When do you know it’s the right time to make a big change in your business?
For Aliya Hutchison of Soap Cult, it was when she saw unboxing videos of her soaps – and found herself cringing at the mismatched, DIY branding just pouring out of boxes.
It was then she decided it was time for a complete overhaul – and that she needed professional help to craft something cohesive and timeless that represented her values and was attractive to her target market.
I invited Aliya to come on the show, because I’ve been following her rebranding journey – and how successful it has been in just the few short months since relaunching.
In this episode we dive deep into branding – what is it, how do you figure it out, when should you get help – and how to make sure you’re working with the right person – and the difference a strong, cohesive brand can make to the success of your business.
You can listen to this episode below, or on your fave podcasting app!
Brand your Craft
Does your handmade business have a strong brand identity?
Or are you just treating your creations like commodities – trying to compete on price, and failing to stand out in a crowded marketplace?
Creating a strong, unique brand identity is fundamentally important if you want to make your business stand out from the others in your niche.
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Highlights from this episode:
- Aliya started her soap journey during her recovery from a roller derby accident and found a soap making book by serendipity. After making too many soaps to use herself she started selling her soaps under the name Sailor Mouth Soaps.
- Both Aliya and Jess have experimented with a variety of projects in their niches which has resulted in new ongoing product lines.
- After many years of selling under Sailor Mouth Soaps, Aliya found her direction shifting and decided to rebrand and relaunch her business.
- Aliya worked with a graphic designer who specialises in brands to help her redesign from the ground up.
- Once she had found a designer to work with she negotiated a package that included all of the elements she wanted.
- “If you don’t have a style guide for your business it’s definitely an important thing to create. It can be simple or very, very complex with things like what fonts you use, what colours you use and what sort of language you use in your marketing. Otherwise it can be a mish-mash all over the place” {Jess}
- Aliya’s relaunch was on the first of June and she has seen significant growth in sales of 262%.
- With the worldwide pandemic, many small businesses saw their sales plummet at the end of March but this has rebounded strongly in April onwards as more people are shopping online.
- “If you’re a retailer, it [increased online sales] encourages you to think in a different way and stop being so lazy with your copy “{Aliya}
- Soap Cult now stocks a carefully curated range of accessories that align to the brands ethos and products.
- “If you want to be successful you do need to think about where your customers are going to shop” {Jess}
- Be prepared that rebranding will inevitably take longer and cost more than your initial estimates.
- “It’s important to have a stretch budget set aside because you never quite know what things are going to cost” {Aliya}
- Aliya has a blog post on tips and tricks for undertaking a rebrand of your small business.
- Check out Aliya’s amazing soap at Soap Cult.
