Search results (title) for: "team tips"

Shop Makeover Series: Craft-onomics 101

2009-01-06T14:34:00-05:00

After wrapping up a very busy and sometimes lackluster holiday craft show season, I have come to a few grand conclusions about the economy at the moment, and – no surprise – it sucks! Though the jury is still out on how the craft community will be impacted by our nation’s (and world's!) crashing markets, it's always good to prepare for tough times when in the midst of uncertain ones. As independent artists and crafters with scarcely a safety net in sight, we are vulnerable in many ways, and I sometimes worry that we may be hit the hardest. Sadly, many customers are now opting for the lower quality, cheaper priced, large chain store gifts over our handmade masterpieces. While sitting there for hours at my booth at various craft shows contemplating this fact, I dwelt on what I could do better next time in order to combat the holiday season of lookie-loos...

Be flexible: It might be time to think outside the box with special promotions, painstakingly hunt for a cheaper supplier, or work on a fresh new idea that you may have been stewing over. The more items you carry and the more price points you have, the wider audience you can appeal to and the more sales you will make.
Learn to tighten your own belt: Do not under estimate the smaller, more local craft shows, such as the ones run by craft mafias or Etsy Teams. Since many of these shows are well-run and attract a specific audience, they are some of the best and cheapest ways for you to get your items out there. The simple fact is that the more money you spend traveling and paying for tabling, the more money you need to make in order to break even.
Network, network, network: Get to know other crafters, and listen to the wisdom they have to share about specific craft shows, cities, and markets. Why waste your time sewing purses for craft show in a city that is really into housewares and already flooded with handbags? You are just wasting your time and supplies. I know it takes time and can be tedious, but check out the Etsy forums, Craftster.org forums and the switchboards for some real talk about the business end of things. It does not cost anything to be friendly!
Promote intelligently: I think I find this the hardest part of this business, because I tend to just sit around and think the customers are going to come to me. However, in these tough times, we all know that is not the case. Stop just giving everyone a plain boring business card or an elaborate promotional item that costs way more to make than you have to comfortably spend. This year I started giving people buttons, magnets, and pencils with cute images of items in my shop. Not only do the customers love to get free gifts, but when I got home, I had tons of new hearts and orders from people who got my promo items at a show. These promo items were cheap and easy to get and got me a much better response than a plan business card. Also, get creative and friendly with your local print shop – you will save money doing the printing yourself.
Be realistic: Although some of us (like myself) really depend on the money made from crafting to live, it's time to get realistic about potential changes that you may need to undertake in order to stay afloat during these lean times. If buyers are thinking twice about their purchases, then you need to think twice about the best, most cost effective way to run your business. Be smart and in the true spirit of D.I.Y., do it your damn self…it is cheaper anyway ; )
Don’t underestimate the quality of your own work: Many people might not understand the time-consuming process or expensive materials that go into producing your items. However, once made aware of the time, effort, and love you put in, buyers will be more apt to fork out the cash. I noticed this a lot at craft shows. A person would pick up a yarn from me and admire it, but when I told them about the almost 6 hour process that goes into making every one, I think they felt more comfortable paying almost triple what they would for it at a large chain store. Don’t be afraid to market your process. Describe it in your Etsy listing and profile; include it on the back of your price tag, or chronicle it on your blog.

Further Resources:

Etsy Teams

I Shop Indie

The Economist

Seller Handbook | Shop Makeover Series

Team Tip: Team Tip Handbook

2008-12-08T16:00:00-05:00

This week's Team Tip is a sad farewell to the Team Tip series. Instead of being published on the Storque, we're now going to send these out weekly in our Etsy Teams Newsletter. (You can sign up for that here.) This newsletter goes out once a week and also includes events, promotions, Featured Teams and more fun Team news! So stay in the loop Team members, and make sure you are on our Etsy Teams mailing list.

You can still find all the past Team Tips by searching "Team Tips" in the Storque. We've collected past tips here for an easy perusal!

General Team Info

Team Tip: Fun Facts

Team Tip: How to Join an Etsy Team

Team Tip: How To Submit Information for the Teams Digest

Team Tips: Join the Etsy Teams Newsletter

Team Tips: Using the Virtual Labs

Team Tip: Team Tags

Working Together

Team Tip: Shop Critiques

Team Tip: Get USPS to Come Teach your Team

Team Tip: Steps to Achieving Team Goals

Team Tip: Membership Levels

Team Tip: Make a Plan

Team Tip: Committees

Team Tip: Growing Your Team

Team Tips: Green Your Team

Team Promotions and Events

Team Tip: Virtual Scavenger Hunts

Team Tip: Form a Shop Chain

Team Tip: Naming Your Event or Promotion

Team Tips: Team Promotion

Team Tip: Post Your Event

Team Tips: Etsy Mini Swap

Team Tip: Taking Craft Shows to the Next Level

Team Tip: Naming Your Event or Promotion

Team Tip: Post Your Event

Marketing

Team Tip: Creative Marketing for your Team

Team Tip: Press Releases

Team Guide: Art of the Press Release

Team Tip: Make Team Promos

Team Tip: Merchandising

Team Tip: Using Email to Promote Your Team

Team Tip: Is Blogging Important?

Team Tip: How To Twitter

Team Tips: Etsy Teams Blog Ring

Team Tip: Promoting Your Team for the Holiday Season

You can find more Resources at team.etsy.com. To receive a weekly email of Current Events from Etsy Teams, sign up for the Teams mailing list! For more information on Etsy Teams, check out the Teams pages and this page of Frequently Asked Questions.

Team Tip: Give Thanks!

2008-12-01T14:59:00-05:00

Here at Etsy, we know working as a Team is no simple task, and we think it's important to acknowledge your peers' hard work. Letting people you collaborate with know they're appreciated goes a long way. On that note, this week we wanted to take a moment to give a big thanks to the many, many Etsy Team leaders and Etsy Team members who make the Teams program as great as it is.

Thank you to the ever patient, generous, hard-working Etsy Team leaders. We know running a successful Etsy Team can be an unwieldy, occasionally confusing and sometimes thankless task, but we think Team leaders are amazing. They organize, promote, and inspire the Etsy Teams and the creative projects that Teams accomplish, in addition to running their shops (and balancing the rest of their busy lives!). Thank you, thank you, Etsy Teams Superstars, for your dedication, enthusiasm and perseverance!

A giant thank you, also, to all members of the Etsy Teams. With almost twenty thousand (and counting!) Etsy buyers and sellers taking the time to promote Etsy and your shops, you're an important, giant part of getting the word out about Etsy as a marketplace. We love to see you network, meet up locally, make connections virtually all around the world and come together as a strong facet of the Etsy community.

As the holiday shopping season has everyone super busy this time of year, take a moment to let your Teammates and Team leaders know how much you appreciate all their hard work. To show your thanks and support for the Etsy Teams, search "team" to find hundreds of thousands of items made by Etsy Team members.

For more Team Tips, please check the Teams Resource page. Also, we discuss the Team Tips, news and ideas in the Etsy Teams email list! Keep up the great work, Etsy Teams!

Team Tip: Taking Craft Shows to the Next Level

2008-11-17T11:01:00-05:00

Holiday craft show season is upon us again and we're happy to hear of so many Etsy Teams and sellers taking part in holiday craft shows all over the world! Everyone loves a good craft show — chances to meet your favorite area artists in person, see and feel amazing handmade goodies as you buy them and opportunities to soak in the wonderful handmade community, but they're also really great opportunities to market your Etsy shop. For tips from our wonderful community on Craft Show basics, check out "Rocking Holiday Craft Shows".

If you've already got your booth set-up all figured out and you came up with a comprehensive checklist of things you don't want to forget ages ago, here are some tips for taking shows to the next level. Below are just a sampling of way to use shows as a tool for developing a loyal customer base:

Reconsider your business cards. What makes your business cards stand apart from the giant stack of cards shoppers are picking up at the show? Check out the Don't order another 1,000 business cards! article for ideas on creative promotional items. Or consider including an offer that shoppers will find valuable on the card, such as free shipping if they include the name of the craft show in their order or a small discount on multiple items ordered within a period of time. Also, be sure to include product images on your cards to make it super easy for people to remember what booth was yours. You can use the Etsy-Moo deal to get your listing photos right on the cards (more details here).
Collect email addresses! We've written Team Tips about this before, because permissions based marketing (which is when someone gives you their email address or other information, along with permission to contact them with special offers) is the best way to contact people you know are interested in what you are selling. It's information sent directly to your target market, so it's efficient and a good use of your limited marketing time. Be sure to follow up, sending out an email blast with links and beautiful images not too long after the event to jog people's memory about the good stuff you have to offer.

