Handmade Businesses: Using Your Own Website Vs. a Site Like Etsy

Have you heard about the land of opportunity?  It’s online.  While opportunity is boundless and abundant, it’s a bigger possibility to grow bewildered about getting started online.  A number of interested and invested entrepreneurs pay mind and invest dollars into online ventures, but not all of them succeed.

Unlike traditional brick-and-mortar stores, vendors and entrepreneurs leverage third-party marketplaces, like Etsy, to offer goods.

Is it better to invest resources into one’s own website, or should more emphasis be placed toward leveraging already established marketplaces?

Niche

Simplicity is incredibly complex, ask any artist or engineer.  Ironically, rather than attempting to take over the online world, some start small, seeking niche markets and targeted opportunity.  Aside from marketplaces like Etsy, niche sites exist, related to fashion, technology, gadgets, food, and other goods of interest.

Considering many products differ little in look and function, branding is incredibly important.  Find what you’re passionate about and seek a target market with defined interests.

Such notions parallel the acts of those with websites who target local areas or provide obscure products.  For example, an artist using skateboard decks as wall art may target a small subculture in Philadelphia; while the novelty may not take the world by storm, the local artist could generate a lot of business keeping local focus.

Personalization

Sites like Etsy do a lot of the ‘leg work’ for online vendors.  The Etsy team and related third-party vendors address elements like web hosting, marketing, and infrastructure integral to the function of the marketplace, a clear advantage to entrepreneurs who have little monies to invest in such resources.

However, the ability to ‘brand’ on third-party marketplaces pales in comparison to what web masters can do with their own sites, using Google Analytics to track visitor metrics, exercising plug-ins for search engine optimization, and choosing colors, fonts, and graphics to truly brand products.  Learn more about elements of having your own site here.

Independence

Entrepreneurs champion independence, enjoying ‘being their own boss.’  However, those who leverage third-party marketplaces are ‘renting space’ on another business’ lot.  Alternatively, those who opt to purchase their own URLs, web hosting, and related resources get to call more shots.

While entrepreneurs who elect for their own websites still require third-party help related to online marketing, IT needs, and ad placement, one’s ‘own’ website is more aligned with the entrepreneurial spirit.

International

Go international, offering goods in marketplaces like Rakuten Ichiba, Japan’s largest B2B2C e-commerce site.  Expanding in 2005, Rakuten is associated with Buy.com (based in the US), Priceminister (France-based) and digital marketplaces in other countries. American entrepreneurs can take advantage of international exchanges through Rakuten.

Similar, Taobao hosts online shopping and opportunity for small businesses and single entrepreneur ventures.  Like eBay and Amazon, the Chinese marketplace, operated by Alibaba, offers an array of goods to eager Chinese consumers.  Hosting over 700 million product listings, it’s among the world’s most-visited sites based on Alexa data.

Networking

A number of YouTube-produced ‘stars’ and breakout web-preneurs appear to host some kind of ‘special sauce,’ yet the online astute admit networking is essential to digital success regardless of product or service.

Sites like Etsy host scores of vendors, alike in their need to create interest and make sales.  Much like local-generated ‘flash mobs,’ community sites provide the benefits of a larger community; it could be a lot easier to generate potential interest on a site like Esty as compared to one’s own website.

Many website owners grow surprised to find it’s (not only) difficult to generate sales but any traffic (at all) to a website.  A freshly launched venture often needs paid-advertising endeavors to supplement the business in puerile form.

While social sites like Etsy deliver immediate networking possibilities, those with their own websites leverage a trove of social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest for networking.

Combination

If you have time and resources, there’s no reason you can’t leverage third-party marketplaces as well as your own website.  In some cases, having more digital properties places businesses in better positions to make sales.

Conversely, sometimes less is more regarding how much time one has to exact toward marketing, advertising and the ability to drive sales.  Find that ‘sweet spot,’ considering your type of personality, the amount of money you’re willing to invest, and the nature and variety of offered product.

Rose Donner – Guest Contributor Rose Donner has embodied the entrepreneurial spirit ever since her first barebones blog years ago. With experience and a mind for business, she loves blogging about the tips and tricks to small business ownership in an online world.

Photo by: Scott Beale / Laughing Squid