How To Start Getting Consistent Sales On Etsy Oct.2nd Workshop

0:11 Hello. Hello. Hello. Hey everybody. When you hop on, say hi. Just keep in mind there is a 5 to second um second delay. So um I won't be able to see your comments right away, but let me know you're here. I'm so excited. And thank you guys for all being here. Yay. I know it's Friday. Um the weekend's here. Super exciting. I know a lot of us work on the weekends. Um we're taking orders, working. So when you're here, say hi. Hi, Chuck.

0:58 Hi Jennifer. Yay. I'm so glad. I'm so glad you made it, too. I'm so glad. You know, I use um a program that I've used for um the last year to stream and so they've made a couple of changes and it's it's made it a little hard. Before I used to just send out an automatated um live replay and and it doesn't do that anymore. And so um I think that's really um a disservice to us and people who are registered. Hi Dillis. How are you? How's everything? You're still awake. Dillis, what time is it over across the pond?

1:44 Yeah, I'm I'm excited you made it. Jennifer, do you do um embroidery? 6 p.m. Oh, good. That's not too bad. Good. Embroidery for other things. Yeah. I think when you do embroidery there's or even being a crafter in general and handmade seller, there's always something, you know. We we have tons of everything. We just love everything. We love creating everything. Jennifer, I love it. You know, I Yeah, I'm I'm with you. I'm with you on that

2:30 one. Hi, Francis from Mississippi. How are you? I just want to give just a couple of minutes for people to hop on and then we'll start. Did you guys have a hard time getting on or was it pretty easy? Give me just one second. I have somebody trying to get on and she can't get on. So, I want to just help her while we can. Good. It was very easy. Good. Let me see if I gota grab a link here. Copy. No one's left behind is my motto. So,

3:15 let me just send this to her. We're live now. Okay. All right. Okay. Yay. I'm excited for you to be here, too. Francis, how is Mississippi? How is the weather out there? Is it still humid? Kelly, hi, Kelly from Tennessee. Will this be recorded by chance? I am hoping that it's recorded. I really am hoping that this one um will be recorded. I was just mentioning to the girls that the stream the company that I used that this company the same the it's the same company but before it used to automatically send out or I could set it to automatically send out a live uh or a recording of the live and now I can't or it's

4:02 I'm not exactly sure how to do it anymore. I don't see the the um settings but All right. See, Francis, hot, hot, hot. I bet. I bet it is. Yeah. So, so anyway, Kelly, if it's not um I am recording it myself and so I'm hoping to um that it saves and everything works out. Technology has not been my friend lately. Um, but all works well, then yes, I will be able to at least send out a link. I don't it's not going to automatically send out the replay like it used to do. U, but I can send out um the link is what I'm hoping.

4:52 All right. All right. So, oops. Let's see here. What I do? What I do? All right, you guys all ready to get started? Okay, who who all here has an Etsy store? And if you don't have an Etsy store and you're wanting to start an Etsy store, um say Etsy curious if you're if you're wanting to start an Etsy shop. And if you have one, let me know that you have one because this training is going to be so beneficial for you if you do have a an Etsy store. And if you don't have an Etsy shop yet, you're going to be ahead

5:38 of the game just by watching um the tips I'm going to share with you guys today. Francis, baby gifts. Yay. I'm in baby. I do baby, too. Jennifer, yes, just opened in August. Let's see. Lesie's Etsy curious. Dis has opened, but she's not listed yet, but she's going to be soon. Brandy, I have one, but not selling anything yet. Dana, so excited. I'm in Tennessee also. I'm in the middle of Tennessee. Hi Dina, how are you? Okay, Nicole, I do but very new. Okay. Okay. Kimberly, yes. Kim, not yet. Francis embroidered. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yay. And if you guys all do embroidery, let me know. I think we all pretty much do embroidery here.

6:28 All right. So, we're going to go ahead and get started. And if anybody's hopping in late, don't worry. You know, like I said, we're hopefully going to have um the recording. So, uh we're gonna go ahead and get started. See here. Uh okay. So, sorry, sorry, sorry. The comments are are are booming. I love it. Okay. So, first off, I want to say you guys have the talent. I know because I see it all the time all day in my Facebook feeds and my stories. And I just I know you guys have the talent. You guys have the creativity. You guys have products worth buying, trust me. But my question is, who's teaching you guys how to how to sell them, right? Because there's so many of us who want to sell or start selling and we just post stuff up,

7:13 right? And we see all these great tutorials of all these awesome people making stuff, but you got to learn how to sell it, right? So, my promise to you in this training is by the end of this workshop, you're going to look at Etsy differently. You're going to have a clear understanding of how buyers find products, how Etsy decides what to show in search, and why some listings get seen and others don't. Okay? And I'm going to share with you three powerful secrets that can completely change the way you think about Etsy and what it really takes to get sales. Okay? That's the biggest thing that I've noticed in the last um year and a half that I've been working with Etsy sellers. Okay? So, I want you all to know I just started just like so many of you guys. I didn't understand how Etsy worked. I thought products just sold themselves that I would just list

7:58 them and people would buy them. Um, I didn't know anything about keywords or SEO or algorithm. And I barely really I barely knew how to use a computer and I barely knew how to embroider. All you embroers, I really hardly know how to embroider. Um, I just wanted to make extra money. My goal was like if I could make $500 a month, that would be great. Like that's all I could imagine doing. And that was like a huge goal to me. So, um, but then I started wondering why other people were getting sales and I really wasn't, right? Um, and I and I really just wanted to make stuff and sell it cuz I like selling stuff. Okay, so here is my um gift to you guys. So, if you stay till the end of the workshop, I'm going to gift you my Handmade Seller holiday sales planner. This is um just been released to my Handmade Seller Academy group. Um, but I

8:45 wanted to share it with you guys as well because it's so beneficial right now. This is like awesome for now for the holidays. It's a 42page pages of actionable plans, activities, keyword, key list, checklist, and strategies designed to help you stay on track and help you make the most of the first quarter, right? So, you got to stay till the end. Um, and then you guys will have instant download to that. All right, so who is this training for? Okay, let me know if this sounds like you. You're frustrated that your sales aren't where you want them to be, right? Um, you're getting views, but you're not getting enough sales. Uh, you're wondering why some Etsy sellers get consistent sales and others don't. You're confused by SEO, keywords, Etsy's algorithm, or you're just terrified to get on Etsy.

