0:00:04 The path to $1,000 a month with digital products.
0:00:06 You know money doesn’t grow on trees,
0:00:09 but you do know that you can plant your own money seeds.
0:00:11 And by the end of the episode today,
0:00:13 you’re gonna have a path forward on how to do just that
0:00:16 on one of the biggest marketplaces in the world.
0:00:18 This is the Side Hustle Show.
0:00:20 It’s the business podcast you can actually apply.
0:00:22 Today’s guest is a long-time listener.
0:00:25 He’s a serial side hustler, real estate investor,
0:00:27 digital product seller, online course entrepreneur
0:00:29 from Gold City Ventures.
0:00:31 And The Fi Show, Cody Berman.
0:00:33 Welcome to the Side Hustle Show.
0:00:35 I am very excited to be here, Nick,
0:00:36 and talking with you today
0:00:39 and hopefully drop some knowledge bombs on the listeners.
0:00:39 Yeah, you bet.
0:00:41 It has been a long time coming.
0:00:43 We’ve got three rounds with Cody today,
0:00:45 including donate a business idea.
0:00:48 But we’re gonna start with his latest side hustle,
0:00:51 a brand new Etsy store that started last summer
0:00:55 and a few months in was earning $1,000 a month.
0:00:57 And now, Cody, you’re known online
0:00:59 as like the printable seller’s guy.
0:01:01 And my understanding is you get an email
0:01:02 and you get a comment that says something
0:01:05 to the effect of, well, sure, it must be nice,
0:01:06 you know, having started in 2018.
0:01:08 But what about us?
0:01:09 What about today when the marketplace
0:01:11 is so much more crowded,
0:01:13 all the good niches are already taken,
0:01:16 and you’re like, okay, challenge accepted.
0:01:16 Let’s do this.
0:01:17 Let’s start a brand new store
0:01:19 and see what we can do with this.
0:01:21 Yeah, so as a online content creator,
0:01:24 I’m sure you’re no stranger to this, Nick.
0:01:25 There are haters out there.
0:01:27 And so you get hateful comments on all your videos,
0:01:29 all your podcasts, there’s always one.
0:01:32 And someone on, I think it was on a YouTube video,
0:01:33 or maybe it was a short,
0:01:35 they said something to the effect of,
0:01:36 well, of course you were successful.
0:01:37 You did this in 2018.
0:01:39 The Etsy market’s so different now.
0:01:41 You could never repeat your success.
0:01:43 And I’m like, okay, buddy, like I can do this.
0:01:44 I’m gonna repeat my success.
0:01:46 So I started a brand new shop,
0:01:48 didn’t tell anybody about it,
0:01:49 didn’t post it on social,
0:01:51 didn’t market it to my email list,
0:01:52 didn’t mention it on the website,
0:01:55 like completely in a silo, blank, from scratch,
0:01:56 and was able to get that shop
0:02:00 up to $1,000 per month in revenue in 116 days.
0:02:02 Love it, love it.
0:02:04 So we’re gonna break down how that works,
0:02:07 starting with maybe the high level of,
0:02:07 well, what am I gonna sell?
0:02:10 How do I figure out what the demand is,
0:02:11 the keyword research behind that,
0:02:13 or the product creation strategies behind that?
0:02:14 But where do you start?
0:02:15 What do you say, like, okay,
0:02:16 I’m looking at this blank slate.
0:02:19 What kind of product could I sell?
0:02:21 The best thing with your audience,
0:02:23 and I am catering these answers
0:02:24 specifically to some people
0:02:26 who are already entrepreneurs or side hustlers.
0:02:28 If you’re already a side hustler,
0:02:29 look at what you already have
0:02:30 and what you’re already using.
0:02:32 So some easy examples.
0:02:34 If you’re someone who’s in the personal finance niche,
0:02:37 and you already have this amazing debt pay down tracker,
0:02:39 or you already have this amazing net worth tracker,
0:02:42 or maybe you have a tracker for your side hustles,
0:02:45 you can very easily just kind of white label it,
0:02:47 templatize it, and flip that.
0:02:48 And now instead of just a product
0:02:50 that you’re using for yourself,
0:02:51 like a random Google sheet,
0:02:53 now you can actually go and sell this thing
0:02:55 on marketplaces like Etsy.
0:02:57 And I’ve seen this work so many times over.
0:02:58 We’re both podcasters, Nick.
0:03:00 I’m sure you have a media kit
0:03:02 or something that you can send to potential sponsors.
0:03:03 Like, hey, here’s my downloads.
0:03:04 Here’s my stats.
0:03:06 So a couple of years ago
0:03:07 for the Financial Independence Show,
0:03:08 my podcast,
0:03:10 we put together like this really extensive media kit.
0:03:11 And I’m like,
0:03:13 well, I just spent all this time on Canva
0:03:14 making this like awesome media kit.
0:03:16 What if I just white label it
0:03:18 and resell it as an editable media kit?
0:03:20 And it sold a bunch of times.
0:03:22 So there’s so many examples
0:03:23 that side hustlers like us,
0:03:26 people who are already doing something entrepreneurial,
0:03:28 you might have resources in your own life
0:03:29 that you’re using
0:03:31 that you can just easily repurpose,
0:03:32 turn into a template,
0:03:33 and then sell to other people.
0:03:35 I mean, there’s been six
0:03:37 and seven figure businesses built off this stuff.
0:03:39 I was actually on a real estate show
0:03:39 a couple of weeks ago
0:03:41 talking about digital products and printables.
0:03:44 And you look at a company like BiggerPockets
0:03:46 and they’re selling all these different calculators
0:03:47 and spreadsheets and things like that.
0:03:49 I mean, that’s probably adding six
0:03:50 or seven figures to their bottom line,
0:03:53 just basically taking one template
0:03:54 for a thing that they’re already doing
0:03:56 and then white labeling it
0:03:58 and then reselling it to, you know,
0:03:59 hundreds of thousands of people in their case.
0:04:00 Yeah, it’s an interesting
0:04:03 selling your sawdust type of example
0:04:03 where it’s like,
0:04:05 I already created this thing
0:04:07 and the ideas I’ve kicked around
0:04:08 and like a habit tracker
0:04:12 or a podcast production checklist planner
0:04:13 or sponsorship tracker.
0:04:15 There’s all sorts of these different tools
0:04:16 that you may already be using.
0:04:18 It may be an incremental revenue stream
0:04:20 to the business that you already have,
0:04:21 the side hustle that you already have,
0:04:24 or it could be a completely new thing
0:04:26 that is kind of a standalone entity.
0:04:29 So it sounds like the new shop
0:04:31 was more of that standalone type of variety.
0:04:33 Yeah, the new shop was more of a standalone.
0:04:35 I just wanted to mention the use what you already have
0:04:37 because that’s often the easiest place to start.
0:04:38 Now, if you’re someone who’s listening,
0:04:40 you’re like, well, I don’t already have a side hustle.
0:04:42 I don’t have any awesome spreadsheets
0:04:43 or any cool tools that I’m using myself.
0:04:46 For this new shop, here was my basic strategy.
0:04:49 So I would just brainstorm a giant list
0:04:50 of potential ideas.
0:04:51 This would be for my own head.
0:04:54 I would also use chat GPT to come up with ideas,
0:04:55 although it’s hit or miss.
0:04:58 And then once I would have like a massive list
0:04:59 of product ideas,
0:05:00 and these could be anything from,
0:05:02 I should probably define what printables are,
0:05:02 digital downloads,
0:05:05 just so people aren’t just thinking abstractly about this.
0:05:07 So printables and digital downloads
0:05:09 is basically a digital file that you create
0:05:10 in a program like Canva.
0:05:12 You would then upload that digital file
0:05:13 into your Etsy shop.
0:05:15 And when someone buys it,
0:05:17 the digital file would automatically be delivered to the buyer.
0:05:18 So I already mentioned some of them,
0:05:20 like a media kit template, for example,
0:05:24 but other ones like checklists, planners, calendars, games, invitations.
0:05:26 There’s thousands of different types of printables.
0:05:29 So just wanted to set the stage, what printables are.
0:05:30 So I create this massive list,
0:05:33 like literally 250 different printable ideas.
0:05:35 Again, these are just things that I think
0:05:36 maybe could make good printables
0:05:39 or things that chat GPT thinks could make good printables.
0:05:39 Okay.
0:05:41 And then once I have that monster list,
0:05:42 that’s when I start to plug them
0:05:44 into like a keyword research tool.
0:05:46 So for Etsy specifically,
0:05:49 ones I use, E-Rank and Everbee.
0:05:51 If you aren’t as familiar with Etsy,
0:05:52 or even if you want to sell outside,
0:05:55 like let’s say you want to open up a Shopify store
0:05:56 or WooCommerce,
0:05:58 you can use other keyword research tools.
0:06:00 Maybe you already have Ahrefs,
0:06:01 or maybe you already use Ubersuggest,
0:06:03 or maybe you’re using some of these other tools.
0:06:05 Like you can use any keyword research tools,
0:06:06 is what I’m trying to say.
0:06:09 I will plug those 250 different ideas
0:06:10 into the keyword research tools
0:06:12 to see one, if there’s search demand,
0:06:14 are people actually searching for this thing
0:06:15 that I want to create?
0:06:17 And two, is there a ton of competition?
0:06:18 Because the last thing I want to do
0:06:20 is compete with everyone and their mother
0:06:22 on some generic digital product
0:06:24 that I’m probably not going to stand out with
0:06:26 because again, everybody is selling it.
0:06:28 So that was kind of my general strategy,
0:06:30 my 10,000 foot view of my strategy
0:06:31 for this new Etsy shop.
0:06:32 Okay, no, that’s helpful.
0:06:35 And even I remember talking with Debbie Gartner,
0:06:37 who was selling all these different games,
0:06:39 like holiday related trivia games.
0:06:41 And there’s like, once I’ve got this template,
0:06:43 well, just lather, rinse and repeat
0:06:44 toward the next holiday that’s coming out.
0:06:46 It was like, oh, I was able to create dozens
0:06:47 of these different things,
0:06:48 which I thought was really creative.
0:06:51 And then we talked to Becky Beach as well,
0:06:53 who really leaned into this chat GPT
0:06:55 for product creation.
0:06:56 And I remember prompting it
0:06:57 like while we were live on the call,
0:06:59 like, what are some, you know,
0:07:01 side hustle related digital printables,
0:07:02 digital products?
0:07:03 And it actually came back
0:07:04 with some decent suggestions,
0:07:06 you know, business planning template,
0:07:08 you know, side hustle budget template.
0:07:09 Like, oh, this is not bad.
0:07:11 One thing I wanted to get your take on
0:07:14 was the idea of static printables
0:07:17 versus a customizable spreadsheet file.
0:07:19 My gut is, and correct me if I’m wrong,
0:07:21 is like the customizable spreadsheet
0:07:22 that may be able to command
0:07:24 a little bit of a higher price,
0:07:26 like higher perceived value for the end user.
0:07:27 You could definitely charge more
0:07:28 with editable printables,
0:07:30 and especially just the bigger
0:07:31 the printable in general,
0:07:32 the more you can charge.
