Shownotes
The GasparaFlora Story
Pivoting almost right from the start. [3:34] The GasparaFlora customization strategy. [11:14] Ryann’s first interaction with a potential client. [13:51] Ryann describes one of her favorite designs to date. [21:10] Ryann’s sales style [23:21]Candle Flickering Moments
Why and how she switched out her entire website platform. [7:36] The mindset of a pivot. [24:39]Business Building Insights
The prep work before launching a business. [4:41] What Ryann likes about corporate clients. [6:21] Advice for website creation. [10:08] The value of 100% contracted business. [17:19] Why Ryann uses local artisans. [18:53] Hear how cold calling is working! [25:23] Social media thoughts. [27:40] Ideas for customer followup [31:30] Ryann’s approach to competition. [35:13]A Final Piece of Advice
Interacting with your significant other as you grow your business. [39:38]Productivity/Lifestyle Tool
Ship Station – Fast and simple web-based shipping. Dymo Label Printer – An efficient solution for your professional labeling, filing and mailing needs.Contact Links
Website Facebook InstagramIf you found value in this podcast, make sure to subscribe and leave a review in Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts. That helps us spread the word to more makers just like you. Thanks! Sue
Transcripts
Gift biz unwrapped episode 130th.
Speaker:I've already had to pivot to follow more of what my
Speaker:clients were telling me that they wanted and also really what
Speaker:my heart wanted.
Speaker:Hi, this is John Lee,
Speaker:Dumas of entrepreneur on fire,
Speaker:and you're listening to gifted biz unwrapped,
Speaker:and now it's time to light it up.
Speaker:Hi there it's Sue and thank you for joining me on
Speaker:the gift biz unwrapped podcast.
Speaker:If you're a gifter Baker,
Speaker:crafter or maker,
Speaker:and you own a brick and mortar shop sell a mine
Speaker:or are just getting started here is where you'll find insights
Speaker:and advice develop and grow your business.
Speaker:And if you want even more gift biz motivation,
Speaker:I'd like to invite you to join our private Facebook group
Speaker:called gift biz breeze.
Speaker:Pursuing your dreams should be fun,
Speaker:exciting, and rewarding,
Speaker:not stressful and scary.
Speaker:When you join the breeze.
Speaker:It's like sitting in the park with friends who bring you
Speaker:all the support and the answers that you need.
Speaker:You'll have access to a group of amazing creators along with
Speaker:tools and resources that can catapult your business,
Speaker:grow to join the group,
Speaker:just the over to gift biz,
Speaker:breeze.com. I look forward to seeing you over there,
Speaker:but for now,
Speaker:let's get onto the show today.
Speaker:I have the pleasure of introducing you to Ryan.
Ryan is the founder and designer Laura gifts,
Speaker:a company that specializes in corporate gifting,
Speaker:but this wasn't always that way.
Speaker:Yesper flora originally launched in April of 2016 as a company
Speaker:focusing on hotel,
Speaker:welcome gifts for weddings.
Speaker:Since that time they've morphed into corporate gifting.
Speaker:Ryan's passion lies in branding,
Speaker:designing and creating unique experiences for our clients and their recipients.
Speaker:She uses her intuition and personal style to design thoughtful gifts,
Speaker:utilizing artisans and small batch company,
Speaker:Ryan enjoys making every day,
Speaker:a special occasion and has never met a glass of bubbly.
Speaker:She didn't like,
Speaker:and Ryan,
Speaker:that makes me like you even more to the show.
Speaker:Oh, thank you so much for having me Sue.
Speaker:I am thrilled that we were able to get this together
Speaker:today, and I like to start off right straight from the
Speaker:beginning in a little bit of a different way.
Speaker:And that is by having you share with us a little
Speaker:bit more about yourself through what would be your ideal motivational
Speaker:candle. So if you were to tell us what color and
Speaker:a quote,
Speaker:what would your candle look like?
Speaker:I would have to say that my candle would be a
Speaker:sagey green because I really find comfort in nature.
Speaker:And I love that.
Speaker:Look, I'm just a really natural organic look.
Speaker:And also my quote would be from Steve jobs because I
Speaker:like to think really big and I love the formality of
Speaker:corporate, but also the artsy and creative side too.
Speaker:So my would be have the courage to follow your heart
Speaker:and intuition.
Speaker:They somehow know what you truly want to become Love it.
Speaker:And I think sometimes we look inside and we have this
Speaker:passion or the heart and the intuition for something,
Speaker:but it doesn't seem like maybe we should do it because
Speaker:it doesn't fit with what culture says to do in terms
Speaker:of your corporate life or money-making or something like that.
Speaker:Yes. And so that's what then led you,
Speaker:I'm thinking to your business,
Speaker:you're a brand new company.
Speaker:This is wonderful.
Speaker:Just a little over a year old,
Speaker:I guess we'd say.
Speaker:Right? Yeah.
Speaker:And I've already had to pivot to follow more of what
Speaker:my clients were telling me that they wanted or the clients
Speaker:that I was attracting and also really what my heart wanted.
Speaker:I started down the road,
Speaker:like you said,
Speaker:as hotel welcomes for weddings and I'm in San Diego.
Speaker:So there are lots of destination weddings here,
Speaker:but I wasn't really finding clients that I felt connected to,
Speaker:or even event planners for weddings that I felt super connected
Speaker:to. And so I actually would go in and try and
Speaker:pitch myself to hotels around the area to become a vendor
Speaker:for them or a preferred vendor.
Speaker:And they would ask me,
Speaker:Oh, that's great.
Speaker:That's great.
Speaker:This is beautiful.
Speaker:Can you do gifts for us?
Speaker:So it really presented itself to me that corporate was the
Speaker:way to go for my business When you first started.
Speaker:So the wedding focus.
Speaker:Okay. How much had you set up the company before you
Speaker:started going into trying to get feedback from people just to
Speaker:see if the product was going to work or start selling?
Speaker:Did you have everything already established at that point?
Speaker:Oh yeah.
Speaker:So I actually started my company in August of the year,
Speaker:before April when we launched and we had done a whole,
Speaker:I had scouted all kinds of local vendors,
Speaker:really set everything up,
Speaker:had a website.
