[00:00:00]
Delores Naskrent: Hello and welcome back to the Creative Juggle Joy podcast. I'm Delores Naskrent, and today's conversation is part of the Go Digital on Etsy Summit. One of the things I love the most about summits like this is how much learning and connection gets compressed into a short, high impact window. You're exposed to a wide range of perspectives and skill sets in a very concentrated amount of time, which leads to quick insights, sharper thinking, and ideas you can actually act on right away.
That's truly powerful about learning side by side with people. Who approach problems differently than you do and with people who have done this successfully before. And I love that it's compressed personally because I don't have a lot of time. So it's nice when it's all compressed into a short window.
Now I have long admired Etsy for its commitment to creativity, [00:01:00] independence, and people-centered commerce. And I'm especially excited about this event because it creates an experience. You really can't find anywhere else. I'm an Etsy seller. A lot of people are Etsy sellers. This is gonna be truly powerful.
Today I'm joined by Eden Free. Eden helps create women make money selling digital products online, and she's known for doing this without all the fluff and hype that often surrounds online business owner conversations. She is also the host of multiple summits. That help creators learn how to sell digital products across different platforms.
Eden, I'm so glad you're here to tell us about it. Thanks so much for joining me.
Eden Fried: Of course, Delores. Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited.
Delores Naskrent: For anyone who's new to this summit or just discovering it, can you just start by sharing what the Go digital, On Etsy. Summit, what it is and who it's really designed for.[00:02:00]
Eden Fried: Yeah, absolutely. Well, the, summit is specifically designed for anybody who is creative or wants to be creative and make something that they, would like to sell online. And that sounds very oversimplified, but it really, that's what it comes down to. I wanted to create a space for, particularly for women to.
Feel confident and competent in building a business, and a lot of people think there's a lot to it. And that there are lots and lots of steps and yeah, I mean, it, it can, it can feel overwhelming. but the reality is there are marketplaces like Etsy out there who make it very simple for you to put literally anything on a shop that you can make in a matter of minutes and you can profit from it.
and so I just wanted to create a space for people to feel like. They can [00:03:00] do it because there is really no difference between a very successful seller and someone who's just starting out. It's just time that's between those two individuals. so I wanted to, you know, just make space for those people to feel like they can jump in and do it.
And that's, that's really where the Go Digital on Etsy Summit was, founded from. And we've been doing it for a couple of years now, and it's always a very well attended event and I'm excited to run it again.
Delores Naskrent: You know, there feels like there was a little bit of an origin story in there, like I feel like a little bit of you came out in that paragraph and I know that you have a story and I would love to hear why you started this.
'cause , that's what my listeners are going to be listening for. What made you decide to create an event focused specifically on this? I feel like there's a story behind this.
Eden Fried: Yeah. Yeah. Well, I mean, I just think that it can feel really overwhelming to start something and you don't really know [00:04:00] where to start.
Like what's the first thing that you do. And if you go to Google and you search, how do I start an Etsy shop? You just get millions of results and which link do you click on and what's legitimate and what's not. and I personally didn't know a lot about Etsy and I wanted to. Honestly create an event that I would learn from, and that I would be able to just invite really top tier Etsy sellers and educators to come in and teach in one space.
eliminate the need to rely on the ambiguity of Google search results.
Delores Naskrent: Right,
Eden Fried: and, you know, Pinterest results and just know that I could attend this event for four days, for free and learn from really amazing speakers. And by the end of those four days, have a game plan and an action plan for what I need to do to be a successful Etsy seller.
Delores Naskrent: I love that, and I think that's what everybody's looking for. Is that just that game plan. Mm-hmm. You've shared that one of the things you love most about summits is how they compress the [00:05:00] learning into that little short period of time. What is it about learning in a room like this, even if it's virtually that accelerates?
Insights in a way other formats can't, like you said, the Google searches and the Pinterest searches and listening to 30 people who sell on Etsy, and trying to figure out from what they're saying. What you need to do.
