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Gift is unwrapped episode 388,

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Simple approachable non-tech tech tech solutions are out there.

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Attention gifters bakers,

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crafters, and makers pursuing your dream can be fun.

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Whether you have an established business or looking to start one.

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Now you are in the right place.

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This is gift biz unwrapped,

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helping you turn your skill into a flourishing business.

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Join us for an episode packed full of invaluable guidance,

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resources, and the support you need to grow.

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Your gift biz.

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Here is your host gift biz gal Sue moon height.

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Hi there.

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It's Sue and thanks for joining me here today.

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New to the show.

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Welcome. I'm so glad you're here in these past seven years,

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we've covered a lot of ground how to start and grow

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your business stories from many of you who have done just

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that, how to choose and use social media sites,

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build your website.

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Oh my gosh.

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There is so much information here for you,

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but not necessarily easily at your fingertips.

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So I've created a tool for you that categorizes by topic,

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the episodes of this podcast,

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but only the ones that stay relevant over time,

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because yes,

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there are some from past years that just don't make sense

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for us anymore.

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Today, the world is changing so fast,

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right? You can use this tool to zero in on whatever

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topic you need at the moment.

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Do you wanna hear from others in your industry specifically?

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How about details on Pinterest or setting up an email strategy?

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You can now easily find the right episodes and create your

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own priority.

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Listening roster,

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consider this your gift biz resource center at a glance.

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It's a Google sheet best viewable by your computer versus your

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phone. Make sure to look on the bottom where there are

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five separate sections for easy topic reference kind of like chapters

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of a book.

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I've never seen another podcast do this,

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and I wish they would.

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It makes finding the shows that you need based on what

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you're working on right now.

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So much easier to access this free resource,

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go to gift biz,

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unwrapped.com/topics. And speaking of topics today,

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we're talking technology,

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as it applies to retail,

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which may lead you to think brick and mortar while that's

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true. We spin the conversation around to digital retail and in

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truth in today's world,

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selling both online and in person brings the most strength to

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your handmade business.

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You'll hear a casual back and forth conversation on all of

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this, including many resources,

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best practices and ideas to consider for enhancing your sales.

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Today. I am so excited to introduce you to Christine Russo,

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Christine and the retail,

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creative and consulting agency.

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Sit at the intersection of information and innovation,

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serving the industry of retailers and retail technology.

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She runs connected retail and produces short form videos about the

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technology used in the retail industry.

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Her founder's interviews have become well known for authentic reporting and

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information and are growing into a global go-to resource.

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Christine helps retailers solve major pain points,

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understand and use new technical solutions and digitize their brick and

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mortar locations and even more so don't pop out.

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If you don't have a brick and mortar location,

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there's some goodness in here for you as well.

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Russo, welcome to the gift biz on raft podcast.

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I too,

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I am so thrilled to have you here.

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I've absolutely no idea where our conversation is gonna go.

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So this is really exciting for me.

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Let's I'm guessing.

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Yes. We're gonna just keep guessing until we get started.

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But before we go anywhere,

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I'd like to ask you about my traditional question,

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which is a motivational candle.

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So if you were to share with us a little bit

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about who you are by color and maybe a quote or

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a saying or something that is a motto that's present in

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your life,

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what would that look like?

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Okay. So my motivational candle would be very,

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it would actually feel like a hug cuz sometimes we just

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need a hug to keep going.

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And the scent that feels the most Huish to me is

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UD O U D.

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So really anything with notes of UD,

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it's usually like our base and sometimes they add some top

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notes onto there.

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But as long as it's got that woodsy,

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huggy feel good sent to it.

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It keeps me going.

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It's the wind on my back.

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I think you wanna color also,

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right? If one comes to mind and you wanna give it

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for sure.

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Well, it's this big time secret,

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which I guess is no longer a secret cause I'm here

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talking about it.

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But my favorite color,

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I don't tell anyone so seriously.

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Okay. Nobody say anything.

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It's a secret for all of us.

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My favorite color is lavender and I find it to have

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very ethereal and spiritual elements to it.

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It's associated with your highest level of chakras and sort of,

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it takes me out of my own myopic space makes me

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think bigger.

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So those two things keep me going.

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And then as far as the phrase,

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so I like to say when I'm up against like a

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challenge and let's say there's an AISM,

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it's called work.

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Like it's not play.

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So it's not always easy,

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but I like to tell myself,

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play chess,

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not checkers.

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So we're in this for the long game.

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We're in this for strategy.

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We may not get that move,

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but we're playing the longer strategic view.

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So you may lose some,

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but ultimately in the end,

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check me,

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You know,

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really important message.

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Because I think a lot of people when they hit their

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first failure,

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it's like this didn't work.

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Maybe I'm not cut out for it automatically.

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They start thinking they should be jumping ship and self-doubt comes

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in right away where if we're doing what you're talking about,

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where yeah,

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it's the long game,

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chess moves checkmate.

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You know what all of the strategy behind the entire game,

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not just each individual move is what matters I spent my

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first, I'm gonna say two years,

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it might have been three years.

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So I was a corporate person,

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worked in corporate,

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started in one type of business and migrated over to corporate

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retail and then went out on my own.

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And I spent the first two to three years on my

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own building my business in the absolute kind of mega mega

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mega highs and mega mega mega lows that entrepreneurship has.

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Oh my gosh.

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I can't believe I won this.

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Oh my gosh.

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I can't believe I lost that.

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They said they do it.

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Yay. And it's for this price.

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Oh, they came back and they said,

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and they'll super highs and the super lows at one point,

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I said,

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that's it I'm done with this.

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Like, okay.

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The successes are great.

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The losses feel terrible,

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but like I can't thrive.

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I can't be a good manager.

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I can't be a good strategist if I'm always way up

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or always way down,

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this is I'm done.

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I'm gonna go right in the middle with a level head

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and just shrug when there's a great win and shrug when

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there's a loss and keep the eye on the ball,

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the end result,

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like did you know,

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that's how they walk a tight rope.

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They don't look down.

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Right? They don't look at each footstep.

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They look at where they're going.

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Oh no,

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I didn't know that.

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But that makes total sense.

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Cuz if you look down,

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first of all,

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you get so disoriented.

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So look at the end game.

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But I also think end to your point about not too

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high and not too low,

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enjoying the whole journey along the way.

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Like no those lows,

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when things don't work out,

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they don't feel good at all.

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But then when you get to the point where things are

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working, you can say,

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oh my gosh,

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look at where I've come from.

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Like two months ago,

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this is how I was feeling.

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I was so discouraged and yay me for figuring it out

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and getting there.

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So it's all of that.

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So the strategy,

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the long game,

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There's actually a social media trend going around where it says,

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if you knew that you would succeed on the 27th,

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try on the 46th,

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try on the 52nd try.

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Would you be willing to fail,

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fall down,

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fail 26 times or 45 times or whatever the other number

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is minus one.

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And the answer always is yes.

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So how do you know when that success is coming?

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Yeah, We just don't get to know.

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So we have to enjoy the unknown for a while and

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then it gets revealed to us.

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I guess I'd say the other thing I really like about

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your quote is the hugs,

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especially with what your area focuses,

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cuz technology sounds so heavy,

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especially for people who aren't comfortable with it.

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I see technology in our area here being a real barrier.

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People will just automatically say,

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I'm not good at tech.

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Yeah. Just like how people will say I'm no good with

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money or you know,

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anything I'm not good with tech.

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They'll stay away from certain things that they should be integrating

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into their business because it would really help them because they

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have this idea over tech.

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So when you say hugs and just feel good and support

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and all of that,

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that makes tech feel much more comfortable.

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I would suggest this.

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I hear you on that.

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And it's like,

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some people still can't use the remote control.

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Right. I get it.

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I totally get it.

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I'm kind of one of those people also,

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I mean,

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tech has really kind of taken on its own entity,

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but I sort of wanna equate it to going on a

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diet, like who sticks to a diet like it's like,

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who wants to learn tech?

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It's like,

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absolutely not.

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I wanna just go about my business.

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Right? So with regard to incorporating or considering tech,

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the first thing you wanna do for even the smallest businesses,

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write down the things that you are terrible at,

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that you don't enjoy,

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that you've made mistakes in that have cost you money and

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or customers start with writing down those things.

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Maybe you keep like a list and it's like,

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oh I didn't.

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I sold out of that and I didn't take it off

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my website.

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Let's just say,

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okay. And I had an unhappy customer and they're not coming

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back. Example,

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I didn't have the right staff.

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I didn't know we were gonna get that much foot traffic.

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Okay. Let's just say whatever it is.

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And they could be really,

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really small things.

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And if you do that,

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then the next step would be to bucket them by type

271
00:10:19,080 --> 00:10:20,760
maybe it's employee based,

272
00:10:20,880 --> 00:10:22,560
maybe it's inventory based.

273
00:10:22,600 --> 00:10:24,600
Maybe it's time management based,

274
00:10:24,600 --> 00:10:27,880
maybe it's creative and marketing based emails,

275
00:10:28,120 --> 00:10:29,720
whatever hate sending emails.

276
00:10:29,720 --> 00:10:30,640
I hate writing emails,

277
00:10:30,640 --> 00:10:31,400
all the things you hate,

278
00:10:31,400 --> 00:10:33,560
all the things you're terrible at all the things that don't

279
00:10:33,560 --> 00:10:37,840
bring your joy and then look for solutions because I can

280
00:10:37,840 --> 00:10:40,640
assure you that every one of those things you don't like

281
00:10:40,640 --> 00:10:42,040
there's a solution,

282
00:10:42,310 --> 00:10:45,440
a simple solution to do it for you,

283
00:10:45,790 --> 00:10:47,240
A simple tech solution,

284
00:10:47,550 --> 00:10:49,680
A simple tech solution to do it for you.

285
00:10:50,280 --> 00:10:51,160
Okay. Yeah.

286
00:10:51,300 --> 00:10:54,640
And then here's the key thing because all of that is

287
00:10:54,640 --> 00:10:55,000
like, yeah,

288
00:10:55,000 --> 00:10:55,480
yeah, yeah.

289
00:10:55,970 --> 00:10:57,560
If you hate that thing enough,

290
00:10:57,580 --> 00:10:59,480
you will work for that solution.

291
00:10:59,540 --> 00:11:02,760
You will seek out that solution and maybe you need help.

292
00:11:02,820 --> 00:11:05,560
And certainly I don't recommend technology.

293
00:11:05,980 --> 00:11:09,120
I'm here to assure everyone that simple,

294
00:11:10,200 --> 00:11:13,960
approachable, non tech tech solutions are out there.

295
00:11:14,180 --> 00:11:17,560
And so I would maybe put them in touch with companies

296
00:11:17,560 --> 00:11:21,640
that can recommend a tech solution for them.

297
00:11:21,740 --> 00:11:24,240
And so it's a process it's like,

298
00:11:24,240 --> 00:11:28,000
if you are gonna invest time in buying merchandise or gifts

299
00:11:28,100 --> 00:11:30,240
for your store and inventory,

300
00:11:30,510 --> 00:11:31,480
it's the same thing.

301
00:11:31,480 --> 00:11:31,920
It's like,

302
00:11:31,920 --> 00:11:34,000
okay, I'm gonna put my solution,

303
00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:35,120
finding hat on.

304
00:11:35,120 --> 00:11:37,520
And I'm gonna speak to the person who gets me,

305
00:11:37,580 --> 00:11:39,120
who understands my business.

306
00:11:39,140 --> 00:11:42,240
I'm small enough and understands what I hate to do and

307
00:11:42,240 --> 00:11:43,680
what kind of a solution I need.

308
00:11:43,760 --> 00:11:45,720
Those resources are out there.

309
00:11:45,720 --> 00:11:49,880
Technology is not just for the biggest of the big and

310
00:11:49,880 --> 00:11:53,480
one of my sayings is technology can help small business do

311
00:11:53,480 --> 00:11:53,960
big things.

312
00:11:54,460 --> 00:11:57,680
Ooh, I like that a lot per my ears.

313
00:11:58,220 --> 00:11:59,560
Yes. Did everyone hear that?

314
00:11:59,560 --> 00:12:00,120
Say it again.

315
00:12:00,150 --> 00:12:02,920
Technology can help small business do big things.

316
00:12:03,230 --> 00:12:07,200
Okay. Because we're all wanting to do big things and we

317
00:12:07,200 --> 00:12:10,720
know that there are obstacles and technology right now might be

318
00:12:10,720 --> 00:12:12,000
one of your keys.

