To see Doug's entire channel click here, or use the links in the video description for the specific videos I used for this video. www.youtube.com/@dougcunnington

At age 14, I believed my parents, teachers, and most adults were clueless. By the time I reached my 20s, post college, I thought I was an imposter and I assumed everyone else knew the "answers" and had their act together. It was only after decades of experience, while witnessing chaos in other peoples lives, that I appreciated my solid judgment (thanks, Mom and Dad) and realized I actually had made good decisions. It was only when I stopped trying to please everyone else and do what was best for me, that I gained the confidence I didn't have as a young person.

@pvanukoff

5 ай бұрын

That's the most important lesson to learn in life. My dad used to tell me "look out for number one". I never really understood what that meant until much later in life. Trying to teach my kids this lesson as well.

@KaraBuntin

5 ай бұрын

I've heard people say "the older I get, the smarter my parents get."

You are a prime example of what Doug advises- ‘surround yourself with those whose advice you can trust.’ I will just say that in an ocean of fakes, scammers, those who talk big but deliver small, You are one of the few (for me) who has surfaced as someone whose guidance is credible and straightforward for the benefit of your “audiences” and followers. The content you provide is actually helpful and significant, I.e worth my time- without the ongoing undercurrent of a sales pitch in disguise. Thanks for being a consistent, trustworthy and no nonsense anchor for so many small business owners.

@KaraBuntin

5 ай бұрын

Thank you, I really appreciate that.

I know all this from listening to you but its always good to hear again. I have a 5 year plan to grow my business while I'm working full time. I know I'll grow slowly because I don't do it full time. If I make more money year over year I'm calling that a win. I don't expect to be profitable for 3-4 years. I do have plans to expand income streams, but thats diwn the road. I'm old lol. I only have so much energy so I'm trying to be realistic in goals and life balance/mental health. Its no good to be so stressed you get sick or give up because its hard. Like you say... Turtle wins the race. Thanks for always keeping it real!

@KaraBuntin

5 ай бұрын

Slow and steady is better

Loved this, Kara--You and Mr Cunnington each are brilliant, wonderful resources! Thanks for sharing his channel, too!

@KaraBuntin

5 ай бұрын

Thanks!

I come from a blogging background, and Doug actually played a big part in my success thanks to his Keyword Golden Ratio method. I haven't started my shop yet, but I will soon, and I'll definitely use my experience in crunching data to find a gap in the market instead of relying on luck. Also, I've just found your channel and I think you're the only one out here giving actual advice, so thank you! ❤

@KaraBuntin

5 ай бұрын

There are so many bloggers doing that on Etsy now there aren't many gaps left. I'm sure that you can find some but they'll be small so you might need to find more than a few to make a decent amount of money. It's the same thing as the KGR, you might rank well but it will be a smaller audience. So you need to do more of the KGR things to rank for one larger keyword. Which isn't a big deal, but since bloggers have found etsy as a source of posting digital products it's turned into the garbage mall, so watch out.

@firzen0000

5 ай бұрын

@@KaraBuntin Thank you so much for the heads up! I've decided from early on to go with handmade products and ignore digital garbage altogether. I want to treat this as a real business, unlike how I did with my blogs. Hopefully, I can get my foot through the door, but only time will tell. Thanks a lot for looking out for me and I'm so glad to have found your channel!

Oh my, I can just forever count on your voice of reason whenever I get overwhelmed by, well, life and small business stuff. People just skip over the real issues and talk selectively with everything in a positive light. Can't we just cut the BS and help each other out with honesty... When someone asks me, why are you watching the "seemingly upset lady"? And I'm like...what? That's what we're all thinking and going through those motions. It's just that a lot of "gurus," artists, and so on share happy-go-lucky content or get rich quick schemes etc. And sure, do that, but it's not realistic. When I read "My Cozy Business" I swear I lose it xD Because being self-employed is a lot of things but being cozy... yes it's practical to be at home, but there's nothing cozy about getting out of your comfort zone daily. Thank you so much for your time, sharing and being real! And now we know of another realistic channel.

