Getting my first customers

Genuinely Jane Studios was born with three things: a great idea, the desire to succeed and individual passions in creative areas. Mark is a career military man with an incredible talent for designing and building with wood. I am an Executive Recruiter by day and an ardent scrap booker and paper-artist by night. Not being satisfied with the offerings on the market (chipboard, acrylic), I asked Mark to make me a book out of wood in the shape of a dog bone. After drawing the design, he emerged from the shop with a gorgeous finished product, using only scrap wood. We knew we had hit on something. Wood is a terrific choice for paper crafters as it can accept all mediums without compromise (ink, stains, paint, spray on coloring, paper, wet and dry adhesives) and will outlast anything else on the market.

We quickly had many more ideas for other products. Within a few days, we had created eleven products, but what we didn’t have was the financial resources to advertise. After some research, we built a blog/website using a free trial. We still, however, needed to direct others to the site.

Using Social Media in my “regular” job, I knew it was a great way to get the word out. We announced our company through Facebook, My Space, Twitter, our business and personal blog. Then branched out and posted announcements on industry-specific message boards. We also sent samples (made out of scrap) to a few industry “players”. Within a week, we had over 1000 hits to our website.

The orders started coming in. In a matter of weeks, we knew we couldn’t sell and service on our own. Through referrals and research, we hired manufacturer’s reps to show our products in retail scrapbook and craft stores around the country. We are enjoying moderate, but steady growth – a tremendous accomplishment in this economy. We hope to hire additional manufacturing staff within a few months and build a larger shop.

In just a few short months, we have built a great business. There is much we want to do as we dream big for Genuinely Jane Studios.

We continue to use social media to announce new products, services and contests. And, we continue to see great results. To date, we have not spent a dime on advertising. We hope to incorporate traditional advertising with social media in our marketing plan for short and long-term goals.

Advice for others

TIPS:

Identify where your target audience “hangs out”. Where do they go for information on new products?

Be creative in getting the word out about your business.

Don’t be afraid to go for your dreams even if you don’t think you have the money to start.

If possible, send samples to key industry personnel. Word of mouth is worth its weight in gold