Etsy Seller Interview with Omelia of OKNecklace

How OKNecklace got started

Introduce your Etsy shop and tell us your story. How did you begin and decide on what to sell on Etsy, and how do you create your products?

Hi, my name is Omelia (Lia) Kendrick, and my shop is OKNecklace on Etsy, which came about during my freshman year of high school in 2017. Before joining the Etsy community, I began hand-making jewelry in my hometown, Glen Allen, Virginia, after seeing a beautiful crocheted necklace online. Unfortunately, the piece was priced far above what I was willing to pay as a student on a budget, but the predicament I found myself in actually ended up working out in my favor. Instead of mulling over the purchase, I decided to give it a go and attempt to recreate the necklace I had seen. After gathering supplies from my local bead shop, I found myself days later with a completely different design from the one that I had initially seen. Ever since, I’ve been making crochet necklaces, which are made with a tiny crochet hook, beads, and a waxed string, making them durable and timeless. Originally, I shared my craft with my family, friends, and friends of friends for the most part, which kept me busy and happy. Eventually, by word of mouth, once others outside of my locality started showing interest in my designs, I realized that my hobby of making jewelry could become more than just a hobby, so I opened an Etsy shop shortly after. My goal with OKNecklace has always been to make "jewelry that is more than OK," maintaining a high quality for an affordable price while also providing my customers with a unique design that they can wear every day.

Favorite items

What are your favorite items? What makes these so special? Why do you think these items might be selling well?

This listing is my absolute favorite of all of my listings because I feel that it best portrays my brand and my vision to find uniqueness in jewelry. It is completely customizable, from size to string color to bead pattern, with 5 sizes, 10 strings, and over 100 bead options to choose from.

This is one of my most recent designs, made with small 4mm amazonite beads and a silver half-moon pendant. The idea for this necklace came from my love of neutral colors and the ability to pair them with anything, and I think that the moon charm addition makes it all the more unique.

My favorite earring design is the hammered coin style. I’ve always been drawn to the color purple, and of all the earring styles on the jewelry market, I particularly love the dangling look because it can be minimalist but can also act as a statement piece. Additionally, these earrings come in multiple different stone types, which plays back into my adoration of customization and delivers a sense of uniqueness for my customers.

Getting sales on Etsy

How long did it take for you to earn your first sale and how do you currently attract customers to your Etsy shop?

I got my first sale about a month or so after I opened my shop. I think everyone who’s putting themselves and their products out into the world is on their toes waiting for their first sale, but I distinctly remember trying to maintain low expectations. Once I made my first sale in December 2017, another order came through shortly after, which took me by surprise. It wasn’t until mid-2018, when I attended my first in-person craft show, that I witnessed what my jewelry meant to my customers firsthand. Seeing people find a piece that resonated with them and their self-image motivated me to start making jewelry more often. A mutual understanding is what connects me to my customers and instills a sense of loyalty in them. I’d rather have my customers buy one thing that they love and will wear all the time than have them buy many pieces that they’ll wear every now and then. After all, the customization component of OKNecklace is an attribute that distinguishes me from my competitors, and I’m confident in my ability to listen to my customers and meet their precise needs.

Article done by the Commonwealth Times on OKNecklace

Managing OKNecklace

How do you manage your shop? Are you running solo or do you have any team members? What tools or services do you use to run your shop and how do you handle fulfillment?

I am the sole person behind OKNecklace in terms of creating and marketing my jewelry, but I have some family members—namely, my parents and grandmother—who often assist me with the transactional side of OKNecklace at in-person events. For marketing, I mostly use Instagram to post shop updates, with the occasional post on Facebook and Pinterest. On both platforms, my username is @oknecklace. I’ve used Etsy Ads multiple times but have yet to reach a breakthrough point because of the cost commitment, but it’s something I’m considering for the future as I do think the keyword tool Etsy provides sellers with gives way to major spikes in sales. In terms of shipping, I get my shipping labels from Pirateship.com to avoid any extra fees, and it’s worked out well so far. I feel that a big part of owning an Etsy shop is managing the expenses, and this year I’m aiming to cut expenses by at least 10%, which means that despite my loyalty to Etsy, avoiding as many fees as I can is a priority of mine as a small business owner. Lastly, I track my sales with Etsy’s statistics tools, and I record my expenses by hand monthly.

The future of OKNecklace

What goals do you have for your shop in the future?

Adding more products is always a goal of mine, but I’d like to focus more on stepping away from trying to align my products with current trends and doing more innovation based on my own finds. I’m hoping to utilize more marketing tools like Pinterest to get my bestsellers out there and expand my target market, but I’d especially like to step up my marketing game on Etsy by giving Etsy Ads another go and freshening up my keywords for all of my listings to get more visibility.

Advice for new sellers

What’s your advice for a new seller starting an Etsy shop?

My personal advice for a new Etsy seller is to stay true to your heart by offering products that you not only think your future customers will use but also that you yourself would use. At the same time, it’s just as important to diversify your listings and offer a variety of options for customers to choose from because, ultimately, the more choice you offer, the more likely a customer will make a purchase. Next, I would encourage all new sellers to use the Etsy keywords tool by tagging as many search terms as they can possibly think of. Not only this, but it’s important for Etsy sellers to learn to tag their products correctly because doing so can dramatically increase visibility and traffic to their shop. Etsy FAQs and YouTube have tutorials and tips on how to utilize the keyword tool.

Some sellers really get inspired by hearing numbers. Feel free to share these if you like.

Question: How much is your monthly revenue?
Answer: Varies