There are a few very fascinating things to know about Melanie Maybe. First, of course, is her awesome name. There's the alliteration and, seriously, "Maybe" is maybe the best last name ever.
Then there is her devotion to alternative fashion and accessories. Where many girls may have once thought about pink fabric, lace and frills, Maybe's tastes run more toward black leather, faux fur and chains.
Together, her fine-tuned taste for all things beautiful and dark, her devotion to research and hard work, and her awesome name have resulted over the past decade in a hugely successful online business.
Punk hair dye starts it all
Like so many other successful online entrepreneurs, Maybe started her business by following her heart. About 10 or 12 years ago, she discovered the fun of buying second-hand clothing, altering it and reselling it to online shoppers looking for fashion that was out of the ordinary.
"I spent hours upon hours researching eBay, other sellers, looking up ideas online and just spending time in eBay communities," she recalls. "I had faux fur fluffy legwarmers made for the rave scene. These went crazy, and we still sell them today!"
That's when Maybe realized there was a real lack of online alternative stores in Australia, where she and her family live. She imported her first product, punk hair dye. "We sold out so fast!" she recalls. "From that, Tragic Beautiful was born." First it was on eBay. Then she added her own online store by the same name.
'Tragic Beautiful' suggests exactly what you might find in the store, and also appeals directly to the people who would want to shop there
A not-so-tragic name
Shakespeare may have wondered, "What's in a name," but Maybe knows exactly what advantages she has enjoyed, because both she and her business have unusual names.
"I think our name being so memorable has certainly paid off," she notes. "I get customers back again after years who remember buying something from me years ago on eBay."
Her company name was the result of a late night brainstorming session 10 years ago. "It just fit what I was trying to convey—quirky, dark, edgy, but fun."
Now, most of us can't claim such an interesting surname, but as long as each of us gets to choose the name of our company, taking a cue from Maybe might be just the thing. Her name, Tragic Beautiful, not only clearly suggests exactly what you might find in her online store, but it also has an appeal targeted directly toward the people who she knew would want to shop with her. That's a winning combination all around and one other sellers could benefit from considering.
Research key to staying ahead of competition
A decade or more into her business, Maybe knows exactly who her customers are and how to please them. "We certainly try to keep on the bleeding edge," she tells us. "Our customers are young women, mainly, who dislike mainstream fashion and trends. They want something different!"
Of course, today there's a great deal more competition to contend with in terms of alternative clothing sales online. To stay a step ahead, Maybe spends hours online researching. She visits blogs, fashion sites and alternative model pages. She gets a feel for where things are going each season and then sets out to find suppliers who can match her vision.
"This is a part of my job I absolutely love," she adds. "I do it for the sheer enjoyment of it. Researching fashion and suppliers is definitely my favorite role."
We have a constant online presence and lots of customers feel free to ask questions and get customer support there
Maybe also likes interacting with her customers, and she does that every day. She relies mostly on Facebook as her main method of communicating. "Yes," she says, "we get a lot of sales through Facebook. We have a very constant online presence and lots of customers feel free to ask questions and get customer support there. We post every day and often ask our community questions, which keeps them involved with our store."
Maybe calls Facebook her biggest and best source of customer research. "And it is free," she reminds us.
Adding a Web store was 'painful'
Much less enjoyable is the seller's experience with creating her Web store. Now she is running a Magento website, which links to eBay and M2E Pro, and syncs with her inventory, "most of the time," she claims.
But in the beginning, she struggled to get this detail right. "Argh! I hate thinking about this," she replied when we asked her. "The move from eBay to website was so painful and stressful. We are on our third website in four years after spending so much time, money and sanity trying to get what we wanted—a well-designed, robust, full-featured Web store with inventory linking to eBay."
She likes Magento because it has many features and allows her to run loyalty programs, sort items by brand and category and offer discounts. "We are finally seeing some payback for all the late nights and stress, in that our Web store is paying off and working well," she notes.
We put stickers, lollies, business cards and an invoice in the package. We find our lollipops get us lots of thank you emails
Does operating your business from Australia complicate shipping issues, we asked? "Australia Post likes to come along every six months and give the rug you are sitting comfortably on a huge yank, so you fall off," she says. "Currently we are renegotiating our contracts, so we can try to squeeze slightly better rates from their exorbitant international posting prices."
Advice for online sellers
Aside from her special issues with shipping from the land down under, over the years, Maybe has learned some useful tips that will apply to any seller. "We don't tend to brand outside the packages as it increases stolen parcel rates," she explains. "We put stickers, lollies, business cards and an invoice in the package, though. We find our lollipops get us lots of thank you emails. It's surprising how much the little things stand out to people."
Looking forward, Maybe has also learned she gets good results through word-of-mouth advertising. Of course her Facebook presence makes it easy for her to share and spread the word about her business online, but she's also working offline to do the same. She makes sure to always have business cards to share, and she's begun to do events such as the Supanova Pop Culture Expo and Greazefest Kustom Kulture '50s festival.
"We are planning on doing more events in the future," she adds.
Perhaps of all the advice Maybe offered, the one that is most important rings true no matter what path we choose to walk in life: "Have real passion for what you want to do, and use that as your driving force," she notes. That's sage advice no matter who you are or how you earn your living. It certainly has led Maybe and her Tragic Beautiful business to success.