July brings the sixth anniversary of Olympic
Orchids Perfumes. It seems like only yesterday that we started out as a business,
but as new artisan, indie and niche brands, along with mass-market “luxury”
niche wannabe spinoffs, sprout up like mushrooms after a rain, it is starting
to feel like we are suddenly one of the old, established owner-perfumer brands
(I guess that’s analogous to singer-songwriter).
The year since our last anniversary has been quite
eventful, with the launch of a popular new orchid fragrance, White Cattleya, a
branching out to create a fragrance for another brand, resulting in my second Institute
for Art and Olfaction Award for Zoologist Perfumes Bat, and a steady growth of
our Olympic Orchids Perfumes business. We even have a new Instagram account,
Olympic_Orchids_Perfume! I’m posting some sort of photo every day, trying to
avoid being too “commercial” by mixing in interesting random photos like the
baby seagulls that I showed yesterday, so check it out.
Because I’m planning all sorts of fun things
to celebrate 6 years of perfume-making, I want to start early with a summer
sale and a contest. The sale will be announced in the newsletter, on our
Facebook page, Twitter, and wherever else seems appropriate. It will start with
a 20% discount that starts now and runs until July 6 (code = SIXYEARS1), 15% until July 16 (SIXYEARS2), and 10% until the end
of July (SIXYEARS3). This means that those who see the announcements early will get the
best discounts, but even those who are as out of touch as I usually am will
still get a break on prices. The codes are the same on the Flagship Store and the Original Boutique. I used this method on my orchid nursery website
(10 years in June!) and it seems to have worked well.
The other thing I want to do is sponsor two
different photo contests. The first one
will be a “product glamour shot” contest. For this contest, anyone who owns any
size Olympic Orchids fragrance is invited to take a photo of it in some sort of
interesting and appropriate setting. Photos can be submitted via e-mail
attachment (olympicorchids at gmail dot com) or Facebook message upload. Full instructions will be forthcoming this
weekend, so start thinking about what kind of visual setting you might use for
your Olympic Orchids fragrances, or just go ahead, take some photos, and submit
now! Winners will receive a voucher for their choice of a full bottle or
discovery set of their choice. Photos will be displayed on the website home
page, with your photo credit.
I have relatively few commitments during the
month of July, so I’m looking forward to having a lot of time to work and play
in the perfume studio!
[Cake photo greatly modified from Wikimedia; shop display photo straight from Wikimedia, baby seagulls photo is mine; Woodcut bottle by Antonia Kohl]
Hi Ellen,
ReplyDeleteTwo Happy Birthdays to you! Congratulations on both.
Re photos: I wish I would have had a camera with me the other day when Fender and I encountered 20 or so baby quail (all in one place) while we were out on our daily walk. They were beyond cute!
Gail
Gail, baby quail really are cute! We have had a family of California quail living around here, too, and they would come by with their babies from time to time. I haven't seen them this year, though. Get your camera (or phone) out!
DeleteCongratulations! I read that most indie brands only last a year or so; therefore you are an established artisan and then some. Most don't realize the intense work that goes with the artistic vision to make a small artisan business grow and thrive. It is intense! I will happily try a few photos, you've got me thinking of some good backgrounds. Have a great weekend!
ReplyDeleteMarla, I don't doubt that most indie brands last less than a year because it is so much work and requires several years investment before it starts to pay off. I see a lot of people with unrealistic expectations, too, which doesn't help matters. I look forward to seeing your photos!!
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