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Pretty Arrow
Finance B2B & B2C

Pretty Arrow sells budgeting templates built in Google Sheets and Excel, primarily through Etsy, for young women who want to pay off debt and manage a househ...

prettyarrow.com · Founded 2021 · 13 public sources · Updated about 10 hours ago

Researched profile. Starter Story's AI research system compiled this page from 13 public sources — the founder didn't write it. Automated research can misread or misattribute a source, so treat figures as best-effort. How this works →

How Pretty Arrow Grew

Budgeting spreadsheet templates for Google Sheets and Excel

How did Pretty Arrow grow?

Summary of the sourced claims below

Pretty Arrow grew by leaning into keyword research and crafting SEO-friendly listings, and it promoted its shop through targeted email marketing and Facebook ads. The business has sold over 29,000 spreadsheets and has grown through email marketing and Facebook ads.

Channels

33 channels · grouped by how Pretty Arrow grows

  • SEO

    · 9 mentions · 8 sources
    “I discovered a tool called eRank that I saw some other Etsy gurus talking about online. And on eRank, I learned about something called a long tail keyword...I thought, wow, keyword research is really, really important. Who would have thought, you know, go where the demand already is.”
    high
    Show 8 more quotes
    “We would also like to focus on adding more Google SEO-optimized blog posts to our blog as a way to boost traffic without paying for more ads.”
    medium
    “We would also like to focus on adding more Google SEO-optimized blog posts to our blog as a way to boost traffic without paying for more ads.”
    medium
    “SEO is hugely important for my business! It’s the backbone of how I do my product research. I never blindly make a spreadsheet to sell, I always do market research first. For Etsy, I like to use eRank to find product keywords that are high in demand and low in competition.”
    high
    “Optimize for Etsy SEO. Make your products discoverable in search. • Use all 13 tags with relevant keywords • Research what successful shops rank for • Include materials, use case, and style in titles • Update listings based on performance data”
    medium
    “Her future direction is not mass-producing new products, but marketing the existing high-converting products more and strengthening blog SEO.”
    medium
    “Student Luqman Khan's Amazon affiliate site 10Beasts reached $80,000 a month in commissions with just 8 articles, nine months after launch.”
    medium
    “With capital to acquire sites and expertise in SEO and content marketing, Gardon launched Rejoin as a portfolio of web-based businesses, generating around $100,000 per month in revenue and growing at a rate of 20% per month.”
    medium
    “She leaned into keyword research, crafted SEO-friendly listings, and promoted her shop through targeted email marketing and Facebook ads.”
    high

  • Email List Growth

    · 7 mentions · 6 sources
    “I think I gained 2000 people on my email list from Etsy alone over the last two and a half years. But I mean, that's free, right? Those were free leads. I wasn't running Facebook ads to them or anything like that, which is fantastic and really awesome. And it's also a way that you can build your ...”
    high
    Show 6 more quotes
    “I use a free budget resource library to get signups to my email list on Convertkit.”
    high
    “I also started viewing Etsy as a traffic source to build my email list. I use a free budget resource library to get signups to my email list on Convertkit. I have had great success in offering people a specific transformation (starting a budget, for example!) with a freebie.”
    high
    “I have been growing my email list since day 1. I grow my email list through a free resource library and a free budget starter kit.”
    high
    “build email lists ... Build an email list from day one — Offer a freebie (guide, discount) to capture customer data”
    medium
    “She brought Etsy customers back to her own list. ... She used a free budgeting resource collection as a lead magnet, placing it on the shop banner, product images, product descriptions, and even inside the spreadsheets she sold. Etsy is a platform that doesn’t hand customer lists to sellers, but ...”
    medium
    “With over 100,000 newsletter subscribers, a community of 1.5 million people, and a run rate of $3 million this year, Contrarian Thinking is empowering individuals to challenge the status quo and shape their own destinies.”
    medium

