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Gift biz unwrapped episode 254 most people that are creative of

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doing it for the love of what they do and that

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passion is just intoxicating and attracts people Attention.

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Gifters, bakers,

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crafters and makers pursuing your dream can be fun whether you

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have an established business or looking to start one now you

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are in the right place.

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This is gift to biz unwrapped,

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helping you turn your skill into a flourishing business.

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Join us for an episode packed full of invaluable guidance,

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resources and the support you need to grow your gift biz.

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Here is your host gift biz gal Sue moon Heights.

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Hi there,

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it's Sue.

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Welcome to today's show.

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I've got a topic for you that I know is going

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to be of interest or at least it should be to

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almost everybody here,

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but first a past guest spotlight.

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Do you recall Patty from enchanted events?

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We heard from her last summer and she's using a business

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building strategy that I love.

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She's bridging one career into another,

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so going from years of nursing into her very own floral

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business. You can hear all about it on episode 225 as

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you'd expect with a floral business.

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Weddings are a big target industry.

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That's exactly where Patty set her site and it's paid off

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since we talked.

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Patty's done a number of weddings including one in a Frank

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Lloyd Wright house,

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a beach wedding,

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one that included a dog in the ceremony and a wedding

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where the bride was from India with a lot of her

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family coming to America to attend.

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Patty reached her goal of ten five star reviews,

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which means she's eligible to be entered into best of not

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award consideration.

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All this while growing her business on the side and really

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just starting out goes to show you that when there's a

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will, there's a way.

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Congratulations Patty.

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I love seeing your quick progress and success.

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We continue with the wedding theme.

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As we move into our conversation today,

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Brian has spent his entire life in this industry,

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so if your product aligns with weddings,

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you're going to find some really valuable nuggets here.

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Equally and even more important,

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we're talking everything about websites.

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I don't know if it's in the water,

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but this topic has gotten a lot of attention lately in

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my communities in the breeze,

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which is my free Facebook group and also in my coaching

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programs. So here you go.

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Tips, tricks,

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and best practices when it comes to your website.

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Today it my pleasure to introduce you to Brian Lawrence.

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Brian is one of the true thought leaders in the stationary

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and wedding industry,

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a multi-store retailer who won top dealers for numerous invitation brands.

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He then became VP of Encore studios for 14 years and

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went on to consult,

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do web design and marketing for hundreds of stationary and wedding

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retailers and wholesalers in the past year.

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Brian has targeted in his efforts to meet the tremendous demand

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for industry focused,

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website design and effective yet affordable digital marketing and social media

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strategies. Brian has spoken at both wedding MBA and the national

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stationery show numerous times.

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He's also the author of the wedding's expert guide to sales

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and marketing.

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Welcome to the gift biz on wrapped podcast.

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Brian, I am so happy to be here and very excited

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to be creative with the creatives.

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Oh, I love that.

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And it's perfect timing for us to be coming together with

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all of this because it's the start of the new year,

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just a little bit in and popular wedding season is going

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to be upon us.

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So this works out perfectly.

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Yeah, it's amazing.

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There's so much psychology that goes on in both with the

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wedding client and with the industry.

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It's sort of a switch that gets turned on like right

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after the holidays.

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Yeah, seriously.

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I totally agree with you there.

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Well, before we dive into everything,

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I'd like to do what has become a tradition here,

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which is have you described yourself by way of a motivational

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candle? So if you were to share with us what color

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resonates with you and a quote that you would put on

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a candle that speaks completely to you,

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Brian, what would your motivational candle look like?

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Well, second side of me is a deep spiritual practice on

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a daily basis.

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So this,

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I did put some thought into this and sort of close

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my eyes and I saw my candle as an eternal,

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bright yellow light where I always want to be.

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My true self to just manifest and always want to choose

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kindness and mindfulness over self-interest and be able to see clearly

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in front of me with this internal illumination and the quote

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that I've also written a lot of my own quotes.

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So I chose a quote that I thought is really great

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for a creative audience and that quote is the genius that

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could be found in moments.

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Your quiet inside and your tank is full,

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is worth more than hours expended on running on empty.

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Oh, tell me more about what that means.

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Well, it means that if you really take care of yourself

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and are balanced,

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that if you get the right amount of sleep,

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because I know a lot of people that are creative just

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get lost in the process and then all of a sudden

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they find themselves overtired and they're not just operating on the

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highest level.

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But if you're mindful of that,

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sometimes you can get so much more done in such a

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short period of time when you have the bandwidth rather than

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struggling when you don't.

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And to try to do more to Knoxville enough.

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I mean,

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sometimes it's just a confusion.

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You feel the void that you're feeling when you're trying to

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continue to work.

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It's really the void of being tired that you just need

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to stop.

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Yeah. You know,

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I so agree with you because I also think the majority

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of us,

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when we've started our businesses decide that we're going to be

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super women or men and then just do everything and conquer

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everything and we get worn down like you said.

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But it's so scary to start paying somebody else to do

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some of these things.

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So we hold on to things way longer than we should.

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And I think to your point,

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if you're not healthy and balancing everything,

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your work's going to suffer and your growth will suffer as

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a business.

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Absolutely. The other thing I was reading into it,

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and maybe it's just because I was combining it with what

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you were talking about with your color,

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is when your trying to work so fast and juggling so

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many balls,

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I think you lose all the things that you were talking

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about. Valuing being true to yourself,

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letting the inner light flow,

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being mindful.

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And all of that because you're being so tremendously busy meeting

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deadline after deadline order,

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production, product creation,

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all of that,

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you lose some of what is so valuable for you as

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an artist.

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Right? Yes,

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and one of the greatest tools that I've used over the

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years as far as resources is finding great interns and I

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approach the intern process with so much thought and I understand

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that I'm getting an intern to help me to make things

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easier for me,

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but I also look at it as a great learning experience

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and a great opportunity to mentor.

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I have interns right now that started as an intern that

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worked for me and it's for there.

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If you are looking to learn,

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I mean,

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look, I'm 61 years old and nobody has 25 years social

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media experience.

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It's all new to us.

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The people that are younger that it's intuitive to could be

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tremendous teachers.

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For those of us that may have the business savvy but

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just need a little bit more of an understanding of an

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innateness of what social media really is.

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So just being able to discern in your mind what you

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do best and if all possible,

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while it's a good idea to understand and do everything in

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your business so that you could have a reasonable expectancy to

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understand if someone that you're giving that privilege to is not

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doing it right at some point,

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it's really,

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really important to delegate.

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And how do you know when that point is?

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It's a matter of when you realize that the quality of

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your work is starting to suffer.

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If you're creative and you're realizing and you're finding a stagnation,

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that's as good a time as any.

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Okay. So it's not even necessarily a revenue point.

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Like when you grow your business to this amount of revenue,

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it has to do with the quality that you're putting out.

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Really? Yes.

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And essentially show you want to have goals,

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financial goals.

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I personally don't believe in them.

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I believe they're limiting.

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Phew. Just put right action and intention into whatever you do.

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And most people that are creative of doing it for the

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love of what they do and that passion is just intoxicating

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and attracts people.

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And if you have that purity in the way that you

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approach your business,

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you don't have to sell yourself.

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You're just letting people buy from you.

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You just making it so enticing Because of the spirit that

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you put out.

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Cause passion,

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influence. That's other people,

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right? Yes,

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absolutely. People love to buy from people that just radiate success

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and happiness and satisfaction rather than when they feel that being

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pushed. So true.

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I mean,

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today's sales strategy is not a push anymore.

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It's all about a poll.

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Right. All right,

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so we're getting ahead of ourselves just a little bit.

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I want to back up first and I'm really curious,

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Brian, how did you get into the stationary and wedding industry

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in the first place?

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I actually started very early in life.

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I did grow up in catering.

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I worked in a wedding venue and which was also an

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outdoor beach club and really learned a lot there.

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I probably learned a lot more than I learned in school

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on how to work with people.

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Part of my job was based on gratuity.

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So I was very entrepreneurial at a young age and this

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particular venue,

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when it became an adult,

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the owner said,

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Hey, you know,

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you can't work here forever.

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What are you going to do?

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And he said to me,

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if you do something wedding related,

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I could recommend a lot of people to you.

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So I really started from scratch and you know,

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it wasn't a photographer,

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a florist wasn't a chef.

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So I researched invitations and favors and I just started that

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business from scratch and opened up a store and realized that

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if I wanted to be wedding focused,

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that that wasn't enough,

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that I had to look for other revenue streams.

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So I ended up sub renting space to a photographer,

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to a florist and then ended up just realizing that I

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should just sell those services under one business name.

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And it's in the Northeast,

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it's called wedding centers.

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And that's what I did for 14 years before I left

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that retail environment.

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Got it.

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And I just want to point out to our listeners too,

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that you saw an opportunity that just by the course of

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your life,

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I mean obviously when you were younger,

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you weren't thinking necessarily that's where you were going to go,

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but you saw an opportunity come to light,

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which was that gentlemen telling you,

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you know,

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I have a whole source of contacts who could be really

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valuable to you if you're interested in this type of a

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00:11:42,240 --> 00:11:45,310
business and that somehow clicked with you to get started.

267
00:11:45,730 --> 00:11:47,620
Absolutely. Interestingly enough,

268
00:11:47,740 --> 00:11:48,340
I ended up,

269
00:11:48,520 --> 00:11:52,600
I got my degree in food service management and nutrition and

270
00:11:52,780 --> 00:11:55,540
while never really went into that field,

271
00:11:55,810 --> 00:11:57,520
I've always kept that lifestyle.

272
00:11:57,820 --> 00:12:00,670
I've been a vegetarian for over 40 years,

273
00:12:01,160 --> 00:12:02,690
so I went to school.

274
00:12:02,720 --> 00:12:04,400
A lot of people go to school to learn how to

275
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do something that they do professionally.

276
00:12:06,860 --> 00:12:08,900
I went to school and learned how to do something for

277
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my health.

278
00:12:10,310 --> 00:12:12,610
Hmm, And do you see it applying to business at all?

279
00:12:12,950 --> 00:12:15,140
I really did not get a lot out of going to

280
00:12:15,140 --> 00:12:17,570
school as far as applying it to business now.

281
00:12:18,290 --> 00:12:20,750
No. It's all what I learned at that place that I

282
00:12:20,750 --> 00:12:22,670
worked. And then just constant.

283
00:12:22,670 --> 00:12:24,920
I've always been a self starter,

284
00:12:24,950 --> 00:12:26,360
very internally motivated.

285
00:12:26,660 --> 00:12:29,750
Well actually once I became an adult once I was more

286
00:12:29,750 --> 00:12:31,280
of a free spirit when I was,

287
00:12:31,340 --> 00:12:31,520
you know,

288
00:12:31,530 --> 00:12:32,300
in my teens.

289
00:12:33,020 --> 00:12:35,270
Yeah. But I just do want to point out and have

290
00:12:35,270 --> 00:12:37,070
everybody who's listening to think about,

291
00:12:37,100 --> 00:12:37,490
you know,

292
00:12:37,490 --> 00:12:40,040
what is in their current daily life and you know,

293
00:12:40,040 --> 00:12:42,170
if you are still working in nine to five,

294
00:12:42,170 --> 00:12:43,700
which is absolutely no problem.

295
00:12:43,700 --> 00:12:45,110
You know how I feel about that.

296
00:12:45,110 --> 00:12:48,320
Starting a business on the side while you still have security,

297
00:12:48,320 --> 00:12:50,720
financial security isn't a bad move,

298
00:12:50,900 --> 00:12:56,270
but what other opportunities might that job bring you context for

299
00:12:56,270 --> 00:12:58,970
the future or whatever it might be,

300
00:12:58,970 --> 00:13:00,620
connections, learning,

301
00:13:00,650 --> 00:13:01,700
whatever it is.

302
00:13:01,860 --> 00:13:04,380
So don't discount wherever you are right now.

