Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Beth Reilly. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Beth, appreciate you joining us today. What’s been the best thing you’ve ever seen (or done yourself) to show a customer that you appreciate them?

I have been running Beth’s Buddies for around about 4 years now and every customer I’ve had has been really been great with me.

A pet portrait is a really special gift for everyone. I’ve had people tell me stories about their pets, some lovely and some sad. But you can tell by every customer I’ve had, they love their pets no matter what.

I appreciate all the support I get from every single one of my customers. Some people message me back letting me know what their family member or friends thought about the pet portrait they gave them as a present. Messages like those really make me love running Beth’s Buddies as I as I know they appreciate the work I’ve done.

Customers really make you feel like you’ve have done something special for them. I send samples to people to ask what they think before I print the portrait off. Obviously a couple of customers have asked for little changes but most of them end up loving it. I’ve also been told a few customers got emotional over the portraits.

That makes me appreciate the customers I get.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

My name is Beth Reilly, I am 26 and I live in Dundee, Scotland.

I studied Computer Arts and Design at Dundee and Angus college for two years, after that I studied Visual Communications and Design at University of Highlands and Islands in Perth, Scotland. I really enjoyed taking these subjects as art was my favourite subject at school.

After graduating I wanted to try and apply for jobs. Which was difficult for a while.

I then decided one day to do an illustration of my dog, Buddy. I went to a pub quiz and showed my friends what I created.
One of them asked if I can create a portrait for him? At first I was a little hesitant as I’ve never done another dog portrait or even thought about doing one as I did Buddy’s portrait for something to do in my spare time. He asked a few times saying that his mum would love it as a birthday gift.
I eventually thought, “Okay, I’ll give it a try and see how it goes.”.

After creating his dog’s portrait I sent it to him and he loved it. A couple of days later he messaged saying his mum loved her gift and wanted to say thank you.

This made me think “This can lead to something here.”

After my friend showed his friends the portrait I did of his dog a few more people came to ask about doing portraits of their pets to give to their family and friends. My family were spreading the word about me creating pet portraits, so a couple of people I didn’t know asked me about creating portraits for them.

This was great, not just for a good word but also gave me good practise on the type of style I wanted my portraits to look.

After getting a good word around, I wanted to make my work go out to the public. So I had to come up with a name. I wanted to put myself onto the brand as it is just myself running the business. My dog’s name is Buddy and your pet is your friend, your Buddy. I wanted to involve my dog Buddy into the brand as he was the first portrait I created and he is too adorable. So thats when Beth’s Buddies popped into my head. I wanted my brand to be the colour blue as it is my favourtie colour and Buddy has a collar that blue as well.

I created social media pages, spreading the word around on my personal account. I also applied for running some stalls to show off my work and speak to the general public. When I did my first stall I was nervous as this would be the first time seeing what people really thought. People were intrigued and I got a couple of orders.

I thought this idea would work because a pet is more than just a pet, they are part of your family. It’s something beautiful to place in your home. It’s also a lovely memory to have if a pet passed away.
I also give the customer options on if they want a digital print (which is easier for people who live outside the uk), canvas or frames. So it shows I have a good variety of what medium the customer would like.

I’m excited to see whats to come next as I have a couple of ideas in mind.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I started building up my social media by spreading the word and asking friends and family to share Beth’s Buddies page, through their accounts. This includes facebook and instagram.

I was then given the idea of promoting my business on group pages on facebook, so that meaning pages on different breeds of dogs, cat pages, local animal groups etc. I always look at their page’s terms and conditions to double check if they allow businesses to promote. Most say they don’t allow but you can only get lucky.

I also go to stalls to show off my work and hand out business cards and flyers. I also went to a couple of shops to ask if they can take some cards and flyers. That really helped me grow the amount of followers and likes, since a few customers have met me in person through that. I’ve been to pet themed stalls, pet events and shopping centres.

It’s always best to make yourself present on your social media pages by doing Q&As, letting people know what you’ve been up too.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Personally, I feel going to organisations that offer support to people starting up a small business helped me build my business to where it is. I had no idea really how to start Beth’s Buddies up probably and needed great advice.

I got involved in an organisation in Dundee called Launch It. They had loads of different workshops about small businesses starting up, including how to grow an audience with your products.

They provided me with one to one meetings (online and in person) and signed me up to be with a mentor for 6 months. I was sent tasks on what to do.

I couldn’t thank Launch it enough for where I am with Beth’s Buddies today.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beths_buddies_/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100048671595264