9:31 Um, you're tired of guessing what products to create, or you want to understand how buyers actually find products on Etsy. Or maybe you've just spent enough time reading and seeing about Etsy and hearing about it in the face group Facebook groups, and you want to hear it from somebody who's had actual proven success. Right? So, that might be you. But let me tell you who it's not for. Okay? This is very important. If this sounds like you, this is not for you. If you're expecting overnight success, um if you're looking for guaranteed sales or income promises, um you're not willing to learn or test and put in the work and you're looking for a magic formula instead of understanding how Etsy actually works. Okay? If that sounds like any of you guys, it's probably not for you. I need help with conversion. Yes. Yes. But I

10:17 know this isn't any of you guys, so so we're good, right? Okay. So, let's set some realistic expectations. I'm not promising you're going to start making sales shortly after you make a few changes to your listing. Okay. Um, and just because you list a product on Etsy doesn't mean uh buyers are automatically going to find you. But what what this workshop will do is help you better understand how Etsy actually works, helps buyers find your products, and what influences whether your listings get seen, giving you more opportunities to make sales. Okay, so I just want to make you guys make it known. I'm not promising you guys are going to make a ton of sales right after this video. I want you to. Okay, so let's talk about um some Etsy seller belief and frustrations. Um I hear this a lot. Etsy is too scratch Etsy is too

11:04 saturated. Um, I'm not getting enough sales. My views are low. I'm working hard but not seeing results. Watching competitors get sales while you're stuck. And Etsy only shows only works if you're spending money on ads. And Etsy only favors established shops. Okay, so those are just a couple of things I've heard before. You guys might be feeling some of those frustrations or hearing some of these things as well. Um, I like to joke a little bit here. the official Etsy complaint starter pack. Okay, I see this all the time. Um, Etsy is dead. Etsy fees are too high. I hate Etsy. They suck. They take all my money. Um, Etsy is too saturated. I've tried everything and nothing works. I'm getting views but no sales. Um, so I' I've heard a lot and I'm sure you guys have heard some too, right? Okay. But my

11:52 question is, what if Etsy isn't the problem? Okay. What if the real problem is that buyers aren't even seeing your products? Okay. And I know that that is like a concept that most Etsy sellers don't realize. Okay. People aren't seeing your stuff. Okay. So, I'm going to share my Etsy story with you, the shorter version, right? Um, and then I'll reveal strategies that will change your Etsy business forever. And you guys make sure you guys can ask questions. Make sure that if you have a question, you guys are are welcome to ask. Okay. So, in 2010, I opened my Etsy shop. And this is what it looked like. Okay, it's really important to me that I show you guys what it looks like because, you know, people think that you're going to, you know, if they make 11 sales and

12:38 they're they're sad. No, that's great, right? So, in 2010, I opened my Etsy shop with the goal of making, you know, $500 a month. At that point, I wanted to order embroider everything in sight. Like, my kids were sick of embroidered stuff. People didn't were tired of embroidered gifts. I was embroidering my daughter's underwear. She It was It was ridiculous. So, opened an Etsy shop and in 2011 I needed to make real income. By that I I my situation changed, my circumstances changed and I wanted to make a real income. Um, but I had I had joint custody of my kids and I did not want to have halftime of halftime. Um, so I went back to work but I started seeing them that you could see I I started having a little bit of traction, right? I started I knew I was getting some sales. It was um starting to grow a

13:23 little bit. Oh, and one thing just you know this the slides in the wrong area. I just added it back in. But I I want you guys to know the great thing about Etsy is you can make that I like to share. Um it was New Year's Eve, right? And it was like 10:30 maybe. Um, one of my employees texts me. She's like, "Hey, did you know had a baby today?" And I was like, "Yeah, I saw something about it." And she's like, "Is this our outfit?" And she sends me this picture and I was like, "Oh my gosh." I I was like, "I think it is." I said, "Because I designed it, right?" Cuz I I have embroiderers that helped me at the shop. And I was like, "I I think I embarred." So, I ran to my op my

14:09 computer and I checked and sure enough, Caitlyn Brown had purchased the outfit. It was all over the internet. It was like so exciting. It was I'm not a big New Year's Eve person, but man, I was up all night that night. It was so exciting. So, um just adding this back in here to let you guys know, you don't know who is seeing your stuff and who's buying your stuff. I I know other sellers who've sold to Billy Joel and um all kind all kinds of people. Drew Barammore and it's just super exciting. So, anyway, I just added that back in here today. Um okay, but back to my story. um only want to make $500 a month. But then I heard about an Etsy seller, right, who made $10,000 a month. Okay, $10,000 a month. And um keep in mind this time I didn't really know how to use a computer. So I was hardly even

14:54 on social media. Learned um you know, $10,000 a month. And then I realized that that this Etsy was like bigger than what I thought, right? And I knew that other sellers knew something that I didn't, right? How were they making that kind of money? Um, so my shop was already growing and I became obsessed with figuring out how Etsy actually worked. And the more I learned, the more I realized the opportunity to make real money was bigger than I had even imagined. Uh, and by 2013, I had made the decision that in 2014, I was going allin on Etsy. Like that was it. I I was hooked. I wanted to be with my kids, wanted to be with my family, and I loved embroidery. So, I was like, it has to work. Um, and I could see other Etsy sellers getting sales, right? But I wasn't getting the consistent results I wanted to. Um I would get a sale, I

15:40 would get like two one day and then I wouldn't get anything and I would get one maybe the next day. So I knew I was getting sales, right? But it wasn't consistent. Um and so I did what a lot of other Etsy sellers did. I started competing um on price. I started lowering my price, added more products, more listings. Um and I ran sales, ran discounts, and I try to compete on price, which is not a good idea. Um, and I always I was hoping the next one, this is going to be it. This is going to be it, right? And and back then on Adsy, we could see people's sales. Like we could see um what was selling, how many was selling. We could have we could see a lot of information back then. And I was like, why are they they're getting sales? And yeah, their stuff was beautiful, but why are they getting sales and I'm not right. Um, so the