303
00:13:04,600 --> 00:13:07,210
And I would even say as you continue to go on,

304
00:13:07,240 --> 00:13:08,080
because Brian is,

305
00:13:08,080 --> 00:13:10,570
you were like you were talking about with your retail shop,

306
00:13:10,600 --> 00:13:14,980
you just saw you analyze situations and just moved and manipulated

307
00:13:14,980 --> 00:13:17,440
the situation according to where you saw the value and where

308
00:13:17,440 --> 00:13:18,460
you could see the growth.

309
00:13:19,020 --> 00:13:22,740
And at different crossroads in my professional life,

310
00:13:23,100 --> 00:13:27,990
I always thought about how I could bring forward something that

311
00:13:28,050 --> 00:13:28,920
from what I did,

312
00:13:29,160 --> 00:13:31,020
I've stayed in the wedding industry on some level,

313
00:13:31,020 --> 00:13:32,670
my entire stationary instrument,

314
00:13:32,670 --> 00:13:33,570
entire career.

315
00:13:33,900 --> 00:13:36,840
So when I made a decision to leave the retail environment

316
00:13:36,900 --> 00:13:38,010
for personal reasons,

317
00:13:38,010 --> 00:13:39,000
I had a young family.

318
00:13:39,000 --> 00:13:43,740
My last store was in a mall and it really just

319
00:13:43,770 --> 00:13:45,570
threw me into such,

320
00:13:45,870 --> 00:13:46,620
it was just too much.

321
00:13:46,620 --> 00:13:50,520
I was working 70 hours a week and the wedding industry,

322
00:13:50,550 --> 00:13:50,700
you know,

323
00:13:50,700 --> 00:13:54,150
most people come on weekends and during in the evenings,

324
00:13:54,360 --> 00:13:57,210
but having to be open all those hours because you're in

325
00:13:57,210 --> 00:14:00,810
a mall and I learned a very valuable lesson that it's

326
00:14:00,810 --> 00:14:02,520
not how much business you do,

327
00:14:02,610 --> 00:14:04,110
it's how much money you put in your pocket.

328
00:14:04,430 --> 00:14:05,600
So true.

329
00:14:05,630 --> 00:14:07,250
Yeah. Expand on that too.

330
00:14:07,550 --> 00:14:11,390
If you have a business that isn't scalable and you're just

331
00:14:11,390 --> 00:14:14,180
spending a lot of money and you're just working harder and

332
00:14:14,180 --> 00:14:17,480
harder to produce the product and the amount of money that

333
00:14:17,480 --> 00:14:21,950
you're spending to get that business isn't enough to sustain you.

334
00:14:22,220 --> 00:14:26,150
Sometimes it's a matter of just changing the ratio of just

335
00:14:26,300 --> 00:14:29,900
spending less money but doing a bit business more on your

336
00:14:29,900 --> 00:14:33,230
terms that allow your creativity to stay fresh.

337
00:14:34,590 --> 00:14:37,770
Well and for you giving up that retail shop,

338
00:14:37,800 --> 00:14:41,490
I mean huge overhead all of a sudden was released for

339
00:14:41,490 --> 00:14:42,840
you. Exactly,

340
00:14:42,840 --> 00:14:46,710
and I ended up approaching Encore studios,

341
00:14:46,740 --> 00:14:49,170
which is a company that was a great company that no

342
00:14:49,170 --> 00:14:52,400
longer in business because the whole stationery is many listeners that

343
00:14:52,400 --> 00:14:53,120
are in the business.

344
00:14:53,210 --> 00:14:55,940
No has changed a lot of wholesale suppliers.

345
00:14:55,940 --> 00:14:59,210
Ended up going out of business because of so much online

346
00:14:59,210 --> 00:15:00,920
competition, do it yourself,

347
00:15:00,950 --> 00:15:01,580
et cetera,

348
00:15:01,960 --> 00:15:03,820
but I approached them to say,

349
00:15:03,820 --> 00:15:05,590
Hey, I've done a lot in the industry.

350
00:15:05,590 --> 00:15:07,120
I was a good client of theirs.

351
00:15:07,330 --> 00:15:09,670
I also at that point had written the book,

352
00:15:09,700 --> 00:15:12,770
the wedding experts got to sales and marketing and I said,

353
00:15:12,770 --> 00:15:15,170
I thought I could really make a difference in their business

354
00:15:15,230 --> 00:15:17,540
and they created a position for me.

355
00:15:17,780 --> 00:15:19,100
I walked into an office,

356
00:15:19,730 --> 00:15:21,650
they never had anybody that worked in marketing,

357
00:15:21,650 --> 00:15:25,740
right? They were the type of business that just was talented

358
00:15:25,830 --> 00:15:28,620
and attracted a lot of people because of how beautiful the

359
00:15:28,620 --> 00:15:29,310
designs were,

360
00:15:29,310 --> 00:15:30,990
but they never did any marketing.

361
00:15:30,990 --> 00:15:32,460
They always wanted to do marketing,

362
00:15:32,820 --> 00:15:35,730
so they just gave me a blank slate to start.

363
00:15:35,730 --> 00:15:38,750
It was like building a business inside of the business and

364
00:15:38,750 --> 00:15:43,070
that's one of the things that is a great opportunity sometimes

365
00:15:43,220 --> 00:15:47,900
is to bring an entrepreneurial spirit to a job where you

366
00:15:47,900 --> 00:15:50,920
own what you do Right and talk about the value then

367
00:15:50,920 --> 00:15:53,770
you have for that company because you've created the whole department

368
00:15:53,770 --> 00:15:57,570
and the position you have all that knowledge And also if

369
00:15:57,570 --> 00:16:01,650
many of the listeners are involved in their pursuit while having

370
00:16:01,650 --> 00:16:02,760
a full time job,

371
00:16:03,450 --> 00:16:06,960
if you could harness the understanding that now you own your

372
00:16:06,960 --> 00:16:07,500
own business,

373
00:16:07,500 --> 00:16:08,760
what it must be like for you,

374
00:16:08,760 --> 00:16:10,620
the owner of the company that you work for to own

375
00:16:10,620 --> 00:16:15,030
the business and have that entrepreneurial empathy that you bring to

376
00:16:15,030 --> 00:16:18,690
that job that could even help you grow in your job.

377
00:16:18,790 --> 00:16:21,160
You said something a little bit ago that I'm really,

378
00:16:21,160 --> 00:16:25,090
really curious about and I would direct this to people who

379
00:16:25,090 --> 00:16:25,900
are listening,

380
00:16:25,900 --> 00:16:30,430
who are stationary designers or possibly make favors for the wedding

381
00:16:30,430 --> 00:16:33,960
industry just because that's your area of expertise,

382
00:16:33,990 --> 00:16:35,820
but really all of our makers,

383
00:16:35,880 --> 00:16:38,820
you made the comment that because of the way things are

384
00:16:38,820 --> 00:16:42,390
changing, and I saw this too for sure with the national

385
00:16:42,390 --> 00:16:43,350
stationery show,

386
00:16:43,380 --> 00:16:44,940
which is why I stopped going,

387
00:16:44,940 --> 00:16:48,300
I just saw traffic in diminishing interest in like all of

388
00:16:48,300 --> 00:16:51,090
that. I saw it all changing and I wasn't tied into

389
00:16:51,090 --> 00:16:52,260
just that industry.

390
00:16:52,290 --> 00:16:53,760
But that's a little bit of an aside,

391
00:16:53,950 --> 00:16:57,580
but you said that you saw the industry changing and it

392
00:16:57,580 --> 00:17:02,800
was moving away from some of these larger wholesalers because the

393
00:17:02,800 --> 00:17:06,070
DIY people were starting to take a firmer hold.

394
00:17:06,260 --> 00:17:09,410
Can you talk a little bit more about that specifically directed

395
00:17:09,410 --> 00:17:12,650
to other people who are looking at doing a DIY type

396
00:17:12,650 --> 00:17:14,330
like so they're stationary designers,

397
00:17:14,330 --> 00:17:14,510
you know,

398
00:17:14,510 --> 00:17:15,650
custom designers?

399
00:17:15,920 --> 00:17:19,070
Well, the main point that I was making is that online

400
00:17:19,070 --> 00:17:24,950
retailers were much better at marketing and because the internet became

401
00:17:24,950 --> 00:17:27,440
such an elegant way to look for product,

402
00:17:27,790 --> 00:17:32,350
it became the way that consumers would start researching years back.

403
00:17:32,500 --> 00:17:34,780
The only choice they had was to order a mail order

404
00:17:34,780 --> 00:17:40,150
catalog from wedding magazine or to go into a physical place

405
00:17:40,150 --> 00:17:41,560
and look at invitations physically.

406
00:17:42,310 --> 00:17:46,360
So what I'm saying is that the local retailers were caught

407
00:17:46,360 --> 00:17:51,120
off guard and they never really marketed themselves to fight for

408
00:17:51,120 --> 00:17:52,500
the turf in their area.

409
00:17:52,840 --> 00:17:53,800
A local retailer,

410
00:17:53,830 --> 00:17:56,080
well, they need to do is think about what they can

411
00:17:56,080 --> 00:17:59,710
do in their local area and if everybody did that did

412
00:17:59,710 --> 00:18:01,870
the best that they can in their own corner of the

413
00:18:01,870 --> 00:18:04,720
sky, I think the industry would have been different and a

414
00:18:04,720 --> 00:18:08,080
lot of the wholesale brands didn't step up to the plate

415
00:18:08,320 --> 00:18:12,340
to try to support their retailers and use their faster resources

416
00:18:12,520 --> 00:18:15,250
to gain more attention to the retail environment.

417
00:18:15,280 --> 00:18:17,650
I had done that when I was with Encore,

418
00:18:17,880 --> 00:18:19,950
I had called up advertising programs.

419
00:18:20,190 --> 00:18:22,800
I was all about trying to get brand recognition to try

420
00:18:22,800 --> 00:18:26,160
to bring people in and get them off their computer screens

421
00:18:26,160 --> 00:18:27,000
and into the store.

422
00:18:27,310 --> 00:18:29,980
I know that doesn't exactly answer the questions that you were

423
00:18:29,980 --> 00:18:33,670
asking, so why don't you ask me to elaborate on a

424
00:18:33,670 --> 00:18:35,040
way that is helpful.

425
00:18:35,390 --> 00:18:36,560
Okay. So you will do that.

426
00:18:36,560 --> 00:18:39,380
And then I want to move into the whole website thing,

427
00:18:39,380 --> 00:18:41,300
but, so I guess another way to phrase the question and

428
00:18:41,330 --> 00:18:43,700
what I'm trying to understand from your perspective,

429
00:18:43,700 --> 00:18:46,580
because you have so much knowledge on this is what is

430
00:18:46,580 --> 00:18:49,880
the potential and the opportunity for someone who is,

431
00:18:49,880 --> 00:18:52,760
and let's just say they're accustomed stationary designer,

432
00:18:52,760 --> 00:18:55,970
so they make their own line of stationary.

433
00:18:56,200 --> 00:18:57,910
They might be going wholesale,

434
00:18:57,910 --> 00:19:00,790
so they would like to be able to distribute through some

435
00:19:00,790 --> 00:19:01,960
brick and mortar shops as well,

436
00:19:01,960 --> 00:19:03,340
but they're also online.

437
00:19:03,560 --> 00:19:06,140
What do you see as like maybe a definition of the

438
00:19:06,140 --> 00:19:08,510
market as you see it today for a DIY or,

439
00:19:08,710 --> 00:19:12,130
Well, one thing as you said about the stationary show,

440
00:19:12,220 --> 00:19:14,890
it is a totally different show than it was.

441
00:19:15,180 --> 00:19:17,160
It doesn't mean that you shouldn't display there.

442
00:19:17,160 --> 00:19:18,600
If you're stationary focused,

443
00:19:18,930 --> 00:19:23,670
but it's more if you are willing to share samples.

