Etsy Seller Interview with Laura and John of RockStarPetCollars

How RockStarPetCollars 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 Laura Schakosky, and my husband, John Radcliff, and I are the owners of Rockstar Pet collars. Since 2017, we’ve been blinging out dogs, cats, and all kinds of exotic creatures with our custom rhinestone collars. Our collars are lightweight and consciously created. Rockstar Pet Collars began as a blog for pet owners. Each article was written from the perspective of our animals. Our blog gave our pets a unique and creative way to express themselves. Over time, we wanted to take our blog to the next level, so we decided to design our own product line.

At a dinner party, a friend, Donna, told us the story of a dog she was pet-sitting who had developed neck problems, including arthritis, as a result of wearing a collar that was too heavy. She asked me to compare the weight of my dog, Jewel, to the weight of her collar.

That’s when it hit me—my Yorkie must have been feeling like she was wearing a tire around her neck. I thought I bet there are other pet owners who are doing the same thing and had no idea of the long-term impact on their dogs. At that moment, I saw a problem that needed to be solved, so I set out on a mission to find blingy, lightweight collars.

Soon afterward, I found a line of custom collars that I fell madly in love with. They were so beautiful, I had a hard time choosing which one I liked the best. I bought a few collars to see if I liked the quality. I loved that it was consciously created on a lightweight vegan leather glitter collar with high-quality rhinestones that would not dull or lose their shimmer. Soon after I got my collar, I contacted the owner and asked, "Would you be willing to create a pet collar line for me and let me design it?"

She said, "Yes." As a celebrity makeup artist, I had worked with a lot of rock stars, and that’s how I saw my pet, so I decided to name the company Rockstar Pet Collars. We would make a high-quality line of collars that were sparkly and safe to wear around the neck, bringing out the rock star in each pet we served. That’s why you see in our product gallery images of pets looking like they are singing the songs of the bands that inspired our line in their sparkly collars.

That store changed hands, but when the pandemic hit, the new owner decided she didn’t want to continue, so she taught me how to make the collars myself. She gave me a list of vendors that she used all over the USA and around the world. I had to learn how to make my collars practically overnight, but over time I mastered it.

Favorite items

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

This is a really tough question because I love them all! They all have such unique characteristics about them. We have 84 styles currently in our line. But if I had to choose, I would pick the following:

My all-time favorite and our best seller is the Aura Collar, which was inspired by Liberace, who was dramatic and flamboyant! This collar is the one that everyone purchases because it goes with everything! It has an unbelievable sparkle in the sunlight; it gives a pet a rockstar glow.

Next, I would have to say the collar that went toe-to-toe with Snoop Dogg. That’s right, we made a gold collar for an Afghan dog named Adar, who sported it in a commercial with Snoop Dogg himself! I mean, you can’t get more rockstar than making a D. O. double G. commercial! This line is for larger breeds to bring out their larger-than-life personalities.

Another favorite is the Rockstar TM (XS–3XL) Modern Rock Three Days Grace Inspired Modern Rock Pet Collar. I just love how edgy and designer-looking this style of collar is. All of the rhinestones hit the light and sparkle. We sell a lot of these because the ombre-colored stone on top gives the collar a cool look that you can’t find just anywhere! It’s exclusive to us.

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?

As a makeup artist for rock stars, I learned that if you want to set trends and create something memorable, you have to do something unexpected and totally outrageous. That way, people won’t forget what they have seen.So I was surfing online and I saw dogs being dyed different colors in China, and I thought, Wow, that is so cool! I took Jewel to the groomer the next day and asked them, "Do you dye dogs different colors, and is it safe?" They said, Yes, and our process is very safe. We use vegetable dye approved for pets. I said," Let’s make Jewel hot pink to look like a rock star!" That is when everything really started taking off.

Making Jewel hot pink like a rockstar was the key to our success on Etsy. She became a walking billboard and supermodel for our products. In four images on Instagram decked out in our collars, we had the Press Association reach out to us and sign Jewel for a 6-month contract for TV and magazine articles, all to talk about why Jewel was pink. This gave us access to becoming an international success. Suddenly, we went on a live TV show in London called This Morning, she was on the cover of magazines, and people reached out from all over the world to find out why she was pink. At first, the pink was shocking, but after a while, she became famous, and it was like "makeup to the dog face". It became a part of her persona, and in an interesting way, it looked natural on her.

From there, we expanded out and did photoshoots with different animals of all sizes to get different looks and put them all on our website. We even went to breeders who had sphynx cats and other unique animals to be our models. Once I had the diverse images on our Etsy site, our customers could see what the collars would look like on different colors of fur. This helped us attract customers who had designer dogs or those who wanted collars to make their pets look exotic.

At this point, the photos we put on our Instagram are customers' photos. We introduce their fur babies to our community with their collars on. As we expanded, our customers also started buying our collars to wear as necklaces; some people bought bracelets to match their pets; and we even had people buy our collars for goat yoga!

Managing RockStarPetCollars

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 manage the day-to-day operations of Rockstar Pet Collars. John handles any technology that's needed. We love the Etsy app so whenever anybody messages us, I can respond right away. I have a basic response in my notes on my phone that I copy and paste to tell people that I received their order and answer any questions about sizing that they have. The Etsy app makes it so easy; I love that I can respond on the fly. I also used Photoshop as well as Canva to do cutouts and put in different backgrounds. Most of the pictures of Jewel in the collars were on top of my kitchen table. After picking my favorite shots, I would use Photoshop to get rid of dust and soften the backgrounds so that they all matched. I would say to Jewel, "Where’s the kitten?" She would start barking, and I would snap pictures of the shot, saying that Jewel was singing a song from the rockstar songs that the collars were inspired by. It was so much fun!

