Podcast Episode 17: Your Etsy Shop Holiday Survival Guide

Hey guys!!! Welcome to this week’s show.

How ya holdin’ up?? Etsy during the holidays is the real deal, isn’t it? LOL!

I can imagine right now you may be feeling one of two things:

1. Complete and utter overwhelm as you rush around getting out lots of orders you didn’t plan for and have no clue how you’ll get out in time --- slash brimming over with gratitude that it worked and you’re making some extra cash.
2. OR total confusion and maybe a bit hopeless about why you’re not making sales during the busiest shopping season of the year. Not sure what it’s going to take for you to figure this out… Perhaps wondering if it’s time to throw in the towel because Etsy may work for some, but it sure does not work for you.

Today is for BOTH of you, my friends!!! It’s the Etsy Shop Holiday Survival Guide for the haggard and overwhelmed AND for the new seller who’s hoping and praying to eek in a few sales while the shoppers are hot.

Before we jump into some good tips and strategies to help you thrive during this home stretch of the holiday season--- I just want to give you a few reminders of the resources I have for you!

First of all--- I have a free masterclass called “How to Kick-Start Your Etsy Shop” that you can grab over on my website https://www.howtosellyourstuff.com/masterclass (or just look at the top of the site and you’ll see an orange button pointing you to it).

It’s a solid free course—I really tried to pack in the value and some key takeaways that will help you right away.  

The free masterclass is also the ONLY place you can get access to my paid course “Etsy Listings that Sell” for only $77. And guys that is a BARGAIN. I will mark it up in the future but for right now while I’m breaking into the consulting and training space--- it’s a steal as I build my brand.

I have held nothing back from you guys! My course literally contains every single stinkin’ strategy and tip I’ve used to build a full-time shop. The information in it can legit make you hundreds of thousands of dollars. I promise it’s excellent and will teach you what you need to know.

So—grab the free masterclass either just to learn from it OR to get access to my discounted eCourse.

And finally--- I offer Etsy and small business consulting. You can hire me by the hour to answer your questions, analyze your shop, talk through business and marketing ideas and strategies. Whatever you need. I’ve got a background in social media management, blogging, small business, affiliate marketing--- all kinds of goodness.

So--- We’ll have a ball. You’ll feel like you’re hanging out with a buddy while getting tons of insights and ideas for your business.

You can sign up for consulting time by going to my website HowtoSellYourStuff.com and click “Store” from the main menu. I have one and three hour packages. You just order it there and I’ll get an email—then I’ll reach out to you to schedule our time together.

And that gets us caught up! Now’s the time to start thinking about your 2022 goals and deciding intentionally what you’re going to do to sharpen yourself. And I’d just love to help you!

So let’s jump into today’s holiday season survival tips, shall we?

I’m going to start with my folks who are feeling overwhelmed by the work they need to get done and then we’ll move into some tips for grabbing some extra sales before the end of the year.

If you are burning the candle at both ends LOL--- here’s what I suggest:

1) Don’t try to be superwoman or superman.

I know sometimes we want to leverage the craze. We need the money or want the money and it feels like we’d better grab it now or it will dry up.

I totally get it. Our first few years we needed every penny we could earn and worked like animals. I’m not saying don’t do that--- my advice is to decide ahead of time: what am I willing to do? What does my family need from me? What is the healthiest way to approach this? Because if you’re stressed to the max and no fun to be with and your family feels like your business is more important than they are around the holidays—that’s a recipe for disaster. You should approach this with some balance and considerations of your needs outside of money.

Just do what you’re going to do with intention. 

I like to decide as a family (since Chris works with me in the business)  in advance– what are we willing to do this season? How many pieces do we want to build, make, wrap, and ship? Once we reach that goal--- we put the shop on vacation mode.

It’s sort of like planning your budget before the bright and shiny thing shows up that you desperately want. You make a decision ahead of time what you’re going to spend and that protects your long term goals.

 2) What can you delegate?

