Ep 160 | From Laser Engraving Side Hustle to Full Time Promotions Company –Laser Engraving with Matt

Summary

Ep 160 | From Laser Engraving Side Hustle to Full-Time Promotions Company – Laser Engraving with Matt

Release Date: December 19, 2024
Host: Lizzie Smiley
Guest: Matt, Owner of a Successful Laser Engraving and Embroidery Business

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1. Guest Introduction and Background

Robbie introduces Matt, a seasoned laser engraving and embroidery business owner with a strong Online presence, including a thriving Etsy shop since November 2015. Matt transitioned to full-time in 2018 and has since expanded his services to cater to large corporations, including medical device engraving and high-volume orders from internet companies.

[02:10] Matt: "Growing busy. Everything's going really good. Can't complain."

2. Understanding the Laser Engraving Business

Matt discusses the versatility of laser engraving, highlighting its applicability across various materials and industries. He emphasizes that many people underestimate the potential of laser engraving beyond simple products.

[02:40] Matt: "A lot of people don't understand what you can even do with it... the possibilities are endless."

3. From Humble Beginnings to Scaling Up

Matt shares his journey, starting with metal signs and hand-etched water bottles on Etsy. Transitioning to laser engraving in early 2016 accelerated his business growth, allowing him to handle larger orders efficiently.

[05:13] Matt: "It paid for itself after a month and a half... we had orders to fill."

4. Equipment Choices and Upgrades

Initially, Matt invested in a no-brand laser machine from eBay, which served him well until it malfunctioned within months. He then leased a more reliable Epilogue laser but soon realized the need for better equipment, leading him to invest in higher-quality machines like the Thunder series.

[05:55] Matt: "We went down that rabbit hole and then we got our first laser in February 2016."

5. Achieving Financial Milestones

By the end of 2016, Matt's Etsy shop hit a six-figure mark, demonstrating rapid growth driven by consistent listing creation and strategic positioning.

[07:03] Matt: "At the end of the year of 2016, our peak was over two [hundred thousand dollars]."

6. Marketing Strategies: Etsy vs. Local Marketing

Matt emphasizes the power of word-of-mouth marketing over paid advertisements. His transition to local marketing, including setting up a dedicated workspace in his garage, significantly boosted his business by attracting local customers and larger bulk orders.

[19:46] Matt: "It's all word of mouth... even when ads weren't performing as well."

7. Product Selection and Creativity

Matt advises new sellers to focus on their hobbies or significant life events to choose products that resonate with their interests and potential customers. He highlights the importance of creativity and customization in product offerings to stand out in the market.

[22:43] Robbie: "What's a good first step?"
[22:58] Matt: "Go after your hobby... build from there."

8. Handling Intellectual Property and Trademarks

Matt warns against selling trademarked items, using Disney as an example. He shares his experience of receiving legal notices for selling products resembling LEGO designs, underscoring the importance of originality and legal compliance.

[33:51] Matt: "Anything trademarked... it's not worth my little company to go after that bigger company."

9. Community Support and Coaching

Matt highlights his efforts to support other sellers through YouTube tutorials, Patreon coaching sessions, and one-on-one consultations. He believes in the power of community and group learning to foster business growth and innovation.

[28:38] Matt: "I have a Patreon that's just off to the side... I'm helping a lot more people."

10. Scaling the Business and Diversification

Expanding into embroidery allowed Matt to cater to larger clients and diversify his offerings. This strategic move not only increased his revenue streams but also solidified his reputation as a comprehensive promotional company.

[40:31] Matt: "We got the embroidery machines going, and it's all word of mouth and just the embroidery machine."

11. Final Tips for Aspiring Sellers

Matt encourages aspiring Etsy sellers to take immediate action, emphasizing the importance of starting despite uncertainties. He recommends acquiring affordable equipment to test the waters and gradually scaling based on demand and business growth.

[43:52] Matt: "Yesterday... stop doing research and just go and pick one and do it."

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Notable Quotes

• Matt on Laser Engraving Potential:
  "[02:40] Matt: 'A lot of people don't understand what you can even do with it... the possibilities are endless.'"

• Matt on Overcoming Challenges:
  "[43:51] Matt: 'Yesterday... stop doing research and just go and pick one and do it.'"

• Robbie on Group Energy in Learning:
  "[32:17] Matt: '...the group think tank that just changes everything.'"

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Conclusion

In this episode, Matt provides invaluable insights into building and scaling a laser engraving business on Etsy and beyond. From selecting the right equipment and products to leveraging word-of-mouth marketing and community support, his journey exemplifies entrepreneurial success. Aspiring sellers are encouraged to embrace creativity, legal compliance, and proactive learning to thrive in the competitive Etsy marketplace.

For more resources and detailed strategies discussed in this episode, visit howtosellyourstuff.com.

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Note: This summary excludes introductory remarks, advertisements, and outro sections to focus solely on the core content of the discussion between Matt and the hosts.

Transcript

[Lizzie Smiley]

Hey, my name is Lizzie Smiley and I absolutely love helping people connect with their calling and all the tools they need to kick roadblocks and excuses right out the door so they can cultivate the life they dream about. If you want to launch, grow, pivot or scale your Etsy shop, or you've always wanted to develop the mindset and skills to run your own business, then I'm your girl. I've had that entrepreneurial spirit going strong since my very first lemonade stand. And now I'm a work at home mama with multiple online companies and a full time Etsy shop. All while being present with my kids for the everyday chaos and most important milestones. On this podcast, we'll talk about all things business, mindset, Etsy, creativity, dazzling our customers, and so much more. There's plenty of room at this table for you, so scooch on in and let's go. I'm holding nothing back. Welcome to how to sell your stuff on Etsy. I'm so glad you're here.

