Ever wish you could find one product design that you could just sell over and over again, without having to start from scratch each time when it comes to design concepts? This is exactly what Marie from Glow Your Design did. She had a few handmade shops selling physical products that she would send to buyers, this eventually led her to selling digital SVG files so after launching her shop in 2021, she was able to hone in on her customer, offer custom orders, set her products apart from the competition, and all this led to 10,000 in sale orders. So there's definitely a lot I think you all will take away from this episode, without further ado, let's dive into the episode with Marie...
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
As natural creatives, we love our projects, we love
our craft time and we'll neversay no to a quick trip to
Michael's.
Although running a handmadebusiness is rewarding, it can
also be overwhelming.
Hey, creative mamas, kasey here, and as a mother of two feisty
toddlers and a business ownermyself, I get the nap time
(00:20):
hustle and live it daily.
Managing the house, jugglingthe kids and getting those
orders out on time can train thelife right out of us.
But what if there was a way toconvert that business of yours
into an online passive incomegenerating machine?
Well, I'm here to tell you it'snot only possible, but
completely yours for the taking.
(00:40):
I'm on a mission to give all ofthe nap time hustling crafty
moms out there the right tools,systems and strategies needed to
convert your own businessesinto consistent yet flexible
income online, all while doingwhat you do best creating.
So put those kiddos down fortheir nap, pop in some earbuds
(01:00):
and kick back.
This is where you stop tradingtime for dollars.
This is where you claim yourlife back.
This is the Naptime HustlePodcast.
Hello, hello, welcome to thisweek's episode.
So in this episode, I'm superexcited to share with you
everything that we talk about,because, if you have ever wished
(01:22):
that you could just find thatone product design that you
could just, you know, change oneor two things but sell over and
over and over again withouthaving to start from scratch in
the design concept.
This is your episode, becauseMarie from Glow your Design, she
(01:44):
did just this.
She had a few handmade shopsselling physical products that
she would actually ship and sendto her buyers.
This eventually led her toselling digital SVG files.
So, after launching her shop in2021, she was able to hone in
on her customer offer, customorders, set her products apart
(02:08):
from the competition and land onthis one very niche type of
product, and all of this led to10,000 sale orders.
So there's definitely a lot thatI think you will take away from
this episode.
So, without further ado, let'sgo ahead and dig right in.
Hey Marie, welcome on to thepodcast.
(02:40):
Thank you so much.
Podcast.
Thank you so much.
Why don't you start us off?
Tell us a little bit aboutyourself and how you got into
selling SVGs.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
Well, I, my name is Marie, I am living in Dayton,
ohio, but I am married to aretired Air Force officer.
He recently retired from themilitary.
But, um, um, when we were firstmarried, we were in Utah and
then California and then here,and, um, I've kind of always
(03:14):
been an entrepreneur.
Like in Utah we had a lot ofland, so we got to sell uh
produce from our garden, andthen, when we moved to
California, I started adriftwood art business and
selling driftwood art online,because we lived right on the
beach and it was beautiful and Itook advantage of it and we
were there for five years.
(03:35):
But then, being in the military,we move often, and so three
years ago he got orders to cometo here in Dayton and so I
couldn't continue with mydriftwood art business, and so
it was then that I wanted tofigure out something else to do
that wasn't dependent on wherewe were stationed, so something
(03:57):
that I could bring with mewherever we went.
And I had purchased a Glowforgeback in California and I wasn't
using it at the time because ofmy driftwood, but when we moved
here it provided the perfectopportunity.
So I looked into selling itemsthat I could make from the
(04:26):
Glowforge, and I did not haveany design experience whatsoever
.
And so I started doing someYouTube tutorials for Inkscape
and kind of got you know that Iwas able to do very basic
designs from that.
But I wanted to learn how todesign in more detail.
And so that's when I just didsome internet searches and I
found Casey's course online andsigned up for it in the fall of
2020.
And so that's when I felt thatmy quality of design has really
(04:48):
improved and through the wayI've kind of sold different
things both in my physical Ihave a physical shop as well as
a digital shop and so it's mydesign style has kind of morphed
since there.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
Since then, Did your physical shop?
Is that where you initiallysold your driftwood projects, or
is this your physical shop?
Is it a new shop?
Speaker 2 (05:12):
It's a new shop, so my driftwood art business was a
completely separate shop andwhen I moved here I created a
new shop for digital design I'msorry for physical designs where
I also started selling digitaldesigns in that same shop before
I decided to that it was moreappropriate to start a new shop
for solely digital designs.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
So what were you selling in that shop?
Was it the same style of likewhat you're now creating on the
digital side?
Speaker 2 (05:46):
No, it ran the gamut.
So I started with funnybathroom signs, so I tried to
make like clever bathroom signsand I had never heard of scoring
, and so it was just engravingand cutting and it would take
forever on Glowforge and nobodywas buying them.
And this was spring of 20, itwas winter of 2020.
And so spring of 2020, aseveryone knows, the pandemic hit
(06:08):
and I I started selling earsavers for face masks, and so I
was able to crank those out.
Yeah, ear savers.
So when you have a face mask,the when the pandemic first
started, a lot of times the earloops would hurt the back of
people's ears because they werelower quality, and so people
(06:30):
would buy ear savers that wouldconnect the ear straps to the
back of your head so that theywouldn't hurt the back of your
ears.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
I could have used those.
I would have been your numberone customer had I known those
existed.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
So, yeah, I sold those for a while and did well,
but then, you know, eventuallypeople didn't need them as much
anymore and so I pivoted andthen I started selling little
vaccinated pins back in it wasbeginning of 2021.
And they were just like COVIDvaccinated pins that, like
medical personnel, would wearanybody that just wanted to show
(07:09):
that they were vaccinated, backwhen you know, not a lot of
people were.
And so that did well for awhile and then just really went
downhill and so I had to decideokay, you know, I've been kind
of chasing these fads and theybe they're doing well for a
while, but then, you know, theyonly last for so long and I was
thinking I really want to getinto a business where I don't
(07:34):
have to constantly chase thingslike that, something that can be
a little bit more evergreen.
And so that's when I startedtaking your course and learning
how to design digital files andI still wanted it to.
I still wanted to use myGlowforge, because that's what I
was familiar with and that'swhat I knew, and so I would test
those designs on the Glowforgeand it would just kind of adapt
(07:55):
from there.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
I noticed.
So it seems like your pastbusiness ventures were medical,
more medical based.
Do you have a medicalbackground or I?
Speaker 2 (08:08):
don't.
I have a marketing backgroundactually, and so that was when I
was like, okay, what do peopleneed at this point in time?
And I found a need and filledit.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
Okay, just curious, just curious.
But yeah, that's really cooland so you decided to go this
more digital route.
Was there any other likereasoning to that?
Or was it just like the passiveincome kind of appealed to you
more?
Or did you like the design partmore?
(08:38):
Like which part of it?
A?
Speaker 2 (08:40):
little of both.
So once I took your course andgot to learn a little bit more
of the design elements inIllustrator, I really enjoyed it
.
I it got so busy to where Iwasn't able to sleep and I was
(09:10):
just like there has to be abetter way.
Yeah, so I do still sell somephysical items, but I wanted to
also have a separate incomestream.
I wanted to diversify my incomeand have that passive piece.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
It really appealed to me.
Do you feel like the transitionfrom selling physical items on
Etsy to selling the digitalitems was that pretty liquid?
Was it pretty fluid?
Or do you feel like there was abig change as far as marketing
goes and your Etsy shop?
Speaker 2 (09:45):
big change as far as like marketing goes and like
your Etsy shop.
Well, I mean, I had to switchthe way I did marketing a little
bit because of my audience andanother thing that I that was a
little bit difficult for me wasjust making sure that the buyer
knew that they were buying adigital file.
So that's what ultimately mademe start a separate shop for my
digital files, because I'd havea buyer buy a digital file and
(10:07):
they, you know, three weekslater they'd message me where's
my item, you know, cause it wasmessed up.
It was mixed in with myphysical items.
So, um, I had to pivot a littlebit there.
Um, and then I feel like, withdigital items, you know, a lot
of the same components aresimilar in that you need good
(10:30):
photos and you know good SEO andall of those things about in
the past to eventually startyour own website and grow your
own email list and find your ownpeople, rather than relying on
Etsy for all of that.
(10:51):
So I felt that more, I guess.
I guess more of an urgent needto do that with my digital shop.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
You said that like your audiences were different,
so I'm curious, like, who wasyour audience over on your
handmade shop?
And then how did that differfrom the digital audience?