16:25 problem wasn't that I wasn't working hard enough, cuz I really was. The problem was I didn't understand how Etsy actually worked. Does that sound like any of you guys? Um, but that's when I realized Etsy, successful Etsy sellers weren't necessarily working harder than me. They simply understood things that I didn't understand yet. I, and trust me, I looked everywhere. I tried to run ads on Etsy. I did this like thing they had like you can um, sponsor the day. You could pay X amount of money and be highlighted that day. That didn't work. I was thinking um, you know, I was going to market on blogs. I was looking at blogs because I was like, they're there's they're they're bringing in traffic somewhere, but I couldn't figure out where. Okay. Um, you know, and I just became obsessed with figuring out how it worked. I knew there was

17:11 something, right? Um, but once I understood how Etsy actually worked, everything changed. Everything changed for me. Um, you can see it went from $49. We um 2026 we hit uh we we were working up there, right? We're moving up and we hit just a couple of like last month. We're just over $6 million in sales and in lifetime sales. But you can see the progression, right? You can you can see how it's going. So, it's it's I I figured it out. I figured it out. And now my passion is really to help other Etsy sellers. I still have my Etsy shop. Still still on Etsy. Love it. Um but and currently we're over 150,000 sales.

17:58 Tubzero 1% Etsy seller, meaning we sell more than 99.9% shops on Etsy, 6 million revenue plus 15 years. It's going to be 16 the end of this year. Um which makes me feel really old. Uh but we struggled or I say we but I I struggled for the first six years and yes I was getting sales but it wasn't consistent like I wanted to. Okay. And the other thing that I want to mention is there are so many other Etsy sellers that are even busier and bigger shops than I am in embroidery in the same niche as me. Okay? So there is room for you. Okay? You got to hear me when I say that. Even though yes I I'm a high seller, there is people I know in the

18:44 same space selling more than me. Same space. Embroidery same space. Okay. So I just want you guys to to know that it's possible. Okay. So today I'm going to fill you in on three secrets that most sellers never learn. These are some of the things that really changed changed it up for me. These are not in order. Um most important one is more important and I'll let you guys know. Um but secret number three is to stop creating products and start validating demand. Okay. Um the biggest mistake Etsy sellers make when creating products. Secret number two is the first uh step in create getting your listing seen. How Etsy understands what you're selling and who to show it to. And secret number one is Etsy rewards relevance. Okay. one of the most

19:31 important factors in getting found on Etsy. All right, any questions so far? All right, so secret number three is market research comes before product creation. Okay, I know we all want to make things that we love and we like. Um, but that doesn't mean that people actually want to buy them. Okay, so most Etsy sellers create a product first and then hope buyers want to buy it, right? successful Etsy sellers, we do the opposite. We don't necessarily make what we love. We don't. Okay? So, most Etsy sellers think if I make something cute enough, unique enough, or good enough, people will buy it. But the truth is, successful Etsy sellers don't guess what buyers want. They use market research to understand what buyers are already

20:17 searching for. Okay? So, we take a look at Etsy. We look at Etsy, we look on Google, we look online, and we look for patterns. We look for patterns of what people are buying. Um before before they spend hours creating a product, they validate that buyers are already searching for it. One of the biggest mistakes I see sellers makes is falling in love with an idea before they know that there's actually a demand for it. I see it a lot and especially now that I work a lot with um handmade sellers, um that that's one of the the biggest that's like one of the first issues that I notice. Okay. Um, so you could spend four hours creating something like if you love iguanas and you um think everybody loves iguanas and you think they're cute, you can make an a a beautiful iguana birthday shirt. You

21:04 look a little drunk and wasted. Might have been a bachelorette bachelor party shirt instead, but um you could have spent 10 minutes checking whether buyers are actually searching for that thing. Me? Yes. So guilty of that. Yes. Yes. Totally. And and that's one of the biggest things, guys. Um, so we want to make sure that there's a demand for what we're making. Now, hear me though. We want to make sure that we like what we're selling because if you the goal is to sell it and you don't want to make it, that's you don't want to be in that space either. So before you create a product, ask yourself these three questions. Are people already searching for it? What is missing in the market? And how can I make it different, better, and more appealing? Okay, I need you guys to start looking at other stuff in the lens of how can I make it better or

21:51 how can I make it mine? What if your niche is not popular but definitely needed? Yes, that that is um a tricky one and I'll get right to that. I think that's like my next slide or two cuz that is a challenge. Um before you spend hours and this is for a candle maker but I as embroers we can definitely relate. So before you spend hours creating a new candle scent, if you make candles, do some research. Do you see lots of listings and reviews and bestseller seller badges for things like uh book lover candles, funny candles, housewarming candles, personalized candles, um because that shows that it's in demand, right? And the same for us if you're in embroidery. If you were seeing tons of mama sweatshirts or ton of um

22:38 embroidered dog collars or whatever it is, embroidered um pillow cases, anything like that, you want to do stuff that there is a demand for that you're seeing seller that you're see that it's selling. It's a good thing. It's a good thing to see competition. Okay, I want I want you guys to know that. Um, and and Sharon's question and she's like, "What if your niche is popular, but it's not? It's def it's not popular, but it's definitely needed." This is one of the tricky things. We need to figure out how we can get you in front of people. All right. I do have I do work with a seller that has a unique item and and it's tricky because it's like where are they going to find her? Okay. Um, where they going to find her?

23:23 How are we going to get in front of people? because not only are you trying to find how to get seen, but you're trying to also make yourself known, right, and make the product known. So, you're it's kind of tricky, but there is ways to do it. And it's just going to be trial and error, but the easiest thing is to go in and and and sell something that people want that you know that people want. So, that's the fastest way that you're going to get in the door. And then, you know, you can educate your your customers on on your newer product, which can be that one that is so niche. Well, I'm I'm sure there's a way, Sharon, what is it? And then if you don't feel comfortable mentioning it, you can message me later. Um, but there there's got to be a way, but it is tricky. And and even with the seller that I'm talking about, we did start getting her some some traction. All

24:10 right. So, what's missing in the market? May maybe most listings have poor photos, generic packaging, boring scents, like if you're in candle or, you know, room sprays, and no personalization options. Okay. So, how can you make it better? How can you make it better? And how can you offer something different? Okay. Disability awareness. Ooh, yeah, that's a good one. That's a good one. Yeah, we we need to we need to get together. Okay, how can you make it better? Okay, this is you know this um you know better better branding, right? Branding will really take make a difference in your shop in your um your