444
00:19:24,120 --> 00:19:27,780
I mean that very generously so people could really conceptualize your

445
00:19:27,780 --> 00:19:30,450
work beyond just looking at it on an image.

446
00:19:31,020 --> 00:19:32,310
But at the same time,

447
00:19:32,400 --> 00:19:33,930
the imagery is just so,

448
00:19:34,080 --> 00:19:34,920
so important.

449
00:19:35,400 --> 00:19:38,760
So everything that you do has to be lifestyle shots,

450
00:19:38,790 --> 00:19:39,540
glamorous shots.

451
00:19:39,670 --> 00:19:41,110
If you have a DIY product,

452
00:19:41,110 --> 00:19:41,860
that's fine,

453
00:19:42,040 --> 00:19:43,930
but don't have DIY photography,

454
00:19:44,350 --> 00:19:47,470
right? There's a lot of choices for an invitation business.

455
00:19:47,800 --> 00:19:49,570
Your imitation designer,

456
00:19:49,780 --> 00:19:51,850
there's only one first page of Google.

457
00:19:52,200 --> 00:19:56,610
You really have to find creative ways to stand out.

458
00:19:56,670 --> 00:20:00,570
And there's a 21st century strategy that I don't think will

459
00:20:00,570 --> 00:20:01,350
ever end,

460
00:20:01,620 --> 00:20:04,410
and it's becoming less used as we go into the 21st

461
00:20:04,410 --> 00:20:08,070
century. And that's networking music to my ears,

462
00:20:08,070 --> 00:20:08,880
Brian, you know,

463
00:20:08,880 --> 00:20:14,640
I find too few people understanding the value of networking and

464
00:20:14,640 --> 00:20:19,250
working with influences emails and any type of marketing is so

465
00:20:19,250 --> 00:20:22,580
crowded. It's just hard to be looked at most of the

466
00:20:22,580 --> 00:20:23,780
time you're overlooked.

467
00:20:24,410 --> 00:20:30,350
But if you have relationships with businesses and entities that have

468
00:20:30,350 --> 00:20:32,180
the attention of your audience,

469
00:20:32,210 --> 00:20:37,760
where your designs are being introduced by somebody that you know

470
00:20:38,210 --> 00:20:39,860
people will pay attention to.

471
00:20:40,180 --> 00:20:41,830
To me that's the most important thing.

472
00:20:42,220 --> 00:20:44,230
So how do you get in front of these people?

473
00:20:44,230 --> 00:20:46,870
How do you identify who they are and get in front

474
00:20:46,870 --> 00:20:47,950
of, get their attention?

475
00:20:48,660 --> 00:20:50,040
If you have great product,

476
00:20:50,040 --> 00:20:51,840
it's a matter of getting it in front of them.

477
00:20:51,990 --> 00:20:55,620
Sometimes it is a matter of having some sort of incentive.

478
00:20:55,880 --> 00:20:57,650
Like a purchase incentive you mean?

479
00:20:58,100 --> 00:20:59,120
Yeah, I'm sorry,

480
00:20:59,130 --> 00:21:00,200
financial incentive.

481
00:21:00,410 --> 00:21:03,530
But let me give you an example of a scenario for

482
00:21:03,530 --> 00:21:05,720
say event invitations.

483
00:21:06,330 --> 00:21:07,530
People don't typically,

484
00:21:07,530 --> 00:21:10,710
when they're left to their own devices are not looking for

485
00:21:10,710 --> 00:21:14,730
invitations until safe four or five months before the wedding.

486
00:21:14,760 --> 00:21:16,470
Seriously, or the event.

487
00:21:16,710 --> 00:21:19,320
Sometimes it's even closer when it's a different event,

488
00:21:19,610 --> 00:21:21,590
they may start browsing earlier on,

489
00:21:22,100 --> 00:21:23,600
but when they're looking online,

490
00:21:23,720 --> 00:21:29,720
they're not discerning between retail environment or online retailer.

491
00:21:29,720 --> 00:21:31,220
They're just looking through the results.

492
00:21:31,220 --> 00:21:31,700
In Google,

493
00:21:31,700 --> 00:21:36,020
they're looking on Pinterest or Instagram just to get design ideas.

494
00:21:36,020 --> 00:21:38,510
And if they go to a website and they see online

495
00:21:38,510 --> 00:21:40,880
retail and they see hundreds of invitations,

496
00:21:41,330 --> 00:21:41,870
they're going to say,

497
00:21:41,900 --> 00:21:42,290
Oh wow,

498
00:21:42,320 --> 00:21:43,220
that's a nice selection.

499
00:21:43,220 --> 00:21:46,430
Let me see the one I like the best within the

500
00:21:46,430 --> 00:21:48,230
context of that one environment.

501
00:21:48,490 --> 00:21:53,860
But those several hundred invitations may not even touch the elegance

502
00:21:53,920 --> 00:21:56,710
of people that are listening to this podcast.

503
00:21:56,940 --> 00:21:59,340
But the idea is is that they're never going to be

504
00:21:59,340 --> 00:22:04,520
found. So a venue that just like other vendors is a

505
00:22:04,520 --> 00:22:07,520
very important source to refer business.

506
00:22:07,550 --> 00:22:11,570
And many venues don't really have a station that they recommend.

507
00:22:12,140 --> 00:22:14,720
And the way to approach a venue is not just to

508
00:22:14,720 --> 00:22:15,200
say, Hey,

509
00:22:15,200 --> 00:22:16,580
I have nice invitations,

510
00:22:16,940 --> 00:22:22,340
but to explain that your product elevates the perception that guests

511
00:22:22,340 --> 00:22:22,850
will have.

512
00:22:22,970 --> 00:22:26,270
That's the first thing that a guest will see with the

513
00:22:26,270 --> 00:22:29,390
name of that venue being brought to their attention.

514
00:22:29,750 --> 00:22:32,120
And also being creative of saying,

515
00:22:32,210 --> 00:22:35,330
I could help you with day of affair,

516
00:22:35,420 --> 00:22:39,440
like seating cards and other creative things that could enhance the

517
00:22:39,440 --> 00:22:41,750
decor of the reception hall.

518
00:22:42,130 --> 00:22:43,690
That's just one example.

519
00:22:43,720 --> 00:22:45,190
So if the venue is saying,

520
00:22:45,220 --> 00:22:48,820
I have this great local invitation source,

521
00:22:49,050 --> 00:22:50,160
why don't you check them out,

522
00:22:50,160 --> 00:22:54,270
maybe give them some sort of gift certificate on the save

523
00:22:54,270 --> 00:22:54,960
the dates.

524
00:22:55,380 --> 00:22:57,720
Because typically if you sell the save the date,

525
00:22:57,870 --> 00:23:00,030
you have a better chance of getting them for the invitations

526
00:23:00,030 --> 00:23:00,600
as well.

527
00:23:00,820 --> 00:23:02,440
So it's a matter of really just,

528
00:23:02,740 --> 00:23:04,000
I call it street fighting,

529
00:23:04,030 --> 00:23:04,300
you know,

530
00:23:04,300 --> 00:23:06,580
to get your piece of the market.

531
00:23:06,930 --> 00:23:10,600
Yeah. So that's what you're meaning also by networking when often

532
00:23:10,600 --> 00:23:11,680
when you think of influences,

533
00:23:11,680 --> 00:23:15,430
you're thinking of the big time representatives of any industry.

534
00:23:15,460 --> 00:23:18,700
But I think here or in addition to what you're saying,

535
00:23:18,700 --> 00:23:20,530
I'm not sure which would be venues.

536
00:23:20,530 --> 00:23:22,120
So obviously hotels,

537
00:23:22,120 --> 00:23:23,110
conference centers,

538
00:23:23,140 --> 00:23:24,220
wherever it might be.

539
00:23:24,220 --> 00:23:25,570
And I think that's a great idea,

540
00:23:25,570 --> 00:23:31,360
Brian, because often we're thinking direct to customer or wholesale into

541
00:23:31,570 --> 00:23:32,770
local boutiques.

542
00:23:32,830 --> 00:23:36,080
Right. But instead going to the venues,

543
00:23:36,170 --> 00:23:38,420
and I'm thinking event planners too.

544
00:23:38,710 --> 00:23:40,930
Yes. The event planners and wedding planners.

545
00:23:41,020 --> 00:23:44,050
The thing with that group is that they typically don't do

546
00:23:44,110 --> 00:23:46,130
a very high volume.

547
00:23:46,460 --> 00:23:50,090
So if you have more of a luxury product where every

548
00:23:50,090 --> 00:23:51,380
order is meaningful,

549
00:23:51,800 --> 00:23:56,240
then that's a great source because you could help collaborate with

550
00:23:56,240 --> 00:24:00,700
them so that they can incorporate there or their custom his

551
00:24:00,760 --> 00:24:06,500
own individual stamp of individuality on their invitation From a customer

552
00:24:06,500 --> 00:24:07,520
service standpoint.

553
00:24:07,520 --> 00:24:10,400
Then also your keeping relationships with,

554
00:24:10,460 --> 00:24:10,910
I don't know,

555
00:24:10,910 --> 00:24:15,380
let's say five or 10 venues and event planners and they're

556
00:24:15,380 --> 00:24:19,160
bringing you in multiple clients each year and you're nurturing the

557
00:24:19,160 --> 00:24:22,460
relationship with them and continuing to provide them what they need

558
00:24:22,520 --> 00:24:24,380
versus going one off all the time.

559
00:24:24,500 --> 00:24:25,760
Finding a new bride,

560
00:24:26,110 --> 00:24:27,860
selling them on the invitation,

561
00:24:27,860 --> 00:24:28,040
you know,

562
00:24:28,040 --> 00:24:29,150
that kind of a thing.

563
00:24:29,510 --> 00:24:31,730
Yes. I mean it's a combination of both.

564
00:24:31,950 --> 00:24:37,080
And also looking for the right social media influencers and bloggers.

565
00:24:37,500 --> 00:24:41,880
There are bloggers that have a very local wedding or event

566
00:24:41,880 --> 00:24:46,350
following where people are looking to these bloggers for ideas and

567
00:24:46,350 --> 00:24:48,930
those ideas are expressed visually.

568
00:24:49,440 --> 00:24:50,820
So sometimes it's,

569
00:24:50,820 --> 00:24:54,150
sometimes that does require a pay to play where it's not

570
00:24:54,150 --> 00:24:55,350
just editorial,

571
00:24:55,440 --> 00:24:58,440
but the right partnerships could be money well spent.

572
00:24:58,770 --> 00:24:59,280
So, you know,

573
00:24:59,280 --> 00:25:02,400
we've kind of alluded to website in and out here.

574
00:25:02,400 --> 00:25:05,930
We've interweaved it into our conversation so far and you're an

575
00:25:05,930 --> 00:25:07,250
expert on websites,

576
00:25:07,250 --> 00:25:11,060
so I'd really love to get into this more in terms

577
00:25:11,060 --> 00:25:14,060
of our conversation and just to lay it out a little

578
00:25:14,060 --> 00:25:14,690
bit, Brian,

579
00:25:14,720 --> 00:25:17,330
I see that a lot of people that I work with

580
00:25:17,360 --> 00:25:20,180
and a lot of people who are in my Facebook groups,

581
00:25:20,180 --> 00:25:20,840
et cetera,

582
00:25:20,900 --> 00:25:24,680
it's this tech stuff and the website that holds them up,

583
00:25:24,870 --> 00:25:25,650
they get nervous,

584
00:25:25,650 --> 00:25:26,640
they get anxious,

585
00:25:26,670 --> 00:25:30,390
they go for an easy solution at sea or something like

586
00:25:30,390 --> 00:25:32,040
that, which I'm not saying is bad,

587
00:25:32,070 --> 00:25:34,890
but I'm always a proponent of also having a website that

588
00:25:34,890 --> 00:25:35,820
you own.

