There is no clear-cut path to success on Etsy. As a dedicated and passionate handmade Seller, you have the best chance of success if you are willing to put in the time, work on optimization, and market your products or services effectively. However, there are habits and practices that all successful Etsy shop owners seem to have. Here is a breakdown of:

What Successful Handmade Sellers Have In Common:

● A clear vision for their brand
● Ability to adapt and overcome obstacles
● Ability to identify a target audience
● Willing to put in the work
● Products that are made with care
● Make customers feel like royalty

Even with all the time and money in the world, if you don’t practice these habits, it is unlikely you will be able to find success on Etsy. On the other hand, if you are willing to dedicate the necessary time, energy, and care to your handmade Etsy business then you will put yourself in a position to win big! Read below to find out more and the actions you can take today to ensure your Etsy business is successful.

Have A Clear Vision

Successful handmade Etsy shop owners seem to have a very clear-cut and specific vision about their products, brand, and business. When we say clear vision, we mean clear vision!

You have to be exact about the emotions and experience you are willing to give your customers. This guiding principle needs to control how your products are made, packed, displayed, photographed, marketed, shipped, opened, used, and if need be, returned.

If you make and sell luxury handmade goods then your Etsy listings can’t look like something out of a flea market. You will likely have to spend more on packaging and branding but you will be able to market your products as luxury handmade items that justify a high price.

Similarly, if you sell supplies at a low cost you don’t want to scare off potential buyers with an over-the-top presentation.

Another way to put this is to simply identify and stick with your niche.

You can’t be in all places at once. Start local and small then grow as the need arises. This may be counterintuitive as you may feel that a smaller niche will reduce your sales, but this couldn’t be further from the truth!

You have a much higher probability of creating a successful and high-margin niche Etsy business than by going too broad too soon.

Create your vision and stick to it until you need to change which brings us to our next point:

Adapt, Shift Direction, and Overcome

Any good business has to know how to adapt to changing situations and overcome obstacles. This is especially true for e-commerce businesses and doubly true for a handmade Etsy store.

All successful handmade Sellers are willing to embrace change and obstacles along the way because they know that adapting and changing now will only make them and their business that much stronger!

You have to remember that you are in a marathon not a sprint, so don’t expect smooth sailing from the start. It’s about slow but persistent growth because there truly is no overnight success in business.

Don’t give up at the first sign of trouble. Keep your chin up because this is what you signed up for.

Remember, you have the privilege to sell your handmade products to thousands of people who want to support your vision. Embrace that and keep going forward!

Identify Your Target Market

This common handmade Seller practice falls in line with the idea that you need to identify your niche but it’s important enough that we have to cover it once more.

Successful handmade Sellers on Etsy know their customers inside out. This not only allows them to optimize their listings but also reach out to the right influencers and set up low-cost and high-converting Ads on Google and Facebook.

This brings us to our other point. After you have identified your audience, you have to know how to reach them!

Where is your audience located? When are they most active on the internet? What social media platforms do they use? Create content, ads, emails, and listings and target your audience everywhere they are at all times.

Roll Your Sleeves Up and Put In The Hours

Nothing beats hard work. You could have the best, most quality handmade product at the right price but nothing beats rolling up your sleeves at putting in the work.

All handmade Sellers on Etsy at some point made the decision to take their craft seriously and invest the right amount of time to take their shop from a hobby to a top-performing Etsy e-commerce store.

One handmade Seller from California started off wanting to make $100 and now grosses over $70k per month! The owner of Three Bird Nest saw massive growth when she actually put in the work to transform her Etsy shop from a hobby to a business. She now sells exclusively on her own website and was able to get there by putting into practice everything in this list!

Put Care and Effort Into Your Handmade Products

Here’s a shocker; people don’t want poor quality and crappy products. If you don’t actually care for your craft and are just in it for the money, then you may be disappointed.

News flash: you won’t make any money on Etsy if you aren’t passionate about what you do.

Customers are not stupid, they can sense a fraud from a mile away. If your products don’t have that high degree of attention to detail and care that needs to be put into any business let alone a handmade shop on Etsy, then you will never be successful.

At the end of the day, you are making a business out of art and your passion. You can never successfully sell something that isn’t genuine hence the need for a vision, an audience, and hard work, all things we have discussed in this article.

Make Your Customers Feel Like Royalty

Finally, and probably the most obvious, is that you need to treat your customers like they are actual royalty.

Terms like ‘the customer is always right’ don’t cut it anymore in online businesses. You need to step up your game and go above and beyond so that customers are buying from you and not from your competitors or cheap knockoffs.

Offer free shipping and returns. Email your customers about delays or special offers. Be kind, quick, and outgoing. Take care of your customers and they will take care of you for years to come.

Customer care also extends beyond direct interactions into things like branding, listing quality, images, social media, and marketing. You never get a second chance to make that first impression so make it worth someone’s time when they click on your Etsy product listing.

These habits will serve you for decades if you implement them effectively and follow them day in and day out. Of course, this is just the foundation of what sets successful handmade Sellers apart on Etsy. To see massive growth you need to also consider things like optimization and marketing. For help with growing your Etsy shop to its fullest potential, contact us today!