Make Money From Your Skills and Knowledge as a Consultant (Part 2)

Nick Making Money 0 Comments

In my previous article I talked about setting up as a consultant and how this can be a great way to capitalize on your work-related skills and experiences.

I discussed the range of opportunities for self-employed consultants and how to research the market and establish a strong personal brand. This time, I’ll be focusing specifically on how to market your consultancy business.

I’ll start with a time-honoured method…

Using a Mailshot

This is the traditional approach to marketing a service to businesses and still has many attractions. You will need to compile a list of potential clients you wish to target, perhaps using business directories and/or the internet. It is then a matter of putting together a package including a letter and maybe a brochure as well, along with any other enclosures you deem appropriate. A reply-paid envelope, for example, will often boost response rates.

The more modern approach is to use email. This has various advantages, the most important being that it is quicker and cheaper. Email marketing is typically used for establishing initial contact with a prospective client, to be followed up with written information and/or a phone call if any interest is expressed.

This method does have the drawback that you may not be able to find email addresses for all the businesses you want to target. In addition, many business people are inundated with emails, and other things being equal are less likely to read them than messages that arrive in the post (and if they have spam filters, they may not see your email at all). Nonetheless, when you are starting out, an email campaign has much to recommend it, and there is nothing to stop you following up with a mailshot and/or phone call later.

The Seminar Method

This can be a great way of making money as a trainer, and it can also help you land consultancy clients. Right now, due to anti-Covid measures, it is difficult to apply in the traditional way. Sooner or later, however, normal times will return and these measures will be relaxed. So I will set out the bare bones of the seminar method here.

The idea is that you arrange seminars or training sessions in your specialist subject, typically lasting a day or half-day. You book a room in a hotel or conference centre for this purpose and advertise your seminar through emails and/or mailshots sent to likely prospects.

A reasonable target for your first seminar would be 10 to 20 clients. You would need to pay the hotel a room hire fee of £50 to £100, and there would also be some publicity and promotional costs. An initial budget of around £400 would probably cover all of this.

If your clients pay £100 each, with the numbers mentioned you would be looking at a gross return of £1000 to £2000. Assuming – as mentioned above – you spent £400 on setting up and running the seminar, that would leave you £600 to £1600 clear profit.

That’s not a bad return in itself, but the big attraction is that if some clients are impressed by your expertise, there is every chance they will want to engage you for other services as well, from in-house training to mentoring and consultancy. If this becomes an ongoing arrangement you will have a source of regular income, and may be able to charge a monthly retainer for your services as well.

The seminar method is an under-used approach among trainers and consultants, yet it has huge money-making potential. While it would be difficult to apply at the present time, you could certainly adapt it to the online world (see below). For example, you could set up an online seminar using video-conferencing software such as Zoom or GoToMeeting. You could even create a web-based course in your specialist subject using a service such as Teachable.

Either way, in addition to whatever fees you charge, you would be building a pool of potential clients for your consultancy service as well.

Online Marketing

The internet is, of course, a massive boon for entrepreneurs. Used the right way, you can attract a never-ending stream of clients and potential clients by this means.

As I said last time, your website is an essential tool for this. If you take the time to create a good-looking site with quality content, in time you can expect to start attracting search-engine traffic. In other words, people looking for a consultant or trainer in your niche will see your site listed high in their search results and hopefully click through to find out more.

It will take a bit of time for your site to be listed in the search engines, and longer still for it to achieve a high ranking for your target keywords. You can, however, assist this process by using search engine optimization (SEO). This is a huge topic in itself, and I recommend looking online for more information. Search Engine Journal is a good place to start.

Here, though, are a few basic SEO tactics you can use to start boosting your rankings…

• Share links to your site on social media such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
• Comment on blogs and websites relevant to your field of expertise, with links back to your site. You could offer guest posts to the owners of these sites as well.
• Add a blog to your website, in which you talk about relevant issues and share helpful tips.
• Join online forums and put a link to your site in your signature text (not all forums allow this, though, so check their guidelines first). Put a link in your email signature as well.

You could also consider self-publishing a short ebook on your specialism and give it away free from your site and/or sell it cheaply as an Amazon Kindle ebook. Again, link from your ebook back to your website. Not only will this assist with your search engine ranking, it may also bring you some clients directly.

SEO can work well over time, but if you want to get up and running faster you could consider paid advertising. One method that can bring results very quickly is Google Adwords. These are the small ‘Ads by Google’ that appear in search engine results and on related websites.