Speaker:And I did the holiday in between,
Speaker:and that was all corporate people that hired me.
Speaker:And then when I launched my businesses,
Speaker:when I really started outreaching to clients and it was by
Speaker:December that I had made the decision to do a full
Speaker:switch over from hotel welcomes to corporate clients.
Speaker:Even though you had established everything you saw pretty quickly,
Speaker:that that was going to be the direction that was going
Speaker:to be the end for you.
Speaker:Yeah. I mean,
Speaker:I couldn't deny it.
Speaker:It was literally one wedding client and everything else that year
Speaker:I did was corporate.
Speaker:It was incredible how much more corporate gifting I did and
Speaker:how much more of a pull that was for me even
Speaker:emotionally or following my intuition.
Speaker:I just really liked branding and all of the formality of
Speaker:that rather than the flow and the prettiness of weddings Well
Speaker:in the conversation,
Speaker:I think is totally different to when you're working with corporate.
Speaker:Cause you're working with different people at different levels than not
Speaker:to say that there's anything wrong,
Speaker:but the event planner,
Speaker:it's just a whole different vibe of what your business would
Speaker:be about.
Speaker:Exactly. Yes.
Speaker:Okay. So take us through,
Speaker:and I think this is really good for our listeners to
Speaker:see that you start with one idea,
Speaker:you test the market and then you see if you're getting
Speaker:any traction.
Speaker:You're see if people are receptive to your message and your
Speaker:product and what you have.
Speaker:And it's okay if you take feedback and feel like you
Speaker:have to pivot and in your case,
Speaker:really a total change in what you're doing.
Speaker:Yeah. I like consistency.
Speaker:I like contracts.
Speaker:I like knowing that my clients are going to stick around
Speaker:beyond just one event,
Speaker:which weddings are obviously one event.
Speaker:You could become a vendor for a particular wedding event planner
Speaker:and do multiple weddings for them a year.
Speaker:But it's not as guaranteed as locking yourself into a sales
Speaker:situation with a corporation.
Speaker:Right. One final question for you on the pivot you had
Speaker:platform set up already because you mentioned that you were planning
Speaker:and preparing and it had everything ready to go.
Speaker:So it sounds like you already had local artisans,
Speaker:like you were saying,
Speaker:or smaller companies you had product already identified.
Speaker:Were you able to continue using that and then also your
Speaker:website or talk through a little bit about what the mechanics
Speaker:were behind having to switch up.
Speaker:So as far as product goes,
Speaker:we were working on a custom basis for hotel welcomes.
Speaker:We had a minimum,
Speaker:so I wasn't holding a bunch of product.
Speaker:The most that I spent was on marketing materials as far
Speaker:as business cards and stationary and things of that nature.
Speaker:And we're a box business.
Speaker:So I had boxes that I would put product in that
Speaker:were kind of standard,
Speaker:but I didn't hold a bunch of merchandise.
Speaker:So that was good.
Speaker:But I will say that I spent quite a few thousand
Speaker:dollars on a custom website for the hotel welcomes and eventually
Speaker:had to have a meeting with myself that it was okay
Speaker:to let that go and go to a simpler platform.
Speaker:We use Squarespace now and I'm able to actually do all
Speaker:of that myself,
Speaker:which my other platform,
Speaker:I had to have a developer do things for me.
Speaker:So that was really the hard swallow of what I had
Speaker:to let go of.
Speaker:I had this beautiful website that costs me a lot of
Speaker:money and I had to go something completely simple so that
Speaker:I was able to do it myself.
Speaker:Yeah. I think there's a couple of things in there.
Speaker:Number one,
Speaker:you did spend all that money or it had to be
Speaker:heart-wrenching Oh my gosh,
Speaker:I just made this huge investment and now I'm not even
Speaker:going to use it,
Speaker:but along the way too,
Speaker:you saw that there were limitations with that because of you're
Speaker:not controlling your website.
Speaker:Like you can now every single thing you want to change,
Speaker:you have to make a phone call and you know how
Speaker:your contract is,
Speaker:have them make the adjustment,
Speaker:then you get charged for it.
Speaker:So way easier.
Speaker:I think the way you're doing it now,
Speaker:right? Yeah.
Speaker:I started to feel like a bit of a money pit
Speaker:because I couldn't do anything,
Speaker:but I will say that all of that poking around and
Speaker:Googling and learning how this particular platform worked,
Speaker:made it so easy for me to the Squarespace.
Speaker:I felt completely comfortable.
Speaker:I popped it out in two weeks.
Speaker:Maybe it was super fast because I knew exactly what I
Speaker:wanted. I already had beautiful photos from my other work.
Speaker:And it was really interesting because I went back and I
Speaker:got to put down all of the times that I had
Speaker:pressed or custom gifting.
Speaker:And it was really nice to revisit all of that stuff
Speaker:and remind myself that I had come a long way.
Speaker:So all around it was heart-wrenching but it turned out for
Speaker:the best.
Speaker:For sure.
Speaker:I'll tell you why.
Speaker:When you were talking about your Sage green candle,
Speaker:your website looks beautiful.
Speaker:It's so clean.
Speaker:It's crisp.
Speaker:It's got some of the Sage green going on in there.
Speaker:You did a great job with it.
Speaker:It looks fabulous and give busy listeners.
Speaker:Of course you'll know that all the links are going to
Speaker:be there.
Speaker:So you can go ahead and see Ryan's website later after
Speaker:you've heard the whole story and all,
Speaker:but is there any advice you'd give since you've just mentioned
Speaker:how the learning that you had and all of that,
Speaker:and being able to put it together,
Speaker:pretty simply someone who's just listening now who is starting a
Speaker:website and didn't have the experience of working with someone else
Speaker:and having someone else do it first,
Speaker:but as jumping in cold to start their website,
Speaker:any comments for them?
Speaker:I would say the open,
Speaker:I would kind of relate it to your wedding,
Speaker:where you plan all of this stuff and you have to
Speaker:be really open and flexible with how the actual day's going
Speaker:to turn out.
Speaker:Because with website stuff,
Speaker:I had a vision in my head and I wanted to
Speaker:be a certain way.
