A few weeks ago, an Etsy colleague made a remark about my approach to business. She said that I was always pushing pushing pushing, like a bulldozer, through obstacles and putting my Etsy shop out in front of people. She said that she was probably too shy to be that aggressively self-assertive.
Well.
At first I was sort of taken aback. Am I really that pushy? And apart from being rather attractive big yellow pieces of machinery, are bulldozers really all that pleasant to be around?
But I've decided to embrace it. Hell yeah, I'm a bulldozer. A big yellow bulldozing monster of an Etsy entrepreneur. Grr. Rawr. And what does a big yellow bulldozing monster of an Etsy entrepreneur do? She makes her own road and drives it.
So here are some notes and tips from the cab of the yellow monster truck on doing business on Etsy.
1. Etsy entrepreneurs are dead serious about business. They are not flirting and they are not fooling around. They have business plans and promotions and financial statements. They may be perfectly nice people, but make no mistake, they are thinking about how to build their business all of the time.
2. Whatever book you read on how to succeed on Etsy? About ten thousand other people have read the same book. When everyone is following the same rules, it only levels the playing field. To win, you have to do something exceptional.
3. You are already exceptional. You are an artist who is also an entrepreneur. That's a hell of a unique skill set. Conventional wisdom is you know, conventional and common. That's not for you. You're creative, by definition. Do things that work for you even if they're uncommon -- especially if they're uncommon.
Now go out there and create your own model of business. You don't have to be a bulldozer to move mountains. Even a drop of water is powerful. Look at the Grand Canyon.
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