319
00:12:12,000 --> 00:12:13,360
If there's something you're stuck on,

320
00:12:13,360 --> 00:12:15,520
you're just not getting to that next level.

321
00:12:15,750 --> 00:12:18,880
Listen up because this might be the solution here for you

322
00:12:19,250 --> 00:12:20,760
as I was listening to you talk,

323
00:12:20,760 --> 00:12:24,720
I think it might be good to start with what your

324
00:12:24,720 --> 00:12:26,440
definition of technology is.

325
00:12:26,990 --> 00:12:30,640
Okay. So with the focus on whether it's digital,

326
00:12:30,930 --> 00:12:34,240
so eCommerce stores or brick and mortar stores or both.

327
00:12:34,240 --> 00:12:39,880
Okay. So technology is a service provider or service system that

328
00:12:39,880 --> 00:12:42,400
just takes care of a task for you.

329
00:12:42,400 --> 00:12:43,040
That's it?

330
00:12:43,040 --> 00:12:43,960
That's all it is.

331
00:12:44,170 --> 00:12:45,200
So it could send,

332
00:12:45,200 --> 00:12:50,040
it's a technology that you subscribe to and it sends your

333
00:12:50,040 --> 00:12:50,640
emails for you.

334
00:12:51,060 --> 00:12:54,360
And then it resends your emails to the ones that weren't

335
00:12:54,360 --> 00:12:58,360
opened. And then it also sends emails that maybe over 90

336
00:12:58,360 --> 00:12:59,680
days give people a,

337
00:12:59,680 --> 00:13:01,800
you set a preset and it gives them a discount to

338
00:13:01,800 --> 00:13:02,200
come back.

339
00:13:02,350 --> 00:13:06,200
Yeah. So it's any additional support that's running,

340
00:13:06,590 --> 00:13:07,960
possibly automated,

341
00:13:07,960 --> 00:13:09,200
possibly triggered by you,

342
00:13:09,720 --> 00:13:10,600
whatever the resource is.

343
00:13:10,600 --> 00:13:13,320
However, it's set up going through the computer,

344
00:13:13,320 --> 00:13:17,600
dealing with whatever position in your business needs help at the

345
00:13:17,600 --> 00:13:20,680
time, there is a technology solution available,

346
00:13:20,800 --> 00:13:23,000
which means you're not manually doing it.

347
00:13:23,000 --> 00:13:24,200
Maybe that's the way to say it.

348
00:13:24,330 --> 00:13:25,880
Is that a separation point?

349
00:13:26,070 --> 00:13:27,080
Well, I mean,

350
00:13:27,080 --> 00:13:30,400
automation is scary for retailers because there's a lack of trust.

351
00:13:30,400 --> 00:13:31,240
Right? Well,

352
00:13:31,240 --> 00:13:31,960
how do I know?

353
00:13:31,990 --> 00:13:34,160
I wanna check that I need to manually do it.

354
00:13:34,160 --> 00:13:35,080
So I double check it.

355
00:13:35,250 --> 00:13:38,800
So you take baby steps to get there and yes.

356
00:13:39,250 --> 00:13:41,200
So I don't want people to think,

357
00:13:41,200 --> 00:13:43,200
well, I have to do it manually because I always wanna

358
00:13:43,200 --> 00:13:45,960
check it along the way I can assure you that if

359
00:13:45,960 --> 00:13:48,440
you take the time to set something up properly from the

360
00:13:48,440 --> 00:13:50,560
beginning, you don't have to check it along the way.

361
00:13:50,580 --> 00:13:53,360
And you can build in check points where you're like,

362
00:13:53,360 --> 00:13:55,640
I don't wanna do that sale this week.

363
00:13:55,640 --> 00:13:57,960
I actually wanna hold off on that.

364
00:13:57,960 --> 00:13:59,360
Cause my foot traffic's been good.

365
00:13:59,700 --> 00:14:02,920
See, especially smaller retail is very,

366
00:14:02,920 --> 00:14:04,080
very tactical.

367
00:14:04,080 --> 00:14:07,280
It's very of the moment like yesterday is gonna inform tomorrow

368
00:14:07,740 --> 00:14:09,920
and today is gonna inform the next day.

369
00:14:10,140 --> 00:14:14,400
And so a lot of people want that manual decision making,

370
00:14:15,110 --> 00:14:16,640
reactive decision making.

371
00:14:17,100 --> 00:14:18,680
And so factor that in.

372
00:14:18,730 --> 00:14:21,680
We can factor that in and then you can still take

373
00:14:21,680 --> 00:14:22,120
those things.

374
00:14:22,120 --> 00:14:23,360
You hate take those things.

375
00:14:23,360 --> 00:14:25,680
You make mistakes at take those opportunities.

376
00:14:25,680 --> 00:14:28,120
You missed broke sale at the wrong time.

377
00:14:28,270 --> 00:14:28,680
I mean,

378
00:14:28,680 --> 00:14:30,800
look at where you lost business and say,

379
00:14:30,800 --> 00:14:31,520
how did that happen?

380
00:14:31,620 --> 00:14:32,280
How can I,

381
00:14:33,240 --> 00:14:35,240
cause it's not always you fixing it.

382
00:14:35,390 --> 00:14:36,160
Yeah. Okay.

383
00:14:36,160 --> 00:14:39,440
And I'm just also going to bring up parallel with your

384
00:14:39,440 --> 00:14:41,360
history and I'd love for you to shoot out some of

385
00:14:41,360 --> 00:14:43,560
the big name retailers that you've worked with before,

386
00:14:43,770 --> 00:14:46,360
because I just think it's interesting for people to hear,

387
00:14:46,420 --> 00:14:49,320
but I'm also going to say that in my corporate life,

388
00:14:49,320 --> 00:14:52,160
I also worked with some larger retailers,

389
00:14:52,220 --> 00:14:54,960
not as much in the fashion brand as you,

390
00:14:54,960 --> 00:14:56,360
but in more mass retailer,

391
00:14:56,360 --> 00:14:58,200
grocery, that kind of thing.

392
00:14:58,620 --> 00:14:59,800
And here,

393
00:14:59,800 --> 00:15:01,440
because I'm gonna say what not to do.

394
00:15:01,440 --> 00:15:03,360
I'm not gonna say who the names are,

395
00:15:03,380 --> 00:15:06,360
but it was shocking to me that some of these huge

396
00:15:06,660 --> 00:15:12,000
top position brands had so much lacking behind the scenes in

397
00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:12,840
terms of systems.

398
00:15:13,300 --> 00:15:15,720
And you would think that because the name is so big,

399
00:15:15,720 --> 00:15:17,480
they'd have it all wrapped up.

400
00:15:17,480 --> 00:15:18,840
They'd have it all figured out.

401
00:15:18,840 --> 00:15:21,240
It would be tied up in a bundle and working so

402
00:15:21,240 --> 00:15:24,600
smooth. And it was shocking to me that it wasn't.

403
00:15:24,600 --> 00:15:27,440
And the only reason I really bring that up is because

404
00:15:28,360 --> 00:15:29,800
everyone's always working on this.

405
00:15:30,020 --> 00:15:33,880
And even though you're small and maybe that feels challenging,

406
00:15:33,880 --> 00:15:36,280
that doesn't mean that you can't do it.

407
00:15:36,280 --> 00:15:39,000
If some of the big guys have struggles and challenges with

408
00:15:39,000 --> 00:15:40,880
it and are able to overcome it.

409
00:15:40,880 --> 00:15:41,520
So can you,

410
00:15:42,060 --> 00:15:43,200
You are totally right.

411
00:15:43,200 --> 00:15:47,560
Look, I worked in corporate retail and my job was to

412
00:15:47,560 --> 00:15:49,080
build stores for them.

413
00:15:49,130 --> 00:15:50,800
So that was J crew,

414
00:15:50,800 --> 00:15:51,720
Kenneth Cole,

415
00:15:51,720 --> 00:15:52,440
Allison, Olivia,

416
00:15:52,440 --> 00:15:53,720
Steve Madden around the world.

417
00:15:54,020 --> 00:15:55,960
And usually in Asia,

418
00:15:55,960 --> 00:15:59,280
there was a lot more technology involved inside the store.

419
00:15:59,540 --> 00:16:00,640
But domestic.

420
00:16:00,670 --> 00:16:02,600
Yeah, actually it was pretty simple.

421
00:16:02,600 --> 00:16:04,280
It was like four walls in a cash racks.

422
00:16:04,580 --> 00:16:06,400
And it's crazy if you think,

423
00:16:06,400 --> 00:16:07,720
if you go into a Nike or an apple,

424
00:16:07,720 --> 00:16:10,320
you go in and they bring you out right on their

425
00:16:10,320 --> 00:16:10,840
little device,

426
00:16:10,840 --> 00:16:12,360
you don't go to a cash wrap.

427
00:16:12,470 --> 00:16:13,320
That's what,

428
00:16:13,320 --> 00:16:15,800
how technology looks like inside of a store,

429
00:16:16,190 --> 00:16:17,280
simply speaking,

430
00:16:17,300 --> 00:16:20,280
and actually based on poss today,

431
00:16:20,380 --> 00:16:21,760
you can do that as well.

432
00:16:21,760 --> 00:16:24,360
You can be as convenient as Nike.

433
00:16:24,420 --> 00:16:25,200
Can you imagine?

434
00:16:25,590 --> 00:16:26,000
I mean,

435
00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:28,600
I can tell you that there are stores like the ones

436
00:16:28,600 --> 00:16:30,040
I worked at that do not do that,

437
00:16:30,300 --> 00:16:31,080
but you can.

438
00:16:31,550 --> 00:16:32,320
Yeah. I mean,

439
00:16:32,320 --> 00:16:34,720
I'm just thinking of different places where things got stuck.

440
00:16:34,730 --> 00:16:36,600
As simple as we know,

441
00:16:36,660 --> 00:16:37,160
you know,

442
00:16:37,160 --> 00:16:40,240
our inventory says we have one more of these left,

443
00:16:40,540 --> 00:16:42,400
but gosh knows if they could find it,

444
00:16:42,800 --> 00:16:43,200
you know?

445
00:16:43,200 --> 00:16:44,360
And in the back of the room,

446
00:16:44,360 --> 00:16:45,520
like where it was supposed to be,

447
00:16:45,520 --> 00:16:46,160
it wasn't there.

448
00:16:46,160 --> 00:16:47,800
But everyone said that you could find it,

449
00:16:47,800 --> 00:16:48,640
things like that.

450
00:16:49,070 --> 00:16:50,040
Checkout centers,

451
00:16:50,410 --> 00:16:54,560
traffic flow patterns in terms of when to put employees in

452
00:16:54,560 --> 00:16:56,320
place because it's heavier times.

453
00:16:56,320 --> 00:16:58,880
So you wanna staff up a little bit at that time,

454
00:16:59,260 --> 00:17:02,720
all of those things over to the point of when client

455
00:17:02,720 --> 00:17:04,640
recognition systems started coming in,

456
00:17:04,640 --> 00:17:06,760
like all the reward cards and all of that,

457
00:17:06,760 --> 00:17:09,120
which also helped start tracking.

458
00:17:09,150 --> 00:17:10,600
That's also technology.

459
00:17:10,600 --> 00:17:12,920
Right. Great learning for all of us.

460
00:17:13,410 --> 00:17:16,840
So everyone's struggling and trying to do technology better,

461
00:17:17,070 --> 00:17:17,560
I think.

462
00:17:17,620 --> 00:17:18,400
But again,

463
00:17:18,400 --> 00:17:21,040
I just wanna lay the premise that don't feel like if

464
00:17:21,040 --> 00:17:22,400
you're not a big brand,

465
00:17:22,590 --> 00:17:24,120
this doesn't apply to you.

466
00:17:24,370 --> 00:17:27,360
It actually can be a lot easier when you're smaller,

467
00:17:27,360 --> 00:17:30,360
because you don't have to ask anybody for permission and justify

468
00:17:30,420 --> 00:17:34,280
why you wanna bring a new thing in to use because

469
00:17:34,380 --> 00:17:35,120
you do it,

470
00:17:35,120 --> 00:17:35,920
you run the show.

471
00:17:36,430 --> 00:17:40,400
I left corporate retail and then I work with independent retail

472
00:17:40,400 --> 00:17:43,560
now. So I work with small businesses because I wanted to

473
00:17:43,560 --> 00:17:46,800
deal with the decision maker and just kind of move things

474
00:17:46,800 --> 00:17:47,440
along. Yes,

475
00:17:47,440 --> 00:17:48,000
no. Okay.

