Etsy Seller Interview with Andrew of BestJobResume

How BestJobResume got started

Introduce your Etsy shop and tell us your story. How did you begin and decide on what to sell on Etsy, and how do you create your products?

Thank you kindly for the chance to showcase our business on Etsy. I'm Andrew, the founder of BestJobResume, and it's great to meet you! I genuinely consider myself lucky to work on a team with my talented wife, Vera! Following the birth of my son, I pondered ways to prioritize spending quality time with my family, raising my son, and providing support for my wife, Vera. With time, I conceived the notion of utilizing my design skills to craft goods for sale on Etsy. Having a number of trusted friends who had previously succeeded with their businesses on Etsy, I researched the potential for creating a valuable product in high demand on the platform.

Finding ways to earn money online could create a balance between work and family time. We started exploring Etsy for opportunities in 2018 when Vera decided to leave the corporate world to start building the business we would both enjoy. At first, it was graphic design. We found it exciting to unlock our creativity this way.

What appealed to me most about creating resume templates was the chance to combine my previous experience in website design with the potential to explore various sub-niches in the future. Moreover, Vera has always loved writing, as she knew how to express ideas while boosting interest, engagement, and understanding, how to handle style, and how to put it right.

Thus, as we switched to resume writing, Vera managed to merge her creativity and expertise. She told me then that it was so exhausting to put together a resume for yourself and that it took having a look from the outside to make it really good. Her advanced resume-writing skills have been crucial to our success, and we couldn't have done it without her.

Vera and I thrive in continuous collaboration, even though we don’t work in the same space. I cover technical marketing and design needs, while Vera does all the writing and most of the customer communication and engages in every marketing, financial, research, and analysis activity and makes the following decisions.

Favorite items

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

I would say that our favorite item in the store is the Career Changer Resume Writing, and it's really special to us. It’s a baby that’s born with a challenge. We've helped so many people who felt confused and stuck find their way to their dream careers, and it's satisfying to be a part of that journey. It's fantastic to assemble someone's story into pieces and develop it in the most compelling way possible. We pride ourselves on transforming somebody’s life on paper and even in real life. Each resume is a masterpiece, as we source inspiration from our outstanding clients and their unique stories!

The reason for having great stories is simple: my wife, Vera, is a true expert in this field and has honed her skills over many years of experience. She understands her clients, dives deep, and turns quickly. Her passion for guiding, supporting, and helping people land their perfect jobs shines through in every resume she creates. And yes, this service is selling very well! I believe this is due to the exceptional quality of our work and our commitment to providing personalized attention to each of our clients, which results in solid client trust and robust relationships. We're happy to share a link to our store and resume writing services in particular:

Career Change Resume Writing:

Getting sales on Etsy

How long did it take for you to earn your first sale and how do you currently attract customers to your Etsy shop?

When we started with Etsy marketing, we were inexperienced and unsure where to begin. But, as with anything, learning and growing take time and practice. So we experimented with various tools and techniques, seeking the most effective ones for us. It's been a journey filled with lessons learned, and we've emerged from it all with a wide range of skills and strategies at our disposal. We remain open-minded and enthusiastic about trying new approaches, and we sincerely appreciate our wonderful customers who have supported us every step of the way.

It has taken half a year since we began to work on drafting and filling the store with information and designing our first listings and their presentations. I've dedicated my time to improving our pre-made templates, while Vera has been doing an outstanding job creating and facilitating detailed texts and bespoke resumes and cover letters. Our hard work has paid off, and we had about 2–3 significant orders per week.

In a year, our fortunes began to turn around, and sales started picking up. It was cool to see our hard work paying off, and as we grew, we began to create even more awesome services for our customers. They loved it, and it just made us more confident and excited for the future. Looking back, those early days were tough, but they were also the start of something really special.

Now we manage about 5–6 custom orders weekly and have a comprehensive suite of services that perfectly meet the unique needs of our clients. As a result, we can proudly say that our clients work, seek, and obtain jobs in significant clinics and universities, city authorities, law firms, and companies. Among them are Amazon, Siemens, Salvation Army, The US Army, The Walt Disney Company, Warner Bros., Metro Goldwyn Mayer, Nike, SalesForce, Steele Strategies, B2B2C Advisors, Macy’s, Dallas Market Center Co., Labcorp, NYU Langone Health, Stratolaunch, Bush Foundation, Dior, Tinuiti, Harbor Freight, Kmart, Cephed, and many others. This feels truly powerful.

Managing BestJobResume

How do you manage your shop? Are you running solo or do you have any team members? What tools or services do you use to run your shop and how do you handle fulfillment?

Our team manages the store by using basic tools like Excel and Word. We do not use any specific or special applications. However, our clear division of responsibilities allows us to handle customer requests efficiently and provide top-notch customer support. As we only offer digital goods, our store administration is relatively easy. In terms of shipping and fulfillment, it's not something we deal with, as all of our products are delivered electronically. Overall, our team's cooperation and clear division of responsibilities are the primary tools we use to manage our Etsy shop.

The future of BestJobResume

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

Thanks for asking about our future goals for the store. This is a great question. One of our main objectives is to continue expanding our reach and connecting with people worldwide. We believe there are still many untapped opportunities out there, and we're eager to explore them and see where they take us.

We're all about constantly improving our services to serve our stunning clients better! We're constantly brainstorming new ideas and looking for ways to tweak our existing options to meet the changing needs of our customers.

Advice for new sellers

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

Don’t hesitate. Try new directions, new ideas and as someone who has gone through the process of starting an Etsy shop, fighting for its maintenance, and rebuilding it, our advice to new sellers would be to experiment with different marketing approaches, keep an open mind to every possibility, and never give up. It's important to avoid getting too hung up on existing products, low statistics, or other troubles but to search and implement new approaches, expand offerings, and explore new niches.

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

Question: What is your shop’s conversion rate?
Answer: 3