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- [00:00]
A
Welcome to another episode of the Crickets to Teachings podcast. I am Cody Berman with Gold City Ventures, joined by Emily here. Emily, the first time you are on this podcast, I mean the stats were out of this world and since then you've just continued to progress further and further. So I want to just give people a quick little 90 second elevator pitch. For those who don't know you, just how amazing your pod success has been over the past couple years on Etsy.
- [00:24]
B
Oh my goodness. Thanks. So I'm excited to be back and yeah, my journey is a little bit wild. I always tell people, people, I'm a busy mom of two, little bit of a chaos coordinator and somehow like stumbled across Print on demand one day, started it as my New Year's resolution and just dove in a hundred percent. And in the first year I hit like over $170,000 in revenue which was absolutely mind blowing. And a lot of it I tribute I attribute to shifting away from selling apparel, so shifting away from selling T shirts and sweatshirts to really focusing on gifts and thinking about Etsy as a go to platform platform for gifts and providing these unique print on demand products that someone can't buy down the street at a different store. So once I kind of stumbled across that, it was about a couple months into my Etsy journey, my sales just started skyrocketing and from there I've really just continued to ride the wave. And recently it feels like really weird to say out loud, but recently I just crossed $725,000 in revenue.
- [01:35]
A
Wow.
- [01:35]
B
In my print on demand shop, I actually don't even check my revenue numbers, but I just happened to like look and I was like, oh my goodness. So it feels crazy because you know, on a daily basis I'm chasing two kids around and doing school drop off and pick up and then there's this Etsy shop just running for me behind the scenes, which is so nice. So yeah, it's been a while Journey.
- [01:59]
A
I was just going to ask, I was going to ask if you crossed 700, but 725 is even cooler because if I have the numbers right, it was like your first 100k was in the first 10 months and then you hit 500k or a little bit over 500k in two years. Now we're kind of turning into the end of year three. Like January 2026 will be the end of year three and you're at 725. I think you might be able to hit 800.
- [02:22]
B
I feel like, really? It's so funny because Like I said, I never set any sort of revenue goal. And sometimes people think that's so crazy that I don't do that. But I just find that it doesn't. That doesn't motivate me as much. But when I see those numbers again, I had like no business experience. So seeing that and being like, oh, I did that, that feels so mind blowing to me. So, yeah, I'll be curious to see what Q4 brings. It's always a lot of fun. And last year that's what helped push me past the 500k was Q4. So I'm hoping we'll get some good traffic this year.
- [02:59]
A
I think we will. And part of the reason I want to record this episode at this time of the year is if you're someone sitting on the fence or you're someone who have started a little bit into the side hustle. You started print on demand. You started selling printables, but, like, you haven't really given it your all. Like, this is one of the best times to just go for it. Like, yes, go crazy. You know, block out a weekend, you know, stay up late, go to like, wake up early, whatever you got to do. Just like, put as many products as you possibly can up and just see what happens. Because I know in your pod community, like, I'm seeing the wins every single day. Like, people are making holiday sales now. So if you can start to take action, you know, you're listening to this late November, early December. Like, there's still plenty of time left in the year for the perfect. You know, your program is called the Gift Lab. Like, it's. This is the season of gifting. Sales just go bonkers. So I think this is like a perfect timing for this episode to get people to, you know, get off, off their butts a little bit, start to, you know, put a little more elbow grease into the side hustle if they haven't yet.
- [03:53]
B
Yeah. I always tell everyone I don't have really any regrets when it comes to Etsy. My only regret is that I didn't start sooner because I started January 1st.
- [04:01]
A
As like, you missed that first holiday season.
- [04:03]
B
I was like, I missed like the two months of the most sales. And what I also tell people is even if you're just struggling, starting now is the best time to just start publishing things because there's so many people coming to Etsy that you can get some really good information about what's working and what's not working and all of that. So regardless of where you're at in the Process, like right now is the time to start posting those listings, to get, get your shop off the ground and really capitalize on the next month or so of huge sales that are happening on the platform.
- [04:39]
A
And just to rewind a little bit, I know some people might have heard your story, some people might have not. When you first started, did you venture into T shirts, sweatshirts, apparel, or did you just go straight for the gift stuff? And if it's the latter, was there a reason why you did that?