Eden Fried: Yeah. Well, I think the first thing is that it's inspiring.
you know, when you hear people's stories of, there's really no difference between someone who is a successful Etsy seller and someone who hasn't started yet. It's just that they've done it before. The reality is that the wheel exists. There's no need to reinvent it. And when we invite these speakers in who have done it before, and they're currently doing it and they are already successful, it creates this very inspiring and supportive environment and what something that I've loved hosting summits for many years now.
That I've actually had people who become speakers at my summits after [00:06:00] they have attended the summit years prior. And they took action on what they learned and they became successful. that's one of my favorite things is to feature speakers who previously were attendees who were taking notes and, taking action immediately after and getting results from it.
So I think it's very inspiring and I think we also weed out a lot of the fluff. there's a lot that you can do. There's many different ways to get to an end destination. There's no right or wrong. but we show you exactly what you can do to be successful. and you just kind of weed out a lot of the noise that can be quite distracting.
Delores Naskrent: That's really great. Like if I was attending for the first time, I think I would be really absorbing that information as much as I possibly could in that short amount of time. But I think what it would give me would be that. Big picture thinking like the actual, okay, now I get it. Kind of a thought that would come through.
I know that I've got [00:07:00] so many artist friends who are gonna be attending the summit and who were even surprised that I sell on Etsy and that I even, you know, make part of my income from selling on Etsy. A lot of people just don't even realize that it's an option for them. Yeah. how would you suggest, if, if you were giving them advice, how would you suggest that they make the most of it?
So that they leave with ideas that they can actually act on immediately?
Eden Fried: Yeah, that's a really great question. you know, we have a high volume of speakers and, not every single topic will be relevant to every attendee. so my recommendation would be to take a look at the schedule and pick a couple sessions every day that you feel like are the most relevant to you and focus on those.
Eden Fried: can be. Exciting and you wanna attend everything, and that's great. and if you have the ability to, that's amazing. or if you buy the all access pass, you have, you know, all the time in the world to listen, right? but in the beginning [00:08:00] to avoid that overwhelm, you know, just pick a couple.
The biggest thing that I can say is take action. You know, it can feel really exciting to learn a lot and to absorb a lot, but if you do nothing differently, you'll get. The same exact results that you've always already gotten. So make sure that you create that game plan and actually start implementing what you learn to get the most out of the experience.
Delores Naskrent: Do you find that people who are sellers already that are coming to the summit as well as people who have never tried it before and do you, yeah. Do you find that there are some sessions that are better for the people with some experience and better for the people who have no experience?
Is that part of the choice?
Eden Fried: Yeah, definitely there will be some sessions that are more geared towards those who are starting from the very beginning. but they're absolutely current Etsy sellers who attend the summit every year. you know, Etsy changes every year. that's part of it. and we do feature some of the same [00:09:00] speakers on a yearly basis because they are able to teach 'em the the current trends and what has changed and the algorithm and what's working now.
because certainly what's working now is a little bit different than what was working five years ago. so we definitely have people, who are seasoned Etsy sellers, and we also have newer folks as well.
Delores Naskrent: Oh, that's so interesting. looking back at these kind of gatherings that you've hosted or you've participated in, what kind of conversations or moments for you tend to create that, I don't know, biggest shift?
what have you seen? You're the one that's kind of looking at everybody. What have you seen as the big sort of aha moments that these people have? After the event's over?
Eden Fried: Well, actually to kind of pivot a little bit, I think that one of the biggest aha moments or a space where I see the most aha moments is actually during our panels.
We usually have two or three panels during the live event, and. During those panels, the attendees get an opportunity to ask [00:10:00] questions directly to these experts. and something that comes up every year is when the, panelists will share about their trials and about the things that didn't quite work so well.
and the lessons that they learned. And I think that, those conversations really highlight to our attendees that this process of becoming, a successful Etsy seller is a process and it's a journey. And I think a lot of people get very hung up on how do I do it perfectly the right way without hiccups along the way.
But the reality is there will absolutely be hiccups. the trick is to figure out how do you navigate through those and not view them as the ultimate failure and then, you know, quit right after that happens. So hearing the real stories from these panelists and the real, like the curtains are drawn and, you know, they're not hiding anything.
