The HARSH TRUTH about selling digital art on Etsy and the myths of Passive Income - WE NEED TO TALK

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Hi Everyone!
Potentially controversial topic coming at ya. I wanted to sit and chat with you today about the myths of passive income. Many people ask themselves before starting their passive income business or Etsy digital download business "what is passive income? is passive income real? is passive income a lie?". Well my friends, it kind of is. Sorry, but it's the truth.
Having had my Etsy Digital Wall Art Prints / Etsy Printable Wall Art shop open for two years now I can confidently say that selling digital art or digital prints on Etsy takes DAILY work to keep the money rolling in. Passive income with Etsy is definitely a myth.
I think it helps to reframe your thinking. The answer to "does passive income exist" is NO. It does not. However, it can be passive in that you don't have to continually create products to pack and ship out - you simply create your digital download listing on Etsy once and it can continually sell at that point. But it will take daily work for people to find your shop, find your art, and for Etsy to promote your shop. Etsy will not promote shops that are not active and just "sit there". So you'll need to adjust your expectations if you think that's true. Easy passive income schemes are a LIE so do not give your money to any of these courses (which ironically are another example of how to make "passive income").
So before you ask yourself how to make passive income and start searching for passive income ideas, types of passive incomes, and Etsy digital products to sell to retire early, give this video a watch and ask yourself if you're still ok with some daily work.
For business inquiries: [e-mail]

[@kristinakelm8909]

Brittany, your honesty is rare. It’s hard to find people nowadays who speak what is true. I’ve been working 12 hours a day for four months now and put 300 listings on Etsy, so much for a passive income. It’s hard. Very hard work.

[@astoldbybrittany4342]

I absolutely hate the passive income "gurus" that mislead so that's what I wanted to bring to my viewers in this video - honesty. Keep pushing and I believe you'll find success!

[@pradeepmn4804]

+1

[@lindacongdon2422]

I've been trying to digitize my art using one of your tutorials (still haven't mastered it but love your tutorial) In doing so, I've come to the conclusions you just stated here and you simply validated what I was feeling all along. I thank you for all that you're putting out there, it's so fresh to hear honesty from one who does and not just watches. Wish I knew you personally!

[@deborahbrancheau1373]

This video actually made me feel so much better about my shop. I work at it like a mofo and is still dragging. I did get to Star Seller in March but lost it in April. What’s most frustrating is I feel like I don’t know where to spend my time. Should I spend most of it adding more listings? Optimizing keywords? Improving titles? Generating backlinks? Reaching out to influencers? So I’ll start in one direction and then get a nagging itch that I need to be doing something else. I feel all over the place. Would you say that at some point it’s just shop age and sales that get you ranked?

[@diiargh]

I really appreciate you talking about this, so many people assume it's "just a few clicks" and "it's so easy and fast". It's not, it's a job that takes time and effort to be successful. As with any new venture, it's important to manage expectations. Thank you!

[@calliopelove]

It always cracks me up to watch these "follow me and watch how its done $" videos where they're like, "Just do this, so simple," and it's like a 30 step process to get the listing up lol

[@clewismessina6630]

I'm a month late to your video and new to Etsy, but this sounds 'sound'. Thank you for putting this out there. I can't imagine Etsy (or any business) as a passive income stream, because passive income is just not the nature of business. It helps to remember that there is a business element that has to be tended to (i.e. inventory management, customer service, process improvement, research, taxes, etc.), regardless of the product. Side-hustle salesmen are good at hiding this aspect of pretty much everything they tell us is easy money. 'Easy' is a relative term.

[@calliopelove]

Very true! Esp. for Etsy. I think the marketplaces (redbubble, s6 etc) are a lot more "passive" once the item is uploaded, you're done. No customer service, etc. I am sure those sites also favor shops who post frequently...it only makes sense that a shop that posts frequently would have more chances to get moved up in algorithm. But yeah, it's a trade off, because you also don't have direct connection with customers (unless via social). It's kind of all full of trade offs, you gotta decide the kind of work you are most happy doing because there will be some work, but some businesses are more heavy handed than others. Thanks for this video!