The method generally used to charge for these ads is ‘pay per click’ (PPC). In other words, you pay a set sum to Google every time someone clicks on one of your ads. You can choose the keywords that trigger your ads, and set a maximum you are willing to pay for them. The more you bid, the more prominently your ads will be displayed.

Google Adwords is a powerful tool for bringing targeted prospects to your website. For more information and to sign up, visit www.google.com/adwords.

Finally, there are websites where you can advertise your services and connect with potential clients. Job auction sites such as Guru and Upwork are one possibility, with many thousands of projects posted by would-be clients. You are unlikely to be able to earn top rates via these platforms, however. There is a lot of competition, and as they are international you will be up against people in low-wage economies whose overheads (and fee expectations) may be much lower than yours. If you are looking to gain experience and testimonials they may be worth trying, but they shouldn’t be your first port of call.

A better bet may be sites aimed specifically at connecting consultants with potential clients. One of the more established websites in this field is The Consultant Hub. Joining costs several hundred pounds (tax deductible, of course), but for that you get access to thousands of unadvertised consultancy opportunities, an individual profile page on the website, membership of a private online forum, and access to training and networking events.

More Top Tips

Finally, here are a few more tips for building your training and consultancy business…

• Prepare a short pitch that answers the common question, ‘What Do You Do?’ Try to have a core message that can be summed up in one sentence, e.g. ‘I help small business professionals promote their products and services to people who need them.’
• Keep up to date with your specialist subject. Join the relevant professional organization/s, read the latest books and journals, and subscribe to authoritative blogs and websites in your niche.
• At the end of any training or consultancy session, ask for feedback. Not only will this give you valuable information on areas where you can improve, positive comments may be useful for testimonials (with the client’s permission, of course).
• Listen carefully to what clients tell you about their businesses and any areas where they are having problems. This is priceless market research, and may suggest new services you can offer in future.
• Build links with consultants and small businesses with expertise in areas related to yours. For example, if your specialism is copywriting, you might want to link up with a graphic design agency. As well as helping your clients by introducing them to other professionals with skills they need, you may be able to negotiate referral fees.
• Keep in regular touch with clients, and let them know about any new services you may be offering. Typically 80% of your business will come from repeat clients, so be sure you stay on their radar for the next time they need someone with your particular expertise.

In Conclusion

Selling your skills and knowledge as a mentor, trainer or consultant can be both enjoyable and lucrative. You can work from home, and full-time or part-time as you prefer. This can also be an ideal opportunity for older people who may be looking to reduce their working hours while still earning a decent income.

The work is varied and interesting, and you will have the satisfaction of sharing your skills and experience with people and businesses who can benefit from them. And with many companies relying increasingly on freelancers to help keep overheads low, there has seldom been a better time to get into this field.

Good luck, and happy consulting!

Disclosure: this article includes some affiliate links. If you click through these and make a purchase, I will receive a commission for introducing you. This will not affect the service you receive or the price you pay.

Make Money From Your Skills and Knowledge as a Consultant (Part 1)

Nick Making Money 0 Comments

In this two-part article I’ll be looking at a method almost anyone can use to make money, by selling their skills and knowledge as a mentor, trainer or consultant.

I say almost anyone, because clearly you need some skills and knowledge other people would be willing to pay you for. There is a huge range of possibilities, however, and if you have worked in any skilled, professional or managerial position, you almost certainly have knowledge and abilities you could sell – possibly after some polishing up first!

You can offer your services to private individuals (I’ll look at this in a moment) but by far the biggest and most lucrative potential market is businesses (including public sector organizations such as the NHS). They have budgets for training and consultancy, and generally pay well if you can deliver the services their managers and employees require.

To give you a flavour, here are just a few areas for which mentors, trainers and consultants are much in demand…

• Health and Safety
• Equal Opportunities
• Marketing
• Business Law
• Salesmanship
• Accounts and Financial Management
• Planning
• Copywriting
• Computers
• Leadership
• Communication
• Graphic Design
• Social Media

One big advantage of working with businesses is that if all goes well, you are likely to be invited back in future, either to follow up your initial session or to train other staff. Also, one type of job can lead to another. For example, you might run a course for a client initially, and then be asked to provide ongoing mentoring or consultancy services.

Although businesses are your most likely clients, in some fields you could work with private individuals as well (or alternatively).

One example is computers. Many people struggle with mastering their home computers, and are willing to pay for help and instruction. If you can combine this with basic repairs and maintenance, you have the basis for a steady part-time or even full-time business. Admittedly it is unlikely to pay as well as working for business clients, but may suit some people better.