0:07:34 If you have a bundle of a bunch of resources,
0:07:36 you’re going to be able to charge more
0:07:38 than just for one of those standalone resources.
0:07:39 So to answer your question, yes.
0:07:41 But with that being said,
0:07:43 if you do have just like a simple one pager
0:07:46 that you’re selling for $4, $3.99, $4.99,
0:07:49 you can probably make a ton of different variations
0:07:50 very, very quickly.
0:07:52 Whereas a Google sheet,
0:07:53 a very complicated, say,
0:07:56 personal finance tracker with a bunch of tabs,
0:07:57 it’s going to take you a whole lot longer
0:08:00 to create like different variations of that.
0:08:02 So for me, I actually tend to lean
0:08:04 on the side of simpler printables
0:08:05 just because I can pump out
0:08:06 so many different variations.
0:08:09 And for me, and we can get into this new shop,
0:08:10 it was a numbers game.
0:08:12 I was just like throwing spaghetti at the wall
0:08:13 and seeing what would sell.
0:08:16 In E-Rank, and it looks like they have a free version,
0:08:19 which is somewhat limited to five keyword lookups per day,
0:08:20 but pretty affordable plans
0:08:24 if you want up to 200 keyword lookups a day.
0:08:26 So just to get an idea there
0:08:28 of filling demand versus creating demand.
0:08:31 Obviously, I want to go where there is some search volume
0:08:34 versus like trying to create demand from scratch.
0:08:35 If nobody knows you exist
0:08:37 and you create some random product
0:08:38 that nobody’s looking for,
0:08:39 it’s a recipe for disappointment.
0:08:41 Nobody’s ever going to find you on Etsy.
0:08:43 So in these tools,
0:08:45 are there certain metrics?
0:08:46 I don’t know if they,
0:08:47 do they spit out like a,
0:08:49 like TubeBuddy will give you a metric.
0:08:51 Oh, this keyword variation on YouTube
0:08:52 gave you like a 95.
0:08:54 Like, okay, it’s got a good mix
0:08:56 of search volume and competitiveness.
0:08:57 Is there a metric where you’re like,
0:08:59 yes, this is worth going for?
0:09:00 It’s not a numerical score,
0:09:02 but they do make it very easy and color-coded.
0:09:03 So on eRank,
0:09:04 I don’t know if you’re,
0:09:05 it sounds like you’re on the website,
0:09:06 for example,
0:09:07 if you type in a keyword,
0:09:09 you’ll see the search volume and competition.
0:09:11 The search volume and competition
0:09:13 both range with like a color-coded scale.
0:09:14 So for search volume,
0:09:16 green means a lot of people are searching for it.
0:09:18 Yellow is like a couple,
0:09:20 like a medium amount of people are searching for it.
0:09:22 And red means not that many people are searching for it.
0:09:24 Conversely, for competition,
0:09:24 if it’s red,
0:09:26 it means a ton of people are competing on that product.
0:09:28 If it’s yellow, not as many.
0:09:30 If it’s green,
0:09:32 that means there’s like no competition for that product.
0:09:34 Like you might be one of the few players
0:09:35 selling that thing.
0:09:37 So I typically liked,
0:09:38 I mean, in an ideal world,
0:09:39 I love to be green, green.
0:09:42 And we call those unicorns at Gold City Ventures,
0:09:44 where you have like a ton of search volume
0:09:45 and no competition.
0:09:47 Those are very difficult to find
0:09:48 and few and far between.
0:09:49 I usually,
0:09:50 and especially for this new shop,
0:09:52 would create something that has
0:09:53 usually yellow search demand
0:09:54 and then green competition.
0:09:56 So not many people are competing on it.
0:09:58 And like a medium amount of people
0:09:59 are searching for it.
0:10:00 So that’s kind of the two metrics
0:10:02 that I pay the closest attention to
0:10:03 in these keyword research tools.
0:10:04 Okay.
0:10:05 All else being equal,
0:10:06 go where there’s less competition.
0:10:09 You’re going to be easier to find some eyeballs
0:10:10 and some buyers that way.
0:10:10 Yes.
0:10:12 And I love the phrase,
0:10:13 the riches are in the niches
0:10:14 for this side hustle specifically,
0:10:16 because one of the biggest mistakes
0:10:17 I see people make
0:10:18 is they’ll go on
0:10:19 and they’ll just try to sell
0:10:21 a very generic printable
0:10:21 or digital product.
0:10:23 I always use a thank you card,
0:10:24 for example.
0:10:25 If you type in thank you card
0:10:26 to E-Rank,
0:10:27 you’ll see the competition
0:10:28 is through the roof.
0:10:28 Like it’s,
0:10:30 it’s so bright red.
0:10:32 Every single person on Etsy
0:10:33 tries to sell like a thank you card.
0:10:35 But if you niche down a couple layers
0:10:36 and instead of just
0:10:37 a generic thank you card,
0:10:39 you have maybe a teacher,
0:10:41 like first grade teacher thank you card.
0:10:43 You have a soccer coach thank you card.
0:10:44 You have a ballerina instructor
0:10:45 thank you card.
0:10:46 Like these now
0:10:47 that you’re niching down
0:10:47 a couple layers,
0:10:50 you’re competing with far fewer people.
0:10:50 And so,
0:10:52 and even from the buyer’s perspective,
0:10:55 like getting closer aligned
0:10:56 to what the person is searching for,
0:10:56 they’re going to have
0:10:58 a higher likelihood to buy.
0:10:59 Like just imagine somebody
0:11:00 who’s buying a thank you card
0:11:01 for their ballerina teacher
0:11:03 and they type in
0:11:04 ballerina thank you card.
0:11:04 Yeah.
0:11:05 They’re going to choose
0:11:06 your ballerina thank you card
0:11:07 over just,
0:11:07 you know,
0:11:10 Joe Schmoe’s generic thank you card.
0:11:11 So it’s much more aligned
0:11:12 with the buyer.
0:11:13 And again,
0:11:14 you’re competing with less people
0:11:14 because the riches
0:11:15 are in the niches.
0:11:18 If Canva gets better and better,
0:11:20 do you find that like
0:11:21 people would just go
0:11:23 and make it themselves?
0:11:24 It’s always,
0:11:26 and I asked the same question
0:11:27 to the spreadsheet sellers.
0:11:27 It’s like,
0:11:28 who doesn’t know
0:11:28 how to make a spreadsheet?
0:11:29 Who’s buying this stuff?
0:11:31 But what’s your take on that?
0:11:32 It’s convenience
0:11:33 at the end of the day.
0:11:33 I mean,
0:11:35 a lot of it is a skill gap as well.
0:11:36 The average person
0:11:37 does not know how to use Canva.
0:11:38 If we took a poll
0:11:39 of a random people,
0:11:40 a hundred people in the street,
0:11:41 I don’t know what percentage
0:11:42 are actually going to be able
0:11:43 to know how to create
0:11:45 like a nice looking invitation in Canva,
0:11:46 but probably not a huge percentage
0:11:47 of them.
0:11:48 But the ones that do
0:11:49 are often willing to trade
0:11:50 five,
0:11:50 10,
0:11:52 20 bucks just for convenience
0:11:53 and not having to spend
0:11:53 their time on it.
0:11:54 Okay.
0:11:55 Like I can easily go out
0:11:56 and mow my lawn.
0:11:57 I pay a guy to do it
0:11:58 because it’s convenient.
0:11:59 I have the time.
0:12:00 I have the skills.
0:12:00 It’s just like,
0:12:02 I’d rather pay him to do it
0:12:03 than do it myself.
0:12:04 Okay.
0:12:05 And so first grade teacher,
0:12:06 thank you card,
0:12:08 ballet teacher,
0:12:09 school bus driver.
0:12:09 Okay.
0:12:11 So now my thinking is,
0:12:12 well,
0:12:13 once you have this template,
0:12:13 okay,
0:12:16 I’m going to swap out the clip art
0:12:17 or swap out the graphic
0:12:18 and the rest of it
0:12:19 is kind of the same.
0:12:20 So it makes this product
0:12:21 creation process.
0:12:22 Once you have that base template
0:12:23 really,
0:12:24 really fast,
0:12:25 where the,
0:12:26 maybe where the next challenge
0:12:27 comes in
0:12:29 is in the shotgun approach
0:12:30 or this listing approach
0:12:31 to put all this stuff
0:12:33 up on Etsy
0:12:34 because they’re going to charge you
0:12:35 their 20 cent fee.
0:12:35 not a ton,
0:12:36 but it does add up
0:12:37 if you’re really trying
0:12:39 to upload a hundred products,
0:12:40 a thousand products.
0:12:40 Like what was the,
0:12:42 the volume of products
0:12:43 that you had to put up there
0:12:44 to start seeing sales?
0:12:45 I was putting up
0:12:47 about 20 to 30 products per week.
0:12:48 I actually got my first sale
0:12:49 on day three.
0:12:51 And so for those who don’t know,
0:12:52 I actually documented
0:12:52 this whole process
0:12:54 like day one to 116.
0:12:55 I took a video
0:12:56 almost every single day,
0:12:57 kind of just sharing live updates.
0:12:59 I was sharing screenshots
0:12:59 of my shop.
0:13:00 And on day three,
0:13:01 I had my first sale,
0:13:02 which was great.
0:13:02 Wow.
0:13:03 I think I probably only had
0:13:04 five or six,
0:13:06 products up at that point,
0:13:08 but I was adding like 20 to 30 a week
0:13:09 during this whole process.
0:13:10 Yeah.
0:13:11 And that’s cool
0:13:11 because,
0:13:12 because there’s not a lot
0:13:13 of social proof on the channel.
0:13:13 Yeah.
0:13:14 Where it’s like,
0:13:16 it shows zero sales,
0:13:16 zero reviews.
0:13:17 You’re like,
0:13:18 I’m taking a chance
0:13:18 on this guy.
0:13:19 Yeah.
0:13:19 That’s the beauty
0:13:20 of the side hustle though,
0:13:22 is you don’t need an audience.
0:13:23 You don’t need an email list.
0:13:25 You don’t need really anything.
0:13:26 Like if you understand
0:13:27 keyword research and SEO,
0:13:29 that is the most important skill.
0:13:30 You can be a five
0:13:31 out of 10 graphic designer.
0:13:32 A lot of people think
0:13:33 they have to be like this
0:13:34 graphic design wizard
0:13:35 in order to sell this stuff.
0:13:36 You can be a five
0:13:37 out of 10 graphic designer.
0:13:38 As long as you understand
0:13:39 keyword research and SEO
0:13:41 and you go after those,
0:13:42 the riches in the niches
0:13:43 and you go after those
0:13:44 kind of longer tail,
0:13:45 less targeted keywords,
0:13:46 people are going to buy your stuff.
0:13:47 Like I’m,
0:13:49 I’m still not a great graphic designer.
0:13:49 Maybe,
0:13:50 maybe a six or seven,
0:13:51 seven on a great day,
0:13:53 but I’m not the best graphic designer.
