Who are you (eg. Name, age, what country are you from, what did you do before ecommerce, what is the name of your website and URL etc.)?
My name is Sandi Burt, I am 50 years young, Born and raised in Adelaide South Australia, Australia.
Before I began my journey of ecommerce I was a meat packer and also a Service Deli Section Manager and Head Trainer for South Australian stores of Woolworths supermarkets from age 17 to 23.
I left when I fell pregnant with my daughter, and opened my own bricks and mortar second hand business, called “Rock A Buy Baby” buying and reselling Baby goods but didn’t have much capital or experience and after having some complications from being pregnant I sold the shop.
I was a stay at home mum for 5 years.
We did MLM with Amway for a few years, attending a lot of motivational seminars with guest speakers like Peter J Daniels and Zig Ziglar.
I believe this was the foundation for learning how to cope with goals and dreams, goal setting, and staying positive even when the going got tough.
My husband, daughter and I then had a sea change in 1994 and moved to QLD, where we built our own home on 5 acres, I also worked in two Tourist area Restaurants In Far North QLD for 2 years.
After finding out my increasing back pain was cause from fracturing my spine during physically building a house.
My business name is Starlite Creations
Website: www.starlitecreations.com.au
And eBay store: www.stores.ebay.com.au/Starlite-Creations
How did your business idea come to you?
As a kid I was always taking old, broken junk jewellery and transforming them into a different piece of jewellery.
My first encounter with small beads I can remember was when I was about 8 years old, my brother (age 16) gave me a “love bead” necklace, a simple long strand of what I called “rainbow beads” that a friend of his made. I wore it to death, wearing it tripled around my neck, wrapped around my wrist or ankle. as it was only strung on thin thread it eventually broke. I salvaged what beads I could and snuck out some of mum’s sewing threads and hand strung the beads onto thread to make smaller necklaces, bracelets and anklets.
After spinal injuries prevented me from working a conventional job in 1998 I felt quite useless and depressed.
My daughter’s primary school headmaster was teaching the kids at school to make beaded jewellery for their end of year school fete.
She brought bits and pieces home to work on, and I thought this could be something that I could have a go at, since I was suppose to be confined to bed and rest.So by looking at what my daughter had learnt to make with the beads the teacher provided I seemed to just pick up the concept and go with it.
I was HOOKED !!
I started buying beads from the nearest craft shop (60kms away) and made a range of items for the school to sell.
So whenever I was bored or stressed or depressed, out would come the beads and I would see what I could create.
I made jewellery for gifts for family and friends, or for when my daughter needed a gift for a birthday present for a friend.
But there is only so much you can give as gifts without people thinking “oh, no !! not more beaded items !! ”
I needed to sell some of my creations, if only to re-coop costs and buy more beads.
Had to have MORE BEADS !!
So 2007 I started selling my pieces on ebay.
Basically selling pieces at the cost of the beads, making no profit.
It was mainly costume jewellery, necklaces, bracelets, earrings etc, then I heard about this new trend: Barefoot Sandals ! I developed my own designs and finally found my niche that gave me an edge as designer and seller helping me stand out from the pack.
Over the past 6 and a half years, almost 10,000 positive feedback from happy customers on ebay alone, and now a website.
I finally have built a solid reputation for my craftmanship & business ethics.
Today the Starlite Creations brand is becoming more well known worldwide.
Did you face any personal challenges when first starting your business (eg. did your family/friends support you, or doubt you, was it financially risky for you…)?
Of course ! I made no profit, but just enough money coming in to buy more supplies.
It was long hours, and I did it 7 days a week 365 days a year for 6 and a half years.
At first, my family was not that supportive, they always complained that all I talked about was ebay and beads, and they felt they could not talk to me when they wanted because I was always in the zone counting beads as I strung them.
I think they just looked at it as a hobby, which it probably was to start with.
But a few years ago they finally started to see that sales were picking up, and if they needed anything bought for them that mum’s sales could pay for it, giving them a little bit of luxury from time to time.
And I think the turning point for my family was when my sales paid for family dinners, and even my daughter’s engagement party.
