I try to keep my shop as professional as possible, I really want the potential buyer to find everything clear, informative but not too pushy. I think mistakes, bad photos can be a distraction, unless someone really wants the item.
but I am angry sometimes with myself thinking I pay too much attention and focus on things that may not make a difference. Especially with the descriptions. I wish I could just put things up and not make complicated like military campain 
like Samantha said, we do not have a big marketing department at our disposal…
And, Samantha, feel free to show my shop to your mother 
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@SamanthaStanley I’m with you there- and I actually think it’s really impressive the things people are able to achieve on here often as a one person unit.
Maybe that’s part of the problem- that we compare ourselves- often with other jobs and a lot of other commitments with massive companies who employ several people per job role.
I guess we have plenty to be proud of! Whether you’re someone who’ve been doing this for a while, have figured it out and help other people achieve the same success, or whether you’re starting out and just trying to sort your photos out- even just taking the first step into selling online was a massive deal for me! So respect to you all!! 
It seems the professional but not too pushy approach is everyone’s aim. I want people to know I’m a one person printmaker who works in my free time from my home studio- I think you are also right, I think a lot of people do like to think they own something from little companies like ours as it makes them feel they have a more unique product.
I bought an amazing leather satchel last year from a small british company. I was going to get a satchel from a well known brand until I found my bag- which is so much nicer in quality- a lot more interesting and was actually half the price because there was no big famous name on it, and it gets compliments all the time!- so I totally see the appeal!
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Will do!
Sam x
I think you absolutely need to be professional and yes of course the photos need to be good. The front page has changed dramatically over the short time i’ve been here and now it’s pretty rare to see a dull photo or out of focus photo there (indeed, photos are cited as being the main reason why shops with lovely goods don’t get chosen to be featured there).
I’ve not come across many shops who successfully sell who have poor pictures, so I think that speaks for itself.
Re typos etc though, we are all human and many is the time I have come across a listing that includes an inappropriate word e.g. a tiger picture contains the sentence - lovely elephant family…" and that’s because I tend to work at producing a set or series of something, and I use cut and paste to replicate listings to save time. Even though I proofread endlessly, there’s always something that slips through and which I don’t find until many weeks later…
But I try not to beat myself up (too much…) about it because as has been pointed out, the majority of us are one man bands. When I read similar things in someone else’s description now, I just giggle to myself…!!
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I think it’s good to be professional, but not too clinical…I like to appear friendly and approachable.
As for descriptions I think they need to be long enough to contain all the relevant information, but sometimes people put too much irrelevant information and I am not sure customers would bother reading through that. Today I spotted a description which was more of an essay going in to the makers background and how they got in to what they do…this would be better in the persons ‘Meet the maker’ section…the actual details about the item were in the last 2 or 3 lines, a customer had to plough through about 30 lines of other stuff first…and this was in the description of every item in this persons shop…
As for custom orders and having a few in stock, at Christmas I did personalised embroidered stockings. Each was definitely made to order and personalised during making, but I showed a stock of 6 because I had enough fabric to make 6. It meant a customer could order and pay for more than 1 straight away and just message me the names required…saying that I did ask the question on the forum on this subject some time ago as I think some people get mixed up with ‘made to order’ and a custom order.
Kim
x
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The simple answer is, I do feel it’s important to be professional. Personally as a buyer I look for good photography, descriptions and information, so as to leave me with as few unknowns as possible. It seems automatic for me to aim for similar standards. The standard achievable is inevitably different for everyone and I’ve just tried to learn in order to create and present my work better as I’ve gone along. Perfection is a long way down the road, but as long as I feel comfortable … until I spot the next defect … then that’s OK.
I’ve only been on with Folksy for about a month and very much like the kindliness and positivity of all the people involved. This is a good helpful thread. Thanks.
Bee
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