Tips on Starting and Etsy Shop

My Shop on Etsy: TheShoreDecor

Getting your shop up and running:    CREDITS TO THESHOREDECOR ON ETSY

1.  There are a lot of sections & information to fill out about your shop, click  'your shop:____" (upper left) and you will see all of the sections (and sub-sections and sub sub-sections). Click through all of the  different sections (on right) and get an understanding for each one.
2. Filling out the sections (for example: policies) can be a little overwhelming when just starting out, you may not know where to start. The best advice I can give, is to look at a few other successful etsy shops' policies, and get a feel for what to do with your policies, and do basic research (like for example, different shipping services offered by fed ex, ups ect. when filling out shipping policies)
3.  After you get your shop up and running, (be prepared to make changes along the way..) it's a good time to promote

Promoting/Sales:

1. weighing the etsy options: Search ads: First off, do NOT start right away doing search ads until you've filled up your shop a solid amount, otherwise, search ads will likely be in vain. As for results- I haven't heard great success stories from search ads. I asked a question on etsy a little while ago and probably got 25-30 responses. I'd say 20 of them were negative saying search ads didn't improve sales/views much in their shops. It's a bit of a gamble, but if your really wanting to get sales, you may need to be persistent (one week of search ads usually doesn't cut it) in order to bring traffic to your shop. Coupon codes:  Coupon codes are usually more of insentive for customers to buy and less of a way to promote your shop. They are a way to see where your sales are coming from too (for example, for my blog viewers/followers, i'll just post a coupon code on here, so if somebody uses that coupon code, i'll know they came from my blog) 
2. JOIN TEAMS. This is an extremely good way to get feedback on your shop, find answers to questions to may have, and getting your name out there. Join teams like Etsy Success, Handmade Success, Price Critique, The Critique Games, Promotion Locomotion
3. Social Network: Create accounts on several social networking sites (if possible, use the same username (helpful if shop name) on all of the social networking sites so it's easy to find you). Some good ones are: Twitter, Facebook, Make a Blog (on blogspot, tumblr, webs, ect.), Pinterest, Stumbleupon, Wanelo, rebelmouse
4. Join teams also because people will occasionally do etsy promotions on their blogs, and you can submit an item to be promoted. A good blog is www.humbleville.com, she does etsy carnivals and promotes lots of people, i've gotten direct traffic from there before as well!
5. Another way to get sales is by donating a percentage to charity. This is a really good motivation for people to buy something of yours, and you'll also be donating money to a deserving charity, it's a win win. Just let the customer know (in your descriptions, about pages ect) The percentage that will go to charity, and what charity the money will go to. It doesn't have to be a huge percentage, but I think it should be a good amount.

Wow, I wrote a lot more then I had planned, sorry if it's a bit overwhelming, but hopefully it helps you! I am going to create another blogpost, about actually listing items & making money ect. tomorrow. Our etsy shop is also having an END OF SUMMER SALE! So please check it out if you're interested! TheShoreDecor on Etsy

*i'm not a professional etsy-er, these are just some tips I've gathered