Category: My Marketing Advice (Page 2 of 26)

Poor Etsy Sales? This Is What To Sell on Etsy

July 22, 2023 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

Are your sales on Etsy not doing so hot? A lot of the time, success on Etsy is really based on WHAT you sell.

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Customer Success Story

When I consult for an Etsy shop, analyzing their product line is a large part of it, where I try to find more lucrative product niches for their shop, including product niches that are growing and ones that are about to take off.

For example, a few years back I was consulting for a scented candle shop on Etsy. In doing my research for them, I saw a breakout Google search for “vanilla cashmere candles”. At the time, there were less than 100 listings on Etsy for a vanilla cashmere scented candle, so I convinced them to quickly add this candle to the shop, which we then optimized for SEO, landing it on the first page of search results, and the candle quickly became their best seller.

My new ebook What to Sell on Etsy outlines (in easy to read chart form), key sales opportunities by looking at products that are currently highly searched but have a low number of listings on Etsy. In other words, high demand with low supply.

In Demand Products on Etsy with Little Competition

Another example. You might think that the art category on Etsy is completely saturated. However, there are 15,000 searches on Google each month for “romanticism art” and yet only 4,000 listings on Etsy. That’s an opportunity.

Same with “yoga posters”. There’s over 165,000 Google searches a month, but only 21,000 listings on Etsy.

Download my Best Seller!

Another example, is “flared yoga pants”. Over 18,000 Google searches a month, yet under 2,000 listings on Etsy. If you’re a print on demand shop, I would be contacting my supplier today about getting flared yoga pants in my shop!

The goal is to also make sure you are selling the right product within the segment.

For example, there are a whopping 436,000 listings on Etsy for “summer linen dress” even though it is only searched 4,000 times a month. However, there are only 3,500 Etsy listings for “linen overalls”, which gets twice as many monthly searches. Not to mention that the average price for linen overalls on Etsy is US$100 compared to US$60 for a summer linen dress. Therefore, why not sell something that not only is MORE in demand with LESS competition, and has a HIGHER price point?

Another huge opportunity I identified is for floating shelves, with over 246,000 monthly searches, yet only 32,928 listings on Etsy.

What Else to Sell on Etsy Right Now

A few more of the 200+ product niches I found:

Gold Apple Watch Bands
Shower Steamers
Floating Candles
Crystal Advent Calendars
Halloween Costumes for Dogs
“Most Likely To” Christmas Shirts
Blanket Hoodies

Best Seller! Click to download!

I share all of this research in my new download, What to Sell on Etsy. You will love this ebook because I did extensive research on some of the top product niches on Etsy, including reviewing search data from Etsy, Amazon, Google Shopping, Google Trends and a few other SEO tools, all to discover over 200 opportunities in over 40 top Etsy product categories. where there is HIGH product demand but LOW supply.

Discover 200+ Product Opportunities on Etsy!

Also read: A Few Highlights from my Etsy Holiday Sales Planner.

The $242 Billion Business of Corporate Gifts

May 17, 2023 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

Are you making sure that your products can be sold as gifts for clients and employees?

COVID helped the Corporate Gift Market to double in size, and it now stands at US$242 billion annually, worldwide, according to a study done by Coresight Research. It is even a bigger gift market than Christmas.

Of this $242 billion, approximately 60% will be spent on gifts to clients and partners outside the organization and 40% for internal employee recognition and awards.

For sellers, there are even marketplaces designed specifically for corporate gift buyers, such as CorporateGift.com and gifts include everything from food and alcohol to candles and apparel to (if you remember my blog post two weeks ago) “experiences“.

The only caveat is you might have to be able to produce significant volume in a short time, and the company might want corporate personalization on the product.

Be sure to also read my post, “How to Get Corporate Holiday Gift Orders“.

New Business Idea: Sell An “Experience”

April 25, 2023 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

You’ve heard a lot about turning your knowledge into an online course, but that approach has become pretty exhausted.

A different approach, which I think is more effective, is what Uncommon Goods is doing. Capitalizing on the gift market, they are selling “experiences” as gifts.

In fact, a survey by SurveyMonkey found that 67% of respondents said they’d rather receive an experience than a physical gift.

I actually wrote about a similar idea about a year ago, where 1-800-Flowers teamed with Alice’s Table to offer a mother-daughter online flower arranging workshop as a gift for Mother’s Day.

