We were lucky to catch up with Sarah Arnold recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Sarah thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Almost all entrepreneurs have had to decide whether to start now or later? There are always pros and cons for waiting and so we’d love to hear what you think about your decision in retrospect. If you could go back in time, would you have started your business sooner, later or at the exact time you started?
When I decided to open a brick-and-mortar art shop, I was already working full-time and running another small business (a hyperlocal online magazine) on the side. While opening the shop was something I knew I wanted to do, if I could go back in time, I would’ve started setting aside funds much sooner. The timing was driven by the ideal storefront space opening up in my community and I knew it was unlikely that the opportunity would present itself again. So even though I did not have the nest egg, I made the leap and decided to phase the build-out.
I still have yet to fully realize my vision for the space and the brand, but I do not regret jumping on the space when I did. There will always be a wish list, even if I had started with a more solid financial footing. That said, I would be further along had I been more proactive in saving up funds for the initial investment.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Hi, I’m Sarah Arnold and I’m the founder and owner of Clutch Collective MOV, an independent art shop in Marietta, Ohio. Our shop features a curated collection of art prints, stickers, greeting cards, original ceramics, handmade jewelry, and much more. We carry exceptional artwork from over 50 artists from Appalachia, the Midwest, and beyond. Our shop celebrates work from both emerging and established artists and we’re proud to offer a variety of artistic styles and themes.
Before I opened Clutch Collective, I managed a hyper-local online magazine celebrating local culture, community, and creativity. For over eight years, the volunteer-run publication set the bar high for covering local culture in our community. During that time, I built relationships with the many artists in our region through sharing their stories, partnering on projects, hosting events, and making space for local creativity. In many ways, our local artists and musicians were our biggest supporters. When it seemed as though the publication had achieved its goals and it was time to move on to the next project, creating a physical space for our creative community made perfect sense.
For years I had dreamed of opening a physical space in our downtown where we could host live music and art exhibits for local artists. So when Wit & Whimzy, a local boutique owned by my mom, moved out of its location to a larger space next door, the dream manifested.
Two years into being a shop owner, it feels like I’m finally hitting my stride. While there is still work to be done to fully realize my vision for the space and the brand, the shop is full of vibrant work from local, regional, and US artists. We’ve maintained an active email list and are sending long-form newsletters twice a month with features on local artists and creative happenings. We host live music and artist pop-ups in the shop. We have other plans in the works, too, and hope to be able to continue to create new experiences for our community. After years of supporting our local small businesses as a free publication, I’m thrilled to now be a small part of our brick-and-mortar community.
My background is in architecture, design, and marketing. In addition to building out the physical retail space, I’ve greatly enjoyed building the overall brand of Clutch Collective. I partnered with local artist Alix Northup to design our branding, logo, and beautiful interior mural. I use the brand to uplift the many artists we feature in the shop. I love working behind the scenes to make sure the entire customer and user experience reflects our values and identity.
How did you build your audience on social media?
The best thing you can do on social media is be consistent. So many small business owners become overwhelmed trying to maintain an active presence on every social media channel and follow every trend – but the key is consistent quality over quantity. It’s better to have a consistent, engaging presence on one channel than a haphazard or touch-and-go presence on multiple channels.
Remember that content is not always interchangeable between platforms. Each social media platform has its own audience and audience habits. Content that is copied and pasted from one platform to the next sticks out like a sore thumb – for example, if you have a URL in your Instagram caption, a QR code on a digital graphic, or a lot of hashtags on your Facebook post.
We’ve built our social media audience over time by showing up and engaging with our community. We primarily post attractive photos of the shop and our products and tag our artists. We interact with our followers, we ask questions, and we reply to comments. We consistently post both to our feed and to our stories. We refrain from posting a lot of graphics or images with our logo. When we do post graphics, we make sure our graphics align with our brand in style and color.
We also cross-promote our channels, with links in our bios, on our website, and in our email newsletter. On our printed materials, we include our channel icons.
There is no quick and easy way to build an authentic or quality online audience. It takes time. But if you remember that social media is intended to be social and engage with other accounts, you’ll begin to see a difference!
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
The most important way we’ve created a name for ourselves is through our relationships with our artists. Everything we do as a shop is to uplift our featured artists and their work. We do this through our website, social channels, and email newsletters. You won’t often see my face on our social channels, but you will see artist interviews, events hosted by our artists, and spotlights on their work.
We communicate with our artists regularly, we abide by our contract, and do everything we can to share and celebrate their work. As a result, our artists know that we value them and they tell others in their network that they enjoy working with us. Every time I hear that an artist heard about us from another artist, it makes my day because I know that we are doing our job.
It has also helped that we invested in working with a local artist to design a cohesive brand so that from the beginning, everything we put out into the world told the same story. As a new business, it can be hard to get your name out there – but if you hone in on your messaging when designing your brand and your website, it will be easier for customers to recognize you.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.clutchcollectivemov.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clutchcollectivemov
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ClutchCollectiveMOV
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/82696789/admin/feed/posts/
- Other: Threads: https://www.threads.net/@clutchcollectivemov
Image Credits
Michelle Waters Photo