Speaker 2 (11:25):
I could just post it on Facebook and you know friends
and family will want ornaments,you know, because everyone
wants ornaments or whatever.
So it was more that I couldjust post my listings on Etsy
with my physical shop and then,when Christmas time came in, it
would draw customers.
You know, just the end user.
Whereas with digital I findmyself more in laser groups.
(11:46):
So there's a few laser groupson Facebook that are really good
at letting designers post theirnew designs and promote
themselves, and so being a partof that and as well as sending
out emails have been my strategywith digital designs.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
So those laser groups , they allow you to share your
designs in them.
Yes, yes, awesome.
I know there's people that arelike tell me, that's actually
how I first got started with myemail list too, too, were some
of those free.
(12:23):
You know facebook groups.
I mean this was a few yearsback, but they were um svgs for
cricket and silhouette and mesharing those.
Like I had one of them and Ijust took um.
This is a new story for forpeople who are newer to the
podcast, but for those who havebeen around, you've heard this
before.
But I just took my most popularSVG design and shared it to a
(12:54):
couple of those and it was likemy top seller on the shop, which
normally I think people, shopowners are like I don't want to
give that away for free, that'smy best seller.
But sharing that, other peoplein those groups had seen it and
thought it was cute and theyactually wanted it.
So they recognized itimmediately and it went viral
(13:16):
and so my email list grew by4,000 literally overnight, just
by sharing my number one topseller.
So just for anybody listening,like, don't underestimate, like
the power of, of sharing your,your top product has.
Have you had any of yourdesigns like kind of take off
like that and go viral in asense.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
So I did the exact same.
I copied you, I heard the samething.
So, um, and that's how Istarted my email list as well.
So, uh, my best teacher everornament was really big last
Christmas, and so I decided totake that design and offer it as
a free file to anyone whosubscribes, and I put that out
to my laser groups and to anyonewho would allow me to share
(14:03):
that.
And it wasn't 4,000 overnight,but I grew up to 1,000 pretty
quickly, so I think that's areally good strategy.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
Yeah, and then I assume you started sending them
emails after that.
That, Like did you find thatthose same people who got the
initially got the free SVG Werethey buyers after that?
Or how did that look like?
Like, did you immediately havethis, like you know, email us
that you could send emails toand they would actually buy from
(14:36):
you?
Speaker 2 (14:37):
Yes, so right around the same time I started my email
list, I also started my ownwebsite, and I would always
direct my email subscribers tobuy from my website, and so,
based on the sales that I gotfrom my website, I knew that
there really wasn't much elsedirecting them there, and so I
found that those have been mymore loyal customers.
(14:58):
So they'll keep coming back andthey'll ask me for some custom
designs, which, depending onwhat the custom design is, if
it's something that I think willsell well in my store to other
people, I'll take them up on itand then I'll just put it in my
store for anybody.
And so that's where I got tobuild up my listings pretty
(15:20):
quickly, and my shop was fromemail subscribers who got to
know my designs and liked themand kept coming back and buying
them.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
That's amazing and I ask that because I know there's
some.
I mean, these are free SVGgroups, like you know, the
people who go after them, whosign up for them, are interested
in, like you know, the cheapquote, unquote, cheap, free
items.
But there's, from my experience, there's there's definitely
(15:49):
overlap.
You know you have the peoplewho, yeah, they like the free
stuff, but they're also willingto buy, go out and spend money
on something If it, especiallyif it's like something unique,
such as what you sell and whatthey want, why don't you share?
I mean, I'm looking at yourshop but would you mind sharing
(16:11):
for those people who are on thepodcast?
Like, what type of SVGs?
Like?
Looking at your shop, it's veryniche and are they ornaments or
tags or a combination of both?
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Yeah, good question.
So I include a couple ofdifferent variations.
Most people use them asornaments, but they can also be.
I also include a versionwithout the little ornament hook
on top to where they can usethem as well hangings or as
magnets.
I've seen some very creativeways people use them Like.
One person used it as part oftheir cell phone holder, and so
(16:51):
you know it's up to the customerto decide how they want to use
it.
But mainly the way that Imarket it on my Etsy shop is as
an ornament.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
Okay, yeah, really really cool.
So did you decide to sell theseornament SVGs immediately, like
when you opened the shop, basedoff of your previous experience
in your handmade shop and whatpeople are coming to you with,
or did you decide to go andniche down to this particular
(17:23):
product after you opened theshop?
Speaker 2 (17:26):
So I started with just a variety of things because
I didn't really know whatpeople would like.
I started using it with using alot of engraves on my items and
for those that have a Glowforge, you know that engraving is
extremely slow and so just overtime, kind of receiving people's
(17:48):
requests for custom designs,seeing what people are buying,
looking at my best sellers andfiguring out what my customer
wants, that's when I started toreally niche down and when I
finally just put together mypicture perfect customer.
Right.
(18:15):
My perfect customer is theperson that sells at craft fairs
, that has a glow forge, thatdoesn't want to take forever to
cut something out.
So it's always going to besomething that can fit on a glow
forge sized sheet of woodideally multiple designs at once
.
Something that can fit on aGlowforge sized sheet of wood
ideally multiple designs at once.
Something that will cut quickly.
And so that's when I startedexclusively designing cut and
score designs and I just cut outthe engrave altogether.
(18:37):
And a lot of times craftersaren't used to that.
They're used to having engraveand cut.
So it has been a little bit ofa learning curve, with people
messaging me and saying, hey,your design doesn't engrave.
I try to make it explicit evenon the file itself set red to
score, black to cut.
But it's a little bit differentthan what they're used to.
(18:58):
But then once they figure outthat my design's cut a lot
quicker than maybe some otherones, they come back and buy a
bunch more.
So that's kind of how itmorphed for me.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
So did you know how to create a scorable SVG before
me, or was I the one to teachyou that?
No, you were the one to teachme that, so I was hoping that's
what you would say um, so I washoping that's what you would say
, so I knew nothing.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
So well, I can't say I knew nothing, but I learned
like very, very basic designskills on Inkscape.
But there are so many bugs onInkscape, um, and it's free, but
there's so many bugs.
So I was very glad to learnIllustrator and you taught only
the things that we needed toknow to make designs.
But from what you were teaching, you know, I was able to
(19:49):
practice with what you wereteaching and then kind of make
my own methods from there and towhere it is now.
But yes, you're the one thattaught me how to design.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
I mean I wasn't sure, but I was like, huh, I wonder
if this is somewhere else,because when I went in and tried
to figure out how to createthat scorable SPG, I wasn't
finding that solution anywhereonline, and so, as far as Google
was concerned, I didn't thinkit was anywhere else.
So I mean, I was hoping that Iwas the one that taught it to
(20:22):
you, but I was more so curious,and why I was asking was like,
okay, did you learn thatsomewhere else?
Or was it really from me?
Because I was going to be likewhere, where did you?
Because I couldn't find itanywhere.
But yeah, so that I mean Iwasn't really intending to go
into like the design area asmuch, but I think that that's
good for people to know.
I mean, first you went off oflike you said what people were
(20:46):
asking for, but I think it'svery interesting.
Your SVGs are a step ahead ofthe curve compared to your
competitors and you are in aspace where you're having to
educate your customers.
But once they're educated andunderstand how your files are
different than others, I'm surethey come back to your shop and
(21:07):
admire it and you're standingapart from other people that
they would otherwise buy from.
Do you think that and do youmind me sharing just the success
that you've seen and how you'veset up your Etsy shop?
So correct me if I'm wrong, butyou've had 10,000 sales since
(21:28):
last year, right Since 2021.
So do you feel like a part ofwhy you've been able to see the
success that you've seen in yourEtsy shop?
I guess like what seen in yourEtsy shop.
I guess like what?
Speaker 2 (21:41):
what would you contribute that to if you were
to say I think a big part of itis in the laser community.
There are a lot of file sellersbut a lot of the files that
people try to sell are, you know, they have like random nodes
everywhere or imperfections inthe file that make their laser
(22:02):
jump around and it's just notvery.
It either doesn't work or itdoesn't work very well.
And just doing, you know, asyou taught, and going back and
making sure there's not anystray nodes and like wonky lines
going on every which way andjust cleaning up your file that,
I think more than anything else, is what sets people apart you
(22:25):
know, from everybody else that Imean, like the people that take
your course I didn't realize itat the time that I was taking
the course that not everybodydid that.
People see that they can make alot of passive income by selling
designs and so they justsloppily crank out a design or
sometimes it's, you know, it'simage, traced from something and
there's just a lot of thingswrong with it.
