a blog about creative side hustles, etsy-entrepreneurship, and disabled freelancing

a blog about creative side hustles, etsy-entrepreneurship, and disabled freelancing

Resources

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Recommendations

Web Hosting

Many people ask if it is possible to sell on Etsy and on your own website. Not only is this allowed, but I’d also encourage any craft business to plan to do this if they aren’t already. You could even skip Etsy and get to starting a craft business on your own. To have a website, you must have both a domain URL and hosting purchased. Here are my top recommendations for hosting providers for selling handmade items online. Read more of my in-depth reviews of each option listed right here!

Wordpress Plugins & Themes

I've used a lot of plugins in my career as a website developer and small business owner. My toolkit has evolved over the years as I grew more knowledgeable. Right now, here are my essential WordPress plugins that most websites would benefit from installing. You can read why these are my favorite plugins to use here.
  • Envato (themes, plugins, etc)
  • RankMath or Yoast SEO + Redirect
  • UpdraftPlus (For automatic backups)
  • Wordfence (Security app)
  • Akismet
  • Smush (automatic image optimization)
  • TinyPng.com (free image optimization)
  • Litespeed Cache (or whatever caching plugin that works for you)
  • Show Current Template (If you're doing any theme development)
  • Tasty Pins (for Pinterest marketing)

Email Marketing

I swear I'll write an article about these but, until then, know that I've used all these and would recommend them. They all have their pros/cons so find what works for you!
  • Flodesk: most expensive and my favorite I've ever used
  • Klaviyo: what most ecommerce brands use, with good reason
  • Mailchimp: the usual go-to, what I'm begrudgingly using lately
  • Sendsy: one-time payment email marketing for the web diyers. someone on fiverr can set this up for you too but you do need a website. cheapest option listed

Creativity & Design

Marketing & SEO

Free Stock Photos, Tools, and Templates

Social Media Apps and Tools

Packaging, Shipping, and Printing

Random Tools I Use Sometimes

Project Management

More of a reader?

Check out my recommended books too.
etsy pricing calculator get empowered in how you price your etsy products
one day branding a free step-by-step guide
relationship marketing a mini-guide
swot worksheets swot analysis pdfs
email mini course how to beat the hard truths of business
my favorite things web apps, tools, and such I use
spotify playlist hint: its got a lot of kpop
books i love recommended reading

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