I started selling since the summer and I've spent so much time learning the ropes on this forum. I had my fingers crossed this month that I'd finally make my hundredth sale and I finally did it! I'm so excited. I'm always excited with every single sale, but this, next to my very first sale, is making me do an extra special happy dance!

Honestly, I don't really think there are any tips I can really give that hasn't already been shared over and over on the forums.. I still feel like a novice seller. Now I feel like I need to work that much harder to make the next hundred sales.. but now to make them more quickly and efficiently.

But some of the most helpful things I've learned so far..

* Don't give up. Seriously. Keep trying. No one usually finds success after a week or a month or even several months. You NEED to be patient. I can't tell you how many posts I've seen with people asking why they haven't sold any items.. and they've been opened for less than a week. These things can take time.

* Don't expect to list a few items and expect everyone to flock to you. I am not the greatest at advertising offsite but I do have a facebook page, a twitter account, I'm on deviantart, tumblr, pinterest, etc. Social marketing is not my forte though but they are helpful. I remember one time I listed one of my prints on tumblr and found that someone reblogged it, saying that they just bought it and how happy they were! I was BEAMING that day!

* You need more items. Period. Keep listing new items as often as you can. Have as many listings as you can possibly manage. This is vital. You can't be seen if you aren't listing. I don't tend to renew, but I have tried to list new items every day, and now that I've been opened X number of months, I also have a steady stream of items that expire daily. This way if I don't have any brand new listings, I still have about-to-expire items that I can relist. See what works for you.

* if you're not listing new items, constantly tweak those old listings. Tweak titles, descriptions, tags. Brush up on your SEO, and if you don't know what that means, learn as much as you can about it. Take more photographs. Then retake them. Use up all of those 5 photo slots. Take photographs from different angles. From all angles. I'm in the process of redoing photos right now and it can be such a mindless task but it's important. And please use lots of natural light, turn on that macro button, and don't use flash unless you really know how to use it well.

* Be polite and prompt with messages and inquiries. Stay professional. If you don't take your shop and service seriously, no one else will. This also means quick shipment. These things get noticed! Try to be a little personable with your shipments too. Something as small as a little 'thank you' note can be greatly appreciated.

* Be as informative as you can in your descriptions. Describe as much as you can about the item you're trying to sell. How it looks, how it feels, the colours, the size, the weight, how the items are packaged, how they'll be shipped. Your customers want to know all this and more.

* Get a scale to weigh your packages. You don't want to come up with shipping charges off the top of your head because you're more than likely undercharging. Don't fall into that trap.

* Don't sell yourself short. Don't price your items so that you're making $2 an hour. Your time and your craft is worth much more than that and great customers know this.

* It doesn't hurt to ask for help. One of the best things I did was to look for critique teams. Fellow Etsians are so helpful and they can catch things that you can work on that you may have never thought of before.

* Always keep trying to learn. If you think you know all there is to know about selling on Etsy, then you are wrong. There is ALWAYS more to learn and do; that's what makes this site so great.

Lastly.. have fun! If you're passionate about your craft, it really does show. Have a little fun, relax, breathe and maybe have a cup of tea. It helps.

Posted at 9:13 pm Feb 23, 2012 EST