#+title: S05|L05 - how i optimize etsy store profiles for free traffic
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* Notes

* Tutorial Notes
Hey everyone and welcome back! In this video, we are going to be discussing how I optimize Etsy Store Profiles to get free traffic from Etsy’s algorithm.

** chatgpt
Plus, I’m also going to show you how I do it, with a bit of help from ChatGPT and Ai chatbots too. Although, don’t worry, if you don’t like using Ai bots, you don’t have to use ChatGPT. I just like to use it because, as you’ll see, it can help speed up the process a lot.

#+caption: chatgpt giving a profile
#+attr_html: :width 800
file:../../_share/media/img/step_05/lesson_03/ex01a-chatgpt_store_profile.png

** optimize your store profiles

And when I say Store Profile I should probably clarify what I mean by that. So, a Store Profile is the visual storefront that a customer sees, if they click on your store name.

And in my experience, optimizing your store profile is very important, for 4 reasons.

*** give the Etsy algorithm data to work with

The first reason is this: *data*. By optimizing your store profile, you once again give Etsy’s algorithm more data to work with. They can learn more about who you are, and can then potentially match you better with customers that might want to buy from you.

For example: if you put in your profile that you’re a stay-at-home mother, who is using Etsy as a way to bring in extra income for her family, then Etsy can use that to potentially pair you with customers who historically have purchased from other similar stores.

Or you might put in your store profile that you are an artist. Well, Etsy can then use that to potentially pair you with customers who have historically purchased from other artists. It just helps Etsy narrow down even better who might be your best target customer to test your products with.

*** build trust with customers

And the second reason it is important, is that by optimizing your store, you build up trust with your customers.

Because one of the most challenging things about being a new store is that you don’t yet have any store reviews. So, if a customer were to buy something from you: it’s riskier for them.

This is why, as I’ve said before, creating products that fill gaps in the market has been very important to my success when I open a new store. By filling gaps in the market, I create new products that customers want – but that they can only get from me.

#+caption: definition of 'gap in the market'
#+attr_html: :width 800
file:../../_share/media/img/step_05/lesson_03/ex01b-def_gap_in_market.png

This essentially forces them to take that risk and purchase the product from me, if they really want it!

But, it’s still much easier to get them to take that risk, if you optimize your storefront which proves to the customer that you are trustworthy because you’ve taken the time to put effort into your store.

*** optimize your storefronts

And the third reason that it’s important to *optimize your storefront*, is that by doing so, you can actually charge higher prices if you want to.

Yep. Because you see, what a lot of people don’t think about, is that pricing is entirely subjective. We all use our own subjective ideas, to decide how much products are worth. And how much we decide something is worth, is called *Perceived Value*. And there are many things you can do to increase the perceived value of your products.

#+caption: defintion of Perceived Value
#+attr_html: :width 800
file:../../_share/media/img/step_05/lesson_03/ex01c-def_perceived_value.png

And one of them is by optimizing your Store Profile, to humanize you, the owner, so that the customer feels like they’re buying from a small, authentic brand – not a big corporation. By increasing authenticity, you increase your perceived value, increase the amount of money you can charge, and increase your profit margins.

Plus, as you can see, a big part of Perceived Value is comparison with others. People will compare your store to other stores. And so if you’ve taken the time to fill out and optimize your storefront, that will help your store stand out compared to others.

*** improving conversion rates
And the fourth reason to optimize your storefront is that by doing that and increasing your authenticity & trust with customers, you will also be *improving your conversion rates*.

And conversion rates are a very important data signal to the Etsy algorithm. The higher your conversions, the more Etsy will show your products to people as a suggested product. And the more Etsy shows your product, the more people will buy it. So, to maximize the money you earn, you want to maximize your conversions.

So as you can see, it is very important and it shouldn’t be skipped yet, I’ll be honest with you. Most new stores I see DO skip doing this.

**** failed store
Yep. For example: I recently found this Etsy store. It has been open for 2 years and in that time, it has only had 19 sales. Which is a shame because some of the mugs in this store I genuinely think are quite clever (laughs). However, this store profile is completely unoptimized. They literally just opened a store, and they just put their products in it, and that is it, they have done nothing else to optimize or brand it. And the truth is, most of the time, this is what new stores do. They make empty, barren store profiles like this and wonder why they get very few, if any, sales. And I understand. It can be very easy to underestimate how important this step is.

