We are over the moon today to share the wise words of Arianne from Aeolidia today! You have doubtless seen her work all over the internet because her small business is responsible for creating amazing websites for other small business owners, creatives, artists, and handmade communities like Oh My Handmade! Arianne talks about hiring your first employee, how word of mouth is the best marketing tool you have, and how to really get to know what your customers want. Happy reading!
Tell us a little bit about yourself and your business.
I began designing websites as Aeolidia in 2005 as a freelancer. My friendly conscientiousness combined with my highly reasonable (read: ridiculously cheap) pricing soon caused me to have so many requests that I was often turning away more work than I accepted. Over the years, I built my skills, added to my team, and today we’re a full-fledged design studio.
Aeolidia is a team of fun and friendly experts, specializing in web and graphic design for small creative businesses, crafters, artists, and designers. We aim to be a “one-stop shop,” helping with all the necessities for creating or updating an online presence. We are professional, punctual, and oh so client-oriented.
Aeolidia offers so many services to small business owners. What is your favorite thing to do for a business?
The most satisfying and fun projects are the ones where we get involved early on in branding or re-branding a business and get to do it all. We are currently working on a project starting with brainstorming the business name, creating a logo and identity, then taking that design work to be the basis of the website. We have another project in progress where we’re helping create the website content: styled photos and product description copywriting.
It’s always great when a client is serious about their new branding and wants to extend it to print materials (business cards, stationery, packaging), as well as online branding (such as Twitter and Facebook graphics, and Etsy or PayPal banners).
You have an amazing (and huge) team! Do you have any advice for those hiring their first team member? How do you pick the right person who will help your business grow?
I am very particular when adding to our team! People say they can spot an Aeolidia site before scrolling down to see our credit, so I make sure to choose designers whose work fits in with our aesthetic. Everyone on our team is driven, dedicated, and passionate about their work, as well as able to explain technical concepts in a friendly and easy to understand way. We also spend a lot of time behind the scenes helping each other, sharing tips and advice, and refining our process.
My husband and I are joint owners of Aeolidia, an LLC, and we have a single employee, our project coordinator. Everyone else who works with us is a contract worker, providing services to Aeolidia, but also running their own businesses. We are up to 22 people right now (though I still, funnily enough, think of us as a “small design studio”)!
This March, we put out the call for a new project coordinator. As a team, we brainstormed what this new person would do, in our ideal world. We put it all together, and created a job listing which was as specific as we could make it.
I spread the word via social media, and we got over 70 totally reasonable job applications (and only about three that were completely off-base). We pared resumes down, went through a phone interview stage, sent a case study test to our finalists, and ended up with a person who has fit in with our team perfectly and is making everything run as smoothly as I’d dreamed.
As far as advice goes, if you’re looking to hire someone to work with your small business, I’d say:
- Go with your gut! Does this person seem like a perfect fit?
- Be picky! If you have reservations, there is probably a reason.
- Be clear about expectations. What does the job entail? How does payment work? ALL the details should be shared.
- Try social media! This is a great way to be able to pull from a pool of people who really understand your niche.
- Make sure you have all your accounting and legal paperwork in place. If this is your first hire, talking to an accountant and attorney could save you a ton of trouble down the road.
- Take your time. This is an important decision, and one you’ll be living with (hopefully for a long while). Make sure you cover all of your bases and do everything right.
In terms of marketing your business, how do you leverage word of mouth to spread the word? Do you use referral programs? Does your work speak for itself?
Until recently, word of mouth was the only marketing method I’d used. It can be so hard to find a reliable web designer/developer who will treat you well, create what you want, and do it on a timeline, staying in touch with you throughout. The bar was really low, and I set standards for my work very high, so work just poured and poured in for years.
In terms of word of mouth, most people come to us via the “site by aeolidia” link down in the footer of the sites we build. We also have clients that evangelize for us (no referral program needed!), telling their friends and colleagues that we’re the team to hire. We request testimonials at the end of each project, and have a huge stash of glowing praise for what we do. I send a thank you card to each client after their project is complete (including Aeolidia business cards). We also remain loyal to our clients, helping them with questions, updates, upgrades, and sharing news once their work is done.
As they told me in elementary school: “make new friends, but keep the old – one is silver and the other gold.”
When it was just the three or four of us, that was just fine, but now that I have so many people on my team who I’m trying to keep busy, I do need to work harder to make sure our schedule is full (we have 51 active client projects at the moment).
My strategies for getting the word out about Aeolidia now include:
- Guest posting on blogs where our dream clients are hanging out.
- Posting on our own blog. This positions us as helpful experts, and keeps us in people’s minds until they’re ready with a project for us, as well as providing us a platform for showcasing new services.
- Being available to people with questions via social media.
- Speaking at events that our dream clients attend.
- Posting an interesting and instructive newsletter regularly (which also gives us a way to advertise holes in our schedule for quickie jobs).
Emily McDowell’s websiteWhat is your big goal for this year?
I am so excited about my big goal! I’ve let a lot of things just happen to my business over the years, but this year my guideline is to be purposeful. With that in mind, I’m putting my money where my mouth is, and completely rebranding and redesigning Aeolidia. I get to be the client, and I think it will be a lot of fun.
We will be posting about the process, sharing our decisions and why they were made, and showing peeks at the behind the scenes work throughout. We’d love you to join us! Head over to the Aeolidia blog and sign up for posts in your email so you won’t miss a thing!
Want more advice from Arianne or want her and her team to help you create the website of your dreams? Check out her site: Aeolidia.
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