Gift is unwrapped,
episode 395.
When I look at what I've made,
I think,
yeah, that's pretty darn good.
That's gonna sell itself.
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Hi there,
it's Sue and thanks for joining me here.
Today our guest is in what I call the up the
game stage in her business.
This is a stage when you've gotten started,
validated that there's a market for your product.
Put most of the foundational elements in place and are now
ready to take it to the next level.
That includes stepping into the unknown and taking risks,
but in return you learn about what works and what doesn't
in your business.
And this paves the way for growth.
Heidi and I talk about her thoughts of adding a Shopify
website to her online presence.
She's invested already in an Etsy account,
so what should she do about that?
You'll also hear how she prepared for her first wholesale trade
show, what went well,
what she wished she would've done better,
and her thoughts for the future.
Additionally, for those of you who are just getting started,
you'll hear about the very beginning of Heidi's business and what
she's done to get to where she is right now.
She's not that far along that you can't relate,
and we're both hoping this will jumpstart you into action.
Speaking of action,
let's head over to the show Today.
I am so excited to share with you Heidi Wicks of
Bark Beetle niceties.
Heidi is the owner and designer of all the products offered
at Bark Beetle niceties.
She started out with bridal and flower girl accessories and later
began making holiday ornaments.
These ornaments quickly became her best sellers and it's now the
focus of her business.
She also creates kits so that her craftier customers can make
their own.
Heidi says she's the happiest when thinking creative thoughts and using
her hands to make those thoughts into products,
and she's very lucky because this is now her job.
Heidi, welcome to the Gift Biz Unwrapped Podcast.
Thank you.
Thanks for having me.
I love you talking about how it makes you so happy,
cuz it's now your job.
Yes. That's what we strive for,
right? Exactly.
That's what we think when we start a business,
we are thinking,
Oh, life is just gonna be so much happier and so
much nicer now.
And that's reality for you.
So amen to that.
Yes, Thank you.
Let's start off with getting to know you in a creative
way, and that is through a motivational candle.
So if you were to envision what a candle would look
like, that would totally resonate with you.
Describe it to us by a color and possibly a saying
or a quote.
I am more of a kind of wall hanging person,
so that's what I was thinking of.
And I hate to pick a color to be my favorite.
So what I pictured was a lot of flowers and a
lot of variations in color and a lot of variations in
greens. And what just keeps popping into my head while I
work is have faith in your product.
So that would be my motivational phrase.
And what does that mean to you,
have faith in your product?
Well, I know I'm doing good work,
which is a big deal for me to say cause I've
always had imposter syndrome and doubts about my own abilities.
And when I look at what I've made,
I think,
yeah, that's pretty darn good.
That's gonna sell itself.
Well, and it's true.
I mean the quality of your product you and I met
at a craft show,
right, right.
Well it's a craft show,
but it was more of a wholesale show of handmade products.
Right, right.
And I was attracted to your booth right away.
Good cause of the style of your booth,
number one.
So I wanna get into that,
but also the quality of the products that you were showing.
Excellent. Clearly what you're saying in terms of having faith in
the product resonates for sure out to consumers.
Yeah. Did you always feel that way or did you see
it when you looked at the product and then were customers
telling you that too?
Well, when I started out,
I was kind of working at a vacuum.
I started an Etsy store and I was working by myself.
I still work by myself,
but I feel like more and more people have found my
store so I get better feedback and then once I figured
out what was selling best,
that's what I concentrated on,
which is the ornaments.
Right. Let's talk a little bit about the progression of the
business. You started more with a focus on the bridal industry.
Yeah. How did you get the idea of even starting a
business to begin with?
Well, I love being creative,
but I'd have a finished whatever I was working on and
not know what to do with it.
And you can only foist so many things on friends and
family and maybe it's not even their taste.
And also,
I was trying to figure out,
I used to be a dating coach,
which I loved.
I loved my clients.
They were lovely,
but I just kind of didn't believe in it anymore.
I knew I wanted to do something else and I didn't
know what I have this hobby or one,
I have a hobby,
but I don't do it cause I don't know what to
do with the end product.
So then I thought,
well there's Etsy,
maybe I could try that.
And here I am.
So you kind of were just playing around with it a
little bit,
maybe making it a little bit more official by starting a
Etsy shop and then one thing started leading to another.
Yes. Okay.
How was your experience in starting that Etsy shop?
Well, I have to say Etsy made it really easy to
start the shop.
I'm in the process of trying to also be on Shopify.
Good for you.
Yes. Who listens,
knows that?
That's my go-to place.
Excellent. Well good.
Maybe get advice from you on that cuz it's different trying
to start up there than Etsy.
And maybe it's just what I'm used to and then what's
new? Well,
we can talk about that in a second,
but yeah,
so talk about the Etsy shop.