589
00:25:36,000 --> 00:25:38,550
So first I want to see if you agree with me

590
00:25:38,550 --> 00:25:41,280
there and then I'd love to get into your thoughts and

591
00:25:41,280 --> 00:25:48,030
opinions on a website all about websites after this quick word

592
00:25:48,060 --> 00:25:48,900
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593
00:25:49,650 --> 00:25:54,030
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594
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595
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596
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597
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598
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599
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600
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601
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for these special touches,

602
00:26:17,160 --> 00:26:20,190
they'll tell their friends and word will spread about your company

603
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604
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605
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606
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607
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608
00:26:32,430 --> 00:26:33,180
add logos,

609
00:26:33,300 --> 00:26:35,040
images, even photos.

610
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Perfect for branding or adding ingredient and flavor labels to,

611
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612
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go to the ribbon,

613
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print company.com

614
00:26:43,950 --> 00:26:48,420
so Do you feel like an Etsy site or heaven forbid

615
00:26:48,420 --> 00:26:51,120
people just having a Facebook page and selling off of their

616
00:26:51,120 --> 00:26:55,020
Facebook page is sufficient or do they need their own dedicated

617
00:26:55,020 --> 00:26:58,430
website? They need their own dedicated website for sure.

618
00:26:58,680 --> 00:27:00,480
Yay. Thank you.

619
00:27:00,600 --> 00:27:05,460
Again with an opportunity to really express the brand and to

620
00:27:05,460 --> 00:27:09,960
really get their attention and create a whole platform,

621
00:27:10,130 --> 00:27:11,090
but a platform is not a,

622
00:27:11,180 --> 00:27:13,190
I'm not talking about something complex,

623
00:27:13,250 --> 00:27:16,100
but answers to the question of why.

624
00:27:16,220 --> 00:27:19,940
Why should this be a resource for this particular site visitor

625
00:27:20,330 --> 00:27:22,130
and just photos that,

626
00:27:22,190 --> 00:27:25,100
wow. Then I mean Facebook and Etsy is just such a

627
00:27:25,100 --> 00:27:26,240
busy place.

628
00:27:26,600 --> 00:27:30,680
It's always an environment where people can go from one resource

629
00:27:30,680 --> 00:27:31,340
to another.

630
00:27:31,630 --> 00:27:34,410
At least if you have the right website and you have

631
00:27:34,410 --> 00:27:36,720
a website that really is captivating,

632
00:27:37,020 --> 00:27:40,590
you have an opportunity to capture the attention of that particular

633
00:27:40,590 --> 00:27:43,650
visitor and possibly bring them to the finish line because people

634
00:27:43,710 --> 00:27:45,720
have very short attention spans.

635
00:27:45,810 --> 00:27:48,240
It has to be done where you're really grabbing their attention

636
00:27:48,330 --> 00:27:53,430
with, I would say aspirational photos that people could envision.

637
00:27:53,550 --> 00:27:56,670
It's not just showing a catalog shot of an invitation,

638
00:27:57,000 --> 00:27:59,940
but maybe showing like one of the invitation that might be

639
00:27:59,940 --> 00:28:03,060
photographed with another event prop.

640
00:28:03,300 --> 00:28:03,450
You know,

641
00:28:03,450 --> 00:28:06,750
sometimes photographers takes some really great shots of invitations,

642
00:28:06,960 --> 00:28:09,900
but so something that people that make it look like it

643
00:28:09,900 --> 00:28:14,760
relates to the reason that particular person would use that invitation.

644
00:28:15,060 --> 00:28:19,980
The two biggest categories for custom invitations are wedding and in

645
00:28:19,980 --> 00:28:22,260
the Jewish community bar and bat mitzvah is still a very

646
00:28:22,260 --> 00:28:24,960
big possible investment in invitations,

647
00:28:25,020 --> 00:28:31,080
so having the right type of styled shoots revolving around creating

648
00:28:31,170 --> 00:28:34,560
the mood of those events along with the invitation.

649
00:28:34,700 --> 00:28:39,190
What do you think about information about the artist who's behind

650
00:28:39,190 --> 00:28:41,320
the designing of and the style of the cards?

651
00:28:41,320 --> 00:28:44,320
Where do you put that in the waiting of a decision

652
00:28:44,320 --> 00:28:45,250
of someone to buy?

653
00:28:45,590 --> 00:28:49,760
I unfortunately don't think that has a lot of weight and

654
00:28:49,760 --> 00:28:52,270
it's because of the lack of attention.

655
00:28:52,340 --> 00:28:57,410
People are really just driven by imagery and getting to have

656
00:28:57,410 --> 00:29:01,510
a preference<inaudible> Well I think it's more about the quality and

657
00:29:01,510 --> 00:29:04,730
the workmanship along with the way that it might look and

658
00:29:04,730 --> 00:29:09,920
just always offering to have samples available and sometimes a worthwhile

659
00:29:10,010 --> 00:29:14,150
strategy is to try for the sample and then say to

660
00:29:14,150 --> 00:29:15,980
them that if you decide to order,

661
00:29:15,980 --> 00:29:17,840
we'll just deduct the price of the sample.

662
00:29:17,980 --> 00:29:22,540
Okay. I'm just wondering online with all the photos and yes,

663
00:29:22,540 --> 00:29:23,320
the samples.

664
00:29:23,350 --> 00:29:26,650
If a video of an artist actually a behind the scenes

665
00:29:26,650 --> 00:29:30,640
of card creation or something would help deepen the relationship.

666
00:29:30,840 --> 00:29:34,230
I think it's a nice second level aspect to have.

667
00:29:34,380 --> 00:29:36,810
I don't think that someone is going to click on to

668
00:29:36,810 --> 00:29:39,360
that as the first interest.

669
00:29:39,690 --> 00:29:43,600
The first interest is really liking the imagery that they see

670
00:29:43,630 --> 00:29:46,540
so it resonates enough with them to want to look further.

671
00:29:47,170 --> 00:29:49,450
And if someone is buying invitations online,

672
00:29:49,780 --> 00:29:52,600
I mean that is a process that's going to take time,

673
00:29:52,820 --> 00:29:56,990
but if it's a product that is sold through face to

674
00:29:56,990 --> 00:30:00,140
face, then you're not selling the product.

675
00:30:00,140 --> 00:30:01,310
Just selling the appointment.

676
00:30:01,790 --> 00:30:03,050
And most retailers,

677
00:30:03,170 --> 00:30:05,360
that's what they're doing is they're selling the meeting.

678
00:30:05,990 --> 00:30:08,060
So if you have a physical location,

679
00:30:08,090 --> 00:30:10,790
it's showing the physicality of the location.

680
00:30:11,180 --> 00:30:15,740
It's sharing the benefits of having a face to face experience

681
00:30:15,950 --> 00:30:18,650
as opposed to a faceless experience ordering online.

682
00:30:19,280 --> 00:30:20,660
And if you are selling online,

683
00:30:20,660 --> 00:30:25,490
you have to be really accurate and helping them with ideas

684
00:30:25,490 --> 00:30:28,970
to help them avoid mistakes because left to their own devices,

685
00:30:29,240 --> 00:30:32,720
the littlest mistake that's made could ruin the whole process.

686
00:30:33,030 --> 00:30:36,270
That's a big benefit for the retailer to tout that we're

687
00:30:36,270 --> 00:30:38,280
going to take you by the hand to make sure that

688
00:30:38,310 --> 00:30:40,710
every detail and we guarantee the work.

689
00:30:41,130 --> 00:30:44,490
You don't have to worry about any problem with your invitations

690
00:30:44,550 --> 00:30:45,330
if there's a mistake,

691
00:30:45,330 --> 00:30:47,760
never even know about it because we'll have already corrected it

692
00:30:47,760 --> 00:30:50,400
rather than you having to first deal with a problem.

693
00:30:50,790 --> 00:30:54,750
So I find that the process of being very elegant but

694
00:30:54,750 --> 00:30:59,250
also being benefit driven in talking about the experience of working

695
00:30:59,250 --> 00:31:02,220
with you I think is really important.

696
00:31:02,310 --> 00:31:04,170
Tandem to get across.

697
00:31:05,070 --> 00:31:08,610
And also if you're a local business showing the locality,

698
00:31:09,000 --> 00:31:10,710
the first thing that people need to see when they go

699
00:31:10,710 --> 00:31:13,680
to a website is what you do and where you do

700
00:31:13,680 --> 00:31:16,140
it. And a lot of people miss that they don't have

701
00:31:16,140 --> 00:31:17,280
contact information.

702
00:31:17,340 --> 00:31:20,520
Well they rely on to contact them is sometimes they don't

703
00:31:20,520 --> 00:31:21,780
even have a phone number and email.

704
00:31:21,780 --> 00:31:22,740
They just have a form.

705
00:31:22,990 --> 00:31:25,660
You want to make yourself accessible.

706
00:31:25,910 --> 00:31:27,080
It's a really important thing.

707
00:31:27,080 --> 00:31:28,610
And have contact information,

708
00:31:29,030 --> 00:31:30,410
tell people what to do,

709
00:31:30,670 --> 00:31:36,370
create a guided experience on trying to help them navigate through

710
00:31:36,370 --> 00:31:37,060
your site.

711
00:31:37,090 --> 00:31:39,910
In a way that beats what your intention is.

712
00:31:39,910 --> 00:31:41,290
And for many listeners,

713
00:31:41,320 --> 00:31:44,620
I would imagine that it would be to set up a

714
00:31:44,620 --> 00:31:49,050
meeting or to get an email with questions and if it

715
00:31:49,050 --> 00:31:52,260
is somebody that's working with Etsy or another third party,

716
00:31:52,500 --> 00:31:55,830
it's driving them to that platform.

717
00:31:56,280 --> 00:31:59,010
But one of the mistakes that I think people make is

718
00:31:59,010 --> 00:32:01,560
that say they have a nice image that they also have

719
00:32:01,560 --> 00:32:02,160
on Etsy,

720
00:32:02,580 --> 00:32:05,490
they may just drive them to the homepage of the Etsy

721
00:32:05,490 --> 00:32:07,530
site rather than driving them to the product.

722
00:32:07,740 --> 00:32:10,980
If someone is interested in that product on your website,

723
00:32:11,160 --> 00:32:12,960
take them to the product on Etsy.

724
00:32:13,500 --> 00:32:14,670
Right, exactly.

725
00:32:14,730 --> 00:32:17,220
Yeah. Especially if you're doing social media posts or something with

726
00:32:17,220 --> 00:32:17,580
a picture.

727
00:32:17,610 --> 00:32:18,630
Right. Yeah.

728
00:32:19,020 --> 00:32:22,680
So I am hearing from you and what I think is

729
00:32:22,680 --> 00:32:23,220
fair to say,

730
00:32:23,220 --> 00:32:25,110
tell me if I'm following along properly,

731
00:32:25,110 --> 00:32:27,000
is when you're building a website,

732
00:32:27,150 --> 00:32:31,320
you would put the customer flow of the website differently if

733
00:32:31,320 --> 00:32:35,160
you also have a physical location versus if you're just selling

734
00:32:35,160 --> 00:32:37,790
online and the physical location.

735
00:32:38,030 --> 00:32:42,200
Really your main of your website is to convince people to

736
00:32:42,200 --> 00:32:43,940
come in and have a meeting with you.

737
00:32:44,320 --> 00:32:45,880
And online,

738
00:32:45,880 --> 00:32:47,890
I'm thinking if I were purchasing myself,

739
00:32:47,920 --> 00:32:51,100
we're going to have a wedding in our future probably within

740
00:32:51,100 --> 00:32:51,910
a couple of years,

741
00:32:51,940 --> 00:32:56,410
but like you can't feel the paper and the texture and

742
00:32:56,560 --> 00:33:00,340
see the true depth of colors of paper online.

743
00:33:00,660 --> 00:33:04,170
So pointing out things like that would be reasons why taking

744
00:33:04,170 --> 00:33:07,200
a little bit more time and actually going to a location

745
00:33:07,260 --> 00:33:09,810
consulting going through some of those books.

