What to do when sales are slow

What can you do while sales are slow to make things better?

First of all: relax! There will always be slow months in the year and sometimes you just have to ride them out. That doesn't mean not do anything, but it does mean to try not to stress about it.

Some other suggestions include:

Increasing your facebook ads. I know this may seem a little scary to spend more money while things are slow, but it can genuinely increase sales and interest. You have to spend money to make money. 

So if you already have an ad running, try upping your daily limit, or try promoting specific posts. If you don't have an ad currently running, this is the time to do so!

The post about Facebook Ads: CLICK ME 

You can also add a few more ads to related blogs / websites. If you already have one, add a few more for a one month deal with some other sites. You can also see about paying a little more on the websites you are currently on and get a better spot (ex. a bigger ad, or higher up on the page). 

The post about Sponsorship Ads: CLICK ME

Some free ideas to up your sales would be to really go full bore with your free marketing. Get onto Twitter like crazy, start finding more followers on instagram, post all your awesome items on every free social media site you are on. Just don't stop. 

This is usually the best time to sit down and clean up your shop, remove items that aren't selling, work on your blog or website, update everything you may have fallen behind on. A slow month can be great for "Spring Cleaning". You know all those new products you haven't had the time for? Find the time! It's time to get those online! Show off all your new products so people remember why they should buy from you even though maybe money is a little tight that month. 

The post about Free Marketing: CLICK ME

Another Stats Update!

Here is one last statistic update for a while!

These statistics start September 16th /13 until March 23/14

The best day for both sales and admirers on etsy is still Sunday!

The second best day for both sales and admirers is still Monday.

I've also discovered for what ever reason that Thursday has the most sales. Now that could be a fluke but I've been doing these statistics for a while now so it may say something.

These are averages based on the statistics:

Best time for sales: 9AM - 5PM

Best time for admirers: 10AM - 8PM

The least busy days for online sales & admirers are Friday & Saturday. This doesn't mean these days aren't important, but if you find the same thing with your shop, maybe those can be your new days off. 

On a daily bases:

Mondays 8AM - 8PM Admirers / 8AM - 3PM Sales

Tuesdays 10AM - 6PM Admirers / 12PM - 5PM Sales

Wednesdays 10AM - 8PM Admirers / 11AM - 8PM Sales

Thursday 10AM - 9PM Admirers / 5AM - 4PM Sales

Friday 10AM - 6PM Admirers / 8AM - 2PM Sales

Saturday 11AM - 8PM Admirers / 11AM - 4PM Sales

Sunday 9AM - 9PM Admirers / 8AM - 11PM Sales

Now to be clear these statistics are based solely on my own person experiences. But I do believe that they give good averages to when the online world is busy shopping and window shopping. 

Ruby Lane

What is Ruby Lane? 

Ruby lane is a website not unlike Etsy that specializes in Vintage and Antique items only. So this site is not for handmade goods. 

Some benefits to selling through Ruby Lane:

Fixed Price Format:

"Unlike some venues, Ruby Lane shops sell items at set prices rather than in an auction format. Our optional Make-An-Offer setting further entices buyers - our software can automatically accept, counter or reject offers for you! You can also use our Send To Auction feature which allows you to conveniently showcase your shop's items on eBay and other sites."

-You're also dealing with a much more specialized website which means the people shopping are looking for those older pieces and likely not just browsing "purple dresses" in an open search on etsy.

How their pricing works: -it's a little bit complicated but it may come out cheaper than etsy in the long run because they do not take a cut of your sales.

"Ruby Lane's simple tiered pricing structure is affordable even for small sellers. No commissions! For accounts registered before January 1, 2014: a one-time fee of 30 cents to add each item; for accounts registered starting January 1, 2014: a one-time fee of 39 cents per item which includes Advanced Image Processing fee; a once a month maintenance fee where the first 150 items is 30 cents for each item, and then each item over 150 and up to 1000 is 20 cents, and then each item over 1000 is 1 cent (minimum $24 per month); an advertising fee of $30 per month per shop. There are no additional hidden costs or contracts. "

Here is an example of what a search looks like through Ruby Lane:

Big Cartel & Storenvy

So these following sites, Big Cartel & Storenvy, are for hand made goods and related items.

Starting with Big Cartel

I actually think their front page has a great summary of what they are. 

