February 23, 2025 • 39 mins
Whitney is back again this week on the podcast. Join us here to learn about how marketing research has helped her make her business grow leaps and bounds over the last year! Plus, Whitney also talks about her and her husband's passion project that; they are working hard on! I hope that this podcast speaks to you as it spoke to me!
EPISODE NOTES: https://kaseyclin.com/blogs/podcast/do-this-one-thing-and-the-etsy-sales-will-come-with-whitney-cawood-part-two
We are in the process of uploading all of our previous podcasts since they got deleted! We are working on getting everything back up and running.
Thank you for your patience!
Thanks for listening! Click one of the links below to.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hello, hello, casey, here for episode 150.
I am so excited to continue ourinterview with Whitney Kaywood.
She is going to talk to usagain about her Etsy shop.
I cut this up into two episodes.
She had so many good things toshare with us and great insight
into how she's gotten her shopto perform, how she's gotten it
(00:24):
up to $6,000 a month in salesdigital sales, selling her
mock-up images in a year, andhow she was able to do that.
So let's go ahead and diveright into this episode.
As natural creatives, we loveour projects.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
We love our craft time, and we'll never say 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
hustle and live it daily.
Managing the house, jugglingthe kids and getting those
(01:03):
orders out on time can train thelife right out of us.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
But what if there was a way to convert that?
Speaker 2 (01:09):
business of yours into an online passive income
generating machine.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
Well, I'm here to tell you, it's not only possible
, but completely yours for thetaking.
I'm on a mission to give all ofthe nap time hustling crafty
moms out there, the right tools,systems, systems and strategies
needed to convert your ownbusinesses into consistent yet
flexible income online, allwhile doing what you do best
(01:34):
creating.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
So put those kiddos down for their nap, pop in some
earbuds and kick back.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
This is where you stop trading time for dollars.
This is where you claim yourlife back.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
This is the Naptime Hustle Podcast.
Okay, so what I'm hearing yousay and correct me if I'm wrong
here but it's when you followyour customers and their needs
specifically and focus on that,that's when everything else,
(02:09):
like getting the reviews and theEtsy algorithm and your sales,
like all of that just kind offalls into place and isn't as
hard.
Is that correct?
Speaker 3 (02:21):
Yeah, 100%.
You have to know your customer,you have to know who you're
serving and have a need thatyou're meeting.
And I do feel like that comes alittle bit easier with time.
Like I feel like I'm better atunderstanding who my audience is
now and who my customer is nowthan I was when I first started.
(02:41):
So a part of that is just jumpin and figure out what sticks,
because where the places thathave the mock-ups and the
audience that I have on Etsy orI guess the customer base that I
have on Etsy is a little bitdifferent than I honestly
anticipated.
So a part of that is justjumping in and figuring it out
(03:02):
and see what sticks and thenwhatever sticks and whatever
sells well and whatever you'redoing well, do more of that.
Like don't just say, ok, well,that listing did really well.
Look at that listing why didthat listing do well?
And repeat that.
Like my first bestseller it wasa male model and I have
(03:24):
repeated that pose every singletime I have done a shoot because
I'm like this pose sells.
So it's not just looking atyour competitors but looking at
also what sells in your shop anddoing more of that.
But the competitor piece isdefinitely a big part of it as
well.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
So is it like him, like flexing or something?
Now I'm super curious.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
No, but actually it's so funny.
He's our friend AJ.
If you're out there he'sprobably never going to listen
to this, but anyway, he's amodel and you don't even I mean
he's not an actual like model,like he actually is a.
What does he do?
He's a security, he owns asecurity system company, but
he's Of course Masculine.
(04:05):
He's a security, he owns asecurity system company, but, um
, he's, of course, masculine,but he is, he's very like,
muscular, and there are so manyladies that come at me in the
messages and it's like listen, Ineed you to give me his like
information because he isbeautiful, or like the reviews
are like this man is fine, so.
So in my brain I'm okay, I'mgonna be using him at least
twice a month, but like for real, I have gone back to him
(04:29):
several times because so manypeople love him.
He does have like a, he has thebody that fits.
So it listening to the reviewsis a big part of it, and that's
a piece that I didn't know tolook at before.
Like I need to look at yourcompetitors, but the best data
I've had, the best data that Ido have, is looking at my
(04:49):
analytics, looking at mykeywords, looking at what my
reviews say because I canreplicate that really easily and
it's obviously fitting a needthat avoid in the market that my
customers have been looking for.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
I love that and more recently I've started talking a
little bit more about reviewsand looking at those.
But I love how you're basingthe decision.
You know, like that is anotherpart of the of the puzzle.
How do I say this?
That's another piece of thepuzzle that goes into deciding,
(05:24):
like, what direction.
It's like looking at yourreviews, looking at what people
are saying, like you get a lotof information just and you come
to know your customer a lotbetter just looking at their
reviews and what they're saying.
Like man, this, this man isfine.
Like there's like something tolearn from that.
Hey, I need to use him again asmy model, you know.
Or a guy similar that has thesame build.
(05:46):
You know, it's little thingslike that that I think make all
the difference and that's whatyour customers appreciate and
see and that makes you moresales in the end.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
Yeah, it's a little bit more taboo, but I also look
at my competitors reviews andit's not that I scroll through
like mindlessly, but just likeit's just nice to see and I'm
rooting for them just as much asI'm rooting for me, like it's.
It's not like I don't want themto succeed, but it is nice to
hear and to see, like what theirreviews say.
Like what, why did they choosethis mockup?
(06:18):
Why did they choose to write areview?
Because half the time I don't,if I'm being honest, but now
that I'm a seller I do that awhole lot more, but I didn't
before, unless I just reallylove the product.
So that's an interesting partof market research that I
haven't heard a whole lot ofpeople talk about is actually
looking at what yourcompetitors' reviews say.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Okay.
So I want to talk more aboutthis because, as I have been
talking to you and hearing youtalk about about this, because,
as I have been talking to youand hearing you talk about doing
this market research, thiscompetitor research and sorry to
call you out on this, but I'mdoing it because this is very
common I've heard so many peoplehave the same almost like shame
(07:04):
revolving around doing thecompetitive research and almost
like you know we're copying, butyou know we aren't.
I want to like this makes mewant to do a podcast episode
revolving around this, becausethis is so a part of a piece of
(07:27):
your success.
Even big box retailers and andthat, um, you know the worldwide
marketing agency that I workedat in New York, like they did
this they were, they had metheir little intern that they're
paying practically nothing.
Go out and be watching thecompetition.
(07:49):
Of course, I'm looking at theTV commercial that aired on NBC
last night during the Super Bowl.
I was doing a competitoranalysis.
That's what this is.
Analysis.
That's what this is Acompetitor analysis of those TV
ads of the competition.
(08:15):
Just so, these Campbell Soup I'mnot saying that this was them,
but, for instance, just likeCampbell Soup, they're watching
and looking at their competitorsso that they know what they're
doing, what's resonating withtheir audience.
I mean, that really is whatyou're doing too.
It's getting us moreinformation so that we know how
to continue on with our business.
(08:35):
So I just want to say foreverybody don't feel bad about
looking at somebody else over onEtsy who's selling the same
product as you.
That information is public.
That's there for you to use.
It's not that we're going outand copying everything that
(08:56):
they're doing, but it is givingus more information so that we
can make the right decision inour business.
So I just wanted to say that,and for the people listening,
don't be afraid to do that.
I feel like when I was a newshop, I felt bad about doing
(09:16):
that same thing and now, lookingback, I'm like wait, why did I
feel bad about that?
Like I mean this big agency.
They had me doing the exactsame thing.
Like it's a common resource forus to use.
So I hope that we can just allshift our minds to look at it
that way instead of like we'redoing something guilty or bad.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
Yeah, well, it's just good business.