[Robbie]

Hey guys, welcome back to the show today. I'm so excited to be here for another really fun interview. An amazing guest. This guy's got an incredible YouTube channel, a ton of followers, and he has so much to say about the engraving business. And this is perfect because that's the one that Robbie and I are starting right now and I know a lot of you as well. If you enjoyed the Preston episode, you're going to love this as well. This is a very good piggyback and we are going to get some great insight from that today. So let me tell you his bio. He writes, My name is Matt. I run an engraving embroidery business. I started Etsy in November 2015 and went full time in 2018 and have been growing every year. My goal is to be a one stop shop for other businesses. I have been focusing on local sales while I am still running our Etsy shop. I have a wife and four kids, so running my own business has given me lots of time to spend with my kids and watch them grow. I'm lucky to have my wife who supports me and helps me when I need it. My wife and I are a good team and we work great together. You're just, you're gonna love this guy so much. He's so down to earth. He's so open and giving and generous. So let's get into it. Let's talk everything, laser engraving, like how you start, what the issues are, you know, what are good machines, what are good things to sell. Please help me welcome Matt to The podcast. Hey, Matt, welcome to the podcast.

[Matt]

How's it going?

[Robbie]

How are you? How's that beautiful family of yours?

[Matt]

Good. Growing busy. Everything's going really good. Can't complain.

[Robbie]

What's your oldest and your youngest? What's your range?

[Matt]

My oldest is 11 and my youngest is 5.

[Robbie]

Oh, that's actually a really short range for 4. God love your wife. Okay.

[Matt]

Yeah.

[Robbie]

Okay, Matt, I want to get right into this because people know you're coming on the show and they're excited. And I kind of want to go for like a heavy hitting thing first. And I want to know, what do people not understand about the laser engraving business?

[Matt]

A lot of people don't understand what you can even do with it. And once people start to figure out that you can do everything in any everything and anything with it, down to pieces of wood, to tumblers, to cutting stuff, I mean, then their eyes open up and they explode with excitement. You can just see the excitement in them. And they start coming up all more ideas and they just take off from there.

[Robbie]

That is incredible. So toss out for someone who has just no concept, toss out a couple of ideas. Like, what can you sell with a laser engraver? Because I actually, like, I had no grid for how vast this catalog of ideas was.

[Matt]

Anywhere from keychains engraving on them to you're making medical equipment with it or marking metal equipment.

[Robbie]

What does that mean?

[Matt]

As you start to grow, your name gets out and people will come to you with medical devices and they want you to etch serial numbers into them. Also, I've had other big Internet companies that come to me and want etching on a bunch of their rotors, and we're talking like hundreds of thousands of routers all the way down to where we started on Etsy. And we're making cheaps and stuff like that for babies.

[Robbie]

Okay, let me get this straight. So you literally. Okay, you started with probably one machine on Etsy and then scaled it to the point where now, like, large corporations are having you take their materials and engrave stuff on them. Yeah, I didn't appreciate that. That's bananas.

[Matt]

Yeah, I'm currently working on a medical one right now.

[Robbie]

Okay. On some kind of a medical device. That's so interesting. Okay, so when did you start on Etsy? What year was it?

[Matt]

2015.

[Robbie]

And was your first thing lasering laser engraving as well? That's the year I started. Oh, it wasn't laser engraving?

[Matt]

Nope. At first it was metal signs because I was a fabricator. So I got to use all the machines at work. So I started on selling like signs, metal signs. And I was. We also did etching with water bottles and we did that all by hand with like a gel. So once that was all done or we got it all figured out and all the stencils, I. We started selling them and I'm like, there's gotta be a faster way. So then we went down that rabbit hole and then we got our first laser be February, I believe it was, of 2016.

[Robbie]

Oh, that was. That was pretty fast to scale.

[Matt]

Yep, yep, it went really quick.

[Robbie]

Do you remember what your first machine was?

[Matt]

Yep, it was a no brand or no name straight from. I think it was ebay even. And it was just a large pile of junk.

[Robbie]

Was it secondhand?

[Matt]

Nope, it was. It was a brand new one. It was. It almost looks. It was thin metal. It was 60 watt, but it actually ended up being a 30 watt tube. Time was all said and done. They say it was 60 watt, but it can handle. So the power module can handle up to 60 watts, but it was a 30 watt tube in it. So that's how we started.

[Robbie]

I don't know any of that meant, but. But tell me this. How long did that one last? You like how many things, how many products do you think you sold or engraved on that one machine?

[Matt]

It paid for itself after a month and a half.

[Robbie]

Okay.

[Matt]

And we paid 1500 and some change on that one. And then. Oh, you're gonna make me jog my memory here. It was somewhere in July or August of that year they quit working and we had orders to fill. So I found a dealership for lasers, which was epilogue down the road. And they had a used one. So I bought that one for ten grand. And then I didn't have the money quite yet because I was still building. So we took a lease on it because it was a dollar buyer at the end. So it was a $230 payment a month that we had to take on that. We had that one. We had the money for that one right away. But you couldn't do. You can't pay off the lease. Like you had to wait for so many months before you can go on and pay off the lease. So we left that one go and we started saving up and we got busier and busier and the next thing you know, I went and bought another one.

[Robbie]

Okay, so you. Okay, so you had to replace that first machine after so many months. Although that was a pretty. That was a 1500 for one of these machines is a pretty low entry.

[Sarah]

Yep.

[Robbie]

For something that's going to do more, more you know, commercial kind of grade work. When did this, when, when did your, that Etsy shop hit like a six figure mark?

[Matt]

At the end of the year of 2016.

[Robbie]

Okay. So about a, oh a year and a year and two months.

[Sarah]

Yep.

[Robbie]

Oh my goodness.

[Matt]

They went fast. Every day we just made sure we made like we're making a listing or working on a listing. There was sometimes we'd make a listing in a day, there's sometimes it would take a week.

[Robbie]

Okay.

[Matt]

What we did is we filled out, I noticed and I still remember this, we filled out one full page of listings on Etsy and our stuff got pushed and then we went towards the try to go for another second page and that's when it really started taking off with making more stuff.

[Robbie]

I've been noticing recently because I'm really bad about starting new shops getting shiny object syndrome. But at the same time I'm, I'm a social media creator. Right. So having the content to show I just that it's still possible that new sellers can rank I think is, I think that's a positive thing for me to be doing. That's how I'm justifying my shiny object syndrome. There's something about when you hit the hundred sale mark. I don't know if I'm making that up but I've seen it now several times and I've heard it from others that kind of kicks the shop into like another level of algorithm. Like you just get pushed higher after you've got hundred sales. Have you noticed that or am I? You think I'm making it up.

[Matt]

I didn't notice that when we were growing. Now that I'm helping other people a lot more and talking to more people about their shops, I've noticed that it's like Etsy puts a training wheels on them.