If you’re making a bunch of sales, you’ve probably got some extra money that you could put towards bringing in some seasonal help. This does not have to be a big deal! But it could help you TREMENDOUSLY!

What can someone else do for you? What do you hate doing? Think about what you HAVE to do for your business to function and grow—then try to delegate as many of the other tasks that you reasonably can.

I was just talking to my sweet client, Hanna, about this earlier in the week. She has an in-home bake shop that has just blown up and she wants to leverage Etsy for more sales outside of her small town. (Both she and her business are so freakin' cool, you guys! I’m going to get her on the podcast soon and you’ll just love her!)

So she’s at home baking for hours each day with two small kiddos at her feet and then she’s spending hours some days driving around making local deliveries.

Some of you are probably in the same boat—you started your business locally and you’re saving on shipping by delivering-- but it’s costing you A TON in time! Because you’re driving all over your county and making small talk for 30 minutes at each drop off--- and you could be resting, or marketing, or making more product, or snuggling your cat.

I asked Hanna--- why not hire someone to deliver for you? A high school student? Someone that you can trust and won’t cost a fortune. But they’ll love jamming out in the car, making some extra holiday cash, and deliver your goodies for you! Her legitimate concern was that she’s the face of the business and it would lose that personal touch—but I said just write the customer a little thank you note (she already was!) and call it a day. It’s enough. And frankly—the fact that you’re so busy you need to hire a delivery driver gives your business even more credibility! People will think you’re extra legit and they’ll be happy for you!

So what could you delegate to a family member, neighbor, one of your kids, a high school student, a stay at home mom--- anyone you know who’d love to make some extra holiday cash?

Things I have delegated are:

• Building our signs (Chris had a team of guys help him on the weekends to build)
• Base painting
• Staining and painting frames
• Gift wrapping our products
• Boxing our products
• Running errands
• Cutting out our product tags and jute cord we wrap with
• Photographing our products (thanks Pickle! She’s my sister and a much better picture taker than me!)

Seriously, my loves! You don’t have to do it all! What can you delegate to keep your sanity—or if you’re product is labor intensive like mine--- protect your sweet little hands.

 3) Use Etsy’s Vacation mode.

I won’t go into a ton of detail because podcast episode 3 is literally all about vacation mode—but the bottom line is—vacation mode is awesome! You should absolutely use it.

I recommend using it either when you’ve hit the number of orders you want (or are able to) fill OR at a cut off beyond where you can have the product in the customer’s possession in time for the holiday. I think it prevents unhappy customers and bad reviews personally! Otherwise you need to be DMing them and be extremely clear about when they can expect their product. And this year is critical since shipping is less predictable than it’s been in the past.

I could go into a lot more detail—so check out episode 3 if this is a topic of interest for you—but the short answer is that vacation mode does not hurt your shop. You just need to expect that it will take some time for your products to get back to where they were in the search results once you turn your shop back on. It’s taken a few weeks for me before, but it has never hurt my shop long term at all. It’s a blessing.

Some of you may be surprised to know that my shop is already on vacation mode for the holidays. We switched it before thanksgiving because we just didn’t want to take more orders this year. Don’t be afraid of it at all. Do the amount of work you want to do. I support you and your goals no matter what they are!

Podcast Episode #3: Will using Etsy’s vacation mode hurt my shop? https://www.howtosellyourstuff.com/blog/podcast-episode-3-will-using-etsy-s-vacation-mode-hurt-my-shop

Alrighty--- let’s switch gears and talk about what you can do if you’d like to see more sales come in for the month of December!

If you don’t currently have a product but would love to make some holiday sales, here are some last minute ideas:

You can:

-Source vintage ornaments or gifts to sell at local good will, estate sales, or flea markets (Vintage is a GREAT niche for people who aren’t sure what to sell yet or aren’t particularly crafty!)

-Sell a Print on Demand (POD) product. These are products that another company makes and ships for you—you just create a design that might go on an article of clothing or piece of décor OR you design some of the packaging. My favorites are Printful for tshirts and other apparel and ShineOn for jewelry.

