Starting A Small Online Business On Etsy

If you’re an artist looking to live off your artwork, you might have difficulty looking for clients or patrons to commission your work. If that’s the case, don’t worry because the experience you’re going through is normal, and many great artists shared similar hardships. So, don’t ever think that your lack of clients reflects your skill as an artist.

Since this problem is so common among artists regardless of skill, a platform was developed and launched to help solve it. That platform is called Etsy, and it has helped a ton of artists from all over the world find local and international clients.

Alternatively, if you want to start an online business in art but aren’t really an artist yourself, Etsy is also a good place to start. If you’re interested in the platform, keep reading because we’ll explain how you can start your business using Etsy and kickstart your art career.

What is Etsy?

Etsy is an eCommerce platform dedicated to artists. It’s a place for selling artworks and handmade products as well as sourcing art supplies in general. Contrary to most other eCommerce platforms, Etsy only allows products from three major categories:

Handmade Crafts

Most of the items sold on Etsy are handmade crafts. The platform has an extensive collection of these items, ranging from handmade furniture to digital artwork.

So, no matter what kind of artist you are or what medium you specialize in, you can most likely sell it on Etsy.

Vintage Items

Since the platform is dedicated to art, some art collectors and traders use the platform to sell vintage items like vintage books, antiques, and so on. So, if you have an old painting, you can sell it on Etsy to kickstart your business.

Craft Supplies

The last category of items that Etsy allows sellers to list on their platform is craft supplies for the different artists that sell on the forum.

So, if you’re an artist that requires specific supplies like specialized sculpting tools, you’re most likely to find them on Etsy.

This exclusive focus on the art market has resulted in a highly specialized platform that serves the needs of artists and art enthusiasts, making it a great platform to launch your art business. Etsy will handle everything related to orders, payments, and marketing.

For example, you won’t have to worry about whether or not your clients want to pay with their new balance transfer credit card or use a debit card or a bank transfer. You also won’t have to worry about processing international payments when you get orders from overseas.

How To Open Your Etsy Store

Now that you know what Etsy is, I’m guessing that you’re now super excited to open your shop on the platform. So, without further ado, here are the five steps you need to take to open your Etsy store.

Step #1: Choose a market niche based on your skill.

First and foremost, if you want to stand out and be successful in a competitive marketplace like Etsy, you need to choose a niche and specialize in it.

You can start by identifying your strengths and skills as an artist. For example, if you’re a sculptor and have experience sculpting wood, then specialize in wood sculptures.

Then, build your brand around that specialty, i.e., as an expert in that field.

Step #2: Create a strategy for your business.

Once you know your niche, it’s time to set your business’s course and write a business plan. This plan will help you keep track of your business and guide its future growth.

Even if you’re an independent artist, think of yourself as a brand. You want to start by defining who you are as a brand and how you present yourself to potential clients. Define your goals for the future, and outline how you plan to achieve them. You can even take this step further and describe your products, ideal customers, and your finances. All of these can help you achieve word of mouth referrals and recommendations for continuous growth. 

This step lets you visualize and plan how you’ll run yourself as a business, how you’ll market your products or pieces, and where you’ll promote them. All these things will then help lessen the stress of running your business and smoothen the flow of your operations.

Step #3: Source your art materials.

Once your business plan is ready, you can start creating your art. To do that, you’ll first need to source your art materials. This will be different depending on whether you’re an artist looking to sell their work or an entrepreneur looking to sell art supplies on Etsy.

In the former case, you can buy your art materials from your local craft stores or Etsy itself. In the latter case, it’s better to explore B2B options for your shop, which will be especially useful when you’re planning to scale your operations.

For example, if you crochet, the cost of yarn when you buy it from Etsy is $1.50 to $3.50. But, if you buy it from a B2B marketplace like Alibaba, the same amount of yarn would just cost you $0.30 to $0.50, which is a 14-20% reduction in raw material costs!

So, we’re saying not to limit yourself to buying from your regular craft supplies store. You’re already running a business, and each dollar you save makes your company more profitable.

Step #4: Open your Etsy shop.

After all that preparations, you’re ready to open your Etsy shop. Since Etsy is global, they don’t require their merchants to have a registered business when opening a shop on their platform. So, if you have an internet connection and a device you can use to access it, you’re already good to go!

To help you start, here’s a short step-by-step guide to signing up on Etsy:

1. Create an Etsy profile.
2. Set up your shop by clicking the “sell now” button.
3. Name your shop (get Etsy shop name ideas) and design it according to your branding.
4. Get your billing and payment information set up.
5. Post your first product.

Step #5: Get some high-quality images and videos of your products.

As a bonus tip, when posting your products on Etsy, we recommend you take high-quality pictures and video footage of your products.

These images and videos are essential, especially since you’re selling your art online. The only way for your customers to gauge its quality is through the pictures and videos you provide.