[@marymiller3989]

Thanks for your honesty, I am just starting out, and as much as I would like to believe I can sit back and count the doe, I realize the work from production to marketing is a job. In fact, just getting things in place to actually launch my shop feels like full-time.

[@Christinebradford022]

This is an awesome and honest thought for the artist. I totally agree with your opinion. There are many channels out there to say passive income. The truth is whether is passive or active, it takes time and effort. also, a good mindset that is treated as a full-time business. creating, listing, marketing and more all processes need to for artwork on the public. It is very hard and time-consuming. Thank you for your honest opinion!

[@TatyanaValdaBelindaHill]

Thank you for addressing this. And 2.5 hours, is fast. I just started on Etsy and it takes me two days at the moment just to prepare the 10 product sale images, do the SEO and list an item. So feeling frustrated. The misunderstandings of what 'passive' income means in print-on-demand harms this great business model and sets people up for failure. Now, if we could only talk about why we have to have ridiculous numbers of listings, be SEO experts and pay astronomical fees for advertising, just to earn a modest income... The amount of junk 'designs' and re-re-re-recycled good designs people flood all the platforms with (not to mention people, with everything from low quality to great quality work, charging little and nothing for a ton of assets) makes it next-to-impossible to compete.

[@benicio1967]

I appreciate your honesty so much more than I can tell you. I’m so tired of hearing just set your pixels to 4500 and your good. Well I STILL know nothing about how to attain ideal resolution on my designs and I have watched probably close to 200 videos. I’m not joking. Some videos are really helpful to REAL BEGINNERS but they don’t teach the details that really matter. For example, I’m hoping the video on Etsy isn’t mandatory because I haven’t the slightest idea of how to do that on Etsy. I’m lost lost LOST! I’m ready to give up.

[@fadingglow]

been doing so much research and debating on selling my art on any of those platforms such as etsy mostly cause of all the things they've done in closing shops for no reason, payment ordeals and so many confusing things on all websites, been searching up other sites, yet etsy is the only free option for new beginners and i came across your video (among others in finding the truths about etsy and how hard it is to grow your shop), still making it really difficult for me to decide on where to even start. thanks for making this! hope i can start something soon and figure it out as i go!

[@astoldbybrittany4342]

You're welcome ashley, I hope hearing more of the "truth" to this industry will help you figure out what to do. Thanks for watching!

[@sondra6500]

I greatly appreciate you sharing your knowledge and honesty. There is SO much to learn and it is so overwhelming. Don’t even know where to begin. Every bit of information is helpful so thank you very much for sharing your wisdom.

[@richardjones8236]

I think this was well presented and very heartfelt. It's amazing how social media will get so upset about political comments, etc., and allow so many to spread these falsehoods about huge markets in "passive income." Thanks for taking the time to post this important message.

[@brendaburgoyne4225]

Thanks for your honesty. I've been wanting to try selling on Esty and it's good to know that is it not as easy as I've been led to believe.

[@VictoriaGates]

Creating the listings takes almost as much time sometimes as the creation of the art itself. It can be a little bit exhausting for sure because it's not the fun part. At some point I could hire someone to do it for me but when I'm only making a few hundred dollars a month it isn't enough for me to justify.

[@beatniksvintage]

Thank you Brittany! EVERYONE who's going into selling digital art/templates/coloring books etc needs to hear this. I'm doing Junk journal art and it takes days just to create the art because each page, tag, label, card... has different elements within the theme. I choose a very time-consuming art because it's what I'm most interested in and I have to love what I'm making or I won't stay with it. Thank you so much for keeping it real!!

[@astoldbybrittany4342]

I've never heard of junk journal art - do you have a shop, I'd love to check it out! And you're welcome! Always trying to keep it real

[@strangecrimeworld9402]

It only takes about 15 minutes to create different templates or printable stuff

[@beatniksvintage]

@@strangecrimeworld9402 I create collage art with multiple layers. So if I do 6 different postcards per page and I'm making 5 pages, that is 30 one of kind pieces of art. I'm not just doing simple templates.

[@pat4005]

@@strangecrimeworld9402I'm sure that is true in some cases. But then again, if someone generates the "art" for a template in just 15 minutes, that's exactly what it will look like.