That is my husband.
His husband is a commercialphotographer and he took some
photos for a very large toolcompany relatively recently and
he said that they had theirtools and then their
competitors' tools comparedright next to each other and
it's not necessarily that youare copying them.
(10:02):
If you're copying them, thenyour sales are not going to be
that great because they'realways going to be ahead of you.
But you're just looking at thegood and you're making it better
and it's not like I wouldn'ttake photos of my competitors'
mock-ups and copy that.
It's not that You're lookingfor trends in the market, You're
doing trend research, themarket, the wide space trend.
(10:29):
Yeah, you're doing trendresearch.
So if boho is really popular,I'm making a list and doing
tallies of okay, a lot of theseboho mock-ups are selling.
Maybe I need to do more of that, or this particular color is
really trendy right now.
So I think of it as more oftrend research.
Um, you can look at yourcompetitors and their stylistic
choices, but it is reallyimportant to see what is
trending and what is selling.
(10:49):
I really think that that hasreally helped my sales to go up.
I've never once looked at mycompetitor's photo and copied
that same pose in the sameposition with the same
background.
It's not about that.
I they already have that spaceoccupied, but I can translate
that into.
(11:09):
I can be creative, and that'ssomething that I like to do to
stretch my creative muscles.
I can be creative and applywhat I've learned in a different
way.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
And even for the people who are selling the
actual designs.
I can hear some of them sayingand thinking to themselves okay,
but how would you do this witha design without copying them?
That word that that we got, youknow, dinged for over on Etsy
(11:48):
years ago.
Like, yeah, a design that justsays one word, Okay, there isn't
much wiggle room there, but asaying that you know that you're
allowed to use um and adding adifferent flair or a different
design to it.
Or like what you're looking foris consistencies.
I think too, like if one personis doing it, you know, over on
(12:08):
this shop, and maybe you can seein their reviews that, okay,
they have sold more of that one,but they're the only shop like
that, okay, there might be justlike a sliver of information to
pull from that one.
Like, maybe the design wassuper, super cute or, you know,
maybe it was they targeted thisother area, you know.
(12:30):
But when you start seeingmultiple people, multiple shops,
selling, maybe it's like moreof the hand-drawn I don't know
floral look, that's when I thinkthat we need to be putting that
into and incorporating thatinto our listings and that's
what's going to help, becauseit's proof that it's like the
(12:51):
style that is trending, and notjust like this product over here
, this product over here thatworks, because you never know
they could have even gottentraffic or maybe a viral post
that contributed to those sales,and so you have to look at it
and be exactly what you'resaying.
Look for the trends and not somuch just like the single,
(13:14):
one-off product.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
Yeah, and whenever I was working in my t-shirt shop
more consistently, it wouldprobably be more applicable to a
designer.
I would look at Target, hobbyLobby, all of these big brands
and see what's consistent andnot necessarily just the words,
but like the feel, the vibe,like right now it's a whole lot
(13:37):
of like positivity and it's like70s is really back and um and
looking like if the fonts arethick or thin or cursive or
fancy or just like really um,concise and uh like blocky font.
Looking at those trends, Ithink it's it's really more
(13:58):
valuable than just trying toreplicate someone else's design,
because if you can pinpoint atrend and apply that to multiple
designs, your income is goingto go up a whole lot more.
I love that.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
Love it.
I feel like this episode hasjust like so much good, like we
could just label it amazingtidbits for making it on Etsy
that's what I want to call it,but we'll call it something a
little bit better than that.
But wow, I'm just like this isall just a great reminder to me
(14:32):
too.
Like you know what is ourmission, what is our target,
what are we here doing andwhat's most important, and I
feel like you've hit so many ofthese just like right on the
head.
So, to end off, and before Iask you, like, where can people
go to find out?
Actually, no, we need to endoff talking more about what you
(14:53):
have going on there with yourcrowdsourcing.
But first, why don't you tellpeople, like what your next step
is, like what do you have inthe works or what do you plan on
doing, like, with your Etsyshop from here?
Speaker 3 (15:08):
Yeah.
So, like I said in my firstepisode that I my first podcast
that we recorded I wanted thisyear I'm really big on
resolutions, so this is the timepeople like I love resolutions
so much because I'm very I holdmyself accountable.
But this this year I wantedthis year to be the year that I
could make a full time incomewith this one shop so that I
(15:32):
could start diversifying myincome next year.
So in the coming year, I reallywant to start a subscription
website in addition to Etsy.
So I will have to.
It's going to be a whole newbeast.
I will have to have my ownaudience.
I'll have to have my owncustomers because Etsy people
are going to Etsy.
They're searching for mock-ups,because they want to purchase a
(15:54):
mock-up, so it's easier intheory to generate revenue from
someone like Etsy first.
Then, once you have that kindof revenue going, I'm hoping to
have my own subscription-basedwebsite where people can pay
like $20 or $30 a month andthey'll have access to thousands
(16:15):
of mock-ups that will beupdated like once a month, and
so I've already started an emaillist and to just start building
that.
So that's hopefully where I'mgoing, so I have an additional
stream of income with mymock-ups, but let me know if you
got any tips for that um, Idon't, but I'm very curious like
(16:39):
what led you to wanting asubscription-based website,
because I feel like it's needed.
You spend so much money onmock-ups and, like my mock-ups,
they normally land three or fourdollars for one image, which I
mean it's relatively affordable.
But if you're a shop that youhave thousands and thousands and
(17:01):
thousands of designs and youwant your mock-ups to match each
of your designs, I mean you'respending a lot of money on
mock-ups.
So I think that it would beequitable for people to use a
subscription-based website.
But then also it's promisedincome every month, so I'm not
going to have as many ebbs andflows Like my income.
(17:23):
It goes up and down about$2,000 depending on if it's a
high month or a low month.
So I'm hoping adding a newstream of income will be like
that solid.
Okay, I have this many peoplein a subscription right now
monthly, and I know people willdrop off and people will be
added.
But it'll just be a more steadystream of income without
(17:44):
dropping Etsy.
Etsy will still be my main thing, but I'm hoping to build that
up because Etsy does take a goodcut and I'm grateful my income
comes from Etsy.
They brought me these customers.
I'm very grateful.
They're cut, that's fine.
You take it, you earned it, youearned that cut.
But I want to keep all of myrevenue.
(18:06):
I would like to keep more of myrevenue, so that's the reason
why I want to do thesubscription website.
I also want to incorporate ateaching aspect of it where I
can teach people how to build abusiness.
But that'll just be a smallportion of it, just like a perk,
like if you on the first tieryou have access to the mockups,
(18:27):
on the second tier, you haveaccess to like the material.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
Anyway, that's where I love it.
I love it Like I feel like youare looking at your business
more long term than I think manypeople starting out do.
You went into this with a goalfor this year and now you have a
goal for next year, and I thinkthat when we look at our
businesses in a more broaderscope of lens for long-term,
(18:58):
it's like with investments, too.
You guys have heard guys haveheard me talk or maybe it's just
me in my own mind, maybe Ihaven't said this on the podcast
yet, but I'm.
I'm looking at likediversifying my income, and one
area that's appealed to me isinvestment property and what I'm
hearing.
With investment properties,it's like, you know, be looking
(19:21):
at your long-term goal and,instead of just like the things
that are in focus now, beviewing it with a longer.
You know, this is what my goalis 20 years from now.
This is what my goal is forretirement, and so going into it
like that's what I'm trying tokeep, you know, in my mind too.
(19:41):
It's like what's my long-termgoal?
That's what I'm trying to keepin my mind too.
It's like what's my long-termgoal?
That's the same for ourbusinesses.
When you look like okay, nowthat I've reached this stage of
my business.
