Goal Diggers, I cannot wait to introduce you to this guest. Before I give you the details on this Wonderwoman, I have to tell her how I met her.
If you hang out on the Goal Digger Instagram you’ll know that we often ask you what YOU, our listeners want to hear… and we really do listen! So many of you wanted to know more about selling products, designs, and creations on Etsy, and… enter Natalie Fugere! Natalie is a faithful Goal Digger, and after seeing all of your Etsy questions on the Instagram post, Natalie reached out and offered to teach us how to make it big and how to start an Etsy shop!
I loved how she presented herself and couldn’t help from swooning while looking at her shop! Natalie started an Etsy shop when she was just 18 with a ten dollar bill and a vision. Four years later and her business, The Painted Press, has gained national media attention, supports her and her family, and sits in the top 1% of all Etsy shops! It is her mission to provide an affordable, unique gift giving option and to support her team made up entirely of college and high school students. Beyond the beautiful trinkets, Natalie is a brilliant businesswoman and today she is going to teach you how to make it BIG on Etsy!
FROM A CREATIVE OUTLET INTO BUSINESS:
Natalie mentioned that she has always been a major creator and DIY’er, and stumbled into decorating jewelry dishes. She gifted these dishes to loved ones for Christmas and they encouraged her to sell her products. For fun, she listed them on Etsy and praised how easy it is to list on Etsy! She mentioned it only costs 20 cents to make a listing on Etsy so the risk was relatively low and she entered a few of her jewelry dishes.
“It started out as a way to me to get a creative outlet, and since my jewelry dishes looked different than other jewelry dishes, people started taking a risk even though I didn’t have any sales or reviews.” It started with a few small sales and it just kept growing. Natalie mentioned the gradual growth of her “brand” that occurred during this beginning stage– little by little, “making small choices to make the brand cohesive (packaging, mail, customer service, font, etc.)”
THE EVOLUTION OF A SUCCESSFUL ETSY SHOP:
As mentioned, at first the growth was slow and Natalie was fine-tuning the logistics of her Etsy shop: becoming a brand, streamlining the process, getting good wholesale prices for clay, boxes, shipping, business cards, etc. She also took the iniative to master Etsy SEO, “I wanted to focus on search results and make sure that the Painted Press always turned up in people’s search results.”
When I asked her how she learned all of this, Natalie said she had researched the heck out of Etsy (Smart girl!) “There is a lot of information out there about Etsy, but not in one place- you’ll have to search and be self-motivated to learn the nitty, gritty details of the site. It’s amazing how much you can accomplish when you make up your mind about something!”
Goal Diggers, take a note from Natalie– as with anything, if you really want your Etsy to thrive, you have to invest time, energy, and knowledge into it!
THE BOOM:
Growth was steady for Natalie, until one average day when the orders started FLOODING in. She had no idea what was going on but later found out that she had been featured as the TOP “personalized gift” by a Huffington Post article. While this is a major stroke of luck, business-wise, Natalie had to think quickly and adapt (she had never had near the volume of orders before!)
Hearing her speak about this time and her grit, positivity, and organization absolutely blew my mind. I don’t want to give it all of it away, but if you are wondering how to take your Etsy hobby into a full-on business, you HAVE to tune in!
PROS OF ETSY:
- It’s ready for you wherever you are in your business (you can start with nothing and no strings attached!)
- There is a place for you! There are people that sell things for a hobby allllll the way to people using it as their full-time income. You can find YOUR sweet spot!
- As you grow, their website supports that. Natalie mentioned you can customize your branding, systems, and messaging very easily as you evolve.
- The conscious consumer market is growing and when people shop on Etsy they know they are giving their money to real people, not corporations!
- They are not possessive of your business– You can link your website, your social media, any links you choose!
- They want you to succeed! When you thrive, they thrive! Natalie spoke to how incredible Etsy has been!
CONS OF ETSY:
- Like any social site, they change (algorithms, settings, software, etc.)
- Natalie mentioned people often get frustrated when they don’t feel like they are making the sales they are expected to, and they can blame Etsy. Natalie wants to remind everyone that you really have to work to make it worth it!
- It is becoming saturated. (Tune in to hear how Natalie sticks out!)
Okay, can I just say that this woman is one of the most organized, eloquent, BRILLIANT businesswomen (and she just turned 20!) It’s safe to say that this girl is an Etsy expert, and I cannot wait for you to experience her magic (and swoon at her creations, hello!)
I loved this interview! It is obvious Natalie has a head for business, and I think things are only going to get bigger and better for her. I had thought about starting an Etsy business a long time ago and this definitely has me reconsidering. Also, I am definitely swooning over those beautiful dishes.