Shownotes
BUSINESS BUILDING INSIGHTS
- Don't just guess - validate if there’s a market for your product.
- Never stop educating yourself. Things change and you have lots to learn no matter what industry you’re in.
- Plan resources ahead so you can take advantage of opportunities as they present themselves.
- Adapt to changes for your business to continue to grow.
- Networking can be a major influence on your business growth. Get to be known as a valuable resource so others refer you. <-- Tune in for tons more networking tips!
- Build real relationships, get to know people, create a personal connection, and discover how you can help them.
Tips For Building A Business You Love
- Fire customers who make you feel bad or treat your employees badly. Don't wait until the stress makes you want to quit entirely.
- Watch for signs that a customer will never be happy so you can end the relationship before it goes on too long.
- Always stay professional, polite, and kind, even in difficult conversations.
- Business isn't always easy. Don't give up when things get hard. Change is just around the corner.
- Over time you may feel stagnated as a business owner. Make a plan to change and grow to reinvigorate yourself and your business.
- Stay flexible. Change your mindset to learn new things and challenge yourself.
- Listen to the full episode for more insights on building a business you love!
Joyce's Contact Links
Website | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedinJoin Our FREE Gift Biz Breeze Facebook Community
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Transcripts
Gift biz unwrapped episode 291.
Speaker:I don't want to always talk business and shop.
Speaker:I want to know about you.
Speaker:I like to learn about people.
Speaker:I want to hear the story Attention.
Speaker:Gifters bakers,
Speaker:crafters, and makers pursuing your dream can be fun.
Speaker:Whether you have an established business or looking to start one.
Speaker:Now you are in the right place.
Speaker:This is gift to biz unwrapped,
Speaker:helping you turn your skill into a flourishing business.
Speaker:Join us for an episode,
Speaker:packed full of invaluable guidance,
Speaker:resources, and the support you need to grow.
Speaker:Your gift biz.
Speaker:Here is your host gift biz gal,
Speaker:Sue moon Heights.
Speaker:Hi, dear.
Speaker:And I am so thrilled that you're here with me today.
Speaker:As we continue this month of thankfulness and gratitude,
Speaker:I want to tell you how much you mean to me.
Speaker:I appreciate each note,
Speaker:email and review.
Speaker:I get telling me how the show has helped you either
Speaker:start or grow your business.
Speaker:So thank you.
Speaker:Thank you for that in a way you're taking care of
Speaker:me by doing this action,
Speaker:encouraging me to keep going with the show to find energy
Speaker:on those days when I'm just not as much into it.
Speaker:Are you surprised that I even say that look,
Speaker:I'm human.
Speaker:Like you,
Speaker:there are emotional ups and downs,
Speaker:and we just need to accept that that's part of being
Speaker:a business owner.
Speaker:It's just part of what we signed up for,
Speaker:but knowing that they happen and then dealing with them are
Speaker:two separate things.
Speaker:I've heard from a lot of you.
Speaker:About the episode we did on managing stress.
Speaker:That was about three shows back episode number 288 with KK.
Speaker:Given that feedback,
Speaker:I decided to build on the topic.
Speaker:So stay tuned.
Speaker:We have more on health,
Speaker:wellness and mind work coming up the best way.
Speaker:Not to miss it as to subscribe to the show on
Speaker:your favorite podcast app.
Speaker:What that does is then it automatically downloads the episodes for
Speaker:you. So they're ready and waiting.
Speaker:One more announcement.
Speaker:Before we move on to the show for the past three
Speaker:years during holiday season,
Speaker:I put up posts in the Facebook group called gift biz
Speaker:breeze, given you an opportunity to show your products and to
Speaker:get sales from fellow Breezers for your holiday gifting needs this
Speaker:year, I've decided to enhance this.
Speaker:I've seen that you're already buying from others and reaching out
Speaker:to find collaborators for online and in-person sales shows.
Speaker:So I'm starting a free resource.
Speaker:I'm calling the buzz book,
Speaker:get it,
Speaker:gift biz breeze buzz,
Speaker:where you can reach out to fellow makers for all sorts
Speaker:of activities.
Speaker:So that could be buying products for your own personal needs
Speaker:or for gifts,
Speaker:creating local meetups and finding compatible product owners to run your
Speaker:own multiproduct live shows.
Speaker:As I said,
Speaker:it's totally free.
Speaker:And the only requirements are that you run a business and
Speaker:are a member of the breeze.
Speaker:You'll hear more about the group in the outro of the
Speaker:podcast, or just jump over to Facebook and search for gift
Speaker:biz, breeze to join and all the details.
Speaker:Are there ready and waiting for you moving onto the podcast
Speaker:this week,
Speaker:I have been trying to get Joyce on the show for
Speaker:what feels like for ever,
Speaker:however, it's been worth the wait,
Speaker:you'll hear how Joyce had no intention of starting her own
Speaker:business, but how she followed some advice from others.
Speaker:And then she was bold and rode the wave.
Speaker:If you will.
Speaker:She's turned into a dynamo as a woman business owner and
Speaker:she shares step-by-step how she's built her business.
Speaker:She also talks about the time when she almost wrapped it
Speaker:up. It wasn't because she didn't have sales coming in,
Speaker:which usually is the demise of most businesses,
Speaker:but she was at the point where her quality of life
Speaker:as a small business owner was leaving her unfulfilled.
Speaker:It just wasn't worth it.
Speaker:You'll find out what made her feel that way,
Speaker:what she did about it and how she fell in love
Speaker:all over again with her business,
Speaker:bold moves,
Speaker:brilliant thinking and a bright future.
Speaker:That can be yours too.
Speaker:Today. I am so excited to bring you Joyce Arrietta.
Speaker:Joyce is the owner of Joyce's baskets of full service,
Speaker:corporate and personal gifting company that specializes in welcome to Florida
Speaker:gifts for conferences,
Speaker:conventions, and corporate functions or events.
Speaker:The mission at Joyce's baskets is perfectly captured in their slogan.
Speaker:We make you look good.
Speaker:They have been designing gifts and gift baskets for almost 20
Speaker:years and are located in bright and sunny.
Speaker:Miami, Florida.
Speaker:Joyce is an award winning designer and a certified gift designer
Speaker:who has been featured in many A-list publications.
Speaker:Most recently voyage Mia magazine in Southern Florida,
Speaker:putting the needs of their customers.
Speaker:First is Joyce's top priority.
Speaker:As they seek to build meaningful relationships that will last forever.
Speaker:Joyce, welcome to the gift biz on wrapped podcast.
Speaker:Thank you.
Speaker:So I'm happy to be here.
Speaker:I'm just gonna say,
Speaker:we've been trying to get together and record this for maybe
Speaker:a year.
Speaker:Absolutely. And finally,
Speaker:so this is a magical day.
Speaker:Yes, it is.
Speaker:All right,
Speaker:before we get started,
Speaker:you know what we do here?
Speaker:I have a motivational candle that has your name on it,
Speaker:and I need you to describe it for us.
Speaker:What your motivational Candle look like.
Speaker:That really resonates with you.
Speaker:That gives us a little inside peek of who you are.
Speaker:Joyce. My candle would live.
Speaker:First of all,
Speaker:the color is purple because I think that's vibrant.
Speaker:I love purple purple gives me power.
Speaker:Ooh. Purple gives you power.
Speaker:Yeah, that's my mantra.
Speaker:Purple is my power.
Speaker:Ooh, Ooh.
Speaker:I like it.
Speaker:Purple is associated with royalty and I don't know what else,
Speaker:but I like the power better.
Speaker:I like the double P purple is power and you are
Speaker:powerful. That is for sure.
Speaker:I know you are.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:I know you we've known each other for how long years
Speaker:and years and years.
Speaker:Years, years,
Speaker:and years.
Speaker:Absolutely. Yeah.
Speaker:And you radiate confidence and power and control and action.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:you're totally a woman on a mission,
Speaker:but let's go back.
Speaker:Were you always that way?
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:I think from the beginning,
Speaker:I was always a leader.
Speaker:Even when I was smaller,
Speaker:I would dominate my sisters and brothers because I was the
Speaker:youngest one.
Speaker:So I had to be forceful and make them hear me.
Speaker:So I think that started from the beginning of being a
Speaker:leader, But that had to have been in you innately because
Speaker:I think lots of times a younger child or the youngest
Speaker:of all takes a back seat to everybody else.
Speaker:They also get pampered.
Speaker:So there's good in that part too.
Speaker:Absolutely. But you naturally just took control.
Speaker:You want you spoke up because you wanted to be heard
Speaker:Absolutely. In anything that I did,
Speaker:even with my parents and my siblings,
Speaker:we used to get into a lot of trouble and then
Speaker:I would go there.
Speaker:A lot of times my father would have like a court
Speaker:case and they would says,
Speaker:okay, didn't bring the person up for trial here.
Speaker:And they would have me to speak on their behalf.
Speaker:A lot of times I made them lose.
Speaker:If I feel good,
Speaker:they won.
Speaker:That's funny.
Speaker:Oh gosh.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:So share with us a little bit about your journey into
Speaker:Joyce's baskets.
