Maker Collective

Create more. Stress less.

We’re *obsessed* with your work. To the point that we want to tell everyone all about it – and take a few big things off your mind while we’re at it.

Cool Story is Buffalo’s only curated online market and marketing collaborative. Our website makes it easy and fun for customers to find quality handcrafted goods – those really special items that are made to be loved.

And there’s even more behind the scenes. Cool Story is an alternative to the “do it all yourself” model that asks so much (too much!) of makers and other creatives. Our collaborative approach is the one we all deserve: Our dream team of marketing and storytelling talent gets to put hard earned expertise to work for something we’re passionate about. We encourage shopping local, shopping handmade, and supporting really cool people. (That’s you.)

Accept your invite

Curated online market 🫶 IG & TikTok Cool Story shops 🫶 Always-on e-commerce marketing 🫶

How does Cool Story work?

We tell real stories about cool people and they really cool s#*t they create. And we’re experts who nerd out over marketing, promotion, analytics, and content. (Aka the stuff lurking at the bottom of your to-do list, stressing you the F out.)

We handpick the products and makers featured on our online market, and we love every single one. (No skips!) Think of all your quality favorites, all the freshest finds, all in one place that you can shop in your pajamas.

Best part? Customers can find you 24/7, 365. No more stressing about snowstorms, downpours, sunburns, or holiday market social anxiety. (‘Tis the d@&n season, right?)

A note about product fulfillment: You have fulfillment options when it comes to each product featured on Cool Story. You can choose from two models:
Ready to order (cosigner): We’ll keep your inventory in our warehouse and send each order out upon sale.
Made to order: We’ll let you know when a customer has placed an order - and we’ll send you all the goods you need to ship out that order once you’ve finished working your magic.
This isn’t a one-size-fits-all choice: You can have some products listed as ready to order and others as made to order. Whatever works best for you.

Our strategy is always up, always running, always helping customers find your work. We know how to maximize every touchpoint – and we make the most of it.

We’re also pumped to nerd out with you (ideally over coffee) to share what we’re learning about your business – and audience – along the way. We give you insights and recommendations, and you’re always in control of what you want to do with them.

Cool Story is all about authentic, quality storytelling. We’re not just about your products, we’re about you and your story. What you do, why you do it, what makes your work so special – these are all the things that made us fans of yours! We know that this is what customers will connect with, too.

We come from a multifaceted background in digital and magazine lifestyle editorial, and you’ll see what a difference that makes on our market site and content marketing.

Gorgeous photos, videos, storytelling – we take this s#*t seriously, and we’re really good at it. (AI could never.)

We’re always down to discuss opportunities to help outside of Cool Story’s platforms – if you have something on your mind, we’re all ears.

Our collective model enables scale, and that enables savings. In other words, when you join Cool Story Buffalo, you're supporting other makers to do more for less than it would cost them individually. And in turn, all those other makers are supporting you too!

We’re also excited to play matchmaker for potential collaborations and networking. We celebrate the power of partnership, and we love to see it in action.

We’re an open book, and your trust is everything. So we’re always going to be super clear with you about what you can expect from us, and if you ever have questions, we want (*need*) you to ask us.

Here’s a breakdown of the deets – what’s included (or available, as noted) for Cool Story members:

Featured product placement on the Cool Story Buffalo platform: our website, TikTok shop, Instagram shop, and marketing channels
Cool Story photoshoots featuring your products
Product creative for all products featured on Cool Story
Two product fulfillment options – ready to order or made to order – for each product featured on Cool Story (See above for full deets)
Instagram collab posts and Instagram stories (Aka sharing the feed love! <3)
Marketing rights to select Cool Story images you can use wherever you want
Expert, top-level insights and takeaways – about the Cool Story online market overall, and about your specific business
1:1 insight sessions to dive deeper into facts and figures
Available option: We’ll craft product creative for additional products at our special friends’ rate
Available option: TikTok collab posts
Available option: Exclusive partnerships and collaborations

This list reflects where we're at right now. As Cool Story Buffalo grows and evolves, included features and available options will evolve with us. We’ll always keep you up to speed.

Cool Story is built by and for humans, and we believe that those humans *deserve* to get paid. We know that creatives often do it for the love – but you should be able to do it for a living, too.

When we say we’re keepin it real over here, we mean it: We’re working with real creator business owners, real copywriters, photographers, videographers, and more. All creatives are compensated for their work. And our business model is designed to continue to give back to all of those putting in their expertise, talent, and passion.

A note about AI: We do and will continue to use AI sparingly – limited to right brain, time-sucking demon tasks that no human ever actually wants to do. If you ever have questions about how we use AI, ask us. We’re an open book, and your trust is everything.

