Common mistakes I see from students
Before we jump into the development and refinement process, let’s start with some common mistakes I often see from my students:
- Their product is for everyone - If it’s for everyone, then it's for no one. Your product should cater to a specific group of people or solve a specific problem.
- Not having a Unique Handmade Offer (UHO) - Your UHO is what differentiates your product from the rest of the market. Without it, your product is likely to blend in with other products on Etsy. And when you blend in, you lose sales to bigger and more experienced sellers. Developing a UHO is the focus on this course, and I'll elaborate on all the strategies to develop one in the later chapters.
- Seller-oriented approach instead of customer-oriented - It's essential to showcase your skills and experience, but make sure you translate that into why it matters to your target customers. e.g. “I have 10 years of experience with sewing tote bags” into something like “My unique method and material choice will make sure your bag last through all your heavy-duty shopping trips”
Dangers Of Replicating Existing Bestselling Products
Although a viable option, mimicking what’s already on the market is dangerous. If you make somethings that’s too similar to other products on Etsy, you risk shoppers thinking:
- “I can buy that cheaper.”
- “I can buy from that shop with more reviews and more experience.”
- “It looks so similar to that other shop. How do I even know it’s even handmade and genuine?”
Instead, you should aim to have shoppers go ‘that’s exactly what I’ve been searching for.”
How do you do that? With a unique handmade offer (UHO).
Creating a Unique Handmade Offer (UHO)
Everyone keeps saying to ‘put your own spin’ on your product, but what does it actually mean? And how do you actually do that?
By developing a UHO for your products.
Creating a unique handmade offer is essential for success on Etsy, whether you sell physical or digital products. The key to standing out in a crowded marketplace is differentiation - offering something that resonates with your target customers that your competitors are not offering.
While it might be tempting to replicate a product that is already popular, doing so often results in blending in rather than standing out. There are almost always bigger sellers that provide a similar product, and shoppers are likely to go with them because they have more reviews and experience.
In the next chapters, I will teach you the 13 universal strategies to developing a strong UHO. I'll run through each strategy with explanation and examples.
The goal of them is to spark your creativity, guiding you to develop a product that is uniquely yours and that fills a gap in the market. But keep in mind that some of the examples used here are already popular in the market, and many shops are already doing it. So making the same thing won’t help you stand out. Instead, the examples are there to guide your way of thinking so that you can develop your own unique handmade offer.