Business Basics

If you are going to offer any sort of training or consultancy service, even part-time, you will be regarded by the authorities as running a business. That means you will need to contact the tax authorities (HMRC in the UK) and let them know what you are doing.

You will also need to keep accurate financial records showing all money earned and any allowable expenses (stationery, advertising, phone bills, and so on). You or (more likely) your accountant will use these records in due course to produce annual accounts, which will determine how much tax you have to pay.

• My personal advice would be to speak to an accountant early on and get his/her advice on how best to keep your books (financial records). This can save you a lot of hassle  – and expense – later.

I don’t have space here to go into detail about the nuts and bolts of setting up in business, but there are many books on this subject available. You might also want to take a part-time college course if any are on offer in your area.

As always, the internet is a great source of information as well. Startups and the government’s business website are two very useful resources, but there are plenty of others. Just enter “Starting your own business” in any search engine to find more.

Marketing Yourself

Marketing is the key to making money in this field, so in the remainder of this post I will concentrate on this subject.

Contrary to what is sometimes believed, marketing isn’t the same as advertising. It is an approach or even a philosophy for doing business.

The marketing method involves finding out what potential clients need, and then setting out to meet those needs. This is important, as what you believe potential clients need may not always correspond with the reality.

Advertising (trying to persuade potential clients you can meet their needs) is therefore one aspect of marketing, but it’s far from the whole story. The first stage of marketing is market research, so let’s start there…

Market Research

If you’re planning to set up as a freelance trainer/consultant, it’s important to spend some time researching your chosen field to discover what exactly potential buyers might be looking for.

This will help ensure you pitch your offer correctly, and may also uncover additional niches you want to target. So it is well worth spending a bit of time on your preliminary research rather than jumping straight in.

There are various ways of doing market research, many of which can be performed from your desk or a library. One is researching what other people working in this field – your potential competitors, in other words – are offering.

This is easy to do on the internet. Put yourself in the position of a would-be client and do the sort of search query you might expect them to use: “leadership training”, for example. That should bring up a range of websites belonging to training and consultancy providers. Spend some time studying what these folk are offering and how they promote themselves. You might also want to make a note of how much they charge, if this information is given.

It’s also good to research what potential clients actually want. This isn’t quite so easy, but one way is to look on job auction sites such as People Per Hour and Guru. Businesses use these sites to post details of services they require, which freelancers then bid on. Look for companies advertising for help in your chosen niche, and see how they describe their requirements and the sort of assistance they are seeking.

It is also well worth contacting at least a few potential clients directly. If you have friends or former colleagues in business, for example, tell them what you are planning to do and ask for any advice they can offer. Most will be delighted to help, and you will also be alerting them to the fact that before long you will be available for work in this field.

• Another method I have seen used successfully is to mailshot a range of potential clients with a market research questionnaire, and promise to make a donation to a specified charity for every one that is returned. This will obviously cost you a bit of money, but the information you get back will be valuable to you, and the contacts you make potentially even more so.

Through your market research you should be able to establish the type of client that may be the best fit for your skills, the services they need, and how best to present yourself to them as a potential provider.

Your Business Image

You are now almost ready to start promoting your services to potential clients, but one other thing you should give some thought to is your business image.

As a freelance mentor, trainer or consultant, it is vital that you present an impression of competence and professionalism. This applies even – or especially – if you are working from home.

Aside from obvious matters such as dress and appearance, you will need to ensure that this image precedes you in any advertising materials you produce. At the very least, you will need to have an attractive letterhead, and possibly a logo as well. If you want to keep your expenditure to a minimum, any printer will have someone who can do this sort of thing, but for the best possible results it’s best to engage a professional graphic designer.

The other thing necessary for anyone working in this field nowadays is a website. You can get a specialist website designer to create this for you, but if you have some computer skills it is quite possible to create a professional-looking site yourself, maybe using the popular WordPress platform. You could use the free WordPress.com service or (even better) set up your own self-hosted WordPress site using a service such as Bluehost (which I use – affiliate link). Either way, you’ll be able to choose from a wide range of themes and plugins to customize your site and ensure it presents your service in exactly the way you want.

When planning your website, you can take inspiration from sites created by other trainers and consultants, but there is nothing wrong with keeping it simple and straightforward at first. The main things you must have include information about yourself and your background, the services you offer, and any testimonials. Contact information is clearly essential, and if appropriate you might also include examples of your work (if your specialism is copywriting or graphic design, for example).

You could also put some information about pricing, although my advice would be to avoid giving chapter and verse about this. You don’t want to put people off if they think you are too expensive, or too cheap for that matter. In addition, it’s best to allow yourself some room for negotiation with individual clients.

