1
00:00:00,150 --> 00:00:05,550
You're listening to gift biz unwrapped episode 192 This is it.

2
00:00:05,590 --> 00:00:07,380
This is my light bulb moment.

3
00:00:07,380 --> 00:00:09,420
I'm going to see if I can figure this out.

4
00:00:10,600 --> 00:00:11,830
Attention gifters,

5
00:00:11,830 --> 00:00:16,540
bakers, crafters and makers pursuing your dream can be fun whether

6
00:00:16,540 --> 00:00:20,170
you have an established business or looking to start one now

7
00:00:20,380 --> 00:00:22,390
you are in the right place.

8
00:00:22,630 --> 00:00:25,000
This is gift to biz unwrapped,

9
00:00:25,210 --> 00:00:28,840
helping you turn your skill into a flourishing business.

10
00:00:29,140 --> 00:00:32,680
Join us for an episode packed full of invaluable guidance,

11
00:00:32,800 --> 00:00:36,820
resources and the support you need to grow your gift biz.

12
00:00:37,060 --> 00:00:39,550
Here is your host gift biz gal,

13
00:00:39,700 --> 00:00:40,900
Sue moon Heights.

14
00:00:41,650 --> 00:00:42,190
Hi there,

15
00:00:42,310 --> 00:00:44,850
it's Sue And thank you for spending a little bit of

16
00:00:44,850 --> 00:00:45,960
time with me today.

17
00:00:46,250 --> 00:00:48,290
If you're listening to this right as it's going live,

18
00:00:48,320 --> 00:00:50,720
we are in the midst of the holiday scurry.

19
00:00:50,810 --> 00:00:51,890
There's shopping,

20
00:00:51,890 --> 00:00:54,260
there's planning and there's parties.

21
00:00:54,590 --> 00:00:56,360
Oh, so much fun.

22
00:00:56,760 --> 00:00:59,880
It's also the last week to promote your product in my

23
00:00:59,880 --> 00:01:02,820
free Facebook group called gift biz breeze.

24
00:01:03,040 --> 00:01:06,630
We have a holiday product showcase over there where you can

25
00:01:06,720 --> 00:01:09,900
join the group and promote what you have going for the

26
00:01:09,900 --> 00:01:13,710
holidays. I love this concept because all of us can support

27
00:01:13,710 --> 00:01:16,400
each other and at the same time do some little check

28
00:01:16,400 --> 00:01:18,680
marks off of our holiday gift list.

29
00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:20,580
If you aren't part of the group already,

30
00:01:20,760 --> 00:01:24,300
just jump over to gift biz breeze.com

31
00:01:24,560 --> 00:01:28,340
ask to join and I welcome you in with a big

32
00:01:28,370 --> 00:01:31,090
holiday hug and without further ado,

33
00:01:31,300 --> 00:01:32,530
let's get into the show.

34
00:01:37,930 --> 00:01:42,070
My guest today is Mina<inaudible> of the product boss.

35
00:01:42,400 --> 00:01:46,210
Mina is one busy woman owning two separate businesses.

36
00:01:46,570 --> 00:01:50,770
She's the owner of little labels which are writeable waterproof labels

37
00:01:50,800 --> 00:01:54,710
for baby items for daycare and is also an Amazon best

38
00:01:54,710 --> 00:01:58,250
seller. She's the co owner and cohost of the product boss

39
00:01:58,250 --> 00:01:59,810
podcast and coaches,

40
00:01:59,840 --> 00:02:04,070
product based business owners how to grow their businesses and connect

41
00:02:04,070 --> 00:02:07,250
with other product entrepreneurs through masterminds.

42
00:02:07,680 --> 00:02:08,790
She lives in Iowa,

43
00:02:08,940 --> 00:02:11,990
is the mom of two little girls and loves living her

44
00:02:11,990 --> 00:02:14,390
mission as mom and CEO.

45
00:02:14,790 --> 00:02:16,980
Welcome to the gift biz unrepped podcast.

46
00:02:16,980 --> 00:02:18,230
MENA, Thanks you.

47
00:02:18,250 --> 00:02:19,360
I'm so happy to be here.

48
00:02:19,630 --> 00:02:22,870
It's going to be such a fun conversation because from one

49
00:02:22,870 --> 00:02:24,640
product based person to another.

50
00:02:24,640 --> 00:02:27,100
So I'm really excited to dive in.

51
00:02:27,330 --> 00:02:28,410
But before we do,

52
00:02:28,500 --> 00:02:30,510
I like our listeners to get to know you in a

53
00:02:30,510 --> 00:02:33,120
little bit of a different way and that is through a

54
00:02:33,120 --> 00:02:34,440
motivational candle.

55
00:02:34,660 --> 00:02:37,750
So if you were to help us envision what type of

56
00:02:37,750 --> 00:02:39,280
a candle describes you,

57
00:02:39,280 --> 00:02:41,950
Mina, what color would it be and what would be the

58
00:02:41,950 --> 00:02:42,970
quote on your candle?

59
00:02:43,410 --> 00:02:46,260
It would be a really simple white candle,

60
00:02:46,410 --> 00:02:46,710
but the,

61
00:02:46,740 --> 00:02:49,320
I really took it from a quote that I absolutely love.

62
00:02:49,320 --> 00:02:51,480
It used to actually be on my Instagram bio,

63
00:02:51,480 --> 00:02:52,240
my personal one,

64
00:02:52,360 --> 00:02:53,260
and it is,

65
00:02:53,260 --> 00:02:55,450
don't be afraid to go out on a limb.

66
00:02:55,570 --> 00:02:56,980
That's where the fruit is.

67
00:02:57,220 --> 00:03:00,220
So I feel like my candle be kind of a fruity,

68
00:03:00,220 --> 00:03:01,150
citrusy scent,

69
00:03:01,420 --> 00:03:04,330
but a white candle and then maybe some like floral back

70
00:03:04,330 --> 00:03:07,090
notes. Kind of like Clinique happy if you've ever smelled that

71
00:03:07,090 --> 00:03:09,310
perfume. I used to wear that back when I left my

72
00:03:09,310 --> 00:03:10,330
house to work,

73
00:03:10,360 --> 00:03:14,020
but no longer because I'm here in sweat pants every single

74
00:03:14,020 --> 00:03:14,320
day now.

75
00:03:14,380 --> 00:03:15,550
I used to wear that too.

76
00:03:15,550 --> 00:03:17,260
My sister actually used to give it to me for my

77
00:03:17,260 --> 00:03:19,180
birthday. Isn't it wonderful?

78
00:03:19,510 --> 00:03:20,860
Yeah, it really is.

79
00:03:21,610 --> 00:03:23,500
And so the fruit on the end of the branch,

80
00:03:23,500 --> 00:03:24,880
and so what does that mean to you?

81
00:03:25,130 --> 00:03:27,530
It's just all the things that you really long for your

82
00:03:27,530 --> 00:03:29,030
own idea of success,

83
00:03:29,190 --> 00:03:31,500
whether that's in motherhood or in business,

84
00:03:31,770 --> 00:03:33,270
but you have to go out on a limb.

85
00:03:33,300 --> 00:03:34,080
That's the thing.

86
00:03:34,110 --> 00:03:36,840
If you want to reach the fruit of whatever you want

87
00:03:36,840 --> 00:03:37,230
it to be,

88
00:03:37,230 --> 00:03:39,690
but you can't just close the world off,

89
00:03:39,720 --> 00:03:40,140
I guess.

90
00:03:40,140 --> 00:03:41,100
And that's the hardest part.

91
00:03:41,100 --> 00:03:42,090
Putting yourself out there,

92
00:03:42,480 --> 00:03:43,380
Putting yourself out there.

93
00:03:43,380 --> 00:03:45,480
And I think to continue with your analogy,

94
00:03:45,510 --> 00:03:46,560
going out on a limb,

95
00:03:46,560 --> 00:03:48,360
when you go further and further out,

96
00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:50,820
that limb gets a little less stable.

97
00:03:50,960 --> 00:03:53,890
Yeah. But then you're reaching and you're going for your goal,

98
00:03:53,890 --> 00:03:56,470
so you have to go through that time of instability,

99
00:03:56,470 --> 00:03:56,830
I guess,

100
00:03:56,830 --> 00:03:57,490
if you will.

101
00:03:57,690 --> 00:04:01,370
Yeah. It's a risk out there That it is.

102
00:04:01,980 --> 00:04:02,970
Well, talk to me.

103
00:04:02,970 --> 00:04:03,660
I'm really,

104
00:04:03,660 --> 00:04:06,780
really interested in hearing about little labels and how that all

105
00:04:06,780 --> 00:04:09,510
developed. So share with us a little bit about that and

106
00:04:09,510 --> 00:04:12,120
the journey there and then we'll get into the product boss.

107
00:04:12,500 --> 00:04:15,050
So I'm going to keep it really shorter.

108
00:04:15,050 --> 00:04:16,880
It's such a long story.

109
00:04:17,970 --> 00:04:19,440
Chapter titles or something.

110
00:04:19,440 --> 00:04:19,800
I don't know.

111
00:04:19,850 --> 00:04:24,320
Yes, so it started about three years ago and I have

112
00:04:24,320 --> 00:04:27,980
been an entrepreneur since 2004 so a very long time.

113
00:04:28,190 --> 00:04:30,890
And I did graphic design for those years and I used

114
00:04:30,890 --> 00:04:34,060
to work out of agencies and doing corporate graphic design.

115
00:04:34,070 --> 00:04:37,770
So I have big clients like banks and real estate management

116
00:04:37,770 --> 00:04:38,850
companies and things like that.

117
00:04:38,850 --> 00:04:41,460
And I would do their newsletters and annual report.

118
00:04:41,460 --> 00:04:42,510
So I was doing that for,

119
00:04:42,660 --> 00:04:43,170
at that time,

120
00:04:43,170 --> 00:04:46,340
12 years and I was really burnt out.

121
00:04:46,340 --> 00:04:48,530
So I'll doing all the creative work at night.

122
00:04:48,590 --> 00:04:49,940
I just,

123
00:04:50,360 --> 00:04:51,800
I didn't want to do it anymore.

124
00:04:51,800 --> 00:04:53,850
So my daughter at that time was five,

125
00:04:53,850 --> 00:04:56,900
but I was pregnant with my second daughter at the time.

126
00:04:56,900 --> 00:05:00,620
I already knew who she was or what gender she was.

127
00:05:00,830 --> 00:05:02,690
So I knew I was going to have another little girl

128
00:05:02,910 --> 00:05:03,720
and I knew,

129
00:05:03,810 --> 00:05:05,550
Oh well I guess I was assuming they would be very

130
00:05:05,550 --> 00:05:06,540
similar pregnancies.

131
00:05:06,540 --> 00:05:10,590
So I was just tired all the time and I gained

132
00:05:10,620 --> 00:05:13,220
50 pounds for each birth and just a lot.

133
00:05:13,450 --> 00:05:13,990
And I thought,

134
00:05:13,990 --> 00:05:14,650
you know what,

135
00:05:14,680 --> 00:05:17,800
I need to step away from doing graphic design because it

136
00:05:17,800 --> 00:05:19,930
is just too much for me and I want to do

137
00:05:19,930 --> 00:05:20,530
something else.

138
00:05:20,530 --> 00:05:24,520
So all along being in in a entrepreneur for forever,

139
00:05:24,550 --> 00:05:27,010
I knew I wanted to come up with a product and

140
00:05:27,010 --> 00:05:30,250
so that's kind of how little labels came about was I

141
00:05:30,250 --> 00:05:32,980
had decided if I walked through my day,

142
00:05:33,010 --> 00:05:34,540
what problems could I solve?

143
00:05:34,940 --> 00:05:38,030
And so a little labels was born out of me getting

144
00:05:38,030 --> 00:05:42,840
my second daughter ready for daycare and needing waterproof labels for

145
00:05:42,840 --> 00:05:45,240
her baby bottles cause I had to label every single one

146
00:05:45,490 --> 00:05:47,710
and then also date them and everything like that.

147
00:05:47,740 --> 00:05:50,350
And I did not want to do it with masking tape,

148
00:05:50,350 --> 00:05:51,520
which is what I did last time.

