Your Etsy ABOUT Page, 10 reasons why you may be LOSING sales!

Scruffy Dog Oil Painting Portrait by me,
Pet Portrait Artist, Robin Zebley

Buyers do like to know about the artists and crafters they purchase from, totally true.  But what you include may very well drive the "almost" buyer away.  Take a good hard look at what your "About" page on Etsy or Amazon or wherever you sell.  Although most buyers probably do not even read it, make sure those who do are encouraged to hit the "Add to Cart" button and not the back button!

Yes, it's about you, but isn't it really about your sales?

A good About page should be relatively short and make your prospective buyers feel comfortable that you are an okay person that their purchase will financially support, that you know your stuff, and that they are safe buying from you, that they can trust you will send them exactly what they bought, on time.

I recently began shopping for Christmas gifts, and I like to buy as many as I can from Etsy and now Handmade at Amazon.

When I visited the About pages of some sellers, I just couldn't pull the trigger and buy from them.

Why?

1.  They ranted about their politics.  I wasn't LOOKING for anything political, yet I was lectured to with hard, mean words. "I" "I" "I".  I saw this on both sides of the political spectrum.  And quietly backed away.  They seemed more interested in their cause than in making things.

If you are okay with losing at least half of your buyers, rant away.  Personally, I think it would be one hundred more effective for you to donate to your cause from your sales.  Some will say "I don't WANT anyone who disagrees with me on my favorite political view to buy from me."  Fair enough.  Just know that you could be sacrificing sales for that.

2.  They shared how disorganized they were.  It's really not utterly charming that you are forced to cut your fabric on the floor because you can't find a clear table top.  Or how your house is just TAKEN OVER with you stuff.  I am not a neatnik by any means but those descriptions turned me off.

3.  Religion. Too much, too much, too much.  I don't believe God is running your etsy shop and He's why your potholders are selling instead of your competitors.  Besides Christians like me who hope and pray God is working on changing hearts to bring peace to the earth rather than getting you views, you stand to lose those with other, or no, religions.  Of course, if you sell religious goods or NON-religious things, your market is niche and it's more appropriate.  But if you are selling an item that should appeal to everyone, think about it!

4.  Too much personal info.  I came away from some shops absolutely depressed.  I do understand how a horrible situation can be the catalyst for your going into business for yourself, but man, I have my own problems to deal with.

6.  Too much as in quantity.  Some sound like a great blog post, but on and on and on and on and on and on about yourself, your dad, your kids, your mother, your favorite teacher, your dog, your.....whatever.  Especially with no page breaks, rambling and repeating.  YIKES.

7.  Your grandchildren.  Yes, yes, I know. I do. Really, I get it.  (For the record, my 8 month old grandson truly is smarter, cuter and has a better personality than any child who ever crawled the earth).  But for those with less stellar grandkids or no grandkids, eyes tend to glaze.

8.  Begging.  I hope you do get to keep your electric on, but there's been so many scams with sellers who are ALWAYS on the brink of financial disaster that it really just raises eyebrows for many of us.

9.  Trashing competitors.  Trashing them in any way is not making yours more attractive to buy.  Don't let your buyers see you sweat.  Talking about your competition just is free publicity for them, you actually can drive customers to the Etsy search bar to see what you are talking about!

10.  Expecting the worse from your customers and covering all those bases.  Even on your policies page, make it as matter of fact as possible.  I've seen About pages that go into so much detail about what they will and won't do if the buyer isn't happy, that I conclude they have a LOT of experience with unhappy buyers.

Now, you might be thinking that you KNOW you got sales by doing one of the above, the buyer told you they bought because of your religion, or to keep your lights on or because they vote like you do.  But guess what?  You rarely, if ever, hear about the reasons folks hit their Back button and bought elsewhere.

Don't give someone a reason NOT to buy from you.

Because the bottom line is, does the info you include make people feel comfortable buying from you?  Feel like you're someone they won't mind profiting from their purchase?  Feel you know your stuff and can make a quality product with good customer service?

If not, think about it hard.  And know that if you choose to include things that will drive away ANY customers, then that's a choice you are making, and that's fine.  But please think about it and do it with open eyes, because it will cost your sales.

I'm portrait artist, Robin Zebley.  I paint portraits of pets, houses and kids from photos on the internet, exclusively.  My custom portrait portfolio can be seen at my Etsy shop: customportraitart.etsy.com and my site, robinzebley.com.