Etsy Seller Interview with Lerentha of FunkInkMe

How FunkInkMe 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?

Hello! I am Elle, owner and creator of FunkInkMe on Etsy. I design and sell digital designs exclusively for crafters' various types of projects such as sublimation, cutting, heat pressing, etc. on physical products like t-shirts, mugs, tumblers, apparel, etc. I have always been a huge fan of the Etsy marketplace and have enjoyed looking at all the shops and their creativity. This made me familiar with what was going on on Etsy. Initially, I wanted to do digital planners, but after some research, I leaned towards looking into selling presets on Etsy, or even doing both. With both of these ideas in mind, I did some courses on Udemy and used some other resources to educate myself and create my own digital products. Just before I wanted to start an Etsy shop with these products in mind, I think my passion for art and design got the better of me, and I left that idea and looked into sublimation and vector art for crafters. I really loved the idea of helping crafters with digital designs for their projects. To be a part of a community where you contribute to creativity and where people work with their hands and have fun is what made me start this shop. In 2021, I started FunkInkMe. I initially did only sublimation designs, as I only started out with Photoshop that I could afford at the time. Creating and selling digital designs during the pandemic made my time worthwhile, as at that time, my family and I were slowly immigrating and settling in Australia. I did not have the opportunity to find work in a new country during COVID and settling in a new country; this gave me some opportunity to get some income and to be able to work.

As a creative, I like texture and color, and I wanted my products to show this. My digital designs have vibrant colors, and with this, I want them to stand out when being used by crafters on their products.

Being able to design for crafters only makes this journey very special. I have great admiration for crafters and their passion for creating with their hands. This has spurred me to make my designs exclusively for crafters to make. I really enjoy adding to their creative world and seeing what they create.

In 2022, I expanded my type of design format for more use by crafters. After designing for sublimation and looking for more areas of craft designs, I moved on to designing for tumblers and then cutting machines, which opened up the SVG world to me. This has brought more crafters to my Etsy shop. I also learned to focus on specific designs and what other shops weren’t creating much of, and I started selling those products. As I designed products for specific target crafters, I started seeing my products selling more and getting traction.

I created my very first designs in collaboration with other designers. Shortly after seeing that my shop was selling, I focused on designing my own designs and started to commit to it more formally. Since I started in 2021, I upgraded my software from using Photoshop and the free version of Inkscape to Adobe Illustrator, acquired a computer drawing tablet, and recently acquired a Cricut machine and laser cutter to help me in my research for creating files for crafters. I have also tried my hand at making tumblers, and I am sure I will continue to venture into some crafts in the next few years. I do spend an enormous amount of time creating digital designs, and I still need to assess and streamline this process for me to be more profitable.

The ability to create these designs and open up this shop largely comes from my love of designing, my creativity, and being an architect for most of my life. I love to paint, do woodwork, and explore various areas of creativity. My ideas for my products come mainly from being curious about what other crafters are doing and how to add to their world. I like to explore and learn, and the dynamic nature of this creative world keeps me hooked.

This shop undeniably provides me with opportunities to express my creative outlet. With my art and architecture backgrounds, I can truly explore and enjoy the digital design world with an Etsy shop.

I take my shop very seriously, and my customers, reviews, and messaging are extremely important to me. The greatest feeling is when you see your designs on the physical products of your customers or get super-reviews. Then you get going again with a warm feeling inside you.

Favorite items

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

I like many of my designs, so choosing favorites is difficult. Some of my top favorite listings in my shop are:

Another favorite is my Messy Bun Sublimation Bundle for both Mom and Daughter

And kid bundle:

And then I like my tumbler sublimation designs:

Although there aren’t too many yet. The sublimation bundles and burst tumbler templates are top sellers in my shop. They sell well because a bundle with multiple designs is good value for customers. The designs themselves are good, flexible designs; it is a good all-around bundle to use, and it gives ample ideas for projects for crafters.

When I started this shop, Messy Bun Mom designs were everywhere. I wanted to do my own version and liked the idea of all the various categories one can create with the Messy Bun designs. I made a bundle with lots of Messy Bun designs, where crafters can use their own individuality, add their own text, and not have a lot of restrictions on the design itself. Giving crafters more flexibility with a very popular design and hundreds of messy bun files makes this bundle popular.

The Burst Tumbler Bundles were created for all levels of difficulty as well as catering for a variety of styles, from specific categories like flowers or dog paws to uncategorized styles with only geometric shapes. This is a good bundle for crafters starting out or who have been doing burst tumblers for a while, and it will keep them entertained for some time.

Although I don’t have many, I also like my tumbler sublimation designs. They don’t get too much exposure in search results due to the high level of competition in this niche. I like my designs because they stand out and are vibrant in color and texture. My favorite is my Cancer Awareness Tumbler. It is a very uplifting and ‘feel-good’ design to look at.

