The Great Reboot: My Digital Product Business Reboot Journey

How a Pivot Saved Us Once… and Why I’m Rebuilding my store Again.

Back in 2020, when the world shut down and events disappeared overnight, our main breadwinner- Hey Lovely, our event store was hit hard.

Sales vanished. Refund requests poured in. And just like that… everything we had built paused.

We had no choice but to pivot — and fast.

That pivot became Brand Sugar, my little business template store. Selling digital templates to small business owners kept us afloat during an unpredictable time, and for a while, it even became our full-time income.

But over the last five years, things have changed. Trends shifted. Demand softened. Sales slowed down little by little until it became clear:

👉 Brand Sugar needed a full reboot.

This past week, I’ve been deep in that rebuild — and I’ve been sharing every behind-the-scenes moment inside Passive Income Society. Today, I wanted to pass along a few insights from this process that might help you too.

How This Digital Product Business Reboot Began

✨ Insight #1: Look for “Pockets of Trends”

Sometimes you start researching one thing — in my case, forms — and along the way, you uncover unexpected niches you never saw coming.

That’s exactly how I stumbled into aftercare cards. They’re trending across multiple industries, and the demand is surprisingly strong.

When you’re rebuilding, stay curious. Explore the small pockets of trends you discover on the way. They often lead to bigger opportunities.

✨ Insight #2: AOV Isn’t Everything at the Start

When you're launching (or relaunching), your average order value

will naturally be low.

Right now, mine is sitting around $3–$4 — and that’s completely fine.

In the early stages, the #1 goal is traffic. Once you’ve built momentum, you can scale your AOV with bundles, upsells, and higher-ticket offers.

Think volume first, refinement later.

✨ Insight #3: Etsy Plus Is Still Useless

I tested Etsy Plus again during the rebuild, hoping it would finally offer value.

But… nope.

Extra banners, colour tints, and ad credits you don’t really need?

Not worth the monthly fee.

If you’re just starting or rebooting your shop, skip it without hesitation.

✨ Insight #4: Images (and Now Video) Are Everything

Strong visuals have always mattered on Etsy- but now, auto play videos appear directly in search results. This is huge.

I’ve started adding simple scroll-through videos to potential bestsellers, and the boost in click-through rate is dramatic.

A tiny bit of extra effort = a noticeable increase in traffic.

If you're rebuilding your shop, don’t overlook your imagery. Fresh visuals alone can breathe life back into an older store.

The Reboot Begins… Again

So that’s where I’m at with the Brand Sugar reboot. This whole process has really been a full digital product business reboot, and I wanted to share everything I’ve learned to help others doing the same. It feels a little full-circle, pivoting once saved us, and now it’s time to breathe new life into this store all over again.

If you’re building or rebuilding your shop too, I hope these insights give you a shortcut, a nudge, or even a spark of inspiration.

We’re always evolving. Our shops can too. 💛

Talk soon & big love,

Jessa

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