Improving Your Etsy Shop Week 2 - Creating a Cohesive Shop

Creating a Cohesive Shop

 There are so many ways you can put out a cohesive shop and we're going to discuss how to go about the whole process today.

Know Your Customer

First thing's first!

You need to know WHO your target customer is...
This sounds like an incredibly hard thing to do, but when you get right down to it, your biggest customer is probably going to be someone a lot like YOU!

You want to think about having all of your items geared towards your target customer (the person who is likely to be looking for...and purchase your items)

-What does your customer look like?
in other words....What's their age, gender, income, style?

-What is important to them? Natural ingredients? trendy finds? being environmentaly conscious?

-What do they enjoy doing? Do they like camping and nature? Are they into crafting? Do they enjoy dolling up for a night on the town?

-What value can your work add for them? What do they get out of your items and shop?

Know Your Product

Now...let's think about what your items are...what makes them "similar"?

-Do you use similar materials for all of your items?

-Do they all follow a similar theme? (all for animals, kids, adults, etc.)

-Do you use the same technique to create all of your items?

-Do all of your items come from the same era? Are they the same colors?

All of these are things that can bring your items together as a cohesive collection...and that will go a long way in making your shop cohesive as a whole.


Know Your Photography

Now don't all of you grown and sigh all at once...the next thing you should think about is...you guessed it, my favorite topic....
PHOTOGRAPHY! ( I know, I know...)

-You need to have some sort of a cohesive look with your photography though...whether it's how you crop or place the items, a background, or props that you use.

-Keep in mind that the background should not detract from the item you are selling. The items should be the feature of the photos...the background shouldn't distract the shopper or detract attention from the items.

-Be sure that your background or setting is in keeping with your product theme and your target audience as well....for instance...I sell hair bows in my shop...I wouldn't use the same background or props as someone selling rustic items since it's unlikely that girls are going to be prancing around on barnwood (even though we know Etsy LOVES barnwood).... My items are geared towards girly things, and that's why my props are usually bling, or accessories you would see in a girl's room.

Also...you don't have to use the same background or props for every item...but there should be something that pulls them together.

More on Photography next week for Week 3 of Improving Your Etsy Shop.
Know Your Brand

Next...and very very important to us all is
Branding and Packaging

-Your shop banner and avatar should set the tone and theme for your shop. Extra points when your packaging and materials also goes with that theme.

-Your branding and packaging is an important part of your identity as a shop...but you also don't want it to be distracting from your product.

-If you can show your packaging in one of your photos...do it! That could make the difference in a sale. It can show how great your item could be for a gift, or a nice surprise in the buyer's mail box. Keep in mind though that you may want to make that one of your later photos...and not your first one (for treasuries and the Etsy FP etc.)

If you missed last week's post on Scheduling you can find it HERE. Don't forget to join us next week for week 3 where we'll go more in depth on Photography for your items.


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