24:55 online presence. So branding is can really elevate the value of what you're selling. Um more gifting packaging options on Etsy. You can offer gift wrapping at an upsell, right? Um, or you can even add it for free if you wanted to maybe work it in your pricing some way and do it as um an option to get personaliz um gift wrapping. Personalization options are huge. If you do not offer personalization, that's something that you're going to want to consider, especially on Etsy because Etsy is where people come to shop for unique gifts, okay? And personaliz um like meaningful gifts and personalized items. So, if you can offer personalization, I really recommend that you do that. Um, faster shipping, right? Maybe you can beat the competition with

25:40 faster shipping. Don't overpromise, though. Okay? So, if you can't do it, I I wouldn't recommend that. Um, and better photos. Photos are a big deal. You guys would not would be surprised at how many times I do um a shop critique. and do a shop critique for people and they'll list the pictures if it's clothing. I've seen like wrinkled up clothing just on the floor like and and pictures like that were really dark, dim. So, take a look at your competition or you know the the space that you want to be in. See what's out there and how can you make it better. Okay. Yes. So, for market research and and I'll I'll talk a little bit about that real quick, Brandy. So, the goal isn't

26:26 to invent something nobody has ever thought of. The goal is to find something better um that buyers are already want and create a better version of it. Okay? And so, Bry's um asking how what how to do that. So, so you don't even really need tools. I'm going to teach you how to do it yourself. You don't need to have tools. You don't need to buy anything like any kind of um monthly subscription to figure that out. But what you're going to want to do is you're going to want to hop on Etsy. Etsy is going to be the first place that you go to. maybe even Google. You start off at Google. You're going to type in what you want to make. Okay? And then you want to see what's out there. You're going to see all the search results. You're going to see what's out there. Of course, you're going to look at all look at all the platforms. You're going to look at Etsy. You're going to look at Pinterest. You're going to look at um

27:11 even Amazon. Handmade. Um I said Pinterest, right? So, you're going to look wherever you can, but you're spec then you're going to want to hop over to Etsy, right? You're going to want to hop over to Etsy. You're gonna look for again the space you want to be in, the prime kind of product you want to make. You want to look for bestsellers, bestseller badges, right? Because Etsy has little badges. You're going to look for popular now. You're going to look for bestseller badges. You're going to look for trendy now. You're going to look for um I think there's one that says hot seller. You're going to look for Etsy pics. The Etsy pics is kind of tricky because that doesn't ne necessarily mean it's selling a lot other than you know an employee from Etsy saw it and and likes it. Um but you want to look for those kind of things. Okay. You want to look for those trending now and those um bestseller

27:57 badges. Okay. Sharon says that irritates me wrinkle. I know. Me too. I'm like girl. The other thing too as in embroidery, let me tell you guys, if you guys do appliques, make sure that your fabric is cut nice in the seam, you know, that the picture looks great, that your design looks great. No loose strings, no um no loose strings, no like fabric sticking out of the applique, none of that. Dina, what if you don't exactly know your niche? We'll get to that. Yeah, because a lot of people don't. Do not if you don't have a niche or a target market or anything like that, don't get discouraged yet. Don't get discouraged. You'll start. Okay? Because and we'll get to that in a little bit.

28:43 Okay? So, this is important. Okay? I want you guys to know the difference between copying and market research. Okay? So, copying is stealing someone's hard work and ideas. Uh market research is understanding what buyers already look for and creating your own unique version of it. One is unethical and wrong and the other one serves customers. Okay? So you don't want to copy somebody else's stuff. You don't you don't um I'll tell you guys I have like I I told you guys I'm in the baby niche and I had this this outfit that was selling a lot and it still sells a lot. But then another Etsy seller came and made it, but she made an improvement to it. She added something different to

29:29 it and it was fantastic and people loved it and she was selling tons and she was doing amazing and I think she still is doing a lot with that one. And I was like I couldn't even get mad. I was mad at myself because I was like why didn't I think of that? Why didn't I think of that? Right? So even though you think sometimes like everything's done, there's still something you can add different to it, right? And so she took what I had and she really made it her own and she made it better. And I get this picture sent to me all the time and I send it to her. I send her people. I'm I don't do that here. This lady does it right. So there's really and you know, we just want to, you know, be ethical and we want to respect everybody's work. Okay? So just try to make it your own.

30:18 All right, let's see. Can you use their item but change the font? Would that be your own then? I would probably change more. I would probably change more more than just the font, but it's really hard sometimes like if it's um if it's uh because if if it's like a design, you know, because there's so many um digitizers and and people who sell designs, then I think that that's like everybody's, you know, I think that's probably just everybody's kind of stuff. And I think it just depends and and you know, maybe even changing the layout or adding some stuff to it, making it we want to make it better. A lot of a lot of sellers are having

31:03 design stolen. It seems out of control right now. Oh yeah, Sharon, I agree. And you know, honestly, it's and it's everywhere. It's everywhere. It's not even just on Etsy. It's everywhere. What if they sell the pattern? Yeah, if they sell the pattern, that's totally different. and so many people do. So that that's totally different. All right, so we're going to get to secret number two. Now, this I think is one of the most important things that I'm going to talk about today is keywords. Keywords. Have you all heard about keywords yet? If you had, let me know if you understand them, if you kind of understand, or you're just like, I don't know keywords. Keywords are super important. Um it it's one thing that will really start changing the game for you. Sharon says, "Yes." Okay. So, let's talk about

31:50 keywords and how Etsy how it makes Etsy understand what you're selling. Okay. So, what most sellers think is if I post it, Etsy will show it. Okay. How many people think that? I'm going to post it and everybody's going to find it. Okay. But the truth is Etsy can't show your product if it doesn't understand who you're sell what you're selling and who you're selling it to. Yeah. Sean Shan, you'll understand better now. Okay. So, it's like we Etsy needs to understand what you're even selling before it even knows who to show it to because Etsy is a search engine. Okay. I want everybody to to um to know Etsy is a search engine. So, Etsy isn't just a a a website where you just go to and start like just flipping through pages, right? You got to tell Etsy what you're looking

