Let's begin!

I started my SVG creation when I was about 9 months pregnant with my 3rd child and ready to pop. It was close to Halloween and Thanksgiving in 2018, so I figured I would start designing for those holidays and HOPE things worked out for me. I suddenly realized I had NO clue what I was getting myself into. 

I will say, most of those original designs, were immediately thrown into the garbage (i.e. I inactivated them on my Etsy shop so it looks like I'll be starting from scratch these upcoming Holidays!)

At the time, I only had the basic edition of the Silhouette Studio software. I have since upgraded to Business Edition, but I'll get into that in another post. 

Here is what my first design listed on Etsy looked like:

My first month actually selling in September, I sold 20 items as you can see below. At the time my items were WAY under priced and I have since adjusted my pricing accordingly. I covered pricing designs in another post.

Doesn't seem like much right? Well fret not, month over month things got better and my sales improved. The more I listed, the more I worked on my S.E.O. (Search Engine Optimization) and the more I worked my tail off, the better my sales became. 

Here is a snapshot of 2018. 

Not too shabby for just starting out. Keep in mind my designs were getting better every day and I would try to post at least one new design daily. My sales have been increasing monthly since then and I suspect I will be reaching 4 figure months by the end of the year between my two shops and this website. 

Keep in mind this is not an overnight success. A lot of people start up and think "I'm going to make so much MONEY"

The reality is, the market is full of sellers trying to do the same thing you do. You have to ask yourself, what makes me stand out? Everyone is different and will grow at different rates and speeds. I am hoping to have some guest posts in the future from some shops who have grown quickly doing the same thing I do. You can make the comparisons yourself!

Read More: 2019 Income Update

One thing that you'll notice in my shop on Design Bundles and Etsy is that I steer away from the typical and popular quotes and sayings. Sure I have a few up there, but for the most part I try and be unique and original, which drives a lot of traffic. 

For example, the other day I posted this Lawn Enforcement Officer file and have sold it over 20 times in one week between Etsy and Design Bundles.

It really blew my mind, but when I did a search of the svg on either site, I discovered it was not a common one, so the files showed up on the top of search engines very easily. 

As I continue to post on this blog, I will go through what worked and didn't work for me and tips for you to avoid some of my designing blunders in the process. I can only hope some things will resonate with you and continue to give you the motivation you need to keep pushing forward. Remember Rome wasn't built in a night and your business won't be either. 

The next few sets of posts are going to be full of information you need to know before you dive in deep, including but not limited to - trademark and copyright items, pricing your files, different file types and what they are used for, mockups, the reason why you want to create a digital shop, and branding. Once those topics are covered I will get into different design tricks and tips in Silhouette Studio.

If there is something specific you would like to see me discuss, drop me a comment below. Be sure to follow my Facebook group for updates!

Thank you for reading and good luck on your passive income journey!

Cheers

Tanya