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Nikki Schreiner has always had a very busy life, homeschooling her family, moving around as an Army wife, and giving back to her community. And through it all she’s always had a hobby she loved: sewing.
One day she decided to start a sewing blog: Pin Cut Sew Studio. She went on to open an Etsy store and start a YouTube channel, and grew all of them slowly and steadily.
She experimented with different strategies and learned plenty of important lessons along the way, which she shares in this very honest and inspiring interview.
Today, Nikki runs her 6-figure/year business out of a teeny tiny sewing room in her house.
Keep reading to find out:
- What happened to her first blog
- What was the catalyst for creating her sewing blog
- How she really started to earn money
- Where her income comes from
- How she views website traffic
- How many hours per week she works
- Her thoughts on SEO
- Her unique approach to keyword research
- How she finds content ideas
- How she builds relationships vs. links
- How she markets her blog, YouTube channel, and stores
- Her thoughts on list building
- The resources and tools she swears by
- Her main challenge to date
- Her greatest accomplishment
- Her biggest mistake
- Her advice for other entrepreneurs
Meet Nikki Schreiner
I’m Nikki, an Army wife and mom of three teens, whom I’ve always homeschooled (one has graduated, so only two left to go)!
We’ve lived in seven states and currently reside in Louisville, KY, which is our favorite so far and the place we plan to stay if Uncle Sam allows.
While sewing is my top hobby and now my business, I also love photography, reading, house projects, visiting cool cities around the US, the arts, the outdoors, playing tennis, board games, the New York Times crossword, and… the list goes on.
I’ve always been a person of many interests and never met a hobby I didn’t want to try. It’s a gift and a curse!
Why She Created Her Website
I started a blog in the early 2000s, when blogging was just becoming a thing. I blogged about family and home life, with sewing content sprinkled in.
Fast forward several years and I continued to blog casually in that manner, but didn’t really have the time or inclination to monetize it, as I was busy homeschooling my kids and moving around a bunch.
Once all my kids were a little bit older, I tried my hand at a multi-level marketing company. I discovered that I was actually highly motivated by the earning potential, but that even as I grew a very large downline, the income I was earning was not increasing at all.
The structure in place was designed to keep me striving while having no actual control over the growth of “my” business. This may seem unrelated to what I’m doing now, but I feel it’s important to mention it because the experience was the catalyst for Pin Cut Sew.
In most ways, I am not super proud of having been involved with an MLM, but I’m also very thankful for that time because it taught me what I was capable of and helped me to see that I had business potential and that I actually liked the teaching part and the business aspects of that whole experience.
While I was still striving to get somewhere in that MLM, I really needed a new laptop.
I decided to teach a few kids’ sewing camps that summer because four weeks of camp would earn me enough to buy a new MacBook.
After those four weeks, I not only had a new laptop, I had a whole new business plan.
I quit the MLM and got to work. I continued scheduling and teaching sewing camps and classes for kids out of my home, while simultaneously starting a new sewing blog and, at my husband’s prodding, a YouTube channel, all under the name Pin Cut Sew Studio.
Things did not take off for me immediately, but the steady income from sewing classes was a great way to add some extra money to our family’s overall income.
Meanwhile, I steadily worked on my blog and YouTube channel, growing an audience but also learning to balance all of this with three more moves, homeschooling, my husband’s deployment, and then Covid.
I had stopped teaching classes when my husband deployed and have focused solely on creating online content since 2019.
Three years ago, I started creating PDF printable versions of the tutorials I’d been posting on my blog and YouTube channel and opened an Etsy shop.
For a long time, I had avoided selling anything because I believed that people would not pay for what was already elsewhere on the Internet for free. I was dead wrong.
I made sales the very first day and have sold tens of thousands of my printable patterns to date.
How Much She’s Making
I call myself the poster child for slow and steady progress over time.
It’s been 7 years since I first started my blog and YouTube channel, and I no longer teach sewing classes but have grown my online business to a point where it’s a significant second income for our family.
Since opening my pattern shop three years ago, my income has more than doubled each year, and this year, 2024, will be my first six-figure year.
My largest source of income is pattern sales, which I sell on both Etsy and my own Squarespace site.
I have two physical pattern booklets that I mail out, but otherwise, my entire shop is of digital items. The two shops together earn between $6k and $9k in these summer months, then those earnings easily double or even triple over Q4, when people are buying patterns to make for the holidays.
This is a screenshot of my Etsy pattern sales, which accounts for two-thirds of my sales between both sites.
My other sources of income are YouTube AdSense and my blog ads through SheMedia. YouTube ads vary greatly throughout the year but seem to have held steady at or around $2k each month this year so far, then that number climbs to $3 to 4k in Q4.