(22:46):
But taking the time to makesure that all of your lines are
straight or however they shouldbe, and that the design is clean
is a game changer for somecustomers, because sometimes
they buy a file and then theyspend three hours having to
clean it up, where they couldhave used that time to just
design it themselves anyway.
And you test all of your filestoo?
(23:07):
Yes, so every design that Imake, I cut it out on the
Glowforge and I take pictures ofit because I want to show my
customers that this is how itlooks when it's cut out and that
it works, and that I've testedit and that I have a Glowforge
and so you know it'll work forthem, and it also allows me to
have consistency in my photos.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
Awesome.
And like when you decided toniche down to the ornaments, do
you feel like that helped yourshop?
I think many times people think, oh, that would turn people off
.
You know just doing a veryniche product, but but you know,
from your standpoint did it,did it help or did it turn
(23:52):
people away?
From your standpoint?
Speaker 2 (23:53):
did it help or did it turn people away?
Well, it kind of evolvedwithout me really like steering
the ship.
I guess the customers were kindof steering the ship and then I
just kept getting requests tolike, for example, I'll make an
ornament for doctors, and thensomeone would message me and say
hey, I want one for an engineeror whatever.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
A dog groomer?
Yeah, or a dog groomer On yourshop I'm looking at right now.
Speaker 2 (24:18):
And so that would give me a reason to design that
and I thought it was just kindof fun the way it evolved.
But taking a step back now andthinking most of my sales do
come, you know, fourth quarter,because people are looking for
Christmas and ornament designsin the future, I'm wanting to
branch out from that more andstill, still um think of designs
(24:42):
for my target customer, so thatperson who wants to sell quick
and quick, cut um things fromthe glow forge, but also branch
out to do things other thanornaments, so that I can have
more consistent sales throughoutthe year rather than mostly at
the end of the year, love it,and are you getting more
(25:04):
admirers now than you havebefore, like people favoriting
your shop than like what you didin the beginning, or has it
like just kind of stayed thesame?
That's kind of a more in-depthquestion, but yeah, that's a
good question, I will say and Idon't want to derail the topic
(25:25):
too much but a year ago I wasselling a file that was
extremely popular, and so, interms of revenue, I've actually
seen a decrease in revenue thisyear as compared in comparison
to last year, even though salesas a number have gone up.
So total sales have gone up andrevenue have gone down, because
last year I sold a bundle thatultimately ended up being a
(25:48):
trademark issue that I wasunaware of, so it got removed
from Etsy and most of my saleswere from that file, and so
that's when I learned the lessonof, you know, making sure I'm
being fastidious and checkingthe trademarks and making sure
that everything that I design isgood to go and not trademarked.
So that was a bit of a lessonfor me.
(26:09):
And so back to your question.
I've seen more sales and I'vehad more customers this year,
although last year it was morebecause of that one, you know,
popular file.
Speaker 1 (26:23):
Well, I hope you'll get another one of those moving
forward.
It's like you know, those arethe golden nuggets that we each
wish for.
I, I, I still have, like that,that design that actually went
viral.
It still brings me just a bigchunk of sales each season, each
fall, and so even years later,like if you have one of those
(26:46):
and you find it.
And it's like every designerand shop owners like, dream, you
know, to find, find that onedesign that just you know sticks
, you know, year after year, andI'm it's unfortunate that that
one of all was also the one thatwas trademarked.
But, yeah, shucks, hopefully,yeah, you'll find another one.
But you are on top of it, likeyour shop has so many cute, cute
(27:10):
things and I think you know,just looking at this, when I
landed on it, I'm like, okay, ifI ever need a tag, I need to
come and find this girl, becauseI think that I mean even your
design it's very specific.
Like I mean, really it's thesame design over and over and
over, just with different wordsand different, you know, instead
(27:31):
of like a cheerleader, if it'slike the dog groomer, it's a paw
, you know, and you just switchout things like that Was that?
Well, and you kind of alreadysaid it, but that was more just
a natural evolution rather thana part of your strategy going
into this.
Is that correct?
Because I'm looking at thislike such a good strategy, like
(27:53):
all she has to do is change thewording and add a couple, you
know, like pretty much clip artpieces, like swap those out, and
it's essentially the samedesign over and over and over,
minus those things.
Right?
Speaker 2 (28:06):
Yep, yep, that's your .
You hit the nail on the head.
So it got to a point where Igot so good at designing that
one thing, you know just switchout a couple of pieces, I can.
I can stick with the same base,and you know I already have a
design of a paw print and youknow I have a several dog files.
So, um, using as much as of theprevious designs that I can and
(28:28):
not re, you know, redoingeverything over and over again
makes it so it's a lot moreefficient.
So for me, the design part isactually it does not take very
long at all.
It's mostly the cutting out andthe taking pictures and the
listing part that's a little bitmore time consuming, yeah.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
Yeah, and you do have pictures of every single one of
your items and I would imaginethat that helps to boost you a
little bit and set you apartfrom others on Etsy, because not
everybody has that.
So I'm just impressed.
I'm impressed every angle.
I look at your shop I'm likeman, she's just killing it and
(29:08):
I'm so excited for you.
So to end off, a couple lastquestions.
So how, you said that you werein marketing, right, that was
your day job.
Like that's what you did for acareer before you started doing.
Speaker 2 (29:22):
Etsy.
That's what I majored incollege, and then I married my
husband right after I got out ofcollege, and so that was when
the military kind of moved useverywhere.
So I only recently um startedhaving a day job, and it is in
marketing.
I work for a charity and do themarketing for a charity.
Speaker 1 (29:41):
Okay, so how does this source of income differ
from that source of income?
I mean obviously more passive.
Do you mind sharing like, howare you, were you able to, like
replace your income?
You don't have to give me, youknow specific numbers, but is it
?
Is it pretty comparable orabove and beyond, or where are
(30:04):
you at as far as that?
Speaker 2 (30:06):
Well, to kind of understand.
So I mentioned my husband wasin the military, but then he got
medically retired last year andso that was when I started
working outside the home wasbecause he lost his job, and so
before that I had been, you know, just working on my shops and
taking care of the kids, but hehasn't found a job.
A couple of months ago, but Iliked my job so much that I
(30:26):
decided to keep it.
But as far as you know how theincome, how it's different is
that you know here it's for meit is the passive income aspect
of it and for me it's it's my.
You talked about a lot of timeslike what is your why?
(30:48):
And for me the why is to beable to do fun things and then
also to be able to feel what Ifeel is like my calling in life.
And right now I feel like mycalling is to to do this and
then to use the um money that Iget to be able to help people
when they need it or to, youknow, leave a $200 tip at the
(31:08):
restaurant or you know, likelittle things like that that
I've always wanted to be able todo, but I haven't had the
resources for it.
On top of being able to dothings like go on a cruise with
my husband, which we got backfrom our cruise yesterday, I was
able to take a weekend cruisewith him.
You know, you have a glow aboutyou.
Speaker 1 (31:25):
You're a little bit too tan for this time of year.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
Yeah, yeah, that's why we got to go to the Bahamas.
So it was just doing being ableto do those things.
You know, take trips with myfamily and, um, do those little
things.
That that is my why.
And so, uh, and that's why I, Ido this.
And you know, there will bedays when I'm at my day job and
I'm like I already earned morein my on my Etsy shop than I
(31:53):
will on my day job for the restof the week and I'm just like,
why am I still here?
And maybe that will change.
You know, it used to befull-time and I just started
going part-time and so I'm verymuch a believer of adapting
according to whatevercircumstance you're in and what
you feel called to do.
So that was a very convolutedresponse to your question.
No, I love it.
So that was a very convolutedresponse to your question.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
No, I love it.
I love it.
So how much time do you putinto your Etsy shop each week?
Speaker 2 (32:20):
That's a good question.
So right now I am putting zerotime into my digital shop except
to answer messages, because Ihave I still have my physical
shop and you know it's Christmasand orders are very busy, so
you're putting more time over.
Yeah, over there right now, butyou know, during the off season
in the summer, early fall, Iprobably spend, I try to work on
(32:44):
it a little bit every daybecause I have a day job.
I work on it in the evenings,you know, after the kids are on
bed.
I'll do some designing um anhour or two a day and I try to
batch, you know, to save on time.
So design a couple of days aweek and then spend a couple of
days um doing the SVG creationprocess and um engraving my
(33:08):
items and taking pictures ofthem and things like that.
Um, so it just for me.
It just depends on the season,um, but yeah, probably just a
few hours a week generally.
Speaker 1 (33:20):
Okay, do you see yourself ever doing this like
full time again?
Or do you like having, like thediverse you know, going and
actually seeing people?
That's that's what I strugglewith.
