- Mim Jenkinson is a 44-year-old Etsy seller based in Newcastle, Australia.
- Jenkinson makes hundreds of thousands of dollars a year from selling stickers and courses.
- She breaks down how she set up her shop, the materials required, and how she markets her products.
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This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Mim Jenkinson, a 44-year-old Etsy seller based in Newcastle, Australia. It has been edited for length and clarity.
In 2015, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. At the time I was in a well-paid corporate role, and my husband and I were really secure: We'd started a family and moved to a new city, and it felt like the world was our oyster.
But within months, I had to leave my job to undergo chemo and almost every cent we'd saved up was wiped out.
I wanted a creative hobby to keep my mind occupied, so I started to make stickers for my planner. Soon after, I decided that I'd put the stickers I was making for myself on Etsy and see how it would go.
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Today, seven years later, we've turned our family's financial situation around entirely. I continue to sell my stickers online and teach others how to build their own sticker businesses. I can earn up to $2,300 a month in Australian dollars (or about $1,500 a month in USD) selling stickers on Etsy, and an additional $2,400 in AUD (or about $1,600 in USD) selling on my own website.
How I set up my shop
In the beginning, I sold my stickers exclusively on Etsy — I still sell on Etsy, but also through my own website. Etsy is an extremely accessible platform that reaches millions of customers, and I'd purchased stickers from Etsy myself, so I knew it'd be a good place to start.
I'd been blogging for a few years, so I had some experience in building an audience through marketing — mostly collaborating with other bloggers, using social media (mostly Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest), and creating an email list. I really quickly began to gain customers and was shipping stickers all over the world.
When I first started, I was selling printed stickers. I would print, cut them out, and send them all over the world. Those sticker kits were priced between AU$15 and AU$25. It probably took three months to see a steady stream of sales each day.
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A few months after I started, I started getting questions from customers about how I was making the stickers. From my corporate experience, I had some experience in training, sales, and marketing. So I put together a simple sticker-making course, and it took off from there. I now have over 5,000 students all over the world. Many have gone on now to open their own successful sticker shops.
After a few years, I switched from making printed stickers to printable ones that customers can buy digitally and then print out themselves at home. (I have students who start with both printed and digital stickers, so I don't recommend one over the other.) My business is now entirely online, which is much easier, and I can earn anything from $500 to $2,500 every month from Etsy alone.
There are very few startup costs
Selling stickers is definitely one of the most affordable online business models, that I know of at least, and also one of the most fun and creative.
You'll need a laptop or a computer, which many people have already. I've found the best design softwares are Silhouette Studio and Cricut Design Space, which both have free versions. For anyone who doesn't have a cutting machine right now or doesn't intend to get one, I recommend Silhouette Studio out of the two to start with.
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If you want to sell printed stickers, you'll also need a printer and sticker paper. I recommend contacting paper manufacturers in your area and requesting some samples of sticker paper. You can check that these are compatible with your printer and cutting machine, and once your business is picking up, you can place a bulk order. When I started out, I remember going out and buying a Canon printer (the one I use is the Canon Pixma inkjet color printer) from the local stationary shop for about $60. I thought, I'll start with this and when I start making sales, I'll upgrade — I still use the same printer to this day. You don't need a $3,000 printer to be successful.
Make sure to track every expense as you go along and make sure that there's an ROI on everything. I run ads on Etsy seasonally, a month or so before major holidays, which cost between $35 and $50 each time.
Market with a customer's mindset
The number one thing that's made an impact in my marketing is constantly having conversations with my customers and students, over zoom calls, emails, or DMs, about what kinds of products they'd like to see.
I aim to find out what I can make easier for them, whether they're buying or making stickers. Why are they using a planner in the first place? How do the stickers make them feel? Why do they want to create stickers?
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SEO is important, too. I'm always trying to put myself in the mindset of an Etsy customer when I'm naming stickers.
For example, I could have a sticker that says "Yay! I just got paid!" but that isn't what customers are typing into the search bar — they're looking for "payday stickers."
I also like to focus on stickers that help people solve problems that haven't been addressed yet. I literally walk around everyday thinking, "Could that be a good sticker?"
You don't need to be an artist to design stickers
In the beginning, there was definitely a learning curve in terms of actually creating the stickers. While I'm tech savvy, I didn't have a design background beyond Canva. There were definitely a few late nights in those early months practicing designs. I was afraid if my stickers weren't good enough and I got a bad review, I would be an embarrassment.
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Looking back, I wish I was less focused on perfectionism. If you're just starting out, my advice is to push past the imposter syndrome and just put your products out there, because then you'll get feedback faster. You don't have to be an artist to be successful at this. Everyone runs into hurdles when they're first learning a software — that's normal. Just keep practicing, and you'll get it in no time.
I would never have imagined that selling stickers would've had the impact that it's had on my life. It's allowed me to achieve financial freedom for my family. My husband works in my business now too as an illustrator. He worked at Disney for 10 years as a hand-drawn animator.
And it goes way beyond finances — my business has also brought me such an immense sense of achievement and pride. A lot of my students have gone through really hard times too, and starting this creative hobby or enterprise has changed the way they think about themselves.
The best part is, it's been so much fun. I love getting out of bed every single day to do this, and I can't wait to pass it on to my kids when they're old enough.
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If you're an Etsy seller and want to share your experience, email Jennifer Eum at jeum@insider.com.
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