Hi there.
It's Sue and thanks for joining me for Tips and Talk
Day. These are bite-sized topics that I pull from community questions
and things that I'm observing in the world of handmade small
business. If you'd like to submit a topic,
DM e over on Instagram at Gift Biz Unwrapped.
We've covered so many facets of a handmade product business over
the course of the years and today is no exception.
We've talked about how to start and grow your business stories
from many of you who have done just that.
How to choose and use social media sites,
build your website.
Oh my gosh,
there is just so much information here for you,
but not necessarily at your fingertips.
So I've made a tool for you that categorizes by topic
the episodes of this podcast,
but only the ones that stay relevant over time because yes,
let's face it,
there are past shows that just don't work anymore for us
today. The world is changing so fast,
right? You can use this tool to zero in on whatever
topic you need at the moment.
Do you wanna hear from others in your specific industry?
How about details on Pinterest or setting up an email strategy?
You can now easily find the right episodes and create your
priority listening roster.
Consider this your Gift Biz resource center at a glance.
It's a Google Sheet best viewable on your computer versus your
phone. Make sure to look on the bottom where there are
five separate sections for easy topic reference,
kind of like chapters of a book.
It makes finding the shows to help you with what you're
working on right now.
So much easier to access this free resource,
go to gift biz unwrapped.com/topics.
Is it possible that you underestimate the value of confidence and
enthusiasm? I realize these are two entirely separate things,
but they do go hand in hand in your business and
can seriously impact your progress and the success you'll see in
the long run.
Let's define each of these first so we're on the same
page in terms of what I'm talking about.
Then I'll go into how they affect your business and what
you can do to leverage each characteristic to your benefit.
Let's start with confidence.
Confidence means feeling sure of yourself and your abilities,
not in an arrogant way,
but in a realistic,
secure way.
It's not about feeling superior to others.
Rather, it's a solid,
peaceful, inner knowledge and understanding of who you are and what
you're capable of.
When we move over to enthusiasm,
this revolves around two words,
excitement and interest.
The level of enthusiasm one has is based on how they
portray these characteristics and to what degree having strong but appropriate
levels of confidence and enthusiasm play a part in many areas
of your business.
Really, they affect all aspects in one way or another,
but showing confidence and enthusiasm can make you feel vulnerable.
What if people don't see your vision the same way as
you do?
What if they don't agree?
What if they already judge you and don't think you can
accomplish what you've set out to do?
It's questions like this that we ask ourself that make us
play small.
They bring down the level of confidence or enthusiasm that we
really feel and are willing to show the world and they
like a self-fulfilling prophecy can walk us right into that result,
not achieving what we set out to do.
I see this play out a lot in the handmade product
industry, and my hope here is by identifying and acknowledging it,
we can turn the dial up on these two traits,
and in turn,
you can see things move forward in your business.
If you already rank high on confidence and enthusiasm,
it's okay to stop this episode right here and move on
to another one of interest that will serve you more.
But if you recognize in yourself just by the little bit
that I've already said up to this point that your confidence
or enthusiasm could use a boost,
listen on when considering confidence,
I see makers highly confident in product creation.
After all,
you've identified the materials that are the quality you desire.
You have the actual art of making meaning the creativity and
skills or have acquired the necessary training.
You've perfected your production methods,
including equipment,
proportions, timing,
and any special touches that make your products uniquely yours.
This is not a problem where confidence lags comes in two
other places.
First, the business side of things.
Until you decided to turn your making into a business,
you never had to consider it before.
Perhaps you've never had business experience or are thinking you should
have paid more attention in some of your classes at school,
so you're confident in knowing what to do is lower.
I have great news for you here.
Many, and I mean many a maker started their business feeling
the same way.
If you've been listening to the podcast for a while,
you've heard lots of business business owners who admit they didn't
know about certain things or did things wrong in the beginning,
but they did it anyway.
They started with what they knew and went from there to
learn and adjust,
and today have very successful businesses.
What they didn't do is let their lack of confidence in
business knowledge stop them from trying,
and today with all the information and resources available,
help is immediately at your fingertips.
Reach out and take it if there's a part of your
business that you think can be improved,
and by all means,
don't let a lower confidence level here prevent you from pursuing
your dream.
The second place low confidence can affect your business is in
the marketing and selling of your products.
When you first started making your product as a hobby,
you created for your own satisfaction and fulfillment.
Even when you give things as gifts,
there's no judgment from the recipient.
You most likely receive a thank you and probably also praise
for your gift comments about how talented you are,
the quality of your creations,
and on and on.
All that changes when you start promoting your products and hoping
for sales.
By nature of a buyer seller relationship,
you present your products and the other person decides whether they
want it or not.
That's enough to make anyone second guess themselves.
We're human.
We don't like rejection,
but it's part of what you accept when you're in business,
and honestly,
if you think of your own behavior,
you'll recognize that you do this to others too.
You choose one jewelry style over another or certain lotions over
others due to their ingredients.
It's not that the ones that you don't buy are inferior,
it's just that they're not your choice.
As business owners,
we must always keep in mind that there's a portion of
the population who want our products.
Not everybody.
These are your ideal customers,
right? Our lack of confidence comes into play when we start
thinking that nobody will want our products,
and if you let this get to you,
it affects every aspect of how you run your business.
In my start with Confidence program,
the whole goal is to validate that you have a product
that people will want to buy.
In some cases,
tweaks need to be made to get it to the point
where it's ready for the market,
but once you've done your validation,
that means there is a market out there for you.
It's then up to you to find that market and show
up consistently with good messaging that leads your perfect customer to
the sale.
Without confidence,
you may shy away from trying new things to get you
the visibility that you need to bring in those sales you
desperately want,
and that's a perfect segue into enthusiasm.
I mentioned earlier that enthusiasm is gauged by excitement and interest.
You display this to a high or low degree every time
you talk about your business,
attend a networking meeting or exhibit at a show.
If you describe your business in a timid,
almost apologetic way,
how interested do you think someone is to want to know
more, much less to buy?
Test yourself right now.
If I met you and asked you about your business,
how would you respond?
Would you proudly speak about what you do and how your
products benefit your customers?
Or would you stumble over your words and in a soft
voice, kind of get out a string of words about what
you do?
If this last response rings true for you?
There's immediate work to do.
This is your assignment for today.
Script out the exact words you'll use.
Anytime you're in a situation where people ask you what you
do, then practice it over and over again until it becomes
second nature.
If you want help with this and a specific model to
follow, you can find that in my Network Ninja program.
I'll put links to both of these programs.
Start with confidence and network ninja that I've referenced here in
the show notes,
and you can also find them on the website,
of course,
at a craft show.
Not only should you excitedly talk with your booth customers,
you also want to show interest in them.
And when I say this,
there are limits too,
right? There is such a thing as going too far with
enthusiasm and becoming overwhelming or overbearing,
which makes people run the other way,
but you also do the same thing if you don't show
any interest in helping people as they look at your products.
You need to use your intuition to find the right balance
overall. You have a unique opportunity as a maker to bond
with your customers every time you interact with them on the
phone, in social media,
at personal events,
and the very best at craft shows and farmer's markets.
How you confidently present yourself and how enthusiastically you talk with
them means everything.
That's a wrap.
I'm a get to the point kind of girl,
and this is what you can expect from these quick midweek
sessions. Now it's your turn.
Go out and fulfill that dream of yours.
Share your handmade products with us.
We want them,
and they bring us both so much happiness.