A screenshot from Baltimore Etsy Team member JenMenkhaus's Etsy shop, showing a detailed item description for a felt flower head band.

Have information on hand! Print out nice copies of your most popular items' Etsy listings and descriptions, or use screenshot images from your shop to have a small booklet printed up (try a service like Blurb.com, for example, for great professional results with little effort). This will give people something to browse at your booth, and give them great details that people often don't think to ask at a show, such as washing instructions, tips on care, material content, etc. It's also a great way to familiarize them with Etsy and your shop, making it more likely they'll go visit it again when they're online.
Talk it up! When you have a customer who is interested in your work, don't be afraid to mention that if they go to your Etsy shop, they can find a wider range of colors, options, they can check out previously sold custom orders. Let them know that if they have an Etsy account, they can mark your shop (and others) as a favorite, so it'll be easy to find again when shopping for gifts, etc. Mention that you accept many forms of payment in your Etsy shop, and they can make purchases at their convenience online.
Don't forget your Etsy Team! You might let buyers know that they can find more great work from your Teammates for simple, easy one-stop shopping. For example, if you're on a Team that makes pet items, when someone buys a collar for Fido, be sure to mention that your Teammate sells dog cookies that are perfect for obedience training. Bring Team business cards or promo items, and be sure to point out ways the buyer can find items from your Team online.

Most importantly, enjoy yourself at the show! Craft shows are a good way of getting feedback on your work, and nothing's more fun than watching someone fall in love with your work right before your eyes. Be sure to introduce yourself to your crafty neighbors at the show, and do a little shopping and appreciating of the indie arts yourself!

For more Team Tips, please check the Teams Resource page. Also, we discuss the Team Tips, news and ideas in the Etsy Teams email list! Keep up the great work, Etsy Teams!

Team Tip: Merchandising!

2008-11-10T13:36:00-05:00

There are many benefits of joining an Etsy Team, including cross promotion among Team members. With the holidays quickly approaching, joint merchandising and promotional efforts are a really great way members can help each other and boost overall sales — and help shoppers find those perfect holiday gifts.

For example, take Leandogpottery's Labyrinth Soap Dish. She might include a link in the product description to fellow Team member savor's Tart - Olive Oil Soap, and mention what a lovely pair the two items would make for a gift!

Savor would do the same, including a link to Leandogpottery's soap dish in her item listing. Now, with a little teamwork from sellers, shoppers can easily find a great gift set within a modest gift budget.

Savor's Tart - Olive Oil Soap, $4.50 & Leandogpottery's Labyrinth Soap Dish, $13.00

Below are some other ideas for bundling, coupling, grouping, branding and merchandising items from your Team:

You can also pair items from your shop with other items in your shop - suggest coordinating items in listings.
Or you can include a link to a search for your Team's tag in your item listings to help shoppers find items they might like from shops of other Team members.
Use the Etsy mini to highlight great items from your Team on your blogs, social networking sites and other places on the web.
If you're primarily a buyer on Etsy, you can show support for your favorite Teams by including links to their Team tags in your Etsy profile.
To mix things up a bit, try occasionally Twittering or blogging about a Teammate's shop from your account - it's more fun and you'll get more attention that just talking about your own work all the time.
Many Teams find it useful to include a Team image as the last item image in an item listing - the image might have your Team's logo and a Team search tag, so shoppers can recognize items by a particular Team more easily.
Organize a ring of links to your Teammates shops in your announcement.
Follow the steps in this previous Team tip to promote your Team everywhere.

Teams are a wonderful way to work with your fellow sellers to accomplish more marketing than you could by yourself. By getting creative and doing some smart merchandising, you and your Team can work together to drive more traffic and increase sales for each other.

For more Team Tips, please check the Teams Resource page. Also, we discuss the Team Tips, news and ideas in the Etsy Teams email list! Keep up the great work, Etsy Teams!

Team Tip: How To Twitter!

2008-11-03T11:57:00-05:00

There's a lot of buzz lately about Twitter.com as an interactive marketing tool. (In fact, you can find Etsy at http://www.twitter.com/etsy!) I've been giving a good deal of thought to how Etsy Teams can use Twitter.com to their advantage to effectively engage their audience and bring new buyers to members' Etsy shops. Below are some simple steps on how you might develop Twitter as a useful tool for your Team.

What is Twitter.com? Twitter describes itself as "a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: "What are you doing?" After creating an account, people can choose to follow other people's Twitter posts, viewing posts online or via a mobile phone. Twitter is about quick glimpses into you or your brand, as you have 140 characters to type or include interesting links for your Twitter followers to read and respond to.

To get started, discuss with your Team what your goals might be for a Team Twitter account. Goals can range from, but are not limited to, sharing knowledge (posting links to useful tutorials or tips online), to giving the Team a personality (having a friendly, anecdotal voice in posts), or driving traffic to content around the web from your Team. Most likely, successful Team Twitter accounts will aim at all three of these goals.
Decide as a group who will be responsible for posting content - Many brands and businesses find it's most interesting when several people post, but some feel there's value to a consistent voice. Consider your goals as well as the natural talents and time availability of members when deciding who should have access to posting.
Register a username for your Team.
Tweet away! Don't forget to interact with other members by responding to posts - engaging the people who are following you is a great way to really make the most of this medium. By starting a post with @(username), it's easy for a user to find replies intended for them, even if they're not currently following you.
Find more people through Twitter - You can try the search tool to search for terms related to your Team, and then you can network with people talking about similar topics to what you're posting about. If you have a little time to do some tweaking, you can try one of many third party tools for finding other members and organizing Twitter feeds, such as Tweetdeck.
Stand out from the crowd - If you're looking to spruce up your Team's Twitter account page, you might consider adding photos of some recently listed products as a background, under Design in your Account Settings.
Enjoy! Don't think of Twitter as a chore, a task or a major thing to do on a giant to-do list. Rather, when you find something interesting, or perhaps whenever you find something worthy of bookmarking, simply post it to your Twitter account. When you have spare moment after checking email or starting a new task online, simply take a minute to check your Twitterstream to reply back to your network! Incorporating Twitter into your daily habits is the best way to have success with this tool.
Do remember how useful Twitter can be for communicating in real time - Twitter is a great way to promote events, like Team Virtual Labs trunk shows or local events!

For more information, you can check RedPanda's informative post in the Etsy forums, this interview that WineNutNYC did with some Etsy sellers on successfully using Twitter to market, or this great article on 50 Ideas on Using Twitter for Business.

Find us at http://www.twitter.com/etsy and post in the comments with the link to your Twitter feed!

For more Team Tips, please check the Teams Resource page. Also, we discuss the Team Tips, news and ideas in the Etsy Teams email list! Keep up the great work, Etsy Teams!

Team Tip: How to Join an Etsy Team!

2008-10-27T16:20:00-05:00

We've decided to get back to basics with this Team Tip. Have you been wondering what Etsy Teams are all about, and whether or not you should join an Etsy Team? Here are some answers to frequently asked questions about becoming part of the ever-growing Etsy Teams program.

What are Etsy Teams?
Good question! You can find a lot of information on what Teams are and what they do in this informative article.

I love Etsy, but I'm a buyer... Can I join a Team?
Absolutely! Many Etsy Teams welcome Etsy buyers who simply love handmade items and want to promote Etsy.com and the Team as a wonderful place to shop! It's also wonderful for buyers to belong to Teams to get to know their favorite artists a little better. There's also a buyer-only Team, Etsy Patrons, that's welcoming new members!