#+caption: store that didn't optimize
#+attr_html: :width 800
file:../../_share/media/img/step_05/lesson_03/ex02a-muggymcmuggins.png

But really, from my personal experience, what you want to do, is to not only to put in as much information as you can so it’s not empty like this one is, but you also want that information you put into your store profile to personally represent YOU as well.

**** optimized storefront
So then, to explain, I wanted to show you a very well optimized storefront in comparison. This is a print on demand store that has been very successful. So, immediately you can see that they added in a store banner. This is definitely something that you want to do.

Because here is the thing right. Muggy McMuggins did not put in a store banner. Now, if no one put these in, then sure, they could potentially get away with it. But as we’ve seen, people do take the time to create these.

#+caption: store that optimized
#+attr_html: :width 800
file:../../_share/media/img/step_05/lesson_03/ex02b-kinderplanet.png

And a big part of perceived value is comparison: how does YOUR store look compared to others? And so when other stores are putting in this effort to add a banner, it makes Muggy McMuggins feel very low effort. You want to take every chance you get, to make your store stand out in comparison to other stores.

Now of course you might think, well gee Sarah, I can’t draw such an incredible banner as that and fair enough (laughs) you don’t have to. This successful Print On Demand store here has a great, easy to create style of banner that pretty much anyone can make without being an artist. You can see that their banner is just their logo, placed on top of a stock picture and creating a banner like that within Canva is very easy, since it has pre-installed stock pictures already. And you can use the free version of Canva to create this too. I create all of my store banners in Canva.

***** store anouncement
You can also see that MuggyMcMuggins does not include any store announcement. So the top section of the store is very empty. Whereas for this store here, they have a store announcement. And if you read it, it reads like it was personally written by someone from their perspective, by including little details, like the smiling face. This personal perspective also helps to lift the perceived value of the store. A mistake I see a lot of new stores make is that they might take the time to add in a store announcement, but they write it in a very impersonal, corporate style.

#+caption: announcement written
#+attr_html: :width 800
file:../../_share/media/img/step_05/lesson_03/ex02c-kinderstore_announcement.png

***** using ChatGPT to make announcement
And so then, if you struggle to write something with a more personal touch, then honestly, ChatGPT can be a great app to help draft out an announcement, welcome message for you. Tell ChatGPT what you are trying to achieve, and tell it what information you want it to include in the welcome announcement message, and tell it that you want it written with a personal tone of voice.

#+caption: create a welcome message for Etsy store using ChatGPT
#+attr_html: :width 800
file:../../_share/media/img/step_05/lesson_03/ex02d-chatgpt_help.png

You can then take what it gives you as a draft, and modify it to make it your own. It seriously makes the whole writing process so much faster. Coming up with copy like this used to be so much harder, it’s crazy how much quicker it makes it now! And I just used the free version of ChatGPT here, I didn’t use the paid version. Google and Microsoft’s chatbots would also be great at writing this too.

** add profile in about section
And so then, if we come back to their store profile and scroll down, you’ll also see that the About Section looks completely different to Muggy McMuggins. So, in KinderPlanetCompany’s About Section, you can see that the artist has added a photo of herself. This is a great idea because it personalizes the store again, to humanize it and make it feel more authentic. And if you don’t feel comfortable showing your face, you don’t have to.

#+caption: personal photo of store owner
#+attr_html: :width 800
file:../../_share/media/img/step_05/lesson_03/ex02e-kinderplanet_photo.png

I’ve seen plenty of stores instead show photos of themselves, but from a perspective like this, where it is them from behind, where you don’t see the store owner’s face. This still helps to personalize and humanize the store, but no one can tell in the photo that it is you. It is really just about having a human in at least 1 of the store photos, that makes a big difference.

Because, well, in studies, humans are drawn to other humans visually in photos. It’s thought this might be due to the psychological phenomena of mirroring. So when we see other humans in a photo, we mirror them and can better imagine ourselves in their place. So, if you think about it, you’re more likely to buy from a store that you are mirroring, because you can imagine how good it would feel for somebody to buy something from you

*** use pixabay to get extra photos for the about page
Plus, in addition to a photo like this, you also get to upload 4 other photos. This artist uploaded photos of her computer as she was working on designs which was a great idea, and photos of her products. But you can also come to the free photo library, Pixabay, to find some photos. So for me, if I wanted to add a photo for a store that sells gifts for baristas and coffee lovers, I could find some photos of someone making coffee and add it in here too.