I do have some family members who still look at my business as a hobby, since I work from home, and don’t have an actual bricks and mortar shop front.
It wasn’t really financially risky for me as I only bought more stock with money from sales. I have never yet had any sort of loan on the business.
How do you avoid copy cat businesses and stay original?
I admit that in the beginning I would look at other people’s designs and try to put my own spin on them.
I have had my share of copy cats stealing my original designs and reproducing them. I have had people buy from me, then try to resell them claiming they made them themselves and that it is their original design. I have even had sellers stealing my watermarked photos and offering buyers they can make the exact same item for half the price.
I use to get very angry about it, but now I report them or request they remove their items for sale, and then I just brush it off to the fact that my designs are worthy of copy cats.
They say “ imitation is the best form of flattery. So thankyou for flattering my ego by copying me !
And now there is an influx of items being made using other people’s original designs and photos but mass-produced in Asian sweat shops with cheap and nasty supplies, selling them for $1.50 to $3 wholesale. These are then bought and resold at $20 to $30 (a huge mark-up for doing nothing) as Handcrafted items giving the impression they made them themselves. These do sell, but it doesn’t do much for the sellers reputation. I have seen some of these items in person, and the quality is very poor. So after wasting money buying cheap knock-offs I get a lot of customers turning to me for quality workmanship and quality beads. My reputation is my biggest asset and this helps me cope with copy cats and staying true to my originality.
I will not copy other reputable designers items, I respect them for their expertise and craftsmanship and have built up good friendships with these designers so we respect each other and look out for each other.
But since I have learnt to appreciate other people’s expertise and designs I found I had an inner sense of different ideas to make unique and original designs.
Staying original now comes easy to me, in fact, there is never enough hours in the day to design and create all the crazy ideas that pop into my head at all times of the day or night.
Where do you host your site(s) and would you recommend them to others?
Firstly, of course my ebay store is hosted by ebay.
Many people try selling on ebay but give up when they don’t sell much. And think it’s too expensive to persevere.
Success does not come overnight, you have to put time and money into it.
NOTHING good comes free.
I recommend ebay to anyone who is serious about building a long term sustainable business. Great for exposure and great for reputation.
To me, ebay has one of the best SEO and google will show just about anything you search for as an ebay item.
Most people will search keywords on ebay first, as their keywords really give results.
Yes, it costs fees to sell on ebay, but I am so glad I stuck with them, it shows I have been in business since 2007 on ebay, it shows how my customers rate my service, items, postage and communication. It shows true feedback from customers and sellers which cannot be faked like on a website.
And everyone know who ebay are, and how to find it in every country.
So I’m paying for Worlwide advertising at cheap rates !
I now currently host my website domain through weebly.com.
It’s been a good starter for anyone who wants a DIY website.
But I am moving on to bigger and better sites soon.
What platform do you use (eg. Woocommerce, Shopify, Bigcommerce etc.) and would you recommend it?
Now this is still pretty new to me, but I believe my platform is all through weebly.
Maybe shop around to see what some other platforms offer you. And ask lots of questions.
Do you think social media is worth it? If so, what is your most successful platform?
YES! Definitely. Facebook is a great social media tool, probably the best platform for me.
it cements it in to potential customers that Starlite Creations is a long time running business, it let’s you showcase new designs, get opinions and interact with real people. It is a MUST for any business, whether it be an online website business or a bricks and mortar business.
Twitter is great too, I have a lot of followers, some are celebrities and big organisations.
Instagram and Pinterest are good social media platforms too.
People interact with different social media platforms so you really need to out there amongst all of them
Do you do any SEO? If so, what is your strategy (and how much do you love Google:)?
At the moment I do not have any SEO, I really am only just learning what it is all about and what potential it has to improve my business.
I am currently organising someone to set up and manage my SEO and google Ad-words.
As for google, anything you want to find you can google it.
When my husband asks me know to spell a word I spell out “G O O G L E” !! LOL
What has been your best source of traffic (eg. SEO, PPC, social media)?
I would say currently social media would be my best source of traffic.
Hopefully we can have more traffic from SEO.
I don’t know about PPC, (I actually had to google it to find out what it was) so I cant really comment on that one yet.
