In today's episode, I had a valuable conversation with Dylan Jahraus, a multi six-figure Etsy seller. She shared her incredible journey from struggling to find a job to building a thriving Etsy business that has generated over $1.7 million in revenue.

Dylan's story is proof that with the right strategy and dedication, Etsy can be a game-changer for your business. She gave us insights into leveraging Etsy's platform, expanding to other marketplaces, and creating a sustainable, profitable business.

If you're ready to take your handmade business to the next level, don't miss this episode!

How to Build a Thriving Etsy Business: Expert Insights from Multi-Six Figure Seller

In this episode of HobbyScool, I interviewed Dylan Jahraus, a multi six-figure Etsy seller, military spouse, and mother of two. Dylan shared her inspiring journey of creating a successful Etsy shop and leveraging her corporate e-commerce expertise to help thousands of Etsy sellers scale their businesses.

Crafting a Successful Etsy Business

Dylan began her journey by leveraging her background in business and product development, initially working with renowned companies such as Zappos and Zulily. After getting married and moving to San Diego due to her spouse's military commitments, Dylan faced challenges in securing conventional employment. This led her to explore side hustles and eventually list a handmade product on Etsy, which marked the transformative beginning of her successful Etsy business.

Scaling Strategies and Diversification

Dylan's unexpected success on Etsy led her to apply her corporate e-commerce principles and background to her Etsy shop, eventually achieving substantial monthly revenues. By diligently applying her expertise, Dylan scaled her Etsy shop to over $1.7 million in sales. Furthermore, she expanded her online presence by diversifying into platforms such as Amazon Handmade and Shopify, all while maintaining a strong presence on Etsy. This diversification strategy allowed her to maximize her reach and appeal to various customer segments.

Insights into Etsy Success

Dylan shared valuable insights into building a thriving Etsy business. She emphasized the importance of focusing on profitable customers and niche products, rather than getting caught up in concerns about market saturation. Additionally, she highlighted the value of leveraging Etsy's built-in trust and organic traffic, making it an ideal starting point for aspiring entrepreneurs in the handmade goods industry. Also, Dylan stressed the significance of offering a unique value proposition in search results, compelling visuals, and competitive pricing to drive success on Etsy.

Etsy as a Viable Income Source

Addressing a common question among potential Etsy sellers, Dylan confirmed that making a full-time income on Etsy is indeed possible. She cited examples of professionals from diverse backgrounds, including doctors, attorneys, and entrepreneurs, who successfully transitioned to full-time Etsy entrepreneurship. By sharing compelling success stories, Dylan dismantled misconceptions and demonstrated that Etsy can be a lucrative platform for individuals seeking financial independence and a channel for their creative passion.

Getting Started on Etsy

Dylan encouraged aspiring Etsy sellers to overcome analysis paralysis and take the initial steps toward building their online presence. Emphasizing the ease of listing products on Etsy compared to other platforms, she highlighted the importance of educating oneself on search engine optimization (SEO) and customer conversion strategies. Furthermore, she recommended focusing on a targeted product mix and adopting a proactive approach to leverage Etsy's potential.

Free Resources and Continued Learning

Dylan mentioned the availability of free educational resources on platforms such as YouTube and Instagram, offering valuable insights and tips for prospective Etsy sellers. Additionally, she highlighted the presence of a free Facebook group, providing a supportive community for individuals looking to explore the possibilities of Etsy entrepreneurship. By engaging with free content, aspiring Etsy sellers can gain a comprehensive understanding of the platform's potential and equip themselves with the tools for success.

Conclusion

Dylan’s journey from corporate e-commerce to multi six-figure Etsy entrepreneurship serves as an inspiring example for individuals aspiring to build a thriving business on Etsy. Her insights, success stories, and proactive advice provide a roadmap for overcoming barriers and tapping into the immense potential of the Etsy platform. Aspiring Etsy sellers can leverage her expertise and take the first steps toward crafting their own success stories in the vibrant and profitable world of Etsy entrepreneurship.