Yeah, so everything you just,
they make it super easy.
It's all very streamlined if you wanna get started.
And I did payments and shipping and everything all through Etsy,
which I would highly recommend for anybody.
I mean,
yeah, you maybe pay a little bit more,
but it saves you time and complication and it just made
it super easy.
And this was all bridal at that point?
Well, bridal in some,
let's see,
I'm trying to think.
So yeah,
so I did like bridal hair accessories and shoe clips and
I have a little bit of that left,
but it's not what sold that well.
Right. Which is how you gravitated more into all of the
ornaments. Yeah.
Cause I was thinking,
okay, it's smart to focus on seasonal stuff,
so holiday.
Okay. Oh I love Christmas ornaments.
And then that's kind of how I started thinking about that.
And then I just thought about growing up,
we had these really gorgeous glass German,
My mom is,
my OPA was from Germany,
so we had all these really beautiful glass ornaments from Germany.
So I just kind of took that as inspiration and then
made felt versions of that.
They're so beautiful.
Oh, thanks.
You all have to go and look at her Etsy shop
and see what we're talking about.
You'll understand it when you see them.
For sure.
How long would you say from the time that you signed
up for a Etsy account till you had your shop up
and running,
how long did that take?
Oh, it took me a while to photograph everything and write
the description for my items.
But other than that it was quick.
That's what I was hoping I would hear you say.
Or those of you who are listening who maybe have always
done face-to-face shows and never had an online presence,
Etsy could be a great place to start.
And you know,
we were just talking Heidi,
about the difference between Etsy and having your own site,
which would be what you would be doing on Shopify.
There is absolutely no problem having both of them up and
running because you're attracting different customers to the different sites.
You might have some things on Etsy that also aren't on
your Shopify site,
but you might have some things just on Shopify that you
would never put on Etsy.
Right. Like they don't have to mimic each other at all.
Okay, that's good to know.
Yeah, It's two different ways of you attracting customers,
having them purchase,
et cetera.
Totally different strategies too.
Of course.
So there's no reason you don't have both.
It's not like it has to be one or the other.
And if you're seeing us through Etsy,
you don't have to replace it.
Just keep going.
Maybe enhance a little bit what you're doing as Etsy changes.
Some of the results kind of change totally your choice,
but you can look at both of them as different channels
for different purposes.
Yeah. And also I feel like I've done a lot of
work getting people to find my Etsy store and why would
I give that up?
Right. Totally agree with you.
Okay, going back again a little bit to just starting your
business. Yeah.
How did you decide on all of those initial things?
Like you already knew what your product was,
but how did you decide on your name?
You and I had a conversation when we met in person
about your branding,
which I really wanna get into.
Step me through what you did first.
Take me back in time.
Well I knew I didn't want to limit myself in what
my product line was gonna be.
So I didn't wanna name that pigeonholed me.
And then I was just sort of,
I would come up with ideas and they were already taken.
So one of my favorites was Pretty Girl Floyd.
Like there was pretty Boy Floyd,
who was that?
Was he a gangster or a boxer?
I can't remember.
But anyway,
somebody already had that.
I think she's a photographer or something.
But anyway,
so I was just sort of throwing things around and I
don't know how I hit on bark beetle,
but then I saw the barking beetle and I thought,
oh my God,
that's it.
That's There it is.
Yeah. Well that's a good lesson on in and of itself
is just because you have a name that you've been attracted
to and you really want,
if it's already taken,
go find something else.
You will fall in love with something else versus,
you know how people will do underscores or pluses or change
and make different spelling of things.
Yeah. That always makes it harder for people to really find
you. Right.
So that was a good move.
Yeah, thank you.
Yeah, and I love how the graphics turned out for it.
Yeah. So first off,
staying with the name,
you added niceties to the end.
Yes. Because on Etsy there was already Bark Beetle.
It's a man,
he's in Ireland and he hasn't done anything for a few
years, but I didn't wanna get into that.
Well if he doesn't do anything,
he needs to give you his name,
he needs to release it,
I'm just saying.
Yeah, Well I do.
I've gotten attached to niceties though.
Well you could have both,
but I like niceties too.
I like that as well.
Then let's talk about the graphic.
How did you go about getting that done?
Well, I have to give a huge shout out to my
good friend Geely Wolf and Big Bad Industries is her.
Yeah. And I've passed her contact information on a couple people
already. Oh good,
good. Yeah,
she is super talented and just a really good person and
kind and fun.
And that's the kind of person I like to work with.
But you know,
I explained to her,
I had this picture in my head at the barking beetles,
so she started out sketching things and then we just found
this clip art that worked.
The beetle itself was just some clip art and then she
did the wolf in the speech bubble and the font she
found, which I just really love cuz I've never seen anything
quite like it.
