A Creative Consultation with Nadia van der Mescht

In 2013 I had my first consultation with Nadia, we planned and shaped marketing strategies to catapult The Ruby Orchard onto the Map.

In 2014, Nadia was guest speaker at our first Creative In store workshop.  She summed up our creative day with such wise words.

At the start of 2015 I was in need of some oomph, some fresh eyes and ears on my plans for 2015 and a good old chat about what was going well and what wasn't!  I booked a session with Nadia and headed to Durbs!  A child free day out of the office… such a treat for me! My music playing in the car instead of the Beatrix potter story CD,  No rushing to collect Jonah from school and a handbag free from juice bottles and little boy pants!

Nadia is always poised, professional and so knowledgeable in her field.   Every question gets answered with depth, thought and comes with a list of sites to visit that illustrate her points and ideas.  I came away with a notebook full of scribbles and have since typed lists and spreadsheets with all my to dos!

I'm not going to share all that we covered, but here are a few things that stuck with me...

1// Use social media with reason. Every post ask yourself ‘What am I trying to achieve by posting this?’ More likes? More clicks? Generate sales? Drive traffic to another form of social media?  Some spontaneity is good, but plan and post with purpose.

2// Be an Instagram ace! Instagram is about pictures, it showcases your business and brand in pictures. So take beautiful pictures, use filters cleverly and Instagram only the best piccies.

3// If you are going to send monthly newsletters, make them stunning and concise or they are likely to be deleted! Look at your stats, if a newsletter is not generating interest, use this time on a more effective marketing tool.

If you are a creative business owner looking for some guidance, support and inspiration then you should definitely give Nadia a call!

Reasons why your business should write a blog!

Source 

Writing 1-3 posts every week.... about what...??  Planning and scheduling posts months in advance... finding and taking pictures for each post..... Why you ask???  Why would a little shop go to all that bother?? Well... this is why we write a blog!

Our blog is our stage for connecting with and sharing relevant information with our customers. It not only creates a place for us to talk about our products but lets our personality sparkle and shows people what we’re all about!

Our blog tells our story and offers an insight into our business, our team, our ideas and things that inspire us.

Our blog gives us food for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and our newsletters. Our social media overflows with what we are up to!

Our blog creates a conversation with you, our customers. It encourages interaction, comments and feedback. 

Our blog means our webpage is being updated every few days, which means search engines love us!

Blogs are free! Free marketing.... yes please!

Blogging keeps us ahead of the game. It helps us be a leader, not a follower of trends and our competitors.

Blogging is hard work, don’t get me wrong. But it is inspiring! It makes me think about our customers, our readers and followers. It keeps me focused on our marketing strategies. I find it stimulating and I often look forward to writing a new post! Why not give it a go!

Being different

It is critical to make your business different.  Following trends and staying up to date is important, but being a little bit different and carving your own piece of your industry is essential.

To continue our business tips series into 2015 I've made a list of the things we are doing that our competitors are not... just a few ways we are trying to be different.

Source

1) We blog about what we do.  Many independent stores use social media to promote products and events, but few use the creativity of a blog to share products, ideas and even our suppliers.

2) Most businesses are now using facebook as a medium to advertise themselves. We use Facebook consistently, consistency keeps followers interested.  By updating our followers at least three times every week we try our utmost to be consistently interesting!

3) Searching for new products is part of my every day.  I cannot stop searching and I cannot be content with the products we have in store. I cannot for new products to come to me!

4) We are designing and making our own bespoke products and have full time carpenters to bring my brain farts to life.  When I was at school (in the UK) we had to study two technology based subjects. 99% of the girls chose textiles and food technology.  I however chose woodwork and graphic design... boy am I glad I did!

5) We run workshops, consultations and evening events. These are incredibly hard work, but oh so worth it.  They demonstrate that The Ruby Orchard is so much more than a shop!

6) We say NO to consignment. This means we own every single product in the shop – it makes us ensure they are all quality products and forces us to work hard at selling them. They do not get forgotten in corner and left to gather dust. (More on the pros and cons of consignment later in this series).

