74 ways to be inspired: Etsy Success Stories {a review}

Something a little different in 74 ways today, but something equally inspiring: an e-book review.

When Jess, from Ephieriell Designs offered her new e-book Etsy Success Stories: Tips and Strategies from Seven Top Sellers up for review, I jumped at the chance ~ for two reasons.

One, Jess herself is a bit of an indie biz success story, {you would remember she also featured  here} and with her own experiences as well, I was confident she would put together a great resource.

Second, I was in the throes of working on making 74 Lime Lane it’s own little success story. So I was looking for all the help I could get.

In my own experience, I find the real-life tips and hints the most valuable. Those little bits of information gleaned from forums or flickr discussions. When someone tells you, “this is what I do and it works for me,” I find I more open to the idea of trying it for myself. Especially if several people are singing on the same page.

And here, Jess has wrapped up those tips from interviews with seven top sellers in one lovely little e-book. But what was her motivation to put together and share these tips:

When I reopened my Etsy shop in March, I made the commitment to become a success.  I’d tried selling on Etsy before, and my sales were slow – but I was sure there was a secret that I was missing.  So I went to the source for answers.  I decided to seek out the knowledge of sellers whose sales numbered in the thousands.

Isn’t that what you would like to do? And for Jess it worked and now she is sharing that information with you.

In the first part of the e-book, Jess brings together the tips and stories in neat summaries based on topics like preparation and presentation, promotion and motivation. These topics then cover everything from photography to pricing.

The second part of the e-book is the full interviews with the sellers. I love this type of advice ~ raw, honest and from the heart. And they don’t all agree but it is great to hear everyone’s point of view and decide how it fits with your own work and goals.

The other great thing about this e-book is it is easy to read. The last thing I want to do, or have time to do, is wade through long verbose stories that I don’t get anything out of it. And that’s an hour of my life I won’t get back. But Jess has cleverly broken it down into manageable and succinct pieces, and her interviewees have stayed to the point.

To top it off, Jess has also included some handy links to pertinent threads on the etsy forums. If you have ever visited the etsy forums, and tried to search for something, you would know that this alone is a huge time saver.

The thing is, the steps to success can be quite simple, with a little bit of attention and work and putting some of this into practice I’ve noticed my own little upswing in sales. I’m not ready to be interviewed for an e-book but it has been a nice boost to my confidence.

For any small, indie business, this e-book is a good investment, whether you are starting out, or have been going for a while and chasing that elusive “success”. This is a reference to get you going and then to refer to back to when time get tough ~ print it out, mark it up with a highlighter, write some notes. In fact,  I do hope Jess does some sort of follow-up down the track.

You can find out more about Etsy Success Stories: Tips and Strategies from Seven Top Sellers here. And Jess has lots more tips and hints at her site Crafting a Business.