Speaker:And yes,
Speaker:I'm very close to what it is now with the closest
Speaker:that I've ever been more so than the custom website,
Speaker:but with,
Speaker:just with anything that big and that much emotional and time
Speaker:and money invested,
Speaker:you have to still be a little bit okay with it
Speaker:not being perfect or turning out exactly how you admissioned in
Speaker:your head,
Speaker:because it's probably not going to be If you're just waiting
Speaker:for it to be perfect,
Speaker:you're never going to turn it live.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:that will always be one more thing you want to do
Speaker:to fix it or that kind of thing.
Speaker:Exactly. Let's focus on what Gaspar floral is now.
Speaker:What was your strategy and planning in terms of the development
Speaker:of the product?
Speaker:Now I know it's all custom,
Speaker:but how did you work through that in your mind?
Speaker:So the hotel welcomes kind of platform for me helped out
Speaker:a lot because I just went and sourced all of the
Speaker:wonderful artisans that were in California because I wanted to originally
Speaker:stay all California.
Speaker:And so I'm a foodie at heart.
Speaker:I love farmer's markets and that feels so I just went
Speaker:out and found products that I truly believed in.
Speaker:And I'm not ordering them unless I have a custom order,
Speaker:but I have this memory bank of,
Speaker:I know this will go with this.
Speaker:I know this will go with this.
Speaker:And I'm easily able to contact them and ask them for,
Speaker:can I get a hundred of this or whatever it is.
Speaker:So really it's just me having this crazy memory for things
Speaker:and knowing what will go with what that's,
Speaker:how it's panned out as far as custom gifting goes.
Speaker:And that's how your style.
Speaker:And, and when you talk about intuition and the style and
Speaker:just your mind's eye of what it's going to look like,
Speaker:that's really your talent.
Speaker:Yeah. That's the part I can't really explain.
Speaker:I don't know when it'll come to me either.
Speaker:I usually find out from a client when their due date
Speaker:is. So that kind of gives me some idea of when
Speaker:I need to really nail my brain down,
Speaker:but it will be sometimes in the shower,
Speaker:the middle of the night that I aha.
Speaker:And it works itself out as far as that goes,
Speaker:but it's just been a lot of research.
Speaker:My friends call me Google Ryan,
Speaker:because I just love information.
Speaker:And so I can refer back to it pretty easily in
Speaker:my mind and know my products very well.
Speaker:And my vendors actually really well,
Speaker:who's quick at turning around because they are small or who
Speaker:takes a little bit more time who I can trust to
Speaker:get it to me in just a few days if I
Speaker:need it.
Speaker:So that's how I worked.
Speaker:So do you,
Speaker:You get samples to show them the customer,
Speaker:how it's going to turn out to do these corporations,
Speaker:distrust your style and let you do what you want.
Speaker:I've had a couple that actually have started to just trust
Speaker:my style,
Speaker:but generally I send out a design sheet.
Speaker:If I have products on hand,
Speaker:that could be a snapshot of like a flat lay and
Speaker:overlooking view of what I've selected for them to give them
Speaker:an idea of what it'll be like,
Speaker:or that could be a design sheet,
Speaker:as far as I'm pulling images and putting them into a
Speaker:PDF for them.
Speaker:So they can kind of see how everything goes together.
Speaker:Yeah, This is interesting.
Speaker:And we kind of jumped into the middle of this.
Speaker:So I want to take it from the beginning to understand
Speaker:a little bit about your structure and how you work with
Speaker:a client.
Speaker:So you find someone who's interested in the gifts.
Speaker:How do you talk with them to understand what their expectation
Speaker:is like?
Speaker:What's that conversation,
Speaker:the very first meeting you have with them?
Speaker:My very first question is what is your budget?
Speaker:Because to me,
Speaker:I can show you premium roses or I can show you
Speaker:carnations. That's how I related to them.
Speaker:I want to know as far as gifting,
Speaker:what is your budget per person?
Speaker:How many units are you trying to send out?
Speaker:When do you need it done?
Speaker:All of those really meaty details.
Speaker:And then we just sort of have a conversation.
Speaker:Often I'll look at their website or I try to meet
Speaker:in their space if possible,
Speaker:because I like to,
Speaker:and it all goes back to my intuition.
Speaker:I like to pull feelings from spaces and branding.
Speaker:So I don't necessarily need to put the logo on everything,
Speaker:but I want it to feel like that company,
Speaker:like the essence of that company.
Speaker:So it's just a really open conversation with them.
Speaker:It's not super formal.
Speaker:So you talk about,
Speaker:are you going to want edible products or are you gonna
Speaker:want pampering products or like,
Speaker:do you have something special that you're wanting to include?
Speaker:Like a,
Speaker:or I don't know what it might be.
Speaker:So you have all those conversations right?
Speaker:In the beginning.
Speaker:Yes. I want to know as much information as possible in
Speaker:the beginning,
Speaker:especially found with corporations.
Speaker:I don't want to have to keep going back to them.
Speaker:They don't have a lot of time for that stuff.
Speaker:So the most information that I can gather from the beginning,
Speaker:the better That's really good because you're sensitive to their timing,
Speaker:but it's also yours.
Speaker:Cause you don't want to have to be going back and
Speaker:forth and back and forth.
Speaker:Yeah. And I don't want to take the time to design
Speaker:and then have them say,
Speaker:Oh, we didn't want food.
Speaker:Okay. Wow.
Speaker:Oh yeah.
Speaker:Right. Okay.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:So you have your first meeting,
Speaker:you go back with the ideas,
Speaker:then you develop what the vision is and you put together
Speaker:the PDF and send that to them or bring it back.
Speaker:However you would do that,
Speaker:right? Correct.
Speaker:What happens then?
Speaker:Usually with a corporation or with corporate gifting it's does it
Speaker:fit the budget?
Speaker:Does it fit their vision?
Speaker:It'll probably work.
Speaker:And so it just usually depends on if it's hit those
Speaker:points and then based on a contract and they book with
Speaker:me and my send them an invoice and then I do
Speaker:all the wrapping.
Speaker:Sometimes I'll do handwritten notes for them,
Speaker:drop shipping or delivering straight to their office.
Speaker:All of those details then happen.