0:13:54 I’m just really good
0:13:55 at keyword research and SEO.
0:13:56 So if there’s someone looking
0:13:58 for a dinosaur themed
0:14:00 thank you card for like boys,
0:14:02 like a boy themed,
0:14:03 dinosaur themed thank you card,
0:14:04 like,
0:14:05 and I see that I might not
0:14:06 be the best designer,
0:14:07 but if I’m one of the only
0:14:09 few people selling that thing,
0:14:10 the people who are typing
0:14:11 that into the search bar
0:14:12 are going to come find me.
0:14:13 And the cool thing
0:14:14 about these keyword research tools,
0:14:16 let’s go back to E-Rank,
0:14:16 for example.
0:14:18 If I type in thank you card,
0:14:19 E-Rank is going to spit out
0:14:21 all of the things
0:14:21 that people are typing in,
0:14:23 all of the different variations.
0:14:24 So it’s not just me guessing
0:14:25 using your examples from earlier.
0:14:26 It’s not me guessing
0:14:27 ballet teacher,
0:14:27 school bus driver,
0:14:28 gym coach,
0:14:30 like E-Rank will actually tell me
0:14:32 there’s 116 people every month
0:14:33 searching for gym coach.
0:14:34 Thank you card.
0:14:36 There’s like 187 people
0:14:37 searching for a ballet.
0:14:38 There’s 450 people
0:14:39 searching for nurse.
0:14:40 Thank you card.
0:14:42 Like it’ll actually give me the data
0:14:43 and I’m a very data
0:14:44 driven decision maker.
0:14:46 I don’t like to just make things
0:14:46 willy nilly,
0:14:47 which was a mistake I made
0:14:48 when I first started
0:14:49 the side hustle back in 2018.
0:14:51 More with Cody in just a moment,
0:14:52 including the minimum
0:14:53 search volume
0:14:54 that he might target
0:14:55 a product for,
0:14:56 the power of templates
0:14:57 for both products
0:14:58 and Etsy listings,
0:15:00 and the conversion rate
0:15:00 you need to hit
0:15:01 before you ever spend
0:15:03 a dollar on Etsy ads.
0:15:04 All that and more
0:15:05 coming up right after this.
0:15:07 Nobody does selling
0:15:08 better than our sponsor Shopify.
0:15:10 That’s why it’s the number one
0:15:11 checkout on the planet.
0:15:14 We do use Shopify now.
0:15:16 A lot of the third party
0:15:16 platforms and stuff
0:15:18 just integrate a lot better
0:15:18 with Shopify.
0:15:20 it has made a huge difference
0:15:22 in our ability
0:15:23 to be more flexible
0:15:23 on our site.
0:15:25 That was Randall Polfer
0:15:26 from episode 661,
0:15:27 and he’s just one of many
0:15:28 side hustle show guests
0:15:29 who rely on Shopify
0:15:31 to power their online sales.
0:15:32 One of the things
0:15:33 I think is really cool
0:15:34 about Shopify
0:15:35 is ShopPay,
0:15:36 which basically
0:15:38 streamlines the checkout process.
0:15:39 If any of your customers
0:15:40 have purchased
0:15:40 from the millions
0:15:42 of other Shopify stores,
0:15:43 that can boost
0:15:44 conversions up to 50%,
0:15:45 meaning a whole lot
0:15:46 less abandoned carts
0:15:47 and a whole lot
0:15:48 more sales going
0:15:50 it’s no secret.
0:15:51 Businesses that sell more
0:15:53 sell on Shopify.
0:15:54 Upgrade your business today
0:15:55 and get the same
0:15:56 checkout used by dozens
0:15:57 of successful
0:15:58 side hustle show guests.
0:15:59 Sign up for your $1
0:16:01 per month trial period
0:16:02 at shopify.com
0:16:03 slash side hustle,
0:16:05 all lowercase.
0:16:06 Go to shopify.com
0:16:07 slash side hustle
0:16:08 to upgrade
0:16:10 your selling today.
0:16:11 Shopify.com
0:16:12 slash side hustle.
0:16:17 Free audio post production
0:16:20 by alphonic.com
0:16:21 When you’re growing
0:16:22 your business
0:16:22 and your team,
0:16:23 you need a hiring partner
0:16:24 that can help you
0:16:25 rise to the challenge.
0:16:27 You need Indeed.
0:16:28 Our sponsor Indeed
0:16:29 is the hiring platform
0:16:30 where you can attract,
0:16:31 interview,
0:16:31 and hire
0:16:33 all in one place.
0:16:34 Here’s our recent guest
0:16:35 Skylar from episode 645.
0:16:37 What’s your recruiting
0:16:38 look like?
0:16:39 I would use Indeed.
0:16:40 Indeed was really,
0:16:41 really helpful at first.
0:16:42 Plus,
0:16:42 with Indeed
0:16:43 sponsored jobs,
0:16:44 there’s no monthly
0:16:45 subscriptions,
0:16:46 no long-term contracts,
0:16:48 and you only pay
0:16:48 for results.
0:16:49 How fast is Indeed?
0:16:51 In this 60-second commercial,
0:16:52 23 businesses
0:16:53 just hired
0:16:54 their next team member.
0:16:55 There’s no need
0:16:56 to wait any longer.
0:16:57 Speed up your hiring
0:16:58 right now
0:16:59 with Indeed.
0:17:00 Side Hustle Show
0:17:01 listeners get a $75
0:17:03 sponsored job credit
0:17:04 to get your jobs
0:17:05 more visibility
0:17:07 at Indeed.com
0:17:08 slash side hustle show.
0:17:09 Just go to
0:17:10 Indeed.com
0:17:11 slash side hustle show
0:17:12 right now
0:17:13 and support our show
0:17:14 by saying you heard
0:17:14 about Indeed
0:17:15 on this podcast.
0:17:17 Indeed.com
0:17:18 slash side hustle show.
0:17:20 Terms and conditions apply.
0:17:20 Hiring
0:17:21 Indeed
0:17:22 is all you need.
0:17:24 Is there a minimum
0:17:24 search volume
0:17:26 that’s too low
0:17:27 to bother with?
0:17:28 I usually don’t touch
0:17:29 anything under 50
0:17:30 and some people
0:17:31 think that’s crazy.
0:17:32 Some people,
0:17:33 some other Etsy
0:17:34 quote-unquote gurus
0:17:35 don’t touch things
0:17:36 that are under like 200.
0:17:37 But for me,
0:17:37 I’m like,
0:17:38 there’s 50 people
0:17:39 searching for this a month
0:17:40 and there’s zero competition.
0:17:41 Yeah.
0:17:42 And I can scoop up
0:17:43 say even 20% of them,
0:17:45 10 people buy my $5 thing.
0:17:45 Yeah.
0:17:46 I like to think of these
0:17:47 each as like a little
0:17:48 mini passive income machine.
0:17:50 Like that’s 50 extra dollars
0:17:50 per month
0:17:51 and that 50 adds up.
0:17:52 Like if you can
0:17:53 get an army
0:17:54 of these $50
0:17:56 per month products,
0:17:56 even if they don’t have
0:17:57 a lot of search volume,
0:17:58 you get 20 of those going,
0:18:00 that’s $1,000 per month
0:18:01 and mostly passive income.
0:18:01 Yeah.
0:18:03 It goes back to the beginning
0:18:03 of, you know,
0:18:04 planting these little
0:18:05 digital money seeds.
0:18:06 It costs you
0:18:08 a little bit of time
0:18:08 and 20 cents
0:18:09 to create this thing.
0:18:11 And now it’s out there
0:18:12 in the world
0:18:13 and can earn
0:18:14 passive income for you.
0:18:15 I think that’s,
0:18:16 I think that’s really exciting.
0:18:18 Now the deliverable file
0:18:18 itself,
0:18:19 this is a PDF.
0:18:20 This is like
0:18:22 a link to a Canva
0:18:23 template.
0:18:24 I know I don’t want to get
0:18:24 too into weeds,
0:18:25 but like mechanically,
0:18:26 what does that look like?
0:18:26 Yeah.
0:18:27 So it’ll be a PDF
0:18:29 and for a,
0:18:30 I’ll call it done for you
0:18:30 printable,
0:18:31 one that’s not editable.
0:18:33 It would just be a PDF file.
0:18:34 So if you were buying
0:18:35 say a checklist
0:18:35 or a planner from me,
0:18:36 you just might get
0:18:37 the checklist or planner
0:18:39 delivered to your
0:18:40 Etsy inbox
0:18:41 and then you download it
0:18:42 and then you use it
0:18:43 for an editable file.
0:18:44 You’ll have a PDF
0:18:45 and then you’ll have
0:18:47 a hyperlink on that PDF.
0:18:47 Like it could be
0:18:48 to Dropbox
0:18:49 or Google Drive
0:18:50 or to Canva itself.
0:18:52 if it’s an editable thing,
0:18:52 like there’s,
0:18:53 you know,
0:18:54 editable files via Canva.
0:18:55 There’s another program
0:18:56 called Cordial
0:18:57 and Template.
0:18:57 There’s a bunch of these
0:18:59 like editable design softwares
0:19:01 and then on the deliverable PDF,
0:19:03 you just have like a URL.
0:19:03 So they click,
0:19:04 you know,
0:19:04 edit my template
0:19:05 and then they can go
0:19:06 and edit it.
0:19:07 Got it.
0:19:07 That helps.
0:19:07 But,
0:19:08 and then this is all automated
0:19:10 when somebody hits
0:19:11 the buy button,
0:19:13 then Etsy sends them
0:19:14 this thing that you have
0:19:14 set up on the backend.
0:19:16 Everything is automated.
0:19:16 I like to say
0:19:19 it’s a 95% passive income
0:19:19 side hustle
0:19:22 because about 1 in 20 people
0:19:22 will message me
0:19:24 asking for clarification
0:19:25 with a purchase.
0:19:25 They’re like,
0:19:25 oh,
0:19:26 I can’t access my template
0:19:28 or this or that.
0:19:29 So about,
0:19:29 again,
0:19:30 1 in 20.
0:19:31 So 5% of the time
0:19:32 I’ll have someone message me
0:19:34 and ask for some specific advice,
0:19:35 which I’ve built
0:19:36 like a bunch of
0:19:36 what they’re called
0:19:38 quick replies in Etsy.
0:19:40 So I can just basically like click,
0:19:41 here’s how to download
0:19:42 your editable file
0:19:43 and then I don’t have to go
0:19:44 type it out every single time.
0:19:44 Yeah,
0:19:46 frequently asked questions.
0:19:47 A text expander
0:19:47 or a keyboard short.
0:19:48 Yeah,
0:19:49 same exact thing.
0:19:49 Yeah.
0:19:50 I was going to ask
0:19:51 if you’re leveraging AI
0:19:53 on the product creation side
0:19:54 at all.
0:19:54 Yes,
0:19:56 there’s some element here
0:19:57 on the ideation,
0:20:00 but then to make the thing itself,
0:20:01 is there any sort of like,
0:20:02 you know,
0:20:03 prompting chat GPT
0:20:04 or even Canva
0:20:05 to be like,
0:20:06 I’m looking for
0:20:07 a printable file
0:20:08 that does this,
0:20:09 this and this.