#+caption: pixabay example
#+attr_html: :width 800
file:../../_share/media/img/step_05/lesson_03/ex03a-pixabay.png

*** about page blurb
The artist has also added in a written store blurb as well, which is very, very important. In this store blurb you can see that she is an illustrator, a painter, and that she really loves retro, groovy designs. And, I think that this is a really great, well optimized blurb, because you think about it, this gives the Etsy algorithm a LOT of data to work with.

#+attr_html: :width 800
file:../../_share/media/img/step_05/lesson_03/ex03b-blurb.png

Because you think about it, some people like buying directly from artists. So, Etsy now has data that shows it would be good to pair her with customers that have a history of buying directly from artists. And some people also really like retro designs. So, the algorithm also now has data that it would be good to pair her store with customers that have a history previously of buying items like this.

**** use ChatGPT to help you sound more human

And this is again where ChatGPT can help if you like to use it because it is very easy to make this sound very corporate and in-personal when, really, being vulnerable and giving it a personal touch will help add authenticity which is, again, great for helping increase conversions and perceived value. So, what you can do is tell ChatGPT what you’re trying to write, and give it some information to include, and get it to write a draft for you. You can then modify this draft and change it to suit your personality, but it gives you a great springboard to work from. And for this here, I again just used the free version of ChatGPT. The free chatbots like ChatGPT and Microsoft and Google’s work great at coming up with draft store copy like this.

#+caption: using ChatGPT to sound more personal
#+attr_html: :width 1000
file:../../_share/media/img/step_05/lesson_03/ex03c-blurb_chat.png

**** listing other artists on storefront members

And then, if we come back to Etsy and come down here to the Shop Members section, you can see that the founder of the store has included herself, as well as included and listed others that are help her run her store, which helps to again humanize the store and lets you know that you are directly supporting someone when you buy from it.

#+caption: showing artists in the about section
#+attr_html: :width 800
file:../../_share/media/img/step_05/lesson_03/ex04a-kinder_members.png

Whereas Muggy McMuggins does not even include any Shop Members which, again, makes the store feel a lot less authentic and trustworthy, because you don’t know who you are buying from.

#+caption: muggy NOT showing artists
#+attr_html: :width 800
file:../../_share/media/img/step_05/lesson_03/ex04b-muggy_members.png

And you think about it right. It particularly adds trust and authority to your store when you put your name on a store because, well, by doing so, your reputation is essentially on the line.  You are showing the customer that you are willing to bet your own personal reputation on your brand.

So, if you can, including your name and a photo can really help push people to give you a chance and to be willing to trust your store, even though it is brand new.

*** using a FAQ
And of course, if we scroll down, you’ll also see that as part of their optimization, they have further filled out their store by adding in Frequently Asked Questions. Not only is this super helpful for customers because it gives them important information that they want in one place, but it also shows that the people running the store know what they are doing, which is why they already know what questions to answer.

#+caption: faq example
#+attr_html: :width 800
file:../../_share/media/img/step_05/lesson_03/ex05a-faq.png

Whereas, for Muggy McMuggins, they did not fill this in and did not answer any frequently asked questions, and so this section is empty, which makes them look a lot less experienced.

And so all of these questions here that this store has answered, are great ones for you to answer too.

And I’ll be honest, I feel really bad that I have criticized Muggy McMuggins in this video because, again, I genuinely found some of their designs quite clever. Which is why, even with an unoptimized store, you can see they still sold 19 copies of this funny mug. So you know, this is further evidence that what I say about designs being the most important part of a store is true. Even in a very unoptimized store, they still made 19 sales.

#+caption: muggy only has 19 sales
#+attr_html: :width 800
file:../../_share/media/img/step_05/lesson_03/ex06a-muggy_sales.png

It is just a real shame that they did not optimize their store profile because it would have helped them make a lot more than just 19 sales, y’know.

And that is what I want for you: I want YOU to make as many sales and as much money as possible.

So, go ahead, optimize your store profile. And I’ll see you in the next video.


