I was struggling with postnatal depression when I started my side-hustle for free – now I rake in £7.7k a month
A MUM who struggled with postnatal depression has revealed how she managed to start a side hustle that now nets her £7,700 each month.
Rachel Jimenez shared how she sells digital products on Etsy – and rakes in hundreds of sales a day.
Rachel told Business Insider how she had been inspired to start a blog and an Etsy store selling printables after listening to the Fire Drill podcast in 2019.
She said: “Two months later, I started my blog, Money Hacking Mama. Shortly after that, I began selling digital products like planners, games, and marketing templates.”
At the time she was working full-time for a university as their director of alumni engagement and also studying positive psychology.
She also had a baby, and her side hustle soon took a “back burner.”
During her maternity leave with her second child, she went through a low patch.
Rachel added: “I was struggling with postpartum depression and felt lost. I remembered having big goals and dreams in the past — like wanting to have my own business, increase my income, and be my own boss — and I was upset with myself for abandoning them.”
Her old Etsy store did bring in around $50 (£40.50) despite her ignoring it for a year, but she was determined to make it her focus.
She left her job at the university and decided to learn everything she could about online marketing and making a successful Etsy business.
She added: “When I saw someone doing well with online marketing or an Etsy store, instead of being jealous I’d ask myself, ‘What can I learn from them?’ Then I’d study their strategies, devour any podcasts or blog posts they created, and put their tips and recommendations to the test.
“For example, I’ve noticed that some sellers mark their product up from their competitors to increase the perceived value and then mark it down substantially — like by 70 per cent — so the buyer gets the sense they’re getting a better deal.”
She noted that if her products had lots of views but not many sales, it was an issue with the product or pricing.
If she had a high conversion (sales) rate on a product, but low views, it was a marketing problem.
She uses Canva to create the majority of her products, although other digital creators have found success using Photoshop, PowerPoint, Keynote and Illustrator.
Rachel said: “I’ve helped busy parents make holidays more magical with scavenger hunts. I’ve helped employers make virtual holiday parties fun with virtual games. I’ve helped business owners market their businesses with flyer templates. I’ve even helped couples turn up the romance with date ideas.”
In order to get ideas for the latest trends, she checks Facebook groups, free tools like Google Trends and Pinterest Trends and Paid tools like eRank.
The best part of her digital products is that they are immediately shipped to customers via email and the money earned is fast and passive.
Her sales went from $42 (£34) in June 2020, to $691 (£559) in July and $4,511 (£3,653) in August.
By December 2020, her sales were up to $14,842 (£12,022).
When she first began her business, it took her over nine months to make 100 sales on Etsy, now she can make that in a day.
Rachel takes around £7,700 each month in sales and has no plans to slow down.