149
00:05:51,520 --> 00:05:52,660
And I went onto Amazon,

150
00:05:52,690 --> 00:05:53,560
my favorite site,

151
00:05:53,790 --> 00:05:56,720
and there was nothing that was just really simple labels.

152
00:05:57,000 --> 00:05:58,650
I didn't want to order custom ones.

153
00:05:58,710 --> 00:05:59,790
So I thought,

154
00:05:59,790 --> 00:06:00,390
you know what?

155
00:06:00,420 --> 00:06:01,170
This is it.

156
00:06:01,200 --> 00:06:03,000
This is my light bulb moment.

157
00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:05,100
I'm going to see if I can figure this out.

158
00:06:05,400 --> 00:06:09,390
And so having had the background of commercial printing from those

159
00:06:09,390 --> 00:06:10,410
annual reports,

160
00:06:10,440 --> 00:06:12,030
I started from there.

161
00:06:12,290 --> 00:06:13,550
Actually when I did that in your reports,

162
00:06:13,550 --> 00:06:16,730
I would manage all the manufacturing of those annual reports too.

163
00:06:16,730 --> 00:06:19,100
So it was like I knew the printing process,

164
00:06:19,100 --> 00:06:20,930
I knew the project management,

165
00:06:20,930 --> 00:06:22,250
end of manufacturing,

166
00:06:22,250 --> 00:06:23,540
something start to finish.

167
00:06:23,800 --> 00:06:28,120
And so I started with that knowledge of kind of manufacturing

168
00:06:28,120 --> 00:06:31,690
in a printing setting and then started figuring out the process

169
00:06:31,690 --> 00:06:33,880
because I knew that there was some way it could be

170
00:06:33,880 --> 00:06:34,960
done in my head,

171
00:06:34,990 --> 00:06:37,810
it was the version of an extreme label.

172
00:06:37,900 --> 00:06:39,670
So it would go in a bottle,

173
00:06:39,790 --> 00:06:41,890
but it would be able to go through a dishwasher and

174
00:06:41,890 --> 00:06:43,540
it would be able to go through a microwave and it

175
00:06:43,540 --> 00:06:45,400
would be able to go through steamer,

176
00:06:45,520 --> 00:06:46,360
any of those things.

177
00:06:46,360 --> 00:06:49,390
So that's kind of where I started in my adventure of

178
00:06:49,390 --> 00:06:50,110
low labels.

179
00:06:50,390 --> 00:06:53,300
I love that story and it almost sounds like we set

180
00:06:53,300 --> 00:06:55,160
it up this way and we really didn't.

181
00:06:55,790 --> 00:06:57,980
But the reason I love this so much is I talk

182
00:06:57,980 --> 00:06:59,360
a lot with our listeners,

183
00:06:59,360 --> 00:07:02,540
Mina, about if you're in a nine to five while you're

184
00:07:02,540 --> 00:07:03,830
listening to this podcast,

185
00:07:03,830 --> 00:07:06,290
but you have the interest in doing something different,

186
00:07:06,350 --> 00:07:07,190
maybe you know,

187
00:07:07,190 --> 00:07:10,550
whatever type of art or craft or anything that you have

188
00:07:10,550 --> 00:07:13,640
that you're looking at monetizing and turning into a business for

189
00:07:13,640 --> 00:07:16,880
yourself, the time that you're spending in your nine to five,

190
00:07:16,880 --> 00:07:17,840
whatever it is,

191
00:07:17,870 --> 00:07:21,410
could be really advantageous to the development of what you're looking

192
00:07:21,410 --> 00:07:22,400
at doing next.

193
00:07:22,430 --> 00:07:25,130
So you're talking about you knew production,

194
00:07:25,130 --> 00:07:26,480
you had resources,

195
00:07:26,510 --> 00:07:28,280
all of that from the graphics end.

196
00:07:28,520 --> 00:07:28,880
And look,

197
00:07:28,880 --> 00:07:32,090
you were able to apply it and probably move so much

198
00:07:32,120 --> 00:07:34,640
faster to get little labels up and going.

199
00:07:34,790 --> 00:07:37,250
And maybe it was the key to being able to figure

200
00:07:37,250 --> 00:07:38,810
out how to produce it in the first place.

201
00:07:38,810 --> 00:07:41,930
But the point being you're taking your nine to five a

202
00:07:41,930 --> 00:07:44,630
paid job when you're working for someone else and you're able

203
00:07:44,630 --> 00:07:47,900
to use that as a booster to get you into something

204
00:07:47,930 --> 00:07:48,800
for yourself.

205
00:07:49,140 --> 00:07:50,250
Yeah, for sure,

206
00:07:50,280 --> 00:07:52,740
and I felt like I understood the problem because I was

207
00:07:52,740 --> 00:07:54,330
serving one of my own needs,

208
00:07:54,780 --> 00:07:58,260
so when you initially know you're meeting your own problems,

209
00:07:58,260 --> 00:08:00,000
you understand that that's a problem.

210
00:08:00,030 --> 00:08:01,050
Instead of someone being like,

211
00:08:01,050 --> 00:08:03,240
Hey, you know what you should create and it's a lot

212
00:08:03,240 --> 00:08:05,130
harder to tap into the,

213
00:08:05,190 --> 00:08:05,940
Hey, you know what?

214
00:08:05,940 --> 00:08:08,520
I think you should create type of mentality because people will

215
00:08:08,520 --> 00:08:10,740
get that a lot because they're looking for a product and

216
00:08:10,740 --> 00:08:13,050
then other people will naturally give them ideas,

217
00:08:13,320 --> 00:08:16,050
but it has to STEM from something that you can solve

218
00:08:16,050 --> 00:08:19,680
for yourself in a way because otherwise you don't identify with

219
00:08:19,770 --> 00:08:21,210
the solution as well.

220
00:08:21,450 --> 00:08:24,300
Can you share just a little bit without going into all

221
00:08:24,300 --> 00:08:25,080
the details,

222
00:08:25,440 --> 00:08:27,690
how long did it take you from when you had the

223
00:08:27,690 --> 00:08:31,440
idea and you started getting samples and maybe testing and doing

224
00:08:31,440 --> 00:08:31,920
all of that?

225
00:08:31,920 --> 00:08:34,530
How long from when there was that idea to when you

226
00:08:34,530 --> 00:08:36,090
actually had a product on the market?

227
00:08:36,420 --> 00:08:39,860
Probably five months and that's extremely fast in my mind,

228
00:08:40,130 --> 00:08:42,110
but I had a baby that was going to come out

229
00:08:42,110 --> 00:08:42,350
of me.

230
00:08:42,770 --> 00:08:46,700
I knew at a deadline I did and so I knew

231
00:08:46,700 --> 00:08:50,720
that by the time that she needed to go to daycare,

232
00:08:50,720 --> 00:08:53,150
I wanted to have something that I could actually be like,

233
00:08:53,150 --> 00:08:55,190
Hey, this is actually something we produce,

234
00:08:55,200 --> 00:08:56,430
which I didn't end up actually doing.

235
00:08:56,430 --> 00:08:57,870
I didn't present it to her daycare,

236
00:08:58,110 --> 00:09:00,180
but in my mind at that time I thought,

237
00:09:00,240 --> 00:09:00,660
Oh my gosh,

238
00:09:00,690 --> 00:09:03,180
this is brilliant and this is falling right into the right

239
00:09:03,180 --> 00:09:04,420
timing. Got it.

240
00:09:04,450 --> 00:09:07,730
Perfect all and so let's continue on with the story because

241
00:09:07,730 --> 00:09:09,410
I want to get into some of the other things we

242
00:09:09,410 --> 00:09:11,540
said we were going to chat about with our listeners here

243
00:09:11,540 --> 00:09:16,450
today. When does the product boss enter into scheme of things

244
00:09:16,450 --> 00:09:18,030
here? Not until much,

245
00:09:18,030 --> 00:09:18,660
much later.

246
00:09:18,660 --> 00:09:20,910
So fast forward a little bit.

247
00:09:20,940 --> 00:09:22,500
When my daughter was four months old,

248
00:09:22,500 --> 00:09:26,910
she had open heart surgery and so I did not do

249
00:09:26,910 --> 00:09:28,050
anything with the business.

250
00:09:28,050 --> 00:09:29,940
I kind of just let it sit there.

251
00:09:30,200 --> 00:09:32,420
But it was already at Amazon at that time.

252
00:09:32,680 --> 00:09:35,350
And so the month before I had put it into Amazon

253
00:09:35,600 --> 00:09:38,240
and then a month later we were living at the hospital

254
00:09:38,240 --> 00:09:40,670
for another month and this is how life happens.

255
00:09:40,670 --> 00:09:42,680
Right. And then four more months.

256
00:09:42,710 --> 00:09:44,210
I just didn't do anything with it.

257
00:09:44,240 --> 00:09:47,060
Well, when I decided to come back to looking at my

258
00:09:47,060 --> 00:09:49,040
listing, cause I would peek in there every once in a

259
00:09:49,040 --> 00:09:51,200
while when I wasn't with my daughter.

260
00:09:51,450 --> 00:09:53,130
It was just sustaining itself.

261
00:09:53,380 --> 00:09:56,020
So all that leg work that I had done in the

262
00:09:56,020 --> 00:09:59,590
beginning about figuring out Amazon and figuring out fulfillment and shipping

263
00:09:59,590 --> 00:10:02,350
on that end was being utilized in that time that I

264
00:10:02,350 --> 00:10:03,550
wasn't spending on the business.

265
00:10:03,770 --> 00:10:07,280
So by the time that my daughter healed and it was

266
00:10:07,280 --> 00:10:08,210
super fast,

267
00:10:08,270 --> 00:10:10,340
she was back to normal and like,

268
00:10:10,400 --> 00:10:10,790
I don't know,

269
00:10:10,790 --> 00:10:12,140
like a month I would say.

270
00:10:12,360 --> 00:10:15,120
I appreciate you sharing that because of course that was a

271
00:10:15,120 --> 00:10:16,440
question on all of our minds.

272
00:10:16,610 --> 00:10:17,300
How is she?

273
00:10:17,550 --> 00:10:19,860
She's perfect and she never has to go into heart surgery

274
00:10:19,860 --> 00:10:24,180
again. She's like this miracle little wild child of mine and

275
00:10:24,240 --> 00:10:27,480
now she's really big and crazy and wild.

276
00:10:28,600 --> 00:10:30,970
Okay. And then that let me focus on the business too.

277
00:10:30,970 --> 00:10:33,400
Once she got into her normal routine,

278
00:10:33,630 --> 00:10:35,970
it took me a long while to get into being,

279
00:10:35,970 --> 00:10:37,470
feeling normal to like,

280
00:10:37,470 --> 00:10:40,140
there's so many mindset issues at the very beginning of being

281
00:10:40,140 --> 00:10:40,920
an entrepreneur,

282
00:10:41,170 --> 00:10:43,900
but add onto that being a scared mom.

283
00:10:44,100 --> 00:10:47,680
Right. And it was like debilitating for me for a long

284
00:10:47,680 --> 00:10:51,080
while. Plus I have anxiety tendencies,

285
00:10:51,080 --> 00:10:52,880
so I was anxious all the time.

286
00:10:53,020 --> 00:10:56,140
And so then once I got over that I started reaching

287
00:10:56,140 --> 00:10:57,520
out to people to have coffee chats.

288
00:10:57,520 --> 00:10:59,950
And this might've been at the beginning of how coffee chats

289
00:10:59,950 --> 00:11:02,770
happened on the online world because I feel like I was

290
00:11:02,770 --> 00:11:03,550
there and I was like,

291
00:11:03,610 --> 00:11:04,300
people would say,

292
00:11:04,300 --> 00:11:05,980
Hey, you have a really cool product.

293
00:11:05,980 --> 00:11:07,060
You want to do a coffee chat?

294
00:11:07,060 --> 00:11:09,580
And we'd hop on and we talk about our businesses.

295
00:11:09,780 --> 00:11:13,140
So it was even before the term coffee chat was coined

296
00:11:13,140 --> 00:11:13,680
in a way.