Therefore, chefs/restaurant owners, florists, artists, psychics, crafters and more, can sell their “experiences” as a gift on Uncommon Goods. The gift approach means you can buy it for someone, or buy it for someone and yourself to do together (two sales instead of one). Think couples gifts, bridesmaid gifts, corporate gifts, Father’s day, Mother’s day, etc.

The Top-Selling Experiences:

Paint Your Pet
Romantic Mapmaking
Astrology Chart Class
Flower Arranging
Mixology Class
Scandinavian Baking

You can also use the “experience” to upsell your products. Be sure to also read: All New Small Business Ideas for 2023

Click to download the planner.

Thinking of Starting a New Business?

Download my best-selling How to Start a New Business Planner.

A Brilliant Co-Marketing Idea

April 10, 2023 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

I was writing something for a restaurant in Texas called Doña Maria Dominican Cuisine and they told me something unusual. They said that people who came to their restaurant, and had never even eaten cuisine from the Dominican Republic before let alone even heard of the island, loved the food and vibe so much that they ended up booking a trip to go there.

So, I thought, if you’re a travel agent, or sell vacation real estate, maybe you should be forming a business relationship with some of your local ethnic restaurants. You recommend them, and they recommend you. It’s a win-win.

In other words, the travel agent tells their clients to visit XYZ restaurant so they can try the food before they go, and the restaurant tells customers, if they love the food, then go visit XYZ travel and book a trip to go there. Don’t you love marketing that costs you nothing!

More Inspring Ideas:

Online Products to Sell

April 3, 2023 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

Are you looking for some new and fresh ideas for online products to sell?

When I wrote my latest ebook, 187 All-New Product Ideas for 2024, I brainstormed how to take currently top selling products and make them even more desirable to customers, based on feedback from reviews. This is always the key to business success – improve upon an already successful, proven product idea. I also came up with with some new product ideas based on current customer needs and demand.

Since then, I have seen three of the products I suggested in my ebook now being sold online, so I guess I was onto something!

For example, one of my product ideas was for a Camping Blanket Hoodie. This is because it was the perfect combination of blanket and hoodie for sitting around the campfire, and camping continues to be a top activity. online products to sell

Then there was my idea for a Cold and Flu Remedy Kit, because COVID made people want to nip every cough and sniffle in the bud, and everyone loves a compact, all-in-one remedy.

I also had the idea for holiday pillows that had a dual purpose – one occasion such as Halloween on one side, and then another, such as Christmas on the other, so you are not drowning in holiday pillows for every occasion, plus you can charge twice the price as they are really getting two products in one. I noticed sellers are doing this with door mats as well. The company, MudPie, took it further and created a Four Sided Holiday Pillow.

Download these product ideas

I bet you’ll discover your next great product idea in my ebook download, 187 All-New Product Ideas for 2024.

You might also want to read my blog post: How to Create Products Editors Love

How A Thank You Card Can Be An Awesome Marketing Tool

March 17, 2023 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

thank you card marketing tool A thank you card can be a very versatile marketing tool. Two things it can do:

Gives you an opportunity to get repeat business by offering a discount off their next purchase, or other type of offer.
Gives you an opportunity to be remembered by your customers, for repeat or referral business, by putting something useful on the back so they will keep the card.

For example, take my editable Thank You Card template shown here. Let’s say that you sell gifts. Then the back of the card having a calendar highlighting the various holidays throughout the year makes sense. The customer is more likely to keep this card and post it to their fridge, desk wall, etc., and remember your business as a result.

For example, in my Etsy Holiday Sales Planner, I always recommend including a Christmas cookie recipe card in every gift package, because the customer will keep it, and then pull it out year after year and remember your business.

Other Ideas for the Back of a Thank You Card:

For a Hair Salon: “10 Classic Nail Colors”
For a Travel Agency: “Travel Packing List”
For a Plumber: “How to Turn Off Your Home’s Main Water Valve”

Be sure to also read: What to Post to Social Media in April.

Using Your Business Forms to Get More Sales

March 8, 2023 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

You should always be trying to make a sale, even when you just made one.

For example, I created this new Editable Invoice Template and at the end I added:

WANT A FREE GIFT?