With all this in place, you should be in a position to start contacting potential clients. I will discuss this in detail in my next post!

As ever, if you have any comments or questions about this post, please do leave them below..

Ten Things I Have Learned About Self-Employment Over 30 Years

Nick Making Money 2 Comments

Yes, it’s true. I’ve been self-employed for over 30 years now (barring a short barren spell 20 years ago when I took a temporary job at the University of Wolverhampton to help make ends meet).

I worked primarily as a freelance writer, but also as a freelance proofreader and editor. As regular readers will know I am semi-retired these days, though still available for small to medium-sized projects that I can fit in around my other commitments 🙂

Inevitably over the last 30 years I’ve learned a few things about self-employment, so I thought today I’d share some of them here. I hope this will be helpful to anyone who may be contemplating going down this route.

1. You Need an Accountant

This is actually my top tip to anyone starting out in self-employment. Tax is complicated (Shock! Horror!) and there really is no substitute for getting advice from a professional in the field.

Yes, you can do your own book-keeping (and there is no shortage of clever software to help with this). But an accountant will do so much more. They will help you set up your record-keeping system, answer any queries you may have, draw up and submit annual accounts for you, and help if (for example) HMRC raise any queries about your tax return. True, an accountant will cost you a few hundred pounds a year, but I have never for one second resented this. It is money well spent for the peace of mind it gives you alone.

• Just one example. Some years ago I was offered a five-figure sum by a publisher in exchange for all rights in some online courses I had created. It seemed a good deal, but before signing on the dotted line thought I should run it past my accountant first. He pointed out that with one or two minor changes to the wording of the contract – which the publishers were happy to make – the fee would be regarded by HMRC as a capital gain rather than taxable income. As I had no other taxable gains that year I was able to keep the entire sum I was paid. Without my accountant’s advice, I could easily have ended up paying thousands of pounds in unnecessary tax.

So get an accountant before you do anything else – you know it makes sense. See also my recent blog post that goes into more detail about why you need one.

2. Controlling Workflow is Crucial

One thing you will soon discover if you take the road of self-employment is that it’s a very short distance from having too little work to too much (and back again). In a conventional job you will have colleagues to share the load, and a manager to complain to if it all gets too much. As a self-employed person, managing your workload is all down to you.

There is no doubt this can be stressful at times. One minute you are worrying about not having enough work to pay the bills. The next you are agonizing over how to keep all your clients happy and meet their deadlines without spreading yourself too thinly and burning yourself out.

There is no easy answer to this; it’s just one of those things all self-employed people have to manage as best they can. One thing I have found helpful, though, is building a network of trusted people in the same field as me. Then when I am feeling swamped I can ask if they would be interested in taking over some work from me – and vice versa, if they are very busy they may pass some of their excess work my way. This can be very helpful in smoothing out your workflow, although you need to be sure that anyone you recommend to a client will do a good job for them.

3. Business Is About People

Obviously to run a successful self-employed business, you need to be competent (and ideally better than that) at whatever it is you do.

Beyond that, however, business is about building and nurturing relationships. This is especially important in terms of getting repeat business, which for most self-employed people is crucial to maintaining a steady workflow (see above).

For any given job, there will be plenty of other people who could do it just as well as you (maybe even better). So you need to come across as someone who is pleasant and trustworthy as well as capable of doing the work. Once you have built a good working relationship with a client, chances are they will keep coming back to you in future, and recommend you to their friends or colleagues as well.

You don’t have to become best mates with everyone you work for, but making the effort to connect with them and build a good relationship will undoubtedly pay off many times over.

4. You Need to Network

However good you are at your work, no client is going to beat a path to your door. You need to network

Obviously social media like Twitter and Facebook can be a big help here. But it’s good to put yourself about in the flesh too. If you are a freelance writer, for example, join your local writers’ circle, go on writers’ courses and conferences, volunteer to give talks, apply for residencies, and run classes in adult education. All of this will help raise your profile, and make it more likely that potential clients will get in touch with you.

And also under this heading I’d add, build up your network of useful contacts. These can come from all sorts of places: business colleagues and former colleagues, suppliers, clients, people you meet on courses, people you connect with via social media, and so on. Many of the new opportunities that have come my way over the years did so as a result of networking.

5. Don’t Rely Solely on the Internet

The internet is a wonderful thing, and there are lots of great resources on it for the self-employed. It can also be great for marketing your services. However, there was no internet at all when I was starting out, and it didn’t hold me back!

