Live Interview: On the Radio

1st Radio Interview - Friday 15th November

I was recently invited by Upstarts for a 30 minute interview on Dublin City FM. It was one of the most exciting tasks I have done in my career!

Nervous smile

You can hear my voice shaking as I have never been one to enjoy public speaking, but Kelly and Andy from Upstarts were fantastic at keeping the conversation going and making me feel as relaxed as possible.

Now I'm talking!

Once I got talking, there was no stopping me. I actually had so much fun on the show, I would love to go back on again. There is such a rush from it! Anyone looking for radio interviewees?

Looking coy.

You can listen to the podcast for my interview below. It's quite funny and light hearted. Find out about my title of Miss beautiful baby of Drogheda 1982, how I got started in my business and some of the wonderful people that helped me along the way.

Listen now

Let me know your thoughts on my first radio interview.

3 Steps To Getting Financial Support

Many people may be put off setting up their own business due to tight finances. But with some savings and a bit of financial support from the government, your dreams can be within reach!

How I got financial support:

1. Applied for the Back To Work Enterprise Allowance,
2. Prepared a detailed business plan,
3. Applied for the Short-Term Enterprise Allowance with the Tolka Partnership.

          Weekly allowance approved!

After I left my job, I knew that I wanted to set up my own business. This will be a slow process as there is a lot of set up work and I will not be bringing in much money within the first couple of months.

To overcome the lack of income in the early stages of my set-up, I applied for the Back To Work Enterprise Allowance (BTWEA) otherwise known as the dole or scratcher. This is a fund for people who are unemployed. Until I've created business viable products, I considered myself to be an unemployed person pursuing on a VERY expensive hobby/idea. On that basis, it is fair for me to avail of this fund.

Recently I completed my online shop set up on Etsy, and made some sales, so it was no longer fair for me to be on an unemployment allowance. I have since successfully applied for the Short-Term Enterprise Allowance (STEA). This pays the same as the BTWEA and for the same nine month period, but rather than coming out of a pot for unemployed people, it is for start up entrepreneurs. 

Benefits of STEA over BTWEA

• Money is paid straight into your bank account.
• No need to sign-in anymore at the unemployment office.
• No need to attend meetings with case worker.

Note: You cannot get the STEA grant if you are registered as a sole trader.

The resources I mentioned are only available in Ireland. But there should be support in most countries. Remember, Google is your best friend for information!

Resources

Read more about Irish government support and process > here.

Application for STEA form > here.

How to apply for STEA:

- If you live in an area covered by a local development company (xls) (LDC), apply to the Enterprise Officer.

- If you do not live in an LDC area, apply to the Jobs Facilitator in your social welfare local office.

Interview with Clothes.ie

My First Interview!


















This month I was invited to my first interview as Shen Wong Jewellery with Clothes.ie. This is very exciting as Clothes.ie are a Fashion website in Ireland that are really starting to take off!


How I Did It!

I simply reached out and tweeted Clothes.ie that I would like to feature on their website. To sweeten the deal I offered them an item from my product line for their readers as a competition prize. They responded positively and arranged the interview within a month.

If you are in a similar startup situation, I would advise you to start small and contact new or small fashion sites and bloggers to feature your products. It will help you gain a bit of experience and exposure before you move up to the likes of Vogue or So Sue Me!

Tip: Always ensure that the interviewer includes a link to your website and social media pages. Not only can it increase sales opportunities and connections, but it can improve your Google search rankings.

I hope you found this post helpful. Please leave a comment to share your thoughts and ideas.

Read my interview with Clothes.ie here.

Endorsement is Important - Online Startups

To all start ups I would advise you to seek endorsement where ever you can. It will make your new business look more official and reliable to potential customers. This is especially true for a start up business based solely online.

By endorsement, I mean joining an organisation that promotes your business. As a jewellery maker, I am in the crafting industry. Recently, I have been accepted as an Associate Member of the Crafts Council of Ireland. Just to be clear, this is an organisation formed to promote skilled craftsmanship, it is not a gathering of witches (yes, I had to explain this to a friend!). 

