Etsy Seller Interview with Zoe of ZoesGardenPrints

How ZoesGardenPrints 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?

My Etsy shop is Zoe’s Garden Prints. I sell prints, stationery products, and accessories that are gardening-inspired and use my own illustrations and hand lettering. I opened my shop in the spring of 2016 as a way to supplement my freelance income using my skills as an illustrator and graphic designer. I have had a love of gardening, and in particular, growing my own food, for many years, and I had by this point gained a following on Instagram through the gardening community. I had been keeping an illustrated journal of my allotment activities, which my followers really loved, so then I started to experiment with creating some designs for prints, which I shared and received very positive feedback. All of this gave me the confidence to take the plunge and open my shop, and it was really through this little community that I gained my first sales and through their feedback that I found my direction. My illustrations were initially done by hand, and some still are, but mostly now I work digitally using an iPad Pro. I’m always looking for inspiration for new designs, but I also get requests, which I’m always open to.

Favorite items

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

My illustrated recipe postcards are one of my favorite items. I had started to add some recipes to my allotment journal, as cooking the produce you have grown is all part of the process, and we food growers are always looking for new ways to use up our gluts. But it was tricky to find a way to illustrate them without having to write out lots of instructions and ingredients. So after some trial and error, I eventually found a way to do this using arrows and the illustrations themselves to visually explain what goes where in a clear and succinct way. I think they balance my skills as an illustrator and graphic designer, which are all about communicating information in a visually pleasing way. I initially designed them as prints for framing and later as large recipe cards, but disappointingly, they didn’t sell as well as I’d hoped. Then in 2020, when COVID-19 put everyone on lockdown, I had the idea to try them as postcards, as I felt they would make a lovely way for people to keep in touch when they weren’t able to travel and see each other. They took off immediately and are now one of my best sellers. I think this is mainly due to the post-crossing craze, which I was unaware of before. Postcrossing involves sending postcards to strangers all around the world in exchange for getting some interesting postcards back. I was a member of an international pen pal club as a child, so I completely get the appeal of this, and I love the idea of my postcards traveling around the world.

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 think it was only a few days after opening my shop that I got my first sale. As I mentioned earlier, this was due to the Instagram gardening community, which is still my main customer group. Instagram stories and reels have also been valuable tools for drawing new customers in, but I do try to keep my account for sharing my gardening activities too. Being part of that community is important to me, so I don’t want to always be selling to them. I make sure my shop details are on the back of postcards and greeting cards in the hope that people on the receiving end of my designs will take a look at my shop and maybe become new customers. The occasional giveaway competition on social media helps too, but I don’t do this too often.

Managing ZoesGardenPrints

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 by myself. It has been a huge learning curve, but I love it and have so far managed to juggle the shop with my freelance career. I carve out time in my work calendar each week for fulfilling orders and creating new designs whenever I can. Shipping is all done through the Etsy shop via Royal Mail (in the UK), which makes it easy for me, as I can pop orders in the local postbox when I take my dog out for a walk.

The future of ZoesGardenPrints

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

My shop has evolved quite a lot since I opened it. I quite quickly went from only selling prints to creating lots of other products. Some of these have been successful and some not so much, and I think now I want to simplify my product line and concentrate on the items that sell well. Although I’m always open to new directions

Advice for new sellers

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

Learn from it and adapt as you go. Put some care and attention into every order you send out, package it well, and send a little thank-you note. Think about how you would like to receive something and make sure your customers are getting what they expect and maybe a little more. Your personal touch is what makes your shop unique, and good customer service will keep them coming back and giving you good reviews, which is really valuable.