297
00:11:13,950 --> 00:11:18,960
And then I met my now cohost and biz bestie and

298
00:11:18,960 --> 00:11:19,830
business partner,

299
00:11:19,830 --> 00:11:22,080
Jacqueline Snyder on one of those coffee chats.

300
00:11:22,080 --> 00:11:24,330
And it was probably a year after I had even started

301
00:11:24,330 --> 00:11:25,110
putting myself out there.

302
00:11:25,350 --> 00:11:26,700
And then it was actually her idea,

303
00:11:26,730 --> 00:11:27,810
just start the product's boss.

304
00:11:28,060 --> 00:11:31,810
She owns her own consulting business for fashion apparel brands and

305
00:11:31,810 --> 00:11:32,830
she helps them launch.

306
00:11:33,060 --> 00:11:37,080
And I had all this knowledge of the retail online platforms

307
00:11:37,080 --> 00:11:40,630
of Amazon and Walmart and jet and various platforms.

308
00:11:40,990 --> 00:11:42,130
And we thought,

309
00:11:42,130 --> 00:11:46,510
Hey, this is a really cool combination because we would have

310
00:11:46,630 --> 00:11:50,500
the most fun and crazy and wonderful conversations,

311
00:11:50,500 --> 00:11:51,310
just the two of us.

312
00:11:51,560 --> 00:11:55,560
And she had the idea of starting masterminds and I initially

313
00:11:55,560 --> 00:11:59,610
said no because I had just stopped working with clients in

314
00:11:59,610 --> 00:12:00,390
the graphic design,

315
00:12:00,390 --> 00:12:00,600
you know,

316
00:12:00,630 --> 00:12:01,620
just the year previous.

317
00:12:01,620 --> 00:12:02,250
And I thought,

318
00:12:02,370 --> 00:12:04,140
I really don't want to work with clients again.

319
00:12:04,140 --> 00:12:06,150
And so we did a beta group,

320
00:12:06,180 --> 00:12:09,200
she convinced me to do a beta group and we said,

321
00:12:09,200 --> 00:12:10,200
Hey, would you like to,

322
00:12:10,200 --> 00:12:12,630
to have some coaching from us for this beta round?

323
00:12:12,630 --> 00:12:14,250
And we had a whole bunch of people sign up.

324
00:12:14,280 --> 00:12:16,140
And then I found out that I really,

325
00:12:16,140 --> 00:12:20,640
really loved it and that it actually helped me in gathering

326
00:12:20,640 --> 00:12:23,250
my information and then figuring out what my tasks that I

327
00:12:23,280 --> 00:12:25,290
needed to do for my own business because I was coaching

328
00:12:25,290 --> 00:12:27,360
other people in how to break things down.

329
00:12:27,560 --> 00:12:29,480
And then we started the podcast a couple of months after

330
00:12:29,480 --> 00:12:32,120
that and the rest is pretty much history from there.

331
00:12:33,270 --> 00:12:35,880
You make a perfect duo in those of you who haven't

332
00:12:35,880 --> 00:12:39,300
listened, you definitely want to listen to the product boss.

333
00:12:39,570 --> 00:12:41,370
Tell me if this is accurate to say.

334
00:12:41,370 --> 00:12:42,960
I think for our listeners,

335
00:12:43,130 --> 00:12:45,770
everyone here is a maker of some sort.

336
00:12:45,880 --> 00:12:49,310
So they have a tangible product and one of the challenges

337
00:12:49,400 --> 00:12:53,870
always is you can only grow so much if you're a

338
00:12:53,870 --> 00:12:57,470
one person business because you only have so much time.

339
00:12:57,500 --> 00:12:58,940
The more business you get,

340
00:12:58,940 --> 00:13:00,890
the more work you've just made for yourself.

341
00:13:01,080 --> 00:13:04,290
So at some point you need to either bring in more

342
00:13:04,290 --> 00:13:05,700
people to make the designs,

343
00:13:05,730 --> 00:13:06,660
have a factory,

344
00:13:06,660 --> 00:13:08,160
start making it for you.

345
00:13:08,450 --> 00:13:10,670
Somehow your business has to change.

346
00:13:10,910 --> 00:13:14,030
So that's a lot of what you guys are doing on

347
00:13:14,030 --> 00:13:14,870
the product boss,

348
00:13:14,870 --> 00:13:17,690
right? I mean obviously with different elements.

349
00:13:17,690 --> 00:13:20,600
You know like Jacqueline is more women's apparel,

350
00:13:20,910 --> 00:13:24,720
but you're teaching people how to grow past just making their

351
00:13:24,720 --> 00:13:25,950
own product themselves.

352
00:13:26,250 --> 00:13:30,090
Right. I would say most of our listeners are manufactured products,

353
00:13:30,090 --> 00:13:32,190
but we do have handmade ones too,

354
00:13:32,440 --> 00:13:36,610
so they listen because I think there's a lot that applies

355
00:13:36,610 --> 00:13:38,140
to just all product people.

356
00:13:38,140 --> 00:13:41,950
Whereas there are so many service based tips and advice and

357
00:13:41,950 --> 00:13:45,970
content out there that it's not so product oriented,

358
00:13:46,220 --> 00:13:47,840
so I think it fits all product people.

359
00:13:48,090 --> 00:13:49,860
Jacqueline specializes in startups,

360
00:13:49,860 --> 00:13:51,330
so if you're launching something,

361
00:13:51,330 --> 00:13:51,990
she's great.

362
00:13:52,220 --> 00:13:54,770
I like to say I'm more comfortable with growth because I

363
00:13:54,770 --> 00:13:57,020
love having data and then saying,

364
00:13:57,050 --> 00:13:59,870
here's what I think you should do because in the coaching

365
00:13:59,870 --> 00:14:00,830
of the product boss,

366
00:14:00,830 --> 00:14:03,530
we don't actually have a lot of apparel and fashion lines.

367
00:14:03,810 --> 00:14:06,690
She does that on her other business designer consulting co-op.

368
00:14:07,120 --> 00:14:07,570
Got it.

369
00:14:07,780 --> 00:14:10,750
Okay. What are you seeing are some of the biggest challenges

370
00:14:10,750 --> 00:14:14,310
people are coming with hot tea topics for masterminds or just

371
00:14:14,340 --> 00:14:15,900
overall challenges?

372
00:14:16,270 --> 00:14:20,410
It differs for startup and for growth and for expansion or

373
00:14:20,410 --> 00:14:23,950
scale. So for startup I would say it's almost always mindset

374
00:14:23,950 --> 00:14:26,030
stuff. It's like that self doubt,

375
00:14:26,030 --> 00:14:29,140
that feeling like you're burning time and money and then also

376
00:14:29,140 --> 00:14:30,910
just knowing what your options are.

377
00:14:30,910 --> 00:14:33,130
You don't know where to go and where to turn for

378
00:14:33,130 --> 00:14:35,770
growth. A lot of it is how do you make more

379
00:14:35,770 --> 00:14:37,820
money, how do you make more sales?

380
00:14:37,910 --> 00:14:40,670
And then we help a lot of people with visibility and

381
00:14:40,670 --> 00:14:41,810
what they should do for that.

382
00:14:41,810 --> 00:14:43,000
And then for expansion,

383
00:14:43,130 --> 00:14:47,840
it's the hiring and figuring out the processes of scaling from

384
00:14:47,840 --> 00:14:50,360
there. So I think they're all different in our masterminds.

385
00:14:50,360 --> 00:14:53,630
We have separate because of how deep we can go in

386
00:14:53,630 --> 00:14:56,540
every single one of those topics with everybody because it's,

387
00:14:56,570 --> 00:14:57,530
it gets really hard,

388
00:14:57,560 --> 00:14:59,390
especially if you're trying to do it alone.

389
00:14:59,670 --> 00:15:01,260
One of the things that we talked about,

390
00:15:01,470 --> 00:15:06,330
certain tips that you can use for specific seasons selling objectives.

391
00:15:06,360 --> 00:15:07,830
Do you want to talk about that a little bit?

392
00:15:08,100 --> 00:15:11,400
Yeah, I think that the tips that I'll go over is

393
00:15:11,610 --> 00:15:14,400
there's more like for how to scale a handmade business.

394
00:15:14,430 --> 00:15:18,390
And you can definitely do that seasonally for making sure that

395
00:15:18,480 --> 00:15:20,790
like in a service based business it's like if your content

396
00:15:20,790 --> 00:15:21,330
is relevant,

397
00:15:21,330 --> 00:15:24,450
right? So then in the products way version of saying that

398
00:15:24,450 --> 00:15:27,570
it'd be if your product is really scalable in that timing

399
00:15:27,570 --> 00:15:28,330
and in that season.

400
00:15:28,580 --> 00:15:30,410
And so for instance,

401
00:15:30,680 --> 00:15:33,920
if I were to scale little labels in the winter time

402
00:15:33,920 --> 00:15:36,470
and then during Christmas season or if I would try to,

403
00:15:36,470 --> 00:15:39,260
let's say I started putting my money towards Facebook ads and

404
00:15:39,260 --> 00:15:40,850
everything during Christmas,

405
00:15:40,910 --> 00:15:43,790
it would be far less effective than if I waited till

406
00:15:43,790 --> 00:15:45,560
summer months where it's my busy month.

407
00:15:45,820 --> 00:15:49,840
So you're pushing the busier seasons versus trying to outweigh the

408
00:15:49,860 --> 00:15:52,090
slow months of being busy all the time.

409
00:15:52,090 --> 00:15:54,370
So you're just okay with a slow month and you just

410
00:15:54,370 --> 00:15:55,360
push the busier months,

411
00:15:55,360 --> 00:15:56,200
if that makes sense.

412
00:15:56,430 --> 00:15:57,420
So you would say,

413
00:15:57,420 --> 00:15:58,770
I think this is an obvious yes,

414
00:15:58,770 --> 00:16:02,820
but you weight your strategy so that you're presenting your product

415
00:16:02,820 --> 00:16:04,680
during the time when people need it most.

416
00:16:04,880 --> 00:16:06,830
You're presenting your best strategies.

417
00:16:07,070 --> 00:16:10,770
So let's say your handmade and you have knitted hats instead

418
00:16:10,770 --> 00:16:14,490
of trying to freak out in July when no hats are

419
00:16:14,490 --> 00:16:18,150
selling, you try to just sell more in the winter months.

420
00:16:18,370 --> 00:16:20,260
During this whole months you're putting together the hats.

421
00:16:20,290 --> 00:16:23,460
This is your making season and then during the busy season

422
00:16:23,460 --> 00:16:24,600
when it's winter time,

423
00:16:24,630 --> 00:16:27,350
that's when you have products that you cross sell to.

424
00:16:27,520 --> 00:16:28,180
In other words,

425
00:16:28,180 --> 00:16:31,350
you would upsell or down sell or cross sell and then

426
00:16:31,350 --> 00:16:35,100
you would try to make your transaction bigger instead of trying

427
00:16:35,100 --> 00:16:38,580
to rely on units sold being the same all the time.

428
00:16:38,930 --> 00:16:43,100
So you're just trying to grow the revenue and the margin

429
00:16:43,160 --> 00:16:46,190
rather than the unit sold at a consistent rate.

430
00:16:46,450 --> 00:16:49,660
It's a good point and something to consider for everybody who

431
00:16:49,660 --> 00:16:53,350
has a seasonal type product because I do think that people

432
00:16:53,350 --> 00:16:56,200
freak out a little bit if come the summer months to

433
00:16:56,200 --> 00:16:58,270
stick with what you're talking about with knitting,

434
00:16:58,300 --> 00:16:59,680
their sales are all down.

435
00:16:59,890 --> 00:17:03,040
It's obvious people aren't needing the hats and the knitted booties

436
00:17:03,220 --> 00:17:05,680
necessarily. Maybe you will because of air conditioning,

437
00:17:05,900 --> 00:17:07,430
but things are going to slow down.

438
00:17:07,460 --> 00:17:12,170
So the thought of taking a calendar and really thinking strategically

439
00:17:12,170 --> 00:17:14,570
based on whatever product you have,

440
00:17:14,660 --> 00:17:17,000
if it's only one or your product mix,

441
00:17:17,250 --> 00:17:19,050
where are the heavier months?