[@natalia1818]

The worst thing is that they can suspend your shop without reason and warning you... just when I got first 60 sales...Nice play. Now I am waiting for their help, decision, my listings of course dissappeared, I am no longer at the top. And even when they restore my shop I will have to fight again for my position. Terrible place. Don't even try to make it your only income source. The worst scenario that you will be left without Ny income..

[@astoldbybrittany4342]

Oh no im so sorry that happened to you!

[@ulysse21]

The worst is that THEY own you customers data, you are left with nothing. Thinking of those years of effort lost... 😡 That's the price for the freedom and comfort of just designing and uploading I guess.

[@chollycarter3526]

Thank you Brittany. Everything you shared is everything I've been thinking. Other creator have you to believe that this is so easy and there is limited work. It has taken me month's to get my shop up having to learn software, uploading, SEO etc...

[@user-oo4jb3nj7b]

The best advice that one could ever want and need, to keep it real and oneself grounded in reality from an individual that's been there, done that, what a gem! Just keep keeping it real, such honesty sheds light on what one should expect going in, and what, it takes to succeed.

[@CheerfullSunny]

As a freelance digital marketer for the last 5+ years, I can say is that it's a business for the platform and you. Nothing is passive in life. It's real business whther it's online or offline. To start an online business investment is required like in physical business. If one has less money to invest then they have to give in time. As a small business owner or freelancer - one has to work on the product creation, marketing, know the tech part, learn the laws /seos /platform etiquette as well as customer service. In short, a freelancer or a small online busines owner is a content creator, marketer, customer care pro, tech savvy, & most importantly a great time management specialist & health consicous. Often we igorne the health aspect focus solely online which will crash everything one day. Anyone wanting to start, work on your mindset and get real. :) Those passive income $$$ looks great on Yotube Video Thumbnails though.

[@linshalittlebird]

it is so happy to hear the true facts. we appreciate your hard working , how to visit to your Esty store ?

[@saschaloyek3499]

It’s nice to hear someone like you! Much more realistic 😅🤣🙏🏼 You have great content and I like also how you teach about more technical things! Thank you 😊

[@Dido271]

I've done this with clip art and have made just over $2k in 3 yrs. I'm busy with a full time job and like to occasionally doodle so I'm content making "coffee money" but I do have to occasionally give time to my shop so it doesn't just sit there and get stale.

[@createthelifeyouwant]

Thank you for being authentic! In other online spaces, like courses, it is referred to as evergreen. Once it is created and marketed, it can always be available. Passive income is a sound bite, IMO. Love your content.

[@astoldbybrittany4342]

Thanks for sharing this info, never heard of that! And thanks for watching :)

[@stevelacroix2917]

Wow! I love your look, and you've toned down your voice....you are amazingly talented and beautiful.

[@ultralooter]

It can actually be 100% passive. I have automated a store including making designs, generating and filling in tags that have gaps in the market (searches vs listing competition) and fulfilling the orders, doing customer service with a finetuned LLM. However, I have 10+ years of experience in programming and it's not easy at all to get this working.

[@magorzatajedrzejewska5492]

Thank You - like for ALL the work, the info - I am really grateful!

[@astoldbybrittany4342]

Thank you so much Malgorzata!

[@thefinancialaccountingtuto3633]

Hi Brittany. My wife has been working on her etsy digital print shop. And has been getting views, a few favorites, and likes, but no buys yet. She has at least 30 listings and her shop has been open for a month. I do noticed you pointed out you must work on your shop daily, and continue to put new listings up and shes what shes working on. How many listings would you say it took for you to finally make some sales? She is trying her best to not get discouraged and really enjoys creating her works.

[@pat4005]

Do you know if your wife is using any of the research apps like I have seen suggested on other Etsy seller advice channels? One that I saw recently was called Everbee. With those apps you can search keywords that buyers would use to search for items, and see Etsy listings that use them and how the resultant products rank in sales, popularity, etc. If she has not done enough research into what is actually selling currently, (and how well those things in the category she is in are selling), then she will not know what products to spend her time on. Also, there is the choice of keywords when creating both title and description that utilizes those again. I also think Etsy seems to want people to offer free shipping and pay for advertising! Their greed is choking off the small sellers, which they used to build their success with, and now they allow people and businesses to sell bulk goods and factory made products that defeats the purpose of the whole "hand-made" market that Etsy is still selling to the public.

