In one of my recent articles, I described how I decided to write more and detailed the process based on my early morning routine changes. You can check it out here for a reminder or more details. While I stuck with this new habit until summer and generally wrote more, it hasn’t exactly shown up in the number of blog posts. What gives? (So, what’s going on?)

Life has a way of shifting priorities, especially when you’re starting something new and don’t fully understand all the steps ahead. That’s probably a blog topic in itself, but I’ll leave that for another time. For now, let’s just say that after I promised regular blog updates, I found myself writing for something else – my very first online store!

Since this site is all about sharing my journey, including the wins and challenges, I figured reaching this milestone was an excellent motive for the next blog post.

So, why open an online store?

For me, there are two main motivations:

First, recognition. There’s no bigger compliment than someone paying for your photo and making it part of their living space or giving it as a gift. It would be incredibly meaningful to know my work resonates with someone on such a personal level.

Second, there’s the commercial aspect. If my photography can generate income, it’ll help justify future investments – especially trips to exciting locations or workshops with inspiring photographers. This will also be a good way to test if photography could eventually become a full-time career. While I don’t expect this store to fully replace other income sources, it will teach me how to market my work and could lead to other opportunities for commercialization.

But there’s a flip side. 

I’m concerned that focusing on what sells might limit my creativity. I love dramatic landscapes and cityscapes, which tend to sell well, but I also enjoy capturing more intimate city scenes, details, and abstracts. These might not be as popular and thus will be less frequent in my planning, at least for a while. Still, I’m optimistic that as the store grows and my skills evolve, I’ll have more freedom to revisit these other genres and explore them more deeply again.

That covers the motivation. Now, let’s talk about execution – how do you actually open a store?

Just do it, right?

Well, no, not really.

“Just do it” has become a universal motivation slogan, often thrown around as the ultimate advice to overcome hesitation. While the message about taking action is powerful, it overlooks the reality that not everything is that simple. If there’s one thing my career shifts have taught me, it’s that while starting is essential, it is just one part of the journey. Yes, getting something new off the ground is mentally and emotionally challenging, but it’s pushing through the practical obstacles that ultimately gets you to your goal. The path is rarely easy, and being aware of that from the start helps you face the challenges ahead. 

Sure, you can click a few buttons, add some photos, call it a launch, and fix things later. Alternatively, you can put in the effort upfront to get things right before going live. Both approaches work. I prefer addressing all the setup tasks before launch so I can focus entirely on growth once the store is live. I don’t believe in rushing deadlines and don’t mind a few extra weeks of preparation for a better result. It’s like my favorite analogy: As a pilot, I’d never skip a pre-flight checklist just to get airborne faster.

So, what goes into launching a store?

You can try to figure everything out yourself through trial and error or get help to speed up the process. I chose the second option and joined a mentoring program; it was indeed the best decision for me. There are so many moving parts that it could’ve taken me years to figure it all out alone.

I won’t go into the details of the program here, but if you’re interested, contact me, and I’d be happy to point you toward the resources I’m using.

To give you a quick overview, here’s what I’ve been working on in the past few weeks:

Choosing the platform: I picked Etsy to start with. The first step was setting up the technical and financial aspects. While I’m comfortable with tech and already have my own business, this still involved a lot of conversations with my accountant and mentor to ensure everything was compliant and efficient.

Market research: I spent time researching what sells and what people are searching for. Choosing the right photos to offer wasn’t easy – it’s not just about picking your favorites or the ones that get the most likes on social media.

Preparing the photos: Remember how I complained about social media platforms forcing me to make all my photos me to use certain aspect ratios? Well, popular print formats are even more challenging, as a photo has to work well in very different ratios (like 1:3 vs. 4:5). Figuring out whether to crop or distort and how to do it well took a lot of time – and some photos didn’t make the cut only because of this.

Creating mockups: People need more than numbers to visualize a photo in their space. I also needed to write stories to help potential buyers connect with the photo. Thanks to my experience with this blog, this wasn’t too hard, but it’s still time-consuming.

Finding and testing print partners: Delivering a good product to my customers was critical, so I researched and tested different print services. Etsy is a global store, so you need local options for major markets. Being based in the EU but expecting most buyers to come from the US introduced several challenges, and I couldn’t help but test the patience of my mentor several times.

After dealing with all that, plus some unavoidable SEO work, I’m writing this post to share on social media. I’m finally ready to launch my store.

Now, all I have to do is wait. As the saying goes,

“Build it, and they will come.”

Or will they?

Honestly, I’m not banking on that. The launch is only the first step. I know the real work begins now – learning how to market the store, which is far outside my comfort zone, while expanding the collection with new photos. This, of course, means more photography-focused trips ahead.

While the idea of marketing feels daunting, I’m genuinely excited about the trips. Those are the moments when I’m sully immersed in my craft, and I can’t wait to see where this journey takes me next.