Many people just arrive here andthey're like, okay, I'm good,
and if that's you, that'stotally fine, but if you're
wanting to keep going with it,setting it up like Whitney here
(20:03):
and and having that goal andhaving, okay, now I'm, I'm going
to do this next thing, and howam I going to get there, you
know, and then after that, maybethis and it changes right, like
I'm sure, like it's alreadychanged, like in a year, like
where you want to go and andbasing, you know, your decisions
in the moment off of theresearch and feedback that
(20:25):
you're receiving.
And that's why I asked aboutthe subscription site.
It's like, did somebody I wascurious to hear if one of your
customers had mentioned it toyou or if you just feel like you
have enough of a following todo a subscription site that
you've heard has worked forother people, or is it like a
combination?
Speaker 3 (20:44):
It may be a combination.
I do listen to a lot ofentrepreneurs, youtubers, and
diversifying income is somethingthat my husband and I have
talked about for a long time,because we are both freelancers
and our income it fluctuates alot.
So we have to have a goodcushion in our savings because
it ebbs and flows a whole lottime, because we are both
freelancers and our income itfluctuates a lot, so we have to
have a good cushion in oursavings because it ebbs and
(21:06):
flows a whole lot.
So having that consistency isthe goal for us and Casey and I
are talking, before we startedthe podcast, about how, in terms
of being a freelancer, how itis actually, if you set yourself
up right, you are settingyourself up right to be safer if
you have multiple streams ofincome versus, if you like, when
(21:28):
I was teaching once I quitteaching, I had zero income.
Or if you're laid off, you havezero income.
So having several differentstreams of income slowly I'm not
saying doing it all at once butit should be a goal for anybody
who is a freelancer.
For sure and I would love to Iwant to invest in real estate.
That's podcast number four forme.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
Love it, love it.
Well, and back to like yourquestion.
You know if I had any insighton making that transition over
to the subscription site.
I think that well, and I'mgoing to return your question
with a question which I'm reallygood at have you started
building your brand off of Etsy,Like, have you started building
(22:13):
up your email list or anything?
Speaker 3 (22:15):
yet I have but like it since my main goal, I've
tried to stay laser focused.
I have ADHD, so it's very tostay like laser focused.
I have ADHD, so it's very easy.
Obviously, cuz I have so manyprojects going on right now, it
was very easy for me to be likesquirrel.
So I tried this year to be likelaser focused on, okay, etsy.
But I knew in the back of mymind that I'm going to be going
to this subscription website.
(22:37):
So something that I did was, onmy social media platform, I'm
giving away a free mock-up foranybody who subscribes to my
email list.
So I'm giving away something ofvalue for them to subscribe.
So something that I did on Etsyis that one of my last photos
on my listing photos it saysvisit this website for your free
(22:59):
mock-up, and so I have a number.
Honestly.
Honestly I'm not really sure.
I think it's probably like 500people on my email list, but I
do for my.
I have a lot of experience withbuilding an email list because
in our documentary, for ourdocumentary, I created a group
on Facebook and it grew withinfour months to almost 14,000
(23:22):
people and in that I was likelisten, I've got to start taking
advantage of this in terms oflike entrepreneurially, because
I knew that we were going to bedoing a documentary.
So I gave them something ofvalue and I told them up front I
will give you this a value.
I will be telling you about mydocumentary and giving you a
(23:42):
newsletter and making that selllike 30% of the time like
upfront, so it's not like scammy.
I grew my list to almost 5,000people right now and like
quickly, so I do have someexperience with that.
It's not going to be as easywith the mock-ups I know it's
not.
It's going to be much moredifficult because my audience is
(24:02):
just different.
But I have started slowlybuilding an email list.
If it will convert, I'm not100% sure, but I'm hoping that
it will next year, even if it'sslowly.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
I would say, where you have a pretty good following
over here on Etsy, like youhave your admirers.
Focus just on building up thatbrand off of Etsy for now and
getting that consistency andwhat you're doing over on your
own website whatever it is, ifit's emails, if it's, you know,
(24:36):
blog posts, like whatever thatis get consistent there and then
transition to subscription,because I feel like going from
Etsy shop, which is e-commerce,which is far from subscription,
that will be a harder conversiongetting people over to your
subscription than just buildingup your brand, just nurturing
(24:59):
them.
All that I think that youshould be doing over there right
now is nurturing them and andbuilding up your consistency,
just like you've already doneover here on Etsy.
So, now that you have builtthis up, like you've already
been through this process overon Etsy, now you're going to
transition that over to honingin and focusing on your website
(25:21):
and on nurturing people overthere and you know an EDS we
talk about and you've alreadyeven said it like while you've
been talking, offering themsomething of value over here so
that they actually make thattransition.
Oh, I'm going to follow.
I love Whitney.
I've been, you know, I alreadyadmired her shop like months ago
(25:42):
.
I buy from her every singlemonth.
Oh, I just saw in her messageto me when I went and downloaded
this mock-up for Valentine'sDay.
You know, coming up like that,she has a free mock-up or
whatever you have that youdecide on over here at her
website.
I'm going to go check her outover here and now, now you have
(26:05):
it, but it doesn't stop there.
Now you got to nurture them andhave that going, I feel, before
you can make the jump tosubscription.
Speaker 3 (26:14):
That's just my day.
No, that's exact You're.
That's the best advice.
And um a YouTuber that I follow.
He said that you need to haveat least a thousand emails
before you do anything and youneed to, like you said, to be
nurturing it and to be buildinga relationship so that it does
convert.
But yeah, that's a really goodpoint.
(26:35):
Something that I'm kind ofdreading about it is that right
now, in order to build anaudience, it has to do with you.
They have to invest in you, soyou have to put your face on
there, and I know it sometimesmakes you cringe to have to
reveal your life too in that way.
Or I feel, like you at onepoint have said that like I need
(26:56):
to do that better because it'shard for me at least.
I don't really want my face oneverything.
Speaker 2 (27:03):
But I don't think you need to worry as much about
that part, because you'realready like, what you're going
to be offering them over on thesubscription is what you're
already offering them now and sojust sending out.
I mean, you are going to get alittle bit more personal in your
emails and they're going tolearn about you a little bit
more in your emails than howthey learn or what they learn
(27:23):
about you over on Etsy than howthey learn or what they learn
about you over on Etsy.
And so, yeah, you're going toopen up a little bit in those
emails.
But they're just interested inthe mock-ups and so, getting the
consistency even if you're justsaying I have new products up,
and talk to them about your newproducts, and in that email
(27:45):
you're sending them a link toyour Etsy shop or over on your
website which I think you shoulddo eventually like where this
is, you know where do theseproducts live.
Speaker 3 (27:57):
And so if, if that's your goal is like subscription
and it's going to be based onyour website, I would start
getting them used to going overto your website for your
products personally, yes, andslowly make that transition over
there, so then they're used tobuying it over there, that's a
good point and that is somethingthat I had planned on doing
(28:19):
that I completely forgot about,probably for six months.
I'm glad you made that pointand the audience that I would
transition over would be like myInstagram, like the audience
that I have.
Like I wouldn't take away fromEtsy necessarily, but it's a
really good point.
It's smart.
You're smart.
You should do a podcast.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
Well, this is.
I was just going to say, man, Igot so many podcast ideas.
I'm like this could be a wholeepisode just in and of itself on
how to make that transitionfrom you know Etsy, or building
up you know a website off ofEtsy, like that could just be a
whole whole podcast in and ofitself.
(28:59):
So I'm I'm making notes ofpodcasts.
You're like, oh, we're, we'reboth learning from this episode.
Okay, so why don't we end offand you tell people what you
have going on over at thecrowdsourcing, your side hustle
that you're starting out,because this is really exciting
(29:19):
and I want to share this withpeople because I think it's
really cool too.