- [04:52]
B
Yes. So I started with T shirts and sweatshirts like many of us do, because that on YouTube, that's what everybody thinks.
- [04:58]
A
Of when they think of Pod.
- [04:59]
B
Everyone is like, come in, sell T shirts. Great. So I did and honestly, it was a great learning experience. I'm glad I did it. I learned a lot about the basic principles of how to do printing on demand, how to set up your shop, how to do all those, you know, logistical things. And I remember it was about April of my first year and I had been doing some research about what was selling what, you know, what should I be doing. And I stumbled across a more giftable product which I do share with this. It's a candle. So I stumbled across a candle and I listed a few, just kind of on a whim, I was really just like, let me just see what this is about. I threw together some listings, not a lot of effort. And, and I sold one that night, like this, like one of the ones that I listed. And I remember thinking, there's a lot of opportunity here for these non apparel products. And Etsy has poured in so much marketing and their efforts into positioning themselves as this platform for giftable products, for unique, meaningful, customized, you know, special products for like milestone moments. And it made perfect sense that I could create these and then, you know, offer them as these gifts that people couldn't find at Target or Walmart or wherever they were going. So that I realized pretty quickly. And then that first year I really just started shifting in that direction. And come Q4, it was wild. My shop exploded. And that was really, I mean it was very affirming that gifts is where I like had found Elaine and that it was working. And the best part is this is what I tell people too. Like I study Etsy shops every day and a lot of new shops, like young shops, they're three months old or six months old, they just started and they're making really good sales. And so often they are selling these type of giftable products. And I think it just shows you that there is so much Opportunity still there to, to take advantage of.
- [07:01]
A
So can we just define giftable products quick? I know you mentioned candles, but what are some other examples of non T shirt, non sweatshirt, non apparel. Giftable products.
- [07:09]
B
Yes. So in the course, the gift lab, we talk through five of my favorite giftable products, but not also just my favorite. They're. They're really rooted in the numbers, like what products are shops, younger shops selling, and they're making sales with. So those five that I talk about a lot are candles, tote bags, mugs, hardcover, journals, and ornaments. So those are the five that we talk a lot about. And I am telling you right now, the students in our community selling ornaments and journals, it is exploding. Like, I, I mean, there was a student the other day that still had an 80 item order, a bulk order for 80, 80 journals. I about fell out of my chair. I have not had an order for 80 of anything. So it was mind blowing. I had someone who sold 60 ornaments in an order. So, like, there is so much opportunity. And both of these students have new shops, really new, within the last couple months. So there is just so much opportunity with these products. And what I will say, the other reason why we pick these is they are easier to design. When you think about a T shirt, a lot of times there's trends involved, there's graphic designing. You need to look esthetically pleasing with these giftable products, like a candle or a journal. You can really put words on a design and it will sell. So I think that is something too. If you're a beginner to this or maybe you don't have design experience like I didn't have design experience, then these products can be a really great match because you don't need to be a really great graphic designer and you're not.
- [08:49]
A
Having people send back candles because it's too tight around the midsection.
- [08:55]
B
Or they thought it was a different material. Like you. I don't get like any returns because I don't sell apparel. It's great.
- [09:01]
A
Yeah, people don't really care if their candles, you know, 2 inches wide or 4 inches wide, like exactly. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter too, too much. So, yeah, that's another huge, you know, win for Pod. Okay, so since you started back in January 2023, I'm guessing a lot of things has changed. We mentioned you started dabbling in the T shirts and apparel and you're like, this isn't for me. This gift stop is really working. Are there any other big trends or big shifts that you've seen in the market, whether that's products, whether that's the way that you're. I mean, AI wasn't really a thing, I'm sure. Maybe you use AI as a thought partner, or maybe you're using AI in some parts of your design. Like what are some big trends or changes that you've noticed in the past 2 1/2 or 2 1/4 years since you started selling?