I find that young people especially tend to rely heavily on the internet and sometimes forget about other, more traditional media. If I was starting out as a freelance today, one thing I would certainly do is approach potential clients directly by letter and even by phone call. This can be a lot more effective than sending an email, which will probably end up in their spam folder anyway.

I would also scour job ads in newspapers and magazines, looking for businesses who are hiring in related fields to my own specialism. They might well be in need of freelance assistance as well, and a speculative application could turn up a regular source of work. Again, this is a strategy that has worked well for me in the past.

6. You Must Be Reliable

This is one of the most important qualities any client wants. He/she wants to be confident that you will deliver your product or service by the agreed deadline. If the deadline passes and you haven’t met it, for business clients especially it can create all sorts of problems for them.

If you can see you’re going to have problems meeting a deadline, therefore, DON’T just cross your fingers and hope for the best. Tell your client. Given sufficient notice they may be able to make alternative arrangements. But if you don’t tell them in advance, it may be too late for this. Don’t then expect them to offer you any work in future.

7. You Must Be Accessible

Clients may sometimes need to contact you at short notice, e.g. to check a specification or request a progress update. You don’t have to be always just a phone call away (though that won’t hurt), but it should be possible for a client to contact you by some means and get a reply within 24 hours. Always aim to have your mobile with you, therefore, and check this and your email regularly, preferably at least twice a day.

And if you’re going away on holiday for more than a day or two, it’s a courtesy to let regular clients know, especially if you are in the middle of a job for them!

8. Don’t (Usually) Argue

OK, this one is a bit controversial. If you disagree with a client’s choice, you can say so. But don’t push it. At the end of the day, whoever pays the piper calls the tune.

Here’s an example from my own experience. In my capacity as a newsletter editor I was pitched an idea by a semi-regular contributor. Normally I liked his ideas, but for various reasons I couldn’t use this one, so I turned it down with a polite explanation. I then received a long, aggrieved email telling me quite forcibly that I was wrong and he was right, concluding with words to the effect, ‘I think I know our readership by now.’ As you might guess, I didn’t commission many more articles from him after that…

9. Be Friendly but Professional

As I said above, it’s good to build relationships with clients. Over a period of time you will inevitably get to know one another quite well, and genuine friendships often result.

However, remember that the client is also – in effect – your employer, so it’s important to remain professional in all your dealings with them. Don’t assume that because ‘John’ or ‘Mary’ is your buddy, they won’t mind if you palm them off with inferior work or take other liberties with them.

Another example here (all names changed to protect those concerned). A few years ago one of my regular clients, a guy I’ll call Phil, was looking for an additional freelance writer. I recommended a woman named Clare to him, whom I’d worked with on a couple of projects.

All seemed to go well at first, and then I heard that he had dropped Clare quite suddenly. As I knew Phil pretty well, I asked him what had happened. He was a bit reticent at first, but then he told me, ‘We’re a family company, Nick, and we choose the people we work with very carefully.’

A little more probing finally revealed that he had been on the phone to Clare one day, and she casually dropped the F-bomb into their conversation two or three times. Phil hadn’t said anything to her at the time, but I guess he was a bit shocked by this. Anyway, he decided that he couldn’t work with her any more.

I must admit, I don’t know why Clare did this. Maybe she wanted to show she was “one of the boys”, or maybe she’d just been watching too many Hollywood movies. In any event, it was exactly the wrong tack to take with Phil, who abhors bad language in any form. And so it cost Clare the opportunity of a continuing source of well-paid work.

That’s perhaps an extreme example, but it does illustrate an important point. A good, friendly relationship with a client can be very rewarding for both parties, but you should never let it become an excuse for behaving unprofessionally.

10. Keep Updating Your Skills!

Whatever line of business you’re in, you will need to keep updating your skills and even learning new ones.

That has certainly applied for me. When I set out as a freelance writer/editor, I was using an Amstrad PCW computer/word processor. It had no internal storage, no mouse, and used its own dedicated operating system called Locoscript. It came with a slow and cranky dot matrix printer, and had literally no bells and whistles. It had a key with the word OPTIONS on it, and when you pressed this a message came up on the screen saying NO OPTIONS. That summed it up really!

After a couple of years – maybe a bit longer – I realised I would have to dump my PCW and get a ‘proper’ home computer. This came with a mouse and used an early version of Windows (probably 3.1). I then had to learn a whole new set of skills, which I did largely through trial and error and reading books (the internet not being a thing then).

Over the years since I have had to acquire many more new skills, including how to proofread and edit electronically, how to do basic HTML coding, how to build and update a WordPress website, how to do search engine optimization and use social media to market my services, and much more. I also had to keep up with the latest software so I could deliver the services my clients needed using the software they used themselves.