Like you know, sometimesworking from home, I miss adult
(33:42):
conversation like in person.
You know, it's nice talking toyou and and connecting with
people, of course, virtually,but it's like, yeah, it'd be
nice to see another adult faceinstead of a four and
five-year-old.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (33:57):
Yeah, I know what you mean.
For me, right now, where I amright now, feels good.
So I really do enjoy my day job.
I enjoy shipping out thingsstill, and that's why I keep
doing my physical shop, becauseI enjoy it.
I still, I still love designingdigital things, so I I for me,
(34:18):
I kind of have a little bit ofADHD, and so being able to do
like a lot of things instead offocusing just on one helps me a
lot.
So, but it might change in thefuture.
Next year I might grow to notlike my job and, you know, want
to focus more on the digitalthings, but for right now I
enjoy how, where I am.
Speaker 1 (34:42):
So for anybody who is kind of just feeling a little
bit deflated, who has started anEtsy shop, who would love that
passive income, who would likethings to be more automated, but
they're, for whatever reason,just having a hard time, what
(35:03):
would be, I guess, words ofencouragement to those people
who are listening, who are inthat position?
Speaker 2 (35:10):
I feel like everybody has been there and it's just a
matter of like you said and youhit it on the nail when you said
you have to concentrate on yourwhy.
Why are you doing this?
And sometimes it's just gettingthrough another day.
In the earlier days, when Iwasn't selling very many, I
would just think, okay, if I canjust get out five designs a
(35:32):
week for two months, if I canjust get through this period and
be able to get more designs inmy shop and, just you know, be
able to have that mindset andfocus, you just keep plugging
through and you'll be successful, and I am a strong believer in
that.
You will be successful if youkeep on trying, and sometimes
(35:55):
that does mean pivoting, andsometimes that means selling the
type of designs that you didn'tthink you would be.
I've had to pivot so many timesfrom things that weren't working
, from my silly little bathroomsigns to like little.
There were a couple of justkind of ridiculous ideas that
I've had that I spent a lot oftime on, but I'm glad that I did
(36:18):
it, because then I learned thisisn't what I'm supposed to do,
this isn't what my customer islooking for, and it's through
those mistakes that I can see.
Okay, this is what.
This isn't working.
Let me try this and keep ondoing several things until you
find what works For me.
I think you know, as you say,the riches are in the niches,
(36:38):
but it wasn't always that way.
I didn't always have such anarrowed down focus.
It's just doing several thingsand finding out what works for
you and what works for yourcustomer, and then it's.
It's a process.
So what I would say is don'tgive up.
Don't give up.
You can do this.
Find your why.
(36:59):
Listen to some of Casey'spodcasts.
Some of them are reallymotivating and she does a really
good job of that of just andsometimes, yeah, so just listen
to her podcast, that will getyou through a bad day.
Um, I found a lot of motivationin those as well.
Speaker 1 (37:16):
Well, thank you I.
I wasn't expecting that to beyour answer, but I but I
appreciate, I appreciate thecompliments there, but I, you
know, while you were talking,the thing that stuck out to me
was how many times you quote,unquote, failed or what could be
considered as failure, whatothers would see as failure.
(37:38):
I don't know if this was yourmindset while going through it,
but you learned something fromeach of those that led you to
where you are now, and it's likeyou know you've arrived, you
(38:00):
know like you're finally here,and so I think that that to me
you know, if I were new, didn'thave an Etsy shop, hadn't seen
success, that would be amotivator to me, and I hope it's
a motivator to those of you whoare in that position, who are
listening.
Even though something hasn'tworked out, you know a handmade
(38:23):
shop, you know this or that,like there's still things that
you've learned from that thatwill help you when you have
found that thing.
So just keep going.
And I love your story, marie.
I think that it will inspire somany and encourage so many,
especially those who just feellike they can't find it right
(38:45):
now.
I think that you have sharedjust so much great advice and
thank you so much for coming on.
I really appreciate that.
Where can people go to learnmore about you?
Speaker 2 (38:58):
Well, I have a website glowyourdesigncom and I
have an Etsy shopglowyourdesignetsycom and I'm
not so much into social media,so you won't find me there.
I think I have like five postson Instagram and like 10
followers, so I'm not so muchinto social media.
But, um, yeah, and you canalways shoot me a message, um,
(39:20):
or email me, I guess.
Speaker 1 (39:22):
And you've been able to grow your shop to 10,000 sale
orders without social media.
I'm not a big fan of socialmedia.
Yeah Well, that's amazing, likeyou know, listening to podcasts
from other marketers andentrepreneurs.
It's like social media, socialmedia, social media.
(39:42):
But I love this space becauseyou actually don't need social
media, especially on Etsy.
Like, if your buyers are there,heck, with social media, you
know you can get started and youknow, maybe an email list
actually like that I, from whatI'm hearing from you and and
other people who have Etsy shopslike that is helping so much
(40:04):
more than social media is now.
Social media is important.
I didn't mean to go off on thistangent but but wanted to put my
two cents in here.
I mean social media isimportant.
I didn't mean to go off on thistangent, but wanted to put my
two cents in here.
I mean social media, it canhelp your business.
I'm not saying that it can't,but it's possible and even, I
think, the preferred way by manyover on Etsy who are just
getting started.
(40:25):
It's like your buyers arealready there.
There's no convincing that hasto happen over on social media
because they're already activelylooking to buy from you over on
Etsy.
So, anyways, thought that I'dend on that note.
All right, is there anythingelse that you would like to add
before heading out?
Speaker 2 (40:44):
No, when you were talking about social media,
actually, I just thought ofsomething that might be really
helpful to your listeners.
So something that I've done toto grow my email list.
Now that you know the new file,fat has kind of been, has kind
of died down, but I'm stillgetting daily subscribers,
because if you go through theemail subscriber, a Weber and
(41:07):
I'm not an affiliate with themor anything but a Weber will
connect to your Etsy account aswell as to your website, to
where, whenever people buy fromyou, they're automatically
clicked in to be subscribed toyour email list, and they just
have to be.
They have to click out if theydon't want to get your emails,
and so that's a way to naturally, over time, grow your email
list and grow more of a customerbase and grow more loyal
(41:30):
customers.
That I've seen to be prettyeffective.
So I didn't mean like, I justwanted to put that in there
somewhere.
Speaker 1 (41:35):
Absolutely yeah, and I, with the Etsy policy.
You have to get theirpermission and I believe it's
been a while since I used Aweber.
But I believe, like Aweber,they have to opt in and so, yeah
, you contact them, but theyhave to, like, click that button
that says that they are finewith you contacting them and
(41:57):
being on your email list.
So it is Etsy compliant as faras I'm aware.
Don't quote me, go check yourown businesses and read up on
this.
But yeah, thank you for sharingthat, because a lot of people
don't know about Aweber and Ican already tell we'll probably
get more questions about thatafter this episode airs.
But anyways, all right, thanksso much, marie.
Speaker 2 (42:19):
Thank you, it was great talking to you.
Speaker 1 (42:22):
Wasn't that such a great episode with Marie?
I really enjoyed just talkingto her, picking her brain a bit
and hearing her story of how,even though she had a few
different shops that some peoplewould consider as a failure,
that didn't work out.
I love how she was able to landon a certain type, a specific
(42:43):
product that served hercustomers and was exactly what
they were needing and, by theway, not using social media at
all to build up her shop.
And she's educating hercustomers and something that
they have never really dealtwith before and this is new to
them.
And so this is how you guys canbe setting your shops aside.
(43:07):
You can set yourself apart fromthe competition and offer
something that people areneeding, just by really honing
in on your customers and on acertain product type.
I loved everything about thisinterview.
I think Marie is killing it.
Be sure to go over and checkout her shop Now.
(43:28):
If you are in the position ofyou know you don't have sales
where you want them to be youare going through this kind of a
slump in your shop.
Your shop is underperformingwhere it used to be, you know,
selling like hotcakes, but now,for whatever reason, you are
experiencing a lull.
(43:48):
I have something for you.
You heard me talk about it inlast week's episode.
During my break from thepodcast, I was watching Etsy.
I was constantly monitoringjust the performance of other
shops and watching what peoplewere doing wrong and what people
were doing right.
At the same time, we've beentrying new things over on our
(44:12):
Etsy shop and in our business.
And even if you are a brand newEtsy shop and you haven't seen
sales come in, this will stillhelp, especially those of you
who are in the early stages oflaunching your Etsy shop.
So go and take this brand newchallenge over at pinandposhcom
forward slash challenge.
I've created this specificallyfor you.
(44:34):
It is foolproof to increasingsales when you follow this
process, when you stick to itand do it correctly.
