Developing a Brand - Guest Post

Hey C-Nation teammates! It’s Jess here from Virtue Bath and Beauty . I am so excited to share with you a little bit of knowledge that I have found extremely beneficial to my shop. My favorite part of selling on etsy, branding.

Developing your brand-

I have found that my sales have sky rocketed since I focused on my personal “brand” or style. Being only 19 years old, it took me a while to find out what my style was. I would flip back and forth between the indie free spirit style and the more feminine, delicate aesthetic.

When you’re first setting up shop it’s common to be a little wishy-washy. Which is why I am especially astounded to find great shops while pouncing that are totally established and branded. It makes me wish I would have waited to start until I was firmly grounded in a brand.  But, we all have to start somewhere right?

If you don’t already have a certain aesthetic to your shop I would recommend that you go through your favorite shops. Is there a certain style of sellers that you are drawn towards?  If you look through my favorites lists you’ll find lots of pink and feminine items with a very fresh, retro feel. Take a hint from what you like and stick with that. 

Keep it cohesive-

I know I have a tendency to be all over the place with my crafting. I love to make makeup but I also have a deep love for vintage. The hardest thing for me to do is keep a cohesive look in my shop. I wouldn’t sell handmade wooden furniture along with my bath & beauty products because that’s not cohesive.  Granted, I could probably get away with a few vintage things stuck in here and there but I don’t want my buyer to be confused as to what it is I’m selling.

Another important part of branding is cohesiveness in your images. That includes your logo, labels, blog, and any other tool that you use to represent your shop. I recently went on a rampage revamping my logo, labels, and business/thank you cards. I put it off for a while but once I felt confident in my brand it was necessary.

Standing out in a crowd-

It is easy to get settled into a style that is very popular. You see a shop you like and want to imitate it. It’s great that you take inspiration from something but put your own twist on it. When you are on a website like etsy with thousands of other sellers that make what you make you have to stand out. If you’re funny, take your wit and put it in your item descriptions. If you like to use recycled materials, make sure you stress that to your buyer. Find your niche, so to speak.

Don’t be afraid of change! As time goes on you might have a change of heart regarding your aesthetic. I know I’ve changed my shop so many times I couldn’t count. Some of my biggest breakthroughs have come when I made a change to something or re-evaluated my branding. Take it a day at a time and work hard and you’re sure to succeed!

xoxo

Jess