These pictures and videos will be the first things your customers will see and will set your first impression with them. So treat this as an investment and hire a professional photographer to take them if needed. You will thank yourself in the future.

Stand Out On Etsy By Building A Portfolio Website

Because selling on Etsy is accessible to everyone worldwide, the competition on the platform is tough. Sometimes, even niching down won’t cut it. So, if you want that extra edge over your competition, I suggest you build a separate website from your Etsy shop.

This website will showcase your portfolio, which can help you communicate your expertise with your potential customers better than your Etsy shop. Additionally, you can also offer your pieces for sale in your website and generate an alternative source of income. This would allow you to accept different payment methods not available on Etsy, such as crypto payment apps and other options.

If you’re interested in building a portfolio website for your business, here are the steps you should follow:

Step #1:Collect your best pieces and build your portfolio.

The first step is to collect your best pieces and take good pictures of them. You will use these art pieces to build a portfolio to show your clients what you can do.

Remember that you don’t need to put every art piece you create in this portfolio. Only pick the best ones that you’re most proud of.

If you don’t have previous artwork, you can start by creating art for yourself and use that for your portfolio. Or, if you went to an art school, you can instead showcase your best academic works on the website.

Generally, you don’t need to stress yourself so much about this step because a great portfolio is built from years and years of experience. Keep doing your best on each piece of art you produce, and your portfolio will grow organically by itself.

Step #2: Build a website to showcase your portfolio.

After building your portfolio, it’s time to create your website. Don’t worry; don’t be overwhelmed because we’ll teach you all you need to know, so keep reading. Before everything else, no, you don’t need to learn coding to build a website. Nowadays, there are tons of no-code website builders you can use.

To help you get started, here are some of the best website builders available today:

Wix

Overall, according to online reviews, Wix ranks as one of the best website builders and has a rating of 4.8 stars. They offer 800+ website templates you can use for your website design and a free custom domain. Its pricing starts at $16 per month, but it also provides a free plan with some limitations.

Squarespace

Another option for a website builder is Squarespace, with a score of 4.7 stars which is praised for its top-quality templates.

Unlike Wix, Squarespace only offers 100+ website templates but makes up for it in quality. They also provide a free custom domain for their users, and their pricing also starts at $16 with a free 14-day trial.

Weebly

Last but not least is Weebly which has a score of 4.0 stars and is praised for its generous free plans. It has 50+ website templates and offers users a free custom domain. Its pricing starts at $6 but has a remarkably generous free plan.

Whogohost Sitebuilder

Besides web hosting services, Whogohost also offers a DIY website editor or Sitebuilder. It’s easy and intuitive to use and requires no technical knowledge whatsoever. If you’re hosting with Whogohost, choosing their Sitebuilder to build your portfolio website is a no-brainer.

Alternatively, you can also choose to hire someone to do all the heavy lifting for you and design and build your website. You can do this either by looking for a freelance web developer or you can choose an agency instead, like Whogohost’s web design services.

Step #3: Buy a domain for your website.

Once you’ve built your website, you can buy your own domain. You can usually use a free custom subdomain when you choose services like free hosting on most major platforms, but if you want maximum flexibility and a professional image, you can buy a domain from a reputable domain registrar like Whogohost.

Your domain name is important because your potential clients will use it to access your website, which can directly impact your brand perception. So, we suggest you buy a domain that best reflects your brand and company.

To help you start buying a domain for your website, here’s a list of popular domain registrars you can use:

NameCheap

The Forbes Magazine gave a perfect 5-star rating for NameCheap for its domains’ affordability, starting at $6 per year with a renewal cost of $13.98 for the next succeeding years.

Domain.com

Domain.com got an almost perfect score of 4.9 stars from Forbes Magazine. Their domain cost starts at $9.99 per year with a renewal cost of $13.99 for the next succeeding years.

Google Domains

Forbes Magazine gave Google Domains a score of 4.7 stars for their easy-to-use and straightforward user experience. Their domain cost starts at $12, with a renewal cost also $12.

Step #4: Look for a good web hosting service

Now, you have your website and domain name; all that is left is to launch it. For that, you need to host your site.

Using a good and reliable web hosting service is vital since an unreliable web host can mean your site will often go down or run slowly when you get too much traffic. Whogohost is an award-winning web hosting service and an excellent choice for hosting your portfolio website.

Bottom Line

If you made it this far down the post, congratulations! You’re now ready to start a thriving and profitable Etsy shop. You can now kickstart your art career and start living off your creativity. By setting up your shop on Etsy, finding customers, clients, and patrons for your works will now be easier and more accessible.

Etsy can be the perfect partner that will help you manage everything from payments to client orders so you can focus on what really matters to you most: your work. If you combine that with a well-crafted portfolio website and you put enough effort into marketing your new business, success is sure to come.