I MADE $2700 Per Week With BASIC Text Design on Etsy (2024)

Jason Lee
14 Jan 202413:58

TLDRThe video script details the journey of starting an Etsy store selling basic products, despite market saturation skepticism. The creator challenges the notion by launching a store, choosing a proven product (journals), and focusing on design to cater to a specific audience. The script outlines the financial strategy, including pricing, profit margins, and the use of Printify for cost-saving. It emphasizes the importance of uniqueness and personalization to boost sales and suggests apps like Hello Custom for automation. The creator also shares tips on driving traffic through Pinterest and Etsy ads, and encourages taking action despite fear.

Takeaways

  • 🚀 Starting an Etsy store with $0 investment is possible, emphasizing the importance of resourcefulness and creativity.
  • 🎨 Choosing the right product is crucial; best-sellers on platforms like Printify can indicate products with proven demand.
  • 📈 Focusing on design and emotional connection rather than just the product itself can help differentiate your offerings.
  • 📅 Timing matters: launching a store or product around times when demand is likely to be higher can be beneficial.
  • 💡 Saturation in a market can be seen as proof of demand, suggesting that there is still room for new entrants with unique value propositions.
  • 📊 A simple design with plain text can be effective, especially for beginners with limited design skills.
  • 📈 The potential to achieve significant sales exists even in competitive markets, as demonstrated by the speaker's own experience.
  • 🔧 Automation is key to scalability; using tools and services that automate the personalization and fulfillment process can be advantageous.
  • 💸 Understanding the costs and profit margins associated with a product is essential for pricing strategy and profitability.
  • 🎯 Targeting a specific audience with your designs can help you stand out and connect with potential customers more effectively.
  • 🚀 Taking action despite fear and imperfect conditions is crucial for success, as no perfect moment for starting a business exists.

Q & A

  • What was the main challenge the speaker set for themselves in the context of selling on Etsy?

    -The main challenge was to prove skeptics wrong by starting a new Etsy store and attempting to make $5,000 a month selling basic products like t-shirts, mugs, and books, which many believe are too competitive and impossible to sell successfully.

  • What were the three rules the speaker set up for their Etsy store experiment?

    -The three rules were: 1) Spend $0 to start the business, 2) Make the store fully automated, meaning no manual fulfillment or shipping, and 3) Use a simple design with only plain text, without any fancy graphics.

  • How did the speaker's first product listing perform in the first two weeks?

    -The first product listing made two sales in the first week and around $300 in the second week.

  • What is the speaker's perspective on selling in a saturated market?

    -The speaker believes that saturation is proof of demand and prefers to sell in saturated markets. They argue that it's not about the product itself, but the design and how it caters to a specific audience's emotions.

  • How did the speaker choose the journal as their product to sell on Etsy?

    -The speaker chose the journal because it is a proven product to sell, it was mid-November, and they believed people would be buying journals or planners between December and January. They also found a similar journal on Etsy that was making almost $88,000 a month.

  • What is the speaker's strategy for creating a design that appeals to a specific audience?

    -The speaker suggests finding a niche and creating designs that cater to that specific audience. For example, creating journals for gardening enthusiasts, allowing for personalization, or selling bundles of journals.

  • How does the speaker calculate the profit margin for their product?

    -The speaker calculates the profit margin by considering the cost of the product, the selling price (after discounts), shipping fees (passed on to the customer), Etsy listing fees, and transaction fees. They aim for a 30% margin but in their example, they achieved a 44% profit margin.

  • What are the two ways the speaker suggests for a new Etsy seller to get traffic?

    -The speaker suggests using organic traffic from Pinterest, as customers on Pinterest are ready to buy, and using Etsy ads, which is easy to start with as Etsy handles the keywords and targeting initially.

  • What advice does the speaker give to those who are hesitant to start their business?

    -The speaker advises to feel the fear and take action anyway. They emphasize that there is no perfect time to start a business and that waiting for perfect conditions will only lead to inaction. They encourage taking the first step and learning from the experience.

  • How does the speaker suggest boosting Etsy sales for a product?

    -The speaker suggests adding a unique spin to the product by offering personalization. They mention an app called Hello Custom that can automate personalizations for sellers, making the process less labor-intensive.

  • What is the speaker's stance on the use of Etsy ads for new sellers?

    -The speaker believes that the use of Etsy ads depends on the quality of the offer and the competitiveness of the market. For new sellers, they recommend starting with a small daily budget and assessing the performance based on return on ad spend (ROAS). If the ROAS is three or above, they suggest keeping or increasing the ad spend.

Outlines

00:00

💡 Starting an Etsy Store in a Competitive Market

The speaker discusses the challenge of starting a new Etsy store and making $5,000 a month by selling basic products like t-shirts, mugs, and books, which are considered difficult to sell due to high competition. Despite skepticism, the speaker sets up an Etsy store and creates a simple text-based product, aiming to prove doubters wrong. The speaker's rules for the challenge include starting with zero investment, full automation of the business process, and using a simple design. The speaker's store begins with small sales but eventually grows to making $2,500 to $3,000 a week. The speaker emphasizes the importance of researching, finding the right product, and designing for a specific audience to trigger emotions and succeed in a saturated market.

05:01

📈 Calculating Profits and Optimizing Product Design

The speaker explains how to calculate potential profits for the chosen product, using a journal as an example. By selling the journal at $17.99 with a cost of $6.84, the speaker achieves a 44% profit margin, which is higher than the aimed 30%. The speaker also discusses the use of Printify's premium plan for lower costs and shares a code for a free trial. The speaker advises against directly copying successful listings and instead encourages finding a niche and personalizing the product. The speaker then demonstrates how to use a design tool to create a simple yet effective product design and mockup for the Etsy listing.

