We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jessica Sellenberg. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jessica below.
Alright, Jessica thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
I left my full time “normal person job” and was looking to build something of my own. I had always wanted to work from home, and have always had that entrepreneur personality. Crochet had been a hobby of mine for a long time, but I never thought I could turn it into a business because my experience with crochet had always been making large blankets and scarves… items that take a lot of time, yarn, effort. I didn’t see myself making and selling enough blankets to make a real income, and also didn’t see them doing that well in the warmer months. But a quick search on YouTube for “summer crochet projects” completely changed my perspective on how large the world of crochet is. I realized there was a whole untapped realm of crochet accessories, home decor, wearables, etc. that I could make all year round. And Berg’s Nest Crochet was born! My last name is Sellenberg. When my husband and I first purchased our home, we started tagging all our social media posts of home improvement projects with #TheBergsNest. It became our wifi network name, it just kind of stuck. So when I was looking for a name for my new business, my husband was actually the one who came up with the name Berg’s Nest Crochet. It totally fits… I’m making handmade items in my home, for your home. From my nest to yours, if you will.
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?
I started off my business with making crochet pieces. Home decor like wall hangings, planters, and boho mason jar covers. Accessories like keychain wristlets, scrunchies, and bandanas. I originally chose TikTok as my main platform that I would use to grow my business and find my customers. However as I soon discovered, TikTok’s algorithm likes to quickly place you in a box, and it was like the algorithm said “Oh, you crochet? Here’s a bunch of other fiber artists.” Which is great for building a community of friends and like minded-business owners! But not so great for finding customers, because all my followers were already able to make the pieces I was making.
After several months I came to the decision that I could either complain that I was not reaching my target audience, or I could turn the several thousand fiber artists following me INTO my target audience. I made the decision to expand my business to not only crochet pieces, but also laser engraving custom products specifically for fiber artists. I now offer laser engraved leather tags and patches. I engrave their business logo or custom text onto patches and tags that they can sew or snap on to their finished products.
As a small fiber artist myself, I understand the desire to make your products look as professional, polished, and branded as possible while not necessarily having a ton of financial resources at your disposal. My goal and vision became to make custom, beautiful products accessible and affordable for the small fiber artist. Some websites have high minimum order requirements on custom products, and not everyone is able to make that large investment upfront. I am able to make smaller custom orders and help fiber artists achieve a clean and professional look that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. They can set up at their markets or sell online with that extra boost of confidence knowing their brand is beautifully displayed on their products. And I’m really quite proud of that.
We’d love to hear your thoughts about selling platforms like Amazon/Etsy vs selling on your own site.
When I first launched my business, I started growing a presence on TikTok while I was building a website behind the scenes. I did a lot of research before deciding what platform to go with. I had used Etsy in the past, and while it is a good platform for some, I decided against it because of the high fees and the market on that platform being quite oversaturated. I wanted to have full ownership of my site, to actually own the domain name. So I started comparing what became the big 3 to me… Squarespace, Wix, and Shopify. I ended up going with Squarespace. The main reason I decided against Wix is because if you decide to change platforms, they are one of the only options that doesn’t allow you to transfer your information and you have to start from the ground up again. I liked the look and feel of Squarespace, and how I could make a beautifully designed website myself without hiring someone to do code. After using Squarespace for about a year now, though, I am actually thinking of making the switch to Shopify. Not only has Shopify made some improvements since I made my decision, but it was a case of “I didn’t know what I didn’t know.” I’m aware of Squarespace’s limitations after using the platform for a year. What I realized is that Squarespace is really designed more for someone who wants a website to showcase their portfolio, or their services, and e-commerce is also something they offer out of MANY things. On the other hand, Shopify is an e-commerce platform first and foremost, it is really the only thing they focus on. I have done more research and realized they have much more customization and flexibility, so I’m thinking of making the switch sometime this year. Since I offer custom engraved products, the order process requires lots of choices to be made. Squarespace makes you come up with work-around solutions to give the customer all the options needed, where Shopify has a much more comprehensive product listing experience.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
Social media has been a massive part of this business from day one. My biggest advice for anyone looking to grow their presence on social media is to be consistent. Each day that you make a choice to be consistent in posting, engaging with your audience, and creating content… you are learning and growing. There are many flashy ways out there to try and “go viral” and make it big quick but if it sounds too good to be true, it often is. Growing one follower at a time has allowed me to build a community and build trust with my followers. They’re not just a number, they are my friends. I go live on TikTok as I work on orders and people know me– they know my likes and dislikes, my husband, my cats, my favorite music. Social media can be a sea of loneliness as we scroll and compare ourselves to fake versions of people’s lives and businesses. I strive to just be a real person, living my life, and connecting with people every day as I grow my business. So I guess my advice is be consistent, be real, build that trust with people and it will be worth so much more than simply going viral in one moment.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.bergsnestcrochet.com
- Instagram: @bergsnestcrochet
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bergsnestcrochet
- Other: TikTok: @bergsnestcrochet