[@socialmediamate]

Great video! Thank you :) I have had my store up for over a month, no sales yet but adding more to it little by little, hopefully I will have a sale at some point!

[@astoldbybrittany4342]

Yes keep going, keep optimizing your shop, and make sure you have something unique to offer in a saturated market. You'll get there!

[@socialmediamate]

@@astoldbybrittany4342 Thank you so much!! :D

[@zolushka4823]

Absolutely! THANK YOU! I watched some of these videos "get trich quick" where these people promoted marketing addons (who paid them to include them in video for promotion) then these people show these shops how they make $150k a year and up....I was like "bro..... what about all the work, strategy and marketing".....lol

[@bearberryboutique]

Thank you for this! There really are way too many liars out there. I watched a video of someones "results of digital selling on etsy" and they have been making about 2 sales per day and they made $1000 dollars last month. I tried to find their etsy and I think I found it...maybe lol...but it says they have only made 4 sales?

[@astoldbybrittany4342]

I'm with you, I think some people are lying!! There's just no way those numbers add up. I do follow some shops on Etsy though and they've had pretty great success! So I think it's possible. But I think the ones that are "touting" their money are fluffing the truth.

[@JillBlock]

Hello Brittany!! I'm an artist and a lot of my small paintings are 6x9...when I'm uploading them to be digital downloads for my Etsy shop getting them to fit in all the different ratios ends up cutting off a lot of my art, otherwise there's a huge white border around it to make it fit and be centered. Is there a size that you find works best to fit in all aspect ratios? Like should my original art be done on an 8x10 instead for easy transition? Thanks in advance!!!

[@astoldbybrittany4342]

Hi Jill! Hhmm hard to say without seeing your art style. First of all I'd say you don't have to use/offer all the aspect ratios I've mentioned in my vids it's just a guide! You get to use your creative liberty to pick which ones flatter your art the most! As far as the art itself: maybe try making your art on a bigger canvas and extending the edges of your designs a few inches? That way you'd have the space to cut off if needed. I hope that makes sense.

[@mikenoneofyourbusiness7122]

Changing aspect ratio will ALWAYS cut parts of your art. So, take control of what’s being cut out by creating multiple aspect ratio files of your scan YOURSELF, then upload it to Etsy. Don’t give Etsy that task, as it’s just automated, there’s zero creative verification. It’s YOUR job to pre-design your art in all necessary aspect ratios. Do. Your. Work.

[@miniisim]

such honesty is very rare these days may your positive karma points come back to you tenfold in your path. Bless you.

[@astoldbybrittany4342]

It truly is, I cannot believe how much these passive income influencers mislead.. Thanks for watching Mini!

[@joann513]

This is so true. A lot of these KZbin creators make it look so easy, LIE! I hope they are as honest as you are!

[@TheDenBarnwood]

Thank you for helping me move in a digital direction. Your content is very much appreciated! How can I repay you? Keep being neat, you’re so good at it 😊

[@astoldbybrittany4342]

Just subscribe, like, and/or comment and that will help me out a bunch! Thanks so much for the support!

[@nancydavidson4899]

No, not chaotic, very useful for someone like myself who is contemplating selling their art digitally. You.ll see my comments on a few of your videos as I’m working my way through them. Interesting to see you post sewing videos too. My full time job is as a pattern maker for clothing 😁

[@astoldbybrittany4342]

That's such an interesting career!!! I wish I could do something like that, but I don't have the formal training.

[@akshaypatil8155]

Hello girl, do u know any website that offers printing as well as the frames for printables. I want to give a website address where they are able to select the paper/sheet quality and the wall frame type???? if their are seperate websites specially for US and UK citizens so that shipping days gets reduced theat would be a added advantage......waiting for your reply...thanks

[@ohdearaugust]

first off, i appreciate your wonderful videos! would you say KZbin is more on the side of passive? i see channels that were relatively big and then the person doesn’t upload for some time or has stopped, but i see that the videos still get views, i assume they are still making money off of ads? even though they no longer are active, no longer “promoting” themselves.

