Goh Girl

San Francisco, Barcelona, Singapore. No, this is not my travel itinerary, but just a few of the numerous “futuristic secret agent” characters featured in Liz Goh’s delightful line of baby onesies, tees, and paper goods under her company, Goh Girl. Somewhat of a superhero herself, just like many indie entrepreneurs, Liz is an efficient one-woman operation-designer, artist, creator, marketer, accountant…you name it!







Unleashing Creativity
“For as long as I can remember, I have always wanted to do something in the creative arts. However, growing up in an environment where the creative arts wasn’t understood or nurtured, I didn’t embrace my passion until several years after I graduated from college. In my spare time or during off hours after my 9-5 job, I enjoyed drawing. I started illustrating these oddly cute characters that gained some popularity amongst my family and friends. Many of those close to me started encouraging me to do something with these drawings so I made the plunge and started my own small business. In 2005, gohgirl was born and I printed my illustrations on women’s tee’s and note cards.”

Start-Up Difficulties
“I was totally overwhelmed with the business aspects of starting/running a company. I had the idea for the product but felt like I didn’t have the knowledge of how to get it developed. For example, I had the final illustrations I wanted to use on tee shirts but I didn’t have the tee shirts, didn’t know the cost of the shirts, where to buy the shirts, how to buy the shirts, who would screenprint them and what those costs would be, etc.”

Jumping In
“I got over these challenges by just jumping in with both feet and figured everything out step by step. Initially, I was scared and not wanting to do anything to move forward but I knew I wanted to start a business so it didn’t matter what I didn’t know. I just educated myself. I did some research online and started off by registering my business name, getting a business license, a resale license, etc. and with each step, I felt myself becoming more confident in understanding how a business operates.”

Best of Show…
“My best [shopping show] experience was a 2 day event. The show was well organized and the organizers were very friendly. I found it especially nice that the organizers visited each vendor booth to introduce themselves. I was also surrounded by nice neighbors so it was a bonus having such a friendly atmosphere. I think having such a positive vibe adds to having a great show experience.”

And Worst of Show…
“My worst experience is not because of the show or the organizers but I was just in the wrong market. The audience wasn’t right for my products. It was very frustrating and disappointing since I had really high expectations about the show and sales.”

Multi-Tasker Extraordinare
“Since I’m a new business, I mostly do everything on my own. I also try to incorporate my talented friends/family to assist me with PR. A good friend just wrote a press release for me!”

“For marketing, I signed up with several business directories featuring independent businesses. I work with Indiefinds.com, Risingdesigners.com, The Happily Handmade Giveaway, The Sampler, and the Switchboard swaps. When I have the budget, I do advertise in shopping blogs … I contact local papers, shopping/fashion related blogs, and send information to magazines.”

Hit and Misses
“So far, it’s been a hit or miss with the different methods… meaning I may advertise in a blog one month that drives a ton of traffic and sales but the next time I advertise in the same blog, I receive little traffic and sales. I haven’t quite figured out what works best yet.”

“ [In addition,] my biggest challenge is trying to find marketing/advertising avenues that are inexpensive. I don’t have a huge budget for it but at the same time, I need to get my brand name out there.”

With a Little Help from Friends
“Right now, I ask my friends/family about what items they would like to see. I run all my illustrations/ideas through a select group of people before developing the final product. I also have a question about this in my e-newsletter sign up so visitors/customers can share product ideas with me.”

Passion and Persistence
“I motivate myself and it also helps that my significant other is VERY supportive. Doing something creative, especially in clothing is my passion and goal in life. I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to pursue this at this time in my life and I want to give it everything I have. I will succeed because I love my job!”

Recommended Business Resources
TheSwitchboards.com, Mals-e.com, Statcounter.com, Wordpress.com, Business.gov.

Words of Advice
“Don’t be easily discouraged. In business, you’ll encounter those who totally understand and love your products and then there will be those who absolutely don’t like it. Get used to the fact that not everyone is going to like your designs or products. That’s just life. The only thing you need to do is be confident in yourself and your products.”