442
00:17:19,080 --> 00:17:22,290
And then I like what you're talking about is planning that

443
00:17:22,290 --> 00:17:25,380
those summer months are the time that you're making the product.

444
00:17:25,380 --> 00:17:26,460
So you're all ready,

445
00:17:26,670 --> 00:17:29,220
you're primed for the craft show you're going to go to

446
00:17:29,220 --> 00:17:31,770
or the heavy months when you're really going to be selling

447
00:17:31,770 --> 00:17:33,240
heavy on at T or Amazon,

448
00:17:33,270 --> 00:17:34,020
things like that.

449
00:17:34,360 --> 00:17:35,200
Yeah, for sure.

450
00:17:35,200 --> 00:17:38,200
And a lot of our products that we work with are

451
00:17:38,200 --> 00:17:40,240
not obviously seasonal.

452
00:17:40,440 --> 00:17:43,830
It's like lactation cookies and certain things that aren't,

453
00:17:43,890 --> 00:17:46,050
like I gave a bad example with it being a hat,

454
00:17:46,080 --> 00:17:47,970
but they don't have clear seasons.

455
00:17:48,220 --> 00:17:50,920
But you do of have to pick a season for yourself.

456
00:17:51,140 --> 00:17:54,320
So you can't be in launch mode all the time.

457
00:17:54,500 --> 00:17:57,350
It's far more effective to just pick months where you're going

458
00:17:57,350 --> 00:18:00,020
to be launching better deals and better transactions.

459
00:18:00,020 --> 00:18:03,540
So in those months you're testing and then you can use

460
00:18:03,540 --> 00:18:05,220
that to grow your business.

461
00:18:05,220 --> 00:18:06,810
So instead of coming out with,

462
00:18:06,810 --> 00:18:09,090
let's say like a new product for instance,

463
00:18:09,120 --> 00:18:11,880
we often coach people to take their best seller and come

464
00:18:11,880 --> 00:18:14,100
out with a variation of that best seller.

465
00:18:14,340 --> 00:18:16,110
If it was a handmade good,

466
00:18:16,110 --> 00:18:19,200
you would be coming out with a bundled version of that.

467
00:18:19,380 --> 00:18:20,910
If it's lactation cookies,

468
00:18:20,910 --> 00:18:21,510
it would be,

469
00:18:21,570 --> 00:18:21,900
you know,

470
00:18:21,900 --> 00:18:23,340
a two pack of lactation cookies.

471
00:18:23,340 --> 00:18:26,790
It's very simple versus a whole new product that has a

472
00:18:26,790 --> 00:18:28,410
whole new strategy behind it,

473
00:18:28,470 --> 00:18:29,100
if that makes sense.

474
00:18:29,120 --> 00:18:30,260
So it does make sense.

475
00:18:30,260 --> 00:18:33,080
So you're using the down months for testing to perfect.

476
00:18:33,080 --> 00:18:34,490
It might be price points,

477
00:18:34,490 --> 00:18:35,480
it might be the combo.

478
00:18:35,480 --> 00:18:36,530
It's like you're talking about,

479
00:18:36,530 --> 00:18:39,830
it might be a product enhancement off of whatever your core

480
00:18:39,830 --> 00:18:40,730
product is.

481
00:18:40,970 --> 00:18:44,090
So you're testing all of that so that you're ready when

482
00:18:44,090 --> 00:18:47,090
your heavy season starts to launch it based on the learnings

483
00:18:47,090 --> 00:18:47,750
that you've had.

484
00:18:47,840 --> 00:18:48,410
Is that right?

485
00:18:48,530 --> 00:18:51,200
Yeah. So then you can scale in your busy months.

486
00:18:51,430 --> 00:18:53,170
So during those times,

487
00:18:53,200 --> 00:18:53,770
let's say,

488
00:18:53,830 --> 00:18:55,750
I'll just give a few examples of what you should be

489
00:18:55,750 --> 00:18:56,830
doing in your slow months.

490
00:18:56,860 --> 00:18:58,870
You should be testing out different strategies.

491
00:18:59,080 --> 00:19:01,180
That's where you're figuring out in your soul months,

492
00:19:01,210 --> 00:19:02,830
Hey, these products are still selling.

493
00:19:03,080 --> 00:19:05,810
Those are going to go on my all-star list for when

494
00:19:05,840 --> 00:19:07,670
I'm actually deep into promotion.

495
00:19:07,670 --> 00:19:10,300
So these are when I'm in my busy month and then

496
00:19:10,360 --> 00:19:11,800
this is the price point I'm at.

497
00:19:12,020 --> 00:19:12,830
During those slow months,

498
00:19:12,830 --> 00:19:13,640
you could actually,

499
00:19:13,670 --> 00:19:14,900
since your handmade,

500
00:19:15,060 --> 00:19:16,890
you have the limit of your own time.

501
00:19:17,120 --> 00:19:19,640
You could actually be getting a backlog of a waiting list.

502
00:19:19,820 --> 00:19:23,330
So when you're able to launch in your busy months with,

503
00:19:23,360 --> 00:19:26,060
Hey, we came out with this version or this variation,

504
00:19:26,090 --> 00:19:27,320
then you're able to sell more,

505
00:19:27,320 --> 00:19:30,980
like three times more rather than one exiting rather than keeping

506
00:19:30,980 --> 00:19:31,760
it consistent.

507
00:19:31,990 --> 00:19:35,080
And then you also test out where can I scale instead

508
00:19:35,080 --> 00:19:36,670
of scaling my own work,

509
00:19:36,940 --> 00:19:38,590
you could outsource your fulfillment.

510
00:19:38,590 --> 00:19:39,310
For instance,

511
00:19:39,340 --> 00:19:41,380
you could outsource your emails,

512
00:19:41,410 --> 00:19:42,970
but if you don't want to check them yourself,

513
00:19:43,230 --> 00:19:46,470
you could hire somebody on instead of doing the design work

514
00:19:46,500 --> 00:19:50,460
with you or the actually hand execution of being a maker,

515
00:19:50,690 --> 00:19:53,750
then you could have them instead package up something and send

516
00:19:53,750 --> 00:19:54,110
it out.

517
00:19:54,140 --> 00:19:56,840
So there's different ways to figure out your scaling.

518
00:19:56,840 --> 00:19:59,300
And your slow season so you can actually implement in your

519
00:19:59,300 --> 00:19:59,980
busy season.

520
00:20:00,220 --> 00:20:02,470
It's a little bit of figuring out what your capacity is.

521
00:20:02,630 --> 00:20:03,920
How can I streamline this?

522
00:20:03,950 --> 00:20:06,740
What's my capacity and my slow months so I can whatever,

523
00:20:06,740 --> 00:20:09,830
10 exit in my busy really go get a months.

524
00:20:10,060 --> 00:20:11,860
What I'm hearing from you is you're really looking at that

525
00:20:11,860 --> 00:20:13,060
from two different angles.

526
00:20:13,060 --> 00:20:15,580
One is how do I become more productive just in the

527
00:20:15,580 --> 00:20:18,580
business side overall to the point of do I hire a

528
00:20:18,580 --> 00:20:20,560
bookkeeper, do I have someone helping me with emails,

529
00:20:20,560 --> 00:20:21,160
et cetera,

530
00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:23,710
and then the other is how can I really scale my

531
00:20:23,710 --> 00:20:26,500
product? Either prepping and preparing,

532
00:20:26,530 --> 00:20:27,850
building an audience.

533
00:20:27,880 --> 00:20:31,460
To your point about the waitlist and keeping people with you

534
00:20:31,460 --> 00:20:35,270
too, because I'm thinking that in slower months people have a

535
00:20:35,270 --> 00:20:38,300
tendency then to stray where they might've really been a follower

536
00:20:38,300 --> 00:20:39,710
of yours for a long time.

537
00:20:40,000 --> 00:20:42,730
All of a sudden they might stray because your product isn't

538
00:20:42,730 --> 00:20:44,350
relevant for them during that time,

539
00:20:44,640 --> 00:20:47,830
so how do you keep them with you for the time?

540
00:20:47,830 --> 00:20:51,320
Then when it's winter again or whatever your season is For

541
00:20:51,320 --> 00:20:52,520
a handmade business,

542
00:20:52,550 --> 00:20:56,690
it's especially important because you're trying to build that loyalty.

543
00:20:56,690 --> 00:20:58,520
A lot of times you're buying from a person,

544
00:20:58,520 --> 00:20:59,870
right? A small business.

545
00:21:00,070 --> 00:21:03,430
So you have to keep that person as your loyal customer

546
00:21:03,490 --> 00:21:04,870
because during the,

547
00:21:04,990 --> 00:21:05,770
like, let's say,

548
00:21:05,800 --> 00:21:06,100
you know,

549
00:21:06,100 --> 00:21:08,560
we just had black Friday and cyber Monday.

550
00:21:08,800 --> 00:21:10,990
A lot of times people would just come in as a

551
00:21:10,990 --> 00:21:13,570
revolving door and those people are looking for deals,

552
00:21:13,780 --> 00:21:17,950
but those deals tend to not work for handmade because they're

553
00:21:17,950 --> 00:21:18,940
just looking for deals.

554
00:21:19,160 --> 00:21:22,250
So if your deal is not with a person that's a,

555
00:21:22,310 --> 00:21:24,620
like it could be just a coupon or that stumbled upon

556
00:21:24,620 --> 00:21:25,040
your deal.

557
00:21:25,310 --> 00:21:27,680
But if that person happens to be a loyal customer,

558
00:21:27,710 --> 00:21:30,560
then during that time it's so much easier to convert because

559
00:21:30,560 --> 00:21:31,280
they've already,

560
00:21:31,310 --> 00:21:33,350
it's like they know you as a person.

561
00:21:33,600 --> 00:21:37,710
Right. What do you think about a blog for someone who's

562
00:21:37,710 --> 00:21:40,500
handmade to try and keep people with you?

563
00:21:40,800 --> 00:21:44,610
I think that blogs are starting to be less and less

564
00:21:44,610 --> 00:21:47,760
popular. So I think that if I would give a tip

565
00:21:47,760 --> 00:21:48,960
for any maker,

566
00:21:48,960 --> 00:21:52,080
it would be to do a lot of Instastories because that's

567
00:21:52,080 --> 00:21:55,230
where people are consuming their content now and I mean,

568
00:21:55,230 --> 00:21:56,970
do you read blogs anymore?

569
00:21:56,970 --> 00:21:58,930
SU? I don't actually.

570
00:21:58,930 --> 00:22:00,760
That was probably not a good example.

571
00:22:00,790 --> 00:22:04,510
Okay. I'm thinking of one person in particular.

572
00:22:04,540 --> 00:22:07,300
Her name is Jen and she owns a company.

573
00:22:07,300 --> 00:22:08,320
Abby farms.

574
00:22:08,380 --> 00:22:11,020
Jen, I wasn't expecting to use you as an example here,

575
00:22:11,050 --> 00:22:13,420
but for you,

576
00:22:13,650 --> 00:22:14,790
and she was on the podcast.

577
00:22:14,820 --> 00:22:15,450
Oh my gosh.

578
00:22:15,480 --> 00:22:16,320
Way back,

579
00:22:16,560 --> 00:22:20,130
but she does a lot of exactly what you're talking about.

580
00:22:20,130 --> 00:22:21,540
MENA Facebook lives,

581
00:22:21,570 --> 00:22:25,470
Instagram stories about on the farm because they take and make

582
00:22:25,470 --> 00:22:29,510
soaps and different types of products and they're based right on

583
00:22:29,510 --> 00:22:29,960
the farm,

584
00:22:29,960 --> 00:22:32,580
so they have so much fun content.

585
00:22:32,720 --> 00:22:35,210
They show the kids running around in the fields and they

586
00:22:35,210 --> 00:22:36,200
show the animals.

587
00:22:36,450 --> 00:22:38,010
Then she's out at craft shows,

588
00:22:38,010 --> 00:22:40,750
selling everything and it's so fun.

589
00:22:40,780 --> 00:22:43,390
Even if you're not using her product just to watch what

590
00:22:43,390 --> 00:22:46,330
she's up to because it's a life so different from mine

591
00:22:46,330 --> 00:22:46,960
for sure.