[@astoldbybrittany4342]

Hi there, thanks for your kind words! I kind of agree with you there are def some channels that have what you're talking about. I think these are pretty rare circumstances though. You'd have to have a LOT of videos that are still making a lot of views every day to be able to have full time income. First person I can think of is Jenna Marbles (love her). She has people actively searching for her still to this day just to watch her old videos. So I think it's possible, but rare.

[@ulysse21]

You never know actually. Algorithms are constantly changing, learning, adapting... it depends mostly on factors you can't control anyway. Not that simple

[@katiaeverett9965]

I totally agree with all that you're saying! You have to seriously hustle to make a business work for you! May I ask what your Etsy Shop name is?

[@astoldbybrittany4342]

Hi there, thanks! It's called Aesthetic Solace.

[@createthelifeyouwant]

Do you also do emails and promotions for other content? I am wanting to tie some wall art to other products and affiliate marketing and the set up is very time consuming. Especially for a “perfectionist”. Thanks for your video on setting up the art and sizing. It is what got me interested in adding wall art to products. ❤

[@astoldbybrittany4342]

I might be misunderstanding what you're asking, but I don't think Etsy allows you to collect user info (like emails) for sales leads and such. Is that what you meant? Sorry if I'm being daft.

[@createthelifeyouwant]

@@astoldbybrittany4342 not through Etsy, per se. Lead Magnets or sending them here to your channel to continue relationship outside of Etsy. Your answer answered my question 🤣

[@astoldbybrittany4342]

@@createthelifeyouwant ah ok, glad I could help!!

[@kankoushm9339]

Hey Brittany, First of all, I love how authentic and genuine you are, and you do offer great advice and tips in your videos. I’m new to Etsy and yes you are absolutely right, it is a lot of work. Quick question though, I saw the video of you art sketch/drawing process, did you use procreate for that or fresco? Thanks again for all your great videos 👍👍❤️

[@astoldbybrittany4342]

Ty for the kind words Kankoush! I used procreate on an ipad. Such a great program.

[@kankoushm9339]

I’m sure it is, and you’re truly talented 😊

[@quietspacearts]

i hope you feel much better now from awful effects of covid xx

[@astoldbybrittany4342]

I do!! Tysm for saying that. It was a long road to get here, and very nonlinear. Literally the hardest thing I've ever been through. But it made me a stronger person 💪

[@safirfoot4606]

hi did u make any sales on Amazon associate / affiliate the web site u made ? good luck love your videos

[@astoldbybrittany4342]

Yes I did! Slowly but surely

[@hungrybeastt]

Chaos it is! No short cuts, going through the grind everyday is bare minimum one has to do. Many are still getting lured by misleading videos claiming a passive income online with minimum work. Similarly, many dreams are collapsing also when faced with harsh truth.

[@mikenoneofyourbusiness7122]

Since Etsy won’t promote my products, I’d rather sell it on my own website to keep all the income. If I promote it myself, I can’t justify why they keep parts of my profit. Etsy can go fuсk itself 😂 What a scam.

[@astoldbybrittany4342]

I just hope no one is dumping a lot of money into passive income schemes. It's always going to take hard work.

[@mikenoneofyourbusiness7122]

@@astoldbybrittany4342 Exactly! There’s no such thing as passive income 😂

[@mariac.m-hq3st]

Hey Brittany, you have inspired me to start an etsy store thank youu :)) Can you help me figure one thing out - If i am selling physical wall art, is it possible to create a listing where if the customer picks the smaller size options I will print it myself and post to the customer but when they choses a larger print size in the same listing, it can be handled by a print on demand company ? Sorry for the weird random question but it would really help me figure out how to start listing my products. Sizing is confusing me atm 😊Thanks so much ❤

[@astoldbybrittany4342]

hhmm I can't think of a solution for that at least on Etsy's platform, sorry. Maybe post the same art as 2 different listings, and describe what each one is for? Might confuse customers though. Thanks for watching Maria!

[@pat4005]

That's a good question. The simplest answer would be to not automate the order going to a POD. When the order comes in and if it is the size that you can print at home, you print, pack and ship the order yourself. When the size is larger than you can print, you then place the order with the POD fine art print company. Then they print and fulfill the order for you.

