Snarky, Funny Friendship Card / Friends Forever | By: Neat Things

By: Neat Things

My dad used to always say, “Find what you’re better at than most people and do that for a living.” It was his recipe for success.

If you’re struggling with sales. If you’re not absolutely-fundamentally-in-your-gut clear on your identity or what you want your business to be. If you can’t quite manage to get yourself off the ground. If you are wondering what magical marketing trick is up some sellers’ sleeves. Here’s a zany idea. Try narrowing your business instead of expanding it.

“What is she saying!? If I narrow myself, I narrow my market!” You might be balking. But before you run away screaming, consider this.

There are tons of photographers on here. And, to people who don’t really know photography too well or buy it all that much (myself included – I prefer paint and sculpture), all photographers look alike. One pink flower is like all other pink flowers. It’s a clear shot, there’s a green leafy background, and there might be a bit of blue sky. Blah.

There are also tons of jewelers on here. And to people who don’t really understand the potential complexities in creating your own lampwork beads (I do, by the way. I took a class and quickly realized I should never be left in a room holding both fire and glass.), a lot of beaded jewelry looks alike. There’s some metal, there are some beads. Sure, a lot of stuff is really gorgeous, but unless it’s standing out like a 6″ tall spiked blue mohawk in a small town shopping mall (as I once saw in the 1980s), it’s not going to get noticed.

So if you’re in one of those difficult categories, consider putting a stop to creating random new stuff. Instead, find something to make your work really unique and different and focus on recreating that theme again and again.

For instance, if you’re a nature photographer, don’t just shoot all the flowers you see and list them here. Shoot all the flowers you see from all the angles you can imagine. Consider tweaking photos with some kind of signature (there’s a photog on here whose name I can’t remember who does that) and list everything that fits that theme — and only that theme. Become the best nature photog with that theme that exists on Etsy (and elsewhere).

Read more here:  Be sure to read the rest of Neat Things’ post, as there are a few words of caution you will want to read.

The Etsy forums are packed full of amazing information.  Etsy Forum Rewind brings these buried posts back to life so more people from the community can benefit from the information.  Read, Learn , Apply!