Speaker:How did that all come about?
Speaker:Well, it came all about what really it came like I
Speaker:would say I was in between looking for jobs.
Speaker:I was in banking for many,
Speaker:many years.
Speaker:And after the banking started having interstate banking and banks were
Speaker:coming in,
Speaker:buying up each other,
Speaker:my job was lost to a casualty.
Speaker:I call it a bankers casualty loss,
Speaker:and I never ever thought of doing anything else except working
Speaker:in banking.
Speaker:My goal was to work 30 years,
Speaker:get a party and a watch,
Speaker:nothing else that I wanted to go.
Speaker:And what a man's gold pocket watch.
Speaker:That was my boob.
Speaker:Not the lady's watch on the wrist that,
Speaker:but a pocket watch.
Speaker:So that didn't happen.
Speaker:But so was your job just eliminated?
Speaker:Is that what you're saying?
Speaker:Everybody's job was eliminated back then.
Speaker:Mergers were not good at all.
Speaker:Right. It was like devastating was like an earthquake and I
Speaker:can tell you it wasn't good.
Speaker:So I understand the parts of murders that go on.
Speaker:I happened to see it firsthand and it wasn't good at
Speaker:all for anybody at all in the beginning,
Speaker:when they say merger,
Speaker:you want to tremble because it's not a good thing.
Speaker:And so my job was duty of care to remember two.
Speaker:So I worked around a little bit.
Speaker:I worked also in the retail industry,
Speaker:I worked at a major,
Speaker:major upscale clothing store,
Speaker:Saks fifth Avenue and bill Harper.
Speaker:And I worked there for about 10 years.
Speaker:And so one day I was at a really baffled mum,
Speaker:nail tech at that time really started me on my journey
Speaker:because we were discussing different things.
Speaker:I was unhappy and I want to do something else.
Speaker:And she started throwing out ideals of different types of businesses
Speaker:that maybe would fit me.
Speaker:And so every one that she threw out,
Speaker:I says,
Speaker:Nope, I don't want to do that.
Speaker:Nope, Nope,
Speaker:Nope. And so finally she said,
Speaker:what about gift baskets?
Speaker:And so I said,
Speaker:what about him?
Speaker:I says,
Speaker:I don't know anything about gift baskets.
Speaker:I don't know how to design a gift basket.
Speaker:Mobile goes all in them.
Speaker:And she says,
Speaker:you know what?
Speaker:Put some stuff in a basket and sell it.
Speaker:I'm like,
Speaker:is it that easy to say?
Speaker:Yeah. So what I did,
Speaker:she took me,
Speaker:we'd have a challenge.
Speaker:He says,
Speaker:I want you to create some flyers for Easter.
Speaker:And she says,
Speaker:bring them to the shop.
Speaker:I says,
Speaker:okay, I'll say accept the challenge.
Speaker:I'll bring you 25 flyers.
Speaker:I will do maybe 10 Easter baskets.
Speaker:And I'll see afterwards.
Speaker:Well, did the flyers created the Easter baskets?
Speaker:Cause it was all candy had nothing in place,
Speaker:no business savvy at all.
Speaker:I wind up selling at the end of that Easter weekend,
Speaker:101 Easter baskets,
Speaker:no way.
Speaker:And to this day,
Speaker:I have no idea whether I made any money or not.
Speaker:I just had fun running back and forth to the store,
Speaker:buying candy and creating them because what I would go out
Speaker:and take the deliveries to the people that had ordered.
Speaker:And I had other deliveries in the car,
Speaker:people would come to my car and take them out and
Speaker:just hand me the money,
Speaker:whatever I said,
Speaker:the cost letter was that I was only signing up for
Speaker:$10. So that made me take that money,
Speaker:go back to the store and make what baskets for the
Speaker:people that had placed the order with me.
Speaker:So that went on that whole weekend.
Speaker:Stop right here,
Speaker:because I didn't know this story for all the time that
Speaker:I've known you.
Speaker:I really haven't known the advancement of the business.
Speaker:Cause we always talk about all the goodness that you're doing
Speaker:right now.
Speaker:But what you did here,
Speaker:Joyce is what I really,
Speaker:really try to talk to all people who are starting about,
Speaker:and that is validate that there's a market for your product.
Speaker:So look at you almost no investment because 25 flyers,
Speaker:right? You probably weren't selling them at the best price.
Speaker:I would say that,
Speaker:but you were showing that there was a market and an
Speaker:interest in it.
Speaker:Now, granted it was Easter and Easter is associated with baskets.
Speaker:So that made it a little bit easier.
Speaker:But without putting a lot of effort in,
Speaker:you started to get a feel for the business.
Speaker:And I love that mostly because you didn't a lot of
Speaker:time effort get a website off delay action.
Speaker:You just did it.
Speaker:Yes I did.
Speaker:So it's a great example.
Speaker:Okay. Continue with the story.
Speaker:I just had to jump in with that because I just
Speaker:had to,
Speaker:Okay. So the following Monday,
Speaker:I had a friend of mine called me up because we
Speaker:both go to the same nail tech.
Speaker:And so she told me,
Speaker:she says,
Speaker:I heard that you were selling bootleg gift baskets without a
Speaker:license. I'm like,
Speaker:what are you talking about?
Speaker:She just told me to put some stuff in a basket
Speaker:and Senate.
Speaker:So she says,
Speaker:I'm just kidding with you.
Speaker:She says,
Speaker:but I need to know from you,
Speaker:is this something that you think could work in your advantage
Speaker:and that you can build a business on?
Speaker:And so,
Speaker:as the conversation progressed,
Speaker:I told her,
Speaker:I says,
Speaker:you know what?
Speaker:I enjoy doing it.
Speaker:I says,
Speaker:I like the hustle and bustle of putting stuff together,
Speaker:putting it in a bag and rushing off.
Speaker:I said gave me a real adrenaline rush.
Speaker:And so she says,
Speaker:okay then,
Speaker:so what are you saying is yes or no?
Speaker:And so I says,
Speaker:I'm going to say yes.
Speaker:She says,
Speaker:okay, then right now let's figure out a company's name for
Speaker:you. Let's get you all legal set up with your state
Speaker:so that you don't go around selling bootleg baskets.
Speaker:And I have to get off of my plane flight cause
Speaker:she was a seven 47 pilot.
Speaker:I think one of the first ones or people in the
Speaker:first group of the seven 47,
Speaker:many years ago.
Speaker:And so she set me up with all the credentials that
Speaker:I needed.
Speaker:We came down with the name and my corporate name,
Speaker:the corporate filing name of that's in my baskets is Joyce
Speaker:is something special.
Speaker:I really did not want to put my name in front
Speaker:of. I wanted to name something special.
Speaker:So it was like a conversation with peace.
Speaker:But when we check that Maine was taken at that time.
Speaker:And so I just put my name in front of sort
Speaker:of cane.
Speaker:Joyce is something special at that time.
Speaker:And now I'm doing a DBA of Joyce's basket.
Speaker:So it all ties into it.
Speaker:But I had no special training.
Speaker:No. Now I can,
Speaker:after we did that,
Speaker:I came in at a time where I was fortunate enough
Speaker:that conventions were starting up.
Speaker:And so I went to my first convention within six months
Speaker:of having started my business.
Speaker:So I had to learn everything because I had absolutely no
Speaker:skills at all,
Speaker:no designing skills,
Speaker:no skills about operating a business or the education.
Speaker:And so that's where I started at the beginning of going
Speaker:to the different conventions and the different seminars that they were
Speaker:having. And the industry at that time,
Speaker:there were two prominent people that were having a gift basket
Speaker:conventions. And I went to them both and I took every
Speaker:class they had and learned everything like a learner,
Speaker:because we were like on the job training was that no
Speaker:training ahead of time,
Speaker:you get a certificate and you go out there into the
Speaker:world. It was on the job training.
Speaker:What year was that?
Speaker:That was in 2002.
Speaker:Okay. I want you right now to get up,
Speaker:step up onto a soap box.
Speaker:Okay. And speak for the gift basket industry.
Speaker:Because I think a lot of people,
Speaker:and we've talked about this.
Speaker:I used to have a gift basket business as well as
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:and I think a lot of people are like,
Speaker:well, what's the big deal with gift baskets.
Speaker:You just get a bunch of stuff and you put it
Speaker:in a basket and you put some wrapping around it and
Speaker:you sell it.
Speaker:Talk to us,
Speaker:get on your soap box and talk to us about the
Speaker:gift basket and being a designer and how it's different and
Speaker:all the goodness that you're going to talk about.
Speaker:It's not just putting stuff in a basket.
Speaker:It's more than that is.
Speaker:Design is technique is the quality of the products.
Speaker:It's the placement of the products.
Speaker:You have to have everything,
Speaker:a certain,
Speaker:we have me uniform so that it is appealing when a
Speaker:customer looks at your gift baskets or whatever you're offering on
Speaker:your website,
Speaker:or even in person,
Speaker:when you do trade shows with it has to be appealing
Speaker:to draw them to you.
Speaker:So I had to learn colors,
Speaker:design, what goes with what does not go with that?
Speaker:What is colorful and what is not colorful?
