We were lucky to catch up with Jessica Baker recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jessica, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear how you think where to draw the line in terms of asking friends and family to support your business – what’s okay and what’s over the line?

Running a business can be hard, especially a small business that is competing with major retail websites. As a small business owner, you spend hours and hours creating products that are unique, beautiful, and hopefully will sell. The problem is competing with large companies that are mass producing low quality products that people buy in droves because they are cheaper. Sure you can run ads, you can plaster all over social media. If there’s one thing I have learned over the last several years in both the corporate world and the small business world, it’s this – word of mouth is the best form of advertisement.

While it may feel awkward to ask your friends and family to promote your business, who better to ask? These are people that already love and support whatever it is you are doing. They want you to succeed and they are willing to help in any way they can! All you have to do is swallow your pride and awkwardness, and ask. I know, easier said than done – I am awful at asking people for help. But I have learned over the years that it doesn’t make us less of a business person if we ask for help. In fact, it can help our business.

So how can we ask them to help? It doesn’t have to necessarily be asking them to buy your product. I would start small – give them one of your products and ask them to try it out. If they like it, ask them to share it online or with their own friends and family. Remember – word of mouth sells. They get a great free product out of the deal, and you get some potential new customers. Remember to thank them for helping you out. Kindness goes a long way.

Another idea – if you have a social media account, ask them to simply share your posts. Again, this doesn’t cost them anything, but they are still getting the word out about your business! I would put this side note – make sure these shares are genuine. Ask them to not only share, but to add a personal note to their post. Again it comes back to word of mouth – even if they just say something nice about you, it’s still something that will resonate with their viewers.

Support comes in a variety of ways. Purchasing, praying, sharing, referring, and many others. Don’t be shy about asking friends and family to support you and your business. Most likely they are already doing it!

Jessica, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

About three years ago I started Bakers Blessed Designs. I love reading and wearing jewelry, and started to learn how to make some bookmarks and earrings on my own. I started small, just making these things for myself. Then I started sharing them online and some friends commented that they would like to buy them. From there I started a Facebook group and did all sales through there. I made everything out of vegan (faux) leather and so costs weren’t astronomical, and I could keep prices down to gain customers. Over time I tried making key chains, and then a few other products. Some did really well and others totally bombed. But that’s the business world – it’s how you learn and grow as an entrepreneur. My clientele was small and I was ok with that.

During this time I also changed the way I did my product releases. I only made one of each product I was releasing, and then made the rest to order. This cut way back on wasting the supply I did have, especially if a product or design didn’t sell well. A few months ago I also opened my own website rather than having Facebook group sales only. This allows me to keep better track of orders, and my customers can visit my website at any time to see what I have available, rather than scrolling through hundreds of Facebook posts to see if a product is still there. Yes it does cost money, and I am hoping that sales will increase to cover that added expense, but it’s a better process all around so it is worth the cost.

I still have a lot to learn about the leather world, tooling especially. But the great thing about it is that I can make it my own. All the earrings I make have my own spin on them. And I can custom make earrings, bookmarks and keychains to be anything my customer wants. It’s essentially like starting with a blank canvas and asking them what shape and colors they want. I hope to grow even more in the coming months, and my goal is to make it my full time job, replacing all the income I lost over a year ago. I continue to try out new designs, painting and tooling techniques, making new products, and offering my customers unique and beautiful products. I’m proud of how far I’ve come in the past three years, and I look forward to seeing what the next several years bring!

Do you sell on your site, or do you use a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc?

I tried selling on Etsy, twice actually. The trouble with Etsy is that they do a really good job of promoting those who spend lots of money on advertising with them, but not so much the little guys that just want to try and make something of themselves. Etsy is all about SEO, something I do not know a tremendous amount about. They have fees galore – some people don’t mind, and some people do. In all the months I was with Etsy, I had one sale that was not driven by myself. One. I spent money on advertising, and I had all the keywords I was supposed to. Still crickets.

A few months ago I decided to open my own website with Shopify. I figured if I was driving my own business anyways, I might as well do it on a site that is user friendly, and can showcase products how I choose to, not be told how to. Best decision ever (for me). I can load as many products as I want in different categories, and can even schedule a date and time that my products go live for releases. Yes there is a monthly fee, however the ease of the site for both myself and my customers is worth it. I have created a rewards program as well as a way to thank my customers for their business. So far it’s worked really well, and there is no way I’d go back to the Etsy market. (Side note – this is just my story. Etsy works for some people and that’s great)

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

It was during this past year and a half I started to learn about other ways to make earrings and keychains. I practiced for hours working with genuine leather rather than faux leather. I joined Facebook groups to see what others did. I befriended this one gal who has been tooling leather for years, and she has taught me a lot about how to make good products. And slowly I transitioned the types of products I am offering. They are more durable, unique, and honestly more fun to make. Now I have not even come close to having a profit that will pay the bills, but I continue to work hard at my craft, expanding my knowledge and product base. I ask those in my Facebook group to share their love for my products with their friends and family. I’ve also started sewing and offering a new product – book cozies (cute little protectors for your books made from cotton and foam). This has opened the door to even more product offerings in the future. I don’t want to just making earrings, though they are fun to make. I want to provide a variety of things.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.bakersblesseddesigns.com
• Instagram: Instagram.com/bakersblesseddesigns
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/groups/2805377106408234/?ref=share