Why I’m Adding Printables to my Etsy Shop | Etsy Shop Tips
If you’re a maker during the holiday season, you know how hard it can be to keep up with everything, especially when things are flying out the door.
I know, it’s a great problem to have (I’m sure none of us are complaining when it happens), but it’s still a bit of a problem. Since I make mostly wooden home decor, my production (and my sales) are limited by how much woodworking I can get done in the garage, which is the most challenging part for me. #thestruggleisreal
This article may contain affiliate links. What does that mean? If you make a purchase after clicking an affiliate link, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. It helps keep this little blog going, and allows me to share free content with you all.
I do still love it – but I love the creative aspect of running this business so much more. As a result of too much producing, not enough creating, I’ve been looking to find other ways of incorporating my designs into my shop, that happen to be a little less time consuming than the full home decor pieces. Don’t worry, my signature pieces aren’t going anywhere – I’m just working on expanding my product line!
As a result, over the past year I have added printed products like mugs and water bottles, as well as custom coasters to the AllyBeth Etsy shop. I’m able to creatively design new lines and collections in forms that I’m able to get to the customer so much faster. And I totally love it! These new pieces have fit in perfectly with my branding and overall look + style and I’m looking forward to adding new items in the future (like candles perhaps….?).
In addition to my Etsy shop, I also run this blog which is a huge creative outlet for me. By simplifying some of my products, it means I get to spend more time writing over here for you guys – and I’m so excited about that!
Through the years of blog writing, and being involved in the maker community, I’ve connected with a lot of you who are also struggling with creating additional streams of revenue. and I can relate. The conversation has been a hot topic between a few friends and I, and one of them suggested that I offer digital downloads and printables as part of my Etsy shop.
At first, I shrugged it off, not thinking I had anything to offer in the printable world (funny how our minds work!), but the more I thought about it, the more I realized I would love to offer a separate line of designs as printable wall art and possibly SVG designs for other makers. I mean, it is what I do already, I just typically put my designs right on wood.
A few weeks later, I was introduced to Julie, who runs a side-hustle printables-only Etsy shop and she gave me some killer info on how to get started. I normally google everything, and over-research everything. Which means by the end of the day/week/month, I know everything there is to know about something, but haven’t actually done it yet because I’m scared.
I can’t be the only one who does this, right?
After much deliberation, I ended up buying Julie’s Etsy Printables course because she promised it would help me stay on track and on task. And she was pretty much right.
I mean, it comes with a Weekly Lesson Plan + Checklist so this course is basically speaking my love language by forcing me to do the work.
Anyways, I’m nearly done the course and I have a handful of designs that will be released into the shop either closer to the holidays or just after. I have a lot to juggle at the moment, so I had to be realistic with my timelines but I’m loving taking this time to just design for the fun of it! Plus, the course covers the areas that I was most weary about when it comes to selling digital items. I didn’t know how the automatic download feature worked, what types of formats customers are expecting, and how to package your final product together to ensure customer satisfaction.
I knew I could figure it all out on my own eventually, but I really appreciated the fact that the course covered everything, even the basics, so I could work through it and move forward with my idea – instead of getting frustrated. I’m also a little embarrassed to admit that even though I work with Adobe Illustrator regularly, I am entirely self taught and still have major doubts about my abilities to work efficiently in the program. The course breaks down exactly how to make proper printables and digital files using AI, Canva, PicMonkey and a few other platforms.
Once the designs are completed, I pop them into my watermarked template, upload to Etsy, and then work on selling them. Everything else is done by Etsy. Everyone still needs to do the work to promote their shop and make sure you are using the correct keywords for Etsy SEO – but if you’re an existing Etsy shop owner, chances are you’re doing all this anyways!
For those of you who are interested in checking out the course, it is currently waitlisted, but will open for registration again from November 14th – November 17th. You can join the waitlist (or sign up for the course if it’s during the launch weekend) right here if you are interested in learning more!
I will keep you posted as I fine tune my very first design collection and add them to the shop. For the time being, they will all be added to my AllyBeth Design Co Etsy shop, and the first collection will include digital printables for wall art and also a few hand drawn + hand lettered SVG files! Woohoo!
I’m curious, if you were to add a few printable items to your shop, what would you add?
