How "Batching" helped me achieve consistent sales

Do you find yourself doing everything all at once, but your goals are never really achieved? That's because you are not focused... you are trying to do everything at once. Read below to see how I managed to get focused.

I started this journey of creating templates for my business in June 2021. I have to say, it’s been quite the journey. I not only had to figure out how to connect my bank account to my Etsy account, since they do not allow this in Bermuda, but also, how to retrieve my earnings from PayPal as this was connected to my website. I needed a US account account for that. Nonetheless, I figured it all out but…..that was just the beginning! I now had to get sales.

According to Printful, Etsy has over 5 million active sellers. Out of that 5 million, just under 4000 of those sellers compete in my exact niche — selling to Airbnb owners. Like most people, I started out trying to do everything at once. This included, design, search engine optimization (SEO), updating the website, writing blogs, building my email list and so on. I realized it wasn’t quite working. I decided to write down the items I needed to complete and “Batch” each task. So what is Batching you ask? It is the act of grouping tasks together. AND… that’s exactly what I did, I batched the following tasks:

1. Building my email list: Building my email list will allow me to sell directly to my customers instead of paying numerous Etsy fees and competing with competitors (once my Etsy account was opened). Therefore, I focused on my website with PayPal as my payment gateway, because my Etsy account wasn’t fully operational. But how was I going to get visits to my site and have the visitors subscribe to my email list? I created a freebie. Everyone loves a freebie, which is considered a lead magnet. In addition to this, I spoke with my mentor, she said get into the appropriate Facebook Groups for my target market. They are a goldmine for information and sales. That tip was the missing piece. I created the lead magnet, promoted it in the Facebook Groups and that helped me gain over 250 subscribers and generate sales!

2. Designing content: In October 2021, I finally resolved my Etsy issue and was able to open my store. I consistently designed the templated content that I needed to help generate revenue. This ranged from Welcome Books, Instagram Story templates and Posters. Once I created a design I liked, I then duplicated the document, but in multiple colors. Using this tactic would help get seen more often on Etsy by customers. Not only did I design the content, but I also altered the shape of some of my cover images so I can stand out just a bit more than my competitors. Give you one guess which is mine :).

3. Etsy research: While in these Facebook Groups, I was able to see what group members were constantly asking for. I not only did research on my customer base, I also looked at what the competition was doing on #Etsy. I used various systems to see, which of their products and specific colors of those products generated high revenue. Therefore, with the knowledge gathered, I was able to create items that either my competitors didn’t have or there was little competition for these items. With those new products, I packaged them and created bundles.

4. Etsy functionality: In conjunction to building my store with quality products, I also had to work on my SEO. Using sites such as eRank and Etsy’s analytics, I was able to see what phrases my target market was searching for. I was also able to use Etsy’s search bar to see what terms appear for my niche. Using both these tactics, I was able to update my SEO which, according to eRank, I sold more than 84% of other shops on Etsy.

Another feature of Etsy’s I used was, Etsy also allows you to create banners for your shop. I use this area to promote any sales i’m offering and also highlight my website’s lead magnet to further build my email list.

I also leverage Etsy’s sale options which range from Abandoned Cart, percentage off when favoriting an item, buy X amount of orders and receive a discount etc. I tried Etsy’s ads, but I found they were not resulting in much sales in comparison to my organic traffic. All in all, doing my research and using Etsy’s systems, I was able to generate just under 200 sales on Etsy alone since October 2021 and I am a “Star Seller” for the second month in a row. This is tough to do when competing with 3000+ Etsy sellers in my niche.

All in all, this has definitely been a process of being patient and learning along the way. One thing I did notice that by being in the Facebook Groups, I have been able to take a few trainings that were free and some paid (small fee) and really good.

So remember that meeting with my mentor I mentioned, she also said I need to get social on social media. If you noticed, social media is the one tactic I have not mentioned. This is the batch of tasks I am currently working on. I just completed a training on Reels, which I am now just trying and currently putting to use for my business. I realized what I was doing on my social channels was not working. This is the task I have been putting off the most as I hate putting myself out there, but who wants to leave money on the table?

Hope some of the tips mentioned can help you in your business. Until next time…