(Continued from my creative small business information series) Part 1 can be read here and Part 2 here

Last week, I left off with finances. Today I will discuss: printing & production, product v. service-focused businesses, shipping, website maintenance, reviews, and other topics: community and education.

photography

Getting the most out of a professional photoshoot
- I just recently did a branding photoshoot with Morgan Asaad Photography and I highly recommend her and doing a branding shoot in general (she serves Washington, Northern Idaho, and Colorado)
- Make a list of shots that you want/ need (and the orientation if that’s important)
- Gather props, styling items, flowers, etc.
- Get photos of just your products, of you working, and headshots
- Use multiple outfits if possible, to be able to vary the content over time
Phone photos
- Use the Lightroom app to edit them. You can create presets which are useful if you take photos in the same places in your office/home.
- Keep the background clean/ not cluttered
- Use natural/shaded light if possible
- Edit: light, and with contrast
You need photos for:
- Your website
- Your instagram, facebook, pinterest, etc.
- Etsy listings (multiple for each listing)
- Any printed cards, or catalogues
- In order to get clients / customers!
Props
- Styling mats can be expensive, and you can always create your own, but I think they are worth the investment. I love this one from The Flat Lays Styler — it has a fun texture and they have a few different colors.
- Flowers are always beautiful props
- I love use vintage stamps - especially from Flourish Fine Writing
- And: beautiful scissors, wax seals, etc.

printing & production

Printing

Check out the A to Z directory and use my code KAITLYNASHLEE20 to get $20 off your first year
- It is a directory of places to print/ produce “anything from acrylic sticks to zipper pouches”
- I love the company that I use to print my greeting cards, art prints, notepads, business cards, etc. - and they are very affordable and have good customer service
- They also have great resources for wax seals, envelopes, ribbon, letterpress and foil printing, and more
Stickermule for stickers
- My link will give us both a $10 store credit
- I print all of my stickers here. They have die cuts, rounds, transparent, and holographic (which I haven’t tried)
- They offer free shipping which is great, and take PayPal for payment
- They provide a proof within a few hours and respond to feedback

Packaging

Also check out A to Z for that information
And my Amazon page for more items

It’s super important to package up your products (and commissions) professionally and effectively. My first commission (and first Etsy order) got destroyed in the mail and it was embarrassing (luckily she was super nice, my mom’s friend — but I had to re-do the custom calligraphy work as well).
Make sure you use lots of cardboard backing to sandwich watercolor art commissions especially (and art prints as well). Fill all space, to keep things snug.

Product vs. service-focused businesses

Both/ the overlap
- A platform (for example my Squarespace website can (and does) host both my service-based inquiries and portfolios and my products, but Etsy is for products exclusively).
- Advertising (need to find customers, and/or clients)
- Income and expenses
Product-businesses
- You will need an e-commerce site (a place to post listings, keep track of inventory & collect payment,
- Customers, may be one-time or repeat buyers
- Standard uniform products (not custom)
- Lower budget, profit margin
Service-businesses
- A website with examples of your work, your process, and what it’s like to work with you, contact & inquiry forms
- Custom quotes/ invoices that are specific to the project
- Higher budget

shipping

Etsy
- First you set up your shipping settings which includes your processing time so buyers can know when to expect it (I have mine set to 1-2 business days)
- Etsy likes it if you offer free shipping for orders of $35 and over so you should probably do that to be ‘in their good graces’
- They make it easy to buy and print shipping labels. When you receive an order, you have a place to print packing slips and buy shipping labels. You can create saved/ favorited labels for weights that you often use. (I have one for stickers, one for cards, prints. etc).
- Provides discounted labels
- Etsy now has an option for tracking $0.55 (regular mailing envelopes) which is great for sticker orders
- There’s an option to request pick ups directly in Etsy as well

PayPal also a free service for making labels, they offer for a discount too (compared to buying at the post office)
You’ll need a scale for weighing, which I got through signing up for stamps.com and then canceling the subscription.
I don’t currently have a shipping label printer (they can be pretty expensive), so currently I use these label sheets (2 per sheet) and print with my regular printer. You can find those/ all of my Amazon finds here
The USPS can be a little crazy sometimes so make it clear that once the package leaves your hands, it’s out of your control. Always provide tracking information, but sometimes unexpected things can occur.
Biz Birthday Bash has a great episode about shipping
You can get your packages picked up directly from your doorstep - at the normal mail time for free by scheduling a pickup on usps.com

Website maintenance

I use Squarespace for my website — specifically the business plan ($18/mo on the yearly plan) which includes the e-commerce capabilities. Click here to view their pricing, and what is included in each tier
You need a domain name (www.kaitlynashlee.com) - I pay $20 per year for that
I haven’t hired a web designer or anything to work on my website. Squarespace makes it easy to create and edit things yourself.
Work on your SEO - I will admit I haven’t dug into this very much yet
I think the most important things to have on your site are:
- Good photography of your work
- Explanations of your process
- Inquiry forms (for service-based, custom work)
- Descriptions of your products
- Shipping, checkout, payment capabilities
- Keep it organized (menu/ sub-menus on the top)
- An about me page - so clients can get to know you!
You can also:
- Add an email sign-up pop up or block on your website
- Link your social media accounts

Reviews

Gather reviews from your clients! Having client testimonials is helpful for us small business people to have a little added credibility.
Etsy: is great, they automatically notify your customers!
Google: I like to send my google page link for clients to write about their experience working with me. Here is my link
Facebook: I haven’t really been doing this but FB is another way to collect reviews. I really don’t love the FB for business platform in general.
Upwork also automatically asks for your clients to do this - either just a star review or that and some text.
I also will copy and paste some of my reviews from the platforms above and post on my website here (and other places throughout my website). I use just the client’s first name and last initial.