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Hi there.

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It's Sue.

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And thanks for joining me for tips and talk day.

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These are bite-sized topics that I pull from community questions and

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things that I'm observing in the world of handmade small business.

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If you'd like to submit a topic,

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DME over on Instagram at gift biz unwrapped,

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before we get into the show today,

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I want to make sure that you know about the newest

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thing happening over here.

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It's called the gift biz bash a zoom party that turns

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into a podcast episode.

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Several weeks later,

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the party consists of a short training with Q and a,

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from yours truly.

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And then an opportunity for you to give a shout out

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about your business.

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You can tell us about a promotion you currently have going

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on or share a collaboration that you're considering so that you

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can find a perfect partner for the event.

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A little bit of learning and visibility for your business.

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What could be better?

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There is a catch though spots are limited to keep the

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party to about 45 minutes or so.

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That means you should grab your spot right away.

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It's totally free to make sure you're included.

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Why not do that right now?

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Pause this episode,

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go to gift biz,

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unwrapped.com forward slash bash to sign up and then come back

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and listen to the show.

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I'll see you at the bash.

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So let me ask you,

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are you putting in way too much energy towards getting people

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to buy in exchange for what you're actually seeing for your

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efforts? I hear this from many of you,

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things like I spend hours every week posting on social.

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It feels like such a waste of time because nobody orders

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or why bother with emails.

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They're so stressful.

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I don't ever know what to say and they don't get

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opened anyway.

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It's just not worth it.

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Or I finally finished my website and I'm really proud of

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it, but I'm not seeing any sales things are just like

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they were before.

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Nothing has changed after all this work.

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If what I've described sounds familiar.

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I want you to consider whether you're trying too hard,

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because there is such a thing as going too far when

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selling what you may actually be doing is pushing past the

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purchase point.

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And that's what's causing the no or low sales that you're

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experiencing demonstrating this kind of random way.

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Think of this when you're making whipped cream,

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what do you do?

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You get out your bowl,

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make sure it's cold.

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Pour in the heavy cream and then whisk it to its

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desired stiffness.

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What happens if you over whip,

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your result is no longer a whipped cream it's butter,

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right? You've worked too hard and gone past the perfect stage

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for you to have whipped cream,

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not a baker.

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Here's another analogy.

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You're on a road trip and it's past time for you

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to stop for gas,

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but not a problem.

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You'll get off at the next exit.

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Then you get into a deep conversation and are so focused

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on talking.

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You miss the exit.

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At this point,

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the longer you drive,

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the further you get away from the exit.

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The next one's too far ahead.

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Your tank is already showing empty.

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The more you keep driving in that same direction,

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the more distance you've created from your desired exit that is

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now behind you,

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that perfect whipped cream stage and the exit to take for

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gas represent your customers.

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There is a point where working too hard or going to

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far results in you missing out.

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Let's apply this now to selling.

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You may contact with a potential customer.

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They become interested.

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You see the possibility of a purchase happening.

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So you put pedal to the metal and fly past the

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point, which could have brought you to the sale.

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Is it possible?

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You're trying so hard to get sales that what you're actually

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doing is pushing them away.

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Perhaps it's time for a new approach to hit the brakes

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on selling so hard and go a different route.

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It certainly can't hurt.

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If what you're doing now,

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isn't producing results.

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Doing more and more of the same is like grinding your

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gears. You end up digging a deeper hole versus making any

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forward progress.

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If you're in this position,

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I bet this is how you're selling your message to potential.

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Customers goes something like this in its very raw sense.

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Listen to me,

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I have this awesome product.

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It's only X dollars.

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Buy it here.

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I know you see this way of product selling done all

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the time at craft shows and social on website.

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Even at networking meetings,

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it's a focus on me,

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my product,

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my price by here's,

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how I'd like you to switch up the narrative.

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The first contact should be more like,

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hi, let's get to know each other.

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After a short time,

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that turns into I've been listening to you.

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I think I have a solution to what you've been looking

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for or the problem you're trying to solve based on your

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product. Of course,

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instead of pushing products on people,

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you're switching to sharing information and offering an opportunity for them

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to own what you sell.

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Honestly, it's pretty egotistical of us to automatically assume that people

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want what we sell within the very first few seconds of

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meeting us.

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There are things to be said and learned first,

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like the basics of your product,

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what's in your soaps.

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That will smooth my skin.

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How is your candle?

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Eco-friendly what sizes,

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colors and flavors are available.

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Also. What makes your product my best choice?

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How are you different from other soap makers convince me that

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your product is special and worth an exchange of my money.

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And then there's the question of trust?

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Who are you as the maker of this product?

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Why did you start your business?

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What can I learn about you?

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That makes me relate to you and want to buy and

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support you?

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These things never happen when you're selling with a here's my

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product, here's the price,

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buy it approach.

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And the more you push that messaging,

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the further you push a sale away,

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if you're feeling guilty because you fall into this category,

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it's okay,

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you know,

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better now.

