E-Commerce Resources For Artists & Crafters By The Liberty Jane Clothing Team
Hi everyone,
In this week’s video I talk about overcoming your first year-worst year – and share strategies for making next year your best year. Tell me what you think – was your first year your worst year?
Check Out Shopify Using Our Referral Link
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Hi all,
In this week’s video I share a story I recently heard about Russell Wilson and Michael Jordan – I think it might help you build your business to a new level.
Tell me what you think – do you have a team that helps you grow? Or are you working alone and in need of a team? Let me know if your partnerships are helping you grow – or hindering your success!
Any trouble seeing the video? Watch it on Vimeo Here: http://vimeo.com/105612903
Ps. Here’s a pic of me meeting Russell (what an honor!)
Hi everyone,
In this week’s video I ask you a critical question – and share a Labor Day acronym…
Tell me what you think – are you happy with the work you do?
Jason
Ps. here are some of the links I mention in the video:
Arbitrage: Proven Amazon Course
Craigslist: Appliance School
Etsy: Craft Business Power & Etsy Power
Sourcing At Tradeshows – Selling Online
Hi everyone,
In this week’s episode I discuss “amplifiers” and how to use them to increase your sales.
Tell me what you think about “amplifiers” and let me know what questions you have about how to use them.
Ps. Yes – I happen to be wearing the same shirt on the same day two weeks in a row – I guess I’m going to have Cinnamon start helping me so I don’t keep doing that 🙂
Hi everyone,
In March of this year we started publishing our weekly newsletter with a commitment to doing it as a trial for 3-months to see how it would go. We are so grateful that many of you have tuned in regularly to learn about sales and marketing.
Today we are announcing a format change. We will continue doing the weekly newsletter but it is going to be morphed into a weekly video! From now on – We’ll be doing a short, practical, educational video each week. I hope you enjoy them. Let me know what you think about this first one – leave a comment below. Do you think adding rituals can help you improve your sales?
Hi everyone,
The newsletter is online. You can download a printable copy here. I’ve also included all the content in this post!
Lots of sellers on eBay, Etsy, and Amazon have never gotten around to setting up there own website.
Is that you?
That is a massive mistake that is costing you thousands of dollars – maybe tens-of-thousands, hundreds-of-thousands, or even millions!
Four Reasons You Need A Website
#1. Because the easiest place to tell your story is on your website. People buy from people – and they bond with people. If you want to have any hope of building a long-term relationship with buyers – you need to connect with them on an emotional level. Bonding is best done on your own website!
#2. Because the easiest place to collect email addresses is on your website. Regardless of whether you eventually sell product on your own site, or continue to sell it on the big ecommerce platforms (or both) your cheapest, easiest, and best advertising option is email marketing. And it is simple to collect email addresses on your own website, but almost impossible to collect them via the big ecommerce platforms. Imagine listing a new product (on your own site or on Amazon, eBay, or Etsy) and sending an email to 40,000 or 50,0000 eager buyers! Your email list obviously starts at zero, but the more you focus on capturing email addresses the bigger it will grow. When we “woke up” and realized this in 2009 we only had 125 email addresses on our list. Today we have over 40,000. You can do it too.
#3. Because you shouldn’t build a business on “property you don’t own”. If you’re building your entire business on Amazon, Etsy, or eBay, then you’re placing your future in the hands of those companies – not your own. Of course you can use sales on those sites to scale up your business, they make a great sales channel, but don’t rely on them 100%.
Even if you want to continue to sell exclusively on those sites, you should have a website up and running – and collecting email addresses – just in case you need to shift to being a direct seller through your own site.
#4. Because easiest place to give away freebies, promotions, and “ethical bribes” is on your own website.
Website Tools That Make It Easy
If you haven’t made your own website until now it must be because you believe it’s hard. While that might have been true a few years ago – it’s certainly not anymore. Here is a short list of the most simple website solutions.
The Best Beginner Platform: www.wordpress.com
The first thing you need to do is go to www.wordpress.com and create a site. You can purchase a domain name for something like $11 a year. Of course there are other options – ignore them. A site on the wordpress.com platform will serve you really well.
The Best Theme: DIVI
The look and feel of your website is controlled by the “theme”. The absolute best theme available is called “DIVI”. You can have it installed on your new wordpress site for as little as $5. Just look at this search on Fiverr.com – DIVI Theme Installers.
The Best Email Integration Tool: Mailchimp
The most important aspect of your website is setting up an email collection form so you can begin regularly communicating with your followers. Mailchimp is simple and free to use until you reach 2,000 followers.
