Biz Whiz Tip: Read Interviews by Top Online Sellers

How Did They Sell That Much?
The super-mega-multi-million-dollar-question in the whole handmade universe is: "I'm promoting my work like crazy and I'm doing everything I'm supposed to do, so why am I not selling anything in my shop?" If so, so many people are asking the same question, then that means there are an infinite number of reasons that may or may not include any of the following: competition, time of year, knowing your audience and where to find them, have you built up a platform, are you really devoting time to your shop, are your photos top notch, do you know what good photos are, is your product truly ready, etc., etc.

I have a tip to offer that may help you on the path to selling more products from you online shop - Read Interviews by Top Etsy Sellers. Etsy features sellers on their front page where they conduct interviews with said sellers. There is so much knowledge to be gained from these interviews. You'll also acquire tips, ideas and pearls of wisdom from these interviews that you can apply to your own business. And the information is coming from folks who have been through the grind, who have tried things that perhaps didn't work and things that have worked and they have lots of information to share because they know their stuff. 

Treat these interviews as you would a class and take notes. Take notes (whether mental notes or actual written notes), on what they're doing to increase their sales, how they market their products, how they manage their personal time vs their business time, how they list or re-list their products, how they photograph their products, how they view professionalism, yada, yada, yada. 

By no means am I saying to copy folks on any level. That's out of the question. What I am saying is to seek out information, absorb knowledge and apply the things you need for your individual business and do so in your own amazingly unique way. Owning and operating a handmade business is truly a tremendous amount of work, but it is also a big, beautiful, endeavor of love, so do your thing and best of luck to you. :)

NOTE: I used Etsy sellers as an example because Etsy Featured Sellers is the one we all know, but by all means, read stories about any top handmade sellers whether they be on Etsy, Storenvy, Big Cartel, Tictail or any others. :)