[@HelmetVanga]

Raffle some feathers, very polite and cute. Do you do your art as fine art with charcoal pencil and drawing paper or do you use Canvas, Sketchbook, Coreldraw, Photoshop, etc.

[@gio8687]

Thanks for your honest opinion ❤️

[@astoldbybrittany4342]

You're welcome Gio!

[@brianosullivan4475]

I'm glad when people tell me the truth. Passive income just sounded to good to be true. Hard work gets you what you want in life.

[@radekjanowski8316]

I work my butt off and I don't see any results. It is so discouraging. I think first reviews are really helping out, it's just hard to get any at the begining.

[@astoldbybrittany4342]

Keep trying. Just imagine that success right after all the work.

[@douzimohamed687]

Hello, I have one question. I want to specialize in the field digital of poster. Is it necessary to contact the product delivery company, or just send the product in PNJ or PDF format my customers? Thank you ❤️🌹

[@astoldbybrittany4342]

The method I use is utilizing Etsy and providing JPG files for the art

[@mikenoneofyourbusiness7122]

If files are digital, what delivery company are you referring to? Delivery for what? Digital files are delivered via automated download, so I’m confused what you mean by “delivery company”.

[@user-pg2sj2bk4m]

Are there other sites you can suggest to sell digital/printable wall art?

[@Gothgalactica]

This was awesome, and much needed! There is a major "too good to be true" air about it for me, although here I am down the rabbit hole bc it sounds intriguing. I've been an artist my whole life, just trying to find my way lol Thanks for posting the real, and I hope you continue to recover. I got the damn fibro, chronic illness sucks. Also, I related so hard when you said I felt like this was chaotic 😂Story of my life lol

[@astoldbybrittany4342]

This is exactly how I felt! Always been artistic and was intrigued by the talk of how "easy" it was to watch the money roll in. So I dove in and as expected it was too good to be true :) Chaos is more fun eh?? Fibro is no joke, I'm so sorry. I hope you are having symptom free days lately! Thanks for the kind words.

[@francito3343]

I have been doing print on demand since 2017, and I still have to continue to work on the shops. Still have to work a 9 to 5 as well. There is not such thing as passive income. The moment you stop uploading sales start dropping.

[@astoldbybrittany4342]

Thanks for your comment on your experience Francito!

[@Shari-Attarian]

I'm a graphic designer, well, I'll be graduating in November, but I just wanted to see if Etsy is good for me or not?!

[@jazzyrose3257]

Thank you for sharing.

[@herbv3449]

Cohesive talk! I think its an important topic!

[@astoldbybrittany4342]

Agreed! Thanks for watching Herb

[@camelliamay2920]

Thanks for the info!

[@astoldbybrittany4342]

You're welcome Camellia! 😉

[@maidenfanusa]

I only recently opened my shop. Yeah, I'm spending a lot of time on it. Hours. No sales yet.

[@astoldbybrittany4342]

You'll get there! Just keep showing Etsy you're actively working on your shop and make sure your products are top notch 🤌

[@mikenoneofyourbusiness7122]

How do you lead people to your shop? Where do you advertise? The examples are developing huge following on social media or using paid ads. Do you do that? How will potential customers find your store? If you don’t SEND people to your store, simply sitting there logged in won’t do a thing. I’ve done that for years with zero sales. My products were modern, with great photos and descriptions, excellent competitive pricing. You need real marketing strategy, not wishful thinking. Find a way to be in front of your customer, he/she won’t just randomly appear in your shop.

[@benicio1967]

@@mikenoneofyourbusiness7122 you are right. The problem is, ads cost a lot and if you don’t have the money to do it you’re sunk there. I only have instagram at this point and will never go back to Facebook so I’m sunk there too. It’s nearly impossible to network or generate traffic without social media nowadays so I’m pretty sure Etsy just isn’t going to work for me.

[@artistjortiz]

100% agree with this video thanks for sharing!

[@anameyoucantremember]

The thing that "artist" don't get it's that passive income only works if your art is truly amazing that it can sell for itself. If you just do some average whatever random images.. well, you'll earn some average whatever random money.

