From Cancer to Clay | Sharrel Paul | Episode 531

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Sharrel Paul | Episode 531

Sharrel Paul was born and raised in a suburb of Boston, MA, but moved to California in her mid-20s. Sharrel decided to move back home in 2013 when she was diagnosed with stage 3/4 metastatic melanoma. Sharrel discovered ceramics in 2014 when she decided to take a class at a local studio as a form of “art therapy” while she was undergoing treatment. Sharrel fell in love with making functional pieces very quickly and then started her journey on Instagram to be able to sell her work and crocheted items.

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How long have you been on Instagram?

I want to say maybe four years or maybe a little bit longer.

Why did you start an Instagram feed?

I had and still have a personal Instagram where it is obvious stuff, what I do and where I go on vacation and what I am eating, all that boring stuff. But I wanted to make a specific business Instagram for Mud and Yarn when I started it because I tend to only follow accounts, unless they are my friends, but I only follow accounts if I am interested in their artwork. I don’t want to see other stuff, I know it sounds kind of rough, like I don’t really care where you went on vacation so much or what you ate for breakfast yesterday. I just kind of want to see the pretty stuff that you are making and learn about techniques that you are doing and stuff like that. So I kind of kept it separate and wanted to go that route specifically for Mud and Yarn so that way I could keep it professional I guess.

How did you grow from zero to fifty-some-odd followers?

It took a while and it was also prior to when Instagram decided to screw up its algorithm or whatever you want to call it. It started years ago and I kind of got in while the getting was good. I used hashtags and I still use hashtags. I figured out what got people seen on Instagram and I utilized it as much as possible. So using hashtags, taking some good photos, posting often, I mean I try to post every day or every other day. Early on it was even multiple times a day, so it is a job in itself. It is not easy to maneuver and especially less so now because no matter what you do it seems now you are less likely to be seen. I think maybe because it is flooded with so many good people on Instagram doing so many beautiful things, whether it is photography or art of any kind. I also did things like giveaways with people that had more followers than me. And that kind of gained me a lot because I did giveaways with this yarn Instagram personality, her name is Jessica Carey, her name is the Hook Nook on Instagram and she catapulted from zero to hundred plus thousand followers now, but she is a sweetheart and she really loved my stuff and she believed in me so we kind of did giveaways together.

Is it important to target non-potters?

I think so because I think most of my customers are not potters. There are a few and we have definitely done trades. We have done trades of mug for mug and I have had potters purchase stuff and that’s great, but I think you really want to get yourself out there and see who is going to be your customer and who will buy from you over and over again. Moat of the people who follow me are not potters and people that crochet and knit love to drink coffee and tea so I think that is where my mugs became my top seller was from them so I am very appreciative that they like coffee and tea so much and want to drink it from a handmade mug.

Do you try to translate people from being just followers to actually being customers?

Do I try and translate that? No. I have worked really hard to make this business work and sell my stuff so , consistently when I restock my Etsy will sell out very quickly. And a majority of those customers are repeat customers , it makes me feel good know that people who buy my stuff one time like it enough that they want to buy more. So it is not like someone buys a mug and thinks, Well, that was okay, I don’t really like her stuff that much. So I probably won’t buy again.  I am sure there is probably someone that feels that way, but I have had so many people that consistently send me messages say how much they love my stuff and they can’t wait to buy another one. So I am like, Okay, out of the fifty thousand followers I have not all of them are buying stuff, obviously, but a good chunk of them are and they are trying to. Some people have been trying for a long time and have not been able to get one of my things. So I feel very honored that people like my stuff and that they keep consistently buying my work.

How do you keep track of who is buying your work?

Etsy does that for me. The nice thing about Etsy is that they actually tell you when you have a repeat customer. Over the past few years I have gotten to know people’s names. I see their names coming up consistently and think, Ah, they got another one! Awesome!  But  you can look on Etsy and you can look at their order history by a person. If you click on their name it will show you everything they have ordered from your shop in the past. It is really nice to be able to see that. Also I have so many followers on Instagram who will comment all the time and who message me and show me pictures of their mugs. So I kinda get to know their Instagram handles as well.

How important is it to be interacting and commenting on their posts? How effective is that in trying to create community where it impacts your followership or your relationships?

Actually it’s super important. That is why I kind of said earlier Instagram is kind of a job in itself because if you don’t put work into it, it is not going to pay out for you. It is not a fake thing either, not for me anyway. I really love connecting with people on Instagram and little comments here and there help me know what they like and don’t like, and it’s super important to not only comment back to them and say hello, but also to go onto other people’s pages and comment on their stuff and engage. Engagement is so big. I think that is the whole point of social media, to be social, right? In a non-social way because it is not in person. It has kind of paid off for me doing that. Especially in the potter world you meet so many amazing people and so many people willing to share techniques and tricks and trade secrets. Which is so great because we are all just out here doing it on our own and sometimes you just really need advice from people who have done it before.

Who is your favorite person to follow on Instagram and why?

That’s a good question. I really like, she is a yarn person, her name is Reshman but her Instagram name is hello lavender. 

I don’t even remember how we discovered each other. We have been following each other for a long time, but her photos are just so pretty, bright and colorful and she is such a real person, even though we have never met in real life. She has a husband and a little girl and the sweetest little family and she is actually pregnant again, which I am so excited for her. It is like we are friends and we have never met.

Book

Mastering Hand Building by Sunshine Cobb

Contact

Etsy: MudandYarn

Instagram: @mudandyarn