592
00:22:47,240 --> 00:22:48,140
That kind of thing.

593
00:22:48,140 --> 00:22:50,780
I think to the point of what do you do during

594
00:22:50,780 --> 00:22:53,270
downtime and how do you retain your customers?

595
00:22:53,330 --> 00:22:55,190
If you could employ something like that,

596
00:22:55,560 --> 00:22:58,950
we're a traditional blog might come into play is if you

597
00:22:58,950 --> 00:23:02,610
were documenting recipes that you wanted to share with an audience

598
00:23:02,670 --> 00:23:07,290
or if you are an artist and you share designs for

599
00:23:07,290 --> 00:23:08,740
adult coloring,

600
00:23:08,740 --> 00:23:09,580
for example,

601
00:23:09,710 --> 00:23:11,770
things like that For the soap business,

602
00:23:11,800 --> 00:23:15,130
that is wonderful that they are able to build that clientele

603
00:23:15,130 --> 00:23:16,270
because no matter what,

604
00:23:16,270 --> 00:23:18,730
it's still that seven touchpoints or whatever,

605
00:23:18,760 --> 00:23:21,100
and actually nowadays they say it's even more like it's more

606
00:23:21,100 --> 00:23:23,560
like 14 like double the touch points.

607
00:23:23,740 --> 00:23:24,730
No kidding.

608
00:23:24,820 --> 00:23:27,220
Yeah, so don't your slow seasons just keep touch,

609
00:23:27,250 --> 00:23:27,640
touch, touch,

610
00:23:27,640 --> 00:23:28,240
touch, touch,

611
00:23:28,440 --> 00:23:31,830
and then that way they convert easier in your busy season

612
00:23:31,860 --> 00:23:36,030
because then it's easier to sell snow or in summertime or

613
00:23:36,030 --> 00:23:37,020
whatever. You know,

614
00:23:37,020 --> 00:23:38,700
you can't sell ice in winter time,

615
00:23:38,700 --> 00:23:39,450
you know what I mean?

616
00:23:39,660 --> 00:23:42,580
Right. So you've already touched them those many times and then

617
00:23:42,580 --> 00:23:43,690
it's an easy ask.

618
00:23:43,830 --> 00:23:44,190
Got it.

619
00:23:44,190 --> 00:23:47,660
Okay. We've spent ton of time on this seasonal tip.

620
00:23:48,380 --> 00:23:49,400
Move onto another one,

621
00:23:51,240 --> 00:23:53,950
Which is Exactly what we're going to do right after a

622
00:23:53,950 --> 00:23:55,150
word from our sponsor.

623
00:23:56,390 --> 00:23:59,330
This podcast is made possible thanks to the support of the

624
00:23:59,330 --> 00:24:00,650
ribbon print company.

625
00:24:00,800 --> 00:24:04,310
Create custom ribbons right in your store or craft studio in

626
00:24:04,310 --> 00:24:05,870
seconds. Visit the ribbon,

627
00:24:05,870 --> 00:24:07,310
print company.com

628
00:24:07,310 --> 00:24:08,420
for more information.

629
00:24:08,910 --> 00:24:11,810
I just wanted to make sure that everybody who's listening to

630
00:24:11,820 --> 00:24:15,390
it, some maker knows that there's very creative ways to scale.

631
00:24:15,420 --> 00:24:17,970
Even if you're a maker and you're still making your own

632
00:24:17,970 --> 00:24:21,930
things. So touched on this previously about looking at your processes

633
00:24:21,930 --> 00:24:23,250
and making them more clean,

634
00:24:23,280 --> 00:24:24,780
making your business really lean,

635
00:24:25,020 --> 00:24:26,220
but even if you're going to say,

636
00:24:26,280 --> 00:24:28,380
let's say you want to get into manufacturing but you don't

637
00:24:28,380 --> 00:24:30,390
want to lose that handmade touch,

638
00:24:30,630 --> 00:24:32,790
you could shorten up the process a little bit.

639
00:24:32,820 --> 00:24:35,520
Like let's say you did ceramic bulls,

640
00:24:35,550 --> 00:24:38,730
you could create a mold that got the ceramic bulls to

641
00:24:38,730 --> 00:24:40,890
a certain point and then at the end you do the

642
00:24:40,890 --> 00:24:45,520
finished hand painting instead of the same idea of buying a

643
00:24:45,520 --> 00:24:50,380
kill and hiring somebody else to make their own version of

644
00:24:50,380 --> 00:24:51,340
what you created.

645
00:24:51,620 --> 00:24:52,730
Do you see what I'm saying?

646
00:24:52,730 --> 00:24:54,560
Like semi manufactured.

647
00:24:55,020 --> 00:24:56,180
Yeah. Do you ever,

648
00:24:56,180 --> 00:24:57,080
when you suggest that,

649
00:24:57,080 --> 00:24:58,940
do you ever get kickback from anybody saying,

650
00:24:58,940 --> 00:25:00,410
well then it's not really handmade?

651
00:25:00,680 --> 00:25:01,220
A little bit.

652
00:25:01,220 --> 00:25:04,250
Yeah. There's this perception that people feel like they need to

653
00:25:04,250 --> 00:25:08,240
be a starving artist to confirm or validate that something is

654
00:25:08,240 --> 00:25:10,430
handmade and that's simply not true.

655
00:25:10,680 --> 00:25:14,280
I think that people invest more in the story of a

656
00:25:14,280 --> 00:25:17,190
handmade person in that they finished this up,

657
00:25:17,220 --> 00:25:20,850
not that they have to have the actual legit certain percentage

658
00:25:20,850 --> 00:25:21,210
of blood,

659
00:25:21,210 --> 00:25:22,620
sweat and tears that went into it.

660
00:25:22,800 --> 00:25:22,980
You know,

661
00:25:22,980 --> 00:25:24,330
when you think about music artists,

662
00:25:24,360 --> 00:25:27,390
just because they're able to make it really big doesn't mean

663
00:25:27,390 --> 00:25:29,970
that they're only playing in dive bars.

664
00:25:30,250 --> 00:25:31,720
Well and they didn't build the piano,

665
00:25:32,380 --> 00:25:34,570
the guitar they're playing on.

666
00:25:34,570 --> 00:25:35,290
Right, right.

667
00:25:35,370 --> 00:25:38,220
There's some people that they had to hire to help compose

668
00:25:38,220 --> 00:25:40,710
the music for them and other people that they might've written

669
00:25:40,710 --> 00:25:41,220
the lyrics,

670
00:25:41,250 --> 00:25:42,870
but other people that cleaned it up for them.

671
00:25:43,080 --> 00:25:46,110
So it's the same things like having part of your process

672
00:25:46,110 --> 00:25:47,040
cleaned up for you.

673
00:25:47,300 --> 00:25:49,010
That's a really good point.

674
00:25:49,010 --> 00:25:49,430
And you know,

675
00:25:49,430 --> 00:25:49,940
the other thing,

676
00:25:49,940 --> 00:25:52,100
just to talk about it a little bit further,

677
00:25:52,100 --> 00:25:55,130
is your still also creating whatever that mold is,

678
00:25:55,160 --> 00:25:57,500
so it's still your style and your design?

679
00:25:57,820 --> 00:25:58,420
Oh yeah,

680
00:25:58,450 --> 00:26:02,100
absolutely. You'll see it even more in the maker world and

681
00:26:02,100 --> 00:26:03,360
in the overall product world,

682
00:26:03,390 --> 00:26:06,780
but starving artists and CEOs are not what they used to

683
00:26:06,780 --> 00:26:07,820
look like there.

684
00:26:07,830 --> 00:26:09,590
Now mom's doing side hustles.

685
00:26:09,900 --> 00:26:11,840
They're now mom's building empires.

686
00:26:11,840 --> 00:26:14,930
It's not like this person that's like in New York and

687
00:26:14,930 --> 00:26:19,360
this one bedroom apartment painting all hours and then making no

688
00:26:19,450 --> 00:26:20,350
money. Right.

689
00:26:20,350 --> 00:26:21,400
It's not the principal.

690
00:26:21,400 --> 00:26:24,790
The principal now is I have little baby mouths to feed

691
00:26:24,790 --> 00:26:28,030
and I'm the new version of a CEO and maker,

692
00:26:28,030 --> 00:26:30,250
so I think that it's getting away from that a lot

693
00:26:30,250 --> 00:26:33,370
more because more people are bringing in extra income to their

694
00:26:32,710 --> 00:26:34,210
households. No,

695
00:26:34,210 --> 00:26:34,750
I love that.

696
00:26:34,750 --> 00:26:37,450
Scaling it at a different way by shortening the processes.

697
00:26:37,730 --> 00:26:42,020
What do you think about more production line instead of just

698
00:26:42,050 --> 00:26:42,710
one off,

699
00:26:42,710 --> 00:26:47,220
like making one bull from start to finish versus making five

700
00:26:47,220 --> 00:26:49,530
then putting them all in the kiln and then painting them

701
00:26:49,530 --> 00:26:52,440
all. I think that's another way to shorten the process.

702
00:26:52,770 --> 00:26:53,520
Oh, for sure.

703
00:26:53,520 --> 00:26:54,690
Like you know,

704
00:26:54,720 --> 00:26:57,450
Jacqueline gave us example of even when you're filling up your

705
00:26:57,450 --> 00:26:58,680
kid's party bags,

706
00:26:58,680 --> 00:27:00,710
right? You're not one party bag move to the next,

707
00:27:00,740 --> 00:27:03,290
you fill those party bags in an assembly line.

708
00:27:03,290 --> 00:27:04,940
That's kind of the way that you have to think about

709
00:27:04,940 --> 00:27:05,970
it. Also,

710
00:27:06,000 --> 00:27:07,560
if you're setting up your shop,

711
00:27:07,590 --> 00:27:10,140
you need to fulfill like have all your bubble envelopes in

712
00:27:10,140 --> 00:27:12,570
a certain place and it's not pretty all the time,

713
00:27:12,600 --> 00:27:14,850
but that's how you figure out where the bottlenecks are.

714
00:27:14,880 --> 00:27:16,140
So if you need to hire,

715
00:27:16,170 --> 00:27:19,440
you can hire somebody and here's their station and here's what

716
00:27:19,440 --> 00:27:22,970
they need to do so you can still work on your

717
00:27:22,970 --> 00:27:23,840
handmade stuff.

718
00:27:24,110 --> 00:27:24,770
Oh good.

719
00:27:24,860 --> 00:27:26,630
A tip that I like to give people that really want

720
00:27:26,630 --> 00:27:29,300
to stay in handmade is that just base it off collections.

721
00:27:29,550 --> 00:27:32,100
Let's say somebody has like what we were saying,

722
00:27:32,100 --> 00:27:33,870
ceramic bowls and they're all handmade.

723
00:27:34,080 --> 00:27:37,530
Those are probably a different category and might be like the

724
00:27:37,530 --> 00:27:40,080
Luxe premium tier of your products.

725
00:27:40,330 --> 00:27:42,280
Then you can have a middle tier for those people that

726
00:27:42,280 --> 00:27:44,290
are going to your shop and being like,

727
00:27:44,320 --> 00:27:46,240
Oh, I really need a gift really fast.

728
00:27:46,450 --> 00:27:49,000
So you might take the same design and put it onto

729
00:27:49,000 --> 00:27:49,870
a different process.

730
00:27:49,870 --> 00:27:53,140
It could be like a print or maybe even even like

731
00:27:53,230 --> 00:27:54,070
I produce product,

732
00:27:54,070 --> 00:27:56,670
like the design goes onto an umbrella or something.

733
00:27:56,910 --> 00:27:59,220
So then it's a cross product.

734
00:27:59,250 --> 00:28:00,240
But just remember,

735
00:28:00,420 --> 00:28:02,370
keep in mind you're serving the same avatar,

736
00:28:02,600 --> 00:28:04,700
so make sure that your product,

737
00:28:04,730 --> 00:28:05,690
if it's an umbrella,

738
00:28:05,690 --> 00:28:07,850
it should hit someone who would buy an umbrella too.