32:36 for. So, you go to the search bar. It's called a s a search query. You're going to go to the search bar and you're going to type in what you're looking for and then Etsy is going to match what you're searching, right? So, we need to we need to learn how to get found in that match for Etsy to show us. So, if Etsy doesn't know what you're selling, it can't match you to what the customer is looking for because it's a search engine. And when you think of that, think of like um YouTube, Pinterest, um Amazon, they're all search engines. Anything with a search bar um is a search engine with algorithm. All right. So, a quick note about AI because I know a lot of people use AI for this. Um, AI is a fabulous tool. I love AI. Me and AI are like this. Me, my chat, GPT has a name. She's named herself. She's a girl and she's

33:22 named herself. I thought that was crazy until somebody told me that she had a girl. And so I she said, "Ask yours." So I did and she told me she was a girl and and then I asked her name. She said her name is Sunny. And we fight sometimes because she's not always telling me the truth. But it can definitely help you write titles, descriptions, and brainstorm ideas. But AI doesn't know um what buyers are searching for in real time, right? Um AI doesn't know whether a keyword is relevant to your product and AI doesn't understand Etsy search system the way an experienced seller does. Okay? So, you still need strategy. And you know, I know AI changes every day. I know it's advanced and I know it grows like mindblowing speed. But here, I want you guys to think about it this way. If AI and chat and all these um

34:11 keyword programs and software were so great, then how come they're not there's not more people like super successful on Etsy, right? Instead of people complaining about it. Um so the goal is you really have to understand how to get found. Okay, so most Etsy sellers think keywords are complicated, but they're not. Keywords are simply how Etsy understands what you're selling, who it's for, and when to show it. Okay? No keywords equals no visibility. And no visibility means no sales. Okay? But here's the thing. Not all keywords are created equal. Some are too broad, meaning that's like very, you know, there's too many um too competitive. That means there's too many

34:57 search, too many people are using the same keywords, so you're not going to get found. And it's too vague. So, it's like not not really com comparing, you know, pertaining directly to your product. Um, so the goal isn't to just use more keywords. The goal is to correct to use the correct keywords. Okay? The right keywords, okay? And and Sharon, this is Sharon. Um, there's two types of keywords, right? There's short tail keywords and there's longtail keywords. So short tail keywords, they're a broad search term made up of one or two words that usually have higher search volume and more competition. So think of one words like soap, okay? If you put soap in Amazon or Google or Etsy, you're going to you're going to get a million search results

35:42 back, right? You're going to get um hand soap. You're going to get um scented soap, non-scented soap, you're going to get the ivory, you're going to get laundry soap, just all these different types of soap, right? If you use a longtail keyword, they're more specific search phrases and they're made up of three or more words that often have lower competition and attract more targeted buyers. Okay? By targeted, I mean your ideal customer, like your buyer, your intended buyer. Okay? Um, so example, if you're selling handmade milk soap for sensitive skin, it's a little bit of a tongue twister. Um, you're more specific, right? Like if you are very niched down and you sell handmade goat milk soap for sensitive skin. Anybody who searches that, it's going to be a

36:28 more narrow search. You're going to have less um results. Yes, you're still probably going to have thousands and thousands, but not nearly as much as soap. Does that make sense to you guys? It's It's um a little more refined of a search and more targeted. So, I don't know how well you could see this, but I put in a handmade um goat soap milk for sensitive skin. Let me see if I can make this a little bigger for you guys to see this. How's that? Can you see that a little better? But I want you to see how I put that in Google, right? It's more targeted. There is six words there. And you can see those are very specific search results that I found, right? So, the more specific you are in your in your listings and using um the right

37:14 keywords, the easier it's going to be found and you're going to get in front of the right buyers. Let's see. I use longtail keywords, but I think I'm doing something wrong. Um Francis, it could be that they're not specific enough to your product. And that's that's the other thing, too. We need to make sure that they're relevant. It's called relevant. We need to make sure that they're relevant keywords to what you're selling. Okay. So, we need to help Etsy connect the dots. There's a short tail keywords, right? Short tail, we have candle, um, baby blanket, t-shirt, necklace. Longtail keywords, we have u, and these are just examples. Vanilla soy candle gift for mom. Um, personalized baby blanket for with name, funny camping

38:00 shirt for dad, and personalized name bar for necklace. Right. Personalized name bar necklace. Um, so you could see how they're more um specific. Okay. And so, uh, the goal isn't to use all short tail keywords or all longtail keywords, but we want to use a mix of both, right? So, because the short tail keywords help define what the product is, and the longtail keywords help define who it's for and when they're going to buy it, why they need it for. Should the keywords be in the title or Etsy or will Etsy pull up the info if it's in the description as well, Kelly? They should be in your title, your description, your tags, areas in your shop. They need to be everywhere. Everywhere.

38:45 And there. Yes, there there is definitely a strategy for where you put them. It it is important, but you want to really think about it. And I want you guys to think like a seller. I mean, not like a seller, think like a buyer. Think when you're creating your listings, think like a buyer. And think of words that you would use for your product. And for me, I remember thinking um I started getting messages. Think of what your customers are asking you for. I would I get messages sometimes. I remember the first time I had somebody ask me for a tobogen. And I didn't know what a tobogen was. Okay. So, I was like, "What's a tobogen?" It's a baby hat. I didn't know that. I get people ask for baby beanies, baby caps, um leettes, uh beanies. Just think of what people can use, what they're going to use. Uh

39:31 there's different re regionalisms um just different words all over and this is a case which would be good asking chat GPT hey what are some words for thisa d what what are some other words you know what would other people call this and then get those keywords and and then test them and see how well they work just using your own search in in in Etsy Etsy search bar. Okay. So, that is a really good way to use chat GPT because it's going to give you more ideas of words you can use cuz I never would have used tobag in. I still don't use it as one of my keywords, but I didn't know that it I didn't realize how people were looking for different things, right? So, I should definitely add tags. Oh, yeah. Yes. You need to use

40:17 all 13 of your tags. All 13. Okay. So, what makes good keywords? Good keywords aren't just descript aren't just a description. They're words and phrases your customer is already searching for. And I say your customer because you have customers on Etsy waiting for your stuff. And I'm I'm not kidding. Um, so use words buyers are already typing into Etsy search bar. Clearly describes what the product is and it matches buyer's intent. Okay, so the goal isn't just to guess. The goal is to use the language our customers are already using. And and this could be as simple as um I always wing this here, so excuse me if the example isn't the greatest, but

