Brand Voice Development for Values-Based Business

This post is part of an ongoing series on the specialty boutique industry called What Every Indie Knows. If you’re an active or aspiring shop owner, a creative who sells work to shops, or a passionate indie shopper, you’ll find this series interesting. Drink deeply and please share your own perspectives in the comments!

The intrepid Lizzie asked a great question in the comments of our first Letters To a Young Retailer post: “What’s an indie?”

Photo by eflon courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons.

When I use the word ‘indie’ around here, I’m referring to independent business. I would’ve thought by now it had entered the common lexicon, but when you type ‘indie business’ into Wikipedia, you only find its variations: indie pop, indie design, et al.

So let’s look at indie design, courtesy of Wikipedia:

The indie design movement is made up of independent designers, artists and craftspeople who design and make a wide array of products without being part of large, industrialized businesses.

They are supported by a growing number of indie shoppers who are seeking niche and often handmade products as opposed to those mass-produced by corporations. Such products may include jewellery and other accessories, ceramics, clothing, glass, metalwork, furniture, cosmetics, art and much more.

Indie designers often sell their items directly to buyers by way of their own online shops, craft fairs, street markets and a variety of online marketplaces, such as Etsy. However, they may also engage in consignment and/or wholesale relationships with retail outlets, both online and offline.

The indie design movement can be seen as being an aspect of the general indie movement and DIY culture.

The bottom line is, an “indie” is any independently owned business that does not have a corporation bankrolling it.

The business itself can have legal corporation status, but the point is, an indie is usually one girl, one guy, or a small group going it solo and trying to rock their dream.

“Indie” businesses do not necessarily hail from Indiana.

I really like UrbanDictionary.com‘s take on “indie” {though a lot of their content overall can be, shall we say, edgy, so brace y’self}:

According to the dictionary, ‘indie’ is an informal version of the word independent.

Although this definition is accurate, the word has come to mean more. For many, it has come to symbolize originality and forward-thinking, especially in music and design.

By this definition, indie is any business or designer that is not associated with a large company. Indie can also define the consumer who chooses to support small business, independent record labels and handmade items rather than shopping at big-box stores.

So there you have it. That’s an indie.

In terms of your own entrepreneurial dream, what does ‘indie’ mean to you?

{ 12 comments }

Do you know what your right people are really buying?

If your pitch isn’t landing its mark, maybe you need to take a look at what you’re really pitching. Are you selling an item or a service, or are you selling a promise? What’s your customer really after?

The difference between making a sale and not making is sale is understanding what your customer really wants to buy.

The first step is knowing what you’re selling.

Photo by House Of Sims courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons

What Are You Really Selling?

Do people buy water or do they buy refreshment? Or a way to wash herbs out of their teeth during their dinner date at a cozy little ristorante?

Do people buy babysitting services or do they buy assurance that their kids will be protected in their absence?

Do they buy toys for their kids or do they buy them fun and happiness?

Do they buy hostess gifts or do they buy social approval and acceptance in their crowd?

Do they buy novels or do they buy transportive mental and emotional experiences?

You’re Selling Both And

These dynamics work at a subconscious level. Nobody goes into a bookstore saying, I want a transportive mental and emotional experience. They say, I need a new novel. I want to read something.

But what they’re after is not the act of reading. They want the experience that a well-written novel on a topic they care about can create for them. They want to get emotionally invested in characters they can relate to. They want to observe human dynamics that help them make sense of their own relationships.

So yes, you’re selling novels. And you’re selling an experience your customer is craving. {And that’s what they’re really buying.}

This is where nichification comes into play. Two people can be selling the same widgets, but they might be selling them to very different groups of people for very different reasons.

For example, Wig Shop A sells human hair wigs to drag queens downtown. Wig Shop B sells human hair wigs to female chemotherapy patients in the suburbs. Both stores are selling human hair wigs. But Shop A’s customer is buying fabulousness. Shop B’s customer is buying a feeling of normalcy and conventional femininity. Maybe even a measure of privacy. Hence, the marketing tactics of these two wig shops are going to be wildly different: different strategy, different approach, different voice in the copy, different design of marketing pieces, and probably vastly different store interior design and staffing. And you betcha each shop’s customers are in totally different mental and emotional places when they’re buying those wigs.

