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Hi there.
Speaker:It's Sue.
Speaker:And thanks for joining me for tips and talk day.
Speaker:These are bite-sized topics that I pull from community questions and
Speaker:things that I'm observing in the world of handmade small business.
Speaker:If you'd like to submit a topic,
Speaker:DME over on Instagram at gift biz unwrapped,
Speaker:before we get into the show today,
Speaker:I want to make sure that you know about the newest
Speaker:thing happening over here.
Speaker:It's called the gift biz bash a zoom party that turns
Speaker:into a podcast episode.
Speaker:Several weeks later,
Speaker:the party consists of a short training with Q and a,
Speaker:from yours truly.
Speaker:And then an opportunity for you to give a shout out
Speaker:about your business.
Speaker:You can tell us about a promotion you currently have going
Speaker:on or share a collaboration that you're considering so that you
Speaker:can find a perfect partner for the event.
Speaker:A little bit of learning and visibility for your business.
Speaker:What could be better?
Speaker:There is a catch though spots are limited to keep the
Speaker:party to about 45 minutes or so.
Speaker:That means you should grab your spot right away.
Speaker:It's totally free to make sure you're included.
Speaker:Why not do that right now?
Speaker:Pause this episode,
Speaker:go to gift biz,
Speaker:unwrapped.com forward slash bash to sign up and then come back
Speaker:and listen to the show.
Speaker:I'll see you at the bash.
Speaker:So let me ask you,
Speaker:are you putting in way too much energy towards getting people
Speaker:to buy in exchange for what you're actually seeing for your
Speaker:efforts? I hear this from many of you,
Speaker:things like I spend hours every week posting on social.
Speaker:It feels like such a waste of time because nobody orders
Speaker:or why bother with emails.
Speaker:They're so stressful.
Speaker:I don't ever know what to say and they don't get
Speaker:opened anyway.
Speaker:It's just not worth it.
Speaker:Or I finally finished my website and I'm really proud of
Speaker:it, but I'm not seeing any sales things are just like
Speaker:they were before.
Speaker:Nothing has changed after all this work.
Speaker:If what I've described sounds familiar.
Speaker:I want you to consider whether you're trying too hard,
Speaker:because there is such a thing as going too far when
Speaker:selling what you may actually be doing is pushing past the
Speaker:purchase point.
Speaker:And that's what's causing the no or low sales that you're
Speaker:experiencing demonstrating this kind of random way.
Speaker:Think of this when you're making whipped cream,
Speaker:what do you do?
Speaker:You get out your bowl,
Speaker:make sure it's cold.
Speaker:Pour in the heavy cream and then whisk it to its
Speaker:desired stiffness.
Speaker:What happens if you over whip,
Speaker:your result is no longer a whipped cream it's butter,
Speaker:right? You've worked too hard and gone past the perfect stage
Speaker:for you to have whipped cream,
Speaker:not a baker.
Speaker:Here's another analogy.
Speaker:You're on a road trip and it's past time for you
Speaker:to stop for gas,
Speaker:but not a problem.
Speaker:You'll get off at the next exit.
Speaker:Then you get into a deep conversation and are so focused
Speaker:on talking.
Speaker:You miss the exit.
Speaker:At this point,
Speaker:the longer you drive,
Speaker:the further you get away from the exit.
Speaker:The next one's too far ahead.
Speaker:Your tank is already showing empty.
Speaker:The more you keep driving in that same direction,
Speaker:the more distance you've created from your desired exit that is
Speaker:now behind you,
Speaker:that perfect whipped cream stage and the exit to take for
Speaker:gas represent your customers.
Speaker:There is a point where working too hard or going to
Speaker:far results in you missing out.
Speaker:Let's apply this now to selling.
Speaker:You may contact with a potential customer.
Speaker:They become interested.
Speaker:You see the possibility of a purchase happening.
Speaker:So you put pedal to the metal and fly past the
Speaker:point, which could have brought you to the sale.
Speaker:Is it possible?
Speaker:You're trying so hard to get sales that what you're actually
Speaker:doing is pushing them away.
Speaker:Perhaps it's time for a new approach to hit the brakes
Speaker:on selling so hard and go a different route.
Speaker:It certainly can't hurt.
Speaker:If what you're doing now,
Speaker:isn't producing results.
