Now that Soulfulsaai is 6 mnths old, and quite visible, I felt to penned down the journey, though short but has been very novel yet fulfilling.
In the last one month, Ive been approached by people having a similar urge I experienced about a year back, to explore the creative thoughts.
While troubleshooting their queries suddenly made me realise I indeed have paved a unique path to put to use my ideas and also earn through them. Feeling very proud about myself and even realising how useful it would be to share my experiences with my thoughtmates (my own word for people whose thought fall in the same class).
So, lets start from the beginning.....
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| The first hairclip I made. |
Conception
Etsy, ( www.etsy.com ) that's the word. Post me quitting my full time job as the Editor of a Fashion Magazine, I spent hours n hours online, practically just trying to not lose out on what is happening around.
I eventually opened a twitter account. In twitter you need to have a name which is called a Twitter handle. And that is where the name Soulfulsaai actually took birth. Soulfulsaai was actually my twitter handle, which I eventually went on to you use as the brand name for my products simply because every product I make has a part of my soul in it.
Logo
Keep it simple and rather something that states your brand image. You could take the help of a designer. In my case I did it myself.
Etsy Shop
I met some very good online friends can say soul sisters. Nandita Iyer (a Food blogger herself http://saffrontrail.blogspot.com/ ) shared a link on etsy and I plunged into the creative ocean. I surfed and surfed aimlessly. But did realise off all the products I surfed, I started liking a particular segment-Hair Accessories. I went to the nearby malls to check out what type of Hair Accessories are presently being sold and what is the price range. Then decided to check how the individual designers open shops on this site, and realized it much simpler than opening a bank account.
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| My 1st online sale on Craftsvilla |
1. You have a unique handmade product. (could be anything from hand-printed fabric to furniture to accessories..)
2. Photograph it in the most appealing (Etsy even has online videos and blog on photography tips). A FB friend Sandhya Menon was kind enough to have a look at my photos and share some valuable tips to improve them. Trust me I do not know photoshop and all my photos are just clicked, cropped, resized and uploaded. For the compliment I got from my cousin a fashion photographer I always pat myself to do a good job with a simple 14 mega pixel Nikon Cool Pix. You click your photos in natural reflected light without flash. This will give you photos in actual colours.
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| 1st international sale on Etsy |
3. Describe your product in such a way it answers the queries of the prospective buyer. Tag words are important. do read how the other sellers describe their product and what all details you need to include like colours, size, material etc.
4. Pricing- That is a challenge but Etsy had a solution for that too. Material+time taken+ profit=Price
5. Payment options- You just have to open a paypal account and you are ready to become an international seller. (you just need a credit card to register and then a local Bank account where the money could be transferred once the sale happens).
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| Made to order new born sets. |
7. You pay a minimum amount to list your products and you are on.
6. You get your orders, the money comes directly to your account, you just have to ship the product. You can interact with your buyer if there are any further queries regarding your product.
In short you have your own international shop. And buyers who could be staying in any part of the world.
Yes. it's that simple.
FB Page
Along with my Etsy shop, ( http://www.etsy.com/shop/saivijayanaidu ) I opened a my FB page http://www.facebook.com/SaaiV for Soulfulsaai. Where I had the liberty to post photos of all the products and share with my friends. Here you have to interact build your Fan list, but the challenge is not about numbers by having people who seriously like your products, would purchase and recommend.
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| My first sale on unwrapindia.com |
1. Be active on your page.
2. Upload and update your products regularly on your page
3. Don't overdo, ensure you are also sharing other things like quotes, incidents, celeb styles, other designer products, trends on your page. Such that your fans wait to see what you are going to upload today and take cues for their life and dressing.
4. Like other similar pages, interact with them so that there is an increased visibility to your brand.
5. Reward your fans- Not all would buy your products but to keep the spirit of the page and have some fun have some contests from time to time to keep people engaged on your page.
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| Rosette Bib Necklaces off shelf the fastest |
Indian Websites
There was on hitch to have a shop on Etsy, people in India wouldn't be able to buy in Indian rupees and FB is not a place where I could reach out to more people. That's when I came across http://www.craftsvilla.com. After the initial glitches (because Craftsvilla set up was not as advanced or simple as Etsy at that time) of uploading products, ensuring the dispatches, now even Craftsvilla is working to making the interface easier for sellers to upload, ship and interact with customers. Nearly all Indian websites work on the policy of charging the seller a percentage commission once the product is sold. There are some who handle the shipping themselves so you have to send the product to them or there are some who ask the seller to do the shipping directly to the buyer.
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| Handcrochetted Jhumkas are a Hit |
After craftsvilla, Soulfulsaai opened shops on
And there are many more who now keep approaching me on daily basis to be a part of their website.
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| Cloth button studs- best selling product on Craftsvilla |
Sourcing
When creating a product you just keep one thought in mind, what you have in offer no other brand is offering at that point. Only then would be get your buyers to come and purchase your product.
R&D
It is very important and a continuous process. Keep analyzing and checking what is selling better and why. This information would help you tweak your product line and get your more sales.
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| Best Selling product |
My Advantages
1. Education- I'm a post grad in Textiles and Clothing and have this as a strong base to explore and reinvent new products.
2. Net Savvy- This is a basic essential, which I inculcated when working as an editor at http://mumbai.explocity.com that's where I learnt how to upload and interact live on a website.
3. Sourcing Raw Material- Staying in Mumbai and that to in a suburb where there is a whole market for jewellery and craft supplies makes my life very easy. If not you have to plan your shopping trips before hand. Etsy is a site where you can shop for supplies, though might be a little expensive at times.
4. Product Type- My products are small, light and usually not fragile. So packing and shipping is not a major concern.
I've tried to include every challenge and every advantage I experienced while conceptualizing my brand. Please feel free to write, share and pose queries if you have any.
Love Handmade
Saai
I'm approached by friends and clients with design suggestions. It's very thoughtful of them to think about me when they are looking around in the market or browsing and then sending me reference images of designs. Please do continue sending me reference images.
Here I would like to mention pompoms. I had worked on pompom designs around two years back and even for Diwali last year. The response was good. However, I didn't explore them much. But now again, since the trend has caught on well thought of working on some designs. Here is the first glimpse of pompom accessories of little girls. Pompoms have a very cute appeal. In the design, the pompoms add colour, the gota patti adds the glitter and pearls the soft charm.
I feel there is a dearth of good ethnic jewellery for little girls and thus have worked on hairclips, headchains, hairbands and bangles to begin with.