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And it's never too late to make a change.

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Plus, I know this approach will be much easier and feel

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much more comfortable for you to this type of communication can

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happen in the first encounter and result immediately in a sale,

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or it can happen over a number of customer touches where

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gradually they warm up to the point of purchasing.

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Everyone is different and everyone has different needs at any given

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time. Some sales happen immediately.

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Some will take time to nurture,

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but all sales are worthy of an approach.

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That's friendly,

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creates a relationship with the customer and takes respectfully into account

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their choice of when it's right to buy.

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So how do you do this?

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It's accomplished by making a switch in your messaging from buy,

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buy, buy to entertain,

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inform buy.

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What you want to do is spend time in the relationship

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building stage versus pushing the relationship into decision mode.

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If your potential buyer is ready to go faster,

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they'll be giving you those signals and you can speed up

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with them.

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Let's talk some specifics.

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Here's how this new messaging approach looks in various scenarios at

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craft shows.

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When someone comes into your booth,

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welcome them,

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summarize what your product is and let them know you're available.

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If they have any,

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then let them look around.

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And if they're there for a bit,

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check in on them,

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light and friendly.

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If you've done your job with your display,

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your product already speaks for itself.

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Intuitively you'll know that you can take the conversation beyond specific

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product questions,

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ask about them,

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share something about you,

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create a welcoming experience with your interaction versus a customer buyer,

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exhibitors seller divide.

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Of course,

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these are your roles,

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but when you force it and overly push you lose moving

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on to social media,

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there are many more effective ways to build a relationship here

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than what I see going on out on social instead of

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every post,

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being a picture of your product and a link to where

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to go by and in some personality and stories about your

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business images of you at craft shows behind the scenes of

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your workshop explanations of what it's like to be in business

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for yourself,

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all sorts of posts like this,

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make your brand relatable.

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And if someone's curious,

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they can always click on the links in the social media

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account to learn more.

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Again, I repeat not every single post should be a direct

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product sale.

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What I just described is still related to your business,

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but it's not in your face sales,

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still not sure of ideas or ways to do this.

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I cover it all in detail and give you a whole

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year of options in a program that I created called content

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for makers.

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If you already have it,

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go back and look at it again.

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If you're interested,

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you can check that out@giftbizonwrapped.com

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forward slash content for makers to learn more.

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And now if you have a blog,

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the ideas I just suggested,

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and a lot of the options in the content for maker's

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program can be expanded into a full article.

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The goal here is to cover topics that your customers want

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to know about one powerful result of this besides ramping up

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your SEO of course,

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is that you become perceived as the expert in your field

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articles, like what to look for in a candle that maintains

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a clean home environment,

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the mental health benefits of aroma therapy,

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what your attraction to different sense means about your personality.

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There are so many entertaining,

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educational and interesting topics that can spin off of any product

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that you make.

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And finally,

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let's look at your website,

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oh gosh,

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please delay that popup from appearing until I have a few

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seconds to actually see your site.

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I time it for somewhere between 15 and 20 seconds out,

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let a new visitor learn about you some before you offer

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a first-time discount entry into a sweepstakes or addition to your

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special group,

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which of course would be your email.

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Popups are great,

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but don't throw it in my face,

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right? As soon as I enter your site,

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give me a second before you do that.

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And now that I have a minute to see your site,

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make me feel welcome.

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Talk to me like a real person.

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Don't just give me a rundown of everything that you do.

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This is the place where you can show your potential customer

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that you care and understand them.

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And it's typically where most people get it wrong because all

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they do is talk about their business,

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their product,

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but not what's in it for me after all.

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Isn't your website supposed to be trying to convince me that

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I should buy from you.

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Be sure you balance out your product displays with personality from

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you and a few sentences on the benefits your product provides

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that I'm going to benefit from by having your product,

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the feel and branding with colors and words and images should

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all be aligned.

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Navigation should be easy too.

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And if I want to know more about you,

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do I see exactly where to go to find that?

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And when I do get there,

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do I feel like you're talking to me or is this

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simply a resume of you?

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In essence?

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Do I feel like your website exists to inform and cater

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to my needs?

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Or is it really all about you?

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One way to know if you're doing this is if you're

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using the word I,

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or we throughout the copy of your entire site,

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you should be talking to your customer,

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not talking at them.

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There is so much more to talk about with websites,

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but you get the idea at this point,

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I'm thinking it would be good for me to demonstrate how

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not to oversell.

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I'm suggesting you consider this different approach,

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a more comfortable and inviting way to introduce people to your

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brand. Naturally leading them into a purchase and then building a

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lasting relationship with those who support you after all,

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you don't have a business.

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If you don't have customers attract them to you,

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instead of pushing them away,

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That's a wrap.

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I'm a get to the point kind of girl.

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And this is what you can expect from these quick midweek

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sessions. Now it's your turn go out and fulfill that dream

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of yours.

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Share your handmade products with us.

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We want them and they bring us both so much happiness.