Speaker 3 (29:23):
Yeah, so I am a creative through and through and
I love to have several thingsgoing all at once and I have to
fuel my fire with a passionproject every once in a while,
and my husband's the same way,and so we have a child that is
really sensitive to artificialdyes.
(29:43):
They have a behavioral reactionto the dyes, so it was a very
dark place as a parent before wefigured out that he was
sensitive to dyes.
Okay, I'm gonna start overagain.
I'm sorry, because I keepsaying he might say my child.
Yeah, so we have a child that isreally sensitive to artificial
(30:09):
dyes and they have a behavioralreaction to the dyes and before
we figured out that they weresensitive, they were having and
exhibiting a whole lot ofbehavior problems and it was a
big deal.
We were going to therapy.
It was really scary.
So we eliminated dyes and ittransformed our lives.
(30:32):
I mean quite literally, ourchild was hitting us regularly
to not at all.
We were having fits and massivemeltdowns to like normal, like
every once in a while.
It was a different child, so itwas a really huge life altering
experience for us and it was adifferent child.
So it was a really hugelife-altering experience for us.
And it was really surprisingbecause I, for the most part, we
(30:56):
eat healthy, we live healthylives.
I did not know I was giving mychild something that could
create such um emotional likeissues with him.
So it was.
It just rocked our world.
None of our pediatricianssuggested it, none of the
therapists we were seeingsuggested it.
So I just really felt like Ihad found a golden ticket.
(31:18):
Our child doesn't have anyissues anymore.
They don't have, like an ADHDdiagnosis or autism diagnosis,
they're just a normal child.
And the therapist that we wereworking with actually thinks
that I haven't had my childtested like his IQ tested, but
that he's a very gifted,intelligent, smart child that is
just very sensitive toartificial dyes.
(31:40):
So, in knowing that, I was likepeople need to know about this,
and so I joined some groups onFacebook and I realized how
pervasive this was and I didsome more research so we're
learning now that it's affectinga pretty large portion of the
(32:00):
population and it's not justkids, and these kids will
sometimes grow out of it, butsometimes they grow up to be
adults with anxiety, depression,suicidal thoughts.
And so it had just like wreckedme knowing that we have found
this golden ticket my child'sperfect, we have no issues now.
But knowing that children thatI taught I used to teach at an
inner city school and knowingthat there were several kids
(32:23):
that were probably sensitive todyes and they didn't know it,
there were several kids thatwere probably sensitive to dyes
and they didn't know it.
But and I'm not saying thatthis is like a fix all for
everyone, but this was thegolden ticket for us and this
has been the golden ticket for anumber of families, like
millions of families.
So we decided to start filmingan artificial dyes documentary
(32:43):
and we were working with all theleading experts and researchers
, scientists.
We're working with them and weare working with all the leading
experts and researchersscientists.
We're working with them andwe're interviewing them and they
are going to teach us firsthandabout what their research says.
So we are going to be flying toDC in December and we're
talking to Center for theScience and Public Interest and
(33:04):
their researchers and their workin terms of like working to
have.
They're working with Californiaright now to hopefully get a
warning label and then also inEurope.
In Europe it's completely.
It's not.
It's not like you can't finddyes in Europe, but they have a
warning label because of theresearch that's been done.
(33:26):
Their warning label sayssomething like can cause
hyperactivity in children, somanufacturers don't want to put
that on their products, so theyopt not to.
So large candy companies thatserve the Europe and the US.
In Europe they're artificiallydye free and in the US US their
ingredients look very different.
(33:47):
So I'm interviewing researchersin Europe right now and he is
one of the leading experts.
He's done the largest study inhumans and we're also working
with families.
So I say all that to say I'vebeen able to do something that
I'm obviously very passionateabout, that I could talk about
for hours and hours and hours.
(34:07):
Because I have the flexibility,because I've built a business
that I can work a few hours andthen also do something else a
few hours during the day.
And now that my daughter is ina mother's morning out and I
have four dedicated hours tomyself most days, it has been
like it's been great to have anincome and also something that
(34:30):
I'm so passionately working on.
Speaker 2 (34:42):
Yeah, because you shared with me.
You're also it not only to livethe life that you want you know
, having this, this income butalso the flexibility to go and
be able to do all of thesethings.
So very cool.
I wasn't expecting you to liketie it back into, like what
you're doing now, but but that'sawesome, like, and I you're
(35:06):
just like blowing my mind withwith this.
I had no idea, like the effectof dyes on on kids, and so I'm
curious, like I'm like it's notall kids.
Speaker 3 (35:16):
I do want to preface that it's not all kids, it is
just a portion of the population.
But even if it was 1%, whichthe studies show that it's much
larger than that but even just1% is millions of kids.
So that's a substantial amountof kids, but it's.
It's been nice, it's beeninteresting, because even
(35:37):
doctors don't necessarily knowabout it.
So the education piece isreally important to me, not
because we shouldn't trustdoctors, but because the reality
is that researchers areresearchers and when they do
their research they move on toother research Like they're not
marketers.
They don't, they they're notworking to get it out to the
public.
So we felt like we had theability to bring this into the
(36:01):
public eye in a very positive,kind, christlike way and not
like super scary, because wedon't want it to be scary.
It's just, this is, this iswhat it is.
Um, some things probably needto change, but there's also some
good things going on.
But the documentary is calledto die for the documentary.
So it's like d-y-e, likeartificial die, but it's to die
(36:22):
for really cool, really cool.
Speaker 2 (36:25):
So do you have a website up for that where people
can go?
Speaker 3 (36:28):
Yeah, we have a website and you can subscribe,
and I send out newsletters everyonce in a while.
But yeah, we're really excitedabout it, so is it to die for
the documentarycom.
Speaker 2 (36:47):
Awesome.
I'm going to go over there andget on your email list because
that's really exciting and goodfor you for just taking your
business and income there.
And now you're moving on anddoing something even more
impactful and amazing andputting more good into the world
, and that's like.
That is like the epiphany, Ifeel, of what we do here.
This is a lifestyle income thatwe're building up.
(37:11):
This is a lifestyleentrepreneur reason.
That's why we all enjoy thispassive income side.
It's so that we can go out andlive the lives that we want to
live and do the things that wewant to do, and the fact that
you're doing something that ischanging lives beyond that like
just amazing.
So what you're doing isimportant.
(37:33):
So thanks again, whitney, forjust coming on and for
everything that you've had toshare.
I know that this podcast willhit home for a lot of people and
they'll be using things thatyou've said in this.
I'm sure They'll be usingthings that you've said in this.
Speaker 1 (37:49):
I'm sure for weeks and months to come.
All right, that is a wrap forthis week's episode.
Probably one of my favoriteinterviews.
I just feel like I learned justas much and get my own refresh
of what I need to be doing in mybusiness.
I love how Whitney was able tohone in on her process, how she
(38:09):
was able to really just come upwith a system that she repeats
over and over in her shop andwhen the sales get low, she just
gets back right to her processand, whoop-dee-doo, the sales
come right back in.
It's like magic, right.
So we can do this.
Each of us can apply this sameprocess.
(38:30):
You know, she really emphasizedconsistency and she really
emphasized getting back to ourcustomers, digging into those
reviews, getting into themessages and really just making
sure that our products areexactly what our customers need
and listening to what they aregravitating to.
(38:52):
So be sure to go topentaplashcom forward slash Etsy
challenge.
We still have that freechallenge going on.
That will help you get back toyour own customers, find out
what they're needing and reallyboost your shop sales this
holiday season.
I have had a lot of greatfeedback on that little mini
challenge that I'm doing.
We do have Etsy Digital Success.
(39:13):
That is still open forenrollment.