Mentioned In This Episode

• Where to find Dylan: ⁠Website⁠, ⁠Instagram, and YouTube

• Don't forget to join our wait list for the next HobbyScool online learning summit. Our summits are free to attend and you can be the first to know when the next summit launches by ⁠getting on the wait list here.

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Transcript:

Dr. Destini Copp [00:00:00]:

And my special guest today is Dylan Jarris. Dylan is a multi six figure Etsy seller. She's also a military spouse and a mom of 2 small boys, and creating a multi six figure Etsy shop was life changing for her and her family to build up the generational wealth of their dreams by their early thirties. And, Dylan, I am Super excited to chat with you today. I have a ton of questions for you because I'm not that I've never sold on Etsy, so I'll go ahead and lay that out there. I have 2 Shopify stores, but I've never sold on Etsy. So I don't really know that much about it, but I am very excited to jump in to this with you.

Dr. Destini Copp [00:00:42]:

I have a ton of questions for you. But before we get into them, can you tell the good audience just a little bit more about you, your background, and how you help people?

Dylan Jahraus [00:00:51]:

Yes. Absolutely. So, so I'm originally from Minnesota. I went to business school. I went to a program in London for buying and product development. And got into ecommerce after college. So, started working for Zappos and then that was in Las Vegas, went up to Seattle and worked for Zulily. So I was in the buying product development, pricing strategy, planning, forecasting world, and then I met someone in the military.

Dylan Jahraus [00:01:19]:

And I I didn't know much about the military, but, quickly learned that we would be moving a lot. So we ended up in San Diego where, you know, ecommerce is not huge here. So I was really struggling to get a job, so I was doing all these side hustles. And I ended up making things for our wedding that summer, and I listed one of the things that I made on Etsy. And it was a A floral letter that I had seen on Pinterest, and it was in the shape of a j for her last name. And I put all these, you know, silk flowers on it, and we had it at our reception. And it was made this thing, you guys, it was made out of foam and toothpicks. My husband engineered the whole thing.

Dylan Jahraus [00:02:03]:

It was not meant to be shipped or sold or anything. We listed the thing on Etsy. Just 1 photo, like, couple words and someone bought it. And then we thought, oh my goodness. Now we have to figure out how to make this thing. So, started making and selling these, applied all my corporate ecommerce Principles and background to Etsy made you know, started making 10,000 a month by my 4th month. 7 year 7 years later, we've made 1.7 over 1,700,000 and, I've completely outsourced that business because now I teach, thousands of Etsy sellers and brand new Etsy sellers how to scale their businesses. So we have about 25 people in this company now and that's what we do.

Dr. Destini Copp [00:02:45]:

So that's an amazing story. And now now I'm, like, super curious. I wanna go see what you're selling there. So it sounds amazing, but it real it sounds like it was like a fluke. Like, you weren't even expecting to sell it.

Dylan Jahraus [00:02:58]:

Yeah. No. The I posted the thing and then I didn't even sell until 2 months later. I got a notification that someone bought it, and I thought, oh, no. Like, this this was made out of foam and toothpicks. There's no way I can ship anything like that. So my husband had to kind of help me figure out how to engineer this thing. But we're living in an apartment complex in San Diego and they don't really allow power tools.

Dylan Jahraus [00:03:21]:

So we ended up, we had to jigsaw this out of wood, the shapes of the letters. But since we couldn't do it in the apartment, we would we got a generator, a portable, workbench, and a, jigsaw, and we went along the side of the freeway, and he would do this couple times a week and cut cassette it all up and then cut it out along the freeway. Yeah. We did what we had to do.

Dr. Destini Copp [00:03:50]:

Yeah. And you we always do. Right? So I love that story. Now I know that you have expanded and you sell at fairs, Amazon, handmade, you have Shopify store, and you're still selling on Etsy, I believe. And I know that you have your education business, which I definitely wanna get into that. But tell us a little bit more about all of these other platforms that you're selling on, what you're selling on them, and why did you expand to those other platforms?

