Have you been wanting to know the basics of starting an online shop? This is a question I get a lot. So many people want to start their own online boutique but have no idea where to start! I don't want those questions to derail you from accomplishing your goals, so this episode is a beginner's guide selling clothing online to get your bases covered. It's time to start making money and providing that much-needed value to your future customers.
This week, I'm joined by the owner of Downtown Dandy, Leisa Graham. Leisa is an empty nester who decided to take her newly founded free time and start the business of her dreams!
She's always loved fashion and knew she could fill a void in the market by selling clothing online and offering cute clothes in a wide variety of sizes. The mother of five, Downtown Dandy, is certainly a family business. Her kids help with photography and offer their creative opinions to keep her store feeling fresh and fun!
Today, we discussed the unique ways she's been able to drive sales, how she organizes all of her inventory, and the advice she would give to other new shop owners.
Hint: Don't be afraid to reach out and make those connections!!
Finally, Leisa shares her “why” and reveals why it's the most important piece of information to meditate on when it comes to success in business…and life!
How Leisa Graham Organizes Her Inventory
The first thing Leisa does when her inventory comes in is to count to make sure she has the entire order. This is so important because you want to make sure you're not missing anything. Then she creates a stock number for each item before getting the items ready for pictures.
Product photos are the most labor-intensive part of this process. Luckily, Leisa has two daughters who are photographers and help her take pictures of the products as well as model them.
Leisa then transfers the photos into Photoshop to do some slight tweaking to make sure all of the pictures are the same size. And this next bit is super creative! Her shop's name is Downtown Dandy, so each item is named after a different city. Lesia brainstorms what city she thinks each piece would fit in, and that's how they get their names. How cute is that?!
Another question I get so often is how to actually organize inventory when it's living in your home. The last thing you want is all of your beautiful merchandise thrown on the couch to get covered in dog hair and juice from your kid's breakfast, so I asked Leisa her system and totally loved her answer.
She keeps a rack for the things she wants to hang and uses metal shelves from Costco for everything else. One of the shelves acts as a workstation where she does all of her shipping, while the other homes her inventory that she folds and organizes by size.
I love how simple and straightforward her system is. It goes to show that it's more important to create a system that works for YOU!
The Unique Ways Leisa Graham Drives Traffic When Selling Clothing Online
Driving traffic is no easy feat when it comes to running your eCommerce business. Advertising sales is the typical way to get things moving in business, but what happens when that doesn't even get customers to bite?
Well, lucky for you, we can just ask Leisa! She knew her customers wouldn't be motivated by the typical 10-15% off sale, so she made it her mission to make an extra appealing sale while also acting as an opportunity to connect with her customer.
Leisa and her husband were celebrating their 33rd wedding anniversary, so she decided to join everyone in on the fun by offering a 33% sale off everything in the shop. And it turned out to be one of her highest converting sales days!
Advice To New Shop Owners Selling Clothing Online
Leisa's biggest takeaway is to have a mentor in your life. It's so important to have someone in your corner to be your cheerleader and biggest supporter. You need a person to go to when you feel like you can't do it and are feeling the frustrations that come with being a business owner.
Her next piece of advice is to create consistent habits even if that means some days you just do ONE thing for your business. It's so important to keep that momentum going.
Next up is confidence! This is VITAL when you're doing things like influencer marketing. You have to be able to put yourself out there and do so confidently. You have to be willing to let go of your fear and ego and be okay with sometimes falling flat because not every collaboration will result in sales. But that doesn't mean it isn't setting up the foundation for future success!
And finally, her last piece of advice is to remember your why. On the difficult days, meditate on the reason you started your business in the first place. This mindset keeps you focused and with your eye on the prize.
I hope you all enjoyed this interview with Leisa and that it gave you the confidence to just go out and do the thing! Start that jewelry shop or clothing business! Everything you need to know, you'll learn along the way. It's just important that you get started.
Top Takeaways
- Take the odds and ends of your inventory and repurpose them! Maybe into a grab box or a garage sale for your friends and family.
- It's okay that your kids are in the background.
- Sometimes customers just aren't biting on our offers. If so, readjust!
- Be authentic. The way she celebrated her anniversary with her customers by giving them 33% off let them know a little bit more about Lisa. Human connection is what customers are looking for in a business.
- Organize your clothing as the shipments come in.
- Format your pictures so they're all the same size on your site. Your customers love to see repetition.
- Use your phone in portrait mode to get some amazing photos.
- Double-check your inventory as it comes in. You want to make sure that you have everything that you paid for.
- Lisa built a business around her frustration of trying to find cute plus-size clothing.
- Your business can supplement your retirement