So we have that four stageprocess that will take your Etsy
shop from not even existing tolaunching, to generating sales
automatically, to producing thatlong-term growth in building
our brand off of Etsy.
(39:34):
So you can go and sign up forthat challenge.
Go to pinandposhcom to find outmore about EDS and I'll see you
next week.
Bye.
Hello, hello, casey, here for episode 150.
I am so excited to continue ourinterview with Whitney Kaywood.
She is going to talk to usagain about her Etsy shop.
I cut this up into two episodes.
She had so many good things toshare with us and great insight
into how she's gotten her shopto perform, how she's gotten it
(00:24):
up to $6,000 a month in salesdigital sales, selling her
mock-up images in a year, andhow she was able to do that.
So let's go ahead and diveright into this episode.
As natural creatives, we loveour projects.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
We love our craft time, and we'll never say 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
hustle and live it daily.
Managing the house, jugglingthe kids and getting those
(01:03):
orders out on time can train thelife right out of us.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
But what if there was a way to convert that?
Speaker 2 (01:09):
business of yours into an online passive income
generating machine.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
Well, I'm here to tell you, it's not only possible
, but completely yours for thetaking.
I'm on a mission to give all ofthe nap time hustling crafty
moms out there, the right tools,systems, systems and strategies
needed to convert your ownbusinesses into consistent yet
flexible income online, allwhile doing what you do best
(01:34):
creating.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
So put those kiddos down for their nap, pop in some
earbuds and kick back.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
This is where you stop trading time for dollars.
This is where you claim yourlife back.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
This is the Naptime Hustle Podcast.
Okay, so what I'm hearing yousay and correct me if I'm wrong
here but it's when you followyour customers and their needs
specifically and focus on that,that's when everything else,
(02:09):
like getting the reviews and theEtsy algorithm and your sales,
like all of that just kind offalls into place and isn't as
hard.
Is that correct?
Speaker 3 (02:21):
Yeah, 100%.
You have to know your customer,you have to know who you're
serving and have a need thatyou're meeting.
And I do feel like that comes alittle bit easier with time.
Like I feel like I'm better atunderstanding who my audience is
now and who my customer is nowthan I was when I first started.
(02:41):
So a part of that is just jumpin and figure out what sticks,
because where the places thathave the mock-ups and the
audience that I have on Etsy orI guess the customer base that I
have on Etsy is a little bitdifferent than I honestly
anticipated.
So a part of that is justjumping in and figuring it out
(03:02):
and see what sticks and thenwhatever sticks and whatever
sells well and whatever you'redoing well, do more of that.
Like don't just say, ok, well,that listing did really well.
Look at that listing why didthat listing do well?
And repeat that.
Like my first bestseller it wasa male model and I have
(03:24):
repeated that pose every singletime I have done a shoot because
I'm like this pose sells.
So it's not just looking atyour competitors but looking at
also what sells in your shop anddoing more of that.
But the competitor piece isdefinitely a big part of it as
well.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
So is it like him, like flexing or something?
Now I'm super curious.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
No, but actually it's so funny.
He's our friend AJ.
If you're out there he'sprobably never going to listen
to this, but anyway, he's amodel and you don't even I mean
he's not an actual like model,like he actually is a.
What does he do?
He's a security, he owns asecurity system company, but
he's Of course Masculine.
(04:05):
He's a security, he owns asecurity system company, but, um
, he's, of course, masculine,but he is, he's very like,
muscular, and there are so manyladies that come at me in the
messages and it's like listen, Ineed you to give me his like
information because he isbeautiful, or like the reviews
are like this man is fine, so.
So in my brain I'm okay, I'mgonna be using him at least
twice a month, but like for real, I have gone back to him
(04:29):
several times because so manypeople love him.
He does have like a, he has thebody that fits.
So it listening to the reviewsis a big part of it, and that's
a piece that I didn't know tolook at before.
Like I need to look at yourcompetitors, but the best data
I've had, the best data that Ido have, is looking at my
(04:49):
analytics, looking at mykeywords, looking at what my
reviews say because I canreplicate that really easily and
it's obviously fitting a needthat avoid in the market that my
customers have been looking for.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
I love that and more recently I've started talking a
little bit more about reviewsand looking at those.
But I love how you're basingthe decision.
You know, like that is anotherpart of the of the puzzle.
How do I say this?
That's another piece of thepuzzle that goes into deciding,
(05:24):
like, what direction.
It's like looking at yourreviews, looking at what people
are saying, like you get a lotof information just and you come
to know your customer a lotbetter just looking at their
reviews and what they're saying.
Like man, this, this man isfine.
Like there's like something tolearn from that.
Hey, I need to use him again asmy model, you know.
Or a guy similar that has thesame build.
(05:46):
You know, it's little thingslike that that I think make all
the difference and that's whatyour customers appreciate and
see and that makes you moresales in the end.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
Yeah, it's a little bit more taboo, but I also look
at my competitors reviews andit's not that I scroll through
like mindlessly, but just likeit's just nice to see and I'm
rooting for them just as much asI'm rooting for me, like it's.
It's not like I don't want themto succeed, but it is nice to
hear and to see, like what theirreviews say.
Like what, why did they choosethis mockup?
(06:18):
Why did they choose to write areview?
Because half the time I don't,if I'm being honest, but now
that I'm a seller I do that awhole lot more, but I didn't
before, unless I just reallylove the product.
So that's an interesting partof market research that I
haven't heard a whole lot ofpeople talk about is actually
looking at what yourcompetitors' reviews say.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Okay.
So I want to talk more aboutthis because, as I have been
talking to you and hearing youtalk about about this, because,
as I have been talking to youand hearing you talk about doing
this market research, thiscompetitor research and sorry to
call you out on this, but I'mdoing it because this is very
common I've heard so many peoplehave the same almost like shame
(07:04):
revolving around doing thecompetitive research and almost
like you know we're copying, butyou know we aren't.
I want to like this makes mewant to do a podcast episode
revolving around this, becausethis is so a part of a piece of
(07:27):
your success.
Even big box retailers and andthat, um, you know the worldwide
marketing agency that I workedat in New York, like they did
this they were, they had metheir little intern that they're
paying practically nothing.
Go out and be watching thecompetition.
(07:49):
Of course, I'm looking at theTV commercial that aired on NBC
last night during the Super Bowl.
I was doing a competitoranalysis.
That's what this is.
Analysis.
That's what this is Acompetitor analysis of those TV
ads of the competition.
(08:15):
Just so, these Campbell Soup I'mnot saying that this was them,
but, for instance, just likeCampbell Soup, they're watching
and looking at their competitorsso that they know what they're
doing, what's resonating withtheir audience.
I mean, that really is whatyou're doing too.
It's getting us moreinformation so that we know how
to continue on with our business.
(08:35):
So I just want to say foreverybody don't feel bad about
looking at somebody else over onEtsy who's selling the same
product as you.
That information is public.
That's there for you to use.
It's not that we're going outand copying everything that
(08:56):
they're doing, but it is givingus more information so that we
can make the right decision inour business.
So I just wanted to say that,and for the people listening,
don't be afraid to do that.
I feel like when I was a newshop, I felt bad about doing
(09:16):
that same thing and now, lookingback, I'm like wait, why did I
feel bad about that?
Like I mean this big agency.
They had me doing the exactsame thing.
Like it's a common resource forus to use.
So I hope that we can just allshift our minds to look at it
that way instead of like we'redoing something guilty or bad.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
Yeah, well, it's just good business.
That is my husband.
His husband is a commercialphotographer and he took some
photos for a very large toolcompany relatively recently and
he said that they had theirtools and then their
competitors' tools comparedright next to each other and
it's not necessarily that youare copying them.