Speaker:Doing more and more of the same is like grinding your
Speaker:gears. You end up digging a deeper hole versus making any
Speaker:forward progress.
Speaker:If you're in this position,
Speaker:I bet this is how you're selling your message to potential.
Speaker:Customers goes something like this in its very raw sense.
Speaker:Listen to me,
Speaker:I have this awesome product.
Speaker:It's only X dollars.
Speaker:Buy it here.
Speaker:I know you see this way of product selling done all
Speaker:the time at craft shows and social on website.
Speaker:Even at networking meetings,
Speaker:it's a focus on me,
Speaker:my product,
Speaker:my price by here's,
Speaker:how I'd like you to switch up the narrative.
Speaker:The first contact should be more like,
Speaker:hi, let's get to know each other.
Speaker:After a short time,
Speaker:that turns into I've been listening to you.
Speaker:I think I have a solution to what you've been looking
Speaker:for or the problem you're trying to solve based on your
Speaker:product. Of course,
Speaker:instead of pushing products on people,
Speaker:you're switching to sharing information and offering an opportunity for them
Speaker:to own what you sell.
Speaker:Honestly, it's pretty egotistical of us to automatically assume that people
Speaker:want what we sell within the very first few seconds of
Speaker:meeting us.
Speaker:There are things to be said and learned first,
Speaker:like the basics of your product,
Speaker:what's in your soaps.
Speaker:That will smooth my skin.
Speaker:How is your candle?
Speaker:Eco-friendly what sizes,
Speaker:colors and flavors are available.
Speaker:Also. What makes your product my best choice?
Speaker:How are you different from other soap makers convince me that
Speaker:your product is special and worth an exchange of my money.
Speaker:And then there's the question of trust?
Speaker:Who are you as the maker of this product?
Speaker:Why did you start your business?
Speaker:What can I learn about you?
Speaker:That makes me relate to you and want to buy and
Speaker:support you?
Speaker:These things never happen when you're selling with a here's my
Speaker:product, here's the price,
Speaker:buy it approach.
Speaker:And the more you push that messaging,
Speaker:the further you push a sale away,
Speaker:if you're feeling guilty because you fall into this category,
Speaker:it's okay,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:better now.
Speaker:And it's never too late to make a change.
Speaker:Plus, I know this approach will be much easier and feel
Speaker:much more comfortable for you to this type of communication can
Speaker:happen in the first encounter and result immediately in a sale,
Speaker:or it can happen over a number of customer touches where
Speaker:gradually they warm up to the point of purchasing.
Speaker:Everyone is different and everyone has different needs at any given
Speaker:time. Some sales happen immediately.
Speaker:Some will take time to nurture,
Speaker:but all sales are worthy of an approach.
Speaker:That's friendly,
Speaker:creates a relationship with the customer and takes respectfully into account
Speaker:their choice of when it's right to buy.
Speaker:So how do you do this?
Speaker:It's accomplished by making a switch in your messaging from buy,
Speaker:buy, buy to entertain,
Speaker:inform buy.
Speaker:What you want to do is spend time in the relationship
Speaker:building stage versus pushing the relationship into decision mode.
Speaker:If your potential buyer is ready to go faster,
Speaker:they'll be giving you those signals and you can speed up
Speaker:with them.
Speaker:Let's talk some specifics.
Speaker:Here's how this new messaging approach looks in various scenarios at
Speaker:craft shows.
Speaker:When someone comes into your booth,
Speaker:welcome them,
Speaker:summarize what your product is and let them know you're available.
Speaker:If they have any,
Speaker:then let them look around.
Speaker:And if they're there for a bit,
Speaker:check in on them,
Speaker:light and friendly.
Speaker:If you've done your job with your display,
Speaker:your product already speaks for itself.
Speaker:Intuitively you'll know that you can take the conversation beyond specific
Speaker:product questions,
Speaker:ask about them,
Speaker:share something about you,
Speaker:create a welcoming experience with your interaction versus a customer buyer,
Speaker:exhibitors seller divide.
Speaker:Of course,
Speaker:these are your roles,
Speaker:but when you force it and overly push you lose moving
Speaker:on to social media,
Speaker:there are many more effective ways to build a relationship here
Speaker:than what I see going on out on social instead of
Speaker:every post,
Speaker:being a picture of your product and a link to where
Speaker:to go by and in some personality and stories about your
Speaker:business images of you at craft shows behind the scenes of
Speaker:your workshop explanations of what it's like to be in business
Speaker:for yourself,
Speaker:all sorts of posts like this,
Speaker:make your brand relatable.
Speaker:And if someone's curious,
Speaker:they can always click on the links in the social media
Speaker:account to learn more.
Speaker:Again, I repeat not every single post should be a direct
Speaker:product sale.
Speaker:What I just described is still related to your business,
Speaker:but it's not in your face sales,
Speaker:still not sure of ideas or ways to do this.
Speaker:I cover it all in detail and give you a whole
Speaker:year of options in a program that I created called content
Speaker:for makers.
Speaker:If you already have it,
Speaker:go back and look at it again.
Speaker:If you're interested,
Speaker:you can check that out@giftbizonwrapped.com
Speaker:forward slash content for makers to learn more.
Speaker:And now if you have a blog,
Speaker:the ideas I just suggested,
Speaker:and a lot of the options in the content for maker's
Speaker:program can be expanded into a full article.
Speaker:The goal here is to cover topics that your customers want
Speaker:to know about one powerful result of this besides ramping up
Speaker:your SEO of course,
Speaker:is that you become perceived as the expert in your field
Speaker:articles, like what to look for in a candle that maintains
Speaker:a clean home environment,
Speaker:the mental health benefits of aroma therapy,
Speaker:what your attraction to different sense means about your personality.
Speaker:There are so many entertaining,
Speaker:educational and interesting topics that can spin off of any product
Speaker:that you make.
Speaker:And finally,
Speaker:let's look at your website,
Speaker:oh gosh,
Speaker:please delay that popup from appearing until I have a few
Speaker:seconds to actually see your site.
Speaker:I time it for somewhere between 15 and 20 seconds out,
Speaker:let a new visitor learn about you some before you offer
Speaker:a first-time discount entry into a sweepstakes or addition to your
Speaker:special group,
Speaker:which of course would be your email.
Speaker:Popups are great,
Speaker:but don't throw it in my face,
Speaker:right? As soon as I enter your site,
Speaker:give me a second before you do that.
Speaker:And now that I have a minute to see your site,
Speaker:make me feel welcome.
Speaker:Talk to me like a real person.
Speaker:Don't just give me a rundown of everything that you do.
Speaker:This is the place where you can show your potential customer
Speaker:that you care and understand them.
Speaker:And it's typically where most people get it wrong because all
Speaker:they do is talk about their business,
Speaker:their product,
Speaker:but not what's in it for me after all.
Speaker:Isn't your website supposed to be trying to convince me that
Speaker:I should buy from you.
Speaker:Be sure you balance out your product displays with personality from
Speaker:you and a few sentences on the benefits your product provides
Speaker:that I'm going to benefit from by having your product,
Speaker:the feel and branding with colors and words and images should
Speaker:all be aligned.
Speaker:Navigation should be easy too.
Speaker:And if I want to know more about you,
Speaker:do I see exactly where to go to find that?
Speaker:And when I do get there,
Speaker:do I feel like you're talking to me or is this
Speaker:simply a resume of you?
Speaker:In essence?
Speaker:Do I feel like your website exists to inform and cater
Speaker:to my needs?
Speaker:Or is it really all about you?
Speaker:One way to know if you're doing this is if you're
Speaker:using the word I,
Speaker:or we throughout the copy of your entire site,
Speaker:you should be talking to your customer,
Speaker:not talking at them.
Speaker:There is so much more to talk about with websites,
Speaker:but you get the idea at this point,
Speaker:I'm thinking it would be good for me to demonstrate how
Speaker:not to oversell.
Speaker:I'm suggesting you consider this different approach,
Speaker:a more comfortable and inviting way to introduce people to your
Speaker:brand. Naturally leading them into a purchase and then building a
Speaker:lasting relationship with those who support you after all,
Speaker:you don't have a business.
Speaker:If you don't have customers attract them to you,
Speaker:instead of pushing them away,
Speaker:That's a wrap.
Speaker:I'm a get to the point kind of girl.
Speaker:And this is what you can expect from these quick midweek
Speaker:sessions. Now it's your turn go out and fulfill that dream
Speaker:of yours.
Speaker:Share your handmade products with us.