Why should I join an Etsy Team?
There are many reasons to join a Team! Teams are formed to share skills, network with other artists, promote your shop, meet other Etsy members where you live, or just branch out socially to other people on the site! Etsy Teams often work together to promote their shops as a group, hold Team trunk shows in the Virtual Labs, or inspire each other to make different items for their shops, with initiatives like creative challenges. Each Team is a little different, so if the first Team you join isn't the perfect one for you, don't worry! Try out another Team for size until you find ones that fits your personality, your schedule and your goals.

What kind of Team should I join?
It depends on what you'd like to get out of your Etsy Teams experience. If you'd like to meet local Etsy members, you're in luck. About half of the existing Etsy Teams are based on location — so there's a good chance that by joining your local Etsy Team, you can meet other crafty lovers of handmade where you live. If you'd rather not meet up with people in your area or if there's no active Team where you live, the good news is that the other half of Etsy Teams are not location based! There are hundreds of Etsy Teams that have formed based on medium, craft, lifestyle, general interest or just about anything you can imagine.

Once you've found a Team you're interested in, check out the "How to Join" section of the Team's profile page. For many Teams, you'll be sending a conversation to the Team leader or contact person, perhaps with a little information.

What if the Team has not gotten back to me about joining?
There are a couple of scenarios here — first and foremost, be patient and remember that Team leaders are people, too! It's a busy job, being a Team leader — many are running their Etsy shops, managing their Teams, planning Team events and countless other things, in addition to their lives outside of Etsy (life outside of Etsy?!?). It's okay for Team leaders to take a few days or even a week to get back to you about joining.

Also, sometimes Teams need a few weeks now and again to regroup, reorganize and get themselves together — it's not unusual for a Team to put accepting new members on hold. When Teams are more organized, everyone involved benefits! In addition, some Teams are juried, and this is okay, too! You and your Team want to be sure you're all a good fit. If things don't work out with one Team, don't be discouraged — there are many, many Teams that would love to have you!

If it's been a little longer than seems normal, the next step might be to contact another member or two listed on the profile page, to politely inquire if the Team is still active. You might also check any websites or blogs they have listed to see what the Team is up to. If no one from the Team gets back to you, you're left with a couple options — you can either start a new Team based on your area of interest, or you can find another Team that suits your fancy, and inquire with them.

What if I am already part of a Team?
Remember, you can join as many Etsy Teams as you have time to actively participate in. Being an active member is the key to really getting some bang for your buck with Etsy Teams. Ask your Team leader how you can get more involved to help the Team achieve its goals. If you love the Teams you're on, it's okay to branch out and join more Teams!

We love the Etsy Teams, and we're so happy with its successes to date and how fast it's growing! Teams are a fantastic way to really get to know other members of the Etsy community. For more Team Tips, please check the Teams Resource page. Also, we discuss the Team Tips, news and ideas in the Etsy Teams email list! Keep up the great work, Etsy Teams!

Team Tip: Shop Critiques!

2008-10-20T14:48:00-05:00

Your fellow Etsy Team members can be a really valuable resource for running your Etsy shop! At this critical time of year when you're marketing your handmade wares and driving traffic to your items, you want to make sure you're really putting your best foot forward. Below are some ideas on how to take a few simple steps and really kick your Etsy shop into high gear with the help of your fellow teammates!

Pick a time when several Team members can meet online. Make a chat room for your Team (you can even set a password on it, if you'd like) or use the Virtual Labs application to reserve a room in the Virtual Labs if you're expecting more than 20 members to attend.
Decide if you're critiquing whole shops or just a certain aspect of shops - for example, you might focus on photography one week, tagging another, pricing another, etc.
Invite some buyers! Members of Etsy who don't have shops can give great advice from a slightly different perspective! Remember not to spam buyers to get them to help your Team, but rather if your Team has members who are buyers-only, be sure to include them. Reach out to your friends and acquaintances.
Keep it constructive! Remember, you want to give each other enough feedback to make the session worthwhile, but keep it useful and constructive. Try not to be negative without offering ideas for the person to improve the aspects of their shop that aren't currently in top form.
Schedule a follow-up session! Plan to meet again in a week or so to check out the changes that have been made. Keep each other motivated to make improvements.
If you can't all meet online at the same time, perhaps take turns making a forum thread for different members' shops with helpful tips on changes they can make.

There are a nice added benefits of shop critiques among your teammates: not only does it raise the quality of the shops you're working with to promote, but you'll get to know their shop in more detail and learn more about the items everyone is selling. This makes it easier to recommend your teammate's shops by word of mouth, increasing everyone's traffic.

For more Team Tips, please check the Teams Resource page. Also, we discuss the Team Tips, news and ideas in the Etsy Teams email list! Keep up the great work, Etsy Teams!

Team Tip: Fun Facts!

2008-10-13T18:05:00-05:00

"Just what are the Etsy Teams and how do I get involved?"

Since so much has grown about the Etsy Teams program in the past year, we're revisiting this FAQ on the Etsy Teams. Since this article was first published, Etsy Teams program has more than doubled in size - in numbers of Teams and the number of members involved. It's truly gratifying to see members of the Community self-organize. Soon, we hope to launch new tools to help the Etsy Community communicate and to give Etsy Teams a more visible role on the site. On the Storque, you can keep on top of Team-related content by clicking on the EtsyTeams featured column listed in the left sidebar.

At Etsy, community is super important to us, and one big way Etsy members can become active in the Etsy Community is to join an Etsy Team. Etsy Teams are for not only Etsy sellers, but there are Teams for buyers, as well! Support your favorite Etsy artists by promoting handmade and buying from Team members! Here are a few simple things you need to know if you'd like to participate in Etsy Teams. To learn more, you can always visit http://team.etsy.com to find lots more information in a few quick clicks.

What is an Etsy Team?
Etsy Teams are groups of organized Etsy members who network, share skills, meet other people with similar interests, and promote their shops and Etsy together. A Team forms around a shared location, a craft or genre, or another interest. Currently, there are over 400 Teams and new Teams forming daily. This makes us not just a marketplace of individuals, but an interconnected and diverse handcrafters' community. Teams are Etsy’s biggest and most creative grassroots engine for support, networking and marketing — for each Team member’s shop, for the Teams themselves, and for Etsy as a whole.

How can I shop by Etsy Teams?
Many Teams have a search tag listed on their Profile page. You can find items made by that Team by searching for their Team tag, or by clicking through shops listed on the Profile pages. If you want to just search for items by all Teams, you can search "team" and find over 150,000 items by all Etsy Team members!

How do I join a Team?
You can browse through the list of Etsy Teams, which are sorted by location and by interest, to find teams that suit you and your shop. Each Team has contact information on their profile page about how to join.

[Examples of Treasuries from the CCCOE and ArtsInRI Teams]

Can I join more than one Team?
Sure! Please join as many Teams as your schedule permits you to be actively involved in.

What Team should I join?
You can browse through the Team Profiles to see what each Team is up to — visiting the Teams' pages and clicking through their websites and blogs will help you get an idea of what the team is about and how active they are. We do ask that you join location-based Teams according to where you spend most of your time (ie, where you live). Some Teams have membership requirements, and these are listed on the profile pages. If you have specific questions about a Team, try contacting the contact person or leader listed on the page.

There are over 400 Etsy Teams and new Teams being formed each day, there's an Etsy Team for everyone! If you don't find a Team that interests you, or if there isn't currently an active Team in your area, you can start an Etsy Team yourself.

How do I update my Team's page?
If you've started an Etsy Team, you can have the profile page updated by emailing updates to teams@etsy.com, and we'll make the changes for you. Updates can include new members, new links to websites or blogs, or you can let us know about event, challenges, contests and more.

Are there resources for Teams, like ideas on how to promote or organize events?
Yes! You can search for Team Tips here in the Storque, or check the Guides page at http://team.etsy.com/guides.html.

Not on a Team? No problem! Lots of the Tips and Resources available for Teams are also useful for individual sellers!

For more Team Tips, please check the Teams Resource page. Also, we discuss the Team Tips, news and ideas in the Etsy Teams email list! Keep up the great work, Etsy Teams!

Team Tip: Get USPS to Come Teach your Team!

