Organize your Etsy workflow

Managing an Etsy shop is not as easy, even if your products are in demand and you have consistent sales. On the other hand, it’s pretty tough for many of us to get sorted, this is why Organizing your workflow in Etsy should be a priority.

For some, this is easier than actually completing the order, for others (hands up), it’s the most significant barrier to creating a business you love and enjoy. 

We have to work fast and accurately to ensure that each order and inquiry receive the attention they need. 

If you haven’t started an Etsy shop – read our post on How to create an Etsy business today. 

My Dad has worked for himself for almost 50yrs. Even today, he works in his shed with cars (well, basically) and keeps everything rolling. He hasn’t had anyone force him to go to work in a very long time. Yet, he can repeatedly get up and ‘just do it’. He can organize his mind and prioritize his day with time management and keep track and inventory of things he needs to order, sell, pay, and get paid. 

And for the majority of his working life, with no internet or smartphones. It’s a big diary with a page for each day. 

Even when my Mum is asking about cutting the hedge, the sheep have got out of the field, and the roof is leaking, the bathroom needs painting (you get the idea). He can still organize and place his tasks in order of priority as one thing must follow the other.

Thanks, Dad, for always putting on your boots every morning at 0730 and ‘just doing it’   

But how do some people find this a natural state, and yet many of us can’t remember to pay the car tax until the Google calendar reminds us.?

How to get your process sorted to organize your Etsy workflow

We could now talk about the monkey in the mind, meditation, planners, and online organizers. But as a shop owner, you must find your way to get things done. 

I don’t profess to have all the answers, but here are a few tips on how to organize your workflow as an Etsy shop owner. Let’s get started.

There are many things to process — from listings to shipping parcels. Step up your game and be a top-seller if you want positive reviews.

Your Etsy workflow should depend on what you do daily — is your online business a passion project or your full-time work? 

If you have a day job, will you need assistance from someone you know or resort to outsourcing?

However, you need to work things out first to see if you can handle both the day job and Etsy store simultaneously. Find the best Etsy workflow for you — to maintain store performance.

Helpful posts for you :

1. Things To Do Before Opening an Etsy Store
2. Daily Tasks as an Etsy Shop Owner
3. Etsy Seller Printable Planner

Open a separate bank account for your Etsy shop

Open a bank account solely for your Etsy shop. This will ensure your savings – remain in your savings account. 

This way, you can still save up money for yourself —

 1. Transfer your business funds to the newly opened bank account 

2. Get an overview of how much income you get from your store.

3. Use the figures to calculate profit and loss 

4. If there are fees on Etsy — be informed of how much it costs to open an Etsy shop in this post.

How to complete Competitor Research on Etsy

Learn strategies best for your niche from your competitors.

Go to Etsy and type the keyword for your niche — 

1. examine every product and store that will appear in the search results.

2. Take note of the strategies they use to present their products

3. read customer reviews to see if the store owner’s approach is practical. You can combine different stores — A/B testing is a great way to see what works best. 

Read here about competitor research to learn more.

Branding your Etsy shop

Create branding materials that will make your business remarkable — build your image first.

1. Start by choosing your brand colors, fonts, and packaging.
2. You will also need a logo — if graphic design isn’t your thing, you can hire a graphic designer for this task. Depend on graphic design tools such as Canva and PicMonkey to create your branding materials — mainly if your budget includes hiring a designer.
3. Build your shop’s personality — a mission and vision that will separate it from other stores.

Complete your brand by following this friendly guide to Etsy shop branding.

Product Photos and Listings

Plan the first batch of products you will upload to your listings — you need to keep an inventory of all the products you have posted on your store.

Etsy requires sellers to upload images of their products; these should allure your possible buyers. Just make sure that once they receive the product, it’s the same as what they saw online.

Take photos at home — with a DIY photo studio. Here’s a complete guide to Etsy listing photos that can undoubtedly help establish your store.

Daily Task as an Etsy Shop Owner

As an Etsy shop owner, you have responsibilities to accomplish every day — especially if you manage your store alone. 

It’s time to start acting like a large business, even if you are teeny, tiny. 

1. Each time you upload a product, write down the instructions. For example: – you might write down the time of day and what lighting you use to take photos. 
2. Make a list of SOPs – Standard procedures for each task. 

Not only will things go faster, but even when you are not at your best, you will start to manage your time better. 

You don’t need to write down every click you make, but if you have a sheet for each listing – use it as a tick list of processes to be completed. 

Check Products and Adjust Inventory

The first thing you should be checking is the status of your products. Do you still have enough for sale?

Adjust the stock number in your store to avoid order cancellation. Update the inventory at the same time.

Check each product quantity to start creating another batch of products, especially when you sell physical or consumable products.

Managing your Etsy shop supplies

Aside from the number of stocks, check if sufficient product supplies. 

1. Ensure that you have enough supply for packaging — this is an essential part of selling your products as it will reflect on customer feedback. Good and secure packaging creates a positive impression on your store. Moreover, you have to count the number of materials needed for your arts and crafts. 
2. Update the product status on your store after checking the supplies.

Reply to Inquiries in your Etsy shop.

We have all seen the ‘be a star seller’ badge. For many of us, we have to make a significant effort to reply to all messages promptly. 

I usually don’t get many inquiries that require a response for my shop, but those that do are often canned responses you can set up in your shop. 

I don’t spend enough time in my Etsy shop to see messages appear all day, so I rely on the emails being sent to my Gmail account. 

Be confident but brief in your responses. They want an answer to their question. 

