Stacy Hayden, Author at She Owns It

The Balancing Act by @csgems

November 2, 2015 by Stacy Hayden Leave a Comment

by Stacy Hayden and Carrie Andreas | Featured Contributor

There is no secret to the success of balancing motherhood and work, however, there are many women out there who take on this challenge daily and succeed. Balance by definition means “offset or compare the value of (one thing) with another”. We know that there is no one solution that will work for everyone; however, we have found some balance in our lives by practicing the following tips.

1. Have a plan and stay organized.

Our work time is precious and short lived so we cannot afford to waste time searching for papers or emails. Having everything clean and organized from the start allows for a controlled workflow. We also like to keep our family and work appointments on the same calendar so we do not overbook. We always plan for “work” time. Usually this takes place while our children are at school but setting hours aside each week to devote to work allows us to check items off our list.

2. Make a list and commit to it.

One of the hardest things about being a work-at-home mom is getting sidetracked by children, laundry, dishes and a long list of other chores. We both like to make a list each week of items that we would like to get done, both work and mom related, and then break those down by day.

3. Break out of the 9-5.

Being a work-at-home mom we must break out of the traditional thinking of office hours. We like to prioritize meetings and our trunk shows as much as we can for daytime hours, however, other tasks such as answering emails, editing pictures, writing blog posts and listing new items in our store can be done at any hour of the day or night. Sometimes we get up before our families to complete such office tasks and other times we stay up after our families have long gone to sleep.

4. Be present.

We think most moms would agree that they have a feeling of guilt at times when they are working and they feel like they should be with their kids and when they are with their kids and feel like they should be working. When we are with our kids we like to give our entire attention to them and when we are working we like to give our entire attention to work.

5. Take time to yourself.

It is very easy to forget about yourself when taking care of a family and working. Setting aside time for yourself allows you to rejuvenate and refresh. We both like to take time to ourselves to exercise or enjoy a spa day. A little time to yourself to reflect will allow you to come back to your work and family with a new perspective.

Working mothers are amazing at juggling many different roles and responsibilities. We are lucky to have so many inspiring working mothers in our lives who we continue to learn from daily.

————————————————————

Carrie Andreas and Stacy Hayden are the co-owners of the on-line vintage jewelry boutique, CS Gems. They scour the Midwest and handpick beautiful vintage jewelry at estate sales, yard sales, flea markets and auctions. Their motto is to “make vintage modern” by mixing their vintage pieces with today’s latest fashion trends. They use their fashion blog and social media accounts to highlight their vintage finds with hot new trends.

They have been friends since junior high and decided to go into business together in 2013. Neither Carrie nor Stacy come from a marketing or business background, therefore, they have researched all avenues to teach themselves the ins and outs of running a business. They are learning to navigate the business world while juggling being moms to two young children each. They are committed to learning and love the opportunity they have been given to share their experience in starting up a small business with others.

Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest

Stacy Hayden

The Importance of Growing Your Email List by @csgems

October 2, 2015 by Stacy Hayden 2 Comments

by Stacy Hayden | Featured Contributor

In our first year and half of business we were so obsessed with growing our social media that we completely neglected the importance of growing our email list. We kept thinking that once we have a certain number of followers on social media, then surely our sales will increase. We quickly realized that was not the case. As our followers on Facebook and Instagram steadily increased, our sales did not. After doing some research and attending more sales webinars we kept hearing about the significance of an email list and decided to explore this channel more. We quickly realized that we needed to invest more time in growing our list.

Facebook restricts the reach of businesses’ post to their audience. Your emails are a platform that you own, control and connect directly with your audience. There is no limitation on what you can say or offer.

While gaining a strong community on social media is important, it is worth investigating how many of those people are actually clicking on the links that you are sharing. You can track this by signing up with a service such as bit.ly. You may be surprised to see the results. People are more likely to click on an email in their inbox rather than a post on social media.

When someone signs up for your email list it is a huge sign of trust. Most of your community will not check your website daily; however, they will check their email daily.

Here are a few of the ways that we have grown our email list:

Opt in on the homepage of our website offering 15% off first purchase;
Signup sheets at all of our pop up shop events;
Clickable links to sign up with a clear call to action on all of our blog posts and guest blog posts;
Email sign up call to action on our Facebook page;
Giveaways on our blogs with an entry for a chance to win by signing up to our email list.

Social media, blogging, SEO and other tools are great resources to grow your community, however, growing your email list is by far your most important asset. Gain the trust of your community with engaging content in your email campaigns and you will see a significant increase in your sales.

———————————————————-

Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest

Stacy Hayden

Defining Roles in a Partnership by @csgems

September 2, 2015 by Stacy Hayden Leave a Comment

by Stacy Hayden | Featured Contributors

As mentioned in our first blog post Turning Your Idea Into a Business, my business partner and I had to teach ourselves the ins and outs of running our business. By learning to run the business together, we were able to set the direction of our company and define clear roles.

As our business grew, we realized that we needed to be able to work independently on specific tasks so that we could pull the company together as a whole. While there are many tasks that we work on together, such as events and photo shoots; we also have specific day-to-day tasks that we are each individually responsible for. Today, I run the day-to-day operations, marketing, sales and business development; while my partner, Carrie, focuses mainly on buying, creating and repurposing our pieces and maintaining our blog.

It is very important to access each partner’s strength and weakness and then give out responsibility and decision-making authority based on your assessment. Shortly after launching our business, we realized that Carrie is the more creative/artistic one and I am more business focused. I don’t have a creative bone in my body. Carrie, however, shines in that area. I prefer to stick to the paperwork and measuring statistics. Identifying our strengths and talents allowed us to apply them to the specific needs of our company.