2008-10-06T16:19:00-05:00

Did you know that there are Etsy Teams in 48 of the 50 U.S. states? You and other Etsy sellers who live nearby you can join together as an Etsy Team and not only market your shop, but learn tips on efficiently packaging and shipping your goods! If your Team would like to hold a shipping seminar for your Team, the United States Postal Service has a in-home service to help you out. All you have to do is talk to your letter carrier or call the Click-n-Ship toll free number 1-800-344-7779 (option 2). The hours of operation are 7:00 a.m. to 11 p.m. EST – 7 days a week.

Get your Team together and find out the easiest way to ship online at USPS.com! A USPS representative will walk you through setting up an account and printing a Click-n-Ship label, shipping internationally (don't we all have questions about those customs forms?) and more. For instance, did you know you can set up a Google widget to track your packages? With the holidays just around the corner, this is the perfect time to get a shipping refresher for you and your Team!

Not in the US? Call your local postal service and see if they offer a similar service, or get a knowledgeable Team member from where you live to hold a presentation for the rest of the Team!

For more Team Tips, please check the Teams Resource page. Also, we discuss the Team Tips, news and ideas in the Etsy Teams email list! Keep up the great work, Etsy Teams!

Team Tip: Steps to Achieving Team Goals

2008-09-22T14:00:00-05:00

Etsy Teams can be a great way to participate in the Etsy Community. You can meet people from around the world or down the block who love handmade things and want to promote Etsy. Sellers might form a Team to hold joint promotions, organize fun events like scavenger hunts through your shops, throw Virtual Trunk Shows, or just share information. Teams come up with many great ideas because, after all, you are a group of creative and enthusiastic people! Sometimes it's important to step back and make sure that all the effort your Team is exerting is achieving your Team goals.

Here are some steps your Team can take to accomplish common Team Goals. Many of these tips include clickable links to guides and previous Team tips. Enjoy!

If your Team aims to increase sales in your Etsy shops:

Mentor one another on successful shop practices
Help one another take fantastic product photos
Organize critiques among Team members
Drive traffic to your shops by:
- Using Etsy Mini's
- Blogging about member's shops
- Joint advertising on popular websites or blogs
- Exchanging links and Etsy Mini's with other Teams
- Including Teammates' links in each member's shops
Use and promote a Team Tag so buyers can find your items easily
Use your Team name as a tag on product photos on Flickr or other sites
Send professional quality press release s about your Team events to relevant online publications

If your Team is a social outlet, and you enjoy meeting interested crafters around the world:

Get to know Team members by taking some time each week to really check out your Teammates' shops and blogs
Card swap with your Teammates
Hold Team challenges where you're all creating based on one common chosen theme
Use a group forum, like Yahoo, Google or Flickr groups, or an Etsy chat room to communicate often with your Teammates
Share tips and advice with your Teammates
Help each other out! Hold friendly critiques, ask questions and mentor each other

If your Team's goal is to help others:

Communicate well among your Team so everyone is familiar with the goal
Be public about your goal
- Blog about how your Team is making a difference
- Use your shop announcements to give shoppers information about your Team
- Come up with an FAQ about your Team's mission, perhaps on a Team blog
Be sure to follow through
Let others know your Team's accomplishments to date

If your Team wants to grow and attract many members:

Follow some of these ideas for recruiting members on Etsy
Simplify and streamline your joining process for new members!
Consider a membership committee to distribute the work of accepting new members in an organized way
Create some guidelines for the Team to prevent potential issues among the Team
Communication! Determine the best ways to communicate effectively:
- Yahoo, Google and Flickr Groups make "talking" among members easy
- A regular meeting time in the Virtual Labs might be a convenient way to get together
Be a visible Team:
- Coordinating avatars attract attention
- Members should mention the Team and its Team tag in shop announcements and profiles
- Have a badge or image members can include on blogs and social networking sites

For more Team Tips, please check the Teams Resource page. Also, we discuss the Team Tips, news and ideas in the Etsy Teams email list! Keep up the great work, Etsy Teams!

Team Tip: Membership Levels

2008-09-15T16:22:00-05:00

Is your Etsy Team experiencing some growing pains? Having a hard time getting all of the members who have signed up to participate? These are common problems that groups face, and while I'm sorry to say there is no perfect solution, here are some ideas to inspire your members to get a little more involved.

Some Teams have been devising Membership Levels. Interested sellers (or buyers, too!) can join the Team, and decide which level of participation is right for them. Consider what incentives your Team has in place for more active participation. Some ideas to motivate seller members might be: a Feature on the Team's blog and social networking sites, links from other members' Etsy shops, a prominent Etsy Mini on the Team's blog, or even first dibs at participation in events the Team sells at, if applicable. Clearly setting out what's expected of members and how their time will be rewarded is important.

Here are some examples of membership levels your Team may consider:

Extra-Super Level: These highly active members might be responsible for general organization of the Team. Perhaps this level of membership means the person is a committee chair. There might be a minimum number of blog posts expected of these super members in return for the perks of being Featured. These tasks should be well organized and communicated among the Team so people know who is responsible for what and can see that things get done.

Great Level: A middle level for the typical Team member who wants to be involved, but might not feel comfortable with a lot of responsibility is useful. Mid-level members are valuable perhaps for their expert Treasury creation skills, their amazing social networking expertise or interesting and clever blog posts submitted often. Creating guidelines for mid-level members' minimum promotional efforts will really ease the workload for Team leaders and make the Team visible!

Quick Level: This is a minimum amount of participation that a member can have and still be part of the Team. Members might not be able to attend meetings, but could still promote the Team through Treasuries and can participate in Team events, like Virtual Trunk shows, in person selling events or group advertisements. They should be expected to promote the Team when they have the opportunity — for example, by including promotional items from fellow Team members in packages or distributing Team cards at shows — but have a minimum time commitment to the Team, and, in turn, doesn't get all the rewards the Team offers.

Each Team is different, so it's important to come up with a system that works for your Team. Some Teams may choose to incorporate a dues system, to cover the cost of advertisements and promotional items.

For more information on organizing your Team, see:

Committees! | Card Swap with your Team | Team Goals | Growing Your Team

For more Team Tips, please check the Teams Resource page. Also, we discuss the Team Tips, news and ideas in the Etsy Teams email list! Keep up the great work, Etsy Teams!

Team Tip: Success!

2008-09-08T14:53:00-05:00

This article was originally published on April 22, 2008. We are reviving it as part of the Best of the Storque series. Enjoy!

How do you measure success of your Etsy Team? Well, if you define success as meeting or achieving your goals, then it looks like your Team should be sure it has clear goals! Each Etsy Team is different. While Teams can be similar — for instance, two Teams formed of sellers working in the same craft or medium, or multiple Teams within the same state or location — all groups of creative people are going to be as unique as each person in the group. Since each Etsy Team is different, it only makes sense that Teams will have any number of different goals.

It's probably safe to say that most people join Etsy Teams ultimately to improve their Etsy experience — this might mean through garnering more sales, improving their skills or their Etsy shop, networking or simply meeting people to share common interests. These are all excellent reasons to join a Team and really great overall goals for Teams to have.

Let's get a little more specific, though, and consider some attainable goals an Etsy Team can pursue. Your Team might strive to have a really useful, well-read blog, like the Eco-Etsy Team's blog, which features different helpful environmentally friendly tips weekly. A Team might decide upon a mission to educate shoppers on the value of handmade, like the EGCG Team's mission to show people that handmade bath and body products are amazing. Perhaps the Team decides that they'd like to participate in local art fairs as a group, as the Plush Team decided to do when they applied to participate in the Renegade Craft Fair in Brooklyn this summer. If you're a local Team, maybe you can organize a handful of events, like classes, shows or workshops to engage your real life community in learning about local artists and the value of handmade work.

No matter what your Team's goals are, you should be sure that you've spelled them out clearly and that all Team members are not only aware of the goals, but can participate in helping the Team actively achieve them. Having a mission statement is great, but it's also important to determine how you will achieve it and what that means on a weekly or monthly basis. For example, if your Etsy Team's goal is to support one another, perhaps meet in chat once a month to do a group critique on one aspect of your Team's shops or share links to one anothers' shops on your personal blogs, social networking sites or even give them a shout-out in your Etsy profiles. The possibilities of goals and ways to achieve them are endless!

For more Team Tips, please check the Teams Resource page. Also, we discuss the Team Tips, news and ideas in the Etsy Teams email list! Keep up the great work, Etsy Teams!