My blog ads earn $400 to $700 per month. This number is low compared to many bloggers, but I have opted to pour into YouTube and my pattern shop, using my website more as a hub for my content, sales pages, shop, and to grow my email list, rather than putting all my attention on getting traffic from Google and Pinterest.
We’ve probably all heard the saying that what we water will grow, but I think we can look at it from the opposite viewpoint as well. Notice what’s growing, and choose to water that.
In my case, YouTube grew very easily compared with blog traffic, so I shifted my focus to that, using it to drive traffic to my shop and website.
Otherwise, I earn a meager amount from affiliate sales and a few selective sponsorships.
I’ve chosen to keep sponsorships to a minimum because I found that I do not like to work with deadlines! I think it’s very important to know yourself and not accept just any income source if it will make you miserable in the process.
As for traffic, according to Google Analytics, my website has had 414k visitors in the last 12 months. This isn’t a metric I check very often, honestly.
Once I shifted my mindset about website traffic vs. actual true fans that result in sales, I was able to detach myself from comparing this number to others who are solely blogging for ad income, which is not what my business is built on.
Ad income is just extra for me, but my shop sales are my bread and butter, so those are more important numbers for me to track.
My YouTube channel performs very well, at 106k subscribers and over 5,000,000 views!
I’m very proud of what I’ve grown there; it’s such a great community of people, and it’s been very successful at driving people to my website to shop my patterns and join my email list.
I work about 20 hours a week, on actual sewing projects and pattern making, and on filming and computer work. I know this because, when I set up an LLC this year, my accountant had me do a salary study and I had to calculate all the time I spend.
Nikki’s Main Marketing Strategy
I will never stop encouraging more bloggers to take the leap into video content. I think adding video content to my strategy early on, even though it took a few years for me to start taking it more seriously, is what has led to much of my success.
Video is not only prioritized in Google search results, YouTube is second only to Google as the most visited website on the planet.
More than that, though, video allows for your personality and storytelling to shine through. People who watch your videos become loyal to you, your content, and your business, because they feel like they’ve found a friend.
Many bloggers I’ve chatted with about video feel very nervous about putting their faces out there for the world to see, but I hope more will get past that and give it a try.
I struggled to start, too, but videos are now the part of my business that makes me feel most connected to my audience.
Her Thoughts on SEO
SEO has always been a secondary consideration for me and in light of the recent changes to Google search, I believe this has worked in my favor! While I do try to write blog articles in a way that they will be found in search results, I have not prioritized SEO over writing what my audience will want and enjoy.
Because my blog contains articles and tutorials that include accompanying videos and are unique ideas, my site did not get hit negatively by the recent helpful content update.
That said, I consider my website more of a hub for my entire business, and site traffic is not something I focus hugely on currently. I put most of my energy into YouTube viewership and shop sales.
I do think understanding SEO and how it works is important, but I do not think it should become a blogger’s entire business plan.
Always diversifying where your traffic comes from and where you’re posting your content, plus understanding what your audience wants, is a much more reliable strategy.
I will add that Google obviously isn’t the only site with an algorithm. YouTube has its own set of SEO optimization guidelines, as does Etsy, as does Pinterest, and so on. Learning the best practices for each platform you’re using is important as well.
Keyword Research
My keyword strategy is the reverse of how I’ve seen many bloggers operating.
I’ve already explained that SEO optimization is not my top priority. That means that, rather than seeking out the “low-hanging fruit” of topics to cover in my blog using tools and keyword searches, I first determine what my audience wants to read or watch, then I find the keywords that pertain to what I’ve created so that I can make sure I cover those in the post, in order for it to perform better in search results.
I think others in creative niches would agree that you have to find that sweet spot between what you want to create and are naturally working on, and turning that into content that inspires others and meets their needs.
One of my favorite ways to find topics is by paying attention to the comments I receive in my videos and watching for peoples’ pain points.
If there’s a question being asked several times, or a tutorial people keep asking for, that’s my cue to create content around it. Simply asking your audience what they’d like to see or what they think is the hardest part of (fill-in-the-blank), can be a great way to gather content ideas as well.
Link Building
I have no fancy strategy for link building.
I find it’s much better to allow these things to happen naturally, and by nurturing relationships with other people in your niche, they will indeed happen naturally.
Instagram is great for this, in my experience.
Rather than having a spirit of competition with others in my niche, I love to share their content in my stories and shout them out when they have something new to offer.
On YouTube also, I mention and link to other channels I’ve gotten an idea from. This leads naturally to others reciprocating and when they do, I receive links, then traffic, then sales. As an added bonus, I’ve made friends!