  • Leveraging existing platforms

    · 7 mentions · 7 sources
    “After a couple of Google searches for digital products in the budgeting niche, I found Etsy... I immediately thought this would be a great way to get some extra traffic directed to my blog, too! Win-win!... By combining keyword research with a really strong idea of who my target audience was, I w...”
    high
    Show 6 more quotes
    “And somebody bought this thing, you know, within a day of putting it up, I think that it goes to show you the power of, you know, tapping into these pre existing marketplaces on the show in the past, we've called them buy buttons, marketplaces go where the cash is already flowing. And Etsy is def...”
    high
    “I make $100k a year from my Etsy shop. I earned this in my first year of running the shop, as well). I have a Shopify store, but it only accounts for 10% of total sales, though I’m working on growing this via Facebook ads this year. The other 90% come from my Etsy store, Pretty Arrow Budget.”
    high
    “Don't Rely Only on Etsy. Top sellers use Etsy as a launchpad, then build email lists, launch websites, expand into wholesale, and drive traffic from Pinterest, Instagram, TikTok.”
    medium
    “Etsy is a shelf where people typing “budget spreadsheet” arrive already ready to buy. The battle here isn’t about building awareness. It collapses into matching the search term to the product name. Her eRank research was the work of building that match.”
    medium
    “Puzzle Ready, a puzzle-table e-commerce brand, kept 99% of sales on Amazon FBA and still reached $3M/year, selling to eBrands in December 2021 at 6x profit”
    medium
    “He initially launched FilterGrade as a collection of Photoshop Actions and later expanded it to be a marketplace for creators, offering digital assets such as presets, LUTs, and video templates.”
    medium

  • Advertising on social media

    · 7 mentions · 7 sources
    “I have had great success with listing my products on a Shopify store and running Facebook ads for them. This is one thing that I wish I would have started on day one. I always wanted to scale my business outside of Etsy ... Facebook ads are a great way to get more customers into your business and...”
    high
    Show 6 more quotes
    “Right now, I run Facebook and Instagram ads to my freebies. This has been a great way to grow my list quickly.”
    high
    “Run paid ads (Etsy, Facebook, Google)”
    medium
    “Facebook/Instagram ad landing pages lead to a free signup, from which the $17–$27 bundle is then presented. This design produces a 2–3x ROAS.”
    medium
    “Growth came from a referral program and paid ads — 75% of the paid budget went to Meta.”
    medium
    “she has sold over 29,000 spreadsheets and has grown her business through email marketing and Facebook ads.”
    medium
    “She leaned into keyword research, crafted SEO-friendly listings, and promoted her shop through targeted email marketing and Facebook ads.”
    high

  • Email marketing

    · 5 mentions · 4 sources
    “To retain those customers who are making a one-time purchase from you on Etsy, you will need to direct them to your email list. Then you can market your products (and services) to them in the future. ... My best tip for retaining your customers in a digital products business is to grow your email...”
    high
    Show 4 more quotes
    “I have had great success with listing my products on a Shopify store and running Facebook ads for them. ... Facebook ads are a great way to get more customers into your business and retain them on your email list. I run ads to my free lead magnet.”
    high
    “now, I run Facebook and Instagram ads to my freebies. This has been a great way to grow my list quickly.”
    high
    “she has sold over 29,000 spreadsheets and has grown her business through email marketing and Facebook ads.”
    medium
    “She leaned into keyword research, crafted SEO-friendly listings, and promoted her shop through targeted email marketing and Facebook ads.”
    high

  • Organic social media

    · 5 mentions · 5 sources
    “So what I like to do is all over my Etsy shop, wherever I can, my shop banner and in my listing descriptions and also in my product images, I like to remind people, Hey, if you go to this URL, you can sign up and get access to my free budget library and join my newsletter.”
    high
    Show 4 more quotes
    “Daniel's growth is also driven by his consistent content creation across multiple platforms like Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and LinkedIn. However, YouTube remains the focal point of his strategy.”
    high
    “Instagram: Lifestyle branding and behind-the-scenes content”
    medium
    “His thesis: a general-interest blog can compete with niche blogs by exhaustively covering each category.”
    medium
    “his Aceternity UI Pro reached $80k in revenue just two months post-launch, heavily leveraging platforms like Twitter and Product Hunt to build momentum.”
    medium