(10:02):
If you're copying them, thenyour sales are not going to be
that great because they'realways going to be ahead of you.
But you're just looking at thegood and you're making it better
and it's not like I wouldn'ttake photos of my competitors'
mock-ups and copy that.
It's not that You're lookingfor trends in the market, You're
doing trend research, themarket, the wide space trend.
(10:29):
Yeah, you're doing trendresearch.
So if boho is really popular,I'm making a list and doing
tallies of okay, a lot of theseboho mock-ups are selling.
Maybe I need to do more of that, or this particular color is
really trendy right now.
So I think of it as more oftrend research.
Um, you can look at yourcompetitors and their stylistic
choices, but it is reallyimportant to see what is
trending and what is selling.
(10:49):
I really think that that hasreally helped my sales to go up.
I've never once looked at mycompetitor's photo and copied
that same pose in the sameposition with the same
background.
It's not about that.
I they already have that spaceoccupied, but I can translate
that into.
(11:09):
I can be creative, and that'ssomething that I like to do to
stretch my creative muscles.
I can be creative and applywhat I've learned in a different
way.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
And even for the people who are selling the
actual designs.
I can hear some of them sayingand thinking to themselves okay,
but how would you do this witha design without copying them?
That word that that we got, youknow, dinged for over on Etsy
(11:48):
years ago.
Like, yeah, a design that justsays one word, Okay, there isn't
much wiggle room there, but asaying that you know that you're
allowed to use um and adding adifferent flair or a different
design to it.
Or like what you're looking foris consistencies.
I think too, like if one personis doing it, you know, over on
(12:08):
this shop, and maybe you can seein their reviews that, okay,
they have sold more of that one,but they're the only shop like
that, okay, there might be justlike a sliver of information to
pull from that one.
Like, maybe the design wassuper, super cute or, you know,
maybe it was they targeted thisother area, you know.
(12:30):
But when you start seeingmultiple people, multiple shops,
selling, maybe it's like moreof the hand-drawn I don't know
floral look, that's when I thinkthat we need to be putting that
into and incorporating thatinto our listings and that's
what's going to help, becauseit's proof that it's like the
(12:51):
style that is trending, and notjust like this product over here
, this product over here thatworks, because you never know
they could have even gottentraffic or maybe a viral post
that contributed to those sales,and so you have to look at it
and be exactly what you'resaying.
Look for the trends and not somuch just like the single,
(13:14):
one-off product.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
Yeah, and whenever I was working in my t-shirt shop
more consistently, it wouldprobably be more applicable to a
designer.
I would look at Target, hobbyLobby, all of these big brands
and see what's consistent andnot necessarily just the words,
but like the feel, the vibe,like right now it's a whole lot
(13:37):
of like positivity and it's like70s is really back and um and
looking like if the fonts arethick or thin or cursive or
fancy or just like really um,concise and uh like blocky font.
Looking at those trends, Ithink it's it's really more
(13:58):
valuable than just trying toreplicate someone else's design,
because if you can pinpoint atrend and apply that to multiple
designs, your income is goingto go up a whole lot more.
I love that.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
Love it.
I feel like this episode hasjust like so much good, like we
could just label it amazingtidbits for making it on Etsy
that's what I want to call it,but we'll call it something a
little bit better than that.
But wow, I'm just like this isall just a great reminder to me
(14:32):
too.
Like you know what is ourmission, what is our target,
what are we here doing andwhat's most important, and I
feel like you've hit so many ofthese just like right on the
head.
So, to end off, and before Iask you, like, where can people
go to find out?
Actually, no, we need to endoff talking more about what you
(14:53):
have going on there with yourcrowdsourcing.
But first, why don't you tellpeople, like what your next step
is, like what do you have inthe works or what do you plan on
doing, like, with your Etsyshop from here?
Speaker 3 (15:08):
Yeah.
So, like I said in my firstepisode that I my first podcast
that we recorded I wanted thisyear I'm really big on
resolutions, so this is the timepeople like I love resolutions
so much because I'm very I holdmyself accountable.
But this this year I wantedthis year to be the year that I
could make a full time incomewith this one shop so that I
(15:32):
could start diversifying myincome next year.
So in the coming year, I reallywant to start a subscription
website in addition to Etsy.
So I will have to.
It's going to be a whole newbeast.
I will have to have my ownaudience.
I'll have to have my owncustomers because Etsy people
are going to Etsy.
They're searching for mock-ups,because they want to purchase a
(15:54):
mock-up, so it's easier intheory to generate revenue from
someone like Etsy first.
Then, once you have that kindof revenue going, I'm hoping to
have my own subscription-basedwebsite where people can pay
like $20 or $30 a month andthey'll have access to thousands
(16:15):
of mock-ups that will beupdated like once a month, and
so I've already started an emaillist and to just start building
that.
So that's hopefully where I'mgoing, so I have an additional
stream of income with mymock-ups, but let me know if you
got any tips for that um, Idon't, but I'm very curious like
(16:39):
what led you to wanting asubscription-based website,
because I feel like it's needed.
You spend so much money onmock-ups and, like my mock-ups,
they normally land three or fourdollars for one image, which I
mean it's relatively affordable.
But if you're a shop that youhave thousands and thousands and
(17:01):
thousands of designs and youwant your mock-ups to match each
of your designs, I mean you'respending a lot of money on
mock-ups.
So I think that it would beequitable for people to use a
subscription-based website.
But then also it's promisedincome every month, so I'm not
going to have as many ebbs andflows Like my income.
(17:23):
It goes up and down about$2,000 depending on if it's a
high month or a low month.
So I'm hoping adding a newstream of income will be like
that solid.
Okay, I have this many peoplein a subscription right now
monthly, and I know people willdrop off and people will be
added.
But it'll just be a more steadystream of income without
(17:44):
dropping Etsy.
Etsy will still be my main thing, but I'm hoping to build that
up because Etsy does take a goodcut and I'm grateful my income
comes from Etsy.
They brought me these customers.
I'm very grateful.
They're cut, that's fine.
You take it, you earned it, youearned that cut.
But I want to keep all of myrevenue.
(18:06):
I would like to keep more of myrevenue, so that's the reason
why I want to do thesubscription website.
I also want to incorporate ateaching aspect of it where I
can teach people how to build abusiness.
But that'll just be a smallportion of it, just like a perk,
like if you on the first tieryou have access to the mockups,
(18:27):
on the second tier, you haveaccess to like the material.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
Anyway, that's where I love it.
I love it Like I feel like youare looking at your business
more long term than I think manypeople starting out do.
You went into this with a goalfor this year and now you have a
goal for next year, and I thinkthat when we look at our
businesses in a more broaderscope of lens for long-term,
(18:58):
it's like with investments, too.
You guys have heard guys haveheard me talk or maybe it's just
me in my own mind, maybe Ihaven't said this on the podcast
yet, but I'm.
I'm looking at likediversifying my income, and one
area that's appealed to me isinvestment property and what I'm
hearing.
With investment properties,it's like, you know, be looking
(19:21):
at your long-term goal and,instead of just like the things
that are in focus now, beviewing it with a longer.
You know, this is what my goalis 20 years from now.
This is what my goal is forretirement, and so going into it
like that's what I'm trying tokeep, you know, in my mind too.
(19:41):
It's like what's my long-termgoal?
That's what I'm trying to keepin my mind too.
It's like what's my long-termgoal?
That's the same for ourbusinesses.
When you look like okay, nowthat I've reached this stage of
my business.
Many people just arrive here andthey're like, okay, I'm good,
and if that's you, that'stotally fine, but if you're
wanting to keep going with it,setting it up like Whitney here
(20:03):
and and having that goal andhaving, okay, now I'm, I'm going
to do this next thing, and howam I going to get there, you
know, and then after that, maybethis and it changes right, like
I'm sure, like it's alreadychanged, like in a year, like
where you want to go and andbasing, you know, your decisions
in the moment off of theresearch and feedback that
(20:25):
you're receiving.
