Gather Essentials

Preparing the fundamental elements for your business sooner makes the whole process of launching your shop easier, fast, and stress-free.
We presume you already know what your product will be.
Here’s what you need to do next:

Research Your Niche

If you are a new Etsy seller, look for what makes your products unique from those of other people. Etsy currently has over 7.5 million active sellers. It is hard to stand out when there is so much competition. You need something that makes you unique. It is not necessary to come up with something highly original. However, you should have some thoughts about how to position your products in comparison to competitors. For instance, you could upgrade the materials or include more vibrant colors. Your niche should be immediately apparent to anyone who arrives in your shop for the first time. While you can still feature a variety of products, they should all fall into a clearly defined category.

Research Successful Etsy Sellers

Etsy is full of buyers and sellers. To learn more about the market, look up top Etsy shops in your niche. Look for products that may be relevant to the niche you plan on pursuing. Nevertheless, you should not try to replicate their style because you will most likely fail. You should develop your own personal style! Best Vendors are those that have worked hard to develop a loyal following of returning customers.

Choose a name for your Etsy shop

Choosing a name for your shop is a huge step. Once you have it registered, you can only change the name of your shop five times after it is opened, so think carefully.
As the face of your company, your shop’s name should stand out from the crowd and be easy for customers to recall when typing it into a search bar.
If you already have a name in mind for your online store, make sure you have at least three or more different options just in case the one you like is already taken by someone else.
Consider a long-term option when choosing a name for your Etsy shop. Have a broad idea of the direction you want your business to take over the next few years. Keep it simple, relevant, and catchy. Read more about How to choose a perfect name for your Etsy store here.

Set Specific and Attainable Goals

You most likely have great plans for your business. Instead of making task lists relying on your long-term goal, you should define reasonable, achievable milestones that will get you there. Carrying it out with a laser-like focus on completing these minor goals, your task list will become much more manageable and easier to follow.

Plan for the long term

Is your venture a hobby or a business? Could this be something you would like to start as a leisure for the time being, with the goal of turning it into a serious business later on?
If the answer to the latter is “Yes” then you should think about doing/investing much more for this venture. In the beginning you will need to do the following:

Open a separate bank account.

Combining your finances is quite difficult to undo and also is discouraged by the IRS. Even though accounting is likely the least of your concerns when establishing your Etsy shop and one of the least glamorous aspects of entrepreneurship, you should take some time to set it up from the start.
It does not have to be a “business account,” as banks occasionally charge an additional fee for them, but basically an account to deposit your revenue into it with a linked card for business expenses.

Learn about SEO

SEO is an acronym that stands for “search engine optimization”. It is a type of content optimization that intends to get your product or service to rank higher in the search results. SEO is a vast subject and not something that can be mastered immediately.
When customers on Etsy are looking for something specific, they typically begin their search by entering keywords and phrases into the search bar.
Because Etsy’s search algorithm is always changing, the best you can do in the beginning is to understand how to be easily and quickly discovered on the platform.
You can achieve that by accurately addressing each information from the business name to the product titles and descriptions
Here’s a checklist to consider:

• Use your main keywords in the title.
• Specify categories – always add your products to the accurate categories
• Use keywords in Etsy tags – Etsy allows the use of up to 13 tags, each of which can be up to 20 characters long.
• Add relevant attributes in the description such as the color, the width, the height and the weight.
• Make use of synonyms for your product (for example, phone case, phone cover, cellphone case) to broaden your audience’s exposure.
• In the about section, include long-tail keywords – keywords that contain more than two words and which describe your consumers’ expectations. For instance, if you are selling phone cases, you may say “Google nexus cases” or “iPhone phone cases.”

Knowing how to write an excellent item title and what your tags should be will put you miles ahead of the majority of new shop owners and will help alleviate any customer concerns while pleasing the search engines.

Test Your Product Before Launch

This is yet another crucial stage that so many sellers fail to take. To build a trustworthy Etsy store, you should always test your products prior to launching. This will save you and your clients a lot of problems and unneeded customer support talks.
Few things you should do are:

• Test the product yourself.
• Test the product in a variety of scenarios.
• Seek input on the design.
• Evaluate your product’s quality and durability if it is a tangible item.
• Consult with friends and relatives for honest input.

Consider the pricing, and then ask them how much they are willing to pay for it. Is it something they have seen before? What do they enjoy about it, or indeed if they would purchase it, and if they would not, why not?

Final Thoughts

Selling on Etsy is 100% worthwhile if you have the answers to all of the key questions. The easiest part is starting an Etsy company and earning money on the platform! With this guide to becoming a successful Etsy seller, you have a good chance of becoming one of the platform’s top sellers.