Michelle is a ceramic artist and owner of The Pottery Chew Valley (formerly Source Ceramics). She has a shop and studio selling ceramic products like mugs, bowls, and vases, as well as teaching pottery workshops.

Objective: To establish a robust social media presence for The Pottery Chew Valley to increase workshop bookings and build a sustainable brand. Following the initial social media strategy implementation, the 12-month objective shifted towards scaling operations to meet rising demand, improving administrative efficiency through better tech integration, and utilising community ‘skill swaps’ to professionalise the brand’s digital and legal touchpoints. The ultimate aim was to transition Michelle from being the sole operator to a business owner with the capacity to focus on creative production and wholesale growth.

Challenge: Initially, the challenge was visibility - moving from small workshops of 3–4 people to a consistent booking flow. As the business grew rapidly, new challenges emerged:

• Capacity Constraints: The original setup of two potter’s wheels and one small kiln was insufficient for the surging demand.

• Time Management: Manual booking processes led to errors, including a missed workshop, highlighting the need for a professional automated system.

• Scaling Personnel: Michelle needed to move away from the time-consuming tasks of cleaning and day-to-day admin (taking 2–3 hours daily) to focus on high-level making and strategy.

• Financial Reinvestment: While income doubled, the challenge remained in balancing high turnover with heavy reinvestment into infrastructure and professional services.

Result: The implementation of the 12-month social media strategy and business review has led to transformative growth and measurable digital success:

• Strategy & Implementation: Following a full audit of her social media accounts, I developed a comprehensive marketing plan, social media strategy, 8-week launch campaign, and content plan. We spent four intensive sessions covering platform best practices, copywriting, and strategic implementation to grow brand awareness before transitioning the focus to selling workshops.

• Growth & Engagement: The results of the new strategy were immediate. After implementation, Michelle’s Instagram Reels reach jumped from a baseline of 91–600 to 4K+ and 6K+ audience reach within just one week.

• Direct Sales Impact: The 8-week launch campaign delivered high-value conversions. In just 24 hours, Michelle secured 16 bookings worth £3.3K for her 6-week workshop, leaving only 8 spaces remaining.

• Workshop Expansion & Revenue: Workshops are now consistently full to capacity. Attendance has increased from 3–4 people to 5–6 per session, and two additional weekly workshops have been added. This surge in bookings has resulted in doubling the business income within the first year.

• Infrastructure Expansion: To meet demand, the studio has scaled from two potter’s wheels to six, and from one small kiln to two large kilns.

• Productivity & Systems: By transitioning to the Acuity booking system, Michelle has eliminated booking errors and streamlined payments, significantly improving time management.

• Strategic Skill Swaps: Michelle successfully leveraged her community to professionalise the business. Through skill swaps, she secured a lawyer for T&Cs, a copywriter for website updates, a graphic designer for branding, and a handyman for studio maintenance.

• Future Readiness: With MailChimp now set up for email marketing and a recruitment process underway for workshop assistants, Michelle is ready to move into a more ‘hands-on’ creative role while the business continues to scale.