What if Instagram went down (again)?

Wondering what you can do to bullet-proof your Handmade Business and be a little less reliant on social media to get sales in your handmade business?

So, as you might know, on Halloween last year, a MAJOR day for product sales, Instagram went down for a lot of people. 

Businesses lost hundreds-thousands of followers, some people’s accounts were deactivated, and for the rest of us, *literally no one saw our content.*

This really did happen.

It sucked.

And it’s not the first time it happened.

And actually, like many of you, we have had quite a few struggles this year with getting our content pushed out on social media.There have been so many glitches in the past year.

So, as an Etsy Seller, what do you need to know about all of this, and how can you protect your business…especially if you make a lot of your sales on social media?

Well…that’s why we created this blog post!

You can listen to the podcast episode here, or keep reading below!

Instagram's recent downtime on Halloween in 2022 serves as a reminder of the importance of diversifying income and building a contact list for your audience that you own. 

As an Etsy seller, relying on social media alone for sales can be risky, as you don't own your social media profiles or follower lists!

 Social media is a fantastic and free tool, but it should not be the sole source of income for your business.

In order to bullet-proof your handmade business and be less reliant on social media, there are several steps you can take. 

Here are three steps to consider in 2023 if you are currently relying on social media for any of your sales.

Step #1: Start and grow an email list. 

Building an email list is essential for any business, as it allows you to communicate directly with your customers and you own the list. 

You can use a discount coupon code to entice your social media followers and customers to join your email list. 

Additionally, you can also invite your Etsy customers to join your email list in a way that is compliant with Etsy's terms of service. This can include putting your email sign up link in your message to buyers, on your product packaging or in your digital downloads.

Ready to do this NOW, but you don’t even know where to start? We created a mini course just for this, Email Marketing for Etsy Sellers! 

Step #2: Invest in learning SEO for your Etsy shop. 

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of optimizing your shop so that it appears higher in the search results on Etsy. This can help bring more organic traffic to your shop, which can lead to more sales.

 Optimizing your titles, tags and descriptions can make your shop more discoverable on Etsy.

Grab our FREE SEO basics guide here. 

Step #3: Build a website

Building your own website is an important step in the long-term growth of your handmade business, but it's not an urgent one. 

Before you invest the time and resources into building a website with a product catalog, it's essential to focus on building an email list and growing your business through search engine optimization (SEO).

Still, having your own website offers several benefits, including additional sales channels, a place to send customers from social media to shop, and a backup catalog of all your products in case another platform, such as Etsy, goes down. We are able to sell on Tiktok, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and even wholesale on Faire, all through our website.

Building a website does come with additional costs, such as hosting and design, but it's a step you should consider taking when you're ready for long-term growth.

 If you're curious about building a website, we recommend using Shopify, and you can learn more about the basics of Shopify by listening to our podcast episode with Sarah Jansel, the Shopify Queen of Jansel and Co.

Building an email list, investing in SEO for your Etsy shop, and building a website are just a few of the steps you can take to bullet-proof your handmade business and become less reliant on social media. Remember, social media is just a tool, and it's essential to have a backup plan in case of downtime or changes in algorithms.

In conclusion, it's crucial for Etsy sellers to start taking steps to diversify their income and build a contact list for their audience that they own!

Ready for the next step? Start building your email list here.