- [09:40]
B
I would definitely say AI is. Is one. One piece of it. For the first, honestly, two years, I didn't really use AI much. I would use ChatGPT to help generate ideas, for sure. But this year we've seen such a growth in AI capabilities in terms of designing, in terms of the tools available, in terms of what ChatGPT or nano banana or all these things can do. So it has really opened up the doors to people who can't maybe create things. But for me, for example, I can have a vision in my head and say, this is what I want this product to look like. This is what I want this design. And AI can really help me get the end result of that. So AI has been a big one, I think. And I'm. I used to be someone who was kind of would shy away from it, and now, I mean, I use it all day, every day in so many ways, helping me write customer messages, helping me come up with product ideas, helping me write descriptions, helping me create graphics for my design. So AI is a big one, I would say. The other thing, you know, it's interesting, a lot has changed, but a lot hasn't liked. The things that I'm seeing our students in the community sell are things that, you know, it's the same principles that are still working today that worked two years ago, and I love that. And that's why in the gift lab community, we focus so much on evergreen ideas because they help create. And evergreen ideas are basically products or designs that will sell year round. They don't have like a seasonal spike necessarily. So we are focused on things that can help create a good foundation to a shop that can sell products all year. And a lot of the things that they're selling are evergreen. Even some of the ornaments and things are products that sell, you know, in the summer also. So I think focusing on those evergreen ideas is still working, and that's very reassuring. That's something that I'm enjoying. It's something that the students are still seeing that payoff for them. So that's been really great.
- [11:44]
A
Yeah. I have the same response regarding digital products. I was on a podcast yesterday and they're asking me, well, since you started selling in 2018, like has the landscape changed? I'm like, well, you know, some of the tools are different. Canva is way better. There's some AI thought partners. Like I love using Jet to ideate like just the software, the keyword research tools has gotten better. But like all in all, if you understand what people are typing into the search bar and you deliver that thing like it's the same exact formula from 2018 to 2025 and beyond, it really does. Like the things might change. Like, you know, this year it might be retro, Halloween's in. Or this year like leopard print might be in. Sure. But it's like the same, you know, the same fishing skills, you know, teach the man to fish. You might be catching different fish, but it's like the same skills are going to get you there.
- [12:26]
B
Exactly.
- [12:27]
A
Yeah. So that's what I've noticed. Okay, cool. So not any huge changes, but it seems like you are using AI and correct me if I'm wrong, I think in the past year in the Gift Lab, Yoshi added some lessons regarding AI and like some of the specific tools you're using with like over the shoulder tutorials and all that fun stuff.
- [12:42]
B
Yes. So I have recorded a workshop showing how to use a tool like playground. Also in the Gift Lab community, one of my favorite things is I created these custom GPTs for the students to use so they it's already trained on how to develop for example a design prompt so they can put in what they're looking for and it's going to generate a design prompt that specifically thorough enough for AI to use to generate that image or to help them write customer messages and do all of that. So we're, we're trying to use AI in a way that is like your assistant in your shop. It's your, your right hand person that is getting to know your shop and helping you with some of these skills or some of the tools that can help things be more efficient. Really?
- [13:25]
A
All right, are there any other tools or strategies or things that you're either using that you've been using since the beginning? Maybe they haven't changed. Maybe you figured it out mid 2023 when you started or, or just. Yeah, general trends, something we're missing. I want to make sure we're giving people all the good stuff before we talk about the awesome Gift Lab offer that we got brewing today.
- [13:44]
B
So there's two things. I recently posted a video on YouTube about this. My revenue from this September compared to last September was up 40%. And so I really dug into why, like, how did this happen? And I came. I boiled it down to two main things. So the first one is that personalization is similar still queen on Etsy. I mean, people are coming to Etsy and they want something custom to them, and it's not required to offer personalization. For the first, I would say, year and a half in my shop, I really didn't personalize anything. So it is very possible to make a lot of sales without having to personalize. However, this year I started using a new tool that, or it's not a new tool, but new to me, called Anywhere Pod. And it has been like a complete, complete game changer for my entire shop and my life. And it allows me to personalize. It automates the personalization that comes in, but not only that, it helps automate things like your mockups. It helps create. Creates your listing videos for you. They have AI tools to write your. Your SEO with your keywords. And there's just a lot of things that have saved me so much time. But being able to offer these personalized products has allowed me to take my shop to the next level without it taking so much time. So that's been a really big one this year that I, I think, has been a game changer for me personally. And a lot of our students are using Anywhere Pod now. We, you know, I partner with Chris from APOD a lot. We have a mini course. He's come to our coaching sessions because a lot of our students are loving it because it just makes everything so much more efficient. And I would say the second one is a niche that I dug into this year, which is the events space. And the events niche has been huge. And when we're thinking about, you know, the economy or all the unknowns happening, events tend to be where people are still spending their discretionary income, right? Like if they're throwing a baby shower or they're throwing a bachelorette party or they're throwing a wedding or whatever it might be, they want that to be a special moment. They want to have unique gifts or unique products or keepsakes. And that going into this year has been a huge focus for me. And in September, good chunk of my sales came from that events space. And it's one that I teach about a lot because there's just a lot. What's great about the event space is it is evergreen because there are baby showers happening every weekend, right? There are weddings happening every weekend. And there are so many different milestone Kind of events and moments happening all throughout the year. So being able to capitalize on that and provide customers with something special. Special that they can remember that moment or to help decorate or whatever it might be can be a really key area for making sales. So that's one that. That's been a big one this year, too.
