Tips for Staying Fresh and Successful on Etsy

I have been a part of the Etsy Community for several years now. I explore all avenues of interaction on the platform and follow all leads for success. Over the years I have come across some fantastic suggestions and ideas and, of course, some not too great ideas. I have followed, implemented and dismissed much of the info that I have come across, but the great ideas and suggestions that have worked I will publish weekly, or as I come across them. 
Here goes...

List, List, List..... I started my shop with 50 or so items, I added slowly, duplicated where I felt necessary and kept building my Shop Inventory. When I reached 100 items or so I noticed an increase in Etsy traffic and my items becoming more visible in Etsy Catagory Searches. 

Eventually I got to the 300 - 400 range and the traffic from Google, Etsy and various search engines started to triple. It takes patience, an incredible amount of time and perseverance, but the more listings you have the greater the impact on search engines within Etsy and independently. I am currently pushing to increase my inventory to 500+ over the next couple of months. 

Many of my newer items are spin-offs of customer suggestions through custom orders. I am currently working on a new line of appliques for different applications and know that this will extend my line easily by 100 or more items.

I do know that you run across those "unusual" shops that list 10 or so items and have sales in the thousands, these appear to be shops that sell one item, that is either a novelty, supply or tool. These shops are definately in the minority and possibly have additional marketing strategies outside of Etsy. 

If you want to get noticed on Etsy, LIST.....