Why is it that sometimes even the very best marketing advice doesn’t generate results? If you have tried the best marketing advice you can find, and it just didn’t work for you, I’m going to explain why that probably is in this episode! As you likely know, marketing is all the ‘stuff’ that you do that generates interest or traffic to your shop. This could be videos, Instagram posts or stories, blog posts, challenges, ads… you get the idea. There are lots of things you can do to market your...

Today I am diving into the quandary of consistency in your handmade business. So elusive! What does “consistency” in business actually look like? What does it mean when we say we want more consistency? And why does it sometimes seem unattainable or frustrating to accomplish that at times? We are ALL always looking for consistency in business, usually, that means sales but it could mean other things like subscribers or followers, depending on what you are trying to accomplish. Is this...

Does it ever feel like no one else struggles quite as much as you do to identify or define their ideal customer avatar? There’s a reason for that…  What if I told you that the key to finding your ideal customer avatar is your product seller profile? Let me explain. In the past 11 years, I’ve done plenty of my own ideal customer avatar build-outs and I’ve assisted many makes with theirs, too! There is a lot of experience from those 11 years or so that has influenced today’s episode. I’ve...

Pricing your handmade products sucks… That’s just the truth. It makes the impulse to do some of these things very real! It is true that pricing is hard, and it inevitably involves math which, for me, makes it even worse. There are lots of best practices for pricing your handmade products, I’ll point you in the direction of our top pricing resources in this post! For now though, let’s make sure you know what NOT to do. Before we get started, I want to remind you that underpricing is bad for...

The idea of launching handmade product lines usually brings up one of two emotions: YAY or UGH. (Both are entirely valid!) If you feel more UGH than yay, I get you. I, too, dislike using the launch model in my own business. The handmade product lines launch model I am referring to is one you are probably familiar with. It starts with teasing out a new product line for a few weeks before launching it live for sale at a certain time on a certain date. Usually, there is some fanfare in that...

Hitting a sales goal is a milestone, hitting a revenue goal is a milestone. Revenue is not purpose, and neither is a number of sales. You did NOT wake up this morning just to make progress on hitting a milestone. Ask yourself why you’re working toward that milestone. That’ll get you closer to knowing what your purpose really is. We work for a bigger purpose. For those moments of “HELL YES, this!” For that surge of excitement about being able to do something you REALLY wanted to do. For that...

As you know by now, my team and I support and encourage a small handmade business structure that makes use of one marketplace and one autonomous off-Etsy website.  Specifically, we recommend Etsy as the marketplace and Shopify as the platform for building your independent domain shop. Whenever I speak about Shopify, inevitably, the question of other platforms comes up “What about Wix?” “What about Squarespace?”  Today I want to answer that fully and in a meaningful way. Not just so you...

Today’s episode is not about disliking the social media algorithm or marketing platform algorithms. I know that many people have issues with algorithms, particularly Instagram’s algorithm, and trust me, I’ve done my fair share of complaining about it. However, this episode is about something much more sinister: the culture surrounding those algorithms and the widespread messaging that we must appeal to these algorithms or we are doomed. My issue is with the culture surrounding the...

FIRST STEPS WHEN SALES SLOW DOWN Remind yourself, it’s normal, and it happens. Next, consider this a bit of a gift. We are all continually trying to find time for things, aren’t we? I think most people are looking for some extra time on most days. Consider a slow spell, an opportunity to catch up on something that’s been lingering, or a chance to explore something new that’s been on your list. You might have tasks that have moved from one month’s to-do list to the next several times...

Of course, when we say Etsy SEO, that means Search Engine Optimization specific to Etsy’s native search engine. Etsy SEO is a common focal point for Etsy sellers, maybe even to a fault. Here are three things I want you to know about Etsy SEO off the top to get this started: 1. The factors that go into Etsy SEO and how it is calculated and achieved do not change as often or as dramatically as people seem to think it does.  2. SEO is not the be-all, end-all to Etsy success! This applies...

I’ve posted about this on Instagram before, and it always seems to ignite a little fire. No one cares about your Etsy sales number besides you. Etsy is not a perfect platform, but it is a damn good one. We believe it is the best marketplace handmade business owners have right now. Sellers (and some buyers) often gripe about Etsy changes, but for me I find this one UNCHANGED thing is my biggest gripes: displaying the seller’s sales number on the homepage of the Etsy shop. It’s been this way...

Today I'm sharing with you some big news. Probably the biggest news I've ever shared here. I've always tried to keep the podcast timeless and evergreen, so I haven't shared much "news" here. But I digress. This is the last new episode of The Merriweather Council Podcast. Not for the summer, not for this season - but actually forever. First, I want to thank you for being here today and for every time you streamed the podcast. It's truly been an honor to create this content and share it...

