Shownotes
Can I Be On Both Shopify & Etsy?
- How selling on both Shopify and Etsy can work together for handmade business success
- The advantages of attending wholesale tradeshows
- How to decide which products to focus on to grow your business
- Heidi's advice to new makers just starting a business
- and so much more!
Tune in to this uplifting conversation to learn the answer to 'Can I be on both Shopify and Etsy?' Plus, why attending wholesale tradeshows can be a game-changer for your biz!
Resources Mentioned
- Ep 365 - Pinterest Interest Targeting, Idea Pins & Promoted Pins
- Ep 354 - Achieving Pinterest Success Is Very Different From Facebook or Instagram
Heidi's Contact Links
Website | InstagramJoin Our FREE Gift Biz Breeze Facebook Community
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Gift is unwrapped,
Speaker:episode 395.
Speaker:When I look at what I've made,
Speaker:I think,
Speaker:yeah, that's pretty darn good.
Speaker:That's gonna sell itself.
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Speaker:business. Get it on Amazon or through www.giftbizunwrapped.com/master.
Speaker:Hi there,
Speaker:it's Sue and thanks for joining me here.
Speaker:Today our guest is in what I call the up the
Speaker:game stage in her business.
Speaker:This is a stage when you've gotten started,
Speaker:validated that there's a market for your product.
Speaker:Put most of the foundational elements in place and are now
Speaker:ready to take it to the next level.
Speaker:That includes stepping into the unknown and taking risks,
Speaker:but in return you learn about what works and what doesn't
Speaker:in your business.
Speaker:And this paves the way for growth.
Speaker:Heidi and I talk about her thoughts of adding a Shopify
Speaker:website to her online presence.
Speaker:She's invested already in an Etsy account,
Speaker:so what should she do about that?
Speaker:You'll also hear how she prepared for her first wholesale trade
Speaker:show, what went well,
Speaker:what she wished she would've done better,
Speaker:and her thoughts for the future.
Speaker:Additionally, for those of you who are just getting started,
Speaker:you'll hear about the very beginning of Heidi's business and what
Speaker:she's done to get to where she is right now.
Speaker:She's not that far along that you can't relate,
Speaker:and we're both hoping this will jumpstart you into action.
Speaker:Speaking of action,
Speaker:let's head over to the show Today.
Speaker:I am so excited to share with you Heidi Wicks of
Speaker:Bark Beetle niceties.
Speaker:Heidi is the owner and designer of all the products offered
Speaker:at Bark Beetle niceties.
Speaker:She started out with bridal and flower girl accessories and later
Speaker:began making holiday ornaments.
Speaker:These ornaments quickly became her best sellers and it's now the
Speaker:focus of her business.
Speaker:She also creates kits so that her craftier customers can make
Speaker:their own.
Speaker:Heidi says she's the happiest when thinking creative thoughts and using
Speaker:her hands to make those thoughts into products,
Speaker:and she's very lucky because this is now her job.
Speaker:Heidi, welcome to the Gift Biz Unwrapped Podcast.
Speaker:Thank you.
Speaker:Thanks for having me.
Speaker:I love you talking about how it makes you so happy,
Speaker:cuz it's now your job.
Speaker:Yes. That's what we strive for,
Speaker:right? Exactly.
Speaker:That's what we think when we start a business,
Speaker:we are thinking,
Speaker:Oh, life is just gonna be so much happier and so
Speaker:much nicer now.
Speaker:And that's reality for you.
Speaker:So amen to that.
Speaker:Yes, Thank you.
Speaker:Let's start off with getting to know you in a creative
Speaker:way, and that is through a motivational candle.
Speaker:So if you were to envision what a candle would look
Speaker:like, that would totally resonate with you.
Speaker:Describe it to us by a color and possibly a saying
Speaker:or a quote.
Speaker:I am more of a kind of wall hanging person,
Speaker:so that's what I was thinking of.
Speaker:And I hate to pick a color to be my favorite.
Speaker:So what I pictured was a lot of flowers and a
Speaker:lot of variations in color and a lot of variations in
Speaker:greens. And what just keeps popping into my head while I
Speaker:work is have faith in your product.
Speaker:So that would be my motivational phrase.
Speaker:And what does that mean to you,
Speaker:have faith in your product?
Speaker:Well, I know I'm doing good work,
Speaker:which is a big deal for me to say cause I've
Speaker:always had imposter syndrome and doubts about my own abilities.
Speaker:And when I look at what I've made,
Speaker:I think,
Speaker:yeah, that's pretty darn good.
Speaker:That's gonna sell itself.
Speaker:Well, and it's true.
Speaker:I mean the quality of your product you and I met
Speaker:at a craft show,
Speaker:right, right.
Speaker:Well it's a craft show,
Speaker:but it was more of a wholesale show of handmade products.
Speaker:Right, right.
Speaker:And I was attracted to your booth right away.
Speaker:Good cause of the style of your booth,
Speaker:number one.
Speaker:So I wanna get into that,
Speaker:but also the quality of the products that you were showing.
Speaker:Excellent. Clearly what you're saying in terms of having faith in
Speaker:the product resonates for sure out to consumers.
Speaker:Yeah. Did you always feel that way or did you see
Speaker:it when you looked at the product and then were customers
Speaker:telling you that too?
Speaker:Well, when I started out,
Speaker:I was kind of working at a vacuum.
Speaker:I started an Etsy store and I was working by myself.
Speaker:I still work by myself,
Speaker:but I feel like more and more people have found my
Speaker:store so I get better feedback and then once I figured
Speaker:out what was selling best,
Speaker:that's what I concentrated on,
Speaker:which is the ornaments.
Speaker:Right. Let's talk a little bit about the progression of the
Speaker:business. You started more with a focus on the bridal industry.
Speaker:Yeah. How did you get the idea of even starting a
Speaker:business to begin with?
Speaker:Well, I love being creative,
Speaker:but I'd have a finished whatever I was working on and
Speaker:not know what to do with it.
Speaker:And you can only foist so many things on friends and
Speaker:family and maybe it's not even their taste.
Speaker:And also,
Speaker:I was trying to figure out,
Speaker:I used to be a dating coach,
Speaker:which I loved.
Speaker:I loved my clients.
Speaker:They were lovely,
Speaker:but I just kind of didn't believe in it anymore.
Speaker:I knew I wanted to do something else and I didn't
Speaker:know what I have this hobby or one,
Speaker:I have a hobby,
Speaker:but I don't do it cause I don't know what to
Speaker:do with the end product.
Speaker:So then I thought,
Speaker:well there's Etsy,
Speaker:maybe I could try that.
Speaker:And here I am.
Speaker:So you kind of were just playing around with it a
Speaker:little bit,
Speaker:maybe making it a little bit more official by starting a
Speaker:Etsy shop and then one thing started leading to another.