I mean for the name itself.
So you were inspired by some clip art but then you
made it your own with all the additions and adjustments and
all of that.
Right. Okay.
So have your name,
you have your logo,
you starting an Etsy site.
How are you driving people to the site or what else
were you doing in those early days to get business?
Where we live in Colorado,
I live in Golden and it's in Jefferson County.
And Jefferson County had this a small business well seminar that
you could take workshop and it's sadly,
I think Covid just killed it.
It lost its funding cuz it was taxpayer funded.
So it was really a phenomenal program.
And so that's where I learned a lot of valuable stuff.
You can work with one of their people.
And she kind of coached me on some of this stuff.
But it's hard to drive traffic honestly to Etsy when you
are a small fish in such a huge ocean of other
Etsy stores.
So it was,
you have to be patient.
And it took me a couple of years.
I mean I got my first sale maybe a couple months
into having the Etsy store open and I wish I had
given her a,
the woman who bought she the first purchaser,
she actually wrote me my first review.
Very good.
Yay. Yeah.
And I didn't understand,
you know,
how to like,
oh I could have messaged her and said thank you.
And I didn't learn that until maybe a year later and
I thought,
oh shoot,
I should have done something special for her.
Because once you get one review that really helps you.
And then I'm trying to think like the percentage of people
who give reviews is maybe a quarter of them.
That's pretty good.
Yeah. And maybe even more so.
And actually the first thing I sold,
cause I was trying to flesh out the advice is you
should have a hundred items in your Etsy store so that
you show up better in the searches.
At least this was the advice three years ago.
So I kind of fleshed it out with some craft supplies.
So I had some fabrics that I'd been sitting on for
20 years and trims and things like that.
So one of the first things I sold was fabric.
And this lovely woman wrote a nice review and so I
kind of got the ball rolling.
But it's,
I've taken all the advice about having your tag words and
I have all those filled out and just really trying to
follow best practices for getting your stuff noticed.
But like I said,
it's a huge ocean of people.
So it's taken me a few years to get people,
well I did ask friends to favorite my shop,
you know,
and I did get some advice that I should have friends
purchase things and to me that felt fraudulent.
Like I couldn't bring myself to do that.
So I just slogged it out for a while.
Etsy's definitely changed over the years.
I'm hearing from a lot of people who were very successful
even three,
five years ago on Etsy now having to do much more
to get an order each and every time.
Yeah, I think maybe part of it's the algorithm.
I don't claim to be a netsy specialist.
Yeah. But I have had a number of Etsy experts on
the show.
Yeah. So I've heard from them.
But I know that what you're doing in terms of adding
words in your description,
the title of your products and all of that seems to
be where you'll attract the most people on Etsy these days.
And that's why we're saying like the difference between Etsy and
your Shopify account is when you have a Shopify account that
is your own website and you have to take responsibility for
driving people there.
Right. Yeah.
The cost structures are different,
et cetera.
Etsy's more until someone knows you and wants to come back
and find your shop is way more product driven.
Search. Yeah.
And also I'm leaving out a key bit of information that
I just remembered.
I do,
I advertise.
So I do spend money on Etsy advertising and also Pinterest
seems to work really well for me cuz I advertise on
there. Wonderful.
Yeah. And your pins are driving people to the Etsy shop?
Yes. Perfect.
Yeah, we've also started really talking much more about Pinterest lately,
so I'm glad to hear that,
that your Pinterest ads are working.
Yeah. And I've spent,
I happen to love Pinterest and I think that's important if
you're going to focus on a certain social media because you
can have to spend time on it.
So you better like it.
I have an Instagram account and I had a young guy
working on it for me and he has since moved away
to New York and has a really good job out there.
And so my Instagram is pretty much dormant now because I
don't enjoy it and,
but Pinterest it's,
I guess it's more passive and it's,
I, you know,
I like looking at all the God there's a million things
on there and that's where I get a lot of inspiration
actually for what I do.
But I think,
and it's been hard to try to figure out the best
route on Pinterest algorithm wise.
For a while there I just spent way too much time
on there and I couldn't keep it up.
So you need to listen to some of my podcast on
Pinterest. Ok.
Cause I mean it's a great platform.
The one thing overall,
I'll tell you right now is that your time spent on
Pinterest is an investment also because those pins will keep coming
up. Where with Instagram,
when you put the images and you make a post or
I don't even care,
real whatever you wanna say,
those get lost in the feed over time.
But with interest you're making much more of an investment.
There's a whole bunch to talk about in Pinterest.
I will share with you some of the best episodes to
look at.
I think it's gonna put your mind at ease and and
excite you about that platform again.
Great. And for everyone who's listening very recently,
I did something for all of you,
which is categorized the podcast topics.
That's right.