739
00:28:07,850 --> 00:28:11,090
So it can't be something that's completely a different product like

740
00:28:11,090 --> 00:28:12,590
men versus women or something.

741
00:28:12,840 --> 00:28:14,850
And then you're able to scale that way instead.

742
00:28:15,120 --> 00:28:16,890
Yeah, and I've seen this in play.

743
00:28:16,890 --> 00:28:18,960
I never really thought about this one before either.

744
00:28:18,990 --> 00:28:19,890
This is so great,

745
00:28:20,120 --> 00:28:23,240
but I've seen this in play even at our local craft

746
00:28:23,240 --> 00:28:27,170
markets. We have a big juried fine arts market where the

747
00:28:27,170 --> 00:28:29,420
artists still have their paintings,

748
00:28:29,420 --> 00:28:30,710
their original paintings,

749
00:28:30,740 --> 00:28:32,540
but then they'll have prints of the painting.

750
00:28:32,570 --> 00:28:35,810
They might have one of their paintings on a coaster,

751
00:28:35,840 --> 00:28:36,800
different types of things.

752
00:28:36,800 --> 00:28:39,920
But it's all spinning off of their original artwork.

753
00:28:39,950 --> 00:28:42,440
And of course the pricing is all different too.

754
00:28:42,900 --> 00:28:45,300
Yeah, and those are for people who want like a GoTo

755
00:28:45,300 --> 00:28:48,560
gift or we call them off the shelf items and then

756
00:28:48,560 --> 00:28:50,120
if they want an original piece,

757
00:28:50,150 --> 00:28:52,250
they have accessibility to that too.

758
00:28:52,440 --> 00:28:54,090
And it could be a different product too,

759
00:28:54,120 --> 00:28:57,000
but keeping in mind that it should be something that's based

760
00:28:57,000 --> 00:28:58,440
off of bestseller of yours.

761
00:28:58,680 --> 00:29:01,590
So don't just create a whole bunch and create versions of

762
00:29:01,590 --> 00:29:02,100
that thing.

763
00:29:02,320 --> 00:29:05,860
Only do this replication model in a way to your best

764
00:29:05,860 --> 00:29:08,570
seller because then you know what sells and you'll also knows

765
00:29:08,570 --> 00:29:09,950
what sells to your audience.

766
00:29:09,950 --> 00:29:12,080
That's why you keep the avatar the same.

767
00:29:12,360 --> 00:29:13,020
Perfect advice.

768
00:29:13,050 --> 00:29:15,660
Okay, so you've given us three overall tips here,

769
00:29:15,690 --> 00:29:19,990
seasonal, how to scale in terms of shortening the processes and

770
00:29:19,990 --> 00:29:21,190
then collections,

771
00:29:21,220 --> 00:29:22,630
building on collections.

772
00:29:22,810 --> 00:29:23,770
Those are fabulous.

773
00:29:23,770 --> 00:29:26,010
Yeah. Any final one we want to add or are we

774
00:29:26,010 --> 00:29:26,940
good with the three?

775
00:29:27,330 --> 00:29:27,990
I think So.

776
00:29:27,990 --> 00:29:28,980
With collections.

777
00:29:29,010 --> 00:29:31,110
Think about how you're selling in your busy season.

778
00:29:31,110 --> 00:29:33,780
Going back to where I started on this whole conversation.

779
00:29:34,000 --> 00:29:36,130
So are you cross selling your products?

780
00:29:36,160 --> 00:29:37,990
Are you bundling them up?

781
00:29:37,990 --> 00:29:42,970
So then your average sale goes from $9 $15 something like

782
00:29:42,970 --> 00:29:46,450
that. And then based off your bestseller always because you know

783
00:29:46,450 --> 00:29:49,180
what sells and then that way you're able to have kind

784
00:29:49,180 --> 00:29:51,490
of a signature item without calling it that.

785
00:29:51,490 --> 00:29:53,290
But you know what sells to your market.

786
00:29:53,510 --> 00:29:55,640
And that's honestly what you're trying to figure out in your

787
00:29:55,640 --> 00:29:58,190
first year is what is your best seller?

788
00:29:58,250 --> 00:29:59,690
What's your most popular product?

789
00:30:00,030 --> 00:30:02,220
Always try to spin off of your best seller is what

790
00:30:02,220 --> 00:30:03,620
you're saying Always.

791
00:30:03,620 --> 00:30:07,670
Because otherwise you're going in blindly and not using that data,

792
00:30:07,670 --> 00:30:09,980
right? Because when you go off of your bestseller,

793
00:30:09,980 --> 00:30:13,160
you're just doing like nothing fancy like a Tupac or a

794
00:30:13,190 --> 00:30:14,120
bundle with it.

795
00:30:14,370 --> 00:30:17,160
But those people are coming in for that one product,

796
00:30:17,160 --> 00:30:18,390
like a gateway product.

797
00:30:18,610 --> 00:30:19,870
And then you're able to say,

798
00:30:19,870 --> 00:30:21,430
Hey, we also have this instead.

799
00:30:21,630 --> 00:30:24,030
So that way you're not having to convert to all these

800
00:30:24,030 --> 00:30:25,950
different options for them.

801
00:30:26,150 --> 00:30:28,670
They're coming in and it's a really simple buying decision for

802
00:30:28,670 --> 00:30:29,800
them. Perfect.

803
00:30:29,830 --> 00:30:30,220
Love it.

804
00:30:30,250 --> 00:30:32,470
Okay. You were referencing a little bit earlier,

805
00:30:32,470 --> 00:30:36,310
right in the beginning actually about different types of platforms and

806
00:30:36,310 --> 00:30:38,830
leveraging them in different ways.

807
00:30:38,920 --> 00:30:39,790
Let's get into that.

808
00:30:40,010 --> 00:30:41,720
Yeah, so many platforms,

809
00:30:41,780 --> 00:30:42,800
especially for products,

810
00:30:42,810 --> 00:30:45,500
right? There's the retail platforms,

811
00:30:45,500 --> 00:30:47,420
which we're talking big retail like Walmart,

812
00:30:47,450 --> 00:30:48,500
Amazon and everything,

813
00:30:48,740 --> 00:30:49,940
and of course there's Etsy,

814
00:30:49,940 --> 00:30:53,120
there's people who make a ton and scale on Etsy,

815
00:30:53,370 --> 00:30:55,350
and then there's flash deal sites,

816
00:30:55,350 --> 00:30:56,610
so we're talking Jane,

817
00:30:56,610 --> 00:30:58,350
Groupon, Zulily,

818
00:30:58,650 --> 00:31:01,770
and then there is brick and mortar,

819
00:31:01,800 --> 00:31:07,070
so you could actually get into wholesale and boutiques and then

820
00:31:07,070 --> 00:31:07,940
there's popup shops.

821
00:31:07,940 --> 00:31:08,810
You create your own,

822
00:31:08,810 --> 00:31:11,600
so a pop up shop at a local place or you

823
00:31:11,600 --> 00:31:14,750
create your own website and drive traffic there and they all

824
00:31:14,750 --> 00:31:16,010
can go hand in hand.

825
00:31:16,270 --> 00:31:18,040
There's new platforms coming out all the time.

826
00:31:18,070 --> 00:31:18,610
For instance,

827
00:31:18,610 --> 00:31:22,120
Instagram is becoming its own buying platform because it's you're able

828
00:31:22,120 --> 00:31:22,840
to buy right there.

829
00:31:22,840 --> 00:31:24,430
You don't even have to leave the platform.

830
00:31:24,700 --> 00:31:27,940
Right. Same with Pinterest and same with Poshmark.

831
00:31:27,940 --> 00:31:32,260
That's another platform that came out for clothing and subscription boxes.

832
00:31:32,350 --> 00:31:36,460
Now, subscription boxes are as big as boutiques with buying wholesale

833
00:31:36,460 --> 00:31:36,970
from people.

834
00:31:37,180 --> 00:31:38,680
How do you feel about,

835
00:31:38,680 --> 00:31:41,230
how many platforms should you really be on to do them?

836
00:31:41,230 --> 00:31:43,670
Well, I think that you should start off with one.

837
00:31:43,730 --> 00:31:45,830
You should test as much as you can,

838
00:31:45,830 --> 00:31:48,290
but when you figure out your main one,

839
00:31:48,320 --> 00:31:52,250
you'll be able to at least have that and optimize.

840
00:31:52,370 --> 00:31:55,010
So you're on one and then you optimize it like crazy.

841
00:31:55,040 --> 00:31:56,090
So when I say optimize,

842
00:31:56,090 --> 00:31:57,400
figure out what your keywords are,

843
00:31:57,440 --> 00:31:58,730
make sure your ads are there.

844
00:31:58,730 --> 00:32:01,170
If you're doing paper click figuring out that whole system.

845
00:32:01,170 --> 00:32:02,100
So if you're on Etsy,

846
00:32:02,130 --> 00:32:05,280
figure out whatever you can about Etsy and try to scale

847
00:32:05,280 --> 00:32:07,230
on there and then move to the next one.

848
00:32:07,460 --> 00:32:08,960
If you're hitting a whole bunch of walls,

849
00:32:08,990 --> 00:32:10,100
that might not be your platform.

850
00:32:10,100 --> 00:32:11,090
That's when you move over to,

851
00:32:11,090 --> 00:32:15,020
let's say Zulily or Jane or whatever you can get onto

852
00:32:15,020 --> 00:32:17,210
as far as handmade or semi handmade.

853
00:32:17,480 --> 00:32:19,850
That way you can use that data to get onto the

854
00:32:19,850 --> 00:32:20,680
other platforms.

855
00:32:20,680 --> 00:32:22,580
So in this case it would be like,

856
00:32:22,580 --> 00:32:24,680
Hey, I'm a bestseller on Amazon.

857
00:32:24,710 --> 00:32:26,510
Can I get into your subscription box?

858
00:32:26,720 --> 00:32:29,600
Or this is our most popular product on Etsy.

859
00:32:29,840 --> 00:32:31,910
Do you think that we could bring this into the stores?

860
00:32:31,910 --> 00:32:34,190
Cause I think it would really sell with your customers as

861
00:32:34,190 --> 00:32:37,320
well. So you're able to pull data and expertise from a

862
00:32:37,320 --> 00:32:39,920
platform and parlay that a different one.

863
00:32:40,300 --> 00:32:43,050
Use it as a jumping board or something to get into

864
00:32:43,050 --> 00:32:43,620
another one.

865
00:32:43,820 --> 00:32:46,580
W so well we've talked about a lot of these platforms

866
00:32:46,610 --> 00:32:47,600
on other shows,

867
00:32:47,600 --> 00:32:51,110
but never the flash Zulilly all of that.

868
00:32:51,260 --> 00:32:53,360
We've never talked about that before.

869
00:32:53,510 --> 00:32:56,270
Can you go into more of what all those platforms are

870
00:32:56,270 --> 00:32:57,480
about? Yeah,

871
00:32:57,510 --> 00:33:00,420
sure. And we actually have a podcast episode about this too.

872
00:33:00,420 --> 00:33:01,380
There are so many,

873
00:33:01,610 --> 00:33:03,140
Zulily and Groupon,

874
00:33:03,170 --> 00:33:04,490
those are probably the biggest ones.

875
00:33:04,490 --> 00:33:06,080
The ones that are really known to a lot of people,

876
00:33:06,080 --> 00:33:07,520
they take a big cut.

877
00:33:07,550 --> 00:33:09,170
So unless you're manufactured,

878
00:33:09,440 --> 00:33:10,310
and just remember,

879
00:33:10,310 --> 00:33:11,870
even if you're hand-making right now,

880
00:33:11,900 --> 00:33:15,770
you can manufacture a product that you could serve as getting

881
00:33:15,770 --> 00:33:16,880
into these platforms.

882
00:33:16,880 --> 00:33:18,740
And then they would leverage into,

883
00:33:18,740 --> 00:33:21,110
Hey, here's our website and a coupon.

884
00:33:21,140 --> 00:33:23,540
Come over here and buy this other product over here.

885
00:33:23,540 --> 00:33:24,740
So keeping that in mind.

886
00:33:24,740 --> 00:33:26,420
Okay, so you're using it as a funnel.