Speaker:Yes. Okay.
Speaker:How was your experience in starting that Etsy shop?
Speaker:Well, I have to say Etsy made it really easy to
Speaker:start the shop.
Speaker:I'm in the process of trying to also be on Shopify.
Speaker:Good for you.
Speaker:Yes. Who listens,
Speaker:knows that?
Speaker:That's my go-to place.
Speaker:Excellent. Well good.
Speaker:Maybe get advice from you on that cuz it's different trying
Speaker:to start up there than Etsy.
Speaker:And maybe it's just what I'm used to and then what's
Speaker:new? Well,
Speaker:we can talk about that in a second,
Speaker:but yeah,
Speaker:so talk about the Etsy shop.
Speaker:Yeah, so everything you just,
Speaker:they make it super easy.
Speaker:It's all very streamlined if you wanna get started.
Speaker:And I did payments and shipping and everything all through Etsy,
Speaker:which I would highly recommend for anybody.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:yeah, you maybe pay a little bit more,
Speaker:but it saves you time and complication and it just made
Speaker:it super easy.
Speaker:And this was all bridal at that point?
Speaker:Well, bridal in some,
Speaker:let's see,
Speaker:I'm trying to think.
Speaker:So yeah,
Speaker:so I did like bridal hair accessories and shoe clips and
Speaker:I have a little bit of that left,
Speaker:but it's not what sold that well.
Speaker:Right. Which is how you gravitated more into all of the
Speaker:ornaments. Yeah.
Speaker:Cause I was thinking,
Speaker:okay, it's smart to focus on seasonal stuff,
Speaker:so holiday.
Speaker:Okay. Oh I love Christmas ornaments.
Speaker:And then that's kind of how I started thinking about that.
Speaker:And then I just thought about growing up,
Speaker:we had these really gorgeous glass German,
Speaker:My mom is,
Speaker:my OPA was from Germany,
Speaker:so we had all these really beautiful glass ornaments from Germany.
Speaker:So I just kind of took that as inspiration and then
Speaker:made felt versions of that.
Speaker:They're so beautiful.
Speaker:Oh, thanks.
Speaker:You all have to go and look at her Etsy shop
Speaker:and see what we're talking about.
Speaker:You'll understand it when you see them.
Speaker:For sure.
Speaker:How long would you say from the time that you signed
Speaker:up for a Etsy account till you had your shop up
Speaker:and running,
Speaker:how long did that take?
Speaker:Oh, it took me a while to photograph everything and write
Speaker:the description for my items.
Speaker:But other than that it was quick.
Speaker:That's what I was hoping I would hear you say.
Speaker:Or those of you who are listening who maybe have always
Speaker:done face-to-face shows and never had an online presence,
Speaker:Etsy could be a great place to start.
Speaker:And you know,
Speaker:we were just talking Heidi,
Speaker:about the difference between Etsy and having your own site,
Speaker:which would be what you would be doing on Shopify.
Speaker:There is absolutely no problem having both of them up and
Speaker:running because you're attracting different customers to the different sites.
Speaker:You might have some things on Etsy that also aren't on
Speaker:your Shopify site,
Speaker:but you might have some things just on Shopify that you
Speaker:would never put on Etsy.
Speaker:Right. Like they don't have to mimic each other at all.
Speaker:Okay, that's good to know.
Speaker:Yeah, It's two different ways of you attracting customers,
Speaker:having them purchase,
Speaker:et cetera.
Speaker:Totally different strategies too.
Speaker:Of course.
Speaker:So there's no reason you don't have both.
Speaker:It's not like it has to be one or the other.
Speaker:And if you're seeing us through Etsy,
Speaker:you don't have to replace it.
Speaker:Just keep going.
Speaker:Maybe enhance a little bit what you're doing as Etsy changes.
Speaker:Some of the results kind of change totally your choice,
Speaker:but you can look at both of them as different channels
Speaker:for different purposes.
Speaker:Yeah. And also I feel like I've done a lot of
Speaker:work getting people to find my Etsy store and why would
Speaker:I give that up?
Speaker:Right. Totally agree with you.
Speaker:Okay, going back again a little bit to just starting your
Speaker:business. Yeah.
Speaker:How did you decide on all of those initial things?
Speaker:Like you already knew what your product was,
Speaker:but how did you decide on your name?
Speaker:You and I had a conversation when we met in person
Speaker:about your branding,
Speaker:which I really wanna get into.
Speaker:Step me through what you did first.
Speaker:Take me back in time.
Speaker:Well I knew I didn't want to limit myself in what
Speaker:my product line was gonna be.
Speaker:So I didn't wanna name that pigeonholed me.
Speaker:And then I was just sort of,
Speaker:I would come up with ideas and they were already taken.
Speaker:So one of my favorites was Pretty Girl Floyd.
Speaker:Like there was pretty Boy Floyd,
Speaker:who was that?
Speaker:Was he a gangster or a boxer?
Speaker:I can't remember.
Speaker:But anyway,
Speaker:somebody already had that.
Speaker:I think she's a photographer or something.
Speaker:But anyway,
Speaker:so I was just sort of throwing things around and I
Speaker:don't know how I hit on bark beetle,
Speaker:but then I saw the barking beetle and I thought,
Speaker:oh my God,
Speaker:that's it.
Speaker:That's There it is.
Speaker:Yeah. Well that's a good lesson on in and of itself
Speaker:is just because you have a name that you've been attracted
Speaker:to and you really want,
Speaker:if it's already taken,
Speaker:go find something else.
Speaker:You will fall in love with something else versus,
Speaker:you know how people will do underscores or pluses or change
Speaker:and make different spelling of things.
Speaker:Yeah. That always makes it harder for people to really find
Speaker:you. Right.
Speaker:So that was a good move.
Speaker:Yeah, thank you.
Speaker:Yeah, and I love how the graphics turned out for it.
Speaker:Yeah. So first off,
Speaker:staying with the name,
Speaker:you added niceties to the end.
Speaker:Yes. Because on Etsy there was already Bark Beetle.
Speaker:It's a man,
Speaker:he's in Ireland and he hasn't done anything for a few
Speaker:years, but I didn't wanna get into that.
Speaker:Well if he doesn't do anything,
Speaker:he needs to give you his name,
Speaker:he needs to release it,
Speaker:I'm just saying.
Speaker:Yeah, Well I do.
Speaker:I've gotten attached to niceties though.
Speaker:Well you could have both,
Speaker:but I like niceties too.
Speaker:I like that as well.
Speaker:Then let's talk about the graphic.
Speaker:How did you go about getting that done?
Speaker:Well, I have to give a huge shout out to my
Speaker:good friend Geely Wolf and Big Bad Industries is her.