What’s The Value of Knowing What You’re Really Selling?

When you know what you’re really selling, you can tap into your right people’s mindsets. You can begin to access their mini universe in insider ways. You have an edge that bigger businesses don’t have. You’re closer to the source.

If you’re really good, you might even figure out what your right people are always secretly craving. And you can infuse whatever they’re jonesing for into your content. Lace it through your blog posts. Whip it into your sales copy. Reference it on your packaging. Put a bow around it so they know you’re paying attention. {People love to buy from people who pay attention to them.}

Best of all, when you know what you’re really selling, you can make better offers that tap into deeper needs, all stemming from what your right people are really buying.

For example, if you teach yoga classes targeted at obese people, you have a sense that larger people may sometimes feel self-conscious and uncomfortable in classes where the show-off students are bendy, reedy, size 2 women. So what your customer really wants to buy is a welcoming, non-judge-y place to get her yoga practice on among other women who also have some “lovely lady lumps” {to quote Fergie}. {By the way, I speak from experience here with the body image issues. I’m far from a reedy size 2.} What else might your customer be interested in? Other group fitness activities oriented for plus-sized people. Nutritional counseling for those who’d like to drop some weight. A personal stylist who specializes in dressing the size 14+ body. Or maybe information on a fat acceptance group.

My Right People Are Buying Connection & Direction. How About Yours?

I’m selling connection. I’m a copywriter. This means I write the words for people’s websites, brochures, and press releases. But I’m not really selling words. What my typical client is really buying is connection with her right people — online, in print, and in person.

I’m also selling entrepreneurial direction, or self-directedness. I coach creative entrepreneurs who want to clarify their vision and hone their niche. My typical client knows what he’s passionate about, but he needs some guidance and support in getting from here to there.

What are your right people really buying? And how can you use this understanding to meet new layers of your right people’s needs?

There’s still one more day for you to get in on my tat-worthy dream contest. The prize is $10 toward a Whopper and a coffee, or toward whatever you want. It’ll be your ten bucks. Read the “Tattoo-Worthy” post here and get in on the contest, which ends tomorrow, Monday, June 14th, 2010 at 6 PM EST.

{ 13 comments }

This post is part of an ongoing series called Letters To a Young Retailer, which explores basic issues related to the start-up and running of an indie retail specialty shop. This series follows my work with Augusta, a retailer in her first year of business. Augusta is real. Her shop is in the Midwest. Some details have been changed to conceal her identity.

Q: I’ll be opening my shop for the first time in just a few months and I need to get some product in here! But with the timing of my opening, I think it’ll be too crazy for me to get away to Market. Is there any way I can find vendors from home? — Augusta

A: Absolutely. While going to Market is one of the basic quarterly or yearly milestones in the work of a progressive retailer {and by progressive, I mean one who wants to keep on top of what’s fresh in her niche}, if you just can’t get there, there are a multitude of ways for you to find vendors from the comfort of your own home, or at least without jumping on a plane. Still, I encourage you to plan that first trip to Market. In my view, it’s one of the things that separates the hobbyists from the professionals.

Photo by bravenewtraveler courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons.

7 Ways of Finding Awesome Vendors Without Going To Market

1.}  Keep tabs on websites of other retail stores whose offerings you admire. {Ideally, ones outside a 45-mile radius of you.} Some retailers publish a list of their vendors online. You can also sometimes find vendor information in those retailers’ online stores right in the product description. Then you can Google the manufacturer to find their contact info. If you’re bold, you might also try calling a faraway retail store from a cell phone to ask who is the manufacturer of such-and-such. Most savvy retailers won’t give this info out over the phone. {I never did and always out-and-out asked if the caller was a retailer.} But it may be worth a shot. And some shop owners don’t mind sharing this info with someone who’s not a direct competitor.