I think that that creates a very personal experience and it's very inspiring, motivational, and, you know, I feel like that that gives a lot of [00:11:00] energy to power through.
Delores Naskrent: I love that. Do you record those sessions and, and has that been part of, what somebody can watch with the all access pass?
Eden Fried: Yeah, so anyone can attend those, with a free ticket.
you can attend, you can attend the live panel. If you would like the recording for the panel, then that is in the all access pass.
Delores Naskrent: Interesting. Now, I would love to hear if you even have one example, either from your experience or something like that that's come up where somebody was like, I can't believe this happened to me, but it happened, and then.
What they did to solve the problem. I love those kind of stories. 'cause I think you're right. It gives people that, permission to run into issues, but just power through them.
Eden Fried: Yeah. I don't remember exactly who this was, but I do remember someone telling a story about they had a bestselling product and it was.
Going really well. and the [00:12:00] algorithms just kind of picked it up and, you know, people were buying it. and I think she said she was trying to duplicate the product. 'cause a lot of people do AB testing and, you know, tweak things. but she accidentally deleted it.
Delores Naskrent: Oh.
Eden Fried: And, she just shared that super vulnerably and you know, that like, can you imagine the feeling of deleting your bestselling product?
Oh my goodness. but you know, there was a lesson to be learned there and moving quickly and, you know, taking your time and And also just saying, I messed up. You know, that's a huge thing in and of itself. And you know, that story really resonated with a lot of people because who hasn't made a stupid mistake like that?
You know, I certainly have done things like that in the past. You accidentally send an email without changing the subject line. You misspell something. You know, there are a lot of those things that just feel like a gut punch. but. We are human. That's a part of the process. And just understanding that these people who are successful have totally messed up [00:13:00] before, is definitely a very powerful thing to understand in order to move forward.
Delores Naskrent: I totally can relate to that feeling. I had one of those horrible, horrible things that I made a mistake on, but you know, nothing you can do. You just have to move on and, keep going and, mm-hmm. That's a really good lesson to learn and it's nice to hear that from other people because then you realize, okay, it's not just me.
So that's good.
Yeah. I would love people to get to know you a little bit better. Eden. You help creative women figure out what they can sell online and how to get more eyes on the product. And you've been open about the fact that your own journey didn't start out perfectly. Are you okay to share a little bit about that?
Eden Fried: Yeah, I mean, I, I. Really just a regular person. You know, I feel like a lot of times someone gets an email in their inbox from like a list and they think, oh, this person has it figured out. And you know, they are highly successful, you know, whatever assumptions you may have. But I am, a [00:14:00] mom to very young kids.
I started my business with literally nothing. I was the breadwinner for my family before we had kids. and. A lot of what I learned came through just figuring it out, putting one foot in front of the other and just trying things until literally throwing spaghetti at the wall until it stuck. I happened across the world of digital products specifically just kind of accidentally.
And I fell in love with this idea of making something digital that you can create once and it sells over and over and over again. and I love that. I love the freedom that it provides. it certainly the experience has not been without, failures and without those lessons learned for sure.
but I love that this space is something that I get to create and it bends to my life instead of my life bending to it. and that is really what I want. [00:15:00] I, I host many summits in a variety of different spaces all related to selling things on the internet. so not just Etsy specific, but you know, we also talk a lot about Shopify and print on demand and, you know, through funnels and all kinds of things.
but my number one goal is to help people realize that it's possible, that it's absolutely possible, I just, I hate the idea that people feel like they need to be in a job at their desk nine to five, because it's not true. and sure there are scams out there and there are, you know, things that are sound too good to be true because they are too good to be true.
But this is definitely not one of them. that doesn't mean it's easy, it just. It takes effort and once you set the foundation, you can reap the rewards from it. So I love creating spaces for people to learn about the possibilities and, start taking action and get results from them.
Delores Naskrent: How did you feel with that first product that started [00:16:00] to really take off?
Because if you were, at that point, you were just building, you were maybe feeling a little bit desperate, hopeful but desperate. How did that first product that started to really go, how did that make you feel?