Speaker:Yeah. And I've passed her contact information on a couple people
Speaker:already. Oh good,
Speaker:good. Yeah,
Speaker:she is super talented and just a really good person and
Speaker:kind and fun.
Speaker:And that's the kind of person I like to work with.
Speaker:But you know,
Speaker:I explained to her,
Speaker:I had this picture in my head at the barking beetles,
Speaker:so she started out sketching things and then we just found
Speaker:this clip art that worked.
Speaker:The beetle itself was just some clip art and then she
Speaker:did the wolf in the speech bubble and the font she
Speaker:found, which I just really love cuz I've never seen anything
Speaker:quite like it.
Speaker:I mean for the name itself.
Speaker:So you were inspired by some clip art but then you
Speaker:made it your own with all the additions and adjustments and
Speaker:all of that.
Speaker:Right. Okay.
Speaker:So have your name,
Speaker:you have your logo,
Speaker:you starting an Etsy site.
Speaker:How are you driving people to the site or what else
Speaker:were you doing in those early days to get business?
Speaker:Where we live in Colorado,
Speaker:I live in Golden and it's in Jefferson County.
Speaker:And Jefferson County had this a small business well seminar that
Speaker:you could take workshop and it's sadly,
Speaker:I think Covid just killed it.
Speaker:It lost its funding cuz it was taxpayer funded.
Speaker:So it was really a phenomenal program.
Speaker:And so that's where I learned a lot of valuable stuff.
Speaker:You can work with one of their people.
Speaker:And she kind of coached me on some of this stuff.
Speaker:But it's hard to drive traffic honestly to Etsy when you
Speaker:are a small fish in such a huge ocean of other
Speaker:Etsy stores.
Speaker:So it was,
Speaker:you have to be patient.
Speaker:And it took me a couple of years.
Speaker:I mean I got my first sale maybe a couple months
Speaker:into having the Etsy store open and I wish I had
Speaker:given her a,
Speaker:the woman who bought she the first purchaser,
Speaker:she actually wrote me my first review.
Speaker:Very good.
Speaker:Yay. Yeah.
Speaker:And I didn't understand,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:how to like,
Speaker:oh I could have messaged her and said thank you.
Speaker:And I didn't learn that until maybe a year later and
Speaker:I thought,
Speaker:oh shoot,
Speaker:I should have done something special for her.
Speaker:Because once you get one review that really helps you.
Speaker:And then I'm trying to think like the percentage of people
Speaker:who give reviews is maybe a quarter of them.
Speaker:That's pretty good.
Speaker:Yeah. And maybe even more so.
Speaker:And actually the first thing I sold,
Speaker:cause I was trying to flesh out the advice is you
Speaker:should have a hundred items in your Etsy store so that
Speaker:you show up better in the searches.
Speaker:At least this was the advice three years ago.
Speaker:So I kind of fleshed it out with some craft supplies.
Speaker:So I had some fabrics that I'd been sitting on for
Speaker:20 years and trims and things like that.
Speaker:So one of the first things I sold was fabric.
Speaker:And this lovely woman wrote a nice review and so I
Speaker:kind of got the ball rolling.
Speaker:But it's,
Speaker:I've taken all the advice about having your tag words and
Speaker:I have all those filled out and just really trying to
Speaker:follow best practices for getting your stuff noticed.
Speaker:But like I said,
Speaker:it's a huge ocean of people.
Speaker:So it's taken me a few years to get people,
Speaker:well I did ask friends to favorite my shop,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:and I did get some advice that I should have friends
Speaker:purchase things and to me that felt fraudulent.
Speaker:Like I couldn't bring myself to do that.
Speaker:So I just slogged it out for a while.
Speaker:Etsy's definitely changed over the years.
Speaker:I'm hearing from a lot of people who were very successful
Speaker:even three,
Speaker:five years ago on Etsy now having to do much more
Speaker:to get an order each and every time.
Speaker:Yeah, I think maybe part of it's the algorithm.
Speaker:I don't claim to be a netsy specialist.
Speaker:Yeah. But I have had a number of Etsy experts on
Speaker:the show.
Speaker:Yeah. So I've heard from them.
Speaker:But I know that what you're doing in terms of adding
Speaker:words in your description,
Speaker:the title of your products and all of that seems to
Speaker:be where you'll attract the most people on Etsy these days.
Speaker:And that's why we're saying like the difference between Etsy and
Speaker:your Shopify account is when you have a Shopify account that
Speaker:is your own website and you have to take responsibility for
Speaker:driving people there.
Speaker:Right. Yeah.
Speaker:The cost structures are different,
Speaker:et cetera.
Speaker:Etsy's more until someone knows you and wants to come back
Speaker:and find your shop is way more product driven.
Speaker:Search. Yeah.
Speaker:And also I'm leaving out a key bit of information that
Speaker:I just remembered.
Speaker:I do,
Speaker:I advertise.
Speaker:So I do spend money on Etsy advertising and also Pinterest
Speaker:seems to work really well for me cuz I advertise on
Speaker:there. Wonderful.
Speaker:Yeah. And your pins are driving people to the Etsy shop?
Speaker:Yes. Perfect.
Speaker:Yeah, we've also started really talking much more about Pinterest lately,
Speaker:so I'm glad to hear that,
Speaker:that your Pinterest ads are working.
Speaker:Yeah. And I've spent,
Speaker:I happen to love Pinterest and I think that's important if
Speaker:you're going to focus on a certain social media because you
Speaker:can have to spend time on it.
Speaker:So you better like it.
Speaker:I have an Instagram account and I had a young guy
Speaker:working on it for me and he has since moved away
Speaker:to New York and has a really good job out there.
Speaker:And so my Instagram is pretty much dormant now because I
Speaker:don't enjoy it and,
Speaker:but Pinterest it's,
Speaker:I guess it's more passive and it's,
Speaker:I, you know,
Speaker:I like looking at all the God there's a million things
Speaker:on there and that's where I get a lot of inspiration
Speaker:actually for what I do.
Speaker:But I think,
Speaker:and it's been hard to try to figure out the best
Speaker:route on Pinterest algorithm wise.
Speaker:For a while there I just spent way too much time
Speaker:on there and I couldn't keep it up.
Speaker:So you need to listen to some of my podcast on
Speaker:Pinterest. Ok.
Speaker:Cause I mean it's a great platform.
Speaker:The one thing overall,
Speaker:I'll tell you right now is that your time spent on
Speaker:Pinterest is an investment also because those pins will keep coming
Speaker:up. Where with Instagram,
Speaker:when you put the images and you make a post or
Speaker:I don't even care,
Speaker:real whatever you wanna say,
Speaker:those get lost in the feed over time.