So if you are looking at any of the social media
sites, if you want to dive into a certain type of
industry as a maker,
like you wanna look at all things that are knitting,
for example,
things like that,
all the podcasts have been categorized and you can go and
see that@giftbizunwrapped.com
slash topics.
Then you can kind of prioritize what shows you wanna listen
to based on what you're working on on your business at
the time.
Heidi, I didn't mean to bring that up,
but there's some great stuff on Pinterest,
so I wanted to just share that too right here.
I'm glad you did.
Yeah. So now you are also approaching wholesale at this point?
Yes. Right.
What types of changes did you need to make or things
did you need add to add on to prepare yourself for
starting to talk to boutiques?
Well, I decided to put together kits like DIY kits.
Oh, was that because of wholesale?
Yeah. You just decided that would be an appropriate product for
wholesale. Okay.
Yeah, I took a huge leap signing up for h and
h America's show because I had nothing,
you know,
I had ready made stuff and that was kind of a
raw material show,
but I figured,
well I think it's a raw material.
So that forced me to,
cuz I've been thinking about it for a while and this
is what I needed.
That's the boost I needed.
Or the panic I should say.
I needed to get me motivated.
But you were there.
That's where I saw you.
So Yeah,
so I did it and that was a huge financial investment
because of all the printing costs for the packaging and then
the print materials just for marketing.
But those will last me a while.
So I feel like okay,
it's that old adage,
you have to spend money to make money and yeah,
so that's what I did.
So how was the receptivity at the show?
Oh my gosh,
I, people loved the packaging and they loved the product,
which is great.
And I was not,
since I'm a newbie,
this is the first show period I've ever done on any
level. So I knew,
I kind of thought of it as,
okay, I'm going to school because I'm not gonna be completely
prepared because I've never done this before.
So I was okay with that and I figured,
you know,
I may not make any sales,
but that's okay.
And I didn't make any sales there cause I was not
prepared to take orders.
I didn't know how to do that.
Oh, interesting.
Okay. So that's part of why I'm gonna do Shopify or
I'm starting to do Shopify.
So that,
from what I understand,
I talked to Melissa from M Creative,
she is that right?
Creative J.
She was also in the Indian Entangled Pavilion and I was
talking to her about how do you take orders here?
And I think she was saying something about she does kind
of a draft invoice and can just kind of digitally send
it to the buyer.
And then that's,
I don't know,
like I said,
I'm not completely into Shopify yet,
so I don't understand all the ins and outs.
Well the great thing that you did was jump in and
do it.
Yeah. And the thing that attracted me again to you was
your booth and the images and the display.
And That's so good to know.
Like, like honestly,
I'll say I might get challenged on this,
but I'm gonna say it anyway.
Your product can be stellar I guess I'll say.
But if the packaging and the way you're presenting it isn't
also in line and looking good and buttoned up and professional
and attractive,
doesn't matter how great your product is because it's not even
gonna get a chance.
I think I'm with you there for sure.
Just knowing how I am.
I really am a sucker for good packaging.
Well and especially if you end up being on a shelf
in a local shop with other people.
Yeah. If yours doesn't look good or it looks cheap or
thrown together,
what does that say about the product that's inside?
It shouldn't,
but it Does.
I think that is how a lot of people are wired.
You buy lots of different things by how it's packaged or
what the labeling looks like.
We just do.
And everything that I saw from you looked very good.
And that's because you had just done it for the show.
Yes. You're set up,
you're ready to go.
Right. Yeah.
And so are you thinking for your Shopify site that you'll
do direct to consumer and wholesale?
Yeah, that's the goal.
So You'll have two different links there,
one for each,
and then people who want to purchase wholesale could then do
it right through that site?
Yes. Are you gonna do H and h again?
I might see you there.
Yeah, I am.
I signed up already.
Yep. Okay,
good. I think I'm gonna exhibit there as well next year.
Oh good.
Yeah. But you know,
you could also go as far as just having,
you know,
your order sheet handwritten if you had to.
I've been at some shows where like the internet's not working
well and so if you're wanting to take orders right on
the floor,
you can't swipe cards or anything like that and you don't
wanna say,
Oh gosh,
we can't do it today.
Go over to my Shopify site and get it done.
Cause you're gonna lose a bunch of those people.
So it's always good to have the paper back up as
well, just in Case.
Yeah. Are you in any wholesale placements right now?
Well, I just got my first one.
Congratulations. Yeah.
And they found me at the show,
but they're here in Denver and it's nice to have like
a personal relationship and then I can just drive my stuff
over there.
It saves them shipping.
So I got my first one there.
I have sent out promotional stuff with sample kits and things
like that to other stores and I need to do more
of that.