  • Word of mouth

    · 3 mentions · 3 sources
    “Dive into how a developer turned a personal hobby into Aceternity UI, a component library that generated $80,000 in just two months post-launch, through strategic use of minimal resources, rapid iterations, and effective word-of-mouth marketing, providing a masterclass for aspiring entrepreneurs ...”
    medium
    Show 2 more quotes
    “So somebody, somebody shared it and somebody else shared it and then it landed on my desk and I was like, dang, I love making spreadsheets. I got to learn more about this business.”
    medium
    “IsTalk, a chat-analysis app by Kei, an engineer with 15 years of experience, reached 600K cumulative downloads and over 4,600 subscriptions for roughly ¥2.5 million/month, hitting #1 in the App Store Utilities category. 85% of traffic comes from TikTok or friend referrals, and CVR improved from 2...”
    medium

  • Pinterest

    · 3 mentions · 3 sources
    “I also have Pinterest pins telling people about my freebies.”
    high
    Show 2 more quotes
    “Pinterest: Visual products (jewelry, home decor, fashion)”
    medium
    “A Udemy instructor teaching coaching and video production published a revenue report covering 22 courses (8 of them bestsellers). Instructor income averages $2,124 a month (about ¥319,000), of which roughly ¥150,000 comes via Udemy itself.”
    medium

  • Pay Per Click Advertising

    · 2 mentions · 2 sources
    “I also run more Etsy ads during this month to make sure we’re getting maximum exposure to people searching for budget spreadsheets on Etsy. People often buy annual budget spreadsheets in January, which is our highest-priced spreadsheet, so I run most ads to this product in January.”
    high
    Show 1 more quote
    “Surume, a jewelry artist on Creema, put her entire ¥50,000 balance into promotional ads and watched monthly sales climb ¥70K → ¥140K → ¥290K → ¥590K. Peak monthly sales hit ¥2M, with 3 straight months over ¥1M recently.”
    medium

  • Partnerships

    · 2 mentions · 2 sources
    “CreateApe, a full-service digital agency specializing in user experience design, has seen yearly revenue growth between 50-100%, with $350,000 in monthly revenue and success attributed to their almost reckless embrace of partnering with their clients.”
    medium
    Show 1 more quote
    “Emily McDowell landed retail partnerships (Urban Outfitters, Nordstrom). Felony Case expanded to major retailers.”
    medium

  • Online Community

    · 2 mentions · 2 sources
    “Aside from YouTube, Daniel is leveraging Skool to build a community around ecomflow.com. This platform serves as a hub where he teaches others how to build SaaS businesses and engages with a large, active audience.”
    high
    Show 1 more quote
    “A Hacker News post, one word from Mr. Money Mustache, and an 8,500-member Discord were the main engines of growth.”
    medium

  • Referral Program

    · 2 mentions
    “To retain those customers who are making a one-time purchase from you on Etsy, you will need to direct them to your email list. Then you can market your products (and services) to them in the future.”
    high
    Show 1 more quote
    “Growth came from a referral program and paid ads — 75% of the paid budget went to Meta.”
    medium

  • Product Hunt

    · 1 mention
    “A 2018 launch that hit #3 on Product Hunt and #1 on Hacker News brought its first 30 customers; $30K ARR came in 13 months.”
    medium

  • Hacker News

    · 1 mention
    “A 2018 launch that hit #3 on Product Hunt and #1 on Hacker News brought its first 30 customers; $30K ARR came in 13 months.”
    medium

  • Weekly newsletter

    · 1 mention
    “with a free 10-lead weekly newsletter funneling buyers to the paid tiers.”
    medium

  • Content marketing

    · 1 mention
    “FilterGrade has attracted over 450,000 monthly users and achieved success in the competitive creative industry...through constant adaptation and a focus on content marketing and partnerships.”
    medium

  • AppSumo Launch

    · 1 mention
    “By adding a payment flow and growing through AppSumo, he reached 20,000 users and about $1,000 MRR, then sold it for $20,000 in early 2022 — 2 weeks after listing, with 20+ offers.”
    medium

  • Product-led growth

    · 1 mention
    “Learn how Sahil Lavingia grew Gumroad from a weekend project into an e-commerce powerhouse generating $21.2 million annually, using nothing more than elbow grease and cold emails to drive their early growth.”
    medium

