Expand Your Product Offering without Doing Any Work

My Etsy Shop is still a side hustle. While it’s becoming a larger part of my business, a good portion of my income comes from client graphic design work.

I have a goal of adding a new art print to my shop every week, but it doesn’t always happen. Sometimes that goal is just impossible, but it’s still what I aim for. During my busiest weeks, I’ve become a master at adding new products without actually doing any work. Below are some ways I’ve managed to do this, that have brought in a lot of sales:

Offer Multiple Colors: Adding new colors of a product takes very little time, and I’ve seen a lot of success from this - particularly when it comes to background colors. Changing the background color on something is a one click task in Photoshop. It’s also something that customers really like. People are typically buying art to hang in a room of their home. They probably already have some decor they would like to match, and by offering multiple colors, you are fulfilling this need.

My Tip: As a guideline, I typically offer two warm colors and two cool colors - just to provide a range without going overboard. You can offer the same color options on all your prints to save time when creating listings. For some reason, I’ve seen a lot of success with Peach and Blush colored prints. I love to do polls on social media to find out what colors sell best, so ask your customers what they want and offer that!

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Offer Multiple Sizes: I used to only sell 5x7 and 8x10 prints. I was constantly getting messages about larger sizes, but I just didn’t have the time to crack that nut. I finally bought a printer and figured out a way to print larger sizes at home. Guess what? My sales went up astronomically! People usually have a print size in mind already when they are looking for art. They may even already have a frame. If you don’t offer that exact size, they’re going to pass you up.

My Tip: Start offering multiple sizes by sending through an outside printer first. See which sizes sell the best, and THEN invest in a large printer. I’m a big fan of testing before investing! To the left are the sizes I offer, which has provided my shop with a good range. There’s no one size that brings in the most revenue, so that tells me I’m offering the right dimensions.

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Sell Art in Sets: This is one of my favorites. I love bundling prints with similar color palettes and subject matters, and selling them together at a discounted price. Customers seem to really like this too, because these are some of the most popular items in my shop. Most people don’t want to shop around for art prints that match. It’s a lot of effort, and you save them time by matching up prints for them.

My Tip: Sets of 2 tend to sell the best in my shop, so I would start there. This is also the easiest to execute. The higher you go, the less sales you’ll probably get, because the price point goes up. However, when you do land a sale on a Set of 4, it tends to be a pretty big payday!

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[BONUS TIP] Compile Existing Work to Make New Art: My Autumn in New York illustration did so well on Etsy, I made a Spring, Summer, and Winter version as well. The way I created these was by taking the same illustration, and illustrating a new sky and park. I also tweaked the lighting a bit in Photoshop to match each season. It wasn’t completely new work and the buildings stayed the same. This was so easy to do and each of those pieces have pulled in just as much revenue as the original Autumn one. Another way to do this is to take little illustrations and combine them into a chart or group of illustrations to fill a print. People love groups of items.

My Tip: Don’t be afraid to make Photoshop your friend. It’s still art, even if you digitally added or modified something. I’ve digitally updated quite a few pieces to make them into something I think will sell better than the original.