How to Get Your First 100 Sales on Etsy -6 Simple Ingredients
The first 100 sales on Etsy are the hardest! Why? It takes time to figure out the necessary ingredients in order to create the perfect recipe. In this article, I'll be sharing six key ingredients you need to get there. In any recipe if you forget an ingredient it might still be okay, but it definitely wouldn't be as good as it could be. The same concept goes here, don't skip any of the ingredients unless you want to ruin dinner.
Before we dive in, I want to make it clear that Getting your first 100 sales may take some time. If you expect overnight success, I promise this will be a long journey for you and this may not be the right business for you. With that being said, success will come and it could come quickly as long as you implement what I share in this article and you don't quit when it seems impossible.
6 Simple Ingredients to Get Your First 100 Sales on Etsy
Cover The Basics
Is your store built out? This includes your banner, shop icon, profile photo, at least 15 trending designs, slash listings in "about section", shop members, shop policies, frequently asked questions, etc. Are your listings priced correctly and competitively? If not, after you finish this article, here's a pricing strategy video I made to help you get started.
Are your products high quality and are your designs placed accurately in the print area? Have you researched production partners and partnered with a print company that does high quality work? Are your shipping profiles built out with accurate processing and shipping times? If you've answered yes to all of these questions, you are ready to add the next ingredient, which is to perfect SEO.
Perfect SEO
If you aren't using proven keywords that buyers would use to search your item, it will never be found. You need to do your keyword research and see what keywords are performing well and showing up on the first page in search results for similar designs.
If you're not sure how to do this, I made an Etsy SEO article that can help you after you've learned the rest of the ingredients. Don't overcomplicate it, it's really pretty simple, think like a buyer and go directly to the source to see what is working.
Invest In Mockups
If you're using Printful's or Printify's mockups instead of purchasing high quality ones off of Etsy, it's like pouring a bowl of cereal with water instead of milk. It's just not the same. Do yourself a favor and invest in mockups that will make your design stand out in search results. I'm serious, it wasn't until we started doing this that we started to see a significant difference in daily sales.
Mockups allow your customers to visualize what your product may look like on them. Online shopping doesn't allow you to try anything on, so your product photos are the closest they'll get to trying it on in the fitting room. You could even consider ordering blank products or what you are selling and make simple videos showcasing the fit and quality of the product. The top performing print on demand shops on Etsy are not using their print providers mockups. If you don't believe me, go and look, take this as a hint that you need to spend a little money to make a lot of money.
Get Your 1ST Sale
Once you have your shop built out, have proven SEO on your listings and are using nice high quality mockups, your store is not ready for its first sale, but no one knows your shop exists. How are you going to get a stranger to buy from your store with no reviews or sales?
Well, it doesn't have to be a stranger. It's pretty pretty difficult to get your first few sales organically, so I always recommend sharing your shop with your friends and family. I did this when first starting my shop and not only did it help me get my first handful of sales, but it also allowed me to gain some seller experience in a safe space while being given honest and genuine feedback for improvement.
Don't be embarrassed to tell people about your new Etsy shop. Post about it on social media like Instagram, TikTok and Facebook. I promise you will be surprised by the support and generosity of the people you know. They will be the key to building the foundation of your shop.
Reviews With Pictures
After you've shared your shop and gotten your first sales, ingredient number five is to make sure they leave reviews. And if you can, make sure they leave reviews with pictures. Pictures are huge. Think about it. How likely are you going to purchase a product from a shop with little to no sales or reviews? But if there's a picture from a previous customer showing what the end product looks like and it looks great, so many more people will be willing to pull the trigger regardless of the shop sales or review count. Reviews are more powerful than sales. They build social proof that will help kickstart and grow your shop, not just in the beginning, but long term.
In the beginning stages think of creative ways to encourage customers to leave reviews. You could thank them with a coupon code for their next order. You could start a monthly giveaway for customers who leave reviews with pictures. Or you could pick a charity and share in your shop that you make a donation for every review you receive. But the best way to encourage customers to write reviews is to just ask.
More often than not, people will be willing to help you out, especially on a small business platform like Etsy. After your shop starts to take off, asking for reviews manually may become too much of a burden. So you could consider automating the ask by including a simple message to leave a review in the Automated Message to Buyers section on Etsy. Or if you're using Printful, you can include a copy paste personalized message on the packing slip. Etsy also sends an email reminding customers to review their products, which is a nice bonus.
Increase Listing Count
After you've received your first few sales and reviews. The next ingredient is to increase the number of listings you have. Increasing your listing count gives you more chances of being found, but it's important to note that quality is better than quantity here. It's better to have fewer high quality listings with trending designs than to have tons of low quality listings with mediocre designs.
You need to have designs that are current and trending, if you're not sure how to do trend research, after you finish this article, go and watch this video. It teaches you six free ways to find trends.
Remember, you are designing for the customer, not for yourself. Study big box stores like Target, Walmart, H&M and see what kind of graphics and design styles they are doing. Test variety, experiment with multiple niches and when you find a winning item or design, double down on it because success leaves clues.
Add Your Toppings
The last ingredient is to add your toppings, which in other words means to add the little things to make your shop special and competitive against more established stores on Etsy. Ask yourself, what value am I providing to my customers? How can I provide more? Examples of this could include going above and beyond with your customer service, throwing a small freebie in with your orders like a sticker to excite and impress your customers, setting up your bring customers back targeted offer on Etsy to thank your previous customers for their business, hosting giveaways, etc.
Along with doing the little things, it's also important to keep learning, improving and implementing new strategies. Study what the veterans are doing and implement these methods into your store. What mockup photo styles are popular? What shirt colors are other people selling? Are they running any sales? You don't need to reinvent the wheel. Use the resources around you to see what is working and apply what you learn to improve your store.
If you're feeling down because your results have not met your expectations yet, don't give up, keep trying, keep experimenting, keep improving. Practice perseverance and you are on your way to your first 100 sales. I know when I was trying to get my first 100 sales, I sometimes felt discouraged and often compared myself to other shops.
If that's you, I think you'll like this article here, I share some ways to overcome discouragement and transform comparisons into positive and productive outcomes.