* Review

** Core Idea
Optimize the Etsy store profile because it helps with:

1. algorithm data
2. customer trust
3. perceived value
4. conversion rate

** What “Store Profile” Means
The store profile is the storefront customers see when they click on the store name.

It includes:
- store banner
- store announcement
- about section
- photos
- shop members
- FAQ
- general branding

** Why Store Profile Optimization Matters

*** 1. Data For Etsy
A filled-out store profile gives Etsy more data.

Etsy can use that data to understand:
- who you are
- what kind of store you run
- what kind of customers may prefer your store
- what kind of buyers should see your products

Examples:
- stay-at-home mother earning extra income
- independent artist
- illustrator
- retro design lover
- coffee-themed gift shop
- handmade-style print-on-demand brand

This helps Etsy match the store with customers who have historically bought from similar sellers.

*** 2. Trust
New Etsy stores usually have no reviews.

That makes buying from them feel risky.

A complete store profile helps reduce that risk because it shows:
- effort
- seriousness
- personality
- legitimacy
- a real person behind the store

An empty store feels unfinished and low trust.

*** 3. Perceived Value
Pricing is subjective.

Customers judge value based on:
- presentation
- branding
- authenticity
- comparison with other stores

A complete profile can make the store feel like:
- a real small brand
- an authentic creator shop
- a curated store
- not a generic low-effort listing dump

This can support higher prices.

*** 4. Conversion Rate
A better store profile can improve conversions.

Higher conversion rates are a positive signal to Etsy.

If customers trust the store more, they are more likely to buy.

If more customers buy, Etsy may show the products to more people.

** Common Mistake
Many new Etsy sellers only upload products and do nothing else.

They leave the store profile:
- empty
- barren
- unbranded
- impersonal
- unfinished

This weakens trust and lowers perceived value.

** Store Banner
Add a store banner.

A banner helps the store look:
- complete
- branded
- intentional
- professional

The banner does not need to be complicated.

Simple banner formula:
- logo
- brand name
- stock background image
- matching brand colors

Canva is enough for this.

** Store Announcement
Add a store announcement near the top of the shop.

The announcement should feel personal, not corporate.

Use it to:
- welcome customers
- explain what the shop sells
- mention the store theme
- add a human voice
- make the shop feel alive

Avoid:
- cold corporate wording
- generic filler
- empty announcement section

** ChatGPT Prompt For Store Announcement
#+begin_example
I am writing an Etsy store announcement for my shop.

Shop name:
[store name]

Shop theme:
[store theme]

Products sold:
[product types]

Target customer:
[target customer]

Tone:
personal, warm, human, not corporate

Please write a short Etsy store announcement that welcomes customers and makes the store feel authentic.
#+end_example

** About Section
Fill out the About section.

This is one of the strongest places to humanize the store.

Use it to explain:
- who runs the shop
- why the shop exists
- what the shop specializes in
- what style the products have
- what kind of customer the shop is for

** Human Photos
Add at least one human photo if possible.

This can be:
- a photo of your face
- a photo from behind
- a photo of hands working
- a photo of your desk
- a photo of you making or reviewing designs

You do not have to show your face.

The point is to make the store feel like it is run by a real person.

** Other About Photos
You can also add photos of:
- workspace
- products
- design process
- tools
- packaging
- coffee setup
- niche-related lifestyle images

For example, for a coffee/barista gift shop:
- person making coffee
- espresso machine
- coffee beans
- cozy desk with mug
- barista-themed workspace

** Store Blurb
The store blurb should add personality and data.

Mention things like:
- design style
- niche
- product type
- personal reason for the shop
- who the products are made for

Example details:
- “I create retro-inspired coffee gifts”
- “I design funny mugs for baristas and caffeine people”
- “This shop is for people who treat coffee like a personality trait”

This helps both:
- customers understand the store
- Etsy understand who to show the store to

** ChatGPT Prompt For About Section
#+begin_example
I am writing the About section for my Etsy store.

Shop name:
[store name]

Products:
[products]

Niche:
[niche]

My role:
[designer / artist / curator / print-on-demand seller / etc.]

Personal angle:
[why I made this shop]

Style:
[funny / cozy / retro / gothic / cute / minimalist / etc.]

Target customer:
[target customer]

Please write an Etsy About section that sounds personal, authentic, and human.
Do not make it sound corporate.
#+end_example

** Shop Members
Fill out the shop members section.

Add:
- your name
- your role
- a photo if possible
- short human description

This builds trust because it shows that a real person is responsible for the shop.

