I still remember meeting Claire in San Francisco last year. She had just quit her full-time job to focus on running her pottery studio. At the time, marketing was a foreign concept to her. She’d post a few photos on Instagram now and then, hoping that people would stumble upon her work. But things weren’t going as planned. She told me, “I’m spending so much time creating, but barely any time telling people what I actually do.”
That’s when I shared a few quick-start marketing tips with her—nothing fancy, nothing expensive. Just a few simple actions that could be done in under an hour. To her surprise, they worked.
She started small. In less than 10 minutes, she rewrote her social media bios on Instagram and Facebook. Before, it just said “Free spirit who loves pottery.” We updated it to something more practical: “Custom handmade ceramics | San Francisco-based | Studio visits by appointment | Shop link below.” She added links to her shop and newsletter. The very next day, someone placed an order through the link.
A week later, she took the next step. She emailed a few regular customers and asked if they’d be willing to write a short review. She also started putting little QR code stickers on her paper receipts—scan it, and you’re taken straight to a review page. Within two days, she had four new five-star reviews on her Google business page. One customer wrote, “She’s the Bay Area’s hidden gem for handmade ceramics!” Claire loved that line so much she printed it on her new business cards.
When she had a little more breathing room, she took about 30 minutes to review the overall visual style of her brand. I suggested she create a consistent look using the same colors, fonts, and photography style across her marketing channels. She got into it—designed a few reusable templates on Canva—and later told me, “I finally look like a real brand.”
We then spent about 45 minutes doing some quick market research. We read a few industry reports, looked at her past sales, and realized most of her customers were women aged 25 to 45—many of them creatives or working in design-related fields. Claire said, “I used to think anyone who liked my work would just buy it. But now I see how much it helps to understand who they are, where they hang out online, and what they're looking for.”
Finally, she sat down and created a simple marketing plan. Nothing too complicated. Just a short list of goals—like posting on social twice a week, joining one local art fair, and aiming to get 20 new newsletter subscribers. She even added a little note to check in at the end of the month to review what worked. That piece of paper is still taped to the wall in her studio.
So if you’re like Claire—busy running your business and feeling like marketing is this overwhelming, mysterious thing—take a deep breath. Start with what you can do in ten minutes. You don’t have to be a marketing expert. You just need to make it easier for people to find you, understand what makes you different, and know how to reach you.
Because sometimes, all it takes is one updated bio, one thoughtful email, or one quick conversation—to connect with the customer who’s been waiting for someone exactly like you.