Speaker:But with interest you're making much more of an investment.
Speaker:There's a whole bunch to talk about in Pinterest.
Speaker:I will share with you some of the best episodes to
Speaker:look at.
Speaker:I think it's gonna put your mind at ease and and
Speaker:excite you about that platform again.
Speaker:Great. And for everyone who's listening very recently,
Speaker:I did something for all of you,
Speaker:which is categorized the podcast topics.
Speaker:That's right.
Speaker:So if you are looking at any of the social media
Speaker:sites, if you want to dive into a certain type of
Speaker:industry as a maker,
Speaker:like you wanna look at all things that are knitting,
Speaker:for example,
Speaker:things like that,
Speaker:all the podcasts have been categorized and you can go and
Speaker:see that@giftbizunwrapped.com
Speaker:slash topics.
Speaker:Then you can kind of prioritize what shows you wanna listen
Speaker:to based on what you're working on on your business at
Speaker:the time.
Speaker:Heidi, I didn't mean to bring that up,
Speaker:but there's some great stuff on Pinterest,
Speaker:so I wanted to just share that too right here.
Speaker:I'm glad you did.
Speaker:Yeah. So now you are also approaching wholesale at this point?
Speaker:Yes. Right.
Speaker:What types of changes did you need to make or things
Speaker:did you need add to add on to prepare yourself for
Speaker:starting to talk to boutiques?
Speaker:Well, I decided to put together kits like DIY kits.
Speaker:Oh, was that because of wholesale?
Speaker:Yeah. You just decided that would be an appropriate product for
Speaker:wholesale. Okay.
Speaker:Yeah, I took a huge leap signing up for h and
Speaker:h America's show because I had nothing,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:I had ready made stuff and that was kind of a
Speaker:raw material show,
Speaker:but I figured,
Speaker:well I think it's a raw material.
Speaker:So that forced me to,
Speaker:cuz I've been thinking about it for a while and this
Speaker:is what I needed.
Speaker:That's the boost I needed.
Speaker:Or the panic I should say.
Speaker:I needed to get me motivated.
Speaker:But you were there.
Speaker:That's where I saw you.
Speaker:So Yeah,
Speaker:so I did it and that was a huge financial investment
Speaker:because of all the printing costs for the packaging and then
Speaker:the print materials just for marketing.
Speaker:But those will last me a while.
Speaker:So I feel like okay,
Speaker:it's that old adage,
Speaker:you have to spend money to make money and yeah,
Speaker:so that's what I did.
Speaker:So how was the receptivity at the show?
Speaker:Oh my gosh,
Speaker:I, people loved the packaging and they loved the product,
Speaker:which is great.
Speaker:And I was not,
Speaker:since I'm a newbie,
Speaker:this is the first show period I've ever done on any
Speaker:level. So I knew,
Speaker:I kind of thought of it as,
Speaker:okay, I'm going to school because I'm not gonna be completely
Speaker:prepared because I've never done this before.
Speaker:So I was okay with that and I figured,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:I may not make any sales,
Speaker:but that's okay.
Speaker:And I didn't make any sales there cause I was not
Speaker:prepared to take orders.
Speaker:I didn't know how to do that.
Speaker:Oh, interesting.
Speaker:Okay. So that's part of why I'm gonna do Shopify or
Speaker:I'm starting to do Shopify.
Speaker:So that,
Speaker:from what I understand,
Speaker:I talked to Melissa from M Creative,
Speaker:she is that right?
Speaker:Creative J.
Speaker:She was also in the Indian Entangled Pavilion and I was
Speaker:talking to her about how do you take orders here?
Speaker:And I think she was saying something about she does kind
Speaker:of a draft invoice and can just kind of digitally send
Speaker:it to the buyer.
Speaker:And then that's,
Speaker:I don't know,
Speaker:like I said,
Speaker:I'm not completely into Shopify yet,
Speaker:so I don't understand all the ins and outs.
Speaker:Well the great thing that you did was jump in and
Speaker:do it.
Speaker:Yeah. And the thing that attracted me again to you was
Speaker:your booth and the images and the display.
Speaker:And That's so good to know.
Speaker:Like, like honestly,
Speaker:I'll say I might get challenged on this,
Speaker:but I'm gonna say it anyway.
Speaker:Your product can be stellar I guess I'll say.
Speaker:But if the packaging and the way you're presenting it isn't
Speaker:also in line and looking good and buttoned up and professional
Speaker:and attractive,
Speaker:doesn't matter how great your product is because it's not even
Speaker:gonna get a chance.
Speaker:I think I'm with you there for sure.
Speaker:Just knowing how I am.
Speaker:I really am a sucker for good packaging.
Speaker:Well and especially if you end up being on a shelf
Speaker:in a local shop with other people.
Speaker:Yeah. If yours doesn't look good or it looks cheap or
Speaker:thrown together,
Speaker:what does that say about the product that's inside?
Speaker:It shouldn't,
Speaker:but it Does.
Speaker:I think that is how a lot of people are wired.
Speaker:You buy lots of different things by how it's packaged or
Speaker:what the labeling looks like.
Speaker:We just do.
Speaker:And everything that I saw from you looked very good.
Speaker:And that's because you had just done it for the show.
Speaker:Yes. You're set up,
Speaker:you're ready to go.
Speaker:Right. Yeah.
Speaker:And so are you thinking for your Shopify site that you'll
Speaker:do direct to consumer and wholesale?
Speaker:Yeah, that's the goal.
Speaker:So You'll have two different links there,
Speaker:one for each,
Speaker:and then people who want to purchase wholesale could then do
Speaker:it right through that site?
Speaker:Yes. Are you gonna do H and h again?
Speaker:I might see you there.
Speaker:Yeah, I am.
Speaker:I signed up already.
Speaker:Yep. Okay,
Speaker:good. I think I'm gonna exhibit there as well next year.
Speaker:Oh good.
Speaker:Yeah. But you know,
Speaker:you could also go as far as just having,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:your order sheet handwritten if you had to.
Speaker:I've been at some shows where like the internet's not working
Speaker:well and so if you're wanting to take orders right on
Speaker:the floor,
Speaker:you can't swipe cards or anything like that and you don't
Speaker:wanna say,
Speaker:Oh gosh,
Speaker:we can't do it today.
Speaker:Go over to my Shopify site and get it done.
Speaker:Cause you're gonna lose a bunch of those people.
Speaker:So it's always good to have the paper back up as
Speaker:well, just in Case.
Speaker:Yeah. Are you in any wholesale placements right now?
Speaker:Well, I just got my first one.
Speaker:Congratulations. Yeah.
Speaker:And they found me at the show,
Speaker:but they're here in Denver and it's nice to have like
Speaker:a personal relationship and then I can just drive my stuff
Speaker:over there.