If you’re in a normal job, your employer will generally arrange training for you when the need arises (and of course pay for it). As a self-employed person, once again, it’s all down to you. You will need to stay up to date with developments in your field and arrange training when necessary (or take time out to teach yourself) and pay your own costs (which are at least allowable against tax). If you don’t do this, you are likely to find yourself left high and dry as the world moves on and your old skills are no longer relevant.

Obviously this applies especially in fields such as mine that require the use of modern electronic technology. But whatever your field – even gardening or window-cleaning – there will inevitably be changes in fashion/tastes, technology, legal requirements, custom and practice, and so forth. It is essential to stay aware of what is going on in your chosen field, update your skills and learn new ones as required.

I do hope you find these tips helpful. If you have any comments or questions – or any other useful tips for people new to self-employment – feel free to add them below as comments.

Part 2: How to Make Money Selling Arts and Crafts Items on Etsy

Nick Making Money 0 Comments

In my last post I revealed how you can make money selling arts and crafts on Etsy, even if you don’t have any artistic skills or talents. I discussed how Etsy works and the types of product that are sold on it (and to whom). I also set out some suggestions for choosing products you could sell from an Etsy shop yourself.

Today I’m going to take you through the practicalities of setting up your shop on Etsy, listing your first item, taking photos, writing descriptions, promoting your shop to boost sales, and more.

Setting Up Your Shop

Before you can open an Etsy shop, you first have to join the site as a buyer. This is simple enough. Just click on the Register tab at the top of the Etsy homepage and enter the information required.

You have to provide a user name, and one tip here is to pick a name containing one or two of the keywords you want to target. This can help ensure that your shop is listed high in the search results for the keyword/s in question.

You can then set up your shop by clicking on Sell on Etsy. This is a simple, step-by-step process, and as mentioned last time no fee is charged. No coding is required either – it’s basically just a matter of providing some information and making a few choices.

Many new sellers agonize over their shop design, but it’s not worth wasting too much time on this. Most potential buyers will arrive via a search that takes them straight to a specific product listing, so this is where most of your effort should go.

Nonetheless, you do need to make some decisions about your shop’s overall look, so my advice would be to choose something simple but functional. You can always refine it later once you have made your first few sales.

One thing you should add at an early stage, however, is a banner or logo. This will be part of your branding, so it needs to be attractive and relevant to your product.

Unless you have skills in this area, it’s best to outsource logo design to someone who specializes in this. If you want to keep costs to a minimum, there are people on Fiverr.com who will create one for just $5 (about £4.00). At that price you could get a few done and choose the one you like best.

Your First Listing

My top tip here is to start small. Initially it is likely that only friends and family will see your shop, so there is no need to worry about offering a huge product range from day one.

In addition, if you spend hours making your products in a variety of sizes and colours and nobody wants to buy them, imagine how disappointed you will be. Much better to choose one particular product to start with, and make your listing for this the best it can be.

Product listings have two main components: the photo and the description. The photo is by far the most important, so let’s start by looking at that.

Taking Product Photos

The good news is you don’t need an expensive DSLR camera to take your product photos. A modern smartphone can produce more than acceptable results. Taking photos that sell well is an art, however, so here are some tips to get you started…

• Keep backgrounds plain and simple. The product should always be the star of the show.
• On the other hand, a strategically chosen prop (or props) can make even ordinary items look special.
• Use natural light if possible. This nearly always looks better than artificial.
• But if natural light isn’t available, use spotlights to ensure the product is brightly lit.
• For small items, get as close as you can while ensuring the product remains in focus.
• Use a tripod or stand to ensure your photos are as sharp as possible.
• Look at the photos in successful Etsy shops and see what you can learn from them.
• Try also searching on Pinterest for Etsy – this will produce image boards crammed with product photos from the site.
• Take lots of photos and use only the best. Digital cameras and smartphones don’t use expensive film, so take full advantage of this!

Another benefit of digital photography is that you can easily edit photos, e.g. to sharpen or crop them. There are various free photo editing tools online, including Canva and (my personal favourite) PicMonkey. If you’re using a smartphone, there are many free and low-cost photo-editing apps you can download.

Finally, you can also do some basic editing when you upload photos to your Etsy shop. Your member’s page will show a preview of how the photo will look, with edit options allowing you to crop, rotate and add filters.

Once you have your photo looking exactly how you want, click to save it. All that is left then is…

Adding a Description

While it’s not as crucial as the photo, having a good description is important too.

There’s no need to write reams about your product – the image will do most of the talking for you – but you still need to answer any obvious questions a potential buyer might have.