Even if you do not show your face, adding a person behind the store helps the store feel more authentic.

** Why Naming Shop Members Helps
Putting your name on the store signals that you are willing to attach your reputation to it.

That can make customers feel safer buying from a new shop.

** FAQ Section
Add frequently asked questions.

This helps customers because it gives important information in one place.

It also makes the store look more experienced because it shows that you already know what customers need to ask.

** Good FAQ Topics
Include questions about:
- production time
- shipping time
- returns
- exchanges
- damaged items
- wrong address
- sizing
- materials
- print process
- gift orders
- care instructions

** Example FAQ Questions
- How long does production take?
- How long does shipping take?
- Do you accept returns?
- What happens if my item arrives damaged?
- Can I change my address after ordering?
- Are your items made to order?
- How should I care for my shirt/mug/item?
- Do you offer gift messages?
- Can I request a custom design?

** Important Principle
Use every profile section Etsy gives you.

Each filled section can help:
- build trust
- add perceived value
- give Etsy more data
- improve conversion rate
- make the store feel real

** Store Profile Checklist

*** Branding
- [ ] Store banner added
- [ ] Logo/icon added
- [ ] Brand colors are consistent
- [ ] Store looks visually complete

*** Announcement
- [ ] Store announcement added
- [ ] Tone is personal
- [ ] Message explains what the shop sells
- [ ] Message does not sound corporate

*** About Section
- [ ] About blurb added
- [ ] Personal story included
- [ ] Store niche explained
- [ ] Product style explained
- [ ] Target customer is clear

*** Photos
- [ ] At least one humanizing photo added
- [ ] Workspace/process/product photos added
- [ ] Photos match the store niche
- [ ] Photos make the store feel authentic

*** Shop Members
- [ ] Shop member added
- [ ] Role explained
- [ ] Photo or humanizing image added

*** FAQ
- [ ] Production time answered
- [ ] Shipping time answered
- [ ] Returns policy answered
- [ ] Damaged item policy answered
- [ ] Sizing/materials/care answered where relevant

** Warning
Do not treat the store profile as optional.

An unoptimized profile can make even clever products underperform.

A strong design can still get sales in a weak store, but a strong design inside a well-optimized store has much more potential.

** Key Insight
Products are still the most important part.

But a complete store profile helps the product perform better by increasing:
- trust
- perceived value
- conversion rate
- algorithm data

** Bottom Line
A good Etsy store profile makes the store feel real.

Real stores feel safer.

Safer stores convert better.

Better conversions help Etsy justify showing your products to more customers.


* Transcript
#+begin_example
00:00
Hey, everyone, and welcome back. In this video, I'm gonna

00:02
be discussing how I optimize Etsy store profiles

00:06
to get free traffic from Etsy's algorithm.

00:08
Plus, I'm also gonna show you how I do it

00:11
with a bit of help from ChatGPT

00:12
and AI chatbots too. Too. Although, don't worry. If you

00:16
don't like using AI bots, you don't have to use

00:18
ChatGPT. I just like to use it because as you'll

00:21
see, it can help speed up the process a lot.

00:24
And I should also probably clarify what I mean when

00:26
I say store profiles. So the store profile is when

00:30
the customer clicks on a store name, and it's the

00:33
storefront

00:34
that they visually see. And in my personal experience, optimizing

00:38
this has been very important for 4 reasons. The first

00:42
reason is this, data. By optimizing your store profile, you

00:46
once again give Etsy's algorithm

00:48
more data to work with. They can then learn more

00:51
about who you are and can potentially match you better

00:54
with customers that might want to buy from you. For

00:57
example, if you put in your profile that you're a

00:59
stay at home mother who is using Etsy as a

01:02
way to bring in extra income for her family, then

01:05
Etsy can use it to potentially pair you with customers

01:08
who historically

01:09
have purchased from other similar stores. Or you might wanna

01:12
put in your store profile that you're an artist. Well,

01:16
Etsy can then use that to potentially pair you with

01:18
customers who have historically purchased from other artists. It just

01:22
helps Etsy narrow down even better who might be your

01:26
best target customer to test your products with. And the

01:30
second reason is that, as you will see, by optimizing

01:33
your store profile, you are building up a lot of

01:36
trust with your customers.

