Tuesday 16 June 2015

#EtsyRoadTrip




Over the weekend we made it to a brilliant event hosted by Etsy as part of their Community Road Trip, which is currently travelling up and down the UK. It was a chance for current and prospective sellers in the area to meet up and talk art, craft, making and selling, as well as an opportunity to hear from part of the Etsy UK team in the form of a talk by Seller Development Specialist, Francesca Ormezzano.

As well as getting to meet others in a similar situation - those with creative backgrounds working from home, often alongside another form of income - it was great to hear from a representative of the company with a wealth of experience and so much knowledge about what can make or break an Etsy shop. Holoholo pieces have been available to buy through Etsy for a few months now, but I have known for some time that we're not getting the best out of the platform. With such a huge community of users and sellers, as well as an established reputation as one of the biggest online marketplaces for handmade and vintage goods, it should surely bring a network of support and a great deal more customers for any business like ours.

It has always been a concern of ours that the popularity of Etsy could, in fact, work against us. With 1.4 million sellers and 32 million items available, we did wonder whether it was possible that Holoholo would get lost among the hoards of great items on the site and that it could be an unnecessary use of our time. However, having attended the event on Saturday it was clear that there are certain things that really make a shop stand out from the crowd, and that the opportunities offered by selling on Etsy far outweigh the pitfalls - as long as it is done right! This week I'll be dedicating some time to improving our shop, which will include composing new titles and tags, creating a more cohesive shop homepage and really knuckling down with planning another photoshoot.

Another exciting thing to come of the event was our introduction to Etsy Teams. The day was attended and promoted by the Etsy in Bristol Team which, as you might expect, is made up of sellers from Bristol and the surrounding areas. Becoming part of a team means joining a friendly community of local shops, learning from others' experiences and sharing information about upcoming events and news as well as taking part in team projects in order to improve your shop. I've sent our application off to join the team and am looking forward to hearing back and hopefully making some great new connections.

All in all it was a brilliant day, and I'm so glad the event was offered and that we were invited to attend. There are plenty of exciting things to get on with now, so I'll sign off and get back to planning all the new changes to the shop. Happy Tuesday, all!

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