We also share responsibilities in some daunting tasks. We try to stay very active on social media, which includes responding to all comments, commenting on influential blogs and taking part in Facebook and other blogging groups. Keeping up can be very time consuming so we like the “you take this week, I’ll take next week” approach.

Staying connected with each other is also essential. Not only does meeting regularly allow us to bounce ideas off each other; it also gives us clear direction of what each partner is currently working on. We like to meet at least once a week so we both have a complete picture of what is going on with every aspect of our business. We believe having honest and open communication is key. Sharing ideas and concerns openly makes for a happy work environment and trust between partners is what keeps a partnership strong.

—————————————————————

Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest

Stacy Hayden

Growing Your Social Media by @csgems

August 10, 2015 by Stacy Hayden Leave a Comment

by Carrie Andeas and Stacy Hayden | Featured Contributors

When we first started out on social media we felt so overwhelmed. We had no idea where to start or how to increase our following. With so many social media channels to promote, we decided to focus on Facebook and Instagram.

While we are by no means expert on this topic, we do feel as if we finally have a handle on how to increase our following.

Here are some of our tips:

Engagement. We are very engaged in our social media accounts. Up front, we identified our target demographic on Instagram and then we introduced ourselves to them. You can do this by liking and commenting on pictures. We did not go and just start following a bunch of accounts, but rather took the “saying hello” approach by liking and commenting on several photos under an account. We try to take 20 minutes to do this daily on Instagram. We also try to reply to every comment on our Facebook and Instagram posts. Yes, this takes a lot of time! If you do not have the resources available, this would be a good job to outsource to interns or a third party. As far as engagement goes, we stand by the saying “the more you put in, the more you get out”.

Giveaways. We have participated in many giveaways. On Facebook, we have given away pieces of our jewelry or gift certificates for likes and comments on the giveaway post. This increases your reach and visibility to new audiences. On Instagram, we have participated in many loop giveaways for prizes such as gift cards or products. For loop giveaways, we have partnered with other bloggers and/or boutiques for the prize. While loop giveaways will gain you a following, it is not an active following and you are more than likely going to lose half of the new followers once the loop is over. At this time, we are no longer participating in Instagram loop giveaways. We found that the investment was not worth the return.

Features. Getting one of your pictures featured on a large brand account on Instagram or being tagged in photos on Facebook can gain you a lot of new followers. We try to mostly post high resolution, bright photos that will get attention. We have had several of our Instagram photos featured on large brand accounts. In order to be featured, you must tag the brand’s product in the post or use a specific hashtag associated with the brand.

Networking. There are several networking opportunities that can lead to new social media followers. Partnering with brands and/or influencers can increase your following. We have partnered with many bloggers in order for them to post our jewelry and tag us in the post. This has increased our exposure and following. We also try to attend events in our area that may attract our target demographic – such as fashion shows or vintage markets. A lot of events these days will have specific hashtags associated with them. Attending the event and posting pictures with the specific hashtag can increase your visibility.

We treat our social media accounts as our business cards. We make sure that everything we post represents our brand.

We hope you find these tips useful in growing your accounts.

——————————————————–

Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest

Stacy Hayden

Turning Your Idea Into a Business by @cs_gems

July 4, 2015 by Stacy Hayden Leave a Comment

by Carrie Andreas and Stacy Hayden | Featured Contributors

We started our business in the summer of 2013 from an idea we had while on a playdate with our children. We knew that we wanted to combine social media and shopping – two of our favorite things. Neither of us have a background in marketing or business, so we knew going in that we would have a lot to learn. We did not have anyone to help us and, therefore, we are happy to be given the opportunity to share our experience with other women to hopefully give them some insight and direction or at least learn from some of our mistakes.

Here are some of our tips for turning your idea into a business:

*Find your market. It is so important to identify your ideal customer up front and determine how they will find value in your product or service. Do your research and know who your target audience will be, where they are hanging out on-line and how you can get in front of them.

*Take the time to develop a business plan. While we did create a business plan when we first started our business, we did not take enough time to fully develop it. Take time to fully develop a plan that includes how your product or service will be created, marketed and sold to your customers. From there you can identify your ideal audience and who your competitors will be. This will be a key factor in identifying your basic strategies moving forward.

Don’t be afraid to change directions once your business has launched. You may find out that changes need to take place in order for you to increase your revenue. About a year into our business, we realized that we had been focused on trying to sell a style of necklace that is not necessarily for an everyday outfit. We decided to change our focus to selling more everyday wear necklaces at a more affordable rate, rather than focusing on statement necklaces that were set at a higher price point. Having a plan will allow you to know what your success looks like and what your objectives are.

*Know your competitors. We always stay on top of what our competitors are doing and what is and is not working for them. When starting out, it is very easy to feel overwhelmed with how to go about marketing, selling, and connecting with your audience, among many other things. Constantly monitoring your competitors will aide you in finding strategies to connect with your audience and reinsure you of your efforts.

*Put your idea out there to family and friends and get feedback. If the reaction is positive, it will give you that boost of confidence that you need to move forward. If the reaction is negative, maybe consider tweaking or changing direction. Once you are set with your product or service, try offering it out in small batches for an initial introduction to see how it goes over. When we first started, we decided to have a flash sale on Facebook, offering around 100 vintage pieces of jewelry for sale. We told ourselves that if this first sale went over well, then we would move ahead at full force with starting our business. In that first sale, we sold almost 90% of our inventory. After that sale we felt confident in moving forward.

Our first two years of business have really been a trial and error period. We feel like we really did just throw everything against the wall to see what sticks. We truly believe that feeling lost and/or overwhelmed is simply part of the process. There’s no reward in life without risk, so don’t be afraid to believe in yourself and take the risk!

———————————————————————————–

Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest

Stacy Hayden