Speaker:And it's all about what the client perceived your customer policies.
Speaker:Is that a beautiful basket or is it a nice box
Speaker:or is it just crap?
Speaker:I had to learn a different things.
Speaker:I had to learn how to really execute an exam on
Speaker:what I'm doing.
Speaker:And it took me a while and actually strobe to do
Speaker:these baskets.
Speaker:But for some strange reason,
Speaker:people still want them.
Speaker:But I was struggling because I was new in the industry.
Speaker:I didn't know how to do certain things.
Speaker:So I had to be a fast learner every quick learner,
Speaker:because people were coming in,
Speaker:buying from me.
Speaker:Were you saying that you were struggling because you weren't getting
Speaker:the baskets to look the way you wanted to,
Speaker:because as you were just saying it,
Speaker:first impression is so important and there's value in the visuals,
Speaker:which then allows you to get a good price for your
Speaker:baskets too.
Speaker:Absolutely. But I had to learn the visualization of this industry
Speaker:and it's still an ongoing continuous education because things change right?
Speaker:The old go out,
Speaker:the new go out,
Speaker:they bring back the old,
Speaker:where they bring the old Beckham with a twist.
Speaker:So it's all different sorts of continuing education,
Speaker:regardless of what industry that you're in.
Speaker:Don't think that after a certain amount of time that you
Speaker:have made it and there's nothing else to learn because there's
Speaker:always something to learn and whatever industry that you're in and
Speaker:you want to keep relevant and you want to make sure
Speaker:that you're up on top of your game against any of
Speaker:your competitors and just was in yourself,
Speaker:knowing that you're doing the best you can.
Speaker:And you're putting out the best products that your company has
Speaker:to offer.
Speaker:That's right.
Speaker:And then also with the conferences,
Speaker:everything that you're learning,
Speaker:and this is similar for any industry really is how do
Speaker:you price things so that you're actually making,
Speaker:right? Right.
Speaker:So you're taking different things that you're purchasing,
Speaker:merging them in adding creativity and building it up.
Speaker:So the cost structure for gift baskets is different than lots
Speaker:of different other industries would be absolutely.
Speaker:Right. So you learn all of that.
Speaker:Also. It's not just all just the creative building Part with
Speaker:me is that it came to me later.
Speaker:I was still struggling for a couple of years to get
Speaker:a basket.
Speaker:The last thought was nice.
Speaker:Like I say,
Speaker:all the best of souls that I was sending out,
Speaker:but I wanted to see how the ACA take my level
Speaker:of knowledge and expertise and really train myself to make the
Speaker:best gift baskets so that everyone that goes out,
Speaker:I'm proud of each and every one and that they look
Speaker:beautiful enough to ask the price that I'm asking.
Speaker:But again,
Speaker:that all comes in learning also,
Speaker:it's not only just making a beautiful basket.
Speaker:You have to know the business aspects of you have to
Speaker:know your daily business operating expenses that goes with having a
Speaker:business. It's not just making a basket and selling it.
Speaker:It's more than that.
Speaker:You got vendors,
Speaker:you got suppliers,
Speaker:you got marketing materials,
Speaker:you got networking events that you're going to that's all apart
Speaker:of building your brand and building a business.
Speaker:It's not just making a gift basket and says,
Speaker:take it out that to the world.
Speaker:But you had affirmations early on that this was working.
Speaker:And I love the fact that you were taking action and
Speaker:continuing to perfect along the way.
Speaker:Right? Cause you could have said,
Speaker:Oh, I'm not ready yet to do the business.
Speaker:I have to practice the baskets.
Speaker:I have to make sure they're perfect.
Speaker:And then you're not making any money.
Speaker:So you got better by actually doing versus practicing.
Speaker:Absolutely. Like I say,
Speaker:I was thrown into it because people are buying it.
Speaker:And then also I had to up my game because what
Speaker:I had to offer on my websites was pricing.
Speaker:People saw that I could do the work.
Speaker:And so now they want from a $50 basket.
Speaker:Can I do a custom $200 basket?
Speaker:So I'm learning how to make the small ones,
Speaker:the medium to big ones.
Speaker:And now the customers.
Speaker:So it was always,
Speaker:I felt like I was on roller skates and things were
Speaker:changing every minute,
Speaker:every minute.
Speaker:And I have to thank my customers,
Speaker:also in the skill building for me that they were boosting
Speaker:me up to go higher and higher,
Speaker:higher and make better and better baskets.
Speaker:So you never said no.
Speaker:If someone asked you for something,
Speaker:you said yes.
Speaker:And then you figured out how to do it.
Speaker:I figured out how to do it.
Speaker:It was scary when I said yes and had to come
Speaker:back and figure it out.
Speaker:But one thing in business,
Speaker:I definitely have to stress this hit after people say,
Speaker:Oh, I want a big business.
Speaker:I want a big order.
Speaker:I want this,
Speaker:I want that.
Speaker:But if you don't have the proper training and tools in
Speaker:place, that's going to fail.
Speaker:You have got to have that in place.
Speaker:And that's thing that I was worried about because I really
Speaker:didn't understand if a big order came in,
Speaker:how can I finance it?
Speaker:I had to learn that I don't finance the business that's
Speaker:coming in.
Speaker:The customers are giving you either a down payment or the
Speaker:opinion in full on big orders so that you're not stressing
Speaker:with having to spend money in your pocket and then wait
Speaker:for payment to come in.
Speaker:So I had to learn that aspect of if a big
Speaker:order came in,
Speaker:what did I have to do?
Speaker:This is a really good point that we have never talked
Speaker:about on the show before.
Speaker:So I just want to stop right here for a second.
Speaker:It's partially specific to gift baskets,
Speaker:I guess I'd say.
Speaker:Cause what you're really saying is in the other way of
Speaker:doing it,
Speaker:you're not going to get paid until the baskets are delivered,
Speaker:but you have to buy all the product.
Speaker:You have to buy the baskets.
Speaker:If it's a really big order,
Speaker:pay people to come in and help you.
Speaker:You have to do all of that upfront before you might
Speaker:get paid by the client,
Speaker:but it's become more typical within the gift basket industry for
Speaker:sure is you get the down payment that you're talking about,
Speaker:which for the most part,
Speaker:at least covers your cost.
Speaker:And that's really important.
Speaker:So it's something to think about for others now,
Speaker:wholesale, it's a little bit harder to do that.
Speaker:I'm thinking here,
Speaker:Joyce of other people who might be listening,
Speaker:who like get a huge order for candles and they have
Speaker:to make all those candles and then place them.
Speaker:And sometimes you don't get paid for wholesale orders until a
Speaker:little bit later,
Speaker:but it's something to start thinking about and projecting how you
Speaker:will make plans for that earlier in the process versus later,
Speaker:because when those opportunities come by,
Speaker:you want to use them.
Speaker:Absolutely. Or you want to take advantage of it.
Speaker:It's kind of like I would go back to the gift
Speaker:basket. So I'll ask you,
Speaker:this is if you got an order for like a thousand
Speaker:pieces, it was due in two weeks,
Speaker:let's say you probably have to bring in some people to
Speaker:help you.
Speaker:Absolutely. You have to break because you can't do it by
Speaker:yourself. You have to bring in people.
Speaker:Do you have people,
Speaker:no waitlist.
Speaker:If you will,
Speaker:or kind of flex hours that you can pull in,
Speaker:if you need to,
Speaker:I have the best employees in the world.
Speaker:I tell people because all my employees are retired so they
Speaker:can come on a whim,
Speaker:a wham.
Speaker:So that's the good part about my business that I can
Speaker:call them and let them know I need them.
Speaker:And they're trained already.
Speaker:They're already trained.
Speaker:A lot of them have been with me a long,
Speaker:long time.
Speaker:And they're senior citizens,
Speaker:which I love to have.
Speaker:There's no drama.
Speaker:They know how to come in and work and they don't
Speaker:have to come in and work on time.
Speaker:Oh, there's a concept.
Speaker:That's a plus factor for me.
Speaker:In fact,
Speaker:when I was looking for employees in the beginning,
Speaker:after my biggest to begin to really take off,
Speaker:I was told I was at a networking and the lady
Speaker:told me,
Speaker:she says,
Speaker:why don't you go to the ARP office and see if
Speaker:they have people that have retired,
Speaker:that don't want a full-time job that don't want to work
Speaker:everyday. Just want to work enough to where I think $600
Speaker:at minimum,
Speaker:after that they would have to be on a 10 99.
Speaker:You'd have to put them on payroll.
Speaker:So that started working out for me,
Speaker:perfectly as them being senior citizens.
Speaker:I'm thinking to myself,
Speaker:I don't want to give them multitask.
Speaker:I don't want them to multitask anything.
Speaker:I want to find out who's good at what?
Speaker:And so for me,
Speaker:I found two ladies that are very good with doing my
Speaker:ribbon, making my ribbons.
Speaker:It says it helps them with the arthritis in their hand.
Speaker:So that's all they do to the Christmas season.
Speaker:For me is make bowls,
Speaker:hundreds and hundreds of bowls.
