s time to open a separate account when you start to loose track of how much money is going in or out. when your budgeting gets overwhelming and you start to loose track of your receivables. you need to run reports to see your expenses vs. your income but you can’t because the data is all mixed together. before you get to this very frustrating and time consuming point- consider opening your own account.
ready to get started? first visit your bank and open a free business checking account. get a separate credit or debit card to use for only business-related expenses. and, i think it’s a good idea to keep your paypal account separate as well. if you don’t know how to do the bookkeeping yourself, consider hiring an accountant to manage it. having monthly profit-&-loss statements at your fingertips is invaluable. the first step in having a successful shop is understanding your finances and which areas are performing well.
speaking of finances, daily worth is a free daily personal finance email for women. they deliver practical tips, empowering ideas and the occasional kick in the pants! you can sign up here, and also peruse their website for a number of great articles regarding finance.
have you ever noticed that you can download your sales data, right from etsy? go to ‘your etsy’ then ’sold (orders)’ then scroll down to the bottom to find where you can easily download all of your sales data to help ease the task of managing your finances.
finally, have you heard of mint.com? it’s a free website to help you manage your money. you can divide all of your expenses into categories, budget your money, find savings, and start to understand your finances better.
what is your advice? do you have any tricks or suggestions on how to better manage your finances? please share with us in the comment section!
hello sweet ones! we haven’t touched on the subject of item tags very much but we’re going to skim the surface today! we’ll go further into the subject in the future, but i recently found this very helpful website called craftweasel, have you heard of it?
i find that tagging my items can sometimes be the hardest thing of all. i’m really good until around tag #9 then my fingers get stuck! we’ve read how important it is to use all 14 tags, but is it really helpful when all i can come up with is ‘yellow, yellowish & yellowy’ to finish the last 3 of the tagging task?
well, good news! craftweasel’s tag finder tool is here to help! by giving the tag finder a couple of tags to start with, it can give you a list of suggested tags that related to your original ones. it also lets you see the average number of views per day of each suggested tag- so you can always choose the tags that produce the highest number of views! here’s just a sampling of the results you can find. for my tags- i typed in ‘felt pillow eco applique’- and here’s what i got:
Distribution of Price
Mean price: $52.22
Median price: $47.00
this graph shows that according to my tags, this is the number of products that fall into a specific price category. for example, there are 11 items that fit my tags in the $2-$22 range.
i love this graph! it shows how many views specific tags get at specific price points. for example, the tag ‘recycled’ gets around 180 views with at an average price of about $60.
now for the real goods- if you’re stuck on tags- check out this table. it shows which related tags get the most views and even includes their average price. thank you craftweasel!
of course, craftweasel doesn’t just stop there- they offer quite a few more resources. they have a shop stats tool that generates a graph showing the price & views per day of your items. it also show you the price and views per day of the tags that you often use- all by typing in your shop name and clicking ‘get stats’!
next on the list is the personal shopper tool. craftweasel will look at your favorite items and shops to get an idea of what you like- then search through all the items that have been listed in the last day to find ones it thinks you’ll be interested in most.
next, is the similar item search tool. this is where you can enter up to five item ids. craftweasel then scans the tags and materials from those items and searches etsy to find similar ones. i’m thinking there are numerous ways to use this one. not only could you use this to find items to purchase, but also to do some market research on your own items. finding similar items will help you see what you’re up against, what their price points are and what your consumers may be finding when they search for a specific set of tags.
does this give you a few things to keep you busy? i feel like i always struggle with tags- especially with trying to figure out what tags will really help the consumer find what they’re looking for. craftweasel has already given me lots of ideas and will hopefully make the task of tagging easier in the future!
we talked about our blog’s new year’s resolutions- but it’s time to also consider our etsy shop’s resolutions. have you had time to reflect upon last year? did you meet your goals? are you happy with what your shop accomplished? what are your goals for 2010? all of this brings up many thoughts, goals, pride, disappointment and maybe some confusion too.
this post could go any number of ways. we could probably talk all year about what we wanted to accomplish and what our last year’s performance means. but, i recently ran across this article about stretching your boundaries. it took me by surprise how ‘into it’ i was and how i didn’t know how i had never thought of that. it’s so easy to get caught up in your shop and the particular line you’re offering. but, today, i want us to step outside of our shop and take a peek- from the outside looking in!
yoola talks about how many etsy sellers have successful designs in terms of high views, many hearts, appearance in treasuries and even front pages, but somehow…low sales. she then tackles the reason why this may be the case, and how to go about broadening your horizon. she came up with 3 assumptions on why she may be having low sales. 1. people may love the picture and visual impact- and the factor of ‘usability’ of the image (i.e. looks great on the homepage or a blog). 2. people may just love what the product represents. 3. people may be interested in the item and how it was made.