Speaker:Perfect. And are you doing that all from your own location?
Speaker:Just you,
Speaker:do you have other people helping you as well?
Speaker:People that come in and out to help?
Speaker:I don't have an employee right now,
Speaker:but we're gearing up for we've actually already started booking holiday
Speaker:people. And so I feel that this year we'll probably need
Speaker:a regular employee.
Speaker:So we'll see how it goes.
Speaker:I'm open Staff.
Speaker:Like that is absolutely the way to go at your phase
Speaker:because you don't want to hire someone who you don't have
Speaker:the hours for,
Speaker:but it sounds like you might have a couple of people
Speaker:that you can call upon to bring in.
Speaker:And if they've come in for past jobs,
Speaker:they're already experienced in terms of your style or the way
Speaker:you'd want to work together.
Speaker:Yes, exactly.
Speaker:Plus if you see the,
Speaker:for some reason they're not working out,
Speaker:if it's kind of job by job basis,
Speaker:then it's really easy.
Speaker:Just not to select them for the next ones,
Speaker:if it's not working.
Speaker:Yes, exactly.
Speaker:How much of your business is contracted?
Speaker:All of it.
Speaker:A hundred percent.
Speaker:Yeah. I have a collection that is like a handful of
Speaker:things that are kind of one-offs that we keep stock of
Speaker:it's for gifts.
Speaker:It's nothing major,
Speaker:but it gives people a great idea of our style.
Speaker:And then I have had some people ordered those,
Speaker:but honestly it's mostly contract jobs.
Speaker:So we need 200 of these sent out by this time
Speaker:or it's an ongoing basis.
Speaker:Got it.
Speaker:And to your point that you'd made earlier,
Speaker:you don't need to carry then inventory,
Speaker:which is such a nice thing in terms of your cash
Speaker:flow, do you don't have to have it on site?
Speaker:What kind of turnaround,
Speaker:if someone needed something pretty quickly,
Speaker:how quickly can you turn things around?
Speaker:I would say it just depends on what it is.
Speaker:Like I said,
Speaker:some of my vendors,
Speaker:they still work.
Speaker:Full-time jobs.
Speaker:They're a little bit slower and smaller.
Speaker:So I keep that in the back of my mind when
Speaker:I book a client,
Speaker:but about two weeks,
Speaker:I would say at least,
Speaker:but with corporate people are contacting for six,
Speaker:eight weeks ahead of time.
Speaker:It's great.
Speaker:They know what's coming up.
Speaker:They know what they need to do.
Speaker:And so it works out nicely for me.
Speaker:Right? Because in corporate they're much more in a planning mode
Speaker:versus I need this for something that's tomorrow.
Speaker:Exactly. Got it.
Speaker:Okay. The other thing I really like is how much you're
Speaker:utilizing artisans,
Speaker:which implies handmade and more local.
Speaker:And you've just referenced that they're smaller quantities.
Speaker:They may be doing things on the side,
Speaker:which gift biz listeners,
Speaker:some of that could be you.
Speaker:So look at opportunities,
Speaker:not necessarily Ryan,
Speaker:but in terms of other things in your area over and
Speaker:above to selling directly to the customer,
Speaker:other places where you may be able to work with someone,
Speaker:with your products,
Speaker:talk with us a little bit about why you went that
Speaker:direction, right?
Speaker:Yeah. It's where I identify.
Speaker:I like that style.
Speaker:Like I said before,
Speaker:I like the farmer's market feel.
Speaker:I like things to feel handmade and fresh.
Speaker:So I really steered clear of major brands.
Speaker:I get a lot of business in San Diego.
Speaker:They really appreciate the fact that it's all local.
Speaker:Yeah. And I'm thinking people can't copy you as easily either
Speaker:because you're not using things that people are going to just
Speaker:see in their local stores.
Speaker:Yeah. It works out nicely.
Speaker:I've also with my business.
Speaker:I don't know if you can tell,
Speaker:but I am heavily branded and I don't mean that my
Speaker:logo stuck everywhere.
Speaker:If you look at my guests,
Speaker:they are all the same.
Speaker:You can tell that it's my gift.
Speaker:You can tell them my photos are all similar in color
Speaker:or texture or mood.
Speaker:And so I find that clients come to me and they
Speaker:know what to expect.
Speaker:So I have way less resistance on it being a local
Speaker:product. So there's not as much in the box.
Speaker:I think that being really true with who I am in
Speaker:presenting that they don't question because those are some products can
Speaker:cost a lot more than mainstream brands.
Speaker:Sure. What would you do if someone came in,
Speaker:wanted something dramatically,
Speaker:not your style,
Speaker:like they said to you,
Speaker:Ryan, I'm going to do a fifties feel.
Speaker:It sounds to me even like you're cringing even over the
Speaker:mic right now.
Speaker:It just depends on,
Speaker:I have found,
Speaker:especially with the pivot that I need to be really true
Speaker:to myself and my brand.
Speaker:And I have turned away clients that I feel like aren't
Speaker:in line with what I want to do.
Speaker:And I'm not saying that to be snooty or I have
Speaker:so much business.
Speaker:I can do that.
Speaker:It's just that my brand is important too.
Speaker:And I want to attract the clients that I really want.
Speaker:Now, if it's a fifties theme that they're open to my
Speaker:I'm sure that I could do something.
Speaker:It just wouldn't be so overtly 57 Chevies and jukeboxes.
Speaker:Right. That does not seem like your thing at all.
Speaker:Okay. So in your mind,
Speaker:as you think back to all the gifts that you've done,
Speaker:is there one that was like a favorite of yours that
Speaker:you could describe to us?
Speaker:I did a gift for one of my favorite and actually
Speaker:one of my best clients,
Speaker:which is a local boutique resort here in San Diego called
Speaker:the Rancho Valencia.
Speaker:It's very luxury,
Speaker:very high-end.
Speaker:And they were having VIP come stay with them.
Speaker:And we did this gift that I wanted.
Speaker:One of my own,
Speaker:their colors are like that really beautiful,
Speaker:Tiffany teal and then a darker blue and an orange.
Speaker:I ordered these breakfast at Tiffany's sleep masks,
Speaker:the ones with the little eyes on them.
