
My mom and I have been on an Etsy adventure for little over three months now. We may not be off to a flying start, but hey, we’re selling! Although, defining ‘a flying start’ does of course depend on the goals you set out. And I don’t think we set any, besides making a sale as soon as possible. So from that point of view, our start couldn’t have been any better. ;) We even had our first custom order from our first return buyer! YAY! She already bought two giraffes for her baby twins, but also wanted to surprise her bigger kids. Only request was to make one for her son in boy-ish colours and no specification for the one for her older daughter. She trusted us on the fabrics, and that was such a great feeling! Especially when we sent her photos of the giraffes and she absolutely loves them! (If you’re interested in a custom giraffe plushie, check this listing ;) )Â
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Comment by our lovely buyer: “they are absolutely beautiful the big kids are going to LOVE them thanks so much *^_^* “ |
But it’s time for a change, we know we can do better and dream bigger!
To be honest, neither of us has any marketing experience whatsoever but after spending the last few months reading on all aspects of marketing (branding, SEO, social media, ads… ) I think we’ve got the idea a little bit. Most important thing I’ve learned so far is to have a solid business plan, set goals and have a planning. Guess what we don’t have? Right. Bingo.Â
Apparently we’ve got time for drawing up big plans now. I came across several blog posts and boards on Etsy about slow summer months and people already starting to stock up for the holiday season. Now I’m not sure about the slow summer months, I suppose not every shop experiences it and it all depends on your target market, but I image it holds for our target market. I mean, the weather is improving (hopefully) and the days are long, so why sit behind your computer when there are so many lovely activities in the summer. I know what I’d do as soon as summer finally decides to kick in here in West-Europe. ;)
A solid business plan, what does it entail? Well, according to the this blog (and there are many, many more examples to find)Â “A business plan will:
- help clarify the purpose of your business
- provide a roadmap for your business
- help you focus your efforts
- provide a way to measure performance and track business growth
- help define your target market
- allow you to effectively compete in the marketplaceÂ
- allow you to make financial projections and determine business profitability.”
We love spending weekend days together and designing and crafting together. But since we don’t have any goals, it is especially difficult to create things when we’re not together and even harder to determine what to make. Of course, we started by creating the things we love but to successfully tap in to the market we should also be thinking about what our target market wants. For instance, we’ve been playing around with the idea of making each of our items with the same fabric or combinations of fabrics (a Mippo, giraffe, small plushies, pillow covers, quilt, elephant .. and any new designs we might be sneakily developing). Every item in a unique style, but coordinated for e.g. a purple baby nursery. Wouldn’t you love that idea? Also, I’d love to create some Halloween or Christmas plushies or accessoires for the Mippoos!
- New Etsy listings
- Coordinated creations
- New designs
- Holiday season
- Facebook (Ads)
- Google+
- Stumbleupon
- Other social mediaÂ
- Blog
- Writing
- Promoting
- Giveaways
- Other promotional sites
- Craft market in August/September
Once we’ve created a fully detailed planning, I’ll share the insights it gave us. Plus, I don’t know about you, but I love to read tips which are practical. E.g. spend 10 minutes on Facebook in the morning doing so and so, 5 minutes on Twitter doing this and that, so I’ll be sure to share those experiences too! We’ll be drawing up our plans in the upcoming two weeks.