“You’ll also make many mistakes along the way but don’t look at it as failure. Instead, they are all lessons towards growing your business and increasing your knowledge about running a business.”

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Contact:

Liz Goh

Goh Girl

info@gohgirl.com

Marketing Seminar, Women's Expo, Faires

Prettycraftythings: Alternative market for indie designers and crafters. Next show on March 4, 2007. February 2, 2007, 12-4 pm. Located in Leeds, UK.

Gem Faire: Exhibit featuring fine jewelry, gems, beads, crystals, minerals, and other jewelry items. Also has workshops such as wire wrapping, bead stringing, etc. Other fair dates between February and June for California, Oregon, Washington, and Utah. February 2-4, 2007. Located in San Rafael, CA.

Women’s Expo: Three-day expo featuring seminars and workshops targeted towards the busy working woman. Seminars on finances, business opportunities, and career training sound especially helpful to indie entrepreneurs. February 2-4, 2007. Located in Lansing, MI.

A Valentine Craft Affair: Craft fair featuring handmade goodies as sponsored by the Richmond Craft Mafia. February 12, 2007, 12-5 pm. Located in Raleigh, NC.

25+ Ways to Drive Traffic To Your Website: Seminar on how to promote and publicize your business, from press releases, postcards, blogging, podcasting and other free or low cost marketing strategies. Feb. 5, 2007, 7-10 pm. Located in Birmingham, MI.

Event Bliss, SchotlandPR, and Portland Mamas, Inc

A triple threat-that sums up Marlynn Jayme Schotland. As a full-time mom and the founder of three thriving businesses (Event Bliss, a custom stationery and graphic design studio, SchotlandPR, a public-relations firm specializing in mama-owned/family-owned businesses, and Portland Mamas Inc., a local resource and networking organizations for mom entrepreneurs), Marlynn's wealth of experiences and knowledge is a pleasure to share! Here she talks about her life as a mother, her business tips, and her motivations and inspirations:

Life As A Mom Entrepreneur
“I am a full-time mom to a 2-1/2 year old son and have a baby girl on the way! I think most parents would agree that there is no such thing as balance [between motherhood and business]; it is the mythical beast that needs to be stricken from all parenting magazines and books and all business articles. I like to say that it’s just living life on a scale, and sometimes the scale tips more toward parenting and sometimes it tips more toward business. There is never a total and equal balance.”

“I work whenever my son is napping, sleeping, at night, on weekends, etc. I purposefully have structured my businesses so that they are truly family-friendly and I make them work for me: most of my clients are also moms, and my son comes with me to 90% of all meetings, because the nature of my clientele and my businesses allows me to do so. I also make sure to schedule in playdates as well, which are just as important for me as a mom and as a business owner whose target audience consists of mothers, as they are for him as a kid!”

Typical “Marlynn” Day
“I think most moms who work and have kids home with them full-time will agree there is nothing typical about any day… like today for instance, I could be working on the following: for Event Bliss, two different wedding stationery designs, my new stationery line, three Mama Calling Card designs, updating my website and reconfiguring/cursing my cart, and promotional postcards for a business design client; for SchotlandPR …an 8-piece speaker’s kit for one client, writing a press release for another, and brainstorming how to package a new product launch for yet another client; for Portland Mamas Inc... updating the Events Calendar, writing a blog post, checking in periodically with the Forum, responding to anywhere from 20 to 100 emails…That sums up what I did today for the most part in between hanging out with my son, grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning up constantly, and consuming lots and lots of chocolate!”

Making Her Mark
“The majority of my clients come through word of mouth, and after about six months I started getting a steady stream of repeat clients and their friends and family. I do newsletters to my database every once in a while, offer products or gift certificates for various events that reach my target market, put business cards in coffee shops and fun retail stores, and just generally get the word out where and when I can. Media relations and not marketing has definitely garnered the most amount of business in one chunk of time for me, but overall I think it’s just all of the little things I do here and there that have cast a greater net of customers.”

