What It's About
The need for a creative outlet leads a woman in advertising to a lucrative design side hustle serving wedding parties and special events.
Business Model
Skills Required
Complexity
Profit Potential
Words of Wisdom
In Kristin’s experience, social media has been the best way to spread the word about Miss Design Berry, especially as brides spend hours upon hours on Instagram and Pinterest getting ideas for their own weddings. Kristin has found those sites in particular to be good places to advertise, run sales, and offer giveaways to expand the company’s reach and engage with its target audience.
If you really want to use your marketing resources efficiently, find out where your audience is and market to them directly. Focus your attentions intentionally instead of spreading them out across multiple avenues.
Fun Fact
Miss Design Berry founder and graphic designer Kristin Berry first got her start in being an entrepreneur in college when she and her friends competed against large companies for a website design bid.
Against all odds, they ended up crushing the competition and winning the bid! Kristin says she’s been hooked on the entrepreneurial bug ever since.
Notes from Chris
Episode 178
When Kristin Berry first moved to New York City after college in 2011, she had secured a promising job with a pharmaceutical advertising agency. She ended up loving it and making good friends in the process. But despite the job checking lots of boxes, Kristin found she still needed extra money to pay the bills. She also found herself wanting to exercise her creativity more. Though her job was demanding, it didn’t use her creative design skills, and she wanted to keep those honed and fresh. Kristin wanted to take her passion for design—something she says she can do day and night without getting bored—and launch her own hustle. So, in 2012, she gave it a try. She launched an Etsy store to sell her services such as logo design, illustration, and some wedding items. This involved almost zero startup costs, as she already had a laptop and the needed software from college. Launching the Etsy store only cost $0.20 to list a product, and then Etsy takes a small fee from the purchase price. This hustle gradually evolved into what is now Miss Design Berry: an e-commerce website featuring unique designs for weddings and events. The fun illustrations are infused with bright colors and quirky elements, and everything is designed in collaboration with the customer. The products cost from $30 to $900 and up, depending on the item and quantity. The business growth has been nothing short of impressive. In 2014, the company made $40,000. In 2015, this quadrupled to $160,000, and in 2016 profits shot up to $700,000. This year, Miss Design Berry is on track to make close to $1 million. To take a closer look at what Miss Design Berry is all about, check out the video below:
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
- Miss Design Berry: View more of Kristin's customized designs on her website!
- Miss Design Berry Inc. | Etsy:Kristin started out on Etsy, and after looking over her page, it's easy to see why Miss Design Berry has been such a success
- KristinMastoras.com:Kristin's new side hustle that focuses on helping others achieve the kind of success she's experienced with Miss Design Berry
- 10 Tips for Successfully Breaking Into the Wedding Industry | Bespoke Bride: If you're looking to break into the wedding industry, here are some tips to help you start building your brand
- Graphic Designer Learns to Draw Caricatures for $250/Hr: How a graphic designer went from $8 an hour to $250 an hour in her side business. She now earns more than $100,000 working part-time—and she has some great advice that applies to a lot of hustles
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