Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Sandy Shannon. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Sandy, thanks for joining us today. Alright, so one thing we think people don’t talk about nearly enough is investments – either time or money. What’s one of the best or worst investments you’ve made and what did you learned from the experience?
Over my 13+ years as a business owner, I’ve seen that often the sales/marketing tactics that you pay for (e.g. joining a Wedding industry website network) don’t often yield the leads + income you want. When you’re starting out, you are hungry and want to get clients ASAP. You need the experience, content + income to make the dream a reality! But in my experience, the best investments have been in building things. For example, joining the local networking group WIPA SoCal has been a wonderful way to continue developing my business. Did I walk away from the first meeting with a bunch of leads? No, but it was step 1 in building relationships which are the foundation of any close-knit professional industry. Over time, those relationships blossomed into styled shoots, real weddings + other opportunities that have helped my business grow. And if you’re looking for a no-cost option, reach out directly to other vendors with whom you want to work, but with genuine interest. No one likes a generic DM or email, but if you take the time to learn a bit about someone, a thoughtful email asking to grab a coffee some time can go a long way.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My name is Sandy Shannon, and I am the owner of Roseville Designs. I design custom wedding invitations + stationery, creating wedding paper stories for clients. I started my business as a way to provide couples with wedding invitations that reflect their wedding + their personalities, while also giving them a full-service experience. When I was wedding planning way back when, there was no place to get stationery with the same level of customization you got for wedding florals, catering, etc. I wanted to change that!
My couples are busy, but they care about the look + style of their wedding. We work together to design something they love, but I handle the back-end nitty gritty, so they can enjoy the creative parts of stationery planning!
What I love about my business is the connections I make with my couples, and the journey we go on together! So many past clients have said that working with me was one of their favorite parts of wedding planning. I love getting to know them and translating what they want + who they are into a one-of-a-kind paper story. I am creating a product, but also an experience that they’ll carry with them far beyond the wedding day.
What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?
I talked a lot in the beginning about the importance of making genuine connections + building relationships. This will remain relevant amidst all the digital changes in our world. However, one concrete investment that I highly recommend is your website SEO. There is so much misinformation out there, but if you can invest in understanding how people come to find you online and how you rank in searches, it’ll go such a long way in getting you not just clicks but genuine leads. I can’t recommend enough Sara Does SEO. She + her team provide such valuable services, and have different packages based on what you can afford.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
You’ll see a theme throughout this interview, which is me talking about building and that good things take time! New business owners are hungry, which is essential for success. However, you need to be ready to be in it for the long haul, because success doesn’t happen overnight. Social media following I think is about quality over quantity. I may not have 10K followers on Instagram, but the 3K I do have mostly either work in my industry or are my target client. I did it by engaging, engaging, engaging. Comment, DM people, don’t just scroll and click “like” 5 times and think that’s going to move the needle. You’d be amazed at the visibility you can get simply from responding to someone’s post with a genuine thought or compliment.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.rosevilledesigns.com
- Instagram: @rosevilledesigns
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/rosevilledesigns
- Twitter: @rosevilledesign
Image Credits
Product flatlays: Peterson Design Photo
Office Photos/Headshot: Caitlin Page Photography