Speaker:And do they have to make them in your office or
Speaker:can they make them at home?
Speaker:They can make them anywhere.
Speaker:They want to just as long as they made There you
Speaker:go and made on time when you need them.
Speaker:I may not have time.
Speaker:So that has been good for me to have people that's
Speaker:flexible and don't have a job that don't have small kids
Speaker:and things like that because sometime the hours here during holiday
Speaker:season, sometime they can go wait until the midnight hours in
Speaker:the wee,
Speaker:wee hours in the morning to get a project done and
Speaker:finished to go out for delivery and the truck the next
Speaker:day or the next couple of days.
Speaker:Okay. I want to keep asking you some questions about your
Speaker:business growth.
Speaker:Okay. At what point did you put up a website?
Speaker:How many years in?
Speaker:I think I really put up a website like really within
Speaker:the first year and websites back at that time,
Speaker:it was easily hit a mist.
Speaker:But people at that time during the networking,
Speaker:as they were asking for NASA,
Speaker:which is a website,
Speaker:they will actually,
Speaker:at that time was popular.
Speaker:Have an email address.
Speaker:Do you have an email address?
Speaker:Do you have an email address?
Speaker:So popular back then was having an email address,
Speaker:but I wanted to,
Speaker:because I am a gift designer and I do do gift
Speaker:baskets. I needed a website presence so that people can see
Speaker:what I have to offer and see my work and my
Speaker:style and my class of things of how I do.
Speaker:So website to me was right away.
Speaker:And so that's what I did.
Speaker:I had a website up there that didn't have a shopping
Speaker:cart per se.
Speaker:In the beginning,
Speaker:it was just a showcase of my baskets,
Speaker:more information of what I can do.
Speaker:Here's my email address.
Speaker:Here's a phone number that you can call to place an
Speaker:order, but as is beginning to grow,
Speaker:and this is beginning to evolve,
Speaker:then I says,
Speaker:you know what,
Speaker:I'm turning over.
Speaker:So now I have to have a website with a shopping
Speaker:cart, a working shopping cart.
Speaker:And so each stage of my business as my business began
Speaker:to grow at,
Speaker:began to change and adapt to what was needed for the
Speaker:business to continue to grow.
Speaker:And then when did social media start to play a role
Speaker:in your business?
Speaker:I want to say maybe 2009,
Speaker:10, somewhere in there,
Speaker:maybe 11.
Speaker:So not so much as the social media aspect of it
Speaker:per se.
Speaker:I had my first Facebook account I think was,
Speaker:had created that in 2009,
Speaker:but just to be able to have social groups and it's
Speaker:different because Facebook hadn't really have a Facebook group.
Speaker:You have this bank,
Speaker:then you have private rooms that people that was in your
Speaker:industry was only in that room.
Speaker:It was an application that you had to go through and
Speaker:a process and all that castle is kind of neat because
Speaker:they knew the administrator knew beforehand your intentions of coming into
Speaker:the group.
Speaker:So in the beginning you used social media more for peer
Speaker:to peer support and continued learning versus getting visibility on your
Speaker:business. So you had the website for visibility,
Speaker:for the business and people to buy and the groups for
Speaker:peer-to-peer support.
Speaker:Absolutely. And things that come up that you don't have the
Speaker:answer to.
Speaker:You're not quite sure,
Speaker:but you could always post it to your group.
Speaker:Right? Okay.
Speaker:So we're going to leave that there for a minute because
Speaker:I'm coming back to that in a little bit.
Speaker:You'll know exactly what I'm talking about when we do that.
Speaker:But how did you continue to take yourself again,
Speaker:still back when you were in the beginning?
Speaker:So you continued getting that positive feedback that the baskets were
Speaker:being able to be sold.
Speaker:You were learning more,
Speaker:you're designing,
Speaker:got better.
Speaker:Your pricing probably got better and sourcing product at some point,
Speaker:I'm sure you stopped going to the local store and started
Speaker:purchasing wholesale.
Speaker:So all of that was evolving.
Speaker:But talk to me about how you continued to attract customers
Speaker:and got visibility to your business.
Speaker:Yes. Isn't this conversation so great with Joyce taking us step-by-step
Speaker:through how she built her business.
Speaker:We'll jump right back to her story,
Speaker:right after a quick word from our sponsor.
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Speaker:Okay. I decided to join my local chamber so that I
Speaker:can go out and introduce myself and my business and what
Speaker:I had to offer.
Speaker:So networking played a very,
Speaker:very big part in the beginning and still now to this
Speaker:day of me going out and introducing people to my business.
Speaker:And so I joined several local chambers and network with everyone
Speaker:that was in there.
Speaker:I played a part in doing different things.
Speaker:Volunteering, being on a different bull was getting myself in other
Speaker:words, getting put in the spotlight by myself and then my
Speaker:business partner.
Speaker:If you see a person each time at the same place
Speaker:at the same juncture you did for me with what they
Speaker:do, Oh,
Speaker:you were joining multiple places,
Speaker:but then you were also very active.
Speaker:So that meant joining committees.
Speaker:And then also showing up at the meeting.
Speaker:Absolutely do any committees showing up at the meeting,
Speaker:coming early to events,
Speaker:seeing if I could help out and different things like that.
Speaker:So it all played a part and that comes into your
Speaker:part of being you're coming there for business.
Speaker:But also you want to help that chamber,
Speaker:who of the organization,
Speaker:you want to be a part of it.
Speaker:You want to be a part of its success.
Speaker:And I wanted to be a part of the success aspect.
Speaker:If I was a part of a bigger picture,
Speaker:then I automatically knew that my business was going to be
Speaker:bigger and make a bigger success within me.
Speaker:Yeah. Because people would know you,
Speaker:then they trust you.
Speaker:They like you.
Speaker:And it's also convenient because if you're in a committee and
Speaker:someone needs a gift and you're sitting right there,
Speaker:they could say to you,
Speaker:Hey Joyce,
Speaker:can you put something together for me,
Speaker:blah, blah,
Speaker:blah, blah,
Speaker:blah. Right?
Speaker:Absolutely. And that's why I believe you have to really go
Speaker:and you have to meet people,
Speaker:not trying to meet a bunch of people all in one
Speaker:day and grab a bunch of business cards.
Speaker:I believe in doing,
Speaker:one-on-one taking my time to know that person.
Speaker:So if I reached out to them,
Speaker:there's something in the conversation that they said that either I
Speaker:could put in the email and talk about it,
Speaker:or I can either discuss it over the phone,
Speaker:maybe something funny they say,
Speaker:or maybe something that they were looking for.
Speaker:And I always want to be a vessel that people come
Speaker:to me now only for gift basket,
Speaker:but they may want something else.
Speaker:What does that mean?
Speaker:Something else.
Speaker:In other words,
Speaker:I had a lady call me when she was my client
Speaker:for a long,
Speaker:long time.
Speaker:She gift best.
Speaker:She called me one day.
Speaker:She says,
Speaker:I need to know if you know of a funeral home
Speaker:that would do pre-arrangement plots.
Speaker:Now, how does that figure gift baskets,
Speaker:prearranged funeral plans.
Speaker:And so I told her,
Speaker:I says,
Speaker:I don't know if you went off the top of my
Speaker:head, give me 24 hours.
Speaker:I says,
Speaker:I know I've met somebody that somebody in my chamber that
Speaker:I've met,
Speaker:that I can give you that information too.
Speaker:Is it all right if I pass your information on to
Speaker:them? And so she said,
Speaker:yes. And I had met a young lady that worked at
Speaker:a funeral service.
Speaker:She had been there for many,
Speaker:many years.
Speaker:We had had quite a few lunches together.
Speaker:We see each other out in the public and I called
Speaker:her and I told her,
Speaker:I says,
Speaker:this lady is interested in pre-arranged funeral practices.
Speaker:So she said the same thing that I'm thinking,
Speaker:how you get a gift basket from a gift basket to
Speaker:a prearranged funeral plan.
Speaker:We seriously.
Speaker:Yeah. But the shorter,
Speaker:the story is yes.
Speaker:She called her.
Speaker:Yes. She bought two products for one for her and for
Speaker:another husband.
Speaker:So you end up being the conduit,
Speaker:if you will,
Speaker:between her need and then someone else's business.
Speaker:So you were able to pass on additional business,
Speaker:which is what networking really should be all about.
Speaker:And you get kind of positioned as person who knows everybody.
Speaker:Yeah. Go to Joyce for the resource because she knows she'll
Speaker:have the answer.
Speaker:And I enjoy that because people do still call me from
Speaker:time to time.
Speaker:Even when people call me here and I can't help them,
Speaker:I'm not going to say no.
Speaker:I don't know.
Speaker:I have no idea.
Speaker:I hate when people say to me,
Speaker:we would train never to say,
Speaker:I have no idea.
Speaker:That's why you're sticking a knife in me.
Speaker:What do you do instead?
Speaker:And says,
Speaker:I don't have the answer,
Speaker:but let me get back with you on that.
Speaker:I'm going to see what I can find out.
Speaker:I'd Rather say that.
Speaker:And I tried to find out,
Speaker:cause I,
Speaker:I say people have called me.