41:03 let's say um you you sell embroidered um personalized t-shirts, birthday shirts. Okay, you sell embroidered personalized birthday shirts. Do any of you guys do that? Um so instead of just saying birthday shirt or cute birthday shirt, I see this a lot. Cute birthday shirt. uh cute birthday first birthday shirt. Um you would do something like we'll say it's a dinosaur or maybe what else is big with kids? Sharks, pirates. You would want to use something in your title like um first birthday shirt for boy or for girl or whatever it is. Um shark themed,

41:49 right? Personalized something like that. You want to make it very specific. So, the mom who's looking for a birthday shirt for her kid already knows what kind of theme her birth the birthday is going to be, right? They already know the birthday party's going to be a pirate themed birthday party. So, she needs a pirate themed birthday shirt. Okay? So, you want to be sure to use that in your title. Instead of using something like, you know, cute shirt for boy, cute birthday shirt, you want to make it very specific to that buyer. Okay. See, so which keywords gives Etsy more information. The more specific your keywords are, the easier it is for Etsy to understand. So if Etsy knows that you're selling um pirate themed t-shirts, right, personalized, even if

42:35 they're not personalized, but you're selling pirate t-shirts, when that mom comes to Etsy and she types it in the search bar, you know, birthday shirt, pirate theme birthday shirt for boy, guess what? If you have that, Etsy is going to know, hey, Stacy sells it over here, so I'm going to show Stacy's shop. Or Francis sells pirate themes. I'm going to show her. Okay, so that's that's the goal is we want to use things that buyers are looking for. So think like a buyer. What if you were looking for your product, what would you use? What kind of words would you use? Okay, so the better Etsy understands your product, the better it can match your listing with the right buyer. And that's the thing, you want the right buyer to see your stuff. If you're not you doing this, the right buyers are not seeing your product. So, they're not buying it. They're not buying it because they they

43:21 don't it's not getting seen or could be getting seen by the wrong buyer. Okay? So, Etsy's job is to bring the buyers and your job is to get your product in front of them. Okay? I I know that I talk about this a lot. You guys have probably heard this all the time in the groups. Etsy is a marketplace. The buyers are already there. Okay? The buyers are there. They're waiting to buy your stuff. they just need to find you. And so that's what we got to do. We got to get our product in front of them. Um, the buyers are already searching. The buyers are already shopping. Etsy brings millions of shoppers to the platform a month. Okay. 86 million people who have actually bought something on Etsy in the last year. And Etsy receives roughly 450 million visits a month. A month. Okay. So, the buyers are there still to this

44:09 day. The buyers are there. Um, the question is, does Etsy understand your product well enough to put it in front of them? Okay. So, I should definitely add tags. Yes. Sorry, I don't know if that updated or that's one you had already had. Okay. And so, now we're going to move on to the last thing I want to share with you today, and that is secret number one, which is not number one most important here. It's just just see I I just went from three to one to build up curiosity. Etsy rewards relevance. But this is a very very important um and very important uh tip. Yes. Yes. The better your listings match what a buyer is searching for, the

44:55 more likely Etsy is continued to show it. And I'll tell you why that's important. I know that repeats what I just said a while ago, but I'll tell you how it's different. Um so what is relevance? Relevance is how closely your listing matches to what a buyer is searching for. So, the better your listing matches what the buyer search for, the more relevant Etsy considers your listing. And again, I know this sounds like what I was just talking about and and it really is, but it it's and I'll tell you why it's so important. Um, why does Etsy care about relevance? Okay, so I know we care that we get seen, but let me tell you why Etsy cares that your product gets seen. So, Etsy puts a lot of effort and resources into bringing people to the marketplace. Etsy runs a lot of ads. I don't know if you've guys seen ads on TV, but Etsy really, you know, puts in puts in a lot

45:41 of work and effort. So, when a buyer searches for a product, Etsy wants them to find something they're actually going to purchase, okay? They do not want to show, you know, do all this marketing and all this advertising and then buyers come in and they're seeing the wrinkled shirt on the floor or they're seeing the dark litted photos or anything like that, right? Etsy wants to show listings that are the best match um for what the buyer is looking for and something that they're going to buy. Etsy wants them to buy something. They're a business just like us. So, they want to show the buyers that is going to match their listing that's going to match them. So, you need to think about it like this. The buyer is searching for something special. Type something on in the search bar and then it finds your listing, right? So,

46:26 she's typing something and she finds Francis's listing and she's like, "Oh my god, I I got my mama sweatshirt or this candle." And it's so it's like a love connection. So, you got to think about it this way. We need to we need to get matched. Okay. So, the more relevant your product is, um the more relevant your keywords are, the more um relevant your listing is to the buyer and it's easier for you to get seen. I'm sorry. I have a little thing over my words right here. So, I have a hard time seeing that. Um, but it's the easier for Etsier Etsy to connect the listings to the right shopper. Right? So, it's the more Etsy understands, the easier it is to connect you with the right customer and then you're most likely to make a sale because you're getting seen by people who you want to sell to. And if you think about it this

47:13 way, if a buyer is searching for um something for their coworker, right? If they're looking for a gift for their for a co-orker or a funny candle for co-orker, which listing is the best match? Would it be candle, just regular candle or scented candle or soy wax candle? No. You want to use something like funny cooworker gift candle or co-worker leaving gift or, you know, retirement gift or something like that pertaining to what it is. That way, you're going to fall into that niche that this is for a coworker. This candle here, I don't know if you guys can see it, but it's it's really funny. Um, this dumpster fire won't be the same without you. We'll miss your spark. That is super cute. And that's not just a regular random candle. That's not just anybody who's looking for a vanilla

47:59 candle. That's more like a funny cheeky gift. That's something that, you know, um is is meant for a certain uh event or a gifting um relevancy, right? That's it's not something you would just buy for yourself or anybody just looking for a candle. Okay? So relevance is more about more than keywords. Keywords matter, but they they really are just a piece of the puzzle, especially now because Etsy Etsy's made some changes. Um, so Etsy also looks at your categories. It looks at your attributes, your photos, your product details, and buyer behavior. Okay? And this is all going to tie into why relevancy is so important. Okay? So you want to make sure your categories, you're selecting the right categories for your product. Super important. I was doing a one-on-one

