Starting an Etsy Business For Dummies

Acknowledgments xi
Introduction: Turning Someday into Payday 1
Part One: The Who and the Why
Chapter 1 Idea Brainstorming: Fun, Fast, and Easy 7
Discover the Three "P's": Passion, Purpose, and Profits 9
Is It Sellable? 12
Quick Start Summary 14
Chapter 2 Markets versus Topics: Understand the Difference and Prosper 15
Starting Small Is Better 18
Chapter 3 Determining Market Size: Easy as the Three Bears--It's Got to Be Just Right 21
Where's There's a Good Question, There's a Great Answer 23
Chapter 4 Your Subscriber Avatar: Knowing Your Ideal Customer 27
Birds of a Feather Flock Together 30
Chapter 5 Competitive Analysis: The Direct and Indirect 33
Two Is Better Than One 33
Quick Start Summary 35
Part Two: Anatomy of Your Business
Chapter 6 A Proven Business Model: If It Ain't Broken 39
The Pros and Cons of Each Business Model 41
What's a Guru? 45
No Face--No Name 46
Show Me the Money 47
Chapter 7 Naming Your Inbox Magazine: It's Got to Be Good! 51
A Name Can Make You or Break You 51
Give the People What They Want 56
Give It a K.I.S.S. 58
Chapter 8 Design and Frequency: It's All about Engagement 61
When, Oh When 63
Plain Text or HTML--What? 64
Let's Push It! 65
It Needs to Be Actionable and Useful 66
Stick to Your Guns 67
Your Panache 68
Chapter 9 Software and Systems: Technology Made Easy 69
The Bad You Need to Know 71
You Want to Stay Single 71
Websites Have Never Been Easier 72
Opt Them In--Send It Out 73
Action Step 1 75
Chapter 10 Don't Wait: Action You Can Take Right Now 75
Action Step 2 76
Action Step 3 77
Action Step 4 78
Action Step 5 79
You Are on Your Way! 80
Part Three: The Useful and the Actionable
Chapter 11 Building Your Panel: Content Is King 83
Three Easy Steps for Putting Your Panel Together 86
Step 1: Brainstorm a List of Potential Panelists 86
"No" Won't Be an Option 105
Chapter 12 You, the Author: Article Writing Made Easy 107
Alert Yourself 107
Become a Dictator 108
Take It to the Bank 110
Creating the Perfect Article Structure Is Golden 111
Creating Engaging Content 113
Be Remarkable 116
Chapter 13 Sourcing Compiled Content: Done for Your Filler 117
Private Label Resale Content 117
Article Sites 119
Public Domain Content 120
Meat, Vegetables, and Bread 124
Chapter 14 Don't Delay: Action You Should Take Right Now 125
Reality Awaits 127
Part Four: The Art and Brilliance of a Community
Chapter 15 Landing Pages: Land on It and Squeeze It, Baby 131
Quantity Plus Quality Equals a Great List 131
Long versus Short Squeeze Pages 140
The Elements of a Squeeze Page 144
Get Out of the Headlights 146
Chapter 16 Lead Magnets: Your Ambassador 149
Types of Lead Magnets 151
The Reciprocal 151
Not Peanut Butter and Jelly 152
Be a Leader with Your Lead Magnet 156
Chapter 17 Your First 1,000: It's a Numbers Game 159
Step 1: Social Media Marketing 160
Step 2: Article Marketing 163
Step 3: Active Content Syndication 172
Step 4: Press Releases 174
Step 5: Viral PDFs/Infographics 176
Step 6: Ad and Resource Swaps 177
Less Is More 178
Low-Hanging Fruit Is Always the Way to Go 179
Part Five: Finally, a Real Business of Your Own
Chapter 18 Let's Start Monetizing: The Smart Way 183
Affiliate Promotions 183
Nobody Likes Greedy 184
Give Them What They Want 185
The Proof Is in the Pudding 185
Selling Advertising 187
Rates and Data: It's All in the Cards 193
Evolution in Advertising 197
Brokers and Managers 199
Logical and Methodical 200
Chapter 19 The Publisher's Matrix: Your Content Empire 201
Determine Your Needs 206
Publisher Method 1: Joint Venture Partnerships 206
Publisher Method 2: Buying and Licensing Content 210
Publisher Method 3: Hiring Ghostwriters 214
Publisher Method 4: Interviewing Experts 217
Do One, Do All 222
Part Six: Big or Small, Your Choice
Chapter 20 Measuring by the Numbers: The More You Know, the More You Grow 225
Daily Key Metrics 225
To Keep the Doors Open = Fixed Plus Variable Expenses 226
Costs in Action 227
Subscribers Are Your Lifeline 228
You Can Improve Only if You Know Your Results 230
Weekly Key Metrics 233
Long-Term Metrics 239
Successful Entrepreneurs Love Numbers 242
Chapter 21 Building Your Team: It's Good to Be Great! 243
Who and When 244
The Million-Dollar Mark 247
Never, Never, Never Outsource . . . 248
Gross Revenue versus Profits 249
A Good Problem to Have 252
Chapter 22 Positioning for the Sale: Your Big Payday 253
Getting Ready 254
Good Things Come in Threes 259
Start the Right Way 261
Epilogue: Still Growing Strong and Damn Proud 263
About the Author 265
Index 267