Needless to say, I am delighted with my membership. I had to submit a detailed application which then had to be assessed by a panel that only meets a limited number of times a year. This endorsement is a big deal to me. On top of obtaining a greater sense of pride for my work due to official recognition, there are also many practical benefits.

Benefits of Endorsements

• Improved SEO - Membership/Endorsement may include a bio about your business and a link to your website. If the organisation has a good website then they may rate highly with Google and a link from them to your site should improve your page ranking.

• Trust - Even if your potential customer has not heard of the organisation that 'endorsed' your business, it can help develop trust and faith in your company.

• Increased Awareness - By featuring on another page or becoming a member of an organisation, more people will immediately know about your business (even if it is just a handful, depending on the organisation).

• Learn from others -  By joining a good and relevant organisation, you should gain access to information that will be beneficial to helping your business specifically. 

• Support - You will be connecting with like minded people in similar situations, you never know, you might meet someone who can help and support you.

I hope you found this post helpful. If you are in the crafting industry based in Ireland, I would highly recommend you join the Crafts Council of Ireland. You will receive much useful information. www.ccoi.ie/

Author: Shen Wong

Maker of Fun Loving Jewellery at www.ShenWong.com

7 Questions to Ask Before Quitting Your Job

The 7 Questions...
...I asked myself before I quit my job to set up my own business

This month I finally took the plunge and quit my day job so that I can focus 100% on launching my jewellery business.

Before I came to the decision of leaving my full time job, I had to ask myself 7 questions:

1. Have I stayed motivated in developing this business for at least 3 months?
2. Do others believe that I have the skills, and does the market has the need for my business?
3. Has at least 3 people purchased something from me?
4. Can I sustain 4 months without a salary and still pay my mortgage?
5. If the business failed to take off, will I be able to find a job within 4-6 months?
6. Will I regret it if I don't take this chance?
7. Will I be a happier person if I pursue this business?

After I confidently answered 'Yes' to all these questions, I knew that it was the right decision.

The most important question to me was number 7. To me happiness is the most important consideration as there are ways to work around everything else.

Is there anything you would add to this list?

14 Steps to setting up an online business - Priorities

When setting up an online jewellery business, or any business for that matter, there seems to be an an infinite number of things to do. Once you have set up your business plan, it can be overwhelming to know what to do and in what order.

Today I will be sharing my list of priorities, hopefully it will be useful to someone else setting up their business.

Please note, this post is not an 'How To' post, it is just a list of what I do.

1. Decide on business name (research online to find minimum competition for those key words).
2. Register business name with your local office to check availability.
3. Register your domain name, do at same time as Step 2 to check availability.
4. Choose the keywords to optimise for e.g. Organic - Fruit - Dublin
5. Write a paragraph about the business & post on webpage, incorporating keywords.
6. Register your website with Webmaster tools so it comes up on Google search results. https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools
7. Set up social media pages and link them to your website for SEO. Try to use the same name for them all, incorporating business name. Write a bio for each, incorporating keywords. I write off the top of my head rather than using same copy as Google does not to like block duplicate content. It may not matter for short Bio's, but I also prefer original content. https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/66359?hl=en
8. Manage expectations by posting a goal launch date on all the sites & pages.
9. Start working on your products. Steps 1-8 was to lay the foundation for search engines to find your site.
10. Develop your website with a basic homepage and about us.
11. List your products. Make sure to use your keywords throughout product descriptions. Basically your keywords should be naturally placed on every page related to you.
12. Register your page with SEO optimising site such as https://www.attracta.com/. Do this after listing products as you will understand better what to say about them. Once registered, I don't think you can change the information submitted.
13. Make sure to update your social media pages minimum twice a week throughout the whole process.
14. Once you are happy for your site to get some traffic, announce on your launch on social media pages.

My list is not perfect, but it's what I do on a generic level. I am selling my products through Etsy at the moment, but still working on my own site, so not ready to go fully live yet. 

Leave a comment if you have any suggestions. I am always keen to learn.

by Shen Wong