TIPS FOR INCREASING YOUR ONLINE SALES FROM ETSY'S GEORGINA BLAIN

Last night's E-commerce Excellence talk was a resounding success. The event was held at McQueen, a cool restaurant/bar/club in the heart of Shoreditch.

It was great to see so many talented designers networking and sharing information and ideas with each other, some of whom had already set up their own e-commerce website and others were already Etsy sellers or sold through other websites. The common factor was that everyone wanted to increase their online sales but weren't sure how to go about it.

Etsy's UK Marketing Manager, Georgina Blain, shared with us her expertise on how to maximize online sales.

Her top five tips were:-

Your product photos need to be good - they are your main selling tool so poor images will mean poor sales.
Tag your photos with descriptions your customers are likely to use if looking to buy your type of product , otherwise your product won't show up in searches.
Give clear descriptions of your product so customers know exactly what they are buying
Important to build a relationship with your customer - tell a story behind your products and make sure you highlight any interesting facts.
Buyers won't just come to your product or website - you have to spend time on your own marketing and PR. Send press releases and good images to relevant media - social media sites are a very useful tool to build followers and brand loyalty.

Alison Lewy also pointed out that before you decide which website to sell through it is important to research and think about the websites your target customer is likely to visit. Websites have various pricing policies so make sure you understand what you are committing to.