Etsy Seller Interview with Jodi of DiandDrew

How DiandDrew got started

Introduce your Etsy shop and tell us your story. How did you begin and decide on what to sell on Etsy, and how do you create your products?

Hi, my name is Jodi Johnson, and I started Di and Drew with my daughter Sydney back in 2020. During that time, I had a small private label business on Amazon and was busy enjoying my last few years with my kids before I officially became an empty nester. If truth be told, my Etsy business actually started as a case study for a friend who was creating a beginners' Etsy course using Print on Demand, specifically mugs. He asked me to read his modules as he created them and to implement what I learned.

I didn’t know it then, but Etsy soon became my passion, and I set out to learn everything I could to be successful. These days, we sell much, much more than mugs. Some of our bestsellers during the holidays include our tote bags, wine tumblers, and personalized ornaments.

Favorite items

What are your favorite items? What makes these so special? Why do you think these items might be selling well?

My favorite items in my shop really depend on the season. Right now, I am having a lot of fun designing personalized gifts for the holidays. A few of my top-selling ones are my personalized gift ornaments for neighbors:

And my Personalized World’s Best Bus Driver Tumbler:

My best selling item that sells all year long would be my Tears Of My Chess Player Mug, which surprised me as an instant success.  

Getting sales on Etsy

How long did it take for you to earn your first sale and how do you currently attract customers to your Etsy shop?

I earned my first sale within a week or so of starting, but it would be about 4 months before I realized the true potential of Etsy and started working at it as an actual business and not a hobby. It’s also when I began to realize the importance of SEO and using the right keywords and tags to attract customers.

Currently, most of my business comes from within Etsy, through organic sales and advertising. During my first Christmas, a few of my items were picked up by Buzzfeed and some popular blogs focusing on holiday gifts, and this also gave us an initial boost.

Managing DiandDrew

How do you manage your shop? Are you running solo or do you have any team members? What tools or services do you use to run your shop and how do you handle fulfillment?

These days, my daughter no longer helps out with the business, as she has graduated college and moved on. I use virtual assistants when needed, but since most of my products are print on demand, I use a few trusted production partners for fulfillment. I design the products, and my partners print and ship them.

I rely heavily on Alura.io for my research, including keyword research and competitor analysis. I use both Canva and Illustrator to create and design my products. To calculate my profit margins, I also use the Omni Profit Calculator. 

The future of DiandDrew

What goals do you have for your shop in the future?

In 2023, my goal is to hire someone to handle customer service and to assist me in designing new and additional product lines. Our business has grown to the point where it is hard to keep up with adding new designs weekly as well as handling customer service. In January  goal is to hire someone to handle customer service and to assist me in designing new and additional product lines. Our business has grown to the point where it is hard to keep up with adding new designs weekly as well as handling customer service. In January 2022, I started another Etsy shop selling digital items, so my workload has increased exponentially.

Advice for new sellers

What’s your advice for a new seller starting an Etsy shop?

First of all, I would say to never give up. It takes a while to build your store and gain traction, and it’s easy to get frustrated. We often see stories of shops that we deem overnight successes, but what we don’t take into account is the hard work, time, and effort it took to be that successful.

Besides never giving up, I think there are two specific things that I would recommend when first starting out:

1. Spend time learning SEO. It really is the key to your success. You can have the best products, but if nobody can find them, you won’t make sales. Using a tool like Alura makes it so much easier to find what keywords people are searching for.
2. Know your numbers. Be sure when pricing your items to always take into account all of your expenses, advertising costs, etc.

Some sellers really get inspired by hearing numbers. Feel free to share these if you like.

Question: What is your average profit margin?
Answer: My average profit margin is 40%

Question: What is your shop’s conversion rate?
Answer: I generally consider anything over 3% a good conversion rate. Right now I am running at about 4.4%.