Speaker:I don't know if you remember from the movie.
Speaker:Yeah. So we did that and then a hand dyed lavender
Speaker:stash with their logo on it.
Speaker:T nighttime tea.
Speaker:It just was so pretty.
Speaker:I really loved that one and I was really glad that
Speaker:they were happy with it.
Speaker:Talk about personal and customization and all that.
Speaker:Yeah. That's really what my specialty or what I enjoy the
Speaker:most is figuring out what is the mood that you're trying
Speaker:to create more so than what points are you trying to
Speaker:hit as far as products or things of that nature?
Speaker:Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker:Something that occurs to me as we're talking here,
Speaker:which I think is really important is making some of these
Speaker:very custom,
Speaker:one of a kind gifts.
Speaker:If that was all you did,
Speaker:makes it very difficult to grow a business because every single
Speaker:gift needs so much thought resourcing,
Speaker:design the back and forth type things.
Speaker:So to do that,
Speaker:and then also to do 200 corporate gifts for a business
Speaker:that they're going to be giving out to customer,
Speaker:you'd like,
Speaker:however they're using it,
Speaker:that kind of balance allows you.
Speaker:I'm thinking,
Speaker:this is a question for you,
Speaker:Ryan, but I'm thinking to be able to do some of
Speaker:those really individual gifts like you're doing,
Speaker:but also bring in the revenue where you design a very
Speaker:custom gift,
Speaker:but there's a volume to that gift.
Speaker:Yes. That is exactly what it is.
Speaker:Obviously, even with the hotel welcomes,
Speaker:I was always interested in volume or monetizing from the very
Speaker:beginning. I knew that I couldn't just sell one over and
Speaker:over and over again.
Speaker:Yeah. It's just how my brain works.
Speaker:I'm not really interested in being a sales woman.
Speaker:I like to share my business with people and let it
Speaker:be a little bit more organic.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:I do cold emails to my corporations and then get clients
Speaker:that way.
Speaker:But you're right.
Speaker:That's how we make the money.
Speaker:I'm going to do 200 of this very beautifully curated hand
Speaker:wrapped handwritten note type gift.
Speaker:Let's talk now about something that was challenging to you.
Speaker:And again,
Speaker:this is so interesting because you are so new,
Speaker:but you're really doing well.
Speaker:Look within,
Speaker:let's even call it two years from your initial planning to
Speaker:going out and really focusing wedding to making a pivot.
Speaker:Now having built two websites to now having corporate clients contracting
Speaker:all of that.
Speaker:It sounds so great.
Speaker:Has there been a challenge along the way?
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:what's not a challenge.
Speaker:I feel like the whole thing has been a challenge from
Speaker:the moment that I decided to step out and do it
Speaker:and actually make something of it or I guess realize my
Speaker:dream. So to speak and move forward to today,
Speaker:getting on the phone with you,
Speaker:everything about it is challenging,
Speaker:but it feels really good at the same time.
Speaker:So I would say like the hardest emotionally was pivoting because
Speaker:you do think this is what I wanted to do.
Speaker:It's almost that,
Speaker:what are people going to think?
Speaker:No one really noticed to be honest with you,
Speaker:I just sorta switched it over and started targeting different people.
Speaker:So I would say that was the hardest part And you're
Speaker:right, exactly what you just said because your product was in
Speaker:a way similar,
Speaker:not totally,
Speaker:but in a way similar,
Speaker:you just changed the audience that you were going to be
Speaker:a protein.
Speaker:Exactly. What types of things are you finding work for you
Speaker:in terms of attracting sales?
Speaker:And I'm thinking for you specifically,
Speaker:because a lot of things start with an initial face-to-face meeting.
Speaker:How are you finding people and getting an appointment?
Speaker:I actually do a lot of cold emailing or cold calling,
Speaker:sending out marketing materials.
Speaker:I have an advantage because as you've mentioned,
Speaker:I have a very specific field to mind gifting and it
Speaker:does feel very thoughtful and the fact that they can get
Speaker:multiples out of that and that have that same feeling is
Speaker:really interesting and attractive to them.
Speaker:So if I can get someone to answer me,
Speaker:at least once,
Speaker:usually I can get a meeting with them.
Speaker:I always felt the same way.
Speaker:If I can just get someone on the phone or see
Speaker:them in person that pretty much sets the stage and get
Speaker:to, Yeah,
Speaker:I will say also though that we just made it sound
Speaker:a lot easier than it actually is sometimes or emailing or
Speaker:calling those people five times before they pay attention to you
Speaker:as somebody working in any sort of company,
Speaker:do you have time to answer all the emails?
Speaker:So there is a lot of perseverance that goes with that
Speaker:and just mustering it up and making sure that you keep
Speaker:going for it And don't give up after the first call
Speaker:is what You're saying.
Speaker:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker:Because it doesn't always happen after the first or the second
Speaker:or the fourth.
Speaker:I've had also people come to me six months later after
Speaker:not answering me and say,
Speaker:I've been meaning to reach out to you here I am.
Speaker:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker:So I'm quite sure because I've seen the style of your
Speaker:website and the products that you produce,
Speaker:that all of your materials are top-notch in terms of quality
Speaker:of photography,
Speaker:paper, all of that,
Speaker:because it needs to be on line with the product that
Speaker:you're going to be producing.
Speaker:Exactly. Yes.
Speaker:And so then do you have some type of a structured
Speaker:system where you've targeted the business is you would like or
Speaker:think would do business with you and have a routine set
Speaker:up where you send out a certain amount a week,
Speaker:you call up a certain amount of people in terms of
Speaker:followup a week.
Speaker:Yeah. Yes.
Speaker:I have my little sales funnel that I do.
Speaker:And I look for businesses that I'm interested in,
Speaker:that I want to do business with that I think would
Speaker:be a good match for me that I would be interested
Speaker:in designing for them.
Speaker:Because when you reach out to those people,
Speaker:you're already passionate about what they're doing and you're more likely
Speaker:to let that shine to them.
Speaker:And it's just that energy that's coming through and they get
Speaker:excited about you because you're excited about them.
Speaker:And I think that works the best.