- [16:39]
A
All right, I do want to dive into both of those. I was taking notes. You probably saw me typing. Don't worry, I'm not texting anyone. Emily. So first question is when you say personalization, just to be clear with everyone. So on Etsy, you can offer personalization, and that means that the person might, you know, if you have a mug, they can type their name, you know, Caitlin or Mary or Ben. And like, you would go. And then customize the design to go on the mug. That's like personalization on Etsy. Some people say personalization, but it might be like a Canva template, or it might be cordial, where the customer is actually typing in, you know, Ben or Caitlin or whatever the name might be. Which one do you mean? Here? And I guess, how does Anywhere Pod fit in this equation?
- [17:14]
B
Yes. So the first example that you gave would be what that is. So, for example, if you're selling a journal, and at the bottom of the journal, you can customize it with the person's name. Initially, what I would have to do, like back before Anywhere Pod, is you would have to go into Canva, change the name, change the name, download the file, go back to Printify, upload the file, so on and so forth. Now with Anywhere Pod, it automatically pops up. You create your listing in there, and when that order comes through, the name will automatically pop up on there, and you can just push it forward, approve it from there. So it makes it really easy to do all of that. There's no more downloading files, uploading files, doing all that Hubba Blue or whatever. So it just makes it so much easier and just opens up. What I tell people is it's just open up so many doors of opportunity that I avoided for so, so long because it was just too much work and I didn't want to have to do that all day. And now I'm like, oh, I could do all of these things because it's super easy to do now. And that's been a great shift in my shop and the student shops.
- [18:23]
A
A hundred percent. Yeah. Because the name of the game is passive income. I think that's a reason both of us like these side hustles. It's like you're not sewing these shirts in your basement or you know, making these mugs in your basement. Like you're, it's, it's automated. So a lot of this is automated. When you offer personalization in the past, it's like you have to go in and make all those customizations to the mugs or the journals or the tote bags or whatever. So like now you just have this thought partner, this magic genie. You can click the button and it gets sent out with their personalization on it, which is from the customer standpoint, it is a little bit easier than them going in and editing on Canva or Cordial or name your software. Okay, so that was one of my questions and then the second one was about events, just to kind of double click on this. So events meaning separate than holidays. I know some of the examples you mentioned was like a bachelorette party, a bridal shower, a baby shower, all these things that kind of happen throughout the entire year. Because like you mentioned, Your September was 40% higher than last year. Nobody thinks of September as this big holiday month. Like, I honestly can't even name a single holiday in September. But there are a lot of events that are happening like the baby showers, bridal showers, birthdays, things like that. So is that what you mean when you say you're leaning into events and is that what kind of helps you get over the cyclicality of the holidays if you are selling more giftable products which obviously usually coincide with, you know, gift giving holidays?