What was the last business book you read? What was your one take away from it?
I rarely have time to read books these days, but I do have a heap of inspirational and motivational books, some of my favourite books would have to be “How to win friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie , “The Power of Positive Thinking” by Norman Vincent Peale, “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill, “Miss Phillips, you were wrong” by Australian entrepreneur Peter J Daniels, “Born to Win” by Zig Ziglar.
Never give up on your dreams, set goals and learn how to reach them, the more “no”’s you get mean you’re getting closer to a “yes”, its all a numbers game, If you can conceive and belive it, you can achieve it,. And ALWAYS write down your goals, writing them down cements them to paper. Put them on the “magical refrigerator” and break down your goals into bite size steps so they are easier to achieve. Everyone has the same amount of time in a day, how you use it and manage it is up to you.
What has been your biggest challenge in ecommerce?
Learning as I go. I still really don’t fully understand SEO and PPC and html, and only have very basic knowledge of computer “lingo”.
Learning to ask what might seem like dumb questions to an I.T. specialist.
Learning to ask for advice and help with ecommerce in general. Facebook business groups are quite helpful for this.
And learning I don’t need to know everything to be a successful online business. If I can’t do it all myself I’m learning to delegate these parts of the business to experts in these areas. This helps me manage my time better and leaves me more time to do the stuff that only I can do, and want to do (for me that is actually making jewellery).
We all have 24 hours in a day. You, me, the millionaires and billionaires.
You don’t need to know everything to be successful.
Successful business owners know the value of their own time so they delegate the things they can’t or don’t want to do.
What is one online tool you could not live without?
My computer, and google. If you don’t know something you can usually find it out by googling it.
And I think social networking is a must too. I can build friendships, discuss business ideas with my peers and mentors, and showcase my business and products to potentially thousands of people. Facebook is always a good place if you join business groups or other closed groups of people with similar interests or businesses.
What is your favourite business quote and why?
“ Tough times never last but tough people do “
It just reminds me that setbacks can be temporary and can be overcome.
“ Success is a journey, not a destination”
If you quit trying to reach your goals too early there will always be that “What If?” thought in the back of your mind whether you could have made a dream or goal into reality.
“You have two ears, two eyes, but only one mouth, so listen and see twice as much as you say”
Take in what others have to tell or show you, there is nothing worse than someone who thinks they know everything and has an opinion on everything, especially if you don’t have the proof that what you think you know is the only truth. Be open to other people’s ideas.
“Success is 10 percent inspiration and 90 percent perspiration”
A bit or a lot of hard work can bring an idea to life ! Amazing !!
What is the best piece of business advice you have received?
Believe in yourself, as an artist and as a human being.
If you really believe in yourself and what you can achieve, never give up, success is a journey, not a destination, there shouldn’t be an END to it.
If you quit trying to reach your goals too early there will always be that “What If?” thought in the back of your mind whether you could have made a dream or goal into reality.
I have seen so many people with hopes and dreams but they give up too soon.
If success was easy everyone would be millionaires.
It’s great to have dreams, but set realistic short term and long term goals on how you are going to turn those dreams into reality.
And write them down. A To-do list on a daily basis is easier to get through than a virtual list that is floating around in your head. If you don’t get everything done today, then put it onto tomorrow’s list.
Mix with others who have the same mind-set as you. If one person really inspires you, see if they will help mentor you.
I don’t mean “copy” everything they say, do or make, just open your mind to the way they portray and conduct themselves as successful.
Follow their personal and business ethics.
And never stop learning.
I am always learning new things, whether it be learning a new style of jewellery design, or learning how to cope with the “customer from hell” or learning how to market my products to more people.
There will always be some tough times, success is a rollercoaster ride. If you can learn from those tough times and overcome them, you are on the right path to success.
Have you ever doubted your business idea?
Of course, who hasn’t ?
I still have times that I think to myself WHY? Why do I bother? Is it all worth it?
Then I take a bit of time out and look back and reflect on where I’ve come from and where I am now, and it brings back some hope that YES, I CAN cope with this problem, and YES I CAN do this, I’ve come too far to give up now and throw all the hard work away !!
