Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Mya Salau. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Mya, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. So, let’s imagine that you were advising someone who wanted to start something similar to you and they asked you what you would do differently in the startup-process knowing what you know now. How would you respond?
If I were to start over and recreate my business today, I would rely more on my experiences with trial-and-error, rather than strictly following researched business advice and strategies on social media. In other words, I think it is beneficial to have some general knowledge when starting a business (e.g., finding products, building a website, marketing, customer service, etc.), but I also believe you should not strictly follow any business guide or handbook because everyone has an individual experience.
To give an example, when I first launched my e-commerce jewelry business, I researched on youtube “How to start getting customers” and “ways to increase website traffic.” Almost all of the videos I found advised running Facebook ads and paying for promotions, so I did everything that was suggested. After investing a lot of money and time into these ads and little to no return, I realized my target audience wasn’t even on Facebook and that most of the business methods I found were out-of-date. I reached the conclusion that I needed to figure out who my audience was and study current consumer behaviour. I started marketing my own products by uploading videos to the most popular apps I used (Instagram and Tiktok), and I began building a following for free. I could’ve saved lots of money and time if I had realized this sooner, which is why I think you should decide your own route when starting a business. Ultimately, what works for a specific individual or niche might not work for another and vice versa.
Mya, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
A-bit about me: My name is Mya, and I started my first e-commerce business at 18 (2 years ago) which I am still running today. The name of my brand is OgJewelry and It was important for me to chose products for my store that I loved and could see myself wearing, therefore, I mainly sell nameplate necklaces and other custom gold-plated jewelry.
The business started off as a side hustle/hobby to try but it has grown more than I imagined with over 1900+ shipped orders and overall I’m excited to keep learning and see where it goes.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
Based off my experience, the most beneficial tip in building a social media presence has been to be consistent. I aim to post at least once a day on platforms such as Tiktok and Instagram and I’ve found it very helpful to batch produce content; meaning I create all of my videos, photos, and social media content at once and schedule them to post later. So instead of spending hours planning, recording, and posting a single instagram post, I spend one batch of time prerecording a whole weeks worth of posts. Additionally, I believe finding your target audience and knowing how to market to them is another key factor in growing your social media presence; this helps determine what platforms to focus on, languages to use when marketing, and the type of content to create.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
When I first started my E-commerce business I had the idea that being an entrepreneur is much less time consuming than a 9-5. I assumed that I’d create my own hours and work when I want, and while this can be true, I often find myself working on my business double the amount of time I’d spend at corporate job. Additionally, you need to hold yourself accountable when creating your own hours because no one else will do it for you.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ogjewelry.ca/
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/ogjewelry.ca?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@ogjewelry.ca?_t=8cMvEcfiwVh&_r=1