Etsy Selling Tip 3: Flick It!

UPDATE 5/31/2010:
I just wanted to clear up that I am in no way telling you to try to sell items through your Flickr site. I am just reminding you that it can be a way for more people to see your crafts and connect with artists you may not have found out about via Etsy alone. I do not think that you should blatantly try put "find me on Etsy" in your description or anything, but to remember to put links in your profile. Also you should put photos of yourself in your Flickr account. I think it is always great to get to see the person behind the craft.


As Etsy sellers, especially when we are first starting out we don't have a lot of money to spend on advertising. Therefore low cost and free advertising is very important! Over the next few entries I will discuss several forms of advertising that I use. Today I'd like to discuss Flickr. I think Flickr is one of the best free to low cost advertising opportunities available that a lot of Etsy sellers do not use to their advantages.

How to use Flickr to promote your shop/items:

1) Fill in your profile!
I find photos of awesome handmade items on Flickr often. The 1st thing I do is click on their profile to learn more, only to find it blank! Think of your Flickr account as an extension of your Etsy shop. As it is against Flick policy to link to your Etsy shop in the description and title of an image, it needs to be in your Flickr profile. You should also link to your personal site and blog if you have one.

2)Take a look around
Do searches for pictures of items relating to your craft. This can give you more ideas on making your items more photogenic, using color schemes, background props and placement. Searching also helps with finding new tags for your photos(for use on Flickr and Etsy.) I have found several new terms to tag my photos with that I never thought of (I will focus more on tags in a later post.) Descriptions are another great item to look at. A great description can really make your photo stand out and your item(s) seem more interesting.

3)Get Connected
Add fellow crafters on Flickr as contacts. This is a great way to keep track of users you may want to find again as well as creating a network of friends that may have tips and advice to offer.


4)Group Therapy (Possibly the most important)

Search and join groups pertaining to the items you make and the materials used. As the majority of my items are created using polymer clay, therefore I joined several polymer clay groups. Next was themed groups. One look at my Etsy shop and you will notice an overwhelming robot theme, so joining groups for fans of robots was the obvious next step. I try to add at least 1 or 2 photos 3 or more times a week to the groups I've joined with the most activity.

Below I've compiled a list of my favorite Flickr Groups


Toysaholic Anonymous (1,868 members)
~ Toys =D (JOIN Contest : MAY) (569 members)
Etsy Artists Rule: 1 Million Picture Pool (2,585 members)
Etsy.com love (11,599 members)
Craft Revolution (7,092 members)
I Made it Myself (19,666 members)
Kawaii D.I.Y (1,370 members)
Etsy - Look and Learn (6,389 members)
CraftGossip.com Crafty Reviews (967 members)

Cuteable (3,510 members)
CRAFT (10,244 members)

The Secret Life of Toys (13,625 members)
Character Design (5,908 members)
Artisan Jewelry on Etsy (1,992 members)

Monsters and other creatures (2,546 members)

polymer clay (1,981 members)
MONSTER CLAY (107 members)
Monster Art (25 members)

Etsy (1,655 members)

get crafty! (8,335 members)
Arts & crafts fairs & shows (1,890 members)
Kawaii Collectors (966 members)

Handmade Goodies! (6 members)
ROBOT (946 members)

Anything Polymer Clay (1,253 members)
Kawaii Crafters (172 members)

Toy Robots (515 members)

Handmade Kitschy Jewellery (419 members)

iheartcrafts: cute & colourful (171 members)

Etsy Packaging (1,696 members)