Etsy Seller Interview with Sherlee & Jo of KindredSpiritCanada

How KindredSpiritCanada 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?

We are a family-run business run by mom and daughter. We describe ourselves as a complementing duo, and we each have unique skills that the other doesn't, so the partnership just works intuitively! We design, make, and sell earth-friendly hand embroidery kits. Our inspiration came in 2017 when I needed some R&R and recalled my stitch projects with my grandmother as a child. I searched for some kits to get restarted and was hugely disappointed at the range of designs available as well as the amount of plastic and unnatural products included in the available products. I asked my mom to design something fun for me to stitch. And after finding some 100% cotton threads, a bamboo hoop, and some quality supplies, I was set! I had so much fun experimenting and creating the first design that I was hooked and had to share it with the world. A kindred spirit was born! Together, we decided that our goal is to create fun and joyful designs and provide an earth-friendly range of products from start to finish.

Jo, or Mama Jo, is the artist and does all the design work, then we each stitch them in different color palettes and decide on the final color and stitches before proceeding to design and create packaging. I make each kit by hand in our home studio workshop and customize each one individually to ensure a special experience for each customer.

We use all-natural supplies: 100% cotton DMC threads, organic cotton linen fabric, bamboo hoops, recyclable paper inserts, and biodegradable packaging. We are committed to doing what we can to reduce waste and operate our business in an eco-friendly way. We also see the value in finding activities that bring you joy, especially in this fast-paced world and pandemic times. Creating something of your very own with your hands is hugely beneficial; it is relaxing, fulfilling, and brings out creativity and confidence within that just flourishes! Seeing the masterpieces that customers create and share inspires us to keep adding more and more! We now have a second ETSY shop based in South Africa, where we are better able to ship to our European customers.

Favorite items

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

My favorites are the fun ladies—the Merry Mermaid with her glass of wine, the  I love doing flowers and frills. Mama Jo would probably say the designs are where one gets the artistic opportunity and where one can "color outside the lines." ;) This is what is so great about hand embroidery: there is no right or wrong; any stitch and any color work!

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?

Like anything, it took us time to test and adjust to the market, and only from the start could we understand what the customer wanted. Initially, we thought that going into the Canadian market with Canadian designs was the best route, but we soon learned that the scope was much wider. We opened our shop in early December with the goal of getting some Christmas gift orders. Our first sales started almost immediately, and then as we added designs, they picked up faster and faster. It was a learning curve every day, trying and testing everything from SEO to keywords to marketing and ad spending. Most importantly, however, was gathering and actively asking for feedback from customers, understanding their needs 100%, and focusing on how that translated back into our product and goals.

Managing KindredSpiritCanada

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?

We are a two-woman partnership and have, from the start, managed the shop ourselves. During the peak Christmas season, we do hire a temp to help us pack and ship. Fortunately, with my e-commerce managerial background, I am super organized and have a very streamlined operations process. Maintaining relationships with suppliers is also essential.

What started as a side business has transformed into a full-time focus. We have some established partnerships with some local craft shops now, too. Etsy has been our largest focus for the growth and visibility of our business. We use Instagram and Pinterest to attract interest and gain followers. Our main marketing spend is on Etsy and our own SEO website.

We’ve been fortunate to have some feature articles done by eco-focused influencers and to have some of our kits included in a craft subscription box. We have a great number of returning customers, and we try to keep them updated with monthly newsletters via email marketing. We have regular contact with many of them through email and chats, and we have built up a happy community of Kindred Spirit stitchers. Focusing on and making time for these personal interactions has been essential. Being able to customize designs and change out colors in patterns is part of the service we offer, and that keeps our customers coming back.

Efficiency and organization are key in operations. Planning time for tasks and seasons is the most critical. Technology helps in communications and organizations too. I am a big fan of shared folders—Google Drive and iCloud Drive are essentials! G-Suite is my home office on my PC. Photoshop and now Affinity are our go-to tools for the creation of our branded materials. Quickbooks for accounting are great! ERank is my go-to tool for seeing what's trending in markets and platforms and what future season predictions look like. Regularly changing keywords in listings is essential for good visibility on Etsy, so this is a weekly task.

One of the most essential parts of a smooth-running business is open communication between employees. Having regular catch-ups between us about what is working and what is not allows us to be agile in changing and staying productive. This is especially relevant in the creation process. Feedback from one another during the design and prototype phases can result in a successful or unsuccessful design and end product. Being critical and honest in the assessment of the end result of the prototype is critical. Adapting, changing, re-doing, or even scrapping is part of the process, but in the end, it results in an end product that sells.

One normally gets a feeling early on if a design is going to work or not, and trusting that is good learning. One underestimates the power of intuition. Mama Jo and I are fortunate to "be in the flow" with one another for the most part and have also learned not to be afraid to talk it out. There is never a day where we aren’t grateful for our little business and go to sleep having found joy in our daily tasks and creations. We are lucky to truly love what we do.

Shipping and fulfillment are done via local delivery and courier services. Staying true to our goals of being local, personal, and eco-friendly, we have established relationships with shippers to deliver fast and cost-effectively. We are able to ship as often as we need to, depending on the season and volumes. We have an integrated label printing service and pick-up arrangements from our front door.

The Future of KindredSpiritCanada 

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

It is easy to become distracted and chase going big and going fast, but we keep our goals close to our hearts, which reminds us that we don’t want to become that "Amazon" product. (With no disrespect to Amazon;) We want to keep our product exclusive, personal, and an experience vs. "just a purchase" for our customers. Offering them personalized service, the option of customized products, and staying true to our earth-friendly goals will remain.

We will continue to focus on customer retention and incentives to keep customers returning. We would also like to grow our local communities and start our hand embroidery workshops (which took a back seat with the COVID restrictions), where we host some lessons and embroidery get-togethers.

On the marketing side, we would like to focus on getting our website better optimized in the year ahead. We love working with Etsy and will continue to do so (as we have now opened our 2nd Etsy shop called KindredSpiritZA). We find shipping within South Africa and domestic sale growth more possible via direct channels, as Etsy is still relatively unknown and unestablished in the region.

Advice for new sellers

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

Don’t be afraid to just try—and try again! One doesn't get it right the first time, and things are forever changing, so change with it.

Put yourself in the customer's shoes. Create your listing from their perspective. If you were to buy one of your products, what would you look for? And want answers to Include all these points. Be clear and keep it simple. Etsy provides great tutorials and guides for setting up; use them.

Photos are the first thing that one sees. Have all photo spots filled; this will maximize your visibility. Include text on photos where appropriate and where it can clarify a question or highlight a unique selling point.

Keywords are one of the most essential parts of a successful listing; change them and try different ones. I even created duplicate listings in different categories and with different keywords to see what worked best, then deleted the lesser-performing ones. ERank is a great tool to compare listings and find trending keywords.

Listen to feedback; your customer's voice is your guiding focus. Really understand everything about your product and your customer's needs. Ask for feedback; create incentives to get feedback, especially in the beginning, and use it to adapt your product.

Be patient; "Rome wasn't built in a day". Growth happens slowly and is a result of adapting and finding what works. Celebrate your successes (even small ones) along the way, and keep your goals and vision as your compass every day so that you don’t get taken astray.

Have fun! This translates into so much in life and business.

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

These change based on the season and location. I would suggest looking at positive growth in the beginning and working on improving all stats. A "star seller is a great goal to look towards achieving, as it keeps you focused on the important areas of running your shop.