Starting a business is seriously scary! And AmAzInG! And a lot!!!! This page is all about my experience, and what I have learned while fumbling through building Melonheadz. Maybe, just maybe, I might save you from making the same mistakes I have made. I hope to inspire you, and show you that anything is possible!
branding
noun
Using a distinctive and unique design to promote a business or a product through advertizing.
marketing
noun
Promoting and selling goods or services through advertising and market research.
Here are 8 key areas that will help you to plan how you want achieve the dream of starting your own business. Branding your own business is essential to establish an easily recognizable way for people to find you!
Why do you need one?
When I started Melonheadz, it was for one reason. Money. We needed extra income. My goal was to build a business where I could help my family, and also help my friends to be more financially secure. It didn’t go the way I had envisioned it. I thought it would be the friends that live near me, but this is SO much better! It’s ok to let your purpose evolve!
Why is a name important?
I chose the name Melonheadz for two reasons. First, because it was catchy, and my drawings had BIG heads! Secondly, I wanted a name that was meaningful to me. My parents had both recently passed away, and I wanted to incorporate their memory. My dad always threatened to “thump my melon” when I was little. The Z on the end was just for pizzazz!
Can you broaden your reach?
My first audience turned out to be card makes/crafters. “Digital Stamps” is what they called my illustrations. It has since crossed over in to the world of education, religion, and illustrating! Its ok to be able to pivot, and engage in more than just one area. Do a little research on your chosen demographic. You never know until you try. Take a chance, and believe in yourself!
Is consitency really that important?
I started Melonheadz completely ignorant of this one. It took me a long time to understand that the quality of my drawings didn’t stand alone. I was also stubborn, and wanted to do things my own way, lol. I could have saved myself a lot of work had I nailed down my design to begin with. The Personalized Melonheadz are perfect for designing your distinct look.
What made you decide to start your business?
We’ve already talked about how I started Melonheadz to earn extra money, but I do have a backstory as well. You can read it by CLICKING HERE. My story, and the story of Melonheadz is one and the same. It’s brought me friends, family, and framily. I share it in hopes that it may inspire others. People will want to know about YOU! Let them in, and show them what makes you special and unique.
What feeling/trait do you want to convey?
Melonheadz, (for me anyway), feels happy! I really and truly hope that when people see my illustrations they smile. By being thoughtful, and trying to hold my “PUT MORE ON IT! THE MORE THE MERRIER” compulsions at bay, I’ve done my best to create a space where the illustrations are featured and content is valued. It also gives you a glimpse in to the “Me” that’s behind the name.
Who needs a tagline?
You! That’s who! A tagline is important because it is a brief blurb where people learn what you are all about. Down at the bottom of each illustration, you’ll find a heart with my initials, and the year it was drawn. “Clipart with heart” is just plain perfect because a little bit on my heart goes in to each drawing! It keeps me focused on my purpose too.
How can trust help me build a business?
Offering a service, item, or sharing your knowledge on a subject, gives you an opportunity to earn the trust of another person. It gives your business value. No one is perfect 100% of the time they interact with another person. Sometimes “people-ing” is hard. Doing your best, and putting forth the effort to try goes a long way! I’m so grateful for the grace and patience given to me by others and try to do the same.
As I was thinking about the Melonheadz brand and what it stands for, I reached out to people that use my illustrations regularly and asked for their input. I’m grateful to have a group of framily (friends = family) that I trust to be honest and give me a straight answer. I asked them for words that they would use to describe Melonheadz, and I have to admit that I was a little overwhelmed and emotional when I read what they had to say.
“Generous, Inclusive, Artistic, Creative, Friendly, Authentic, Multicultural, Original, Inspiring and heartwarming, People focused and heart centered, talented, uplifting, beautiful, family, love, Christlike, humble, thoughtful, generous, willing, abundant, detail oriented, children, school, learning, Sister, motivated, reliable, understanding, caring, charitable, best mom ever, faith filled, goal oriented, cutest grandma ever, storyteller, cheerleader, encouraging, thought provoking, a good example, my hero, friendly, teacher, artist, one of a kind, Teacher friendly, unquie drawings, Life changing, talented, hard working, honest, diverse, inspirational, amazing, committed (as in to family, friends and your business) .”
Ima go cry now.
I really am blessed.
Now I have to go get busy!!!! No pressure, lol.
1. Search out information on tax collection in your area. It’s important that you understand what you need to do from the beginning. It will save you a lot of stress and work later.
2. Be kind to yourself. Owning a business is a lot of learning as you go. Don’t compare your journey to others, everyone has a different story.
3. Don’t stop learning! Google and YouTube can teach you a lot. Take that online course… go take a class!
4. Treat those who you come in contact with like a friend, and that is what they will become. You’ll never regret it.
Marketing is not easy for me. I HATE feeling like I’m pushing my work on others. It’s super hard for me to toot my own horn, and I’m more than a little awkward.
Here are some ways that I have been able to make marketing work. Maybe it’ll help you too!
Blogging / Website
The beginning.
This is where I started. I wasn’t even sure what a blog was supposed to be, but guess what? I figured it out! If I can do it, so can you! One of the best things about building an online presence, is that you never know who might stumble across it. I had someone pass on my blog because it had free clipart on it and I had 2,000 followers in a day. Who knew????
There are plenty of sites that offer blog spaces for free. YouTube wasn’t a thing when I started, but I’m sure you can google “starting a blog” and find a ton of information.