- [19:40]
B
Yes, yes, definitely. I think it's all of those, you know, I always call them like milestone events. And also getting people to think about even events that aren't so obvious, like baby shower, bridal showers, bachelorette parties. But thinking about retirement parties, thinking about graduation parties and even narrowing down from there, you know, nurse graduation parties and lawyer graduation parties and things like that. There's a lot of opportunity in those spaces and surprising products too that are really selling in those areas. You know, you think of journals and you're like, well, who would buy a journal for a baby shower? Well, just look up Baby Shower Guestbook and I will tell you there's. That's a little hot pro tip for today. There's a lot of just opportunity out there to kind of create these fun products. And the other thing is it's like a lot of fun. I really enjoy designing in this space. It's brought a lot of just like creative juices. And I, and I always say like, who can be like in a bad mood designing for a baby shower? I mean, it's just like it makes you, like, happy. So it's been a lot of fun. And there's. Honestly, I feel like I've been focused on this probably the majority of this year, and I feel like I've only really scratched the surface. There's so much still to uncover in this area. So I know there's just a lot of potential there, especially for people that are just starting.
- [21:05]
A
All right, well, speaking about giving people some awesome resources to get started, you want to talk about the Gift Lab? Because it's Black Friday. We got a crazy special deal going on. This is the lowest price that the Gift Lab has ever, ever been offered at. And on top of that, you have some pretty sick bonuses, I gotta say. And just I think the quality of the information, the course, the community is just 10x what it's ever been before. So I'll kind of let you take that in any direction you want to, Emily, but give people a little lowdown on what the Gift Lab is and what they can expect if they click over to it. Yes, we'll have it linked up everywhere, by the way. We'll have it in the YouTube description podcast @ the top, top link there. You can just type in giflab on Google. You'll find it. It'll. It'll be all over there. And Emily's, Emily's face is there. You'll see Gold City Ventures. It's pretty easy to find.
- [21:51]
B
Yeah. So the Gift Lab was really born out of this whole experience I had selling on Etsy and shifting to these gift print on demand products. And it's really teaching you A to Z how to start everything from opening your shop to that researching for what Etsy buyers want and creating your SEO, your photos, all of that. And it really focuses on this gift approach. So thinking about how to position your products as a gift that people can buy on Etsy to give to a loved one or a coworker or whoever that might be. So the course is going to walk you through every step of the process. We even have lessons on the personalization piece. We have some extra lessons just about like, what next? You know, after you start listing your products, then what? And so we have a lot on there. And then the bonuses are really my favorite. So one of the bonuses is we actually, as I mentioned before, we walk you through five products that we recommend for new print on demand sellers, which are ornaments, mugs, tote bags, journals, and candles. And then we also provide five design templates to help you get started, which is a huge help. It's just it helps with that initial lift to be able to have templates to just start from and build from. And then my the other bonus which is like literally my favorite resource that I've ever like worked with created is the Micro Niche workbook which is going to help walk you through the process of really getting specific with who you're targeting with your products. So it honestly takes like the formula that I use in my head when I'm designing and it puts it into a Google worksheet and you can just walk through it and it helps you generate hundreds and hundreds of ideas for your print on demand shop. So that one is so helpful and you can start using it pretty much right away. And that one is going to be again one of my favorite resources bonuses that that we've done and then what's been so wonderful is from the course we've now developed the Gift Lab community which is hosted in school school and that comes with a live call every week with me and also just constant support like I'm in there every single day answering questions, doing design audits, you know, recording little videos for for different students questions and also doing things like an evergreen report. So we talked a lot about evergreen ideas instead of a trend report. We're really focused on building sustainable shops that can make sales all year and so providing evergreen ideas for students to be able to build from trend Tuesdays. All sorts of different information. We have so much and the community is so supportive. It's such an incredibly positive group of members and they are seeing success. You know, we're seeing wins in there every single day and it's been really fun to build that up together.
- [24:51]
A
One more thing I know people are going to get access to if they buy over this Black Friday weekend. By the way, this special pricing is ending Monday at midnight eastern. Is your what was it called the first hundred sales with Etsy PO day. That special workshop that you recorded, it was for an exclusive audience but you guys are gonna get full access to it if you sign up this weekend. I'm gonna hit you with a couple rapid fire if you're cool with that. Emily. Basically just so you mentioned school that's S K O O L For those who are wondering if you go to school.com gift lab you'll be able to see some of this stuff. But okay, so you have the coaching call replays. I think you just had one today actually, right?
- [25:24]
B
Yes.