Conclusion: There is literally no reason to NOT have a website – and the benefits are undeniable. Spend a few hours this week making your new website a masterpiece. Work through the uncertainty and painful learning curve and come out victorious!
Jason & Cinnamon
Hi everyone,
The Newsletter is online. You can download a printable copy here. I’ve also included the entire text in this post as well. I hope you enjoy this one. It reveals some powerful keys to success!
Jason & Cinnamon
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There is an economic law called the “Substitution effect” which secretly undermines the work of some online sellers, while helping others.
Let me explain it and suggest ways you can “break the law”. The Substitution Effect says:
As buyers’ incomes decline (or overall prices in a marketplace rise) the buyer will replace expensive items with less expensive options.
In practical terms it means we all look for cheaper options when we’re feeling “tight” on funds. It’s a basic consumer behavior.
Substitution Effect Winners
When buyers are feeling the pressure to look for less expensive options a few winners emerge in every market – the lower priced sellers.
These sellers offer good products at discounted prices and as shoppers hunt for cheaper options they repeatedly chose these discount sellers.
Substitution Effect Losers
The first assumption is that it is the high priced sellers that are the losers. But guess what? it’s not!
The high priced sellers in each market don’t frequently feel the most dramatic impact of the substitution effect. These ultra-premium sellers are somewhat immune because they weren’t ever selling on “price”. They always tend to sell using techniques more aligned with “status” “quality” and “personal satisfaction”.
These sellers also tend to have powerful branding, high quality images, big email lists, and professional copywriting. All of these assets work together to help them combat the negative forces at play.
So who is the victim in the Substitution Effect scenario? The big victim is the mid-priced seller.
The mid-priced seller isn’t using “price” as their selling tool, nor are they using powerful “psychological selling tools” and well-honed business assets. They are simply benefiting from the flow of general consumer demand.
Four Ways To Avoid The Damage Caused By The Substitution Effect
So how do you stay clear of the negative impact of the Substitution Effect? Here are four ways,
#1 – Avoid The Deadly Middle: when it comes to pricing your work either become a low-cost provider, or work to be the ultra-premium provider. Avoid the deadly middle and you’ll suffer the smallest impact as buyers shift their behavior.
#2 – Be A Better Bonder: People buy from people and as they make purchasing decisions they consider who they are helping or hurting if you have a fantastic bond with the customer they are less likely to leave you for a generic alternative. Good bonds are forged by fantastic customer service, iron-clad refund policies, generosity and most importantly infusing your brand with personality!
#3 – Build Business Assets: If you can build an email list of several thousand (or tens of thousands) enthusiastic buyers – you’ve got a super weapon to combat the substitution effect. What are other ways you can build business assets? Work hard on your logo, clarify and strengthen the impact of your founder’s story, and increase your social media influence. You should also develop the discipline of having a certain amount of your monthly expenses used to advertise – say 5-10%. Learning how to advertise your work is part of a disciplined marketing program.
#4 Serve The Customer Instead of Just Selling A Product: The most important way to avoid the substitution effect is incredibly simple. If you serve the customer, rather than selling a specific product, then you will be open to changing your product offerings as the market changes. In other words you can offer lower priced alternatives as needed. Just make the differences between your higher and lower priced products very clear.
Conclusion: The Substitution Effect is a powerful economic force that YOU have to proactively combat if you want to maintain or grow revenue. You can do it!
Jason & Cinnamon
Hi everyone,
Instead of a normal newsletter this week we took the time to launch our new Pixie Faire advertising program. For those of you who are Liberty Jane Partners – and focus on doll clothes – this is for you – everyone else (our apologies) this one is “inside baseball” for our tribe. To learn more visit us on Pixie Faire…
Hi everyone,
This week I’m not making a newsletter (in my old school format) and instead I made you a nice collection of little graphics. I’d be thrilled if you’d pin them onto Pinterest for me! Our topic this week continues to be YOUR Etsy Shop Revamp! Yes – You Can! I’ve got five five-dollar resources for you from Fiverr.com. Well – a few require additional printing costs, but they are minimal. There isn’t ANY reason you can’t implement these ideas. And if you do they will radically upgrade your Etsy work. Let’s dive in…
Project #1 Brand Overhaul. As you know I think your brand is the most important element of your online business – so our first suggestion is to start with a brand overhaul by NJFerris.
Project #2 Facebook Fanpage. Next I’d recommend you get choiceconcepts to set you up with a wonderful Facebook Fanpage and use it as the primary way you chat with your prospects and customers.
Project #3 – Beautiful Business Cards. Next I’d suggest you get trendy business cards made – you can include them in each package you send out from your Etsy shop!