Team Tip: Virtual Scavenger Hunts!

2008-09-02T14:17:00-05:00

In last week's Etsy Teams round table meeting in the Virtual Labs, some fantastic Team members were sharing their Teams' upcoming holiday plans. One idea that was mentioned with great enthusiasm was a scavenger hunt through Team members' shops. Scavenger hunts are a great way to get people browsing through all the wonderful items your Team has listed, and is even easier now that links within Etsy are clickable in your shops!

To arrange a successful scavenger hunt for your Teams, begin with these steps:

Organize with your Team which shops will be participating, and agree upon what type of hunt you'd like to run. Will searchers be looking for an image or a text clue in your item descriptions?
Have the participating shops edit their listings to include the image, phrase or text your Team agreed upon in the listings that will be part of the hunt.
Figure out the nuts and bolts among your Team. You might require that searchers collect the item ID's of the listings they "found" while hunting through your shops if your scavenger hunt is image-based, or maybe they might answer questions based on clues found in your Team's listings. The searchers then should be instructed on how to Convo their results to Team members to collect their "reward".
Give your searchers a little incentive. If you choose to offer a prize (like free shipping, a discount, or a gift certificate) to go along with Scavenger Hunt, make sure everything is legal. Check out this article on article on Teams and contests for more information. Other options for the winner include featuring a shop of the winner's choosing on your Team's blog or sneak peeks at upcoming products that your Team will be listing in the future, for example.
Don't forget to promote! There are all sorts of ways to get the word out about your Team's scavenger hunt! Your Team's blog and the blogs of participating shops are a place to start, of course. Check these previous Team Tips for more great ways to promote an online event:

Team Promotion!

Press Releases

Places to Promote a Team Event

Promoting Your Team through Email

Scavenger hunts are a fun way to get people clicking through your items, which – since your items are awesome – should lead to people marking your listings and shop as a favorite and potentially some sales. There's a huge advantage to making people familiar with the wonderful work your Team does by having them click through from shop to shop to acquaint themselves with your Team. Has your Team held a successful scavenger hunt? Leave your own tips on what works in the comments!

For more Team Tips, please check the Teams Resource page. Also, we discuss the Team Tips, news and ideas in the Etsy Teams email list! Keep up the great work, Etsy Teams!

Team Tip: Is Blogging Important?

2008-08-25T14:41:00-05:00

Blogs can play a vital role in marketing your Etsy Team on the web. Many people choose to buy handmade to support artists. A good blog gives your customer base a glimpse into the lives of the artists they're supporting. Sneak peeks into studio spaces, interviews on artistic beginnings and techniques make for interesting content. You can promote your colleagues and Teammates easily with a blog, and relevant tutorials, tips, tricks and other useful information will keep readers checking in often.

Blogging doesn't come naturally to everyone, so it's best to pick someone on your Team who enjoys blogging to be responsible for posting often. There's no harm in starting a blog to see how it works for your Team, and delegating posting responsibilities will ensure the blog gets updated regularly. Here are some simple steps your Team can take to set up a blog and maintain it successfully.

What types of things would your Team like to cover in its blog? Keep in mind your Team's goals and pick topics that members of your Team feel comfortable and knowledgable enough about to talk about every day: a type of craft, information on where your Team lives, or something that makes your Team unique that will be engaging for your target demographic. Remember, you won't want to be too personal (no gossip!), as this is a professional blog created to drive traffic to your Etsy shops. You want to connect with a specific group of people (your readers and potential customers!) by making the blog fairly specific and full of information, but keeping it broad enough that you can eventually have a pretty large readership.
Find your tone. What type of voice should the blog to have? For example, it can be an instructional blog, you can adopt a professional voice or you can really be yourself. Setting a tone and being consistent makes a blog easy to read.
Blog often. Blogs are an interesting medium because they can literally be up-to-the-minute information. No one wants to read a stale blog.
A wise blogger once told me "No one cares what you had for lunch today." (Unless your blog is all about food, I suppose...) Make sure you're blogging about things that engage your readers!
Include great photos! These could be photos of members' studios or workspaces, little snapshots of members' everyday life, in-progress shots of items, or photos of your Team in action. Photos can make a blog-reader feel like they're being treated to a behind-the-scenes tour.
Have actual content. It's not hard to distinguish between an interesting blog you'd like to revisit and a series of advertisements upon first visiting a blog.
Blog often. This is the most important tip.
Use widgets! Etsy, Twitter, Flickr, Amazon and other sites all have applications you can include in your blog's side bars to keep the page dynamic even when you can't update it. Etsy Minis are a great tool to get your work—and the work of people you admire—noticed without writing dull posts about your own shop over and over again.
Blog often! The more often you blog, the more people will check your blog.
If you find it's not working, don't let your blog sit around decaying! Remove your blog from the web—there's nothing sillier than a blog that hasn't been updated in eight or nine months.

Here are some useful places to get started with a Team blog, or spruce up your existing blog:

http://www.blogger.com — Free online blogging site
http://www.typepad.com — Inexpensive online blogging networking site
http://www.flickr.com/badge.gne — A photo widget that puts photos from your Flickr group onto your blog
http://www.twitter.com — Free mini-updating messaging site
http://www.wordpress.com — Online blogging tool
http://sethgodin.typepad.com — Marketing guru Seth Godin on how to get blog traffic
http://team.etsy.com/blogring.html — Ablog ring of Etsy Team blogs — New blogs are added monthly!

Blogging should be an enjoyable way to get to know your Team better, as well as attract fans (and buyers!) of your work. It's a way to let people meet your Team, and should highlight positive aspects of what you're doing and the things you learn along the way. Exchange links with other bloggers (especially other Teams!), include lots of Etsy Minis, read and comment on other blogs to increase your readership. Have fun!

For more Team Tips, please check the Teams Resource page. Also, we discuss the Team Tips, news and ideas in the Etsy Teams email list! Keep up the great work, Etsy Teams!

Team Tip: Press Releases!

2008-08-18T11:27:00-05:00

In previous Team Tips, we've discussed places and creative ways to promote your Etsy Team and events. Press releases are a tried and true method of getting the word out about what you're doing. A press release is a statement prepared for distribution to the media and a great (and inexpensive!) means of promoting an event. It is basically a mini news story that demonstrates to editors and journalists the newsworthiness of an event or group. There are a few really important things to remember when creating a press release; we outlined some critical points below.

Getting Started

Choose your Targets. Who are the people you want reading this story? Brainstorm all the places that people in your target demographic might visit to find news. If you're a location-based Team, this probably means both on and offline publications. Narrow the list down to the six or eight that you think get the broadest visibility for your Team's event.
Identify your Contacts. Many newspapers, magazines, blogs or news websites will have information somewhere about who to send your press release to. If your press release is for a crafting event, you may want to find the lead arts and entertainment journalist for the publication. Sending your press release to the right person at an organization can make a big difference. Do not spam a contact—have one person from your Team send the press release once for each event. No one likes an inbox crammed full of duplicate information.

Write the Press Release:

Closely follow the standard formatting of a press release. Look at this sample press release for formatting. Since journalists receive so many press releases each day, they have set standards and expectations that you must conform to just to have your release read, let alone published.
Write in the third person. Emulate the language/headlines you see in the publication you'd like to be published in.
Think and write like a reporter! Your goal is to do this so well that the journalist will want to publish your story "as is." The reporter is looking for a story that will satisfy an editor and the readers. They're not interested in promoting you, only in crafting a story that will make readers think "Wow, that's interesting." What makes your story different and special?
The lead paragraph should include the who, what, when, where and whys of the article. If you're promoting a specific event, make sure to include dates and location on your materials. State whether there's an entry fee or RSVP.
Once the details are established, include a quote or statistic if possible to ground your piece, and pertinent links whenever applicable. Link your story to the "big picture." Why is this story news, as opposed to simply being an advertisement for your event?
Include great images. While the press release itself should adhere to formatting rules, additional promotional materials can really help the story shine. Find out what the newspaper/magazine/blog's requirements are for image size and resolution, and stick to those guidelines. Use beautiful photos. Don't overwhelm the reporter, just include a few strong images.
Proofread! Show your press release to people you know who are good writers and harsh critics. Make sure it passes muster before you send it out into the world.