746
00:33:09,810 --> 00:33:10,260
And man,

747
00:33:10,290 --> 00:33:15,420
I never knew how expensive those stationary books are until I

748
00:33:15,420 --> 00:33:19,320
had our mutual friend Cheryl Oberman telling me all about that.

749
00:33:19,320 --> 00:33:21,030
That's crazy how expensive those are.

750
00:33:21,030 --> 00:33:25,560
But that whole experience of purchasing a custom wedding invitation would

751
00:33:25,560 --> 00:33:27,990
be completely different in store than online.

752
00:33:28,130 --> 00:33:30,680
Absolutely. And also if you think about it though,

753
00:33:30,710 --> 00:33:34,700
when you're a retailer and you're investing in inventory,

754
00:33:35,090 --> 00:33:38,030
it's a constant necessity to replenish.

755
00:33:38,330 --> 00:33:41,450
But when you invest in an album that's just sales tool.

756
00:33:41,450 --> 00:33:44,840
So typically one order and you recover your investment.

757
00:33:45,020 --> 00:33:47,030
But of course it does add up when you're having a

758
00:33:47,030 --> 00:33:47,990
lot of different lines.

759
00:33:47,990 --> 00:33:51,410
But I just wanted to clarify that in case anybody in

760
00:33:51,410 --> 00:33:55,070
the listening audience is not as clear on that.

761
00:33:55,220 --> 00:33:59,930
It's not a high investment for the potential return because usually

762
00:33:59,930 --> 00:34:02,120
these albums last for a few years.

763
00:34:02,240 --> 00:34:02,630
Got it.

764
00:34:02,750 --> 00:34:05,690
It isn't a brochure or a full color catalog.

765
00:34:05,690 --> 00:34:09,350
It's an actual sample album that is hand created.

766
00:34:09,910 --> 00:34:10,150
You know,

767
00:34:10,150 --> 00:34:11,980
each album is done individually.

768
00:34:12,010 --> 00:34:12,940
It's a very expensive,

769
00:34:12,940 --> 00:34:14,890
laborious process to create.

770
00:34:15,410 --> 00:34:17,840
Okay, so brick and mortar is all about,

771
00:34:17,840 --> 00:34:19,130
as you were saying earlier,

772
00:34:19,280 --> 00:34:20,870
getting the appointment,

773
00:34:20,870 --> 00:34:24,110
having people come in and then working with them from there

774
00:34:24,170 --> 00:34:25,670
and then online.

775
00:34:25,910 --> 00:34:29,240
If you're just ordering online is an entirely different experience,

776
00:34:29,240 --> 00:34:31,550
then you really have to sell your product,

777
00:34:31,760 --> 00:34:33,770
which means lots of options.

778
00:34:33,770 --> 00:34:35,510
I'm pulling from this what you had said before,

779
00:34:35,510 --> 00:34:36,470
many choices.

780
00:34:36,470 --> 00:34:38,900
So people just don't go and see two or three cards

781
00:34:39,090 --> 00:34:40,710
and if it's not their style,

782
00:34:40,740 --> 00:34:42,810
then they're going to jump and go somewhere else.

783
00:34:43,010 --> 00:34:45,830
And also the quality of the photos I would say for

784
00:34:45,830 --> 00:34:47,720
both are extremely important.

785
00:34:47,930 --> 00:34:51,010
But the content of the photos is different because if you

786
00:34:51,010 --> 00:34:52,120
have a brick and mortar shop,

787
00:34:52,120 --> 00:34:55,510
you're going to want to show maybe where the consultation room

788
00:34:55,510 --> 00:34:59,080
is and people looking through some of the options and working

789
00:34:59,080 --> 00:35:01,000
together on what font it's going to be in.

790
00:35:01,000 --> 00:35:01,630
All of that.

791
00:35:01,840 --> 00:35:04,540
But then if you're just selling online,

792
00:35:04,600 --> 00:35:06,310
then you're going to want all the options of all the

793
00:35:06,310 --> 00:35:07,180
different cards,

794
00:35:07,180 --> 00:35:08,440
paper choices,

795
00:35:08,440 --> 00:35:08,620
you know,

796
00:35:08,620 --> 00:35:09,460
that kind of thing.

797
00:35:09,760 --> 00:35:11,020
Am I following you right?

798
00:35:11,450 --> 00:35:12,500
Yeah. You're all following my,

799
00:35:12,500 --> 00:35:14,180
but let me elaborate a little bit.

800
00:35:14,480 --> 00:35:15,560
So number one,

801
00:35:16,100 --> 00:35:21,650
the vest choices that an online retailer would have needs to

802
00:35:21,650 --> 00:35:24,980
be woven into the website in an elegant way.

803
00:35:25,250 --> 00:35:29,420
And I've seen too many websites where they just start off

804
00:35:29,720 --> 00:35:34,310
with just a page of thumbnail images and that is not

805
00:35:34,310 --> 00:35:35,060
the way to go.

806
00:35:35,240 --> 00:35:38,790
The way to go is to still have a very elegant

807
00:35:38,850 --> 00:35:44,040
front lobby homepage where people could get a sense of the

808
00:35:44,040 --> 00:35:48,510
brand and create an inviting experience to look further rather than

809
00:35:48,510 --> 00:35:52,290
just start off with an overwhelming amount of images on a

810
00:35:52,290 --> 00:35:57,150
page that isn't displayed in a large enough way or elegantly

811
00:35:57,150 --> 00:35:59,400
enough to really capture their attention.

812
00:35:59,820 --> 00:36:00,750
So that's number one.

813
00:36:01,210 --> 00:36:02,080
Number two,

814
00:36:02,170 --> 00:36:08,320
most invitation retailers have a thirst to have some sort of

815
00:36:08,350 --> 00:36:13,830
online exposure and while it doesn't always work out to be

816
00:36:13,860 --> 00:36:15,150
financially rewarding,

817
00:36:15,180 --> 00:36:16,410
the online part of it,

818
00:36:16,770 --> 00:36:20,460
it's still an opportunity for people to view a lot of

819
00:36:20,460 --> 00:36:22,560
things if they want to just dig a little bit deeper

820
00:36:22,560 --> 00:36:23,970
before going to a place.

821
00:36:24,450 --> 00:36:27,600
So the hierarchies are very,

822
00:36:27,600 --> 00:36:32,790
very important where you have to think of your homepage as

823
00:36:32,790 --> 00:36:36,000
this virtual receptionist that very,

824
00:36:36,000 --> 00:36:41,760
very clearly and simply and elegantly showcases what are the things

825
00:36:41,760 --> 00:36:45,540
that you would want people to see first and help them

826
00:36:45,540 --> 00:36:46,920
click onto that.

827
00:36:47,240 --> 00:36:49,880
One of the important things that a lot of invitation retail

828
00:36:49,880 --> 00:36:54,320
is miss is the importance of having separate landing pages for

829
00:36:54,320 --> 00:36:58,670
the important events rather than just clumping the fact they sell

830
00:36:58,670 --> 00:37:02,900
invitations and stationary into one melting pot.

831
00:37:03,260 --> 00:37:04,880
So if someone's getting married,

832
00:37:05,090 --> 00:37:07,610
I want them on a page that talks about their wedding

833
00:37:07,610 --> 00:37:08,660
and their wedding invitations.

834
00:37:08,660 --> 00:37:11,210
If someone's planning a bar and bat mitzvah right into that

835
00:37:11,210 --> 00:37:12,110
landing page,

836
00:37:12,290 --> 00:37:16,040
that landing page should be so complete that it's almost like

837
00:37:16,040 --> 00:37:16,910
a homepage.

838
00:37:17,060 --> 00:37:20,630
If somebody is advertising on a wedding industry platform,

839
00:37:20,720 --> 00:37:23,510
they could use the landing page to link to rather than

840
00:37:23,510 --> 00:37:25,550
the homepage because if someone's getting married,

841
00:37:25,550 --> 00:37:27,410
why not bring them right into a wedding page.

842
00:37:27,630 --> 00:37:28,340
Makes sense.

843
00:37:29,010 --> 00:37:34,290
Any other comments on just overall general web development?

844
00:37:34,620 --> 00:37:38,430
Sure. Another thing that's really important and a lot of people

845
00:37:38,460 --> 00:37:41,670
are also very concerned with online visibility.

846
00:37:41,700 --> 00:37:41,910
I mean,

847
00:37:41,940 --> 00:37:44,730
they want their website to generate traffic.

848
00:37:44,940 --> 00:37:45,840
So yes,

849
00:37:46,140 --> 00:37:51,390
there should be an emphasis on good practices to help you

850
00:37:51,390 --> 00:37:53,370
index your site properly.

851
00:37:53,370 --> 00:37:57,300
So that involves installing Google search console,

852
00:37:57,330 --> 00:38:01,350
which helps any updates that you make on your site to

853
00:38:01,350 --> 00:38:03,480
be quickly indexed by Google.

854
00:38:03,540 --> 00:38:07,710
Having a blog on your site is a way to continually

855
00:38:07,770 --> 00:38:12,210
update your site in a way that is also satisfying to

856
00:38:12,210 --> 00:38:13,320
your reader,

857
00:38:13,350 --> 00:38:17,790
to your visitors as well as satisfying to Google that where

858
00:38:17,790 --> 00:38:22,410
they will typically rank sites higher than for businesses that update

859
00:38:22,410 --> 00:38:23,580
their sites more frequently.

860
00:38:23,730 --> 00:38:26,820
And also what's called your title tags and meta descriptions,

861
00:38:26,820 --> 00:38:29,790
which a lot of people miss even working with when they're

862
00:38:29,790 --> 00:38:32,820
trying to do things themselves is that tells Google how to

863
00:38:32,820 --> 00:38:36,490
rank you and you have to vary your keyword terms.

864
00:38:36,490 --> 00:38:40,750
People don't just search to find you by one phrase and

865
00:38:40,750 --> 00:38:42,670
a lot of times people use the same phrase over and

866
00:38:42,670 --> 00:38:43,240
over again.

867
00:38:43,510 --> 00:38:48,430
But my main point is that in this industry with creative

868
00:38:48,430 --> 00:38:53,050
people that are really trying to radiate the beauty of their

869
00:38:53,050 --> 00:38:59,060
work, you don't want to compromise the experience that you want

870
00:38:59,060 --> 00:39:01,760
your visitors to have for the sake of Google.

871
00:39:02,110 --> 00:39:04,300
You got to pick sides and it's all about the user

872
00:39:04,300 --> 00:39:08,680
experience. And what I'm saying is that use the behind the

873
00:39:08,680 --> 00:39:13,270
scenes tools that are available on your website and on your

874
00:39:13,270 --> 00:39:16,090
website to help your ranking.

875
00:39:16,660 --> 00:39:20,680
Don't compromise the integrity of your site and start trying to

876
00:39:20,680 --> 00:39:23,950
play with wordings just to squeeze in what you think of

877
00:39:23,950 --> 00:39:25,510
keywords that Google index,

878
00:39:25,510 --> 00:39:26,320
because first of all,

879
00:39:26,320 --> 00:39:27,580
Google knows better now.

880
00:39:27,900 --> 00:39:29,940
They don't weigh that as the way they used to.

881
00:39:30,670 --> 00:39:31,810
Right. So in other words,

882
00:39:31,810 --> 00:39:35,680
speak the language that your customers speak and understand and don't

883
00:39:35,680 --> 00:39:38,740
try to jam in keywords just because you think that's going

884
00:39:38,740 --> 00:39:40,120
to rank you higher in Google.

885
00:39:40,480 --> 00:39:41,320
That's correct.

886
00:39:41,800 --> 00:39:43,840
Yeah. I remember how people used to do that and like

887
00:39:43,840 --> 00:39:46,360
sentences didn't even make sense.

888
00:39:46,750 --> 00:39:47,110
You know,

889
00:39:47,350 --> 00:39:48,580
It sounded like rain man.