And that's why I asked aboutthe subscription site.
It's like, did somebody I wascurious to hear if one of your
customers had mentioned it toyou or if you just feel like you
have enough of a following todo a subscription site that
you've heard has worked forother people, or is it like a
combination?
Speaker 3 (20:44):
It may be a combination.
I do listen to a lot ofentrepreneurs, youtubers, and
diversifying income is somethingthat my husband and I have
talked about for a long time,because we are both freelancers
and our income it fluctuates alot.
So we have to have a goodcushion in our savings because
it ebbs and flows a whole lottime, because we are both
freelancers and our income itfluctuates a lot, so we have to
have a good cushion in oursavings because it ebbs and
(21:06):
flows a whole lot.
So having that consistency isthe goal for us and Casey and I
are talking, before we startedthe podcast, about how, in terms
of being a freelancer, how itis actually, if you set yourself
up right, you are settingyourself up right to be safer if
you have multiple streams ofincome versus, if you like, when
(21:28):
I was teaching once I quitteaching, I had zero income.
Or if you're laid off, you havezero income.
So having several differentstreams of income slowly I'm not
saying doing it all at once butit should be a goal for anybody
who is a freelancer.
For sure and I would love to Iwant to invest in real estate.
That's podcast number four forme.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
Love it, love it.
Well, and back to like yourquestion.
You know if I had any insighton making that transition over
to the subscription site.
I think that well, and I'mgoing to return your question
with a question which I'm reallygood at have you started
building your brand off of Etsy,Like, have you started building
(22:13):
up your email list or anything?
Speaker 3 (22:15):
yet I have but like it since my main goal, I've
tried to stay laser focused.
I have ADHD, so it's very tostay like laser focused.
I have ADHD, so it's very easy.
Obviously, cuz I have so manyprojects going on right now, it
was very easy for me to be likesquirrel.
So I tried this year to be likelaser focused on, okay, etsy.
But I knew in the back of mymind that I'm going to be going
to this subscription website.
(22:37):
So something that I did was, onmy social media platform, I'm
giving away a free mock-up foranybody who subscribes to my
email list.
So I'm giving away something ofvalue for them to subscribe.
So something that I did on Etsyis that one of my last photos
on my listing photos it saysvisit this website for your free
(22:59):
mock-up, and so I have a number.
Honestly.
Honestly I'm not really sure.
I think it's probably like 500people on my email list, but I
do for my.
I have a lot of experience withbuilding an email list because
in our documentary, for ourdocumentary, I created a group
on Facebook and it grew withinfour months to almost 14,000
(23:22):
people and in that I was likelisten, I've got to start taking
advantage of this in terms oflike entrepreneurially, because
I knew that we were going to bedoing a documentary.
So I gave them something ofvalue and I told them up front I
will give you this a value.
I will be telling you about mydocumentary and giving you a
(23:42):
newsletter and making that selllike 30% of the time like
upfront, so it's not like scammy.
I grew my list to almost 5,000people right now and like
quickly, so I do have someexperience with that.
It's not going to be as easywith the mock-ups I know it's
not.
It's going to be much moredifficult because my audience is
(24:02):
just different.
But I have started slowlybuilding an email list.
If it will convert, I'm not100% sure, but I'm hoping that
it will next year, even if it'sslowly.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
I would say, where you have a pretty good following
over here on Etsy, like youhave your admirers.
Focus just on building up thatbrand off of Etsy for now and
getting that consistency andwhat you're doing over on your
own website whatever it is, ifit's emails, if it's, you know,
(24:36):
blog posts, like whatever thatis get consistent there and then
transition to subscription,because I feel like going from
Etsy shop, which is e-commerce,which is far from subscription,
that will be a harder conversiongetting people over to your
subscription than just buildingup your brand, just nurturing
(24:59):
them.
All that I think that youshould be doing over there right
now is nurturing them and andbuilding up your consistency,
just like you've already doneover here on Etsy.
So, now that you have builtthis up, like you've already
been through this process overon Etsy, now you're going to
transition that over to honingin and focusing on your website
(25:21):
and on nurturing people overthere and you know an EDS we
talk about and you've alreadyeven said it like while you've
been talking, offering themsomething of value over here so
that they actually make thattransition.
Oh, I'm going to follow.
I love Whitney.
I've been, you know, I alreadyadmired her shop like months ago
(25:42):
.
I buy from her every singlemonth.
Oh, I just saw in her messageto me when I went and downloaded
this mock-up for Valentine'sDay.
You know, coming up like that,she has a free mock-up or
whatever you have that youdecide on over here at her
website.
I'm going to go check her outover here and now, now you have
(26:05):
it, but it doesn't stop there.
Now you got to nurture them andhave that going, I feel, before
you can make the jump tosubscription.
Speaker 3 (26:14):
That's just my day.
No, that's exact You're.
That's the best advice.
And um a YouTuber that I follow.
He said that you need to haveat least a thousand emails
before you do anything and youneed to, like you said, to be
nurturing it and to be buildinga relationship so that it does
convert.
But yeah, that's a really goodpoint.
(26:35):
Something that I'm kind ofdreading about it is that right
now, in order to build anaudience, it has to do with you.
They have to invest in you, soyou have to put your face on
there, and I know it sometimesmakes you cringe to have to
reveal your life too in that way.
Or I feel, like you at onepoint have said that like I need
(26:56):
to do that better because it'shard for me at least.
I don't really want my face oneverything.
Speaker 2 (27:03):
But I don't think you need to worry as much about
that part, because you'realready like, what you're going
to be offering them over on thesubscription is what you're
already offering them now and sojust sending out.
I mean, you are going to get alittle bit more personal in your
emails and they're going tolearn about you a little bit
more in your emails than howthey learn or what they learn
(27:23):
about you over on Etsy than howthey learn or what they learn
about you over on Etsy.
And so, yeah, you're going toopen up a little bit in those
emails.
But they're just interested inthe mock-ups and so, getting the
consistency even if you're justsaying I have new products up,
and talk to them about your newproducts, and in that email
(27:45):
you're sending them a link toyour Etsy shop or over on your
website which I think you shoulddo eventually like where this
is, you know where do theseproducts live.
Speaker 3 (27:57):
And so if, if that's your goal is like subscription
and it's going to be based onyour website, I would start
getting them used to going overto your website for your
products personally, yes, andslowly make that transition over
there, so then they're used tobuying it over there, that's a
good point and that is somethingthat I had planned on doing
(28:19):
that I completely forgot about,probably for six months.
I'm glad you made that pointand the audience that I would
transition over would be like myInstagram, like the audience
that I have.
Like I wouldn't take away fromEtsy necessarily, but it's a
really good point.
It's smart.
You're smart.
You should do a podcast.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
Well, this is.
I was just going to say, man, Igot so many podcast ideas.
I'm like this could be a wholeepisode just in and of itself on
how to make that transitionfrom you know Etsy, or building
up you know a website off ofEtsy, like that could just be a
whole whole podcast in and ofitself.
(28:59):
So I'm I'm making notes ofpodcasts.
You're like, oh, we're, we'reboth learning from this episode.
Okay, so why don't we end offand you tell people what you
have going on over at thecrowdsourcing, your side hustle
that you're starting out,because this is really exciting
(29:19):
and I want to share this withpeople because I think it's
really cool too.
Speaker 3 (29:23):
Yeah, so I am a creative through and through and
I love to have several thingsgoing all at once and I have to
fuel my fire with a passionproject every once in a while,
and my husband's the same way,and so we have a child that is
really sensitive to artificialdyes.