[Robbie]

Yeah.

[Matt]

And then, and then after they hit so many sales they start taking the training wheels off.

[Robbie]

I think there might be something too with like payment reserve. So you might hit 100 sales but if you're still on payment reserve they're holding you back maybe a little bit.

[Unknown]

2.

[Robbie]

So yeah, super interesting. Oh my gosh. What do I even want to ask you next? There's so many things we could talk about. 2015. So you're nine years in now. How many sales have you had Total ballpark on Etsy? Yeah.

[Matt]

It's over 30 I believe 30,000. So this is where people. So I used to do it too. So I know there's people gonna be out there going that doesn't make any sense. My math's not working out. So if you go into someone's Etsy shop and you see that they have a bunch of sales and you're wondering, man, what are they doing? How are they doing this? And then you hear me talk about how well I'm doing and how we went full time. And it's so when someone orders like let's say a pint glass, they want 10 of them. So we'll make a custom listing and it's so it looks like one item was sold, but it's a custom listing for the 10 items or 20 or whatever they order because then we'll give them a better deal. So then it doesn't look like your shop is growing either, but you're also not paying that extra payment on each one of those items. That's good. So it's kind of a sneak around for us on Etsy. So we don't have to pay 20 cents per glass either.

[Robbie]

I actually totally thought that through. That that saves you rather than someone having to add 20 to cart you just. I mean it makes sense with a custom listing. But that's actually, that's brilliant all around. You could probably have that in your listing description like DM me or on a graphic in your photo gallery. DM me. And yeah, we never did that.

[Matt]

Always had people message us though, all the time.

[Robbie]

Yeah, yeah.

[Matt]

I mean even get the. Did you do bulk orders? You know, discount on bulk orders. Like yep. And like okay, we want five. Well that's not a bulk order.

[Robbie]

Where do you think in the engraving business, where does it. What's kind of that number where it kicks up into a bulk order?

[Matt]

I would say it depends on the items, but around 20.

[Robbie]

Okay, wow.

[Matt]

Start giving a deal around 20.

[Robbie]

Yeah, that's not the Etsy shopper mentality. Yeah.

[Matt]

And then 50 we do another deal and then 100 we do another deal.

[Robbie]

Would you just have like when they'd ask you did you just have a graphic? You say, yes, here are our packages.

[Matt]

They'll ask in, we'll say, well, we normally get breaks at this. And then they tell us how many. You're thinking we'll come back. And it all depends with the logo too and what they all want two sided, one sided or you know, whatever they want on it. And then we go from there.

[Robbie]

So the, the saturation in the niche. Do you think that there's room for new sellers to come into the engraving space?

[Matt]

Absolutely, yeah, totally.

[Robbie]

Care to expound?

[Matt]

It's everyone. So what I find is people get so focused on social media, right. Everyone's on it. So everyone's watching videos. And if it's not the one minute videos, it's the long form videos and no one is stopping to do the work. Everyone wants to research, research, research, research. And I have, I'll do it myself. But there got to be a point in time where you have to shut it all off and just listen. Just shut it all off. You learned enough and just start.

[Robbie]

Yes.

[Matt]

I mean it can be anything. Like you can grab a hat like this. It could be a plain hat with nothing in the bottom.

[Robbie]

I love that hat. Those are great colors.

[Matt]

And you can take a laser and you can engrave on the bottom of this even.

[Robbie]

It won't catch on fire.

[Matt]

No, because you just barely. The laser can barely tickle it.

[Robbie]

Okay.

[Matt]

So much possibility that you can get into that people don't even know or the next like trend or, you know, it's, it's. The possibilities are endless. It's on how far you'll unlock your brain and keep expanding to keep going forward.

[Robbie]

We on, on the, on the podcast here. My, she's technically my husband's aunt, Robbie. She, she moved out here from Michigan. She lives here on the farm with us. And she was wanting to do a physical product shop because I got my fill with the sign shop. But she's like, you, you know, you do the Etsy stuff and I'll make the product. So we, a few weeks ago we went out and got a secondhand laser engraver. Nothing fancy. It's an X tool. I know you've got better suggestions that we'll upgrade to down the road and I'm very intimidated by the tech, but she's in there. It's not, it's not bad at all. I mean, and she's in her 60s. She's doing just fine playing with it. But I think, I think it seems more overwhelming than it is. Like once she just got into the software and started playing because it came with a bunch of blank stuff too. And she's just practicing cutting stuff. And I think after you do a few, you're like, oh, this isn't, this isn't quite so scary. Or over. Like, this is very doable. And, and I just think there's that barrier to entry of just like, is this going to be kind of more than I can handle. And I think channels like your YouTube more than make it like break stuff down for people.

[Matt]

Well, thank you. It totally is. So like xtool is a great one to like, I Always tell people it's something cheap just to get into, to test the waters. And if you like it, then start looking for used ones. If you want to go new, go new. But then start looking for the bigger lasers like your Thunders and on tech and all that. You don't have to go epilogue.

[Sarah]

Yeah.

[Matt]

I mean, you don't have to at all. So that.

[Robbie]

That thing behind you, that monster.

[Matt]

That's Thunder.

[Unknown]

That is a Thunder.

[Robbie]

It's so the size of a car, Matt.

[Sarah]

Yeah.

[Matt]

I don't have a single epilogue anymore.

[Robbie]

Is that supposed to be like the ultimate.

[Matt]

Yeah, it's supposed to be like the best that and trotec. And I am just not a fan anymore.

[Robbie]

So you're a Thunderman.

[Matt]

What's that?

[Robbie]

You're a Thunderman.

[Matt]

I like Thunder on tech. I know a bunch of people that are local that have Amtech and I help them fix them once in a while. And they're a great laser, too. It's, you know, it's fine. The epilogue, when you go buy a seven, you spend 80,000, and then six years later, it's worth only 6,000 to me. That's just not worth it.

[Robbie]

Six years, though. Wow. Yeah. Will they last that long?

[Sarah]

Yeah.

[Matt]

All these are. All these do, and they're eighth of the price.

[Robbie]

See, I think that's so. That's brilliant. And you were telling me so. Cause you know what I think also is worrisome is like, well, what if you're like, you said your machine stopped working, you had orders to fill. What happens when there's a breakdown of the machinery and you don't necessarily have the skillset to fix it yourself? You're saying Thunder had really good customer service?