0:20:10 I have done some experimenting,
0:20:11 but honestly,
0:20:12 for the printables
0:20:12 that I’m creating,
0:20:13 again,
0:20:13 most of these are
0:20:15 simple type printables
0:20:16 that I can then pump out
0:20:17 a million different variations
0:20:19 based on different niches
0:20:20 and holidays
0:20:20 and trends
0:20:21 and things like that.
0:20:22 I do not use AI
0:20:23 to create printables.
0:20:24 Okay.
0:20:25 Another reason I do this
0:20:26 is because you do have
0:20:27 to disclose
0:20:28 in your Etsy listing,
0:20:29 like this is AI generated.
0:20:31 There’s no hard data on this,
0:20:33 but my gut just tells me
0:20:34 like they’re probably
0:20:36 slightly lowering
0:20:38 the like SEO juice,
0:20:38 the algorithm
0:20:40 for these types of printables.
0:20:41 If someone’s just putting up
0:20:42 like a thousand printables
0:20:42 in a day
0:20:43 and all of them
0:20:44 you have checked off,
0:20:45 like this was made by AI,
0:20:47 just something tells me
0:20:47 that Etsy’s probably
0:20:49 weighting that a little bit
0:20:49 less than the algorithm.
0:20:49 Again,
0:20:50 I don’t have hard data
0:20:51 on this.
0:20:51 It’s just,
0:20:53 that’s just my gut feeling.
0:20:53 Yeah.
0:20:54 There’s something about
0:20:56 the Etsy community too,
0:20:57 where it started
0:20:59 as a handmade marketplace,
0:21:00 people doing business
0:21:00 with people.
0:21:01 So I wouldn’t be surprised
0:21:02 if you were correct
0:21:03 on that.
0:21:04 We’re going to diminish
0:21:05 those in the listings
0:21:06 just a little bit.
0:21:07 Just a little bit.
0:21:07 Okay.
0:21:08 So we talked about
0:21:09 product creation.
0:21:09 We talked about
0:21:11 the power of templates
0:21:12 once the listing
0:21:13 is live
0:21:14 or maybe any
0:21:15 listing best practices.
0:21:16 Obviously we want to put
0:21:17 the primary keyword
0:21:18 in the title of the listing,
0:21:19 the description of the listing.
0:21:20 Anything else that you found
0:21:22 to speed up
0:21:23 that process
0:21:24 or product images
0:21:24 that you found
0:21:25 to work well?
0:21:26 Pricing points
0:21:27 that help?
0:21:28 Do you have to price low
0:21:29 when your shop
0:21:30 doesn’t have any reviews?
0:21:31 Like what have you found here?
0:21:32 So I’ll start with templates
0:21:33 because we did talk
0:21:34 about product templates.
0:21:35 Like you just take
0:21:35 the base template,
0:21:37 let’s use a thank you card
0:21:37 for example,
0:21:39 and then you can go create
0:21:40 a million different variations
0:21:41 of thank you card.
0:21:42 We mentioned that before.
0:21:43 What I didn’t mention though
0:21:44 is that you can actually
0:21:46 have the entire Etsy listing
0:21:47 as a quote unquote template.
0:21:49 So if I’m going to create,
0:21:50 let’s say I already have
0:21:52 a Father’s Day card
0:21:53 in my Etsy shop
0:21:54 and I want to create
0:21:55 a Mother’s Day card.
0:21:56 I can literally
0:21:57 duplicate the listing
0:21:58 and then I just go
0:21:59 back into Canva.
0:22:00 I just like change
0:22:01 the listing images.
0:22:02 I change the actual
0:22:02 product itself.
0:22:04 I change some of the tags.
0:22:05 I slightly altered
0:22:06 the description,
0:22:07 but I can actually use
0:22:09 a lot of the same features
0:22:10 from that initial listing.
0:22:11 So for me now,
0:22:13 if I were to actually do that
0:22:14 using this real example,
0:22:15 like if I were to have
0:22:16 a Father’s Day card
0:22:16 that I want to make
0:22:17 into a Mother’s Day card,
0:22:18 it would probably take me
0:22:20 like 15 to 20 minutes total.
0:22:21 I might on the actual design
0:22:22 change the colors
0:22:23 from blue to pink
0:22:24 and I’m obviously
0:22:24 going to change
0:22:26 the word father to mother
0:22:27 and some other changes
0:22:28 like the tags.
0:22:29 You can use 13 tags
0:22:30 per Etsy listing.
0:22:31 I would change some of those
0:22:32 to be specific
0:22:33 to the holiday,
0:22:35 but using the entirety
0:22:36 of your Etsy listing
0:22:37 as a template
0:22:38 is something not many people do.
0:22:39 Like even the listing images
0:22:40 you were just asking about,
0:22:41 Nick.
0:22:41 Yeah.
0:22:43 I have eight listing images
0:22:44 that I’m using
0:22:44 for all my products
0:22:46 and it’s just drag and drop.
0:22:47 Like I’m using Canva templates
0:22:48 using like the frames feature.
0:22:49 And so when I create
0:22:51 the new product,
0:22:52 I’m just like dragging
0:22:52 and dropping back
0:22:53 into those same templates.
0:22:54 So I’m not having to
0:22:55 recreate the wheel
0:22:56 every single time
0:22:57 with my listing images.
0:22:59 In terms of what works,
0:23:01 clarity is key.
0:23:03 So something I see
0:23:05 new sellers do so often
0:23:06 is it’s either their title
0:23:07 or their description
0:23:08 or their listing images,
0:23:10 especially that main listing image.
0:23:11 I like to think of that
0:23:12 as the gatekeeper to sales
0:23:14 because like if someone’s
0:23:15 scrolling through Etsy,
0:23:16 let’s say they type in
0:23:17 Mother’s Day card
0:23:19 and your listing image
0:23:20 doesn’t attract them
0:23:21 at the start.
0:23:22 Even if you have
0:23:23 the best product in the world
0:23:24 with the best title
0:23:25 and the best description
0:23:26 and you have an ugly
0:23:27 main listing image,
0:23:28 you’re not going to make the sale.
0:23:29 It’s the gatekeeper.
0:23:29 It’s kind of like
0:23:30 a thumbnail on YouTube.
0:23:31 Like you need a good thumbnail
0:23:33 to get people attracted
0:23:35 in clicking into your video.
0:23:35 Now once they get in,
0:23:36 there’s a whole bunch
0:23:37 of other different things
0:23:38 that you can do
0:23:39 to make them convert.
0:23:40 But if they don’t get in
0:23:41 in the first place,
0:23:42 then you’re screwed.
0:23:43 So I like to say
0:23:44 that clarity is key.
0:23:46 Like you want your title
0:23:47 to be exactly,
0:23:48 exactly what the person
0:23:49 is going to get.
0:23:50 You want that main listing image
0:23:51 to be very clear
0:23:52 on what that person
0:23:53 is going to get.
0:23:54 A concrete example
0:23:55 from our community,
0:23:56 someone posted
0:23:56 a couple weeks ago,
0:23:56 they’re like,
0:23:58 hey, this is my first listing
0:23:59 and they were making
0:24:00 holiday gift tags.
0:24:01 I think it was gift tags
0:24:02 for Valentine’s Day.
0:24:03 Okay.
0:24:04 And for their main listing image,
0:24:06 it was like an 8 by 5,
0:24:07 8 by 5.
0:24:09 It was an 8.5 by 11,
0:24:10 just like a letter size
0:24:11 sheet of paper
0:24:12 with all of the gift tags on it.
0:24:14 Like it was very unclear
0:24:15 what the actual product
0:24:16 that the end user
0:24:17 would be getting.
0:24:19 So we in the community
0:24:20 were like,
0:24:20 oh, actually,
0:24:21 it would probably make
0:24:22 a lot more sense
0:24:23 if you were to mock this up
0:24:24 and like show this gift tag
0:24:26 on an actual Valentine’s gift
0:24:26 and someone is,
0:24:27 it’s a lot more clear
0:24:29 what the end user is buying.
0:24:31 So clarity is key
0:24:32 and far too many people
0:24:33 make the mistake
0:24:33 of just like having
0:24:34 this like abstract,
0:24:35 maybe they’re trying
0:24:36 to like keyword stuff
0:24:36 in the title
0:24:37 or the description
0:24:39 or their main listing image
0:24:39 just looks weird.
0:24:41 There’s too much information on it
0:24:42 and it’s kind of difficult
0:24:43 to tell what the person
0:24:43 is getting.
0:24:44 The less confusion
0:24:45 that your buyers
0:24:46 are going to have
0:24:47 when they see your product
0:24:48 show up in search,
0:24:50 the more likely
0:24:51 they’re going to buy.
0:24:52 And because people
0:24:54 are still buying convenience,
0:24:55 you’re not worried about,
0:24:56 well, just,
0:24:56 you know,
0:24:57 if it’s a simple printable
0:24:58 and I’m just,
0:24:59 I just literally gave it away,
0:25:00 like there’s an image
0:25:00 of the thing,
0:25:02 not really worried about that
0:25:03 because it’s a different
0:25:04 buyer mindset
0:25:05 than the do-it-yourselfer.
0:25:06 So to be clear,
0:25:08 it’s not just a PNG
0:25:08 or a JPEG
0:25:10 of the finished product.
0:25:10 Like that’s not
0:25:11 the main listing image.
0:25:12 It’s usually mocked up.
0:25:13 Maybe there’s like a nice
0:25:14 like wood background
0:25:14 or something like that
0:25:15 with shadows.
0:25:16 You’re still showing
0:25:17 exactly what the printable is
0:25:19 or what the digital product is.
0:25:19 You’re not,
0:25:20 but you’re not just
0:25:21 giving it away.
0:25:21 You’re not just like
0:25:23 having the PDF
0:25:25 as the front runner,
0:25:25 the showcase
0:25:27 of what the product is
0:25:27 because to your point,
0:25:28 you don’t want people
0:25:29 just going in,
0:25:30 screenshotting it
0:25:31 and then printing it out
0:25:31 and using it.
0:25:32 That’s not what
0:25:33 I’m recommending at all.
0:25:33 Okay.
0:25:35 What do you recommend?
0:25:36 I mean,
0:25:36 how do you show it
0:25:37 without showing it?
0:25:37 Okay.
0:25:38 Let me try to think
0:25:39 of a good example.
0:25:40 So let’s just use,
0:25:41 I’m using thank you cards
0:25:42 a lot in Mother’s Day
0:25:42 and Father’s Day cards.
0:25:44 Let’s use a Mother’s Day card.
0:25:45 So a Mother’s Day card,
0:25:46 I might have the
0:25:47 five by seven card
0:25:48 like at an angle
0:25:50 kind of with like
0:25:50 a shadow effect on it
0:25:51 to make it pop
0:25:53 on like a wooden background
0:25:54 or maybe on a table
0:25:55 with flowers in the corner.
