August 1, 2012

What Happens When You Get That ‘Big Break’?

Etta + Billie Soap

Have you ever dreamed of getting that ‘big break’ in your business? You know – landing a feature in the perfect magazine, being asked to sell your products at your dream venue, or perhaps having a fabulous celebrity singing the praises of your brand?

I bet you have… but is the big break really something worth chasing? Will it make that much difference to your business in the long run? Is it even possible to foresee the effect it might have?

Meet Alana, who owns Etta + Billie, a small bath and body product business based in San Francisco. Alana knows first-hand the effect a big break can have on your business, and the things you need to consider if such an opportunity comes your way.

Can you tell us a little bit about you and your business?
I’m a 31 year-old small town girl who owns a crafty business (and still has a day job), living in San Francisco with my husband. I am food obsessed (and always have been, just ask my mom), I love paging through magazines, reading on the bus, taking walks in my neighborhood, and bargain hunting. I have never considered myself a creative or crafty person so it still surprises me sometimes that I found a creative outlet in soap making and am building it into a business.

My business is Etta + Billie, where I make bath and body products with sustainable, natural ingredients that nourish the skin and look good enough to eat. I source items from across the globe, working to support small and local businesses whenever possible. I utilize my old school knowledge of the beneficial properties of herbs, botanicals and essential oils to infuse all my products. I named my business after my grandmothers, Grandma Etta and Grandma Billie.

What was your ‘big break’ moment, and how did it come about?
My big break moment was when I was invited to participate in a Pop Up shop inside the Banana Republic flagship store. This all came about because I am a part of an organization called SF Made, a non-profit dedicated to promoting and supporting manufacturing businesses based in San Francisco.

Etta + Billie was selected from hundreds of local manufactures to be featured in the Banana Republic Pop Up, which turned out to be a smashing success for everyone involved. The holiday Pop Up shop did so well that they decided to re-open for Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day, plus they invited me to sell some of my soaps online. The shop continues to be a success and my soaps sold out online within a month. I am so excited to see what the future holds.

What happened to your business and revenue after this occurred?
My business revenue has continued to increase and I’ve received many other offers to sell in stores across the country due to SF Made’s pop Up Shop exposure.

Would you do anything differently if this happened over again?
If this happened all over again, I would work on forecasting my inventory needs months and months ahead of time.

Would you actively seek out opportunities like this again, or rather spend your time focusing on other aspects of your business?
I think it is vital to get some ducks in a row before you attempt to get big accounts. As I mentioned before, I would have prepared myself ahead of time for an increase in production, i.e. purchasing additional equipment and supplies. I would also have prepared myself financially, time management-wise, and gotten my press materials together (I know I should already have these together but I don’t!). At the end of the day, if the opportunity for something big comes your way you should take advantage of it.

Have you had a ‘big break’ moment in your business?

I’d love to hear what it was… and  how it has affected your business long-term.

Filed Under: Buy You, For You Tagged With: , , 3 Comments
May 16, 2012

Piece by piece

At the Edge of the Unknown

Making art and making a living. Lots of folks here on Scoutie Girl and elsewhere have plenty of goodness to share on the topic.

My angle: I agree with Lewis Hyde – author of The Gift: Creativity and the Artist in the Modern World – that artists (and other folks with gifts to give to the world) have always put food on the table in a few different ways. Looking at this historically can help us creatives remember that we are part of a long lineage of those who have gone before.

Hyde writes:

[T]here are three primary ways in which modern artists have resolved the problem of their livelihood: they have taken second jobs, they have found patrons to support them, or they have managed to place the work itself on the market and pay the rent with fees and royalties.

I want to look at the last of these first: selling the actual products of your artistic labor.

With my new album, “at the edge of the unknown,”  being released as we speak, issues surrounding selling our artwork is definitely “up” for me right now. Every time my phone buzzes with an alert from Paypal that someone else has bought a CD (a CD, can you believe it, in this day and age?!?) I feel a little thrill. And when I put them in the mail I know I will be thinking: “There it goes, one sweet shiny disc with all of the love that I tried to squeeze onto it, winging out to spread hope in the world.”

At the same time, I feel torn. Do I actually want to try to make money from selling CDs (or downloads) or do I want to be able to give my music away freely? Which approach will actually feel more nourishing to me? And how can I make my approach to sharing my music with the world best line up with my larger mission of helping people find their truest voices? As another recent post here on Scoutie Girl pointed out, we don’t want to monetize everything we make.