If it's too small to read: Big Cartel provides you with your own independent store to sell your stuff online. There are over 400,000 clothing designers, bands, record labels, jewelry makers, and other artists using this hosting site. They offer affordable (or free!) pricing plans to fit your needs and budget. They do not take a cut of your sales.

Big Cartel functions a lot like Shopify. 

Here are a few examples of sites hosted through Big Cartel:

Herriott Grace

Winter Cabin Collection

Check out their "tour" to get a better idea of what they offer:

How their pricing works:

So like it explains, Big Cartel really is for smaller shops. If you are a bigger business with over 300 products, sites like Shopify start making more sense. 

Next up is Storenvy!

Once again this is an online e-commerce platform. Storenvy, unlike Big Cartel or Shopify, have a bit more of an Etsy feel. There is a common market place where your listings get seen as well as having your own site. 

This as they describe, basically gives you two stores in one. You have your private site and your market place site. This gives you twice as many chances for sales.

The interesting this about this site is that it's actually free! So for those of you selling hand made goods, what's the harm in giving it a try?

When I read that it was free I myself was thinking there's got to be a catch but here is a quote from their site:

"It’s free! What’s the catch?

There is no catch! We believe that everyone should have access to an awesome online store to grow their business. After you open your store, you can choose to pay for a few Extras to enhance your store such as Custom Domain support and Super Discounts."

So if you are interested in having a custom domain it's only $5 a month! It's also only $5.00 to host a sale on your site. This is where the website makes its money. 

Both of these sites (and Shopify as well) are extremely easy to navigate so if you have any further questions, go to the sites and look around. I know that when I've had questions with Shopify, they have got back to me (by email) very quickly and have been nothing but polite! So don't hesitate to send off an email or two with any questions to the sites themselves as well.

Lastly, I will go over Ruby Lane for those of you who sell vintage and antique items!

Other Websites to Sell Through

I think we have gone over some of the most important parts of running and maintaining a shop through etsy. I would now like to present to you a few other websites that you can sell through.

For Handmade & Vintage items:

Shopify

For just hand made items:

Big Cartel

Storenvy

For just Vintage / Antique items:

Ruby Lane

Let's start with Shopify:

(Just to help break this all up I will dedicate the rest of this post to Shopify, then a separate post for Big Cartel & Storenvy then one last one about Ruby Lane. This way it is easier for you to search the one you are looking for. 

Anyways, again let's start with Shopify!

What is Shopify and how is it different than etsy?

A quote from their website:

"Shopify includes everything you need to setup an online store, including free web-based store building software, unlimited ecommerce website hosting, and more" 

This website is to help you branch outside of selling on etsy, and having your own private site. 

The benefits:

-Your own private site means you can sell any legal thing you want. It no longer has the follow the etsy rules and guidelines. 

-You pay a monthly fee to shopify to maintain your side (there are a few options) instead of paying per listing and per sale. Depending on how your sales are going, it can actually be a lot less money every month to host a website than pay etsy. The only difference is that you have to pay that fee every month even if you have a slow month. 

-Shopify is becoming more and more known as a trust worthy site, so buyers are still just as likely to trust you as a seller if you are hosting through shopify.

-They have a 14 day free trial which is risk free and can give you an idea as to whether or not it's what you want for your business.

-You can have both shopify and etsy, just be careful if you have one of a kind items that they don't both sell and that you remove the listing from the other site when it sells on the other.

-Building your own website can be extremely expensive and time consuming. This does all of the back end work for you. They have plenty of templates to choose from to make your shop unique and personalized to your and your business.

I suggest watching their quick video on the front page!

Here are some examples of websites that use Shopify to host their shops:

Black Milk Clothing

So Worth Loving

Hard Graft

Check out the links above the images and navigate through their websites. Look how different each one is and yet how clean and professional they look. 

So what's the cost?

(info found here)

After your 14 day free trial, if you are still a little uneasy, this is what the $14 a month option includes:

I personally have a few friends that use this website and enjoy it. Next we will discuss bigcartel & storenvy

Pinterest

Using Pinterest for free marketing!

What is Pinterest? Pinterest is a website full of images. Remember all of those inspiration boards and collages you made as a kid from old magazines and newspaper clippings? Well, this is the online version! You can have different "boards" for different subject matter. Many businesses including large brands like Saks Fifth Avenue have started using this site as a marketing tool!

