Revenue Streams: How Creating a Second Product Line Turbo-Charged My Income

Unlock a Profitable Handmade Business
in Just 12 Weeks Without Using Etsy
or Social Media

FREE WORKSHOP

This workshop is for anyone who makes and sells a handmade or physical product, including jewelry designers, artists, paper designers, bath & body product makers  and more!

What You'll Discover

The #1 mistake people make with Etsy & social media that causes shops to FLOP

 The secret to making it with your handmade shop so it's no longer just a hobby

How to make sales in your handmade shop with ease so you can finally get to 6-figures

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  1. Amy says:

    Excellent article! I had a similar experience and can testify that second products can do amazing things for your business. I saw tremendous growth with a complementary product launch. I could have done without some of the profanity in this guest post, though.

    • Mei says:

      I don’t think I’ve ever met a successful creative business owner who didn’t diversify their income in some way!

      Thanks for stopping by, Amy!

  2. Penny says:

    Turbo charge your business… by starting a new one, spending at least $20k and completely leaving your creative preferences at the door in favour of banging out massive quantities of whatever-people-want? Look – props for making life work and creating a successful business and all that, but this isn’t a realistic example of growing a business and certainly not appropriate for handmade (or ‘self-manufactured’ as this is). I know it’s only one example, but it rather sends the message that ‘handmade’ needs to be a factory to be successful and the creative muse isn’t welcome.

    This wasn’t really creating a second product line, it was changing everything. All I see here is someone who ran into a problem selling what they loved and instead of solving it, chose to give up on individuality and sell whatever people wanted. Maybe I’m too cynical, maybe it’s just because it’s 4am and I haven’t gone to bed yet but in my view, this is not a happy ending.

    • Mei says:

      Penny, I appreciate your perspective and thoughts on this. I think it’s important to point out that Meredith and Matt didn’t give up their creative outlets. They still run their first business, Ex-Boyfriend and they do so with lots of creative success.

      Their businesses being in the t-shirt industry or the fact that they sell so many t-shirts should not be confused with being like a factory. The art that they create for the t-shirts is still their own and something they put creative thought in.

      I believe that to be a successful business owner, you absolutely need to give people what they want and to listen to trends. I also believe that as a creative, it’s the best kind of creative problem solving work to find balance in creating and designing products that you love but that also meet a demand in the market.

      It’s a dream to make for the sake of making without any thought as to whether or not people want it in their lives. If you’re in it to build a career, business, future and life around, it’s important to consider market demands. That doesn’t have to mean it is less creative or less handmade.

      At the end of the day, it’s a choice that people have to make but it’s not a black or white matter.

  3. Kara says:

    I think the basic message here is that to run a profitable business, you need to sell what people want to buy. It seems very simple, but I don’t think that people understand that. Much of the time when someone posts something about not making many sales and asking for people to critique their shops, I look and see that they’re selling things that are out of fashion or just aren’t what people would buy. There’s only so much advice that you can give to people to help them sell their macramé toilet paper covers, to be blunt. The Boredwalkers did it the right way by researching what was selling and being flexible about adding products even if they weren’t their own taste. Keeping the first line as a creative outlet is great, they can do that for their own enjoyment, but to pay the bills they’re right in realizing that their boss is the public. Very smart!

    • Mei says:

      You’re on point, Kara!

      There are rare instances where we can truly be artists and not have a care about the rest of the world, but we need to be realistic.

      If your goal is to make an income selling what you make, you need to play both roles of artist AND business person.

  4. This article was BRILLIANT for me ! Thank-you.
    At the moment I am developing a new online business to commercialise my Celtic artwork.
    This has made do a complete rethink. I was being too precious about my”ART”.
    It reminded me to practice what I believe . . . that unless I am actually earning my living from my “ART” , I will cannotcall myself an artist.

    I am doing your 30 day challenge and it is great for keeping me on track and motivated. Thought I think I will probably go through it again next month !

    Thank-you.

  5. Zanna says:

    This story is just another version of the 3 price point strategy – they have the medium and low price, and it looks like they don’t need the high price. There’s nothing wrong with appealing to the masses. It is harder making things you may not like yourself, but you need to let go of your creativity a little bit, afterall, it is business, and business is making money.

    • Mei says:

      Totally agree, Zanna! I always recommend for people to have multiple price points to diversify offerings and make it easier for people to buy.

      We’ll all fall out of love with some of the work we do at some point so it’s important to have fun things in your life that aren’t tied to financial goals. I think it’s clever that Meredith and Matt have their more artistic t-shirt line. Even if it’s not making as much money, it keeps them fulfilled and sane :)

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