So again, pinandposhcom forwardslash challenge.
It is completely free to you.
Go sign up and you'll getaccess to that challenge
immediately.
All right, you guys have agreat rest of your week and I'll
see you next time.
Bye.
As natural creatives, we love our projects, we love
our craft time and we'll neversay no to a quick trip to
Michael's.
Although running a handmadebusiness is rewarding, it can
also be overwhelming.
Hey, creative mamas, kasey here, and as a mother of two feisty
toddlers and a business ownermyself, I get the nap time
(00:20):
hustle and live it daily.
Managing the house, jugglingthe kids and getting those
orders out on time can train thelife right out of us.
But what if there was a way toconvert that business of yours
into an online passive incomegenerating machine?
Well, I'm here to tell you it'snot only possible, but
completely yours for the taking.
(00:40):
I'm on a mission to give all ofthe nap time hustling crafty
moms out there the right tools,systems and strategies needed to
convert your own businessesinto consistent yet flexible
income online, all while doingwhat you do best creating.
So put those kiddos down fortheir nap, pop in some earbuds
(01:00):
and kick back.
This is where you stop tradingtime for dollars.
This is where you claim yourlife back.
This is the Naptime HustlePodcast.
Hello, hello, welcome to thisweek's episode.
So in this episode, I'm superexcited to share with you
everything that we talk about,because, if you have ever wished
(01:22):
that you could just find thatone product design that you
could just, you know, change oneor two things but sell over and
over and over again withouthaving to start from scratch in
the design concept.
This is your episode, becauseMarie from Glow your Design, she
(01:44):
did just this.
She had a few handmade shopsselling physical products that
she would actually ship and sendto her buyers.
This eventually led her toselling digital SVG files.
So, after launching her shop in2021, she was able to hone in
on her customer offer, customorders, set her products apart
(02:08):
from the competition and land onthis one very niche type of
product, and all of this led to10,000 sale orders.
So there's definitely a lot thatI think you will take away from
this episode.
So, without further ado, let'sgo ahead and dig right in.
Hey Marie, welcome on to thepodcast.
(02:40):
Thank you so much.
Podcast.
Thank you so much.
Why don't you start us off?
Tell us a little bit aboutyourself and how you got into
selling SVGs.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
Well, I, my name is Marie, I am living in Dayton,
ohio, but I am married to aretired Air Force officer.
He recently retired from themilitary.
But, um, um, when we were firstmarried, we were in Utah and
then California and then here,and, um, I've kind of always
(03:14):
been an entrepreneur.
Like in Utah we had a lot ofland, so we got to sell uh
produce from our garden, andthen, when we moved to
California, I started adriftwood art business and
selling driftwood art online,because we lived right on the
beach and it was beautiful and Itook advantage of it and we
were there for five years.
(03:35):
But then, being in the military,we move often, and so three
years ago he got orders to cometo here in Dayton and so I
couldn't continue with mydriftwood art business, and so
it was then that I wanted tofigure out something else to do
that wasn't dependent on wherewe were stationed, so something
(03:57):
that I could bring with mewherever we went.
And I had purchased a Glowforgeback in California and I wasn't
using it at the time because ofmy driftwood, but when we moved
here it provided the perfectopportunity.
So I looked into selling itemsthat I could make from the
(04:26):
Glowforge, and I did not haveany design experience whatsoever
.
And so I started doing someYouTube tutorials for Inkscape
and kind of got you know that Iwas able to do very basic
designs from that.
But I wanted to learn how todesign in more detail.
And so that's when I just didsome internet searches and I
found Casey's course online andsigned up for it in the fall of
2020.
And so that's when I felt thatmy quality of design has really
(04:48):
improved and through the wayI've kind of sold different
things both in my physical Ihave a physical shop as well as
a digital shop and so it's mydesign style has kind of morphed
since there.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
Since then, Did your physical shop?
Is that where you initiallysold your driftwood projects, or
is this your physical shop?
Is it a new shop?
Speaker 2 (05:12):
It's a new shop, so my driftwood art business was a
completely separate shop andwhen I moved here I created a
new shop for digital design I'msorry for physical designs where
I also started selling digitaldesigns in that same shop before
I decided to that it was moreappropriate to start a new shop
for solely digital designs.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
So what were you selling in that shop?
Was it the same style of likewhat you're now creating on the
digital side?
Speaker 2 (05:46):
No, it ran the gamut.
So I started with funnybathroom signs, so I tried to
make like clever bathroom signsand I had never heard of scoring
, and so it was just engravingand cutting and it would take
forever on Glowforge and nobodywas buying them.
And this was spring of 20, itwas winter of 2020.
And so spring of 2020, aseveryone knows, the pandemic hit
(06:08):
and I I started selling earsavers for face masks, and so I
was able to crank those out.
Yeah, ear savers.
So when you have a face mask,the when the pandemic first
started, a lot of times the earloops would hurt the back of
people's ears because they werelower quality, and so people
(06:30):
would buy ear savers that wouldconnect the ear straps to the
back of your head so that theywouldn't hurt the back of your
ears.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
I could have used those.
I would have been your numberone customer had I known those
existed.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
So, yeah, I sold those for a while and did well,
but then, you know, eventuallypeople didn't need them as much
anymore and so I pivoted andthen I started selling little
vaccinated pins back in it wasbeginning of 2021.
And they were just like COVIDvaccinated pins that, like
medical personnel, would wearanybody that just wanted to show
(07:09):
that they were vaccinated, backwhen you know, not a lot of
people were.
And so that did well for awhile and then just really went
downhill and so I had to decideokay, you know, I've been kind
of chasing these fads and theybe they're doing well for a
while, but then, you know, theyonly last for so long and I was
thinking I really want to getinto a business where I don't
(07:34):
have to constantly chase thingslike that, something that can be
a little bit more evergreen.
And so that's when I startedtaking your course and learning
how to design digital files andI still wanted it to.
I still wanted to use myGlowforge, because that's what I
was familiar with and that'swhat I knew, and so I would test
those designs on the Glowforgeand it would just kind of adapt
(07:55):
from there.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
I noticed.
So it seems like your pastbusiness ventures were medical,
more medical based.
Do you have a medicalbackground or I?
Speaker 2 (08:08):
don't.
I have a marketing backgroundactually, and so that was when I
was like, okay, what do peopleneed at this point in time?
And I found a need and filledit.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
Okay, just curious, just curious.
But yeah, that's really cooland so you decided to go this
more digital route.
Was there any other likereasoning to that?
Or was it just like the passiveincome kind of appealed to you
more?
Or did you like the design partmore?
(08:38):
Like which part of it?
A?
Speaker 2 (08:40):
little of both.
So once I took your course andgot to learn a little bit more
of the design elements inIllustrator, I really enjoyed it
.
I it got so busy to where Iwasn't able to sleep and I was
(09:10):
just like there has to be abetter way.
Yeah, so I do still sell somephysical items, but I wanted to
also have a separate incomestream.
I wanted to diversify my incomeand have that passive piece.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
It really appealed to me.
Do you feel like the transitionfrom selling physical items on
Etsy to selling the digitalitems was that pretty liquid?
Was it pretty fluid?
Or do you feel like there was abig change as far as marketing
goes and your Etsy shop?
Speaker 2 (09:45):
big change as far as like marketing goes and like
your Etsy shop.
Well, I mean, I had to switchthe way I did marketing a little
bit because of my audience andanother thing that I that was a
little bit difficult for me wasjust making sure that the buyer
knew that they were buying adigital file.
So that's what ultimately mademe start a separate shop for my
digital files, because I'd havea buyer buy a digital file and
(10:07):
they, you know, three weekslater they'd message me where's
my item, you know, cause it wasmessed up.
It was mixed in with myphysical items.
So, um, I had to pivot a littlebit there.
Um, and then I feel like, withdigital items, you know, a lot
of the same components aresimilar in that you need good
(10:30):
photos and you know good SEO andall of those things about in
the past to eventually startyour own website and grow your
own email list and find your ownpeople, rather than relying on
Etsy for all of that.
(10:51):
So I felt that more, I guess.
I guess more of an urgent needto do that with my digital shop.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
You said that like your audiences were different,
so I'm curious, like, who wasyour audience over on your
handmade shop?
And then how did that differfrom the digital audience?
Speaker 2 (11:25):
I could just post it on Facebook and you know friends
and family will want ornaments,you know, because everyone
wants ornaments or whatever.
So it was more that I couldjust post my listings on Etsy
with my physical shop and then,when Christmas time came in, it
would draw customers.
You know, just the end user.