Content, content, and more content!!!! The more content that you have, the better. Give people a reason to come back, and offering them a free item here and there doesn’t hurt.
When I decided to move to my own website, I had several failed attempts. I’m really technologically challenged. I hit the jackpot with this site however, when Steph offered to help me. She set everything up, and then shared her screen with me over facetime so that I could actually SEE how to work with it. It was amazing!!!! I’m really grateful for her help. I’ve been able to figure out some of it on my own through doing some research, and have been able to make the site feel like me! Stretching your abilities and learning to do things yourself is pretty awesome.
Social Media
Do you love it or hate it?
It’s an amazing tool for networking and research. It’s a wonderful way to make friends and even grow your “framily”. Can you even imagine what you would have to do for marketing if there were no Social Media? I don’t know that my business would survive that world.
There are so many outlets for social media, that it’s really hard to know where to begin. Pick two or three that you are familiar with, and concentrate on them. Do your best and give them as much attention as you can. It’s better to be really good at two or three, than sorta okay at 25.
Try and be as consistent as you can across them all. It’ll help people recognize you. Here are some of the things I’ve used to do that very thing. As you can see, I’ve used my Personalized Melonhead over and over, she’s been a life saver!
I resisted adding my “Real Me” for a LONG time. Let’s face it, you’re the only You you’ve got, and people want to know you. They want to know your story and feel connected. Besides, I think you’re pretty stinkin awesome, and you have a lot to offer the world!
You can find tutorials and articles all over the place that show you how to make all of this stuff yourself. There are also people that will make them for you. If you use and image or clipart, be sure to check on the copyright/trademark and Terms of Use for them.
Networking / Growing your circle
I’m happy to tell you that I still have a lot of friends and framily that I met at the very beginning of my journey. Blogging brought so many people in to my life. I’ve been able to collaborate with really awesome people and it’s the absolute best! I would 100% reccommend it.
Here’s the definition of Networking:
“the action or process of interacting with others to exchange information and develop professional or social contacts”
Sounds awesome, right??? I mean, who doesn’t need advice and contacts in just the right place? I’ve learned a lot of stuff through people who are very successful and are willing to share their knowledge. I’ve seen very influential people do some really great things in the process of building their network.
I’m a huge believer in doing good. I 100% think that there is room in the world for everyone to find success at what ever they choose to do. There’s nothing better to me than cheering on people who are doing fantastic things!!! Comparing myself to someone else just drags me down.
Now let’s talk about growing your circle. This is where I’ve chosen to put most of my energy. When you research networking, you’re gonna hear about getting more likes and followers. Numbers are huge! Likes and follows are helpful. It means you have a wider reach…. BUT… are you really reaching people who are genuinely interested in you and what you are doing? Who knows? I’m more interested in people that I can help in a real way. I’m more interested in the people I can build a relationship with. I hope to be the “go to” for those who I can make an honest connection with and become their friend. Their framily.
How you choose to build your circle is 100% up to you! The more people you have in your corner the better! I hope you’ll consider me as one of them.
What is the best place to sell your goodies?
Again, this is 100% up to you. I started out on Etsy, and then moved on to Teachers Pay Teachers. Unless you’re ready to start dealing with taxes and other issues, I wouldn’t recommend starting your own site right away. Yes, you’ll have fees to pay on other sites, but you’ll also get some other perks. When I started selling on Etsy, I had to send out an email everytime something was purchased because they didn’t have the automatic download feature yet. That was a game changer for me for sure! These sites will also have a trouble shooting process already built in, so you don’t have to deal with all of that.
I will tell you that I think not having all your “eggs in one basket” is smart. Different avenues of income is essential.
You never know when a site is going to change up their marketing, business processes, or we might just be quarentined for days!
Participating in sales events is also a great marketing tool. Watch for site wide sales, or throw your own! Everyone likes a deal, but please, please, please, value your work. Research and look around at what others are selling similar items for. Know your worth. Sometimes you just plain get what you pay for.
I like to promote sales on social media. Here are some of the ways that I’ve done that:
If given the opportunity, you might want to try “blog hops”, “hashtag” sales, meet ups, conferences, etc. along with other people. It never hurts to give it a shot, and you might be able to learn something!
Be the cheerleader!
If asked what would be the best advice I could share would be, it is this: Be the cheerleader. Cheer on everyone that you come in contact with, even if you think it doesn’t matter to them.
I have been blessed with some friends, framily, and family that send me random emails, texts, and messages when I needed than the most. Sometimes a personal visit can lift me up out of the deepest darkness. I’m sure that they have no idea how they change the trajectory of my day. It literally can change my mindset and get me back on track. I’m grateful for every single one.
Be that person.
If your business, or your life is just too much, go out and do something for someone else. Break out that megaphone and let ‘er rip! You’re gonna feel so much better, and it’ll remind you of what who is most important in this life.
This is where I wanted to leave you an inspirational quote….. I looked and looked, and once I read this one, I couldn’t find anything that stuck out to me more. Now we can be in the same boat, lol. You’re welcome!
As I wrap up this rant and what little bit of knowledge I have, I want to leave you with this:
“Go YOU! You are awesome, and have so much to share with this world. I KNOW you can do anything that you set your mind to,” and a high five!
I’m cheering you on from over here in my little corner. I have a hug and a pat on the bum for ya if you need it!