Follow Up
If you have the opportunity, try to ask attendees how they heard about your Team and the event. If it's an online event, follow up via email with buyers to inquire about how they found your shop or items. Share this information among your Team members next time you meet, to determine what the most effective means of promoting was. You might also send strong, clear photographs of the event with a wrap-up report to blogs, papers or other places the press release was published, summarizing the success of the project, and giving dates of future similar events you may be planning.

Team Tips are a weekly series of tips and ideas from the Etsy Teams. You can find more Resources at team.etsy.com. Etsy Teams are growing really quickly, and we love that so many sellers want to join in to promote their shops, Teams and Etsy. For more information on Etsy Teams, check out the Teams pages and this page of Frequently Asked Questions. Don't forget to read our interview with this week's Featured Etsy Team. Keep up the great work, Etsy Teams!

Team Tip: Mentoring Within Your Team

2008-08-11T15:24:00-05:00

Etsy Teams are a great way to network, collaborate on group projects and get advice from fellow sellers. We've noticed that some of the most dynamic and successful Teams do some mentoring for each other — sellers with more experience in certain areas of selling provide expertise and knowledge to sellers seeking advice. These mentoring partnerships within a Team benefit the entire group because as the Team members' shops get better and their products are of a higher quality, it raises the bar for the entire team and increases your sales across the board. You can set up a mentoring program among your Team by:

Determine what areas of expertise would be useful for your Team. This can include things like item photography, the listing process, specific skills for the craft your Team makes, photo editing skills or customer service.
Seek volunteers to be mentors in those areas. Perhaps people new to Etsy can volunteer to mentor in areas they know from previous experience, like issues in making a certain type of product. More experienced Etsy sellers can share their knowledge of using the site with newbies.
Distribute a list of the sellers who volunteered for each area of advice to your Team through email or your private online message board.
Members can get in touch with one another to ask a simple question or seek some coaching on areas they're having issues with. Mentors might also politely reach out to give suggestions to members on how to make the most of their Etsy shops.

Team members are such a wealth of information, and mentoring is not only a wonderful way of improving the quality of your Teammates shops, but also getting to know one another and your strengths and weaknesses as a seller and as a group.

For more Team Tips, please check the Teams Resource page. Also, we discuss the Team Tips, news and ideas in the Etsy Teams email list! Keep up the great work, Etsy Teams!

Team Tip: Card Swap!

2008-08-04T14:52:00-05:00

Card swapping is a low-cost, easy way to get your shop's name out. By swapping cards with members of your Team, you can promote each other's shops by word of mouth and give potential customers something to remember to check it out. Team members personally recommending a shop means the buyer is more likely visit, mark as a favorite, recommend to a friend, or even buy something for themselves. Most Etsy Team members who are sellers have business cards with their Etsy shop addresses on them. There are countless ways to make these cards to promote your shop, including inexpensive ways to make cards yourself, using stamps or having them printed in bulk.

To begin the swap, post publicly however your Team communicates (through email, a Flickr or Google group, etc.) announcing a call for participants in the swap. Card swaps are most effective when the swapping occurs between shops with complementary styles. Consider your target demographic and the demographic of the other shops you are swapping with.
One person should be in charge of collecting all the mailing addresses via email from participants. Set a deadline for sending in addresses (there should be an end date to the swap).
Once the emails are collected, compile a list or spreadsheet with all of the addresses. If there are fewer than 12-15 participants, send the whole spreadsheet to everyone on the list. If there are more than 15-20 participants, break the list into smaller, more manageable lists, and send each list to the members of that list.
Each participant sends a small stack of their business cards to each address on the list.
Once the cards are received, each participant includes cards from other members in packages they mail out from sales in their shop, or distributes the cards in person to potential buyers or at craft shows or markets.

Your Team can organize card swaps as often as you see fit, and organizers can take turns putting the swaps together. Enjoy! And get creative about what types of promo items and cards you swap, and how you distribute the cards you receive from the swap!

For more Team Tips, please check the Teams Resource page. Also, we discuss the Team Tips, news and ideas in the Etsy Teams email list! Keep up the great work, Etsy Teams!

Team Tip: Improved Etsy Teams Blog Ring

2008-07-28T13:00:00-05:00

Ever wish there was a way to browse through all of the Etsy Teams blogs and catch up on all the wonderful, amazing things Teams are up to? Look no further, faithful Etsy Team Blog reader, as we introduce a new Etsy Teams Blog Ring. All Blogs run by Etsy Teams (this Blog Ring is not personal blogs, sorry!) are welcome to join in, and can find instructions on how to do so here.

What is a Blog Ring and why should you check this out? A Blog Ring is links that have been placed in the sidebar of a series of blogs, that enables you to click through and read related blogs. With the Teams Blog Ring, you can now easily flip through to learn what the most active Etsy Teams are up to, find specials, information on events, and learn a lot more about many Etsy Teams. We're really excited about this tool for catching up with fantastic Teams!

There are probably some of you scratching your heads and thinking, "But I thought there was already a Teams blog ring?" And you're right, there was. The previous Teams Blog Ring had some technical issues, so this Teams Blog Ring is the real deal from here on out!

For more Team Tips, please check the Teams Resource page. Also, we discuss the Team Tips, news and ideas in the Etsy Teams email list! Keep up the great work, Etsy Teams!

Team Tip: Etsy Teams Survey!

2008-07-21T11:26:00-05:00

We love getting feedback from the Etsy Teams, because Teams are such a unique and dynamic part of the Etsy Community. This week we've created a survey for Etsy Team members to take. We hope all Team members (all 14,440 of you!) will click the survey link and take the opportunity to give us some insight on how your Team communicates, what you're doing and why you're doing it. It should only take moment or two to answer this short series of questions. This information from you will really help us understand the best and most important ways for us to strengthen the Etsy Teams program. Thanks so much!

Update: Thank you to the many, many Etsy Teams members who took a moment to participate! The survey is now closed.

For more Team Tips, please check the Teams Resource page. Also, we discuss the Team Tips, news and ideas in the Etsy Teams email list! Keep up the great work, Etsy Teams!

Team Tip: Using Email to Promote Your Team

2008-07-14T10:46:00-05:00

Collecting email addresses for your Etsy Team at events is a really great way to develop a community of contacts who are interested in knowing what your Team is planning. All Teams — Local and Virtual alike — should have email address sign up sheets at every event booth any Team members have. In addition to collecting contacts in person, you can also collect them on your Team's blog. To insert a place for people to submit their email addresses on your Team's website, you can get code from a site like Response-O-Matic.com. This code will give you little information fields to put on your site, and send addresses that are submitted to the email address you choose. From there you can use a free or inexpensive email list-serv, or even a service like Google Groups, to manage these contacts and create informative emails for your potential customers.

Here are some email list tips:

Do not be spammy! Don't include email addresses from people who have not willingly given you their information. Emails to people who have chosen to be on your list are more effective, anyway.
Limit how often you send emails to your list. You don't want to clog inboxes! No more than once a week, but ideally only when you have news or an upcoming event is a good rule of thumb.
Have at least one other person proofread the emails before you send them.
Be sure to include ways for people to get more information or contact you. The brilliant thing about an email is that it reminds your customer about your Team and makes it easy for them to follow up by visiting your shop or blog. This is especially great after an in-person show.
Always send emails to a list in a manner which makes all email addresses not visible. Respect information privacy.
Don't forget to include a way for people to unsubcribe to your Team's emails.

For more Team Tips, please check the Teams Resource page. Also, we discuss the Team Tips, news and ideas in the Etsy Teams email list! Keep up the great work, Etsy Teams!

Team Tip: Form a Shop Chain!

2008-07-07T12:20:00-05:00

Now that Etsy sellers have the ability to include live links to other places on Etsy in their shop announcements, public profiles and item listings, Teams have a great opportunity to promote one another from shop to shop! For example, let's say that pheajean, aardwolf, mwmdesigns, insitudecorativearts and JenMcCleary from the Philadelphia Etsy Team decided to form a chain throughout their shops. Setting that up might work a little something like this:

They should all agree on a little blurb of information to include with the live links. For example, a good, descriptive sentence might be, "Click through the shops listed in our announcements to find all the creative work of the Philadelphia Etsy Team," or something similar, followed by a link to the next shop on the list, with the last person linking back to the first shop.

pheajean would post: "Click through the shops listed in our announcements to find all the creative work of the Philadelphia Etsy Team - http://aardwolf.etsy.com" in her shop announcement.

