How to open your shop on Etsy and create branding for small business
From the beginning of the human existence, handicraft was something that helped people survive and make the life better. The first clothes made out of fur and tendons quickly morphed into art pieces: embroidery, applique, painted designs… It’s like everyone is a fashionista now!
And why not to be it if the craftsmanship is a great way to coin it in? And fortunately modern talents don’t have to bank on the powers of the word of mouth, there are plenty of convenient online platforms that make selling super easy. One of the most popular is Etsy and this post will tell you every possible trick of opening a successful shop on it and using the magic of branding to make the money rain on you.
What’s Etsy?
Etsy is a well-known online marketplace uniting the talented craftspeople and the grateful customers that appreciate the neat piece of work. On Etsy, you will find not only clothes and accessories but also decorative elements, all the goods you may ever imagine for any hobby, and thousands of gift ideas. It’s an online stronghold of all the talented ones! So if you’re planning to start the small business or a side hustle that involves selling something you’ve created on your own, Etsy is a perfect choice!
How to open a shop on Etsy
Basically, everyone can start selling on Etsy. The whole registration + setup process will take less than an hour and all you need to do is to follow these simple steps:
- Choose a brand name
If you haven’t thought about it yet, the minute you’ve decided to create that online shop is a right time to get one. Always remember that the name of your shop will forever be the part of the brand so it’s a good idea to think it through.
As the brand name will be a part of your logo and other necessary design pieces, it shouldn’t be too long. You can play with your own name or create some kind of a pun. A witty and fun name always works.
Every shop on Etsy has its own picture, which is a small clickable logo available on every listing and leading the customer to the shop’s profile page with all the products available. Which is why you’ll need a simple logo to jazz up your brainchild and skyrocket to the top where you belong.
If you don’t have one yet, you may visit LogotypeMaker where you’ll be able to create a logo like no other. After a few hours of work, you’ll have an exceptional creation involving your brand name, your corporate colors, your vision and your soul. No third-party eggheads telling you what’s right for you. Only a nice functional toolset and an illimitable space for the self-expression. And all of that LogotypeMaker offers you for free!
Use the logo generator and choose from hundreds of elegant pieces. Then customize the chosen one using the available tools (e.g. add the glow or the shadow to the text or play with the colors) and upload it to your Etsy profile.
With LogotypeMaker.com you’ll be able to use the newly created logo on your products as all of the images will be print-ready and also get the beautiful and professional-looking business cards templates to fill up with your info and send those with every order.
Don’t forget you can also use your logo as both branding and decorative element while creating a photo for a new listing (that business card idea is just one among many).
- Prepare the photos
It’s vital to illustrate your listings with photos, so create a photo portfolio of the goods you plan to sell. Remember that the photos may involve not only the products themselves but also some branding elements that will work as attention grabbers. E.g. you can add the beautiful business card with the name of your shop to the composition. A few decorative elements (like flowers or stones) will make the pictures fresh and classy. But for sure it depends on what you’re planning to present.
- Create the listings
Create the separate listing for every product and make up a short but eloquent title for each of those. Choose the right category, set up a price & the shipping fees, and add variations (e.g colors or sizes). There’s also a description field where you can tell the customers more about the product and you need to fill that up as well.
- Use the tags
Etsy provides you with an ability to add descriptive tags for each product, which is great! Getting those tags right is pretty simple. Just think about the keywords you would have Googled if you’d wanted to find your product and use those as tags.
- Payment options
The last (but certainly not least) thing you need to set up before you start selling is payment info. Just add the bank account info and you’re ready to go!
Use the tips you’ve read here and think about your own concepts as no one knows about your business needs like you. And just get started! After you start selling on Etsy there will be plenty of time to come up with the new ideas and make the whole thing even better. But if you don’t click that “Open shop” button the work of your life will still be on paper only. You know what they say, now or never. So get to it!