Welcome to Episode #25 of The Planner Podcast.
Could your passion for making stickers become a business? What if you’ve never even made one before but you just love to use them?
These were the questions I was asking myself back in 2016 when I first opened my Etsy shop, Paper Planner Club.
And today I want to talk all about how we can turn our hobby into a business, even if we don’t consider ourselves an expert yet.
When I got started, I had been using stickers for only a little while but fell head over heels in love with the process of choosing them and using them.
I find using stickers so therapeutic and fun – I know I don’t need to tell you about this! And of course, using them made my planner look even more beautiful and helped me get things done every week.
I’d seen so many others having success on Etsy and I wanted in too. Same?
Enjoy the episode!
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Turn Your Sticker Hobby Into A Business
Here are 3 things to ask yourself to know if you’re ready to turn your sticker hobby into a business.
1. Who will your stickers help?
Who do you want to make stickers for?
Or have you been making stickers for yourself and you’re thinking of listing them on Etsy to see if they sell?
I would 100% advise you to put yourself in the shoes of your prospective customer before you take the leap into starting your own sticker business.
A few minutes of scrolling on Etsy will show you that thousands of sticker shops are already on there – so we need to figure out a way to stand out from the crowd.
Now, you might already be sitting on a potential gold mine if the stickers you’ve been making for yourself are super unique, if there are others out there who want to buy them AND there isn’t too much competition around.
I want you to really think from the perspective of who you will be making and selling your stickers to. Is there a demand for them? Are many other shops already selling the same kind of stickers?
Spend time thinking of the kind of stickers that will stand out from the crowd – because I know there are so many gaps in the sticker market currently and maybe you could fill that gap!
2. How passionate are you about making and selling stickers?
How do you really feel about having a sticker business, making stickers consistently, promoting your stickers and finding customers who will love your stickers?
Do you light up when you think about this?
Does it excite you to consider who your stickers will help?
Will they help them save time, be more organized, save money, make money, be happier or something else?
Does this excitement go behind just having a sticker-making hobby?
When I came up with my course, The Etsy Plan, teaching others how to start a profit-focused sticker shop, I knew I was prepared to talk about stickers day in day out – and I was delighted about that!
When you think about selling stickers, do stickers like YOU up? And does the thought of your potential customers spark joy in you?
If not, is it better to keep this idea as a hobby right now?
3. Why do you want this to be a business?
What are the reasons for you to consider this as a business idea?
Do you have ideas for stickers that you know will change other people’s lives?
Are you looking for a way to share your ideas or art with the world?
Do you want a business where you can work for yourself, from home?
Have you always wanted to find a way to make money from something creative?
Something else?
The reason that YOU are considering this as a business opportunity might be entirely different to someone else – and that’s ok!
But your reason – or reasons – need to be strong enough that you’ll go all in, and keep going.
Even if the sales don’t roll in from month 1.
Even if your cutting machine is playing up and you want to throw it out of the window!
And even on those days where you’re feeling deflated or even bored.
You can write down the reasons you want to make this business idea work and put it somewhere you can keep looking at for inspiration when you need it.
I’d only been making my own stickers for a very short time before I decided to open up on Etsy to sell them.
I wasn’t an expert with years of experience under my belt.
I couldn’t draw or illustrate – and I still can’t!
But I took the time to work out exactly who I wanted to help and why, how much I really wanted to make this a business – and why it was important for me to make it successful and keep going, even when times were tough.
If selling stickers is something you’ve been thinking about, I know you will love my free masterclass on Creating Stickers That Sell.
In this class, you’ll learn how to work out how YOU can come up with ideas for stickers that light you up and that customers want!
You’ll learn the mistakes you need to avoid – if selling stickers is for you.
And you’ll learn the fastest way to get started on turning your sticker-making hobby or dream into a thriving business.
To save your spot, just head to www.lovefrommim.com/class
And you can also put me a DM on either Instagram or Facebook. I’m either @paperplannerclub or @lovefrommim, you get to choose either of those. So send me a message and let me know if any part of this episode today has resonated with you or if you have questions.
See you in the next episode.
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