[Sarah]

Yep.

[Matt]

Thunder has really good support. And so when we started out, that's when our biggest thing was like, what happens if a laser, you know, breaks down? So when we got orders, we turned around and shipped them right away. And we always did a three to six business day turnaround. And we always try to turn around right away. And by doing that, we also got like, great reviews because it says three to six business days. So then people are giving us really good reviews. But it also kept us where we were ahead enough where if one of the lasers went down, we didn't have to scramble. Like, you can still ship stuff and you can overnight stuff. You need to. But then once we got that second laser, then there was no stress because then you always had two lasers going.

[Robbie]

That's so good to know. Like, even if you. Even if you just get a Second hobby laser, to have your back in a. In a pinch so that then you can be working on, you know, how do I. You're not trying to figure out how do I get these orders out? You've got something to take care of you. I think, you know, that's the. That's once you're into, you know, really strong part time, if not full time, I think.

[Sarah]

Yeah. Yep.

[Matt]

You start.

[Robbie]

What kind of. What kind of money do you think can people make monthly in the laser business? Like, what's the. What would you say the range is?

[Matt]

Well, just from Etsy. Our peak on Etsy was 2019 Covid. We kind of stepped back and just took vacations a lot. Left a lot because everyone else was. So it was like, yeah, whatever. But 2019, it was. It was over two. It was. Yeah, it was over 20 grand a month. So.

[Robbie]

Wow. Did you have help? Were you doing that yourself?

[Matt]

No, just Sarah and I.

[Robbie]

Do you wish you'd had help?

[Matt]

There was times, yeah, we. But it was out of our basement at that time. And if I'd have known what I know now, I would have taken it out of the basement in 2018 and put it in my garage.

[Robbie]

Why?

[Matt]

So ever since I went in my garage, my business for local people has over tenfolded. So when people come over, they don't just come to the front door and wait for me to come up the stairs and give them their product. They get to see all my machines now. They come in and they can see what I can do. And normally when people pick stuff up, they. They already. They leave by ordering something else.

[Robbie]

No way.

[Sarah]

Yeah.

[Matt]

It's insane.

[Robbie]

I didn't even think to ask you about that. So when did you add the local market to your business?

[Matt]

I did local. I always did local. I just didn't do a lot of it. And it was about 20, 21, 22 in there where I started. Like, a lot more people wanted to go through me for stuff, and we just were like, oh, you know what? Why not? Let's. Let's do it. So. And we did. And then we did this. And it was a world of difference when we came out here in the garage.

[Robbie]

How do you. How do you get the word out in the local area? That sounds like a fun challenge. I just don't want people at my house. But other than that.

[Matt]

So there's. We do aluminum business cards we hand out to people, and that has our name on it. Plus it has a QR code to link tree. And then it has all of our stuff in there, Etsy Shop, email, our website, everything's in there. So people love that and it's a wow factor when people see it.

[Robbie]

Yeah, that's cool.

[Matt]

And then the other thing is when you're doing something good for like a company, they shout you out and then we just make videos on, you know, Facebook and stuff and, and that just people tell other people and it just, it spreads like wildfire. So.

[Unknown]

Are you a print on demand or digital product Etsy seller who's tight on time or still learning all of the Etsy secrets? I totally remember the days of having no idea what product to create next before I learned how to make those informed decisions. So I can really identify with where you're at. I know how stressful and frustrating it can be to just create listing after listing and see little to no results. You wonder what you're doing wrong and just. You just want someone to tell you what to create that's actually going to sell. Where are those opportunities? So let me give you a leg up with my weekly trends and opportunities report. You just join my membership and every Monday I'm going to send you an email with a list of exactly what is trending right now with a video tutorial showing you how I found those trends and how to apply them in your shop. We're taking guesswork and time, extensive time off of your table. I'm also going to send you five print on demand and digital product opportunities that are growing in demand right now, helping new shops make sales and still have very low saturation in the marketplace. So your tight schedule, your newbie status doesn't have to hold you back anymore. I'm going to help you earn while you learn. You can grab my free demo to start and see an example of what the weekly trends and opportunities email looks like right from the show notes. See what you're going to get and I will see you on the inside soon.

[Robbie]

Have you had to do a lot with, you know, like Facebook ads or a lot of heavy SEO on a website, anything like that? Or is it more word of mouth?

[Matt]

Nope, it's all word of mouth. I actually just started doing Facebook ads for trying it for the first time and it's not doing that well. It's doing better by the word of mouth than it is the ads.

[Robbie]

Really?

[Sarah]

Yep.

[Matt]

But I'm gonna give it full week and we'll go from there.

[Robbie]

Yeah, I mean, Gary Vaynerchuk talks about, he, he swears by those for local businesses especially.

[Sarah]

Yeah.

[Matt]

And that's why we did it. So I Want to sit down and see if I can tweak some stuff, and if there's some stuff I can change in there, then I'll run it for another week and just see how it goes. But just trying different things to see what, you know, what I can do, how I can improve.

[Robbie]

Exactly, exactly. Gosh, that's so. That's so interesting. Would you. Do you prefer kind of more local business now over online?

[Matt]

Kind of, yes. Because it's. They're generally bigger orders. So, like, if I get a bunch of hat orders and then polos for shirts for embroidery and stuff, and then I normally get like a bunch of tumblers also, so I can have all three machines running and I'm just making more money, you know. And like, you're triple dip.

[Robbie]

You don't get the Cha Ching, though. You don't get. We need to just build you your own thing. Just keep making the sound for you. Oh, wow.

[Matt]

But we still do the ft. We still are pushing on that. And so I normally have like, the big laser back there is all of our cutting. So that's cutting normally every day. And I take all that stuff out, and then we assemble it and paint it and do all that stuff later. But that's generally. That cuts every day Monday through Thursday.

[Robbie]

Do you take weekends off a little bit or not really.

[Matt]

Yeah, we normally take Friday, Saturday, Sundays off.

[Robbie]

That's amazing.

[Sarah]

Yep.

[Matt]

So this time of year, from November to December, we, you know, I work the weekends, but we also have sports and stuff, so I do what I can. Kids just love sports that. That throws in every weekend.