887
00:33:26,630 --> 00:33:29,120
So if you get onto Groupon and Zulily,

888
00:33:29,150 --> 00:33:30,410
they take a certain cut.

889
00:33:30,410 --> 00:33:33,500
So let's say you're suddenly at $20 normal retail,

890
00:33:33,760 --> 00:33:37,180
you were selling on like $10 for Groupon and then $5

891
00:33:37,180 --> 00:33:39,310
of it goes to Groupon and $5 of it goes to

892
00:33:39,310 --> 00:33:41,290
you. So just imagine you have to cover costs.

893
00:33:41,500 --> 00:33:43,300
So that's a really steep discount one.

894
00:33:43,450 --> 00:33:44,770
So it's similar to wholesale.

895
00:33:44,830 --> 00:33:45,580
It is,

896
00:33:45,640 --> 00:33:48,040
but at a larger scale and a deeper discount,

897
00:33:48,040 --> 00:33:48,610
in a way,

898
00:33:48,890 --> 00:33:52,370
it started out in that way of these are popups and

899
00:33:52,370 --> 00:33:54,740
then people would be exclusive to those sales,

900
00:33:54,770 --> 00:33:58,200
but now they're all online and even jane.com

901
00:33:58,290 --> 00:34:00,270
if you're a handmade person,

902
00:34:00,300 --> 00:34:02,730
you have to have 50 in your queue,

903
00:34:02,730 --> 00:34:05,190
like 50 in inventory minimum.

904
00:34:05,340 --> 00:34:06,720
Whereas if you're manufactured,

905
00:34:06,720 --> 00:34:09,800
you have to have a hundred so there's all these different

906
00:34:09,800 --> 00:34:11,690
sites, they're sassy steals,

907
00:34:11,720 --> 00:34:13,370
there's group deals,

908
00:34:13,400 --> 00:34:16,130
that's a deals with a Z at the end and they

909
00:34:16,160 --> 00:34:17,240
have the traffic.

910
00:34:17,240 --> 00:34:20,150
So they do flash seals to only last for three days

911
00:34:20,180 --> 00:34:21,260
with different vendors.

912
00:34:21,510 --> 00:34:23,940
And then you're getting on there as one of those deals

913
00:34:24,200 --> 00:34:27,080
and then you're seeing what sells and what doesn't sell.

914
00:34:27,140 --> 00:34:28,670
I found that they're very,

915
00:34:28,670 --> 00:34:30,230
very time sensitive.

916
00:34:30,470 --> 00:34:34,160
So if it's Mondays it's sometimes a better day than a

917
00:34:34,160 --> 00:34:37,940
Sunday or a Saturday when moms are out doing kids' stuff

918
00:34:37,940 --> 00:34:38,630
and mom life.

919
00:34:38,880 --> 00:34:42,760
And then also in summer months they do themes and everything.

920
00:34:43,050 --> 00:34:45,180
They could be like off to the beach or something.

921
00:34:45,420 --> 00:34:47,160
And so then if you fit into that,

922
00:34:47,220 --> 00:34:48,420
that's really helpful for them.

923
00:34:48,420 --> 00:34:51,240
Pushing sales to pick your plum is another one as well.

924
00:34:51,540 --> 00:34:54,690
Do you get customer information when people buy or do you

925
00:34:54,690 --> 00:34:57,240
just provide the product and they fulfill and you just,

926
00:34:57,270 --> 00:34:59,400
so it's strictly a money play really.

927
00:34:59,840 --> 00:35:02,810
So you don't get the information and a lot of them

928
00:35:02,810 --> 00:35:04,580
don't even let you put in an insert,

929
00:35:04,610 --> 00:35:05,660
but sometimes they do.

930
00:35:05,660 --> 00:35:08,120
So it's something to keep you read the contract.

931
00:35:08,330 --> 00:35:09,080
Some of them are,

932
00:35:09,080 --> 00:35:10,130
they fulfill for you.

933
00:35:10,130 --> 00:35:12,110
So then it's like Groupon and Zulily.

934
00:35:12,110 --> 00:35:14,450
You send it into them and they distribute for you.

935
00:35:14,690 --> 00:35:15,440
But for Jane,

936
00:35:15,550 --> 00:35:18,510
you distribute yourself So you would get information.

937
00:35:18,570 --> 00:35:20,340
You've just mentioned so many platforms,

938
00:35:20,340 --> 00:35:22,140
so I'm sure all of them are very different.

939
00:35:22,450 --> 00:35:23,560
You don't get their information,

940
00:35:23,560 --> 00:35:25,060
you go onto their platform.

941
00:35:25,300 --> 00:35:27,340
So you have their name and address,

942
00:35:27,340 --> 00:35:29,290
but you don't get their like email address.

943
00:35:29,480 --> 00:35:30,950
So it's like Amazon then.

944
00:35:31,280 --> 00:35:34,520
Yeah, so you're fulfilling and then you put in the tracking

945
00:35:34,520 --> 00:35:36,800
numbers and it's all done through their system.

946
00:35:37,060 --> 00:35:40,240
But the main thing that's really nice about it is that

947
00:35:40,240 --> 00:35:43,270
you get surges of money into your business that you normally

948
00:35:43,270 --> 00:35:43,900
wouldn't get.

949
00:35:44,120 --> 00:35:45,590
So with the product business,

950
00:35:45,590 --> 00:35:46,340
and you know this,

951
00:35:46,370 --> 00:35:48,860
you have to have a certain amount of inventory and money

952
00:35:48,860 --> 00:35:50,030
that you can convert,

953
00:35:50,030 --> 00:35:51,680
right? That you can turn over.

954
00:35:51,920 --> 00:35:54,590
And so you always need that incoming money because you have

955
00:35:54,590 --> 00:35:58,100
to invest it in either more inventory or pay yourself or

956
00:35:58,160 --> 00:35:58,790
any of those.

957
00:35:58,790 --> 00:36:01,400
So it's nice to have that surge of money.

958
00:36:01,400 --> 00:36:02,480
On top of that,

959
00:36:02,600 --> 00:36:05,720
you're gathering data to what's reselling really well,

960
00:36:05,750 --> 00:36:06,710
why did it sell?

961
00:36:06,970 --> 00:36:08,590
Who is it appealing to?

962
00:36:08,790 --> 00:36:09,780
What is their customer?

963
00:36:09,780 --> 00:36:10,620
Is it a mom?

964
00:36:10,620 --> 00:36:12,090
Is it a millennial?

965
00:36:12,150 --> 00:36:14,790
So you're gathering data so it's even if you come out

966
00:36:14,820 --> 00:36:18,000
even, I feel like you're learning a lot in the process.

967
00:36:18,280 --> 00:36:20,710
Thank you so much for that information because as I said,

968
00:36:20,710 --> 00:36:22,480
we haven't really talked about that before.

969
00:36:22,730 --> 00:36:24,410
You mentioned product inserts.

970
00:36:24,780 --> 00:36:27,060
Yeah, I love products insert so much.

971
00:36:27,060 --> 00:36:29,130
I talk about this on the podcast so much too because

972
00:36:29,130 --> 00:36:32,700
they're so cheap and they're pretty effective if you hit the

973
00:36:32,700 --> 00:36:33,360
right person.

974
00:36:33,390 --> 00:36:35,670
So like you could put something in there that's like,

975
00:36:35,670 --> 00:36:36,690
Hey, on your next purchase,

976
00:36:36,690 --> 00:36:37,860
get 30% off.

977
00:36:38,120 --> 00:36:41,430
Or you could say here's an exclusive that we only give

978
00:36:41,430 --> 00:36:44,640
to our customers and it's a different product that you're pushing

979
00:36:44,640 --> 00:36:45,390
to their website.

980
00:36:45,590 --> 00:36:46,190
You could say,

981
00:36:46,220 --> 00:36:49,220
Hey did you know that 10% goes to this charity from

982
00:36:49,220 --> 00:36:51,800
us if you go to this website and then they input

983
00:36:51,800 --> 00:36:52,310
their email.

984
00:36:52,560 --> 00:36:56,160
So it's just super simple because I mean inserts are like

985
00:36:56,190 --> 00:36:59,160
you can do a business card size at like 3 cents

986
00:36:59,160 --> 00:36:59,700
or something,

987
00:36:59,700 --> 00:37:00,110
you know,

988
00:37:00,150 --> 00:37:02,910
and you're just putting it in there cause you're fulfilling those

989
00:37:03,160 --> 00:37:05,230
anyways. It's like having an optin but it's an insert.

990
00:37:05,370 --> 00:37:07,560
Are there any don'ts for product inserts?

991
00:37:07,910 --> 00:37:09,170
Don't put too much information.

992
00:37:09,200 --> 00:37:10,280
One call to action.

993
00:37:10,340 --> 00:37:11,690
Don't say follow us on Instagram.

994
00:37:11,720 --> 00:37:14,900
Also by this year also here we are over here.

995
00:37:15,900 --> 00:37:17,010
It's just too much.

996
00:37:17,040 --> 00:37:19,230
It is too much for sure.

997
00:37:19,850 --> 00:37:22,310
I'm kind of thinking with those product inserts,

998
00:37:22,310 --> 00:37:25,340
if there was a way to capture email addresses to add

999
00:37:25,340 --> 00:37:26,510
people to your list,

1000
00:37:26,540 --> 00:37:27,290
customer lists,

1001
00:37:27,320 --> 00:37:28,430
that could be a good thing.

1002
00:37:28,760 --> 00:37:31,100
Yeah, that's what I tried to do with the charity thing

1003
00:37:31,100 --> 00:37:32,720
because then people,

1004
00:37:32,750 --> 00:37:33,620
it gives them a reason,

1005
00:37:33,620 --> 00:37:36,720
right? It has to be incentive enough for them to go

1006
00:37:36,720 --> 00:37:39,450
to your website and put in their email.

1007
00:37:39,660 --> 00:37:42,240
So then like a lot of times charity is that or

1008
00:37:42,240 --> 00:37:45,940
a really good coupon or an exclusive product that only they

1009
00:37:45,940 --> 00:37:48,880
get because they were previous buyers and they happened to get

1010
00:37:48,880 --> 00:37:49,510
that insert.

1011
00:37:49,930 --> 00:37:55,510
Let's go now just as we're closing out to one final

1012
00:37:55,510 --> 00:37:56,320
piece of advice.

1013
00:37:56,320 --> 00:37:58,630
You'd give somebody who has a product,

1014
00:37:58,630 --> 00:37:59,830
they're making it on the side.

1015
00:37:59,830 --> 00:38:01,750
They haven't really started a business yet,

1016
00:38:01,780 --> 00:38:03,190
but they're thinking about it.

1017
00:38:03,250 --> 00:38:04,720
What would you say to that person?

1018
00:38:05,020 --> 00:38:08,410
I would say be very cautious of the advice and the

1019
00:38:08,410 --> 00:38:12,400
strategies that you get for service-based that do not apply to

1020
00:38:12,400 --> 00:38:13,240
product based.

1021
00:38:13,560 --> 00:38:16,680
This is something I've seen a lot of that people,

1022
00:38:16,740 --> 00:38:19,740
because I'm in masterminds myself and then I coach masterminds,

1023
00:38:20,010 --> 00:38:23,310
but the advice that's out there is very specific to service

1024
00:38:23,310 --> 00:38:24,570
base. So for instance,

1025
00:38:24,570 --> 00:38:27,780
I heard somebody give somebody advice about how to scale a

1026
00:38:27,870 --> 00:38:28,860
handmade business.

1027
00:38:29,110 --> 00:38:32,140
Their idea was to get into a whole bunch of trade

1028
00:38:32,140 --> 00:38:35,560
shows and be in like let's say five trade at once.

1029
00:38:35,610 --> 00:38:36,670
They pay for the boots,

1030
00:38:36,910 --> 00:38:38,890
they hire out people to be at the booze and then

1031
00:38:38,890 --> 00:38:41,710
they scale that way because they're in more visible places.

1032
00:38:42,010 --> 00:38:45,430
But that is like the most expensive strategy they could ever

1033
00:38:45,430 --> 00:38:48,250
have and they don't even know if those trade shows are

1034
00:38:48,250 --> 00:38:50,920
effective or the timing is right or if that's the audience

1035
00:38:50,920 --> 00:38:53,530
that will be wanting the product at that time.

