Exploring Etsy

Summary

The author is exploring passive income through digital products on Etsy, having made two sales totaling $1.98 with their current offerings, a budget for Team Moms and an Ultimate Travel Itinerary, while also sharing their journey and seeking tips from others.

Abstract

The author of the article has ventured into generating passive income by selling digital products on Etsy, following a previous attempt with RedBubble. Despite having over 40 designs on RedBubble, they have yet to earn any income from that platform. On Etsy, the author has leveraged their expertise in analytics and automation to create and sell two digital products as PDFs: a budget template for sports team managers and a travel itinerary based on their personal trip to Italy and Greece. In a week, they made two sales amounting to $1.98, which has sparked enthusiasm for the potential of this passive income stream. The author is hopeful about the future prospects of these digital products, as they require no further production or shipping once created. While the author currently lacks specific tips for success, they are open to learning and sharing insights as they progress. They invite readers to share their own experiences and advice on selling digital products on Etsy and hint at future content related to their writing endeavors, including a fantasy novel and a series of short stories.

Opinions

The author is optimistic about the potential of passive income from digital products on Etsy, despite modest initial earnings.
They value the ease of creating digital products that do not require ongoing production or physical shipping.
The author acknowledges a learning curve and a trial-and-error approach to selling on Etsy, indicating a willingness to adapt and improve.
There is an interest in community engagement, as the author seeks advice from others who have found success in selling digital products on Etsy.
The author is committed to sharing their journey and insights with readers, suggesting a transparent and communal approach to their entrepreneurial endeavors.
They are also actively promoting their writing work and upcoming publications, showing dedication to their craft and an entrepreneurial spirit across different domains.

My experiment with a different kind of income

If you’ve been following any of my stories, you may have also seen that I have dipped a bit into passive income through RedBubble (story here). To date, roughly 3 weeks after posting over 40 designs, my income is still zero through RedBubble (but I haven’t lost hope).

Another one that I am looking into, is Etsy.

Now, I don’t have any skills when it comes to making physical products, so I’m not selling trinkets or crafts. I’m exploring digital products.

I have a love for analytics and automation, and a large chunk of my career for the last 10 years has been around those two areas. I’ve spent years creating amazing spreadsheets filled with formulas and macros to fulfill even basic needs (such as making tracking expenses and income as Team Mom, and delivering updates in real-time to team parents, extremely easy with templates I can reuse for years to come).

Naturally, I thought to myself, “I could sell some of those templates or even PDF versions of final summary screens.”

The only problem is that I am a month in and have only come up with two items to make into PDF downloadable products: a budget for Team Moms (from a real budget that I use today for my partner’s son’s baseball team), and the Ultimate Travel Itinerary (from a real trip I took my kids on to Italy and Greece a few years ago). Each are only PDFs of my summary pages with blank entries and screenshots of how I filled them out (as suggestions to buyers).

BUT — I have made 2 sales in the past week, totally a whopping $1.98. The only thing that makes me excited about it though, is that people can buy these for years to come and I don’t have to build anything or ship anything, ever.

This is the type of passive income I desire — create something once, and sell forever.

You may be asking “how did you do it? Do you have any tips?” And no, I don’t, unfortunately. It’s a bit of a trial and error at the moment, but I’ll be sure to share my tips whenever I find a eureka moment.

What about you? Do you have any success with digital products on Etsy or have any tips to share? Let me know in the comments! :)

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