48:46 a call uh earlier this year, I think, and and the lady was using selling embroidered t-shirts. They were women t-shirts, but she had them in the men's section and she didn't realize that. And so that is really going to hurt your listing in two ways because one, um you have it in an area where nobody's looking for it. You're in the men section and so they they don't want that. And secondly, because you're not getting any, um engagement with that listing. you're not getting any hearts, any favorites, any add to cart, no clicks or anything like that because you're where people don't necessarily want you. And that's a bad negative signal to Etsy. And so I'm going to talk about that in a little bit. So you want to make sure you're selecting the right categories when you're setting up your listings. You want to make sure your attributes are filled out. So many Etsy

49:32 sellers do not fill out their attributes. You need to make sure that they're filled out. If you were selling something um that it's rolled rose gold and rose gold isn't a color in your attributes, pick pink. Pick pink or something close to that. You want to make sure that you are picking something uh because you're and not just anything but something relevant to your listing because if somebody is looking for a rose gold um I don't know a rose gold there's not a rose gold sweatshirt that I know of. I'm just going to say rose gold necklace. Um, and if you sell necklaces and you don't have that selected, you're not going to pop up in the filtered search. So, by omitting your your um attributes, you are missing out on getting found by filtered searches. Okay? So, somebody's looking for um sage green sweatshirt and you

50:20 don't have green picked out because yours is sage or because it might be camo. um still pick green because when somebody looks for green, it's going to pop up and the buyer the buyer doesn't really know all the option options they have. So, they're going to see that camo shirt and be like, "Oh, I love that. That's what I want." Okay? So, if you're selling green, you want um camo, pick green, you know, but you want to fill out all your attributes. You want to give your listing every opportunity to get found in search. Okay? So, the next one is your photos. You want to have great photos. We all stink at photos at first, so don't be too hard on yourself. Pictures are a challenge for everybody, but there's, you know, a lot of editing tools. There's, you know, some people choose AI. Just a heads up, if you're selling handmade products, which um

51:06 embroidery is considered handmade, you are not supposed to use an AI picture in the beginning. I don't even think you're supposed to use it at all, but you're not supposed to use it in the beginning of the first thumbnail photo. I know a lot of people use it, but I'm just telling you. Um, I know some people use it just to do the background or just to edit. And I think that's even better. And think about it this way, too. If you were a buyer shopping on Etsy, would you trust an AI um photo? I just had somebody message me last night who had ordered from me and she wanted to cancel her order. And so I messaged her back and I said, "Hey, I just wanted to make sure you needed to cancel." And she said to me, "Oh, no. I She" She's like, "Actually, I don't need a counsel. I just wanted to make sure you were a a a real seller." She said, "I'm new to Etsy and I just wanted to make sure this was like a legitimate business." So, you

51:52 guys want to build trust. Okay? So, you want to work on your photos. Um, there's strategies to getting um, you know, you want to make sure to use our alt text and when you're doing your photos, what uh, alt text is for the visually impaired. It's a tool for visually impaired so they can um, there's the reader that tells them what it is. You want to still fill that out with your alt text and you want to use your keywords in there. I know this may be going back a bit. You said to have good photos. If you have your image with the AI background to enhance it, what are the rules surrounding? Oh, yeah. Yeah, that's I just talked about. Also, I see a ton of trademark item on Etsy. Yeah, it's just a matter of time for them. Trust me, about the trademark and I'll talk about I'll talk about that right after this. Um, okay. So, then you want

52:40 Okay, you have your alt text and all that kind of stuff with your photo, your product details. You want to make sure that you have great listings, that you um that you note everything in your product in there. Um and at your buyer behavior, right? Etsy really looks, like I said, how people interact with your listings. Etsy wants to see people liking it. They want to see people harding it, adding it to cart, buying it. Okay? So, the more people buy your product, the more Etsy shows it to more and more people. Okay? It's sales velocity that it's once a listing starts getting some traction, it's just going to get bigger and bigger and bigger. Um, so many Etsy sellers, myself included, I have over 300 listings and I could tell you I probably

53:25 have a good maybe 15 that sell um because they have that sales velocity because Etsy knows people are like them and people are going to buy them probably more than likely, right? So, um, every store, every listing in your shop's not going to be a great seller, but once they start picking up and start getting traction, it's going to show them to more and more people. And I've seen people not even have good keywords, right, or good, you know, some of these things, but they had um the engagement. And so, Etsy, they they do amazing things because people want those products. So, it's just a matter of, you know, maybe somebody saw the photo, maybe the their their tags and titles weren't great, but their, you know, their their keywords, but they had great photos, and so somebody saw and bought

54:10 it, and then other people started liking it, and, you know, so it just goes like wildfire. Um, so Etsy really looks at engagement and rewards engagement, too. So, we want to make sure that everything looks as good as possible. We get them in front of the right people, um, and and people engage with them. So, think like Etsy if you're selling a personalized teacher mug. Keywords tell Etsy what the product is, right? Categories tell Etsy where it belongs. Attributes provide additional information and details and photos help buyers understand the product. So, together these signal um these signals help Etsy determine how relevant your listing is to the search. So that's the whole point is getting our listing seen in front of whatever the buyer is typing

54:58 into search. Okay. So back to um the trademarked items. Well, the AI, we talked about AI a little bit. Um one thing I'll say too about AI is um with the backgrounds. I think if it's done very natural where it looks real, I think that could really really help really help. Um, I've seen people even use something as simple as an AI uh backdrop with like a white backdrop with the lines in it, like if um her thing was like hanging on the wall. Very pretty and it made a huge difference in her shop. Um, you know, but I would keep it very natural looking and as realistic as possible because I've also seen people selling t-shirts and they have like the beach background with the palm trees and the ocean and the dolphins jumping and so people know that's not