So first of all after creating an account - make this account about your business - it can have some personal interests but don't go too far - make a board for your shop for example: "Freaky Friday Shop".

Most boards afterwards should be things related to your business and lifestyle. If you want to have other boards for yourself you can have "private" boards that only you can see! 

The next few pictures will both show how to create a board and how to make a board "private" if you so choose!

Now, you're probably wondering about the other options, and how to pin! The top option as seen in the image above, is to "upload a pin". This is to upload a pin from your computer. Pretty simple. The next one is "add from a website". This one is also pretty simple. Grab the URL from the website or the image itself and type it in. It will then pull up any images it can find. You can then pin whichever image you desire onto whichever board you where planning to.

Some tricks:

Want to pin your etsy items? This will upload your main photo for your etsy listing. It will also link to your listing if anyone clicks on the image!

Okay, but what if you want a different picture from that listing? Good question!

First you choose the images and right click on it. Click "copy image URL". Then upload from website on pinterest. Copy / Paste it in, choose the image and pin it to the appropriate board. 

Once you've pinned the image to your board, go to that board and find the image. Once you've found it click on that little button on the right that looks like a pencil. It's the edit button! 

Then go back to your original etsy listing and copy paste the listing's URL into the website location. This way it will still link anyone who clicks on the image to your etsy listing. Otherwise it will just link to your image with no ideas of where to find the item for sale. 

Also, start finding that community of businesses, friends, acquaintances that are all related to your business and follow them. You can also choose to un-follow any boards you are not interested in seeing on your feed. 

The point of this website is to get people to see your images and "re-pin" them onto their boards. The further that image can travel, the more chances of sales and general traffic to your shop. This can lead to sales so it's worth spending a little time on, at least when you have new product to introduce. 

Some little things

 I was recently thinking about some little things that may help along the way but are not big enough to write a whole post about!

1) Another shipping option: shipping in the states. Depending on where you live, if you are close to the boarder (relatively) and have a high volume of sales, it can be a lot cheaper to cross the border into the United States and ship from there. If you do so, go once or twice a week and make sure your policies state how often you go.

2) Finding Facebook groups in your world. For me, I found a couple of groups for vintage lovers and I often post new items on the group and make a few extra sales that way. Just search tag words related to your business and see what you find! Again, it's good to be part of the community!

3) Make sure you've been keeping your finances organized. Keep all of your business receipts, keep track of all your business spending, and all of your sales. Also keep track of what you've been spending on shipping because you may find in the end that you've spent a little out of pocket on it and that should be written off in your end of year taxes. 

Customer Service - Negative Feedback

Hopefully, you will never have to deal with this: negative feedback. However, there are crazy people out there that are simply never happy with anything and don't realize what effect their feedback has on you and your business.

So how do you deal with this? 

Calmly.

If you are anything like me, you will get really upset, want to cry / kick / scream / etc! So if you've noticed negative feedback and you start feeling this way... wait. Take a walk, calm down, wait until the morning. Even open up a typing program and write down all of the things you wish you could say to them. (but don't - and don't even do it in a message to them thinking you'll erase it because you don't want to accidentally send it) Once you've calmed down, then deal with it.

Remember, you still want your customers to be happy, and luckily a customer can change their feedback so try to make them happy.

I will say that some customers will never be happy. - I once had a lady convinced that the dress she bought was cream and not pink like described in the listing... the dress was pink. Some people just don't get it, or want to be picky. 

Obviously each negative feedback will be over a different issue and will need to be dealt with differently every time. The important thing is too stay calm, and ask them what you can do to make them happy with their purchase. Whether that be a return, an exchange, a discount on a future item, etc. Even if it is their problem, or their fault they are having this issue, don't remind them of that. Keep things neutral. Just remember that confrontation will keep both of you upset and can escalate the problem further. 

Hopefully by the end you will have come to a happy conclusion and they will have changed that feedback. Yes, in the end you may have had to make a sacrifice or two, but your feedback is worth it! You want people to trust you as a seller!

What if nothing I do pleases them? 

One more lucky thing that etsy has done recently, you can now leave a public response to their feedback. Don't leave this feedback until after you have tried to resolve the issue because once you've commented they can no longer change their feedback.

In your public response remember to explain the situation and defend yourself but do not get angry. You want people to know that you've done everything to rectify the situation and it's the customer who wasn't cooperating. 