Speaker:They have maybe.
Speaker:So my website,
Speaker:one a basket.
Speaker:If you want a hand,
Speaker:maybe local handled everything.
Speaker:It was outside of my area.
Speaker:And when I asked them last,
Speaker:found out where I was going to,
Speaker:can I tell them,
Speaker:I says,
Speaker:go back and Google,
Speaker:but put in the city name.
Speaker:I say,
Speaker:I know my company's name would pop up again,
Speaker:but there should be someone in that city that can help
Speaker:you. And a lot of times I've given out the name
Speaker:and the phone number of the gift,
Speaker:best that company in that area that can help them.
Speaker:Beautiful. Okay.
Speaker:So in the beginning,
Speaker:let's say on a scale of one to 10,
Speaker:I've never done this in a show before either,
Speaker:but so this'll be interesting.
Speaker:How important was networking to you growing your business?
Speaker:10. Oh,
Speaker:okay. All right.
Speaker:Interesting. And what role does it play today?
Speaker:10 plus 10 plus again.
Speaker:Okay. And networking,
Speaker:networking, networking,
Speaker:and networking.
Speaker:And people cost lab networking.
Speaker:I don't have anything to show for it.
Speaker:Okay. How did you,
Speaker:what did you go out and give a person your card
Speaker:and says,
Speaker:call me,
Speaker:let's buy something.
Speaker:Or did you say,
Speaker:you know what?
Speaker:Let's sit down and talk to see how we can help
Speaker:each other's business grow Well and you don't do it.
Speaker:Just do it at the meetings either.
Speaker:You will suggest that you meet again for coffee.
Speaker:Just one-on-one Absolutely.
Speaker:Before the Corona virus hit so heavily here,
Speaker:I was scheduling what I call a coffee chat and I
Speaker:had Starbucks is my different offices that I will go and
Speaker:meet the people and we have coffee and we sit down
Speaker:and we talk.
Speaker:And I really didn't say much about my business.
Speaker:I want to know more about how can I help them
Speaker:That would in turn,
Speaker:come back to you.
Speaker:Absolutely. Then they will say,
Speaker:well, tell me what killed.
Speaker:I know you do give best,
Speaker:but tell me,
Speaker:how will your gift basket benefit my company using them?
Speaker:And that's when I go to talk and what we can
Speaker:help you do.
Speaker:But without company gifts to grow your business,
Speaker:I was very successful before the coronavirus.
Speaker:I was very successful in doing that because it's a pleasant
Speaker:time. It's not all about business.
Speaker:It's not a salesy thing.
Speaker:We're not selling anything.
Speaker:And sometimes we find out that and talking because I don't
Speaker:want to always talk business and shop.
Speaker:I want to know about you.
Speaker:I like to learn about people.
Speaker:I want to hear the story.
Speaker:And it's a difference.
Speaker:So before coronavirus,
Speaker:how many networking events would you be doing?
Speaker:A and how many coffee chats would you be doing a
Speaker:week? Give us a feel for what that would look like.
Speaker:In normal times,
Speaker:Normal times I would do like maybe three coffee chests a
Speaker:week scheduled coffee chats.
Speaker:And I would do maybe two networking events every single week,
Speaker:every single week.
Speaker:That was always something to go.
Speaker:How many chambers are you with right now?
Speaker:I'm with two chambers.
Speaker:And so I try to participate and the different things that
Speaker:they have.
Speaker:I try to do that basically in the beginning because my
Speaker:industry is hard for me to do that during the fourth
Speaker:quarter. Right.
Speaker:For sure.
Speaker:But then that's also,
Speaker:when you can get a lot of business,
Speaker:do you ever have anyone going to a chamber meeting on
Speaker:your behalf?
Speaker:I do.
Speaker:In fact,
Speaker:but not going on my behalf.
Speaker:A lot of times,
Speaker:if there's a,
Speaker:like, we have a multifunction chamber network where they got five
Speaker:or six chambers and I want to meet a lot of
Speaker:people. I would take another fear.
Speaker:The friend of mine has been friends with me for years.
Speaker:For me,
Speaker:it's called the beginning of my business and will come into
Speaker:the building as she'll go to the left side and the
Speaker:a right side and we'll work the room.
Speaker:Got it.
Speaker:Well, she knows what I'm looking for.
Speaker:She knows specific people that I'm looking for because I don't
Speaker:know. I just read.
Speaker:Everybody's not your customer.
Speaker:Okay? Expand on that.
Speaker:Some people are not your customer.
Speaker:They don't want what you have to sell.
Speaker:They don't want me to have the offer.
Speaker:In other words,
Speaker:they don't want,
Speaker:they don't buy gift baskets.
Speaker:They don't buy gifts.
Speaker:They don't do anything like that.
Speaker:So why would you try to approach that person?
Speaker:They've told you?
Speaker:No, we don't buy any gifts and you sell a bit
Speaker:and when you sell,
Speaker:but you can feel the energy from the recess.
Speaker:No, that's a stop saying says,
Speaker:no one stop.
Speaker:You have to be able to see that stop sign that
Speaker:says stop and says,
Speaker:you know what?
Speaker:Wonderful meeting you here.
Speaker:Hope to see you at the next event.
Speaker:And you move on,
Speaker:Right? You don't keep trying to sell.
Speaker:If you're getting the signals that they're not interested.
Speaker:But I also would think you correct me if I'm wrong
Speaker:here, you don't then just brush them off as if they're
Speaker:a nobody,
Speaker:because then that's like,
Speaker:Oh, well you can't give me business.
Speaker:You're no longer important to me.
Speaker:You can't do that at all.
Speaker:That to me is just unprofessional.
Speaker:Well, because they may know somebody,
Speaker:they may not need gift baskets,
Speaker:but somebody else might that they know.
Speaker:Yeah. And like a lot of people,
Speaker:data buy gift baskets from me when I want to buy
Speaker:gift pressing at all.
Speaker:But a lot of times I see that.
Speaker:And I'm the same person as I was before I tried
Speaker:to sell you.
Speaker:I'm going to always be that way pleasant.
Speaker:Because like you said,
Speaker:you never know that person may,
Speaker:they may not buy any gifts at all,
Speaker:but they may know someone that does.
Speaker:Right. Okay.
Speaker:So let me expand on this a little bit.
Speaker:So how is networking working for you right now while we're
Speaker:still in the pandemic time?
Speaker:Well, I'm having to pivot it with the networking events because
Speaker:now everything is virtual.
Speaker:So I'm having to make time to sit in front of
Speaker:a computer to do a virtual networking event.
Speaker:I had an event last month for my chamber.
Speaker:I missed the one from before.
Speaker:So I says,
Speaker:let me see,
Speaker:how does this work?
Speaker:And I got to tell you doing the virtual networking event.
Speaker:Everybody was there.
Speaker:It was kind of nice.
Speaker:It was different.
Speaker:And it was kind of nice.
Speaker:It also gave me some ideals and bringing me out of
Speaker:my comfort zone is that I can now send an email,
Speaker:create an appointment,
Speaker:to have my clients,
Speaker:to do a virtual zoom meeting,
Speaker:to see what I have to offer for this holiday season
Speaker:that I'm going to be doing for them before they actually
Speaker:see it.
Speaker:And they can give me some information or give me some
Speaker:tips on how they want,
Speaker:did they want this product or they want another product or
Speaker:just be instrumental.
Speaker:I'm thinking to myself,
Speaker:that's a win-win situation for me because now they're interacting with
Speaker:the gifts and actually seeing what's going in the boxes and
Speaker:in the baskets that they can choose from.
Speaker:Right. And it's really easy.
Speaker:There's no drive time.
Speaker:You don't have to schedule a meeting and go and bring
Speaker:options and let's face it.
Speaker:Everyone's comfortable with zoom now.
Speaker:So that's wonderful.
Speaker:So you're saying like,
Speaker:if there's somebody who is interested,
Speaker:they're a client.
Speaker:Now you just pop on a zoom call and you can
Speaker:talk through the options and come to agreement.
Speaker:So I'm thinking that speeds up the sale.
Speaker:It truly does because I can give them an ideal right
Speaker:here, right now of how this design is going to look
Speaker:for your clients.
Speaker:I can also have them rip it.
Speaker:If they want printer river,
Speaker:I can also have that out as well.
Speaker:I can make a boat with an entails and how they
Speaker:want to have that.
Speaker:And they have several options to look as this.
Speaker:Okay. I want this in there.
Speaker:Or I want the other in there.
Speaker:And then also they can give us,
Speaker:and I tell them all the time,
Speaker:if you have any type of information that you want to
Speaker:go into your baskets,
Speaker:feel free to send them to me.
Speaker:And they will be also incorporated into the design.
Speaker:Oh, love it.
Speaker:And you feel that that has helped you close more sales.
Speaker:Absolutely. When you make your customer a part of your designing
Speaker:team, they love that,
Speaker:that they had an actual hand in.
Speaker:I selected that popcorn over this popcorn,
Speaker:which I hate popcorn.
Speaker:That's another different story,
Speaker:but I like this cookies over that cookies.
Speaker:And I like that color.