Dylan Jahraus [00:04:17]:

Yes. So, about 3 years in, I was doing I was doing over 360,000 a year at that point. I realized that, okay, now it's it's It's probably time that we have a website, because when you have an Etsy shop, that is not a sellable asset. And if someday, you know, maybe 10, 15 years from now, you'd who would like to sell the business that you've, you know, built up to have, you know, 1,000,000 of dollars in revenue. Etsy an Etsy shop. You can't sell an Etsy shop. So we, built the website, and we spent about it's like $25100 on it. Someone did it for us.

Dylan Jahraus [00:04:55]:

So it was through Shopify and started selling through that. Now just keep in mind, we we never had to run any ads for Shopify, and we were doing from the very 1st year over $100,000 a year in revenue through Shopify just from bringing our customers from Etsy over. So never any ads, 6 figures every year because of Etsy, and then expanded onto Amazon Handmade in an underserved market. It happened to be the wedding category. There was, I would say, lower supply, higher demand. That was an easy win. And, I don't personally sell on fairs. So I don't do wholesale, but a lot of my students do, and we do teach them how to get set up there.

Dr. Destini Copp [00:05:37]:

Well, so and I I completely agree with you. You know, having your own, like, storefront, right, your shop up by for the 2 own is very important, but I love what you said about you never had to run any ads for your Shopify store, and you'll have to tell us what the, You know what the link is so we can go see it and just see what you're selling there, but you never had to run any ads because you are bringing people from your Etsy storefront into your Shopify store. So tell us how that worked.

Dylan Jahraus [00:06:06]:

Yeah. It was great. You know, I was building Etsy up, You know, in such a strong way, a lot of repeat business. It was growing our social media channels at the same time, got to over 10,000 followers on Instagram pretty quickly. So I was really building a brand, a cult like following where, you know, on Etsy, people weren't thinking, oh, I got this from Etsy. They thought, oh, I got this from this specific shop. And then, because of that, it was very easy to get our my current customers to come over to Shopify, to our website. So we had a little bit better pricing there, had some incentives for them to shop there, and we offered, You know, the same VIP kind of Chick Fil A level, customer experience there as well.

Dr. Destini Copp [00:06:53]:

So I definitely wanna dig into this, and I wanna really focus the discussion on Etsy. I know that's your area of expertise. Mhmm. And, you know, people who are listening to this podcast, a lot of them are handmade sellers. So they have something that they're, you know, making by hand and they want to sell it and they want to get it out in the world. And I do think that Etsy is a great place to start doing that. Would you agree with that assessment?

Dylan Jahraus [00:07:20]:

Definitely. It is the cheapest traffic you will find on the Internet right now, and the Customers are so profitable, very different than, like, an eBay customer or, you know, even a Facebook marketplace Customer. No. You know, people on Etsy, they're not trying to negotiate with you. Customers, you set your own policies. You don't have to do any returns. You choose your turnaround time, and You really own your brand on Etsy, so it is the fastest way to build a brand in my opinion.

Dr. Destini Copp [00:07:54]:

And I love what you just that there it is, you know, it kinda differentiated the customers that are coming to Etsy versus Ebay or even Amazon. Now I I can tell you I've been, you know, buying stuff on Etsy. I I don't even know. I mean, my account if as a consumer. Right? I go I go there anytime that I'm looking for something special, something that I know that is unique, I will go there. Now I buy stuff lot lot of stuff on Amazon too, but it's more like, you know, do I need more groceries for my house or, you know, am I buying something for my house? It's not something that looking for that somebody is, you know, made that's kinda unique and and and different out there. So Tell us a little bit more. How can you get started if if I'm out there, I'm a handmade business owner, I'm thinking, you know, I Just wanna get started.