Getting sales on Etsy

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

I had my first sale within a month. I couldn’t believe someone would buy from a shop showing 0 sales. It was a great feeling. It was a slow start to the year, but there was movement here and there, enough for me to stay motivated and excited. I concentrated on making designs, learning Etsy search tools, and experimenting with SEO and listings. About a year later, I started getting traction, and more time was dedicated to my shop. I continue to make designs on Etsy regularly and use the Etsy ads on some designs within reasonable spending means. I have been using an email marketing service, but have not received much traction there, nor have I used it to its full extent or been consistent in communicating on that platform. My shop takes quite some time from me, and I have yet to manage this properly. I use Etsy SEO in my listings and look for what Etsy buyers search for either in Etsy search results or in my shop’s dashboard under Marketing Search Analytics. The Alura Etsy Search Tool has also helped me zone in on more specific products that customers prefer. Keywords and structuring my listings as per Etsy’s recommendations have formed most of my learning curve up to now. In some listings, it has helped me align my listings with the right searches, but in general, with my specific niche, it is difficult to get various unique keywords for each listing, so many of my listings have similar search and keyword structuring as well as other Etsy shop owners who sell similar digital designs.

Managing FunkInkMe

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

I have been running this shop on my own since 2021; it should be a side hustle, but it is taking more time than I expected. Understandably, I have only started in a niche where I have had to learn myself from scratch on new platforms and industries. Making mistakes and realigning myself again I'm hoping to find a good rhythm and either go full-time or find a balance where the money makes my time worthwhile. For now, it is more of a passion than something that I can say is a small business. I have plans to pursue social media avenues and am hoping to elevate my shop in a more profitable way.

I run my shop from my home office and spend time on a daily basis to either create new designs, research next strategies or work on my shop, checking YM messages constantly. It never really turns out this way, but I usually plan to spend about 3 days a week on design: a day on planning what to do next and strategies, one day for the week ahead's plans, and sometimes learning new techniques. I have to juggle my other responsibilities outside of my Etsy shop.

Tools that I use:

I started with Adobe Photoshop to do most of my sublimation designs, and as I received sales, I subscribed to Adobe Illustrator to expand my design capabilities to do SVg as well. I used Inkscape, the free version, before Illustrator, but when I started to look into burst template designs, Illustrator was a good fit for my design creations.

I have connected my shop to Aweber, an email marketing software, to see what this area would do for me. At the moment, I haven’t found a frequent, consistent rhythm yet.

I use Adobe Photoshop for all my shop listing images as well as my sublimation designs. I use, for my tumblers, Photoshop 3D rendered tumbler files that I have purchased elsewhere on Etsy to impose my designs on for a realistic look.

My accounting is fairly simple, and I use Excel to do my own spreadsheets for tax purposes.

When I want to update multiple listings, as many of my listings are very similar but only differ in design, I use Vela. This has been a huge time saver for me, and I am very grateful to be able to use this app from time to time.

I have Grammarly on my computer as well to help me with my spelling when doing listing descriptions, sending messages, or any other typing that needs to be done.

For all of my thousands of files, I use Microsoft One Drive, Dropbox, and Google Drive. My files are automatically backed up to these cloud services, and I hope that I never lose any files.

I bought a Cricut Maker 3 cutting machine to test my files a few months ago and am hoping to expand using this machine for more ideas in my shop. I also recently purchased an Ecotank inkjet printer with plans to print and cut some designs over the next year.

Alura is also a go-to tool for me to do some research and see who sells what and what sells. This helps me plan my listings and saves me time by allowing me to do the designs that people are favoriting and buying.

I really like what I do, and most days I struggle to switch off from my Etsy shop and just want to design. It is very inspiring to give to crafters.

The future of FunkInkMe

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

In September last year, I didn’t think to continue with my Etsy shop, but after my brother highlighted that my shop is actually doing well, I reconsidered and have been making plans to grow my shop with more serious intent.

My plans for this year are to expand my products and to excel in my tumbler sublimation designs. I am earning to do some nice tumbler subscriptions. Up until now, I have mainly focused on burst tumbler templates. I am also looking into social media avenues and might start a Facebook shop and make Tik Tok videos. I have yet to decide how fully involved I want to be in opening a Facebook group.

Advice for new sellers

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

You need to have a thorough workflow and pace yourself steadily. Be very consistent in what you do and have a meticulous way of doing your filing and administration. Take your time with every listing, but don’t overthink it.

Excel in listing photos; try to do better than other shops. I have yet to achieve true success here, but I enjoy my listing photos, as I love color and vibrancy and feel that it comes through in my shop photos.

Know that you will learn as you grow, and do that. Take time to learn, whether it is a new software drawing technique, the types of files you are designing and their uses, an Etsy SEO tool, Etsy’s Seller Handbook Guide, YouTube videos, or whatever other area of business you might have to deal with. Understand what you are doing and take the time to do it. It is not about creating volumes of listings. Make your work count, and then the repetitiveness of the next listings or work will fall easily into place.

Put your customer first, regardless, and keep the positive energy flowing through your shop.

You will have days that you feel overwhelmed, tired of what to do next or what will count, and that designs are not being done as quickly as you wanted, but that is ok. Step back and do something else. Come back relaxed and with a new state of mind.

You will get hiccups in your shop, bad reviews that you absolutely don’t understand, software errors, etc. See it as part of daily administration or it will wear you down.

Lastly, grow organically, take pride, and plan each listing. Monitor each listing with regard to keywords and what people search for. I have yet to do a lot in this area. If you start, grow with your listings.