Etsy Shop Promotion Series: Francesca's BNS/BNR Experiences

Are you a newbie to the BNS world, not quite sure if it's the thing for you? I hope sharing my experience will help you decide.

When I first heard about BNS/BNR treasuries I was greatly confused. Reading forum discussions about them only made it more confusing and difficult. I then contacted one of the people who had replied because she invited questions and seemed really friendly. She straightened out my questions, and I decided to give it a chance and see for myself how good or bad these treasuries really were.

It took me some time to understand everything going on. But the one thing I noticed immediately was how incredibly welcoming and supportive everyone is!  These people really care. Of course, I got some sales too and many more since then, but the best reward is the friendship I have received.

Bella's BNS Team is by far my favorite. Our leadership is awesome and dedicated, doing so many things to promote the treasuries, items, and shops, and to encourage us to be involved, all resulting in boards that fill up fast (translation: sales!). The members are friendly, fun, and creative, and genuinely desire success for everyone. The support system of this team and others like it are incredibly valuable to me. To me, these are great reasons to participate in BNS/BNR treasuries!


Francesca

Etsy Shop Promotion Series: Natalee BNS/BNR Experiences

Anyone who is new to Etsy will tell you that one of the most confusing things about it is the BNR/BNS. I'm not going to lie. I was lost when I first saw those acronyms, but I knew that I had to be a part of them! For some reason, I just knew that it would bring sales. I asked a teammate in one of my teams what the mysterious letters meant and she was nice enough to thoroughly explain it to me.

At first, I was not thrilled with the idea that I had to purchase an item that I probably didn't need to get a feature spot. However, the items that I have received from BNR & BNS events have been awesome and everything but needless! It seems that there is always something that can be found in these awesome events! The even greater thing is that you get to be featured on top of getting that new gift!

I have had a lot of success with BNR & BNS events. In fact, the best month that I have had so far can be attributed to being featured in a lot of them simultaneously. They bring in amazing new viewers, customers, and favorites. We all know that new viewers, customers, and favorites leads to increased revenue, search engine optimization, and a lot of other bonuses that every shop owner wants!

If you own an etsy shop and are looking to boost your views, sales, etc., I definitely recommend getting into some of these events. Even if you choose to participate in a BNT, you will still benefit from it! The more exposure you get, the better off you will be!

Happy Sales!

Natalee

Etsy Shop Promotion Series: Using BNS and BNR Boards on Etsy to Promote Your Business

If you have ever looked through the list of treasuries on Etsy you have seen BNR and BNS treasuries.  You will also see threads on every active Etsy team's discussion boards with links to these boards.  There are several teams on Etsy built entirely around participation on these boards.  What are BNR and BNS boards?  Well, I already covered that in a previous article.  So let's talk about why these are so popular.  Why do shops participate in these?  What makes it worth their time and money to invest in these boards?

Shops participate in different boards for different reasons.  So let's look at this board by board.  Let's take a moment to talk just about BNR boards and another to discuss BNS boards because both have different pros and cons, as each present different opportunities and challenges.

BNR Boards and How to Use Them

BNR boards are very popular.  I think it has something to do with our love of instant gratification.  You make a purchase and the item of your choice is immediately featured.  It is thrilling to see your shop immediately up on a board that is getting a lot of traffic.  Your adrenaline increases with the number of views your shop is getting.  And it happens instantaneously.  I have sold items in minutes after buying in on some boards.  I can feel my blood pressure rising just thinking about it!  

These boards tend to move fast and have a lot of action.  There are usually several people chatting away and sales can be fast and furious if it is a busy board.  These are very social and fun boards.  There are often games, like trivia games, for a free feature in an upcoming board.  You can buy in several times.  Most boards have a max of 2 spots, but if someone buys from you then you can buy in again.  It is great exposure for your shop, as many people will see it and you have a great opportunity to get your product out there.  Once people see how wonderful it is they will be back for more!