“About once a year I will spend less than $100 on a small online boutique ad with a media outlet I know my customers love or on a couple of ads with small online businesses that I want to support. I’ve been able to work out some co-marketing partnerships too where I’ve gotten free ads in exchange for a product or service. That said, if I had a lot of extra cash lying around, I would probably do more ads just to get the name out there more. But I don’t, so I stick with mainly marketing and PR tactics to build my business.”

Knowing Her Clientele
“I send targeted surveys to past clients, as well as do my own market research and analysis of the related industries. Surveys are critical, and I do them for all of my businesses whenever I can.”

Obstacles Along the Way
“Funding has definitely been and continues to be a constant challenge, especially since I have been using savings. Right now, however, I have a lot of plans for expansion of the businesses and those plans will need upfront spending which will likely require business loans.”

“Other than that, I think my initial main challenge was finding others in similar situations who could share advice, resources, and really talk about what it is like to be a mom AND a business owner. I was involved with several professional organizations, but none of them offered me both – it was either a moms’ group where we talked about mothering, or a professional group where we talked about how to increase business. That’s why I started Portland Mamas Inc. – I knew there were other moms out there who wanted to start their own businesses too, but wanted to talk about things like how to find good childcare, how to structure work times versus play times, how to balance relationships with partners and also how to balance new accounting spreadsheets. ”

What Keeps Her Going
“The constant support of family and friends, the thrill of coming up with a new design for a client or for myself, the “I love it!” happy comments and smiles from happy clients; helping other moms and watching their own small businesses blossom; coffee and chocolate; the fact that when I wake up I answer to myself and that no matter what happens, I can say that I did what I dreamed of doing and that is enough to motivate me to do anything else.”

“[My mentors are] all of the women in Portland Mamas Inc. – I learn from them each and every day. And it’s cliché, but my mother, who has always been a working mom and now runs here own company.”

Recommended Business Resources
“[I recommend websites such as ] SCORE, SBA, Portland Mamas Inc. , local and national business publications…and magazines such as Entrepreneur, Inc., [and] Fast Company. I’m a mom so I don’t have time to read many books these days, just magazines and online publications!”

Words of Advice
“Find others who run their business the way you want to run yours and learn their secrets. Ask people about their mistakes and how they overcame them. Research like crazy, especially before making any large purchases. Be prepared to work long, long, long hours and be committed to making it work. But make it work on your terms. Only you can determine what success means to you, and remember that ultimately, at the end of the day, all of the successes and all of the failures rest on your shoulders and yours only (at least in the beginning). Most of all, have fun with it and make sure you have a solid support system of friends, family, colleagues and contacts.”

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Contact:

Marlynn Schotland

Event Bliss

SchotlandPR

Portland Mamas Inc.

info@portlandmamasinc.org

info@eventbliss.com
503.250.4690

It's All Business

Carry your identity with spunk and flair with cases meant for showing off. Far from the nondescript black, these business card cases will surely reflect the creative entrepreneur within you!

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Martini Personalized Business Card Holder from Kyle Designs, $25

Mother of Pearl Stainless Steel Deer Case from Paperberry, $29.95

Jetsons Mint Case from Metro Retro, $12.95

Shag Silhouette Vinyl Wallet from Bumbles and Lu, $8

Gift Fairs, Shopping Events, Design Workshops

Sugarloaf Craft Festival:Festival with 350 craft designers and fine artists selling sculptures, fine prints, etc. Also features craft demonstrations like wood turning, print making, and paper making. January 26-28, 2007, varied hours. Located in Chantilly, D.C.

Feria Urbana: Urban fair of 20-25 artists selling handmade goods. Ongoing show dates. Check out their website for artist applications for future shows. January 27, 2007, 3-7:30 pm. Located in San Francisco, CA.