890
00:39:48,760 --> 00:39:51,790
Yeah. Or they'd use the same word like seven times on

891
00:39:51,790 --> 00:39:53,380
the first page or something.

892
00:39:53,440 --> 00:39:54,160
That was crazy.

893
00:39:54,160 --> 00:39:56,590
I'm glad we're out of that era that was not,

894
00:39:56,650 --> 00:39:58,180
but everyone was trying to figure it out.

895
00:39:58,180 --> 00:39:59,890
Right. Still trying to figure it out.

896
00:40:00,280 --> 00:40:01,780
Yeah, because it's always changing.

897
00:40:02,050 --> 00:40:05,620
What would you say to someone who's building a website and

898
00:40:05,890 --> 00:40:08,830
is all done and they've done everything that you've said?

899
00:40:08,830 --> 00:40:09,370
Like Brian,

900
00:40:09,370 --> 00:40:12,220
this would be the perfect example that you would put up

901
00:40:12,220 --> 00:40:15,700
in one of your lectures about how a website should be

902
00:40:15,700 --> 00:40:18,550
done and they just put it up and that's it.

903
00:40:18,850 --> 00:40:19,540
That's all they do.

904
00:40:19,690 --> 00:40:22,170
What's going to happen to that website If they're a local

905
00:40:22,170 --> 00:40:25,680
business, certainly want to have a Google my business account because

906
00:40:25,680 --> 00:40:29,310
Google my business is really the best way to rank on

907
00:40:29,310 --> 00:40:32,820
Google because the only competition you have is local competition.

908
00:40:33,070 --> 00:40:35,500
When you're trying to rank on Google organically,

909
00:40:35,650 --> 00:40:39,940
any body in the world could come up for wedding invitations

910
00:40:39,940 --> 00:40:43,030
in Chicago with the right approach to their website and you

911
00:40:43,030 --> 00:40:48,340
will have many industry platforms that are trying to intercept traffic

912
00:40:48,490 --> 00:40:52,090
that may have been looking for a retailer to bring them

913
00:40:52,150 --> 00:40:55,990
to their site to then deliver them to their advertisers.

914
00:40:56,330 --> 00:40:59,450
So Google my business is really the way for local business

915
00:40:59,450 --> 00:41:02,660
to really focus on getting online visibility.

916
00:41:02,660 --> 00:41:04,190
It's much simpler to rank.

917
00:41:04,400 --> 00:41:10,490
Also establishing your business on a lot of other directories like

918
00:41:10,520 --> 00:41:12,770
Yelp being Facebook,

919
00:41:12,770 --> 00:41:13,730
four square,

920
00:41:14,150 --> 00:41:18,590
and there are other secondary directories that in themselves don't necessarily

921
00:41:18,590 --> 00:41:22,910
generate a lot of traffic but collectively could be meaningful and

922
00:41:22,910 --> 00:41:28,010
also is a way that Google validates your locality.

923
00:41:28,070 --> 00:41:32,600
So they differ to how much exposure you have in other

924
00:41:32,630 --> 00:41:34,970
directories as a ranking factor.

925
00:41:35,380 --> 00:41:36,340
Oh, I didn't know that.

926
00:41:36,370 --> 00:41:37,300
That's interesting.

927
00:41:37,720 --> 00:41:40,600
So what you're saying is just because you put up the

928
00:41:40,600 --> 00:41:41,980
picture perfect website,

929
00:41:42,010 --> 00:41:43,150
your job isn't done.

930
00:41:43,570 --> 00:41:46,570
You need to do things to get people to your website

931
00:41:46,750 --> 00:41:47,950
and a lot of it is Google.

932
00:41:48,260 --> 00:41:52,850
Right. And also there's nothing wrong with doing a website yourself

933
00:41:52,850 --> 00:41:54,170
as long as it doesn't look that way.

934
00:41:54,930 --> 00:41:58,290
Oh, you mean like you manually doing your own versus hiring

935
00:41:58,290 --> 00:41:59,040
someone to do it.

936
00:41:59,770 --> 00:42:02,140
Yes. And hiring somebody.

937
00:42:02,230 --> 00:42:07,010
One of the challenges of hiring generic web designers that don't

938
00:42:07,010 --> 00:42:11,960
really have industry experience is that you're losing the opportunity to

939
00:42:12,020 --> 00:42:15,920
have somebody that has worked with other businesses to take a

940
00:42:15,920 --> 00:42:19,700
lead role in helping you to expand beyond your own thinking.

941
00:42:20,390 --> 00:42:24,710
And that's why I have success with my clients in the

942
00:42:24,710 --> 00:42:27,710
sense that I could help guide them.

943
00:42:27,710 --> 00:42:31,460
A lot of times the whole design process and what to

944
00:42:31,460 --> 00:42:34,550
include, what to not include is daunting and to not have

945
00:42:34,550 --> 00:42:37,700
to be involved in constantly straining to come up with the

946
00:42:37,700 --> 00:42:40,580
answers and just having someone that could run with it makes

947
00:42:40,580 --> 00:42:44,990
the whole process with typically a better and faster outcome as

948
00:42:44,990 --> 00:42:47,570
well as an easier process where you're not put in the

949
00:42:47,570 --> 00:42:50,930
position where someone has to pick your brain before they can

950
00:42:50,930 --> 00:42:51,380
help you.

951
00:42:52,440 --> 00:42:52,860
Oh right.

952
00:42:52,860 --> 00:42:55,620
You're talking about someone who has industry knowledge.

953
00:42:55,680 --> 00:42:56,760
It helps a great deal.

954
00:42:56,970 --> 00:42:57,330
Got it.

955
00:42:57,360 --> 00:42:59,670
Okay. What do you feel about platforms?

956
00:42:59,790 --> 00:43:01,350
You know we've talked a little bit about ethics.

957
00:43:01,470 --> 00:43:05,700
If someone's doing their own website comments from you on like

958
00:43:05,700 --> 00:43:08,880
a WordPress site or Shopify or you know,

959
00:43:08,880 --> 00:43:11,670
some of the other kind of template driven sites there are

960
00:43:11,670 --> 00:43:12,180
out there.

961
00:43:12,790 --> 00:43:15,550
Well, there's certainly been a lot of talk that Shopify is

962
00:43:15,550 --> 00:43:19,790
a good platform for online retailing for a business that is

963
00:43:19,880 --> 00:43:21,110
trying to stay,

964
00:43:21,170 --> 00:43:23,930
has already established third party things.

965
00:43:23,930 --> 00:43:24,890
With Etsy,

966
00:43:24,890 --> 00:43:25,760
for example,

967
00:43:25,940 --> 00:43:29,300
and wanting to get the best chance of online visibility and

968
00:43:29,300 --> 00:43:30,650
an elegant platform.

969
00:43:30,650 --> 00:43:33,860
WordPress is definitely the way to go.

970
00:43:34,150 --> 00:43:37,930
Wix has some good themes as well and it's pretty easy

971
00:43:37,930 --> 00:43:38,800
to navigate.

972
00:43:38,890 --> 00:43:43,630
Also, Squarespace is a very photo rich platform that really has

973
00:43:43,630 --> 00:43:47,500
different themes that allow one to display photos in a very

974
00:43:47,500 --> 00:43:48,490
nice way.

975
00:43:48,910 --> 00:43:51,730
A lot of photographers use Squarespace for that purpose,

976
00:43:51,970 --> 00:43:55,240
but in general it's all about any platform.

977
00:43:55,420 --> 00:43:57,820
Using the right approach.

978
00:43:58,480 --> 00:43:59,530
You can make it elegant.

979
00:43:59,680 --> 00:44:04,600
You have to remember that even the desktop experience is now

980
00:44:04,600 --> 00:44:06,280
scrolling. People don't just,

981
00:44:06,310 --> 00:44:08,350
they just get onto the site and scroll down.

982
00:44:08,350 --> 00:44:11,230
It used to be that you need to have your desktop

983
00:44:11,260 --> 00:44:13,000
website above the fold,

984
00:44:13,000 --> 00:44:16,210
like everything had to be seen right away for that people

985
00:44:16,210 --> 00:44:20,170
to go further and you can't rely on the navigation bars

986
00:44:20,170 --> 00:44:22,240
anymore. People just scroll down.

987
00:44:22,780 --> 00:44:24,430
If you're going to have navigation bars,

988
00:44:24,730 --> 00:44:26,860
they need to be sticky so that people see them at

989
00:44:26,860 --> 00:44:30,150
all times and those are typically innate on mobile,

990
00:44:30,150 --> 00:44:34,110
but you have to start about designing your site for mobile

991
00:44:34,380 --> 00:44:37,020
and then optimizing it for desktop rather than the other way

992
00:44:37,020 --> 00:44:40,830
around because now the other thing is that the lion's share

993
00:44:40,860 --> 00:44:44,430
of internet searches are going to be mobile.

994
00:44:44,710 --> 00:44:47,890
It's gone past the 50% Mark.

995
00:44:48,310 --> 00:44:49,990
However, with that being said,

996
00:44:50,110 --> 00:44:52,510
I don't think it's going to change for online retail is

997
00:44:52,510 --> 00:44:54,940
that the majority of sales are going to take place on

998
00:44:54,940 --> 00:44:58,780
desktop, especially with invitations where there's a lot of customization.

999
00:44:58,780 --> 00:45:02,380
I don't see people sitting on their cell phone with their

1000
00:45:02,380 --> 00:45:05,950
other half watering their wedding invitations that much on a mobile

1001
00:45:05,950 --> 00:45:07,540
device. That makes sense,

1002
00:45:07,570 --> 00:45:10,990
but a first point of contact for sure could be that

1003
00:45:11,160 --> 00:45:13,200
And very much likely will be.

1004
00:45:13,460 --> 00:45:14,530
That's really interesting.

1005
00:45:14,530 --> 00:45:17,650
This is the first time I've heard that because I've always

1006
00:45:17,770 --> 00:45:18,970
heard above the fold,

1007
00:45:18,970 --> 00:45:19,660
above the fold,

1008
00:45:19,690 --> 00:45:22,540
you know your most important things and clearly still there has

1009
00:45:22,540 --> 00:45:26,050
to be a good statement to motivate someone to start scrolling.

1010
00:45:26,450 --> 00:45:28,010
But I also,

1011
00:45:28,010 --> 00:45:31,010
and when I redid one of my websites and I hired

1012
00:45:31,010 --> 00:45:32,030
someone out to help me,

1013
00:45:32,300 --> 00:45:34,790
he took me through a customer experience.

1014
00:45:34,790 --> 00:45:37,550
Like you're telling a story on your homepage,

1015
00:45:37,810 --> 00:45:41,770
you're bringing them through an experience and then leading them to

1016
00:45:41,770 --> 00:45:42,910
what to do next.

1017
00:45:43,550 --> 00:45:45,470
Absolutely. That's very well said.

1018
00:45:46,040 --> 00:45:46,880
Okay. Thank you.

1019
00:45:46,910 --> 00:45:47,450
Thank you.

1020
00:45:47,450 --> 00:45:47,840
With that.

1021
00:45:47,990 --> 00:45:48,980
Now the other thing,

1022
00:45:49,010 --> 00:45:51,680
and I'd love any updated information on this.

1023
00:45:51,880 --> 00:45:52,420
Do you remember,

1024
00:45:52,420 --> 00:45:54,970
was it like two years ago or something?

1025
00:45:55,210 --> 00:45:59,410
I believe it was Google who was going to rank much

1026
00:45:59,410 --> 00:46:01,930
lower. Any sites that weren't mobile friendly?

1027
00:46:02,480 --> 00:46:05,000
Yes. I think it's even a little bit more recent,

1028
00:46:05,000 --> 00:46:06,740
but absolutely the case.