One good tactic is to study how similar products are sold in other shops. A quick keyword search on Etsy should unearth plenty of such shops for you.

Obviously, you shouldn’t copy descriptions word for word, but they will help you see the sort of points you should be covering. The chances are that the sellers have included those details in their listings because their customers have asked about them.

Note down also any words your competitors use regularly, such as rustic, customized or handmade, and try to incorporate at least some in your own listings. It can also be good to suggest possible uses for your product, e.g. ‘These make great gifts for bridesmaids’ or whatever.

Check your work for spelling and grammatical mistakes, and ensure that the description sounds as enticing as possible. Once you’ve done all that, there is just one other matter you need to attend to…

Pricing

This is something many new Etsy sellers find challenging, but essentially it’s a simple process.

Start by working out what it will cost you to produce and sell an item. That means adding up the cost of materials and adding Etsy’s listing and transaction fees. Obviously you won’t know the exact transaction fee until you have worked out your final price, so use your best guess initially.

Next you need to decide how much you want to earn per hour. Time is money, so the cost of your item will need to reflect this. Let’s say you aim to make £12 an hour, and it takes you half an hour to create your product. That means to make £12 an hour, you will need to make 12/2 = £6 from each item you sell.

Finally, I recommend adding an extra amount – say 10 percent – for profit. All real world businesses budget to make a profit, and even if you’re working part-time from your kitchen table, you should do likewise. Profits can be set against overheads such as heating and lighting, and can also be invested in tools to make you more productive. Or you can simply take them as additional earnings, of course!

Once you’ve come up with a total, the final thing you should do is compare this with what others are charging for comparable products. Ideally you should aim to be selling for a slightly lower price, initially at least, to make your items more attractive to potential buyers. That may mean reducing your target earnings a little, or finding ways to produce items more quickly.

Like other aspects of your operation, such as photos and descriptions, it is important to test various price levels and see which produces the best returns overall.

Promoting Your Shop

If you have followed all the steps above, it shouldn’t be long before potential buyers start arriving at your Etsy shop. But there are plenty of things you can do to attract more visitors and get the sales flowing. Below I have listed a variety of methods, some free, some paid for.

• Set up a Facebook fan page for your shop, with links to the items you are selling and other content that may interest potential buyers.
• Set up a Pinterest board as well, with photos of your products linking to the sales pages in question. This can be a powerful marketing tool for products that are visually appealing.
• You should also create an Instagram account on which to post photos of your arts and crafts products, again with a link back to your Etsy shop.
• Consider investing some money in paid advertising. You could spend a few pounds boosting your Facebook fan page posts, for example, so they reach a much larger target audience.
• Google Adwords is another advertising medium you could consider if your product is something people regularly search for using keywords. You won’t usually be able to show pictures using this method, of course.
• Share links to your Etsy shop and individual product listings on Twitter. You may wish to set up a Twitter account specifically for your shop as well.
• You can also pay to have your listings show up more prominently in search results on Etsy.

As sales start coming in, it’s important to keep in touch with your customers and answer any questions they ask promptly. This will help you get good reviews and ratings on Etsy, and may also turn some buyers into loyal customers who keep coming back for more. Plus the feedback you get can be invaluable for deciding what new products to offer in future. Etsy is in many ways a community of buyers and sellers, so grasp every opportunity to take advantage of this.

Final Thoughts

You won’t make a fortune from Etsy, but if you like arts and crafts, it can be a great way of earning money while doing something you enjoy.

It’s free to get started, and you can do it part-time or full-time. Etsy even lets you put up the virtual shutters on your shop for a week or two, if you want to go and spend some of your profits on a well-earned holiday. Check it out today, then take get out your scissors, your wire-cutters or your paintbrushes, and get crafting!

As always, if you have any comments or questions about this post, please do leave them below.

Part 1: How to Make Money Selling Arts and Crafts Items on Etsy

Nick Making Money 0 Comments

If you enjoy arts and crafts, did you know you could make money selling them on Etsy? In this two-part series, I’ll be revealing how you can do this to generate a second income or even a full-time living.

For anyone who may not know, Etsy is a website where anyone can set up an online store for handmade craft items. You can also sell ‘vintage’ items that are at least twenty years old, and art and craft supplies.

That means Etsy has a particular appeal to anyone with a creative talent. Even if you don’t, however, you can still sell items made by other people. You could even offer products sourced through online auctions, car boot sales, second-hand shops, and so on.

• Right now, as you may imagine, there is a huge demand for attractive face masks and coverings. This could be a great product to offer on Etsy at the moment, although of course you will be facing some serious competition!