01:38
Because you know what? 1 of the most challenging things

01:41
about being a new store is that you don't have

01:44
any store reviews yet. So if a customer were to

01:47
buy something from you, it is riskier for them. This

01:50
is why, as I've said before, creating products that fill

01:53
gaps in the market has been very important to my

01:55
personal success.

01:57
When I open a new store, by filling gaps in

01:59
the market, I create new products that customers want,

02:03
but that they can only get from me. This essentially

02:06
forces them to take that risk and purchase the product

02:09
from me if they really want it.

02:12
But let's be honest, it's gonna be even easier for

02:15
the customer to be willing to take that chance and

02:18
risk it by purchasing that product from me if I

02:21
build up more trust

02:22
by optimizing my storefront.

02:24
Because by doing that, I prove that I have taken

02:28
the time to put effort into my store. And the

02:32
third reason that it's important to optimize your storefront

02:35
is that it can help you increase your product prices

02:38
if you want to. Yep. Because you see, what a

02:41
lot of people don't think about is that in actuality,

02:44
pricing is entirely subjective.

02:46
We all use our own subjective ideas to decide how

02:50
much products are actually worth. And that subjectivity

02:53
and how we decide what something is worth is called

02:55
perceived value. And there are many things that you can

02:58
do to increase the perceived value of your products with

03:01
customers.

03:02
And 1 of them is by optimizing your store profile

03:05
to humanize you, the owner, so that the customer feels

03:08
like they're buying from a small authentic brand, not a

03:11
big corporation.

03:12
By increasing authenticity,

03:14
you increase your perceived value and you increase the amount

03:17
of money that you can potentially charge and increase your

03:20
profit margins. Plus, as you can see, a big part

03:23
of perceived value is comparison with others. People will compare

03:26
your store to other stores. And so if you have

03:29
taken the time to fill out and optimize your storefront,

03:32
that will help your store stand out compared to others.

03:36
And the fourth reason is that by taking this time

03:39
to improve your storefront and improve your trust and authority

03:43
with customers, you will be, of course, improving your conversion

03:47
rate. And conversion rates are a very important data signal

03:51
to the Etsy algorithm

03:52
because in my experience,

03:55
the higher your conversions,

03:56
the more likely Etsy is to show your products

04:00
to more customers.

04:02
And the more Etsy shows your product, the more people

04:04
will buy it. So to maximize the money that you

04:07
earn, you also want to take every opportunity that you

04:10
have to maximize your conversions.

04:13
So as you can see, this is a very important

04:16
step, and it should not be skipped. But you know

04:18
what? The honest truth is most new stores that I

04:21
see

04:22
do skip this step.

04:24
Yep. So for example, I recently found this Etsy store.

04:28
It has been open for 2 years, and in that

04:30
time, it's only had 19 sales, which is honestly a

04:34
shame because some of the mugs in the store, I

04:37
genuinely think, are quite clever.

04:39
However,

04:40
this store profile is completely unoptimized.

04:43
They literally just opened a store, and they just put

04:46
their products in it, and that is it. They have

04:49
done nothing else to optimize it or brand it. And

04:52
the truth is most of the time, this is what

04:55
I see new stores do. They make empty, barren store

04:58
profiles like this, and they wonder why they get very

05:02
few, if any, sales. And look. I honestly understand that

05:05
it can be very, very easy to underestimate

05:09
how important this step is, but don't be fooled. It

05:12
is absolutely important, and not only should you be taking,

05:16
in my personal experience,

05:17
every opportunity to fill in as much information

05:21
as possible into your Etsy store profile, but you should

05:24
also be trying to take as many opportunities as possible

05:27
to use that information

05:29
to humanize you. So then to explain what I mean,

05:33
I wanted to show you a very well optimized storefront

05:36
in comparison.

05:37
This is a very successful print on demand store.

05:41
So

05:42
immediately, you can see that they have added in a

05:44
store banner. That is definitely something that you want to

05:47
do because here is the thing, right? Muggy McMuggins

05:52
did not put in a store banner.

05:54
Now if no 1 put these in, then sure, they

05:57
could potentially have gotten away with not adding in a

06:00
store banner, but as we have seen, people clearly do

06:03
take the time to create these. And of course, a

06:07
big part of perceived value, remember, is comparison.