476
00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:48,800
Then we move on.

477
00:17:48,800 --> 00:17:53,960
Right. So I definitely am a very strongly entrenched in that

478
00:17:53,960 --> 00:17:57,040
community. My area is mostly women's peril,

479
00:17:57,040 --> 00:17:59,600
but actually I'm part of an organization and they have a

480
00:17:59,600 --> 00:18:04,320
lot of craft stores and quilt stores and yarn stores.

481
00:18:04,320 --> 00:18:08,520
And we recognize that retail is of all shapes and sizes.

482
00:18:08,650 --> 00:18:11,360
So, and I'm really enjoying being part of that world.

483
00:18:11,360 --> 00:18:12,320
And like I said,

484
00:18:12,630 --> 00:18:16,400
I look through the lens of that size business for solutions.

485
00:18:17,020 --> 00:18:19,480
But some of the things you talked about yes are very

486
00:18:19,480 --> 00:18:20,680
solvable. I would say,

487
00:18:20,690 --> 00:18:21,400
be very careful.

488
00:18:21,400 --> 00:18:22,800
Don't bite off more than you can chew.

489
00:18:22,800 --> 00:18:23,760
Don't get a bad feeling.

490
00:18:23,800 --> 00:18:24,760
Don't drown,

491
00:18:24,760 --> 00:18:25,800
don't overpay.

492
00:18:25,800 --> 00:18:28,160
Don't be oversold something,

493
00:18:28,620 --> 00:18:30,600
but there are so much SAS,

494
00:18:31,120 --> 00:18:34,360
S a a S stands for software as a solution.

495
00:18:34,470 --> 00:18:38,080
Okay. Tons of those options out there in all of the

496
00:18:38,080 --> 00:18:39,080
different categories,

497
00:18:39,080 --> 00:18:40,840
we've touched on inventory control,

498
00:18:41,200 --> 00:18:43,000
employee management email,

499
00:18:43,100 --> 00:18:44,120
and you pay monthly.

500
00:18:44,510 --> 00:18:45,160
I don't know.

501
00:18:45,450 --> 00:18:49,800
We haven't really determined how many of the listeners have online

502
00:18:50,070 --> 00:18:55,720
stores, but you can have upselling and recommendations just software as

503
00:18:55,720 --> 00:18:56,840
a service on your website.

504
00:18:56,890 --> 00:19:00,320
So they buy a candle and maybe they want like a

505
00:19:00,320 --> 00:19:01,960
cozy cashmere blanket to go with it.

506
00:19:02,150 --> 00:19:04,560
Okay. And that can be a suggestion.

507
00:19:04,560 --> 00:19:07,440
And that's done kind of automatically just like,

508
00:19:07,440 --> 00:19:08,560
this is what's going on.

509
00:19:08,570 --> 00:19:12,160
If you really must know all of the selling that was

510
00:19:12,160 --> 00:19:16,760
brick and mortar before really online selling the client,

511
00:19:16,760 --> 00:19:18,120
telling the communication,

512
00:19:18,120 --> 00:19:19,080
the client book,

513
00:19:19,140 --> 00:19:23,440
all those things have all been automated for digital e-commerce sites.

514
00:19:23,590 --> 00:19:25,600
Okay. So everything we did,

515
00:19:25,600 --> 00:19:29,400
tactically is now available technologically for e-commerce sites.

516
00:19:29,480 --> 00:19:33,640
And then all the conveniences from eCommerce sites like various forms

517
00:19:33,640 --> 00:19:34,160
of payment,

518
00:19:34,320 --> 00:19:37,280
being able to pay with either a QR code or your

519
00:19:37,280 --> 00:19:39,600
phone are all going back into brick and mortar.

520
00:19:39,710 --> 00:19:40,080
I mean,

521
00:19:40,080 --> 00:19:41,320
think of it as like,

522
00:19:41,320 --> 00:19:43,160
this is going this way and this is going this way

523
00:19:43,160 --> 00:19:44,720
and everything's just getting better.

524
00:19:45,250 --> 00:19:46,560
So what happened?

525
00:19:46,560 --> 00:19:50,080
Let me give you an example is we're in lockdown,

526
00:19:50,080 --> 00:19:51,080
we shopped online,

527
00:19:51,080 --> 00:19:53,320
we had all this great checkout and payment options.

528
00:19:53,320 --> 00:19:55,200
Gosh, I can pay with Venmo great.

529
00:19:55,730 --> 00:19:57,480
Or by now pay later,

530
00:19:57,480 --> 00:19:59,840
which increases the overall purchase,

531
00:19:59,840 --> 00:20:02,400
right? Cuz you're spreading it out or buying gifts and it's

532
00:20:02,470 --> 00:20:04,560
just widely accepted right now.

533
00:20:04,740 --> 00:20:06,560
And then you go into a store and it's like,

534
00:20:06,830 --> 00:20:07,800
open your wallet,

535
00:20:07,830 --> 00:20:11,160
take out a card or cash and pay and it's slow

536
00:20:11,160 --> 00:20:12,880
and you don't have other payment options.

537
00:20:12,940 --> 00:20:14,680
You don't have buy now pay later.

538
00:20:14,680 --> 00:20:16,240
It's like you went back in time,

539
00:20:16,240 --> 00:20:17,840
you went back to like 1982.

540
00:20:17,990 --> 00:20:21,640
What? So the first thing you wanna do is say,

541
00:20:21,640 --> 00:20:23,360
well, the customer likes these things.

542
00:20:23,360 --> 00:20:25,600
When they go online and check out@walmart.com,

543
00:20:25,600 --> 00:20:27,200
how do I get that in my store?

544
00:20:27,200 --> 00:20:29,680
There's a ton of value for getting it in your store

545
00:20:29,680 --> 00:20:32,800
too. Cuz you've just freed up space to put more product.

546
00:20:33,290 --> 00:20:35,120
So square foot allocation,

547
00:20:35,280 --> 00:20:39,640
sales versus support and services changes now because of technology.

548
00:20:39,640 --> 00:20:41,720
I wasn't even thinking that when we were getting started.

549
00:20:42,060 --> 00:20:43,120
Yes. And I also,

550
00:20:43,120 --> 00:20:45,080
what would you say Russo about,

551
00:20:45,350 --> 00:20:47,760
I don't see a fine mine anymore.

552
00:20:47,760 --> 00:20:50,920
Between if you have a retail location and I'm gonna put

553
00:20:50,920 --> 00:20:53,320
this in for all of our makers who do craft shows

554
00:20:53,320 --> 00:20:55,520
because that's also face to face selling.

555
00:20:55,890 --> 00:20:59,520
So I wanna put that there versus having an online presence.

556
00:21:00,010 --> 00:21:03,280
We need both in this day and age because if someone's

557
00:21:03,280 --> 00:21:05,800
coming into your retail shop wants to repurchase,

558
00:21:05,880 --> 00:21:06,880
but can't make it there.

559
00:21:06,880 --> 00:21:09,400
And you have that same product online.

560
00:21:09,430 --> 00:21:11,520
They can do a repeat purchase online.

561
00:21:11,830 --> 00:21:15,080
Same thing with someone who's looking at your website and all

562
00:21:15,080 --> 00:21:15,720
of a sudden see,

563
00:21:15,720 --> 00:21:16,440
oh my gosh,

564
00:21:16,440 --> 00:21:19,160
you're gonna be at the farmer's market right in my community

565
00:21:19,160 --> 00:21:19,840
this weekend.

566
00:21:20,130 --> 00:21:22,200
So then they can come and see you in person gets

567
00:21:22,400 --> 00:21:22,960
questions, answered,

568
00:21:22,960 --> 00:21:24,480
pick up the product right away,

569
00:21:24,480 --> 00:21:26,040
maybe sample some things.

570
00:21:26,290 --> 00:21:29,960
So I see both of these very much overlapping with each

571
00:21:29,960 --> 00:21:30,880
other. It's not just,

572
00:21:30,880 --> 00:21:32,960
oh, you're brick and mortar or you're online.

573
00:21:33,020 --> 00:21:35,040
The best practice as you evolve.

574
00:21:35,040 --> 00:21:37,360
Like of course you don't necessarily do this all at one

575
00:21:37,360 --> 00:21:40,120
time, but is to have both of them and they don't

576
00:21:40,120 --> 00:21:41,320
play independently.

577
00:21:41,320 --> 00:21:43,280
They overlap with each other.

578
00:21:43,650 --> 00:21:48,280
So the technology also allows you to take an experience someone's

579
00:21:48,280 --> 00:21:49,680
having at your craft booth.

580
00:21:49,870 --> 00:21:53,320
They click a QR code register for your sweepstakes.

581
00:21:53,320 --> 00:21:55,560
Now all of a sudden they're on your email list.

582
00:21:55,900 --> 00:21:58,200
Now they're gonna be able to get your emails.

583
00:21:58,220 --> 00:22:01,200
And what portion of that process did you have to do

584
00:22:01,500 --> 00:22:02,240
say hello,

585
00:22:02,240 --> 00:22:02,880
welcome them.

586
00:22:02,950 --> 00:22:04,400
Show them the QR code,

587
00:22:04,400 --> 00:22:06,760
tell them the value of signing up and that's it.

588
00:22:06,880 --> 00:22:08,560
And everything else then happens.

589
00:22:09,140 --> 00:22:13,440
And that just streamlined your whole opportunity to do more of

590
00:22:13,440 --> 00:22:16,720
those than the manual steps that we used to have to

591
00:22:16,720 --> 00:22:17,320
do in the past.

592
00:22:17,630 --> 00:22:18,880
You're absolutely right.

593
00:22:19,180 --> 00:22:22,200
And one thing that might either scare people or make them

594
00:22:22,200 --> 00:22:25,680
excited, hopefully make them excited because a website can be very

595
00:22:25,680 --> 00:22:28,440
scary. So let's talk about digital retail.

596
00:22:28,440 --> 00:22:29,880
So people think I have a store.

597
00:22:29,880 --> 00:22:32,400
I have a website website is digital retail.

598
00:22:32,730 --> 00:22:34,240
So digital retail,

599
00:22:34,540 --> 00:22:37,080
one of the ways is a website.

600
00:22:37,080 --> 00:22:40,800
Okay? There are many other ways and some are very sophisticated.

601
00:22:40,800 --> 00:22:43,040
So we'll not talk about that require teams.

602
00:22:43,040 --> 00:22:44,040
We're not doing that.

603
00:22:44,160 --> 00:22:47,760
Let's take something that sounds like complicated,

604
00:22:47,760 --> 00:22:48,880
but it's really not.

605
00:22:48,880 --> 00:22:51,440
And it's a lot easier than a website and that's well,

606
00:22:51,440 --> 00:22:52,320
you have eCommerce,

607
00:22:52,320 --> 00:22:53,440
which is your website.

608
00:22:53,440 --> 00:22:55,040
This is called social commerce.

609
00:22:55,390 --> 00:22:56,800
What is social commerce?

610
00:22:56,800 --> 00:23:01,560
Social commerce is live streaming selling through you,

611
00:23:01,560 --> 00:23:04,000
sign up with a service provider that allows you to do

612
00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:04,560
that. Okay?

613
00:23:04,560 --> 00:23:05,400
And there are many.

614
00:23:05,700 --> 00:23:11,720
And so you are basically doing QBC Your own QVC,

615
00:23:11,720 --> 00:23:13,120
Your own QVC.

616
00:23:13,140 --> 00:23:16,320
And I think that suits this crowd really well because you

617
00:23:16,320 --> 00:23:17,960
may or may not need a website for it.

618
00:23:17,960 --> 00:23:20,080
You may need it to just hold your inventory,

619
00:23:20,820 --> 00:23:24,240
but let's keep it simple for right now where you're at

620
00:23:24,240 --> 00:23:24,880
a farmer's market,

621
00:23:25,060 --> 00:23:28,280
you have your phone filming you and you're talking,

622
00:23:28,440 --> 00:23:31,440
let's say traffic is slow and you're selling stuff.

623
00:23:31,570 --> 00:23:33,360
They're actually checking out.

624
00:23:33,360 --> 00:23:35,120
That's why you need technology to do it.

625
00:23:35,210 --> 00:23:39,280
They're checking out through that service provider and buying the stuff.

