As a full time Etsy seller, in the top 5,000 shops worldwide, I definitely have a story or two to share.
So today I’m going to start at the beginning.
I started my first shop in 2013 selling my photography. I very specifically remember thinking, “I’ll just throw up 10 or 20 listings and see what happens.” Sound familiar?
Well it doesn’t take long to figure out that that plan isn’t going to work. So I spent the next year really taking a deep dive into what I needed to do to make it work. It was so overwhelming. More listings. More products. SEO. Social Media. I started treating my shop more like a business instead of just winging it from day to day.
In 2016 (with my full time job in one hand a new baby in the other), I decided that I wanted to branch out from photography and opened a new shop. I wanted more creativity than my traditional photography could give me. I wasn’t busy enough, right? Why not add something new into the mix.
That second shop started taking off quicker than the first. And pretty soon, I was obsessed!
After doing enough research to make myself feel a little loopy, I knew the answer! Search Engine Optimization. And in 2017 I dedicated myself to learning how to do it right.
And that year, I made over $30,000. No change in products. No new social media. I just started getting found in Etsy search.
I’m going to tell you that that money was life changing. We paid for diapers that year with that $30k. And vacations. And unexpected car repairs when my husband got in a car accident. I really got a little taste of what a side hustle could mean for our little, growing family. And my obsession grew.
But that’s a story for part two 😉
-Sarah
PS. Interested in learning more about how I got Etsy to start working for me with SEO? Sign up for my free training on the Etsy framework you need to start making consistent sales.
