Etsy Seller Interview with Alexandra of SVGbyCalligrapher

How SVGbyCalligrapher 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?

Hi, I'm Alexandra, the owner of SVGbyCalligrapher. My profession is psychology, but my real love is art, and most of all: calligraphy. Paper and tools for writing are my real passion.

At the time I opened my store, I had been doing calligraphy for a few years. Sometimes, I would do custom signings for weddings and design logos.  

But there came a moment when it became necessary to put the family finances in order. Before I went out to my real job, I made a promise to myself that I would try to earn money from home first, so as not to leave my family behind to work in an office.

A good friend told me that they were selling digital art on Etsy, and instead of paper art, I could try this.

 It's no exaggeration to say that I made every effort to realize myself in this direction.

Printable templates, clip arts, fonts - what I did, and do now when I need to use it in my project, but I really settled on t-shirt designs. I create my designs using several programs, the main ones are Illustrator, Photoshop and Procreate and offer them as digital downloads.

Favorite items

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

There are over a thousand designs in my store right now, and I absolutely love most of them!

Sometimes when I look at my old ones I don't understand why I made them like that, but they also do a good job of communicating messages through graphics. 

My most successful items probably combine a good quote with a good execution, and perhaps a special dash of my inspiration!

Here are some of my best sellers: Be Kind SVG, Let Your Light Shine, and Live By The Sun, Love By The Moon.

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?  

It took me two weeks to get my first sale and about half a year to get a small but steady profit. Now, I use social media (Pinterest and Instagram).

Managing SVGbyCalligrapher

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'm doing this on my own. Managing the store ( responding to messages, current custom orders, and working on new collections) gives me a full-time job with almost no days off.

Tools - sometimes I use them when I'm not sure of the tags.

The future of SVGbyCalligrapher

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

I think that the ultimate goal is to establish harmony as possible between my labor costs, good revenue and customer happiness from the purchase in my store

Advice for new sellers

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

As for specific advice: Consider making some of your items customizable, it can really help make a good start on Etsy, and research everything about copyright in your field. Not knowing this and the unfortunate mistakes that this ignorance can entail can ruin the work you've done and make problems.

I think everyone is capable of making their own small business. It's just that everyone's path will be different, more or less complicated, more or less long. 

Take the plunge, and you'll come out in the end with new skills, with new perspectives, with new ideas.