Walt Disney asked 10 of his closest friends about his ideas for Disney and Disneyland, 9 out of 10 friends told him he was crazy.
Luckily he went with the 1 friend who believed he could do it, the rest is history.
What is one tip/lesson you can pass onto other entrepreneurs?
If you believe you have an idea that you feel will work then go for it.
It’s better to have tried and failed than never tried and always wondered WHAT IF ??
My father was technically smart, he invented gizmo’s and gadgets all the time, one thing he invented was a lift to hold gyprock sheets up to the ceiling when he was building his holiday house.
With this idea he didn’t need anyone to hold huge sheets of plasterboard up while he adhered it to the ceiling framing. I asked him why don’t you patent it?
He wasn’t bothered, because it did what he needed it to do. Today you can hire these, but it doesn’t have my father’s name on it.
He was also an electrician, he designed a lighting, heating and cooling system for a new building for the textile business he worked at before he passed away.
I found out after he died that this system was saving the company $40 million dollars a year in energy costs. And he had so many ideas planned for the future that his boss was quite often contacting us to see if dad had left any blueprints laying around for future ideas.
I like to think I get a little bit of my work and business ethics from my Dad !!
We also had a friend who tried to get a loan from the bank to bottle spring water about 40 years ago, the bank laughed at him.
And what do we probably buy the most worldwide to drink? Bottled water.
These are just some examples of how I have learnt to be an entrepreneur. By listening and watching other people’s ethics.
If I can inspire ONE person from this to help them on their road to success then I will feel very honoured and know that maybe I might have a bit of an idea of how to become successful J
For anyone thinking of ecommerce to sell products or services online, think about what time you are prepared to put into being online. There is no point having an online presence 24 /7 if you are not prepared to be online at least once a day.
Potential customers like to ask questions, they don’t always ask just about your goods, they are also testing you and your performance, testing how long it will take to get a reply to emails. This can be an online seller’s downfall.
Personally, as a regular online customer I expect a reply within 24 hours.
If my email to a seller is not answered in a timely manner my perception of that business drops their reputation to about 50% .
Treat people the way you expect to be treated.
I work in front of my computer, so I usually answer straight away. But you don’t have to be online 24 hours a day.
And with a lot more people using apps and smartphones these days you can still be online when you are away from your computer.
Answer questions promptly, courteously, and honestly. Make sure you reply in a business-like manner (ie: don’t use slang or 4 U instead of for you) it comes across unprofessional and personally I find it a bit trashy. And stop and check your words before you send a reply, poor spelling or grammar is not good for business (although my grammar is not perfect but I at least try to sound professional and intelligent ).
Talk to the customer with respect. I personally LOATHE being called Hunni , Darl, sweetie, Luv or Mate !!
I am not there to be your BFF, I am there as a potential customer, show respect!
I see it too often on facebook so-called “businesses” and do not appreciate a 20 something wannabe answering me and calling me anything other than my name.
It is very unprofessional and is usually the type of business that is there one day, take your money, gone the next.
And always treat every enquiry as a potential sale, no matter how big or small their order. First impressions do still count, and a sale is a sale.
If you are going to sell goods online make sure you keep your customer up to date with how their order is going.
For me, I let them know I appreciate their business and have received payment. I also let them know how long it will take for their order to be made (for me, it is usually within 24 hours) And then let them know when their order has been shipped, tracking number, and a thank you etc.
This instils confidence in your reputation and puts the customer at ease knowing their purchase from you has been a good experience. After all. Poor reputations and reviews spread faster than good.
And for the odd complaint, think before you bad mouth the customer. Take a deep breath, time out, and think before you respond.
The old saying “the customer is always right” may not be totally true these days, but make them feel that you understand their concerns and appreciate them bringing it directly to you.(instead of them bad mouthing your business to everyone on facebook or twitter).
Learn to not take it personally, And try to swallow your pride and do the right thing by the customer for your reputation’s sake.
My last tip for budding ecommerce entrepreneurs – Believe in yourself and never give up.
The post Ecommerce Case Study: Sandi Burt From Starlite Creations appeared first on How To Make Money Online With Niche Ecommerce.