One of my favorite podcasts? How I Built This. Give me an article talking about how a small business owner made their first sale and I’ll eat it right up. In a world where we’re peppered with Pinterest pins that read “Make 100k in 6 months” I look to stories of real people for inspiration.

So today I’m taking my turn and am reflecting on a few things I learned from my first Etsy digital download sale.

I started my Etsy shop on October 4th, 2021. At the time of writing this post…I still haven’t figured out exactly how to focus my shop. I tried listing both productivity downloads and wedding invites to test and the verdict is still out. I say this not because I want to make you think “why should I listen to her” but because I want you to know that it’s not perfect, I’m figuring it out, and that’s okay.

On October 23, nearly a month after I opened my shop, I ran downstairs to grab my phone off the charger while visiting my dad. I see a push notification from Etsy that basically said “Hey Nicole! Someone gave you money for something you made!”

Cue. The. Squeals.

Of course, my first sale was a whopping $3. But let me tell you, there’s nothing like the feeling of seeing any amount show up in the little revenue box on your Etsy Dashboard. So with my Cinderella background story of making my first $3, let’s dive into some of my takeaways.

1. Just. Start.

As I mentioned above, my shop wasn’t perfect when I started. But I focused on making a quality, well designed product and there it was: a sale! The takeaway here is that if you are on the fence or wondering what people will think: just start. You can spend your entire life perfecting an idea or you can throw it against the wall and see what sticks. I’ve already learned a ton about what I do and don’t want to do going forward.

Want to reduce the barrier to start even further? Signing up for your Etsy shop via this link will get you 40 free listings. For full transparency, I will also get 40 free listings if you join through my link but removing even that 20 cents per listing barrier was key to getting the ball rolling with my own shop so I feel obliged to spread the love!

2. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel

In fact, it’s better that you don’t! When trying to sell a new product on a platform like Etsy, it’s best to start with something that people are already searching for. Otherwise, you’re going to have to climb the hill of showing people what it is, figuring out if they’ll even search for a niche item, and buy it. You can use tools like Marmalead, Google Keyword Planner, or Ubersuggest for keyword research.

The trick is to find something people are searching for THEN distance yourself from the competition through design, quality, and the uniqueness that only you can bring. My top-selling item so far is a cleaning checklist that I put my own unique spin on (it includes a day already penciled in for doing nothing #onbrand) rather than copying the other checklist styles on Etsy.

With tools like Canva rising in popularity and the barrier to entry so low, anyone can start selling digital goods online. This means that it’s more important than ever to focus on the quality of your ideas and design over trying to make a quick buck.

3. Create templates

You’ll quickly learn that there are quite a few moving parts that come along with each Etsy sale. I’ve put this portion of the process on autopilot by creating templates and lists wherever possible to lessen the mental load of listing. I’ve created these in both the productivity and design realm to save time.

On the productivity side, I created a to-do list card in Notion that contains each step of the listing process plus a table that serves as a template for writing the post. This includes a space for the title, keywords, and item description.

On the design side, I’ve created templates for my digital download mockups and social media images. An easy way to make consistent product mockups without a ton of technical skill is to pick a neutral background and add a white rectangle with a drop shadow that’s sized to the ratio of your products. For my social media templates (primarily Pinterest pins) I use Canva.

It’s important to set aside the time to create vertical Pins for your Etsy shop items since Etsy’s image format is horizontal. You can pin horizontal images to Pinterest, but they’re less noticeable in a feed dominated by 2:3 ratio images.

Now there’s obviously lots of little things I’m learning each day but I hope this will serve as inspiration to you to start putting your dreams in action. Whatever they are, I’m rooting for you.