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The Truth About Online Business

Lesson 3 from: Turn Your Etsy Shop into a Sales Machine

Lisa Jacobs

The Truth About Online Business

Lesson 3 from: Turn Your Etsy Shop into a Sales Machine

Lisa Jacobs

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Lesson Info

3. The Truth About Online Business

Lessons

Class Trailer
1

Introduction to Workshop

04:30
2

The Anatomy of a First Impression

15:24
3

The Truth About Online Business

06:17
4

Etsy is a Tool For Your Business

10:30
5

What is Shop Cohesion?

11:56
6

Common Etsy Mistakes to Avoid

13:52
7

Product Photography Overview

46:09
8

Your Product Photography Checklist

02:58

Lesson Info

The Truth About Online Business

Today we're talking about the truth about online business and I'm going to take a minute to introduce myself in case we're just meeting for the first time. My name is Lisa Jacobs and I'm known for turning a hundred dollars worth of supplies into a top-earning Etsy shop. The name of my Etsy shop is Energy Shop. I started online business as early as 2008, a couple of years before I tried Etsy, a couple years before I even knew that market existed. I remember creating my first website and feeling like the whole world would see it as soon as I pressed publish. I know that's something that we all start out with online. We get really nervous about starting. We get really nervous about showing our products, because we think as soon as it gets onto the internet the entire world will see it and everybody will know what we're doing. And we all know after trying and trying and trying that that's a very far fetched perception, that there's a lot more that goes into that. That's what I learned for ...

the first couple of years with various websites before 2010. In 2010 I started my Etsy shop. By that time I knew it was gonna take so much more than listing products for sale online. I knew it would take so much more than starting an Etsy storefront and so I was already on it. As soon as I opened the shop I was looking for customers. I wanted to find my own customers. I wanted to market. I wanted to convert visitors to actual sales and get them into an email list. I knew the whole thing from trying and experimenting and two years of trial and error before my Etsy shop stuck and took off for me as a creative business. So I made over a hundred sales within the first month of starting online with Etsy. That was an accomplishment in itself. That was good and I knew that, it made me feel more confident. It validated my efforts. But more than that it meant I have something here. I get chills, I'm getting chills thinking about it. It meant that if I got one sale, I could get a hundred sales, I could get a thousand sales. It meant that something I was doing, something that I was creating was connecting. It meant my dreams of becoming a work-at-home mom were becoming real and I was going to build a second income from home while still taking care of little toddlers in the house, and have this business that ignited me. It was a dream come true when I started making sales on Etsy. Since that, that's my love affair with Etsy. And since we're talking about the truths of online business I want to also disclose that I've had honest ups and downs with Etsy. I have been shut down by Etsy.com without warning. And I am dead set against spreading panic in creative business. I never want to do that. I think it's something we do way too often, because everything's so personal and passionate for us, and we're scared when we start business online. So I'm telling you this not as a warning, because it's very rare what I'm about to tell you, but as a cautionary tale that we still own our own business. But in 2012, a couple years after I'm running on Etsy, I'm getting sales, I'm depending on the income, I am counting on it as the second income for my family of six, I have a large family. I woke up to discover my entire business was gone. Just completely disappeared. It was replaced by one of Etsy's uh-oh a stitch has gone awry 404 pages. The Energy Shop was gone. I was scrambling trying to figure out what to do. I'm looking up Etsy online. They don't have phone numbers. They don't have phone responses. I started this frantic email back and forth. There was no reason for it. The moral of the story is was recovered and I had my shop reactivated within 24 hours of the whole thing. But I can tell you there was some weeping and some serious online knees breakdowns going on. Once everything had disappeared, not only that, not even the files, I didn't have access to the pictures I had taken, or the listings I took, or the customers I'd accumulated. It was gone. So I tell you that again not as a warning. That's not gonna happen to you. It's very rare that it happens, but as a cautionary tale. I learned some valuable lessons. I started out telling you I know Etsy's a hangout. It was for me too. But that was the moment that I realized this is business. I'm in business and I better respect my business as a business and stop treating Etsy as my friend, but rather as their own business. There's no hard feelings. In fact, I absolutely love Etsy. But it helped me realize that Etsy is in business for Etsy. As they're looking out for number one as we all should be. Looking out for number one. The key takeaway, if I have any tips about that, it's pointless, it was only 24 hours. I've told this story enough, but if you want to do something to protect yourself if you want to do something that will help you treat your business like a business, buy your own domain. Make sure you have a URL to share. In that case, when my shop was gone, even though I had an email list, I had no way to send them anywhere else, because the only place that I had up until that point was EnergyShop.Etsy.com. So I have my own domain from that experience. And the second big thing I would say is back up your work. I know that when I lost my photographs, I like to repeat designs, and when I lost those photographs, I lost thousands of hours of work. So those two things I would take away as treating your business like a business. Protect yourself. Remember, this is your business and Etsy is their business.

Class Materials

Bonus Materials

How To Beat The Overcrowded Market Guide

Bonus Materials with Purchase

Build a Storefront That Sells by Lisa Jacobs
Ideal Customer Workbook by Lisa Jacobs
Your Best Year Wall Planner
Market Your Etsy® Shop by Lisa Jacobs

Ratings and Reviews

kathleenc
 

The course was really practical and organized very well. Each day built on the previous day and had solid, actionable recommendations. I am just starting my Etsy shop and feel like I have a plan for moving forward with some confidence. Lisa is charming and very real and her enthusiasm for supporting businesses is engaging and very encouraging. She wants us to be part of the tribe and I appreciate that! Thanks Lisa and everyone at Creative Live for more great "Mini B-school" lessons that I can use for my online business.

TheRecycledLibrary
 

Thank you thank you thank you! I have been going about the "daily scramble" for years - with ups and downs along the way and this course has been a true eye opener for me. The message of consistency and brand cohesion as well as deep respect for my customers will surely stay with me and help my business continue to grow. No matter what stage you are at in your creative business, Lisa has something great to teach! Highly recommended!

Kaitlynd B Zimmer
 

Lisa has so much personal energy and friendly personality its hard not to fall in love with her! Her extensive experience in the industry from ground up growth was a pleasure to relive through her hilarious trial and error comments. Overall what I came away with was taking action is the only way to grow and learn what works for each individual Etsy shop. And to make those actions pay off get your self out of your comfort zone! The section on SEOs was a huge eye opener! Thank you Tim for shining the light on areas I has not even aware existed before. I feel I now have the tools to build the strong and engaging Etsy shop that can become the success I dream of. Thank you! Kaitlynd B Zimmer

Student Work

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