Speaker:But in the other color,
Speaker:it will now give them choices and it will help me
Speaker:to better understand them going forward,
Speaker:whether it's a new customer,
Speaker:whether it's an old customer that I need to change,
Speaker:how I've been doing my gifting designs for them,
Speaker:right. For me again,
Speaker:that's an education and learning.
Speaker:Well, here's some more education and learning.
Speaker:If you have any expired popcorn,
Speaker:send it my way,
Speaker:because if you're not going to eat it,
Speaker:I will.
Speaker:I just have a thing with popcorn.
Speaker:That's favorable here.
Speaker:I have a thing with popcorn too,
Speaker:and it's opposite of yours.
Speaker:So, okay.
Speaker:I want to circle back now to social media.
Speaker:I kind of put it on pause because I wanted to
Speaker:follow the flow networking.
Speaker:Now let's go back and pretend we can network.
Speaker:Like we used to be able to do that.
Speaker:We are all hopeful.
Speaker:We'll come back again very shortly.
Speaker:One of the biggest reasons last year,
Speaker:I was so on your case,
Speaker:Joyce, about coming on the podcast is you are such a
Speaker:pro at Facebook live events.
Speaker:Like when you're at a networking event,
Speaker:you just pop on your phone and you roll with it.
Speaker:And it is a beautiful thing.
Speaker:So I want to talk with you and have you share
Speaker:the story of why you decided to start getting onto Facebook
Speaker:live and then take us through.
Speaker:It's not been that long ago.
Speaker:So I know you can remember how you approach an event.
Speaker:Like not,
Speaker:you press this button,
Speaker:you press this button,
Speaker:but what you do with your lives.
Speaker:Okay. So let's start with,
Speaker:when did you decide that you were going to start doing
Speaker:Facebook live videos?
Speaker:It was really,
Speaker:I would say I had thought about it for quite a
Speaker:while. I wasn't sure if I want to do it.
Speaker:And I wasn't sure if it was going to be receptive
Speaker:because I didn't want to make a mistake and I wanted
Speaker:the camera angle to be perfect.
Speaker:I wanted everything to be perfect.
Speaker:Perfect. Perfect.
Speaker:And then after that,
Speaker:I had a thought to myself.
Speaker:I said,
Speaker:these are Facebook lives.
Speaker:And I remember hearing you say this,
Speaker:whatever happens,
Speaker:happens, you have to go with the flow.
Speaker:And so then I took it from a networking aspect to
Speaker:a fun aspect with me doing a live.
Speaker:And I thought it was,
Speaker:so this was really more about me.
Speaker:I'm at a networking.
Speaker:I want all my friends and coworkers and family members and
Speaker:customers to see what I'm doing,
Speaker:that I'm out here.
Speaker:And the first of all,
Speaker:I'm out here in the community and that I'm showing them
Speaker:the different events that's around town.
Speaker:And that I'm a part of.
Speaker:And then when I come out wanting to do something that
Speaker:was cookie and fun,
Speaker:definitely fun.
Speaker:So as I began to do the wildlife,
Speaker:I began to get more,
Speaker:better and better and better with it.
Speaker:And so people began to know that I started doing the
Speaker:labs that I saw.
Speaker:It was nice to pull them in to say a few
Speaker:words. So that made me so happy that even down to
Speaker:the chamber president,
Speaker:in fact,
Speaker:she told me the other day,
Speaker:she says,
Speaker:we missed the Redland networking.
Speaker:You miss.
Speaker:We miss you with the last,
Speaker:because that would give them a way to showcase the chamber
Speaker:and what we do,
Speaker:the different functions that will make someone in our area want
Speaker:to join.
Speaker:Absolutely. Yes,
Speaker:Because just saying that you're having a chamber event and someone
Speaker:said, Oh,
Speaker:it was a nice event.
Speaker:But to actually see the event lab and in person as
Speaker:it going on,
Speaker:going to table to table and table showing the full session,
Speaker:if there's a band,
Speaker:showing people,
Speaker:dancing, showing people,
Speaker:talking at different booths and then going up,
Speaker:talking with them for me,
Speaker:I thought I was a camera man.
Speaker:Well, you're the host with the camera too.
Speaker:Yeah, you had to do both.
Speaker:So you're,
Speaker:multi-functioning right there.
Speaker:Handle both of them.
Speaker:As I began to do the more I began to enjoy
Speaker:them more.
Speaker:And really I would tag a few people once I put
Speaker:it up,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:on my Facebook business page.
Speaker:And I would tag a few people that were in my
Speaker:friendship page on Facebook,
Speaker:and then they would put themselves,
Speaker:they would tag it because sometimes a lot of time they
Speaker:will be in the picture.
Speaker:And so their customers will see them out in the community,
Speaker:networking, mingling,
Speaker:seeing what's going on in the community with the chamber and
Speaker:how we can help.
Speaker:So that was a win for me.
Speaker:And that's really what I missed.
Speaker:And you are a pro at that.
Speaker:So give his listeners,
Speaker:here's what she'd do.
Speaker:She'd be at a chamber event or the other ones I
Speaker:liked Joyce were when let's say,
Speaker:because of your corporate clients,
Speaker:maybe you were at an event at a hotel and the
Speaker:hotel was your client.
Speaker:So you're giving the hotel visibility and saying,
Speaker:we're here at such and such place because there's an event
Speaker:going on.
Speaker:I thought I just walk around and show you a behind
Speaker:the scenes of what's happening here.
Speaker:And so then she'd walk around,
Speaker:she'd go in or wherever she's going,
Speaker:she'd show everything.
Speaker:She just said like the food and the band,
Speaker:if it's going the flowers.
Speaker:And if it was connected with someone she knew,
Speaker:she could say,
Speaker:so-and-so business.
Speaker:Does these gorgeous flower arrangements.
Speaker:So who doesn't love that,
Speaker:that they're getting promoted.
Speaker:And then what you do,
Speaker:Joyce, which was so fun is call people over.
Speaker:Oh, there she is right now,
Speaker:maybe she'll come on,
Speaker:live and chat with us for a minute.
Speaker:So you were then putting other people in the spotlight too.
Speaker:And it was so natural,
Speaker:so comfortable,
Speaker:so entertaining.
Speaker:You have a gift for doing that.
Speaker:I wish we could send people to be able to look
Speaker:at them now,
Speaker:but we can't do them right now in the future.
Speaker:Hopefully that will come back In the future.
Speaker:And then also that led me to be outside of my
Speaker:comfort zone because I'm thinking of doing a lab in my
Speaker:shop here for the Christmas holidays,
Speaker:showing what I have to offer.
Speaker:So it's going to be kind of scary because this time
Speaker:I'm going to be in front of the camera.
Speaker:Normally I'm behind the camera,
Speaker:but this time we're going to be in front of the
Speaker:camera. So my first test is going to be next month
Speaker:with the chamber that having a virtual business straight show that
Speaker:I have signed up with.
Speaker:And so that's going to be interesting for me to have
Speaker:my table set up.
Speaker:I'm going to do it in the holiday spirit.
Speaker:I'm going to have different designs on the table.
Speaker:And so that's got to be something different.
Speaker:I've never done that before.
Speaker:And I'm kind of excited to see the outcome of it,
Speaker:the end result You're going to do so great,
Speaker:because think about it.
Speaker:You've been doing Facebook lives before,
Speaker:and you have been in your Facebook lives in front of
Speaker:the camera,
Speaker:right? You've had the camera facing on you and then you
Speaker:flip it around.
Speaker:Plus I think all of us,
Speaker:and I want to apply this back to our listeners too.
Speaker:We're all on zoom nowadays.
Speaker:Like we're so used to now seeing our faces in the
Speaker:camera and talking to a camera and you're really just talking
Speaker:to other people,
Speaker:if you think of it that way,
Speaker:and it's just natural and I'm so excited.
Speaker:We've been talking about this in our private calls,
Speaker:Joyce, about your event coming up.
Speaker:I'm so excited for it.
Speaker:I can not wait.
Speaker:I think you are going to just absolutely nail it.
Speaker:I'm hoping to be the talk of the town.
Speaker:That's what I'm hoping You already are.
Speaker:The talk of the town girlfriend.
Speaker:Okay. So all of this sounds great.
Speaker:You definitely,
Speaker:I know everyone is understanding that you are a powerhouse business
Speaker:woman, but tell us some time when things weren't working well,
Speaker:because I think it's important to round everything out that everything
Speaker:isn't all glorious and it doesn't always work out the way
Speaker:you want.
Speaker:Can you share with us a story of when that happened
Speaker:to you?
Speaker:Absolutely. I can share that story and any business,
Speaker:regardless of what you're going to have ups and downs.
Speaker:And one instance,
Speaker:I have a client that was really,
Speaker:really difficult.
Speaker:That was just outright nasty Verbally mean or yeah,
Speaker:Verbally mean when she called up and it was a hard
Speaker:decision and a hard pill for me to swallow because it
Speaker:was a lot of money that she was spending with me.
Speaker:And I understand that you have to kind of deal with
Speaker:difficult customers at times,
Speaker:but after wow,
Speaker:you have to kind of say,
Speaker:is this really worth all the stress that I'm going through?
