This week on the podcast, we kind of wanted to just stop and be like hey, how are you doing? How’s your handmade biz going, and how can we help?
Recently we got some messages from some amazing listeners who feel like they’re doing all the things and still not making enough sales in their small business to meet their goals.
That can be so disappointing and frustrating and we’ve totally been there. Some weeks, we’ve just had crickets in our shop or a couple of slow days where we might even make $0 that day.
While that can be normal, if you’re not seeing much growth in your business, it could be time to take a look at what’s going on and to figure out where the disconnect is.
Maybe You’re not getting enough sales or revenue coming in...
Or too many people you know are asking you for a discount of your art, which can be so disheartening...
Or You’ve tried running sales but it’s just led you to make less money...
Or, You feel like you’re doing all the things right but it’s still not working...
In this episode, we’ll break down some of the common problems that we see handmade businesses have. This is a great episode to get a cup of coffee or tea and a pen and paper for you to jot down notes as we go.
Also, Katie and I are HERE for you, so if you have any specific questions about your business after you listen to this episode, we’d love to talk to you and try and answer those questions. You can reach out to us on instagram at @shopstudiosisters. We ALWAYS answer DMs!!
Listen to the episode about how to fix your handmade business here:
If you’re feeling stuck or frustrated by your handmade business not working, please do not get discouraged. There is a way! But the way to success does require hard work and you showing up in your business consistently. So, before we talk about some common problems and their fixes, I want you to write down these questions and write down your answers to them.
1. What are my current goals for my business in season/year?
2. Where am I at in those goals?
3. What do I think might be the problem with my shop?
I can tell you with 100% confidence that none of these 3 things are a reason that your small business has slow sales: small audience, pricing, or Your logo/your brand colors/your profile pic. These are definitely not the problem.
I once read this funny quote on Facebook that said, “Hey girl, I know you just went through some hard stuff, but don’t touch your hair.” And I thought it was so funny, I felt kind of called out, because when we’re not sure what to do, one thing we’ve got control over is our hair, so we’ll get a new haircut or dye our hair. I often see the same thing with small businesses and entrepreneurs. If sales are slow or you don’t have many clients, our first instinct is like, “wow, I need a new logo” or “yep, my website colors are totally the problem.” They’re not. They’re not!!
So, let’s get into some of the common problems that your handmade business might be experiencing and what you can do about them.
Common problems in slow Etsy sales...
consistency
not posting regularly on social media
your info is outdated
only updating your shop sporadically
not consistent with your email list
You only talk about sales (80/20 rule!)
You don’t ever talk about your sales
You aren’t using keywords and hashtags effectively
You're not filling out all the attributes on Etsy
Are you identifying with one or more of these problems? If you said yes or put a check mark next to one, great! That means you’ve identified a place to improve and show up for your business. That’s a good thing!
I address all of these problems in the podcast episode, so listen to the episode for strategies and solutions to these common Etsy mistakes that lead to slow sales.
>>> Also...Get our FREE guide on how to learn the basics of Etsy SEO, what a long-tail keyword is, and some basic do’s/don’ts of Etsy search tags in just 15 minutes: https://www.shopstudiosisters.com/etsyseoguide <<<<
It’s totally okay to acknowledge that your shop is not where you want it to be but you’re working on getting there!
If you identified multiple problems that your shop has during this episode, I don’t recommend tackling them all at once. Instead, write a list of them and pick one area of focus to improve on.
You could start with SEO or you could start with committing to a consistent instagram and Pinterest posting schedule, whatever feels like the most achievable to you to start with and when you finish that, move on to the next part of your business that could use some improvement.
By running through these common problems that handmade shops have and some of the solutions to get your shop going at its best, you can feel confident in working on a strategy for growth instead of feeling frustrated or disappointed in your shop’s current sales.
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