626
00:23:39,390 --> 00:23:42,200
You're gonna have to triple your inventory for that and bring

627
00:23:42,200 --> 00:23:45,040
someone with you to handle the in person,

628
00:23:45,200 --> 00:23:47,680
people and sell out online.

629
00:23:47,780 --> 00:23:49,840
And if you cultivate that,

630
00:23:49,840 --> 00:23:50,520
Hey guys,

631
00:23:50,520 --> 00:23:54,000
we're gonna be live at the farmer's market this Thursday.

632
00:23:54,260 --> 00:23:57,000
And then you just constantly let them know where you're going

633
00:23:57,000 --> 00:23:57,320
to be.

634
00:23:57,390 --> 00:24:04,160
People crave it because now customers in Ohio are having the

635
00:24:04,160 --> 00:24:06,360
Pennsylvania farmer's market experience,

636
00:24:07,370 --> 00:24:08,520
holiday markets.

637
00:24:09,020 --> 00:24:10,520
You have to tell them about it,

638
00:24:10,520 --> 00:24:12,360
right? So that's your email list.

639
00:24:12,360 --> 00:24:13,920
That's your automatic emailing.

640
00:24:13,920 --> 00:24:14,840
That's all of that.

641
00:24:15,020 --> 00:24:16,480
And then you just do it.

642
00:24:16,900 --> 00:24:18,040
I'm gonna give you a hack.

643
00:24:18,040 --> 00:24:20,280
If you don't wanna sign up with a technology company,

644
00:24:20,310 --> 00:24:22,160
okay. Have a second person there,

645
00:24:22,420 --> 00:24:24,400
put it on your live.

646
00:24:24,400 --> 00:24:26,320
There's different social channels.

647
00:24:26,320 --> 00:24:26,880
You can do it.

648
00:24:26,880 --> 00:24:28,600
Let's say Instagram,

649
00:24:28,870 --> 00:24:30,680
okay. Instagram live.

650
00:24:30,740 --> 00:24:34,120
And that person who's holding the camera or filming or speaking,

651
00:24:34,120 --> 00:24:35,600
someone can be in your DM.

652
00:24:35,600 --> 00:24:36,360
And they're like,

653
00:24:36,360 --> 00:24:37,000
I want that one.

654
00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:38,560
Great go to your square,

655
00:24:38,720 --> 00:24:39,480
swipe it.

656
00:24:39,480 --> 00:24:42,080
Market shipping label gone.

657
00:24:42,430 --> 00:24:43,520
When you think digital,

658
00:24:43,520 --> 00:24:45,720
it doesn't have to be.com.

659
00:24:45,830 --> 00:24:46,960
That's Really true.

660
00:24:46,960 --> 00:24:47,680
And I see,

661
00:24:47,780 --> 00:24:48,280
you know,

662
00:24:48,280 --> 00:24:49,120
the whole social,

663
00:24:49,170 --> 00:24:50,440
as you're talking about,

664
00:24:50,600 --> 00:24:54,800
we've talked here about really very structured on air shows that

665
00:24:54,800 --> 00:24:57,680
are daily shows those of you who are listeners go back

666
00:24:57,680 --> 00:24:59,960
and listen to Adrian's boutique.

667
00:24:59,960 --> 00:25:02,280
You'll hear exactly how she does all of that.

668
00:25:02,590 --> 00:25:03,760
It's all structured.

669
00:25:03,760 --> 00:25:05,920
And that's a perfect example of technology,

670
00:25:06,020 --> 00:25:07,280
but I'll even say,

671
00:25:07,300 --> 00:25:09,560
yes, it's great to have somebody who's helping you at the

672
00:25:09,560 --> 00:25:12,560
booth. If you're at a show because technology aside,

673
00:25:12,560 --> 00:25:15,440
if you have sales that need to get checked out and

674
00:25:15,440 --> 00:25:16,720
you have someone who's still looking,

675
00:25:16,720 --> 00:25:18,200
those are two different functions.

676
00:25:18,200 --> 00:25:18,880
You can't do both.

677
00:25:18,880 --> 00:25:19,680
You need some help,

678
00:25:19,700 --> 00:25:23,080
but let's also talk about those times that happen with any

679
00:25:23,080 --> 00:25:24,240
show. At some point,

680
00:25:24,240 --> 00:25:24,600
you know,

681
00:25:24,600 --> 00:25:25,720
if you're out doing shows,

682
00:25:26,130 --> 00:25:29,280
it is pouring rain and nobody is coming.

683
00:25:29,570 --> 00:25:31,280
So then this is downtime.

684
00:25:31,280 --> 00:25:34,120
You're not doing anything but standing and in your booth,

685
00:25:34,270 --> 00:25:36,560
pull out your phone like Russo saying,

686
00:25:36,560 --> 00:25:38,840
even if it's just you and saying,

687
00:25:38,840 --> 00:25:39,880
Hey, I met this show.

688
00:25:39,950 --> 00:25:41,400
This is part of the gig.

689
00:25:41,400 --> 00:25:43,080
You know of when we do craft shows,

690
00:25:43,210 --> 00:25:44,320
it is pouring rain.

691
00:25:44,320 --> 00:25:45,280
There's nobody here.

692
00:25:45,280 --> 00:25:46,480
But let me share with you.

693
00:25:46,480 --> 00:25:47,360
What's happened so far.

694
00:25:47,360 --> 00:25:51,360
Our biggest seller has been this and of these two colors,

695
00:25:51,360 --> 00:25:52,640
guess which one's the most popular,

696
00:25:52,640 --> 00:25:54,600
like just chat and enjoy,

697
00:25:54,740 --> 00:25:55,320
but oh,

698
00:25:55,320 --> 00:25:55,720
by the way,

699
00:25:55,720 --> 00:25:56,640
if you like these,

700
00:25:56,640 --> 00:25:58,320
here's how you could get one,

701
00:25:58,320 --> 00:25:58,640
you know,

702
00:25:58,640 --> 00:25:59,960
like however you'd wanna do it.

703
00:26:00,250 --> 00:26:02,960
So this is a way to use what you would once

704
00:26:02,960 --> 00:26:07,600
think is downtime to your advantage through technology.

705
00:26:07,750 --> 00:26:08,960
I am so glad Russo,

706
00:26:08,960 --> 00:26:11,600
you brought that up because it happens all the time.

707
00:26:12,020 --> 00:26:13,240
I'm happy we did that.

708
00:26:13,240 --> 00:26:13,800
And it goes,

709
00:26:13,800 --> 00:26:16,400
the same conversation is a slow Tuesday in your store,

710
00:26:16,400 --> 00:26:17,200
hop on the phone,

711
00:26:17,200 --> 00:26:18,000
hop on your life.

712
00:26:18,000 --> 00:26:21,360
Yeah. So I do believe in structure and I wanna check

713
00:26:21,360 --> 00:26:24,280
out that episode and I encourage everyone to do it as

714
00:26:24,280 --> 00:26:24,720
Sue said,

715
00:26:24,780 --> 00:26:25,720
but yeah,

716
00:26:25,740 --> 00:26:26,320
for sure.

717
00:26:26,590 --> 00:26:31,600
Part of the success and engagement that higher success and a

718
00:26:31,600 --> 00:26:35,080
lot of engagement is the authenticity of lives.

719
00:26:35,530 --> 00:26:36,840
In the sense of like,

720
00:26:36,840 --> 00:26:39,400
maybe you're like going in and outta the stockroom and you're

721
00:26:39,400 --> 00:26:40,520
just carrying them with you.

722
00:26:40,520 --> 00:26:44,520
Like you will not believe what people like to see the

723
00:26:44,520 --> 00:26:45,240
real deal.

724
00:26:45,240 --> 00:26:48,640
And I can't imagine a more real group of people than

725
00:26:48,640 --> 00:26:50,600
the people listening to this podcast.

726
00:26:50,980 --> 00:26:52,880
And how interesting that is.

727
00:26:52,880 --> 00:26:54,560
You have a huge community,

728
00:26:54,590 --> 00:26:57,000
huge And all the material you have,

729
00:26:57,000 --> 00:26:58,360
because if you're making product,

730
00:26:58,360 --> 00:26:59,880
if you're out showing product,

731
00:27:00,050 --> 00:27:03,640
if you're getting inventory in that are the pieces and the

732
00:27:03,640 --> 00:27:05,280
parts of the jewelry that you make,

733
00:27:05,280 --> 00:27:06,400
you got a brand new,

734
00:27:06,400 --> 00:27:08,400
fun tool that you've never tried before.

735
00:27:08,400 --> 00:27:09,960
And so you wanna experiment with it.

736
00:27:09,960 --> 00:27:12,240
There is so much content for a maker.

737
00:27:12,770 --> 00:27:16,040
No maker can say they lack content that's for sure.

738
00:27:18,590 --> 00:27:19,280
Hold tight.

739
00:27:19,280 --> 00:27:23,120
Our conversation will continue right after this short break to hear

740
00:27:23,120 --> 00:27:23,680
from our sponsor.

741
00:27:25,020 --> 00:27:29,400
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742
00:27:29,500 --> 00:27:33,080
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743
00:27:33,110 --> 00:27:36,520
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744
00:27:36,520 --> 00:27:39,840
Annie, or at a special message and date to wedding or

745
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746
00:27:42,240 --> 00:27:45,760
Where else can you get customization with a creatively spelled name

747
00:27:45,760 --> 00:27:46,720
or find packaging?

748
00:27:46,720 --> 00:27:49,200
That includes a saying whose meaning is known to a select

749
00:27:49,200 --> 00:27:51,840
two, not only are customers willing to pay for these special

750
00:27:51,840 --> 00:27:55,160
touches, they'll tell their friends and word will spread about your

751
00:27:55,160 --> 00:27:56,200
company and products.

752
00:27:56,460 --> 00:27:59,560
You can create personalized ribbons and labels in seconds.

753
00:27:59,630 --> 00:28:03,480
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754
00:28:03,480 --> 00:28:06,680
spend money to order yards and yards print words in any

755
00:28:06,920 --> 00:28:07,600
language or font,

756
00:28:07,700 --> 00:28:08,640
add logos,

757
00:28:08,640 --> 00:28:10,160
images, even photos,

758
00:28:10,370 --> 00:28:13,960
perfect for branding or adding ingredient and flavor labels too.

759
00:28:14,180 --> 00:28:15,320
For more information,

760
00:28:15,320 --> 00:28:17,400
go to the ribbon print company.com.

761
00:28:18,200 --> 00:28:21,170
Well, I don't know how if this group,

762
00:28:21,420 --> 00:28:25,970
it has engaged or even just looked from a spectator standpoint,

763
00:28:25,990 --> 00:28:29,250
but the amount of makers and doing exactly what you said,

764
00:28:29,250 --> 00:28:30,050
Sue, which is like,

765
00:28:30,050 --> 00:28:30,850
here's my new tool.

766
00:28:30,850 --> 00:28:32,610
Here's me cutting metal.

767
00:28:32,840 --> 00:28:34,130
That's on TikTok.

768
00:28:34,400 --> 00:28:34,770
I mean,

769
00:28:34,770 --> 00:28:37,010
you have to be ready for your business to totally blow

770
00:28:37,010 --> 00:28:39,010
up. If you are prepared for that.

771
00:28:39,270 --> 00:28:42,490
And we can have a whole other conversation about that if

772
00:28:42,490 --> 00:28:42,730
you want,

773
00:28:42,730 --> 00:28:43,770
but that's social commerce.

774
00:28:43,910 --> 00:28:45,490
And then you have to think also,

775
00:28:45,490 --> 00:28:47,650
okay, let's say you don't wanna sell there.

776
00:28:47,760 --> 00:28:48,530
It's awareness.

777
00:28:48,750 --> 00:28:50,370
You have your website link in there,

778
00:28:50,370 --> 00:28:51,730
or you have your store phone number,

779
00:28:51,730 --> 00:28:52,570
keep it easy,

780
00:28:52,590 --> 00:28:57,490
but think about awareness and people are actually interested to see

781
00:28:57,800 --> 00:28:58,690
your process.

782
00:28:59,480 --> 00:28:59,890
I mean,

783
00:28:59,890 --> 00:29:01,250
I consider myself a maker,

784
00:29:01,250 --> 00:29:02,650
but I don't make everything.

785
00:29:02,900 --> 00:29:07,410
So I like to see what's behind what someone is making

786
00:29:07,410 --> 00:29:08,570
like leather,

787
00:29:08,640 --> 00:29:11,530
making like belts and purses and all that.

