Etsy Networking

[AUTHORS NOTE: Instructions on to make decorated masks and a link to supplies you may need are found in my earlier post Happy Halloween Part I below!]

I made my first Etsy sale yesterday and I can officially say that my dream of having an Internet retail business has become quite real. I committed to this many months ago when I registered myself as an Etsy seller and bought the proper licenses to do business. I am, however, not a naive person who believes that you just put stuff for sale somewhere on the Internet and magically wake up wealthy!

I spent a lot of time studying models of Internet businesses created by computer programs and made my own real business based on that. I have an Etsy shop and I am able to drive business into the shop by my social networks and blog. I also have monetized my blog and my Twitter account for secondary income. I also studied Etsy marketing in specific. Today, I tested this theory with very favorable results!

I relisted my Etsy merchandise which is a powerful marketing tactic. This keeps my merchandise nearer to the top of Etsy searches and therefore more likely to be viewed and purchased. The first things I put in my Etsy shop are masks and a collar which I categorized as fantasy merchandise. Because Halloween is rapidly approaching, there is an increased demand for these items.

Shortly after being listed, I received notification that the mask above had been included in an Etsy treasury called "Undiscovered Beauties!" What a lovely title! The treasury had been created by another new Etsy seller, laceratedpixie, to help other new Etsy sellers get a first sale. I couldn't let her down and this is great content! I posted it in all of my social networks and was in the process of making new posts after a few hours lapsed when I discovered the post in Twitter had been retweeted! I was in the process of writing a thank you tweet when another tweet proclaimed the piece had sold! Wow! This was exactly how I envisioned my marketing would work.

I am very grateful for laceratedpixie independently executing an idea to help other sellers. This is an ideal way to do business. I believe there is enough for all of us at Etsy and we will gain so much more by cooperating than by competing. Apparently many others share that vision and the Everything Etsy Blog has started a new social network called Etsypreneur. It is an experiment and already positive results are showing as we support each other. As each individual shop grows to be the best version of itself it can be, the whole organization will radiate an increasingly positive image. I am looking forward to a wonderful and long relationship with Etsy!

This story has a post script! The new owner of the mask sent me a lovely thank you message with a big surprise! She had posted the image on Indiana's biggest environmental website, A Greener Indiana!