Speaker:It saves them shipping.
Speaker:So I got my first one there.
Speaker:I have sent out promotional stuff with sample kits and things
Speaker:like that to other stores and I need to do more
Speaker:of that.
Speaker:I only did five because I've hit my busy season right
Speaker:now. I had intended to get those out sooner and I
Speaker:just hit some stumbling blocks cuz I wanted to have the
Speaker:Shopify going before I,
Speaker:and now it's,
Speaker:I shouldn't have waited for that.
Speaker:I should have just jumped in and sent stuff.
Speaker:It's okay.
Speaker:You live,
Speaker:you live and learn and you can do it.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:the holiday is approaching,
Speaker:but one of the things with the holidays,
Speaker:particularly this year is some local boutiques won't get the things
Speaker:that they ordered for Christmas.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:the whole supply.
Speaker:And especially if things are coming from overseas or some vendors
Speaker:don't have anything.
Speaker:Yeah. So it's not a bad idea to still approach some
Speaker:of the local boutiques.
Speaker:Even if they can't use it for this holiday season,
Speaker:they're gonna know about you and then you can follow up
Speaker:for the future.
Speaker:But they might,
Speaker:and that could be something that you could even say to
Speaker:them is in case some of the things that you had
Speaker:planned to sell in the holidays don't come through because of
Speaker:the supply chain.
Speaker:Remember that I'm here,
Speaker:whatever comes naturally to you.
Speaker:Yeah. But that is something that I'm already seeing people have
Speaker:success with because some products are hard to come by.
Speaker:That's good to know.
Speaker:There you go.
Speaker:Yeah. So this was your very first booth at the show?
Speaker:Yeah. Okay.
Speaker:And yes,
Speaker:it was a wholesale show,
Speaker:but I think we can use some of the things that
Speaker:you did for either,
Speaker:whether it's a direct to consumer show or a wholesale show.
Speaker:How did you go about deciding what you were gonna put
Speaker:in your booth?
Speaker:I wanted to pause this discussion for a second to let
Speaker:you know that I recognize you may be feeling overwhelmed right
Speaker:now. I mean,
Speaker:I bring on great guests who are specialists in their fields
Speaker:and we get into fabulous conversations that you know can help
Speaker:grow your business.
Speaker:So after the show,
Speaker:you have the full intention of grabbing a download,
Speaker:making an adjustment on your website or any number of other
Speaker:ideas that arise as a result of this podcast.
Speaker:But what happens,
Speaker:you get back to your other activities and the momentum you
Speaker:once had gets lost.
Speaker:What you've planned to do is forgotten,
Speaker:then you feel bad because your business is going on as
Speaker:usual without implementing anything that you know would help grow your
Speaker:business. We're just too busy doing all the things like a
Speaker:robot moving from one thing to another without thinking because we
Speaker:have to.
Speaker:I get it,
Speaker:I've been there.
Speaker:But guess what?
Speaker:There is another way.
Speaker:Since I recognized this exact behavior in my own business,
Speaker:I set out to do something about it.
Speaker:And now what works for me,
Speaker:I'm sharing with you.
Speaker:I formalized the process and it's called the inspired daily planner.
Speaker:Made specifically for gifters,
Speaker:bakers, crafters and makers.
Speaker:But it's not your ordinary planner.
Speaker:First off,
Speaker:it comes with a video explaining my productivity strategy.
Speaker:Plus it's not dated.
Speaker:So you can start using your planner the second it arrives
Speaker:at your doorstep.
Speaker:And that's not all included for each day is a motivational
Speaker:message or business building tip and plenty of space to capture
Speaker:and book in time for to-dos,
Speaker:schedule appointments and all those other ideas that are now getting
Speaker:lost. Think of it as a book and a planner all
Speaker:in one,
Speaker:yet compact enough to carry with you and resource as necessary.
Speaker:It's the perfect solution to truly act and move your business
Speaker:forward. Go to gift biz unwrapped.com/inspired
Speaker:to get your hard copy planner along with my power of
Speaker:purpose video that will set you on the path for true
Speaker:business growth.
Speaker:This makes a great gift too.
Speaker:So if you have a biz bestie,
Speaker:pick up a planner for them too.
Speaker:That link again is gift biz unwrap.com/inspired.
Speaker:Okay, let's get back to the show.
Speaker:I'm lucky because the kits are all the same size,
Speaker:so I knew I just needed stuff to hang them on
Speaker:and be able to lay them out.
Speaker:I think next year I,
Speaker:maybe it was a little busy this year,
Speaker:so maybe I'll try to streamline where the product selection makes
Speaker:more sense so people can see,
Speaker:oh, this is what you have and these are the colors
Speaker:you have in it.
Speaker:I'm not sure it was all that clear this time around.
Speaker:We have a local antique mall not too far from us
Speaker:and I went there and just,
Speaker:I don't know,
Speaker:tried to get ideas and things that were,
Speaker:I, since I drove to Chicago,
Speaker:I knew I could fit bigger things instead of trying to
Speaker:ship stuff or just carry everything on a plane.
Speaker:But I knew it needed to fold.
Speaker:That was my jumping off point.
Speaker:And it's kind of fun to go in and you've got
Speaker:these parameters that you need to fit into,
Speaker:not just the booth size but also the logistics of getting
Speaker:it there.
Speaker:And then also what colors will be fun but not detract
Speaker:from your product.
Speaker:I find if I have kind of borders around something I
Speaker:can, it helps me be creative.
Speaker:Yeah. So I feel like I was lucky in my fines
Speaker:and I didn't have to spend a whole lot of money
Speaker:that the thing that I spent money on was folding screens
Speaker:and the ones that I got were from Target and they
Speaker:weren't that expensive.
Speaker:You saw me while you were talking,
Speaker:I was looking on my phone.
Speaker:Yeah, Yeah.
Speaker:I was pulling up the show.
Speaker:Oh yeah.
Speaker:So that I could remind myself of what you did.
Speaker:Yeah. The thing that I really liked about your booth that
Speaker:I think attracted me in,
Speaker:in addition to the uniformity that you had,
Speaker:cuz you're talking about how your products were all the same
Speaker:size, so it made it a little bit easier is your
Speaker:ornaments have a lot of color to them.
Speaker:Not overwhelming color,
Speaker:but solid color and design.
Speaker:And you didn't compete with the background stuff.
Speaker:Like the screens that you have were all neutral.
Speaker:Right. And so you allowed your product really to pop.
Speaker:Yeah. Oh good.
Speaker:So I was successful because that was my goal.
Speaker:Yeah, no,
Speaker:it looks great.
Speaker:And that was because you got inspiration when you were going
Speaker:out and looking at some of the other shows or other
Speaker:shops and just seeing how they were displaying things?
