MWH 027 : How A Startup Mum Made Money From Day One – Rebecca Martin-Turner (Aviva)

Success as a Startup Mum

Nothing motivates me more than a good success story, especially one of a startup Mum! So when this week’s guest contacted me, I had a belly full of excitement for her and a heart that was going to burst. ACTION, my friends, is the thing that separates the dreamers from the doers!

This week's guest is a Mum With Hustle and a handmaiden, who is madly passionate about growing her biz. She's gotten off to a raring start and is going to share her learnings and actions so that you can do the same. The beauty about interviewing start-ups is that their story is relevant, NOW! This is business building in today’s context, through the lens of a Mum who is doing her best as a wife and a mother, as the keeper of her home and as a woman who has enormous purpose, aspirations and talents. This stuff is live and you’re invited to follow along!

Rebecca Martin-turner is owner of her brand new biz, Aviva, an online store providing baby clothing and accessories. Rebecca launched Aviva in mid November 2015 and within 3 weeks after jumping onto Instagram she had 400 followers. At the time we recorded this episode, Aviva was about to reach 1000 followers and they are a quality following because in this short amount of time Rebecca has made many successful sales, already being able to use a percentage of profits for personal use, without worrying about having to cover costs and without all of it having to go straight back to the business. Rebecca has already starting doing authentic collaborations and she’s fast establishing herself a good reputation within the handmade community. She’s got a clear plan in place for growing her biz and her clientele and she’s not shy about sharing how she’s done it. See why I had to get this babe on the podcast?

I know that for many biz mums, the thought of jumping onto Instagram is a scary one because it’s soooo different to Facebook but that’s a good thing! This allows you to get creative in a new way and let’s face it, Insta is still the hot place for handmade when it comes to social media marketing. We’ll see what happens when the algorithm changes take place, but we can’t waste time speculating, so we’ll move on for now! I have no doubt that it will become increasingly more crucial to join forces with others and collaborate in some way, shape or form, to keep getting your brand out there.

One of the best ways to do that as a product-based biz on Instagram is with Brand Reps. As you’ll pick up in the podcast, Brand Reps are individuals who post quality images of your product in use, in exchange for product (Brand Enthusiasts do the same but with less structure around their expectations, and in return, they receive a considerable discount).

Here are 8 tips for using brand reps as part of your marketing strategy:

1. It is super important that when you are posting for your BR search, you have your explicit criteria of what you are looking for in your Rep (e.g. how many Reps are you after? Is there a?minimum of followers required? How many posts per month do you require? What is the length of your term?). Plan this ALL out BEFORE you run your search.
2. Put your call out using a high quality image of your product, one that reflects the standard of photography you require and shows your product in the way you desire (product focused – your product should be the hero).
3. Make sure people know what they are applying for, by being clear in your requirements within the caption itself. Being clear will help classify your entrants, so you hopefully end up with a quality shortlist!
4. How will they enter? By reposting your image? By tagging your biz in three photos that shows their unique style and quality of photography? You can get as creative as you like. It pays to research a little and check out how others are conducting their searches. Don’t be apprehensive about selecting a Rep that hasn’t purchased from you before. If they have been a follower for a little while and they’ve engaged with your posts (comments or likes) that is a great indication that they are loyal.
5. Have potential Reps enter via a unique hashtag so you can track your entrants and see them all in one place, side by side.
6. Once you have your shortlist, INVEST TIME into sussing out each potential Rep by checking out their IG account and look for warning bells and star signals (are they just a serial BR applicant? Are they active on social media? Do they have a nice aesthetic to their account? Do they take nice photos in a style that could reflect your brand well? Are their captions engaging? Are they tagging stores and brands in their existing posts?)
7. Once you have your Reps selected, spend time getting to know them. Set up a group DM and have regular chats, biz related and non-biz related. It’s important that you build a genuine rapport. Brand Reps do a great job and they are an important part of the success of your biz. This will also allow you to touch base with them and see how they are going, get product feedback from them, see if there’s anything they need etc. Open, regular communication with your Reps is a MUST.
8. You do not necessarily need to even host a search, if you have already been building rapport with great BRs you’ve found on Insta. If you’ve got a relationship and you love their work, just approach them directly.

Are you ready to dive into this week’s podcast?

I can’t wait for you to join us as we chat about the following:

• How to stand out in a crowded market.
• How to get a strong start and maintain momentum as a new biz.
• Gain exposure and grown your brand via social media.
• Get the low down on hashtags.
• How to come up with a winning formula for your Instagram posts.
• What a brand rep is and why you should consider it?
• How to establish criteria for your brand rep search.
• How to run your BR search.
• How to select a great BR (what to look for and what to avoid).
• What is a Brand Enthusiast?

Connect up with Rebecca from Aviva:

Instagram

Website