In this podcast episode, we're sharing some of the things we’re doing right now to sell more of our handmade products.
You might be thinking that we’re going to talk about running sales or lowering prices, but actually if you’ve been listening to us for awhile, you might know that we almost never talk about lowering your pricing in any way.
But the thing is...
That’s not the way to sell more art or handmade items. It doesn’t help you convince customers to buy at your higher price point, and it doesn’t help you build a bigger audience. Running a sale or discounting your art is not the best strategy if you want to sell more art and make more money in your small business.
Instead, we are sharing 5 things we’re doing right now to sell more art. And, unlike running a sale, which costs you money, these 5 strategies lead to long term growth and none of them cost you a dime. They’re *completely free* with big results. Ready? Let’s dive in!
>>>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 <<<
Listen here:
1. Research, Research, Research what our customers *actually want*
Do you know what your clients actually want from you? This is a huge question but knowing what your customers care about is really really important.
Go back and read your DMs with customers & your past shop reviews. What are the comments they make? Do they rave about fast shipping times? Do customers love your materials?
You might see some opportunities here for improvement, like speeding up your shipping time, or adding more options in materials or colors that customers really love.
On the inspiration side, how long has it been since you’ve shaken things up in your art or style? Are there items you need to update with fresh color palettes? Do you need to take new photographs of some of your best selling items to display them better?
Research some of the best selling shops in your category like stickers or jewelry on Etsy, Instagram, Pinterest and pay attention to how they’re items are styled and how the photos are taken. What’s popular?
2. Leaning in & Sharing MORE
This second thing we're doing to make more money on our products is to share more.
This sounds pretty simple and it really is. If you want to sell more and get noticed more by the people who follow you and also by new people, you need to share more content in all the ways.
There’s so much out there on the internet and on social media, so it’s definitely a challenge to be seen by your customers. They’re flooded with advertising and content from everyone else. But, if you don’t try at all, or you’re only trying 50% or 80% of the time, you’re definitely not going to be seen. So, what can you do?
Be there, in front of them, more of the time.
We’re increasing the number of posts and sharing more of the content that people like, including behind the scenes photos, process videos, and content that shows our product in use like planner spreads or art journaling. We're making so many reels & story pins these days, because people really love them so it’s worth putting in the time to make them.
3. We developed workflows for posting on social media & Pinterest
It’s really easy to log on to instagram or facebook or Pinterest to engage with people you follow or to find new followers but then....you get distracted by stuff that’s not actually related to your business. Right??
Or, you aren’t engaging very consistently. Like it’s one day here, and then maybe a couple days in a row and then it’s like a week or two later before you log back in to pin something.
You know that it’s important to be active on the platforms to grow your own business and sell more art, but you feel like you have no idea what you’re doing and every day is kind of like “oh let’s just try this and see if this works.”
If you actually want to see results, you need to develop a system. If you actually want more followers, more comments, and more sales, you’ve got to treat being on your social media accounts like they’re a part of your business.
Develop a workflow that makes sense for you and that you actually have time for. You can commit to getting on instagram & engaging every morning for 15 minutes while your coffee brews. Or, write a step-by-step workflow for Pinterest that describes how many new pins you’ll make, and how many repins you’ll do and what boards you want to focus on and grow in the next 30 days.
4. Spend more time Pre- & Post-Engaging on Instagram.
This step is pretty closely related to the workflows we’ve just talked about but one thing we’re doing now that’s converting to sales & audience growth really well right now is specifically targeting our engagement on Instagram right before or right after we post our own content.
Whenever you post to instagram, try to spend 10-15 minutes BEFORE you post engaging with other accounts, and then again for another 10-15 minutes AFTER you post. This will help boost the engagement of your post right away, because people will see you interacting with them, and then go check out your own account and will probably like or comment on your latest post.
If you don’t have 15 minutes before and after posting, even just taking 5 minutes before and after to leave very thoughtful comments on a handful of accounts will help, as well as making sure to reply to any comments on your previous posts, so that those people will receive a notification that you’re active as well.
5. Get Ahead with Video.
We're just going to say it: if you’re not doing video, you’re not committing 100% to your online business.
Obviously it’s might not be the most fun thing in the world, especially if you’re an introvert like myself...
But there’s so many things you can do to create great video and not show your face on camera. I like to make videos showing the process of my art, or even just really fun clips where I start by showing the supplies and then the finished piece.
You don’t have to show your face, you don’t have to do the dance & point.
You don’t have to do videos you don’t like or that make you cringe. Make videos you actually like and that you’d actually want to watch!
Some things that are working really well are, of course, instagram reels, but also sped up process videos, stop motion, and time lapse.
We’re obviously not the first people to say this but video is the present and the future of online small business. I 100% guarantee that in 1 year, you’ll wish you had done more video a year ago. So, if you haven’t done much video or you’ve never even posted a single video, start trying it and playing around with what you like. I think you’ll be happy with the results.
We know it's a challenge staying consistent in your business when you've also got faily, friends, a job, a social life, etc... but consistency is how you win at small business!
You could have all the advertising dollars in the world to spend or send a ton of free product to influencers, or run a huge sale every week, but none of these practices are sustainable because they’re expensive and they’re not establishing a relationship with your audience.
The single greatest thing you can do in your business is to develop a process that works for you and be consistent with it.
We want this consistency & growth for you, friends, which is why we host this podcast and also we’ve got a ton of helpful resources on our website, including our FREE Fast Guide to Etsy SEO, where we help you learn the basics of keyword research for your handmade business in just 15 minutes.
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