You are probably looking for extra money or a side hustle besides your day-to-day jobs. Today, I will share how I started my online store as a side hustle with AI-generate image and easily making 3k per month selling into the Etsy marketplace. Remember, you can also sell on your own online shop, like Shopify or self-hosted WooCommerce. I recommend starting with a marketplace like Etsy, where you get traffic easily or get exposure to many buyers. 

I will explain my journey step by step how I did it…

Market Research

Finding a good niche is most important for starting an online business. I spent a lot of time finding a perfect niche. In this case, I already mentioned the niche was AI-generated Digital Arts. I found that it has huge demand in the market. A lot of content creators buy this kind of digital art for their streaming. For example, Twitch and Kick streamers buy many of these digital arts. Another significant customer base was from YouTube content creators.

AI Tool

I did a little research on various AI tools. There were few of them. Midjounery, Dall-E by OpenAPI, ImageFX by Google. They offered limited free image generation. However, in my case, I started with the Midjourney basic plan. It fulfills all of my requirements. 

Generating AI images and a little bit of touch

You can quickly generate good-quality pictures or art with a bit of knowledge of the Midjourney prompts. I used to spend half of my time generating different kinds of images. I gave a touch to my AI-generated images. I’ve basic knowledge of Adobe Photoshop. You can do this with some other tools. There are a few free tools as well if you don’t want to spend money on paid professional tools as a beginner.

Etsy Marketplace

The next important thing I focused on was finding a good marketplace. Etsy goes with all of my requirements. In 2023, around 500 million people visited Etsy every month. A product published in the Etsy marketplace gets exposed to a large user base right away.

Stay Consistent

One key factor of this journey was staying consistent. In the beginning, I did not get sales. However, I kept uploading content regularly. You can publish two or three contents per week. Whatever number you choose, stay consistent with it. Engagement with your customers is also essential. I responded to and resolved each issue promptly and on a priority basis.

As of writing this post, my store is nine months old. I have around 3k revenue per month, 3k sales and more than positive 400 feedback. My shop earned the star seller badge after the three months. And, I am doing this as my side income besides my regular daily job.  

Here are some tips to help you get started…

• Focus on a niche: One key to success on Etsy is finding a specific niche in which you can specialize. Whether it’s simple wedding invitations, social media graphics, or printable art, find something that you enjoy creating and has a market demand.
• Create high-quality designs: Make sure your designs stand out by investing time and effort into creating high-quality graphics. Use photo-editing software, such as Adobe Photoshop or Canva, to create designs that look polished and professional.
• Optimize your listings: When creating listings for your graphics, make sure to include all of the relevant information that potential buyers might need. This includes clear and detailed product descriptions, pricing information, downloading instructions and high-quality listing photos.
• Promote your shop: To attract more customers to your Etsy shop, promote your designs on social media platforms like Tiktok, Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook and Reddit. Do not run any ads until you have a certain number of listings.
• Great customer service: Providing excellent customer service is crucial to building a loyal customer base. Make sure to respond to customer inquiries promptly, and provide clear and detailed instructions for downloading and using your graphics.

By following these tips and putting in the work, it’s definitely possible to make $3,000 or more per month by selling graphics on Etsy. Just remember to stay focused, create high-quality designs, and provide great customer service to ensure the success of your business. Good luck!