$80,000 in Etsy Sales: How to Grow from Here? [Side Hustle Coaching]

With a full-time job, a baby at home, and a thriving side hustle, Troy Parker was becoming a master juggler.

He was excited about the growth of his Etsy shop, Goober Prints, but was beginning to reach the ceiling of his own capacity.

Troy specializes in fun, quirky, customizable direct-to-garment printing. Goober Prints had a breakout year in 2020, jumping to $80,000 in total sales — up from about $10,000 in 2019.

Could it become his full-time focus? Is it possible to scale sales without sacrificing even more sleep?

I reached out to Side Hustle Show alum and Etsy growth pro Melissa MacDonald, because I knew she’d have some great ideas for Troy.

And she didn’t disappoint!

Tune in to check out our full conversation.

Table of Contents show

Current State of the Business

Here’s how Troy described the current state of Goober Prints:

$80,000 in sales in 2020, mostly from 4000 Etsy sales.
Almost 1000 sales so far in 2021.
Making $8 in sales for every $1 in Etsy ad spend.

The Challenge

How to grow the business while reducing the time it takes to fulfill the orders. The once-celebrated Etsy sale notification has started to produce some anxiety!

Advice and Recommendations

Melissa had several ideas for Troy:

Consider building a standalone e-commerce store
Duplicate top-selling listings using a new image, with different titles and tags
Update titles and tags of low-performing listings
Match your listing title to your first listing tags in order
Renew top selling listings daily
Build a Product Release System (Spreadsheet)
Seek Press Features
Scale Etsy Ads
Hire help in the design, production, and fulfillment process
Collaborate with other Etsy Shops

Again, I think you’ll enjoy this conversation on taking a side hustle that’s already doing well and trying to step it up even more.