In today’s episode of The Lindsey Anderson Show, I’m joined by Dylan Jahraus, an e-commerce expert and successful Etsy entrepreneur. Dylan shares her journey from working in corporate roles to scaling her own e-commerce ventures. She talks about how she built a profitable Etsy business, launched a course, and grew a thriving YouTube community. If you’re an entrepreneur looking to refine your marketing and sales strategies, this episode is packed with actionable insights that will help you scale your coaching business and create a lasting impact.
Guest Introduction
Dylan Jahraus is a 10-year e-commerce expert specializing in Etsy, Amazon, and Shopify. She launched a profitable Etsy business that exceeded $1 million in sales and transitioned into launching her own course, The Ultimate Etsy Course, which has attracted over 3,000 students. Dylan’s course generated $28 million in student revenue, and she has built a community of 91,000 people on YouTube. She also hosts the Etsy Seller Success podcast and recently launched Etsy SEO, a SaaS tool for Etsy optimization. Dylan’s business journey is fueled by her personal experiences and her deep commitment to her family.
Creating a Social Media Community That Converts – Key Takeaways
- Endurance and Work Ethic: Dylan credits her success to resilience and the willingness to push through challenges and never quit.
- Learning from Tragedy: Personal hardships, including growing up with adversity, shaped her mindset and drive for success.
- Customer-First Approach: Dylan emphasizes the importance of focusing on the who—your customers—before deciding on a product. She built her business by addressing consistent needs like weddings, births, and deaths.
- Success on Etsy: Dylan’s Etsy shop took two months to make its first sale, but after applying corporate e-commerce principles, she scaled to $50,000/month.
- Building a High-Touch Course: Dylan’s Ultimate Etsy Course started as a high-ticket course with coaching and evolved into a robust model with a team of 37 people.
Dylan’s Key Business Insights
- Consistency Over Perfection: Dylan stresses that success in business is about endurance. It’s not about immediate results but about keeping at it, adapting, and pushing through the hard days.
- The Power of Systems: Dylan emphasizes the importance of systems to maintain consistent effort and scale effectively, something that has been key to managing her growing business.
- Building Relationships with Your Community: Dylan used platforms like YouTube to give away valuable content, which helped spark curiosity and grow her community.
Building an Engaged YouTube Community
- Dylan started by posting every day for 21 days to build momentum, but now she posts twice a week to maintain consistency.
- Secret to Consistency: Outsourcing tasks like video editing has helped Dylan maintain a regular posting schedule. She also receives video prompts from her editor, which helps her stay productive.
- Engagement Through Value: Dylan’s approach to YouTube has always been to offer real value to her audience, which in turn fostered a loyal and engaged community.
Mentorship and Learning from Others
- The Importance of Mentorship: Dylan credits much of her success to the mentorship she received from industry leaders like Cole Gordon and Alex and Layla Hermosi. Surrounding yourself with people who have already achieved what you want is crucial for growth.
- Learning from Other Industries: Dylan also emphasizes the value of learning from people in different industries. By sharing best practices, she has been able to refine her own sales system and find fresh solutions to problems.
AI and Human Touch in Business
- AI as a Tool: While Dylan built Etsy SEO using AI, she is cautious not to over-rely on it. AI can streamline tasks but should always be paired with personal engagement, especially for high-ticket sales.
- Maintaining the Personal Touch: For high-ticket sales, Dylan stresses that the human element is essential. AI should enhance human communication, not replace it.
DM Selling and High-Ticket Sales Tips
- DM Strategy: Dylan’s Instagram DM selling strategy involves building relationships first. Rather than immediately pitching, she focuses on understanding the needs of her followers and offering tailored solutions.
- Creating a Custom Solution: Dylan’s goal is to solve her customers’ problems rather than push a product. She advocates for listening closely to understand where a prospect is and where they want to go.
- Getting Them on the Call: While DM selling works well, Dylan recommends transitioning to a call for high-ticket sales to ensure professionalism and handle contracts properly.
Social Media and Platform Strategy
- YouTube vs. Instagram: Dylan shares that YouTube has been her most successful platform, providing long-term, evergreen content that continues to attract leads and sales.
- The Power of Comments: Engaging with comments on YouTube has helped Dylan build credibility and show her audience how she genuinely cares. The public interactions also help others see how she connects with her followers.
- Email Marketing: Dylan’s email marketing strategy is a major driver of revenue for her business. She sends daily emails to nurture her audience, generating six-figure revenue from this channel alone.
Key Quotes
- “Endurance, not quitting, is what I credit all of my success to.” – Dylan Jahraus
- “I will do what I do not feel like doing day after day after day for years, and that results in success.” – Dylan Jahraus
- “If you want success, you need to decide who you are serving first, and then figure out what to sell.” – Dylan Jahraus
- “Mentorship is so key. Otherwise, it’s very lonely at the top.” – Dylan Jahraus
- “You can’t just take the easy way out with AI. It’s about finding the balance between automation and personal engagement.” – Dylan Jahraus
- “DM selling can sometimes be easier than getting people on a call because you’re meeting them where they are.” – Dylan Jahraus
- “YouTube has been our most successful platform, and the content we post today will still be working for us years from now.” – Dylan Jahraus
Resources Mentioned
- Dylan’s website: https://dylanjahraus.com
- Follow Dylan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dylanjahraus
- Follow Dylan on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dylanjahrausofficial
- Follow Dylan on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@dylanjahraus
- Join my upcoming free live workshop at lindseya.com/workshop
