Connor Kurtz

Married to @lauren_kurtzz | Mechanical Engineer | Etsy Print on Demand

[Connor Kurtz @Connor_Kurtz8]

I quit my full time Engineering job a few months back to go all out on our Etsy business.

My wife and I are doubling down on Etsy in 2025 by scaling our team and existing shops.

I will be posting more Etsy and Ecom thoughts here this year as we grow our business and continue to coach hundreds of others how to do the same thing.

The decision to quit my engineering job allowed my wife and I to move to Colorado to be closer to and more involved with our church.

Walking away from my 10 year engineering career and moving across the country away from friends and family was the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make. However, after 5 years of growing our business on the side, the time was right to finally make the leap to go full time.

Sometimes the hardest decisions become the simplest when you put Him first.

“…as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” - Joshua 24:15

[Alex Hormozi @AlexHormozi]

Successful creators write 100 posts to find 10 that work. Unsuccessful ones write 10 posts and wonder why none work.
Quantity creates quality.
Volume negates luck.
You're not doing enough.

[Alex Hormozi @AlexHormozi]

Work so hard you become every teacher’s top student.

Work so hard you make a losing strategy a winning strategy.

Work so hard, the people who helped you claim your success, because it’s bigger than their own.

Violence is the answer.

[Connor Kurtz @Connor_Kurtz8]

Small prices changes have massive profit impacts.

I recently reviewed profit margins with a student.

They made 8k net on 100k revenue in their first year on Etsy. (Definitely below the 15-20% I like to operate at but they priced aggressively to drive rank and build momentum).

After looking at their numbers, had they charged $0.75 more in shipping on secondary items, they would have increased their net profit by 2%.

A small change like this would have little to no impact on conversion rate.

2% seems minor but it would have resulted in a 25% increase in their net profit.

Each percentage point matters…even more so at scale.

[Leila Hormozi @LeilaHormozi]

No one applauds you for reviewing financials on a Friday night

No one notices when you hire slowly, train your team, or skip the shortcuts

There’s nothing glamorous about doing the right thing repeatedly without recognition

Consistency doesn’t get claps - it builds companies.

[Connor Kurtz @Connor_Kurtz8]

I met with a someone to talk about optimizing workflow for creating Etsy listings.

She said she spends most of her time on seo research. Her mind was blown when I told her I spend less than 1% of my time on seo research.

The top Etsy sellers spend their time on the most important things.

Many sellers are spending the majority of their time on the wrong things.

Do More: Product research, design, and listing photos

Do Less: seo research

There is no golden set of keywords or perfect combination that leads to thousands of sales.

A great product with ok seo always crushes a bad product with hours of seo research.

[Connor Kurtz @Connor_Kurtz8]

@paolo_scales And the interesting thing is: they likely can have what they want if they just stay focused on their current opportunity longer.

[Connor Kurtz @Connor_Kurtz8]

We are outputting about 5X the number of new listings heading into Mother’s Day, Teacher Appreciation, and Nurse Appreciation seasons compared to last year.

We are also doing this in 5 different product categories compared to 1.

Interest to see if 5X the number of listings equals 5X the revenue.

I’m sure we will see some diminishing returns but unsure how much.

[Connor Kurtz @Connor_Kurtz8]

Met a 79 year old couple through our church who are still actively building their business.

Previously retired and no real reason to work other than to leave a legacy for their family.

Excited to learn from them.

The cool thing was they were just as curious to learn about our business.

[Connor Kurtz @Connor_Kurtz8]

I still believe Print on Demand is the best business model out there for people wanting to start a business.

Using existing manufacturing/production

+

creating designs once that can be sold many times

= lots of leverage and potential to scale

All while developing real business skills (with little risk other than time) that can propel you to your next opportunity.

[Connor Kurtz @Connor_Kurtz8]

Titles, tags and thumbnail all need to be super specific and relevant to properly leverage search volume.

The issue with almost all poor performing Etsy listings can be attributed to one of those 3 things.

[Connor Kurtz @Connor_Kurtz8]

I see so many people distracted with new ai related tools that they spend all their time playing instead of outputting real work.

We did our first 500k on Etsy with text based designs made in PowerPoint.

Funny to look back on but…

There’s no need to over complicate

[Connor Kurtz @Connor_Kurtz8]

Really feel like there’s no one else on Etsy right now with our experience, consistency and discipline. Confident and excited for what’s to come over the next 10 months.

Good luck to everyone as we head into Mother’s Day season

[Connor Kurtz @Connor_Kurtz8]

Have noticed an interesting difference between team members (people we pay) and students (people who pay us).

The team member is more responsive to feedback. When we are teaching a skill, the team member accepts feedback and makes adjustments. The growth and improvements are seen immediately.

The student often questions the advice internally and chooses which things to implement based on what they think is most important, not knowing that all the seemingly unimportant details are what’s important. They are not random.

Just seems backwards and the psychology is interesting.

If you are paying someone for their expertise, do everything they say until you can replicate their results. Then, and only then, add on your own improvements. This idea has worked incredibly well for us along our business journey.

[Alex Hormozi @AlexHormozi]

I am the biggest success story of every mentor/coach/vendor I’ve ever paid.

Here’s my “secret”:
Do everything they tell you to.
To the tee.
The first time.
Take what works.
Toss the rest.

You can learn something from everyone.
But only take in that which makes you stronger.

[Alex Hormozi @AlexHormozi]

If you just did all the shit you already know you should be doing but aren’t, you’d be 10x further than you are right now.

Sometimes we need to be reminded more than we need to be taught.

Less information. More implementation.

[Alex Hormozi @AlexHormozi]

One of the truest laws in business:

The more money you make other people, the more money you make.

[Connor Kurtz @Connor_Kurtz8]

Not exaggerating here either. 20-30x is conservative.

I’ve had people ask why they’re not getting sales with only 2 listings.

When we launch into a new product category, we start with 100 new listings in close to 100 different micro markets.

And that’s just the initial launch.

[Connor Kurtz @Connor_Kurtz8]

There’s no secret to Etsy success.

At every level, the shops ahead of you are actually just putting in way more work than you are right now.

And it’s not only like 2X more work. It’s really like 20-30X more work.

Sometimes you just need to do more.

A lot more.

[Alex Hormozi @AlexHormozi]

You’ll build a bigger brand making 0 content and accomplishing shit for 5 yrs, then making content about what you did.

No one cares about your opinion until they know it’s worth something.

Back up your talk with walk.