Etsy Seller Interview with Jo of WattleDesignsCo

How WattleDesignsCo 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?

I’m Jo Maghoo, the owner and founder of Wattle Designs. I design a wide range of wall art and custom prints. I started this business while living in Australia as an "at-home mom" to two adorable little boys. I wanted a project that would keep my creative juices flowing while also allowing me to stay at home with my children. I loved decorating my children's bedrooms with art that was unique and personal, and soon friends began asking me to make prints for their homes too. And so Wattle Designs was born. Originally a primary school teacher, I've always loved the creative side of my job, and so while the boys slept during the day, I used my time to research ideas for new pictures to make and design them on my laptop.

As my boys grew (all too quickly! ), I was able to devote more time to my growing collection of prints and developing my website. I am now based in the U.K., having moved back to bring the boys closer to our extended family, and I work from my home studio, tucked away in the beautiful Suffolk countryside. After receiving a lot of positive feedback about my range of quote prints, I started to develop a range of art prints, and I am constantly adding new products to my store. I print every product to order on either card or cotton canvas and use eco-friendly options for print surfaces and packaging wherever possible. Most of my prints are sold unframed, but I also offer a framing service. I use a local supplier to create beautiful custom frames from sustainable timber. Selling prints unframed means that I don’t need to keep too much stock in my studio. Frames and their associated packaging are very bulky, and there’s only so much space when you work from home, so this helps keep stock manageable.

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 are currently my range of eucalyptus wall art prints. Natural materials are so popular in decor at the moment, and I get a lot of inspiration from the countryside around my home. My studio looks out into our garden, and there’s a eucalyptus tree right outside my window, which we planted when we moved here.

My most popular prints are my custom designs, made to my customers' specifications. They contain anything from poems to love letters, book extracts to favorite quotes, wedding speeches to song lyrics. These may include photographs or images, or they may simply be text. I work closely with each client to create something unique that reflects their own style. I think that they sell so well because it gives my customers the opportunity to bring their ideas to life and to create a unique gift for someone special or a treasured keepsake for their own home.

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?

My first sale took a few days, and then the numbers started to increase very gradually. I was fortunate in that I could gradually improve my Etsy store and product range while still teaching, allowing me to earn a consistent income. It took me a long time to learn the art of SEO and develop my photography skills. In fact, it’s still an ongoing learning process. I have joined various online forums to share ideas and knowledge with other Etsy sellers and have found those to be a great source of information. Gradually, I was able to drop a few days of teaching and spend more days working on my Etsy store, until last year I took the leap to make it full-time.

I use social media to share daily posts about my creations and my process, which brings about 15% of my sales.

Managing WattleDesignsCo

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?

I manage my shop entirely on my own, which can be a bit of a juggling act sometimes. Integrating shipping through Etsy was a huge time saver, and investing in a label printer was one of my best early purchases. Youtube tutorials have been invaluable for learning some basic marketing skills, and that’s an ongoing process. I love the flexibility of working from home, although that means it’s really easy to spend my evenings and weekends working when I don’t set myself limits. Setting up auto-replies for out-of-office hours was a huge help and took some of the pressure off me when I was previously trying to reply to customers at all hours. I’m not afraid of hard work, but finding a balance between my home and work lives is really important.

The future of WattleDesignsCo 

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

I’m sure every small business owner wants to grow their business as much as they can, but at a rate that they can sustain. I’d like to start creating and selling more items in my digital print range, which would mean that I could spend more time creating designs (the bit I love most) and less time on the packaging and printing side (the bit I like least!).

Advice for new sellers

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

My advice for a new seller is to keep looking for ways to improve. Trends change constantly, and it can be hard to stay ahead of the game. Etsy has some great articles on new trends, and these are well worth paying attention to. I change my tags and titles regularly to reflect holidays, seasons, and recent trends. I love a list, and I keep lists with tags that I am constantly adding to when I think of new ideas.

Attention to detail is so important. Creating the best quality products, getting custom frames and packaging made, adding little handwritten gift notes to each order, and adding gift wrapping or thank-you stickers are just a few examples of little touches that make the customer feel special and give that personal touch. Many of my customers leave great reviews or come back to me and place another order because customer service is such a high priority for me.

Another thing to remember is that you can’t do everything at once, especially if you are working on your own. Ideas come thick and fast sometimes, and I am often guilty of jumping from one idea to another. I help keep focus by having three lists on the go. One for "now," one for "soon," and one for "later," to help me prioritize. One of my favorite quotes says, "You can do anything, but not everything," and that’s so true!

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

Question: What is your shop’s conversion rate?
Answer: 1.8