Merchant Interview: Emitations Taps the Power of the Press and Social Networks

I conducted the following interview with Au-Co Mai, founder of Emitations that specializes in sterling silver jewelry. I met Au-Co at the Internet Retailer show. After looking at her site and speaking with her, I’ve asked her to share some tips and her experience in getting coverage for her products and site in magazines, and also how emitations leverages social media sites as a source of traffic.

A look at the new Emitations site design. Tres chic!

Tell me a bit about emitations and the products you sell

Launched in 1999, emitations.com specializes in celebrity jewelry for the price conscious consumer. We like to say that we help our customers get the celebrity bling without the sting. The emitations celebrity jewelry line primarily uses sterling silver, gold, and cubic zirconium.

I noticed you get a lot of media placement in magazines. How do you go about getting that exposure or do those magazines contact you?

It’s been a long process to develop relationships with the media. Sending the Media your PR collateral the old fashioned way via mail, email, calling, etc… was not very effective for us. The media gatekeepers are flooded with products and businesses hoping to catch their attention. Normally the editors don’t have the time to respond since they have assignment deadlines to meet.

How we got picked up?
Several years back we were initially contacted by a market editor from Us Weekly magazine who was doing an online research via the Yahoo! Shopping portal on celebrity look-a-like jewelry so that they could do a get the look-for-less type of story. We had exactly what they were looking for and they featured us. I believe that they found us because we created a product title and product copy that not only included basic product descriptions but also included keyword terms that were related to young Hollywood culture. At that time we were also doing PPC (pay-per-click) campaigns.

Ever since, we have been working with the media outlets and have positioned ourselves as a partner and resource to editors and producers for anything related to jewelry and celebrities.

Are you doing any social media optimization in terms of getting traffic from sites like MySpace or smaller sites more closely related to your market such as StyleHive? If so, how did you learn about those channels and how are they working for you?

Yes, we recognize that social media is necessary. It’s important to be where your customers are hanging out, it also allows you to establish another channel of 2 way communication and cover topics that we normally can’t cover on the ecommerce site.

We do have a MySpace account and have used that in various ways. We have posted our promotions, articles written by staff members, contests, slideshows of new things that are happening at Emitations. We also decided to use it in conjunction with charities that we work with. One request that we have of the charities is that they invite their members to become our MySpace friend. They don’t have to buy anything in order for us to donate but it’s nice to know and see the people that we are helping to support by having them become a friend.

How do you know how much time to spend on these channels versus others where you may be able to track the return more accurately?

We focus the majority of our time optimizing channels that are directly tied to sales but we definitely include these social channels as a part of the marketing mix and continue to pay attention to what is being discussed.

What has been the biggest surprise for you in building your store to its current level?

I started dating my husband when I was 19 years old. I launched my first Yahoo! store when I was 21. I went from living in my walk in closet so that I could operate emitations from my bedroom in my college days to operating full time with an awesome team and all on the Yahoo! Store’s ecommerce platform. Finding a good ecommerce platform and a good husband that can scale with growth over time is really important. I am surprised and delighted that both worked out so well. Hooray for good datable guys and good eccommerce platforms!

Seriously though, I guess looking back, I am encouraged that anybody, including a college kid with negative assets and very little resources is able to create a viable online business. I think the key was to creatively re-evaluate the existing resources around me and use it differently than convention would dictate. For example, my first form of financing was from “Ross” the dress for less mass discount clothing retailer. I bought my first piece of jewelry for sale at Ross for $7.50. I knew that if it didn’t sell on eBay that I could return it for a full refund within 30 days. I was able to sell that $7.50 faux pearl choker for $65. I didn’t have a digital camera back then so I used a flatbed scanner to take the image. The lack of resources really challenged me to think creatively from day one.

What advice would you give to new merchants just starting out?

Just get started, with or with out a business plan. As you open up an online store and put your ideas to the test, your plan will evolve. Many people have the entrepreneurial passion and energy but don’t do anything because they become overwhelmed with all the details and the possibilities of making mistakes. Successful businesses of all sizes continue to make mistakes and learn along the way, just do it. Good luck!!!

Thanks Au-Co for sharing your experiences and tips. So take her advice merchants and jump in with both feet, not only to starting a business, but also in incorporating social media sites into your overall marketing plan—especially when your target market practically lives on these sites.

Paul Boisvert
Yahoo! Small Business