YouTube Videos Lead to International Make Up Line
A high school educated, 27 year old single mother loves make-up, but is untrained. Bullied in school for being an ugly duckling, she nevertheless experiments with looks she sees on celebrities and women on the street.
In May 2007 she begins selling make-up brushes and eye shadows on eBay. She’s uneducated, but trusts her love of make-up will help her provide for her family somehow. Very quickly she realizes customers are regularly bombarding her with questions on how to apply make-up. Rather than sending them somewhere else, in July 2007 she opens a YouTube account under the name Panacea81. In her modest home, with her child running around in the background at times, and with her strong working class accent, she uses her webcam to record herself applying make-up. She’s amazed at how quickly word spreads of her modest tutorials. One day she’s contacted via her Facebook page to create her own line of products. Now a couple of years later, Lauren Luke’s got her own make-up line available at Sephora, and she’s doing an international tour.
If this doesn’t show the power of an organic online presence to generate income, we don’t know what does. Source
Our experience has been that small business owners are often afraid to show a personality for their business. They don’t want to be seen as the brand for their business, but they also don’t listen to their customers’ comments or questions. Sometimes a natural direction for their business to unfold is crystal clear, but the business owner shies away due to fears of alienating one type of customer.
We don’t recommend radical moves, but it is possible to make calculated moves and experiment based on strategy that comes from analysis. If one customer segment is stagnant or declining, it may be worth the business owner’s time to focus some energy on a new customer segment that could be more profitable. Combining the love for what one does with an entrepreneurial touch may just be what your business needs to soar over the competition, even when that competition may have dozens of employees and hundreds of thousands of dollars. Look at Lauren Luke.
Even as individuals we grow and mature into a personality that is all our own, a brand. A business that is not growing, but refuses to explore new ways of operating will lose out on finding a niche that could mean the difference between success and failure. A new business that has no clear vision for how it presents itself in the marketplace will also meet difficult times.
During these unstable times, if your business isn’t growing, don’t become paralyzed with fear. This is the time to create a brand that is authentically you. Remember that business plan you made, when you were first filled with the excitement of opening a new business? Pull it out and re-connect with your original dreams. We can help you find your way. Call us for a free one hour consultation.