One danger Hyde points out is that relying on sales of your art to feed your family can lead toward making pieces based too much on what we think will sell.

How do we balance the urge to give people what they want with the need to return over and over again to that deepest Well of Creativity itself?

And then, some art is priceless; we give away what is most precious, like the quilt my sister-in-law is making in honor of my wedding.

Are you wrestling with questions of selling your art? How to price what feels priceless? Does the question of making things for market trouble you, or do you feel like: “People pushing to pay vast quantities of money for my art? I should have such problems!” Or have you made peace with piece work? Let me hear you!

Filed Under: Buy You, For You, Finding Your Voice Tagged With: , , , , , , , , 1 Comment
May 7, 2012

artist or artiste? it’s all in the money…

Cash Tree by GM tree courtesy iStock

…or is it? Since attending The Art of Earning Live in February, I have been very aware that I need to change my prices (go higher) and attitude towards money – both in earning it and spending it. We have been taught in our culture that money is what we must strive for, and it is the root of all evil. Take the lyrics if this once popular song (Used in commercials still). Money, money, money, money…

Towards the end of the Art of Earning seminar Adam King said to me:

“You should not be selling anything for less than $1,000.”

I am unsure if he meant that literally, or as a metaphor for selling myself short, i.e. not valuing myself and my work. Either way I get it. If I am going to be a real artiste (*by my definition, a higher level artist) I need to act like one and price myself accordingly. I need to take myself and my work seriously! My highest priced item currently is $255, the lowest $25.

I talked with some friends about the idea of taking away all the tiny prints, 5×5 and 5×7 for instance, priced at $25 and only selling 8×10, or even 11×14 and above, at a higher price. Two of them vehemently disagreed. One said, What about the people that can’t afford more than $25, and what if they want to start small and see how it looks before buying big? Being one of those in the category of “can’t afford” currently, it is hard to say I am out pricing myself and some of my friends.

So, what if my “ideal customer” is not me and my friends?

Hmm I have to admit it makes me a tad uncomfortable, and so does the fact that, due to medical bills, and the awareness I may not live to a very old age, I need to earn more than ever before. My husband earns enough to keep us afloat when things are going well. Add the co-pays we are dealing with and we are more like knee-deep or more. I don’t need worry about money to take up my time when I am trying to heal. So, what is the solution?

It is time to take myself seriously, and hope my friends will too. I am an artiste!

(“Artiste,” as it turns out, is just French for artist, although it can indicate a musician more so than a painter. I however have always seen it used as if to indicate an artist of higher caliber.)

What does this mean?

  • I am going to be hiking my prices.
  • I will only be showing and selling my very best work.*
  • I will only be showing at venues that support the value of my work.**
  • I will stand behind the work, and why it is worth what I charge.

Does this make sense to you? Do you price art with respect for your self and work?

For me I think the key is in how I look at it. As I say in the title, it’s all about the money…or is it? Well it is not. It’s all about the value. I put my very best self into my work, and price it like a sale item at a garage sale. Well, not quite that bad, but you get it. If I feel the work is gallery or museum worthy I don’t want to price it as if I’m selling at Target.

If I don’t take myself seriously no one else will, right?

There is one other troubling aspect to this decision. What do I do with the work I am currently selling at too low a price? It seems wrong to sell it at a higher price when people have purchased it for perhaps far less (I have already raised my prices once or twice).

Would you be upset if you purchased something for $100 and found out it used to cost $25?

I am keeping this short and sweet as it is difficult to sit at the desk these days. (For any of you that have been following there is good news! My spinal fusion has been moved up to this coming Wednesday the 9th. I will likely be unable to post in two weeks as I am scheduled to, unless that new laptop falls from the sky, or they start growing on trees.) I look forward to returning pain free to continue this discussion.

Please let me know what you think here in the comments! I really need your opinion.

From the Heart,

 

* I do not have a lot of pieces in my shop, but I do have some mediocre pieces there while I keep hidden some of my best. Time to purge my portfolio.

** For instance, no craft fairs where there are crocheted toilet paper covers, OK?

Filed Under: Buy You, For You, Conversation Starters, Plot Notes Tagged With: , , , , , , 12 Comments
January 19, 2012

the art of memorability

This is a guest post by Stephanie Peterson.

