Shownotes
LESSONS IN BUSINESS
- Know if there’s a market for your product.
- Stay open to changes in how and where you do business based on where the market and opportunities are.
- Be available to your customers in different ways.
- The quality of your product will make you stand out.
- Your booth design is important as well as the accessibility to your product. Make people fall in love with what you do.
- Don’t let anything scare you especially if you’re just starting out.
- Learn from your customers as to which products resonate with them and apply that to your sales technique so you will know which product to sell.
- Signage is important for people to know more about your brand and to spark their curiosity about what your products are.
- Engage with customers. Demonstrate how your products work. It’s all about the customer’s experience.
- See the value in the way you market and sell your products.
- For wholesale business, deliver products on time.
- Stay true to the product of what people know you for. Always make your product better.
Resources Mentioned
Sue's Contact Links
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Transcripts
Gift biz unwrapped episode 324.
Speaker:I Had so many people asking where did I get them?
Speaker:How could they get one?
Speaker:And that was that light bulb moment.
Speaker:And I said,
Speaker:okay, let's do this Attention.
Speaker:Gifters bakers,
Speaker:crafters, and makers pursuing your dream can be fun.
Speaker:Whether you have an established business or looking to start one.
Speaker:Now you are in the right place.
Speaker:This is gift to biz unwrapped,
Speaker:helping you turn your skill into a flourishing business.
Speaker:Join us for an episode,
Speaker:packed full of invaluable guidance,
Speaker:resources, and the support you need to grow.
Speaker:Your gift biz here is your host gift biz gal,
Speaker:Sue moon Heights.
Speaker:I'm thrilled that you're joining me for this episode.
Speaker:Today, this past weekend I attended our community fine arts festival.
Speaker:This is a juried show attracting artisans from all over the
Speaker:world, even some international entries.
Speaker:And it's really honestly,
Speaker:one of my favorite shows of the whole year to go
Speaker:to as an attendee.
Speaker:But I wasn't sure what to expect.
Speaker:Would attendance be down?
Speaker:Would there be fewer booths because there's residual fear of traveling?
Speaker:I just didn't know.
Speaker:Well, I'm happy to report we're back normal as the days
Speaker:of old normal can be.
Speaker:At least that's the report from my neck of the woods,
Speaker:north of Chicago.
Speaker:I want to remind you that doing events like craft shows
Speaker:and farmer's markets offers great photo and posting opportunities for social
Speaker:media. We talked about this in one of our tips and
Speaker:talk episodes in the podcast just a couple of weeks ago.
Speaker:And I bring this up because you've told me you're discouraged.
Speaker:When you don't see any of the time and effort you
Speaker:put into social media,
Speaker:moving the needle on your sales.
Speaker:So given the time we're in right now,
Speaker:take this as a changing point to do something different,
Speaker:putting in more time posting in the same way isn't going
Speaker:to magically bring you results.
Speaker:You need to change the way you're posting and what you're
Speaker:posting. You don't need to put in more work.
Speaker:You need to put in the right work.
Speaker:That's when things will change.
Speaker:If you need some help with this,
Speaker:I've got you covered with the content for maker's program.
Speaker:Content for makers will enlighten you as to why your social
Speaker:media activities aren't converting into sales.
Speaker:It will also show you how to put less time in
Speaker:and start seeing activity that will increase your sales.
Speaker:Just imagine a day where you know exactly what to post
Speaker:and to get it done in five minutes or less,
Speaker:then you can spend your time interacting with potential customers,
Speaker:deepening relationships with those you already know too.
Speaker:And it builds upon itself naturally.
Speaker:Yes, this is possible.
Speaker:Content for makers includes a step-by-step strategy to formulating your unique
Speaker:plan based on your business and your products.
Speaker:Then you'll have 375 social media prompts over a full year
Speaker:of ideas.
Speaker:Along with the 375 prompts come 375 image suggestions.
Speaker:So you're not left hanging on the creative.