0:25:57 And so it’s not just,
0:25:59 it’s not just the piece of paper.
0:26:00 Like it’s a whole mock-up.
0:26:00 Sure, sure.
0:26:02 So like if someone were to go in
0:26:03 and try to like screenshot
0:26:04 at it like and,
0:26:04 you know,
0:26:05 try to crop it,
0:26:06 it’s not going to look great.
0:26:08 It’s not going to look great.
0:26:09 They’re just going to pay
0:26:10 the four or five bucks
0:26:11 for the finished product.
0:26:12 So that’s what I mean.
0:26:12 Like you are showing
0:26:13 the entire printable
0:26:15 or the entire digital product,
0:26:16 but it’s not in a way
0:26:17 where someone can just
0:26:18 like screenshot it
0:26:19 or download it
0:26:19 and use it immediately.
0:26:22 Do you use Etsy ads at all?
0:26:23 Are you relying 100%
0:26:25 on just the SEO
0:26:26 of these listings
0:26:27 or the search volume
0:26:27 that’s there?
0:26:29 For this Etsy challenge,
0:26:31 I tried not to use ads
0:26:33 for the beginning part
0:26:33 when I made it
0:26:35 to $1,000 per month.
0:26:36 But after that,
0:26:36 I was like,
0:26:37 okay, no holds barred.
0:26:38 Let’s see how much
0:26:39 I can pump up
0:26:40 this revenue with ads.
0:26:41 And it was actually
0:26:42 like the week before Christmas
0:26:44 and I started pumping out
0:26:44 my ad spend
0:26:46 like $100 a day
0:26:47 just to see what I could do
0:26:48 because Christmas is huge.
0:26:49 Holidays are huge on Etsy.
0:26:51 And so with this new shop,
0:26:53 I spent just over $900
0:26:56 in 10 days on ads.
0:26:59 And that ended up
0:27:00 bringing in an extra
0:27:01 $2,200 in revenue.
0:27:03 So like $1,300 in profit
0:27:04 if I can do live math
0:27:05 on a podcast.
0:27:07 So yeah, I do use ads.
0:27:09 I use ads in my main shop.
0:27:10 I was trying to use ads
0:27:11 very sparingly
0:27:12 in this new shop
0:27:12 until I hit that goal
0:27:14 because I didn’t want people
0:27:15 to be like,
0:27:15 well, the only reason
0:27:15 you got there
0:27:16 was because of ads.
0:27:17 I was like, no,
0:27:18 I’m getting here
0:27:19 because of keyword research
0:27:19 and SEO.
0:27:20 But then I turned
0:27:22 the ads dial up to 10.
0:27:23 If ads work,
0:27:24 I’ll trade $900
0:27:25 for $2,200 all day.
0:27:26 Yes, ads do work
0:27:27 if done correctly.
0:27:28 But I also didn’t want
0:27:29 to teach people
0:27:29 the wrong lessons.
0:27:30 If people think
0:27:30 that they can just
0:27:32 solve problems with ads,
0:27:33 what I like to say
0:27:34 is ads buy you eyeballs.
0:27:35 So if you already
0:27:35 have a product
0:27:36 that’s converting,
0:27:37 like people are already
0:27:38 buying your product
0:27:38 here and there,
0:27:40 sure, you can throw
0:27:41 some ad money at it,
0:27:42 see if it works.
0:27:43 But if you just have
0:27:44 a shop full of stuff
0:27:45 that’s not selling
0:27:46 and you’re paying for ads,
0:27:47 all you’re doing
0:27:48 is buying more eyeballs
0:27:49 that are probably
0:27:50 not going to buy the thing
0:27:51 because it doesn’t have
0:27:52 any proof of conversion.
0:27:53 So like I don’t want
0:27:54 people to think
0:27:55 or get the idea
0:27:56 that just spending money
0:27:57 on ads is going
0:27:58 to solve their problems
0:27:59 and all of a sudden
0:27:59 this side hustle
0:28:00 that’s bringing in zero
0:28:01 for them is going
0:28:02 to be $1,000 per month
0:28:02 overnight.
0:28:03 Like you have to do
0:28:04 the hard work
0:28:05 of the keyword research
0:28:06 and the SEO
0:28:07 and figuring out
0:28:07 what buyers
0:28:08 are searching for.
0:28:09 Then once you figure
0:28:09 that out,
0:28:10 then you can start
0:28:11 experimenting with ads.
0:28:12 Etsy gives you data
0:28:13 on you had
0:28:15 a thousand views
0:28:16 on this product
0:28:18 and 50 people bought
0:28:19 so you had a 5% conversion.
0:28:20 Like what’s,
0:28:21 do you get any
0:28:21 of those metrics
0:28:22 or what’s good
0:28:22 or what’s a good benchmark?
0:28:23 Yeah, Etsy does
0:28:24 give you those metrics.
0:28:25 I like to be anywhere
0:28:27 between 3% and 5%
0:28:28 conversion rate
0:28:28 on visitors.
0:28:30 So I was actually,
0:28:31 when I was publicly
0:28:31 documenting this,
0:28:32 I was like,
0:28:32 okay, I’m getting
0:28:34 100 visits a day.
0:28:35 Hopefully that means
0:28:37 three to five sales.
0:28:37 Yeah.
0:28:38 And it actually did end up
0:28:39 being around that.
0:28:41 So basically to hit my goal
0:28:42 of $1,000 per month,
0:28:43 I needed to get
0:28:44 somewhere between
0:28:47 like 175 and 200 visits a day.
0:28:47 And so I’m like
0:28:48 publicly tracking
0:28:49 the first day
0:28:49 is like, you know,
0:28:50 12 visits.
0:28:52 The end of the second week
0:28:53 is like 25 visits.
0:28:53 But yeah,
0:28:54 that’s a good benchmark
0:28:55 to get back to your question.
0:28:57 Like 3% to 5%
0:28:57 conversion rate is awesome.
0:28:58 But even then,
0:28:59 to be able to put something out
0:29:00 onto the internet
0:29:02 and get views,
0:29:03 even if it’s just 10,
0:29:04 12, 20,
0:29:04 you know,
0:29:05 the first couple of days.
0:29:05 Yeah.
0:29:06 Compare that to starting
0:29:07 a brand new blog
0:29:08 and shouting it to the void
0:29:09 of the internet.
0:29:10 Google’s not going to rank
0:29:11 your brand new site
0:29:12 right out of the gate.
0:29:13 I think it’s an important
0:29:14 contrast to draw.
0:29:15 You know,
0:29:16 some of the other Etsy sellers
0:29:17 that we’ve talked to
0:29:19 have been trying to collect
0:29:20 emails from their shop.
0:29:21 Oh, get a free bonus template
0:29:22 when you enter your email here.
0:29:23 And they’re trying to like
0:29:25 wean themselves off
0:29:25 or maybe,
0:29:26 you know,
0:29:27 build up their own
0:29:27 traffic source
0:29:29 to their own self-hosted
0:29:30 storefront
0:29:31 or their own Shopify store
0:29:32 for digital products.
0:29:33 You doing any of that
0:29:34 or is it just like,
0:29:35 I just want to take
0:29:35 what this marketplace
0:29:36 is going to give me?
0:29:37 Did this new shop?
0:29:38 No.
0:29:40 I really wanted to just focus
0:29:42 on Etsy generated traffic.
0:29:42 So I didn’t do
0:29:43 the email list stuff.
0:29:45 I didn’t really lean into ads.
0:29:47 I didn’t do social media for it.
0:29:48 For my like main business,
0:29:49 Goal City Ventures,
0:29:49 absolutely.
0:29:51 Like we’re collecting
0:29:51 email addresses,
0:29:52 using printables
0:29:53 as lead magnets,
0:29:54 which is something
0:29:54 I was going to talk about
0:29:55 later today.
0:29:56 But yeah,
0:29:56 in my main business,
0:29:57 I’m all for it.
0:29:58 But the reason I started
0:29:59 this new shop was like,
0:30:00 I don’t want people
0:30:01 to think they need
0:30:01 all that stuff
0:30:02 because you don’t.
0:30:03 You really don’t.
0:30:04 You just need
0:30:04 the keyword research
0:30:05 and SEO.
0:30:06 But if you do want
0:30:07 to scale this
0:30:08 and build a bigger
0:30:08 business out of it,
0:30:10 definitely go for it.
0:30:12 Like there are tons of ways.
0:30:13 And I listened to those
0:30:14 other episodes you had
0:30:14 with Debbie and Becky.
0:30:16 There are great ways
0:30:16 to get people
0:30:17 on your email list,
0:30:18 whether that’s with a freebie
0:30:19 or like a bonus
0:30:19 or a bundle
0:30:20 or other ways.
0:30:21 And then you can,
0:30:22 obviously,
0:30:23 once they’re on your list,
0:30:24 you can then sell them
0:30:24 similar products
0:30:25 to what they’ve already bought.
0:30:27 But it’s not a necessity.
0:30:28 You don’t have to do that
0:30:29 to be successful on Etsy.
0:30:29 Yeah,
0:30:30 or work your way up
0:30:31 the value chain
0:30:32 while you bought this.
0:30:32 So the next thing
0:30:33 you might need.
0:30:33 Yeah,
0:30:34 exactly.
0:30:34 Lots of different
0:30:35 marketing things
0:30:36 you can play around
0:30:37 with once you get going.
0:30:39 There was a question
0:30:40 I wanted to ask.
0:30:40 To the extent
0:30:41 that it matters,
0:30:43 do you need to have
0:30:44 your shop niched down
0:30:44 like, you know,
0:30:45 the thank you card
0:30:45 Emporium
0:30:46 and that’s all we sell
0:30:47 or could it be
0:30:49 a little bit broader
0:30:50 or do you find
0:30:50 that that matters?
0:30:51 I find that it
0:30:52 doesn’t matter much.
0:30:53 Now, if you’re someone
0:30:54 who it doesn’t
0:30:55 make any sense,
0:30:55 like let’s say
0:30:56 you started a shop
0:30:57 for South Hustle Nation
0:30:58 and it was all
0:30:58 about South Hustles
0:30:59 but then all of a sudden
0:31:00 you started throwing
0:31:01 like wedding printables
0:31:01 in there.
0:31:03 That might just
0:31:03 make your audience
0:31:03 be like,
0:31:04 what the heck,
0:31:04 Nick,
0:31:05 what are you doing?
0:31:06 So if you already
0:31:07 have an established brand
0:31:08 and you want to be
0:31:08 like, you know,
0:31:09 the thank you card
0:31:10 guy or girl
0:31:11 or you want to be
0:31:11 like the personal
0:31:12 finance guy or girl,
0:31:13 then it might not
0:31:14 make sense to branch out
0:31:16 but for the average person
0:31:17 it’s totally fine
0:31:17 to have a whole
0:31:18 hodgepodge
0:31:19 different types
0:31:20 of printables in there
0:31:21 and Etsy actually has
0:31:21 what’s called
0:31:23 sections in your shop
0:31:24 so you can silo
0:31:25 different stuff.
