I love the fact that I used to sell my upcycled products worldwide, all from the comfort of my home in my virtual shop. It still makes me smile when I think of someone enjoying my creative work in America or South Korea.
As part of my furniture upcycling business, I pursued my love of reconditioning old French enamel jugs and pitchers, decorated with French-styled decals and floral designs.
eCommerce Shop
I first started selling my products with an Etsy shop and Shopify. I used these platforms whilst I was modifying my current design and photography website. It was simply a case of installing WooCommerce (a free WordPress eCommerce plugin) and then adding my upcycled furniture and accessories as products. I wanted my own website that I owned and fully managed. I also didn’t want to keep paying a monthly fee (apart from my website hosting).
Workshops
I also started running workshops, so I used my website/store facility to take bookings and deposits.
I still have boxes of enamel and do them for fun, on and off. I guess, in the back of my mind, I could always pick it up again later in life.
I thought it would be good to share what I thought made my upcycling business successful …
#1 Professional Looking Website
I spent a lot of time working on my colours, branding, and visuals. I really wanted to have the same look across all of my platforms. My website home page was styled like a blog layout with visitors able to click on the relevant articles that interested them. Each image had a full-length description of my latest project.
#2 Product Imagery
My product images where high quality and people always commented on them. Yes, it did help that I am a photographer but to be honest, the right lighting, positioning and using a modern phone can produce great imagery.
#4 Content
I wrote epic content for each of my projects with behind-the-scenes images and I spoke about my project in detail with lots of images. I also started to make videos of working on furniture and described the techniques. My plan was to create virtual courses.
#5 Social Media
I created an Instagram account and Facebook page and group using my branding to be consistent. I networked with other upcyclers, local and worldwide. I also joined lots of local groups to promote my courses and furniture for sale. I got known as the ‘Paint Lady’! 🙂
#6 Fetes
I did run a stall a couple of times but realised that this was not really my thing. Instead, I focused on building myself a virtual store but for some, fetes are a great way for people to meet you and see your products).
#7 Stockist
I became a stockist for Autentico then Frenchic chalk paint and I was also a stockist for The Stencil Studio. Where I bought stock and sold it via my online shop.
#8 Affiliate
I started writing posts for the products and accessories I used and linked to Amazon for affiliate selling.
#9 Newsletter
I asked my visitors to subscribe to my newsletter for special offers and up-and-coming workshops. This was the best marketing method I used!
#10 Fresh and engaging
I worked on keeping my website and social media accounts active with fresh weekly content. I engaged with my audience as much as possible.
Would you like to sell upcycled products worldwide? I can show you how in my FREE 5 DAY TRAINING to start your own Online Business challenge, and it will be great to see you in my Facebook Online Business Marketing Group