Quilt, Craft, and Sewing Festival: A three-day festival featuring a wide variety of sewing, quilting, and other needle-arts supply exhibits. You can also participate in educational workshops and seminars. January 25-27, 2007, 10 am to 5 pm. Located in Phoenix, AZ. Standby for additional festivals in Pomona, Sacramento, and Pleasanton, CA in March and April 2007.

Hollywood Shop Till You Drop: Monthly shopping event featuring independent and major fashion lines. January 27, 2007, 11 am-3pm. Located in Studio City, CA. Always looking for vendors-check out website for designer applications.

Design Writing for Designers Workshop: This three-hour seminar promises to teach you how to write about design, not only to promote your own products, but to position yourself as an expert in your field. January 23, 6:45 to 9:45 pm. Located in West Hollywood, CA.

New York International Gift Fair: Market for gifts and home furnishings showing the latest products and best merchandising ideas. A great event for entrepreneurs thinking about exhibiting at a gift fair. January 28-Feb. 1, 2007. Located in New York, NY. If yon can’t make this one, next event is August 11-13, 2007.

Peggy Li Creations

Meet Peggy Li, the creative brain behind Peggy Li Creations (PLC), a company specializing in handmade jewelry designs that are deceptively simple, with “artisan craftsmanship mixed with contemporary approaches to contrast, color, texture and composition.” Peggy has built a successful brand, with her designs gracing the magazine pages of Lucky and Oprah and adorning celebrities from TV shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Medium, and CSI: Miami. Here Peggy shares her tips on getting to know your customers and marketing your brand, and recommends her favorite business resources.

A Balancing Act
“I had a full time job for the first five years of my business. I've been part-time for over a year now. Working both jobs gave me a lot of freedom for my business, but not a lot of time for sleep! You essentially live, breathe, sleep your business when you have to juggle both. But I understood the tradeoff I was making.”

“I wake up, check email, [and] head off to the day job (3 days a week). Answering emails and then filling orders are my priority. After those tasks, it is PR, new designs and updating my website.”

Knowing your Customers

“My typical customer is a woman in her 30's who appreciates simple, clean design that is timeless, unique and feminine…I keep my eye on the latest trends by shopping, reading fashion magazines and doing the pop-culture thing and watching lots of movies and TV (which I would do anyway!).”

Getting the Peggy Li Name Out

“[I send press kits out] to the appropriate magazine editor as well as [make] the occasional cold call. I only cold call if I feel the magazine or whatever is a good fit for my product. Know about the magazine or person you are going to talk to before you call! The more knowledgeable and professional you are, the better your chances.”

“I regularly look for fashion websites and request reviews of my sites or products. I have found that magazines and websites that focus on shopping or fashion have been the best drivers of sales for my site. I [also] write a blog about fashion and my business, which is a great way to help drive traffic to your site.”

“Having a good website is very useful, since you can always refer press to your site to see your product and learn more about you…I use paid advertising like Google Adwords with a very targeted keyword for my business…I make sure my site is search engine- friendly and looks as professional as I can make it. This allows my site to be found easily by someone online and gives them an easy shopping experience when they arrive. The site must have clear pictures, helpful descriptions, and a way to contact me with any questions.”

From Lucky to Buffy

“I had met the costume designer for Buffy previously (as a journalist) and sent her a press kit and samples and they liked what they saw and put it on the show! That was my first placement and those relationships have held me in good stead ever since then. I don't recommend this method for everyone -- a press kit and line sheet should do the job. Mostly, you need to remember to be persistent and not let the rejections (and I've had more of those than yeses) [get you down].”

Encountering Challenges …

“Right now the biggest challenge is deciding how to grow my business, setting new goals..., and not losing momentum…[Another] challenge is being able to take rejection and stay committed to the business. It takes a lot of work and it is a *business* -- you have to learn about your industry and make business decisions and not just be an artist.”

And Persevering Through Them

“I love to create beautiful things that people enjoy. I love the challenge of running a business and learning how to make that better. [However, you have to] know your strengths and weaknesses. Stay persistent. Know your market and try and learn as much as you can about your business. Dream big, but don't forget to set realistic milestones for yourself!”