0:31:25 You can be like,
0:31:25 oh, here’s my
0:31:26 thank you card section.
0:31:28 here is my planner section.
0:31:29 Here is my
0:31:31 editable template section
0:31:31 and so you can
0:31:33 silo them off like that
0:31:34 but just in terms
0:31:35 of buyer behavior,
0:31:36 most people aren’t
0:31:37 like searching
0:31:37 for a shop
0:31:38 and then browsing
0:31:38 the shop
0:31:39 and seeing like
0:31:40 what’s good in there.
0:31:41 Most people are
0:31:42 typing a product
0:31:42 into the search bar
0:31:44 seeing what shows up
0:31:45 on search results
0:31:46 and then clicking
0:31:46 buying that product
0:31:47 and then they might
0:31:48 not ever see you again.
0:31:50 So it doesn’t really matter
0:31:50 if you have a whole
0:31:51 bunch of different
0:31:51 stuff in there.
0:31:52 that’s fair.
0:31:53 That’s probably
0:31:53 consistent with my
0:31:54 own Etsy buying
0:31:55 behavior.
0:31:56 It’s, you know,
0:31:57 search and discovery
0:31:59 and I don’t know
0:31:59 if I’ve ever reordered
0:32:00 from the same shop
0:32:01 again.
0:32:01 It’s like,
0:32:02 they solved my problem
0:32:03 and now I’m gone.
0:32:03 What are you buying
0:32:04 on Etsy, Nick?
0:32:06 We have a cool map
0:32:08 downstairs that says,
0:32:08 you know,
0:32:09 Adventure Awaits.
0:32:10 It’s like this cool
0:32:11 like watercolor map
0:32:12 about other gifts
0:32:14 on there over the years
0:32:15 like maybe birthstone
0:32:16 jewelry stuff.
0:32:17 A few purchases,
0:32:19 not a prolific Etsy shopper
0:32:20 but I’ve spent some
0:32:21 time on there.
0:32:23 But I’m kind of inspired
0:32:25 to throw up
0:32:25 some of these templates.
0:32:26 You don’t have to clean up
0:32:27 some of the templates
0:32:29 that I’ve been using
0:32:30 but, you know,
0:32:31 there is a Side Hustle Nation
0:32:33 shop with a handful
0:32:35 of t-shirt designs up there
0:32:36 but I’ve failed
0:32:37 to prioritize it very well.
0:32:38 So I’m excited to
0:32:39 maybe take a crack
0:32:40 at it this year.
0:32:41 Why not?
0:32:42 Extra revenue stream.
0:32:43 And for someone like you,
0:32:44 we can talk about this
0:32:44 later or now
0:32:46 but anyone who’s an entrepreneur
0:32:47 or Side Hustler
0:32:48 having an Etsy shop
0:32:50 is kind of a different way
0:32:51 of advertising, right?
0:32:52 Instead of spending money
0:32:53 on say Facebook ads
0:32:54 or Google ads
0:32:54 or YouTube ads
0:32:55 like this is a way
0:32:56 you can get people
0:32:57 into your ecosystem.
0:32:58 Like let’s say you had
0:32:58 the Side Hustle shop
0:33:00 and someone downloads
0:33:01 your Side Hustle tracker
0:33:02 or, you know,
0:33:03 your big list
0:33:04 of Side Hustle ideas
0:33:05 they might not
0:33:06 have ever known you before
0:33:08 and you’re getting these people
0:33:09 not only are you getting paid
0:33:11 to acquire them as customers
0:33:12 like you’re not paying
0:33:12 like a Facebook ad
0:33:13 or a Google ad
0:33:14 or a YouTube ad
0:33:14 but you’re building
0:33:15 goodwill with them.
0:33:16 Like if you deliver
0:33:17 something of value
0:33:17 if you have like
0:33:18 this rock star
0:33:20 Side Hustle income tracker
0:33:21 that’s like five bucks
0:33:22 you got them
0:33:23 into your ecosystem
0:33:24 you figured out a way
0:33:24 to get them
0:33:25 on your email list
0:33:26 now you’ve already built
0:33:27 a good rapport with them
0:33:28 so now when you launch
0:33:29 you know
0:33:30 some kind of a Side Hustle course
0:33:30 or a membership
0:33:31 or some other
0:33:33 bigger digital products
0:33:33 like they’re already
0:33:34 like oh you know
0:33:35 this guy already delivered
0:33:36 so much value for me
0:33:37 with this little $5 printable
0:33:38 that he sold me
0:33:39 and so yeah
0:33:39 it’s like it’s like
0:33:40 a great entry point
0:33:41 into your business
0:33:42 with these printables
0:33:43 and Etsy is a great
0:33:43 search engine
0:33:44 to get people
0:33:45 into your ecosystem
0:33:46 who might have not
0:33:47 gotten there before.
0:33:48 Yeah the Side Hustle
0:33:49 business planning template
0:33:50 we came across
0:33:50 some people
0:33:51 who are doing
0:33:52 who are like doing this
0:33:52 for like kids
0:33:53 summer businesses
0:33:54 like here’s the
0:33:54 you know
0:33:55 we want to teach
0:33:56 our kids entrepreneurship
0:33:57 here’s the lemonade stand
0:33:58 you know business plan
0:33:59 template that they would buy
0:34:00 and like make their kids
0:34:01 fill out
0:34:01 it’s like
0:34:01 I love it
0:34:03 there’s probably a ton of these
0:34:04 we’ll plug these into
0:34:04 e-rank
0:34:05 and see what we can get
0:34:06 now at the time
0:34:08 that this episode
0:34:09 is airing
0:34:09 Gold City Ventures
0:34:10 is in the middle
0:34:12 of their semi-annual
0:34:14 e-printables course launch
0:34:15 so we can link up
0:34:16 your reference
0:34:17 to that
0:34:18 in the show notes
0:34:19 for this episode
0:34:21 at SideHustleNation.com
0:34:22 slash Cody
0:34:23 C-O-D-Y
0:34:24 and we’ll be
0:34:25 right back
0:34:26 with more with Cody
0:34:27 in just a minute
0:34:27 including
0:34:29 his business idea
0:34:30 donation
0:34:30 for Side Hustle
0:34:31 show listeners
0:34:32 right after this.
0:34:35 Lots of scrappy
0:34:35 Side Hustlers
0:34:36 start their business
0:34:37 with just their
0:34:38 personal phone number
0:34:38 I’ve been there
0:34:39 I remember checking
0:34:40 customer voicemails
0:34:41 between classes
0:34:41 in college
0:34:42 but at a certain point
0:34:43 you can’t be limited
0:34:44 to just your cell phone
0:34:45 and notes app
0:34:45 to get your work done
0:34:46 with our sponsor
0:34:47 OpenPhone
0:34:48 you can stay connected
0:34:50 while powerful AI features
0:34:51 help keep your business
0:34:52 on track
0:34:53 What’s OpenPhone?
0:34:54 It’s the number one
0:34:55 business phone system
0:34:56 to help you separate
0:34:57 your personal life
0:34:58 from your growing business
0:34:59 for the cost
0:35:00 of just a few coffees
0:35:01 your team can have
0:35:02 a dedicated phone number
0:35:03 to manage calls
0:35:03 and texts
0:35:06 all from a single platform
0:35:06 think of it
0:35:08 like having a shared inbox
0:35:09 for your phone number
0:35:10 you worked hard
0:35:10 for those leads
0:35:11 don’t let them
0:35:12 slip through the cracks
0:35:14 join the 50,000 businesses
0:35:15 that trust OpenPhone
0:35:16 to streamline
0:35:17 their customer communications
0:35:18 right now
0:35:19 OpenPhone is offering
0:35:20 Side Hustle show listeners
0:35:21 20% off
0:35:23 your first six months
0:35:23 when you go to
0:35:25 openphone.com
0:35:26 slash side hustle
0:35:27 that’s
0:35:28 O-P-E-N
0:35:30 P-H-O-N-E
0:35:31 dot com
0:35:32 slash side hustle
0:35:33 for 20% off
0:35:34 six months
0:35:35 openphone.com
0:35:37 slash side hustle
0:35:37 and if you have
0:35:38 existing numbers
0:35:39 with another service
0:35:40 OpenPhone
0:35:41 will port them over
0:35:42 at no extra charge
0:35:44 Do you say data
0:35:44 or data?
0:35:45 I think I’m a data guy
0:35:46 and one thing I love
0:35:47 about Mint Mobile
0:35:48 is I can get
0:35:49 all the data I need
0:35:51 for one low monthly price
0:35:52 That’s right
0:35:53 our sponsor Mint Mobile
0:35:54 is here to rescue you
0:35:55 from overpriced wireless
0:35:56 in their jaw-dropping
0:35:57 monthly bills
0:35:58 and unexpected overages
0:36:00 All Mint Mobile plans
0:36:01 come with high-speed data
0:36:02 or data
0:36:02 your choice
0:36:04 and unlimited talk
0:36:04 and text
0:36:05 delivered onto the nation’s
0:36:07 largest 5G network
0:36:08 You can use your own phone
0:36:09 with any Mint Mobile plan
0:36:10 and bring over
0:36:11 your existing phone number
0:36:13 and all your existing contacts
0:36:14 Join me in ditching
0:36:15 overpriced wireless
0:36:16 and get three months
0:36:17 of premium wireless service
0:36:18 from Mint Mobile
0:36:20 for just $15 a month
0:36:21 No matter how you say it
0:36:23 don’t overpay for it
0:36:24 Shop data plans
0:36:25 at mintmobile.com
0:36:26 slash side hustle
0:36:28 That’s mintmobile.com
0:36:29 slash side hustle
0:36:30 Upfront payment
0:36:31 of $45
0:36:32 for three-month
0:36:33 five-gigabyte plan required
0:36:35 equivalent to $15
0:36:35 per month
0:36:37 New customer offer
0:36:38 for first three months only
0:36:39 then full-price plan
0:36:40 options available
0:36:42 Taxes and fees extra
0:36:43 see Mint Mobile
0:36:43 for details
0:36:45 All right, we’re back
0:36:46 with Cody Berman
0:36:47 from The Five Show
0:36:48 and Gold City Ventures
0:36:50 for round two
0:36:52 in this episode
0:36:53 Round two is
0:36:54 your business idea donation
0:36:55 This is something
0:36:56 you think listeners
0:36:57 could run with
0:36:57 This is something
0:36:58 that you might start
0:36:59 yourself
0:37:01 if you had more hours
0:37:01 in the day
0:37:02 What have you got
0:37:03 for us here?