(29:43):
They have a behavioral reactionto the dyes, so it was a very
dark place as a parent before wefigured out that he was
sensitive to dyes.
Okay, I'm gonna start overagain.
I'm sorry, because I keepsaying he might say my child.
Yeah, so we have a child that isreally sensitive to artificial
(30:09):
dyes and they have a behavioralreaction to the dyes and before
we figured out that they weresensitive, they were having and
exhibiting a whole lot ofbehavior problems and it was a
big deal.
We were going to therapy.
It was really scary.
So we eliminated dyes and ittransformed our lives.
(30:32):
I mean quite literally, ourchild was hitting us regularly
to not at all.
We were having fits and massivemeltdowns to like normal, like
every once in a while.
It was a different child, so itwas a really huge life altering
experience for us and it was adifferent child.
So it was a really hugelife-altering experience for us.
And it was really surprisingbecause I, for the most part, we
(30:56):
eat healthy, we live healthylives.
I did not know I was giving mychild something that could
create such um emotional likeissues with him.
So it was.
It just rocked our world.
None of our pediatricianssuggested it, none of the
therapists we were seeingsuggested it.
So I just really felt like Ihad found a golden ticket.
(31:18):
Our child doesn't have anyissues anymore.
They don't have, like an ADHDdiagnosis or autism diagnosis,
they're just a normal child.
And the therapist that we wereworking with actually thinks
that I haven't had my childtested like his IQ tested, but
that he's a very gifted,intelligent, smart child that is
just very sensitive toartificial dyes.
(31:40):
So, in knowing that, I was likepeople need to know about this,
and so I joined some groups onFacebook and I realized how
pervasive this was and I didsome more research so we're
learning now that it's affectinga pretty large portion of the
(32:00):
population and it's not justkids, and these kids will
sometimes grow out of it, butsometimes they grow up to be
adults with anxiety, depression,suicidal thoughts.
And so it had just like wreckedme knowing that we have found
this golden ticket my child'sperfect, we have no issues now.
But knowing that children thatI taught I used to teach at an
inner city school and knowingthat there were several kids
(32:23):
that were probably sensitive todyes and they didn't know it,
there were several kids thatwere probably sensitive to dyes
and they didn't know it.
But and I'm not saying thatthis is like a fix all for
everyone, but this was thegolden ticket for us and this
has been the golden ticket for anumber of families, like
millions of families.
So we decided to start filmingan artificial dyes documentary
(32:43):
and we were working with all theleading experts and researchers
, scientists.
We're working with them and weare working with all the leading
experts and researchersscientists.
We're working with them andwe're interviewing them and they
are going to teach us firsthandabout what their research says.
So we are going to be flying toDC in December and we're
talking to Center for theScience and Public Interest and
(33:04):
their researchers and their workin terms of like working to
have.
They're working with Californiaright now to hopefully get a
warning label and then also inEurope.
In Europe it's completely.
It's not.
It's not like you can't finddyes in Europe, but they have a
warning label because of theresearch that's been done.
(33:26):
Their warning label sayssomething like can cause
hyperactivity in children, somanufacturers don't want to put
that on their products, so theyopt not to.
So large candy companies thatserve the Europe and the US.
In Europe they're artificiallydye free and in the US US their
ingredients look very different.
(33:47):
So I'm interviewing researchersin Europe right now and he is
one of the leading experts.
He's done the largest study inhumans and we're also working
with families.
So I say all that to say I'vebeen able to do something that
I'm obviously very passionateabout, that I could talk about
for hours and hours and hours.
(34:07):
Because I have the flexibility,because I've built a business
that I can work a few hours andthen also do something else a
few hours during the day.
And now that my daughter is ina mother's morning out and I
have four dedicated hours tomyself most days, it has been
like it's been great to have anincome and also something that
(34:30):
I'm so passionately working on.
Speaker 2 (34:42):
Yeah, because you shared with me.
You're also it not only to livethe life that you want you know
, having this, this income butalso the flexibility to go and
be able to do all of thesethings.
So very cool.
I wasn't expecting you to liketie it back into, like what
you're doing now, but but that'sawesome, like, and I you're
(35:06):
just like blowing my mind withwith this.
I had no idea, like the effectof dyes on on kids, and so I'm
curious, like I'm like it's notall kids.
Speaker 3 (35:16):
I do want to preface that it's not all kids, it is
just a portion of the population.
But even if it was 1%, whichthe studies show that it's much
larger than that but even just1% is millions of kids.
So that's a substantial amountof kids, but it's.
It's been nice, it's beeninteresting, because even
(35:37):
doctors don't necessarily knowabout it.
So the education piece isreally important to me, not
because we shouldn't trustdoctors, but because the reality
is that researchers areresearchers and when they do
their research they move on toother research Like they're not
marketers.
They don't, they they're notworking to get it out to the
public.
So we felt like we had theability to bring this into the
(36:01):
public eye in a very positive,kind, christlike way and not
like super scary, because wedon't want it to be scary.
It's just, this is, this iswhat it is.
Um, some things probably needto change, but there's also some
good things going on.
But the documentary is calledto die for the documentary.
So it's like d-y-e, likeartificial die, but it's to die
(36:22):
for really cool, really cool.
Speaker 2 (36:25):
So do you have a website up for that where people
can go?
Speaker 3 (36:28):
Yeah, we have a website and you can subscribe,
and I send out newsletters everyonce in a while.
But yeah, we're really excitedabout it, so is it to die for
the documentarycom.
Speaker 2 (36:47):
Awesome.
I'm going to go over there andget on your email list because
that's really exciting and goodfor you for just taking your
business and income there.
And now you're moving on anddoing something even more
impactful and amazing andputting more good into the world
, and that's like.
That is like the epiphany, Ifeel, of what we do here.
This is a lifestyle income thatwe're building up.
(37:11):
This is a lifestyleentrepreneur reason.
That's why we all enjoy thispassive income side.
It's so that we can go out andlive the lives that we want to
live and do the things that wewant to do, and the fact that
you're doing something that ischanging lives beyond that like
just amazing.
So what you're doing isimportant.
(37:33):
So thanks again, whitney, forjust coming on and for
everything that you've had toshare.
I know that this podcast willhit home for a lot of people and
they'll be using things thatyou've said in this.
I'm sure They'll be usingthings that you've said in this.
Speaker 1 (37:49):
I'm sure for weeks and months to come.
All right, that is a wrap forthis week's episode.
Probably one of my favoriteinterviews.
I just feel like I learned justas much and get my own refresh
of what I need to be doing in mybusiness.
I love how Whitney was able tohone in on her process, how she
(38:09):
was able to really just come upwith a system that she repeats
over and over in her shop andwhen the sales get low, she just
gets back right to her processand, whoop-dee-doo, the sales
come right back in.
It's like magic, right.
So we can do this.
Each of us can apply this sameprocess.
(38:30):
You know, she really emphasizedconsistency and she really
emphasized getting back to ourcustomers, digging into those
reviews, getting into themessages and really just making
sure that our products areexactly what our customers need
and listening to what they aregravitating to.
(38:52):
So be sure to go topentaplashcom forward slash Etsy
challenge.
We still have that freechallenge going on.
That will help you get back toyour own customers, find out
what they're needing and reallyboost your shop sales this
holiday season.
I have had a lot of greatfeedback on that little mini
challenge that I'm doing.
We do have Etsy Digital Success.
(39:13):
That is still open forenrollment.
So we have that four stageprocess that will take your Etsy
shop from not even existing tolaunching, to generating sales
automatically, to producing thatlong-term growth in building
our brand off of Etsy.
(39:34):
So you can go and sign up forthat challenge.
Go to pinandposhcom to find outmore about EDS and I'll see you
next week.
Bye.
Popular Podcasts
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com