Dr. Destini Copp [00:08:46]:

Would you recommend that they start on Etsy, or would you recommend that they start with, like, their own Shopify store? What do you generally tell your Students

Dylan Jahraus [00:08:56]:

Definitely start on Etsy because if you start on Shopify, then you have a huge traffic problem. That is the battle. Versus Etsy, it's just about, You know, getting in front of them, yes, but the traffic is already on that platform coming there to buy something. So they're in the buying mode, And they they're used to purchasing on Etsy versus coming to some, like, random Shopify site looks, You know, unless you have a great, like, designer who's helped you, sometimes they tend to look a little sketch in the beginning when you first launch a Shopify store. You know? And it it just doesn't there's not as much trust there. So there's built in trust with Etsy. You don't have to have this unique product either. A Lot of people think, oh, Etsy is too saturated.

Dylan Jahraus [00:09:39]:

I see all these other people selling what I make. Like, how do I have a chance? Well, it's just about having the winning value proposition in search results, which is that combination of your listing photo and your price. That's all you've got to focus on. You can start with one thing. Really, I would recommend just taking photos of things you've made in the past and posting them. That's the easiest thing you could do to get started, or you could take your handmade, item like supplies. I sell in the supply category, make over 6 figures a year only in supplies as well. Just selling the materials they already have.

Dylan Jahraus [00:10:13]:

That could be, like, the easiest thing to do.

Dr. Destini Copp [00:10:17]:

Are there any niches that you would say, you know, based on your in working with all the students that you've worked with, are there any niches out there that you would say are best? Or should somebody, if they're a handmade seller, should they just start with what they have today? What do you recommend there?

Dylan Jahraus [00:10:34]:

Yeah. See, we instead of focusing on, like, a niche or something, we focus on customers who have higher discretionary income and consistent spending habits. So for example, you could say you're going to sell, you know, something to the dog market. So the pet market may be handmade like pet collars or outfits. Well, Not every pet owner is going to be spending, you know, $50 on a customized dog collar. So we instead focus on who are those customers that are the most profitable, how do we target them, and SEO is a part of that, so that's what we teach you, how to show up in front of them, and we build our product mix for them. So you can start with just one thing targeting a profitable customer and then we use this framework called the 7 types of products to have in your shop. So you want to have some different listings with different purposes.

Dylan Jahraus [00:11:28]:

One example of those is a loss leader. So something you're not gonna lose money on, but it's just gonna get your order number up. It has mass appeal. You're gonna sell, like, maybe 10 or more per day, and we need to serve that customer for 4 to 7 years. That's how you build a brand with, You know, strong lifetime value of the customer where they keep coming back. So you just have to start with one thing, though. One thing, don't worry about the niche or the niche. Just make sure it's targeting a profitable customer.

Dr. Destini Copp [00:11:59]:

I love that. Because there are you know, when you go through there and you look at, you know, people's Those listings, I would say that there are customers out there that, right, that are willing to pay more money for things. I know that I'm probably one of them. Like, I really want something that is unique and something that is, you know, when I'm, like, looking for Valentine's Day presents because we are recording this on Valentine's Day. So if anybody is out there listening, they know that we're recording this on Valentine's Day. You know, when I went to Etsy and I was looking for something for my husband, I'm like, I want something super unique, something that he's gonna love, and I was willing to pay a premium for that. So switching gears just a little bit, I know that a lot of people are listening. You know, they're wanting to maybe retire or they're wanting to step away from their full time job.

Dr. Destini Copp [00:12:47]:

Can they make Etsy? Can they make a full time living off of Etsy?

Dylan Jahraus [00:12:52]:

Absolutely. Absolutely. I work with, Doctors, attorneys, you know, people who are making a lot of money, but they are burned out with their jobs. And Maybe their job is not creative. You know, they're in the medical field. They're in, law, and their their job is just not creative. It's not fulfilling. They're burned out, and they feel like It's kinda like the golden handcuffs.

Dylan Jahraus [00:13:14]:

It's like, I'm making this money, and how do I turn, like, what I love doing, Like that craft or that, that handmade, you know, hobby, I guess, right now. How do I turn that into a business? How would I actually replace my income? And I've seen it happen. I had a girl. She worked for Tesla. She replaced her income two and a half months in. I had an attorney in New York replace her income three and a half months in. Doctors and nurses, you know, 6 months in. So it's absolutely possible, but you have to attack it with that intention from the beginning.