- [25:24]
A
As we're recording this you had a coaching call today doing every week. You also have these evergreen lab reports. Want to just give us a quick 30 to 60 seconds on what the heck that is.
- [25:32]
B
Yes. So every month I am giving them a slide deck with multiple product ideas that are like evergreen ideas, basically timeless, either designs or niches or product ideas, and also giving an actual design template for each one to build from. Also providing fonts that they can consider using for that specific evergreen idea for that specific design style, product recommendations, keywords that they should consider using. So it's really comprehensive. And I also record a walkthrough video to kind of help them walk through it and generate some more ideas and how they can apply it to their own shop.
- [26:13]
A
All right, how about your AI lab assistants?
- [26:15]
B
Yes. So those are the custom GPTs that I built for this community that I absolutely love. And there's three of them. And one is for customer service messages. One is for helping you create actual design prompts that you can then put either back into chat, into playground, into kittl, whatever tool you're using. And then the third one is my favorite. And everyone in our community talks about it all the time. It's called the Twist Lab, and it actually helps you come up. One of the things I find students have the hardest time with is looking at something that's selling and making it.
- [26:50]
A
Their own and so putting their twist on it.
- [26:52]
B
Right, Putting their twist on it. Yes. So they can like paste a photo of a listing that's selling or write some ideas in there and it's going to help them twist that idea for their niches or whatever they have in mind. So if there's like a best selling candle in the gardening niche and they're like, oh, I really like this phrase, but I want to do something different maybe for, you know, for twin moms or whatever it might be. It'll help them generate tons of ideas and kind of twist it for their own products, which has been people, they are loving it. They talk about it all the time, which is really fun to see.
- [27:26]
A
All right, One of the other ones in here is the Anywhere Pod mini course. We did talk about that a little bit, but that's basically the A to Z of how to use Anywhere Pod and do this basically automated personalization. The last one we didn't talk about too much was the bonus workshops. This is kind of. There's just. There's a bunch of different, really high quality, like, kind of advanced strategies in here.
- [27:45]
B
Yeah, the bonus workshops are a mix of different things. We've had Chris from Anywhere Pod come and do some, you know, Q and A that we have included in there. But a lot of times I'll do these kind of mini lessons that I try to do in, you know, five, six minutes or so, and I drop those in the community and I save them in this workshop, you know, these bonus workshops that they can go back and reference, you know, little things like what questions to ask yourself when you're writing your SEO, you know, things like that that they can really apply and go back and watch when they feel like they just need a refresher. And so it's a great toolbox to have at your fingertips because we're really answering all sorts of questions all the time in there. And a lot of times I'll record a little, you know, workshop. The other day I did one. Someone had requested me doing a workshop about blankets, like how to list blankets, which is a little bit more of a. An advanced product. But I was able to put together a little tutorial and. And that's going to go in that bonus workshop section. So, you know, students will request things, and I can, you know, record those and save those in there. So there's a lot of great resources, you know, at their. At their disposal.
- [28:58]
A
All right, I'm going to give you a second to think on this. I have my phone pulled up because we have this little shared album where you share wins from the gift lab. And it just puts a smile on my face every time I get a notification. Emily shared a photo in here. I just want to ask if you have any favorite wins or stories of students who, like, maybe they finally took the leap and then they made their sale on the first day or like, someone with the. The 80 ornament order. I think I'll have a couple here. I can read while you. You think about that, but this is literally just from the past three days. I think yay to a thousand sales. Feels like I've been waiting on this one for a long time, but that's okay. Baby steps. And a lot of hours spent my shop and listing to get this point finally made it to a thousand sales with ornaments pushing me here.
- [29:37]
B
Yeah, that's great.
- [29:38]
A
There's a vote for ornaments.
- [29:39]
B
You know what's interesting about her, because I know exactly who that is. She came to us because she started in apparel and now has shifted. And once she started shifting to gifts, she saw her shop really propelling, which is amazing.
- [29:51]
A
That is amazing. All right, we'll get another one here. This is just first sales, too. There's a lot of people just making their first sales because it's the holiday season. I sold My first POD product, first POD order, first sale.
- [30:02]
B
Eek.