  • Authenticity

    · 1 mention
    “Aun Digital, a UAE-based web design company, generated $200,000 to $300,000 annually by offering affordable and reliable digital services to small businesses”
    medium

  • Lead magnets

    · 1 mention
    “She used a free budgeting resource collection as a lead magnet, placing it on the shop banner, product images, product descriptions, and even inside the spreadsheets she sold.”
    medium

  • Twitter

    · 1 mention
    “Bhanu Teja P built Feather in public on X, reaching $50K ARR 9.5 months after launch.”
    medium

  • Product Demo Video

    · 1 mention
    “There's also a video to can you speak to, you know, this image and video listing best practices, video is extremely important when selling spreadsheets, I would actually say it's required. It's a must have. Because it helps a lot when people can actually see the spreadsheet and use so they can im...”
    high

  • Affiliate program

    · 1 mention
    “comparison pages and an affiliate program drove growth.”
    medium

  • Facebook Community

    · 1 mention
    “Through answering founders' questions on Facebook Groups and creating thought leadership content, he was able to attract and retain customers, growing his agency from 2 employees to 5 employees and achieving nearly $600k in annual revenue.”
    medium

  • Webinars

    · 1 mention
    “And as customers buy from you, I'm looking at like closing in on 30,000 lifetime sales through the Etsy shop, like five-star reviews. People love you selling lots of these things. Are you collecting emails or does Etsy allow you to get customer information so you can, Hey, I came up with the 2023...”
    medium

  • Geographic market expansion

    · 1 mention
    “Sauna Ikitai, a sauna search site four enthusiasts started as a hobby, grew from about ¥14.01M in first-year revenue to about ¥72.88M with over ¥10M in net profit in year two, per reporting based on its statutory filings. No employees were hired, and the ¥370/month paid membership is capped at 10...”
    medium

  • LinkedIn

    · 1 mention
    “Plug in Useful, a portfolio of Shopify apps run solo by Daniel Sim with 37,000 users, was sold to SureSwift Capital, a serial acquirer of SaaS businesses. A real example of a specialist-turned-founder building an ecosystem by turning his own SEO expertise into apps.”
    medium

  • Reddit

    · 1 mention
    “Leadverse Gets All Its Customers From Reddit, and 90% of Its Costs Are LLM Fees — $3,300 MRR Built Between a Day Job and a Newborn Leadverse, an AI tool that finds prospects on social media, reached $3,300 MRR and 130+ paying customers ten months after launch. Every dollar of revenue comes from R...”
    medium

  • Explore Ads

    · 1 mention
    “I make sure that my freebie is some kind of a really simple Google Sheets template, just so that those customers that are new to Google Sheets or new to buying a Google Sheets template, which I think a lot of people still are a lot of people maybe still haven't personally bought one, they can tes...”
    high

  • TikTok Hashtags

    · 1 mention
    “TikTok: Quick tips, product showcases, relatable content”
    medium

  • Podcasting

    · 1 mention
    “Build brand with social proof (press, influencers, UGC)”
    medium

  • Brand collaborations and giveaways

    · 1 mention
    “So Etsy actually ranks products the highest that have the highest conversion rate. And they also rank products that are on sale higher, which my personal theory is that's because products that are on sale do convert a little bit higher. So if you want it to run a sale, you could, but I would, I a...”
    medium

  • Influencer partnerships

    · 1 mention
    “Growth came from a partner with over 10 million followers.”
    medium

How 3,299 businesses grow

Of businesses with mapped growth channels, the share using each — Pretty Arrow’s highlighted.
  • Social media
    64% ◀
  • Referral/Word-of-mouth
    63% ◀
  • Search/SEO
    58% ◀
  • Email
    47% ◀
  • Community
    37% ◀
  • Content/Inbound
    35% ◀
  • Partnerships
    32% ◀
  • Events
    24% ◀
  • Paid ads
    23% ◀
  • Outbound/Sales
    19% ◀
  • Press/PR
    17%
  • Marketplaces/App stores
    12% ◀
  • Podcasting
    4% ◀
  • Influencer partnerships
    3% ◀
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