Caitlin Cahill - The Geek You Need

31/01/2023

Add a sliver of restoring from backup for us server admins.

Honestly, accurate. 🤣

21/01/2023

Your Etsy product descriptions should be full of information, not just for the search engines, but more importantly, for your customers. Etsy's official SEO guide recommends putting your most important keywords in the first few SENTENCES of your description.

Here's the format I typically use when writing product descriptions:
1) a paragraph describing what the product it, what it looks and feel like, who it is for, and any relevant events or occasions.

2) the product's specifications like measurements, materials, and features. Since I mostly sell print on demand products, this section usually comes direct from my manufacturer.

3) lastly I link to any products with the same design, e.g. in the case the customer wants a t-shirt instead of the sweatshirt they are looking at. Etsy will automatically make etsy links clickable in the description.

In part 2 of my Etsy SEO series, I give a cliff notes version of Etsy's official search guide, along with examples and even how to use AI like ChatGPT. Posted at https://thepodfiles.com/etsy-seo-tips-writing-an-effective-product-listing/

20/01/2023

It's time to stop copying and pasting unreadable lists of repetitive keywords throughout your Etsy listing.

While integrating keywords in your listing is important, it's just as important to make your listing readable by customer, or you can end up hurting your SEO because the relevancy of your listing will drop.

So how should you integrate keywords in your listing? In part 2 of my Etsy SEO series, I give a cliff notes version of Etsy's official search guide, along with examples and even how to use AI like ChatGPT. Posted at https://thepodfiles.com/etsy-seo-tips-writing-an-effective-product-listing/ .

20/01/2023

While AI does not have the professional skill of actual humans, it can be a useful tool for brainstorming.

Today I tried using ChatGPT to write an Etsy listing for my Etsy SEO blog series. While the the product description had potential, the tags were lacking, even after several different prompt attempts.

Here's what I got for the product description and the final result. You can see the example product and the useless tags it generated at https://thepodfiles.com/etsy-seo-tips-writing-an-effective-product-listing/

How are you using AI is your work?

17/01/2023

With over 7.5 million active sellers on Etsy, standing out on the platform and getting your product in front of the right customers can be challenging. That's where Search Engine Optimization (SEO) comes in.

SEO is the process of optimizing your listings and shop to rank higher in Etsy's search results, making it more likely that potential buyers will find your products. This series will provide tips and tools for improving your Etsy SEO. Read more at https://thepodfiles.com/etsy-seo-tips-choosing-keywords/

30/11/2021

I usually rely on organic traffic on Amazon, but decided to give ads a try this month to get traffic to a few Christmas designs. An ACOS under 25% is profitable for me, so I'm happy with the results. Ads are something I'd like to learn more about so that I can scale volume without necessarily adding more designs.

Here's a few things I've learned from my ad campaigns:

- Auto campaigns were pretty worthless and never profitable. I know the idea is they learn more the longer they run, and you then use the successful keywords on manual campaigns, but in the month they mostly just spent my money and gave me obvious negative keywords that I'd never use any way.

- "broad match" is also pretty worthless and will waste money. Stick to "phrase" and "exact" match.

- I found I started getting clicks at a 33¢ bid. On some I went up to 55¢, but was not ready to go as high as the suggested bids, which were over a dollar.

- My most successful campaigns had a single product in each ad group with all ad groups having the same design, and the only keyword being the phrase on the shirt and product type (eg "best grandma ever sweatshirt")

If you use ads, what works for you?

26/10/2021

People new to print on demand are often hit by sticker shock and wonder how they can ever turn a profit.

"I'd never pay that much for clothing!"
"How do I compete with those selling $10 shirts?!"
"I could make it cheaper myself!"

The key to success with POD is to design products that are so unique that they are worth higher prices. If the Olsen Twins can sell $250 white t-shirts, you can sell a $30 shirt with your cool artwork.

Don't base your prices on what you'd pay, but what your customers will pay. This year I added kid-sized costumes to my Halloween line. While I'm a thrift store costume shopper myself, many of my customers take Halloween seriously and are willing to drop more than $100 on a costume...for their toddler! One customer liked it so much, they commissioned a custom piece for the sibling. 😳

If your product is so simple that it can be recreated with a Cricut machine and an iron, then yeah, maybe POD isn't the right model for you, maybe you should sell $10 shirts from home. But if you spend a little more time designing one of a kind products, rather than chasing trendy slogans, the $10 shirts will never be your competition anyway.

Get started with POD: https://thepodfiles.com

24/09/2021

Earth tones have been pretty popular all year as people isolated by the pandemic have yearned for more nature in their lives. As we move into fall, I’m seeing more muted earth palettes in clothing that include a soft lavender or pink, mustard yellow, burnt or coral orange, and of course one or more hues of green.

Shirt-wise, Bella Canvas has some gorgeous colors that align well with this trend, but you could also design in these colors for neutral color blanks. I’m personally loving this palette on soft cream / beige shirts for a vintage hippie vibe.

30/07/2021

Unlike a lot of POD designers, I don't actively research trends or keywords, mostly because I'd rather be designing. But what I do a lot of is observing, especially when I'm out shopping. I pay particular attention to what colors and patterns are common on clothes and school products, and think about how I can apply them to my best selling designs and niches.

Lately I've been seeing a lot of pastels on stationery (not as much on clothing, which I'll do another post on). In particular, there's lots of pink and blue pastels with gold accents; just take a look at this table of planners at Barnes and Noble. Michaels also just debuted a "pastel goth" Halloween collection with lots of pink.

Have you noticed this trend? What products might you create with these colors?