Speaker:And it really had me not feeling good with my company
Speaker:and kind of second guessing what I needed to do in
Speaker:order to continue to make her happy.
Speaker:Were you not feeling good?
Speaker:Because she was just mean,
Speaker:or was she critical of what you were doing?
Speaker:She was just mean and nasty.
Speaker:Just say it like that.
Speaker:Just me the next.
Speaker:So anytime the phone rang and you saw that it was
Speaker:her, you were like,
Speaker:Oh no,
Speaker:She wouldn't do this to me.
Speaker:But she would do this to the people that answered the
Speaker:phone, my employees,
Speaker:as she would do that to my driver that went out
Speaker:and drop things off.
Speaker:And she always wanted something additional.
Speaker:She always wanted to have my driver come and do something
Speaker:personal for her and that's not,
Speaker:they're supposed to do and getting upset about it.
Speaker:Okay. So where did you do After long consideration and talking
Speaker:with my financial person,
Speaker:I read an article that says sometimes you have to fire
Speaker:your best clients.
Speaker:And I read an article over and over and over.
Speaker:I must've read it over a hundred times over and over
Speaker:again, As a percentage of your overall revenue at that time,
Speaker:how big a client was this?
Speaker:I would say 30,
Speaker:35%. Oh,
Speaker:so very significant.
Speaker:Okay. That's important to know as you continue Very significant.
Speaker:So that's why I had me on the fence.
Speaker:What do I do?
Speaker:I don't want my staff to say,
Speaker:I'm not answering the phone.
Speaker:If I have to deal with her,
Speaker:then I quit.
Speaker:Right. And I don't want to have to retrain anybody.
Speaker:So I had to make a real hard decision,
Speaker:really, really hard to sit here,
Speaker:but I wanted to keep a professional cause her husband was
Speaker:a wonderful person.
Speaker:Never had any problems with him.
Speaker:And when I came to the that,
Speaker:I can't do this anymore because I've got knots in my
Speaker:stomach at night.
Speaker:And I don't want her to think that she could come
Speaker:in and tell me the owner of Joyce's baskets,
Speaker:how to run my business.
Speaker:That's where I draw the line.
Speaker:I will not allow anybody to comment and tell me how
Speaker:to run my business.
Speaker:That's never going to happen.
Speaker:Okay. So what'd,
Speaker:you do drink a lot of wine.
I got a friend of mine.
Speaker:That's a professional writer.
Speaker:And I said,
Speaker:I need to write a termination letter,
Speaker:but a very professional one.
Speaker:But I want to outline in a very nice way and
Speaker:bullet points,
Speaker:why I am terminating this relationship.
Speaker:And then I thank her for all the wonderful years that
Speaker:she had been with me,
Speaker:but it would be best that we resolve this relationship and
Speaker:that she find me another gift person to do it.
Speaker:Well, I guess for how many years had you been putting
Speaker:up with her years?
Speaker:Whoa. And I was really way too long.
Speaker:So I figured I'm like,
Speaker:okay, let me get ready for a fight.
Speaker:Cause I know she's going to have something to say.
Speaker:I said,
Speaker:I've let her,
Speaker:I didn't do email.
Speaker:I sent a letter,
Speaker:a certified return receipt,
Speaker:but I want to make sure that she got it.
Speaker:And so I thought she was going to call and give
Speaker:me a hard time,
Speaker:but she never did.
Speaker:Her husband called me and begged me tooth and nail.
Speaker:Please take them back.
Speaker:I says,
Speaker:I can't do it.
Speaker:I says,
Speaker:I'm so sorry.
Speaker:And so once that letter went out and I got back,
Speaker:a city desk signed for it,
Speaker:it looked like a thousand pounds that was on my shoulder
Speaker:was off.
Speaker:And I'm like,
Speaker:okay, I've just lost this chunk of change.
Speaker:Where in a universal mind going to get that back and
Speaker:within, because I put that out,
Speaker:I told her universe,
Speaker:send me another client,
Speaker:but here's the stipulations,
Speaker:Not just the client.
Speaker:That's so funny.
Speaker:Send me the client that is deemed to love Joyce's baskets,
Speaker:joyous, areola,
Speaker:her staff,
Speaker:and anything that we do for them.
Speaker:And how did the universe do for you?
Speaker:They're Less than 90 days later.
Speaker:I got a huge,
Speaker:huge contract that superseded what she was doing for me.
Speaker:Wow. And they love everything that we did.
Speaker:It really wasn't no fuss and no bother at all because
Speaker:it came from a referral of referral,
Speaker:our referral.
Speaker:So when whispered in his personal ear and told them about
Speaker:my company,
Speaker:That's amazing.
Speaker:What a story.
Speaker:I love that you asked the universe and then you put
Speaker:stipulations. I just couldn't.
Speaker:So again and business,
Speaker:you have to,
Speaker:it's hard knocks that you don't want to do.
Speaker:You don't want nothing to be hard.
Speaker:You want everything to be easy.
Speaker:It is not always easy.
Speaker:And even in your finance,
Speaker:you may have where you're on top today,
Speaker:financially. And then tomorrow you're like seeing where can you find
Speaker:money? You put together a basket or buy supplies for whatever
Speaker:your business is.
Speaker:So when the good comes,
Speaker:you celebrate it and what the bad come,
Speaker:you hold your head down and you keep moving to find
Speaker:a solution to it.
Speaker:You keep going and going.
Speaker:You don't give up,
Speaker:you give out,
Speaker:but you don't give up.
Speaker:Right? But so in this situation,
Speaker:hindsight now,
Speaker:what would you have done differently?
Speaker:This customer that's a problem starts doing business with you.
Speaker:What would you have done if this happened now today,
Speaker:after all the learning that you have,
Speaker:what would you,
Speaker:Oh, now I have experience,
Speaker:I know the telltale signs immediately.
Speaker:She would have been gone.
Speaker:How I would just say,
Speaker:you know what?
Speaker:I would have a private conversation with her to try to
Speaker:come to some sort of agreement and let her know you're
Speaker:not going to talk to my staff this way.
Speaker:You're not going to even talk to me this week.
Speaker:You're not going to tell us how to design.
Speaker:You can give us suggestions,
Speaker:but you can't tell us something that you don't know anything
Speaker:about. Be real professional with them and real nice with them
Speaker:and polite at times.
Speaker:But like I say,
Speaker:I can be lucky to see.
Speaker:I've never ran across a client like that again.
Speaker:But you know,
Speaker:this will happen.
Speaker:You know that sometimes that you can do everything in your
Speaker:power to make that customer a client or whatever,
Speaker:happy. And they're still not happy,
Speaker:Right? They're never going to be happy.
Speaker:They're never going to be happy.
Speaker:You have to realize that they're never going to be happy
Speaker:with you or anything that you do.
Speaker:And it's such a drain on your business or to drag
Speaker:on your morale.
Speaker:You're taking time with that client where you could replace them
Speaker:with someone who's going to add joy and you're going to
Speaker:like doing business with,
Speaker:but I think often,
Speaker:especially when we're starting and if it was a large revenue
Speaker:client, it's like,
Speaker:Oh my gosh,
Speaker:but I can't replace them.
Speaker:Like, I'm going to put up with it because it's a
Speaker:lot of money and we have to get over that.
Speaker:Because like you said,
Speaker:you were at the point where you were wondering if you
Speaker:wanted to keep doing the business,
Speaker:just because of this one client.
Speaker:Absolutely. I'm thinking to myself,
Speaker:how many more clients out there?
Speaker:I like her.
Speaker:I'm like,
Speaker:Oh my God,
Speaker:I can't,
Speaker:I can't take that.
Speaker:I can't take that.
Speaker:But like I said,
Speaker:I'm glad that I learned that lesson,
Speaker:that I know the telltale signs to look at it.
Speaker:And it goes from experience that I won't put myself in
Speaker:a position to have a client that way.
Speaker:And I think too,
Speaker:it comes from communicating.
Speaker:Maybe back then my communication skills to her was not good.
Speaker:And that she thought that she could tell me what to
Speaker:do and I'll be okay with them.
Speaker:And maybe she did have some instances and I went along
Speaker:with it.
Speaker:And so maybe I opened that door with the Pandora's box,
Speaker:which I did know.
Speaker:Well, I think there's truth in that we teach people how
Speaker:to treat us that goes with personal relationships and business relationships.
Speaker:And my guess is that other people that she buys things
Speaker:from see the same way,
Speaker:the same behavior,
Speaker:the same way.
Speaker:But you don't need that in your wheel house?
Speaker:No, absolutely.
Speaker:And I saw her,
Speaker:I saw her about maybe three years ago at a gala
Speaker:function. And I walked up to her like we have been
Speaker:friends forever.
Speaker:Oh my God.
Speaker:How are you?
Speaker:It's been a long time since I've seen you.
Speaker:You're looking well and do it the rest of the evening.
Speaker:And that's it.
Speaker:I'm never going to avoid someone that I see in a
Speaker:room. I'm not going to avoid.
Speaker:We don't have any business dealings anymore.