Dr. Destini Copp [00:13:48]:

So these are people who obviously have big salaries, you know, doctors, it could be, you know, 250 or maybe even more a year. And they are making a full time income just from selling on Etsy.

Dylan Jahraus [00:14:00]:

Yeah. Yeah. I have a I have a guy. He's 24 years old. He didn't go to college or anything, so he wasn't making a lot. But in his 1st full year on Etsy, he made $438,000. And he just had a little $500 refurbished Xtool laser, just a 10 watt, and it was just one type of product, Laser engraved, and that's the volume he did. So if you're if you think Etsy's saturated or you can't make a full time income, like, I would say think again.

Dr. Destini Copp [00:14:35]:

I love that example. So he had this one little tool that he was using and he made close to a half $1,000,000 on that just selling on Etsy.

Dylan Jahraus [00:14:43]:

Yes.

Dr. Destini Copp [00:14:44]:

So what would you say if somebody's like, yes, Dylan, you have sold me. I'd wanna get started. I wanna start selling on Etsy, what would you say that they need to do to take the 1st steps?

Dylan Jahraus [00:14:55]:

Yeah. I mean, it's really about getting started. A lot of people overthink this. You know, like with Shopify, you you have to you definitely have to put a lot of work into, you know, getting things set up, figuring out the theme you want, and even the uploading of listings, it It's more intensive than Etsy. Etsy, you can get a listing up in 10 minutes. So it's really just about getting started. Getting a listing up, you know, educating yourself on how you will actually get found and then how to convert that customer. So It's it's just about getting started and just make yourself get a listing up by the end of the day, and that's that's the easiest way to get started.

Dr. Destini Copp [00:15:36]:

Any last minute tips before we wrap it up here for the listeners?

Dylan Jahraus [00:15:41]:

Yeah. You know, I would say, There's a lot of, like, free education out there. So we have, you know, we have, like, over a 100 YouTube videos that you can definitely learn a lot from And get some tips and tricks, but I think with Etsy specifically, there's so much noise in the YouTube and podcast space. Lot of conflicting advice, so I recommend following 1 person consistently versus trying to, you know, hear 20 different voices. Follow 1 person's strategy consistently because that is really the only way to to move forward and see real results.

Dr. Destini Copp [00:16:19]:

And, Dylan, can you let people know where they can find you? And I believe you have a free gift for them also.

Dylan Jahraus [00:16:26]:

Yes. So we have, we have some free checklists and things that we can give you. And then in terms of Where you can find me, YouTube is the easiest. Just Dylan Jaras, j a h r a u s. Tough spelling. And then Well,

Dr. Destini Copp [00:16:43]:

don't worry about that. We'll make sure the links are in the show notes so everybody will be able to get it.

Dylan Jahraus [00:16:47]:

Awesome. And then Instagram. I'm on Instagram. We have a free Facebook group as well if you'd like to kinda see, some a bunch of our students are in there. I think it's called, Dylan Jarris Etsy Success Secrets. That's Facebook and, Just, you know, start consuming the content. You'll get an idea of what's really possible for your business.

Dr. Destini Copp [00:17:08]:

And like I said, we'll make sure that all of those links are in the show notes so they can Find you and learn just more about selling on Etsy. It sounds like I've never sold on Etsy. I don't have an Etsy account as a business, obviously. I buy a lot of stuff on Etsy personally, but it sounds like it's super, super easy to get started.

Dylan Jahraus [00:17:28]:

It is. It is. Yeah. It's it's just about, not overthinking it and taking the 1st step. Yep.

Dr. Destini Copp [00:17:35]:

Well, Dylan, thank you so much for joining me today and sharing all of your wisdom and your experience in selling on all of these different platforms.

Dylan Jahraus [00:17:43]:

Yeah. Thank you so much for having me, Destini.