Then aardwolf should include: "Click through the shops listed in our announcements to find all the creative work of the Philadelphia Etsy Team - http://mwmdesigns.etsy.com" in her shop announcement.

Pidge from mwmdesigns would post: "Click through the shops listed in our announcements to find all the creative work of the Philadelphia Etsy Team - http://insitudecorativearts.etsy.com" in her shop announcement.

insitudecorativearts should post: "Click through the shops listed in our announcements to find all the creative work of the Philadelphia Etsy Team - http://JenMcCleary.etsy.com" in her shop announcement.

And JenMcCleary would link back to the top of the list, and write: "Click through the shops listed in our announcements to find all the creative work of the Philadelphia Etsy Team - http://PheaJean.etsy.com" in her shop announcement, bringing the chain to full circle.

Promoting the work of your Team members by promoting their shops is a big way for Etsy sellers to join together to help bring each other success! Be creative about other ways you can all drive more traffic to one another's shops. Forming a strong alliance among your fellow Teammates, encouraging each other and working as a group is what Etsy Teams are all about. We'd love to hear your suggestions in the comments below!

For more Team Tips, please check the Teams Resource page. Also, we discuss the Team Tips, news and ideas in the Etsy Teams email list! Keep up the great work, Etsy Teams!

Team Tip: Make a Plan!

2008-06-30T13:03:00-05:00

For most people, the holiday shopping season seems lightyears away. The weather is drastically different than it will be at the end of the year, and everyone is thinking about free time, lazy days and travelling. But as purveyors of goods and wise marketers, we know that this is the time to begin mapping out your holiday plan, if you haven't already started.

Meet with your Team — either in person, in a chat room or Virtual Lab, or through a Team forum. Discuss what your Team's holiday selling goals are, and your plan to achieve them. There are many things to consider and to start working on. Here's a checklist of ideas to think over:

Do you have a list-serv with email addresses within your demographic? Whenever a Team member has a table at an in-person show in the next few months, have a sign-up sheet for the Team Mailing listso you can collect email addresses from interested buyers. It's never too early to start collecting information!
Is your Team interested in cross-promoting one another's shops? With live links between Etsy shops now active, you can link to related or complementary items in the shops of your Teammates!
Would your Team be interested in cross-promoting or collaborating with another Team so everyone reaches a wider audience? With over 300 Etsy Teams, surely there's another Team that would be a perfect pairing for yours. Leaders can contact one another, brainstorm and begin working out details.
Is your Team's blog living up to its potential? Include Etsy Minis from Team members, a field for readers to give their email addresses to join your list, and update, update, update!
What types of promotional items might be useful, memorable and interesting for your Team to distribute around your local areas?
What other ways can you reach shoppers to get them into your Etsy shops?

Check Team Tips from previous weeks and Team Guides to spark some ideas if you need inspiration. Join Etsy Teams admin in the weekly Team workshops at noon on Thursdays to learn more! By working far enough in advance, you'll also give your Team enough time to apply for a Team Grant, if that fits into your marketing plan. Don't forget the old adage that "failing to plan is planning to fail" — thinking ahead and working together is key!

For more Team Tips, please check the Teams Resource page. Also, we discuss the Team Tips, news and ideas in the Etsy Teams email list! Keep up the great work, Etsy Teams!

Team Tip: Committees!

2008-06-23T13:48:00-05:00

For creative people, working in large groups can be difficult. Everyone has different strengths and weaknesses, and organization among many members can be a daunting task. The best solution is to group your Team into different committees, according to people's time and talents. This gives everyone a chance to get involved, and helps delegate the work from one or two people onto the group as a whole.

Some ideas for Team Committees for getting things done might include (but are, of course, in no way limited to):

Membership: This committee would work together to get new members in the loop of communication and make them feel welcome on the Team. A member would be in contact with teams@etsy.com to keep the Team's profile page up to date, and the committee might coordinate keeping contact information for the membership up to date.
Outreach: Reaching out to other communities on the internet and in real life is an important aspect of promoting your Team. An outreach committee might consist of people who like to keep the Team's blog fresh, exchanging links with other blogs (other Etsy Teams are probably great candidates for this!), helping to ensure great photos are added to the Team's Flickr pool and writing press releases for notable events your Team is undertaking. You can also submit photos of your Team's goings-on to the Etsy in Action flickr pool (there's a feed in the Storque's Events Section).
Treasuries: Yes! Everyone loves making Treasuries! Curating beautiful Treasuries full of items made by your Team members means a chance for your Team to land some time on the front page. Be sure to include your Team's name somewhere in the Treasury name or description.
Design: Does your Team have members with graphic design skills? You should form a small committee dedicated to making beautiful banners and graphics for your Team's blog, which are also great for personal blogs or in extra photos on item listings in Team shops. This committee should also undertake making flyers (for printing or posting virtually around the web) and just making sure things are aesthetically pleasing and consistent with the message your Team wishes to spread.
Ideas: This committee is charged with the responsibility of brainstorming what the Team's next moves should be. The Idea Committee should read the Team Guides and weekly Team Tips, as well as the Team Digests, to inspire their own ideas and see what has worked for other Teams.

These are just some ideas to get you started organizing a large group of creative people among people who all want to achieve the same thing. Yay teamwork! A strict, stringent hierarchical system of long titles and assigning authority doesn't seem very Etsian. Every Team will be different, based on the expertise and time availability of its members, and we want to hear what's worked for you too. Post in the comments below: how has your Team facilitated productivity?

Team Tips are a weekly series of tips and ideas from the Etsy Teams. You can find more Teams Guides and Resources at team.etsy.com. Etsy Teams are growing really quickly, and we love that so many sellers want to join in to promote their shops, Teams and Etsy. For more information on Etsy Teams, check out the Teams pages and this page of Frequently Asked Questions. Keep up the great work, Etsy Teams!

Team Tip: Creative Marketing for your Team

2008-06-16T12:07:00-05:00

In marketing, just getting your name out there is great. But what's better than simply advertising yourself? Doing so in a really creative, memorable way. The best marketing tactics are the kind that people want to tell their friends about and really stick out in people's minds.

A few weeks ago in a weekly Teams Workshop in the Virtual Labs, a member of the fairly new Etsy Team EtsyPHAT (the Etsy Plants and Horticulture Arts Team) mentioned a promotional item their Team had designed — seed packets intended to be used for "guerrilla gardening" (read more about it in this Storque article!) — a slightly anarchist approach to greening abandoned open spaces. This very idea was intriguing to me from its first mention, since I live in South Philadelphia, an urban area in need of any greening we can get. And, lo and behold, a little package full of seed packets from EtsyPHAT appeared at the Etsy Labs recently. The handmade packets clearly promote EtsyPHAT, with the address of the Team's blog and instructions to search for their team tag on Etsy on the front, with directions on how to make use of the seed packet on the back. So brilliant!

Take a little time, schedule a brainstorming session with your Team, and consider how your Team can think outside the typical marketing box to creatively market itself — who is your Team's audience, and how can you engage them?

For more Team Tips, please check the Teams Resource page. Also, we discuss the Team Tips, news and ideas in the Etsy Teams email list! Keep up the great work, Etsy Teams!

EGCG | Trashion | EcoEtsy | Environmentally Friendly Gift Guides | Earth Tones Series

Team Tip: Growing Your Team

2008-06-02T10:37:00-05:00

Team Tips are a weekly series of tips and ideas from the Etsy Teams. You can find more Teams Guides and Resources at team.etsy.com.

Are you a Team that wants to be far-reaching and have lots and lots of members? Or do you think you'll accomplish more as a small, solid, core group of really active Etsy sellers? There are pros and cons to having a super big or very small Etsy Team. Thus, the question becomes: how should Teams attract new members, if that's something you're interested in doing?