[Robbie]

I know, I. I know. But these days, I mean, I remember as a kid, it was.

[Unknown]

It took.

[Robbie]

I was. I played soccer and it took a fair amount of time, but nothing like what these kids do today where literally it's the whole family's life.

[Sarah]

Yeah. Yep. It's.

[Matt]

It's nuts.

[Robbie]

Fortunately, slash, unfortunately, we can't do any sports since we spend the year in two, like, two different locations. But I'm also kind of. I'm kind of glad it's worked out that way. Like, I. Some of my friends schedules, I'm just like. I would go crazy. I would go totally crazy.

[Sarah]

Yeah. Yep.

[Robbie]

Okay. So if someone. If someone's thinking about starting in this. Cause I. I think that if people have it in them to do a physical product on Etsy, it. Are there limitations? Yeah, because you've got to bring in help. You can't. You can't do it all yourself forever if you want to keep growing. But the Demand is so high, and I feel like the competition's lower than it ever really has been for physical products because wants to do print on demand or digital.

[Sarah]

Yep.

[Robbie]

So it sounds like get a secondhand machine or get something at X Tool. Get something that's a lower, low barrier to entry and start playing with it. What are some pointers you could give us on how to pick our first products to try your hobby?

[Matt]

I always tell people, go after your hobby. What's your hobby? What's the best thing you like? Or what's the. One of the funnest things you like to do? Go after that, see what you can make for it or something about that or around that, and then build it from there.

[Unknown]

So, like, would they.

[Robbie]

My hobby is knitting, so I'd go onto Etsy and I'd search what.

[Matt]

So you'd want to go like, what. What would people. What can people use for knitting? Well, a lot of people, I noticed they do leather, like ID tags or wooden ID tags that they'll knit, and they'll put that in the blanket or, you know, a scarf or something. Yeah, you can make a bunch of those. You know, like there's. And if you can go into that field and you know about knitting and if you can make something that is, you know, where it would help them and benefit them, then that's even better because now everyone in anyone's gonna want one.

[Robbie]

I was. I actually thought I might stump you with. With the knitting, because I'm like, what's there gonna be? But you're right. When you're knitting a gift for someone, it's nice to put a little patch on there.

[Sarah]

Yep.

[Robbie]

Yeah. I don't know what you do with the wood.

[Matt]

We had a customer, ordered a bunch that were all wood, and it had.

[Robbie]

What, holes in the corners?

[Sarah]

Yep.

[Robbie]

That's actually really precious.

[Matt]

Two holes on this. On two corners, and then they just went through and right through on this side.

[Robbie]

I was gonna say that would be.

[Lizzie Smiley]

Great for crochet as well.

[Robbie]

Like, that would be just so. Like, especially all of the stuffed animals that are so in right now. And a lot of my listeners make crochet. Stuffed animals. Crochet stuff. That would be brilliant. Okay, well. Okay. And so actually, if you already have an Etsy shop around those things, you could add that as another product to your existing shop and scale out what you're doing. But having a machine making it rather than you're sitting there crocheting by hand, that's an interesting way to scale. If you're not ready to go start adding patterns in there or do it all have the whole shop just be.

[Sarah]

Yep.

[Matt]

And if so, like, I've also had people say, well, I don't really have hobbies. Then I tell people to start with the. The. I always talk about the foundation set. Your foundation, because you don't build from the roof down. You build from the bottom up. So it's same with the business. You got to start from the bottom. You work your way up. So I tell people also to start with life events. Pick five life events and start making products for every one of them. And then as one starts to take off, you can focus on that one now and then make, you know, five different versions of that different ways or, you know, different colors, everything. You can just keep building.

[Robbie]

That's so interesting. So I think. So you could go into Etsy and you could search gift for and then insert hobby and just scroll through results filter by bestseller if you want. Start seeing what comes up. And you'll see things that can be cut or engraved or you can type in gift for baptism, gift for divorce, gift for wedding. Whatever it, whatever it is wedding is, there's tons of demand in the wedding space. I'd probably look at some of the ones that are a little less appealing. Like, like, like divorce. There's probably a lot more opportunity there. People haven't, like, tapped that quite as much.

[Sarah]

Yep.

[Matt]

So the other thing is too is once you're starting to search in Etsy, go for your best seller and you're popular, look at them, figure out why it's the best seller or why it's the most popular right now, and then make your version of it. Because if you like something, there's a million other people out there that like the same thing you like.

[Robbie]

Yep.

[Matt]

So you're gonna have sell like, you're gonna have sales off it no matter what. You just have to figure out how you want to do it. I've seen over and over, people will go on, find a listing, and it's popular seller. They'll make the identical thing take a little bit different pictures, and they'll start selling it. And those people will last maybe up to a year. And they don't know what to do anymore, and they're not selling nothing. And it's just, you have to put your own creativity in it. And if you can do that, then stuff starts taking off because it also unlocks more parts of your brain where you can see things differently than everyone else. And that's huge. It's so big.

[Robbie]

What do you Think about when people are coming to this and they don't necessarily have the design skills. You know, like, I'm still. I have been doing social media and everything for, like, let's see, 2000 2012. Too long, Matt. And I still sit down to make a graphic. I have to make a. I have to make a YouTube, a thumbnail. And I. It's taken me too long. I need to just hire somebody already. But I just. I'm not naturally inclined toward the design so much. I got pretty good with the signs because I figured out couple patterns that worked. But do you have any tips for people who need to learn that piece? Like, how they can go about becoming better at it? Because if you design something that's ugly, it doesn't matter how you. I mean, no one's going to buy it.

[Matt]

So my biggest thing would say, just keep going, keep practicing, keep doing it. Because I couldn't do any of that kind of stuff when I started.

[Robbie]

But aren't you artistic to begin with?

[Matt]

I say no. My wife says yes.

[Robbie]

Okay. I love the people who come. They're like, I'm not creative. I'm like, it's. It's literally text. You can do it with text. My. I spent a few years lol in art school for interior design and in art classes, they have you. You've probably seen this in movies, you guys. They have you recreate some of the greatest works. Like, you sit down and you try to. Not to. Not to steal it from them, but to learn to get better, to learn what the strokes feel like, to learn the kind of muscle memory of creating the piece. And so when I was trying to get better in print, on demand, on Etsy, I would go and find bestsellers and I'd go duplicate them. Not to sell it, but just to practice the placement of things. Like, oh, okay, this is how you curve the font. This is how you make it look good. So you could do that 10 times. Again, you're not going to sell those. You're going to scrap them. But then you can go sit down and create your own. And you've done something to create some muscle memory and some practice of what would look good.

