We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Donna Schilling. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Donna below.

Donna, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

Ultimately, I believe customer service is the key to success. Customers appreciate prompt responses to inquiries. They also want to feel like they are receiving more than a generic answer. They want to feel that you understand and appreciate their issue and that you will do everything in your power to assist them.

Perhaps the most difficult part of being a business owner is coping with a bad review especially as a creative. As a poet, I offer my poems as instant downloads on my site. Therefor the customer knows exactly what they are getting at the time of purchase. There is no physical product sent. I once had a customer give me a 3-star review because they were not able to copy and paste their download in whatever manner they needed to. I’m just starting out and a 3-star review, about something that has nothing to do with their purchase, affects my overall score. Still, I reached out to that customer privately and publicly to offer any assistance I could and even offered a refund. Eventually, she sent me private message stating she had erred in what she was trying to do and thanked me for reaching out. Of course, the damage had been done and the review rating couldn’t be changed (because I had already publicly responded). Still, other customers saw that I responded with respect, in a positive manner. In essence, a reflection of the kind of customer service I offer.

I receive a lot of positive feedback about my timely communication. As a consumer myself, I know that I am more likely to give repeat business to a merchant that offers focused personal attention and truly listens to my needs. It may be a little time consuming to do this but in my considered opinion, it’s worth the effort.

Donna, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I have been a poet as long as I can remember. In my youth, dreamed of being a lyricist, but I was painfully shy and introverted with no clue how to make that dream come true. Still, I continued to write, heavily influenced by the lyrics of Barry Manilow. Yes, even today, I am a die-hard “Fanilow.” I love his beautiful melodies and words that stir emotion and sentiment. Yes, I do use imagery, but my poetry is not something that needs deciphering. It written in simple melodic language, usually incorporating deep meaning.

Ultimately, my life’s journey led me to typical 8-5 desk jobs. I’ve spent the last 23 years in a federal government finance job. I’ve worked hard and have been blessed with much success. Still, I wish I had been brave enough to follow my dream instead of taking a safer path. As the years passed, while working my 8-5, I eventually tried to break into the greeting card business. The problem was, I didn’t want to write generic stanzas. I wanted to write something more meaningful. I found one company that is known for non-rhyming sentimental messages. They test marketed my submissions a large number of times, but I never quite made the cut. I think now, that’s because my best writing is in the form of rhyming poetry. But I didn’t have the business knowledge or financial means to open my own greeting card company.

Time continued to pass and in 2020 COVID happened. COVID would end up changing my life in more ways than I could have imagined. My husband has numerous, serious health issues and in December of 2020 he contracted the virus. This was the scare of my life. Hospitalized three times, I knew that he could not go back to his career, working in a school district with behaviorally disturbed children where he would continue to be exposed to this life-threatening illness. He never did go back to work, and it took us a year to get him approved for medical retirement. That was a financial hit for which we were not prepared.

As a result, I started looking for something I could do from home to make money on the side. I’m fairly creative having tried my hand at silk floral arrangements, mosaics, and other crafts through the years. One day, I was looking at You Tube videos, trying to figure out how to ship something. I came upon a video made by a business owner who stated she had made a six-figure income in her Etsy wreath business. She offered tutorial videos, and I knew I wreath making was certainly within my wheelhouse, so I took a shot. I watched her videos and eventually opened my own Etsy wreath business. I had to watch a lot of other videos to learn Etsy, but I managed to muddle my way through it. I was excited when I had my first sale. Cha-Ching! That’s the phone notification sound you hear when you make an Etsy sale. That first one was thrilling (truth be told, they still are)!! I felt inspired.

Soon, however, I came to find out that there was a ton of wreath competition on Etsy. Still working my full-time job, I couldn’t commit enough time to my wreath shop to make it the success it could be. And besides that, it’s not where my heart was. Then suddenly it dawned on me. Was anyone selling original poetry on Etsy? I started searching. Yes! Not a lot of people (which is actually a good thing), but yes, they were out there. Had I finally found an avenue to market my poetry? But how?

I wanted to offer custom poetry, but I had to draw traffic somehow. Other poets had poems available for instant download. To be honest, that worried me. I knew someone could easily copy what I wrote. But I had to start somewhere. So, in July 2022 I opened My Little Poetry Shoppe. I started with acrostic poetry for children names. But mine were different than anything else I’d seen on Etsy. They were (and still are) in stanza form. I started out with common names and offered them with a selection of very simplistic borders, the likes of which you can find on Word. By the end of the month, I heard my first Cha-Ching! I couldn’t believe it! Someone ordered a custom acrostic poem! That is how it all began.