The down side of these boards is that one buy in will only get you one sale because once someone buys from you they take your spot and you are no longer on the board.  Unless you buy in again.  Now that sale can be a significant sale, but my experience has been that money wise you usually break even.  People will often, but not always, buy a lesser priced item because their main goal is to get on the board while spending as little as possible.  BNR boards have never been a real source of revenue for me.

So why do I do them?  I consider it advertising.  Several people see my shop and get an opportunity to interact with me and experience my customer service first hand.  If they buy from my shop, they also get to hold my product in their hands and that is so very important.  BNR boards are a great way to get your product into someone's hands.  And that is the obstacle of selling anything.  Your first priority should always be getting your product into a customer's hands.  Once they are holding it, they develop a personal connection to it and can see it as being theirs.  Getting product into a customer's hands is a challenge to selling online and the best way to overcome that challenge is to use whatever tools you can to get your products out to customers.  And it doesn't stop with the customer because they will have friends, family, and co-workers that will potentially see that item and hold it and then they develop that personal connection to it and can see it being theirs.  The circle of life, retail sales version.

I recommend trying these boards out if you are looking to get exposure for your shop.  It will get you out there and known to potential customers.  You will put product into customer's hands.  You may even make a little money.  You might just break even.  But your shop name will be out there for hundreds of people to see.  And all it costs you is a buy in fee that is usually $5 or less.  That is really cheap advertising.

BNS Boards and How to Use Them

I love BNS boards.  These boards run on rounds so you stay on the board until the round ends.  A round is usually around 6-12 sales.  The buy in to a round runs around $5 or less on most boards.  Even after someone buys from your store, you still stay up there until the round ends.  This gives you the potential to make multiple sales for one buy in.  I love getting more for less.

There are often opportunities to get an extra round by buying form a certain row or column.  Sometimes you get extra rounds for buying from the curator or a featured shop.  Often a board will run a referral contest, the person to refer the most people to the board to fave it or once a person gets to 10 referrals or whatever random number they decide will win an extra round.  Sometimes the curator will give opportunities to buy in at no minimum buy in cost.  There is always a coupon list and most shops will have a coupon code for you to use.  These boards are full of great deals.

They are also very social boards at times.  A BNS doesn't have a constant curator.  They are set up to be able to kind of work as self service shopping.  So sometimes a board will be completely dead and you will just see pages of people leaving comments that they faved or refaved.  Or they will say that someone sent them for that person to get a referral.  Or you will see transaction links and the curator updating the list for the next round.  These are slow times during the board when there aren't many people coming in.  I mean this is retail and all stores have their slow times.  I have a friend who works in a shoe store.  When it is slow they all go into a back room and knit.  If a customer comes in one of them stops and goes out and takes care of the customer, but they take turns so no one is having to put their knitting down often.  I think this is awesome!  

That is what our curators are doing too when it is slow.  They may not be knitting, but they are crafting something.  They stop working and check in on the board and update it as needed.  They thank everyone that stopped in.  They may ask if there are any shoppers.  If it is still quiet they will go back to crafting or whatever they need to do and then they will check in on the board again and go through the same thing.  If there are people around that want to chat the curator will often join in.  You will often find chat going on while the curator is out.  If a group of people are on the board at the same time you will often see conversation going on.  There are friendly people everywhere you go on these boards.

These boards are also great exposure because your shop stays up for an entire round.  Usually a full day and sometimes two or three if sales are slow.  This give an opportunity for many hundreds and, occasionally if the board moves a time or two, even over a thousand people a chance to see your shop.  The visibility to your shop is fabulous!

Both boards have their unique pros and cons, but both boards do give your shop exposure.  People see your shop on them.  They will browse through it.  They will favorite items or your shop.  And they will buy from you.  Each person has their personal preferences as to which board they like best, but I recommend trying both out and see how you feel about them.

