How to run a Successful ETSY business

That is a great question that many ETSIANS have asked and tried to figure out for years!  What is crazy is that what may be successful for one ETSY shop may not work at all for another ETSY shop, Crazy I know!

Here is my list of what is helping me to become successful

Good Photography:
I first opened my shop selling my greeting cards in 2008 and here is a example of a photo I had

not the best but at the time I thought it was fine.
What is wrong with the photo?

• needs cropped
• needs straightened
• taken at a bad angle
• the background makes it too dark 
• fuzzy picture
• lighting was bad

I think that my photos have gotten better

fixed the photo

• cropped the photo
• straightened the photo more(could probably be straightened more)
• took the photo and tried to get a birds eye view of the card
• this photo is more in focus
• lighting was much better
• notice the different background

 Listings:
the key is to list product and to have a full shop, never thought about it the first go around but really who wants to shop in a store that only has a handful of product, not me I want choices!
Imagine going into a big dept store and only having 3 options to buy-- You probably wont want to shop there a lot. 

I try to list at least 2 items per day if not more, and space the listings out throughout the day so that your shop is gaining more exposure!

Budget:
Now however this may be common sense It was the last thing on my mind the first go around and so now I budget tightly!

Figure out what  you can personally spend per month remember that it takes money to make money!  Dont overspend on supplies however it may be tempting to do just that.  You need to figure out what the max amount you can personally add to the etsy shop from your personal budget(keep personal money separate from ETSY money)

each time you make a sale figure out what your profit was by taking the fees and the expenses of creating the product from the price sold at.  You will probably be surprised to find out that you really don't make as much as you would think :( You may have to adjust your prices a little the first 6 months to a year.

No one wants to work for FREE

Excellent Customer Service
You have to be conscious that there is a person on the other end of your purchase
I not only sell on ETSY but I also buy on ETSY, there is nothing better than opening a package and seeing pretty packaging a free sample or coupon code, a handwritten note of thanks!  I also enjoy getting convos from the buyer throughout the process just letting me know where we stand.
Some things I do

• e-mail customers with thanks and approximate shipping times 
• send a convo through ETSY when I ship the product(the shipping label usually gets to them before the product gets shipped and I just want them to be aware of when I ship)
• Package my products in a cute way 
• includes a handwritten note with each purchase
• includes a coupon code with each purchase
• during holidays I include a free gift
   

 Advertise and market shop:
This is something that I struggle with most!  How do you market your shop? how to advertise?  many etsy sellers advertise through ETSY, some others advertise through a blog, twitter, facebook, pinterest, and others get published in a magazine, Others pass cards and samples out through out their neighborhood
I dont know if there is a right or wrong way to market I am still trying to figure it all out!