1036
00:38:53,840 --> 00:38:56,270
Well and you can't train the staff so you don't know

1037
00:38:56,270 --> 00:38:57,260
how they're interacting.

1038
00:38:57,260 --> 00:39:00,110
You don't get any feedback from your customer or your potential

1039
00:39:00,110 --> 00:39:01,190
customers either.

1040
00:39:01,250 --> 00:39:04,610
Cause I think trade shows are such a great opportunity.

1041
00:39:04,640 --> 00:39:07,700
If you're there to interact with customers,

1042
00:39:07,730 --> 00:39:09,890
see how they're feeling about your product,

1043
00:39:09,950 --> 00:39:11,150
getting new ideas,

1044
00:39:11,150 --> 00:39:12,170
so many things,

1045
00:39:12,260 --> 00:39:13,580
Even picking up verbiage,

1046
00:39:13,610 --> 00:39:16,160
nobody's going to care as much as you about the stuff

1047
00:39:16,160 --> 00:39:17,630
that people say about your product.

1048
00:39:17,860 --> 00:39:19,150
So that instance,

1049
00:39:19,180 --> 00:39:21,580
it's because in a service based world that's the way to

1050
00:39:21,580 --> 00:39:23,470
scale is to get into more places.

1051
00:39:23,500 --> 00:39:26,920
But that doesn't work for product based businesses because it's so

1052
00:39:26,980 --> 00:39:29,410
risky and it's so money heavy.

1053
00:39:29,690 --> 00:39:31,430
And then on top of it it's just not the same

1054
00:39:31,430 --> 00:39:32,160
as simply isn't.

1055
00:39:32,430 --> 00:39:34,890
And I give this example all the time about for service-based,

1056
00:39:34,890 --> 00:39:36,390
they say to have a really good opt in,

1057
00:39:36,390 --> 00:39:39,750
right? Like have a checklist or have a free download that

1058
00:39:39,750 --> 00:39:40,980
people can not resist.

1059
00:39:41,340 --> 00:39:43,920
But for a product based person you should just give them

1060
00:39:43,920 --> 00:39:47,550
a coupon for their first purchase and they will almost always

1061
00:39:47,550 --> 00:39:49,530
pick that over a free checklist.

1062
00:39:50,180 --> 00:39:53,990
I love what you're talking about here in terms of service

1063
00:39:53,990 --> 00:39:55,190
versus product based.

1064
00:39:55,370 --> 00:39:56,720
Great information on that.

1065
00:39:56,720 --> 00:39:57,710
I really appreciate it.

1066
00:39:57,960 --> 00:39:58,740
So Mina,

1067
00:39:58,740 --> 00:40:01,410
at this point I'd like to invite you to dare to

1068
00:40:01,410 --> 00:40:04,400
dream. I'd like to present you with a virtual gift.

1069
00:40:04,520 --> 00:40:08,630
It's a magical box containing unlimited possibilities for your future.

1070
00:40:08,880 --> 00:40:12,180
So this is your dream or your goal of almost unreachable

1071
00:40:12,180 --> 00:40:14,130
Heights that you would wish to obtain.

1072
00:40:14,370 --> 00:40:17,250
Please accept this gift and open it in our presence.

1073
00:40:17,370 --> 00:40:18,810
What is inside your box?

1074
00:40:19,130 --> 00:40:19,940
So I have to say,

1075
00:40:19,940 --> 00:40:22,280
Sue, this was actually a really hard question for me to

1076
00:40:22,280 --> 00:40:22,970
think about.

1077
00:40:23,240 --> 00:40:26,660
I couldn't come up with anything that was really super specific,

1078
00:40:26,900 --> 00:40:29,270
but if I had to choose something because I was trying

1079
00:40:29,270 --> 00:40:30,950
to think of what's my idea of success,

1080
00:40:30,950 --> 00:40:32,090
right? It would be,

1081
00:40:32,300 --> 00:40:36,170
I would open that box and it would be utter and

1082
00:40:36,200 --> 00:40:38,480
unbelievable financial freedom.

1083
00:40:38,770 --> 00:40:39,880
So I have of course,

1084
00:40:39,880 --> 00:40:42,280
yacht in some financial freedom to a certain level,

1085
00:40:42,280 --> 00:40:45,580
but I would like utter unbelievable financial freedom.

1086
00:40:46,500 --> 00:40:47,070
Love it.

1087
00:40:47,250 --> 00:40:48,330
I love it.

1088
00:40:48,420 --> 00:40:51,000
I put this question out there because I don't think a

1089
00:40:51,000 --> 00:40:53,820
lot of people really think and define where they want to

1090
00:40:53,820 --> 00:40:56,620
go, but I also do it because it's the law of

1091
00:40:56,620 --> 00:40:57,760
attraction type thing.

1092
00:40:57,760 --> 00:40:59,770
If you voice it and say it,

1093
00:40:59,800 --> 00:41:01,240
why shouldn't it come to you?

1094
00:41:01,390 --> 00:41:02,940
It's 100% too.

1095
00:41:03,120 --> 00:41:07,050
That's why journaling and being in masterminds or anything are so

1096
00:41:07,080 --> 00:41:11,010
productive is because it forces you to say things or write

1097
00:41:11,010 --> 00:41:13,900
things down and then all of a sudden you've done it

1098
00:41:13,900 --> 00:41:17,140
and you haven't even realized the universe blessed you with what

1099
00:41:17,140 --> 00:41:18,160
you were asking for.

1100
00:41:18,510 --> 00:41:20,730
Right, and I know that this is true for me is

1101
00:41:20,730 --> 00:41:21,900
I'll think things,

1102
00:41:21,930 --> 00:41:23,460
but when I'm thinking it,

1103
00:41:23,460 --> 00:41:25,770
that image is still a little bit blurry.

1104
00:41:25,800 --> 00:41:27,660
But when you're forced to put it into words,

1105
00:41:27,660 --> 00:41:29,160
it gets really sharp and clear.

1106
00:41:29,570 --> 00:41:30,530
Yeah. Oh gosh.

1107
00:41:30,530 --> 00:41:31,580
Words are so powerful.

1108
00:41:31,640 --> 00:41:33,980
That's why I said under financial freedom,

1109
00:41:34,950 --> 00:41:35,670
There you go.

1110
00:41:36,600 --> 00:41:37,470
There, you know,

1111
00:41:37,830 --> 00:41:44,370
so gift is listener is I absolutely suggest direct you all

1112
00:41:44,370 --> 00:41:47,790
of that to listen to the product boss where you can

1113
00:41:47,790 --> 00:41:51,090
listen to Mina and Jacqueline talking all product based.

1114
00:41:51,090 --> 00:41:53,700
You can hear by what she's been sharing today,

1115
00:41:53,700 --> 00:41:56,460
how much great information she has in good direction.

1116
00:41:56,460 --> 00:41:58,680
So definitely go over and listen to them there.

1117
00:41:58,710 --> 00:42:00,510
Where else would you direct people to go?

1118
00:42:00,510 --> 00:42:02,190
Meena Our Instagram.

1119
00:42:02,190 --> 00:42:07,650
We have been totally an investing time into that platform for

1120
00:42:07,650 --> 00:42:08,970
sure. So stories,

1121
00:42:08,970 --> 00:42:11,340
I presume stories and our feet as well,

1122
00:42:11,340 --> 00:42:14,640
but it's the product boss is our handle and so you

1123
00:42:14,640 --> 00:42:16,890
can catch us on there and we're doing all kinds of

1124
00:42:16,890 --> 00:42:17,580
funny stuff.

1125
00:42:17,610 --> 00:42:20,640
I feel like in regular stuff we're just living mom life

1126
00:42:20,640 --> 00:42:21,540
a lot of the times.

1127
00:42:21,840 --> 00:42:22,320
Oh that's good.

1128
00:42:22,320 --> 00:42:23,190
The behind the scenes,

1129
00:42:23,190 --> 00:42:24,540
here's what else is happening.

1130
00:42:24,630 --> 00:42:25,710
Rounding out the life.

1131
00:42:25,740 --> 00:42:26,700
Yeah. Yup.

1132
00:42:26,700 --> 00:42:29,940
Juggling poopy diapers and spreadsheets at the same time.

1133
00:42:31,450 --> 00:42:32,500
No, that's an image.

1134
00:42:35,110 --> 00:42:37,510
I'm pretty certain now when isn't it on the page?

1135
00:42:40,910 --> 00:42:41,390
Well Mina,

1136
00:42:41,390 --> 00:42:42,470
thank you so much.

1137
00:42:42,500 --> 00:42:45,860
You have really brought us in a direction here with product

1138
00:42:45,860 --> 00:42:49,490
information in several cases that we've not touched on before,

1139
00:42:49,490 --> 00:42:50,570
so really,

1140
00:42:50,570 --> 00:42:52,940
really great quality information,

1141
00:42:53,000 --> 00:42:56,300
new concepts for my listeners to consider and direction to take,

1142
00:42:56,300 --> 00:42:58,160
that's really going to be valuable for them.

1143
00:42:58,380 --> 00:42:59,100
So for that,

1144
00:42:59,100 --> 00:43:01,710
I appreciate it and I've so enjoyed having you on the

1145
00:43:01,710 --> 00:43:03,760
podcast. Thanks so much Sue.

1146
00:43:03,760 --> 00:43:05,500
I love to being on here and I appreciate you having

1147
00:43:05,500 --> 00:43:05,860
me on.

1148
00:43:07,930 --> 00:43:12,340
Wow. Didn't mean to share with us such valuable information.

1149
00:43:12,520 --> 00:43:14,230
I agree with her online.

1150
00:43:14,230 --> 00:43:18,610
There is so much available for service based businesses but not

1151
00:43:18,610 --> 00:43:22,210
as much for product based businesses and she is an expert

1152
00:43:22,210 --> 00:43:25,720
here so I really appreciated her coming on the show to

1153
00:43:25,720 --> 00:43:26,620
talk with us.

1154
00:43:26,880 --> 00:43:30,310
I suggest that you relisten and apply what mean is talked

1155
00:43:30,310 --> 00:43:32,710
about that's right for you and your business.

1156
00:43:32,890 --> 00:43:36,470
We're coming on the end of the year and it's smart

1157
00:43:36,470 --> 00:43:38,630
for us to start thinking of how we can adjust our

1158
00:43:38,630 --> 00:43:43,930
strategies for 2019 so that we can get even stronger results

1159
00:43:44,320 --> 00:43:45,220
up next week.

1160
00:43:45,250 --> 00:43:48,410
I'm going to stick with the holiday season here and I

1161
00:43:48,410 --> 00:43:51,470
can't wait for you to hear about a business from the

1162
00:43:51,470 --> 00:43:52,730
baking industry.

1163
00:43:53,050 --> 00:43:55,660
She is a product that we can all use.

1164
00:43:56,260 --> 00:44:00,960
Think Christmas cookies that's coming up next week on gift biz

1165
00:44:00,990 --> 00:44:02,670
unwrapped. I'll see you then.

1166
00:44:04,430 --> 00:44:07,640
Are you discouraged because your business is not performing as you

1167
00:44:07,640 --> 00:44:08,390
had envisioned?

1168
00:44:08,660 --> 00:44:11,660
Are you stuck and confused about how to turn things around?

1169
00:44:11,960 --> 00:44:15,710
Sue's new best selling book is structured to help you identify

1170
00:44:15,710 --> 00:44:19,190
where the holes are in your business and show you exactly

1171
00:44:19,280 --> 00:44:20,150
how to fix them.

1172
00:44:20,420 --> 00:44:23,420
You'll learn from Sue and owners just like you who are

1173
00:44:23,420 --> 00:44:28,460
seeing real growth and are living their dream maker to master

1174
00:44:28,640 --> 00:44:32,030
find and fix what's not working in your small business.

1175
00:44:32,360 --> 00:44:35,450
Get it on Amazon or through www.

1176
00:44:35,510 --> 00:44:36,500
Doug gift biz,

1177
00:44:36,530 --> 00:44:39,110
unwrapped.com/master.