Are you tired of not being able to build your community through Etsy? Did starting an Etsy shop seem like a great business solution for your digital planner business, but it just seems like lately it’s going nowhere?

Maybe it’s time for you to consider moving beyond Etsy.

Don’t get me wrong. I love Etsy. It is a truly great website for those just starting out in the laptop lifestyle of earning passive income with online sales.

In fact, Etsy gave me my start in 2018 and without it, I probably wouldn’t have had the motivation to scale my own website business.

While Etsy definitely has its positive points, it also has its downside. For example, it’s downright hard to nurture leads through your Etsy shop.

Clients may buy your work on Etsy, but if you don’t have your own website, you don’t have the chance to get your message across and turn that one-time sale into a long-term client.

Also, someone might click onto the site through your product but then end up buying a competitor’s product. That means you end up generating business for your competitors and nobody likes that! 

If these or other issues make you feel like it’s time to make a move to expand beyond Etsy, read on to find out how!

Step #1 Research your website platform

Choosing the right website platform for your needs is an important decision. Here are some things to consider when making your choice:

• Are you able to add a blog? A blog adds a lot to your client’s experience of you and your product and sets you up as an expert in your area.

• Are you able to embed opt-in forms? This is the most important part of expanding and scaling your business by starting to build your email list.

• Is it user-friendly? Simply put, if people can’t navigate and use it, they’re not going to bother sticking around to buy your product.

• Is it customizable so you can add your branding, color, logo and other elements? Since this is about expanding beyond Etsy and drawing customers with your own brand, it’s important that your website platform allows you to establish your brand’s style and look. Otherwise, it will be just like Etsy where you have the same look as others with this website platform.

Here are my top two favorite website platforms where you can easily sell your digital products:

• Squarespace – The clear design champion over Shopify, Squarespace allows creative designers more options to create a branded website. They have a zoom feature and a feature that turns your photos into videos, allowing customers to get to see your products up close. However, their payment options aren’t as complete as Shopfiy’s.

• Shopify – Known overall as the best e-commerce site out there and very user-friendly, with Shopify, you’ll also need to integrate a third-party plugin (Send Owl) in order to sell your digital products. While the site is renowned, there is this extra step you’ll have to take when setting up shop. 

Step #2 Set up your website

Before you dive into the techy part of the website setup, I recommend planning out your pages. 

Map out your user journey when they land on your website. What’s the first thing you want them to notice? Make the navigation friendly and simple for both mobile and web browsing.  Include simple, commonly used words in the navigation bar and footer.

Here are some tips for setting up your digital products website: 

• Home page – This should explain what your product is, what the benefits of it are, who can use it, how they can use it and why they should use it.

• About page – This is where you get to tell your story. Who you are, how you came to design and sell digital products, and a couple of personal details about you to make you relatable like that you love your dog or you love to travel.

• FAQ page – Customers love to be able to help themselves and not have to resort to contacting you and waiting for an answer. By providing a FAQ page you make it easier on them and on you.

• Contact us – Customers who can’t find the answers they’re looking for on the website or who have a special request or other reason for reaching out will want to know how to get in touch with you.

• Blog – Writing relevant posts about the product you’re selling and how people can get the most of it is a great way to help your clients enjoy your product to the max while also establishing yourself as an expert in your niche.

• Website policy – This lets your customers know what data you collect from them when they visit your website and how it is used. It explains your website’s security features and privacy policy. This is essential for customers to feel safe browsing your site.

• Refund and exchange policy – Explain clearly your refund and exchange policy so customers know what they can expect from you in the event they purchase one of your digital products and it doesn’t suit their needs or taste.

Step #3 Set up your shop

This is the fun part! Build your shop with segmentation and collection strategies. As I mentioned earlier, keep it simple so that people can find what they’re looking for as fast as possible.  Nowadays, no one has the time to browse for hours to find digital stickers. 

Here are some ideas to set up your digital products shop:

1. Segment your shop by product type – choose the broader name here. Then each segment creates a subsegment (ex: planners, stickers, notebooks)

2. Segment your shop by season – This could be temporary, and you could change it on a monthly basis for holidays like Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, etc.

3. Plan ahead – It can be intimidating to start a business and you might be just trying to get things off the ground right now. But it’s important to remember that you’re building a business that you hope is around for a while. So, consider what kind of ideas you will have for the long-term and plan out when you would like to launch them.

4. Have a signature design – Your signature design is your long-lasting product that people will buy at any time. But remember that you will also have seasonal designs available at the appropriate times like Christmas, Valentine’s Day, etc.

   
   

Step #4 Launch your new website

It’s essential that you have a proper launch and some key factors to help you define your brand. One of these factors is choosing a niche that will help determine the look and feel of your digital products going forward. Consider themes, style and, of course, prices. Know what products you have to offer in your collection and how much you’ll charge for them. 

Here’s are some ideas to launch digital products website: 

• Count down a post in your social media - Post on Instagram leading to launch date & add a countdown timer in your IG stories.

• Giveaway launch - Entice your audience to share your post to qualify to win a collection or a product of their choice on launch day.

• Create a waitlist and offer early access & a freebie within a limited time (the first 48 hours).

• Create a launch bundle that contains the best selling product at an irresistible price - again only available within a limited time.

Step #5 Evaluate and improve

Websites are evolving parts of a business and after you launch, you want to pay close attention to your engagement and communication from clients and site visitors. Make adjustments according to the feedback you receive. 

Here are some expert tips on how to evaluate and improve your digital products website:

• Refresh your images every 2-3 months. Especially your home page.

• Connect your site to Google counsel and analytics to find out the least visited pages on your site to improve the SEO.

• Start adding content to your blog based on frequently asked questions from your audience.

• Invest in SEO whether hiring someone to do it for you, teach you, or take an online course.

Final thoughts on expanding your digital product business beyond Etsy!

Scaling your business beyond Etsy is the next step for building your online community, email list, and launching your own business. No matter how much traffic you’re driving to your Etsy shop, having a stand-alone that belongs to you is essential to establishing you as an expert in your area as well as giving you direct contact to your clients, allowing you to nurture leads and build relationships.

New to the online business and digital planning world?

Watch my free webinar 3 Steps to Create and Sell a Digital Planner on Etsy or Your Website and earn passive income to get you started on the right path. In my webinar, you’ll learn how to create a planner that comes from your own creative genius and also draws in your audience. You’ll also learn about some powerful tools that will help drive sales.