06:10
How does your store look compared to others? And so

06:14
when other stores are putting in this effort to add

06:16
in a banner, it makes Muggy McMuggins

06:19
feel very low effort. You want to take every chance

06:22
you get to make your store stand out in comparison

06:26
to other stores.

06:27
Now you might be thinking, well, gee, Sarah, this banner

06:30
here is incredible. I cannot draw a banner as incredible

06:34
as this, and fair enough.

06:36
You don't have to. This successful print on demand store

06:39
here also has a great banner that is easy to

06:42
create.

06:43
Pretty much anyone could make a banner like this without

06:45
being an artist. You can see that their banner is

06:48
just their logo, which has been placed on top of

06:50
a stock picture. And creating a banner like that within

06:54
Canva is very easy since Canva has lots of pre

06:57
installed stock pictures and photos already. And so you can

07:00
just use the free version of Canva to create this

07:03
too. I create all of my store banners in Canva.

07:05
You can also see that Muggy McMuggins

07:08
does not include any sort of store announcements, so the

07:11
top section for the store looks very empty. Whereas for

07:14
the store here, they have a store announcement. And if

07:18
you read it, it reads like it was personally written

07:20
by someone from their perspective by including little details like

07:24
the smiling face. This personal perspective also helps to lift

07:28
the perceived value of the store, and a mistake that

07:32
I often see a lot of new stores make is

07:34
that they might take the time to add in a

07:36
store announcement,

07:37
but they write it in a very impersonal

07:41
corporate style. And so then, if you struggle to write

07:43
something with a more personal touch, then honestly, ChatGPT can

07:47
be a great app to help you draft out your

07:49
own store announcement welcome message for you. You can tell

07:53
ChatGPT

07:54
what you're trying to achieve and tell it what information

07:57
you want it to include in the welcome announcement message

08:00
and tell it that you want it written from a

08:01
personal tone of voice. You can then take what it

08:04
gives you as a draft and modify it to come

08:06
up with your own. It seriously makes the whole writing

08:09
process so much faster.

08:11
Coming up with copy like this used to be so

08:13
much harder. It's crazy how quicker it makes it now,

08:16
and I just used the free version of ChatGPT

08:19
here. I didn't use the paid version. Google and Microsoft's

08:22
chatbots would also be great at writing something like this

08:25
too. And so then if we come back to their

08:27
store profile and we scroll down, you'll also see the

08:30
about section looks completely

08:32
different

08:33
to Muggy Mcmuggins.

08:35
So in Kinder Planet Company's about section, you can see

08:38
that the artist has added in a photo of herself.

08:42
And this is honestly a really great idea because it

08:44
personalizes a store again to humanize it and make it

08:48
feel

08:49
more authentic.

08:51
And don't worry, if you're watching this and you're like,

08:53
Sarah, I don't wanna have to show my face, you

08:56
don't have to. Nope, I've seen plenty of stores instead

08:59
show photos, but from the perspective like this, where it

09:02
is from behind, where you don't see the store owner's

09:05
face. This helps to personalize and humanize the store, but

09:08
no 1 can tell in the photo that it's you.

09:11
If it's really just about having a human in at

09:13
least 1 of the store photos, that honestly makes a

09:16
big difference because, well, in studies, humans have been shown

09:20
to be drawn to other humans visually in photos. It's

09:23
thought that this might be due to a psychological phenomena

09:26
of mirroring.

09:27
So when we see other humans in a photo, we

09:30
mirror them and can better imagine ourselves in their place.

09:34
So if you think about it, you're more likely to

09:36
buy from a store if you are mirroring them because

09:39
you can imagine how good it would be for somebody

09:42
to come in and buy something from you. Plus, in

09:45
addition to a photo like this, you also get to

09:48
upload 4 other photos here. This artist uploaded photos of

09:51
her computer as she was working on designs, which was

09:54
a great idea, and photos of her products, but you

09:56
can come to the free photo library, Pixabay, to instead

09:59
find some photos. So for me, if I wanted to

10:01
add in a photo for a store that sells gifts

10:04
for baristas and coffee lovers,

10:06
well, I could could find some photos of somebody making

10:09
coffee and add it in here too. The artist has

10:11
also written out a store blurb as well, which is

10:14
very, very important because in the store blurb, you can

10:17
see that she is an illustrator,

10:19
a painter, and that she really loves retro, groovy designs.