Project #4 Beautiful Packaging Flyers. Now that you’ve got a great brand, a Facebook Fanpage, and business cards – we can move onto two more items that will really make your Etsy items stand out when people get them delivered. First, you can include an awesome retro-styled packaging flyer. Have it say something funny, kind, or meaningful. The packaging slip in your Etsy items should ROCK! And you can make that happen easily with a nicely designed packaging flyer.
Project #5 Custom Wrapping Paper. My last recommendation is that you create custom wrapping paper. Yes you can do that easily! Simply have Pop Pop make your design – and then upload it to www.giftskins.com to complete your order! This could be used inside your Etsy package, or as traditional wrapping paper on the outside of your Etsy packages. Use it to create surprise and delight!
Bonus Project #6 Etsy Power. If you haven’t picked up a copy of Etsy Power yet – be sure to snag a copy before the .99 cent promotional pricing goes away. And… a huge thank you to everyone that got a copy this last week – you helped make it a #1 bestseller on Amazon in the Home-Based Business category!
Hi everyone, The newsletter is online. If you’d like to print a 1-page version simply click here. I’ve also included the full text below.
In this week’s newsletter I share a list of high quality (and very inexpensive) helpers that can assist you in turning your Etsy Shop into a powerful sales platform. I hope you enjoy it!
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We recently sent an Etsy survey to over 1,400 of you – Over 95% of respondents said,
“Yes – I’d like help with Etsy – if it’s simple to understand and implement.”
So let’s talk about using low-cost professional help using a site I love – fiverr.com! On Fiverr people will do (almost) anything for $5. You might think – seriously that can’t be real!? But I’m here to tell you – Yes – it is!
People on Fiverr are (usually) excellent and frequently you’ll be thrilled with the outcome. (Sometimes you get a dud, but if you search for the top rated sellers – you’ll probably be very happy).
Don’t think of Fiverr like a “one-and-done” cheap labor pool. Think of it like a classifieds board where you can find and then cultivate working relationships with professionals that can help enhance and strengthen your work. You really can create a virtual team using these wonderfully talented people!
I have had fiverr “workers” that I’ve repeatedly used for five years – and they are now a predictable, faithful, familiar part of how I get things accomplished. Spend the time to find and cultivate relationships with quality Fiverr professionals and in a few months you’ll look back and be very happy you did!
Let’s look at a collection of Etsy related activities and Fiverr professionals that can help you get the job done!
Does your logo look home-made? Although Etsy is a marketplace for hand-made and craft items, you need a logo that looks really legit! If your logo has been a bit of an embarrassment – get it redone!
There are lots of top ranked logo designers on Etsy – for example srishet123 is rated very highly. Use him!
Your brand is the most important part of your online persona – and there is no barrier to having a beautiful refresh done.
For a beautiful 5-piece Etsy banner set visit: SissyFrissys on Fiverr
Get It On Amazon Today!
Search Engine Optimization (or listing your products in a way that makes Search Engines happy) is a key part of traffic and sales success.
Do you need an Etsy SEO Pro to help you list your items? Visit Cuteasbuttonsby on Fiverr for immediate help!
Your product descriptions are incredibly important if you want to “close the sale”. A Good product description sells the benefits of the item, touches on the relevant features, and leaves the reader excited about the potential of owning the new product.
If you need help with a wonderfully worded Etsy product description visit Arlissa on Fiverr.
Most online ecommerce sellers will tell you that the “product shot” is incredibly important to the sales process. But most rookie online sellers will say, “I don’t have an expensive camera and a good lens, so I can’t compete”.
Not anymore! You can hire a professional photographer to take your product listings for you! Visit rockinphotogrob
Want to take your own product shots but have a Photoshop expert clean them up for you? Sometimes pictures and lighting just won’t cooperate – a Photoshop whiz is needed!
You’re in luck – Sachin81 is one of the Top Rated Sellers on Etsy and will do product shot related fix ups. Visit him on Fiverr at Sachin81. Have him remove unwanted background elements, make the background nice and white, get the picture’s sharpness and contract upgraded – the list is endless.
It is very hard to write about yourself (for most modest people). But your “About Me” biographical information needs to be super good and interesting to engage with prospective buyers. In fact, your “origin story” is one of the key aspects of creating a powerful brand.
You can get a beautifully written bio done by a professional by using nystrele on Fiverr. He is a Top rated seller on the site!
In Etsy Power we reveal an important collection of 12 principles for helping you take your Etsy sales higher! Get it today!
Jason & Cinnamon