Her Content Creation Process
I consider each new video the beginning of a circle of content.
For example, if I create a video tutorial for YouTube, I mention and link to the printable version of the pattern for the project in my shop.
My shop page is sure to say that there’s a video tutorial available, and I also create a blog post around the tutorial, embedding the video in the post, writing some information about it, including materials and extra tips, and also linking to the pattern there.
So my YouTube channel, my blog, and my pattern shop all have covered the same project, and all three are linking to each other in a circular fashion.
Finally, I send an email newsletter linking to the new project video, post, and pattern. Ideally, I’ll also create a social media post for various platforms, but since those do not generally drive sales for me, I forgive myself if I don’t.
I’m only one person, after all, and I focus most on what moves my business forward in the biggest ways.
This strategy covers all my bases and serves people who consume content in all kinds of ways.
Some people prefer to watch, some like to read, some like the info in their inbox, some want the printable version. I try to cover the content so that everyone can consume it in their preferred way.
Her Email List
Like many bloggers, I didn’t understand the value of an email list until it was proven to me!
I resisted for a while, but I started an email list before I really felt like I had much to offer and now I’m so glad I did.
I have over 10,000 email list subscribers and I grow this list in several ways.
I do have a pop-up on my website that performs pretty well. I also have an option to join my email list when anyone purchases from my Squarespace shop, which is a big reason why I like to have my own shop in addition to Etsy, where it’s much harder to get people over to my site and my email list.
Lastly, I occasionally make a project on YouTube and offer a free printable instruction sheet for it. In order to get the freebie, people have to hop over to my shop, which I link to in the video description, and when they get the freebie from my shop, they almost always opt into my email list.
I love my email list because when I have released a new pattern, or have something to share or announce, it’s such a fast way to make my followers aware and to make sales.
I think bloggers often shy away from using email because they don’t want to be “salesy,” and I understand, but it helps to remember that those people want to be on your list. They chose it, they expect your emails, and people are smart enough to understand that they will be sold to through email. It’s literally what they signed up for!
Of course, you should vary your emails and not sell something in every one, but don’t let the fear of annoying people keep you from using your list to its full advantage.
I resisted for a long time, but now I’ve learned that if I’m having a slow week and need to up my income real fast, sending a simple email is my first and best option.
Nikki’s Favorite Resources
I do have some podcast and channel recommendations, but first I want to say that in order to be a good content creator, you have to be a content consumer.
If you were joining a jazz band but never listened to jazz music at all, you wouldn’t be expected to grow or become an expert. You’d be a poser and would probably make a fool of yourself.
The same is true for content creation.
If you want to be a good blogger, read blogs. If you want to be a good YouTuber, watch good YouTube channels in all kinds of niches.
Notice their storytelling methods, their pacing, their B-roll, their tone, and ask yourself how you can improve your content with the ideas you gather. Consuming content and then using that to improve your own is the best way to get good at it.
For blogging, I love The Blogger Genius Podcast, Pat Flynn, and of course Niche Pursuits!
It’s so inspiring to hear about other bloggers’ journeys because I have often felt like my path to success was very slow compared with others. Hearing the huge variety of stories out there is always so encouraging.
For YouTube, I like Think Media for general YouTube how-to-succeed advice, and Ali Abdal for productivity. There are many channels I watch and am inspired by though, in many different niches.
First, I couldn’t live without Canva Pro, and I’m sure many entrepreneurs agree. It’s almost too good to be true. It has everything I need for graphics of all kinds. I use it for blog graphics, YouTube thumbnails, and I even create all my sewing patterns in Canva Pro.
Second, I’m a huge fan of Squarespace.
I know many bloggers sing the praises of WordPress, but I’ve been a Squarespace user for eight years and haven’t had a single issue with it. I don’t have to deal with fussy plugins or pay for external tools.
It hosts my website, blog, pattern shop, and my email list all in one place. It’s user-friendly and modern, and they’re always adding new features that keep up with website needs and trends.
So for those who struggle with the learning curve of WordPress or find it overwhelming, I hope you’ll give Squarespace a try.
Third, I’ve learned to use Procreate on my iPad in the past year and was able to create some physical sewing how-to booklets, drawing all the graphics and illustrations myself using Procreate.
I’ve even turned some original, niche-specific artwork into stickers to sell in my shop and postcards to send with my physical pattern booklets. So that’s been a fun tool to learn and I’m excited to see what else I can do with that.
Her Biggest Challenge
I think I’ve had two big challenges, the first being my limited time.
It’s been really hard at times to make sure I’m prioritizing the right things in my life, and also giving my business the time it needed to take off, especially in the earlier years when it wasn’t earning much of an income.
