Etsy Seller Interview with Jodie of TheLetterLoftUK

How TheLetterLoftUK 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?

The inspiration for the business came when I (Jodie) got married in 2012 and I wanted moss-covered alphabet letters for the top table. I couldn’t find them anywhere, so I decided to create my own mossy "Mr." and "Mrs." This accidental love of moss was the start of a business idea, which I launched in 2013 as The Moss Letter Company. In 2015, my dad came on board to help me out and found himself "wire writing," and now he's pretty epic at it. We evolved to The Letter Loft, adding our best-selling wire letters, luxury cake toppers, wreaths, floral name signs, and much more. We want to help that lost bride find her "moss letters." As my love of flowers and gardening grew, we focused our brand more on botanical and industrial pieces, and in 2021 we began our mini flower farm, growing and drying our own flowers to use in the products.

Favorite items

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

I absolutely love making wreaths, so these are my favorites. Add in Dad’s wire skills, and we are able to make some really beautiful, personalized wreaths for special events or, more recently, for memorials. These are very special to make. I also adore our dried flower heart wreath cake topper, especially when we can personalize it to match a bride's wedding theme.

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?

We launched on Etsy in 2015, and I think we had our first sale within a few weeks, although this is a while ago now so I can’t quite remember! In 2017, Etsy did a featured seller article on us, and this really took the business to the next level. We don’t advertise our Etsy shop, so we focus on really good SEO, photography, descriptions, and tags. We focus on making our listings appealing to Etsy and their audience so that they will promote us.

Managing TheLetterLoftUK

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?

The business is my dad's and mine (with unofficial help from my husband! ), but I run the business side of things by myself. I have daily pick-ups for mail, which is a huge time saver, and I can run a lot of Etsy on my phone with the Sell on Etsy app, although I try to stick to set hours in the workshop so most of the work is done from the computer. The mornings are set aside for admin and social media, and the afternoons for making.

The future of TheLetterLoftUK 

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

The business is changing next year with my dad retiring (at least partially), so we are looking at where to take the floral side into the future. We plan on extending the flower farm and offering my floristry skills for more events and workshops, and I see lots more wreaths ahead of us.

Advice for new sellers

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

Really use all the tools that Etsy offers you.
Read the handbook and forums as much as you can; there is a wealth of knowledge there.
I would recommend joining Erank or Marmalead, which will teach you how to make healthy listings.
Research your keywords and fill every part of your listing: tags, attributes, occasions, colors, etc. There is a lot of competition on Etsy, so give yourself the best chance of being seen.
Have beautiful photos. One of the best investments I ever made was to hire a photographer until I got better at it myself. Alternatively, if that isn't in your budget, watch a lot of YouTube videos on iPhone product photography. Your photos are what will set you apart and get you noticed by Etsy.