Can You (Still) Make a Full-Time Living on Etsy?

I have a confession to make: etsy, I’ve been ignoring you.

While back in the day (2008-2012) etsy was most of my income, ever since they started offering instant digital downloads two years ago, I’ve put the shop on auto-pilot. I average $250-$300 per month in digital sales, which isn’t too bad considering I do almost nothing to keep the shop updated (most of my income these days comes from licensing and wholesale printed collage sheets).

I also seem to have lost faith that etsy is still a viable income source for small-time designers, even asking back in May “Is Etsy Dead?”

In talking with other full-time sellers, their experience seems to be a mixed bag. While most had their best etsy year in 2012, and all have opened their own shopify stores as back-ups, there are still plenty who have stemmed the tide, who have made all the crazy changes (titles, tags, photos) necessary to keep relevant in a sea of mass-produced goods.

So I’m curious: now that both my boys are in school and I have a bit more time, can I bring my etsy shop back from the grave? Is etsy still a viable option to make a full-time living?

Because I know I do well with 100-day challenges, I’ve decided to spend the next three months and totally re-vamp the etsy shop. I’m going back to the basics: new product images, better item descriptions, re-doing tags and titles, growing two specific social outlets (Facebook and Instagram) and most excitingly: lots of new collage sheets. I currently have 386 items in stock and would love to have 700-1000 by day 100. I also have a very ambitious financial goal: from $7-10/day to $70-100/day by the beginning of March. Gulp.

And because I’m the type of person who loves and is inspired by seeing hard numbers, I’ll post here every day to share my daily sales, stats, and goals with the hope that it can inspire (or perhaps warn) others. Here we go:

Day 1 (December 1st)
Etsy sales: $3.96
Etsy Views: 184
Total Etsy Items: 386
Updated Etsy Items: 0/386
Facebook Likes: 318
Instagram Followers: 496

I’d be curious to hear how etsy is doing for others. Do you think etsy is still a good option? Is there anything you’ve done or noticed that works (or doesn’t)? I feel like I’m starting all over, which is in many ways very exciting. Thanks for coming on this journey with me.

Fearing Change (Even Awesome Change)

My youngest started preschool this month, which means for the first time in five years I won’t have to work until 3 am. I was so excited! But the transition has been much harder than I expected (for me). In fact, I'm writing this at 2 am when I really should be in bed.

I’ve been procrastinating during the day, filling my time with busy work instead of what really needs to get done. My sock drawer is all cleaned out (thanks to this book), I started two new websites (on Rocks and Architecture), yet the most important piddix work I need to do I ignore.

It’s frightening to admit, but I’m scared. Scared that now that all the excuses are gone, I won’t be able to make piddix work full-time as I once did.

I’m not sure what exactly is going on, but I’ve come up with three theories:

1. I need time to transition. It’s been almost a month, and I’m still on my swing-shift schedule. Perhaps like a cure for jet lag I need to force my body to readjust to a more normal routine.

2. I need time for myself. After years of only focusing on two things (piddix and family), I need time to have fun. Since my version of fun is taking on new projects, I’m filling up what I thought would be extra time with new ideas I’ve been sitting on forever.

3. I’m self-sabotaging. This is the scariest idea because it seems ridiculous, yet is probably true. I finally have exactly what I want. Two boys in amazing schools. Time for family and for myself....so what's the problem? Here goes: I’m afraid that if everything is too perfect, something horrible will go wrong. In my mind, life is meant to be a balance of good and bad. And if there’s too much good… I’m just waiting for the other shoe to fall. I’m afraid of this perfect life that’s just outside my grasp. It makes me sick to my stomach to even think about it. So I delay. I procrastinate. I won’t take those last few steps I need to get there. Perhaps I feel I don’t deserve it.

I have no idea how to overcome this resistance to change I’m experiencing. And feel ridiculous for having such a silly first-world problem. Which is why I suppose I'm writing this down. Getting my fears and doubts out of my head to make them dissipate, and sharing my goals and dreams to help make them real.

These larger questions feel like wispy smoke I cannot grasp, so I suppose I'll start with something concrete that I can control: bedtime. My plan for October is to go to bed every night at midnight, and hope that getting 6-7 hours of sleep a night for a month it will bring some clarity for next steps. Well, that and bribes. If I get off my bottom and send out the piddix newsletter today, I get to open and build this with my boys after school. Sometimes it’s the little things.

What Stops Good Ideas From Happening?

Creating an award-winning, top-ten blog is fairly formulaic.

Step 1: Start the blog
Step 2: Work your tail off

But if the process of creating an amazing blog seems so simple, why don't we all do it?

I have a feeling it's similar to working out. You know how when you first start a new exercise program it feels energizing and rewarding? And then at some point (when we get sick or hit a plateau) we take a little break or stop working out as frequently. Then months go by and we're back where we started, debating whether to buy larger jeans or start a new, more exciting regimen (not that I'm, ahem, speaking from experience or anything).

For example, how many times have you seen (or written) "I know it's been a while since I've posted, but…."

At my previous job, one of the questions we frequently asked ourselves was "what stops good ideas from happening?" We found that starting a project can often feel like a sugar high. Everything is "go go go!" Then something happens (funds run out, life changes) and the sugar low hits. You sink into that valley and instead of rising back up, you back up or switch directions.

I hit the low point with full-time-piddix about six weeks in. Sales just weren't coming in like I had planned and our financial situation was getting a little scary. Then I took a good look at the options: head back to my previous job and see if they had any work for me, or recommit myself to making a go of full-time-crafting. I weighed my options and decided to move forward (and haven't looked back since).

I think the moment when we're first truly tested during a new undertaking--whether it be a business, blog, or new body--is absolutely critical, and where so many of my own projects falter (new jeans, here I come). In part it's the sugar-syndrome of newness. Crafty "Sister Diane" has a great podcast with Scott Belsky, author of Making Ideas Happen. In it they highlight why it's so exciting for creative individuals to start new projects, but equally difficult for them to complete them. Belsky's solutions include increasing focus, making goals public, creating opportunities for feedback, and plain "old-fashioned passion and perspiration."

If you look back at the top of this post, you'll notice I said that starting an award-winning, amazing blog is formulaic. I didn't say it was easy. As one of my favorite sayings goes, "if it was easy, everyone would do it." My own blog definitely does not fit into the top-10 category; nor do I have plans to make it happen. When starting any project, it won't always be easy. You will have ups and downs. There will be failure, as well as success. The trick then becomes how to sustain, how to persevere when roadblocks occur.

Over the next few weeks I'll be checking in with some crafty folks who are in various stages of their own endeavors, asking about their own goals and how they addressed--or plan to address--the critical moments that make or break a project. And of course my sneaky, ulterior motive is that by making their goals public, we can help provide that positive peer pressure and feedback that I think can be so essential for success.

So how about you? Have you ever felt that make-or-break moment? What do you think stops good ideas from happening? And what can we personally do to find and sustain success?