Speaker:What role does social media play for you?
Speaker:My biggest social media platform is Instagram.
Speaker:I will say I'm pretty bad about all that stuff.
Speaker:Like I said,
Speaker:my ideal client doesn't live on Instagram.
Speaker:Maybe they are on it,
Speaker:but they are not looking for me per se.
Speaker:They might stumble across me,
Speaker:but I'm not trying to sell to individuals.
Speaker:So I've had kind of a little trying to figure myself
Speaker:out on social media.
Speaker:But I would say that having a presence there,
Speaker:like even if someone received a brochure of yours or mailing,
Speaker:whatever, it looks like lots of times they'll check you out
Speaker:first before they're going to place a call.
Speaker:Like how legit is this business really?
Speaker:And part of that is going on social media and seeing
Speaker:what type of presence there is.
Speaker:So you have to have some type of presence.
Speaker:Yeah. And I would say my advice is to be as
Speaker:professional as possible on that.
Speaker:I have a separate personal account.
Speaker:Now that doesn't mean that all my business account,
Speaker:I don't talk about what's going on with me every once
Speaker:in a while,
Speaker:or sometimes on stories,
Speaker:Instagram stories,
Speaker:I'll do a little mini review of one of my artisans
Speaker:or a place that I'm at,
Speaker:but I'm still,
Speaker:I'm not talking about political views.
Speaker:I'm not taking pictures of my cat,
Speaker:things like that.
Speaker:I'm so with you on that,
Speaker:I've pretty much taken the stance that even if it's a
Speaker:personal page,
Speaker:because so many clients also want to connect with you,
Speaker:like on a personal Facebook page or a personal Instagram account.
Speaker:So they want to see you on personal and your business
Speaker:account. And I kind of have the stands that I put
Speaker:out things that only,
Speaker:I wouldn't care who saw anybody can see my stuff and
Speaker:I'm fine with it.
Speaker:No matter what platform at time,
Speaker:one is more personal.
Speaker:One is more business,
Speaker:but still it's all of a level that I'm fine.
Speaker:If anyone sees it,
Speaker:That's exactly how I operate also.
Speaker:And I think it's important.
Speaker:Like my profile picture,
Speaker:even on my personal account is of me.
Speaker:It's a business photo.
Speaker:So although it's my personal account,
Speaker:like you said,
Speaker:I don't talk about politics.
Speaker:Am I talking about my cat or my family on that
Speaker:one? But it's all very business type.
Speaker:I'm not going to just rant or rave or talk about
Speaker:things like that because you're right.
Speaker:You don't know who's looking at you.
Speaker:And although my account is private,
Speaker:I found even that my Facebook friends that are personal,
Speaker:they have jobs,
Speaker:they work at companies.
Speaker:They recommended me.
Speaker:So if I'm being all crazy on my personal account,
Speaker:why would they recommend me to their company?
Speaker:I'm really glad you brought that up.
Speaker:That was a really good point.
Speaker:Gift is listeners.
Speaker:Ryan's talking about a couple of things that are less traditional.
Speaker:I would say now they used to be very traditional.
Speaker:Now they're less traditional in the way we do business and
Speaker:it's working for her.
Speaker:Some of it is cold calling.
Speaker:So many people say cold calling is dead.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:I'm a proponent of networking and warm leads and all of
Speaker:that, but it's working.
Speaker:So something to consider for your businesses,
Speaker:if it's an approach that you're in a position where you
Speaker:want to try something new.
Speaker:So I thought that was really interesting.
Speaker:The other thing is social media.
Speaker:So many of us now rely on social media as the
Speaker:do all end all because we're going to do Facebook ads
Speaker:or we're putting our products out there.
Speaker:Ryan's a great example that that isn't necessarily what you have
Speaker:to do.
Speaker:And certainly don't put all your eggs in that basket.
Speaker:So you are under contracts,
Speaker:which is awesome because then that guarantees for the most part
Speaker:in a legal sense that you'll get the full extent of
Speaker:the contract,
Speaker:whatever the volume is,
Speaker:et cetera.
Speaker:What do you do to make sure that a customer is
Speaker:going to resign?
Speaker:What types of customer service or interaction do you have to
Speaker:make sure they really stay happy?
Speaker:And they want to continue with you.
Speaker:If I've had clients that have booked a few jobs with
Speaker:me, or maybe even just one and they don't have an
Speaker:ongoing contract,
Speaker:I think this is a better example.
Speaker:I just check in with them every once in a while.
Speaker:And I say,
Speaker:just as you would in any networking situation,
Speaker:Hey, this made me think of you or,
Speaker:Hey, I saw all your company in the news,
Speaker:whatever it is.
Speaker:I'm not saying every day,
Speaker:but sometimes even that reminder is them going,
Speaker:Oh shoot,
Speaker:I need to order from you.
Speaker:I totally forgot.
Speaker:So it's not calling and saying,
Speaker:Hey, we're done with this.
Speaker:What else do you think you'll need in the future?
Speaker:It's just keeping in touch on a friendly basis.
Speaker:Exactly. And that's what I do with my vendors too.
Speaker:That's how I know how quickly they work or how stressed
Speaker:out they get about something or if they do it all.
Speaker:And some of them are just very business like,
Speaker:and I would never know if they were stressed out about
Speaker:a project.
Speaker:So I just try to keep an open dialogue with everyone
Speaker:as much as possible.
Speaker:Wonderful. Let's talk a little bit now back of shop,
Speaker:how things work just particularly for listeners who are just setting
Speaker:up or they're feeling like they're all over the place.
Speaker:Sometimes there are tools and things that people use that can
Speaker:really be helpful to everybody.
Speaker:Is there some type of resource or tool you're using,
Speaker:that's helping you stay productive.
Speaker:And maybe even with the followup that you're doing in terms
Speaker:of both your sales approach and your customer continuity plans,
Speaker:I keep a lot of spreadsheets.
Speaker:Although I've thought about getting a CRM,
Speaker:a client relationship management software so that it will remind me
Speaker:to follow up.
Speaker:But I would say honestly,
Speaker:the best tool that I ever purchased for myself ever was
Speaker:I use shipstation.com,
Speaker:which is a shipping program.
