Why did I open a Printable Etsy shop. Let's learn from this experience together!

Hi! I'm thrilled you're here! Welcome!

My name is Barbara, and I'm a professional artist and fashion designer. I've always wanted to have a creative life because I know that's what makes me happy. Do you know how people speak about 'flow'? Well, that's exactly it.

I work as an art lead for a video game company, and I enjoy it, but my dream is to be an entrepreneur and create products that are close to my heart. I also want to be more consistent and learn new skills. I know that being a business owner or having a personal brand takes a lot of work, and many skills that I cannot even think of yet, but you have to start somewhere, and I think making an Etsy shop of digital products is a great start, and this is why:

1. You can work on what you want to do, exploring yourself, your art, and your creativity. Even if I love my job, it is a competitive industry, and I have been feeling a lot of pressure lately to produce better work. That was draining my creativity. I feel different about my shop. I am creating products I like, and I also know that if I don't make the ones I am making now, I cannot be better in the future. Have you heard the theory that says you need to put 10,000 hours into something to be good at it? Well, I don't know about the hours, but I do know that you have to make 'bad' drawings to get to the good ones. I am excited to see what I will create in a year.

2. You can take your time and go at your own pace. Of course, if you want quick results, that will not be the case, but if you take this opportunity as something you do to enjoy yourself and build little by little the skills you need, I think that with time, you will get where you want to be.

3. One thing will take you to the other. I think you learn on the go, or at least, I do. I am a hands-on person. I am usually drawn to start something before being prepared because you never are. Another part of me, and I think this is really common, is afraid of failure and would prefer to be ready beforehand, but I learn more on the run. This takes me to my next point:

4. There is no such thing as failure. There is not. Do you know why? Because we are learning! And every problem is a way of learning a new thing, a new skill, something you will know forever and that you wouldn't if you hadn't tried.

5. You don't need to make a monetary investment at first. I always try to start things with no money (I did the same with NFTs). There are so many YouTube channels where you will get 40 free listings, making it even easier to start. To be completely honest, I don't know how much money I will spend later on, but I'm enjoying this process, and I am making products that I like. So it is totally worth it.

This path is leading me to think more about my personal brand. I'll update you on that soon.

As I mentioned earlier, I have created two products so far and I am currently working on a few more. The first product I uploaded was this Easter bundle of coloring pages for kids.

I have always had a passion for kids' illustrations, and one of my dreams is to write and illustrate children's books. Since I used to love coloring books as a child, I decided to create some pages myself. I learned something valuable from this experience - it's best to take advantage of holidays and create products that are relevant to the occasion. It's better to prepare a few months in advance, although some videos suggest doing so six months in advance. In this case, I realized that just two weeks before Easter, so I had to improvise😂.

I researched similar products from top sellers to get an idea of the price range and how to market it. I observed that products like this are usually sold in bundles. I also studied the titles, keywords, and descriptions of similar products and created my own version. To increase visibility, I offered a 50% discount. While it did bring in more views, I still didn't make any sales since I didn't have any other products or even a profile picture for my shop.

The second product I uploaded was a wall art print of a Papaya. I previously had a Redbubble shop where I sold only four pieces of my cacao painting. Since someone liked it, I decided to create more art in that style. I enjoyed painting food items with gouache, so I planned on creating a set of "flying nature" art prints. I started with one background design and then tried a second one. I liked both, so I decided to sell them together so that the buyer could choose the one that would suit their space better. From this product, I learned about the sizes and ratios that need to be uploaded and how to write the perfect description for such products. It took a while, but I feel that I have the right vibe for my shop.

As I was designing my shop, I realized that I wanted some animals in the photos to complement my idea of a happy home. However, I struggled to find suitable photos, so I have to keep searching for them. I got to decide on the style and feel I wanted for every visual aspect of my shop, which was a lot of fun! I am going for a relaxed yet elegant vibe since I love textures, colors, and design. I believe my customers will appreciate it too. This is a WIP and I hope to improve it with time.

 When I tried to upload the files, I created two zip files with five images per design, but they were too heavy. I also had trouble with the file extension, even though it was a zip folder, ETSY told me it wasn't. Eventually, after watching some tutorials, I uploaded the files to my Google Drive and created a PDF with a quick introduction, thank-you note, and link.

Now I am working on more kids' activities with the advice and ideas from my friends and their children. I send them the products to see if they like them and they give me feedback and new ideas. I am also working on some quotes and watercolor backgrounds, and of course, more "flying nature" designs. This is the path I am starting. I'm not saying 'follow me,' but I want to share my experience, document it, and maybe find more people like me who have a dream but do not know where to start. Hopefully, we will make a community of like-minded people that want to grow as entrepreneurs. I hope you found some inspiration from this. Thank you for being here! Cheers, Barbara.