788
00:29:11,600 --> 00:29:13,570
I wouldn't have the slightest clue.

789
00:29:13,570 --> 00:29:15,050
That would be so interesting.

790
00:29:15,050 --> 00:29:16,010
Just a little peak,

791
00:29:16,010 --> 00:29:18,090
but you know what happens is a lot of people are

792
00:29:18,090 --> 00:29:18,410
like, well,

793
00:29:18,410 --> 00:29:20,170
I'm not gonna give away how I do this.

794
00:29:20,520 --> 00:29:21,250
It's not There.

795
00:29:21,280 --> 00:29:23,010
It's already out there from somebody,

796
00:29:23,010 --> 00:29:27,850
right? Who everybody is showing everything on TikTok.

797
00:29:27,850 --> 00:29:32,610
Yeah. And that's why I really kind of lean towards authentic

798
00:29:33,010 --> 00:29:34,330
truth versus,

799
00:29:34,790 --> 00:29:35,330
you know,

800
00:29:35,330 --> 00:29:36,570
gate keeping polished,

801
00:29:36,760 --> 00:29:39,610
scripted, you wanna be really careful.

802
00:29:39,630 --> 00:29:41,050
And part of it has to do with your,

803
00:29:41,080 --> 00:29:41,840
your customer base,

804
00:29:41,840 --> 00:29:45,240
but they're generationally gen Z millennials.

805
00:29:45,240 --> 00:29:46,920
They want it as real as possible.

806
00:29:46,920 --> 00:29:49,320
And I've seen a ton of leather making on TikTok and

807
00:29:49,320 --> 00:29:50,400
it's fascinating.

808
00:29:50,400 --> 00:29:51,040
They burn it.

809
00:29:51,040 --> 00:29:51,560
They do this,

810
00:29:51,560 --> 00:29:52,200
they file it.

811
00:29:52,200 --> 00:29:52,520
I mean,

812
00:29:52,520 --> 00:29:53,720
it's kind of incredible.

813
00:29:54,130 --> 00:29:55,360
They're not hiding anything.

814
00:29:55,380 --> 00:29:57,480
And You have the opportunity for people to fall in love

815
00:29:57,480 --> 00:29:59,760
with you then because no one else can be you.

816
00:29:59,760 --> 00:30:00,080
I mean,

817
00:30:00,080 --> 00:30:00,880
this is the thing.

818
00:30:00,880 --> 00:30:02,600
I try to remind everybody,

819
00:30:02,600 --> 00:30:03,440
including myself,

820
00:30:03,440 --> 00:30:04,600
when I'm doing these reminders,

821
00:30:04,600 --> 00:30:06,040
it's not just for everybody else.

822
00:30:06,040 --> 00:30:06,800
It's for me too.

823
00:30:06,820 --> 00:30:11,240
But is that pretty much everybody can duplicate something that you

824
00:30:11,240 --> 00:30:14,320
make now it's not necessarily like if you draw your style

825
00:30:14,320 --> 00:30:14,920
is different,

826
00:30:14,920 --> 00:30:17,440
but there are other people who make greeting cards or other

827
00:30:17,440 --> 00:30:19,440
people who do watercolor or you know,

828
00:30:19,720 --> 00:30:20,760
whatever different styles,

829
00:30:20,760 --> 00:30:24,840
right? But nobody can recreate your personality and the way you

830
00:30:24,840 --> 00:30:27,680
communicate and the way you talk and the way you show

831
00:30:27,680 --> 00:30:30,080
up. And when you start doing lives,

832
00:30:30,080 --> 00:30:34,680
people gravitate to you who feel comfortable with you like your

833
00:30:34,680 --> 00:30:37,680
style. And then they wanna support you and buy from you.

834
00:30:37,940 --> 00:30:40,600
And you can't do that with just static posts.

835
00:30:40,600 --> 00:30:44,480
Even Carol cell posts lives and videos are where you get

836
00:30:44,480 --> 00:30:45,080
that across.

837
00:30:45,870 --> 00:30:47,080
I totally agree.

838
00:30:47,080 --> 00:30:48,880
Video is so much more engaging.

839
00:30:48,880 --> 00:30:51,960
I just wanna add one more thing to the authenticity conversation.

840
00:30:52,140 --> 00:30:54,640
And then one more thing in case people are like,

841
00:30:54,640 --> 00:30:55,240
I could never,

842
00:30:55,450 --> 00:30:58,720
because I could never is not what we do here.

843
00:30:59,050 --> 00:31:01,080
So when you think about,

844
00:31:01,210 --> 00:31:02,840
if you're gonna show creating,

845
00:31:03,010 --> 00:31:05,920
or if you think about create what you wanna do is

846
00:31:05,920 --> 00:31:06,920
it's not just create,

847
00:31:06,920 --> 00:31:08,120
it's create and educate.

848
00:31:08,590 --> 00:31:11,200
I follow a watercolorist I bought watercolors.

849
00:31:11,200 --> 00:31:11,560
I don't water.

850
00:31:11,560 --> 00:31:12,120
She's like,

851
00:31:12,120 --> 00:31:13,640
we're gonna make a sky in an ocean.

852
00:31:13,640 --> 00:31:14,160
Now. I'm like,

853
00:31:14,160 --> 00:31:14,720
I'm doing that.

854
00:31:14,720 --> 00:31:15,040
You know,

855
00:31:15,040 --> 00:31:15,440
I bought it.

856
00:31:15,440 --> 00:31:16,160
Did I ever do it?

857
00:31:16,160 --> 00:31:17,560
No. She's like you do this,

858
00:31:17,560 --> 00:31:18,160
you do that.

859
00:31:18,160 --> 00:31:18,520
I mean,

860
00:31:18,520 --> 00:31:21,120
you have to have confidence in your ability as a creator

861
00:31:21,240 --> 00:31:21,800
and artist,

862
00:31:22,050 --> 00:31:26,640
to really engage with people with your product and not gate,

863
00:31:26,640 --> 00:31:29,800
keep and worry that you're gonna be copied or whatever,

864
00:31:29,980 --> 00:31:32,560
but there's a real process sharing.

865
00:31:32,810 --> 00:31:34,760
So think about create and educate.

866
00:31:34,760 --> 00:31:36,640
When you think about videos and content,

867
00:31:36,640 --> 00:31:37,640
and then one more thing.

868
00:31:37,710 --> 00:31:38,440
I can't do that.

869
00:31:38,440 --> 00:31:39,320
I can't be out there.

870
00:31:39,320 --> 00:31:41,720
I don't want people to fall in love with me and

871
00:31:41,720 --> 00:31:42,280
my style,

872
00:31:42,280 --> 00:31:42,880
as you said,

873
00:31:42,880 --> 00:31:45,080
so you can do all of this and still be off

874
00:31:45,080 --> 00:31:46,560
camera. Believe it or not.

875
00:31:46,560 --> 00:31:48,880
You can have video with your voiceover,

876
00:31:48,880 --> 00:31:52,520
with zoomed in over your process or whatever it is.

877
00:31:52,660 --> 00:31:54,240
You can even not have your voice.

878
00:31:54,240 --> 00:31:57,320
You can have text read by the app.

879
00:31:57,890 --> 00:32:01,200
So all of those hurdles and they are real,

880
00:32:01,200 --> 00:32:04,840
we don't like to hear our voice and see ourselves.

881
00:32:04,840 --> 00:32:05,560
It's just not,

882
00:32:05,570 --> 00:32:06,760
we all kind of feel like,

883
00:32:06,760 --> 00:32:11,040
Ugh, they've taken away all the excuses to really kind of

884
00:32:11,040 --> 00:32:11,800
get out there.

885
00:32:12,030 --> 00:32:14,280
Darn they've taken away all the excuses,

886
00:32:16,060 --> 00:32:19,000
Get yourself a huggy candle and just jump right in.

887
00:32:19,240 --> 00:32:20,200
There you go.

888
00:32:20,200 --> 00:32:21,840
Perfect. Okay.

889
00:32:21,890 --> 00:32:24,920
To make this actionable for people who are listening,

890
00:32:25,210 --> 00:32:26,360
if someone was just,

891
00:32:26,360 --> 00:32:27,360
I don't even know if you're,

892
00:32:27,360 --> 00:32:29,160
this is gonna be able to be answered,

893
00:32:29,160 --> 00:32:30,080
but I'm going for it.

894
00:32:30,080 --> 00:32:32,760
If someone was just starting their business,

895
00:32:32,940 --> 00:32:35,160
are there a few core,

896
00:32:35,430 --> 00:32:37,680
either recommendations you already have,

897
00:32:37,770 --> 00:32:40,040
or just the section of the business,

898
00:32:40,040 --> 00:32:41,880
things that they should start with?

899
00:32:41,900 --> 00:32:42,400
You know,

900
00:32:42,400 --> 00:32:45,320
how people are they like following step by step instruction.

901
00:32:45,330 --> 00:32:48,760
So are there certain things when you're just starting your business,

902
00:32:48,840 --> 00:32:52,480
maybe three or four that you should be looking at?

903
00:32:52,480 --> 00:32:53,640
Not necessarily all at once,

904
00:32:53,640 --> 00:32:54,200
one by one,

905
00:32:54,200 --> 00:32:56,240
but that you should be including in your business,

906
00:32:56,630 --> 00:32:57,800
What kind of business?

907
00:32:58,190 --> 00:32:59,120
A maker business.

908
00:32:59,130 --> 00:33:00,440
So someone is selling,

909
00:33:01,090 --> 00:33:02,200
they're a knitter.

910
00:33:02,570 --> 00:33:04,360
So right now they're only selling products.

911
00:33:04,360 --> 00:33:05,280
They're not educating,

912
00:33:05,280 --> 00:33:07,040
not doing patterns and anything like that.

913
00:33:07,040 --> 00:33:08,080
They're just starting.

914
00:33:08,280 --> 00:33:09,480
Cause I guarantee you,

915
00:33:09,640 --> 00:33:10,400
whatever you say here,

916
00:33:10,400 --> 00:33:11,680
if you have an answer to this,

917
00:33:11,680 --> 00:33:14,480
there will be people who have businesses that are more established,

918
00:33:14,480 --> 00:33:16,600
farther along who don't have these included either.

919
00:33:16,600 --> 00:33:17,640
Okay. Which is fine.

920
00:33:17,640 --> 00:33:20,160
That's why we're doing this is what would you suggest people

921
00:33:20,160 --> 00:33:21,400
make sure to start with.

922
00:33:21,610 --> 00:33:22,560
So in this example,

923
00:33:22,560 --> 00:33:24,800
it's a knitter with finished goods that they've created.

924
00:33:25,680 --> 00:33:29,440
Okay. So the most important thing is sales,

925
00:33:29,440 --> 00:33:30,640
right? We wanna get sales.

926
00:33:30,890 --> 00:33:34,280
So how do we eliminate the boundaries to that and raise

927
00:33:34,280 --> 00:33:36,120
awareness? So the first,

928
00:33:36,350 --> 00:33:36,760
I mean,

929
00:33:36,760 --> 00:33:38,680
obviously you need a social media account,

930
00:33:38,680 --> 00:33:40,200
right? Everyone needs Instagram,

931
00:33:40,200 --> 00:33:41,080
gotta do it.

932
00:33:41,080 --> 00:33:44,600
It's an eCommerce like hiding eCommerce place.

933
00:33:44,700 --> 00:33:46,080
You gotta get into that.

934
00:33:46,080 --> 00:33:47,840
Right? You must have that.

935
00:33:47,940 --> 00:33:49,560
You have to have a landing page.

936
00:33:49,700 --> 00:33:53,400
One page that kind of is a video of view and

937
00:33:53,400 --> 00:33:53,920
slow motion,

938
00:33:54,560 --> 00:33:55,120
creating something.

939
00:33:55,120 --> 00:33:56,960
And it's a button that says,

940
00:33:57,200 --> 00:33:58,560
click here to learn more.

941
00:33:58,570 --> 00:34:01,160
It doesn't have to lead to a list of products.

942
00:34:01,210 --> 00:34:03,480
It can just actually click to your email.

943
00:34:03,480 --> 00:34:04,360
Wanna learn more,

944
00:34:04,530 --> 00:34:05,120
go here.

945
00:34:05,120 --> 00:34:07,720
Those are both really simple starting places.

946
00:34:08,300 --> 00:34:12,840
Now let's say the creator has a bunch of product,

947
00:34:12,840 --> 00:34:13,760
right? There's product.

