The Next Steps to Building my Etsy Business

So, I found a ton of useful tools that helped me finish up my store quickly, which I think might be useful to anyone looking to create an online business.

First, I was asked to create a banner. While some people suggested that I purchase a package with one, instead I found a sight which will allow you to make a banner easily by uploading a photo, then playing with it until it looks the way you want. It then provides the banner code, as well as a .png file which you can use on Etsy. I found this wonderful tool at this site, and best of all, it was free!

http://www.bannersketch.com

Next, I needed an avatar. I notice most successful Etsyians us a photo of their products for an avatar, so I needed to find a free site that would create one from a photo. I found one here:

http://www.sherv.net/icon-maker/

I was also struggling yesterday about how to price my items. I found on Etsy a free Excel document provided by Chris Parry (his Etsy shop is http://chrisparry.etsy.com). You do not even have to have Excel to run the file - it runs from Google Docs on the web! It has the pounds sign as a default, but you can plug in your numbers just the same, and just pretend the pounds sign is actually a dollar sign. Here is the link:

http://www.chris-parry.co.uk/pricing.xls

I heard back from Basil the Cat (http://basilthecat.etsy.com) and she provided some helpful advice. I also spent part of the day browsing Etsy for supply sources - you can find almost anything related to crafting there!

My biggest struggle yesterday was taking photos of my items. It takes time to figure out what to use for a background, learn the settings on my camera, and get everything downloaded to the computer. But that is all done, so today I can actually begin listing items.

All in all, I had a pretty productive day yesterday, so I hope I can get everything I need loaded today so I can get working on Adwords tomorrow.

Gracie