Speaker:These prompts and image suggestions can be used for all platforms
Speaker:and all types of posting images,
Speaker:streaming reels,
Speaker:even email direction,
Speaker:but that's not all posts aren't going to work.
Speaker:If the right people aren't seeing them.
Speaker:So you'll also receive a video and a worksheet on how
Speaker:to choose and use hashtags.
Speaker:This is a way to attract the right people who will
Speaker:become your customers.
Speaker:Most people are doing this wrong.
Speaker:There's more to content for makers to,
Speaker:to see all the details.
Speaker:Just jump over to gift biz,
Speaker:unwrapped.com forward slash content for makers.
Speaker:But honestly at only $27,
Speaker:it's a,
Speaker:no-brainer why carry on posting as you've been doing all along
Speaker:expecting different results.
Speaker:Sign up for content for makers now and see the transformation
Speaker:of your posting experience change before your very eyes gift biz
Speaker:on wrap.com
Speaker:forward slash content for makers ready and waiting for your immediate
Speaker:access. Right now,
Speaker:our guests today,
Speaker:I originally met at the Chicago,
Speaker:one of a kind show several years back now.
Speaker:So I got to see her in action before I got
Speaker:to know her on a more personal level.
Speaker:And let me tell you my friend,
Speaker:Debbie and I spent a lot of time in her booth
Speaker:since then,
Speaker:she's been an exhibitor at the at-home craft and gift show,
Speaker:and also reports to be back on the road at face-to-face
Speaker:shows. So that just reconfirms what I was talking about at
Speaker:the top of this podcast,
Speaker:you're going to love Sue's origin story,
Speaker:a business that started through a laundry mishap,
Speaker:even more you'll hear her growth plan,
Speaker:her wins and struggles and things that have kept her in
Speaker:the small business game for over 25 years.
Speaker:Let's get to our conversation right now today.
Speaker:I am so excited to introduce you to Sue burns of
Speaker:Baba Zuzu.
Speaker:Sue started her craft 26 years ago,
Speaker:due to a laundry error.
Speaker:You heard me write a laundry error retreat reduced sous beloved
Speaker:sweaters to a pile of carnage.
Speaker:What would've brought most to tears became a light bulb moment
Speaker:for Sue blending,
Speaker:her graphic design with her sewing skills.
Speaker:She refashioned the sweaters into new wearables and launched Baba Zuzu.
Speaker:The grant has grown into hats,
Speaker:mittens scarves bags,
Speaker:and more for men and women all made from post-consumer woolens.
Speaker:The last 25 plus years have been a whirlwind of growth,
Speaker:excitement, challenges,
Speaker:and brilliant ideas that have tested Sue's patients as well as
Speaker:rewarded her efforts.
Speaker:Sue says she's grateful for the learning curves that are part
Speaker:of the journey as an artist and an entrepreneur.
Speaker:And today we get to talk to her Sue,
Speaker:welcome to the gift biz on wrapped podcast.
Speaker:Hi, thank you for having me.
Speaker:I'm excited to share our story Today.
Speaker:I know it's such an original creative way you got into
Speaker:your business.
Speaker:So I can't wait to share it with everybody as well.
Speaker:Plus you already know,
Speaker:I love your products.
Speaker:I do know that.
Speaker:Thank you.
Speaker:But before we go any further,
Speaker:I want to have you introduce yourself in what's become a
Speaker:more creative,
Speaker:traditional way here on the show.
Speaker:And that is through a motivational candle to share with us
Speaker:what your candle would look like by color.
Speaker:And quote,
Speaker:Color is hard.
Speaker:I would say to narrow down to one color simply because
Speaker:I work with color all day long and I really am
Speaker:sort of forced to use everything.
Speaker:It doesn't mean I love them all,
Speaker:but I do find that I gravitate toward the warmer fall
Speaker:tones. So I would have a color that would kind of
Speaker:roll through,
Speaker:say olive greens and chest temp Browns and some deep oranges
Speaker:and golden yellows.
Speaker:But if I had to choose one,
Speaker:I would go of green.
Speaker:And I don't know why,
Speaker:but I just really am fond of olive green.
Speaker:Do you feel like your favorite color will change over the
Speaker:course of years?
Speaker:No, because I've been doing this so long and that still
Speaker:is what speaks to me.
Speaker:The loudest,
Speaker:I will say the one that I really can not resonate
Speaker:with ever is Navy blue and I don't know why,
Speaker:but we sell an awful lot of it throughout our product
Speaker:lines. So I really do embrace all of the colors.
Speaker:They just don't all go home with me.
Speaker:That's a good way of saying it.
Speaker:And that's so interesting.
Speaker:So because I never wear Navy or any shade of blue,
Speaker:really, maybe an Aqua from time to time.
Speaker:But I also am not a blue girl.
Speaker:I'm a total black girl,
Speaker:for sure.
Speaker:But anyway,
Speaker:so that's interesting.
Speaker:There were wardrobe,
Speaker:I would say black is just practical and easy.
Speaker:Yes, I agree.
Speaker:Okay. So we've got your really warm,
Speaker:toned otomy color candle and what would be the sane on
Speaker:the candle?
Speaker:Okay. So this is a favorite.
Speaker:If you shoot for the moon,
Speaker:even if you miss,
Speaker:you'll still be among the stars,
Speaker:love it.
Speaker:And what does that mean to you?
Speaker:It means to go for it,
Speaker:go all the way.
Speaker:And even if you don't get,
Speaker:as far as you think you've still gone somewhere,
Speaker:it was worth the while and wherever you've landed,
Speaker:there was some merit for being in there in that moment,
Speaker:in that place for you.
Speaker:So that's What I take from that.
Speaker:So taking the chance and shooting for the moon,
Speaker:you gotta,
Speaker:yeah. I love that.
Speaker:The big fear I have with people,
Speaker:especially within this community of makers is someone who thinks and
Speaker:thinks and thinks about starting a business and just never does
Speaker:because they're afraid they're standing in their own way.
Speaker:And so your quote reminds me of that.
Speaker:That's very drew and I would have to say,
Speaker:even throughout the progress of business,
Speaker:growing a business,
Speaker:each product,
Speaker:each time you try a product,
Speaker:you're back in the saddle.
Speaker:Again, you're still shooting for the moon with that one product
Speaker:that may or may not be well received.
Speaker:And it still is putting yourself out there and hoping that
Speaker:it is successful and the other people also gravitate toward it.
Speaker:So even every day in everything we do,
Speaker:I think that this little quote still applies.
Speaker:I would agree with you.
Speaker:I'm going to ask you a question a little bit later
Speaker:because it'll then be in more context,
Speaker:but I'm going to prepare you for it now of what
Speaker:product did you put out there that didn't work,
Speaker:but we're going to do that later.
Speaker:So that's a little teaser for me and everyone who's listening.
Speaker:Cause you probably already know your answer might be more than
Speaker:one. Okay.
Speaker:Well that's okay too.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:So I shared with everybody the start of your business,
Speaker:but tell us the story a little bit more in your
Speaker:own words,
Speaker:the light bulb moment of your sweaters that were now like
Speaker:the size for a doll.
Speaker:Right? So my husband who was being helpful and chipping in
Speaker:to help with the laundry happened to scoop up all of
Speaker:my wool sweaters and throw them in with a normal load
Speaker:of laundry.
Speaker:Like we all have done.
Speaker:However, it wasn't one favorite sweater.
Speaker:It was a lot.
Speaker:And of course they come out exactly.
Speaker:Like you said,
Speaker:Dallas thighs when nine years ago,
Speaker:our daughters were then three and six.
Speaker:So tiny.
Speaker:I grew up behind a sewing machine,
Speaker:literally. And graphic design was my background throughout college and a
Speaker:short stint with that.
Speaker:So I kind of blended the two.
Speaker:I took my graphic design,
Speaker:my visual skills,
Speaker:my sewing skills and the concept of the fact that they
Speaker:were little and looked like they'll fit little kids,
Speaker:but they're never quite right.