Speaker:No, I,
Speaker:Is this your own genius Heidi?
Speaker:I don't know if I'd go that far,
Speaker:but it was,
Speaker:I think I had already found the screens first.
Speaker:So I knew the wood color would have to all be
Speaker:the same,
Speaker:otherwise it was just gonna look busy.
Speaker:So then I found those crates,
Speaker:they're like,
Speaker:one of 'em is like a Pepsi crate.
Speaker:One of 'em my husband had,
Speaker:it's like a fruit crate.
Speaker:I'm looking at 'em right now.
Speaker:Yes. So those are all the same wood tone.
Speaker:And then I found that kind of pink metal folding tray.
Speaker:So I thought,
Speaker:okay, that's gonna be my one color.
Speaker:I didn't want too many colors cuz then that was gonna
Speaker:again be busy.
Speaker:And then that magazine rack,
Speaker:that's the white thing with all the,
Speaker:Like if you wanted to put brochures or things like that.
Speaker:I know you know this,
Speaker:but I'm gonna tell everybody else the texture of the metal
Speaker:of that rack is almost the same imprint design as in
Speaker:the tray.
Speaker:I know.
Speaker:So It almost looks like it came together intentionally.
Speaker:Yeah. I couldn't believe that.
Speaker:I couldn't believe my luck.
Speaker:So that was a happy accident for sure.
Speaker:And where were you finding all these items?
Speaker:An antique mall.
Speaker:Okay. So there were different vendor booths.
Speaker:Yeah. So those were two different vendors that had those.
Speaker:It looks great.
Speaker:And what about,
Speaker:let's talk about the bird house.
Speaker:Oh, the bird cage.
Speaker:I forgot about that.
Speaker:Yes. Yeah,
Speaker:so there's that red,
Speaker:that pink red again.
Speaker:I just thought,
Speaker:oh my god,
Speaker:I love that.
Speaker:And I thought it would be fun to hang some of
Speaker:the samples in there of the finished product.
Speaker:Yeah. Very creative.
Speaker:Very pretty.
Speaker:And honestly,
Speaker:I mean you don't have a ton of product in the
Speaker:booth, but you don't need to cuz you're selling wholesale,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:it's different stories you're selling to the consumer cuz they're gonna
Speaker:wanna buy it right then and there.
Speaker:Yeah. So you have to have it available.
Speaker:You don't have to to have it all displayed,
Speaker:but you laid out the booth very nicely where it doesn't
Speaker:look sparse.
Speaker:But if you were to really count up all the products,
Speaker:there's enough.
Speaker:But there's not too much.
Speaker:But there's also not too little.
Speaker:So the balance was beautiful.
Speaker:Oh good.
Speaker:And again,
Speaker:that's what made me come up and wanna talk with you
Speaker:and learn more about your story.
Speaker:And all of that was the display,
Speaker:which just goes to prove how important that is for attracting
Speaker:People. Yeah.
Speaker:What did you learn at this show in terms of working
Speaker:the booth?
Speaker:Something to help out people who are listening who are maybe
Speaker:gonna attend the,
Speaker:their very first show this holiday season.
Speaker:Yeah. Well I originally had a friend who was going to
Speaker:come with me.
Speaker:And for me personally,
Speaker:I think it was a good thing that she couldn't make
Speaker:it cuz it forced me to be very social.
Speaker:And advice I got a long time ago from somebody who
Speaker:I knew who was in marketing.
Speaker:He helped me with my date coaching business with the logo
Speaker:and all that stuff.
Speaker:And he said,
Speaker:You're selling yourself too.
Speaker:So, and I think that's true with this business because I'll
Speaker:have a relationship with the stores that I sell to or
Speaker:the customers.
Speaker:Like I love that,
Speaker:the personal relationship,
Speaker:whatever little bits you can have through Etsy with the customers.
Speaker:That's one of my favorite things.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:I think you are,
Speaker:as a maker and the designer and the developer of your
Speaker:products, you do wanna talk with customers and your wholesale account,
Speaker:they need to know who you Are.
Speaker:Yes. And so being there by myself,
Speaker:I had to,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:show up.
Speaker:The only thing is,
Speaker:is it made it hard to leave the booth to look
Speaker:around or Go to the restroom.
Speaker:Yeah. Small things like that.
Speaker:And then you gotta eat at some point.
Speaker:So bring snacks,
Speaker:bring your own water.
Speaker:Even though they may have it at the show that you
Speaker:can buy,
Speaker:it's nice to have it right there so you don't have
Speaker:to leave.
Speaker:But it is worthwhile to get up and connect with the
Speaker:other exhibitors too.
Speaker:Yeah, for sure.
Speaker:Yeah. Cuz it,
Speaker:it's so nice,
Speaker:This is one of the first in person shows to come
Speaker:up after the pandemic.
Speaker:So it was really nice to be in person with lots
Speaker:of people who felt the same way.
Speaker:Like they're all happy to see each other and Yeah.
Speaker:And this was the first h and h show in America
Speaker:too. So that was fun.
Speaker:Everyone, you know,
Speaker:there were a lot of people who were brand new to
Speaker:the show in and of itself.
Speaker:Right. So that was perfect for a newbie like me.
Speaker:Cuz I think that helped too,
Speaker:that, well I'm not the only one who's doing this one
Speaker:for the first time anyway.
Speaker:Right, right.
Speaker:Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker:So being there,
Speaker:being able to connect and talk with people,
Speaker:so important.
Speaker:I think it's a good idea.
Speaker:Especially if it's a selling show where you're actually purchasing,
Speaker:swiping cards,
Speaker:packaging up product and giving it Yeah.
Speaker:To have somebody else there with you because then you can
Speaker:be talking to someone,
Speaker:someone else can be finishing through a sale.
Speaker:Right. Cause once someone's ready to buy,
Speaker:they're ready to buy and get moving on.
Speaker:Right. Yeah.
Speaker:But the point point you bring up is you want to
Speaker:as much as you can,
Speaker:especially when obviously when there are people at the booth,
Speaker:not just be talking to each other,
Speaker:but be talking to the customers.
Speaker:Right, Right.
Speaker:Also, it was a very small booth.
Speaker:Well I had one chair,
Speaker:so if there were two of us,
Speaker:we'd have to split time.
Speaker:Someone could be out in the aisle though saying hi.
Speaker:That's true.
Speaker:Being on the other side and just chatting with people.
Speaker:Yeah. And then another thing I'll just gleam from what we
Speaker:were talking about before,
Speaker:if you're actually selling at the show,
Speaker:Perfect. Your checkout system,
Speaker:whatever it's gonna be.