Recommended Business Resources

“I frequently read The Switchboards Forum to network with other small business owners. I'm currently listening to "The E-Myth" on tape, about entrepreneurs and small business. I read fashion magazines and learn about other businesses and what they are doing to be successful -- you can learn a lot from your peers, or by seeing what designers you admire do.”
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Contact Info:

Peggy Li
Peggy Li Creations
http://www.peggyli.com/
press@peggyli.com

Trend Watching 101

Trendwatching.com, a consumer trends firm with a network of 8,000 trend spotters around the global, just released a summary of its top 5 consumer trends for 2007. It’s such a great list because it predicts trends that will affect not only how people shop, but how they live in general. I’ve provided a brief summary of each but you can go to the actual article here. Of course, you can also buy the comprehensive 2007 Trend Report- it will set you back $500.

(1) Status Lifestyles- “Old, mass-era status” [i.e., Gucci, Rolex] and other traditional luxury items may not necessarily be the keystone of every consumer’s pocketbook. Instead, as consumers become more transcient and saturated with stimuli, they increasingly rely on experiences for entertainment. The new status lifestyles are just that-the need for consumers to experience, to participate, and to connect, illustrated by the past and continuing popularity of sites such as meetup, myspace, or flickr.

“Eco-lifestyles” are also on the rise. The internet revolution has created a smaller, close-knit world and has weaved people into a global community, making consumers more aware of domestic and international ecological issues. As a result, consumers are actively trying to “greenify” their lives and place premium value on chic, well-designed, eco-friendly products.

Advice for the indie entrepreneur? Knowledge of these new status lifestyles allows you to develop strategies such as focusing your product line or using materials with an eco-friendly twist or developing marketing strategies that fulfill a customer’s needs to participate and network.


(2) Transparency Trend: The easy accessibility of the internet and the need for humans to communicate is a powerful combination. The result? An onslaught of websites compiling and tracking advice, opinions, and advice of regular consumers (like you and me) for a multitude of products and services. While the effect of this trend depends on the positivity of the customer’s review or opinion, it is uncontestable that this trend has created an unprecendented transparency in many products and services.

For indie entrepreneurs with typically limited resources, this trend can make or break your business. A favorable product mention on youtube or tripadvisor may propel your business to a new level, but one ill-written review can cause bad publicity or lost sales.

Therefore, knowledge is power. Investigate and be fully informed of where and how your product/service is mentioned. Google yourself-you never know where you’ll come up! This allows you to do damage control early on in the game. In addition, a customer review, whether positive or negative, is feedback which may help you in developing strategies and getting a different perspective of your products/services.

(3) Web N+1: The online revolution is showing no signs of cooling down. In addition, technology will only continue to evolve faster than ever. Stay on your toes.

(4) Trysumers: In conjunction, or perhaps as a reflection of the trend towards participation and connection, consumers are becoming more daring in what they consume and experience-new foods, new flavors, new services.

This is great news for indie entrepreneurs, who traditionally service as forerunners and innovators of creative products and services way before larger stores and mainstream designers. Give consumers the chance to experience and sample your products. This is a crucial strategy, especially for many indie entrepreneurs who sell their products online, as it is difficult for consumers to get a tactile experience of a product’s qualities. For instance, for companies offering bath and body products, entrepreneurs can invest in small vials and send samples of their products with customer’s orders, or if financially possible, allow potential customers to request product samples. In addition, participating in events such as homeofthesampler allows you to reach a different or larger audience for a small monetary investment.

(5) Global Brain: The global brain is about tapping into your customers’ creativity and making them feel a connection with your product. This strategy has been used by a variety of companies, such as Mastercard (which allowed consumers create their own "priceless ads") and McDonalds (which casted ordinary people to appear in its bags and cups). Involving your customers in an activity that connects them to your business enables them to establish a stake in your products or services.