What You Need to Know Before Starting a Template Shop
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Rather read all about it?
If you’re debating…
“Should I Start a Website Template Shop Once and for All?”
“How well do templates really sell?”
“What differentiates successful template shops from the unsuccessful ones?”
…then you’ll want to keep reading!
Meet Erica, the founder of Big Cat Creative who has sold over $1 million worth of website templates in the past few years!
In this interview, she's going to share all the things you wish you knew about running a website template shop in 2024.
So Erica, I think a lot of people are very keen to launch template shops right now, but not all shops are super successful. Why do you think that is?
I think there are a few reasons for that. One big factor is that starting a template shop has such a low barrier to entry. It doesn’t cost much, and while it does take time, it’s relatively easy to get started. Because of this, we see a lot of people who aren’t necessarily taking it very seriously. There’s not a lot of skin in the game, so to speak.
Many people start a shop without having a ton of skills. They’ve dabbled with Squarespace, put together some websites, but they aren’t taking the marketing as seriously as they should. That’s one reason why some shops aren’t successful.
On the flip side, the shops that are successful are usually doing two things really well: they’re perfecting their designs, making them stand out, and they’re spending a lot of time marketing. They’re getting their great designs in front of their audience.
When you have those two things together, your template shop is going to be successful.
A lot of shops either aren’t perfecting their designs enough to stand out or aren’t spending enough time on marketing.
Good designs alone won’t sell; they need to be great. And you have to spend time getting those templates in front of the right audience. If you’re doing those things well, you will find success with your template shop.
You’ve had massive success with your template shop. But I know there must have been challenging moments for you. Can you go through some of your most challenging moments and what you learned?
Sure! I can think of three right off the bat.
The first one that stands out is managing Squarespace updates. I want to preface these challenges by saying they were all learning experiences. When I faced a big challenge, I made sure it never happened again.
The first big challenge was Squarespace updates. Back in 2020, during a lockdown, Squarespace released Squarespace 7.1. Before that, there was only 7.0, and I had no idea the update was coming.
All our templates were on 7.0, and overnight the platform changed. The way they rolled out the update meant that you couldn’t even access 7.0 anymore.
In a matter of seconds, my entire template shop became redundant. I couldn’t sell my products because they were outdated.
I had to work around the clock to learn the new platform, update all our products and resources. That was a crazy week!
It was a big challenge, and it was entirely my fault for not keeping up with Squarespace updates. I wasn’t prepared. Since then, I’ve kept up with every update and joined the Squarespace Circle to stay informed.
One of the first things I tell people who want to start a template shop is to become a Circle member and keep up to date. That way, you won’t be caught off guard like I was.
The second challenge is the day-to-day of marketing and dealing with the ups and downs of sales and business. Marketing changes constantly, and you have to stay on top of it.
Peek Erica’s beautiful templates here! 👇
Just having a great template isn’t enough. You need to get it in front of your audience, and that can be a constant effort.
Many template creators get into this because they’re designers, not marketers. It can be challenging, but it’s what keeps sales coming in.
The third challenge is dealing with the natural ebb and flow of selling digital products. You’ll have slow seasons and influxes of sales. It’s something you get used to with time. I’ve been selling templates for six or seven years now, so I’m much more chill about it. I know the sales will come back up because I’ve seen it happen time and time again.
Psst..still not sure exactly WHO your ideal client is? I’ve got you covered! 👇
What are the startup costs for making a template shop?
Honestly, the startup costs are pretty much nothing. It’s more of a time investment than financial.
You need a shop to sell your Squarespace templates, which will likely be on Squarespace, so you’ll need a website, which costs a couple hundred bucks a year. Other than that, you can pretty much do it all for free. You can host everything on Squarespace or spend a bit on tech and course platforms if you want things to be more streamlined.
When you’re just starting out, I recommend doing it bare-bones. There’s no point in spending money until you know this is something you want to take seriously.
Once you start getting sales, you can upgrade your tech and systems. Even now, we don’t spend much on running the shop itself. Most of our expenses go to marketing and our team.
One thing I recommend investing in is education. A course can save you so much time because you’re learning from someone who’s already done it. That’s the biggest time saver, in my opinion.
Can you tell me about marketing for your template shop? What do you do right now?
We’ve had a pretty consistent strategy from the beginning, but marketing changes all the time.
We do a lot of blogging and more recently, YouTube.
We put out a blog post and usually a YouTube video every week. The videos are Squarespace tutorials and guides on how to start websites or DIY other design or business things, targeting our audience of DIY buyers.
From there, our social media content trickles down. Social changes all the time—what we were doing at the beginning is completely different from what we’re doing now.
But those long-term strategies have stayed the same. YouTube is the only thing we’ve added recently. It’s all about creating content for DIY buyers, getting that search engine traffic, and getting people to our site to learn about us.
Psst..wondering which marketing strategy is right for you? Take my quiz to find out!
Talk to me about picking an ideal client for your template shop. Should people pick a specific niche or go broad?
That’s a great question. The market has changed a bit over the last few years.
There are more people selling templates, which is awesome, but some markets feel more saturated. I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing.
Competitors make you better, and it separates those who are serious from hobbyists.
That being said, even if you’re selling a few templates a month, that can make a huge difference. You don’t have to be a big player to be successful. If you’re a web designer looking to add templates as a secondary product, there’s room for that too.
There are tons of niches that are underserved.
I have students selling templates in different languages or for specific industries. One student realized there were no Squarespace templates in German, and they’re going to do great because they’ve found an untapped market. There are so many niches like that where there’s potential to stand out.
Why did you create a course for selling templates when you sell templates yourself? Aren’t you creating your competition?
That’s funny! Everyone asks me that. I don’t consider people competition. There’s a place for everyone, and I try to hold that belief. Sometimes it’s hard, but if people are going to figure it out on their own anyway, why not help them and make a little money from it?
I have so much experience, and I can save people time by sharing what I’ve learned. It’s a win-win. They get to save time, and I make a little money. If they’re going to be my competition anyway, I might as well help them out and make it a win for both of us.
If you had to give some advice to people starting to build their shop, what would it be?
Differentiate yourself—whether that’s finding a specific niche or making your designs better than everyone else’s.
Work hard on your design skills but equally on your marketing skills. You can’t be successful with just one.
Choose a marketing strategy that fits your audience.
Get enough inspiration and learn from people who are doing it well, but don’t follow them too closely.
Don’t compare yourself to businesses that have been doing this longer than you.
If following other template shops on Instagram or Pinterest makes you feel discouraged, unfollow them. You need to focus on your customers and what you’re going to do for them.
Wondering how to get started with your own template shop?
If you’re looking to learn more about the technical side of building a Squarespace template shop, I’ve got just the thing for you!
Erica offers a free training that is the perfect place to start if you want to see behind the scenes how a template shop works.
And if you’re serious about starting a shop, she also has a full course that takes you through every step and detail of the process.
Also, don’t miss our last interview where Erica breaks down exactly how she sells her templates!
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