2 YEARS of selling on Etsy.com!

January 25th marked my 2 year anniversary of selling on Etsy.com.

I want to give a HUGE thank you to my wonderful customers who have been nothing but supportive and full of sweet, sweet compliments.

I want to also thank my fellow Etsy sellers who have been such a fantastic font of info, encouragement, and good humor.

I think there are a few basic tips I've learned in 2 years here that could help anyone starting out:

1) Treat every customer as if they were your first.
I wrap each item carefully, handwrite a thank-you note, send a thank-you convo or email for each order. I think that not taking any single sale for granted is key, not only in making your business meaningful for yourself, but also in building your customer base.

2) Invest in a good camera. Buy the best you can afford. Spend as much time as possible taking as many photos as possible. Take photos of the same item at different times of the day to get to know the light in your house. Every season will bring different light, and you'll have to adapt your photo practices accordingly. But the more photos you take, the better you'll get at it.

3) Be honest. For jewelry sellers, if you don't know what a stone is, don't guess, just say "I don't know if this is manmade quartz or glass, but it sure is pretty!" and price accordingly.

4) Focus your off-site promotions to just a few key areas. For me, Blogger, Flickr and Trunkt are the places I've decided to concentrate my energy. You can't be everywhere online all the time, and trying to be could just burn you out.

5) Ship internationally! Figure out a price structure that will work for your items. It's all worth it to get that special rush of pleasure that comes from sending your first package to Hong Kong, Finland, Israel, New Zealand (or the US! :)

Year One was all about learning. Year Two was all about growth. I'm excited to see what Year Three brings!