948
00:34:14,150 --> 00:34:15,400
Have you heard of fair?

949
00:34:15,570 --> 00:34:16,160
Oh yeah.

950
00:34:16,160 --> 00:34:17,080
Open affair account.

951
00:34:17,140 --> 00:34:18,120
Now fair.

952
00:34:18,500 --> 00:34:21,440
The financials affair are whatever they are,

953
00:34:21,500 --> 00:34:23,880
but Which means you'd be going after wholesale,

954
00:34:23,880 --> 00:34:25,280
then not direct to consumer.

955
00:34:25,450 --> 00:34:26,440
If that's your strategy.

956
00:34:26,590 --> 00:34:28,400
Well actually let's back up.

957
00:34:28,710 --> 00:34:33,080
I love wholesale and wholesale is back so wholesale as far

958
00:34:33,080 --> 00:34:35,640
as launching a business is back.

959
00:34:36,530 --> 00:34:39,440
So awareness among other stores.

960
00:34:39,440 --> 00:34:42,680
Other entities I think is important depending on the business,

961
00:34:42,680 --> 00:34:43,080
the pricing,

962
00:34:43,080 --> 00:34:43,720
et cetera,

963
00:34:43,830 --> 00:34:46,880
direct to consumer is getting more and more and more and

964
00:34:46,880 --> 00:34:50,240
more expensive to get customers.

965
00:34:50,240 --> 00:34:54,240
So the C which stands for CAC customer acquisition cost.

966
00:34:54,810 --> 00:35:02,000
So that is why a multi-prong approach is really important.

967
00:35:02,500 --> 00:35:04,080
Now, back to that,

968
00:35:04,080 --> 00:35:08,800
Instagram, I don't know the cohort of this business that's starting,

969
00:35:08,900 --> 00:35:11,240
but I would also recommend that they get on TikTok.

970
00:35:11,470 --> 00:35:14,840
TikTok is the best direct to consumer methodology.

971
00:35:15,630 --> 00:35:16,600
Okay. All,

972
00:35:16,810 --> 00:35:19,560
so those are different things that come to your mind than

973
00:35:19,560 --> 00:35:20,240
come to my mind.

974
00:35:20,530 --> 00:35:24,200
So what do you think about having your accounting system in

975
00:35:24,200 --> 00:35:26,360
place? So you're tracking your sales.

976
00:35:26,890 --> 00:35:29,400
Do you think that's an important starting point?

977
00:35:29,670 --> 00:35:31,800
Well, there's inventory and there's invoicing,

978
00:35:31,800 --> 00:35:34,840
right? And unfortunately in our world there are two separate things

979
00:35:34,840 --> 00:35:35,560
and it's terrible.

980
00:35:35,750 --> 00:35:37,280
It's really awful.

981
00:35:37,920 --> 00:35:40,280
Actually what I would do for someone starting their business,

982
00:35:40,280 --> 00:35:42,880
because Shopify just added wholesale,

983
00:35:42,910 --> 00:35:44,200
open a Shopify account.

984
00:35:44,200 --> 00:35:45,360
You can do your retail day.

985
00:35:45,430 --> 00:35:45,800
I mean,

986
00:35:45,800 --> 00:35:46,400
it's like crazy.

987
00:35:46,470 --> 00:35:48,200
It's the one it grows with you.

988
00:35:48,210 --> 00:35:50,520
So they have your direct to consumer business.

989
00:35:50,520 --> 00:35:52,080
You can add on so many apps,

990
00:35:52,080 --> 00:35:53,800
which getting back to technology,

991
00:35:53,800 --> 00:35:55,080
like easy,

992
00:35:55,110 --> 00:35:56,160
easy peasy.

993
00:35:56,290 --> 00:35:58,200
So you've got the direct to consumer.

994
00:35:58,200 --> 00:35:59,720
They just added wholesale.

995
00:35:59,720 --> 00:36:01,520
Okay. And then through Shopify,

996
00:36:01,520 --> 00:36:02,960
you can actually integrate with,

997
00:36:03,120 --> 00:36:06,480
let's say a fair or you can use the wholesale piece

998
00:36:06,480 --> 00:36:07,320
of Shopify.

999
00:36:07,320 --> 00:36:10,840
If you wanted to in your own hometown target stores and

1000
00:36:10,840 --> 00:36:11,960
say, would you carry my stuff?

1001
00:36:11,960 --> 00:36:12,840
Do you like my stuff?

1002
00:36:12,940 --> 00:36:14,800
And then think about trade shows,

1003
00:36:14,800 --> 00:36:16,760
right? To reach those stores.

1004
00:36:16,840 --> 00:36:20,080
Maybe you could go to trade shows with your product,

1005
00:36:20,220 --> 00:36:21,120
not inventory,

1006
00:36:21,120 --> 00:36:23,480
but like you go with your samples and you reach them

1007
00:36:23,480 --> 00:36:23,920
that way.

1008
00:36:24,130 --> 00:36:25,560
So there are gift shows,

1009
00:36:25,560 --> 00:36:26,000
you know,

1010
00:36:26,000 --> 00:36:27,480
about the gift show right in Atlanta.

1011
00:36:27,480 --> 00:36:27,960
Oh Yeah.

1012
00:36:27,960 --> 00:36:29,840
We actually exhibited some of those shows,

1013
00:36:29,900 --> 00:36:30,360
you know,

1014
00:36:30,360 --> 00:36:31,840
there's gift shows all over the country.

1015
00:36:32,230 --> 00:36:32,960
Gift shows.

1016
00:36:32,960 --> 00:36:33,560
Candy shows.

1017
00:36:33,970 --> 00:36:34,480
Oh yeah.

1018
00:36:34,480 --> 00:36:36,200
The New York now.

1019
00:36:36,200 --> 00:36:36,880
All of 'em.

1020
00:36:36,880 --> 00:36:37,560
Yeah. Yeah.

1021
00:36:37,560 --> 00:36:38,880
One of a kind chose.

1022
00:36:38,880 --> 00:36:39,480
All of those.

1023
00:36:39,480 --> 00:36:40,560
Some are direct to consumer.

1024
00:36:40,560 --> 00:36:41,520
Some are wholesale,

1025
00:36:41,520 --> 00:36:43,440
but I'll tell you the direct to consumer.

1026
00:36:43,440 --> 00:36:47,000
There are a lot of smaller boutique owners who go looking

1027
00:36:47,000 --> 00:36:48,920
for people to place their products.

1028
00:36:48,980 --> 00:36:50,600
And I just thought of this too.

1029
00:36:51,010 --> 00:36:53,840
If you guys go back a couple of episodes back,

1030
00:36:53,920 --> 00:36:55,680
we're talking about stackable,

1031
00:36:55,680 --> 00:36:57,440
which is similar to fair,

1032
00:36:57,440 --> 00:37:01,040
but very much geared to brand new wholesalers.

1033
00:37:01,210 --> 00:37:02,920
So if you're interested in wholesale,

1034
00:37:02,920 --> 00:37:04,560
go back and listen to that one too.

1035
00:37:04,680 --> 00:37:06,120
Stackable, check it out.

1036
00:37:07,280 --> 00:37:11,240
Stackable. S T O C K a B L.

1037
00:37:11,240 --> 00:37:11,960
Okay, great.

1038
00:37:12,270 --> 00:37:16,360
Yeah. And it's very much the starting wholesale person,

1039
00:37:16,360 --> 00:37:17,560
smaller accounts,

1040
00:37:17,560 --> 00:37:17,800
you know,

1041
00:37:17,880 --> 00:37:18,600
if you're just getting started,

1042
00:37:18,600 --> 00:37:19,600
you gotta start somewhere.

1043
00:37:19,610 --> 00:37:21,240
It goes up to bigger people too.

1044
00:37:21,240 --> 00:37:23,280
But another option in addition to fair.

1045
00:37:23,550 --> 00:37:26,040
Okay. And I wanted to get your idea of just a

1046
00:37:26,040 --> 00:37:28,200
few things that you thought should be in place for people

1047
00:37:28,200 --> 00:37:29,080
who are listening,

1048
00:37:29,080 --> 00:37:30,880
who are considering starting their business.

1049
00:37:30,880 --> 00:37:33,000
Like give them a little direction on where you think that

1050
00:37:33,000 --> 00:37:35,840
they should be starting to put in an integrate technology.

1051
00:37:36,350 --> 00:37:39,280
I just always go back to thinking about one person I

1052
00:37:39,280 --> 00:37:41,480
was working with when I went in and started talking with

1053
00:37:41,480 --> 00:37:43,440
her about her business and how everything was going.

1054
00:37:43,660 --> 00:37:47,440
And she was still manually writing down all of her sales.

1055
00:37:47,700 --> 00:37:48,480
And I'm like,

1056
00:37:48,480 --> 00:37:50,680
how are you doing your sales report at the end of

1057
00:37:50,680 --> 00:37:51,040
the month?

1058
00:37:51,140 --> 00:37:53,560
And she was going back to these pieces of paper.

1059
00:37:53,560 --> 00:37:54,120
And I'm like,

1060
00:37:54,170 --> 00:37:55,360
if you get audited,

1061
00:37:55,360 --> 00:37:58,080
you're gonna be in for one load of a headache.

1062
00:37:58,600 --> 00:37:58,840
You know?

1063
00:37:58,840 --> 00:38:00,280
So I remember that.

1064
00:38:00,280 --> 00:38:01,160
And I think,

1065
00:38:01,160 --> 00:38:01,520
you know,

1066
00:38:01,520 --> 00:38:02,560
when you think you're small,

1067
00:38:02,900 --> 00:38:05,160
you don't need all of these things,

1068
00:38:05,540 --> 00:38:09,560
but way easier to get things in place earlier than later,

1069
00:38:10,190 --> 00:38:14,520
I would take that a step further because reconciling sales at

1070
00:38:14,520 --> 00:38:15,120
the end of the month,

1071
00:38:15,120 --> 00:38:16,360
you just look in your bank account.

1072
00:38:16,360 --> 00:38:17,240
That's what people do.

1073
00:38:17,460 --> 00:38:22,120
The issue here is are you investing in the things that

1074
00:38:22,120 --> 00:38:25,160
are selling and growing your business where it should be.

1075
00:38:25,250 --> 00:38:29,280
So the most important documentation and why you need to have

1076
00:38:29,280 --> 00:38:29,800
a system.

1077
00:38:29,800 --> 00:38:30,440
And yeah,

1078
00:38:30,440 --> 00:38:33,160
I feel like people open their eyes and first go,

1079
00:38:33,160 --> 00:38:34,080
let me start a business.

1080
00:38:34,080 --> 00:38:36,600
I'll go on Shopify and then figure out what they wanna

1081
00:38:36,600 --> 00:38:37,440
do. Right?

1082
00:38:37,440 --> 00:38:38,120
They go backwards.

1083
00:38:38,120 --> 00:38:39,240
Yes, absolutely.

1084
00:38:39,350 --> 00:38:40,160
A hundred percent.

1085
00:38:40,450 --> 00:38:44,560
So that's how imperative Shopify is to a smaller business.

1086
00:38:44,560 --> 00:38:45,080
But anyway,

1087
00:38:45,080 --> 00:38:45,640
let's go back.

1088
00:38:45,650 --> 00:38:48,400
So you are on order orders placed,

1089
00:38:48,510 --> 00:38:50,240
okay. Orders received.

1090
00:38:50,240 --> 00:38:52,680
Now, if you're making it still within Shopify,

1091
00:38:52,680 --> 00:38:56,080
you can have the costs involved in orders made,

1092
00:38:56,080 --> 00:38:59,160
let's say makers orders made orders received.

1093
00:38:59,160 --> 00:39:02,240
And then what's sold because you're running around in your business.

1094
00:39:02,240 --> 00:39:02,880
Next thing you know,

1095
00:39:02,880 --> 00:39:04,520
you have like 47 knit,

1096
00:39:04,520 --> 00:39:05,360
blue turtles.

1097
00:39:05,430 --> 00:39:07,560
I don't know like what just happened here.

1098
00:39:07,620 --> 00:39:09,600
You don't have a top line view of your business.

1099
00:39:10,040 --> 00:39:13,480
And that's where small businesses make a huge mistake.

1100
00:39:13,480 --> 00:39:14,800
They think I have money in the bank.

1101
00:39:14,800 --> 00:39:15,880
I don't have money in the bank.

1102
00:39:15,940 --> 00:39:16,520
I'm selling.

