Aeolidia is taking a winter break and we'll be back in 2024!

Hi Reader,

What a year! I feel good about how it's wrapping up, and great about our plans for next year (though, as I'm sure you've noticed, the world often has other plans). I sincerely hope 2023 treated you well and that 2024 is looking bright.

A few things I'm looking forward to:

Focusing once again on where our work provides the most impact: branding, custom sites, and email strategy.
Meeting up with my team and the shop owners we work with at events in Palm Springs, Chicago, and New York.
Some awesome travel opportunities for my kids through school.
Hanging out with my Goldman Sachs 10KSB growth group, who have become family to me.
Teaching online and in person all year. (Do you have a group that you'd like me to speak with? Please get in touch!)
Getting a lot of great work done in my new home office!

How about you? We'd love to be a part of your plans for the new year. We have the pleasure of collaborating from time to time with Nick Disabato of draft, and he has this advice for ecommerce businesses in the winter months:

“Now is a great time to make bolder changes that you’ve been putting off, up to and including re-theming or re-platforming your whole store. Deeper changes are lowest risk after big sale periods, because there will be reduced short-term impact and a higher likelihood of long-term optimization work. Plus, most of you did make a lot of money this past month, right?”

If that is the case for you, we're here for you! Here are just a few of the things that people came to us for this year:

“It was a presentation from Kyle Sommer on the Proof to Product community showing her Klaviyo workflow that sent me down a rabbit hole on your website (which is a true gift as a resource) and Klaviyo. Seeing how one can use buying data, segment customer information to better serve them, and the tools Klaviyo offers to execute on the data it creates was eye-opening. It also left a pit in my stomach, realizing significant gaps in our current approach.”

“We don’t know what we don’t know. We know we have a great brand, but we need a professional to guide us on how to maximize our conversion rates, stay organized, and be prepared for the future. We need someone who can be our partner when we need changes, have questions, or when something isn’t working the way we wish it would. We have lots of ideas, but we’d love to have someone there to guide us so we’re not spending countless hours guessing how to reinvent the wheel.”

“We need to grow at a more aggressive rate and are not taking advantage of obvious marketing tools- email and website. I don’t want to keep relying on luck and passersbys.”

“I need several enhancements made to my existing website, and rather than fumbling through it piece by piece myself, having little idea what I'm doing, I'd like to approach the project from a holistic standpoint with professionals who are experts in this arena. The primary focus is on user experience. There are several kinks that cause recurring problems, so I would love for you all to do an analysis of the site and recommend ways to make it better.”

If any of this resonates with you, let's talk! Your best bet is to take a quick look at our rate sheet, here. If it's a match with your budget, please jump on Sam's call schedule in January, so we can answer your questions and start making a plan for you.

Q&A

Here's a reader question about branding, from Kris, as answered by Christine, Senior Identity & Web Designer on our team:

Q: How can a brand figure out the overall feeling/emotion that the brand products evoke?

A: Storytelling is at the heart of our brand design work, and a good story - and brand - can evoke so many emotions.

If you haven’t already, you may first need to determine who your audience is. Who are the ideal buyers of your products? Once you’ve defined those customers, consider what problem you are solving for them and how you would ideally like them to describe your products. It helps to write it out. Examples could be exciting, calming, organized, soothing, or energizing. Create your brand messaging and products with those target customers and emotions in mind.

For new businesses wanting to gauge the feelings your products evoke, you can gather feedback from your personal or professional network. Ask them informally. Or for more detailed feedback, try creating a survey that asks targeted questions.

For established businesses who want to know if your products are hitting the right emotional marks, take a look at your customer feedback or testimonials. Collecting product reviews on your website is a perfect way to gather this information, and we highly recommend setting them up on your product pages.

Question: Answered

Our team includes experts in branding, design, development, email & SMS/text marketing, search engine optimization, copywriting, conversion optimization, ecommerce strategy, business growth and more. Email me back with your question! I'll consult one of our experts and share one response per week over email.

Interesting Clickables

⚓️ Read past issues of Aeolidia's newsletter here

Need more creativity in your life? Subscribe (or gift) UPPERCASE magazine. A quarterly mailbox treat!
Does the flurry of holiday activity have you feeling overwhelmed? Priya Parker's thoughts on intentional guesting may help.
Looking for a mastermind for craft business owners to join in the new year? Check out Craft Industry Alliance! You can use the code: CIAANDAEOLIDA to receive 20% off your first payment at any membership tier.

Latest Aeolidia Launch

A Shopify website for Cedar + Pearl.

Cedar + Pearl creates hand-painted, heirloom-quality ornaments that are handmade in small batches in the US; designed to be celebrated across generations.

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