Speaker:How you're gonna run a card or to what I was
Speaker:talking about earlier,
Speaker:if wifi goes down,
Speaker:have an alternate method so you don't lose those sales.
Speaker:Yeah. But all your brochures looked great,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:like all you know,
Speaker:your cards,
Speaker:the brochures,
Speaker:everything was spot on.
Speaker:Yeah. Good.
Speaker:And that,
Speaker:Thank you Geely.
Speaker:Yeah. She's awesome.
Speaker:Yeah. And now that's done.
Speaker:Now that's ready to go.
Speaker:Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker:Anything else you can think of about the show?
Speaker:So I did kind of take the temperature from attendees and
Speaker:exhibitors both to see what they thought of the show.
Speaker:And I'm glad I did that right there at the show.
Speaker:And the overwhelming response was,
Speaker:this is a great show,
Speaker:we're coming back.
Speaker:So that's how I knew I wanted to do it again.
Speaker:Yeah. So you're hearing from people who are experienced with shows
Speaker:already, just not that show.
Speaker:Yeah. And usually if you sign up for a show when
Speaker:you're already at the show,
Speaker:there's some type of a discount for your booth space.
Speaker:So it's always worth taking advantage of that if you can.
Speaker:Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker:How about transporting the items?
Speaker:So you drove from Colorado.
Speaker:Yeah. How about anything with that in terms of setup and
Speaker:getting to the show and all that?
Speaker:Well next time I will bring a dolly and you can
Speaker:hire people to help you move stuff.
Speaker:If you've got really big stuff,
Speaker:I think it might be worth the investment to do that.
Speaker:I would also recommend if you can drive,
Speaker:because things get lost.
Speaker:I was next door to,
Speaker:to somebody who,
Speaker:they flew in from Canada and their stuff never arrived the
Speaker:whole time they were there for the show.
Speaker:They had some that they had carried on with them.
Speaker:But I mean,
Speaker:things can happen.
Speaker:Well and crossing the border is always a challenge.
Speaker:The recent product across all different borders.
Speaker:And at that disconnect between country to country,
Speaker:your tracking gets more difficult.
Speaker:And this does not surprise me at all.
Speaker:Yeah. Unfortunately.
Speaker:Yeah, In in country it's not so bad.
Speaker:Like if you have a couple of big boxes and you
Speaker:just wanna have 'em shipped out just cuz it's easier,
Speaker:that wouldn't be so bad But Right.
Speaker:Yeah. Cause they do have that you can drop ship stuff.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah,
Speaker:Yeah. But since my booth was so simple,
Speaker:I didn't need to do that.
Speaker:It's very portable and very simple.
Speaker:Yeah. I have a booth that's in one of those big
Speaker:massive crates.
Speaker:Oh yeah.
Speaker:So, you know,
Speaker:I have to do all the drayage and all of that
Speaker:type of thing.
Speaker:But I also have a smaller sized booth that I can
Speaker:take with me,
Speaker:just like what we're talking about.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:So I'm flexible.
Speaker:It depends where we're going.
Speaker:Yeah. Which one I take.
Speaker:Right. Yeah.
Speaker:That's good to know.
Speaker:Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker:You can do different things based on,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:your situation.
Speaker:Of course.
Speaker:Yeah. So we already know that you're looking to get into
Speaker:more wholesale accounts.
Speaker:What else are you seeing as you project into the future?
Speaker:We're gonna do some manifesting for You.
Speaker:Oh, excellent.
Speaker:Well, okay.
Speaker:My pie in the sky goal is to get into anthropology.
Speaker:I don't know if that'll ever happen.
Speaker:I mean that they're notoriously difficult to get into.
Speaker:From what I've learned over the past couple years,
Speaker:just I have not attempted it because I don't feel ready
Speaker:for that by any means.
Speaker:So there is growth in my future for sure.
Speaker:So I need to figure out when to hire somebody.
Speaker:I don't think I'm there yet.
Speaker:I don't know how to hire somebody,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:I don't know how to be an employer,
Speaker:but it's something,
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:I've started reading things about that and I know it's something
Speaker:I can figure out.
Speaker:And then at some point I want to do something to
Speaker:help out women who have maybe had a hard time of
Speaker:it and have some kind of program to help them get
Speaker:in the workforce or get back in the workforce.
Speaker:So I don't know exactly what that's gonna look like,
Speaker:but that's always been in the back of my mind that
Speaker:someday I want to help out in some way and not
Speaker:just, I don't want this just to be a money making
Speaker:venture. I mean that's great,
Speaker:but I also wanna put some of that money into other
Speaker:things. Yeah.
Speaker:Community related things.
Speaker:We've done some episodes about that too,
Speaker:in terms of businesses that have an ulterior purpose.
Speaker:Aha, great Motivational purpose,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:whatever. And you know,
Speaker:it all starts out with the idea and the intent.
Speaker:You have to know what you're trying to do and then
Speaker:it reveals itself over time because you've already got it in
Speaker:your mind that that's what you wanna do.
Speaker:Yeah. Right.
Speaker:And we're doing that actually right now because there are people
Speaker:who are listening who make things and are thinking,
Speaker:wanna monetize it.
Speaker:I love what I'm doing.
Speaker:And to your point in the beginning,
Speaker:I've made so many,
Speaker:now what do I do with them?
Speaker:Just put 'em behind and just look at them.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:what do I do with them?
Speaker:Yeah. So you're already helping people by just being on the
Speaker:show and telling your story with the things that you wish
Speaker:you would've done differently.
Speaker:That's why I kind of go through the step by step
Speaker:so that people can see,
Speaker:okay, well I'm right where Heidi was at this point and
Speaker:here's what she did next.
Speaker:Yeah. Different product perhaps,
Speaker:but they can make that transition over for their own situation.
Speaker:Right. So you are already doing it,
Speaker:Heidi. You didn't even know it.
Speaker:Excellent. And I have to say,
Speaker:I wish I had known about this podcast before I started.
Speaker:Well thank you for that.
Speaker:And a lot of the things that we've touched on there
Speaker:have been episodes about,
Speaker:so you may wanna go back and look in some of
Speaker:the stream about some of those.
Speaker:I think they could be really helpful.
Speaker:Yeah, I will definitely do that.
Speaker:Wonderful. Well speak to the listener who is just starting out.
Speaker:What words of inspiration or motivation would you have for them?
Speaker:Hmm. Going back to the beginning,
Speaker:have faith in your product.
Speaker:If you know you have a good thing and you know,
Speaker:you'll know if it's good or if it needs work.
Speaker:And be honest with yourself.
Speaker:Cuz that's helpful if you're honest with yourself.
Speaker:Sometimes if I just put something to the side and think,
Speaker:ugh. And then I look at it later,
Speaker:I'm like,
Speaker:Oh, you know,
Speaker:that's, that's actually pretty good.