1029
00:46:06,770 --> 00:46:10,780
Yeah, and also there's now what's called a mobile first ranking,

1030
00:46:11,080 --> 00:46:13,600
meaning that all new websites,

1031
00:46:13,840 --> 00:46:16,390
the first thing that Google will look at to index your

1032
00:46:16,390 --> 00:46:19,090
site will be a mobile site and they're going back to

1033
00:46:19,090 --> 00:46:20,740
existing sites to do the same thing.

1034
00:46:21,100 --> 00:46:21,850
So what are they doing?

1035
00:46:21,850 --> 00:46:23,440
Like kind of scoring the site?

1036
00:46:23,680 --> 00:46:27,760
Yes. They have different algorithms and criteria to decide if that,

1037
00:46:27,790 --> 00:46:28,510
how that site,

1038
00:46:28,750 --> 00:46:30,340
it's also the user experience.

1039
00:46:30,340 --> 00:46:31,600
Speed is very important.

1040
00:46:32,080 --> 00:46:33,670
People don't want to wait.

1041
00:46:33,700 --> 00:46:37,480
So if your site takes longer to load and sometimes that

1042
00:46:37,570 --> 00:46:41,110
people have videos on their sites that are actually lodged inside

1043
00:46:41,110 --> 00:46:41,680
their site,

1044
00:46:41,740 --> 00:46:45,010
that could be a really slowing down of the site loading.

1045
00:46:45,750 --> 00:46:47,670
Yeah, and multiple pictures that are really,

1046
00:46:47,670 --> 00:46:49,320
really big too.

1047
00:46:49,530 --> 00:46:50,640
Yes, correct.

1048
00:46:50,640 --> 00:46:55,950
So that's where a pro understands how to find that best

1049
00:46:55,950 --> 00:46:58,320
balance to create the best user experience,

1050
00:46:58,320 --> 00:47:01,020
but also to make sure that the site loads quickly.

1051
00:47:01,340 --> 00:47:02,600
Okay. Give his listeners,

1052
00:47:02,600 --> 00:47:07,640
we've given you tips splattered throughout this whole conversation,

1053
00:47:07,640 --> 00:47:10,130
so might make sense to go back again with a pen

1054
00:47:10,130 --> 00:47:11,900
and paper and write things down.

1055
00:47:12,140 --> 00:47:14,960
Compare a lot of the things that Brian's been talking about

1056
00:47:15,050 --> 00:47:18,170
against what you have going on right now with your website.

1057
00:47:18,390 --> 00:47:21,510
You may find just one or two things that you can

1058
00:47:21,510 --> 00:47:22,590
adjust and change,

1059
00:47:22,590 --> 00:47:25,710
which is going to improve the user experience and in turn

1060
00:47:25,770 --> 00:47:28,410
get you more appointments or bring people to some of your

1061
00:47:28,410 --> 00:47:31,300
product and hopefully bring them over to a sale.

1062
00:47:31,500 --> 00:47:34,680
Brian, what would you say to someone who's just now?

1063
00:47:34,710 --> 00:47:37,710
Okay. We've convinced them that a website's important.

1064
00:47:37,860 --> 00:47:39,570
They've been thinking about it for a while.

1065
00:47:39,570 --> 00:47:40,650
Tech is scary,

1066
00:47:40,650 --> 00:47:41,550
but they get it.

1067
00:47:41,610 --> 00:47:45,780
What are the first couple of steps someone brand new should

1068
00:47:45,780 --> 00:47:48,930
take to getting a website up just so that they don't

1069
00:47:48,930 --> 00:47:50,160
walk away from this and say,

1070
00:47:50,160 --> 00:47:51,060
okay, I get it,

1071
00:47:51,060 --> 00:47:54,000
but then still don't start taking any action.

1072
00:47:54,520 --> 00:47:57,340
Well, the first thing is to choose a domain name.

1073
00:47:57,730 --> 00:48:01,420
The domain name is something that there's an advantage,

1074
00:48:01,510 --> 00:48:05,620
I believe in bringing in at least one word in the

1075
00:48:05,620 --> 00:48:06,460
domain name.

1076
00:48:06,670 --> 00:48:10,240
What you do that it just makes it clearer if somebody

1077
00:48:10,240 --> 00:48:15,410
sees your domain on a third party source that that,

1078
00:48:17,680 --> 00:48:18,670
So if I'm,

1079
00:48:18,930 --> 00:48:20,190
this is going to be a stupid name.

1080
00:48:20,190 --> 00:48:21,180
It's the only thing I can think of.

1081
00:48:21,180 --> 00:48:23,040
Betsey's crafts,

1082
00:48:23,160 --> 00:48:25,140
right? That's the name of the company,

1083
00:48:25,440 --> 00:48:29,040
but she specializes in custom paper invitations.

1084
00:48:29,070 --> 00:48:30,000
It's a terrible name.

1085
00:48:30,000 --> 00:48:30,450
I get it.

1086
00:48:30,790 --> 00:48:34,120
Right? Like I wouldn't say Betsey's designs.

1087
00:48:34,120 --> 00:48:35,980
I would say Betsey's invitations,

1088
00:48:36,130 --> 00:48:36,280
you know,

1089
00:48:36,280 --> 00:48:41,560
just something that helps people understand a little bit more specifically

1090
00:48:41,740 --> 00:48:43,720
what the focal point of the website is,

1091
00:48:43,720 --> 00:48:44,440
is helpful.

1092
00:48:44,880 --> 00:48:47,880
So maybe it starts with even considering if you've got the

1093
00:48:47,880 --> 00:48:49,440
right name for your business.

1094
00:48:50,080 --> 00:48:54,310
Yes, and also you can toy with more than one domain

1095
00:48:54,310 --> 00:48:55,960
name for marketing purposes.

1096
00:48:56,230 --> 00:48:59,020
It's great for you to have the domain name that is

1097
00:48:59,020 --> 00:49:00,160
the name of your business,

1098
00:49:00,550 --> 00:49:05,740
but you could also look for keyword domain names that cue

1099
00:49:05,750 --> 00:49:09,790
people like exquisite invitations or something.

1100
00:49:09,820 --> 00:49:10,060
I mean,

1101
00:49:10,060 --> 00:49:11,980
some of those domain names are hard to find,

1102
00:49:12,430 --> 00:49:14,860
but there is a turnover of domain names where they come

1103
00:49:14,860 --> 00:49:16,900
and go because people go out of business.

1104
00:49:17,200 --> 00:49:20,290
But the domain name itself is important to establish,

1105
00:49:20,320 --> 00:49:22,660
but it's not that important in the scheme of things because

1106
00:49:22,660 --> 00:49:25,330
most people in this day and age won't type in your

1107
00:49:25,360 --> 00:49:25,900
domain name.

1108
00:49:25,900 --> 00:49:27,370
They'll just click from somewhere else.

1109
00:49:28,120 --> 00:49:28,870
Oh, that's true.

1110
00:49:28,960 --> 00:49:31,480
And just a point of clarification for everybody,

1111
00:49:31,570 --> 00:49:34,990
you wouldn't then have multiple sites under all these domain names.

1112
00:49:35,050 --> 00:49:37,780
What you do is you have the site under one name

1113
00:49:37,870 --> 00:49:40,630
and then you've bought these other domain names and you can

1114
00:49:40,630 --> 00:49:42,820
redirect them to your site.

1115
00:49:42,900 --> 00:49:43,470
That's correct.

1116
00:49:43,470 --> 00:49:44,310
For example,

1117
00:49:44,340 --> 00:49:46,410
say in the event industry,

1118
00:49:46,710 --> 00:49:49,170
you're advertising your wedding invitations.

1119
00:49:49,230 --> 00:49:54,660
You could have Betsey's wedding invitations point to the landing page

1120
00:49:54,750 --> 00:49:56,460
on the Betty's invitation site.

1121
00:49:56,760 --> 00:49:58,260
That's a strategy that makes,

1122
00:49:58,290 --> 00:50:01,380
if somebody sees that domain name on a wedding site,

1123
00:50:01,620 --> 00:50:05,760
it makes them feel that they're really focused on not only

1124
00:50:05,760 --> 00:50:07,530
in invitations but wedding invitations.

1125
00:50:07,770 --> 00:50:10,950
The second thing is finding the right host.

1126
00:50:11,220 --> 00:50:13,700
Can I just say one more thing about domain names and

1127
00:50:13,700 --> 00:50:17,420
this is just for everybody wedding invitations and all that aside.

1128
00:50:17,640 --> 00:50:21,120
If you have a company name and your website is a

1129
00:50:21,210 --> 00:50:25,530
variety, like a different unique spelling of a general name,

1130
00:50:25,820 --> 00:50:30,170
it's best to then buy a domain also in a name

1131
00:50:30,170 --> 00:50:31,460
that people would normally do.

1132
00:50:31,460 --> 00:50:34,250
Like let's say Betty's spelled her name,

1133
00:50:34,250 --> 00:50:34,640
B, E,

1134
00:50:34,640 --> 00:50:35,270
T, Z,

1135
00:50:35,270 --> 00:50:39,460
Y instead of S Y she should buy what normally people

1136
00:50:39,460 --> 00:50:41,860
would type in and redirect that to.

1137
00:50:41,890 --> 00:50:45,130
So if you have some type of a creative naming to

1138
00:50:45,130 --> 00:50:49,180
your business that people wouldn't automatically understand if you're just saying

1139
00:50:49,180 --> 00:50:49,870
it to them,

1140
00:50:49,930 --> 00:50:52,510
get that domain name and redirect it to your site as

1141
00:50:52,510 --> 00:50:56,860
well. It certainly could only be beneficial because it's very inexpensive

1142
00:50:56,890 --> 00:51:00,130
to, on a yearly basis it's between 10 and $20 a

1143
00:51:00,130 --> 00:51:03,250
year. So that's not a very big business expense to have

1144
00:51:03,250 --> 00:51:06,460
domain names that protect your brand from error.

1145
00:51:06,800 --> 00:51:08,150
I think that that's a good suggestion.

1146
00:51:08,440 --> 00:51:09,490
Sorry to interrupt the flow.

1147
00:51:09,520 --> 00:51:10,930
So we've got the domain name down.

1148
00:51:10,990 --> 00:51:11,890
What's next?

1149
00:51:12,280 --> 00:51:13,000
The hosting,

1150
00:51:13,030 --> 00:51:13,180
you know,

1151
00:51:13,180 --> 00:51:15,070
once your website goes live,

1152
00:51:15,580 --> 00:51:18,490
the host is probably more important than the web designer.

1153
00:51:18,550 --> 00:51:19,630
If something goes wrong,

1154
00:51:19,930 --> 00:51:21,040
the site goes down.

1155
00:51:21,730 --> 00:51:26,320
So having a host that is very responsive and communicative is

1156
00:51:26,320 --> 00:51:28,090
usually a better outcome.

1157
00:51:28,420 --> 00:51:31,090
And some of the larger platforms that most people tend to

1158
00:51:31,090 --> 00:51:33,130
gravitate to because they're more well known,

1159
00:51:33,610 --> 00:51:36,790
take more time to respond that usually have to fill out

1160
00:51:36,790 --> 00:51:37,390
a ticket.

1161
00:51:37,750 --> 00:51:39,370
You have to wait a long time on hold.

1162
00:51:39,760 --> 00:51:43,300
So looking for a smaller host usually gets better results.

1163
00:51:43,440 --> 00:51:46,860
I have a source called overhaul X that is a very

1164
00:51:47,010 --> 00:51:49,440
type of person that you can text if there's a problem

1165
00:51:49,770 --> 00:51:54,000
and nobody wants to have their site down for something that

1166
00:51:54,000 --> 00:51:57,570
could be fixed in two minutes down for a day because

1167
00:51:57,660 --> 00:52:00,840
there's a whole process and a hope bureaucracy that is involved.

1168
00:52:00,840 --> 00:52:03,030
So that's just a little tip on that.

1169
00:52:03,350 --> 00:52:08,630
And then also just taking some time to research competitors.