@KaraBuntin

5 ай бұрын

Am I the "seemingly upset lady?" HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. I wouldn't say that I'm upset unless it's about people trying to scam people. Wait, no I would call myself that because a lot of things piss me off hahahahahaha

@Martina_BCJdesign

5 ай бұрын

@@KaraBuntin LOL! 🤣 You are GOLD, Kara. If it makes it any better, my husband is that someone who says...oh it's the "seemingly upset lady" so no big deal, he ain't the audience!!! 😅 And I'm like... Her name is Kara and she's a small business VETERAN calling out other people's BS. Like come on people, "my cozy business getting me xxxxxyy per month." Small business is many things but cozy ain't one of them. We're all upset over that BS.

@KaraBuntin

5 ай бұрын

@@Martina_BCJdesign I couldn't remember the phrase...Tell him I'm seemingly upset but genuinely crabby.

You had me at bull*#it meter! Brilliant! Loved this , thank you for introducing me to Doug :)

@KaraBuntin

5 ай бұрын

I think that his main "thing" is financial independence as far as making an income online in general. He has a financial podcast called Mile Hi Fi but I have to say that I've never listened to it. I'm thinking I should because I have a feeling I'd benefit from it as far as mindset goes.

Fun and fascinating. Thanks for sharing.

@KaraBuntin

5 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it!

I agree. People should have a business that fits their life. 😃

@KaraBuntin

5 ай бұрын

Me too.

Thanks Kara! I'm so glad I found you! I love your down to earth and honest advice. I've been selling on Etsy since 2008 and have had to learn and grow slow & steadily. A lot of what you say is common sense and/or something I've already experienced, but it's nice to hear it out loud. I appreciate your sharing Doug's channel too, will have to check that out too. :)

@KaraBuntin

5 ай бұрын

You are so welcome!

I was brilliant in my twenties. Laughing about that now.

@KaraBuntin

5 ай бұрын

I was sooooooo smart.

Thanks Kara for the reaction video.

@KaraBuntin

5 ай бұрын

IT wasn't much of a reaction, it was more of "see, someone else says that same thing!" But thanks for watching :)

That is a very good point about an email list. Do you know what rights we have to the emails our customers used to purchase through etsy?

@KaraBuntin

5 ай бұрын

You can't take emails from customers and use them without their permission. You can set up a mailing list and put a link that tells people they can sign up, but you can't put people on a mailing list without their permission.

Thanks for the video Kara, been taking your advice since I first started Etsy

@KaraBuntin

5 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching !

Thank You Kara!

@KaraBuntin

5 ай бұрын

You are so welcome!

@KaraBuntin As a testament to what you are saying, I visited his channel and noted the following: his video has been up for 4 days, he has 88K subs, 21 likes and 1 comment, YOURS.

@KaraBuntin

5 ай бұрын

I know! HIs approach isn't the get rich quick thing, so it doesn't attract people. I like it, though.

@Sacred.Wisdom

5 ай бұрын

@@KaraBuntin Agree 👍🏻

I have 14,000 sales, selling 4 years on Etsy with 8 x "best sellers" and "star seller" every month for the past two years. Without any warning or emails, Etsy suspended my account this morning. This was my sole income and they said it the appeal didn't work (which it won't as I have no idea what I needed to appeal as they wouldn't tell me) they will ban me for good. What do I do? I'm so depressed I didn't leave my room today, I feel so hopeless. I have no income anymore. 4 years of work down the drain please help

@KaraBuntin

5 ай бұрын

I'm so sorry...What were you selling? Kee trying to contact them to find out what happened, and in the meantime start listing things on ebay..

Welcome to the brave new world of “coaches coaching coaches how to coach” scammerverse

@KaraBuntin

5 ай бұрын

It’s been that way for centuries…The Internet makes it so much easier to get people to pay you for it

Thanks for this, his comment that "if you burnout, you've lost" really resonated with me after imploding a very successful on-line business 20 years ago by letting myself burn out. Probably the most important lesson I learned is not to burn out (although I have to remind myself constantly not to do that). Thanks for all the common sense reminders!

@KaraBuntin

5 ай бұрын

Excellent!