- [30:02]
A
I just got my first sale. Okay, breathe, breathe, breathe. Here's another. Yeah. Wow. So many first sales this week. That's amazing. So people are getting off their butts. They're getting their pot shops in order, getting products listed, and the. I mean, the results speak for themselves. So. Okay, now that you have had some time to think, are there any other just awesome stories, whether it's like, a certain type of person or just, I don't know, a win that just put a really big smile on your face?
- [30:26]
B
Yeah, there was someone who was. She had written in and said she was having a rough week. Week. She was having a hard time feeling motivated. Like, I'm not getting any views, I'm not getting any visit. You know, I just kind of. That beginning phase, you feel that a lot because you're feeling like you're putting in effort. And then literally, I think it was a day or two later she wrote in, she's like, I got a sale. I can't believe it. And she was so thankful that we had kind of. Everyone had been so positive in responding to her when she was feeling in a rut and just feeling really negative. And then literally a day or two later, she got a. Her first sale. And it was. She was like, you guys were right. We just need to stick with it. Like, you know, you never know when that moment's gonna come.
- [31:10]
A
Never know.
- [31:10]
B
And I thought it was such a great example of, like, how important it is to kind of stick with it. And she was just so beyond thrilled. And we were too. So that was a really fun one, the way that that just happened like that.
- [31:23]
A
Yeah. Now there's always just, like, certain wins that just stick in your mind. I know I always have a few when people ask me on podcasts and stuff, like, oh, do you have any good student wins? And some of them just, like, are cemented in your brain that just, like, it just puts a. Puts a smile on your face. Seeing people succeed by, you know, basically taking the same steps that you took. And you already tell them where the obstacles are so they can avoid any mistakes that you might have made in the early days. Yeah, that's exactly what the gift lab is. It's just like all. All of your, you know, all the things you've learned about POD packaged in an easy to consume format and avoiding obstacles. Instead of, like, constantly falling down and getting back up, you can jump over the hurdles that Emily might have fallen on.
- [31:57]
B
Yes, yes. There were a lot of them when I did it. So trying to save people some time.
- [32:02]
A
There are a lot of them. Okay, so we talked about the gift lab for those who are interested. Again, you can literally just type in Gift Lab to Google. You can go to goldcityventures.com the gift lab. You can type in just School Gift Lab. Like, there's a lot of ways you can get to it. And we'll have it linked up in all of the. You don't even have to remember any URLs, but it'll be linked up in the YouTube and podcast and pretty much any description that you're listening or watching this. And is there any kind of, I don't know, last minute words of advice or words of motivation or just how do we get people to take action? Emily, Because I know, myself included, in the early days of entrepreneurship, things can be scary and you can get pulled in so many different directions and sometimes it never feels like the right time to start something. So I don't know what's maybe some words of motivation or words of advice for those who have maybe not quite pulled the trigger and they're thinking about it and they're listening to this right now and, you know, they're talking themselves. There's 20 different reasons why they shouldn't do this. But what do you got to say?
- [32:57]
B
I definitely think it's interesting. On our coaching call we had just now, someone had asked, what's your three pieces of advice for someone who's just starting? She had just joined and I asked the group to share theirs. And a lot of the consistent feedback that everyone said was, you don't have to do everything at once. You don't have to be an expert in every piece of this from day one. So it's learning one thing at a time. You know, taking one daily action to learn something different or apply something different and viewing it that way as opposed to feeling like you have to start this today and know how to do mockups and how to do SEO and how to do research and all of that on day two, like, that's just not going to happen. And so I think approaching it from one step at a time and just taking it a piece at a time. And that's why, you know, I love this course because you can really go one step at a time. And then in the community, you can just ask questions, you know, along the way and get that extra support. And I think it's giving yourself permission to, I always say you have to give yourself permission to be bad at it for a while. Like I was really bad at it for my designs were not good for the first, however many. And so I think it's okay to be bad at it and to give yourself that permission to, to be bad at it. It's okay to be frustrated, but I think just taking it one piece at a time because if you look at the whole thing, you're going to feel really overwhelmed. So you got to just tackle it one step, one step after the next step, and then that's it. And soon you're going to look back after a couple weeks, a couple months, and you're going to realize like how much you have learned in that time. But if you try to do all of that from day one, it's going to feel overwhelming. So I think that would be my advice is just starting is number one, start, take action. But do things just one step at a time.
