Photo credit: Mary Kate McDevitt
It’s been a good while since our last Howdy Do It post! I got into a marketing discussion with a friend of a friend this week who has started an Etsy shop, so I wanted to share some of my tips with you, too. And now that I’ve got a backlog of freelance questions from readers, I thought we’d start back up with our series. Loosely. Let’s not go too far down the workload commitment path, as I’m clearly a sucker for over-commitment these days. (Also, what’s with the cooler temperatures that always makes me feel like buckling down? I guess that’s what 17 years of a public school calendar will do for you!) But back to the topic…
K.’s question:
I have opened my Etsy store and am specializing in design for kids (birth announcements, stationery, etc.). I was wondering if I could ask you about your marketing efforts. Right now I am very discouraged at how few sales we have had. I feel like we are always getting great feedback from people that visit our shop, but people just aren’t buying. Our main marketing has been doing a couple of small, local indie markets where we get to talk to lots of people and show off our stuff and then we use facebook and have a blog. We also printed some postcards that we have put out a few places around town, but so far nothing has come of those. I’d love for my shop to be my full time job. Right now I’m art director at an ad agency during the day and then come home to do this second design job all night… it’s pretty exhausting!
Ellie:
Hi K., I believe part of the reason it was (fairly, sort of) easy for me to transition from part time freelancer to full time freelancer was that I had been blogging on Mint for over a year, had a supportive readership, and had made a lot of connections with other bloggers. But, let’s not forget that the reason I jumped into full time self employment was not that I felt ready… I was laid off and wasn’t sure I had a choice. I wanted to be a full time freelancer, but let’s face it, that’s a scary step. And yet, it’s pretty amazing what you can do with yourself when you have all the time in the world! So, my first suggestion is to be patient, enjoy that salary and those benefits, and build your shop slowly. Who knows, maybe you’ll be able to work out a part-time arrangement with your employer some day to make the transition even easier.
As far as your marketing efforts, I would suggest a few things to you: One, I would spend some time reading the Biz Ladies posts on Design Sponge if you haven’t already. There are a few posts that deal specifically with marketing.
Two, I would focus a lot of energy on submitting your work to blogs. Submitting to blogs is a time consuming and slow process if you do it correctly. The most important things to remember are:
(a) to submit “new” things. In other words, a design that’s just been released or a custom project you just finished and haven’t promoted elsewhere.
(b) to approach one blogger at a time, and let them know that they’re the only blogger you’ve approached for that particular project (or at first, the only one you’ve approached at all). Bloggers don’t like to write a post and then wake up the next morning to find that 5 other blogs have posted on the exact same shop. It will mean that they’re less likely to post about you the next time you contact them, no matter how exciting/pretty your project is. If you’ve been recently featured on other blogs, give links to those posts.
(c) Be sure to attach about 3-5 images (72 dpi, maybe 700 pixels wide) to your email. Don’t bother with PDFs or zipped files.
(d) If you don’t hear back from a blogger within 1-2 weeks (and after a follow up email), move on to the next one. Make sure you’re submitting to blogs who cover projects like the one you’re submitting, and have tastes similar to yours.
(e) Personalize your email! Use the blogger’s name, give a short intro about who you are and what you’re doing, and some kind of indication that you’ve actually read their blog before.
(f) It’s really nice to get a thank you (in the comment section or by email) from someone once a blogger has posted on their work. They’re helping you out, so be sure to show some appreciation! A free post is a lot cheaper than a sponsored post.
Three, I would suggest getting a booth at the National Stationery Show and opening your work up to the wholesale market. I haven’t done that, so I don’t know much about it. What I do know is that many people who show their work at NSS end up with a handful of wholesale accounts, which is a great way to grow your market. At the very least, you’ll probably make new contacts with other designers and bloggers. NSS is expensive and so it may be worth attending a trade show (if you haven’t already) before you purchase a booth. And remember that you could split a booth with another designer whose aesthetic is similar to yours, but not a direct competitor.
Four, I would suggest hiring a photographer. I’ve been saving up for this myself, and in the meantime have been trying to teach myself how to take better photos! But, I strongly believe that having a well photographed product is the most important thing you can do. Find someone who has experience with styling and product photography and have some well photographed stationery to show them an example of what you’re looking for. Maybe they need some design work done in trade?
A few other ideas, briefly:
• You mentioned blogging and facebook. Are you on twitter? Twitter is another great marketing tool if you use it correctly.
• Once you’ve got a few months of blog posts under your belt, start networking with fellow bloggers. Leave comments, send emails, make friends! Bloggers are a nice bunch, and we like to help each other out.
• Pick up Meg Mateo Ilasco’s books. Gold.
• Advertise on blogs (more info here). Find blogs with similar aesthetics to yours, who would (or have!) posted on your work. I always recommend sponsored posts when affordable, as they’ll reach those who visit the blog via a Reader, in addition to those who visit the blog itself. When looking into blog advertising, it pays to shop around and to consider the number of visitors in addition to the rates. And remember, a click-through rate of one tenth of a percent is average.
• This is a whole ‘nother topic, but: brand! In K.’s case, she has a design background and doesn’t need help in that department. But for those who don’t, having a good logo, etsy banner, button ad, etc. is as important as those well-done product shots.
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Howdy Do It came from “how do you do It,” the question Ellie & Margot found themselves asking about their freelance lifestyles, and so Howdy Do It was born, a column about the things we do to keep ourselves organized, inspired and on track.