Hopefully that helps, it's always a bummer when it happens but it can be fixed!! So no giving up! :) 

Shipping at Home - Online

Tired of walking over to the post office all the time? Well there is a solution! You can actually do all of this at home!

What you need:

-To sign up with Canada Post (which is what we will be going over in this post)
-a credit card or pre paid credit card

-Shipping supplies including:

-envelopes or boxes, tape, the packaging you use for your products, scissors, packing tape, etc

-a printer with black ink (so a laser printer works as well)

-paper

-a scale that measures in grams or kilograms

(I found mine in a thrift store which is not uncommon ((so keep your eye out)) otherwise you can find them at "nood" - http://www.nood.co.nz/betty-scales.html)

Making yourself a little shipping station with a little table and somewhere to put all of the supplies is usually helpful I find. 

So let's start off with signing up for online shipping! **I'll note that while you sign up, also sign up for a "venture one" card! They are free and they save you money on every item you ship and you gather points as well!

www.canadapost.ca

First you are going to click on "business" in the upper right hand corner. 

When you scroll down the page you will notice these options on the right hand side: click on "ship online"

Next you will choose "EST Desktop 2.0" by clicking "get started"

Next you will see this page which gives you the option to sign up. Fill in your information and remember to register for a "venture one" card!

Once you are all signed up you will see this page for now on to sign in from:

This will lead you here: which you will then click on the first option that says "EST - Electronic Shipping Tool"

Which then leads you here where you can finally begin to ship! Choose the destination you are planning to ship to (this can be changed for every individual order)

Then from there you will continue to fill in all of the information needed. You will also notice that on the side there are a few options for other places to ship, so you can always click those when you need to change shipping locations. All of Canada is grouped as one, all of the USA is grouped as one, and then everywhere else is grouped together.

At the bottom you will notice that it needs the size and weight of your package. 

So at this point you should already have it packaged up. This is usually how I get all of my information ready before even logging into Canada Post:

First of all I write the name of the customer on the package so I do not get them confused with other orders. I then put them on my scale to get a weight.

I then write it below the name then proceed to measure the size of the package. You will need the length, width, and height of the package.

By the end it has this information on it: Name, weight, and measurements.

Now that you have the info you need, you can finish filling out step one. Now you're onto step two and you must pick a shipping option. Sadly it does not give you the price until the end but you can always go back and change it before purchasing.

Next step is to fill out the customs form. Make sure to fill it out to the best of your ability as to not have it held up or have any troubles at the border. If you are shipping within Canada, you will not have to fill out this information.

Lastly, it's time to pay. You should hopefully have your credit card all set up to pay which you then fill in the info here. I personally had some troubles syncing my credit card to the payment so if you have any issues call the Canada Post help line and they will guide you through it!

Lastly, print that label out and tape it onto your package. Be careful not to bend or wrinkle any of it - especially the barcode!

Also, next time you stop by your local post office, ask if you can have a handful of "air mail" stickers and "fragile" stickers (only if you need the fragile ones).

They should give them to you. So anything you mail out that isn't going as "surface mail" should have one "air mail" sticker on the front and one on the back of every package. This way it gets mailed out correctly.

Oh, and the true last thing to do:

Slip your packages into your local post box! 

Now, if your item is too big to fit in a post box, then you can take them over to your local post office and drop them off there. Luckily, since they are already paid for, you do not have to wait in line and can just hand them over to the person working. 

You can not print out normal post - the equivalent of a stamp online so if you need to send things in this method just pick up a book of stamps. 

Giveaways part 2

So we have gone over only a couple giveaways that I have seen be successful although it's important to know that there are many many others.

Secondly, we did not go over what to include in a giveaway.

That is partially up to you. You can choose a specific item you are giving away, or a dollar value. You can even choose a dollar value for a specific area / section in your shop. The giveaway does not need to be over the top, although it should be enough to make people interested. 

Here is an example for instagram:

Here is an example for Facebook:

Here are a few blog giveaway examples: 
http://www.norafinds.com/post/75196785459/vintage-runway-giveaway
http://luckylucille.com/2013/11/vintage-pattern-giveaway-and-coupon-code/

Giveaways part 1

There are many ways and kinds of giveaways. 

Different giveaways will bring in different types of attention whether that be to your shop directly, to gain new followers on instagram or facebook, but in the end it's all to gain more sales. 