Whereas with digital I findmyself more in laser groups.
(11:46):
So there's a few laser groupson Facebook that are really good
at letting designers post theirnew designs and promote
themselves, and so being a partof that and as well as sending
out emails have been my strategywith digital designs.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
So those laser groups , they allow you to share your
designs in them.
Yes, yes, awesome.
I know there's people that arelike tell me, that's actually
how I first got started with myemail list too, too, were some
of those free.
(12:23):
You know facebook groups.
I mean this was a few yearsback, but they were um svgs for
cricket and silhouette and mesharing those.
Like I had one of them and Ijust took um.
This is a new story for forpeople who are newer to the
podcast, but for those who havebeen around, you've heard this
before.
But I just took my most popularSVG design and shared it to a
(12:54):
couple of those and it was likemy top seller on the shop, which
normally I think people, shopowners are like I don't want to
give that away for free, that'smy best seller.
But sharing that, other peoplein those groups had seen it and
thought it was cute and theyactually wanted it.
So they recognized itimmediately and it went viral
(13:16):
and so my email list grew by4,000 literally overnight, just
by sharing my number one topseller.
So just for anybody listening,like, don't underestimate, like
the power of, of sharing your,your top product has.
Have you had any of yourdesigns like kind of take off
like that and go viral in asense.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
So I did the exact same.
I copied you, I heard the samething.
So, um, and that's how Istarted my email list as well.
So, uh, my best teacher everornament was really big last
Christmas, and so I decided totake that design and offer it as
a free file to anyone whosubscribes, and I put that out
to my laser groups and to anyonewho would allow me to share
(14:03):
that.
And it wasn't 4,000 overnight,but I grew up to 1,000 pretty
quickly, so I think that's areally good strategy.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
Yeah, and then I assume you started sending them
emails after that.
That, Like did you find thatthose same people who got the
initially got the free SVG Werethey buyers after that?
Or how did that look like?
Like, did you immediately havethis, like you know, email us
that you could send emails toand they would actually buy from
(14:36):
you?
Speaker 2 (14:37):
Yes, so right around the same time I started my email
list, I also started my ownwebsite, and I would always
direct my email subscribers tobuy from my website, and so,
based on the sales that I gotfrom my website, I knew that
there really wasn't much elsedirecting them there, and so I
found that those have been mymore loyal customers.
(14:58):
So they'll keep coming back andthey'll ask me for some custom
designs, which, depending onwhat the custom design is, if
it's something that I think willsell well in my store to other
people, I'll take them up on itand then I'll just put it in my
store for anybody.
And so that's where I got tobuild up my listings pretty
(15:20):
quickly, and my shop was fromemail subscribers who got to
know my designs and liked themand kept coming back and buying
them.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
That's amazing and I ask that because I know there's
some.
I mean, these are free SVGgroups, like you know, the
people who go after them, whosign up for them, are interested
in, like you know, the cheapquote, unquote, cheap, free
items.
But there's, from my experience, there's there's definitely
(15:49):
overlap.
You know you have the peoplewho, yeah, they like the free
stuff, but they're also willingto buy, go out and spend money
on something If it, especiallyif it's like something unique,
such as what you sell and whatthey want, why don't you share?
I mean, I'm looking at yourshop but would you mind sharing
(16:11):
for those people who are on thepodcast?
Like, what type of SVGs?
Like?
Looking at your shop, it's veryniche and are they ornaments or
tags or a combination of both?
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Yeah, good question.
So I include a couple ofdifferent variations.
Most people use them asornaments, but they can also be.
I also include a versionwithout the little ornament hook
on top to where they can usethem as well hangings or as
magnets.
I've seen some very creativeways people use them Like.
One person used it as part oftheir cell phone holder, and so
(16:51):
you know it's up to the customerto decide how they want to use
it.
But mainly the way that Imarket it on my Etsy shop is as
an ornament.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
Okay, yeah, really really cool.
So did you decide to sell theseornament SVGs immediately, like
when you opened the shop, basedoff of your previous experience
in your handmade shop and whatpeople are coming to you with,
or did you decide to go andniche down to this particular
(17:23):
product after you opened theshop?
Speaker 2 (17:26):
So I started with just a variety of things because
I didn't really know whatpeople would like.
I started using it with using alot of engraves on my items and
for those that have a Glowforge, you know that engraving is
extremely slow and so just overtime, kind of receiving people's
(17:48):
requests for custom designs,seeing what people are buying,
looking at my best sellers andfiguring out what my customer
wants, that's when I started toreally niche down and when I
finally just put together mypicture perfect customer.
Right.
(18:15):
My perfect customer is theperson that sells at craft fairs
, that has a glow forge, thatdoesn't want to take forever to
cut something out.
So it's always going to besomething that can fit on a glow
forge sized sheet of woodideally multiple designs at once
.
Something that can fit on aGlowforge sized sheet of wood
ideally multiple designs at once.
Something that will cut quickly.
And so that's when I startedexclusively designing cut and
score designs and I just cut outthe engrave altogether.
(18:37):
And a lot of times craftersaren't used to that.
They're used to having engraveand cut.
So it has been a little bit ofa learning curve, with people
messaging me and saying, hey,your design doesn't engrave.
I try to make it explicit evenon the file itself set red to
score, black to cut.
But it's a little bit differentthan what they're used to.
(18:58):
But then once they figure outthat my design's cut a lot
quicker than maybe some otherones, they come back and buy a
bunch more.
So that's kind of how itmorphed for me.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
So did you know how to create a scorable SVG before
me, or was I the one to teachyou that?
No, you were the one to teachme that, so I was hoping that's
what you would say um, so I washoping that's what you would say
, so I knew nothing.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
So well, I can't say I knew nothing, but I learned
like very, very basic designskills on Inkscape.
But there are so many bugs onInkscape, um, and it's free, but
there's so many bugs.
So I was very glad to learnIllustrator and you taught only
the things that we needed toknow to make designs.
But from what you were teaching, you know, I was able to
(19:49):
practice with what you wereteaching and then kind of make
my own methods from there and towhere it is now.
But yes, you're the one thattaught me how to design.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
I mean I wasn't sure, but I was like, huh, I wonder
if this is somewhere else,because when I went in and tried
to figure out how to createthat scorable SPG, I wasn't
finding that solution anywhereonline, and so, as far as Google
was concerned, I didn't thinkit was anywhere else.
So I mean, I was hoping that Iwas the one that taught it to
(20:22):
you, but I was more so curious,and why I was asking was like,
okay, did you learn thatsomewhere else?
Or was it really from me?
Because I was going to be likewhere, where did you?
Because I couldn't find itanywhere.
But yeah, so that I mean Iwasn't really intending to go
into like the design area asmuch, but I think that that's
good for people to know.
I mean, first you went off oflike you said what people were
(20:46):
asking for, but I think it'svery interesting.
Your SVGs are a step ahead ofthe curve compared to your
competitors and you are in aspace where you're having to
educate your customers.
But once they're educated andunderstand how your files are
different than others, I'm surethey come back to your shop and
(21:07):
admire it and you're standingapart from other people that
they would otherwise buy from.
Do you think that and do youmind me sharing just the success
that you've seen and how you'veset up your Etsy shop?
So correct me if I'm wrong, butyou've had 10,000 sales since
(21:28):
last year, right Since 2021.
So do you feel like a part ofwhy you've been able to see the
success that you've seen in yourEtsy shop?
I guess like what seen in yourEtsy shop.
I guess like what?
Speaker 2 (21:41):
what would you contribute that to if you were
to say I think a big part of itis in the laser community.
There are a lot of file sellersbut a lot of the files that
people try to sell are, you know, they have like random nodes
everywhere or imperfections inthe file that make their laser
(22:02):
jump around and it's just notvery.
It either doesn't work or itdoesn't work very well.
And just doing, you know, asyou taught, and going back and
making sure there's not anystray nodes and like wonky lines
going on every which way andjust cleaning up your file that,
I think more than anything else, is what sets people apart you
(22:25):
know, from everybody else that Imean, like the people that take
your course I didn't realize itat the time that I was taking
the course that not everybodydid that.
People see that they can make alot of passive income by selling
designs and so they justsloppily crank out a design or
sometimes it's, you know, it'simage, traced from something and
there's just a lot of thingswrong with it.
(22:46):
But taking the time to makesure that all of your lines are
straight or however they shouldbe, and that the design is clean
is a game changer for somecustomers, because sometimes
they buy a file and then theyspend three hours having to
clean it up, where they couldhave used that time to just
design it themselves anyway.
And you test all of your filestoo?
