I’m Kellie from Nest of Posies & I’m here to talk about simple steps you can take to set up shop to coordinate with your blog.
First, let’s just get this out here…I’m always learning. I’m always a beginner at something.
I realize some of you don’t have a shop, but I think we can all learn a little about branding ourselves to help us grow. Because let’s face it, we all want our blogs to grow.
Your name, your header, your font style & even the colors you have on your blog say something about you & what you are trying to brand together. Putting it all together is the tricky part. It all takes time. If you are feeling overwhelmed, you may want to hire (hint, hint Kristi) to do all of this for you. Because it is overwhelming. Even for the bloggers that have been around for awhile – it’s still a tricky process & I’m here to tell ya, it will always be that way.
The key thing when setting up a shop & coordinating it with your blog is –
COHESIVENESS.
You want your blog header, font, color, etc to reflect you & your products. You want your readers to know it’s you when they visit your shop & you want that first time customer that is coming to your blog from your shop to know it’s your blog. Again, cohesiveness. Make it flow. It all needs to be in the same circle. If that makes sense.
Let’s take my friend, Gina for example:
her blog header.
her etsy shop banner.
her link party button.
It all flows. There’s no question what the girl’s favorite color is! She’s the aqua queen. First time visitors will know that it’s all her whether they are visiting her blog or shop.
Speaking of Gina from The Shabby Chic Cottage, I received some of the best FREE advice I ever have from any one when it came to setting up shop & my blog. Plain & simple – she challenged me to ask myself:
“What would Martha do?”
You all know Martha – don’t you? 😉
The numero uno when it comes to brand, marketing & image control.
Let’s just use one of the many examples Gina gave me:
Think of all the publications Martha has…Living, Wedding, Whole Living, etc.
They all have a different topic, but you KNOW they’re all from her with her utmost attention to detail, brand & marketing.
Now, I’m here to say, I’m late to the party when it comes to branding myself & my shop to coordinate. I just finished my update. I took the leap after almost 3 years & changed my blog & shop name. Yep, 3 years. That was a huge leap. {gulp.} But that’s how strongly I feel about it, if one wants to make a go of blogging & having a homemade business. After thinking about all the advice I received from Gina & looking around at other shop/blog combos, it just made perfect sense to me.
Now, I will say proudly & with a thankful heart I’ve had a successful run with my shop named something entirely different than my blog. I used to be known as: Bag Full of Posies. Which kinda meant I was held to only having bags for sale. Now, with the name changed to Nest of Posies, a world of ideas & homemade creations are at my finger tips waiting to be listed in my shop. Think about it, there’s no limitation with the new name.
There are several other blogs that have helped & influenced some of my decisions this past year. Gussy Sews & in particular this post where she talks about the pros & cons of etsy & big cartel. Also, Lindsey from The Pleated Poppy is a master at integration & cohesiveness. Without one even realizing it, when you enter her blog, you’ve entered into a brand & the story behind the brand. She has a gift of having really good marketing skills, but the thing about it is, I don’t think she even realizes how good she is. It all seems to come natural to her.
So…to sum up all my babbling –
* Try to have the same name for your shop & your blog. If not have similar catch phrases.
* Have the same or similar style of blog header & shop header
* Fonts, colors – make it all flow & be as cohesive as possible
* Try not to limit yourself when naming your shop to one particular thing. You never know what kind of inspiration will hit you in the middle of the night 6 months down the road. You may just end up selling hub caps as wall art.
* If possible have as close as possible blog button for your shop & blog. OR the same for both (like I do now.) If you think about it, that 125×125 blog button has to speak volumes about you in that one tiny square. Make it count.
Usually, I don’t talk about all my business thoughts on my blog, I always feel like I would bore my readers. But I’m available for any questions that I can answer. I’m an open book when it comes to sharing info. So feel free to ask away.
You can find me at Nest of Posies or email me at nestofposies@gmail.com if you would rather exchange emails. I’ll gladly answer. Kristi would be another great source of info, if you have any questions.
Lastly, I’ll say from the bottom of my heart, I love blogging. I love having a shop & creating items for people to buy. But it’s hard work. Setting it up, getting everything ready takes time, anyone who is reading this series is many steps ahead of the game. Seriously. There’s a wealth of knowledge out there, but finding it all in one spot is truly amazing. Many thanks to Kristi for putting this all together. I do believe that this series is something that will be referred back to for many new bloggers to come!
Thanks for having me, Kristi! It’s been fun!