Here are just a few examples of giveaways that I commonly see etsy users using. 

1) a giveaway through a popular blog

-this can mean a few different things: when I did this, the blog did a feature on my and my shop with an interview and had a giveaway at the end.

Some blog giveaway just have a quick description of your shop and then explain the giveaway details.

Remember to include a related grasping photograph and links to all related sites. Most times when you do a giveaway you should have part of the entry requirements be to like your site on at least 1 or 2 specific social media sites followed up by admiring your shop online. 

This will help bring attention directly to your shop as well as your key social media outlets.

2) a giveaway through instagram or facebook

-create an image that will attract customers, put a text on that image with the giveaway details. Make sure if it's through instagram to have them both tag @ and # your shop's tag name. 

If you are doing a giveaway yourself, make sure you truly pick your winner at random. 

I saw one shop I follow recently go viral with their image on instagram. I thought it was brilliant. 

This method of giveaway will help build a bigger audience on your instagram or facebook. These are great because it is where you should be posting all your updates which will lead them to your site. 

Customer Service

So this subject of customer service will come up again and again. I will basically be posting about it in parts. Today I'm going to go over some of the basics and how to deal with difficult people.

The reality is, just like in any business, you're going to find difficult customers - especially on etsy.

You will eventually get used to having to answer tones of questions, including having to go out of your way to take additional photos / measurements and then have them never reply or purchase from you. But it's important to do it anyways, because it does often lead to a sale and you don't want to miss out! (side note, if you commonly get asked about a specific measurement or photo maybe it's time to start including that in the future so you don't get the messages anymore)

You will also have to get used to people trying to haggle. Sometimes, especially if they are buying a lot of stuff, or a repeat customer it's nice to give a bit of a discount (but that is entirely up to you as the seller). Only you know what you can afford to do. You will also find people trying to haggle over the price of one item, and again that is up to you if you accept it.

 The hardest thing I personally find, is when someone tries to low-ball you. For example: "Would you take $5?" when the item is listed for $100. The reality is, you don't even need to respond. If you'd like to, stay polite. Just say something as simple as "thank you for your offer but I have to pass". It's one of those things where you will want to say "HECK NO, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? DON'T YOU KNOW I WORK HARD TO EARN THIS MONEY?" but that only causes confrontation. So again, either be polite, or don't bother responding. They know what they are asking and they know it's rude.

You will also notice that no matter how blunt you've made your policy page about returns / exchanges, and so on, people will buy something and want to fight those policies. Especially if they are unhappy for what ever reason. So again, it's important to stay calm and polite. Remember, they can leave you negative feedback regardless of whether or not they are in the wrong.

That's not to say you can't reinforce your policies and send them the link to your policy page. Sometimes, if they are being really pushy, it is best to find a middle ground you are both happy with even if it's outside of your policies. In the end you really do want your customer to be happy, and you'd like them to come back again. 

I will continue to go over other pieces of info & advice surrounding the subject of Customer Service. 

Photographing in Gray Scale vs. White

One of the struggles I found I would run into having a white background recently was that not all colours would show up correctly. I'd also struggle with having the background turn out more yellow or blue depending on the weather or the colour of the piece I was photographing. 

(notice how it's hard to see the details within the red dress, and how the other dress has a very yellow background - and that's after photoshop)

So, after some research, I've come to the conclusion that a gray wall might help.

When professional photographers are setting up a photoshoot they often use a "kodak 18% gray" card which does the following:

"The KODAK Gray Card Plus has the property of reflecting red, green, and blue in equal amounts, which greatly facilitates postproduction and color grading."

Read more: http://motion.kodak.com/motion/Education/Publications/Shooting/grayCard(2).htm#ixzz2tihRgkBF

This means that it can help pick up the colours correctly. Now, I tried painting my wall 18% grey (code 6000N with Dulux Paint), but it is simply too dark for the look I'm going for.

After much reading I've come to the conclusion that lighter shades of grey will still work and not be so harsh. 

So if you find yourself struggling with having a white background, this might be a good solution.

Here are a few examples of a successful grey background. 

 https://www.etsy.com/shop/BeeJayKay?ref=fp_treasury_4

 https://www.etsy.com/shop/RuthieJax?ref=pr_faveshops

https://www.etsy.com/shop/machinedance?ref=search_shop_redirect

https://www.etsy.com/shop/DearGolden