Written & Edited by: Kaitlyn Neukam, owner of Revive Me Shop.
In writing a blog post about how to start reselling in today’s wide world of online retail, I enlisted in the help of fellow small business owner, Jade Victoria, to help explain the benefits and experiences behind starting your own business and creating your own website to sell products on. In contrast to selling via thrid-party websites or by social media channels, Jade provided an abundance of information on her decision to create her own website, and all that she experienced first-hand when getting started with her now booming business, Hello Souls Crystals. With over hundreds of many happy customers, Jade has dealt with her fair share of different ways to sell online; Check out Jade’s in-depth evaluation of why using Shopify as her sole-selling tool has been the “saving grace” for her small business, (and her sanity!).
An Instagram DM-chat with @hellosoulscrystals
Kaitlyn:
Hey Jade! Hope you’ve been doing well! Of course, keep up the great work with the social content and your gorgeous pics for your website! Although I don’t shop often, sometimes I just like scrolling through and seeing what beautiful stuff you have! đş Anyway, I am making a blog post about how to start reselling, and I am including a section that talks about which ways are the best ways to get started reselling online. I was wondering if you’d be so kind to provide some basic pointers or tips on how you built your website and some challenges you faced or what you like about having your own website versus trying to sell on social media or on other selling platforms?! If you have time to send a response, that would be greatly appreciated! â¤ď¸ If not no worries, I know you are a busy gal! đđťđ Hope to hear from you soon, as always much love and take care! đ
Jade:
“I love you đ
When I first realized I wanted to start a small business I had to weigh options on which platform I would use. Of course the main one I knew about was Etsy and I figured it could be a good idea because itâs a marketplace so it already comes with a potential audience. The audience is given to you so it would be good if you didnât have much of a following elsewhere, but since I did have somewhat of a decent following on Twitter and Instagram I decided I wanted to make my own website. I also decided it would be best for me because I heard about Etsy fees adding up and I wanted an option where I didnât have to really lose $$$ when making a sale or listing my products. So, I was really relying on my own self and my own promo to get enough sales to where I could make this a full time job for myself. It was a risk but I was willing to give it a shot! “
“I decided I wanted to use Shopify to build my website. It comes with 3 different options for plans and I found the one that suited me best. What I like about Shopify and one of its main selling points to me was the fact that it provides you with all the analytics you need for your shop! It tells you how much youâve made and when, who your top customers are, what products are most likely to sell, and even pitches ideas on how you can make your website better and generate more sales. I like how easy it is to fulfill orders from there and to track everything. But, I was a little overwhelmed at first when getting started on building the website because I had never made one before. I literally knew nothing so I had to do some research and found that YouTube was very helpful in providing Shopify tutorials! Watching those videos helped me get the website exactly the way I wanted it.”
“All it took was following those steps, customizing in whatever way I wanted for myself, creating a logo and it was done! It really only took me a total of 2-3 days to finish up the website completely. It took one full day to list all my products up as drafts because in the beginning youâre like starting off from scratch. I had to write out product descriptions for each crystal for the first time which was very time consuming, but once you have the descriptions all written out and saved somewhere- listing goes by a lot faster.“
“While business did go well enough to the point where I could bring my Papa in as a full time owner of Hello Souls Crystals, sales eventually slowed down (as small business owners do tend to experience at some point in the business).“
“At that point, we decided to make an Etsy [shop] to see if it would help and bring in a new stream of income with new customers. We had the Etsy [shop] in addition to our website for a while and I was finally able to compare Etsy vs our own website, from my own [point of view]. I wasnât a fan of listing on Etsy, it seemed a bit more complicated than it would on a website, but I figured because itâs a marketplace, you have to take extra steps to make sure you are targeting the right people with your products…“
“I realized Etsy wasnât for me, but it doesnât mean itâs not for everyone. Other small businesses on [Etsy] were very successful, maybe I had to play around more with how I advertised, or how many products I listed, or needed to give it more time. But I chose my website and stuck with it 100% since. I worked on getting sales back up with Papa through advertising on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok, and everything was back on track!…“
“But overall my main tips are:
– Donât be afraid to spend some $ on advertising to get your stuff out there!! Invest in your business.
– Explore options! If one method of selling doesnât work out, donât give up. Try another way.
– If youâre going to build your own website, watch some tutorial videos. They are big life savers and remind you to do things you wouldnât have even thought about.
– Get creative with your content. Posting product pictures are nice, but try to do more than just that!
– Connect with your audience. These amazing people are supporting you and investing in you, get to know them and establish more trust and mutual respect. Itâs always nice to connect with those supporting you, and iâm sure they enjoy the love just as much as you do!!” *Kaitlyn agrees!
” – Believe in yourself. You create your own reality, you can create your own success. It stems from believing you can do it and staying dedicated!”
“Challenges you may face:
– You spend $$$ on ads, but donât get the results you were hoping for. In that case, tweak your ad content a bit to see what you can make better or change the way you target! Pay attention to your budgeting.
– Business slows down suddenly. Itâs a common occurrence with small business owners, but if you stay consistent business will pick back up before you know it.
– You arenât sure what type of content to post or what people would like best. Thatâs when you trial runs! See what they engage with most. Funny content? Educational? Relatable? Beautiful videos of your products?
– Burnout from promo. It happens!! Itâs tiring and exhausting. Make sure youâre taking care of yourself and partaking it self care activities outside of work too. Itâll help a lot in the long run!!” *Kaitlyn agrees!
“Is there anything else specifically i should add?
I wrote a wholeeeee lot that probably didnât need to be said, but i hope itâs enough to where you can pick and choose from there!!! â¤ď¸”
Kaitlyn:
“… JADE THIS IS PERFECT! đ Thank you so much!! Iâll definitely use a lot of this for my post, taking bits and pieces where it makes sense. You did an amazing job describing how this kinda thing typically goes, and how in general, you have to feel out which options suit you best as a business and seller and whatnot, which is essentially what Iâm trying to convey!!“
And from one small business queen to another, I greatly appreciate Jade’s insights on the various ways and methods to structure an online small business. I’ve had my fair share of various experiences as a reseller online, so when we say that just one way isn’t the same for everyone, we truly mean it! I hope this glimpse into small business setup has given everyone a better handle on where to start if you are looking to start an online business, whether selling your own items or reselling items, it all applies!
Special thanks again to my wonderful friend and magical soul, Jade Victoria! I’ve watched her small business grow from a simple seed into a full-grown tree, and I couldn’t be more proud of all of her and her Papa’s achievements! And also, to be graced by the ability to watch it all unfold has been truly a pleasure on my end; I truly couldn’t have asked for a more resilient and kindhearted small business “friend”/ “associate”/ “colleague”/ “peer”/ “mentor”! It’s truly a pleasure to get to share these things from Jade to you all, as the energy in her soul is something to be shared amongst kindred spirits. â¤ď¸ – Kaitlyn
Make sure to check out the Hello Souls Crystals website, along with their Instagram page:
