Shownotes
Talking Tech for eCommerce
Listen to this casual back-and-forth conversation to learn:- What to focus on to ensure the right results in your business
- Why technology is actually easier for small businesses than big ones
- How to find solutions for the tech-related things you're terrible at or mistakes you've made in the past
- Other ways to promote your products beyond just your website
- Why authenticity in your social media lives is so important
- The importance of having confidence in your ability to engage with people about your product
- And lots more!
Tune in now to discover how tech for eCommerce can be easy and make running your business easier!
Resources Mentioned
- Free Gift Biz Unwrapped Podcast Topic Directory
- Conduct Your Own Virtual Sales Show - GBU Ep 268
- Here's Your Entrance into Wholesale - GBU Ep 387
- Stockabl
- Shopify
- Faire
- Comment Sold
- OmniSend
- MailChimp
Christine's Contact Links
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Gift is unwrapped episode 388,
Speaker:Simple approachable non-tech tech tech solutions are out there.
Speaker:Attention gifters bakers,
Speaker:crafters, and makers pursuing your dream can be fun.
Speaker:Whether you have an established business or looking to start one.
Speaker:Now you are in the right place.
Speaker:This is gift biz unwrapped,
Speaker:helping you turn your skill into a flourishing business.
Speaker:Join us for an episode packed full of invaluable guidance,
Speaker:resources, and the support you need to grow.
Speaker:Your gift biz.
Speaker:Here is your host gift biz gal Sue moon height.
Speaker:Hi there.
Speaker:It's Sue and thanks for joining me here today.
Speaker:New to the show.
Speaker:Welcome. I'm so glad you're here in these past seven years,
Speaker:we've covered a lot of ground how to start and grow
Speaker:your business stories from many of you who have done just
Speaker:that, how to choose and use social media sites,
Speaker:build your website.
Speaker:Oh my gosh.
Speaker:There is so much information here for you,
Speaker:but not necessarily easily at your fingertips.
Speaker:So I've created a tool for you that categorizes by topic,
Speaker:the episodes of this podcast,
Speaker:but only the ones that stay relevant over time,
Speaker:because yes,
Speaker:there are some from past years that just don't make sense
Speaker:for us anymore.
Speaker:Today, the world is changing so fast,
Speaker:right? You can use this tool to zero in on whatever
Speaker:topic you need at the moment.
Speaker:Do you wanna hear from others in your industry specifically?
Speaker:How about details on Pinterest or setting up an email strategy?
Speaker:You can now easily find the right episodes and create your
Speaker:own priority.
Speaker:Listening roster,
Speaker:consider this your gift biz resource center at a glance.
Speaker:It's a Google sheet best viewable by your computer versus your
Speaker:phone. Make sure to look on the bottom where there are
Speaker:five separate sections for easy topic reference kind of like chapters
Speaker:of a book.
Speaker:I've never seen another podcast do this,
Speaker:and I wish they would.
Speaker:It makes finding the shows that you need based on what
Speaker:you're working on right now.
Speaker:So much easier to access this free resource,
Speaker:go to gift biz,
Speaker:unwrapped.com/topics. And speaking of topics today,
Speaker:we're talking technology,
Speaker:as it applies to retail,
Speaker:which may lead you to think brick and mortar while that's
Speaker:true. We spin the conversation around to digital retail and in
Speaker:truth in today's world,
Speaker:selling both online and in person brings the most strength to
Speaker:your handmade business.
Speaker:You'll hear a casual back and forth conversation on all of
Speaker:this, including many resources,
Speaker:best practices and ideas to consider for enhancing your sales.
Speaker:Today. I am so excited to introduce you to Christine Russo,
Speaker:Christine and the retail,
Speaker:creative and consulting agency.
Speaker:Sit at the intersection of information and innovation,
Speaker:serving the industry of retailers and retail technology.
Speaker:She runs connected retail and produces short form videos about the
Speaker:technology used in the retail industry.
Speaker:Her founder's interviews have become well known for authentic reporting and
Speaker:information and are growing into a global go-to resource.
Speaker:Christine helps retailers solve major pain points,
Speaker:understand and use new technical solutions and digitize their brick and
Speaker:mortar locations and even more so don't pop out.
Speaker:If you don't have a brick and mortar location,
Speaker:there's some goodness in here for you as well.
Speaker:Russo, welcome to the gift biz on raft podcast.
Speaker:I too,
Speaker:I am so thrilled to have you here.
Speaker:I've absolutely no idea where our conversation is gonna go.
Speaker:So this is really exciting for me.
Speaker:Let's I'm guessing.
Speaker:Yes. We're gonna just keep guessing until we get started.
Speaker:But before we go anywhere,
Speaker:I'd like to ask you about my traditional question,
Speaker:which is a motivational candle.
Speaker:So if you were to share with us a little bit
Speaker:about who you are by color and maybe a quote or
Speaker:a saying or something that is a motto that's present in
Speaker:your life,
Speaker:what would that look like?
Speaker:Okay. So my motivational candle would be very,
Speaker:it would actually feel like a hug cuz sometimes we just
Speaker:need a hug to keep going.
Speaker:And the scent that feels the most Huish to me is
Speaker:UD O U D.
Speaker:So really anything with notes of UD,
Speaker:it's usually like our base and sometimes they add some top
Speaker:notes onto there.
Speaker:But as long as it's got that woodsy,
Speaker:huggy feel good sent to it.
Speaker:It keeps me going.
Speaker:It's the wind on my back.
Speaker:I think you wanna color also,
Speaker:right? If one comes to mind and you wanna give it
Speaker:for sure.
Speaker:Well, it's this big time secret,
Speaker:which I guess is no longer a secret cause I'm here
Speaker:talking about it.
Speaker:But my favorite color,
Speaker:I don't tell anyone so seriously.
Speaker:Okay. Nobody say anything.
Speaker:It's a secret for all of us.
Speaker:My favorite color is lavender and I find it to have
Speaker:very ethereal and spiritual elements to it.
Speaker:It's associated with your highest level of chakras and sort of,
Speaker:it takes me out of my own myopic space makes me
Speaker:think bigger.
Speaker:So those two things keep me going.
Speaker:And then as far as the phrase,
Speaker:so I like to say when I'm up against like a
Speaker:challenge and let's say there's an AISM,
Speaker:it's called work.
Speaker:Like it's not play.
Speaker:So it's not always easy,
Speaker:but I like to tell myself,
Speaker:play chess,
Speaker:not checkers.
Speaker:So we're in this for the long game.
Speaker:We're in this for strategy.
Speaker:We may not get that move,
Speaker:but we're playing the longer strategic view.
Speaker:So you may lose some,
Speaker:but ultimately in the end,
Speaker:check me,
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:really important message.
Speaker:Because I think a lot of people when they hit their
Speaker:first failure,
Speaker:it's like this didn't work.
Speaker:Maybe I'm not cut out for it automatically.
Speaker:They start thinking they should be jumping ship and self-doubt comes
Speaker:in right away where if we're doing what you're talking about,
Speaker:where yeah,
Speaker:it's the long game,
Speaker:chess moves checkmate.
Speaker:You know what all of the strategy behind the entire game,
Speaker:not just each individual move is what matters I spent my
Speaker:first, I'm gonna say two years,
Speaker:it might have been three years.
Speaker:So I was a corporate person,
Speaker:worked in corporate,
Speaker:started in one type of business and migrated over to corporate
Speaker:retail and then went out on my own.
Speaker:And I spent the first two to three years on my
Speaker:own building my business in the absolute kind of mega mega
Speaker:mega highs and mega mega mega lows that entrepreneurship has.
Speaker:Oh my gosh.
Speaker:I can't believe I won this.
Speaker:Oh my gosh.
Speaker:I can't believe I lost that.
Speaker:They said they do it.
Speaker:Yay. And it's for this price.
Speaker:Oh, they came back and they said,
Speaker:and they'll super highs and the super lows at one point,
Speaker:I said,
Speaker:that's it I'm done with this.
Speaker:Like, okay.
Speaker:The successes are great.
Speaker:The losses feel terrible,
Speaker:but like I can't thrive.
Speaker:I can't be a good manager.
Speaker:I can't be a good strategist if I'm always way up
Speaker:or always way down,
Speaker:this is I'm done.
Speaker:I'm gonna go right in the middle with a level head
Speaker:and just shrug when there's a great win and shrug when
Speaker:there's a loss and keep the eye on the ball,
Speaker:the end result,
Speaker:like did you know,
Speaker:that's how they walk a tight rope.
Speaker:They don't look down.
Speaker:Right? They don't look at each footstep.
Speaker:They look at where they're going.
Speaker:Oh no,
Speaker:I didn't know that.
Speaker:But that makes total sense.
Speaker:Cuz if you look down,
Speaker:first of all,
Speaker:you get so disoriented.
Speaker:So look at the end game.
Speaker:But I also think end to your point about not too
Speaker:high and not too low,
Speaker:enjoying the whole journey along the way.
Speaker:Like no those lows,
Speaker:when things don't work out,
Speaker:they don't feel good at all.
Speaker:But then when you get to the point where things are
Speaker:working, you can say,
Speaker:oh my gosh,
Speaker:look at where I've come from.
Speaker:Like two months ago,
Speaker:this is how I was feeling.
Speaker:I was so discouraged and yay me for figuring it out
Speaker:and getting there.
Speaker:So it's all of that.
Speaker:So the strategy,
Speaker:the long game,
Speaker:There's actually a social media trend going around where it says,
Speaker:if you knew that you would succeed on the 27th,
Speaker:try on the 46th,
Speaker:try on the 52nd try.
Speaker:Would you be willing to fail,
Speaker:fall down,
Speaker:fail 26 times or 45 times or whatever the other number
Speaker:is minus one.
Speaker:And the answer always is yes.
Speaker:So how do you know when that success is coming?
Speaker:Yeah, We just don't get to know.
Speaker:So we have to enjoy the unknown for a while and
Speaker:then it gets revealed to us.
Speaker:I guess I'd say the other thing I really like about
Speaker:your quote is the hugs,
Speaker:especially with what your area focuses,
Speaker:cuz technology sounds so heavy,
Speaker:especially for people who aren't comfortable with it.
Speaker:I see technology in our area here being a real barrier.
Speaker:People will just automatically say,
Speaker:I'm not good at tech.
Speaker:Yeah. Just like how people will say I'm no good with
Speaker:money or you know,
Speaker:anything I'm not good with tech.
Speaker:They'll stay away from certain things that they should be integrating
Speaker:into their business because it would really help them because they
Speaker:have this idea over tech.
Speaker:So when you say hugs and just feel good and support
Speaker:and all of that,
Speaker:that makes tech feel much more comfortable.
Speaker:I would suggest this.
Speaker:I hear you on that.
Speaker:And it's like,
Speaker:some people still can't use the remote control.
Speaker:Right. I get it.
Speaker:I totally get it.
Speaker:I'm kind of one of those people also,
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:tech has really kind of taken on its own entity,
Speaker:but I sort of wanna equate it to going on a
Speaker:diet, like who sticks to a diet like it's like,
Speaker:who wants to learn tech?
Speaker:It's like,
Speaker:absolutely not.
Speaker:I wanna just go about my business.
Speaker:Right? So with regard to incorporating or considering tech,
Speaker:the first thing you wanna do for even the smallest businesses,
Speaker:write down the things that you are terrible at,
Speaker:that you don't enjoy,
Speaker:that you've made mistakes in that have cost you money and
Speaker:or customers start with writing down those things.
Speaker:Maybe you keep like a list and it's like,
Speaker:oh I didn't.
Speaker:I sold out of that and I didn't take it off
Speaker:my website.
Speaker:Let's just say,
Speaker:okay. And I had an unhappy customer and they're not coming
Speaker:back. Example,
Speaker:I didn't have the right staff.
Speaker:I didn't know we were gonna get that much foot traffic.
Speaker:Okay. Let's just say whatever it is.
Speaker:And they could be really,
Speaker:really small things.
Speaker:And if you do that,
Speaker:then the next step would be to bucket them by type
Speaker:maybe it's employee based,
Speaker:maybe it's inventory based.
Speaker:Maybe it's time management based,
Speaker:maybe it's creative and marketing based emails,
Speaker:whatever hate sending emails.
Speaker:I hate writing emails,
Speaker:all the things you hate,
Speaker:all the things you're terrible at all the things that don't
Speaker:bring your joy and then look for solutions because I can
Speaker:assure you that every one of those things you don't like
Speaker:there's a solution,
Speaker:a simple solution to do it for you,
Speaker:A simple tech solution,
Speaker:A simple tech solution to do it for you.
Speaker:Okay. Yeah.
Speaker:And then here's the key thing because all of that is
Speaker:like, yeah,
Speaker:yeah, yeah.
Speaker:If you hate that thing enough,
Speaker:you will work for that solution.
Speaker:You will seek out that solution and maybe you need help.
Speaker:And certainly I don't recommend technology.
Speaker:I'm here to assure everyone that simple,
Speaker:approachable, non tech tech solutions are out there.
Speaker:And so I would maybe put them in touch with companies
Speaker:that can recommend a tech solution for them.
Speaker:And so it's a process it's like,
Speaker:if you are gonna invest time in buying merchandise or gifts
Speaker:for your store and inventory,
Speaker:it's the same thing.
Speaker:It's like,
Speaker:okay, I'm gonna put my solution,
Speaker:finding hat on.
Speaker:And I'm gonna speak to the person who gets me,
Speaker:who understands my business.
Speaker:I'm small enough and understands what I hate to do and
Speaker:what kind of a solution I need.
Speaker:Those resources are out there.
Speaker:Technology is not just for the biggest of the big and
Speaker:one of my sayings is technology can help small business do
Speaker:big things.
Speaker:Ooh, I like that a lot per my ears.
Speaker:Yes. Did everyone hear that?
Speaker:Say it again.
Speaker:Technology can help small business do big things.
Speaker:Okay. Because we're all wanting to do big things and we
Speaker:know that there are obstacles and technology right now might be
Speaker:one of your keys.
Speaker:If there's something you're stuck on,
Speaker:you're just not getting to that next level.
Speaker:Listen up because this might be the solution here for you
Speaker:as I was listening to you talk,
Speaker:I think it might be good to start with what your
Speaker:definition of technology is.
Speaker:Okay. So with the focus on whether it's digital,
Speaker:so eCommerce stores or brick and mortar stores or both.
Speaker:Okay. So technology is a service provider or service system that
Speaker:just takes care of a task for you.
Speaker:That's it?
Speaker:That's all it is.
Speaker:So it could send,
Speaker:it's a technology that you subscribe to and it sends your
Speaker:emails for you.
Speaker:And then it resends your emails to the ones that weren't
Speaker:opened. And then it also sends emails that maybe over 90
Speaker:days give people a,
Speaker:you set a preset and it gives them a discount to
Speaker:come back.
Speaker:Yeah. So it's any additional support that's running,
Speaker:possibly automated,
Speaker:possibly triggered by you,
Speaker:whatever the resource is.
Speaker:However, it's set up going through the computer,
Speaker:dealing with whatever position in your business needs help at the
Speaker:time, there is a technology solution available,
Speaker:which means you're not manually doing it.
Speaker:Maybe that's the way to say it.
Speaker:Is that a separation point?
Speaker:Well, I mean,
Speaker:automation is scary for retailers because there's a lack of trust.
Speaker:Right? Well,
Speaker:how do I know?
Speaker:I wanna check that I need to manually do it.
Speaker:So I double check it.
Speaker:So you take baby steps to get there and yes.
Speaker:So I don't want people to think,
Speaker:well, I have to do it manually because I always wanna
Speaker:check it along the way I can assure you that if
Speaker:you take the time to set something up properly from the
Speaker:beginning, you don't have to check it along the way.
Speaker:And you can build in check points where you're like,
Speaker:I don't wanna do that sale this week.
Speaker:I actually wanna hold off on that.
Speaker:Cause my foot traffic's been good.
Speaker:See, especially smaller retail is very,
Speaker:very tactical.
Speaker:It's very of the moment like yesterday is gonna inform tomorrow
Speaker:and today is gonna inform the next day.
Speaker:And so a lot of people want that manual decision making,
Speaker:reactive decision making.
Speaker:And so factor that in.
Speaker:We can factor that in and then you can still take
Speaker:those things.
Speaker:You hate take those things.
Speaker:You make mistakes at take those opportunities.
Speaker:You missed broke sale at the wrong time.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:look at where you lost business and say,
Speaker:how did that happen?
Speaker:How can I,
Speaker:cause it's not always you fixing it.
Speaker:Yeah. Okay.
Speaker:And I'm just also going to bring up parallel with your
Speaker:history and I'd love for you to shoot out some of
Speaker:the big name retailers that you've worked with before,
Speaker:because I just think it's interesting for people to hear,
Speaker:but I'm also going to say that in my corporate life,
Speaker:I also worked with some larger retailers,
Speaker:not as much in the fashion brand as you,
Speaker:but in more mass retailer,
Speaker:grocery, that kind of thing.
Speaker:And here,
Speaker:because I'm gonna say what not to do.
Speaker:I'm not gonna say who the names are,
Speaker:but it was shocking to me that some of these huge
Speaker:top position brands had so much lacking behind the scenes in
Speaker:terms of systems.
Speaker:And you would think that because the name is so big,
Speaker:they'd have it all wrapped up.
Speaker:They'd have it all figured out.
Speaker:It would be tied up in a bundle and working so
Speaker:smooth. And it was shocking to me that it wasn't.
Speaker:And the only reason I really bring that up is because
Speaker:everyone's always working on this.
Speaker:And even though you're small and maybe that feels challenging,
Speaker:that doesn't mean that you can't do it.
Speaker:If some of the big guys have struggles and challenges with
Speaker:it and are able to overcome it.
Speaker:So can you,
Speaker:You are totally right.
Speaker:Look, I worked in corporate retail and my job was to
Speaker:build stores for them.
Speaker:So that was J crew,
Speaker:Kenneth Cole,
Speaker:Allison, Olivia,
Speaker:Steve Madden around the world.
Speaker:And usually in Asia,
Speaker:there was a lot more technology involved inside the store.
Speaker:But domestic.
Speaker:Yeah, actually it was pretty simple.
Speaker:It was like four walls in a cash racks.
Speaker:And it's crazy if you think,
Speaker:if you go into a Nike or an apple,
Speaker:you go in and they bring you out right on their
Speaker:little device,
Speaker:you don't go to a cash wrap.
Speaker:That's what,
Speaker:how technology looks like inside of a store,
Speaker:simply speaking,
Speaker:and actually based on poss today,
Speaker:you can do that as well.
Speaker:You can be as convenient as Nike.
Speaker:Can you imagine?
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:I can tell you that there are stores like the ones
Speaker:I worked at that do not do that,
Speaker:but you can.
Speaker:Yeah. I mean,
Speaker:I'm just thinking of different places where things got stuck.
Speaker:As simple as we know,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:our inventory says we have one more of these left,
Speaker:but gosh knows if they could find it,
Speaker:you know?
Speaker:And in the back of the room,
Speaker:like where it was supposed to be,
Speaker:it wasn't there.
Speaker:But everyone said that you could find it,
Speaker:things like that.
Speaker:Checkout centers,
Speaker:traffic flow patterns in terms of when to put employees in
Speaker:place because it's heavier times.
Speaker:So you wanna staff up a little bit at that time,
Speaker:all of those things over to the point of when client
Speaker:recognition systems started coming in,
Speaker:like all the reward cards and all of that,
Speaker:which also helped start tracking.
Speaker:That's also technology.
Speaker:Right. Great learning for all of us.
Speaker:So everyone's struggling and trying to do technology better,
Speaker:I think.
Speaker:But again,
Speaker:I just wanna lay the premise that don't feel like if
Speaker:you're not a big brand,
Speaker:this doesn't apply to you.
Speaker:It actually can be a lot easier when you're smaller,
Speaker:because you don't have to ask anybody for permission and justify
Speaker:why you wanna bring a new thing in to use because
Speaker:you do it,
Speaker:you run the show.
Speaker:I left corporate retail and then I work with independent retail
Speaker:now. So I work with small businesses because I wanted to
Speaker:deal with the decision maker and just kind of move things
Speaker:along. Yes,
Speaker:no. Okay.
Speaker:Then we move on.
Speaker:Right. So I definitely am a very strongly entrenched in that
Speaker:community. My area is mostly women's peril,
Speaker:but actually I'm part of an organization and they have a
Speaker:lot of craft stores and quilt stores and yarn stores.
Speaker:And we recognize that retail is of all shapes and sizes.
Speaker:So, and I'm really enjoying being part of that world.
Speaker:And like I said,
Speaker:I look through the lens of that size business for solutions.
Speaker:But some of the things you talked about yes are very
Speaker:solvable. I would say,
Speaker:be very careful.
Speaker:Don't bite off more than you can chew.
Speaker:Don't get a bad feeling.
Speaker:Don't drown,
Speaker:don't overpay.
Speaker:Don't be oversold something,
Speaker:but there are so much SAS,
Speaker:S a a S stands for software as a solution.
Speaker:Okay. Tons of those options out there in all of the
Speaker:different categories,
Speaker:we've touched on inventory control,
Speaker:employee management email,
Speaker:and you pay monthly.
Speaker:I don't know.
Speaker:We haven't really determined how many of the listeners have online
Speaker:stores, but you can have upselling and recommendations just software as
Speaker:a service on your website.
Speaker:So they buy a candle and maybe they want like a
Speaker:cozy cashmere blanket to go with it.
Speaker:Okay. And that can be a suggestion.
Speaker:And that's done kind of automatically just like,
Speaker:this is what's going on.
Speaker:If you really must know all of the selling that was
Speaker:brick and mortar before really online selling the client,
Speaker:telling the communication,
Speaker:the client book,
Speaker:all those things have all been automated for digital e-commerce sites.
Speaker:Okay. So everything we did,
Speaker:tactically is now available technologically for e-commerce sites.
Speaker:And then all the conveniences from eCommerce sites like various forms
Speaker:of payment,
Speaker:being able to pay with either a QR code or your
Speaker:phone are all going back into brick and mortar.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:think of it as like,
Speaker:this is going this way and this is going this way
Speaker:and everything's just getting better.
Speaker:So what happened?
Speaker:Let me give you an example is we're in lockdown,
Speaker:we shopped online,
Speaker:we had all this great checkout and payment options.
Speaker:Gosh, I can pay with Venmo great.
Speaker:Or by now pay later,
Speaker:which increases the overall purchase,
Speaker:right? Cuz you're spreading it out or buying gifts and it's
Speaker:just widely accepted right now.
Speaker:And then you go into a store and it's like,
Speaker:open your wallet,
Speaker:take out a card or cash and pay and it's slow
Speaker:and you don't have other payment options.
Speaker:You don't have buy now pay later.
Speaker:It's like you went back in time,
Speaker:you went back to like 1982.
Speaker:What? So the first thing you wanna do is say,
Speaker:well, the customer likes these things.
Speaker:When they go online and check out@walmart.com,
Speaker:how do I get that in my store?
Speaker:There's a ton of value for getting it in your store
Speaker:too. Cuz you've just freed up space to put more product.
Speaker:So square foot allocation,
Speaker:sales versus support and services changes now because of technology.
Speaker:I wasn't even thinking that when we were getting started.
Speaker:Yes. And I also,
Speaker:what would you say Russo about,
Speaker:I don't see a fine mine anymore.
Speaker:Between if you have a retail location and I'm gonna put
Speaker:this in for all of our makers who do craft shows
Speaker:because that's also face to face selling.
Speaker:So I wanna put that there versus having an online presence.
Speaker:We need both in this day and age because if someone's
Speaker:coming into your retail shop wants to repurchase,
Speaker:but can't make it there.
Speaker:And you have that same product online.
Speaker:They can do a repeat purchase online.
Speaker:Same thing with someone who's looking at your website and all
Speaker:of a sudden see,
Speaker:oh my gosh,
Speaker:you're gonna be at the farmer's market right in my community
Speaker:this weekend.
Speaker:So then they can come and see you in person gets
Speaker:questions, answered,
Speaker:pick up the product right away,
Speaker:maybe sample some things.
Speaker:So I see both of these very much overlapping with each
Speaker:other. It's not just,
Speaker:oh, you're brick and mortar or you're online.
Speaker:The best practice as you evolve.
Speaker:Like of course you don't necessarily do this all at one
Speaker:time, but is to have both of them and they don't
Speaker:play independently.
Speaker:They overlap with each other.
Speaker:So the technology also allows you to take an experience someone's
Speaker:having at your craft booth.
Speaker:They click a QR code register for your sweepstakes.
Speaker:Now all of a sudden they're on your email list.
Speaker:Now they're gonna be able to get your emails.
Speaker:And what portion of that process did you have to do
Speaker:say hello,
Speaker:welcome them.
Speaker:Show them the QR code,
Speaker:tell them the value of signing up and that's it.
Speaker:And everything else then happens.
Speaker:And that just streamlined your whole opportunity to do more of
Speaker:those than the manual steps that we used to have to
Speaker:do in the past.
Speaker:You're absolutely right.
Speaker:And one thing that might either scare people or make them
Speaker:excited, hopefully make them excited because a website can be very
Speaker:scary. So let's talk about digital retail.
Speaker:So people think I have a store.
Speaker:I have a website website is digital retail.
Speaker:So digital retail,
Speaker:one of the ways is a website.
Speaker:Okay? There are many other ways and some are very sophisticated.
Speaker:So we'll not talk about that require teams.
Speaker:We're not doing that.
Speaker:Let's take something that sounds like complicated,
Speaker:but it's really not.
Speaker:And it's a lot easier than a website and that's well,
Speaker:you have eCommerce,
Speaker:which is your website.
Speaker:This is called social commerce.
Speaker:What is social commerce?
Speaker:Social commerce is live streaming selling through you,
Speaker:sign up with a service provider that allows you to do
Speaker:that. Okay?
Speaker:And there are many.
Speaker:And so you are basically doing QBC Your own QVC,
Speaker:Your own QVC.
Speaker:And I think that suits this crowd really well because you
Speaker:may or may not need a website for it.
Speaker:You may need it to just hold your inventory,
Speaker:but let's keep it simple for right now where you're at
Speaker:a farmer's market,
Speaker:you have your phone filming you and you're talking,
Speaker:let's say traffic is slow and you're selling stuff.
Speaker:They're actually checking out.
Speaker:That's why you need technology to do it.
Speaker:They're checking out through that service provider and buying the stuff.
Speaker:You're gonna have to triple your inventory for that and bring
Speaker:someone with you to handle the in person,
Speaker:people and sell out online.
Speaker:And if you cultivate that,
Speaker:Hey guys,
Speaker:we're gonna be live at the farmer's market this Thursday.
Speaker:And then you just constantly let them know where you're going
Speaker:to be.
Speaker:People crave it because now customers in Ohio are having the
Speaker:Pennsylvania farmer's market experience,
Speaker:holiday markets.
Speaker:You have to tell them about it,
Speaker:right? So that's your email list.
Speaker:That's your automatic emailing.
Speaker:That's all of that.
Speaker:And then you just do it.
Speaker:I'm gonna give you a hack.
Speaker:If you don't wanna sign up with a technology company,
Speaker:okay. Have a second person there,
Speaker:put it on your live.
Speaker:There's different social channels.
Speaker:You can do it.
Speaker:Let's say Instagram,
Speaker:okay. Instagram live.
Speaker:And that person who's holding the camera or filming or speaking,
Speaker:someone can be in your DM.
Speaker:And they're like,
Speaker:I want that one.
Speaker:Great go to your square,
Speaker:swipe it.
Speaker:Market shipping label gone.
Speaker:When you think digital,
Speaker:it doesn't have to be.com.
Speaker:That's Really true.
Speaker:And I see,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:the whole social,
Speaker:as you're talking about,
Speaker:we've talked here about really very structured on air shows that
Speaker:are daily shows those of you who are listeners go back
Speaker:and listen to Adrian's boutique.
Speaker:You'll hear exactly how she does all of that.
Speaker:It's all structured.
Speaker:And that's a perfect example of technology,
Speaker:but I'll even say,
Speaker:yes, it's great to have somebody who's helping you at the
Speaker:booth. If you're at a show because technology aside,
Speaker:if you have sales that need to get checked out and
Speaker:you have someone who's still looking,
Speaker:those are two different functions.
Speaker:You can't do both.
Speaker:You need some help,
Speaker:but let's also talk about those times that happen with any
Speaker:show. At some point,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:if you're out doing shows,
Speaker:it is pouring rain and nobody is coming.
Speaker:So then this is downtime.
Speaker:You're not doing anything but standing and in your booth,
Speaker:pull out your phone like Russo saying,
Speaker:even if it's just you and saying,
Speaker:Hey, I met this show.
Speaker:This is part of the gig.
Speaker:You know of when we do craft shows,
Speaker:it is pouring rain.
Speaker:There's nobody here.
Speaker:But let me share with you.
Speaker:What's happened so far.
Speaker:Our biggest seller has been this and of these two colors,
Speaker:guess which one's the most popular,
Speaker:like just chat and enjoy,
Speaker:but oh,
Speaker:by the way,
Speaker:if you like these,
Speaker:here's how you could get one,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:like however you'd wanna do it.
Speaker:So this is a way to use what you would once
Speaker:think is downtime to your advantage through technology.
Speaker:I am so glad Russo,
Speaker:you brought that up because it happens all the time.
Speaker:I'm happy we did that.
Speaker:And it goes,
Speaker:the same conversation is a slow Tuesday in your store,
Speaker:hop on the phone,
Speaker:hop on your life.
Speaker:Yeah. So I do believe in structure and I wanna check
Speaker:out that episode and I encourage everyone to do it as
Speaker:Sue said,
Speaker:but yeah,
Speaker:for sure.
Speaker:Part of the success and engagement that higher success and a
Speaker:lot of engagement is the authenticity of lives.
Speaker:In the sense of like,
Speaker:maybe you're like going in and outta the stockroom and you're
Speaker:just carrying them with you.
Speaker:Like you will not believe what people like to see the
Speaker:real deal.
Speaker:And I can't imagine a more real group of people than
Speaker:the people listening to this podcast.
Speaker:And how interesting that is.
Speaker:You have a huge community,
Speaker:huge And all the material you have,
Speaker:because if you're making product,
Speaker:if you're out showing product,
Speaker:if you're getting inventory in that are the pieces and the
Speaker:parts of the jewelry that you make,
Speaker:you got a brand new,
Speaker:fun tool that you've never tried before.
Speaker:And so you wanna experiment with it.
Speaker:There is so much content for a maker.
Speaker:No maker can say they lack content that's for sure.
Speaker:Hold tight.
Speaker:Our conversation will continue right after this short break to hear
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Speaker:Well, I don't know how if this group,
Speaker:it has engaged or even just looked from a spectator standpoint,
Speaker:but the amount of makers and doing exactly what you said,
Speaker:Sue, which is like,
Speaker:here's my new tool.
Speaker:Here's me cutting metal.
Speaker:That's on TikTok.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:you have to be ready for your business to totally blow
Speaker:up. If you are prepared for that.
Speaker:And we can have a whole other conversation about that if
Speaker:you want,
Speaker:but that's social commerce.
Speaker:And then you have to think also,
Speaker:okay, let's say you don't wanna sell there.
Speaker:It's awareness.
Speaker:You have your website link in there,
Speaker:or you have your store phone number,
Speaker:keep it easy,
Speaker:but think about awareness and people are actually interested to see
Speaker:your process.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:I consider myself a maker,
Speaker:but I don't make everything.
Speaker:So I like to see what's behind what someone is making
Speaker:like leather,
Speaker:making like belts and purses and all that.
Speaker:I wouldn't have the slightest clue.
Speaker:That would be so interesting.
Speaker:Just a little peak,
Speaker:but you know what happens is a lot of people are
Speaker:like, well,
Speaker:I'm not gonna give away how I do this.
Speaker:It's not There.
Speaker:It's already out there from somebody,
Speaker:right? Who everybody is showing everything on TikTok.
Speaker:Yeah. And that's why I really kind of lean towards authentic
Speaker:truth versus,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:gate keeping polished,
Speaker:scripted, you wanna be really careful.
Speaker:And part of it has to do with your,
Speaker:your customer base,
Speaker:but they're generationally gen Z millennials.
Speaker:They want it as real as possible.
Speaker:And I've seen a ton of leather making on TikTok and
Speaker:it's fascinating.
Speaker:They burn it.
Speaker:They do this,
Speaker:they file it.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:it's kind of incredible.
Speaker:They're not hiding anything.
Speaker:And You have the opportunity for people to fall in love
Speaker:with you then because no one else can be you.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:this is the thing.
Speaker:I try to remind everybody,
Speaker:including myself,
Speaker:when I'm doing these reminders,
Speaker:it's not just for everybody else.
Speaker:It's for me too.
Speaker:But is that pretty much everybody can duplicate something that you
Speaker:make now it's not necessarily like if you draw your style
Speaker:is different,
Speaker:but there are other people who make greeting cards or other
Speaker:people who do watercolor or you know,
Speaker:whatever different styles,
Speaker:right? But nobody can recreate your personality and the way you
Speaker:communicate and the way you talk and the way you show
Speaker:up. And when you start doing lives,
Speaker:people gravitate to you who feel comfortable with you like your
Speaker:style. And then they wanna support you and buy from you.
Speaker:And you can't do that with just static posts.
Speaker:Even Carol cell posts lives and videos are where you get
Speaker:that across.
Speaker:I totally agree.
Speaker:Video is so much more engaging.
Speaker:I just wanna add one more thing to the authenticity conversation.
Speaker:And then one more thing in case people are like,
Speaker:I could never,
Speaker:because I could never is not what we do here.
Speaker:So when you think about,
Speaker:if you're gonna show creating,
Speaker:or if you think about create what you wanna do is
Speaker:it's not just create,
Speaker:it's create and educate.
Speaker:I follow a watercolorist I bought watercolors.
Speaker:I don't water.
Speaker:She's like,
Speaker:we're gonna make a sky in an ocean.
Speaker:Now. I'm like,
Speaker:I'm doing that.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:I bought it.
Speaker:Did I ever do it?
Speaker:No. She's like you do this,
Speaker:you do that.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:you have to have confidence in your ability as a creator
Speaker:and artist,
Speaker:to really engage with people with your product and not gate,
Speaker:keep and worry that you're gonna be copied or whatever,
Speaker:but there's a real process sharing.
Speaker:So think about create and educate.
Speaker:When you think about videos and content,
Speaker:and then one more thing.
Speaker:I can't do that.
Speaker:I can't be out there.
Speaker:I don't want people to fall in love with me and
Speaker:my style,
Speaker:as you said,
Speaker:so you can do all of this and still be off
Speaker:camera. Believe it or not.
Speaker:You can have video with your voiceover,
Speaker:with zoomed in over your process or whatever it is.
Speaker:You can even not have your voice.
Speaker:You can have text read by the app.
Speaker:So all of those hurdles and they are real,
Speaker:we don't like to hear our voice and see ourselves.
Speaker:It's just not,
Speaker:we all kind of feel like,
Speaker:Ugh, they've taken away all the excuses to really kind of
Speaker:get out there.
Speaker:Darn they've taken away all the excuses,
Speaker:Get yourself a huggy candle and just jump right in.
Speaker:There you go.
Speaker:Perfect. Okay.
Speaker:To make this actionable for people who are listening,
Speaker:if someone was just,
Speaker:I don't even know if you're,
Speaker:this is gonna be able to be answered,
Speaker:but I'm going for it.
Speaker:If someone was just starting their business,
Speaker:are there a few core,
Speaker:either recommendations you already have,
Speaker:or just the section of the business,
Speaker:things that they should start with?
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:how people are they like following step by step instruction.
Speaker:So are there certain things when you're just starting your business,
Speaker:maybe three or four that you should be looking at?
Speaker:Not necessarily all at once,
Speaker:one by one,
Speaker:but that you should be including in your business,
Speaker:What kind of business?
Speaker:A maker business.
Speaker:So someone is selling,
Speaker:they're a knitter.
Speaker:So right now they're only selling products.
Speaker:They're not educating,
Speaker:not doing patterns and anything like that.
Speaker:They're just starting.
Speaker:Cause I guarantee you,
Speaker:whatever you say here,
Speaker:if you have an answer to this,
Speaker:there will be people who have businesses that are more established,
Speaker:farther along who don't have these included either.
Speaker:Okay. Which is fine.
Speaker:That's why we're doing this is what would you suggest people
Speaker:make sure to start with.
Speaker:So in this example,
Speaker:it's a knitter with finished goods that they've created.
Speaker:Okay. So the most important thing is sales,
Speaker:right? We wanna get sales.
Speaker:So how do we eliminate the boundaries to that and raise
Speaker:awareness? So the first,
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:obviously you need a social media account,
Speaker:right? Everyone needs Instagram,
Speaker:gotta do it.
Speaker:It's an eCommerce like hiding eCommerce place.
Speaker:You gotta get into that.
Speaker:Right? You must have that.
Speaker:You have to have a landing page.
Speaker:One page that kind of is a video of view and
Speaker:slow motion,
Speaker:creating something.
Speaker:And it's a button that says,
Speaker:click here to learn more.
Speaker:It doesn't have to lead to a list of products.
Speaker:It can just actually click to your email.
Speaker:Wanna learn more,
Speaker:go here.
Speaker:Those are both really simple starting places.
Speaker:Now let's say the creator has a bunch of product,
Speaker:right? There's product.
Speaker:Have you heard of fair?
Speaker:Oh yeah.
Speaker:Open affair account.
Speaker:Now fair.
Speaker:The financials affair are whatever they are,
Speaker:but Which means you'd be going after wholesale,
Speaker:then not direct to consumer.
Speaker:If that's your strategy.
Speaker:Well actually let's back up.
Speaker:I love wholesale and wholesale is back so wholesale as far
Speaker:as launching a business is back.
Speaker:So awareness among other stores.
Speaker:Other entities I think is important depending on the business,
Speaker:the pricing,
Speaker:et cetera,
Speaker:direct to consumer is getting more and more and more and
Speaker:more expensive to get customers.
Speaker:So the C which stands for CAC customer acquisition cost.
Speaker:So that is why a multi-prong approach is really important.
Speaker:Now, back to that,
Speaker:Instagram, I don't know the cohort of this business that's starting,
Speaker:but I would also recommend that they get on TikTok.
Speaker:TikTok is the best direct to consumer methodology.
Speaker:Okay. All,
Speaker:so those are different things that come to your mind than
Speaker:come to my mind.
Speaker:So what do you think about having your accounting system in
Speaker:place? So you're tracking your sales.
Speaker:Do you think that's an important starting point?
Speaker:Well, there's inventory and there's invoicing,
Speaker:right? And unfortunately in our world there are two separate things
Speaker:and it's terrible.
Speaker:It's really awful.
Speaker:Actually what I would do for someone starting their business,
Speaker:because Shopify just added wholesale,
Speaker:open a Shopify account.
Speaker:You can do your retail day.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:it's like crazy.
Speaker:It's the one it grows with you.
Speaker:So they have your direct to consumer business.
Speaker:You can add on so many apps,
Speaker:which getting back to technology,
Speaker:like easy,
Speaker:easy peasy.
Speaker:So you've got the direct to consumer.
Speaker:They just added wholesale.
Speaker:Okay. And then through Shopify,
Speaker:you can actually integrate with,
Speaker:let's say a fair or you can use the wholesale piece
Speaker:of Shopify.
Speaker:If you wanted to in your own hometown target stores and
Speaker:say, would you carry my stuff?
Speaker:Do you like my stuff?
Speaker:And then think about trade shows,
Speaker:right? To reach those stores.
Speaker:Maybe you could go to trade shows with your product,
Speaker:not inventory,
Speaker:but like you go with your samples and you reach them
Speaker:that way.
Speaker:So there are gift shows,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:about the gift show right in Atlanta.
Speaker:Oh Yeah.
Speaker:We actually exhibited some of those shows,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:there's gift shows all over the country.
Speaker:Gift shows.
Speaker:Candy shows.
Speaker:Oh yeah.
Speaker:The New York now.
Speaker:All of 'em.
Speaker:Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker:One of a kind chose.
Speaker:All of those.
Speaker:Some are direct to consumer.
Speaker:Some are wholesale,
Speaker:but I'll tell you the direct to consumer.
Speaker:There are a lot of smaller boutique owners who go looking
Speaker:for people to place their products.
Speaker:And I just thought of this too.
Speaker:If you guys go back a couple of episodes back,
Speaker:we're talking about stackable,
Speaker:which is similar to fair,
Speaker:but very much geared to brand new wholesalers.
Speaker:So if you're interested in wholesale,
Speaker:go back and listen to that one too.
Speaker:Stackable, check it out.
Speaker:Stackable. S T O C K a B L.
Speaker:Okay, great.
Speaker:Yeah. And it's very much the starting wholesale person,
Speaker:smaller accounts,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:if you're just getting started,
Speaker:you gotta start somewhere.
Speaker:It goes up to bigger people too.
Speaker:But another option in addition to fair.
Speaker:Okay. And I wanted to get your idea of just a
Speaker:few things that you thought should be in place for people
Speaker:who are listening,
Speaker:who are considering starting their business.
Speaker:Like give them a little direction on where you think that
Speaker:they should be starting to put in an integrate technology.
Speaker:I just always go back to thinking about one person I
Speaker:was working with when I went in and started talking with
Speaker:her about her business and how everything was going.
Speaker:And she was still manually writing down all of her sales.
Speaker:And I'm like,
Speaker:how are you doing your sales report at the end of
Speaker:the month?
Speaker:And she was going back to these pieces of paper.
Speaker:And I'm like,
Speaker:if you get audited,
Speaker:you're gonna be in for one load of a headache.
Speaker:You know?
Speaker:So I remember that.
Speaker:And I think,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:when you think you're small,
Speaker:you don't need all of these things,
Speaker:but way easier to get things in place earlier than later,
Speaker:I would take that a step further because reconciling sales at
Speaker:the end of the month,
Speaker:you just look in your bank account.
Speaker:That's what people do.
Speaker:The issue here is are you investing in the things that
Speaker:are selling and growing your business where it should be.
Speaker:So the most important documentation and why you need to have
Speaker:a system.
Speaker:And yeah,
Speaker:I feel like people open their eyes and first go,
Speaker:let me start a business.
Speaker:I'll go on Shopify and then figure out what they wanna
Speaker:do. Right?
Speaker:They go backwards.
Speaker:Yes, absolutely.
Speaker:A hundred percent.
Speaker:So that's how imperative Shopify is to a smaller business.
Speaker:But anyway,
Speaker:let's go back.
Speaker:So you are on order orders placed,
Speaker:okay. Orders received.
Speaker:Now, if you're making it still within Shopify,
Speaker:you can have the costs involved in orders made,
Speaker:let's say makers orders made orders received.
Speaker:And then what's sold because you're running around in your business.
Speaker:Next thing you know,
Speaker:you have like 47 knit,
Speaker:blue turtles.
Speaker:I don't know like what just happened here.
Speaker:You don't have a top line view of your business.
Speaker:And that's where small businesses make a huge mistake.
Speaker:They think I have money in the bank.
Speaker:I don't have money in the bank.
Speaker:I'm selling.
Speaker:I'm not selling.
Speaker:That's too common.
Speaker:And then really bad,
Speaker:a bad habit that gets hard to break because all of
Speaker:that upfront paperwork,
Speaker:let's talk about stuff.
Speaker:You don't have time for finding new technology and doing the
Speaker:upfront paperwork.
Speaker:Both of those help you actually thrive and be profitable,
Speaker:Saves you time in the long run,
Speaker:but not in the short run,
Speaker:cuz you have to put it up to get it set
Speaker:up. But then once it's set up,
Speaker:you're saving time.
Speaker:The forever You're saving time,
Speaker:but you're making money.
Speaker:Okay. So the thing about profitability is not money in the
Speaker:bank, right?
Speaker:It's actual profit and you need the right record keeping going
Speaker:into the business to understand if you're actually making money.
Speaker:And that has nothing to do with actual cash flow.
Speaker:So the thing about retail selling makers,
Speaker:it's like a lot of math and a lot of counting
Speaker:that everyone hates because you wanna be a creator and you
Speaker:wanna be an artist and you wanna curate your store,
Speaker:your line,
Speaker:your vibe.
Speaker:Well, unfortunately you have to do the other things.
Speaker:If you really wanna be profitable.
Speaker:Now, if you hate it,
Speaker:like I said,
Speaker:you find people and things to do stuff that you hate
Speaker:doing, but you don't just not do it.
Speaker:That's the first thing I took off my desk when I
Speaker:started my first business was a bookkeeper.
Speaker:Like I can do the numbers,
Speaker:I know how to do math.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:I had my software that I was using,
Speaker:but did I wanna do it?
Speaker:And did I wanna do data entry and reconciliation and all
Speaker:that? Gosh,
Speaker:no. And that sounds so like,
Speaker:it's like,
Speaker:oh my gosh,
Speaker:I'm not ready for that.
Speaker:I'm not ready for that.
Speaker:But it could be an hour a month.
Speaker:Someone has to do if you're just starting out so affordable
Speaker:for you.
Speaker:And then as you grow,
Speaker:then their time grows.
Speaker:Right? And that's replicable with lots of different things.
Speaker:Some things you wanna keep for yourself and some things,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:you wanna hand out as you grow.
Speaker:So, okay.
Speaker:This has been wonderful.
Speaker:We talked a little bit Instagram TikTok.
Speaker:Of course we talked about fair.
Speaker:I added stackable.
Speaker:I love that you are a partner advocate with me with
Speaker:Shopify, for sure.
Speaker:Are there any other programs that you just by name wanna
Speaker:spit out for everybody just for them to think about?
Speaker:So for that live selling,
Speaker:one of the easier ones for smaller business that they might
Speaker:wanna check out is called comment,
Speaker:sold one for small business,
Speaker:but there are comment sold was kind of the first one,
Speaker:but now there are lots and lots and lots and some
Speaker:of them are too expensive.
Speaker:So they're too big.
Speaker:They're like for big,
Speaker:big, you know,
Speaker:big but comment sold,
Speaker:the fees are very affordable.
Speaker:Yeah. And that's the one I was mentioning when I was
Speaker:talking about that other podcast that I did,
Speaker:Vicky uses comment sold.
Speaker:So, and she does a live show every single day.
Speaker:So you guys could go into her live show and see
Speaker:how comment sold works from a customer end,
Speaker:super easy there.
Speaker:They actually got bought.
Speaker:So, oh they Did.
Speaker:Yeah. So they just added within the website,
Speaker:video selling,
Speaker:it's kind of a big technology.
Speaker:Ooh, it's for an established,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:if you're established website,
Speaker:but there's nothing I love more than when you can grow
Speaker:into a technology and not like,
Speaker:have it work for you now and grow out and find
Speaker:new UUG is the worst.
Speaker:Like when they span from like small to,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:they can help,
Speaker:they can actually partner with you as you grow.
Speaker:I agree with that.
Speaker:Totally. What about some type of a CRM platform?
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:what do you recommend for people there?
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:so let's say they're on Shopify,
Speaker:right? I like,
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:for someone their size,
Speaker:a lot of people use Omni send,
Speaker:which is an email system,
Speaker:but also can see what I love is segmentation,
Speaker:but it has to be simple.
Speaker:So in this world,
Speaker:maybe there's like a lot of gift givers,
Speaker:but then there are a lot of people who wanna buy
Speaker:for themselves.
Speaker:So you can see when you have people come around every
Speaker:like November and then they don't come around any other time
Speaker:because they're gonna be a gift giver.
Speaker:Right? Yeah.
Speaker:So with Omni sender,
Speaker:you able to figure out where those purchases are by time
Speaker:of the year or are you tagging them based on when
Speaker:they're purchasing?
Speaker:No, they do it for you.
Speaker:Okay. So it's a more advanced level of something like MailChimp,
Speaker:it's more advanced.