Customers tend to ask for added instructions when they receive their orders. Prepare a list of answers for frequently asked questions — be accurate and explain as clearly as you can.

Update your frequently asked questions in your shop – and you can easily refer them to these. 

Packing and shipping Etsy orders 

Do this by batch to avoid confusion — the more orders you get, the more confusing it is to pack products and write shipping details. 

Secure product packaging and ensure that the right product will be delivered to your customer. 

Double-check each order — the parcel should have the correct address.

Be fast and accurate at the same time — packaging and shipment are huge contributors to gaining good reviews. Ship your products as soon you are done with packing a whole batch of orders. 

Immediate shipping can help you earn another good review.

And we love that!

Update Inventory in your shop

Do not forget to update your inventory every single day. Record any changes to supply, sales, orders in a day, completed orders, refunds, and so forth.

A detailed inventory can help you quickly manage your store — and give you an overview of your sales. 

The status of your products on Etsy should be the same as what’s on your inventory — organize listings to see if there are any duplications to be deleted.

This can become a bit of a task, mainly if you sell in more than one online place. 

Promoting your Etsy Store

Create marketing materials that can promote your store, whether a social media post or email marketing.

Store announcements inform your customers of product release dates, sales, promo codes, and giveaways.

Create a batch of social media posts for a week and schedule them using a social media publisher. These platforms are pretty helpful, primarily if you handle your store promotions on your own.

As for email marketing, you can create one and send it to your mailing list — which you have to update every day. Your mailing list will primarily consist of customer emails — update them with discounts, follow-up the product on their cart, and the likes.

Not sure? Get started with an email list for your Etsy shop.

What are your sales goals for your shop?

Take a look if you are getting closer to achieving your monthly sales goal every day.

If your marketing strategies are working – keep it up, but you can still change your approach even in the middle of the month.

Compare your analytics from the previous month. Apply strategies and solutions that you were able to analyze from last month’s sales.

Aside from your sales, you need to know if your store is creating traffic — did it get to a higher rank or go down? 

Compile the analytics of your social media pages — are you gaining followers and social media visibility. Read this post if you want to promote your Etsy shop on Social media.

Update your Etsy listings

Add new products or update photos and product descriptions — make it a monthly task to optimize your listings.

Analyze what’s missing and not working for your store to gain traffic.

Upload new photos that might be more appealing to Etsy users — consider taking an online course to achieve a great product photo.

Stay up to date with events and trends to add or remove tags on your products.

Apply what your target audience is looking for — based on age and interests.

If Etsy email you with ‘it’s time to update your tags with Christmas’, go for it. Or better still, create a new listing targeted toward Christmas shoppers. 

Organizing Your Etsy Workflow

Create an Etsy workflow that works best and can be adjusted according to your daily life. Make it a habit to stay organized to avoid forgetting tasks — one missed task can still affect your brand and sales.

Daily Checklist

Prepare a checklist that you can use every day — list down tasks that you need to prioritize on a specific date.

Daily Checklist/Printable Planners

Prepare a checklist that you can use every day — list down tasks that you need to prioritize on a specific date. 

Ensure that the list is complete — make it a habit to view your list every morning. You can either write it down or create one on your chosen device.

Most planners have a page for a task checklist — printable planners for store owners are even sold on Etsy.

The planner can be your checklist template to print whenever you need a new page.

Task Manager Platforms

To finish tasks on one device, use an online task manager platform like Asana or Trello.

Divide each task into sections and label them according to the progress. Set a schedule and due date for each job — this can help you determine what needs to be prioritized.

Group each task into projects. Write down task descriptions, especially when a specific note from the customer needs to be followed.

Set Up an Alarm

Use your phone calendar to notify you of task reminders.

Google calendar is a great tool to set reminders. Set up the time and date for each task — you can even choose to repeat the reminder daily or once a week.

A notification ten minutes before the actual reminder will pop up on your device. Allows you to have extra time to prepare for your task.

Sticky Notes for your Etsy workflow

Carry a notepad or sticky notes with you every day if a particular task or new idea comes to your mind. 

Write your thoughts down.

Also, it’s a great way to take down notes when customers have a special request with their orders. You don’t want to miss out on any single detail — even a tiny mistake can affect your brand image.

After writing it down, stick it near your working area — a bulletin board or pegboard can be a great addition to your home office.

Social Media Post Scheduler

Store and product promotion are part of your daily task as an Etsy shop owner.

It’s hard to focus on social media management — especially when you have your day job and if the internet is not available at the moment.

Through a post scheduler, you don’t have to upload posts to your page manually. You can create a post on the scheduler and then set the time and date for publishing.

Create a week’s worth of posts and do scheduling tasks two to three days before the actual week.

Etsy Seller Printable Planner

Manage your Etsy shop with this printable planner — in 50 pages, your daily tasks will be easier to accomplish.

The road to success is a handy printable planner, which you can purchase here. Never miss out on any task before and after opening your Etsy store.

Final thoughts on how to organize your day as an Etsy shop business. 

Organize your Etsy workflow each day. Create a way for you to manage your time effectively. Time block your day – know what you will be doing at any point during the working day. 

Prioritize your tasks and be clear on what needs to be completed and when. 

Once you have a regular task and a way to do it – write that process down. This way – you will always repeat the same steps each time you complete that task. 

Always choose an organized and clutter-free life.

Final thoughts on how to organize your Etsy workflow

Be consistent in your application, if you complete a task once a week, try to do so at the same time each day. Use those tools that are already around you, don’t try to do your own research, use a paid tool to get you started. If you love paper, that’s fine, but stick with it.

Give yourself some grace, it takes patience and conviction to create a business.