I have a very full life outside of blogging, so I have to make sure I’m not getting frustrated when I don’t feel like I’m able to work as much as I’d like to.
It’s been helpful to learn to use the pockets of time I’m granted between my other commitments, though.
Through my kids’ teen years, I’ve spent so much time sitting in the car while they’re at various activities (the thing no one mentions when you become a parent is how much time you spend in the car during their teen years), and I learned to use those times to write blog content or edit YouTube videos.
And I still homeschool my last two teens, so we often do school at coffee shops so I can do computer work while they do school. Fitting my work into my life, rather than the other way around, is what’s kept it sustainable for me.
The second challenge I have to mention is that of comparison.
We knew when I started this whole thing that it couldn’t cost our family money, because we didn’t have extra to spend on it. I did not take blogging courses or buy extra tools or subscriptions that so many were touting as the keys to blogging success.
And I also knew that I couldn’t go full-on boss babe, because my bigger commitment was to my family and community.
Due to these limitations, my path to success felt so much slower than others’. While others were climbing the ranks to the good ad networks in 12-18 months, I worked for 5 years before earning a part-time income online, and 6 years before my income reached full-time, life-altering numbers.
There were some huge setbacks thrown in there too, as is typical with online business, but looking back, I’m most glad that I didn’t quit when it seemed like it was going nowhere.
My husband encouraged me to keep going as long as I was enjoying it, and not to fixate on the numbers, and it would succeed eventually.
It wasn’t costing us more to maintain it than it was earning, after all, and it also gave me such a creative and intellectual outlet when so much of my life revolved around my kids, so why not keep going?
I’m happy to say he was right.
Her Greatest Accomplishment
I’m most proud that I’ve reached this point with my integrity intact and my work/life balance under control.
I truly try to counteract much of the buy-this-now influencer culture and instead promote frugality, creativity, using what you have, and making what you love, through my videos and content.
I have accepted only one sponsored video offer and quickly decided that kind of content isn’t for me. I really feel that consumerism in the US is out of control in every facet of our lives and I really don’t want to add to that chaos.
So to have built a business that earns an income from something I myself created, in a way that feels very honest, is special to me.
It is no small thing for a stay-at-home, homeschooling mom to be able to contribute a second full-time income for her family, while working only in the margins of life.
The fact that I’m working at something I absolutely love doing is icing on the cake, and it is not lost on me what a gift this is.
It’s harder and harder in America for families to live on one income, and my family and I are just so grateful for what this business has provided for us.
What She Wishes She Knew When She Started
I wish I would have known that it’s okay to filter out the gurus and the boss babes and do things my own way.
SEO and certain other things are important, yes, but they’re not as important as your own uniqueness.
Storytelling, personality, and truly caring about what you’re putting out there can get you just as far as those things, and by focusing on these first, you can build a community of true fans, who then turn into customers.
There was about a year when I tried to blog the rote way, with keywords and perfect SEO, and not only did it feel inauthentic and boring to me, it didn’t result in the growth that I experienced when I found more of a balance between what I wanted to write and film for my audience, and making sure it got seen by said audience through SEO and marketing.
“Be yourself,” is what I would say to myself back then.
Nikki’s Main Mistake
My biggest mistake was not selling digital patterns earlier!
People love to spend money. As a frugal person myself, I did not know this simple fact about human nature. I assumed for way too long that people wouldn’t buy what I would make, or that they’d think I was money-hungry, or that the way I knew how to make patterns wouldn’t be professional enough.
Oh, if only I’d started sooner!
Fear of what people would think and say to me held me back for a long time. Once I jumped in, I immediately kicked myself for not starting this part of my business years earlier.
Her Advice for Other Entrepreneurs
Online content creation is an ever changing field, as we all know. If your sole source of income is ads or affiliates, or if you’re just starting out and that’s your plan, I’d urge you to think again.
The days of easily earning a full-time income from ads alone are over for most people, and affiliate programs are not what they used to be.
Bloggers have learned over the past year, we have zero control over Google and other algorithms and if your entire business is banking on these platforms, you could lose everything with one little algorithm update.
So, my best advice is to figure out what you can sell. Build an audience of true fans through your personality, learn about storytelling, make unique content that is appealing, become your brand, pay attention to what the needs of your audience are, and then make them an offer.
Create a great digital product for them. Your audience won’t even have to be very large before you can start earning an income.
And, since it goes hand in hand with the above advice, you must start building an email list as early as possible.
Even if you don’t have much to say to them in the early days, start building it anyway and you’ll thank yourself later.
Your products and your email list are two things you have control over, so if everything else changes tomorrow, your business will be just fine.