How ptpaper 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’m Teddi, the owner of PT Paper. I live and work from my home in Maine. I am married, and we have three children (ages 8, 11, and 20!). I started writing a blog in 2016 called Sarcasm & Sweet Tea. It was all about productivity and organization. As part of the blog, I began creating free printables to help with managing a home, such as meal planning sheets and calendars. Soon after, readers of the blog were asking for me to send them printed sheets because they didn’t have access to a printer, so I opened an Etsy shop selling those same pages. I was also big into bullet journaling at the time, so I began selling dot grid notebooks as well.
In 2017, I decided to rebrand and separate the shop from the blog. Then, I focused all my efforts on building PT Paper. It seemed at the time that all the available planner inserts were either cold and corporate-feeling or bright, bold, and colorful. I was looking for something much more minimalistic, but still with some style and femininity.
So I decided to create what I was looking for. I added a ton of new physical products, mostly planner inserts. Over time, I acquired commercial printers, a commercial paper cutter, paper drills, and lots of other equipment. The only thing I cannot manufacture in-house today is the mylar-coated tab dividers. The machines for those cost a lot of money. But I order blank dividers and then print my designs on them.
Favorite items
What are your favorite items? What makes these so special? Why do you think these items might be selling well?
The dividers are a big hit. I believe that is because not a lot of other shops sell dividers with the mylar-coated tab, so these ones are great quality and they look really nice.
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?
Luckily, my first sale only took a few days. It was definitely slow beyond that first sale, though. I have relied a lot on customers finding my products through search. I have tried to make sure my listings are search engine optimized because I hate doing marketing.
Managing ptpaper
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?
The shop is run by me. Sometimes, in the thick of the holiday season, I will trick my husband and/or kids into helping me fulfill orders, but otherwise, I’m a 1-woman show. I use Adobe products for designing and Shipstation for pick lists and shipping labels. I pack and ship all items myself from my basement dungeon office space.
The future of ptpaper
What goals do you have for your shop in the future?
I have added and removed a lot of different products and paper sizes over the years, and I think I finally have a good grasp on what my customers want. So now my goal is to start branching out into more digital products. I have opened a second shop, PT Paper Digital, where I have just listed my first two digital planner bundles! I have been loving using digital planners for a while now, and I’m excited to design products that are new and exciting.
Advice for new sellers
What’s your advice for a new seller starting an Etsy shop?
It’s not as easy today as it was years ago to get started, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try. You just need to make sure you and your products stand out. You can’t just throw up the same Canva templates that everyone else is doing and expect results. Find what makes you (and your products) unique. And make sure you enjoy the process. It’s a wild ride, but its so worth it!
ptpaper
Functional and Feminine Planner Inserts