[@bellamama8570]

This is the most realistic one I've watched so far. People lie to get views.

[@HelmetVanga]

I always wondered myself. First they say $45,000 a month. An Etsy report said the average active sellers makes $2,600 a year. That is more realistic to me. One couple said my husband's car is broke, mine just broke, so this Etsy think better work because bills are piling up. I studied this little story and I came up with the analysis how far they are from making a dime on Etsy. From what I see at least you have to be educated, know some business, it helps if you can actually paint and draw or use digital art software to create art, you can't just go and infringe on someone's work. But if you do not have any skills at all, there is no way you can make any cents here. Etsy is not for everyone. This is why 89.00% (my own calculation) sellers are not making any cent at all and their accounts get shutdown and closed. In the end the only passive income that is happening is Michael Jackson's music and Kurt Kobain's music, both are no longer with us but every time radio or TV play their music they pay royalties to their Holding companies or owners of the copywrited material.

[@cathychats]

The better your artwork, that faster it will be copied/stolen, the more you will see it on the open market, the faster your brand will die or you have to keep up and constantly improve your style. Anyone who have a solution to this let me know your strategy pls because I've been following so many artists and illustrators and they are not as unique anymore like they used to be

[@SearchScripture]

Agreed. Great advice!

[@astoldbybrittany4342]

Glad you think so!

[@kmb6154]

that's very honest 🙏

[@MariamMahamatAlilibre]

Your 100% right about those facts

[@astoldbybrittany4342]

Glad you agree!

[@maylaughton]

Definitely agree, 100%

[@astoldbybrittany4342]

All about balance at the end of the day. Thanks for your comment! 👍

[@francito3343]

agreee with you a 100%

[@timeless_imprint001]

Hey Brittany!! I've been a victim of " passive income" trap ...the idea of " money rollin' in" sang to me ..like sirens, later these sirens bit me hard enough to make me realise that it was a trap!! LoL!! At first I thought I'm failing may be because I have zero knowledge about this industry then I began to feel that this is taking too much of my time ,energy and investment (too) to be called " passive". Nothing wrong with this field though .but please save yourselves of mental torture by admitting that this is not passive AT ALL.!!

[@AvermillPublishing]

How do you do video's on digital products? Maybe it's a dumb question, but for digital images or coloring pages a video sounds dumb. I guess I'm not as marketing savvy as Etsy wants me to be.

[@astoldbybrittany4342]

You could just make a video that explains how your digital product works! could make people who are unfamiliar with digital products more comfortable with the purchase

[@AvermillPublishing]

@@astoldbybrittany4342, That's interesting. Ty for the reply

[@great567]

The only true passive income is interest over years.

[@vickycalta2282]

Sooo true, but that's just because Etsy is kinda the worst platform to sell tho, there're more and better places to sell than Etsy..

[@lincatbug]

I don't know what kind of a hyperproductive artist you have to be to come up with a piece EVERY DAY good enough for selling. It does not seem realistic to me at all. There are lots of very good artist in my social environment, but I haven't met ONE person who is able to stay daily-consistent.

[@mikefoxai]

learn new stuff...AI..stable diffusion

[@richm8168]

I can look at your pretty face for 100 years!

[@bryllupsfotofilm]

Brittany, “if you were my daughter”, I would advise you to do 50/50. 50 % in a normal job that you can survive inn. This will give you the rights to have a retirement wage. The other 50% can you give it to creativeness. To be an artist is quite “economically speaking” unstable. A real artist will do it with pleasure without thinking in the money. In another way a “wanna be business man” will do it for the money. The best is to follow your hearth and emotions an create what you want. In your last days Brittany, you will not remember the money, you will remember your achievements regarding emotions. I will do an Etsy shop to help my creative daughter.

[@astoldbybrittany4342]

I love this advice. Truly, thanks so much for taking the time to leave this comment!