your shop’s assumptions may be the same or different, but after you decide on them- you can gather options for more directions your shop could take. yoola came up with these: 1. she could develop a line of prints, greeting cards, or postcards using her photos. 2. she could develop more items that would resemble the original, but would be more affordable. 3. she could write tutorials on how to make her item.
she decided to start with number 2 and created similar, less expensive items to go along with the more expensive items. creating a series of price points helps reach as many consumers as possible. the next step she considered was #3. there are many pros and cons to publishing you method or design (read them here). but, after much debate, she decided to not only post tutorials on how she made her items, but also sell a pdf pattern on how to make them. her pdf patterns led to seling kits- and gave an option to all those do-it-yourselfers out there. i super love the idea of making kits for your item- i’ve often thought that it’s a slight disadvantage to be marketing to a craft-savvy audience, because many items people can just make themselves. offering a kit is an easy way to supply the materials for them, and still make a sale.
can you take a moment to realize the potential of your shop, your line or even just one of your products? reaching many layers of the potential consumer will increase your ‘buy-ability’. so, it’s time to re-think your shop and it’s possibilities.
this article on broadening your target audience points out the importance of tiered product lines. the article is definitely worthy of a full read- but to sum it up: offering items as gifts and at a target audience allows you to broaden your audience. think ongoing celebrations like anniversaries, birthdays, wedding and baby showers. seasonal lines that go with the weather or specific holidays like christmas and valentines day gives your audience an easy shop to go to for gift giving occasions.
finally, this article, outlines how to go about offering a new line in your shop! a new line for the new year- catchy, huh?
so. i know this was a lengthy article, but hopefully it helped get us thinking. what do you think about ways to broaden your horizons? i’m thinking of pdf patterns and kits- would you be interested in making your own pillow or tea towel? let’s talk about it in the comment section- i’ll meet you there!
making a banner for your etsy shop can be a bit of an overwhelming task at first- but after this post (hopefully!) you’ll be able to make one with ease! before we get to the nitty gritty- let me show you some of my favorite banners first.
katy daisy does a great job here with the wheatfield by setting the tone for her shop. her banner coordinates with the shop and gives you a sneak peek of what’s to come!
lorasea intrigues the viewer with this banner. not giving too much information but just enough to get you curious and clicking for more!
rust belt threads gives you bold and bright- and it certainly catches the eye.
lost and fawned’s banner is straightforward and simple. simplicity in itself can sometimes be the most intriguing- leaving you wanting more.
be happy now gives you insight into their shop and what you can expect. a great way to show off your best work and let the people know what’s coming!
finding a photo or scanning one in and then cropping it to fit (760 x 100 pixels) can be an easy way to get the look you want- without much hassle. {shop :: photographic artwork}
the house of hearts did a wonderful job with their fun banner. banner’s that change with the season and/or annoucnes a sale you have is eye catching, fun and a wonderful marketing technique.
simply taking a picture and then cropping it to size can be a useful, easy, and fun way to get exactly what you’re looking for in a banner. {shop :: miniature rhino}
no matter how you get your banner- it can be an important step in setting up you shop. your avatar is just as important as well- because it’s seen on every page of your shop as well in the forums, workshops and the like. your banner is also shown on your facebook page if you use the my etsy facebook application.
here’s a quick tutorial that you can use to make an easy (and free) shop banner- as well as an avatar!
aviary - web-based photo editing with lots of fun tools
gimp – free image editor, alternative to photoshop
last but not least! if you still don’t feel comfortable creating your own- do a simple search for ‘etsy shop banners‘ on etsy to find tons of designers that will make one for you!
hope this helps! please share any advice or extra links you have in the comments!
hello! i'm bonnie and going home to roost is where i like to spread some love and share my inspirations. grab a cup of tea and make yourself cozy and welcome, we look forward to getting to know you!
hello sweet ones! we haven’t touched on the subject of item tags very much but we’re going to skim the surface today! we’ll go further into the subject in the future, but i recently found this very helpful website called 
now for the real goods- if you’re stuck on tags- check out this table. it shows which related tags get the most views and even includes their average price. thank you 
we talked about our blog’s new year’s resolutions- but it’s time to also consider our etsy shop’s resolutions. have you had time to reflect upon last year? did you meet your goals? are you happy with what your shop accomplished? what are your goals for 2010? all of this brings up many thoughts, goals, pride, disappointment and maybe some confusion too.
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