Imagine making 39,000 sales through your Etsy shop.

That's exactly what Alys Maley has made in total since she started selling digital products through her Etsy shop. She went from a full time job as a designer to working from home and earning even more through her side hustle, allowing her husband to also leave his job.

You'll love her story.

We also chat about...

Her career as a designer
Her initial investments
Her journey getting to 39,000 sales
Advice to those getting started
How to manage clients

Enjoy this chat with Alys, and please subscribe to us in iTunes if you enjoyed it!

Show notes and links from today's episode

Alys' shop: Paper Lark Designs
Photoshop Illustrator
Adobe InDesign
Canva
PicMonkey
Facebook group: Etsy Passive Income Girls
Facebook group: Etsy Passive Income
FIREDrill's Facebook group: Etsy Downloads and Printables with Gwen and J

Key takeaways from our chat with Alys
1 - Your digital product should solve someone's problem
Alys attribute most of her success to simply finding a niche that solved someone's problem. Her niche is professional photographers who need templates and quick graphics to promote a session. She didn't reinvent the wheel, she didn't join an already saturated niche. She says the key is to find a niche where someone has already validated sales, but which isn't overpopulated with sellers. Understand the market and keep following this successful formula.
2 - Value your skill set
When starting out, you need to value your work. If you offer a customisation for $5, you won't get high value clients and you'll be underpaid for spending hours exchanging emails and adding more customisations. Alys' clients first pay for the customisation and then she spends time personalising the digital product. For this reason it's important to understand your clients, your market and your own value.
3 - SEO doesn't always matter
Alys does not invest at all in SEO, and yet has one of the most profitable shops in her niche. She says this is because she simply solved a problem, and this made clients come flocking to her shop. If your product is in high demand, you will get high sales. If you don't have the right skill set, you can teach yourself - as Alys taught her husband - but really the key thing you should focus on is what value your product is providing customers.
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