Succeeding on Etsy can be broken down into the 4 main steps of my proprietary process. Planning, products, promotion, and performance. This is the process I use (and my students use) to make thousands of sales a year! Here in part 1 of The Ultimate Guide to Selling on Etsy, we’re going to talk all about planning.
I’ve talked to thousands of Etsy sellers and this is the stage that they’re most likely to skip. But it’s really the base of any successful shop.
Why planning is so important
As a multi-six figure seller, I can tell you that you don’t just achieve those stats by magic or luck. You have to plan every product line, every social media post, and every sale.
Planning makes you use your time more efficiently. You know what you need to do next so you don’t waste time trying to decide what you should be working on or by doing busy work that isn’t going to move your business forward. We all know that time is limited so you need to be taking advantage of every hour by doing tasks that are on your plan because you’ve decided they’re important.
Planning also keeps you focused. When you’ve had a long day or you’re not feeling happy about your progress, it’s much easier to keep pushing forward when you have a plan. As long as you’re periodically assessing it’s effectiveness (AKA performance in the upcoming Part 4), you’ll almost be on autopilot.
Setting goals
The most important part of planning is setting a specific goal. Think about heading off on a road trip. You have to know where you want to go before you leave the driveway. And the same is true with your Etsy business. Because your plan is going to look very, very different if you want to make $1,000 this year or $100,000.
And your goal needs to be really specific. Ending up in northern California is going to be a little disappointing when you meant to end up in the warmer waters of southern California. So you can’t just tell me that you want to “do better than last year.” That goal isn’t going to fire you up like “I want to make $10,000 so my family can go on vacation” is. You need a meaning behind it. A reason to get excited and keep working when you’re struggling.
Making a plan to reach your goals
This where the fun comes in! What do you need to do to reach your new goal? New products. Sales. Social media. Live events. Search engine optimization. Publicity. Paid ads. Email lists. I could list 100 different tactics you could try today.
You need to ask yourself what sounds like fun? What will be the most effective for you? What will you stick with?
To learn more about my process, sign up for my free 5 part framework here.
Now put pen to paper and set those goals, Etsy seller.
-Sarah
