Front Page Strategies from Natalya Part 2

Thanks for stopping by! Here is more from our enlightening chat with Natalya1905. To see PART 1 of this post click HERE.

Natalya not only gets her treasuries noticed by Etsy, she has treasuries that get a ton of comments and clicks. We picked her brain to find out the ways she promotes her treasuries and what makes a treasury "hot".

What do you do to promote a treasury so it stays hot?

I am a member of several wonderful teams, including The Perfect Team – TPT. :) When the Treasury is ready, I always send convos to all the featured artists. Try this Shmetsy extension, it is a huge time saver: http://shmetsy.com/extensions.html?s=Send+Convos+to+artists+in+a+Treasury#

Then I put the link to my new Treasury on my Facebook and Twitter, on the team Treasury thread (if it is a team Treasury), and on the TPT.

Do you think having a "hot" treasury is as important as making a treasury that appeals to Etsy's aesthetic?

I believe in beautiful Treasuries. Tasteless and messy BNR-like Treasuries will never get to the Front Page, no matter how many views and comments they get. Besides, Etsy rarely picks hot Treasuries for the Front page.

Want your Treasury to get hot? Promote it as much as you can. Want your Treasury on the Front Page? Pick a trendy theme, make your collection as beautiful as you can, tag properly and get at least 50 views. That should be enough.

Do you think making treasuries helps with making sales in your own Etsy shop? If yes, how do you think it helps?

I can’t say I have noticed increase in sales since I began making Treasuries. I do it mostly for fun (must be still missing my job as a magazine editor :)) and to promote my friends and teammates.

When one of my items is featured on the Front Page, it is an amazing exposure, hundreds of views and hearts, several sales as a rule. When my Treasury is featured, I usually get people adding me to their circles, more people featuring my items in their Treasuries, but that is all.

Join us for the final part of this post and the advice Natalya has for new treasury makers!

Front Page Strategies from Natalya

What a wonderful team we have created! We have over 11oo members now and more and more front pages.

One member we see on the front page over and over again is Natalya1905. Her treasuries are always beautiful and consistent. We thought, who better to share Front Page strategies with our team than Natalya. She was very generous to share some great information with us. So much that this will probably be a multiple part post. To see examples of Natalya's Treasuries click HERE. So here we go...

How do you get your ideas for your treasury themes?

As a rule, themes come spontaneously. It can be some particular item that becomes my inspiration; color, event, date, or holiday - anything is good. Etsy Merchandise Report is another great source of themes. There are so many ideas and keywords in it, more than one could possibly use within a month.

What do you think is the most important thing you can do to make your treasury stand out for front page consideration?

There are several very simple rules that help immensely:

- Use all 16 slots.

- Do not use your own items in your Treasuries.

- Do not use items from your other shop(s) in your Treasuries.

- Do not use more than one item from any shop.

- Do not use sold items.

- Pick items from different categories and in a wide price range.

- Check your recent (1-3 days old) Treasuries regularly and replace sold items. Treasuries with more than 2 sold items would not likely be picked for the Front Page.

- Use English words for Treasury titles, American English spelling is preferable.

- Do not use graphic symbols (flowers, hearts, etc.) in the title.

- Use tags. Try to include appropriate keywords from current Merchandise Report.

- Do not use Etsy admin shops in your Treasuries.

- Check title and tags spelling to avoid typos and mistakes.

What do you look for in photographs when selecting items for a treasury?

Great photography is a key to a great Treasury. You can’t make a beautiful, Front Page worthy Treasury with low quality photos. I always look for crispy, focused and well lit photos presenting unique objects. I never use abusive or mature content items.

Background is what makes a Treasury look “professional” (or ugly, BNR-like). Try to pick items with similar backgrounds. Plain white looks best and makes Treasury creating process faster and easier. Try not to mix different backgrounds, like white, black, bright, polished wood, barn wood, fabric, grass, concrete, solid, textured, etc.

Next time we will see Natalya's tips for promoting treasuries and advice for new treasury makers. To See Part 2 of this post click HERE

1000 Members and FP Treasuries!

Our little team has expanded to over 1000 members! That is fantastic and we are seeing a lot more of our team mates on the Etsy Front page.

Thanks to everyone for doing such a great job supporting each other. Be sure to tag your treasuries tpt team, and post on the discussion board if your treasury shows up on the front page. This will make it easier for us to find you and feature you on our team blog.

Here are a few of the latest FP treasuries.

Etsy April Trends for Front Page Strategies

Etsy has published it's April Merchandising blog post. Read it HERE. This is a monthly article that gives "clues" to what Etsy is looking for to feature on the front page. Keep in mind that these tips are to get noticed for "Front Page" consideration, not to increase "hotness".

(image listing)

Here are some highlights that pertain to treasuries:

• Little Red Riding Hood: With Catherine Hardwicke's movie rendition, this fairytale is becoming increasingly popular: forestry, red capes, wolves and werewolves, the moon (blood moon), young love, legends and dark fairytales

Along with woodland theme (which is still popular) the dark little red riding hood theme is something to think about.

• Our central merchandising topics this month will focus on spring, Easter and Mother's Day.

I bet mother's day is huge on Etsy! Think of all the Mother's Day themes you could do. "Things my mother would like", "Things I would like cuz I'm a mom", etc. (ok you are probably better at coming up with clever titles than me!)

• Geometry: Geometric shapes, patterns, triangles, chevrons.

This is one I see on the Front Page all the time. The treasury is all about a certain pattern or shape.

• The Butcher: Cuts of meat, diagrams, butcher paper and knives, bacon, aprons.

This one is just strange. "Here ya go mom, Mother's day wouldn't be complete without this diagram of a cow and some butcher paper." I know, I know... this doesn't have to be for mother's day. Just seems random.

There is great stuff in this article for treasury makers and shop owners, so be sure to check it out. Now get to making those butcher themed treasuries~

Look for great photos to get your treasury noticed

Great photos are what makes Etsy so special! That is the first thing that attracted me to Etsy, I was impressed by the quality of the photographs.

(image listing)

As a shop owner, having nice photos can get you featured in many more treasuries.

As a treasury maker, picking nice photos gets your treasury more comments and possibly front page.

Check out this treasury from tpt member Zion Shore.


Notice the photography? The most interesting photos are the ones that are slightly off center, with a plain background. Think how uninteresting that bag would look if it was on your couch being photographed straight on.

To summarize-

As a shop owner:

• Make your first photo be the most interesting even if it doesn't show the entire product. You can show the detail in the rest of your supporting photographs. I usually click on listings in which the first photo makes me feel like I want to see more. Click HERE for a great example of this. (This shop has been on the front page multiple times)
  
• Keep your backgrounds simple. A stripey couch or dotted bed spread might not be the best place to show off your product. The background should not be distracting.
• Try to show your product "in use" in at least one photo. For example if you are selling a hair clip, have a friend wear it and take photos outside for plenty of natural light and an editorial feel. Click HERE to see a good example of this.

As a Treasury Maker:

• Look at previous front page treasuries and note what type of photos are most common.
• When torn between 2 items, go for the one with the most simple, clean look.
• pick photos with similar styles in one treasury, this gives the treasury a cohesive look. Take a look at this TPT member's treasury for a good example of this.
• Be sure to put the most interesting photos in the top 4 spots of the treasury. These are the ones that are seen when browsing through treasuries. This will pull in more views.

I would love to hear any photography tips you have to share! Happy photo taking!