Erika is a Melbourne girl on the rise, already heading up Willow and Blake and frank
1. How did your business start and why?
Willow & Blake started as an online publication headed by myself, Bree Johnson and Jess Hatzis. We met while studying at university and working the same part time job. We all had an interest in writing across food, lifestyle and music and wanted to clash heads and see what the result would be.
We won a competition through marketing agency, Cassette to have our website built. I ended up working at the agency for almost two years as a copywriter and social media manager, while Jess worked at 360 Music Agency as head publicist and Bree as Editorial Assistant at Broadsheet. Winning the competition caused us to reassess what it was we wanted our brand to be about. Rather than writing about those three aforementioned things, we wanted to write about the brains behind them. We figured there were enough people writing the same shit every day– we were over it, and were pretty sure the rest of the world was too. We wanted to discuss these peoples' ideas, insecurities, idiosyncrasies etc. Find out information that no-one knew, or that the people in question wanted to tell the world– as a result Willow & Blake's 'Things' section was born (formerly known as 'The Attic')
2. Tell me about your business and the vision for your company?
In two years our brand has evolved immensely. Our website received a lot of attention and with it came several freelance requests. Eventually, Jess and I decided to jump ship and start the business side of Willow & Blake, and Bree followed a year later. We now work across brand strategy and tone of voice development, which we execute across copywriting, social media, editorial and PR content. We work both B2B and with various branding agencies in providing creative content, from the finance or tech industry to fashion, food, and retail clients. This year we developed our own product, frank - to which we've been able to roll out full brand and creative control- it's been fun getting thousands of girls naked across the world, just look up #thefrankeffect on Instagram.
3. What are some of the challenges you have faced?
Growing our business from two girls working in a lounge room to an agency of six has been one hell of a ride. Working around one wobbly desk that we found on a nature strip, to our own desks and chairs that we can slide across the room in– and not break– has been one of the most tangible achievements- apart from the increase in our bank balances. Every month- if not week- we look at our workload and clientele and assess what's working for us and what isn't. We often throw ourselves into projects and let the adrenaline and challenge of the new lead the way, but this can result in some projects being more challenging than others.
4. We all know how hard it is to grow a business, have you got any marketing tips to share?
Social media has played a huge role for our own businesses growth, however we started in a time when Facebook provided a far greater return than present. Still, we're adamant that we talk about all things Willow- not just the services we provide for our clients. We knew that most of our friends didn't want to hear about us writing for a real estate company or a bank, that they'd rather hear what music we're listening to, or what images are having us in fits of hysteria on our office floor. So we kept out conversations on social a mix of work/lifestyle related posts. One other thing: Hustle, but be patient. We 're pretty adamant about walking our own talk- if we say we're going to do something, we generally do it. We work extremely hard to develop personal relationships with everyone we meet. There are endless business opportunities available, it just depends how you approach them. And these things take time, and will continue to do so. We're still learning and see so much scope for new business, new timezones etc for Willow.
Oh and don't forget to stop, look around, and enjoy the ride.
http://www.willowandblake.com
https://www.facebook.com/willowandblake
https://twitter.com/willowandblake
http://instagram.com/willowandblake
Erika Geraerts // the glass is for the taking