10:01

🚀 Driving Traffic and Overcoming Business Inhibitions

The speaker addresses the common challenges of starting an Etsy store, such as finding the right product, designing, and marketing. The speaker suggests using Pinterest for organic traffic and Etsy ads for a more straightforward approach, recommending a starting budget of $5 a day. The effectiveness of Etsy ads depends on the quality of the product listing and the competitiveness of the market. The speaker emphasizes the importance of launching early rather than waiting for perfect conditions, citing advice from Reed Hoffman and a biblical verse. The speaker encourages feeling the fear and taking action anyway, suggesting the use of an app for automating personalizations to boost sales on Etsy.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Etsy

Etsy is an e-commerce website focused on handmade or vintage items and craft supplies. In the context of the video, Etsy is the platform where the speaker aims to sell basic products like t-shirts, mugs, and books, despite the common belief that these items are too competitive to sell successfully. The speaker's goal is to challenge this notion and demonstrate that it is possible to make a significant income, specifically $5,000 a month, by selling on Etsy.

💡Saturation

Market saturation refers to a state where a market is glutted with a product or service to the point where demand is effectively met, and further growth is unlikely. In the video, the speaker addresses skepticism about starting a new store on Etsy due to the belief that the market for basic products like t-shirts and mugs is too saturated. However, the speaker argues that saturation can be a sign of demand and that focusing on design and niche can still lead to success.

💡Design

In the context of the video, design refers to the visual and textual elements that are used to create a product listing on Etsy. The speaker emphasizes the importance of design in attracting customers and differentiating products, even in a saturated market. A unique and appealing design can trigger emotions and connect with a specific audience, leading to higher sales.

💡Automation

Automation in the context of the video refers to the process of setting up an online business to run with minimal manual intervention. The speaker set a rule that their Etsy store must be fully automated, meaning they do not have to manually fulfill and ship every order to the customer. This allows for scalability and reduces the time and effort required to manage the store.

💡Profit Margin

Profit margin is a financial metric that represents the percentage of revenue that exceeds the cost of producing the goods or services sold by a company. In the video, the speaker calculates the profit margin for their journal product by subtracting the cost of production and shipping from the selling price, and then expressing this difference as a percentage of the selling price. A higher profit margin indicates a more profitable product.

💡Niche

A niche refers to a targeted, specialized segment of a market that has specific needs or interests. In the video, the speaker emphasizes the importance of catering to a specific niche audience with their product designs. By focusing on a niche, sellers can differentiate themselves from competitors and appeal to customers with particular preferences or needs.

💡Mockup

A mockup is a visual representation of a product or design, often used in marketing and advertising to showcase how a final product will look. In the video, the speaker uses a mockup generator tool within the design software KD to create a realistic image of their journal product for their Etsy listing. This helps to attract customers by giving them a clear idea of what they are purchasing.

💡Personalization

Personalization refers to the process of customizing a product or service to meet the specific preferences or needs of an individual. In the context of the video, personalization is suggested as a strategy to make products unique and stand out on Etsy. The speaker mentions using an app to automate the personalization process, making it easy to offer customized products without significant additional effort.

💡Etsy Ads

Etsy Ads is a paid advertising service offered by Etsy that allows sellers to promote their products within the Etsy marketplace. This service helps sellers increase visibility and potentially boost sales by targeting specific customer segments. In the video, the speaker discusses the use of Etsy Ads as a strategy for driving traffic to a new store and provides insights on how to effectively use this tool based on their experience.

💡Launch

Launching, in the context of the video, refers to the initial step of starting a business or introducing a new product to the market. The speaker encourages viewers to overcome any hesitation or fear and to take action by launching their business or product idea without waiting for the perfect conditions. The message is about embracing the entrepreneurial spirit and taking risks to realize potential opportunities.

💡Fear

Fear, as discussed in the video, refers to the anxiety or apprehension one might feel when facing the unknown or taking risks, such as starting a business or trying something new. The speaker advises viewers to feel the fear but take action anyway, emphasizing that successful people are those who continue to move forward despite fear.

Highlights

The discussion explores the possibility of making $5,000 a month on Etsy, a platform often deemed too competitive for new stores.

The speaker challenges the common belief that it's impossible to sell basic products like t-shirts, mugs, and books on Etsy due to market saturation.

A new store was set up to test the theory of selling in a saturated market without any initial investment, aiming for full automation, and using simple text design.

Despite skepticism, the speaker's first product, a journal, sold two units in the first week, showing potential in the saturated market.

The store's sales increased significantly, reaching $2,500 to $3,000 a week, demonstrating the potential for growth even in competitive markets.

The speaker emphasizes that saturation in a market is proof of demand and choosing the right product medium is crucial, with the design being the differentiator.

The selection of a journal as the product to sell was strategic, based on its history of being a proven seller and the timing of the year for purchasing planners.

A key takeaway is to create designs that cater to a specific audience, rather than copying existing successful listings.

The speaker provides a detailed breakdown of the costs and profit margins associated with selling a journal on Etsy, highlighting the potential for profitability.

The use of Printify and the benefits of a premium account are discussed, including cost savings and the ability to自动化 the fulfillment process.

The speaker shares a method for creating product designs using templates and emphasizes the importance of a clever title that resonates with a specific audience.

The use of a mockup generator tool is mentioned as a way to create professional-looking listing images without additional costs.

The speaker advises on two primary ways to drive traffic to an Etsy store: organic traffic through Pinterest and paid traffic through Etsy ads.

A recommendation to start businesses with no physical inventories and the potential to make over a million dollars is teased for the upcoming year.

The importance of taking action despite fear and imperfect conditions is stressed, with a call to feel the fear and do it anyway.

Personalization is suggested as a unique spin to add to products, with the mention of an app that can automate the process.