1103
00:39:16,540 --> 00:39:17,280
I'm not selling.

1104
00:39:17,390 --> 00:39:18,800
That's too common.

1105
00:39:19,020 --> 00:39:21,160
And then really bad,

1106
00:39:21,670 --> 00:39:25,040
a bad habit that gets hard to break because all of

1107
00:39:25,040 --> 00:39:27,000
that upfront paperwork,

1108
00:39:27,000 --> 00:39:28,000
let's talk about stuff.

1109
00:39:28,000 --> 00:39:30,520
You don't have time for finding new technology and doing the

1110
00:39:30,520 --> 00:39:31,320
upfront paperwork.

1111
00:39:31,390 --> 00:39:35,800
Both of those help you actually thrive and be profitable,

1112
00:39:36,000 --> 00:39:37,440
Saves you time in the long run,

1113
00:39:37,440 --> 00:39:38,360
but not in the short run,

1114
00:39:38,360 --> 00:39:40,080
cuz you have to put it up to get it set

1115
00:39:40,080 --> 00:39:41,320
up. But then once it's set up,

1116
00:39:41,320 --> 00:39:42,160
you're saving time.

1117
00:39:42,160 --> 00:39:43,840
The forever You're saving time,

1118
00:39:43,840 --> 00:39:44,960
but you're making money.

1119
00:39:45,070 --> 00:39:49,280
Okay. So the thing about profitability is not money in the

1120
00:39:49,280 --> 00:39:49,960
bank, right?

1121
00:39:50,070 --> 00:39:55,000
It's actual profit and you need the right record keeping going

1122
00:39:55,190 --> 00:39:58,720
into the business to understand if you're actually making money.

1123
00:39:58,900 --> 00:40:01,840
And that has nothing to do with actual cash flow.

1124
00:40:02,410 --> 00:40:06,200
So the thing about retail selling makers,

1125
00:40:06,310 --> 00:40:10,400
it's like a lot of math and a lot of counting

1126
00:40:10,400 --> 00:40:13,760
that everyone hates because you wanna be a creator and you

1127
00:40:13,760 --> 00:40:17,040
wanna be an artist and you wanna curate your store,

1128
00:40:17,040 --> 00:40:17,640
your line,

1129
00:40:17,640 --> 00:40:18,280
your vibe.

1130
00:40:18,390 --> 00:40:21,800
Well, unfortunately you have to do the other things.

1131
00:40:21,800 --> 00:40:23,640
If you really wanna be profitable.

1132
00:40:23,820 --> 00:40:24,880
Now, if you hate it,

1133
00:40:24,880 --> 00:40:25,560
like I said,

1134
00:40:25,620 --> 00:40:28,720
you find people and things to do stuff that you hate

1135
00:40:28,720 --> 00:40:30,520
doing, but you don't just not do it.

1136
00:40:30,750 --> 00:40:33,960
That's the first thing I took off my desk when I

1137
00:40:33,960 --> 00:40:36,720
started my first business was a bookkeeper.

1138
00:40:36,830 --> 00:40:38,320
Like I can do the numbers,

1139
00:40:38,510 --> 00:40:39,760
I know how to do math.

1140
00:40:39,820 --> 00:40:40,320
You know,

1141
00:40:40,320 --> 00:40:41,800
I had my software that I was using,

1142
00:40:41,860 --> 00:40:43,120
but did I wanna do it?

1143
00:40:43,120 --> 00:40:46,640
And did I wanna do data entry and reconciliation and all

1144
00:40:46,640 --> 00:40:47,360
that? Gosh,

1145
00:40:47,370 --> 00:40:50,200
no. And that sounds so like,

1146
00:40:50,200 --> 00:40:50,520
it's like,

1147
00:40:50,520 --> 00:40:50,880
oh my gosh,

1148
00:40:50,880 --> 00:40:51,600
I'm not ready for that.

1149
00:40:51,600 --> 00:40:52,400
I'm not ready for that.

1150
00:40:52,400 --> 00:40:54,560
But it could be an hour a month.

1151
00:40:54,560 --> 00:40:57,760
Someone has to do if you're just starting out so affordable

1152
00:40:57,760 --> 00:40:58,160
for you.

1153
00:40:58,160 --> 00:40:59,120
And then as you grow,

1154
00:40:59,190 --> 00:41:00,640
then their time grows.

1155
00:41:00,640 --> 00:41:03,360
Right? And that's replicable with lots of different things.

1156
00:41:03,360 --> 00:41:05,560
Some things you wanna keep for yourself and some things,

1157
00:41:05,560 --> 00:41:06,040
you know,

1158
00:41:06,040 --> 00:41:07,360
you wanna hand out as you grow.

1159
00:41:07,690 --> 00:41:08,440
So, okay.

1160
00:41:08,440 --> 00:41:09,560
This has been wonderful.

1161
00:41:09,610 --> 00:41:12,400
We talked a little bit Instagram TikTok.

1162
00:41:12,400 --> 00:41:14,320
Of course we talked about fair.

1163
00:41:14,390 --> 00:41:15,560
I added stackable.

1164
00:41:15,830 --> 00:41:20,040
I love that you are a partner advocate with me with

1165
00:41:20,050 --> 00:41:21,240
Shopify, for sure.

1166
00:41:21,500 --> 00:41:25,400
Are there any other programs that you just by name wanna

1167
00:41:25,400 --> 00:41:28,120
spit out for everybody just for them to think about?

1168
00:41:28,610 --> 00:41:30,000
So for that live selling,

1169
00:41:30,140 --> 00:41:33,800
one of the easier ones for smaller business that they might

1170
00:41:33,800 --> 00:41:35,400
wanna check out is called comment,

1171
00:41:35,710 --> 00:41:39,200
sold one for small business,

1172
00:41:39,380 --> 00:41:42,320
but there are comment sold was kind of the first one,

1173
00:41:42,340 --> 00:41:44,880
but now there are lots and lots and lots and some

1174
00:41:44,880 --> 00:41:45,920
of them are too expensive.

1175
00:41:45,920 --> 00:41:46,760
So they're too big.

1176
00:41:46,760 --> 00:41:47,560
They're like for big,

1177
00:41:47,560 --> 00:41:48,160
big, you know,

1178
00:41:48,160 --> 00:41:49,440
big but comment sold,

1179
00:41:49,620 --> 00:41:51,440
the fees are very affordable.

1180
00:41:51,440 --> 00:41:53,480
Yeah. And that's the one I was mentioning when I was

1181
00:41:53,480 --> 00:41:55,760
talking about that other podcast that I did,

1182
00:41:55,800 --> 00:41:57,600
Vicky uses comment sold.

1183
00:41:57,600 --> 00:42:00,120
So, and she does a live show every single day.

1184
00:42:00,120 --> 00:42:02,640
So you guys could go into her live show and see

1185
00:42:02,640 --> 00:42:05,360
how comment sold works from a customer end,

1186
00:42:05,360 --> 00:42:06,440
super easy there.

1187
00:42:06,550 --> 00:42:07,680
They actually got bought.

1188
00:42:07,930 --> 00:42:09,080
So, oh they Did.

1189
00:42:09,190 --> 00:42:12,360
Yeah. So they just added within the website,

1190
00:42:12,360 --> 00:42:13,360
video selling,

1191
00:42:13,390 --> 00:42:14,880
it's kind of a big technology.

1192
00:42:15,100 --> 00:42:16,760
Ooh, it's for an established,

1193
00:42:16,760 --> 00:42:17,200
you know,

1194
00:42:17,200 --> 00:42:18,960
if you're established website,

1195
00:42:19,260 --> 00:42:22,000
but there's nothing I love more than when you can grow

1196
00:42:22,000 --> 00:42:23,680
into a technology and not like,

1197
00:42:23,680 --> 00:42:25,960
have it work for you now and grow out and find

1198
00:42:25,960 --> 00:42:27,320
new UUG is the worst.

1199
00:42:27,630 --> 00:42:30,480
Like when they span from like small to,

1200
00:42:30,580 --> 00:42:31,120
you know,

1201
00:42:31,390 --> 00:42:32,320
they can help,

1202
00:42:32,480 --> 00:42:34,680
they can actually partner with you as you grow.

1203
00:42:35,070 --> 00:42:35,880
I agree with that.

1204
00:42:35,880 --> 00:42:40,680
Totally. What about some type of a CRM platform?

1205
00:42:40,700 --> 00:42:41,160
You know,

1206
00:42:41,160 --> 00:42:42,720
what do you recommend for people there?

1207
00:42:43,190 --> 00:42:43,640
I mean,

1208
00:42:43,850 --> 00:42:45,720
so let's say they're on Shopify,

1209
00:42:45,720 --> 00:42:47,160
right? I like,

1210
00:42:47,190 --> 00:42:47,600
I mean,

1211
00:42:47,600 --> 00:42:48,720
for someone their size,

1212
00:42:48,830 --> 00:42:50,880
a lot of people use Omni send,

1213
00:42:51,040 --> 00:42:54,240
which is an email system,

1214
00:42:54,580 --> 00:42:58,680
but also can see what I love is segmentation,

1215
00:42:58,680 --> 00:42:59,920
but it has to be simple.

1216
00:43:00,170 --> 00:43:01,360
So in this world,

1217
00:43:01,360 --> 00:43:04,280
maybe there's like a lot of gift givers,

1218
00:43:04,280 --> 00:43:05,880
but then there are a lot of people who wanna buy

1219
00:43:05,880 --> 00:43:06,480
for themselves.

1220
00:43:06,770 --> 00:43:09,840
So you can see when you have people come around every

1221
00:43:09,840 --> 00:43:12,760
like November and then they don't come around any other time

1222
00:43:12,760 --> 00:43:14,680
because they're gonna be a gift giver.

1223
00:43:14,680 --> 00:43:15,840
Right? Yeah.

1224
00:43:15,840 --> 00:43:16,840
So with Omni sender,

1225
00:43:16,840 --> 00:43:20,200
you able to figure out where those purchases are by time

1226
00:43:20,200 --> 00:43:22,840
of the year or are you tagging them based on when

1227
00:43:22,840 --> 00:43:23,480
they're purchasing?

1228
00:43:23,490 --> 00:43:24,640
No, they do it for you.

1229
00:43:24,910 --> 00:43:28,560
Okay. So it's a more advanced level of something like MailChimp,

1230
00:43:28,560 --> 00:43:29,560
it's more advanced.

1231
00:43:29,560 --> 00:43:31,560
It has more features than something like MailChimp.

1232
00:43:31,750 --> 00:43:32,560
It's the same.

1233
00:43:32,790 --> 00:43:37,840
Okay. All of those like CRM email things are commoditized.

1234
00:43:37,910 --> 00:43:39,360
Okay. So what does that mean?

1235
00:43:39,370 --> 00:43:40,400
They're all the same.

1236
00:43:40,650 --> 00:43:45,200
So your choice should come down to what is easier for

1237
00:43:45,200 --> 00:43:48,200
you to use and the cost and their customer service.

1238
00:43:48,200 --> 00:43:49,240
Like if you have problems,

1239
00:43:49,550 --> 00:43:50,240
that's it.

1240
00:43:50,330 --> 00:43:51,720
So MailChimp's just as good.

1241
00:43:52,030 --> 00:43:53,040
Okay. All right.

1242
00:43:53,190 --> 00:43:54,120
Okay. Wonderful.

1243
00:43:54,120 --> 00:43:57,560
Well, I think that's given people a start and for those

1244
00:43:57,560 --> 00:43:58,560
of you who are listening,

1245
00:43:58,560 --> 00:43:59,720
who are like CRM,

1246
00:43:59,720 --> 00:44:00,440
I've got it.

1247
00:44:00,440 --> 00:44:01,960
Bookkeeping. I've got it.

1248
00:44:01,960 --> 00:44:03,000
I'm doing lives.

1249
00:44:03,000 --> 00:44:03,640
I got it.

1250
00:44:03,640 --> 00:44:04,840
I'm on Instagram,

1251
00:44:05,020 --> 00:44:06,320
I'm everything.

1252
00:44:06,320 --> 00:44:08,800
And I'm wholesaling then kudos for you.

1253
00:44:09,670 --> 00:44:11,000
You've got it all covered.

1254
00:44:11,390 --> 00:44:13,280
This has been wonderful.

1255
00:44:13,360 --> 00:44:16,680
Russo. What else would you like to say just in summary

1256
00:44:16,810 --> 00:44:19,880
to our audience and then also what do you offer?

