Share Your Strengths
The Benefits Of Mentoring Someone on Etsy
I
can already hear the balking. “ Mentor? I can’t even mentor myself”; “I don’t
know enough to mentor someone else”; “I
don’t have enough sales to be respected as a mentor”, etc.
Phooey,
I say. You know more than you think you do.
If you have figured out that selling on Etsy is not a straightforward
endeavor, you officially know more than a new seller.
Allow
me to compare apples to oranges for a minute to make a point. Selling on Ebay IS
a straightforward endeavor that you can figure out as you go. No need to read a
lengthy sellers manual. Ebay walks you through very simple steps.
- You decide to sell an
item, any item.
- You take a photo or
two or twelve. They can be really bad photos and nobody cares
- You look around at
other items like yours to research a price. Decide to auction or sell. Pricing is a cinch!
- Choose a category and
write a title stuffed with catchy keywords, willy-nilly. (No worries about # of characters for the
pesky Google Bot
- No matter how lame
your description is, it sells. No one expects colorful language. You don’t
count the characters or words to feed the
Google Bot.
- Your item goes live
- You answer a bunch of
email questions (maybe)
- Your item sells. You
get paid through Paypal, and you print a Paypal shipping label and ship.
- You get feedback, with
most transactions
If it is so
straightforward, why don’t I just go and sell on Ebay, you wonder. Baaaa! Don’t get me
started. I am simply illustrating that it is a different selling experience
from Etsy. In many ways, (most not good). It is quite a different world. It is
not a warm and welcoming community of crafters and artisans like you will find on Etsy.
So,
if you have established your shop, been active in the Etsy community, (Teams,
Forums, etc.); have kept up with the ever changing tips and rules for improving
relevancy and being found in search, then, face it, you are a well -seasoned
Etsy-er.
The
numbers do not roll in over night in any new business, and the very competitive
online handmade, vintage, and supplies (businesses) are no exception.
You do not need high
sales to be able to share your strengths:
your empirical wisdom and
experiential knowledge
You know what
I think? Now, as I learn something new in
business, I feel if I can’t share it, it is being wasted. I am not worried
about giving the competition a leg-up. Once you become generous with your knowledge, it seeps into
your core values and you find yourself feeling like a giving, better person
every day,
Give
and You Shall Receive
4 Benefits
of Being an Etsy Mentor
Mentoring a younger person will undoubtedly earn you a
hearty education in a technical area you may have previously been clueless
about.
It’s inevitable that someone younger than you will know (a lot) more about a topic you’re less
familiar with.
For example, if you have always
wanted to ease your way into Instagram, perhaps a Generation Y mentee can help
you learn it in a day.
- Develop leadership and management skills.
Becoming a mentor can help you learn how to oversee and
guide others. If you have never been in a professional setting as a mentor, a casual mentor/mentee relationship can
help you discover skills such as coaching and feedback and tap into leadership
abilities you never knew you had.
People who are seen as mentors are
granted higher credibility and are seen as greater performers. You appear as more connected and will draw
others to you for consult.
You take for granted all that you have learned and the skills
you have honed over time. When imparted
onto someone new, this knowledge sounds vast and sage. It is great for an ego
boost and a reminder of how far you have come.
Why
would you pass up an opportunity to feel good about yourself?
You can truly open up someone’s world with a small time
investment. Very simple words can give people new ideas and opens doors for them. It can
truly change lives. You open their minds to possibilities, expecting nothing in
return. This, in turn, gives you more meaning in your life
Following is a quote from Gloria Flynn of Earth Energy Gemstones on Etsy. I asked her to tell me about her experience with her mentor. They have been together more than a year:
"My Etsy mentor is the lifeline
for my jewelry business. From the very
beginning she had my back and encouraged me to join her team called Jewelry on
Etsy (JETs). From the moment I was welcomed into the team, she has been an active
participant in my success.
She makes herself available for me and
responds to questions in great detail, and with love; everything from what to
include on my listing tags to how to make jewelry from recycled silver. When
I'm not asking her questions, she's asking ME questions. For example: How often
do you tweet? Do you have a Google+ account and are you using it? She explains
how things work in social media, and tells me what to do--but in a good way,
like how I could be using it better.
She builds me up when I'm down, and
constantly encourages me to stretch my wings a little, like "You should be
making (fill in the blank) because they are in the top searches and will bring
more traffic to your shop”.
The Etsy jewelry world is HUGE, and
it's easy to get lost--but not when you have a mentor who shows you the way.
Mine has and I'm so grateful!"
Thank you for reading!
Norah Downey