Speaker:I started to think if I just dismantled them and made
Speaker:the sleeves a little shorter,
Speaker:the fit would be better.
Speaker:Then I got to thinking that sleep,
Speaker:didn't have to go back on that sweater.
Speaker:And that's where our blend of color pattern and texture started.
Speaker:So it was really an evolution just to trial error.
Speaker:Absolutely. Yes.
Speaker:And the creations I made for our young daughters,
Speaker:then I did not plan to start a business with.
Speaker:It was merely to salvage what was ruined.
Speaker:And I had so many people asking where did I get
Speaker:them? How could they get one?
Speaker:And that was that light bulb moment.
Speaker:And I said,
Speaker:okay, there's a calling.
Speaker:Let's do this.
Speaker:Okay. So story check,
Speaker:you took that pile of sweaters after a few tears were
Speaker:probably shed,
Speaker:maybe some words spoken.
Speaker:I don't know.
Speaker:It's been so long.
Speaker:Yeah. So then you thought,
Speaker:well, you know,
Speaker:he didn't do it on purpose,
Speaker:but still the result is the same,
Speaker:all your sweaters that you liked.
Speaker:Right. So then you thought,
Speaker:okay, well they are the size that could fit my daughters.
Speaker:So let me see what I can do with them.
Speaker:That's when you got to making,
Speaker:piecing things together that would work,
Speaker:then people were asking you for them,
Speaker:which is because you were getting product validation before you were
Speaker:even thinking about any type of a business.
Speaker:And clearly nobody was doing this before.
Speaker:That's right.
Speaker:Yes. And that's just exactly where we started.
Speaker:So I had so many people asking and I thought,
Speaker:okay, well I think we have something here,
Speaker:a children's line naturally.
Speaker:And that's what I started with.
Speaker:And then that very first year that I was out marketing,
Speaker:these children's creations,
Speaker:I had so many adult women saying I would wear something
Speaker:like that.
Speaker:I don't have young children or grandchildren,
Speaker:but I would wear that.
Speaker:And I thought,
Speaker:okay, now I have a really big audience,
Speaker:an even bigger calling right now.
Speaker:However, what I'm shrinking now has to be supersized.
Speaker:Right? That's right.
Speaker:That was my first hurdle maybe.
Speaker:Oh my gosh.
Speaker:So before we get too far along and I know you've
Speaker:been in business for quite a while,
Speaker:so let's see how far back memory goes.
Speaker:Okay. Okay.
Speaker:When you decided you were going to start your business,
Speaker:did you see people interested in the product and it started
Speaker:promoting the idea for you?
Speaker:Or did someone come up and say to you,
Speaker:man, you should start a business.
Speaker:I would buy this from you.
Speaker:No, it really was people asking for it.
Speaker:And then kind of putting that together,
Speaker:like, okay.
Speaker:There appears to be a market for this.
Speaker:And I really liked what I had created.
Speaker:So I was all gung-ho to go ahead and chase That.
Speaker:So go for it and see what happens.
Speaker:That's right.
Speaker:Okay. And so then what was the very first step you
Speaker:did? So we've talked about,
Speaker:okay, so now the concept is here,
Speaker:people are interested and then you started talking about how now
Speaker:it wasn't just children,
Speaker:it was adults,
Speaker:but what did you actually do in that very beginning time
Speaker:to get your business started?
Speaker:So a couple of things.
Speaker:So with my business,
Speaker:I started my business.
Speaker:It didn't take a lot of startup money or space.
Speaker:So I started in my home in my basement and I
Speaker:just needed a sewing machine and I needed to buy used
Speaker:sweaters. Right.
Speaker:So that was pretty easy to do.
Speaker:I didn't have to go out and get a loan and
Speaker:set up a building and buy a lot of equipment and
Speaker:hire people on.
