Do you have an Etsy shop where you make print and ship party decorations, but you’re getting burnt out? If so, I can relate! It wasn’t long ago that all my products were print and ship items, and I was running on empty! I am so thankful I made this move, so I want to give a little advice for you as you Make Your Etsy Party Decorations Business Digital.
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Party Decorations Makers on Etsy
If you’ve been selling your party decorations that you make with your Cricut on Etsy, then you’re likely a creative entrepreneur like me! (Read about why making and selling printables is a great side hustle for creative people!) And, since we’re alike, you probably love the creating part of the whole thing! OMG, me too! I love turning on a good podcast (like The Celebration Effect!) while I make my decorations. I can just relax and slip into flow state. Can you relate?
But as the orders start to role in, things start to get busy. And at first, it’s exciting. You’ve made it! You’re making money on Etsy! But then you start working nights, weekends, and sick days to fulfill on orders. And suddenly you find your self a little resentful because you’re getting paid so little, yet doing SO MUCH WORK.
It’s starting to take the joy out of crafting! AMIRIGHT?
Make Your Etsy Party Decorations Business Digital Like I Did
The story I just told is exactly my experience. I absolutely loved (and still do!) making party decorations for people’s milestones and celebrations in my Etsy shop. However, at some point I realized it was a little more than I’d bargained for! I was working weekends, and not enjoying time with my daughter. I was working nights, and missing time with my husband. Not only did it feel like I wasn’t charging enough, I was seeing all these other party decorations designers on Etsy selling their items for pennies! That cannot be sustainable, I thought! (Read about Is Selling Etsy Printables Too Competitive)
I knew there was a better way, and I knew it was with printable party decorations. And even though I knew that printable party decorations was the most logical next step in my business, there was a lot of fear around getting started.
After all, I wasn’t a professional designer! And there was so much to learn! But, what I realized is that you don’t have to be a professional designer to get started with printables – AT ALL!
I was able to learn some basic skills in Adobe photoshop that have now gotten me over 6000 sales! And if you’re curious, Here’s Why I use Adobe to make all my Printables.
To ease your fears about starting a printables business so you can strat making passive income through printables, here are my tips as you Make Your Etsy Party Decorations Business fully digital, so you can finally get that $20K year like I did!
Understand the Commitment to Move to Printable Party Decorations
The first thing when getting started with making the move to digital party decorations on Esty is knowing that it’s going to take a bit of commitment in a few areas. First, you can read about how I sold my very first printable! After that, know that it’s going to take commitment and mistakes along the way. But I am always grateful for my mistakes, because they help me learn.
Time Commitment
The first area of commitment is time. Understand that it might take some time to move your items to printable, digital products. This can feel like you are taking a huge step back in your business. Especially when printables customers have such different questions about their printables, like How to Fix Editable PDFs that aren’t printing correctly. But as many of the greats will tell you, sometimes you have to go backward in order to move forward. Therefore, if you sell hundreds of dollars worth of banners, but those banners take a lot of time to create by hand, you might have to cut back on making a few of those in order to devote more time to making that, or other items, printable.
Again, it might feel like you are wasting time, when in actuality, you are going to ultimately change your life.
Financial Commitment
The second area is financial. If you’re serious about making this change in your life, then you will need to devote a little skrilla into your business. NOT A TON, but a little.
You’ll want to invest in software programs that allow you to create the items that you know will sell. If you’re using a free product, can it really do the things you want for your customers? Will it wow them? Will it win over your competition? As yourself, if you aren’t willing to put in the financial investment into your business, will your customers put the financial investment into your products?
And if you still think it’s too much, as yourself what peace of mind, less work, and more freedom will do for you? That, my friend, is priceless.
Commitment to Start: Make Your Etsy Party Decorations Business Digital
Making the commitment to actually start making the move to digital products is the biggest hurdle. After all, we already talked about how you might feel like you’re stepping back in your business since you’re making a huge shift. However, when you finally make the decision to start, it might not just be the commitment to time and money, it’s also the commitment to figuring out the HOW.
Learning how to make the move from a print and ship party decorations business to a digital party decorations business might take both time and money. For example, doing the research on what Software programs you will want to use. Watching the YouTube videos to figure it all out, or purchasing a course that teaches you the step by step path to making this new business idea work.
The commitment to start means realizing that it’s all of these things. Are are either all in or you’re all out. And when I say that, I don’t mean you can’t continue to print and ship party decorations to customers after you’ve made many of your products digital. What I mean is that you might have to shift your focus and commitment for a short time while you pivot.
The Most Pivotal Thing to Move Your Etsy Party Decorations Business Digital
Whenever anyone goes to start a business, people are always telling them that the very first thing they need to do is make a business plan. I say SCREW THAT. If you’re planning to move your party decorations business to a more digital model, the main thing you need to change about yourself is your mindset!
Why? Because doing something new and making a pivot in your business is a huge mind f***. You’re going to need all the help you can get to not only make the commitments that we talked about above, but to keep going when the going gets tough! Like, when you start to think that the Etsy printables market is too competitive, for example.
In fact, the only reason I had the guts and the confidence to start a printable party decorations business in the first place was because I changed my mindset. So, how can you change your mindset? Head over to Why Creative Entrepreneurs Need a Gratitude Journal to find out. (The title kind of gives it away though, huh? lol). You may also want to check out my blog about 3 Ways to Make Unique Printables to Sell on Etsy to stand out above your competition!
Related Articles
You might also be interested in the following articles:
How to Start a Business with Your Cricut
The Best Ways to Make Passive Income On Etsy
The Best Printer for an Etsy Business
How I Turned My Cricut Business Into Passive Income
How to Edit and Print Editable PDF Files With Adobe Reader
How to Get more Party Decoration Sales on Etsy
Thank you so much for taking the time to read about how to Make Your Etsy Party Decorations Business Digital. I hope this gives you some ideas about stopping the hustle in your creative business and starting to thrive! I love to help you celebrate life through party decorations and personal development! But above all, I’d love to connect with you. Reach out to me on Instagram and let’s chat.
xox
Lindsay
