#Brandcrush - TipsyDrunk!
Our #girlcrush is a little different today.
Here's my not-so-surprising millennial confession: I am obsessed with memes.
Tipsy Drunk is an anonymous meme account on Instagram, which is why we are not releasing the name of this #girlcrush (but trust me, she's a total boss babe). What Tipsy did was take this platform that she already had and turn it into a business. But I'll let her tell you more about that herself!
Tell us about yourself and your business!
TipsyLabels is an Etsy wine label business that allows you to add humor to any ordinary wine bottle. Whether you’re throwing a party or don’t want to show up empty handed, TipsyLabels has got you covered. No pun intended. We have labels for tons of occasions such as holidays, bachelorette parties, engagements, weddings, maid of honor/bachelorette proposals, and much more.
Launching this type of business would have never been possible without the support of my audience on my anonymous meme account called @TipsyDrunk.
TipsyDrunk is a pop-culture and mental health referenced meme account on Instagram that has grown an audience of 14K followers in less than ten weeks. My motivation for creating TipsyDrunk had nothing to do with fame, but everything to do with transparency and escaping the “dark” side of Instagram. In fact, when I created the TipsyDrunk, I had just graduated college, moved back home to LA and was in an overall weird place in my life.
With so much extra time on my hands, I caught myself mindlessly scrolling through my Instagram feed way more often than I had before and as a result, noticed a dramatic increase of anxiety and even depression. Despite the fact that I primarily used Instagram to source relatable memes and to tag my friends in them, it was difficult to scroll past the sunny filters and picture perfect content that my friends would share, without falling into a deep blackhole of self-comparison.
In fact..
Ever since I created @TipsyDrunk, I rarely check my personal instagram. Except when my friends text me and remind me to like/comment on their pics! Lol.
What inspired you to start your own business?
I’m a huge wine enthusiast. I’m especially a sucker for a fun wine bottle that’ll make for a great Instagram post. Who isn’t? #DoItForTheGram.. always!
It was summer time and I was planning a ‘Girls Night In’ Wine Wednesday so I began looking for all these hilarious wine bottles that they sold in stores. I was shocked by how much they cost in comparison to the actual quality of the wine inside the bottle.
I thought to myself, ‘Wouldn’t it be nice if we could just by these labels in sets or customize them ourselves for specific occasion and get to choose the wine we wanted them on?” And voila. The idea was born.
Is this your full time job?
Not at the moment. But hey! You never know!
How do you structure your days?
I don’t really follow a specific schedule. When I receive orders, I send them out the day of. But I’m sure to dedicate about an hour or two in the early evening to posting on social media during peak hours.
Where and how do you work best?
Alone! Creativity only comes to me when I’m trapped by myself with my own thoughts.
Are you currently running any promos/contests/giveaways that you would like our readers to know about?
Yes! Well, very soon. The launch of the TipsyDrunk Blog is quickly approaching and I will be doing *tons* of giveaways for my readers. All giveaways will be promoted on both my meme account and business account. So stay tuned!
Where is your business based?
Los Angeles
What were the first few steps you took to get your business up and running?
I think when anyone starts a business, it’s expected that there’s going to be tons of trial and error. For me, that had to do with sourcing the right label paper that were suitable for wine bottles. It took a few expensive bulk orders to find the right one but I eventually got there!
What has been the most effective way of raising awareness of your business and attracting new customers?
SOCIAL MEDIA. Without the support of the @tipsydrunk audience, none of this would have ever been possible.
Facebook is also a big one for me. I’m in tons of facebook communities, so I’m sure to monitor threads for people asking for gift advice so that I could link them to my shop. It’s doesn’t get easier than bringing a bottle of wine somewhere, especially when you’re on a budget- so adding a touch of humor to it is always appreciated.
What have been your biggest challenges so far?
1) INSTAGRAM ALGORITHMS. Seeing a drop in engagement is definitely frustrating, especially when you rely on your posts to promote your business.
2) 75% of my sales comes from promoting on my Instagram page/ Facebook. So staying consistent with taking high quality photos is so important. Consistency is really key. Although it sounds easy, it’s a lot of work and difficult to differentiate yourself from other ‘promo’ posts. Lucky for me, I can make memes using my products as promotional strategy.
How did you overcome these challenges?
1) Research. Staying up to date with what other have found that works and ‘beats’ the algorithm. I’m such an algorithm junky, I can read articles about it all day long.
2) I try to dedicated one day of the week to taking all my photos so that I can have posts lined up for the upcoming week.
How do you keep motivated through tough times?
This is such a silly answer but the show Shark Tank keeps me so motivated.
Watching the show inspires me and reminds me that every idea has potential if you work hard enough and really give it your all.
What is the best advice you have received recently?
That this could just be just the beginning for the ‘TipsyDrunk’ brand if I keep working hard. So many more opportunities can come from this if I’m dedicated to it and stay consistent.
Who are your biggest influences? Who do you admire most? Who or what inspired you to do what you’re doing now?
Such an easy question. The digital media brand, Betches. You may follow them on their viral Instagram account or keep up with their hilarious blog posts... but they’re doing everything right. Their content creation team is on point and I’m obsessed with everything they publish.
I actually reached out to one of them on Instagram when I had just created my account and she was so freaking helpful. Her name is @Kayyorkcity and to this day if I need any social media advice she’s the first person I’ll turn to for help.
What advice would you give to other entrepreneurs?
Social Media is such a blessing for any business. Take advantage of every platform to reach consumers! It’s definitely not easy at first, but stay consistent and believe in yourself!
Where would you like your business to be 5 years from now?
From a personal standpoint, I hope that my brand continues to succeed and grow so that I can continue to raise awareness about mental health and how social media can play a huge role in that.
From a business standpoint... who knows? Maybe the Tipsy brand can somehow turn into full-time job and I can explore other opportunities!