(23:07):
Yes, so every design that Imake, I cut it out on the
Glowforge and I take pictures ofit because I want to show my
customers that this is how itlooks when it's cut out and that
it works, and that I've testedit and that I have a Glowforge
and so you know it'll work forthem, and it also allows me to
have consistency in my photos.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
Awesome.
And like when you decided toniche down to the ornaments, do
you feel like that helped yourshop?
I think many times people think, oh, that would turn people off
.
You know just doing a veryniche product, but but you know,
from your standpoint did it,did it help or did it turn
(23:52):
people away?
From your standpoint?
Speaker 2 (23:53):
did it help or did it turn people away?
Well, it kind of evolvedwithout me really like steering
the ship.
I guess the customers were kindof steering the ship and then I
just kept getting requests tolike, for example, I'll make an
ornament for doctors, and thensomeone would message me and say
hey, I want one for an engineeror whatever.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
A dog groomer?
Yeah, or a dog groomer On yourshop I'm looking at right now.
Speaker 2 (24:18):
And so that would give me a reason to design that
and I thought it was just kindof fun the way it evolved.
But taking a step back now andthinking most of my sales do
come, you know, fourth quarter,because people are looking for
Christmas and ornament designsin the future, I'm wanting to
branch out from that more andstill, still um think of designs
(24:42):
for my target customer, so thatperson who wants to sell quick
and quick, cut um things fromthe glow forge, but also branch
out to do things other thanornaments, so that I can have
more consistent sales throughoutthe year rather than mostly at
the end of the year, love it,and are you getting more
(25:04):
admirers now than you havebefore, like people favoriting
your shop than like what you didin the beginning, or has it
like just kind of stayed thesame?
That's kind of a more in-depthquestion, but yeah, that's a
good question, I will say and Idon't want to derail the topic
(25:25):
too much but a year ago I wasselling a file that was
extremely popular, and so, interms of revenue, I've actually
seen a decrease in revenue thisyear as compared in comparison
to last year, even though salesas a number have gone up.
So total sales have gone up andrevenue have gone down, because
last year I sold a bundle thatultimately ended up being a
(25:48):
trademark issue that I wasunaware of, so it got removed
from Etsy and most of my saleswere from that file, and so
that's when I learned the lessonof, you know, making sure I'm
being fastidious and checkingthe trademarks and making sure
that everything that I design isgood to go and not trademarked.
So that was a bit of a lessonfor me.
(26:09):
And so back to your question.
I've seen more sales and I'vehad more customers this year,
although last year it was morebecause of that one, you know,
popular file.
Speaker 1 (26:23):
Well, I hope you'll get another one of those moving
forward.
It's like you know, those arethe golden nuggets that we each
wish for.
I, I, I still have, like that,that design that actually went
viral.
It still brings me just a bigchunk of sales each season, each
fall, and so even years later,like if you have one of those
(26:46):
and you find it.
And it's like every designerand shop owners like, dream, you
know, to find, find that onedesign that just you know sticks
, you know, year after year, andI'm it's unfortunate that that
one of all was also the one thatwas trademarked.
But, yeah, shucks, hopefully,yeah, you'll find another one.
But you are on top of it, likeyour shop has so many cute, cute
(27:10):
things and I think you know,just looking at this, when I
landed on it, I'm like, okay, ifI ever need a tag, I need to
come and find this girl, becauseI think that I mean even your
design it's very specific.
Like I mean, really it's thesame design over and over and
over, just with different wordsand different, you know, instead
(27:31):
of like a cheerleader, if it'slike the dog groomer, it's a paw
, you know, and you just switchout things like that Was that?
Well, and you kind of alreadysaid it, but that was more just
a natural evolution rather thana part of your strategy going
into this.
Is that correct?
Because I'm looking at thislike such a good strategy, like
(27:53):
all she has to do is change thewording and add a couple, you
know, like pretty much clip artpieces, like swap those out, and
it's essentially the samedesign over and over and over,
minus those things.
Right?
Speaker 2 (28:06):
Yep, yep, that's your .
You hit the nail on the head.
So it got to a point where Igot so good at designing that
one thing, you know just switchout a couple of pieces, I can.
I can stick with the same base,and you know I already have a
design of a paw print and youknow I have a several dog files.
So, um, using as much as of theprevious designs that I can and
(28:28):
not re, you know, redoingeverything over and over again
makes it so it's a lot moreefficient.
So for me, the design part isactually it does not take very
long at all.
It's mostly the cutting out andthe taking pictures and the
listing part that's a little bitmore time consuming, yeah.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
Yeah, and you do have pictures of every single one of
your items and I would imaginethat that helps to boost you a
little bit and set you apartfrom others on Etsy, because not
everybody has that.
So I'm just impressed.
I'm impressed every angle.
I look at your shop I'm likeman, she's just killing it and
(29:08):
I'm so excited for you.
So to end off, a couple lastquestions.
So how, you said that you werein marketing, right, that was
your day job.
Like that's what you did for acareer before you started doing.
Speaker 2 (29:22):
Etsy.
That's what I majored incollege, and then I married my
husband right after I got out ofcollege, and so that was when
the military kind of moved useverywhere.
So I only recently um startedhaving a day job, and it is in
marketing.
I work for a charity and do themarketing for a charity.
Speaker 1 (29:41):
Okay, so how does this source of income differ
from that source of income?
I mean obviously more passive.
Do you mind sharing like, howare you, were you able to, like
replace your income?
You don't have to give me, youknow specific numbers, but is it
?
Is it pretty comparable orabove and beyond, or where are
(30:04):
you at as far as that?
Speaker 2 (30:06):
Well, to kind of understand.
So I mentioned my husband wasin the military, but then he got
medically retired last year andso that was when I started
working outside the home wasbecause he lost his job, and so
before that I had been, you know, just working on my shops and
taking care of the kids, but hehasn't found a job.
A couple of months ago, but Iliked my job so much that I
(30:26):
decided to keep it.
But as far as you know how theincome, how it's different is
that you know here it's for meit is the passive income aspect
of it and for me it's it's my.
You talked about a lot of timeslike what is your why?
(30:48):
And for me the why is to beable to do fun things and then
also to be able to feel what Ifeel is like my calling in life.
And right now I feel like mycalling is to to do this and
then to use the um money that Iget to be able to help people
when they need it or to, youknow, leave a $200 tip at the
(31:08):
restaurant or you know, likelittle things like that that
I've always wanted to be able todo, but I haven't had the
resources for it.
On top of being able to dothings like go on a cruise with
my husband, which we got backfrom our cruise yesterday, I was
able to take a weekend cruisewith him.
You know, you have a glow aboutyou.
Speaker 1 (31:25):
You're a little bit too tan for this time of year.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
Yeah, yeah, that's why we got to go to the Bahamas.
So it was just doing being ableto do those things.
You know, take trips with myfamily and, um, do those little
things.
That that is my why.
And so, uh, and that's why I, Ido this.
And you know, there will bedays when I'm at my day job and
I'm like I already earned morein my on my Etsy shop than I
(31:53):
will on my day job for the restof the week and I'm just like,
why am I still here?
And maybe that will change.
You know, it used to befull-time and I just started
going part-time and so I'm verymuch a believer of adapting
according to whatevercircumstance you're in and what
you feel called to do.
So that was a very convolutedresponse to your question.
No, I love it.
So that was a very convolutedresponse to your question.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
No, I love it.
I love it.
So how much time do you putinto your Etsy shop each week?
Speaker 2 (32:20):
That's a good question.
So right now I am putting zerotime into my digital shop except
to answer messages, because Ihave I still have my physical
shop and you know it's Christmasand orders are very busy, so
you're putting more time over.
Yeah, over there right now, butyou know, during the off season
in the summer, early fall, Iprobably spend, I try to work on
(32:44):
it a little bit every daybecause I have a day job.
I work on it in the evenings,you know, after the kids are on
bed.
I'll do some designing um anhour or two a day and I try to
batch, you know, to save on time.
So design a couple of days aweek and then spend a couple of
days um doing the SVG creationprocess and um engraving my
(33:08):
items and taking pictures ofthem and things like that.
Um, so it just for me.
It just depends on the season,um, but yeah, probably just a
few hours a week generally.
Speaker 1 (33:20):
Okay, do you see yourself ever doing this like
full time again?
Or do you like having, like thediverse you know, going and
actually seeing people?
That's that's what I strugglewith.
Like you know, sometimesworking from home, I miss adult
(33:42):
conversation like in person.
You know, it's nice talking toyou and and connecting with
people, of course, virtually,but it's like, yeah, it'd be
nice to see another adult faceinstead of a four and
five-year-old.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (33:57):
Yeah, I know what you mean.