Eden Fried: And you know what? It wasn't even a lot of money, but like, if you make something and make money from it, it, it could be 5 cents, $5.
It really doesn't even matter because you made that, that is yours. I remember the first sale notifications coming in and I admittedly was in the bathroom scrolling on my phone. You know who hasn't done that? and that's really cool, you know, to wake up in the morning and to see that, someone made a purchase overnight.
that's even more exciting I think my first product, I priced it at like $19, so it took a little bit to create the snowball effect from that and get. Any kind of income that was very lucrative. but again, that same product, I was able to build on [00:17:00] it and it continued to sell. So it continued to make more money.
and that was just kind of the inspiration that I needed to continue going all in, in that direction. think at the time that I started getting sales on that product, I wasn't fully invested in the product or in. The idea of going all in on products, honestly. Well, once the income came in from it, uh, it was like the gas in the, in the car that I was like, okay, yeah, this is, this is cool.
I know that I need to just lean more into this. and the rest is kinda history from that.
Delores Naskrent: That's fantastic. We see that happening all the time too with, students who have never sold and are afraid to just start, it's actually that very first step. That is the biggest hurdle. And when they do, and then they start selling.
That is, like you said, the gas, it's just, it's not even that you're making a bunch of money, it's not that at all, but [00:18:00] it's the validation that somebody out there bought that thing, whatever it was. Mm-hmm. And we've, we've had so many people who, at the beginning want to give up. some of my students sell on Etsy, some sell, on POD sites.
Mm-hmm. others, sell cards through, Card Isle, which is the one that I always tell people is a good entry point. And we, in this last quarter, because they're now a part of 1-800-FLOWERS, we have had success, like viral success stories with at least three students who have gone from selling zero to selling.
Thousands and it's amazing. And it can happen on Etsy, it can happen anywhere. It's just starting, like you said at the beginning.
Yeah.
Eden Fried: I do think that there, there are kind of two kinds of people out there. there is the person who may be less creative or identify as less creative, I should say, because I'm [00:19:00] definitely one of those people who.
Didn't identify as a creative person until someone was like, Hey, you absolutely are creative. What are you talking about? That's crazy that you think you're not creative. But there are those people who are more business oriented and they have the big picture idea of. I know I wanna do this idea, but I have to figure out what I wanna make.
Yes. And then there are the more artistic people and the more creative people. And I think that's probably more of the people that you work with, Delores, they have all the creativity in the world, but they feel like they are missing something internally to figure out the business side. and to figure out like, okay, do I have the know-how to sell this thing that I made?
and the reality is that Etsy is made for those sorts of people. Yeah. It's literally designed for creative people and it makes it super easy. You can go and spend a ton of time designing a shop on your own and do that on Shopify. Or you could use Etsy. Yeah. Which is a marketplace and it will take you two minutes to set up a shop and literally anyone can do it.
doesn't [00:20:00] matter how much tech experience you have, you can do it. Yeah. So it's just getting over that mental hurdle of do I have it in me? The answer is yes. You just need to believe that.
Delores Naskrent: I love that what you're saying is don't wait. Until everything is perfect. Yeah. If you have a good product, a good message, you have a solid strategy, you can improve as you go, which is a really great way to think about it.
Starting is definitely where you have to just kind of get over that first bit. And believe me, when you attend a summit like this, you are going to get a lot of the. Strategies that you need, you're gonna learn what are the first steps. So I hope that you get really great attendance for this because a lot of people can get started on Etsy They can get started the day after the summit. It's just getting started. Thank you so much. Eden, for sharing your insight and for creating this space for [00:21:00] creative women. I love that. I really appreciate how practical and grounded your approach is and what you've given in the way of personal advice today.
And to anyone listening, I hope you enjoy the Go Digital on Etsy Summit. There so much value packed into this event. So much I know that it'll take you time to go through all of it, but you really need to try to get into as many of the workshops as you can because one idea could make the big difference for you.
Eden Fried: Thank you.
Thank you again, Eden, and keep creating everybody, keep juggling and most importantly, keep finding joy in the process.
