Help with my etsy shop - eco-friendly (dare I say permaculture) handmade textiles and yarns

r ranson wrote:I just had a thought.

I was updating a listing for my homegrown yarn and I thought wouldn't it be neat if I could find a way to say that the source of the fibre and the distance of the yarn were the same.  I can't figure out how to phrase this, but it seemed a clever thought.

So I started wondering, how far away is 400 yards?  I asked someone in the house who has done the calculations, and apparently, 400 yards is the distance, down the driveway, down the road, to the intersection where the mailbox is.  I didn't realize we needed that much yarn to knit a pair of socks.  It puts things into perspective.  

Talking about perspective.  The alpacas and sheep all live within 100 yards of the house.

Is this a selling feature for this kind of listing?  Truly local material source?  How would I describe this?  

That is absolutely the sort of thing you want to say! "This skein of yarn is longer than the distance to the alpaca pasture! Now THAT is locally sourced!" or something similar. "If this skein of yarn was unrolled, it would go from my spinning wheel, to the alpacas, and back again! That's as local as it gets!" Marketing is quite a bit telling a cool story, with things in it other people will remember "oh this is knit from really local alpacas, they were so close to the yarn spinning they could have looked in the window and watched!" The things they can tell others is the things to tell them when you market. Marketing something neat is a lot of telling people a story about WHY it's neat. You aren't going for person looking for the bargain basement prices, but for the people who want to buy something that's cool, not just cheap.
Looked at your shop, lovely! I don't knit yet, but ooooh, that makes me want to move it up higher on my Things to Learn list!

For marketing, I'd make a business page on Instagram and Facebook if you haven't already. Post at least once a week on Facebook and try to end each post with a question to encourage engagement. Try to post every day or at least every other on Instagram. It doesn't have to be product related. It could be an inspirational quote, shot of farm life, what you're currently reading. Just keep your content consistent with your brand feel. Search and follow people and other businesses that you think are A) potential customers or B) something your potential customer would also follow.

For better pics, try to trade services with a local photographer. I'm a photog and would jump on the opportunity to do a creative project and take pretty pictures of such things! Too bad I'm in Michigan and not near you! Even if you can't find someone who is willing to take product pictures, maybe you can find someone who's willing to do a workshop with you and show you tips on taking better quality pictures yourself.