The Landlocked Sailor

I recently dropped from full time to working only two hours per day at my day job, and have since been pursuing my Etsy shop full time. You wouldn’t think so to look at it, but I am. Most of my work so far has been “behind the scenes,” and during this starting-up phase, I’ve read a lot of Etsy’s “Quit You Day Job” series. Maybe even all of them. Reading interview after interview after interview, I noticed certain recurring themes.

1. The most common “If I had it to do over I would…” moment? Time and again, it’s “I wish I would’ve done this sooner.” Quit my day job sooner, pursued my creative side sooner, taken my Etsy business seriously sooner.

2. The next most common piece of advice is “View your business as a business.” Take it seriously. Be professional. Get up, get dressed, and go to work. Even if that work is at your kitchen table.

3. The most successful promotion tools (apart from excellent customer service and word of mouth): Twitter, Flickr, and blogging about what you do. Sometimes it seems as if you’re only Tweeting to fellow Etsy sellers, but the potential audience of Twitter is not to be underestimated. Tweet about your new listings. Tweet questions, like “What do you think of my new shop banner?” (include a link, of course). Tweet links to your latest blog post. See something you love on Etsy or elsewhere? Tweet about it. Retweet others, be interesting, and others will retweet you, too!

More on blogging & Flickr in a future article.

4. Last but not least: Everyone seems to get up at 8 a.m. Well ok not everyone, but it is very common in the description of an average workday. I don’ take this as a piece of advice, so much, but rather as an indicator that successful Etsy sellers follow their own natural rhythms. This fosters creativity and maximizes productivity.
Whadd’ya think?
What would you add to this list?
Please comment.