The allure of overnight success stories and skyrocketing sales can be tempting, but the reality of building a thriving Etsy shop requires much more than wishful thinking. It demands dedication, perseverance, and a willingness to learn from the journey's highs and lows. In this blog post, I want to share some insights from my first year selling digital stickers on Etsy.
Let me tell you how and why I started my Etsy shop and what my results were.
A new creative outlet
Like many others, the pandemic year of 2020 resulted in a lot of extra time at home.
Half a year in, after quitting my part-time job in an interior store in January, I yearned for the joy of working with colors and having some fun in my life! So I started playing around with Photoshop and Keynote, creating textures and illustrations.
Unable to draw or paint and plagued by impatience, I realized that creating digital products on my computer could be the perfect outlet for my creative energy. I started out as a digital sticker and texture creator on Etsy after being inspired by YouTubers who made it seem easy. Spoiler: It wasn't.
Opening the shop
When you open your shop on Etsy, it's recommended to have 10 listings when launching. This is because the Etsy algorithm gives new shops an extra boost, and more listings will increase your chances of selling a product. But I couldn't wait until I had the recommended 10 listings; I was too eager to get started! I had six digital sticker sets that I was genuinely proud of, and I couldn't wait to share them with the world.
However, despite my enthusiasm and confidence in my creations, the path to success didn't unfold as smoothly as I had imagined. It quickly became apparent that achieving success on Etsy was not as effortless as the "get rich quick with digital products on Etsy" narratives often portrayed on YouTube.
Click to visit my Etsy shop (the link opens in a new window). You get 20 % off all my products by using the code BLOGREADER.
As I write this, my shop has been live for about eight months. With 37 sales and 17 five-star reviews, I've felt a sense of fulfillment seeing my cute, girly, and colorful stickers resonate with customers who appreciate my artistic style, even though it's not that many sales. I feel so happy every time my Etsy app makes the "ka-ching" sound, and it's funny how I can get so excited by making 3 bucks, but I do!
The first sale
In just two days after opening, I made my first sale, thanks to strategic advertising efforts with a modest budget of $1 a day for a week. The extra boost the algorithm gives new shops is no joke, and the sales kept ticking in slowly but steadily. Now eight months in, I've seen a decline in traffic, and I'm currently working on improving my listings and their SEO. While my revenue now stands at $53, it's crucial to acknowledge that the costs associated with running ads offset this amount, leaving me with valuable experience rather than monetary gains.
Enjoying the process
Throughout this journey, I've discovered my niche in creating digital washi tapes for digital planners — a fusion of creativity and functionality that allows me to express myself creatively while helping others stay organized. As I reflect on my first year on Etsy (although I'm not there yet), I'm excited about the growth opportunities ahead. I'm working on enjoying and sticking to the process rather than giving up when things don't go my way, as I've done many times before.
I'll continue making new products but also create new listings based on older stickers I've already made and put them together in different ways. Currently, I'm working on an autumn digital sticker set. I just looked through my hard drive for any stickers I've created in autumn colors from different sticker sets and made four new stickers, and I'll launch this sticker set as a new listing. This is an excellent way of saving time and giving products that didn't sell so well another chance in new packaging.
👉 Psst: You might also like my How to make a digital planner to sell on Etsy post!
Conclusion
Although I hoped to make more in my first year, the most important thing for me is to create something to put out in the world which can generate passive income in the long run. The current 20 products I have listed on Etsy are my intellectual property, and I have nothing to lose in trying to grow my shop further. I've made some mistakes, but I constantly learn new things about how Etsy works and update my designs and listings. And writing this blog might also lead to some traffic to my shop :) I'm also a contributor on Creative Fabrica, and I've written about my first two months in this post read about my experience, you should read this post. Check it out!
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