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“Being vegan is beautiful” and what better way to show your vegan pride than to wear hand-crafted jewelry and accessories!
This week’s featured guest is Susan Prolman, owner of the Etsy Shop – Veg Shop where she offers beautifully hand-crafted jewelry and accessories promoting veganism.
Susan lives in Washington, D.C., where, for many years, she has been an advocate for the vegan lifestyle. She recently opened Veg Shop in late February this year as a way to help other people in the vegan community express their joy and pride for the vegan lifestyle.
Susan strongly believes that “being vegan is beautiful,” and takes pride in crafting each piece of jewelry she creates and sells in her shop.
She became a vegetarian in the ’80s and was quickly turned onto the vegan lifestyle shortly after. Being a vegan in those days was much more difficult than it is now because the lifestyle was so new, and there weren’t as many options available as there are today.
She first found Etsy several years ago – as a shopper – while searching for fashionable vegan items. While she enjoys advocating for non-profit organizations and fighting against factory farming, she realized that her career wasn’t fulfilling her creative desires.
Her passion and commitment to advocating for the vegan lifestyle and fighting against factory farming coupled with her desire to create beautiful things led her to open Veg Shop.
In today’s episode, Susan shares her motivation and inspiration for opening her shop, the challenges and obstacles she has faced since February, the organizations she supports, and how she came to learn how to create her beautiful masterpieces.
We discuss the various types of products she offers in her shop, which include necklaces, keychains, pins, and accessories, as well as beautifully crafted “vegiversary” items and gifts for all occasions. She talks about the resources she has used to learn how to hone her craft, where she goes to learn new skills, and how she markets and advertises her products.
We also discuss at length her SEO strategy and how it’s working for her along with other helpful marketing and advertising tools she is considering using as her business grows.
[bctt tweet=”On Etsy, one of your tags should always be your shop name @Veg_Shop” username=”ConvoMePodcast”]
TOPICS DISCUSSED
- Susan talks about her partnership with the non-profit organization Compassion Over Killing
- She tells us that getting customers to her shop is the hardest obstacle for her to overcome
- She explains how community and relationship-building techniques have helped her since opening her shop
- Why she chose not to market her products internationally
- Scaling her Etsy business as a seller of handmade physical products
- She explains why she would be open to chatting with retailers about wholesale options
- Tips on how Susan uses SEO tactics to boost her shop visibility on Etsy and explains the steps that others can do to get similar results
- We talk about potential additional advertising and marketing venues, such as Etsy promoted listings, Google Ads, and registering as a business on Google
- And much more!
SUSAN’S SHOUTOUTS
- Erica Meier, a huge supporter of Veg Shop and the Executive Director of Compassion Over Killing and who also happens to be the inspiration behind “The Erica” design. Compassion Over Killing is a nonprofit organization that promotes vegetarian eating.
- TryVeg – a website hosted by Compassion Over Killing which offers delicious recipes and other information about vegetarianism and veganism.
- Bruce Friedrich, who coined the phrase “being vegan is flipping awesome” is the Executive Director of the Good Food Institute.
- Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary – a fabulous nonprofit organization and wildlife preserve based in Poolsville, Maryland dedicated to rescuing farm animals from being slaughtered.
- A Well Fed World – who has supported Veg Shop through custom orders.
- Seth Tibbott, founder of Turtle Island Foods, the company that produces Tofurkey products and one of Veg Shop’s first customers
- People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, a nonprofit organization that has significantly helped promote Veg Shop.
VEG SHOP – RESOURCES MENTIONED
- Marmalead
- The Public Library – always a great resource to find educational information on jewelry-making.
- YouTube – another great way to learn and hone your jewelry-making skills
BEST WAYS TO REACH SUSAN
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