All About Etsy

Etsy started in New York in 2005 and has grown in leaps and bounds ever since. It is now a world-wide operation with offices round the globe.

Today Etsy has over 46 million active buyers and 2.69 million sellers. As of October 2019, 60 million products were listed for sale on the site (source: http://expandedramblings.com/index.php/etsy-statistics).

One thing to note about Etsy is that a high proportion of users are women. Etsy doesn’t publish any figures itself, but an estimated 86% are female. One study reported that the typical Etsy customer was ‘an 18–34-year-old college-educated white female with no children, who makes less than $60,000 a year’.

Of course, that is a broad generalization, and in practice both buyers and sellers may be from other demographic groups as well. But it is still important to bear in mind that this is the typical profile of the potential buyers you will be targeting.

What Sells on Etsy?

Etsy is a marketplace for handmade craft items. Just a few examples include jewellery, tote bags, key chains, scarves, clothing, scented candles, duvet covers, sandals, mugs, soaps, cosmetics, phone cases, kitchen and garden accessories, and many more.

Many sellers offer buyers the opportunity to personalize their purchases. For example, they may be able to have their name and/or photograph incorporated in the design. Custom portraits (human or pets), usually created from photos, are also very popular.

Vintage items, especially clothing and jewellery, sell well too. And there are many people making good money on Etsy selling art and craft supplies, from beads to jewellery-making tools, yarns to knitting patterns.

How Does It Work?

Anyone can join Etsy and set up an online shop on the website. It’s easy to do, and no technical expertise is required.

Even better, there is no charge for creating a shop either. There are just a few fees you will have to pay once you’re up and running. One is a listing fee of 16p per item to have it displayed in your shop for four months. There is also a 5% transaction fee and a payment processing fee of 4% plus 20p.

Obviously these costs must be taken into account when pricing products (discussed next time). But they are still a lot less than the overheads you would have to pay if running a bricks-and-mortar store.

There are various ways you can collect payment in your shop, but the simplest (and most popular) is Direct Checkout. This will allow you to accept payments by credit or debit card, PayPal, Apple Pay, bank transfer, and more. If you use Direct Checkout, Etsy will accept payments on your behalf and transfer your earnings (less fees) to your bank on a fortnightly basis.

It is, of course, up to you to arrange shipping of purchases and you can charge what you like for this. You will also need to liaise with your customers and follow up any queries.

Other than that, all you have to do is make your products and count your profits!

Choosing What to Sell

This is clearly a crucial decision, and it isn’t something to rush. Spend some time browsing the Etsy website to see what the most successful shops are selling. You can get some idea how successful a shop is by noting how many reviews it has received and how many times it has been favourited.

Don’t make the mistake of choosing a product to sell simply because you like it. And, especially, don’t fall into the trap of thinking you need to offer something new or original.

On the contrary, there is much to be said for looking for products that are selling well on Etsy and offering something similar yourself. Remember that people will be actively searching for things such as tee-shirts, bracelets and handbags. By contrast, if you are selling a ‘pink thingumijig’ or some other unique item, nobody will be searching for that, so attracting potential buyers will be much harder.

Here are a few more tips for deciding what to sell…

• Other things being equal, try to choose small items that are easy to pack. The lighter the better as well, as this will keep postal costs down.
• But try to avoid choosing items that are delicate or fragile. We all know what can happen to them in the mail!
• Consider whether products can be customized or (even better) personalized in some way. As already mentioned, such items are very popular on Etsy.
• Choose something you like and enjoy making. If it sells well you’ll be making large numbers, so don’t pick something you will quickly get bored with.
• Choose something that photographs well too, as people make buying decisions largely based on this. More about photography shortly.
• Ensure that the supplies or raw materials you need are easy to obtain. You don’t want to have to close your shop because your only supplier has shut down.
• Finally, think about the cost of your time. If making the product in question is very time-consuming, will you be able to charge buyers enough to make it worth your while?

Naturally, if you have a particular creative talent, you will want to sell products that capitalize on this.

Even so, it’s important to think carefully about the matters above, and see how you could channel your skills into making something that not only showcases your talents but will also sell well and make you a decent profit.

Of course, whatever decision you make now isn’t set in stone. If your first choice product doesn’t sell, you can always try again with something else. Your only costs will be the raw materials and Etsy’s (low) listing fees. Even once you are selling successfully, you should be constantly refining your product range and looking for new things you can offer your customers.

Next time I will take you through opening your Etsy shop, pricing products, taking photos, promoting your shop, and more.