The third and final post written by Ecole Chocolat graduate Brooke Willis of B Cocoa Artisan Chocolates! In this three part series, Brooke has shared the story of developing a brand identity for her chocolate business, including naming her business and designing her logo. And now, Brooke tells the story of designing her website, and her tips to DIY and save yourself some money!

I am NOT web savvy, I was strictly a print girl back in my design days, so I held off on my website for a very long time. I also didn’t have a big budget so I slowly added to each part my company as it grew and as demand increased. When I had enough people asking for my website, I finally caved. I knew that I needed a good collection of quality photos of my products or else it would have been a waste of my time to begin a website. Hiring a photographer can be expensive and if you have a decent camera you can set up a tiny tabletop studio in your kitchen and take them yourself. I kept and still keep my costs down by photographing my own chocolate and I do this every time I create a new batch or flavor so I can constantly update my photos.

A simple design rule to remember when setting up a shot is to photograph in odd groups. Three chocolate truffles or two with one cut in half to make a visual representation of three shapes always balances better than two. It’s just a simple design rule I use with my photos. Also, white always photographs well and clean, you can also remove the background for other designs later if you keep it a solid white background. I use my white cutting board for my white background and a white plate for my base and I photograph everything in front of my window over my kitchen sink with my basic DSLR camera. Nothing fancy here! And the joy of technology today is that programs like iPhoto and other simple editing software allow you to make edits to your photos that can help them appear more professional.  And, once again, if you take advantage of the monthly Adobe Photoshop option you can edit your photos using professional software.

I have saved thousands of dollars on design and branding because I took time and consideration when creating B Cocoa and this has made my modest, home-based chocolate business appear professional and consistent with every order.There are a lot of great websites and companies that helped me save money developing B Cocoa and am always open to answer questions or to pass on what I’ve learned in the design process for B Cocoa, best of luck to all my chocolate friends!

Before I went “public” with my brand, I decided to test it out. For Christmas, I made chocolate boxes for my children’s teachers and my friends and family as gifts. Now that I had my name and logo I settled on a simple and clean packaging which was all black with my logo sticker placed on top with a black satin ribbon tied in a bow. I took my chocolate to my daughter’s school party and within ten minutes had parents and teachers asking me how they could order my chocolate for Christmas gifts. By the end of the day, I had sold all of my chocolate that I intended to give as gifts to friends and family.

I was shocked. I didn’t expect a reaction like that. By the end of the month, word had gotten out that I make fine European chocolate locally and I had my first corporate order for fifty boxes of truffles for a medical sales company in Dallas to gift their clients for Valentine’s day. That was a little over a year ago and less than one month after I started the company and B Cocoa has continued to grow and flourish more than I ever anticipated.

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