7) We work with suppliers to design products exclusively for us.  I don't want the same products as every other shop... that's why I ask creative's to make ranges exclusively available to us.

8) We are connecting with, working with and becoming great friends with other local businesses – Millamae, The Farmers Daughter, Fern Hill Hotel, Valley Bakery are just a few of the local business we connect with.  I hope these relationships grow in 2015.

Think outside the box... How can your business be that little bit different? 

Bucket list 2015

2015 is going to be a huge year for The Ruby Orchard.  We have plans drawn up for some exciting new projects and cannot wait to get this year started!

Our homely, natural and refreshing store aims to continue to excite and inspire you.  I love a list!  So I have made a bucket list to kick start my year!

1// Join Twitter and get involved!! In 2014 we mastered Instagram... we are now tweeting and will be giving you regular updates on our twitter feed.

2// Write a business tips series on the blog.  I wrote some tips for creative businesses in 2014 and you seemed to love them!  In 2015 I'll be writing a whole series - starting with 'Being different'.

3// Revamp our blog into an awesome, user friendly website. We'll be enlisting the skills of the talented Nicola Tweed for this.

4// Build Howick Mirror & Glass a new home.  Our other family business currently runs from the same premises as The Ruby Orchard, in 2015 they will be relocating making more space for prettiness and our exciting new development!

5// Grow our furniture range - The workshop is already filling up with new projects for Zak and Ray to get stuck into.  We will also be designing, developing and manufacturing the coolest bar stools in SA!

6// We will be working with Nadia vd Mescht again in 2015 to get some twitter and social media tips, map our marketing strategies for 2015 and start work on the branding for the new development.

7// Photo focus.  Sandi and I are budding photographers, in 2015 we'll be polishing up our photography skills to give you brilliant and regular photo updates of all our products.

8// 2014 saw us run workshops for creative individuals looking to wholesale their products into stores. In 2015 we will be offering 1-1 consultations for creative's who want a personal and honest appraisal and want to learn how to approach retailers to get their products onto shelves!

9// Extend our opening hours.  With our big plans for 2015, opening for longer on Saturdays and opening on Sundays is inevitable.

10// We love hosting an event, party, evening with drinks... in 2015 we have plans for a number of new events... afternoon teas, guest speakers, crafty sessions... watch this space!

11// Lastly,  Positivity is my mantra for 2015.  I vow to stay positive, use positive thoughts, always look and plan forward and see the good in difficult situations.  When S*!t happens turn it into fertiliser!!!

Have a great year!

Business tips - Some thoughts for new businesses

The Ruby Orchard has now been running for 18 months.  I can happily put my hands up and say... I've made mistakes, but I can also say I've made some good decisions.  The Ruby Orchard continues to grow and people from all over SA are slowly starting to hear about this little shop in Howick!

Here are a few of my top tips for new businesses...

source 

1//Be organised, make lists and have a plan!  I know what i'm trying to achieve today, tomorrow and next week.  I have planned events, blog posts and stock I want to get in store for the rest of the year. I am already looking at my 2015 calendar!

2// Learn, Learn, Learn... You can always learn a little bit more.  Get yourself a network of similar business owners, follow blogs, book a coffee with a fellow creative. Bouncing ideas off others can be a great way to analyse what you are doing.  We booked a creative consultation with Nadia vd Mescht in 2013 to plan our marketing strategies for 2014 and came away fizzing with things we wanted to try and do!

3// Except your mistakes, get over it and move on.  I've ordered products that have arrived and I've hated them, I have taken on furniture jobs that were far too big for our team and we didn't quite pull it off. You cannot dwell on these mistakes, just learn from them.

4//  Keep a little eye on what your competition are up to, it's healthy to know... but don't get obsessed with them! You need to make your business unique and move forward in your own direction.

5//  Keep things fresh and changing - never stop trying to make things a little bit better.  If something doesn't sell, then it must be cleared and something fresh and exciting put in its place!  If an event is a flop... then analyse why... and make the next one 100% better!

Good Luck!