Speaker:It has more features than something like MailChimp.
Speaker:It's the same.
Speaker:Okay. All of those like CRM email things are commoditized.
Speaker:Okay. So what does that mean?
Speaker:They're all the same.
Speaker:So your choice should come down to what is easier for
Speaker:you to use and the cost and their customer service.
Speaker:Like if you have problems,
Speaker:that's it.
Speaker:So MailChimp's just as good.
Speaker:Okay. All right.
Speaker:Okay. Wonderful.
Speaker:Well, I think that's given people a start and for those
Speaker:of you who are listening,
Speaker:who are like CRM,
Speaker:I've got it.
Speaker:Bookkeeping. I've got it.
Speaker:I'm doing lives.
Speaker:I got it.
Speaker:I'm on Instagram,
Speaker:I'm everything.
Speaker:And I'm wholesaling then kudos for you.
Speaker:You've got it all covered.
Speaker:This has been wonderful.
Speaker:Russo. What else would you like to say just in summary
Speaker:to our audience and then also what do you offer?
Speaker:And if there's something that you think that would be valuable
Speaker:for us to know about you,
Speaker:where would we go to find more?
Speaker:Oh, that's great.
Speaker:So first of all,
Speaker:I am in the business of advice.
Speaker:So anyone can email me and be like,
Speaker:Hey, I liked what you said about that.
Speaker:Who should I speak to?
Speaker:I'm not in this like pay for play gatekeeping world because
Speaker:that just I'm in it for the community.
Speaker:So anyone can email me if they want to ask specific
Speaker:questions. My email is Christine R CC agency.com.
Speaker:So there's that I'm prolific on LinkedIn,
Speaker:but it's a much for more of a bigger retailer.
Speaker:So, but if they want,
Speaker:they can look up Christine Russo and get inspired to grow
Speaker:really, really big.
Speaker:So I can definitely make recommendations.
Speaker:And none of it is affiliate links.
Speaker:None of it is there's no financial motivation.
Speaker:One of the things I would say that in terms of
Speaker:tier two level,
Speaker:and it sounds like you do have some pretty sophisticated businesses
Speaker:and established businesses is yes.
Speaker:One of the most overlooked aspects of getting help outside of
Speaker:your own amazing skill set is inventory planning.
Speaker:Okay. Oh Lord.
Speaker:It is the most important thing.
Speaker:And nobody wants to really Well because we have inventory of
Speaker:the parts that we use in production.
Speaker:And then we also have inventory for the pieces that are
Speaker:already made.
Speaker:So there's a lot there,
Speaker:Right? So as I said,
Speaker:what I would recommend,
Speaker:if you have any interest in getting any kind of support
Speaker:there, I do have a resource for you and I can
Speaker:put you in touch with them.
Speaker:And they work in this exact world now to me,
Speaker:the difference between profits and not profits,
Speaker:because it's so funny,
Speaker:people get to the end of the year and they're like,
Speaker:I didn't make any money,
Speaker:but I sold so much,
Speaker:But I so much,
Speaker:how did I not actually make money?
Speaker:So if you have a real interest in actual profitability and
Speaker:longevity in your business,
Speaker:I would really say,
Speaker:you know what?
Speaker:I think I'm ready to look forward in a real way.
Speaker:In other words,
Speaker:you're gonna pay to have someone help you look forward and
Speaker:you're gonna make enough money that it covers that cost.
Speaker:And then some retail makers,
Speaker:it's a business of looking backwards.
Speaker:Hey, I did this.
Speaker:Maybe I'll do this,
Speaker:but that's just not enough.
Speaker:There's a real science to it that if you partner with
Speaker:the right company and people and maybe an app,
Speaker:there's a lot of resources out there.
Speaker:I personally think the apps are very like to go forward
Speaker:and be like,
Speaker:I'll just get an inventory planning app Shopify.
Speaker:They're very,
Speaker:very complicated.
Speaker:They've too much information.
Speaker:So what do you do?
Speaker:So you're talking about the,
Speaker:in the inventory arena specifically,
Speaker:right? Well inventory and also like,
Speaker:okay, as you said,
Speaker:component pieces.
Speaker:Cause if you're gonna eventually make something,
Speaker:you have to back into the inventory.
Speaker:Right. But that whole area versus other apps that Shopify has,
Speaker:you're just talking about the inventory.
Speaker:One is very and more complex,
Speaker:Not inventory tracking inventory forecast,
Speaker:like what do you do?
Speaker:Going forward planning.
Speaker:Okay. Gotcha.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:And if someone wanted to have that conversation with you,
Speaker:then they can email you about that.
Speaker:Thank you so much.
Speaker:This has been very interesting,
Speaker:just a great conversation about what technology can do for your
Speaker:business. And hopefully we've put some thoughts in some of our
Speaker:listener's minds as to ways that they can improve,
Speaker:become more effective and more productive so that they can sell
Speaker:more. This was great.
Speaker:I love your format.
Speaker:I really appreciate it.
Speaker:My mom's name is Sue,
Speaker:so I happy about that.
Speaker:There you thanks again.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:Take care.
Speaker:Tech is not something to be fearful of,
Speaker:but to be embraced,
Speaker:to help you expand.
Speaker:We covered a lot of ground in the episode today,
Speaker:I've listed all the resources we discussed in the show notes.
Speaker:So you can access them there.
Speaker:If I had to identify the most important takeaway from all
Speaker:the things we discussed in this interview,
Speaker:it's to take Russo's advice and have a system in place
Speaker:to track sales.
Speaker:Obviously your business runs off the sales that come in,
Speaker:having the knowledge of where they come from,
Speaker:ensuring that you have product to fulfill the orders and knowing
Speaker:what to double down on because it's producing can mean everything
Speaker:to the future of your business.
Speaker:Just a quick reminder that I'm looking for motivated handmade product
Speaker:business owners,
Speaker:to sign up,
Speaker:to do a gift biz boost,
Speaker:which is a podcast interview for this show.
Speaker:During our time together,
Speaker:you'll get a free business coaching session from me giving you
Speaker:clear action steps that will boost your business growth.
Speaker:And of course,
Speaker:as a guest on the show,
Speaker:you'll be able to promote your business to get more visibility
Speaker:too. I'm doing these on a first come first serve basis.
Speaker:So head over to gift biz,
Speaker:unwrapped.com/boost to sign up for your session today.
Speaker:I can't wait to give you a boost.
Speaker:I wanna make sure you're familiar with my free Facebook group
Speaker:called gift biz breeze.
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.
Speaker:That's my favorite of the week.
Speaker:I have to say where I invite all of you to
Speaker:share what you're doing to show pictures of your product,
Speaker:to show what you're working on for the week to get
Speaker:reaction from other people and just for fun,
Speaker:because we all get to see the wonderful products that everybody
Speaker:in the community is making my favorite post every single week,
Speaker:without doubt.
Speaker:Wait, what,
Speaker:aren't you part of the group already,
Speaker:if not make sure to jump over to Facebook and search
Speaker:for the group gift biz breeze don't delay.
