What It's About
Brushed on by friends, an event planner launches her online calligraphy store.
Business Model
Skills Required
Complexity
Profit Potential
Words of Wisdom
Maghon says that she tries to keep in mind that the point of creativity is joy, not perfection. She messes up letters all the time, but rather than getting frustrated, Maghon turns her mistakes into confetti - literally! Maghon rips up the letters she messes up and throws them in the air as a celebration. Happy policies like these can help keep you energized and enthusiastic about your hustle!
Fun Fact
When Maghon made her first sale that wasn’t from friends or family, she was at the Wyndham Championship Golf Tournament. According to Maghon, it was the type of place where her phone should have definitely been on silent, but a loud “cha-ching” erupted from her purse! This story eventually made it back to the golf tournament organizers, and they invited Maghon to commemorate the event by doing a book signing!
Notes from Chris
Episode 1047
Maghon Taylor has been a doodler and artist for as long as she can remember. When she was in middle school and would pass notes back and forth in class, she designed the slips of paper so they looked beautiful. The teacher would threaten to take the notes and show them to the class and Maghon would think, “Open it up and show it off! I worked really hard!” In high school, she painted the banner that the football players would run through every game day. Her lettering got better and better as time went on. After graduating from college, she got a job as an event planner. One day, she decided to take a calligraphy class just for fun. After the class was over, Maghon was on her way to her friend’s house for a book club. As a hospitality gift, she decided to write some typical Southern home sayings on cards for her, like “Hey Y’all”, “Bless Your Heart”, “Love You Lots” and “Thanks a Bunch.” Her friend loved them! Soon, the other members of the book club were encouraging Maghon to start an online store. Maghon thought about it and quickly made up her mind. She loved doing calligraphy, and she could use a little extra cash. At that point, she couldn’t afford WiFi at her house. Maghon decided to go for it! That night, on August 13, 2013, she started her new side hustle in bed, on her iPhone 4. She started an Instagram account for her business and decided to call it "All She Wrote Notes". A lot of other sellers named their shops after themselves, but Maghon knew her name was difficult to spell and she wanted to make sure people could find her shop. That night, her Instagram account had only one follower, and it was herself from her personal account! Soon after that, she opened up an Etsy shop so she could officially start selling her cards. In the weeks that followed, Maghon began posting sets of cards on her website for people to buy. She started with the Southern-style set that she gave to her friend and kept building from there. Over the last few years, she’s been able to grow her little Etsy shop into a full-fledged business. One day she was speaking and teaching at a women’s conference and was approached by a publisher to ask about writing a book. She had already self-published a 20-page workbook for her class and sold 1,000 copies, and that really motivated the publisher to invest in her Maghon’s book,“Happy Hand Lettering,” came out in 2017. Today, she makes around $200,000 a year. About $110,000 comes from the All She Wrote Notes shop, which now includes t-shirts, mailbox decals and mugs. Another $65,000 comes from the hand lettering classes, which Maghon travels around the country to teach, and the last $25,000 is an estimation of her book sales for the year. Maghon is currently working on another book, but this time it’s a children’s story. Her long-term goal to become this generation’s Bob Ross, with happy little hand lettering for everyone.MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
- All She Wrote Notes shop: Learn more about Maghon and her calligraphy products on her website.
- Follow Maghon's All She Wrote Notes Instagram Account and check out her book, Happy Hand Lettering.
- Maghon first started selling her products through Etsy and the transitioned to Shopify. (use the link to start a 21-day trial and get 10% off for an entire year!)
- Substitute Teacher Earns $1,500/Month Making Wooden Signs: In a sign of the times of how popular side hustles are becoming, this substitute teacher hosts Tupperware-style parties where attendees use her stencils to make handcrafted signs. Rise and sign!
- Retired Couple Sells Digital Art Prints Online: A retired husband-and-wife team make a shift from handmade art to digital art prints. They now sell more than 100 prints each month.
- Go Vote! Freelance Designer Sells Voter Turnout Postcards: After writing hundreds of postcards to voters, this freelancer designs her own sets for sale. In the first year, she sells $60,000 of them.
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Resources
CREATE YOUR ONLINE STORE
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Many Side Hustle School listeners are building sites using Shopify's easy-to-learn platform. Try it free today!
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