Over the next couple of weeks I will be sharing our new blog writers Natalee and Francesca's experience with BNR and BNS boards.  I will also go into strategies to employ on both boards to get the maximum benefit of each.  Until then, I hope you will visit these boards and learn more about them.

Love and Peace,

Luci

Congratulations Kelly from Kelly's Craft Items!

Kelly not only won the last weekly semi-finalist spot for June, but won the big prize for the month!  Kelly's board will be used for Bellas Weekend BNS Bash.  Kelly will also have a shop feature written up on her that we will promote throughout the BNS.  The shop feature will appear on blog on Friday, July 6.

All semi-finalists are also getting 1 free spot on the board.  I will also include a link to the semi-finalists page on the blog where all of your beautiful treasuries are being shown off.

Thank you so much to every one who entered.  I can't wait to see the entries for next month!

Love and Peace,

Luci

BNS and BNR Tutorial: Don't Understand How a BNR or BNS works? Let Me Tell You All About Them!

I can't tell you how many people I have encountered that were intimidated by a BNR or BNS.  I was too before I was involved in my first one.  I didn't buy in or choose to participate, but I was featured by a lovely woman on her BNR board.  I had no idea I was being featured, so when she sent me a message telling me I was in a BNR I thought I should go figure out what I had gotten into this time.

I had heard of them and looked at a few, but always lurking.  I never participated because I didn't understand the rules.  That was when I learned the most important thing you need to know about these boards and that is that they are run by the nicest and friendliest people you can find.  They don't mind questions.  They don't even mind a lot of questions!  They are there to assist you with whatever you need.  Remember that they are salespeople and you are the customer.  I can assure you that their behavior will prove that they understand this well.  Don't be afraid to ask a stupid question because there are no stupid questions when you are new to these.  We were all newbies once ourselves and we are happy to guide you through the process.  Once you start to participate you will get the hang out if quickly.  They aren't nearly as complicated as they appear.

So what are they?  They are, very simply, a treasury board that is moderated by a curator or other member of the team.  The curator runs the board.  They update features on the board, answer questions, and keep the chat lively and fun.  By chat, think early 90s chat room where you have to hit the refresh button to see what has been said.  The posts will not update automatically.  You must hit the refresh button on your browser to see any new posts.  A BNR has different rules from a BNS though, and this is what tends to get people confused, so let's go over how each one works.

What is a BNR?

A BNR simply means Buy and Replace.  This means that when you make a purchase from the board, you will immediately replace the shop you buy from.  Your shop will stay on the board until someone buys from you.  If no one buys from you in that round, most of the time you will go onto a carryover list to be featured in a future round, but this varies from board to board so ask the curator.  

So what do you do?  In a BNR, you will need to get approval before you shop.  This is because you will be taking that shop's place on the board.  Since there is only one spot up for grabs, there can only be one person shopping it.  Call out the shop you wish to buy from in caps.  Say I wanted to buy from Rocco's Country Spice.  My next message would be "ROCCO'S PLEASE?".  The curator will then say "Luci OK for ROCCO'S" if that shop is available.  To complete the transaction, there are a couple things I need to do.  First, I need to make a purchase from that shop that meets the boards minimum buy in amount.  That is usually somewhere between $2-5 and is posted at the top in the treasury description.  Once I complete the transaction, I will need the link to the transaction ID.  You can get this from the screen telling you your order is complete or from the order confirmation email you will receive.  I take it from the last screen of the order completing. I will need the amount the purchase was before shipping and after coupons or no coupon if you didn't use one.  There is almost always a list of coupon codes for every board.  If the shop you are looking in doesn't have one on the list, do not be afraid to ask.  Often it can be posted earlier in the thread, but not added to the list.  Or the curator may message them to see if they offer one or they may even be on the board to tell you themselves.  I will also need the link to the item from my shop that I want featured.  So after my purchase is done, my next post will look like this:

