My mother taught me to crochet and knit when I was a young child and it became a passion of mine. Over the years I came up with different quirky things to make for myself and friends :) Imagine my delight when I found out about selling online and could bring my designs to others!
When I began selling online I was solely creating adult accessories such as scarves, hats, cowls, fingerless gloves, etc. But my love of photography came into play and I began making props for newborn photo shoots and just fell in love! To create an item that is used in a parents' first portrait of their new little one is such a blessing and overflows my heart! These are portraits that will be in a family for life and it thrills me immensely to be a part of that.
Our Shopify store offers a wide selection of handmade knit & crochet baby hats, beanies, cocoons, hammocks, stork sacks, blankets, stretch knit wraps, diaper covers, owl/bird nests, Mongolian faux fur posing rugs, and other newborn photography props. We absolutely love using Shopify and everything that it offers...we've tried many other ecommerce sites and no other sites compare to what we are able to do with our site through Shopify!
How did you earn your first sales? Which channels are now generating the most traffic and sales for you?
We started solely on Etsy but didn't want to limit ourselves to what was available out there and so we took a big step and created our own website
Tell us about the back-end of your business. What tools and apps do you use to run your store? How do you handle shipping and fulfillment?
We still sell on Etsy but now have a full time website using Shopify. We work right from home out of our offices and warehouse (we actually bought our home based around our business so that we have plenty of rooms for offices and converted our huge garage into a warehouse).
What are your top recommendations for new ecommerce entrepreneurs?
My biggest recommendation is to do as much research as possible about building and running your own website. Finding a store that fits your needs is one of the most important things (this is why I love Shopify!)
Learning SEO is hugely important as well as making sure the photos you use on your site are crisp, clear and really highlight the product you are selling. And patience. Having plenty of patience is key because it's a lot of information but once you learn what you need to know then running your own store/website is a breeze