- [34:51]
A
And I think the way that you've positioned the course in general is it is bite sized. Like some of these videos might be five minutes long. So you can do this. You know, you're waiting to pick up your kid at school and like you're, you know, you're sitting in the driver's. I don't even know the line. This is how bad I am at this. I was just asking you for like, like I'm, I'm so not in the right demo. I'm not, I'm not a mom. You know what I'm talking about. You're waiting the school pickup line. Yeah. The stuff is that small and digestible that there's just like, you have a couple of minutes, you can like go through one of these lessons and learn something new and then apply that later on when you have time on desktop or I mean you could do some of the stuff on mobile, like some of the research. The design might be harder, but yeah, it's, it's just super digestible and bite sized lessons.
- [35:30]
B
Yeah.
- [35:31]
A
Intentionally.
- [35:32]
B
And that's on purpose. Right. And like, I know, you know, we've worked together in my backgrounds in education and you know, it's, that's the best way to learn and to teach is to, to do it in these small pieces that people can understand and really let it soak in. And it's part of the reason, I'll just add really quick. We're doing a Black Friday challenge in our community to encourage everyone to keep listing until Black Friday because there's just so much opportunity and one of the things we talk about is like setting your own goals. You're being doing this at your Own pace. Like, my story is not the next person's story. Who's not the next person's story. So I think figuring out, you know, doing it at your own pace and really just focusing on that in your own journey and this whole Etsy thing and not comparing to anyone else. So I think that comes along, you know, with all of this.
- [36:23]
A
Awesome. I'm glad you mentioned the challenge, too, because you do a lot of fun little challenges and kind of like mini games to get people to take action, which I love. It's so much more fun when something is gamified. Like, I love that on. On Duolingo learning Spanish, and they just make it fun. It's, like, so gamified. There's, like, the streaks and, like, the power ups, and it's just you do a little version of that in the gift lab, which makes it even more fun to learn pod, and you could make money. It's a side hustle.
- [36:45]
B
Exactly. Well, that's the thing is it's like I'm giving. We have, like, a bingo card of different activities that I want them to do before Black Friday. And they're fun, but they're all things that are going to help you, you know, progress your shop. Like, one thing is go walk around the store and look for trends, and that's like, you know, go walk around whatever store. It's fun, but also at the same time, you're programming your mind to be looking for these things and to be aware of them. So there's little things like that that are just really fun, or creating a vision board is on there. And we've had some members do that one, and it's been so fun. They've shared them out and just like, that's. That's fun. But it actually does have a really big benefit to your business to create those vision boards or to have those goals.
- [37:26]
A
So that is my cat. He is joining the conversation. Hello, buddy. He's excited to sell pod.
- [37:32]
B
He's like, yay, I'm in.
- [37:34]
A
I want to. He's like, did you say pet products?
- [37:37]
B
Yeah, count me in.
- [37:40]
A
All right, well, sorry about him joining the conversation, but yes, yes, yes to everything you're saying. I think, yeah, now's the best time to start the gamification of all this. And just. Yeah, I think you're doing a great job with the gift lab. And obviously, I mean, based on the student testimonials and just these are just from the past couple of days, the ones I was reading off, like, there's hundreds. So it's it's been amazing.
- [38:00]
B
It has been. It's been really rewarding.
- [38:03]
A
All right, well those who are listening, if you celebrate, have a happy Thanksgiving, enjoy your Black Friday. Get in on this awesome Black Friday deal. You'll get the course at the lowest price possible. You'll get the amazing bonuses you mentioned. You'll get the five templates. You get the micro niching workbook spreadsheet amazingness. And then you'll also get access to the year first 100 sales in pod webinar workshop that was kind of recorded for an exclusive audience. And you'll get access and you get 7 days free trial in the community that we've been talking about and sharing stories from. So if all that stuff sounds good, click the link in the description wherever you're listening to this. Emily, thank you again for sharing your knowledge. 7.25k in revenue since starting in January 2023. Just mind blowing. And I'm, I'm hoping you hit 800 plus by the end of the year. We're all rooting for you.
- [38:50]
B
Thank you.
- [38:51]
A
All right, bye everybody.
- [38:53]
B
Bye.