Printful: https://www.printful.com/

ShineOn: https://shineon.com/

-Compile some stocking stuffers. As a busy mama I will gladly pay extra for someone to do this for me! You could create actual stockings with all the gifts in them or package some gifts together. Bonus points if you find a way to personalize them! Just make sure you watch the Etsy Seller Policy to stay compliant: https://www.etsy.com/legal/sellers/#selling

If you already have your products in place, here are some holiday specific pointers:

One of the primary keys for holiday sales is your turn-around time. Shoppers want to be CONFIDENT they’ll have their order in time—so make it as fast as possible. I would even put in your shop’s welcome message and your product description what your turn around time is and a note of encouragement that you want to do everything you can to help customers get their orders in time.

You can also package your pieces in special holiday wrapping and include a hand written holiday card for orders that are made as a gift with a note. (I’ll link my favorite boxes of holiday cards that I order on Amazon for this purpose!) If you advertise this extra service on your social media and in your listings (or better yet in your photo galleries) it might prompt some extra sales. Find ways to make it easier for the shopper!

If you’re still struggling with holiday sales (and your products are things that shoppers are buying from other shops this time of year)--- you may have some research to do. Schedule yourself some time to look at the top shops in your niche and figure out what they’re doing differently from you.

Maybe do some studying--- grab my free masterclass or my ecourse where I’ll show you exactly how to create your product titles so they’ll compete and how to sell evaluate your listings and your photos. You may just have some knowledge gaps that need attention. That’s all! You’ll get there if you keep working at it!

I’d say that’s a wrap for this week’s episode! I’m going to head back to my studio and crank out a few more signs before the day is over. I’ll see you next week with more Etsy goodness!

Good luck in the final stretch! I’m cheering for you!

EPISODE DETAILS

Holiday season is in full swing and we’re approaching that final stretch of sales. Whether you’re overwhelmed with orders or wondering why you don’t have any--- I’ve got tips for you today in this Etsy shop holiday survival guide!

**“How to Sell Your Stuff on Etsy” is not affiliated with or endorsed by Etsy.com

STUFF I MENTIONED:

FREE Etsy Masterclass: https://www.howtosellyourstuff.com/masterclass

*You can get the discounted ($77) rate for my ecourse “Listings that Sell” via the FREE Masterclass

Etsy and Small Business Consulting Packages: https://www.howtosellyourstuff.com/store

Podcast Episode #3: Will using Etsy’s vacation mode hurt my shop? https://www.howtosellyourstuff.com/blog/podcast-episode-3-will-using-etsy-s-vacation-mode-hurt-my-shop

Printful: www.printful.com

ShineOn: https://shineon.com/

Etsy’s Seller House Rules: https://www.etsy.com/legal/sellers/#selling 

Box Set (cards for gift messages): https://amzn.to/3oi62i0 

Box Set (holiday cards for gift messages): https://amzn.to/3DfgA5z  

*Some of the links above are affiliate links which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my link, at no extra cost to you. You can see my affiliate disclosure here: https://www.howtosellyourstuff.com/affiliate-disclosure

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FREE ETSY MASTERCLASS: https://www.howtosellyourstuff.com/masterclass

FREE PDF DOWNLOAD: “4 Strategies I Used to Grow My Etsy Shop from $25 to $6000k/month”: https://www.howtosellyourstuff.com/site/4-strategies-opt-in

Grab my eCourse “Listings that Sell” and learn how to skyrocket your Etsy business:

https://www.howtosellyourstuff.com/offers/Xo52uqVF

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HOW TO SELL YOUR STUFF WEBSITE: https://www.howtosellyourstuff.com/

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HOW TO SELL YOUR STUFF SHOWNOTES: 

https://www.howtosellyourstuff.com/blog/etsy-shop-holiday-survival-guide 

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Today’s Sponsor is my website: www.HowtoSellYourStuff.com