0:37:04 I even have a name
0:37:05 for this business
0:37:06 for your listeners
0:37:06 Nick
0:37:07 I’m hoping
0:37:08 I’m trying to
0:37:08 scratch my own edge
0:37:09 here
0:37:09 I’m hoping
0:37:10 that someone
0:37:10 creates this
0:37:11 I don’t have
0:37:11 the time
0:37:12 I don’t have
0:37:12 the resources
0:37:13 I don’t have
0:37:13 the connection
0:37:14 It’s called
0:37:15 The Hub
0:37:16 and it is an
0:37:17 all-in-one
0:37:18 business service
0:37:19 for entrepreneurs
0:37:20 so this is
0:37:20 legal
0:37:21 accounting
0:37:22 a development team
0:37:23 marketing
0:37:24 HR
0:37:24 everything you could
0:37:25 possibly want
0:37:26 as an entrepreneur
0:37:27 all packaged into one
0:37:28 and I’m sure
0:37:29 you have felt
0:37:29 these pains
0:37:29 Nick
0:37:30 where you’re
0:37:30 looking for
0:37:31 say a new
0:37:31 accountant
0:37:32 or you’re
0:37:32 looking for
0:37:33 a legal team
0:37:33 it’s like
0:37:34 pulling teeth
0:37:34 I’m asking
0:37:35 all my
0:37:35 mastermind groups
0:37:36 I’m posting
0:37:36 in Facebook
0:37:37 groups
0:37:37 everyone’s giving
0:37:37 you different
0:37:38 recommendations
0:37:38 you don’t
0:37:39 know who’s
0:37:39 good
0:37:40 it’s so much
0:37:41 and as we’ve
0:37:41 scaled up
0:37:42 Gold City Ventures
0:37:42 in our company
0:37:43 there’s just
0:37:43 all these
0:37:44 different pieces
0:37:45 and all these
0:37:45 different places
0:37:46 if someone
0:37:46 were to
0:37:47 develop
0:37:48 the hub
0:37:49 we’d pay
0:37:50 I’m not even
0:37:50 joking
0:37:50 we’d pay
0:37:51 like $5,000
0:37:51 a month
0:37:51 for that
0:37:52 to get rid
0:37:52 of all
0:37:53 the other
0:37:53 individual
0:37:54 people
0:37:55 that are
0:37:56 tangentially
0:37:57 attached to
0:37:57 our business
0:37:58 just to have
0:37:58 this one
0:37:59 awesome
0:37:59 rockstar
0:38:00 team
0:38:00 in place
0:38:01 and obviously
0:38:01 there’d be
0:38:02 different tiers
0:38:02 maybe a new
0:38:03 entrepreneur
0:38:03 is paying
0:38:04 $100 a month
0:38:04 the more
0:38:05 developed
0:38:05 businesses
0:38:06 are paying
0:38:06 $10,000
0:38:07 plus a month
0:38:08 I don’t know
0:38:08 but I would
0:38:09 love for someone
0:38:09 to do this
0:38:10 because it
0:38:10 has been
0:38:11 so difficult
0:38:12 and so much
0:38:13 work for us
0:38:13 to find
0:38:14 those key
0:38:15 players
0:38:15 that again
0:38:16 we don’t
0:38:16 have the
0:38:16 expertise
0:38:17 like we’re
0:38:17 not developers
0:38:17 we’re not
0:38:18 legal
0:38:18 we’re not
0:38:18 accounting
0:38:19 we’re not
0:38:19 HR
0:38:20 but they’re
0:38:20 important people
0:38:21 they’re important
0:38:21 people that you
0:38:22 need to make
0:38:23 your business
0:38:24 succeed and to
0:38:24 be compliant
0:38:25 so I would
0:38:26 love if someone
0:38:27 took this idea
0:38:27 and ran with it
0:38:28 okay talk me
0:38:28 through this
0:38:29 so are we
0:38:30 thinking like
0:38:30 a directory
0:38:31 of sorts
0:38:32 of like here
0:38:32 are the top
0:38:33 legal professionals
0:38:34 that deal with
0:38:35 online business
0:38:35 e-commerce
0:38:36 here’s the top
0:38:37 accounting
0:38:38 professionals that
0:38:38 know this type
0:38:39 of business
0:38:39 like you know
0:38:40 Sam Parr
0:38:40 from
0:38:41 Sam’s List
0:38:41 right
0:38:42 My First Million
0:38:43 and Hustle
0:38:43 yes
0:38:44 yeah yeah
0:38:44 so he was
0:38:45 he was doing
0:38:45 something like
0:38:45 this for
0:38:46 accountants
0:38:46 right
0:38:47 yes
0:38:48 so not that
0:38:48 not that
0:38:49 what I want
0:38:49 is and this
0:38:50 is why it’s so
0:38:50 difficult
0:38:51 you need some
0:38:52 kind of attractive
0:38:53 reason for these
0:38:54 people to want
0:38:54 to work directly
0:38:54 with you
0:38:55 like if I’m
0:38:56 paying the
0:38:57 hundred dollars
0:38:57 a month
0:38:57 five thousand
0:38:58 dollars a month
0:38:58 whatever it is
0:38:59 whatever your
0:39:00 scale of business
0:39:00 is I would
0:39:01 want them to
0:39:02 just assign me
0:39:03 like here’s you
0:39:03 know here’s your
0:39:04 lawyer here’s your
0:39:04 accountant here’s
0:39:05 your dev person
0:39:06 and they’re just
0:39:07 kind of at your
0:39:07 beck and call
0:39:08 like if you need
0:39:09 a funnel completed
0:39:10 or you need like a
0:39:11 website thing
0:39:11 done you just
0:39:12 hit up the dev
0:39:13 guy that’s already
0:39:13 part of your
0:39:14 package and he
0:39:14 does it for you
0:39:15 or if you need a
0:39:16 legal contract you
0:39:16 have like a new
0:39:17 joint venture that
0:39:18 you’re doing you
0:39:18 hit up the legal
0:39:19 team of the the
0:39:20 hub subscription that
0:39:21 you’re already a
0:39:21 part of and they
0:39:22 take care of it so
0:39:23 not a directory
0:39:24 because I think
0:39:25 directories still
0:39:26 kind of you have
0:39:26 to go through the
0:39:27 hard work you have
0:39:28 to interview a
0:39:28 bunch of people you
0:39:30 have to pick one
0:39:30 get recommendations
0:39:31 that’s not what I
0:39:32 want I’ve been
0:39:33 there done that I
0:39:34 want them to just
0:39:35 like have really
0:39:37 high quality vetted
0:39:38 people that I can
0:39:39 trust that I can
0:39:40 just give them
0:39:41 these tasks that I
0:39:42 don’t want to do or
0:39:43 don’t know how to
0:39:44 do okay so I’m now
0:39:45 understanding it better
0:39:47 as a have like a
0:39:49 on-demand fractional
0:39:51 agency fractional
0:39:52 support for basically
0:39:53 fractional everything
0:39:55 fractional everything
0:39:56 okay it’s like it’s
0:39:57 not worth having
0:39:59 somebody on staff
0:39:59 full-time or even
0:40:00 part-time but like
0:40:01 there are needs that
0:40:03 come up exactly for
0:40:05 legal for technical
0:40:06 stuff and say just I
0:40:07 will you know I want
0:40:08 a resource in my
0:40:09 back pocket to to
0:40:10 go to do that and
0:40:11 not have to somebody
0:40:12 else does all the
0:40:13 vetting and I don’t
0:40:14 have to go out and
0:40:14 and ask friends for
0:40:16 recommendations on here
0:40:16 I just like have a
0:40:17 membership to this
0:40:18 thing and people are
0:40:19 standing by ready to
0:40:20 help me out that’s it
0:40:21 if someone did this
0:40:23 well I would pay and
0:40:23 I’m sure a lot of
0:40:24 other people would
0:40:25 pay I talked to a lot
0:40:25 of other entrepreneurs
0:40:26 who have the same
0:40:27 pain points people
0:40:28 would pay a lot of
0:40:29 money for this if it
0:40:29 was done well yeah
0:40:30 when I had the the
0:40:31 virtual assistant site
0:40:32 there were especially
0:40:33 in the overseas
0:40:35 companies in in India
0:40:36 and the Philippines
0:40:36 they would kind of
0:40:37 promise this like oh
0:40:38 you need web
0:40:38 development done you
0:40:40 need a funnel building
0:40:40 done you need
0:40:41 copywriting done like
0:40:42 hey look we’ve got it
0:40:43 all in-house we got the
0:40:43 experts to do this
0:40:44 design whatever you
0:40:45 need the question mark
0:40:46 is always the quality
0:40:48 component and so that’s
0:40:49 kind of the where the
0:40:50 vetting comes in like
0:40:53 well how you know
0:40:54 and the level of trust
0:40:55 you have to build to get
0:40:55 somebody to sign up
0:40:56 how tight is this legal
0:40:57 contract again
0:41:01 all right that’s the
0:41:02 hub the all-in-one
0:41:03 business hub for
0:41:04 entrepreneurs now you’ve
0:41:05 got that business idea
0:41:06 that’s your next side
0:41:07 hustle you can run with
0:41:08 that let’s go to round
0:41:10 three the triple threat
0:41:12 the first component of
0:41:13 this is a marketing
0:41:15 tactic it’s working
0:41:15 right now it’s not
0:41:17 have to be Etsy
0:41:18 related this could be
0:41:18 related to any of your
0:41:20 other businesses we
0:41:20 kind of touched on it
0:41:21 before but one that’s
0:41:22 working and it’s worked
0:41:24 for years is printables
0:41:25 or digital downloads as
0:41:26 lead magnets or low
0:41:28 ticket offers and we
0:41:29 discussed a little bit
0:41:30 using the side hustle
0:41:31 Etsy shop as an example
0:41:33 but it’s just such a
0:41:34 great way to get people
0:41:35 into your ecosystem it’s
0:41:37 almost like a trip wire
0:41:37 products I don’t really
0:41:38 like that term too much
0:41:39 because it sounds like
0:41:39 you’re tricking people
0:41:40 into buying something but
0:41:42 it’s just a great way to
0:41:43 get people exposure to
0:41:44 what you’ve got like what
0:41:45 you’ve got to offer and
0:41:46 if you can wow people out
0:41:47 the gate with something
0:41:48 either free like a lead
0:41:49 magnet or cheap like a
0:41:50 low ticket offer maybe
0:41:51 it’s literally seven bucks
0:41:53 or 17 bucks they’re
0:41:54 going to be so much more
0:41:56 prone to purchase whatever
0:41:57 other things you have to
0:41:58 sell whether it’s a course
0:41:59 or membership or services
0:42:00 or whatever one-on-one
0:42:01 coaching they’re going to
0:42:03 be so much more prone to
0:42:04 sign up if they already
0:42:05 know that you’re someone
0:42:06 who delivers value and
0:42:07 you’re able to sell these
0:42:09 on Etsy is that the
0:42:10 primary strategy or is
0:42:11 it just through your
0:42:13 website like where were
0:42:14 you finding eyeballs and
0:42:15 buyers for gold city
0:42:16 ventures it’s a whole
0:42:17 bunch of things so not so
0:42:19 much Etsy anymore but
0:42:21 especially I shouldn’t
0:42:22 say that we do have a lot
0:42:22 of people who come from
0:42:24 Etsy but like most people
0:42:24 who join our email list
0:42:26 are not from Etsy but so
0:42:27 we have like you know
0:42:28 affiliates who promote our
0:42:30 stuff we use SEO like we
0:42:31 have a huge blog and
0:42:33 YouTube channel and we’re
0:42:34 doing paid ads so like
0:42:35 there’s a whole bunch of
0:42:36 different ways that we’re
0:42:37 getting people to download
0:42:38 these lead magnets or buy
0:42:39 these low ticket products
0:42:41 but again it’s it’s
0:42:42 building that trust now
0:42:44 we did a really fun
0:42:46 episode with Pete Boyle
0:42:48 who has his one dollar