[Sarah]

Yep.

[Robbie]

So you're helping a lot of sellers these days. What kinds of things are you doing to. To help people get started?

[Matt]

So I do all the YouTube videos I possibly can, you know, as I can. I also do. I have a Patreon that's just off to the side. I don't really talk about it too much. And it's just. It's a good amount of people in there right now. And I just, it's nice to see that I've come as far as I did with all these people and they're just growing. And watching them grow is just amazing. So when, if I can help anyone, that's my biggest thing is just to get started.

[Robbie]

Do you do one on one work or you just do?

[Matt]

Yeah, I do one on one phone calls. You get one a month. And then we do a one on one, like zoom call like this, but with everyone that's in it, that can come. So it's a whole. So I actually just opened up a smaller tier. So if you wanted to just do the group thing. And we did that also just through your Patreon.

[Robbie]

I never thought about using it that way, Matt. So I thought people just did it to support a channel. But they get, they get access to you for coaching by being in your Patreon.

[Sarah]

Yeah.

[Matt]

Yep.

[Robbie]

That's brilliant, dude.

[Matt]

Wow. Yeah, I don't. And this is like, I don't want to push anything. You guys don't have to go to it.

[Robbie]

You are not pushing anything. But I'm gonna push it if people want to. Like, you've been extremely helpful to me, saving me a lot of time and money, for crying out loud. Okay, cool. Patreon. No, we're gonna link it. We'll link your channel, we're gonna link your Patreon because that's brilliant. Because here's the thing, we can go try to hack it and figure it out ourselves or we can spend a few hours with you and cut our time in more than in half of being able to be successful.

[Matt]

Well, what I notice is when. So the one on one phone calls, it's more like I can get the people focused and really get them going to where they need to go and get them fast, get them there fast. The other one, like when we do the live, when it's our group people, the new people are taking notes so much because it's a huge. Like you have all these people that have been doing it for how long now and they're telling you their secrets and everyone's learning off everyone because you have someone else that's new and let's say they're engraving on, well, I don't know, let's say tape measures and like they come up with all these ideas and you're going, I never thought of that. Or how do you do that? Or what's your settings on that? And so forth. And it just unlocks so much more for so many of us. And I can tell it helps so many more people because the more people you have in the live group, the more ideas are flowing and you can just. The people light up. It's so cool. It is honestly the coolest thing because they leave there with. They're excited, they're ready to go, they're ready to take on the world. And that's the coolest part.

[Robbie]

I think you. Well, that's remarkable. But isn't that true? I feel like that I'm learning from people all the time that are, that are coming to me for coaching. It's the best. But I think we as a culture tend to avoid the, the group thing a lot. You know, we're like, oh, I need the one on one. And there's a place for that. I really respect it. But think about, think about what happens when you go to a sports game and it's so different than watching at home alone on your TV for a reason. Because you've got the energy, you've got the group think tank, you've got the whole environment. It's a big deal. Or if you're a person who goes to church, you experience the presence of God a heck of a lot heavier when you're among other people who are going after the same thing as you than when you're by yourself. Unless you're in nature, in which case I feel like is even better. But it's the same thing if you get into a mastermind, like it fuels you. There is something about the group energy, the group think tank that just changes everything. I think it's underrated because a lot of people don't want to come to group coaching. And I'm just like, you're missing out. You're. They're going to ask me questions that you would never think to ask and it's going to unlock something for you.

[Matt]

Yep, exactly. And you'll notice like I notice anyways when I get new people, they're very shy. They don't, they don't want to talk about their items and stuff and which is fine. And I don't ever bring it up. You know, when we do the one on one phone calls, that's confidential. I don't ever bring it up. But as the group goes on, they're like, you know, you could tell when someone's doing good. They come in, they're smiling, they're happy, they're excited because they're selling a bunch of stuff. And then they come on and they're like, well, the second time Then they spill the beans and everyone's like, yeah, all right. You know, cool. And then there's times, too, where someone else, like, hey, did you know you can get this cheaper if you get it from this store? Or do you know, if you could do it like this, it'll be a lot faster and the same outcome. Because a lot of us, we've all done a lot of stuff that's similar or we've done that already. And so if we can help someone else, you know, push them forward, that's just even better in my eyes.

[Robbie]

I. I agree. Well, no, and I am such a. Like a lone wolf, you know, Like, I can make friends with anybody, but I'm. I'm technically an extroverted. No, an outgoing introvert. I recharge by myself. I love to be alone. I. I am my best friend. I sound weird, but what else is new? But it really does. It does help all of us to get. To get out of our own brain, you know? But, yeah, I think there's. There's, like, there's the. There's the worry too, that someone will copycat you. But in the physical space that is such. That is nothing like it is in the digital or print on demand space. You can't even. I don't worry about it. Are there any products. I do want to ask you this. Are there any products that we should steer clear of? Like, in terms of, you know, that people are selling on Etsy that might look like a good idea, but they're really not.

[Sarah]

Yep.

[Matt]

So anything trademarked, any.

[Robbie]

Oh, yeah. Right.

[Matt]

Because a lot of people will go after and start making stuff of Disney because Disney has always been kind of the company that's been loose where they'll let you use, you know, different, like Elsa and stuff like that. Mickey Mouse. Well, there's times in the past where that company, let's say Disney's, like, I'm gonna make a bunch of tumblers with Mickey on it. And you have that same tumbler in their same color. They go right to that one person. They don't take us all down. They'll go, not us. I don't do that. I never will.

[Robbie]

Mess with the mouse. Loser house.

[Matt]

Yeah, they'll go to that one person and they'll. They'll take them like they're done. They'll. Because they'll slap everything to them and the company can't pay for it. And they're just. They squash them. So it's not worth it. We had it where I built this Lego. It looked like A person. It didn't look like a Lego man. And then he had little holders. And you put the Lego people in there. Well, we had that up. We were selling it like hotcakes. And what happened was they came out with a wood themed deal and they came and served us papers. And I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa. So then we had to get a lawyer and it turned out we were fine, but we just took that one item down and we didn't have to. We could have kept it, but being it wasn't the LEGO man itself, we could have kept it. But again, is it worth my little company to go after that bigger company? It'll bleed me dry anyways.

