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Who said having a baby is any reason to slow down and take a step back…? Certainly not Rich and Clara Bailey! 🙂
It’s a family affair this week as I speak with Clara Bailey, one half of the husband and wife team behind MacBailey Candle Co.
Clara and her husband Rich live in the beautiful city of Charleston, South Carolina, where they create beautifully handcrafted concrete candle vessels filled with fragrant, handmade soy candles.
Clara joins me on the show this week to share the story of how MacBailey Candle Co got started. We discuss lots of things regarding not just the products they make and sell, but also the “why”.
…Why they chose to create handmade soy candles over other business ideas they were considering, and what it’s like to work alongside her husband…. These are some of the topics we dive into in our conversation.
Clara explains how she got started selling her products on the Etsy platform and how she went from making her first sale – to a family member 🙂 – to selling to a “real customer” in California in a matter of a few short weeks.
We also discuss the social media strategies Rich and Clara use for promoting their products and why she prefers using Instagram as her primary social media marketing platform. From shipping challenges, including how they handle shipping the candles in concrete holders – without turning customers away due to the cost of shipping – and lots more.
Clara also provides many valuable resources, tips, and advice for aspiring, new, and established shop owners to help them grow their business, market their products, track their inventory and revenue, and manage their time while juggling the many other day-to-day responsibilities that come with an entrepreneurial lifestyle.
Topics Discussed
- Vision alignments and differences when working with your spouse
- Factors to consider when making changes to your Etsy shop
- Creating product descriptions for candle scents… Remember, online shoppers can’t smell scents
- Tips for evaluating wick quality and testing for lead
- Ways to reuse candle vessels
- Shipping preparations and challenges with shipping heavy items
- Time management strategies for working full-time, running a business, and raising a family
- Etsy wholesale
- Creating a website vs. opening an Etsy shop
- Growing a mailing list and social media pages
- Social media marketing strategies
- Dividing labor and tasks when working with your spouse
- Selling at Farmer’s markets
Resources Mentioned
- Website Building: Squarespace
- Inventory & Bookkeeping: Craftybase
- Podcasts: Social Media Marketing Podcast
MacBailey Candle Co – Etsy Shop Shout Outs
- Shop Suite 33 – Charleston inspired, handmade fabrics, pillows, tote bags, and home décor
Contact Clara
- Etsy Shop – MacBaileyCandleCo
- Website – MacBailey Candle Co
- Social Media – Instagram | Facebook | Pinterest
- Email – MacBaileyCandleCo [at] gmail [dot] com
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