I only did five because I've hit my busy season right
now. I had intended to get those out sooner and I
just hit some stumbling blocks cuz I wanted to have the
Shopify going before I,
and now it's,
I shouldn't have waited for that.
I should have just jumped in and sent stuff.
It's okay.
You live,
you live and learn and you can do it.
I mean,
the holiday is approaching,
but one of the things with the holidays,
particularly this year is some local boutiques won't get the things
that they ordered for Christmas.
You know,
the whole supply.
And especially if things are coming from overseas or some vendors
don't have anything.
Yeah. So it's not a bad idea to still approach some
of the local boutiques.
Even if they can't use it for this holiday season,
they're gonna know about you and then you can follow up
for the future.
But they might,
and that could be something that you could even say to
them is in case some of the things that you had
planned to sell in the holidays don't come through because of
the supply chain.
Remember that I'm here,
whatever comes naturally to you.
Yeah. But that is something that I'm already seeing people have
success with because some products are hard to come by.
That's good to know.
There you go.
Yeah. So this was your very first booth at the show?
Yeah. Okay.
And yes,
it was a wholesale show,
but I think we can use some of the things that
you did for either,
whether it's a direct to consumer show or a wholesale show.
How did you go about deciding what you were gonna put
in your booth?
I wanted to pause this discussion for a second to let
you know that I recognize you may be feeling overwhelmed right
now. I mean,
I bring on great guests who are specialists in their fields
and we get into fabulous conversations that you know can help
grow your business.
So after the show,
you have the full intention of grabbing a download,
making an adjustment on your website or any number of other
ideas that arise as a result of this podcast.
But what happens,
you get back to your other activities and the momentum you
once had gets lost.
What you've planned to do is forgotten,
then you feel bad because your business is going on as
usual without implementing anything that you know would help grow your
business. We're just too busy doing all the things like a
robot moving from one thing to another without thinking because we
have to.
I get it,
I've been there.
But guess what?
There is another way.
Since I recognized this exact behavior in my own business,
I set out to do something about it.
And now what works for me,
I'm sharing with you.
I formalized the process and it's called the inspired daily planner.
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First off,
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at your doorstep.
And that's not all included for each day is a motivational
message or business building tip and plenty of space to capture
and book in time for to-dos,
schedule appointments and all those other ideas that are now getting
lost. Think of it as a book and a planner all
in one,
yet compact enough to carry with you and resource as necessary.
It's the perfect solution to truly act and move your business
forward. Go to gift biz unwrapped.com/inspired
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This makes a great gift too.
So if you have a biz bestie,
pick up a planner for them too.
That link again is gift biz unwrap.com/inspired.
Okay, let's get back to the show.
I'm lucky because the kits are all the same size,
so I knew I just needed stuff to hang them on
and be able to lay them out.
I think next year I,
maybe it was a little busy this year,
so maybe I'll try to streamline where the product selection makes
more sense so people can see,
oh, this is what you have and these are the colors
you have in it.
I'm not sure it was all that clear this time around.
We have a local antique mall not too far from us
and I went there and just,
I don't know,
tried to get ideas and things that were,
I, since I drove to Chicago,
I knew I could fit bigger things instead of trying to
ship stuff or just carry everything on a plane.
But I knew it needed to fold.
That was my jumping off point.
And it's kind of fun to go in and you've got
these parameters that you need to fit into,
not just the booth size but also the logistics of getting
it there.
And then also what colors will be fun but not detract
from your product.
I find if I have kind of borders around something I
can, it helps me be creative.
Yeah. So I feel like I was lucky in my fines
and I didn't have to spend a whole lot of money
that the thing that I spent money on was folding screens
and the ones that I got were from Target and they
weren't that expensive.
You saw me while you were talking,
I was looking on my phone.
Yeah, Yeah.
I was pulling up the show.
Oh yeah.
So that I could remind myself of what you did.
Yeah. The thing that I really liked about your booth that
I think attracted me in,
in addition to the uniformity that you had,
cuz you're talking about how your products were all the same
size, so it made it a little bit easier is your
ornaments have a lot of color to them.
Not overwhelming color,
but solid color and design.
And you didn't compete with the background stuff.
Like the screens that you have were all neutral.
Right. And so you allowed your product really to pop.
Yeah. Oh good.
So I was successful because that was my goal.
Yeah, no,
it looks great.
And that was because you got inspiration when you were going
out and looking at some of the other shows or other
shops and just seeing how they were displaying things?
No, I,
Is this your own genius Heidi?
I don't know if I'd go that far,
but it was,
I think I had already found the screens first.
So I knew the wood color would have to all be
the same,
otherwise it was just gonna look busy.
So then I found those crates,
they're like,
one of 'em is like a Pepsi crate.
One of 'em my husband had,
it's like a fruit crate.
I'm looking at 'em right now.
Yes. So those are all the same wood tone.