1170
00:52:08,820 --> 00:52:12,450
Maybe develop a Google doc with a lot of ideas of

1171
00:52:12,450 --> 00:52:13,560
things you liked about,

1172
00:52:13,710 --> 00:52:13,950
you know,

1173
00:52:13,960 --> 00:52:15,870
other sites or you didn't.

1174
00:52:16,310 --> 00:52:19,580
And also develop an outline of the different sections that you'd

1175
00:52:19,580 --> 00:52:21,470
want. So this way,

1176
00:52:21,620 --> 00:52:23,450
if you decide that you want to hire somebody,

1177
00:52:24,110 --> 00:52:28,520
you have a clear picture of what you want at that

1178
00:52:28,520 --> 00:52:29,810
time. Of course,

1179
00:52:29,900 --> 00:52:34,430
that's open to change and discussion based on trying to collectively

1180
00:52:34,430 --> 00:52:37,730
arrive at what's for the highest good if the person that

1181
00:52:37,730 --> 00:52:39,020
you're hiring has experienced.

1182
00:52:39,020 --> 00:52:43,280
But otherwise you'd be able to give that site designer that

1183
00:52:43,280 --> 00:52:45,140
may be generic a little bit more direction.

1184
00:52:45,420 --> 00:52:48,240
Right. So you come to the table with ideas versus just

1185
00:52:48,390 --> 00:52:50,520
coming to a meeting with no clue yet.

1186
00:52:50,550 --> 00:52:51,120
That's right.

1187
00:52:51,190 --> 00:52:51,700
Yeah, yeah,

1188
00:52:51,830 --> 00:52:53,160
yeah. Great advice.

1189
00:52:53,220 --> 00:52:55,620
Okay, so for you guys who are just beginning here are

1190
00:52:55,620 --> 00:52:56,700
the first four steps.

1191
00:52:56,760 --> 00:52:57,510
Your domain,

1192
00:52:57,600 --> 00:52:59,700
multiple domains if you need to,

1193
00:52:59,700 --> 00:53:04,380
and again please don't get in your way about tech tech,

1194
00:53:04,470 --> 00:53:06,780
all this stuff is not that hard to do.

1195
00:53:06,780 --> 00:53:08,550
Some of it you might want to job out some of

1196
00:53:08,550 --> 00:53:09,390
it you do yourself.

1197
00:53:09,420 --> 00:53:10,530
So domain name,

1198
00:53:10,850 --> 00:53:13,700
get a hosting company that's going to be responsive.

1199
00:53:13,990 --> 00:53:15,940
Then go ahead and look at competitors,

1200
00:53:16,060 --> 00:53:18,490
not to copy but for inspiration.

1201
00:53:18,580 --> 00:53:18,820
You know,

1202
00:53:18,820 --> 00:53:20,050
what do you like about their sites?

1203
00:53:20,080 --> 00:53:21,220
What do you not like?

1204
00:53:21,250 --> 00:53:23,200
What do you think might be missing that you would want

1205
00:53:23,200 --> 00:53:23,830
to add?

1206
00:53:23,860 --> 00:53:28,560
What kinds of sections based on your offering to your audience,

1207
00:53:28,590 --> 00:53:30,570
right? Not what everyone else is offering.

1208
00:53:30,780 --> 00:53:33,840
Like you don't want to go into competitors and then overwhelm

1209
00:53:33,840 --> 00:53:36,360
yourself and feel like you have to offer every single thing

1210
00:53:36,360 --> 00:53:37,020
that they do.

1211
00:53:37,020 --> 00:53:40,500
If that's not part of what your normal business offerings are.

1212
00:53:40,740 --> 00:53:44,400
So don't get too swayed off course of what you offer,

1213
00:53:44,430 --> 00:53:47,100
but then figure out what your sections should look like.

1214
00:53:47,160 --> 00:53:49,200
And those would be your first four steps.

1215
00:53:49,470 --> 00:53:50,370
Anything to add to that,

1216
00:53:50,370 --> 00:53:51,220
Brian? Well,

1217
00:53:51,220 --> 00:53:53,020
just if someone is doing it themselves,

1218
00:53:53,050 --> 00:53:55,000
a platform that they want it,

1219
00:53:55,080 --> 00:53:57,900
Right, and then select the platform and then get rolling with

1220
00:53:57,900 --> 00:53:58,680
it. Right.

1221
00:53:58,680 --> 00:53:59,190
For sure.

1222
00:54:00,180 --> 00:54:02,600
Wonderful. What is up next for you,

1223
00:54:02,600 --> 00:54:04,970
Brian? What are your next targets,

1224
00:54:05,000 --> 00:54:06,260
missions, ideas,

1225
00:54:06,280 --> 00:54:08,870
incentives, efforts in the future?

1226
00:54:09,290 --> 00:54:13,880
I've put in a lot of work in developing a vast

1227
00:54:13,880 --> 00:54:19,040
or understanding of online marketing to be able to share with

1228
00:54:19,040 --> 00:54:24,050
my existing clients and when I'm onboarding new clients the best

1229
00:54:24,050 --> 00:54:26,210
possible ways that they could rank locally.

1230
00:54:26,210 --> 00:54:29,510
So besides developing a beautiful website,

1231
00:54:29,750 --> 00:54:32,330
I can also make sure that they're getting the best possible

1232
00:54:32,330 --> 00:54:33,860
chance for online visibility.

1233
00:54:34,170 --> 00:54:36,960
And another thing that I'm intending to do is to spend

1234
00:54:36,990 --> 00:54:42,030
more time consulting with people that are doing the websites themselves.

1235
00:54:42,030 --> 00:54:43,200
So look,

1236
00:54:43,230 --> 00:54:46,290
I have only a certain amount of bandwidth to do websites

1237
00:54:46,470 --> 00:54:49,830
and I'm not going to take on more business than I

1238
00:54:49,830 --> 00:54:51,150
can at a particular time.

1239
00:54:51,150 --> 00:54:52,380
I might say to somebody,

1240
00:54:52,710 --> 00:54:55,050
well we can get started with the website in three or

1241
00:54:55,050 --> 00:54:57,750
four weeks depending on how the workflow is,

1242
00:54:58,200 --> 00:55:01,770
but I could always get involved on a consulting basis to

1243
00:55:01,770 --> 00:55:05,550
help direct somebody to do a couple of hours of consulting

1244
00:55:05,970 --> 00:55:08,250
or if somebody wants to run ideas by me.

1245
00:55:08,250 --> 00:55:12,510
So that's another direction that I'm looking to work with.

1246
00:55:12,820 --> 00:55:13,360
I do.

1247
00:55:13,570 --> 00:55:17,770
I'm still going to stay within my industry because I feel

1248
00:55:17,770 --> 00:55:20,800
that that's how I can offer the most value.

1249
00:55:21,370 --> 00:55:24,130
Well, and you have so much experience too.

1250
00:55:24,470 --> 00:55:27,080
I mean just the knowledge of how the industry has changed

1251
00:55:27,080 --> 00:55:29,240
and grown and adjusted over time too.

1252
00:55:29,240 --> 00:55:30,560
It was a wealth of knowledge.

1253
00:55:31,170 --> 00:55:34,110
And one other thing that I did want to share is

1254
00:55:34,110 --> 00:55:37,860
I did do a presentation that a month ago and I

1255
00:55:37,860 --> 00:55:41,130
recorded a video and I would be happy to share it

1256
00:55:41,130 --> 00:55:46,110
with any listeners because it has so many different ways to

1257
00:55:46,620 --> 00:55:50,820
either improve your website or can be an influencer on how

1258
00:55:50,820 --> 00:55:51,930
to create a website.

1259
00:55:52,140 --> 00:55:53,280
The things to think about.

1260
00:55:53,280 --> 00:55:54,260
So you know,

1261
00:55:54,280 --> 00:55:57,330
if you want to share the contact information with your audience

1262
00:55:57,330 --> 00:55:58,290
state, email me,

1263
00:55:58,470 --> 00:56:00,330
am I able to give my email address to them to

1264
00:56:00,330 --> 00:56:02,010
email me to request the uh,

1265
00:56:02,550 --> 00:56:03,000
so they,

1266
00:56:03,060 --> 00:56:09,240
they could email me@brianbrianatbrianlawrence.com.

1267
00:56:09,450 --> 00:56:10,350
Just request the,

1268
00:56:10,350 --> 00:56:13,740
a sample of the video of the video and I'll also

1269
00:56:13,740 --> 00:56:16,560
send the slides so that you could look at the actual

1270
00:56:16,560 --> 00:56:20,130
slides of the presentation if you want to take shortcuts just

1271
00:56:20,130 --> 00:56:22,770
to get an idea of what to expect in the video.

1272
00:56:23,080 --> 00:56:26,500
Okay. And is this only for the stationary and wedding industry

1273
00:56:26,500 --> 00:56:28,420
or virtually for anyone who has a website?

1274
00:56:28,950 --> 00:56:32,970
I would say that the ideology behind it is very much

1275
00:56:32,970 --> 00:56:33,630
for anybody.

1276
00:56:34,020 --> 00:56:35,460
Certainly the examples,

1277
00:56:35,460 --> 00:56:37,470
the site samples are industry focused.

1278
00:56:37,860 --> 00:56:38,160
All right,

1279
00:56:38,160 --> 00:56:41,970
wonderful. And your website is Brian lawrence.com.

1280
00:56:42,390 --> 00:56:43,320
Beautiful. Perfect.

1281
00:56:43,320 --> 00:56:45,780
So give biz listeners go over there if you want to

1282
00:56:45,780 --> 00:56:49,020
learn more to see what Brian's up to and see his

1283
00:56:49,020 --> 00:56:51,990
website. And I'm quite sure it is a model example of

1284
00:56:51,990 --> 00:56:52,650
a website.

1285
00:56:52,650 --> 00:56:55,050
So that would always be interesting to take a look at.

1286
00:56:55,260 --> 00:56:58,950
And then if you're interested in getting this video,

1287
00:56:58,980 --> 00:57:00,150
then just email Brian,

1288
00:57:00,150 --> 00:57:05,370
brian@brianlawrence.com also all of his contact links will be over on

1289
00:57:05,370 --> 00:57:06,360
the show notes page.

1290
00:57:06,420 --> 00:57:07,590
As always,

1291
00:57:07,880 --> 00:57:09,290
Brian, thank you so much.

1292
00:57:09,320 --> 00:57:12,530
I didn't really know what to expect with our talk and

1293
00:57:12,530 --> 00:57:15,680
I love that we just went through and there's so many

1294
00:57:15,680 --> 00:57:19,730
golden nuggets like just dropped throughout our whole conversation here,

1295
00:57:19,730 --> 00:57:21,140
so it's been fabulous.

1296
00:57:21,140 --> 00:57:23,870
Thank you so much for your time and for sharing all

1297
00:57:23,870 --> 00:57:27,980
of your knowledge on website development specifically keyed into this unique

1298
00:57:27,980 --> 00:57:30,320
industry. It's been a pleasure talking with you.

1299
00:57:30,770 --> 00:57:31,340
My pleasure.

1300
00:57:31,340 --> 00:57:31,880
Thank you.

1301
00:57:35,240 --> 00:57:39,560
Wow. Excellent information for us all to review.

1302
00:57:39,870 --> 00:57:42,720
Whether you're just now putting up your site or are up

1303
00:57:42,720 --> 00:57:45,270
for a review of an existing site,

1304
00:57:45,630 --> 00:57:48,570
it may make sense to listen to this all over again

1305
00:57:48,570 --> 00:57:50,700
with pen and paper at the ready.

1306
00:57:51,840 --> 00:57:54,480
Another thing that comes to mind when I think of weddings

1307
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is the big gorgeous wedding cake and the not to be

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ignored. Sweet table.

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We'll dive into this sweet category next week.

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I do hope you plan on joining me.

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Remember to subscribe and then for sure you won't miss it.

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I'll see you then.

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00:58:12,530 --> 00:58:15,740
Are you discouraged because your business is not performing as you

1314
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