For me, right now, where I amright now, feels good.
So I really do enjoy my day job.
I enjoy shipping out thingsstill, and that's why I keep
doing my physical shop, becauseI enjoy it.
I still, I still love designingdigital things, so I I for me,
(34:18):
I kind of have a little bit ofADHD, and so being able to do
like a lot of things instead offocusing just on one helps me a
lot.
So, but it might change in thefuture.
Next year I might grow to notlike my job and, you know, want
to focus more on the digitalthings, but for right now I
enjoy how, where I am.
Speaker 1 (34:42):
So for anybody who is kind of just feeling a little
bit deflated, who has started anEtsy shop, who would love that
passive income, who would likethings to be more automated, but
they're, for whatever reason,just having a hard time, what
(35:03):
would be, I guess, words ofencouragement to those people
who are listening, who are inthat position?
Speaker 2 (35:10):
I feel like everybody has been there and it's just a
matter of like you said and youhit it on the nail when you said
you have to concentrate on yourwhy.
Why are you doing this?
And sometimes it's just gettingthrough another day.
In the earlier days, when Iwasn't selling very many, I
would just think, okay, if I canjust get out five designs a
(35:32):
week for two months, if I canjust get through this period and
be able to get more designs inmy shop and, just you know, be
able to have that mindset andfocus, you just keep plugging
through and you'll be successful, and I am a strong believer in
that.
You will be successful if youkeep on trying, and sometimes
(35:55):
that does mean pivoting, andsometimes that means selling the
type of designs that you didn'tthink you would be.
I've had to pivot so many timesfrom things that weren't working
, from my silly little bathroomsigns to like little.
There were a couple of justkind of ridiculous ideas that
I've had that I spent a lot oftime on, but I'm glad that I did
(36:18):
it, because then I learned thisisn't what I'm supposed to do,
this isn't what my customer islooking for, and it's through
those mistakes that I can see.
Okay, this is what.
This isn't working.
Let me try this and keep ondoing several things until you
find what works For me.
I think you know, as you say,the riches are in the niches,
(36:38):
but it wasn't always that way.
I didn't always have such anarrowed down focus.
It's just doing several thingsand finding out what works for
you and what works for yourcustomer, and then it's.
It's a process.
So what I would say is don'tgive up.
Don't give up.
You can do this.
Find your why.
(36:59):
Listen to some of Casey'spodcasts.
Some of them are reallymotivating and she does a really
good job of that of just andsometimes, yeah, so just listen
to her podcast, that will getyou through a bad day.
Um, I found a lot of motivationin those as well.
Speaker 1 (37:16):
Well, thank you I.
I wasn't expecting that to beyour answer, but I but I
appreciate, I appreciate thecompliments there, but I, you
know, while you were talking,the thing that stuck out to me
was how many times you quote,unquote, failed or what could be
considered as failure, whatothers would see as failure.
(37:38):
I don't know if this was yourmindset while going through it,
but you learned something fromeach of those that led you to
where you are now, and it's likeyou know you've arrived, you
(38:00):
know like you're finally here,and so I think that that to me
you know, if I were new, didn'thave an Etsy shop, hadn't seen
success, that would be amotivator to me, and I hope it's
a motivator to those of you whoare in that position, who are
listening.
Even though something hasn'tworked out, you know a handmade
(38:23):
shop, you know this or that,like there's still things that
you've learned from that thatwill help you when you have
found that thing.
So just keep going.
And I love your story, marie.
I think that it will inspire somany and encourage so many,
especially those who just feellike they can't find it right
(38:45):
now.
I think that you have sharedjust so much great advice and
thank you so much for coming on.
I really appreciate that.
Where can people go to learnmore about you?
Speaker 2 (38:58):
Well, I have a website glowyourdesigncom and I
have an Etsy shopglowyourdesignetsycom and I'm
not so much into social media,so you won't find me there.
I think I have like five postson Instagram and like 10
followers, so I'm not so muchinto social media.
But, um, yeah, and you canalways shoot me a message, um,
(39:20):
or email me, I guess.
Speaker 1 (39:22):
And you've been able to grow your shop to 10,000 sale
orders without social media.
I'm not a big fan of socialmedia.
Yeah Well, that's amazing, likeyou know, listening to podcasts
from other marketers andentrepreneurs.
It's like social media, socialmedia, social media.
(39:42):
But I love this space becauseyou actually don't need social
media, especially on Etsy.
Like, if your buyers are there,heck, with social media, you
know you can get started and youknow, maybe an email list
actually like that I, from whatI'm hearing from you and and
other people who have Etsy shopslike that is helping so much
(40:04):
more than social media is now.
Social media is important.
I didn't mean to go off on thistangent but but wanted to put my
two cents in here.
I mean social media isimportant.
I didn't mean to go off on thistangent, but wanted to put my
two cents in here.
I mean social media, it canhelp your business.
I'm not saying that it can't,but it's possible and even, I
think, the preferred way by manyover on Etsy who are just
getting started.
(40:25):
It's like your buyers arealready there.
There's no convincing that hasto happen over on social media
because they're already activelylooking to buy from you over on
Etsy.
So, anyways, thought that I'dend on that note.
All right, is there anythingelse that you would like to add
before heading out?
Speaker 2 (40:44):
No, when you were talking about social media,
actually, I just thought ofsomething that might be really
helpful to your listeners.
So something that I've done toto grow my email list.
Now that you know the new file,fat has kind of been, has kind
of died down, but I'm stillgetting daily subscribers,
because if you go through theemail subscriber, a Weber and
(41:07):
I'm not an affiliate with themor anything but a Weber will
connect to your Etsy account aswell as to your website, to
where, whenever people buy fromyou, they're automatically
clicked in to be subscribed toyour email list, and they just
have to be.
They have to click out if theydon't want to get your emails,
and so that's a way to naturally, over time, grow your email
list and grow more of a customerbase and grow more loyal
(41:30):
customers.
That I've seen to be prettyeffective.
So I didn't mean like, I justwanted to put that in there
somewhere.
Speaker 1 (41:35):
Absolutely yeah, and I, with the Etsy policy.
You have to get theirpermission and I believe it's
been a while since I used Aweber.
But I believe, like Aweber,they have to opt in and so, yeah
, you contact them, but theyhave to, like, click that button
that says that they are finewith you contacting them and
(41:57):
being on your email list.
So it is Etsy compliant as faras I'm aware.
Don't quote me, go check yourown businesses and read up on
this.
But yeah, thank you for sharingthat, because a lot of people
don't know about Aweber and Ican already tell we'll probably
get more questions about thatafter this episode airs.
But anyways, all right, thanksso much, marie.
Speaker 2 (42:19):
Thank you, it was great talking to you.
Speaker 1 (42:22):
Wasn't that such a great episode with Marie?
I really enjoyed just talkingto her, picking her brain a bit
and hearing her story of how,even though she had a few
different shops that some peoplewould consider as a failure,
that didn't work out.
I love how she was able to landon a certain type, a specific
(42:43):
product that served hercustomers and was exactly what
they were needing and, by theway, not using social media at
all to build up her shop.
And she's educating hercustomers and something that
they have never really dealtwith before and this is new to
them.
And so this is how you guys canbe setting your shops aside.
(43:07):
You can set yourself apart fromthe competition and offer
something that people areneeding, just by really honing
in on your customers and on acertain product type.
I loved everything about thisinterview.
I think Marie is killing it.
Be sure to go over and checkout her shop Now.
(43:28):
If you are in the position ofyou know you don't have sales
where you want them to be youare going through this kind of a
slump in your shop.
Your shop is underperformingwhere it used to be, you know,
selling like hotcakes, but now,for whatever reason, you are
experiencing a lull.
(43:48):
I have something for you.
You heard me talk about it inlast week's episode.
During my break from thepodcast, I was watching Etsy.
I was constantly monitoringjust the performance of other
shops and watching what peoplewere doing wrong and what people
were doing right.
At the same time, we've beentrying new things over on our
(44:12):
Etsy shop and in our business.
And even if you are a brand newEtsy shop and you haven't seen
sales come in, this will stillhelp, especially those of you
who are in the early stages oflaunching your Etsy shop.
So go and take this brand newchallenge over at pinandposhcom
forward slash challenge.
I've created this specificallyfor you.
(44:34):
It is foolproof to increasingsales when you follow this
process, when you stick to itand do it correctly.
So again, pinandposhcom forwardslash challenge.
It is completely free to you.
Go sign up and you'll getaccess to that challenge
immediately.
All right, you guys have agreat rest of your week and I'll
see you next time.
Bye.
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