Big Teams mean lots of members spreading the word — promoting each other's shops, linking to and from all sorts of blogs, talking up your big events. It requires an extraordinairy amount of organization, teamwork and communication. Thus, you need to make sure all members are helping the Team achieve its goal, and that everyone is on the same page in terms of what your Team is about, what's expected of members, and the information you're spreading.

Some Teams opt to cap membership at a number that they feel is effective for working toward their goals. If you seek membership to a Team that isn't accepting members at the moment, never fear: there are literally hundreds of other Teams you might join, or you can start a new Team. Having a limited number of members might mean your Team's work is juried, so that you know every member is selling goods that mesh with the feel of the Team. Or perhaps a local Team feels it's too hard for a group bigger than a certain number of people to meet or organize local events. Whatever the reason, if a Team isn't accepting new members, don't take it personally! Step back and re-evaluate to find another Team to join.

Members of EtsyDUST in Sydney, photo by EstaSketch on Flickr

If your Team is using the convo tool to find new members, you might have butted heads with Etsy's infamous spam-bot. While it's great for blocking spammers trying to convo many people in rapid succession, the 'bot does make it hard for Team members to shoot convo's to multiple sellers quickly.

An important point to remember: there's no need for sending copy-and-pasted conversations to recruit. While a short note indicating that a seller is a great fit for your team is friendly, you don't want to organize a mass campaign of spam from your Team. Convos to potential Team members should be personal and genuine, sent to individuals from individuals. Don't try to "sell" people on your Team — odds are people you recruit via mass convo won't make very active members anyway.

What are good ways to expand your Team?
Your Team Leader should include joining information on your Profile page. In the "How To Join" area, indicate if you're seeking great new members (it's also helpful to say that Team is not accepting new members on your Profile page, if that is the case). Write up information about how to join on your Team's blog or social networking pages. Spread the word via your individual shop announcements or in the Etsy Forums. There are lots of ways to get the message that you're growing as a group out there.

Etsy Teams are growing really quickly, and we love that so many sellers want to join in to promote their shops, Teams and Etsy. For more information on Etsy Teams, check out the Teams pages and this page of Frequently Asked Questions. Keep up the great work, Etsy Teams!

Team Tip: Guides for Teams!

2008-05-26T14:51:00-05:00

With so many new Teams forming very quickly (over 530 Teams at last count!), we know there are lots of questions out there in the community. So, now we're presenting lots of places to find answers! There is the Teams area of the Etsy Forums, a Team Calendar, or check out the Guides written specifically to answer commonly asked Teams questions at the Teams pages.

Some of our favorite, most helpful guides for Teams include:

There are also resources, downloads and more at http://team.etsy.com (see the little blue "teams" link at the bottom of every page on Etsy or find a link on the Community page). Check to make sure other members of your Team know this useful information and how to find it! Spread the word!

For more Team Tips, please check back each week. Also, you can keep up with Team Tips, news and ideas by signing up for the Etsy Teams email list! Keep up the great work, Etsy Teams!

Team Tip: Naming Your Event or Promotion

2008-05-19T15:38:00-05:00

Team Tips are a weekly series of tips and ideas from the Etsy Teams. You can find more Teams Guides and Resources at team.etsy.com.

Your Team is planning the biggest, raddest event ever, and all you need now to blow it up, promote it and let people know it's happening is — a name. There are infinite possibilities, and since you're so excited about your amazing Etsy Team, you might want to include Etsy in the name. This week's Tip is an explanation of why this isn't always the best idea.

When Teams or other groups use the word "Etsy" when naming an event, people get confused about Etsy's role. For example, SarahSays notes that if a group uses the word "Etsy" in their event's name without getting permission first from Etsy, this can be legally problematic. Additionally, it can be problematic for the group running the event. For example, if a group names their event "Etsy World," the public will likely get confused and assume that Etsy is running or sponsoring the event. Because of the name, people will approach Etsy, and not the Team or the proper contact person, to request additional information about set-up times, tax issues and other event details. Since Etsy is not actually running the event, Etsy can't answer these questions.

This is frustrating to the people who want to get involved! The misnaming contributes to many missed communications and opportunities. To avoid these issues, Teams should cautiously consider how to name and promote their events. You can find more information on Etsy's trademark in this article.

So, how to let your shoppers know it's an Etsy Team event while keeping all the above in mind?

First, choose a name that catches the spirit of the event. What do the participants have in common (aside from your love of Etsy, of course)? Perhaps you all have a dedication to handmade, a specific medium, a location or a theme. For example, the Etsy Team in Boston created a recognizable brand for their events. This team uses the name "Boston Handmade" and brands their events likewise. Their giant event planned for June is called the "Boston Handmade Marketplace," and they're advertising that it features more than 20 Etsy sellers. This way people will be more likely to understand Etsy's role and what to expect from the event.

Second, include a brief description after the event name. You can include your Etsy URL on any promotional goods. For instance, after the title of the Event, you can write "with work by yoursellername.etsy.com" or "featuring 20 Etsy sellers." Or you can promote the event as something like "World Wide Crafts: Featuring Artists of Etsy.com."

It's important to keep in mind that, though we love all of the Etsy Teams, if Etsy is not directly sponsoring your event — give your Team the credit!

For more Team Tips, please check the Teams Resource page. Also, we discuss the Team Tips, news and ideas in the Etsy Teams email list! Keep up the great work, Etsy Teams!

Team Tip: Post Your Event!

2008-05-12T12:28:00-05:00

Team Tips are a weekly series of tips and ideas from the Etsy Teams. You can find more Teams Guides and Resources at team.etsy.com.

We get a lot of requests to publish events in various places around Etsy. We totally understand that your Team wants to promote itself and its amazing events. Since there are an ever-growing number of Teams (530 at last count!) and so many great things happening, we publish as many events as we can in the Team Calendar, which you can find on the Teams hub.

So where should you promote your Team event? Sites like Going.com let people browse by interest. Or you can have a group for fans of your Team on Meetup.com, for example, and let them know when your Team has an event. If you're a Global Team, you each live somewhere specific, so think about all the resources at your Team's disposal if everyone on the Team is promoting on location-based sites all around the world, all over the web.

Consider your town or city — is there a local forum or blog that lists things happening around town? Does your town's tourism board have a blog? Then, there's always good old Craigslist, a relatively easy and completely free way to post about your event and provide links to your Team's blog or shops. Also, think about specialized shopping sites — DailyCandy.com has different sites for different cities around the country; your Team might consider sending in a press release to a site that appeals to your Team's demographic.

The best thing to do is take a moment to consider what you read and where you get your information. How do you decide what to do on a weekend? The listings in a weekly paper? A blog full of local nightlife? Word of mouth through social networking sites? A local magazine with information on art shows? Check out how much a small ad or write-up is in the places you read, and if the publication is available online or only in print. More resources than you think are probably free.

For more Team Tips, please check back each week! We'll be posting tips here in the Storque, as well as on the Teams Resource page. You can also keep up with Team Tips, news and ideas by signing up for the Etsy Teams email list! Keep up the great work, Etsy Teams!

Team Tips: Etsy Mini Swap!

2008-05-05T09:16:00-05:00

This Team Tip is to exchange Etsy Minis with another team! Use at least one blog post this week to highlight the exceptional handmade goods of another team — a complimentary Global Team's work, or the wares of a Team from cross the country or around the world. You can contact the leader of the team you'd like to highlight (check the Teams profile page to figure out who that is) and get the Mini embed code from them, or mark their work as favorites to make a Mini yourself. This is a great way to become familiar with one of the many new Etsy Teams that are always forming, or to promote a Team you really admire. To find out how to use the Etsy Mini tool see this past Team Tip!

Check out some Teams using Etsy Minis in a fantastic way on their blogs, and leave a comment below if your Team is using some Etsy Minis in its blog!

Etsy Vintage: EtsyVintageDirectory.blogspot.com
Jewelry on Etsy Team: Jewelryonetsyteam.blogspot.com
Arts in Rhode Island: Arts-in-ri.blogspot.com
SF Etsy: SFEtsy.blogspot.com

For more Team Tips, please check the Teams Resource page. Also, we discuss the Team Tips, news and ideas in the Etsy Teams email list! Keep up the great work, Etsy Teams!