10:24
And I think that this is really great, and it's

10:27
very well optimized because you think about it. This gives

10:31
the Etsy algorithm

10:33
a lot of data to work with. Yep. Just think

10:36
about it for a minute. Some people like buying directly

10:39
from artists, right? So Etsy now has data that shows

10:43
that it would be good to pair her with customers

10:46
that have a history of buying directly from artists. And

10:49
of course, some people on Etsy also really like retro

10:52
designs. So the algorithm would also now have data that

10:55
it would be good to pair her store with customers

10:57
that have a history of previously buying items like this.

11:01
And this is a game which Hatch ubt can help

11:03
you if you like to use it because it can

11:05
be very easy to make the section sound very corporate

11:09
and impersonal when really being vulnerable and giving it a

11:12
personal touch will help to add authenticity,

11:15
which is, again, great for helping increase conversions and perceived

11:19
value.

11:20
So what you can do is tell ChatGPT

11:22
that you're trying to write and give some information to

11:25
include and get it to write a draft for you

11:28
and to ask it to write it in the style.

11:30
You can then modify this draft and change it to

11:32
suit your personality, but it does give you a great

11:35
springboard to work from. And here again, I just use

11:38
the free version of ChatGPT.

11:40
The free chatbots, like ChatGPT, and Microsoft and Google's all

11:44
work great at coming up with draft store copy like

11:46
this. And then again, if we come back over to

11:48
Etsy and come down to the shop membership section, you

11:52
can see that the founder of the store has again

11:54
included herself, as well as listing the others that help

11:57
her run her store, which again helps to humanize the

12:01
store and lets you know that you are buying and

12:03
directly supporting someone when you purchase from it. Whereas

12:07
Muggy McMuggins

12:09
does not even include any shop members, which again

12:13
makes the store feel a lot less authentic and trustworthy

12:16
because you don't know who you are buying from. As

12:19
you think about it, right, there is another reason why

12:22
you add trust and authenticity

12:25
to a store when you put your name on it.

12:28
And that is because by doing so, you are essentially

12:32
putting your own reputation on the line. Yes. You are

12:35
showing the customer before they purchase from you that you

12:38
are willing to bet your own personal reputation

12:41
on your store and on your brand. So if you

12:43
can, actually naming the shop members and including a photo,

12:48
even if you can't include a photo showing a face,

12:51
is a really good way to help build trust with

12:54
a customer,

12:55
even if you are a new store. And of course,

12:58
if we scroll down, you'll also see that as part

13:00
of their optimization,

13:01
they have further filled out their store by adding in

13:04
frequently asked questions. Now not only is this super helpful

13:08
for customers because it gives them important information that they

13:11
want in 1 single place, but it also shows that

13:13
the people who are running the store, and this is

13:16
very important,

13:17
it shows that they know what they are doing, which

13:21
is why they already know what questions to answer in

13:24
advance.

13:25
Whereas for Muggy McMuggins,

13:28
unsurprisingly,

13:29
they did not fill this in, and they did not

13:31
answer any frequently asked questions. And so this section is

13:34
completely empty, which makes them look a lot less experienced.

13:38
And so all of these questions here that the store

13:41
included and has answered are also, in my opinion,

13:45
great ones for you to answer as well. Really genuinely,

13:48
I didn't want to because as I said before, I

13:51
think that some of their products are actually quite clever,

13:54
which is why I'm absolutely gonna give them some credit

13:57
before I end this video because even in this unoptimized

14:01
store, you can see that they sold 19 copies of

14:04
this funny mug.

14:06
So, you know, this is further evidence of what I

14:08
have said before in this series about designs being the

14:11
most important part of the store. It is true. Even

14:15
in a very unoptimized store,

14:17
they still made 19 sales because enough people saw that

14:21
photo of that product and thought it looked cool. It's

14:24
just such a shame because you think about it. There's

14:26
a lot of lost opportunity here, and you just wonder

14:29
if they had optimized their store profile, how many more

14:33
sales other than just 19 sales would they have made?

14:36
You know? And so this is what I want for

14:38
you. I want you to make as many sales and

14:41
as much money as possible. So with that in mind,

14:45
go ahead, optimize your store profiles, and I'll see you

14:48
in the next video.
#+end_example