Speaker:Or we had a disagreement on words or whatever.
Speaker:We didn't see eye to eye.
Speaker:I'm going to always be me.
Speaker:I'm going to always be a human being.
Speaker:Right. And you can just virtually say,
Speaker:this just isn't a fit.
Speaker:That's it.
Speaker:So that nobody has to feel bad that she's stuck trying
Speaker:to find someone to do her gorgeous baskets or whatever gifts
Speaker:she's going to do.
Speaker:But as a business owner,
Speaker:for all of us,
Speaker:we get to decide what we're doing.
Speaker:And it took me a while to learn that too,
Speaker:because I kind of felt like,
Speaker:well, if they buy something online from me,
Speaker:they have to be a client.
Speaker:And I remember over on the ribbon print company,
Speaker:we had a similar situation at one point where there was
Speaker:someone who would buy product.
Speaker:And it was pretty much at the time and she'd order
Speaker:online, we'd fill the order.
Speaker:And then she'd return things because she decided she didn't like
Speaker:the color,
Speaker:like all these crazy reasons.
Speaker:And we finally had to do something similar to you.
Speaker:We just said,
Speaker:look, our colors,
Speaker:our colors,
Speaker:the printer prints the way it prints many people like it.
Speaker:If this is just not what you're looking for,
Speaker:then we're not a good fit.
Speaker:We're no longer going to be taking orders from you that
Speaker:are returnable.
Speaker:Like we didn't tell them we wouldn't take orders,
Speaker:but that are returnable unless the product's damaged.
Speaker:Right. Do you know she's still a customer today now?
Speaker:I Don't mean to say we sat her in her place.
Speaker:It's just,
Speaker:we weren't going to continue doing that round rabbit with her.
Speaker:Like just,
Speaker:we weren't.
Speaker:So figuring out how to work with people under your requirements
Speaker:as well,
Speaker:I guess.
Speaker:Right. All right.
Speaker:So Joyce,
Speaker:we know one thing that's coming up for you in the
Speaker:future, which is your upcoming chamber event.
Speaker:So excited about that.
Speaker:And I know you are going to just smash it out
Speaker:of the park.
Speaker:What do you see as you continue to grow and going
Speaker:into the next coming years?
Speaker:I see my company getting much,
Speaker:much bigger.
Speaker:I see myself doing things that I didn't have time to
Speaker:do in the community that I want to do because I
Speaker:was so busy building and building and rebuilding my business until
Speaker:I think for me,
Speaker:it's going to be a good aspect for me to get
Speaker:out, not as a network,
Speaker:but as a community activist involvement in my community and different
Speaker:things that's going on that maybe I can lend a hand
Speaker:to or a voice to,
Speaker:Oh, wait,
Speaker:I love that on behalf of both yourself as a person.
Speaker:And of course it part of you your business too.
Speaker:Yes. So I love that.
Speaker:And I know just because we work together in other ways,
Speaker:give biz listeners.
Speaker:Joyce is part of my makers MBA program,
Speaker:but I know that this year you really,
Speaker:it was before COVID,
Speaker:but I think you've still followed through with it is you're
Speaker:focusing on larger clients now because you have the skills,
Speaker:you have the services,
Speaker:you are such a professional that you're focused already on attracting
Speaker:the customers that are going to allow you to do what
Speaker:you just talked about.
Speaker:Absolutely. And that comes with being in business for awhile and
Speaker:learning. So now I figure,
Speaker:like I said,
Speaker:I have a plan.
Speaker:And like I said,
Speaker:my business model has changed because anybody that's in business,
Speaker:regardless of whether it's gifting or making your own items after
Speaker:a while being a business,
Speaker:you become stagnated.
Speaker:I know I did.
Speaker:And I'm like,
Speaker:I need to take this business to the next level so
Speaker:I can fall back in love with it.
Speaker:What do I have to do that?
Speaker:Ooh. And so I had to sit down a plan for
Speaker:me. Okay.
Speaker:I need to maybe rebrand,
Speaker:refresh, rethink what I used to do,
Speaker:opposed to what I want to do now,
Speaker:going into the 21st century and this new way of networking
Speaker:and marketing for customers.
Speaker:Do I want to change my style?
Speaker:Do I want to do a different style?
Speaker:Do I want to look at different styles and says,
Speaker:okay, maybe me pick something ABC,
Speaker:maybe ABCD and E and mesh it all together.
Speaker:They come my new style,
Speaker:my new brand,
Speaker:my new way of thinking.
Speaker:So you were refreshing your brand and also what you're offering
Speaker:and just the whole structure is still the same core product
Speaker:for the most part.
Speaker:Yeah. Just the structure is different and you have a different,
Speaker:you have a change of mindset in order to do all
Speaker:these things that you want to do.
Speaker:Your mindset has to change.
Speaker:You have to take it from the old way of thinking.
Speaker:I've done this for 40 years and I'm okay with that.
Speaker:But 40 years has passed.
Speaker:We were in a new era.
Speaker:Now that doesn't work anymore.
Speaker:What are you going to do?
Speaker:Are you going to be sitting on the sidelines while other
Speaker:people are passing you by?
Speaker:Or you got a job in and marshy your own beat.
Speaker:And so that's what I'm doing now.
Speaker:And I'm learning that this is a new learning for me.
Speaker:I'm excited.
Speaker:Cause I'm always excited about learning new things.
Speaker:I like them.
Speaker:So information like a sponge,
Speaker:I just love it.
Speaker:Learning and growing,
Speaker:challenging yourself.
Speaker:All of that.
Speaker:Absolutely. So for me,
Speaker:it's like all of this all into,
Speaker:once I'm going into the ring,
Speaker:I'm going into unknown charters of life and I'm going to
Speaker:do it head on.
Speaker:I'm going to face it,
Speaker:head on whatever comes up,
Speaker:come out.
Speaker:I want to be like a changing person.
Speaker:Just change all around and be able to adapt to new
Speaker:situations, new surroundings,
Speaker:new things,
Speaker:and not to say,
Speaker:well, maybe that won't work for me because I'm used to
Speaker:doing it this way.
Speaker:Right? For sure.
Speaker:I don't want to have that old mindset.
Speaker:I want the new mindset.
Speaker:They click and says,
Speaker:okay, then we're going to do this this way.
Speaker:And if it don't work,
Speaker:we're going to do it another way.
Speaker:We're going to keep on doing until it works.
Speaker:Well. I love That.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:your journey continues and I love the vision that you have
Speaker:for the future.
Speaker:It is awesome.
Speaker:And I'm so excited to watch you to continue to grow
Speaker:and grow and grow.
Speaker:And guess what?
Speaker:Joyce, we did it.
Speaker:We have done it.
Speaker:We have gotten you recorded on the podcast.
Speaker:Yay. Now everyone gets to hear yours story.
Speaker:And boy did you deliver?
Speaker:Thank you so so much,
Speaker:Joyce, I so appreciate you getting on firing a client.
Speaker:Is it a radical act or the path of maintaining a
Speaker:healthy business?
Speaker:Something to think about if you ever encounter friction with a
Speaker:customer like both Joyce and I described a little behind the
Speaker:scenes peak here.
Speaker:There were moments in this show as I was running through
Speaker:the final edit where I literally broke out in laughter.
Speaker:Laurie thought I was nuts because I had my headphones on.
Speaker:So she didn't have a clue what I was listening to,
Speaker:but I couldn't help it.
Speaker:Joyce is so full of energy,
Speaker:enthusiasm, and you can't help,
Speaker:but have a smile on your face when you're with her.
Speaker:If you've been around Joyce,
Speaker:you know what I mean?
Speaker:And if you haven't,
Speaker:I'm glad I got a chance to share her with you
Speaker:today. Next week,
Speaker:we're continuing our conversation about email,
Speaker:except in a different way.
Speaker:You already know whether you're doing it or not.
Speaker:That you should have an email marketing plan.
Speaker:We'll be taking it the next step and buckle up because
Speaker:it's a long one.
Speaker:And it includes things that I had no idea about.
Speaker:And I'm guessing you don't either.
Speaker:Thanks so much for spending time with me today.
Speaker:If you'd like to show support for the podcast,
Speaker:please leave a rating and review.
Speaker:That means so much and helps the show to get seen
Speaker:by more makers.
Speaker:It's a way to pay it forward and now be safe
Speaker:and well,
Speaker:and I'll see you next week on the gift biz unwrapped
Speaker:podcast. I want to make sure you're familiar with my free
Speaker:Facebook group called gift is breeze.
Speaker:It's a place where we all gather and our community to
Speaker:support each other.
Speaker:Got a really fun post in there.
Speaker:That's my favorite of the week.
Speaker:I have to say where I invite all of you to
Speaker:share what you're doing to show pictures of your product,
Speaker:to show what you're working on for the week to get
Speaker:reaction from other people and just for fun,
Speaker:because we all get to see the wonderful products that everybody
Speaker:in the community is making my favorite post every single week,
Speaker:without doubt.
Speaker:Wait, what,
Speaker:aren't you part of the group already,
Speaker:if not make sure to jump over to Facebook and search
Speaker:for the group gift biz breeze don't delay.