[@pat4005]

That is completely a false statement to say that "to be an artist is quite 'economically speaking' unstable." A professional artist (usually one who has had professional training in their chosen field, but not always), will earn a living wage and be very stable. Where did you get your stats from, that back-up what you stated about it being "unstable"? ANY profession can turn "unstable" very quickly as the types of jobs available run into an oversaturated market, or the market turns, or jobs go overseas, etc., NOT just artists. I remember years ago when there was a glut of Realtors when the real estate market went bust. I also remember when there was a glut of engineers and many were laid off and could not find work. Are you referring to artist wanna-bees who just do art on the weekends and rent a display at an occasional craft fair for "fun"? Like any job (or business), being a full-time artist earning a "living wage", requires the person to research what they want to do, what field makes the money threshold they wish to make (that is if they plan on working for an established company), or if they choose to run a business themselves, as a freelance illustrator, graphic designer, animator, fabric designer, mural painter, portrait painter, 3D digital artist or animator, etc. Business classes and basic accounting for small business would be VERY useful so she has a clue about running a business. Even people who appear very well-grounded, and made their money in some other field, have lost their retirement by going completely unprepared into owning a small business that they never had any experience in whatsoever! I've seen the stories of people buying bars or small restaurants and thinking it's "just" getting some (likely untrained) people to bartend, or untrained chefs to cook at a small restaurant (just because they say they can, or have worked somewhere else previously), and then they wonder why the business they bought did not stay popular or take-off because they were clueless and ran the business into the ground. Unless an artist plans on getting training (or devoting LOTS of time on their own and learning the best way to create whatever it is they want to create or do), and then work for a company and gain experience (as in ANY ITHER JOB), then to be successful on their own, they need to learn about running a business and probably wearing all the hats too. If the artist is just selling original art or prints, it's not too difficult, be be prepared to make lots of art and learn how to market it. If the artist wants to sell their art on products that they have to pay up front for, and order a minimum quantity from a factory, then store, pack and ship themselves, it can be quite lucrative, but exhausting. An artist can work for free, or make 6 figures or anything in between, but as in ANY career path to success, it takes a LOT of time, research, focus and dedication.

[@sandrovaro]

There is no way to make money with digital art on Etsy. Absolutely time waste! All those digital art "gurus" who talking about selling digital art on Etsy, they just doing this for views on KZbin.

[@Om-gg5tk]

Loved this video,Brittany! How many listing does it normally take to start generating full-time income on Etsy?Going into 2023, I feel being successful on Etsy will be purely a numbers game( quantity + quality) and superior digital marketing skills with the amount of sellers joining every month in practically the same niches and using the same research tools(erank,everbee,sales samurai etc.) so I am curious to know your thoughts on this, thanks.

[@astoldbybrittany4342]

To generate FULL time income? Quite a lot and you'd have to add many new listings per week. Honestly maybe at least 100 listings to start. Thanks for watching!

[@kuroyukidevgames]

I definitely agree with this video about the way "Passive Income" has been glorified (so to speak) as a way to make a living without doing any work. I've been trying to follow many of the KZbinrs out there saying "Make $20k per month doing [fill in the blank]" but what most people seem to not notice is the part about how those videos are actually telling you you NEED to keep putting out more content continuously for it to work. Thank you soooo much, Brittany, for making this video and addressing this serious misconception about the term "Passive Income" since yeah it definitely is getting out of hand very quickly. I'm definitely subscribing to your channel for sure! If I may request a topic to seeing more videos on? I would like to request some tips-n-tricks videos for how to setup the different types of Digital Art Etsy Shop listings since I've been having a hard time finding any that aren't trying to sell me a some additional product their sponsor is asking them to promote. My hobby is making custom AI Generated Artwork, and yes I know this is a topic most artists seem to say is "bad art" but the fact is the art generated by someone who actually has a background in software engineering and who knows how to write "the perfect AI prompts" can actually produce some completely amazing original artwork. I have about 120-ish total completed AI Generated pieces of art that I'd actually like to put up for sale as either Printable Digital art or Desktop/Smartphone Wallpapers (or both maybe?) and I'm currently making a DeviantArt account for this right now (on 1 of my other 2 monitors lolz I have 3 monitors) and I'd like to make Etsy shop listings for them as well but I have no idea how to set them up tbh....

[@umadbro4568]

That's so weird since i've been on Etsy since 2019 and have around 110 listings and haven't touched it ever since and I still get around 100-200 dollars in sales per day, now of course it's not digital art so there's that too