COMMUNITY STORIES: CAITLYN MELTON
I started my business in 2021 by selling decorated vaccination card holders. Then, I started branching out into making new products, such as polymer clay earrings and designing my own stickers! Some things stuck (pun-intended) and some things didn't, which I find to be one of the things that makes Caitlyn Creates, Caitlyn Creates.
I love that I get to stay connected with the Student-Made community and fellow alumni creators to see what they do
with their businesses now that they have graduated.
There is still a lot we can learn from each other, and since I'm now an employee with Student-Made, I can also share my learnings and advice with current Student-Made creators!
In the past, I made a website for my business…but it didn't do too well, and I wasn't really sure what I was doing.
With the support from the Alumni Program and the different tools they share with us such as Squarespace, Constant Contact, Shippo, etc. I felt more comfortable having a website, and it has been great!
It has been super helpful, especially when announcing a new collection, a new product or even just sharing my website.
It also lets me know what pages and products have the most views, so I am able to see what my customers are most attracted to, which helps me in making new products for my business.
If there is a product that I do not have listed on my website yet, using Square has been super easy to navigate and input the total price for a customer.
It is also beneficial for me as I run deals at my in-person markets, like BOGO 50% on all my necklaces and earrings! It is easy to calculate someone’s total and type it into Square to ring them up.
Right now, I have the basic Squarespace plan, which has more limitations as to what I can actually do with my website, so I cannot send out any email campaigns just yet.
Being able to start planning and designing emails has still been really helpful, because if/when I do upgrade my plan, I will have those templates ready to send out to my customers!
It tells you what orders have been fulfilled and which ones are still pending, which is super helpful to stay organized and make sure that all orders I received are seen and completed.
Anyone who is interested in collaborating with me, is interested in a custom product or just has a general inquiry can fill out the form and submit it, and it will send directly to my business email!
I currently am set up with Shippo for all my online label and shipping needs for my website and am familiar with Shippo thanks to Student-Made USC!
I am also currently getting into Constant Contact for some text message and email marketing! Based on what I have seen about Constant Contact so far, it seems relatively easy to navigate and can help me share more news about my business.
When it comes to finding markets and events that are good for my business, I use social media, particularly Instagram and Facebook!
Because I follow a lot of other small businesses, my feed shows me posts of markets looking for vendors. This is how I got started selling at the Market at Icehouse in Lexington, SC every Saturday.
This also allows market coordinators to find me on Instagram and reach out via DM! I also don't think there's any harm in reaching out to other small business owners about upcoming market opportunities.
If you search up “markets and small business events” in your state on Facebook, there is sure to be at least 1 group that you can join.
I also reach out to local businesses and ask if they would be interested in collaborating, partnering or hosting me for a small pop-up! Small businesses love to support each other, and you never know who you will meet inside a small coffee shop or a boutique!
I want to make sure I have enough inventory that is appealing to all different kinds of people! This also includes working on holiday-themed items, such as Christmas ornaments and other items that are particularly great for gift-giving.