And then I found that kind of pink metal folding tray.
So I thought,
okay, that's gonna be my one color.
I didn't want too many colors cuz then that was gonna
again be busy.
And then that magazine rack,
that's the white thing with all the,
Like if you wanted to put brochures or things like that.
I know you know this,
but I'm gonna tell everybody else the texture of the metal
of that rack is almost the same imprint design as in
the tray.
I know.
So It almost looks like it came together intentionally.
Yeah. I couldn't believe that.
I couldn't believe my luck.
So that was a happy accident for sure.
And where were you finding all these items?
An antique mall.
Okay. So there were different vendor booths.
Yeah. So those were two different vendors that had those.
It looks great.
And what about,
let's talk about the bird house.
Oh, the bird cage.
I forgot about that.
Yes. Yeah,
so there's that red,
that pink red again.
I just thought,
oh my god,
I love that.
And I thought it would be fun to hang some of
the samples in there of the finished product.
Yeah. Very creative.
Very pretty.
And honestly,
I mean you don't have a ton of product in the
booth, but you don't need to cuz you're selling wholesale,
you know,
it's different stories you're selling to the consumer cuz they're gonna
wanna buy it right then and there.
Yeah. So you have to have it available.
You don't have to to have it all displayed,
but you laid out the booth very nicely where it doesn't
look sparse.
But if you were to really count up all the products,
there's enough.
But there's not too much.
But there's also not too little.
So the balance was beautiful.
Oh good.
And again,
that's what made me come up and wanna talk with you
and learn more about your story.
And all of that was the display,
which just goes to prove how important that is for attracting
People. Yeah.
What did you learn at this show in terms of working
the booth?
Something to help out people who are listening who are maybe
gonna attend the,
their very first show this holiday season.
Yeah. Well I originally had a friend who was going to
come with me.
And for me personally,
I think it was a good thing that she couldn't make
it cuz it forced me to be very social.
And advice I got a long time ago from somebody who
I knew who was in marketing.
He helped me with my date coaching business with the logo
and all that stuff.
And he said,
You're selling yourself too.
So, and I think that's true with this business because I'll
have a relationship with the stores that I sell to or
the customers.
Like I love that,
the personal relationship,
whatever little bits you can have through Etsy with the customers.
That's one of my favorite things.
You know,
I think you are,
as a maker and the designer and the developer of your
products, you do wanna talk with customers and your wholesale account,
they need to know who you Are.
Yes. And so being there by myself,
I had to,
you know,
show up.
The only thing is,
is it made it hard to leave the booth to look
around or Go to the restroom.
Yeah. Small things like that.
And then you gotta eat at some point.
So bring snacks,
bring your own water.
Even though they may have it at the show that you
can buy,
it's nice to have it right there so you don't have
to leave.
But it is worthwhile to get up and connect with the
other exhibitors too.
Yeah, for sure.
Yeah. Cuz it,
it's so nice,
This is one of the first in person shows to come
up after the pandemic.
So it was really nice to be in person with lots
of people who felt the same way.
Like they're all happy to see each other and Yeah.
And this was the first h and h show in America
too. So that was fun.
Everyone, you know,
there were a lot of people who were brand new to
the show in and of itself.
Right. So that was perfect for a newbie like me.
Cuz I think that helped too,
that, well I'm not the only one who's doing this one
for the first time anyway.
Right, right.
Yeah. Yeah.
So being there,
being able to connect and talk with people,
so important.
I think it's a good idea.
Especially if it's a selling show where you're actually purchasing,
swiping cards,
packaging up product and giving it Yeah.
To have somebody else there with you because then you can
be talking to someone,
someone else can be finishing through a sale.
Right. Cause once someone's ready to buy,
they're ready to buy and get moving on.
Right. Yeah.
But the point point you bring up is you want to
as much as you can,
especially when obviously when there are people at the booth,
not just be talking to each other,
but be talking to the customers.
Right, Right.
Also, it was a very small booth.
Well I had one chair,
so if there were two of us,
we'd have to split time.
Someone could be out in the aisle though saying hi.
That's true.
Being on the other side and just chatting with people.
Yeah. And then another thing I'll just gleam from what we
were talking about before,
if you're actually selling at the show,
Perfect. Your checkout system,
whatever it's gonna be.
How you're gonna run a card or to what I was
talking about earlier,
if wifi goes down,
have an alternate method so you don't lose those sales.
Yeah. But all your brochures looked great,
you know,
like all you know,
your cards,
the brochures,
everything was spot on.
Yeah. Good.
And that,
Thank you Geely.
Yeah. She's awesome.
Yeah. And now that's done.
Now that's ready to go.
Yeah. Yeah.
Anything else you can think of about the show?