2.}  Comb the websites of the major retail trade Markets around the country {internationally, too}. Registration is free and just because you’re not attending a show doesn’t mean you can’t take full advantage of its website. In fact, the vendors there hope you do! Three good ones to start with: Atlanta’s AmericasMart, New York International Gift Fair {NYIGF}, and San Francisco International Gift Fair {SFIGF}. Look up Exhibitors in the categories of interest to you. If a name sounds interesting, Google it. Some Market websites provide links to virtual showrooms or the vendors’ own websites. This can be a tedious process but can yield some amazing finds. Registering for each show is not a commitment to attend and it gets you on their mailing lists, so soon you’ll not only be getting information and catalogs for each show {which all contain vendor lists and ads showing product}, but you’ll also start to receive mail from vendors who have purchased the show’s mailing list.

3.}  Peruse trade magazines, both online and in print: Home Accents Today and Gifts & Decorative Accessories are two good ones to start with. Some subscriptions are free. These publications provide lots of up-to-date vendor info on a continous basis. Visit their websites to search for product. Join trade organizations such as Gift & Home Trade Assocation and the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade. They all have publications that, in part, educate you about vendors.

4.}  Peruse popular magazines. I’m talking everything from Elle Décor to Oprah to Country Living to Cooking Light and Good Housekeeping. All popular magazines feature great products every single month and nowadays, 9 out of 10 of them give vendor contact info for web or phone right there beside the product or an index in the back of the mag. {Just be sure to notice whether they’re providing vendor info and not info for a retailer who sells the item.} Follow up on all products that look interesting. Even read the design credits for home layouts that you like — often contact info for product vendors is given. Indie vendors are usually thrilled to get contacts from retailers who might be interested in wholesaling. When I had THE BLISSFUL, I did this regularly and found many great lines that way. You can also peruse the online versions of popular magazines, which probably will even link you directly to the vendors’ sites.

5.}  Shop other stores. When traveling, visit other boutiques and take note of products you like. Often retailers will leave vendor stickers or tags on items and you can memorize the names to write down later. Do not do this conspicuously as it’s considered very bad form and you’re likely to get watched as closely as a suspected shoplifter if you’re caught doing it. But the reality is, most retailers do it or have done it at one point. With-it retailers can sniff out sleuth-y retailer behavior in about two seconds. But done very inconspicuously, you’re okay. Tip: Never, ever, ever shop a store within a 45-mile radius of yours with the intent to scout for new lines. The indie retail community is relatively small and eventually the shop owner and her employees will recognize you. And in the absence of an actual relationship, shopping your competitor store down the street {or sending your employees in to do so} just makes you look pathetic. Consider shopping bigger stores such as Crate + Barrel, Pottery Barn, Pier One, ABC Carpet & Home in NYC, and Anthropologie. While many of their items are designed especially for them and thus won’t be available to you, their buyers also shop the same Markets all retailers shop and you have the right to order what you like even though they may also carry it. In your store, it”ll look different and most customers won’t make the connection. You can occasionally find good lines to follow up on at T.J. Maxx or Marshall’s, but be careful. If their product is there, you know that those vendors either “dump” old product there {which doesn’t look good for you} or they manufacturer down-market items to sell there {which also doesn’t look good for you and once led to my ending a relationship with one of my vendors}.

6.}  Scout Etsy. Etsy is the new frontier of wholesale marketplaces. It’s a platform through which independent artists of handmade goods can set up online stores. You can search by item and find some really great vendors. Click Profile when you’re looking at an item listing to see if the artist provides wholesale ordering terms. Click Contact to ask the vendor if he wholesales. Be careful: many Etsy artists aren’t used to pricing for retail and will only give you a small percentage off their retail price. If you can’t double the price they offer you, it’s not worth it.

7.}  Network with other indies. Through the blogosphere, build relationships with other indie retailers and designers who share a similar aesthetic. Some retailers are very amenable to sharing lines with friends whose stores are outside their local area. Tip: I wouldn’t write an e-mail introducing yourself and asking if the retailer wants to form a swap alliance with you. Let this evolve naturally or not at all after you’ve established a real relationship. Retailers work very hard to find vendors that fit their store concept and sell through quickly at a profitable price point, so generally this isn’t information a savvy retailer is itching to give away for free. But in the context of friendship and mutual support, anything is possible!

Indie retailers, what’s your favorite way of doing new vendor detective work? Anything I left off the list? Which ones listed here have yielded great finds for your store?

Artists and designers, do you wish more retailers would be more proactive about contacting you for wholesale info or product details?

{ 17 comments }