Etsy shop audits. What are they? Is that the same as a shop critique? Should you invest in one? And why I don't offer them! Years ago, I DID offer this as a service. I have done hundreds of Etsy shop audits. I did shop audits for sellers at all levels, in all different niches, for all different types of products – handmade, vintage digital- all of them. And what I found was that I was repeating myself quite a bit. Even in the follow-up written points, the additional resources, the extra...

Worried you might be you are underpricing your handmade product? I’m glad it’s on your mind because pricing properly is the foundation on which you build a sustainable business. Regardless of your niche, style, medium, or experience level, pricing properly is key to having a handmade business that can endure, grow, and thrive. To put it simply: if you aren’t pricing for profit, you don’t have a business; you have a hobby. There is nothing wrong with hobbies, of course, but they are best...

Does it ever feel like no one else struggles quite as much as you do to identify or define their ideal customer avatar? There’s a reason for that…  What if I told you that the key to finding your ideal customer avatar is your product seller profile? This is my theory about how the way that you become a seller of original products impacts how you determine who your ideal customer is.    I think there are 3 ways you can become a seller of original products and i’m going to cover each one and...

The absolute best way to find customers for your Etsy shop will probably surprise you.  As you know, I am a huge proponent of Etsy and I think it’s a powerful tool that all craft-based business owners would be smart to make use of. I also believe that you should not send prospective buyers to your Etsy shop. It might sound like those two statements contradict each other, but by the end of this episode, you will understand exactly why they don’t. *Please note: This episode was recorded...

I’m excited to share with you what happened when I deleted 3000-4000 Instagram followers from my @merriweatherc Instagram account!    This episode covers my own experience and what happened when I deleted followers. I hope that it can provide some insight that you can benefit from if you also use Instagram as a marketing tool in your handmade business. There were no hard and fast rules here, but I did have some key points I'd look for when determining if an account should be removed.   ...

As you know by now, my team and I support and encourage a small handmade business structure that makes use of one marketplace and one autonomous standalone site.    Specifically, we recommend Etsy as the marketplace and Shopify as the platform for building your independent domain shop.   Whenever I speak about Shopify, inevitably, the question of other platforms comes up "What about Wix?" "What about Squarespace?"    Today I want to answer that fully and in a meaningful way. Not just...

Etsy Predictions for 2022 and 2021 Recap  At the end of 2020, I wrote a blog post about 3 things I predicted Etsy would do in 2021. I went back to check in on them, and at first, it was a little murky deciding on if my predictions materialized or not. Conservatively, we saw half-correctness of 2 of my 3 predictions.  I had another prediction that I didn't publish when I wrote the original article, mainly because it was boring. I did anticipate that Etsy would implement payment plans, and...

On this episode, I’m sharing 5 reasons to love The Council in 2021 and basically 5 reasons why I really want YOU to join The Council! The Council is our membership experience for handmade business owners. 2021 is our 5th year! I can hardly believe The Council has just turned four years old. In that time, we have worked with hundreds of makers and seen so many incredible victories among them! After all these years of working with handmade business owners, I have found the flexibility of the...

I don’t want anybody to feel bad if they did this, but this is not a good strategy. It’s not wise to do this. This concept can apply to any platform. This is not specific to Etsy. As I said earlier, this is something that came about because of Etsy but many platforms already offer more than ten image spaces. You want to always be mindful of what you are including in listings. Don’t just use space because it’s there. Use space wisely. If someone discovers your listing (yay!) and they click...

Do you ever feel like you know how to do a lot of things and how much knowledge you have from your years of random online learning and freebie gathering and yet… still struggle to make progress in your business? I've been there!! (I do not feel nostalgic for it, but because I learned some vital lessons, I will revisit those wayward years today for the greater good!) On this episode, I am diving into why that happens. I'll be answering the age-old (just me?) question: Why do we struggle to...

It’s no secret that as a business owner you will, at some point, usually multiple points, have unhappy customers. While unhappy customers are less frequent than happy customers or customers we never hear from, either way, customer service is a daily activity in any business. It is true that customer service exists at every turn, but the part of it that I’ve noticed is trickiest is at the very end of the transaction, specifically if someone is unhappy. What should you do, as a handmade...

The idea of launching a product line usually brings up one of two emotions: YAY or UGH. (Both are entirely valid!) If you feel more UGH than yay, I get you. I, too, dislike using the launch model in my own business. The launch model I am referring to is one you are probably familiar with. It starts with teasing out a new product line for a few weeks before launching it live for sale at a certain time on a certain date. Usually, there is some fanfare in that build-up process and on the...