[Robbie]

Yeah.

[Matt]

So.

[Robbie]

So. Well, that's. That's actually really good advice. We talk about that a lot around here because people are like, everyone's selling Taylor Swift. Why can't I? I'm like, yes. But you don't see them when they get taken down. You don't. You see it looking great there in the feed. You don't see when they get the lawsuit. So.

[Matt]

Because that one person will get tucked or taken down and then you have another one fill in that spot. So you never know. It's always just a bunch of people and they're just constantly circling.

[Robbie]

It's always new shops. It's always, you can tell, like, they're a newer shop.

[Unknown]

Are you brand new to Etsy, about to get started, or struggling a bit to find your groove? What I'm about to say is just for you, okay? I can completely relate to where you're at because I think I can help you achieve success faster. When I first started my Etsy shop, it was not one of those success stories that we hear, you know, on the big YouTube channels, even on this podcast, where I just had crazy success and it took off right away. I all but failed for my first six months, just like a lot of new sellers. And so it's very relatable. And the issue for me was I didn't understand demand, for one, I didn't understand SEO. I was way too broad in my search terms, and I didn't know how to position my product so that customers just couldn't help but click add to cart. And so once I learned those things, I went from making about $25 a month in sales to $6,000 a month and up. And in the holidays, I would even have $13,000 a month, like at my shop's peak. And the thing about me, if you've been here for a minute, you already know this I'm a terrible gatekeeper, okay? When I figure something out, when I crack a code, when I get excited, I cannot help but tell everybody who wants to listen. It's like either my, my best asset or my toxic trait.

[Robbie]

I can't decide.

[Unknown]

But I put everything that you need to know to fill that beginner knowledge gap into a low ticket. Just under three hours that I have called Six Figure Secrets to getting started on Etsy. In it, I'm teaching you how to find what's in demand for your niche, how to find and use trends, how to start your shop if you're worried about that part. SEO strategy to find the micro niches where the opportunity is, how to understand the Etsy algorithm and a ton more. The whole thing is bite sized videos. Not long form, just small bite sized videos. Zero fluff and to the point. You could get the course today, go through the less than three hours over the next couple days, launch your shop this weekend and have sales coming in as soon as Sunday. So let's get you the few missing pieces of the Etsy success puzzle, those little tweaks you need to make so you can start making the sales that you deserve. Because I have never been more convinced that there is room at this table on Etsy for everyone. And the opportunity is so ripe right now. I am in the numbers in the data every day and my mind just keeps expanding on the possibilities. Okay, so as a special treat, use the code save50 to save $50 on the six figure secrets course today. That's $50 off with a coupon. Save 50 and by all means DM me or shoot me an email when those sales start popping because I want to celebrate with you.

[Robbie]

Okay, so for sure, from the IP perspective, intellectual property, is there anything, any other advice you have in terms of picking products? I mean, for sure, like go for a decent profit margin. I would say you're dealing with physical product.

[Matt]

There's the profit thing is the hard thing because you're just starting. So it's like, yeah, you're really like on tumblers. People are like, well so many people do them. So I don't want to do them. Well, If I'm buying 20,000 tumblers at a rack, you know, in a single sitting, well, I'm going to get them cheaper than you. That's going to buy 24, right. So my profit margin is going to be higher. Profit will come. I would say profit will come no matter what. If you're doing what if you do something that you like to do and you're pushing it and you're going with it. One day, all of a sudden, you're going to look at your bank account and you're going to go, what? What am I going to do with that money? And that might be 20, that might be $50,000. Like, it's, it just happens so fast. But you just have to find that one thing you like to do and go with it. And then you'll notice, naturally, you'll branch out, and that's when things get wild and a lot of fun.

[Robbie]

It is, it's. It's. It's amazing. Once you. If you stick around long enough to figure out the game, then. Then you start praying for more hours in the day because there's just not enough to do. All the ideas that you have, there never will be.

[Matt]

But I would say if, like, you don't have a hobby, start with a hobby. Pick a hobby and try to find something with that. If you don't have that, do five. Pick five life events and just go with it. And that's like birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, you know, pick five of them, make a product for every one of them and go back and start with the first one you did make another product off of that one and keep going until all of a sudden you start making sales and then build it from there.

[Robbie]

Yes, yes, yes, yes. It's so exciting. Okay, can. Can I get you to come back to do an embroidery episode? Yeah, I'm like, we're not gonna have time to talk about embroidery, but I really want to. Okay, cool. We'll just, I'll just talk to you, but I'll get, I'll get you back on. That'll be great a little bit.

[Matt]

Because I get a lot of people ask about it anyways.

[Robbie]

You do?

[Matt]

So when I moved out here, everyone wants to know, how's embroidering going? And it's hard for me to answer that because I don't want to have people take it the wrong way. So when I moved out my shop, I had the embroidery machines going, and it was for some of my bigger customers. And when these other customers came in and Sai had that, it was game over. I don't sell anything embroidered on Etsy.

[Robbie]

Really. Okay.

[Matt]

And that's all the word of mouth and just the embroidery machine. And I didn't have this on a video yet, just the embroidery machine. I started it last. It had been last December. And so I want to wait until the first of the year, but I'm well over 100k on that one embroidery machinery.

[Robbie]

And it's all word of mouth, local. That is a really smart move because.

[Matt]

I already have customers. You're adding on to your company and it's just more profit.

[Robbie]

What is that? I'm just. We both have colds, so my brain is only partially working. What is that called? You're basically a pro, a promo company now. You're basically a local promotional company for.

[Matt]

Your area, all the way down to like, like I said. And then you get the medical version.

[Robbie]

The medical. That's wild. Right. Because they're shipping their stuff to you. Right. They're just having it all shipped to you and then. And then you're shipping it back to them when it's done.

[Sarah]

Yep.

[Robbie]

Or is that local too?

[Sarah]

Yep.

[Matt]

Well, one of them's local, one of them's not.

[Robbie]

That is so cool. I think that's a really interesting angle. Like talk. Talk about a way to scale that you wouldn't even think, you wouldn't even just instinctively think, especially as an Etsy seller, just trying to figure this stuff out.