Speaker:Or I look at it and go,
Speaker:Okay, okay,
Speaker:that's what I need to change.
Speaker:Or I need to just give up on that.
Speaker:Yeah. So have faith in yourself and your instincts.
Speaker:But also if you can find a community of fellow makers.
Speaker:I have been having a hard time,
Speaker:like none of my friends do this and I've been finding
Speaker:people here and there.
Speaker:But I think,
Speaker:like I said in the beginning,
Speaker:creating in a vacuum,
Speaker:I need feedback anyway to know if I'm on the right
Speaker:path. Or even just I'm self taught and you know,
Speaker:Thank you YouTube for a lot of what I've learned.
Speaker:It's a great resource.
Speaker:Yeah. Seriously.
Speaker:So even just to have people who have skills that you
Speaker:don't have that you can learn from.
Speaker:I wish I could have had somebody who's really savvy in
Speaker:business at some point I need to find that person still,
Speaker:cuz that's not my thing.
Speaker:Well we've got that all for you.
Speaker:Right in is unwrap.
Speaker:Excellent. Okay.
Speaker:You're my person.
Speaker:And we have the ready made community already.
Speaker:Yeah. Oh that's true.
Speaker:Yeah. Come join us in our Facebook group gift Bi Breeze.
Speaker:Okay. There are,
Speaker:gosh, I think we're 5,000
Speaker:strong at this point,
Speaker:maybe more.
Speaker:Oh wow.
Speaker:Okay. Of all handmade creators.
Speaker:And people share what they're doing.
Speaker:We talk about what the focus is for a week.
Speaker:You can ask questions if you have questions about anything,
Speaker:you can jump in there and ask whatever you want.
Speaker:So there's your community for free right at your fingertips.
Speaker:Excellent. And here's where I have to confess.
Speaker:I am not on Facebook.
Speaker:Oh Yeah.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:I have a a cursory presence,
Speaker:but I don't know anything about Facebook.
Speaker:Well, you know,
Speaker:we have a lot of people in the group who have
Speaker:felt the same way.
Speaker:They have a Facebook account with their profile,
Speaker:but they never go on their personal profile,
Speaker:but they come in the breeze.
Speaker:Okay. You know,
Speaker:so if you have an account,
Speaker:just search gift bi Breeze,
Speaker:ask to join,
Speaker:then you're not looking at the wall,
Speaker:you're not getting all this other stuff.
Speaker:You don't care about that part.
Speaker:Oh good.
Speaker:Okay. Just Come in the breeze and chat with us there.
Speaker:I think you'd love it There.
Speaker:Okay, excellent.
Speaker:If you'd like.
Speaker:And of course the offer's open to everyone who's listening.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:at the end of the show I talk about the breeze.
Speaker:So when we're all done,
Speaker:you'll hear a little promo about it and you'll hear my
Speaker:favorite post of the week every week.
Speaker:So I'm gonna leave you in suspense cuz I want you
Speaker:to listen to it.
Speaker:If you haven't joined the breeze yet,
Speaker:make sure to jump in a hundred percent free.
Speaker:Fabulous women there.
Speaker:Absolutely fabulous women.
Speaker:So Heidi,
Speaker:thank you so much.
Speaker:I know you were a little hesitant to come on.
Speaker:Yeah, I didn't die.
Speaker:No. And you know,
Speaker:I like to get people at all stages of the journey.
Speaker:People who are just starting,
Speaker:people who have started paving the path,
Speaker:which is what you're doing.
Speaker:And then also those people that we aspire to that are
Speaker:successful. And then we learn that they also have their challenges.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:things don't change.
Speaker:There never gets to be a point where everything's buttoned up.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:a hundred percent what you're doing.
Speaker:You're always striving to do something different.
Speaker:More situations change,
Speaker:all of that.
Speaker:So we're here to lift up each other.
Speaker:And you've done a wonderful job of helping,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:people who are just starting out think of what could be
Speaker:and maybe will even prompt some people to get their businesses
Speaker:started. Wouldn't that be great?
Speaker:Yes. Yeah.
Speaker:Well, again,
Speaker:thank you so very much for coming on today and sharing
Speaker:your story.
Speaker:Well, it was a real pleasure.
Speaker:Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker:Just to reiterate the answer to the title of this episode,
Speaker:there is no reason why you can't have multiple streams of
Speaker:revenue from your online efforts.
Speaker:Yes, you can have a website that you 100% own in
Speaker:control through a platform like Shopify.
Speaker:And you can be on Etsy.
Speaker:You can also have a presence on Amazon Handmade or sell
Speaker:through one of the many social media platforms.
Speaker:Apart from being consistent in branding,
Speaker:one channel doesn't have to promote the same products as another.
Speaker:These should be chosen based on the customers that you attract
Speaker:from the different platforms.
Speaker:Makes a lot of sense when you consider it this way,
Speaker:doesn't it?
Speaker:If you're enjoying the podcast and would like to show support,
Speaker:a rating and review is always fabulous because it helps get
Speaker:the show seen by more makers.
Speaker:It's a great way to pay it forward.
Speaker:And there's another way where you can get something tangible in
Speaker:return for your support too.
Speaker:Visit my merch shop for a wide variety of inspirational items
Speaker:like mugs,
Speaker:journals, water bottles,
Speaker:and more featuring logos,
Speaker:images, and quotes to inspire you throughout your day.
Speaker:Makes a great gift too.
Speaker:And we've just added some new products for the season to
Speaker:the shop.
Speaker:Turnaround is quick and the quality is top notch.
Speaker:Nothing but the best for you.
Speaker:Take a look at all the options@giftbizunwrapped.com
Speaker:slash shop.
Speaker:All proceeds from these purchases helps go to offset the cost
Speaker:of producing the show.
Speaker:And now be safe and well.
Speaker:And I'll see you again next time on the Gift Biz
Speaker:Unwrapped podcast.
Speaker:I wanna make sure you're familiar with my free Facebook group
Speaker:called Give Msre.
Speaker:It's a place where we all gather and are a community
Speaker:to support each other.
Speaker:I got a really fun post in there that's my favorite
Speaker:of the week,
Speaker:I have to say,
Speaker:where I invite all of you to share what you're doing
Speaker:to show pictures of your product,
Speaker:to show what you're working on for the week,
Speaker:to get reaction from other people.
Speaker:And just for fun,
Speaker:because we all get to see the wonderful products that everybody
Speaker:in the community is making.
Speaker:My favorite post every single week.
Speaker:Without doubt.
Speaker:Wait, what?
Speaker:Aren't you part of the group already?
Speaker:If not,
Speaker:make sure to jump over to Facebook and search for the
Speaker:group gift.
Speaker:Bre don't delay.
