Greetings! Today I have a special guest to share with you. Her name is Kristen Hodges and she is co-owner of Pins + Papers, an online craft business that she shares with her sister, Katie. Together they have developed a unique product line that is both clever , clean and visually intriguing! Keep reading for Kristen's story, her business tips and future plans!! (Thanks for being with us Kristen!)
How exactly did you go from college grad in Art Education to successful indie online business owner?
Oh goodness! That's a long story but I'll keep it in a nutshell. Shall we go list style for a moment?
1. Graduated with Art Ed degree.
2. Married one week later.
3. Left my well-established painting agenda & fine art gallery to explore bookbinding, my new found love.
4. Lost the job I had lined up with The Center for the Arts when they closed down.
5. Worked at the Paper Mill for the summer - a wedding invite, paper goods and gift shop.
6. In the Fall, worked as an interim Art Teacher for high school.
7. Husband joined the Navy half way through my semester, quit... never to teach again.
8. Moved to the north Chicago area.
9. Worked for Paper Source as Shift Supervisor - a job I would do again!
10. Learned amazing techniques for bookbinding and found new inspiration.
11. Started Flyleaf Books, a custom wedding album and guest book shop on Etsy.
12. Moved to Virginia Beach.
13. Later found 1000 Markets, opened shop with my new CD Folios.
14. Started working for 1000 Markets as their design consultant, a job I love dearly.
15. Decided I didn't have the personality type to continue working with custom orders or with brides, I digress.
16. Started a shop with my sister instead, called Pins + Paper to create organizing accessories.
Have you and your sister always collaborated?
Yes - We always talk to each other about new products or how to make our products better. We'll sit down and discuss our promotions, what sites we want to sell on, how much our monthly budget should be for these sites, and what kind of branding/packaging do we want. Getting along with each other makes this process easy going as we have very similar tastes to begin with. When the shop makes a sale, it doesn't mean that we each make a profit, only the person who made that item will receive money from the sale, so this is why we're super careful to be considerate of each other's budget.
And is your collaboration now long distance?
Right now, collaborating is very easy since we're only 30 minutes apart but soon it'll all be via Skype video call and screen share once I move to San Diego later this Spring.
How do you make that work?
I mainly manage the website stuff and she manages our in person stuff and finds craft shows for us to attend. She's grown up in one town, mainly, so she has a lot connections through friendships and through her job at the town bank. Whereas, I am always moving, so I'm better acquainted with how online selling works and have many connections through my online shop/blog. We pull on each other's strengths. We also keep our own inventory at home and ship from our own locations. We ship via USPS Priority, that has fairly consistent pricing, so that helps us keep our shipping fees in check.What are some helpful tips that you would give to artists and crafters just starting out?
1. Quality over Quantity: start small with your options - having something new will give you something to promote later anyways - and then get really good at what you offer in your shop.
2. Make it is *picture perfect* to avoid customer disputes. Also, it will give you some bragging rights and that adds value to your product.
3. Always make sure you are creating something unique that you can't find anywhere else. I have found that our original ideas always, always sell better than a trending item we wanted to copy and sell just to get in on the sales.
4. Make your presence known if you are selling online - listing your items alone won't get you anywhere. Connect, Communicate, Collaborate. Everyday.
5. Branding and packaging will really set you apart from the rest of the crowd - especially if you are trying to get above looking like a hobby shop and more like a professional business. Sometimes you will have to pay for this but it's not a purchase, it's an *investment*. Investments always come back to you in a profitable way.
6. Never talk about your personal life or anything that is negative or infers negativity. Keep your personal life out of your business but do stay personable with your customers. That's a gray area but take this for example: no one wants to hear your kids won't go to bed or your husband bugs you BUT they do want ot here that you are eating at a cool deli with other internet personas or that you just started working the studio.
7. Those shop policies should look like a book! The more you explain and the more specific you are, the less confusion there will be with customers. It's your safety net - use it. Think of problems that might arise and place your solutions or opinions about it in your policies. Then you can refer back to your documentation when you need to.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
I really hope that I am still working for 1000 Markets, I still have my shop and I have a few stockists. I would love to start a wholesale account with a few gift shops - locally or online. I hope to have travel over seas sometime during my husband's career in the Navy, to inspire me to create a few more unique pieces for the shop.
For more follow the Pins + Papers
blog, or visit the
shop!