So I did kind of take the temperature from attendees and
exhibitors both to see what they thought of the show.
And I'm glad I did that right there at the show.
And the overwhelming response was,
this is a great show,
we're coming back.
So that's how I knew I wanted to do it again.
Yeah. So you're hearing from people who are experienced with shows
already, just not that show.
Yeah. And usually if you sign up for a show when
you're already at the show,
there's some type of a discount for your booth space.
So it's always worth taking advantage of that if you can.
Yeah. Yeah.
How about transporting the items?
So you drove from Colorado.
Yeah. How about anything with that in terms of setup and
getting to the show and all that?
Well next time I will bring a dolly and you can
hire people to help you move stuff.
If you've got really big stuff,
I think it might be worth the investment to do that.
I would also recommend if you can drive,
because things get lost.
I was next door to,
to somebody who,
they flew in from Canada and their stuff never arrived the
whole time they were there for the show.
They had some that they had carried on with them.
But I mean,
things can happen.
Well and crossing the border is always a challenge.
The recent product across all different borders.
And at that disconnect between country to country,
your tracking gets more difficult.
And this does not surprise me at all.
Yeah. Unfortunately.
Yeah, In in country it's not so bad.
Like if you have a couple of big boxes and you
just wanna have 'em shipped out just cuz it's easier,
that wouldn't be so bad But Right.
Yeah. Cause they do have that you can drop ship stuff.
Yeah, yeah,
Yeah. But since my booth was so simple,
I didn't need to do that.
It's very portable and very simple.
Yeah. I have a booth that's in one of those big
massive crates.
Oh yeah.
So, you know,
I have to do all the drayage and all of that
type of thing.
But I also have a smaller sized booth that I can
take with me,
just like what we're talking about.
You know,
So I'm flexible.
It depends where we're going.
Yeah. Which one I take.
Right. Yeah.
That's good to know.
Yeah. Yeah.
You can do different things based on,
you know,
your situation.
Of course.
Yeah. So we already know that you're looking to get into
more wholesale accounts.
What else are you seeing as you project into the future?
We're gonna do some manifesting for You.
Oh, excellent.
Well, okay.
My pie in the sky goal is to get into anthropology.
I don't know if that'll ever happen.
I mean that they're notoriously difficult to get into.
From what I've learned over the past couple years,
just I have not attempted it because I don't feel ready
for that by any means.
So there is growth in my future for sure.
So I need to figure out when to hire somebody.
I don't think I'm there yet.
I don't know how to hire somebody,
you know,
I don't know how to be an employer,
but it's something,
I mean,
I've started reading things about that and I know it's something
I can figure out.
And then at some point I want to do something to
help out women who have maybe had a hard time of
it and have some kind of program to help them get
in the workforce or get back in the workforce.
So I don't know exactly what that's gonna look like,
but that's always been in the back of my mind that
someday I want to help out in some way and not
just, I don't want this just to be a money making
venture. I mean that's great,
but I also wanna put some of that money into other
things. Yeah.
Community related things.
We've done some episodes about that too,
in terms of businesses that have an ulterior purpose.
Aha, great Motivational purpose,
you know,
whatever. And you know,
it all starts out with the idea and the intent.
You have to know what you're trying to do and then
it reveals itself over time because you've already got it in
your mind that that's what you wanna do.
Yeah. Right.
And we're doing that actually right now because there are people
who are listening who make things and are thinking,
wanna monetize it.
I love what I'm doing.
And to your point in the beginning,
I've made so many,
now what do I do with them?
Just put 'em behind and just look at them.
You know,
what do I do with them?
Yeah. So you're already helping people by just being on the
show and telling your story with the things that you wish
you would've done differently.
That's why I kind of go through the step by step
so that people can see,
okay, well I'm right where Heidi was at this point and
here's what she did next.
Yeah. Different product perhaps,
but they can make that transition over for their own situation.
Right. So you are already doing it,
Heidi. You didn't even know it.
Excellent. And I have to say,
I wish I had known about this podcast before I started.
Well thank you for that.
And a lot of the things that we've touched on there
have been episodes about,
so you may wanna go back and look in some of
the stream about some of those.
I think they could be really helpful.
Yeah, I will definitely do that.
Wonderful. Well speak to the listener who is just starting out.
What words of inspiration or motivation would you have for them?
Hmm. Going back to the beginning,
have faith in your product.
If you know you have a good thing and you know,
you'll know if it's good or if it needs work.
And be honest with yourself.
Cuz that's helpful if you're honest with yourself.
Sometimes if I just put something to the side and think,
ugh. And then I look at it later,
I'm like,
Oh, you know,
that's, that's actually pretty good.
Or I look at it and go,
Okay, okay,
that's what I need to change.
Or I need to just give up on that.
Yeah. So have faith in yourself and your instincts.