"Memory Harvest" by Sadee Schilling Studio

Would you rather be the best, or be remembered?

Of course these are not mutually exclusive, in fact they often come hand in hand, but just being great at what you do does not guarantee that you will be memorable as well.

In fact, I see creative people all the time who are phenomenally talented, but who struggle to make money from their work. They haven’t figured out how to engage people enough to go from admiring their work, to thinking about it, to deciding to buy. (And then buying again and again.)

Truth is, memorability wins out over skill in commerce.

What’s most frustrating of all is the conventional advice that’s continually passed around doesn’t present any clear action to follow.

“Be different!” “Stand out from the crowd!” What does that mean? I could wear a hat with flashing lights on it, give my business some bizarro name, and only design using the color pink, but these are not likely to do me much good.

That’s why I decided to break this concept down.

So what specific things DO make a business memorable?

1. A unique selling proposition (Or, USP)
Your unique selling proposition is the answer to, “Why should I choose you over another designer?” or, “Why should I buy your product over someone else’s?” It’s the “spin” on your business that sets you apart.

Maybe you offer something that no one similar to you does. For instance, a luxury gift wrap service that’s featured on your site with clear images of exactly what the wrap-job options look like.

Maybe you combine your work with a cause or belief that you feel strongly about. For instance, you make faux leather purses and donate a percentage of each sale to help mistreated animals.

Maybe you have an electric personal brand, and you are extremely open about your everyday experiences. In this case, people may want to buy from you just because they feel connected, like they can reach out to you if they want, like you’re their friend, and they want to support you.

2. Easy peasy describability
Can you sum up your business (including your USP) in one single sentence? Is this sentence plastered all over your website, Twitter profile, Facebook about section?

If the quality that makes your business unique and worthwhile is hard to explain, people are less likely to talk about it.

Feed them the words!

3. Consistency
Does your business have a distinct look/feel? The more people see you, the more they remember you… unless every time they see you, you look completely different.

If you are constantly changing up the look of your website, your color scheme, your web copy, etc., you’re not giving people the opportunity to really get to know and become comfortable with your brand.

4. Contact
If you don’t have an e-mail list or social media profiles, if you have no way of reaching out and re-connecting with people who’ve shown interest in you, you will probably be forgotten.

This is not to say TOTALLY forgotten. In fact, they may wrack their brains thinking, “What was the name of that business with the faux leather bags who gave a percentage of each sale to charity?” I’ve been there on more than one occasion.

Whereas, if you are in touch regularly, you aren’t likely to have this problem.

I hope you will put these principles into action today to make sure your business “sticks.” If you have any questions, feel free to drop them in the comments below!

- – -

Stephanie Peterson is the founder of Fairground Media, where she helps passionate entrepreneurs sell better through intentional e-commerce web design and ethical sales strategy. Her debut product offering, Love Potion:
Creating Wild Customer Attraction + Loyalty, is a fun, interactive e-book filled with branding and sales psychology wisdom and includes a supporting online mastermind community for continual feedback and support.

Filed Under: guest posts Tagged With: , , , , , , , 4 Comments
November 4, 2011

sponsor feature: stitch labs

We love our sponsors! Today, get to know more about Stitch Labs!

Stitch Labs team

The team at Stitch Labs: Andrew, Michelle, Brandon, Jake, & Willo

Brandon Levey, Michelle Laham, and Jake Gasaway – along with intern Andrew Lassetter and social media guru Willo O’Brien – are the heads behind Stitch Labs. The team produces Stitch, an online tool that helps small creative businesses keep track of inventory, orders, expenses, and more – from anywhere on the globe.

Their goal? To save you time, save you money, and grow your business.

Stitch Labs began as Brandon’s brain child. While creating and selling his own line of apparel, he became frustrated by the lack of tools available for helping people like him manage their businesses. Nothing seemed to be affordable and uncomplicated and intuitive.

So in the spring of 2010, with Brandon’s coding skills, Michelle’s design talents, and Jake’s business savvy, Stitch Labs was born. The program officially launched in January 2011 and has been helping small biz owners guess less and sell more ever since.

Want to give Stitch a try? Use the code “scoutiegirl” and get 45 days absolutely free (that’s 15 days longer than the standard free trial).

stitch labs

Thanks, Stitch Labs, for sponsoring Scoutie Girl!

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