It started because I was angry. I was working full-time, my bills were piling up, and I really needed some extra money. I didn't want a side job that made me more tired.
I needed something that would work on quiet nights, didn't need a lot of money to get started, and could grow slowly in the background. That's when I found digital stickers by accident. To be honest, I thought it was funny at first.
 |
| Credit: https://unsplash.com/ |
Selling small pictures online? It didn't sound serious. But I kept seeing creators on Etsy, TikTok, and Pinterest talking about how they made consistent money selling stickers for digital planners. I didn't even use a digital planner, but the idea stuck with me. One Sunday night, I decided to give it a try to see if it could work.
Outline:
- The mindset shift that made me take it seriously
- How I picked a niche without guessing
- Tools I used and how I learned the skills
- Pricing, packaging, and getting discovered
- Mistakes that nearly killed my sales
- Breaking past $500, what really worked
- What I wish I knew earlier
- Final Thought
1. The Mindset Shift That Made Me Take It Seriously
I used to think that side jobs had to be "serious" in order to make money. Drive for Uber. Do work on the side. Take care of someone's social media. I didn't think that digital products could make real money, even simple things like digital stickers. But this is what made me change my mind:
I began to think about size and volume. A $3 item isn't a lot, but what if 200 people bought it? What if I made ten different things that each sold a few times a week? That change in my mind made me take it as seriously as I would a job for a client.
The second shift? Understanding that digital stickers are more than just cute, they're useful. They help people get their lives in order. Keep track of your habits. Show how you feel. It all made sense when I thought of them as "solutions" instead of "graphics."
2. How I Picked a Niche Without Guessing
I didn't just pick a random design style and hope for the best. I looked at real marketplaces like Etsy, Creative Market, and Teachers Pay Teachers. I looked at the bestsellers, sorted them by "most recent," and read what other customers had to say. I searched for:
- What kinds of stickers people liked the most
- Places where customers wanted more (like "I wish this came in neutral colours")
- Price points that sold well all the time
One thing that stood out was that digital planning was very popular, especially among women aged 18 to 34 who use iPads, Notion, or GoodNotes. They weren't just buying things that looked nice. They bought things to help them be more productive and take care of themselves. Mood logs. Stickers for budgeting. Tabs in digital form. Wellness prompts. I made the decision to go all in on that.
3. Tools I Used and How I Learned the Skills
I didn't know anything about design. That made me think for a while, but this is what helped:
- Canva (free version): I used it to make stickers with simple shapes, soft colours, and icons
- Gumroad: Let me host my files and let people download them right away
- GoodNotes (trial): To see how my stickers looked in a real planner
- Google Slides: Oddly useful for arranging full sticker sheets and changing the size of exports
- YouTube: The best free school for me. I spent more than 30 hours watching tutorials to learn about file formats, DPI, transparent backgrounds, and so on.
A lot of people think you need Procreate or an iPad. Not yet, you don't. I made my first $500 with just a laptop and free software.
4. Pricing, Packaging, and Getting Discovered
My first pack cost $3.99. I thought it would be better to go lower and learn than to set a high price and not sell anything. There were:
- 45 PNG stickers with clear backgrounds in the pack.
- Two full sheets of stickers (A4 size)
- A short PDF that shows you how to use them in GoodNotes
I put them on Etsy and Gumroad, but Gumroad got me more sales because I could link directly from TikTok and Pinterest. I used the following to promote my stickers:
- Pinterest pins showing how I used them
- TikTok "plan with me" videos showing how I used them
- A blog post I wrote on Medium showing how I made them
Pinterest brought in the most sales. In my first week, I got more than 1,000 views without ads. I connected each pin to the page where I sell my Gumroad items.
5. Mistakes That Nearly Killed My Sales
Mistake 1: I did too many styles at once. At first, I put out a bunch of stickers all at once, including floral ones, black-and-white ones, cartoon styles, and simple icons. People were confused. I wasn't trying to make a brand. I was just throwing things at the wall.
Mistake 2: Not organising your files well. People sent me messages like "Where's the see-through version?" or "It won't upload to GoodNotes." I didn't test everything before it went live. I fixed this by:
- Always zip folders with labelled subfolders, like "Sticker Sheets" and "Transparent PNGs."
- Include a clear one-page PDF that explains how to use it.
Mistake 3: Not having a plan for what to do next. I sold things, but I didn't have an email list, an upsell, or a bundle offer. So I sold one thing and lost them forever. After that, I offered a free mini sticker pack in exchange for an email address and started to build a small list.
6. Breaking Past $500, What Actually Worked
What made me go over the edge:
- Bundling: I made themed bundles instead of single packs, like a "Wellness Kit" with three items. I charged them $7.99 instead of $3.99. Customers thought it was worth more.
- Improvements: I'd send buyers a thank-you email with a discount code for their next pack. It led to more sales.
- Customer feedback: I asked them what they wanted next. Someone asked, "Can you make budgeting stickers for people who work for themselves?" That one idea turned into a best-selling set.
In the third month, I made $531 in sales. It wasn't a lot of money, but it taught me that if you treat small digital products like real products, they can add up.
7. What I Wish I Knew Earlier
People care more about how easy something is than how pretty it is. The sticker set that I thought looked the best didn't sell. The ones that were simple and useful did.
- People don't give Pinterest enough credit. I made more money from evergreen pins that got a lot of traffic than I ever did from Instagram.
- Every customer is a lead. People who bought from me once were likely to buy from me again. I learnt how to follow up, sell more, and say thank you.
- Digital products add up. A product I made in the first month still sells today. That never happens with side jobs that pay you for your time.
 |
| Credit: https://unsplash.com/ |
Final Thought
If you’re looking for a low-risk side hustle that doesn’t drain your energy, digital stickers are worth exploring. It’s not passive from the start, but the effort compounds. You build once, and it can keep paying you quietly.
Comments
Post a Comment