0:42:50 product challenge and his
0:42:51 argument was like yeah you
0:42:52 could build your email
0:42:54 list with you know a
0:42:55 bunch of free lead
0:42:56 magnets but the question
0:42:57 is are you are you
0:42:58 building a list of
0:42:59 subscribers you build in a
0:43:00 list of buyers and he’s
0:43:02 like that one dollar
0:43:04 barrier was enough to
0:43:06 really accelerate sales
0:43:07 of everything else that he
0:43:08 had to offer it’s like
0:43:08 obviously I’m not going to
0:43:10 make a living off of this
0:43:11 one dollar product but it
0:43:12 led to you know in his
0:43:14 case led to hire ticket
0:43:15 consulting business and
0:43:16 how it to hire ticket
0:43:17 digital product sales too
0:43:19 but just that little hurdle
0:43:20 that little bit of
0:43:21 commitment and we talked
0:43:22 about people who pay
0:43:23 pay attention and if you
0:43:24 can wow people you
0:43:26 deliver you know 10x or
0:43:27 100x the value for that
0:43:29 one dollar thing then all
0:43:30 of a sudden that level of
0:43:31 trust really skyrockets
0:43:33 absolutely all right that
0:43:35 is our marketing tactic
0:43:36 digital downloads as lead
0:43:38 magnets low ticket offers
0:43:39 figure out what you might
0:43:41 be able to create and
0:43:41 probably what Pete
0:43:42 recommended was working
0:43:43 backwards from your core
0:43:45 offer or you know peeling
0:43:47 out a piece of that that
0:43:49 solves some initial pain
0:43:50 point and like okay
0:43:50 what’s the natural
0:43:52 progression of somebody
0:43:53 going through this if
0:43:54 they ultimately are going
0:43:56 to need your your full
0:43:57 service what’s a logical
0:43:58 first step there the
0:43:59 next question here of the
0:44:01 triple threat is a new or
0:44:03 new to you tool that
0:44:03 you’re loving right now
0:44:05 we mentioned e-rank we
0:44:06 mentioned ever be we
0:44:07 mentioned canva we’ve
0:44:08 had a few different tools
0:44:09 here but what else have
0:44:10 you got for us something
0:44:12 I started using way too
0:44:13 late so I’ve been using
0:44:14 chat GPT for a while but
0:44:15 I hadn’t really
0:44:16 experimented with custom
0:44:18 GPTs I think I actually
0:44:19 heard you talk about this
0:44:20 on a podcast correct me
0:44:22 if I’m wrong Nick but now
0:44:24 I have custom GPTs for a
0:44:25 couple different use cases
0:44:26 where like I have a
0:44:28 custom GPT that can write
0:44:29 something in my voice if I
0:44:30 need like a blog post or
0:44:32 an email that just kind of
0:44:33 will take an information
0:44:35 that I give it kind of
0:44:35 spit it out and honestly
0:44:36 like reason with itself a
0:44:38 little bit and then spit
0:44:40 out final products and it
0:44:41 honestly doesn’t need too
0:44:42 much tweaking sometimes I
0:44:44 have another custom GPT for
0:44:45 generating and researching
0:44:47 Etsy product ideas I have
0:44:49 another custom GPT for
0:44:50 basically researching a
0:44:52 guest for my podcast the
0:44:52 financial independence show
0:44:54 and like kind of unearthing
0:44:55 some interesting questions
0:44:56 or things that they’ve
0:44:58 mentioned before and for
0:44:59 those wondering a custom
0:45:00 GPT is like if you’re on
0:45:01 chat GPT you know you just
0:45:03 type in like hey I’m
0:45:03 interviewing Nick Loper
0:45:04 today tell me some
0:45:05 interesting things about
0:45:07 him a custom GPT is
0:45:08 basically just a string of
0:45:09 queries that you have
0:45:10 saved so it’s like hey
0:45:11 you know search up Nick
0:45:13 Loper what are his like top
0:45:14 episodes what are some
0:45:16 interesting things that he
0:45:16 doesn’t talk about too
0:45:17 often and it will you can
0:45:19 add as many queries as you
0:45:20 want as many kind of
0:45:21 actions onto this string of
0:45:22 instructions that’s
0:45:24 basically a custom GPT and I
0:45:25 was way too late to this
0:45:26 game and they’re awesome
0:45:28 okay this is something you
0:45:30 like would save in the in
0:45:31 the sidebar of chat GPT
0:45:33 rather than having to punch
0:45:34 in those kind of priming
0:45:36 prompts each time yes you do
0:45:37 need the paid version the
0:45:39 $20 per month pro version of
0:45:40 chat GPT and then like in
0:45:41 your profile at the top right
0:45:43 it’ll unlock and you’ll see
0:45:44 like there’s I mean there’s a
0:45:44 bunch of options that
0:45:46 unlock with that tier but
0:45:47 custom GPT is one that was
0:45:48 one of them I don’t think
0:45:50 there’s any maximum number I
0:45:51 think you can create an
0:45:52 unlimited number of custom
0:45:54 GPTs for all different use
0:45:55 cases interesting I haven’t
0:45:57 played around with that I’ve
0:45:58 just gone through the you
0:45:59 know one specific use case
0:46:00 maybe I heard a guest
0:46:02 mention it then yeah the one
0:46:04 that I would probably need to
0:46:05 create is like take this
0:46:08 article and turn it into a
0:46:09 compelling YouTube script
0:46:10 that’s like kind of the
0:46:11 bottleneck in creating more
0:46:12 video content like we’ve
0:46:13 got this huge body of
0:46:15 library of content on the
0:46:16 site but it’s like how do we
0:46:17 translate some of that over
0:46:18 to video and do it in a way
0:46:20 that is native and natural to
0:46:21 YouTube and not just reading
0:46:22 reading a blog post I don’t
0:46:23 think that would necessarily
0:46:25 play very well yeah and so
0:46:26 you know a series of prompts
0:46:28 like you are Nick Loper from
0:46:29 side hustle nation and this
0:46:30 is your task do you
0:46:32 understand yes yes and like
0:46:34 okay here’s here’s the copy can
0:46:36 you turn this in you know don’t
0:46:37 include blah blah blah you know
0:46:38 it’s okay to use some of the
0:46:39 same phrasing but it’d have
0:46:40 to be word for word you
0:46:42 understand yes okay and go
0:46:43 there but like to have that
0:46:44 saved I could see how that
0:46:45 would be a time saver oh
0:46:47 yeah huge time saver all
0:46:50 right and last but not least
0:46:51 your favorite book from the
0:46:53 last 12 months one that I
0:46:55 didn’t think was gonna have
0:46:56 such a profound impact on
0:46:56 me because it was really
0:46:57 dense when I started reading
0:46:58 I was like oh my gosh this
0:47:00 is so boring it’s called
0:47:01 thinking fast and slow by
0:47:03 Daniel Kahneman and it’s all
0:47:06 about human psychology and why
0:47:08 people tend to make certain
0:47:09 decisions it’s like really
0:47:10 interesting if you’re a
0:47:12 marketer and just like kind of
0:47:13 like the gambling lottery
0:47:15 mentality like loss aversion
0:47:16 there’s a whole bunch of
0:47:17 really really good stuff in
0:47:18 there and stuff that we as
0:47:19 marketers can use to our
0:47:21 advantage interesting I have
0:47:22 heard of this book for a long
0:47:23 time it’s been out for a while
0:47:24 but have never cracked it
0:47:26 open so thinking fast and
0:47:28 slow it is dense it is dense
0:47:30 it’s not like a fun read but
0:47:31 there’s just like a lot of
0:47:32 info in there it’s it’s there’s
0:47:34 a lot of really good stuff yeah
0:47:35 you would layer this on with a
0:47:37 an influence by Robert
0:47:38 Cialdini type of thing how do
0:47:39 how do we tap into these
0:47:42 psychological benefits or
0:47:43 psychological triggers to
0:47:44 improve our business exactly
0:47:47 okay well very cool we’ll link
0:47:48 that up in the show notes as
0:47:50 well side hustle nation dot com
0:47:52 slash Cody you’ve got a million
0:47:53 different side hustles like
0:47:54 what’s what’s next for you what
0:47:55 are you focused on what what
0:47:57 kind of projects you got going
0:47:58 on more real estate builds
0:47:59 what’s new real estate been
0:48:01 slowing down on honestly our
0:48:03 core focus has been gold city
0:48:04 ventures and building that
0:48:06 out we have some exciting
0:48:07 stuff that I can’t announce
0:48:08 yet but just know that we
0:48:10 have some exciting projects in
0:48:12 the works constantly improving
0:48:13 building our community making
0:48:15 the content better and easier
0:48:16 to follow so yeah most of the
0:48:17 most of the new stuff for me
0:48:18 Nick is gold city ventures
0:48:20 which honestly if you were to
0:48:21 ask me this question years ago
0:48:23 when we first became friends I
0:48:25 probably would have named 10
0:48:26 news hot hustles I was going
0:48:27 to try I was doing way too
0:48:29 much yeah and honestly I think I
0:48:31 spread myself too thin so now I’ve
0:48:33 kind of re-narrowed my focus
0:48:35 into a couple core things that
0:48:36 I’m really good at and just
0:48:37 focusing all my time energy into
0:48:38 those so yeah doing more on
0:48:40 gold city ventures continuing the
0:48:41 podcast the financial
0:48:43 independent show and that’s the
0:48:44 main focus is for me right now
0:48:47 very good well we’ll link up all
0:48:48 of those resources included the
0:48:50 e-printables course at
0:48:52 side hustle nation dot com slash
0:48:54 Cody thank you for sharing your
0:48:56 insight this is again very
0:48:58 inspiring maybe hopefully get off
0:48:59 the sidelines and into the Etsy
0:49:01 game up a little bit myself big
0:49:03 thanks to our sponsors for
0:49:04 helping make this content free
0:49:05 for everyone you can hit up
0:49:07 side hustle nation dot com slash
0:49:09 deals for all the latest offers
0:49:10 from our sponsors in one place
0:49:12 thank you for supporting the
0:49:13 advertisers that support the show
0:49:15 that’s it for me thank you so
0:49:17 much for tuning in if you’re
0:49:18 finding value in the show the
0:49:19 greatest compliment is to share
0:49:21 it with a friend so help spread
0:49:22 the word fire off that text
0:49:24 message to somebody excited about
0:49:25 planting those little digital
0:49:27 money seeds building extra
0:49:29 income streams until next time
0:49:30 let’s go out there and make
0:49:31 something happen and I’ll catch
0:49:33 you in the next edition of the
0:49:34 side hustle show hustle on