Etsy Seller Interview with Johanna of ThePrintedCat

How ThePrintedCat 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?

Hello! I’m an illustrator and graphic designer who decided at some point to focus solely on drawing cats and making products with those illustrations on them. My first idea of having a shop was formed when I made a drawing of cats showing their middle finger, and many of my friends and followers on Instagram said that they would love to get this as a t-shirt. I’ve had some experience with screen printing during my studies. I decided that I wanted to take this up again and just got myself a basic starter kit for screen printing. Then I just opened an Etsy store and prepared two preorder listings for the shirts until I got my screen-printing kit. That was in 2018, and I was still using the name Studio Breuch, but I quickly realized that no one could pronounce my last name here, and it was just complicating matters. So, from 2019 on, I decided to call my brand "The Printed Cat." It’s a brand that sells art-centered clothing, accessories, art, and stationery to fellow cat lovers. I do the majority of the work myself.I source blank clothing and screen print my own designs on them in my studio in the Netherlands. Stickers and other items are manufactured, but everything is designed and drawn by me. I like to make as much myself as I can, as I love creating, but I also feel more connected knowing that I hand-printed my designs instead of letting someone else do that for me. That way I can easily change gears in case something doesn’t work out the way I hoped.

Favorite items

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

My customers' and my favorite items are screen-printed t-shirts and tote bags. Specifically, the Gallery Cat, Summer Bouquet, Orange Cat, and Cats on Synthesizer Designs To be honest, my favorite designs are actually those from the upcoming collection, which I can’t share yet. It’s going to be my very first well-thought-out collection that is centered around one theme: road-tripping and camping in the woods somewhere in Sweden (my favorite summer vacation). I love screen printing, and I think that recreating my art in this medium gives the otherwise flat illustration a new dimension.

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?

The first sale was pretty quick—a few days if I remember correctly—and it even came from a total stranger, as I didn’t dare share it with friends and family yet. A very special moment that I will never forget, especially since the customer also left a heartfelt note about how happy she was to find my shirt (there were only two t-shirts listed as pre-orders) and how much she can't wait to receive it! I must have had luck with the algorithm. Currently, I’m doing a lot on Instagram (10k followers) and also have a newsletter, Reddit posts, and sometimes Tik Tok, and also Etsy ads in place.

Managing ThePrintedCat

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?

It’s all me! The only task I share with another is filing my taxes. I do enter everything in my bookkeeping app but another company is reliable for checking everything and filing my taxes so there’s no way I can fuck it up.

Creating Art and all design work for my shop:

• Adobe Suite (specifically PS, ID, AI, AE, and Fresco)
• iPad Pro + Apple Pencil
• Procreate
• Laptop

Time managing:

• Notion (free, I use this for my daily to-do but also planning my bigger Projects and also to take notes)
• Pomodoro Timer (free, when you tend to lose focus, procrastinate or really have to start on this one super boring task, using the Pomodoro technique can help gets anything done. I don’t use it always but often when I’m really unmotivated.)

Finance:

•  Moneybird (Bookkeeping software for my fellow Dutch people)
•  N26 (my bank where I could open a business account for free. It has its limitations but since it's free, who cares?)

Product photos:

• DSLR Camera (Nikon D5300) + 38 mm lens with a high light sensitivity so you can adjust the aperture and get super nice and blurry backgrounds
• Adobe Photoshop

Misc:

• Spotify (to listen to music and podcasts while working on boring repetitive things)
• Excel (this is where I’m calculating my prices and enter all the details that go into one product)
•  Mailchimp (free, for creating Newsletters as well as creating pages where people can sign up for your newsletter)
• Brother QL-1110NWB Label Printer

I think this is everything I basically use on a daily basis. I did not mention things like Instagram, my mail program, or Google Chrome.

The future of ThePrintedCat 

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

The biggest dream would be to have a little actual shop somewhere combined with a cat café where people can come have a coffee and a snack, cuddle with cats, and also shop my products. My studio will be in the back, and people can watch me print the shirts that are for sale in the front. This is the biggest goal, some kind of dream I love to think about and work towards but currently can’t really take concrete steps towards as I want to make this happen where I settle, and I know I won’t be settling where I currently live. Another, slightly closer goal would be to actually make my own clothing. At this point, I’m printing on blanks that I source from a reputable brand, but I feel that I’m a bit limited in what I can do and will always be restricted in what cuts and colors are offered to me. I want to start getting custom-made clothing pieces made and then printing cats on them, of course! 

Advice for new sellers

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

The best thing is to actually just start. Don’t be afraid to start small. I started with one design on two different colored shirts, so I had two listings in the beginning. This is not overwhelming, and you can slowly work on making more designs and learn about what works and looks good and what does not. Don’t start an Etsy shop and think you can immediately quit your job unless you already have a loyal customer base that is just waiting for you to make your product available to buy. It’s usually just a slow process. There are some overnight success stories online, but it’s not the norm. So just take it slow and enjoy the ride!

If you’ve got specific questions, it’s always good to connect with fellow Etsy sellers on either Instagram, Facebook, or Reddit. I personally have found great help within the Reddit communities r/Etsy and  r/EtsySellers they’re always happy to help with questions you might have, as long as they’re not super repetitive. You can find many answers by just searching these communities.