Refer us to get a $25 gift card for every new customer you send our way!

Why not use your invoices and other business and marketing collateral to their maximum sales potential?

This same offer could also go on your business cards, social media profiles, order forms, customer receipts, packaging – anywhere your customers will see it.

It doesn’t have to be a free gift. It could be a discount off a future purchase, a free service, anything to keep the sales funnel going, but the point is, this is free ad space for you!

Remember, always be selling!

Be sure to also see my Editable Thank You Card and Editable Order Form.

A Fast Way to Discover Who Your Target Customer Is

December 16, 2022 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

a fast way to discover who your target customer is Need a fast way to discover your target customer? Well all you have to do is simply read your top competitors’ reviews.

Here you will see a name and sometimes a photo, and this will help you determine age and gender.

Then they will also typically have their country and maybe even their city. Again, these are all key demographics.

If you actually read the reviews, you will learn more as well. Maybe who they were buying the item for, or what they planned to use it for.

Then you can determine things like, maybe they have a lot of men buying this as a gift for their wife, or a lot of professionals are using the product as opposed to the end user.

You may even learn where the customer discovered the brand in the first place i.e. I saw this on Instagram and had to buy.

Visit my Etsy store.

An Easy Way to Measure Online Ad Success

December 7, 2022 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

Need an easy way to measure online ad success?

When you run online ads – whether it is on Google, a blog or social media – here is a quick way to see if your ads are working.

One key metric you will get is AD IMPRESSIONS / REACH. This is the number of times your ad appeared to potential customers. If your ad impressions (or reach) for your ad campaign is not at least 10,000, I’m not sure you are going to make any sales. Here is why:

If we take the benchmark 1% rule, this means that 1% of ad impressions should turn into clicks, and 1% of clicks should turn into sales.

Therefore, 1% of 10,000 ad impressions means you should get at very least 100 clicks. Of those 100 clicks, again, at very least 1% should turn into orders. 1% of 100 clicks is 1 order.

Therefore, at a bare minimum, 10,000 ad impressions will lead to 1 order. But this is just a benchmark and obviously will vary depending on the product, ad creative, etc.

If your ad creative is very effective, causing your click through rate to be more like 5% of ad impressions, then this means those 10,000 ad impressions will turn into 500 clicks. Then, maybe if your sales conversion rate is also very good at 5%, then this means those 500 clicks will turn into 25 orders.

So, if you only got the basic 1% conversion, and let’s say you were paying .20 cents a click, this means you spent $20 to get 1 order. If the order is for $200, that’s great, but not so great if it is only for $25.

However, if you had the 5% conversion rate, and paying .20 cents a click, this means you spent $100 to get 25 orders. Even if each order is only $15 ($375 total order), this is a fairly good return.

FINAL THOUGHT: If you are not getting at least 10,000 ad impressions, you either need to increase your ad budget and/or change your keywords. If your clickthrough rate on ad impressions is 1% or less, you have to change the ad creative and/or the demographics of who is seeing it.

Be sure to also read: My Simple Tip for More Cost-Effective Ads. If you need to understand and improve your ad strategy, be sure to set up a 1:1 Phone Consultation with me.

By the way, I was quoted in an article in US News & World Report last week, called Low Cost Home Based Business Ideas, if you wish to check it out.

Category: My Marketing Advice (Page 2 of 26)

Poor Etsy Sales? This Is What To Sell on Etsy

Customer Success Story

In Demand Products on Etsy with Little Competition

What Else to Sell on Etsy Right Now

Discover 200+ Product Opportunities on Etsy!

The $242 Billion Business of Corporate Gifts

New Business Idea: Sell An “Experience”

The Top-Selling Experiences:

Thinking of Starting a New Business?

A Brilliant Co-Marketing Idea

More Inspring Ideas:

Online Products to Sell

How A Thank You Card Can Be An Awesome Marketing Tool

Other Ideas for the Back of a Thank You Card:

Using Your Business Forms to Get More Sales

A Fast Way to Discover Who Your Target Customer Is

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An Easy Way to Measure Online Ad Success

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Customer Success Story

In Demand Products on Etsy with Little Competition

What Else to Sell on Etsy Right Now

Discover 200+ Product Opportunities on Etsy!

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The Top-Selling Experiences:

Thinking of Starting a New Business?

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