Since this is a visual brand, my marketing needed to look good. Being in the entertainment business for so long, working on major fashion and ad campaigns gave me insights into how to market myself. It enabled me to create engaging pictures that people responded to and remembered. Most of my marketing dollars were spent in the Etsy Marketing app. Once I had sales, I printed all of my labels using stamps.com.

As a result of having over 1500 sales on Etsy, I have now sold collars to people all over the world. I have even had companies reach out to me to buy collars for their customers, so I now make collars for stores and drop ship their collars through my Etsy store. It works out great!

The future of RockStarPetCollars

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

My first goal is to expand my team by hiring an employee. This is freeing up my time to develop digital books and create online courses.
I have developed a lot of great relationships with my audience. As a result, it has inspired new ideas to help people in different ways.
The books will explore different philosophies, and the courses will be a way to deepen their understanding of themselves and their pets.
Like a pet chakra balancing course based on Kundalini yoga, supported by my Harmony line of Rockstar pet collars, which contain raw crystals for balancing.
There will also be a Pet Astrology Course that is based on the Glam Rock Collars that have an Astrology Charm. In this course, you will discover more about your pet’s personality and its evolution. This is especially great for those looking to understand the personal connection people have with their pets.
Another book is all about the fun and fashion of dog walks and how pets have the knack for attracting people to come into our lives. It’s the perfect book to get in shape and attract interesting conversations while having your dog or cat look runway-ready.

Advice for new sellers

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

I would say before you just dive into making a bunch of products, figure out a problem that needs to be solved, and then be that solution with the items you sell.
Then figure out who you want to work with by targeting that market. It makes it so much easier to speak to that audience. That’s going to drive the kinds of conversations and caliber of people you are working with. Really look at what it is that they really want, need, and can’t find anywhere, then make it!

What I find is that the best part of building a business is to create a story around your success and live into it. Each day I would wake up thinking Rockstar Pet Collars is a million-dollar business, and then I’d go through the growing pains it takes to keep expanding to take on that huge vision and take actions consistent with it.

In the beginning, it costs money upfront to build a product line, but after a while, it is just about managing it and making sure you have what you need as you sell. I would recommend not taking on too much, meaning making too many colors and different styles. See what sells and build from there.

As you make your products, there’s a lot of legwork to do: coming up with what you want to sell, getting vendors to help pull your ideas together, and shooting pictures with a great camera and lighting. Coming up with conceptual ideas for your photos If you want to make a lot of money, this is the most important part. Think of it like dressing for success—you have to have your branding look like you have already made it big before making one sale.

Also, the content names and descriptions are important. Insert keywords into what you write to help you with your algorithms. Having those keywords will help you become found on the Etsy platform. I spent a lot of time researching the bands and their rises to fame to help me write the content for my product lines. I read their stories, looked at the underlying themes, and used that as my inspiration for animals to become famous for wearing specific collars.

Take your time uploading products. I noticed that every time I added new products and images, it gave my Etsy site a burst, and I started getting more likes and followers. It seemed to raise my rankings, which led to sales.

Don’t be attached to the products you sell. I find it fascinating that my favorite styles are not necessarily what sell the most. When people ask me if I have a product color combination, if I don’t, I make it. That is how I built the line. It’s all based on what your customers want, because they are the ones buying. That really contributes to the success of the line.

Come up with new ideas each season. There are super-busy times and slow times of the season. During October, I start working on new collar and product ideas that will be launched in the spring. I have noticed that people buy the same styles each season, and we always get a boost in sales during the holidays. So it is important to study your sales cycle so you know when the best time will be to take a vacation!

One of the most important things that I learned as a celebrity makeup artist and brought into my Etsy business is to have amazing customer service. Treat your customer exactly the way you would want a vendor to treat you. Give them customer service on steroids. You can’t make everyone happy, but the ones you do will keep coming back for more products year after year because you care, and that matters.

No matter whether I was working on my Etsy website or not, Jewel was always my brand's celebrity. She always dressed the part and became a huge magnet for the brand's success. Every time I went on a dog walk, I talked about how famous Jewel was and how successful the business was. Again, it was like creating a context and living in it until it became a reality. I really think that applies to any business. You have to see it as already successful, no matter what stage you are at.

You can have the greatest business in the world, but if you are not marketing it, no one will find out about it. There’s a balance to be struck. It’s important to create an Instagram and to aggregate what you post there onto Facebook. The more eyes that see what you are selling and the more you make the experience fun with the images and context, the more people will be drawn to you and your products.

Make sure that you price your products for growth. Etsy has videos on how to price your products so that they are not too high or too low. It’s harder to go up in price than to go down. Make sure that when you price your items, you have also factored in the cost of supplies, the cost of marketing, the cost of hiring an employee, and kept in mind that when you sell your products wholesale, there needs to be a margin in there for you to make money. When it comes to wholesaling products, I basically give companies a promo code and tell them that they can charge whatever markup they want. To me, they become like salespeople, and I end up selling more collars.