I've received quite a bit of emails asking me how to start a blogshop,
how to manage a blogshop, how to make a blogshop work...
And the list goes on.
So I've decided to do up a simple and short guide on :
Owning a blogshop!
If you're looking at starting your own blogshop,
I hope this will be of some help to you.
#1
Have ready a sum of savings to use as your start up capital.
Nowadays, blogshops are no longer just a business with low start up costs.
If you want to move fast in establishing your blogshop,
you gotta be prepared to spend some moolahs to make that happen!
You need to have a wide variety of designs for customers to choose from,
you need capital for decent pictures and a good looking model.
If you prefer to start off with an entire range of self manufactured label pieces,
that's not going to be a small sum of money!
You also have to be prepared to not make money for your first 6 months (at least) so it is always good to have a sum of money by your side to keep the blogshop running even if you don't see profits YET.
#2
Source for reliable suppliers
I have received countless emails asking me to "share my supplier contact".
Erm, I'm not doing charity so why should I share my supplier contact?
What's in it for me if I tell you where to find my supplier?
I might sound mean but come on,
in the real world, no business person is going to tell you where they get their suppliers from.
But anyway,
that is what the Internet is for.
Or you can open your mouth and ask your friends/relatives/whoever.
It is not THAT hard to find out where to get supplies.
If you cannot even be bothered to do that and have to resort to emailing blogshop owners to ask for their suppliers contacts,
then you're probably not very suitable to start a blogshop.
#3
Blogshop name
Don't use weird, un-spellable, misspelled, hard to remember/pronounce words for your blogshop name.
Also, make sure that the online platform that you are building your blogshop on has the name available for you without having to add any symbols.
I can't even remember how The Tinsel Rack came about but I couldn't have came up with a better name now if I tried.
Hahaha.
It would be great if you have a story behind your blogshop name because I always get that question during interviews:
"How did you come up with the name The Tinsel Rack?"
HAHAHA.
I don't even know how.
#4
Website
I think online customers nowadays have pretty high standards when it comes to website presentation.
I think that it's fine if you're not a dotcom,
but at least make sure your layout is neat, pleasant to the eye,
easy to navigate and user friendly!
If it is too troublesome to purchase,
it deters customers from shopping at your website.
Personally, I'm very particular about the fonts of the website I'm at.
I hate fonts which look too cartoon-y because I feel that it gives a very amateurish vibe to the website.
Somehow, I feel that it affects the credibility of your blogshop too.
It might seem like a small thing to most of you but fonts are really important to me.
HAHA.
Oh, and try to make sure the alignment of your photos are not off.
Another thing which I am anal about.
#5
At-least-decent photos
Pixelated, blurred or over exposed photos are definitely a big no-no.
You're an ONLINE shop so pictures matter.
A lot.
If your blogshop has pictures which are too small,
please try to make them bigger?
Customers nowadays might not have much patience to slowly click on every thumbnail to see the bigger pictures.
Worse if they click in and the photos are still as small.
And I feel like hurling whenever I see badly stretched photos which makes the models look like aliens of weird proportions.
And I feel like hurling whenever I see badly stretched photos which makes the models look like aliens of weird proportions.
I think photoshop skills are something which is extremely useful for all blogshop owners.
In the past, I knew nothing about photoshop.
Zilch.
And now I still don't know enough to call myself a professional...
But at least I know the basics!
And there are always Youtube tutorials to the rescue if you don't even know how to crop photos.
;)
#6
Work on your own branding
Establishing your own unique brand identity will definitely help you stand out in the minds of your customers.
It is the representation of your blogshop's reputation.
You have free rein to shape your branding in any way that you want,
it is your business and you are completely in charge.
Even for blogshops,
I feel that it is important to have your customers feel a connection with your brand.
Building a brand sounds like a fluffy concept which blogshops don't need,
but I think that is what distinguishes the strong players from all the other blogshops out there!
Being a marketing graduate I feel very inclined to go into SWOT analysis and all that shit but I think some of you might be lost.
If you're interested, you can google about 'brand building' and do some reading up!
#7
Don't steal other blogshops' pictures
You might think you're smart for doing it,
after all, you save money on the pictures and don't have to do a single shit except 'right click' and 'save as', and then post those pictures up.
WRONG.
I don't even know why I'm talking about this but honestly I've seen enough people doing it so I think I should.
There are so many Instagram shops blatantly ripping off photos from blogshops nowadays that I was mortified when I first knew about it.
If you're really serious about running an online business,
stealing others' photos is definitely NOT going to make you succeed.
Perhaps in the short term you get customers,
but in the long term you're definitely heading for failure!
I think it's all about integrity and some customers might doubt that of your blogshop if they know that your photos do not come from an original source.
And so...
Why would they want to shop with you?
I think it's all about integrity and some customers might doubt that of your blogshop if they know that your photos do not come from an original source.
And so...
Why would they want to shop with you?
#8
No price war
Starting a price war has got to be the worst way to do business.
You might think that you're doing it so as to eliminate competition,
but that is just so silly.
I've seen some blogshops with ridiculously low prices in order to attract customers,
but once they know that it does not bring enough profits to sustain their blogshop in the long term,
they revert back to standard prices.
Plus,
why would you want to spoil your own market and at the same time earn such a small margin which does not even justify your efforts?
#9
Having a positive relationship with your customers
It is always easy to attract new customers to make their first purchase with you,
but the harder part comes when you want to convert them into your regular customers.
I'm not going into the theories of marketing but in every line of business,
it is always essential to build a healthy relationship with your customers.
By that, of course I don't mean that you should give in to every single demand of your customers.
There should be a good balance when it comes to satisfying your customers while not compromising on certain principles or values.
I think it also helps if you have a platform (for eg blog/twitter/Instagram) to interact with your customers!
:)
You'll definitely be more in touch with your customers if they can put a face to the owner behind the blogshop!
#10
Seek for constant improvement
Always ask yourself how you can do it better.
That question is always on my mind ever since I started TTR and even till now.
I always feel that there is room for improvement in terms of how I run TTR,
how smooth the day to day operations are,
how to improve on the designs and quality of clothes,
which part of customer service we have to strengthen,
and how can we do things different but in a better way in general.
I'm not saying that you're sure to succeed if you follow my blogpost...
I'm still constantly working on TTR to make it bigger and better all the time!
But hopefully my blogpost will be of a little help to those who want to start a blogshop but how no idea how/no courage to,
or those who own a blogshop but don't know how to make it work.
It's been long since I did such a wordy post with no photos,
but I kinda enjoyed doing it!
Any more ideas on what kind of blog posts you want to see?
Hehe.
Leave me a comment!