You’ve got a business to run and a life to live (and fund). We don’t sit on the money you’ve earned.

Payouts to our creators come weekly, simple as that.

Our consignment model – and full insurance on all orders – means you don't need to stress over getting your piece to its new home. We've got you.

Maker Collective memberships

You’re not a one-size-fits-all business – and neither are we. So when we join forces, we’ll work with you to choose a membership tier that’s meets you where you want to be.

Value	Fresh	Cool	Super
Featured products	Up to 3	Up to 5	Up to 8
Social Shops	⭐	⭐	⭐
Year-round paid ads	1	2	4
Photoshoots	1	2	4
Storytelling features	1	2	4
Social collabs	2	4	8
Real-time data	⭐	⭐	⭐
Performance reviews	1x	2x	4x
+ More perks	🙃	🙃	🙃
Monthly membership	$139	$275	$550

Curated online market

Quality, handpicked finds made by cool Buffalonians

Collective growth

Makers & marketers get the space to do what we do best

Real connections

Editorial teams on *paid* assignments, featuring you

dani ossher

Our editor-in-chief and cofounder is a content nerd, empath and lover of all things creative. So when she realized just how hard it was out there for creators, she knew it was time for a better way. (That’s us!)

Dani knows the power of human connection, and how to harness it for creatives. She’s all about keepin it real: real stories about real people making really cool s#*t.

Personal anthems: “Vienna” by Billy Joel. All the Eras. And Blink-182’s “Dammit” on repeat.

What you get with Dani: Curiosity and passion, the questions you never knew you needed to be asked, energy, baked goods. 15 years expertise in strategic storytelling, editorial (magazines 4life!) and creative direction.

You may know Dani from: her time as editor of Buffalo Magazine ... or from your customer purchase history ;)

jodie orcutt

Our digital dungeon master and cofounder’s marketing skills can’t be beat. We’re talking intentional e-comm strategies that are always on and always making magic happen. While you’re creating, eating, sleeping. Seriously, always.

Jodie is all about planning, responding, and troubleshooting. She’ll spend 3 hours Charlie Day-ing budgets and love it. (She has and she did.)

What you get with Jodie: A mindful, intentional, and focused mindset. Objectivity and impartiality. Homegrown Buffalo grit and boldness. Sober living and mental healing. 10 years expertise in digital strategy and e-comm marketing.

Personal anthems: “Now or Never Now” by Metric, “The World I Know” by Collective Soul, “You Gotta Be” by Des'ree.

Jodie wants you to know: If you had a Xanga, more than one LiveJournal account (at least one boyband fan fic) and were a regular in the Palace chatrooms, we just became friends.

Are you ready for it?

Duh. (We’re SO pumped.)

FAQish 🤔 Questions we think you’ll have

Short answer: You can choose from ready to order and made to order – whichever works best for your particular product, inventory, and business.

Longer answer: You’ve got options, and that’s because we know that different creators – and creations – have different needs.

Ready to order (consignor): If you’re sitting on inventory (literally or figuratively), we can help with that. We'll keep all featured products in our warehouse space. When a customer places an order, we’ll handle the fulfillment and shipping. All we need from you is to make sure that the product is wrapped or protected as needed.
Made to order: If you’re creating each item as an order comes in, we've got a plan for you, too! When an order comes in, we’ll get you everything you need to get it shipped out, including the postage. (Or you can drop it by our North Buffalo HQ for us to take care of.)
If you want to mix and match your fulfillment models – ready to order for some, made to order for other – we can work with that. Just let us know.

All orders are fully covered by Shopify insurance, so if anything does get damaged or lost en route, Cool Story has it handled.

Short answer: We make the final decision, but we’re looking for your input along the way.

Longer answer: When we say “curated online market,” we mean it. We handpick every product that appears on Cool Story. When a customer sees your product featured, they know that it’s because we absolutely love it and will vouch for it.

We’ll ask for your input and recommendations – no one knows your products better than you, right? And then we’ll set a final lineup for your approval.

Short answer: Let’s talk! We’ll help you figure it out.

Longer answer: We’ve reached out to you because we love what you’re doing right now, and we want to help however we can. We have options because we want you to find an approach that feels right for you now, and a system that you can grow with on your terms. (That’s one of the biggest things we <3 about a collective model.)

So let us know! We’re ready to dive in and chat – over coffee, video, or text – to find the right approach for you.

Short answer: Cool Story Buffalo is all Buffalo, baby.

Longer answer: We’re keeping things local, and we’re also keeping the creators and products we’re featuring very exclusively curated.

If you know of a really cool neighbor who is making some really cool s#*t, we’d love for you to introduce us to their work.