1500 sales and the lessons learned...

1500 sales and what I’ve learned…
I’ve just passed 1500 sales in my shop, and I’ve learned quite a few things since my shop opened in August of 2007. Some things I learned the easy way, and some the hard way. I thought I’d fess up to a few now that I’ve hit this milestone. :)

1. Let’s get the obvious out of the way first: always, always, always work on your photos. This year I finally broke down and bought some small studio lights meant for photography. They’ve made the process so much quicker and more reliable. Photos are a lot of work, but you can make things a bit easier for yourself sometimes. It’s 2010 and people read pictures much more often than words. Your photos should make your customers to want to read your description.

2. People purchase when they have money. This sounds like a dense statement, but it’s true. Most folks get paid every two weeks. I often have on and off weeks because of this. People also purchase the night before they get paid because they know the money will be there.

3. Decide who you are and how that relates to what you sell and then become it. Remember that part of building your brand is getting people familiar with you and your shop. When something is familiar to someone, they’re more likely to trust it. If they trust it, they’re more likely to buy it. (This is why blogging works.) After all, even if you’ve never eaten at a McDonald’s in your life, if you were stranded somewhere and saw a McDonald’s, you’d probably be more likely to go in and buy something there than a place you didn’t recognize. If I had the resources, Risky Beads would be a Nascar sponsor. (LOL)

4. Which brings me to this: devote yourself to your branding. If you can’t pinpoint what your niche and then your brand is, how is your customer supposed to be able to? Invest in durable marketing freebies. Send your customers something cute and useful that has your logo and info on it so they’ll keep it and use it! Examples include: paper rulers, magnets, bookmarks, clips, pads of paper, etc. You don’t have to buy it; you can make it! One of the best freebies I ever got was from Jenny N Design (www.etsy.com/shop/jennyndesign). She sent a darling tiny tote bag with my order a couple of years ago, and it’s still on my desk today. I keep it stuffed with business cards from Etsy sellers I buy from, etc.

5. Respect your suppliers as much as you respect your customers. A good deal or a head’s up from a supplier is as valuable as a sale. Don’t take them for granted!

6. Surpass your customers’ expectations. When you think about it, almost all discord between folks is because expectations were violated. Do I have to have the soap I just bought in 3 days to keep me from dying? No. But, if you told me I’d have it by then, then I have an expectation. Don’t let me down. Communicate, communicate, communicate. Remember that you don’t have the benefit of seeing your customer and smiling at them and gauging their reaction to your shop. You have to exude graciousness and gratitude to overcome that obstacle. Your customer has a gazillion shops to choose from. Make them feel like they chose the right one!

7. Every hour in the life of an Etsy shop can feel like a lifetime, so don’t lose your perspective when you don’t have a sale for a few days and don’t decide to expand your business by 100% just because you had 5 sales in an hour! Try to keep records that keep your perspective in check. I have a running spreadsheet every month that tabulates every sale and every expense. I can see when my margins are unacceptable and where I need to concentrate. Because I have a new tab for each month’s spreadsheet, I can easily flip back and see how long bulk supplies are lasting me, etc. For example, if I blow through shipping supplies in a couple of months, then I can see that I’m better off buying in larger quantities the next time. Same thing when things are slow. I can often see trends over time and figure out where I might be over-spending.

8. One of my favorite shows on television is Gordon Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares. In Kitchen Nightmares, Ramsey goes into a failing restaurant and turns it around in a week. His rescues always come down to one crucial factor: is there a decent chef in the restaurant who has a passion for *food?* If not, he knows he’s wasting his time. Now, I’m trying to get all Hallmark inspirational on you now and tell you that if you’ve found your calling, you’re good to go because that’s pretty lame. Success is not your life set to the soundtrack of a Broadway musical. Let’s get real. There’s not one truly successful person I’ve ever seen who didn’t work their butt off to get there; the difference is that they *worked* at it rather than *worried* at it. A little bit of gumption goes a long way! Trust me.

9. Finally, I’ll share a quote with you that keeps me going…

“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan, ‘Press on,’ has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.” -Calvin Coolidge

Hope it helps!
~Lori

Posted at 11:01am May 20, 2010 EDT