To date, my focus has been instant downloads and custom poetry. I now use Canva to create lovely background images for the poems. I write for friendship, love, encouragement, occasions, and relationships as well as acrositc poems for children names and engagements or marriages (last names). As it turns out, however, I have a particular knack for writing bereavement poetry, either for instant download or for custom orders. These are my most popular items and the feedback I receive is humbling. One lady purchased 7 downloads and had a family member read each one at the Celebration of Life service for their loved one. From the lady who purchased one for her “son’s 4th birthday in heaven” to the lady who lost her younger sister to death by suicide, so many people have expressed to me how my words have brought them comfort and peace. How I expressed what they couldn’t. The private messages I receive have brought me to tears. I feel my customer’s pain but also their joy when they feel their loved one talking to them through my words.

I am most proud of the custom bereavement poems that I’ve written. These poems are personalized for total strangers. Yes, some degree of pressure comes with those orders, but I always pray before writing them and, in the end, I know I am only God’s vessel. I truly believe He is working through me to write the words the grieving family needs to hear. The satisfaction that gives me is even more than this writer can put into words.

I doubt I’ll ever have a six-figure income on Etsy but with the 300 orders I’ve had to date, I am already rich. Rich in the things that matter. My heart and soul are full of the love my customers give back to me and the knowledge that I, with God’s guidance, have helped in some small way to ease the pain of someone suffering the loss of child, a mom, a dad, a sibling, a spouse. This is what makes me most proud.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I am just beginning to realize the impact that social media marketing can have on my business, Pinterest specifically. I am astounded at how many views my writing has had on Pinterest. I am currently averaging 31,000 views a month on Pinterest. That’s a lot of advertising for very little effort and no money. However, considering I’ve had a total of only 300 purchases, with that kind of viewership, that tells me I need to expand my business. I need to give the customer a reason to purchase from me. I am currently researching drop shipping options where I can offer physical cards to my customers as well as personalized poems printed on paper, acrylic, slate, even metal. I have started purchasing samples and have been blown away by the results. Remember, I still have my full-time job, so it’s going to take me some time to figure out how to turn a profit offering physical purchases. I also have to consider the issues that may arise in terms of returns, damaged merchandise, etc.

I am, however, excited to offer these options in the near future. I recently printed one of my poems, “Her Beauty” on slate. It was an amazing production and will make a meaningful gift to my daughter that she will cherish long after I’ve gone to meet my maker. What an amazing product to offer my customers to give as gifts for weddings, birthdays, memorials, etc. These are unique, extraordinarily special items a consumer can’t find in any brick-and-mortar store (especially if coupled with a custom writing).

I realize I strayed from the question a bit, but I do believe that social media marketing is key to growing my business, and not just on Pinterest. So back I go to You Tube videos and “How To” books. I didn’t grow up in the digital age so I may need to seek some assistance, at some point, to market my business in a way that will allow it to grow the way I think it can. I want My Little Poetry Shoppe to be my full-time job. It’s never too late to live your dream, it’s all in the timing. And maybe, just maybe, my life experience is what makes my words so meaningful to people. Maybe my life’s joy and especially my pain, was meant to drive my life’s purpose.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

Non-creatives may not understand that the work of a creative is very personal. Most of us bear our souls in our work. The truth is, most of us non-famous creatives, spend more time and energy on our work that we will likely ever make back in terms of money. Yes, making money is a goal, but to me, it’s the appreciation of the art that really matters. It’s the feedback, it’s the fact that I touched someone’s heart and soul with something I created. I did not open my Etsy store to get rich. I opened it to share my art.

For my instant downloads, the customer knows what they are getting. The pressure comes with the custom poems. I fear the critique I may get. I fear someone may give me feedback that they don’t like what I wrote. Words that I poured my heart into. In a way, that would feel like a personal attack though I know it’s not. That’s the risk for creatives, that our art, our vision, isn’t good enough. I don’t think non-creatives can truly understand that.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.etsy.com/shop/MyLittlePoetryShoppe
• Other: https://www.pinterest.com/mylittlepoetryshoppe/