something special: mollycoddle

2008-07-26T21:59:00.000-07:00

Marketing Your Handiwork by Kelly DeVries of Mollycoddle Soap

I didn't begin as a soap maker - quite contrary! I went to school for Fine Arts with an emphasis in Graphic Design and a minor in English Writing (and almost a minor in Biology as I enjoyed it so much that I nearly earned enough credits for a minor. Didn't think it would add anything to my art degree - haha!) After 7 years in graphic design and marketing, working in both Chicago and Colorado, I had my two sons and wanted to stay home with them. I worked from home doing Graphic Design for quite some time, but knew my true passion was crafts and art. After discovering soap making and getting many requests for it, I began to realize this was what I wanted to do.

So, that's the first tip: FIND SOMETHING YOU LOVE AND STICK WITH IT. Make it yours and add a spin to it that inserts yourself into it. My spin is making soap look like real food and other silly goodies.

Then naturally, I realized I could use my years of design and marketing experience to further my business. I started by getting involved with Etsy.com, which is a perfect starting avenue for handmade goods. However, Etsy is very saturated with artists, so you have to make yourself stand out. The biggest thing you can do for your work and business is take GREAT PHOTOGRAPHS! They can't be mediocre. They have to be well staged and have great lighting. Knowing a bit of photoshop or iphoto can help a ton, but practice is key to getting a good result! Take photos during the day in a bright room so you can avoid using a flash which ruins any photo. Look at your favorite magazines for staging ideas - using props adds interest to the photo. Close-ups with close cropping is a must with small or intricate items along with full views as alternates.

To further your web existence, try creating a website for your work. This way, anyone searching for something special might happen upon your site with keywords. Research adding keywords into your site so that web "spiders" can find your site when doing searches. Also, submit your site to the top search engines like Google, Yahoo and others.

Blogs and Forums are a great place to get your name out there and get noticed. You don't necessarily need to talk about just your work as people may assume you're trying to hit them up for a sale. Blogging about others and about things you love is a great way to get others into your shop. I blog about my favorite items on Etsy, then let those people know I put them in my blog. They always appreciate the mention and often check out my shop as well only to find they like my creations!

Another great tool I've found is working with other artists on a cross-marketing collaboration. An easy version of this is finding an artist or craftsperson whose work you love, and asking them to trade a number of business cards with one another. Then, when either of you makes a sale in your shop, you include their business card with yours in the package of your buyer and they do the same for you. It's word of mouth through someone you haven't even met, but that you personally admire!

So, obviously these are just a few ideas, but they work well for small time business and artists like myself. I hope it helps!

Kelly DeVries
Mollycoddle Soap

phm something special

something special: mollycoddle