Speaker:And they work through FedEx ups and stamps.com.
Speaker:So you're able to keep track of what you're shipping.
Speaker:You can put it all in from home.
Speaker:I just have a little scale.
Speaker:You put in the measurements you put in the address.
Speaker:And then I purchased a dynamo label printer.
Speaker:After last Christmas almost killed me with printing out labels and
Speaker:trying to take them on.
Speaker:And it has made my life so much easier.
Speaker:So the printer connects up to your computer and ship station
Speaker:is a program that's on the computer,
Speaker:correct? Correct.
Speaker:Yes. So you enter in the information,
Speaker:you press print and then instead of it printing out of
Speaker:a paper printer,
Speaker:it prints onto a paper you can peel off and stick
Speaker:on. It's so much more professional too.
Speaker:Yeah, for me doing corporate gifting,
Speaker:I requests from my clients an Excel spreadsheet and I can
Speaker:upload that into ShipStation and it populates.
Speaker:So instead of having to hand type 50 addresses and names
Speaker:and whatever,
Speaker:I can do it all from an Excel and then batch
Speaker:the measurements and what type of shipping I want to do
Speaker:all at the same time.
Speaker:So it just prints out all at the it's so fast.
Speaker:Oh my gosh.
Speaker:It takes so much time off of all of that stuff.
Speaker:Yeah. It's efficiency for you.
Speaker:Plus it covers you in terms of entering in the wrong
Speaker:address because whatever they've put on the spreadsheet and shared with
Speaker:you then,
Speaker:but still an issue if it goes to the wrong place,
Speaker:even if it was their address,
Speaker:but still it takes off the possibility that you're going to
Speaker:make a mistake on your end.
Speaker:Yes, exactly.
Speaker:And we all know what it's like trying to type in
Speaker:addresses late at night.
Speaker:And you've had a long day,
Speaker:it's the best tool I've ever purchased for myself.
Speaker:What do you do in terms of staying current within the
Speaker:industry or learning new techniques or new things that can help
Speaker:enhance your business?
Speaker:I actually have a couple of friends that are gifters also,
Speaker:so we share tips with each other we're across the country.
Speaker:So that helps a little bit.
Speaker:But to be honest with you,
Speaker:I try and stay away from what other gifters are doing,
Speaker:because it's like that competition evil thing that happens to you
Speaker:where you start looking at other people's work and then that
Speaker:voice in your head starts telling you that you could never
Speaker:be that good or you're not measuring up or they have
Speaker:more, or they have more of this or more of that.
Speaker:So there's a famous quote and are not sure who it's
Speaker:by, but it has something to do with,
Speaker:there's a reason why race horses have blinders it's so they
Speaker:can't see their competition.
Speaker:Yeah. So we all want to be like,
Speaker:I'm looking for inspiration,
Speaker:but you can only do it so much.
Speaker:And then it starts to get in your head and actually
Speaker:tear you down instead of build you up.
Speaker:You know what I totally agree with you.
Speaker:I do a lot of trade shows and very rarely is
Speaker:a competitor anymore at a show that I'm at.
Speaker:But it used to be,
Speaker:I didn't even want to walk by or know what they
Speaker:were doing because it would totally take me off my game
Speaker:because I'd feel intimidated or whatever it was.
Speaker:And same even now,
Speaker:I don't really go and look that often because I'm focused
Speaker:on my customers because I'm pretty much feeling like first off,
Speaker:everyone has a kind of a different makeup of a customer
Speaker:base. So you really want to be looking at them anyway,
Speaker:to understand what you should do in the future.
Speaker:But I would much prefer making sure that I'm fulfilling their
Speaker:needs then going in and adding other things just because a
Speaker:competitor does.
Speaker:Yeah, I totally agree with that.
Speaker:I don't want to take someone else's idea or I don't
Speaker:want my company to feel like someone else's.
Speaker:So I look more at corporate industry type articles and things
Speaker:like that to see what they're wanting,
Speaker:instead of all the pretty stuff on Pinterest and Instagram,
Speaker:it's just terrible.
Speaker:It's good.
Speaker:But it's terrible.
Speaker:This is a good point that you just said,
Speaker:Ryan, is that you are looking at what you think your
Speaker:customers would be looking at and getting more in tune with
Speaker:what their trending is versus a competitor's Trend date.
Speaker:Exactly. You know,
Speaker:this is a pet peeve of mine too.
Speaker:And it happens to me unfortunately frequently is that a competitor
Speaker:comes over,
Speaker:looks at my website and starts copying things that I'm doing.
Speaker:Have you had that happen to you yet?
Speaker:Yeah. How do you handle it?
Speaker:This isn't even for the podcast.
Speaker:I just want to know from you and me,
Speaker:what do you do?
Speaker:It's annoying,
Speaker:but it's also,
Speaker:there's only one me and there's only one that person.
Speaker:And I have to keep reminding myself that my ideal client
Speaker:is not who their ideal client is and we're all different.
Speaker:And I do a lot of secret stuff that I don't
Speaker:share. And so I don't share all my clients.
Speaker:I don't share all this stuff that I'm doing on social
Speaker:media for the fact that that's what I want to do.
Speaker:That's the way I want to conduct myself.
Speaker:So I'm not necessarily an open book so they can take
Speaker:my tagline.
Speaker:They can take my sort of what my visuals look like,
Speaker:but it's not me.
Speaker:And that's what I have to keep reminding myself,
Speaker:Because they're not going to be able to get the vision
Speaker:that you have for the products or the way you even
Speaker:talk on a phone call or in a meeting or your
Speaker:style or your overall vibe.
Speaker:That's not something that they can just go ahead and take.
Speaker:And if they try to,
Speaker:it's going to look artificial and fake because it's yours.
Speaker:It's not theirs.
Speaker:Exactly. Yeah.
Speaker:Gift as listeners.
Speaker:Another thing that you can do in this realm,
Speaker:which is something else that I do,
Speaker:Ryan's talking about how she doesn't have everything out there for
Speaker:everybody to see private Facebook groups are also a good place.
Speaker:If you have communities that would be a good place.
Speaker:Cause that's behind the scenes.
Speaker:Only people who have access that you control get in and
Speaker:power of community is always good.