1257
00:44:19,880 --> 00:44:22,320
And if there's something that you think that would be valuable

1258
00:44:22,320 --> 00:44:23,640
for us to know about you,

1259
00:44:23,640 --> 00:44:24,960
where would we go to find more?

1260
00:44:25,330 --> 00:44:26,200
Oh, that's great.

1261
00:44:26,200 --> 00:44:26,960
So first of all,

1262
00:44:27,070 --> 00:44:29,440
I am in the business of advice.

1263
00:44:29,610 --> 00:44:32,040
So anyone can email me and be like,

1264
00:44:32,040 --> 00:44:33,400
Hey, I liked what you said about that.

1265
00:44:33,460 --> 00:44:34,640
Who should I speak to?

1266
00:44:34,780 --> 00:44:38,280
I'm not in this like pay for play gatekeeping world because

1267
00:44:38,280 --> 00:44:40,280
that just I'm in it for the community.

1268
00:44:40,730 --> 00:44:43,600
So anyone can email me if they want to ask specific

1269
00:44:44,000 --> 00:44:49,720
questions. My email is Christine R CC agency.com.

1270
00:44:50,490 --> 00:44:53,320
So there's that I'm prolific on LinkedIn,

1271
00:44:53,320 --> 00:44:56,000
but it's a much for more of a bigger retailer.

1272
00:44:56,810 --> 00:44:58,080
So, but if they want,

1273
00:44:58,080 --> 00:45:01,360
they can look up Christine Russo and get inspired to grow

1274
00:45:01,360 --> 00:45:02,560
really, really big.

1275
00:45:02,560 --> 00:45:05,560
So I can definitely make recommendations.

1276
00:45:06,030 --> 00:45:07,880
And none of it is affiliate links.

1277
00:45:07,880 --> 00:45:11,080
None of it is there's no financial motivation.

1278
00:45:11,540 --> 00:45:14,320
One of the things I would say that in terms of

1279
00:45:14,320 --> 00:45:15,440
tier two level,

1280
00:45:15,440 --> 00:45:19,200
and it sounds like you do have some pretty sophisticated businesses

1281
00:45:19,200 --> 00:45:21,080
and established businesses is yes.

1282
00:45:21,100 --> 00:45:26,120
One of the most overlooked aspects of getting help outside of

1283
00:45:26,120 --> 00:45:30,960
your own amazing skill set is inventory planning.

1284
00:45:31,110 --> 00:45:32,720
Okay. Oh Lord.

1285
00:45:32,730 --> 00:45:34,240
It is the most important thing.

1286
00:45:34,240 --> 00:45:38,440
And nobody wants to really Well because we have inventory of

1287
00:45:38,440 --> 00:45:40,560
the parts that we use in production.

1288
00:45:40,560 --> 00:45:43,320
And then we also have inventory for the pieces that are

1289
00:45:43,320 --> 00:45:43,960
already made.

1290
00:45:44,010 --> 00:45:45,360
So there's a lot there,

1291
00:45:45,400 --> 00:45:47,920
Right? So as I said,

1292
00:45:48,110 --> 00:45:49,800
what I would recommend,

1293
00:45:50,010 --> 00:45:52,960
if you have any interest in getting any kind of support

1294
00:45:52,960 --> 00:45:55,440
there, I do have a resource for you and I can

1295
00:45:55,440 --> 00:45:57,080
put you in touch with them.

1296
00:45:57,080 --> 00:46:01,720
And they work in this exact world now to me,

1297
00:46:01,940 --> 00:46:04,720
the difference between profits and not profits,

1298
00:46:04,720 --> 00:46:06,160
because it's so funny,

1299
00:46:06,160 --> 00:46:08,040
people get to the end of the year and they're like,

1300
00:46:08,190 --> 00:46:09,240
I didn't make any money,

1301
00:46:09,540 --> 00:46:10,760
but I sold so much,

1302
00:46:10,860 --> 00:46:12,080
But I so much,

1303
00:46:12,180 --> 00:46:14,160
how did I not actually make money?

1304
00:46:14,490 --> 00:46:18,360
So if you have a real interest in actual profitability and

1305
00:46:18,360 --> 00:46:20,240
longevity in your business,

1306
00:46:20,470 --> 00:46:22,080
I would really say,

1307
00:46:22,140 --> 00:46:22,840
you know what?

1308
00:46:23,030 --> 00:46:28,640
I think I'm ready to look forward in a real way.

1309
00:46:28,690 --> 00:46:29,320
In other words,

1310
00:46:29,320 --> 00:46:32,920
you're gonna pay to have someone help you look forward and

1311
00:46:32,920 --> 00:46:35,360
you're gonna make enough money that it covers that cost.

1312
00:46:35,620 --> 00:46:38,160
And then some retail makers,

1313
00:46:38,430 --> 00:46:40,280
it's a business of looking backwards.

1314
00:46:40,460 --> 00:46:41,440
Hey, I did this.

1315
00:46:41,440 --> 00:46:42,560
Maybe I'll do this,

1316
00:46:42,700 --> 00:46:44,400
but that's just not enough.

1317
00:46:44,400 --> 00:46:47,800
There's a real science to it that if you partner with

1318
00:46:47,800 --> 00:46:51,240
the right company and people and maybe an app,

1319
00:46:51,240 --> 00:46:53,240
there's a lot of resources out there.

1320
00:46:53,270 --> 00:46:56,600
I personally think the apps are very like to go forward

1321
00:46:56,600 --> 00:46:57,400
and be like,

1322
00:46:57,400 --> 00:46:59,920
I'll just get an inventory planning app Shopify.

1323
00:47:00,130 --> 00:47:01,120
They're very,

1324
00:47:01,510 --> 00:47:03,040
very complicated.

1325
00:47:03,250 --> 00:47:04,920
They've too much information.

1326
00:47:05,130 --> 00:47:06,120
So what do you do?

1327
00:47:06,530 --> 00:47:07,640
So you're talking about the,

1328
00:47:07,640 --> 00:47:09,920
in the inventory arena specifically,

1329
00:47:09,920 --> 00:47:12,120
right? Well inventory and also like,

1330
00:47:12,120 --> 00:47:13,400
okay, as you said,

1331
00:47:13,400 --> 00:47:14,160
component pieces.

1332
00:47:14,320 --> 00:47:16,680
Cause if you're gonna eventually make something,

1333
00:47:16,680 --> 00:47:18,160
you have to back into the inventory.

1334
00:47:18,160 --> 00:47:21,800
Right. But that whole area versus other apps that Shopify has,

1335
00:47:21,800 --> 00:47:23,280
you're just talking about the inventory.

1336
00:47:23,280 --> 00:47:25,800
One is very and more complex,

1337
00:47:26,180 --> 00:47:29,480
Not inventory tracking inventory forecast,

1338
00:47:29,550 --> 00:47:30,640
like what do you do?

1339
00:47:30,960 --> 00:47:33,040
Going forward planning.

1340
00:47:33,910 --> 00:47:34,760
Okay. Gotcha.

1341
00:47:34,940 --> 00:47:35,440
All right.

1342
00:47:35,440 --> 00:47:38,200
And if someone wanted to have that conversation with you,

1343
00:47:38,200 --> 00:47:39,720
then they can email you about that.

1344
00:47:39,880 --> 00:47:41,040
Thank you so much.

1345
00:47:41,040 --> 00:47:42,840
This has been very interesting,

1346
00:47:42,840 --> 00:47:46,320
just a great conversation about what technology can do for your

1347
00:47:46,560 --> 00:47:49,800
business. And hopefully we've put some thoughts in some of our

1348
00:47:49,800 --> 00:47:52,360
listener's minds as to ways that they can improve,

1349
00:47:52,360 --> 00:47:55,000
become more effective and more productive so that they can sell

1350
00:47:55,000 --> 00:47:56,480
more. This was great.

1351
00:47:56,480 --> 00:47:57,280
I love your format.

1352
00:47:57,550 --> 00:47:58,760
I really appreciate it.

1353
00:47:58,760 --> 00:47:59,720
My mom's name is Sue,

1354
00:47:59,770 --> 00:48:01,400
so I happy about that.

1355
00:48:01,600 --> 00:48:03,240
There you thanks again.

1356
00:48:03,580 --> 00:48:04,120
All right.

1357
00:48:04,120 --> 00:48:04,480
Take care.

1358
00:48:07,590 --> 00:48:09,880
Tech is not something to be fearful of,

1359
00:48:10,020 --> 00:48:11,360
but to be embraced,

1360
00:48:11,490 --> 00:48:12,800
to help you expand.

1361
00:48:13,610 --> 00:48:16,440
We covered a lot of ground in the episode today,

1362
00:48:16,790 --> 00:48:19,880
I've listed all the resources we discussed in the show notes.

1363
00:48:19,880 --> 00:48:21,240
So you can access them there.

1364
00:48:21,810 --> 00:48:25,640
If I had to identify the most important takeaway from all

1365
00:48:25,640 --> 00:48:27,680
the things we discussed in this interview,

1366
00:48:28,390 --> 00:48:31,840
it's to take Russo's advice and have a system in place

1367
00:48:31,930 --> 00:48:33,040
to track sales.

1368
00:48:33,880 --> 00:48:37,600
Obviously your business runs off the sales that come in,

1369
00:48:37,910 --> 00:48:40,160
having the knowledge of where they come from,

1370
00:48:40,630 --> 00:48:44,560
ensuring that you have product to fulfill the orders and knowing

1371
00:48:44,560 --> 00:48:49,360
what to double down on because it's producing can mean everything

1372
00:48:49,360 --> 00:48:50,720
to the future of your business.

1373
00:48:51,720 --> 00:48:56,050
Just a quick reminder that I'm looking for motivated handmade product

1374
00:48:56,530 --> 00:48:56,890
business owners,

1375
00:48:57,180 --> 00:48:57,970
to sign up,

1376
00:48:57,970 --> 00:49:00,010
to do a gift biz boost,

1377
00:49:00,250 --> 00:49:02,770
which is a podcast interview for this show.

1378
00:49:03,200 --> 00:49:04,650
During our time together,

1379
00:49:04,720 --> 00:49:09,170
you'll get a free business coaching session from me giving you

1380
00:49:09,250 --> 00:49:12,690
clear action steps that will boost your business growth.

1381
00:49:13,310 --> 00:49:14,170
And of course,

1382
00:49:14,460 --> 00:49:15,730
as a guest on the show,

1383
00:49:15,760 --> 00:49:19,090
you'll be able to promote your business to get more visibility

1384
00:49:19,110 --> 00:49:23,290
too. I'm doing these on a first come first serve basis.

1385
00:49:23,700 --> 00:49:25,690
So head over to gift biz,

1386
00:49:25,690 --> 00:49:31,530
unwrapped.com/boost to sign up for your session today.

1387
00:49:32,120 --> 00:49:33,930
I can't wait to give you a boost.

1388
00:49:36,120 --> 00:49:39,210
I wanna make sure you're familiar with my free Facebook group

1389
00:49:39,210 --> 00:49:41,130
called gift biz breeze.

1390
00:49:41,680 --> 00:49:45,330
It's a place where we all gather and are a community

1391
00:49:45,340 --> 00:49:46,610
to support each other.

1392
00:49:46,960 --> 00:49:49,330
I got a really fun post in there.

1393
00:49:49,330 --> 00:49:50,730
That's my favorite of the week.

1394
00:49:50,850 --> 00:49:53,810
I have to say where I invite all of you to

1395
00:49:53,810 --> 00:49:56,650
share what you're doing to show pictures of your product,

1396
00:49:56,820 --> 00:50:00,250
to show what you're working on for the week to get

1397
00:50:00,530 --> 00:50:03,170
reaction from other people and just for fun,

1398
00:50:03,170 --> 00:50:06,570
because we all get to see the wonderful products that everybody

1399
00:50:06,570 --> 00:50:11,290
in the community is making my favorite post every single week,

1400
00:50:11,460 --> 00:50:12,610
without doubt.

1401
00:50:13,280 --> 00:50:14,330
Wait, what,

1402
00:50:15,120 --> 00:50:16,890
aren't you part of the group already,

1403
00:50:17,620 --> 00:50:21,050
if not make sure to jump over to Facebook and search

1404
00:50:21,050 --> 00:50:24,450
for the group gift biz breeze don't delay.

1405
00:50:24,880 --> 00:50:27,970
Come join us in gift biz breeze today.