I have built a self-documenting AI system for my Etsy shops around external tools such as MyDesigns, Photoshop, ListingView, GPT-Image-2, and Midjourney. The system can be adapted to use different tools. If you are patient and explain what you are replacing, the AI can help rebuild that part of the workflow around your preferred tool. MyDesigns is primarily for uploads of the XLSX outputs at the end of the process. I use Photoshop because I have been working with it since version 0.9 and can automate it to do almost anything. I still handle the background knockouts, upscaling, and positioning manually because that gives me one final opportunity to inspect every piece of artwork. Most images take about 30 seconds, so I can process roughly 120 images per hour. ListingView, along with its Etsy browser extension, is my canonical research source. I use GPT-Image-2 and Midjourney through APIFrame for image generation, choosing between them based on the needs of each design. The AI uses browser control to research and run Etsy searches. The system can start with niches, sub-niches, lists of possible T-shirt designs, or even a conversation with the AI in voice mode. It turns those inputs into evidence-backed T-shirt designs packaged and ready for upload. I like to spend a few hours on Monday coming up with niche ideas, talking through them with the AI while the AI provides research backing to my questions. My part of the process is to provide direction, approve the important decisions, complete the background dropouts in the upload directories, and upload the finished XLSX packages into an Etsy upload tool. That tool applies a few template additions to the Description field only. You could automate the background removal and uploads as well, but I prefer to review every design and upload myself. This is not just a collection of scripts. It is a specific, gate-driven work process in which I approve the research, ideas, and outputs before the system moves to the next stage. I treat the AI like a very talented junior employee. During the design phase, for example, I can tell it to try a different direction, attach reference designs, provide unique phrases, or ask it to revise a concept before continuing.

Happy Friday, everyone! I know many of you are still getting adjusted to Skool, so if you have any questions or need help learning how to use it properly, feel free to reach out! Today, I wanted to talk about the importance of not being afraid to fail or make mistakes - as long as you learn from them and continue improving. When I first started Etsy POD, I had a store with around 500–600 sweatshirt listings, and I was only making 3–5 sales per week. I was spending a lot of money on Etsy Ads, subscriptions, and other expenses, but I wasn't seeing much of a return. The product and niche weren't necessarily the problem. The biggest issue was how I was setting up my listings. My mockups weren't good, my SEO wasn't targeting the customers most likely to purchase my products, and my pricing was way too high to compete with other sellers. On top of that, my designs weren't backed by much market research, so there wasn't enough proven demand for many of them in the first place. Instead of giving up, I started binge-watching YouTube videos to understand why my listings weren't converting. I also analyzed 30+ successful stores selling similar products in the same niches and consistently generating significant sales. That's when I realized just how much I was doing wrong. My designs didn't stand out, my mockups looked generic because I was using basic Printify mockups, and my SEO was terrible. Eventually, I decided to delete all of those listings and completely restart my store. From there, I created a candle and mug store, but this time I made sure to do the research beforehand. I studied which mockups were converting, which niches had real demand, what SEO strategies were bringing in traffic, and how I could price my products competitively while still maintaining a healthy profit margin. Instead of giving up after wasting hundreds of hours and a lot of money, I told myself I was going to figure it out. If I had given up after that first store failed, I wouldn't be where I am today—teaching all of you the processes and specific details that can help you scale your stores faster while avoiding many of the mistakes I originally made.

@Alek Sheffield Can we discuss how to plan for this when it happens on one of our weekly calls?

Since July I've been trying to upload as much as possible before Aug 15 lol (Coach D's recommended deadline for fall/halloween designs) anyone else?

Okay... I know we are all pretty sad about losing the general chat from Discord, and I know this isn't going feel the same, but I encourage you to use this chat like we did in Discord. Talk about absolutely whatever you need to here!