Speaker:So that's another way to approach it.
Speaker:Something again,
Speaker:not part of the public eye,
Speaker:but that builds more and brands with your vibe.
Speaker:Something that's just not out there.
Speaker:All right,
Speaker:let's move on.
Speaker:And as we're closing up now,
Speaker:any advice for someone and again,
Speaker:your so in the beginning and you can relate still to
Speaker:those feelings of just starting out and all that scariness and
Speaker:excitement, all bubbled at the same time,
Speaker:what would you say to somebody who's thinking of going home
Speaker:tonight and saying to their husband by golly,
Speaker:I'm going to keep my full-time job,
Speaker:but I am going to start a business around whatever it
Speaker:is. What would you say to that person?
Speaker:I would say do it because you only have one life.
Speaker:And I will also say the conversation with my husband was
Speaker:interesting because in the very beginning he said,
Speaker:well, you can't craft for a living.
Speaker:And it kind of broke my heart a little bit.
Speaker:And I spent a couple of years trying to figure out
Speaker:what exactly that would look like,
Speaker:what my creative endeavor would be like.
Speaker:And I came back really strong to him and said,
Speaker:like I said,
Speaker:a few years later after really letting it marinate in my
Speaker:head, what I truly wanted to do,
Speaker:and he's an accountant.
Speaker:So he wanted to know what does this mean for us?
Speaker:And so when I came back with my idea,
Speaker:I actually heard him say a few months later at a
Speaker:cocktail party with friends,
Speaker:I started to worry more about what would happen if I
Speaker:didn't support her in this then if I did.
Speaker:Oh yeah.
Speaker:Because he felt like it was so strong inside of me
Speaker:that he was doing a disservice by not letting me get
Speaker:it out and not live in the what if.
Speaker:And so it was great to go from you.
Speaker:Can't crash for a living to,
Speaker:I fully support you.
Speaker:And he still fully supports me.
Speaker:So I would say,
Speaker:just do it,
Speaker:Just do it.
Speaker:And I guess in a situation like yours,
Speaker:if your spouse or partner isn't necessarily supportive,
Speaker:probably providing more of the image and what you're looking at
Speaker:doing like more of the vision,
Speaker:I guess I'd say so that they understand what you're trying
Speaker:to do and where you're going is helpful.
Speaker:The more information you can give them,
Speaker:so they understand the better,
Speaker:But you have to know that figuring out that information or
Speaker:being able to articulate it takes time and that's okay.
Speaker:But it was good for me that I had to figure
Speaker:out how to articulate it because it gave me a really
Speaker:strong vision on where I wanted to go.
Speaker:I kind of felt like it was pitching to an investor
Speaker:who would have laughed at me also that few years ago
Speaker:when I wanted to start something,
Speaker:I didn't really know what it was.
Speaker:And so it was better in the long run because it
Speaker:gave me a clear vision on what I wanted for the
Speaker:future. Good point.
Speaker:So Ryan,
Speaker:let's conclude here by me asking you to dare to dream.
Speaker:I'd like to present you with a virtual gift.
Speaker:It's a magical box containing unlimited possibilities for your future.
Speaker:So this may be your dream or your goal,
Speaker:but it has to be an unreachable Heights that you would
Speaker:wish to obtain.
Speaker:Please accept this gift and open it in our presence.
Speaker:What's inside your box.
Speaker:It would definitely be having a national brand,
Speaker:not just a local brand,
Speaker:but local to regions throughout the us and get to be
Speaker:able to collaborate and work on projects that really fuel my
Speaker:fire. Sounds fabulous.
Speaker:And you have started on that path already.
Speaker:Yeah. Thank you so much.
Speaker:It takes a place to start,
Speaker:right? Exactly.
Speaker:How Can our listeners best get in touch with you So
Speaker:you can follow me on Instagram guests,
Speaker:Barra flora.
Speaker:I'm also on Facebook under the same handle.
Speaker:I do have a LinkedIn account,
Speaker:Ryan gas,
Speaker:FARA, and you can always email me at hello at gas,
Speaker:Barra, flora.com.
Speaker:Perfect. And you guys go check out the website that Ryan
Speaker:created herself just a few short months ago,
Speaker:actually within the last year or so.
Speaker:And see what I mean in terms of the consistency.
Speaker:And you'll see it right away.
Speaker:There's a nice,
Speaker:clean, crisp vibe that comes through totally professional and upscale.
Speaker:So I'd love for you guys to go check that out.
Speaker:If you're out walking the dog at the gym,
Speaker:not near a computer,
Speaker:remember there was a show notes page.
Speaker:I'll have all the links to all the different ways that
Speaker:you can see guest Barra floral.
Speaker:So you'll be able to check that out later.
Speaker:Thank you so much,
Speaker:Ryan. I mean,
Speaker:I love that we've caught you right in the beginning of
Speaker:this journey.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:you're established,
Speaker:you're grounded,
Speaker:you're moving forward,
Speaker:but it's still at the beginning.
Speaker:So I'm really excited to see how this progress is and
Speaker:how this grows.
Speaker:And my wish for you is that candle that we talked
Speaker:about way in the beginning continues and always burns bright.
Speaker:Well, thank you so much for having me Sue,
Speaker:it's been a pleasure and I'm excited to see where this
Speaker:goes. Us too.
Speaker:We're all rooting for you All the best today's show is
Speaker:sponsored by the ribbon print company,
Speaker:looking for a new income source.
Speaker:When your gift business customization is more popular now than ever
Speaker:grant your products with your logo or print a happy birthday,
Speaker:Jessica ribbon to add to a gift,
Speaker:right at checkout,
Speaker:it's all done right in your shop or cross studio in
Speaker:seconds. Check out the ribbon print company.com
Speaker:for more information after you listened to the show,
Speaker:if you like what you're hearing,
Speaker:make sure to jump over and subscribe to the show on
Speaker:iTunes. That way you'll automatically get the newest episodes when they
Speaker:go live.
Speaker:And thank you to those who have already left a rating
Speaker:and review by subscribing rating and reviewing you help to increase
Speaker:the visibility of gift biz on round.
Speaker:It's a great way to pay it forward,