FROM ROCCO'S

www.etsy.com/your/orders/56645265?receipt_id=56645265***(This is the link to the transaction)

$3.50 before shipping, after coupons

Please feature:  https://www.etsy.com/listing/101297545/eco-friendly-recycled-t-shirt-yarn***(This is the link to the item from my shop that I want featured)

If you forget to put a piece of information up there don't worry about it.  We have all forgotten to include something, even the most seasoned veterans.  If the curator needs to know anything they will ask.  And that is it.  You will be immediately featured and will stay on the board until someone buys from your shop.  Most BNRs will let you buy a max of 2 spots if you want more than one.  You will just need to purchase from 2 shops to get those 2 spots.

What is a BNS?

A BNS means to Buy and Stay.  These run on rounds.  There are a predetermined number of open spots that will need to be filled before moving onto the next round and the shops featured stay on the board until the list for the next round is full.  The board is then created for the next round and that round will feature the shops that bought onto the board from the previous round and any specialty spots they may have for the curator and spots for the carryover list and such.  All 16 spots on the board are always clearly marked.  There is complete transparency.  The number of open spots is usually posted in the title of the treasury, along with the cumulative sales that team has accumulated.  There is still a minimum buy in amount that will usually range from $2-5.  Unless it is down to the last spot or two, you do not need to get approval to shop, so you do not need to call out a shop in caps to get approval.  Just make a purchase that meets that boards minimum.  If it is one of the last couple spots on the board and you are calling out for approval, call it like you would on the BNR when requesting approval.  Once the curator approves you getting the last spot, go ahead and complete your transaction.  Either way, you will need to post the transaction once you are done.  Your post should look like:

FROM ROCCO'S

www.etsy.com/your/orders/56645265?receipt_id=56645265***(This is the link to the transaction)

$3.50 before shipping, after coupons 

You do not need to add what you would like featured.  BNS boards are built on a theme and the curator will pick something from your shop that fits into the theme of that day's board.

Your shop is then added to a list that is kept and updated on the threads.  When all the spots are filled the round is full.  Then, usually the next day but sometimes the same day, a new board is made from shops that bought onto the previous round's list.  Your item will stay on that board until the round is full, even after someone buys from you.  Even if 3 people buy from you.  Nothing gets you off the board while that round is going.  In order to be included in the next round, you will need to buy onto the list again or win a spot.

Win a spot?  Why yes, that is common in both BNRs and BNSs.  There are many ways to win a round and it varies from board to board.  Some boards will give a free round with a purchase from a featured shop, the curator, or a featured row.  And some offer it as a prize for being the next buyer.  Others do trivia or referral games where you can win a free spot.  Referral games involve you getting people to favorite, commonly called faving, that board and leave a post saying that you had sent them.  As you participate, you will see some familiar faces pop up on the boards and you will get to know some very fun people.

It is also great exposure for your shop.  You will experience an immediate increase in views and favorites of your items and your shop.  I have received emails from people who read a thread of me helping another person.  Even though they might have found my shop otherwise, I may not have seemed as approachable to them if they hadn't seen me in action on a BNS or BNR thread.

I will be working on a series on how BNRs and BNSs can be beneficial for your shop and how they should be used for best results.  Until then, I hope that this has helped take some of the apprehension out of these boards and that you will visit one soon.  Feel welcome to lurk and watch the conversation until you are comfortable joining in if it will make you feel better.  And when you are ready, please say hello.  We can't wait to meet you.

Love and Peace,

Luci

Welcome!

Here at BellasBNS we love BNSs and BNRs! We will be adding articles that will explain the BNS and BNR process and how they work. We will also be adding a series on how to best use them to promote your business. Also look for shop features on our fabulous members and treasuries our members have curated. Naturally, all of the latest news will be included as well, like links to active BNS and BNRs and updates on special weekend and holiday boards.

 Love and Peace,

 Luci