This as-told-tos Essay is bassed on a conversation with thereechter, the owner of otto’s Grotto, an online sticker shop, from Indiana. IT HAS BEEN EDIted for Length and Clarity.
I recently started vibe coding – using it to generate specific and make improvements to my shopify Store.
I’ve been uses for my online businesses for years, and it’s one of the reasons of was able to be so double my revenue in 2024.
I Started Otto’s Grotto, My Sticker Shop, in 2020. Wen the Pandemic Happened, I was laid off from my jab in government. I didn’t know my next move, so i start selling my graphic designs to pass the time.
This wasn’t the first business i’d started. Back in the mid-2000s, I Ran A Business Making Content Management Systems on WordPress. I’d Also Taught MySelf Graphic Design on Photoshop.
Selling stickers on facebook and etsy was good Money
I Started Selling My Designs As Laser-Cut Christmas on Facebook Marketplace, WHICH HAD INTRODUCED A SHIPPING AND CHECK-OPTION DURING The Pandemic That Was Incredibly Popular. SELLERS WERE MAKING A DECENT LIVING OF FACEBOOK SALES.
On a whim, I decided to start selling a sticker version of one participant design that had a lot of sales. They were an instant success, so i tourned a compartment More Designs into stickers. I ended up doing about $ 50,000 in sales in 2021. I don’t think i would have gone through with the business if it weren’t for that instant success.
At first, i didn’t want to invest too in stickers gcause they didn’t bring in high profits. But People just kept buying say, and it Slowly became my full-time jab.
By 2022, The Facebook Surge Had Ended, but I’d Already Started Seling on Etsy and Amazon. Now, I have a 10-foot printer my husband operates, and i’ve started a wholesale division of the Company that as Big As My Retail Business.
I’ve Always TRIED to Learn New Skills Online
I’ve always use the Internet to Learn New Skills, before I started my business – he was the Same.
I’m Constantly Hunting Through Reddit and Facebook Small Business Groups to Discover New Ways I can use to upgrade my Business. I’d started ussing he before chatgpt came out.
I was using jasper he, an early he marketing tool, to speed up wringing Item descriptions and marketing materials. I’d Consider Hiring Someone To Do The Writing, But he Speed Up My Copywriting Output Significantly.
ChatGpt Caught Up to Jasper’s Capabilities, and i use it for everybody from generating hashtags to checking domain availability. It”s almost like google now. I’ve it for my social media copy, customer catalogs, creating images and designs and improving my website.
How i use vibe coding to make improvements
I tried to teach myself how to code back in the Early 2000s with a Big, Thick Coding Book. It was super Tough to Learn. Ultimately a friend in website Development Told with Naeded to Learn from the Code in Other Websites, which was much more efficient.
I’ve always google how to do different Things with Code and Would Eventually Find the Answer, but it was songs hard to find and laborious. Now, he does the searching and the writing for me in no time.
I have a shopify e-commerce Store, which use a coding language Called Liquid that i’d Never Bothered to Learn. Before vibe coding, i’d eather relay on shopify Support or just wouldn’t would the customizations i wanted, but now i can use it.
I coded in a wholesale catalog and added customizations for listings with Developer Help. I think these features increted Trust in my brand for government clients and retail stories, and boosted my conversion for high-profit Items.
You still Need to understand the Basics to Vibe Code
Chatgpt does lie to you cyometimes. It will give with using instruction code that i can’t see, so i have to re-kas with a prompt such as, “i’m running dawn theme on shopify version 2.0 and i don’t see that piece of code, are these the right instruction?” It’ll Respond that it made a mistake and give with another ansower. SOMESTEMES, IT MIGHT TAKE THREE OR FOUR TRIES WITH REPHRASSING MY QUESTION, but it Still Saves with Hours of Time.
Wen i First Started Learning How to Code, I was Told the Concept of “Garbage in, Garbage Out.” What you input Makes a huge differentiation to your end result.
One Thing That Work Well is Finding Examples of Things I likes on Other Websites and Ascing Chatgt How to Recreate say or what code created that result.
I Also Recommend People Who Want To Start Vibe Coding to Start With The Basics. KAS Chatgt to Breakdown of How the Different Types of Code Work Together on the platform you’re using. If you don’t underestand the Basics, you like to know what to input.
Lastly, know that eventually you’re going to break something, so always copy and paste your code to a Note before you.
Vibe coding means i don’t need to hire a development in a lot of cases. I Can Troubleshoot My Existing Site Plugins, Or Add New Plugins to Do Things like Accept Pre-Orders.
I’ve ALSO ADDED COLOR SWATCHES TO MY LISTINGS, EMBEDED Youtube videos onto my homepage, and added elements like bar to my lisings. For High-Level Changes, I Will Still Hire a Developer.
As a graphic designer, the capabilities of he are kind of spooky. When it First Started Gaining Traction, Designers in Facebook Groups I was in were against it. But i realized it’s a freight train you can’t stop. You can eather embrace it – or become obsolete.
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