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Steph Cole Lewis, founder of Handmade Bosses, looks at a caption reading 2024, handmade business strategy.

Stop! Don't go any further until you've mapped out your 2024 Etsy Business Strategy

etsy 101 basics productivity and time Apr 03, 2024

Let’s make 2024 your BIGGEST year yet for your Etsy shop as we put pen to paper with your biggest, most audacious goals and build a sustainable roadmap to get there. 

 If you’ve landed on this page, you are probably someone that finds themselves with sweaty palms at the thought of mapping out your 2024 -  you are in the right place! This blog is going to give you a thorough walk-through of the “Move the Mountain” exercise that is within my planner. 

Let’s dive right in, together! 

STEP ONE: THE PYRAMID

Imagine a pyramid that is split into 4 sections. Now, I would love you to think about what your big, audacious goal would be and pop it at the top of your pyramid. Now as much as I would love to hear your wildest Etsy dreams, I want you to be realistic (NOT to be confused with “playing small”). I mean kudos to you if you are fired up to go from one extreme to the other, but with that comes a risk of becoming demotivated when things don’t go to plan and you begin to lose sight of the initial mission. 

Think of something that is at the top of your potential, and then stretch it just a tiny bit further. You need to consider, “is my goal measurable?” because it needs to be crystal clear when you smash that glass barrier to achieve it. 

Some examples from my previous and current clients involve: quitting their 9-5 which feels like a never ending rat race, hitting $50k annual Etsy sales etc. I am only asking you to think of 1 goal because I have been exactly where you are now, setting about 15 goals and having no bloody clue where to start… and that is where the overwhelm and action paralysis begins to kick in. In all honesty I did this at the start of 2023 and I probably achieved about half of my goals, and I’ve actually forgotten the other half! 

Let me give you an example…

If your goal was to experience consistent sales throughout the year, what does that ACTUALLY look like in an ideal world? Is it one sale per week? Perhaps it’s multiple sales per day? Whatever it is, get it down on paper in black on white. 

Alternatively, if your goal was to have your Etsy shop single handedly support your bills, what does that look like? Remember, things like this can go up and down so ensure you have a little safety net so that you’re always covered instead of spiralling into Meltdown City. 

(Ps the brilliant thing about this exercise is that it can be repurposed for multiple areas of your life - not just your Etsy shop, because life isn’t all about business!)

 

BOSS! Do you want to make more sales on Etsy? Then you need to increase your conversion rate! DON'T PANIC! I'm going to explain exactly how to do that in my FREE 90 minute masterclass - The 3 Step System To Skyrocket Your Etsy Conversion Rate πŸ™ŒπŸ»

 

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STEP TWO: BREAK THAT DOWN

Now you should have your big goal for the year, we’re going to break it down a little bit more so that you aren’t left saying “great, what the hell do I do now, Steph?”.  

With that being said, I want you to break that goal down into 4 big chunks, one for each quarter of 2024. 

These chunks might look like, to build a marketing strategy that fits around my childcare schedule or set up a mailing list, with the intention of attracting 5,000 people in. 

We are not talking about weekly or daily habits yet so if you are struggling to break this down, I would suggest going back and reviewing whether your goal is big and daring enough. 

Also, let’s not get caught up in shiny object syndrome by piling up all of the tasks straight away because that is the fastest way to hit burn out and give up…there are 9 other months left to fill, each of these chunks should take you at least a few weeks to achieve. 

STEP THREE: SUPPORTING STEPS

The next step is to break each chunk down the chunks into 12 bitesize pieces, one for each month of the year. This section is more flexible and doesn't need to be split equally across the 4 big chunks. For example, setting up and growing an email list will have the least steps that embarking on the journey of becoming a wholesale business.

When I have moved through this process with private clients in the past, some of them felt stumped by this step but I need you to remember that consistent action will ALWAYS win the race. You are running your own race. 

Do not fall into the trap of looking side to side at other people’s timelines and fall ill to the almighty Comparisonitis bug. The minute you do this, you lose your own race. It is 1 million times better to show up consistently than suddenly skyrocketing your social media presence for 2 weeks before completely falling off the wagon, for the lack of a better phrase! 

STEP FOUR: TASKS TO TRIUMPH

Congratulations for reading this far because this is where the REAL magic happens! This is the point where you really dig deep and say to yourself “how do I get to the point where I really make a difference?”. Be careful with this. Do not just rock up and say that you are going to hit the ground running by showing up 5X a week. It is FAR more useful for you to look within and figure out why you haven't been able to show up consistently in the past.

  • Is it that you need to update your phone because it always glitches?
  • Is it that you haven’t tried to fit your social media presence around your lifestyle?
  • Do you need to “mute” or “unfollow” people that negatively impact your mood when you consume their content on your feed?

The thing is, the weekly and even daily tasks are things that the majority of people overlook, but they are what really moves the needle forward in your business. What can you do to make this process easier?

Perhaps you could:

  • Batch film your stories
  • Meal prep for the week 
  • Outsource the tasks that take you wayyy to long 

I promise, you will be surprised with how much time you can free up (that you didn’t believe you had) to work on your business by implementing things like this into your normal routine!

Now I am not on my high horse pretending it’s easy, I am guilty of diving into the new year without having proper planning in place, so I am telling myself whilst I tell you!

 


Steph x

 

If you'd prefer me to visually teach you this blog post, then you can watch it HERE.

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