Ada Egloff found success selling vintage clothes on Etsy, a website for selling all things handmade, antique, or vintage. In June, Egloff took the plunge and opened Oma Vintage, her own storefront in Northern Liberties.
In its few short months of operation, Oma Vintage has received all kinds of good press, from local shout-outs in the Daily Candy to national press in Teen Vogue. Beyond the initial coverage, Egloff has done a wonderful job cultivating web publicity and throwing events to keep her shop on everyone's radars. Most recently, she had close friend Diana Ecker create a short promotional film
We caught up with Egloff to ask her a few questions about her social networking and web publicity.
It must be challenging to maintain both an Etsy Store and a physical storefront. How do the two feed into each other? Has the on-line store attracted any real customers, or does it mostly serve customers who are far from Philadelphia? Do you ever feel that the two are in competition for your time?
For the most part, the online shop and the storefront act exclusively of one another. Many of my Etsy customers are international, from Australia or the UK, as well as buyers in New York or LA. Once in a while a customer will come into the retail location looking for a specific item they found online, but that is rare. Managing one or the other is time-consuming enough, so it is important for me to manage my time well and divide it pretty evenly between the web shop and the storefront. With Etsy, it is important to list new items regularly in order to keep people aware of your shop. The more frequently you list, the more things you sell, so I will put in small amounts of time on the web shop everyday. The bulk of my focus, however, is on the retail location.
How has maintaining a company Facebook page changed the way "Fans" interact with your merchandise? How have you gone about cultivating on-line fans?
Facebook and Twitter are really important networking tools. Though I don't necessarily believe in broadcasting all aspects of my personal life online, these tools are an invaluable resource for my business. Most people are spending more and more time online, particularly those in their late teens to early thirties, which is my target demographic. The best way to keep people interested is to be consistent in your web presence. I make sure to update the Oma page on Facebook as well as the Twitter page as often as possible. It also helps to have events and unique, interesting things going on at the store to keep people engaged. I haven't made a Facebook "ad" yet, but I find that word of mouth and trusting that people will share the page with their friends is enough. For now!
How do you feel that the recent video contributed to Oma's image/personality?
I think the video was a really good way of highlighting the Oma aesthetic. I am new to business, but I think the best way to reach people is to have a very clear image. People need to understand right away what it is you're selling. For Oma, we are selling clothing, true, but we're also selling an image/aesthetic. A sort of vintage way of living life. I want to stretch the Oma aesthetic into other cultural areas, which has begun with the video and will continue with music, web content, photography, etc.
How does the video format highlight your produce in a way that traditional images and text would not?
For me, the video format - specifically the 8mm film - really contributes to the Oma aesthetic. It has the feel of a 1960s new wave romance, and the film quality lends itself to associations with old home movies. I wanted the video to be sort of like something you'd find in your grandmother's attic - a slice of the old days when times were fun and carefree and young. It's all about finding that little gem in the dusty old past - that is what I shoot for with the store and is what I was going for with this video. I think it has more life to it than photos or text. Plus you can see the clothes on people, get an idea of how they move in context.
How involved should a business owner be in shaping promotional videos? Should they creatively manage each detail or let the filmmaker take over?
I think it depends on the business owner, but for me, this shop is like my baby. Every last detail that goes into it comes from me, so I think it was integral to stay involved and opinionated when it comes to the video. Luckily, Diana Ecker and I have a lot of the same tastes so our collaboration was effortless. We just went with it.
What are the indicators that you've chosen a good filmmaker? What should business owners in search of a good filmmaker look for?
I think taking a look at their previous work is key. Diana is a friend of mine, but I have appreciated her taste for a long time. I know we share the same ideas about what we believe to be beautiful and artistic, so it was an easy choice on my part to get involved with her. I think shared views/aesthetics are key.
As a young business owner, you've likely been exposed to many online publicity methods for years. What advice would you offer to entrepreneurs who are just now dipping their feet into web promotions?
There are a lot of easy and free ways to get your name and your product out there. Networking is the most important tool for a young entrepreneur and the internet makes it so easy to do. There is a community of people just like you already present on the web, so it is your job to seek it out and get to know the people involved. People are happy to help each other out, whether it is a trade of goods and services or blog mentions. Places like Etsy are a great way to get your feet wet with this kind of networking, but you can only grow by reaching out to more and more people. Also shameless self-promotion. You have to just be vicious about it.