Talking business w/ Taradara

Hi everybody!!!  I’m Tara fromtaradara {aka taradaramadeit} and am elated to be over here at Jamielyn’s blog!!!  Today, I’m going to talk about selling online, marketing and brandingand share a few things that I’ve learned along the way.

Sewing is a passion of mine, something I’ve been doing for over 25 years {pretty crazy since I’m only 29} and I wanted a creative outlet.  I’m a SAHM of 2 little boys now, but I was an RN in the ER of a busy Trauma Center.  Not wanting to return to the hospital setting and be away from our sons, I decided I would open a business.  It has always been a dream of mine to have my own sewing business creating fun items for other people to have and to use.

So, Taradara went live selling on Etsyin February 2010.  It was the perfect outlet to share my designs with others and not have a storefront with the high overhead {I don’t think I’d ever want that anyways}.  I started with only a few items in my shop like wallets, day planner covers, and brag book covers.  As months went on and I became a bit more confident that my items would sell, I started evolving and designing new products.  I encouraged my customers and friends to suggest items they would like to see in my shop.  So, with their help, my product line grew and is continuing to grow.  I love the challenge of incorporating my style {my brand} in to the new products I bring out, that’s half the fun … now that I know what my brand and true style is.

In the beginning, I was secretly frustrated as my product wasn’t getting ‘out there’ quick enough … for me.  I wanted to hit the road running and be an overnight success.  Well, after talking to so many other handmade business owners, I quickly learned that I was not alone.  A lot of ‘over night success stories’ took years to become that.  With the comfort of knowing this, I have learned to be patient but still push through.  But how?

Not being a marketing major {my major is nursing}, I really had to learn as I went.  When other handmade owners spoke, my ears were wide open to listen to their advice and tips in the marketing department.  To begin with, I got my logo designed.  From that, I got my labels to go on my products and business cards with ALL my contact and store information.  Every time I brought my wallet out to pay for something and someone commented on it, I whipped out my card and gave it to them.  So aside from online marketing, the face to face is just as important and can lead to a sale as well.  So, I encourage you to use your product personally {if you can} and have cards accessible!  Even talking with other mom’s at preschool, your kid’s sporting event, or at their school … when they ask what you do, TELL THEM what you do!  I’ve always been so shy and not wanting to ‘market’ myself because I thought it be taken the wrong way.  But, if you’re not marketing yourself, who is?  You don’t have to be pushy about selling, as I am not, but it doesn’t hurt to pass out a card.

Being an online business, social media is a key component of marketing for my business.  Word of mouth is great, but wasn’t proving to be very effective for this SAHM who didn’t have much contact with the ‘outside world’.  Before October 2010, I was not on twitter and I did not have a blog {oh, but I had a facebook page!!!}.  After attending The Creative Connection Event, it was clear to me that I needed to learn {quickly} the art of blogging and twitter.  So that was my homework … I got on twitter {I met Gussy at this event and she was my first follower!  YAY!} and I started my blog.

Twitter has been amazing!  I encourage everyone to get on twitter as you will build relationships with others how have similar interests as you … and, who knows, you might even meet them in real life one day!  You can go to an event and feel like you have friends there already as you established these amazing online relationships with great people!  I have learned so much from from my twitter friends as they’ll tweet about their recent blog post, so I go over and read and learn.

Blogging has been huge for my business as well.  I post once a week about my products only and the rest of the week, I post about various things … tutorials, guest posters {like Jamielyn}, and I do share my family.  I’ve learned that it’s nice to have your customers ‘get to know you’ as it establishes more of a connection between you, them and your product.  Social media has certainly enhanced the exposure of taradarain ways that I cannot even begin to describe.

Building your brand is so important as it defines your business.  I believe it’s important to do your research BEFORE you decide on a name for your business.  Taradara comes from my first name and part of my maiden name, it was a nickname that I got in college.  I thought it was catchy and it kind captures me as a person {it’s fun to say and I’m a fun kind of gal}.  I got my business license, cards printed, and my etsy store up under ‘taradara’.  However, when I went to start my blog, develop my facebook page, and establish my twitter handle … guess what, taradara was taken!  So, I had to rethink my name for my online presence.  Hense, ‘taradara made it’ was what I came up with.

Moving on to your products and branding…. what defines YOUR look?  What sets you apart from others who make like items of yours?  Do you make bags?  What does YOUR bag have that the others don’t?  Will people look at YOUR item and say that’s a {so and so} bag?  It’s sometimes hard in the beginning discover what your brand is, but when you find it, you will KNOW it.

My product brand is defined by the colorful fabrics and the whimsical swirly look.  My WHOLE product line has this look.  People will look at my wallet or iPad cover and know that it’s a taradarabecause I’ve branded this style/look in each piece.  I think to truly establish your brand or your look, you really have to feel it.  I’ve tried incorporating different looks for my products, but it just wasn’t me.  So, they sit on my unfinished product shelf to collect dust.  In saying this, I don’t just create items that I like personally.  I produce pieces that others might like by changing up color combinations {for example} … I might not like the colors for myself, but sometimes they’re the first items to go!  My point is:  establish your look, your brand and mix it up a bit to accommodate your customers while staying true to yourself.

Well, I hope that wasn’t too long!  Thank you, Jamielyn, for having me!

I’d like to offer all your readers a 20% discount to my store {until July 14}! Please use discount code: NAPTIME

All the best!!