But also if you can find a community of fellow makers.
I have been having a hard time,
like none of my friends do this and I've been finding
people here and there.
But I think,
like I said in the beginning,
creating in a vacuum,
I need feedback anyway to know if I'm on the right
path. Or even just I'm self taught and you know,
Thank you YouTube for a lot of what I've learned.
It's a great resource.
Yeah. Seriously.
So even just to have people who have skills that you
don't have that you can learn from.
I wish I could have had somebody who's really savvy in
business at some point I need to find that person still,
cuz that's not my thing.
Well we've got that all for you.
Right in is unwrap.
Excellent. Okay.
You're my person.
And we have the ready made community already.
Yeah. Oh that's true.
Yeah. Come join us in our Facebook group gift Bi Breeze.
Okay. There are,
gosh, I think we're 5,000
strong at this point,
maybe more.
Oh wow.
Okay. Of all handmade creators.
And people share what they're doing.
We talk about what the focus is for a week.
You can ask questions if you have questions about anything,
you can jump in there and ask whatever you want.
So there's your community for free right at your fingertips.
Excellent. And here's where I have to confess.
I am not on Facebook.
Oh Yeah.
I mean,
I have a a cursory presence,
but I don't know anything about Facebook.
Well, you know,
we have a lot of people in the group who have
felt the same way.
They have a Facebook account with their profile,
but they never go on their personal profile,
but they come in the breeze.
Okay. You know,
so if you have an account,
just search gift bi Breeze,
ask to join,
then you're not looking at the wall,
you're not getting all this other stuff.
You don't care about that part.
Oh good.
Okay. Just Come in the breeze and chat with us there.
I think you'd love it There.
Okay, excellent.
If you'd like.
And of course the offer's open to everyone who's listening.
You know,
at the end of the show I talk about the breeze.
So when we're all done,
you'll hear a little promo about it and you'll hear my
favorite post of the week every week.
So I'm gonna leave you in suspense cuz I want you
to listen to it.
If you haven't joined the breeze yet,
make sure to jump in a hundred percent free.
Fabulous women there.
Absolutely fabulous women.
So Heidi,
thank you so much.
I know you were a little hesitant to come on.
Yeah, I didn't die.
No. And you know,
I like to get people at all stages of the journey.
People who are just starting,
people who have started paving the path,
which is what you're doing.
And then also those people that we aspire to that are
successful. And then we learn that they also have their challenges.
You know,
I mean,
things don't change.
There never gets to be a point where everything's buttoned up.
You know,
a hundred percent what you're doing.
You're always striving to do something different.
More situations change,
all of that.
So we're here to lift up each other.
And you've done a wonderful job of helping,
you know,
people who are just starting out think of what could be
and maybe will even prompt some people to get their businesses
started. Wouldn't that be great?
Yes. Yeah.
Well, again,
thank you so very much for coming on today and sharing
your story.
Well, it was a real pleasure.
Thank you so much for having me.
Just to reiterate the answer to the title of this episode,
there is no reason why you can't have multiple streams of
revenue from your online efforts.
Yes, you can have a website that you 100% own in
control through a platform like Shopify.
And you can be on Etsy.
You can also have a presence on Amazon Handmade or sell
through one of the many social media platforms.
Apart from being consistent in branding,
one channel doesn't have to promote the same products as another.
These should be chosen based on the customers that you attract
from the different platforms.
Makes a lot of sense when you consider it this way,
doesn't it?
If you're enjoying the podcast and would like to show support,
a rating and review is always fabulous because it helps get
the show seen by more makers.
It's a great way to pay it forward.
And there's another way where you can get something tangible in
return for your support too.
Visit my merch shop for a wide variety of inspirational items
like mugs,
journals, water bottles,
and more featuring logos,
images, and quotes to inspire you throughout your day.
Makes a great gift too.
And we've just added some new products for the season to
the shop.
Turnaround is quick and the quality is top notch.
Nothing but the best for you.
Take a look at all the options@giftbizunwrapped.com
slash shop.
All proceeds from these purchases helps go to offset the cost
of producing the show.
And now be safe and well.
And I'll see you again next time on the Gift Biz
Unwrapped podcast.
I wanna make sure you're familiar with my free Facebook group
called Give Msre.
It's a place where we all gather and are a community
to support each other.
I got a really fun post in there that's my favorite
of the week,
I have to say,
where I invite all of you to share what you're doing
to show pictures of your product,
to show what you're working on for the week,
to get reaction from other people.
And just for fun,
because we all get to see the wonderful products that everybody
in the community is making.
My favorite post every single week.
Without doubt.
Wait, what?
Aren't you part of the group already?
If not,
make sure to jump over to Facebook and search for the
group gift.
Bre don't delay.
Come join us in Gift Bree today.