Happy 4th of July everyone! This greeting comes a bit early as I gear up to go camping! It’s our Alabama tradition. I am opening this email with my Spirit of America Scarf. You didn’t know Florida Scarf was so patriotic, did you?
The rest of this blog post will be for my fellow Homefront Team Members.
I’m going to say (in the nicest way possible) that I am glad we survived June and are entering July with full speed. I spent all of my effforts trying to learn as much as I could about our 300 members. (This is a tough job for many reasons) One of the primary ways I did that was through our survey. So far I have around 35 responses. Thank you all. That is more than I could have hoped for. I’m going to hold out a bit longer for more replies until I summarize that project though. I’m sure there are many more on our team interested in voicing their opinions.
Another way I tried to learn about my fellow team members was through the Monthly Check In Thread. This month’s theme was, “What do you need to do to improve your shop, or what improvements have been successful in your shop?”
There were a lot of great answers. I hope many of you found them as helpful as I did. In the case that some people didn’t have time to go through the whole thread, I did. Below I have highlighted some of my favorite answers. (these are great tips for any online shop owner)
One of the best things that I think I did for my shop (besides adding more listings) was to standardize the backgrounds.
Find a path of creativity and stay on it.
Relisting.
Items in a broad price range.
I have plenty of ideas in my head, just not enough time to create. I will strive to have better time management.
Another thing that I have always wanted to do was make something with a patriotic theme for my special homefront team – and I finally did!
Improving photography and using models has helped me see a definite increase in business!
Another thing that I have always wanted to do was make something with a patriotic theme for my special homefront team – and I finally did!
Improving photography and using models has helped me see a definite increase in business!
Discount Coupons
Promoting Other Shops
Get to 100 items
Improve packaging
Focusing on picture backgrounds
Keep Up Motivation.
Refuse to work on the weekend.
In reading the threads I also noticed many people were on vacation. Good for them! A happy shop owner is a happy shop.
Some husbands came home! That was the best news in the thread!
Bethjt has a separate teeshirt shop. In doing this she complies with etsy’s rules while gaining more exposure. Great idea.
Spread awareness and market through teaching.
A lot of people are moving too. It’s hard to keep a shop up through that. Being prepared with inventory is key.
FaceBook Fanpage, definitely.
Jarita’s Creations said, “There are many things that can be done to really help a shop succeed, ranging from daily listings, renewing items, chatting on the threads, creating treasuries, correlating with fb, twitter, etc, and many more…but staying on top of everything can be very consuming and not allow time for creating and also dealing with life’s other obligations. My goal is to find a balance point.”
Recommended: NiceGirlNotes
Organize my materials better. Since it’s all fabric, I’m unsure whether to organize by fabric type and THEN color, or color and then fabric type.
Items with themes. This would be successful for holidays, and for tagging, treasuries.
Better Banner
Say NO
More Camo.
Hopefully you picked up a nugget, or two, here.
Have a great holiday!
See you in July!
We are in the second half of the year. A good time to relax before the big holidays. Anyway, I enjoy reading everyones ideas in this condensed form. Picking up a few nuggets!
Interesting comments.
I loved reading this post Sarah and will definitely be re-reading it over the next weeks. Teams really can offer one another GREAT INFORMATION. thanks for putting this together.