[Sarah]

Yep.

[Matt]

And that's the. One of the medical jobs and this. So when you get to a point in your life with your business and you'll know what I mean. When you get there, if you don't understand yet, you're not there. When you get to that point where someone comes in and is like, can I have my phone engraved the back half, and you think to yourself, this is a one off. I don't want it. I don't have time for it. And you're really busy and you don't want to do it, do it. I did that one job and that turned into over a $15,000 job per month, year contract.

[Robbie]

Because people saw it and asked questions.

[Matt]

Nope. That guy wanted to know how legit I was and if I was any good.

[Robbie]

Oh, my gosh.

[Sarah]

Yeah.

[Matt]

So you never know when that's going to happen. You might have a million one offs, but then that million and one might be your ticket.

[Robbie]

You never know. Okay. Wow.

[Sarah]

Yep.

[Robbie]

You had to do design.

[Matt]

It blows a lot of people's minds. But it's true. It's. You can't just. You can't do the one. You have to do the one thing. If you can do it, do it.

[Robbie]

No, what I like about that is like, you know, we. We stay pretty much for right now in like the Etsy world on this, on this show, but that's more of a bigger corporate business concept. Do you know what I mean? Like, you're getting into business strategy, paying Attention to the one because the one can turn into a hundred referrals. You know, once you hit the right one and you're gonna do. You're gonna slog through a bunch of crud, which in your own way, you do that on Etsy too. You're gonna slog through it. But then at some point, even an old blind squirrel finds a nut every now and again if it doesn't give up, you know, and you just have to keep going until it clicks. I absolutely love that. When is a good time for someone to start a laser engraving business? Doesn't matter when. And what's a good first step?

[Matt]

Yesterday.

[Robbie]

Yeah, okay, smart alchemist.

[Matt]

If you already did research, stop doing research and just go and pick one and do it. I would say because of the pandemic stuff, there's a lot of people selling used stuff right now. So Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist and stuff.

[Robbie]

That's what we did. Go on there.

[Matt]

Find something used just so you can test the water. See what you want to do. If you, if you don't like new or used stuff and you want to go new, then go new. I. If you want to start out small and because you have ideas, we want to see where it goes, well, then look into X Tool. They have a variety of lasers and they're very good. Other than that, like you have Amtech Thunder. I'd start looking at those.

[Robbie]

Didn't you send me links for ones that you suggest that you like?

[Matt]

Yeah, I sent you a link for xtool and. Com Maker. That one is. So like these three lasers over here are all Galvo. So when you take. Can't show you that business card. It's not mine. You can take like glass. Oh, actually, you guys, if you're not.

[Robbie]

Watching this on YouTube, get over there. You've got to see his, You've got to see his setup. It's not. You've got to see it. Oh, that's really pretty.

[Matt]

So you have CO2 down here and this is UV up here. This took. It was just shy of three minutes or no, three minutes, 20 seconds. And this one was 39 seconds.

[Robbie]

He's holding up a mason jar with a handle on it and it's got two different types of engraving on it. So it's showing us, it's showing us what it, what kind of engraving it produces. And they are quite different looking. So that's really helpful.

[Matt]

The whole point of that is the CO2 one was done in a regular laser like your thunder, and it's called a gantry where the laser head goes back and forth, back and forth. The UV is a galvo and you have a smaller work area, but you have a mirror on top that turns really fast. And that's why you can get it done in seconds.

[Robbie]

Wow.

[Matt]

So it all depends on, like, what you want to do. If you're going to do like a bunch of wallets, then I would suggest you do like a galvo because it's going to be faster. If you want to do a bunch of, what are they wraparound on tumblers, then I would suggest you do a gantry. But like business cards, they're quick.

[Robbie]

That's gorgeous. Look at that.

[Matt]

That was 19 seconds.

[Robbie]

That's the aluminum.

[Sarah]

Yeah.

[Robbie]

Tap it. Thank you. I had to know.

[Matt]

Aluminum business cards are a hit every time when you. Because you drop it on their desk. When you go into talking to a company or you hand it to someone and it's like, you know they're not going to lose it. Like, it's a wow factor.

[Robbie]

So I like the wood ones, too.

[Sarah]

Yeah. Yep.

[Robbie]

I'm a sucker for wood.

[Sarah]

Yeah.

[Matt]

So it's. It's that kind of stuff that makes you stick out. You have to. You have to stay ahead.

[Robbie]

Matt. We could do this for five hours. I'm so upset. We have to get off this right now.

[Matt]

Oh, once I get on a roll. I know.

[Robbie]

It's so good. No, you're actually so good. You're not like long winded at all. I feel like I have to keep asking you questions, but Robbie is chasing my 2 year old around right now. God love her. In the rain outside. Because I burned a tortilla and my house is full of smoke and my husband is in another state right now, so it's just utter chaos over here. But I cannot tell you I have been looking forward to this conversation for so long. I hope we can do it again. I'm very, very honored to be in touch with you. Very grateful. So thanks for being willing to come on and share so openly and help us out.

[Matt]

You bet. And thanks for having me, Liz.

[Robbie]

Oh, my gosh. The pleasure is mine. Where can people find you and connect best places. And I'll link everything.

[Matt]

YouTube.

[Robbie]

Yeah, I knew that was going to be. That was going to be as simple as that. You guys, this man is so salt of the earth. I love him so much. All right, thanks, Matt. You guys, thanks for hanging out with us. I'm sorry that we're both just coughing and sniffing and hacking at you the whole time, but tis the season to be sick apparently so I love you all so much. We're glad you're here. I hope going to get started on this journey with me and until next week go make something awesome. Take care now.

[Lizzie Smiley]

And that's a wrap on this episode of how to sell your stuff on Etsy. Thanks so much for hanging out with me today. If you're looking for more resources, head on over to howtosellyourstuff.com where you'll find podcast show notes, all the links from today's episode, the blog courses, coaching and more. If this episode was was helpful to you, awesome. The greatest compliment I can receive from you is a rate, review and subscribe on this podcast. Not only will it allow us to connect again on a future episode, it lets me know I'm providing you with value and helps other people find this content more easily. From the bottom of my heart thank you for your support. Have a great day and see you next time.