55:45 real, right? Um, but really check Etsy's um Etsy's uh policy before you do that because we're we're not supposed to do it. we're not supposed to do um AI and and I'll tell you this also I have uh chat with with Etsy and um I have also heard that you can use an AI photo if you note in the listing that it's an AI photo. So, I would just double check double check because we don't always get the right information from Etsy sometimes when I'm talking about Etsy chat um because I have been told that. Um and with trademark, here's the thing with trademark. I've had issues with trademark myself. Um with uh onesie, the word onesie goober u gerber came for me

56:33 two times because I didn't learn the first time apparently. Actually, three times. The first time I had just quit my job already, you know, and was doing this full-time and I had was using the words onesie and I got a cease and desist. So I I'd say deactivated the listing and I was told, you know, I had to change the wording. Don't ever do that. Don't use it onesie. So I was like, okay. Um, so I changed, you know, keywords and then it happened again because I didn't realize that I had it in one of my tags. So then I took it all down and then it happened again because I had a I had a little dress. It's a onesie dress and I had onesie dress in there too in the description and so I didn't realize that. So um but the one thing that I will tell you is that when I do talk to Etsy um

57:19 it's the Etsy doesn't go around looking and taking down the trademarked items. the person who owns a trademark is the one who does it and then they complain to Etsy and then Etsy has to take it down because you know they have to to com you know to comply with that trademark law. So that's how they get away with it. Um but you'll see people they they start getting caught. Um I usually take a pick with my iPhone and ask replace item on a white background. Yeah, that that's really smart, Kimberly, because AI could really make your photos look great and and that's um you know, one of the best ways to do it. That's what I was wondering if you should disclose. That makes sense. Yeah.

58:06 Yeah. So, I did have Etsy say before that, you know, AI was if you do use the background or, you know, whatever to note it in in AI, but more recently, I've seen that you're not supposed to use it at all. So, I I don't want to tell you it's okay if it's not. Okay. So, how does Etsy decide what's listing to show first? Right? So, we have all these people with all the same things. How does it know to show first? Um, when multiple listings match a buyer search, Etsy has to decide which listings to show first. Right? Um, to do that, Etsy looks at signals that suggest a buyer is most likely to purchase a particular listing. Okay? So, the first page he gets all these um pirate t-shirts, right? who's gonna who is it going to show first? Who's going to be on page one? Um Etsy

58:51 doesn't just look at keywords, it also looks at shopper behavior. And that's that's what I was just mentioning. Um because buyers actions help Etsy understands which listings shoppers are interested in. So Etsy considers listing quality score. This is huge. This is something that a lot of people don't realize. Our listings have scores. Okay, so listing quality score is based on how shoppers interact with your listing. It includes things like clicks, how many people are clicking on your product. Okay. Um favorites, add to hearts, add to carts and hearts, um and purchases, right? So, Etsy is looking at that. Okay. And I I know I mentioned that already. Um but the flip side of that uh is if you don't if you don't um aren't getting in any of

59:37 these things, if you aren't getting any clicks, nobody's seeing your product, you're you're getting a bad quality score. And so it's signaling to Etsy that people don't want to buy your stuff. I'm not trying to sound dramatic. Nobody wants to buy that listing. And so Etsy starts pushing it further and further down the search results, right? And and Francis, there's not you can't see it. It's it's not something that we see unfortunately and Etsy doesn't give it to us. Um but it's there. It is there. And Etsy does not give it to they don't disclose any of that. Um, but it's not it's not the star seller badge or anything like that. It's just if you don't if you have poor engagement in your listings, it shows signals that nobody wants it. And it just goes, like I said, it goes

1:00:22 further and further down search. But here's the thing. I you guys have beautiful products. So, it's not that the product isn't isn't good. It's just that people aren't seeing it, right? So, that's that's what's that hurts you. Oops. Sorry. Okay. So, your product can't sell if nobody sees it. Okay? You could have the perfect product, the perfect gift, and the perfect solution. You could even like literally be like, "I embroider these mama sweatshirts by hand, and you can have it in your hands by tomorrow." How many people would buy that, right? But nobody if they can't see your listing. I notice that when I make a listing, Etsy does give Oh, yeah. Don't Well, we could talk about that in a little bit, too, Jennifer. with the

1:01:07 Etsy suggested titles. We we Yeah, we could we could or remind me if I don't talk about that. Remind me. Oh, my button came loose. Okay. Um so yeah, if your if your listing is buried on page 20 of Etsy um search results, nobody's going to find it. Okay. And if nobody finds it, nobody can buy it. So we want to be up in the front. We want to be front row. Okay. So why do so many Etsy sellers struggle? Because most Etsy sellers aren't struggling because their products aren't good enough. They struggle because they don't fully understand how Etsy actually works, right? So, how much of this is new to you guys, right? I know a lot of us, we just think we're going to post our product and people are going to look, people are going to find us. I mostly just sell

1:01:53 tells me when a pick isn't good quality. Oh, yeah. Or your thumbnail, right? If it says your thumbnail isn't good. Um, yeah. But this this is what I find most Etsy sellers don't realize. They don't realize um this kind of stuff is a thing because I have people say I I put my product up and I've looked for my listing and I can't find it because nobody can find it. It's like in the abyss. All right. So, uh so now you know why demand matters. You know that keyword matters and you know why relevance matters. Okay. But how do we actually put it all together? Yeah. And Etsy does give us good little tips because Etsy wants us to, you know, to make sales and and I will tell you guys, you know, with the keywords and

1:02:39 the Etsy cuz I I'm not going to talk about that in the slides. Um, but the Etsy suggested titles, they are not a good thing. They are suggested titles and and I will tell you a little bit about that, the reason why I say they're not a good thing, but I do still think you should try them. Um, Etsy switched over to that probably in August of last year. Um, and and so they did that and they told Etsy sellers to change their titles and a lot of Etsy sellers did change their titles. I was not one of them. Um, but those sellers really struggled. Really, really struggled. It was not a good move. Um, I don't think a lot of people who are doing the Etsy titles, suggested titles are doing well at all right now. I currently tell my

1:03:25 people to make them both way by my my students to do them both well both way. Debbie, how are you? I'm so excited you're here. Um I tell my my people that I work with to use both to duplicate their listings and make two different um listings. That's a strategy that I I teach everybody. Um and and to use that title. I I even teach people to do that even if they don't use that title, you know, that Etsy recommended title. But um just know when you guys are creating your listings, I would probably say don't use that title. Do something more longtail keywords. Um but don't again I

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