Speaker:So I started,
Speaker:it was just me with a little bit of equipment just
Speaker:shopping. And it started to grow kind of quickly in that
Speaker:first year of the children's,
Speaker:like I said,
Speaker:morphing that into women's one of the first things I did
Speaker:that kind of validated the fact that I was going into
Speaker:business was that I was approached by a rep.
Speaker:So a sales rep out of Chicago.
Speaker:And that was the first thing that made me feel like
Speaker:I was really like,
Speaker:this was real.
Speaker:So that was my real connection with selling to a retail
Speaker:stores in boutiques.
Speaker:Okay. And so where did this rep see your things?
Speaker:Were you doing shows already that first year I was Doing
Speaker:shows? However,
Speaker:it was somebody locally that had a boutique that thought that
Speaker:my product was really,
Speaker:and she thought this person would be a great rep for
Speaker:what I was producing.
Speaker:So it was a connection.
Speaker:So in the beginning,
Speaker:were you always thinking that you wanted to sell wholesale and
Speaker:have people stock your product in their shop?
Speaker:No, I really didn't.
Speaker:I probably didn't even know that that was a thing I
Speaker:was direct to consumer because the consumer approached me first.
Speaker:As soon as that notion was put in my head,
Speaker:my world got a little bigger and at the end we
Speaker:kind of just never stopped at the wholesale,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:that became really a focus for us.
Speaker:So you did make a switch at some point then from
Speaker:direct to consumer too wholesale,
Speaker:We really did to the point where,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:we blended the two types of marketing for quite some time,
Speaker:but we fell away from the direct to consumer just because
Speaker:our wholesale business girl lie.
Speaker:And we were plugging ourselves into a lot of venues over
Speaker:the years.
Speaker:We started to really push ourselves in that way.
Speaker:And I just feel like it really validated us as a
Speaker:business. However,
Speaker:we've morphed back into a lot of retail again,
Speaker:and we're back to blending both worlds and it's been good
Speaker:for us.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:So it sounds like over the course of the 25 or
Speaker:more years or so that the sales channel has changed,
Speaker:like first it was retail,
Speaker:then it went more to wholesale.
Speaker:You were blending,
Speaker:then now you're back to retail.
Speaker:So you've just kind of gone with what the signs are
Speaker:that feel right for the business based on where you're getting
Speaker:the business and probably also what feels right in terms of
Speaker:combining it with your production,
Speaker:whether you want to travel all of those things.
Speaker:Would that be a correct statement?
Speaker:Yeah. They're all big considerations.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:when you span almost three decades and business things change,
Speaker:you have to roll with that.
Speaker:So we've made those adaptions along the way,
Speaker:according to where those markets have maybe slimmed out or new
Speaker:opportunities. Like when we started,
Speaker:there was no worldwide web.
Speaker:And so we've just kind of plugged ourselves into places where
Speaker:we've needed to.
Speaker:And in the end we feel like there's merit to all
Speaker:of these venues.
Speaker:For instance,
Speaker:my wholesale stores.
Speaker:So many people know who we are because they found us
Speaker:in his store.
Speaker:I can't deny that that's a great way for us to
Speaker:continue to do business.
Speaker:And we continue to nurture those accounts and grow that area
Speaker:of our business.
Speaker:However, there are lots of places,
Speaker:little corners of the world that there aren't stores that carry
Speaker:us and people have heard of us or their friends wearing
Speaker:us, but they can't get it down the street so we
Speaker:can become available to people in other ways when we cannot
Speaker:be in your backyard.
Speaker:Yeah. I mean,
Speaker:that's the huge benefit that exists today.
Speaker:I'd say,
Speaker:because you've got the web,
Speaker:you can still go out to shows and you can still
Speaker:do wholesale and all of them somewhat play into each other
Speaker:and help each other.
Speaker:It's not just a one and only,
Speaker:all right.
Speaker:So I meant to ask you this way in beginning,
Speaker:and I have to ask you this,
Speaker:cause I don't think I ever heard this from you,
Speaker:but where did the name come from?
Speaker:It is so creative.
Speaker:