Are you someone who has something special you make, that everybody LOVES to get as a gift? Wouldn’t it be awesome if you could make that item, or those items, over and over again and have buyers everywhere just waiting to see them and BUY them! Do you have a website now where you are trying to sell those items? Are you selling a few or a LOT of those items? Sometimes we all have to take a second look at HOW the website is set up, and what are we saying about each product. Today we’re going to talk about 5 tips for selling your products online that could help throw you into the big league when it comes to sales!
- Product Title. Research 2-5 word keyword phrases that buyers might use to find your listings. Think of the color, size or shape, who it would make a good gift for and where the item can be used (office, living room, etc).
Decide which keyword phrase describes your product the best and put that keyword phrase at the beginning of your title. This will help buyers know exactly what you’re selling. Separate the keyword phrases with commas (example: Tissue Box Cover, Square, Valentine Décor).
2. Body/Descripton. Break your description down into paragraphs. Customers that are browsing your product will most likely scan through the description. With this in mind, break the description down into 2-3 sentence paragraphs for easy reading.
Answer as many potential buyer questions as possible. What is the size or shape of your item? Would it be a good gift item for a woman or man? What is the item made of? Is it a set of resin coasters? A wooden sign? Fabric tissue box covers? Think about any specific questions customers MIGHT ask and be sure they are answered within the description of your product.
3. SEO – Search Engine Optimization. This deals with what keywords search engines will pick up when somebody does a search for products similar to what you have. The keywords used in your title and throughout the body of your description will be picked up. Make sure the keywords you use accurately describe what you offer; tell what your product can be used for (office, gift, baby shower, etc) and if color and size are important, be sure that is noted somewhere in the description. If you have done your research on appropriate keywords buyers would be using while looking for your type of products, then you should have no problem with the SEO of your product.
4. Sell on Multiple Platforms. Whether you’ve gotten your website to the level you want or not, we suggest you put your products on other platforms as well.
ETSY: Etsy has millions of buyers searching every day for products like yours. Setting up a store on Etsy is not difficult – they walk you through the process as you go. They do charge 20 cents for each product listed, in addition to sales transaction fees and re-listing fees for each product you sell. We have 2 stores on Etsy – http://Etsy.com/shop/PatternsThatFitYou and http://Etsy.com/shop/SewWithSarahCom, which make extra sales for us, as these shoppers may or may not find our websites http://PatternsThatFitYou.com and http://SewWithSarah.com.
AMAZON HANDMADE: Once again, Amazon has MILLIONS of shoppers that are also searching for products such as yours and ours. Amazon takes you step by step in setting up your store. One great thing about Amazon Handmade is that there is no listing fee or renewal fees – only one transaction fee when an item sells (and they tell you exactly what that fee is when you list the price of your item). My Amazon Handmade store is http://Amazon.com/handmade/SewWithSarah
We get tons of sales from our “other platforms”, and as you can see the names of our stores on Etsy and Amazon Handmade are the same as our websites, so you don’t have to come up with new names for them. Check out our stores on Etsy and Amazon Handmade and think about how you can set up your own store. NOTE: As a side note, let me say that if you have been making all those gift items, and perhaps don’t have a website but only sell a few here and there, or do a craft show once in awhile, you should STILL get set up with stores on Etsy and Amazon Handmade and see how your craft business can excel.
5. NEVER GIVE UP! My favorite “saying” that I have printed and taped to the wall behind my computer is “If it’s to be, it’s up to ME”!
Anything worth doing takes effort. Each of us is 100% responsible for our success or our failure. Success in online selling is NOT an “overnight” thing. It takes a lot of work and may take months to get to a point that you see the effort paying off. In the meantime, keep working, try using new keywords in your SEO or take some new photos if you think some of yours may not show your product as well as you’d like. Once the orders start coming in, you will see that all the hard work was worth it! You will then be wondering when you will have time to make all those beautiful items that shoppers are ordering so you can get them shipped as soon as possible…….what a GOOD feeling that is!
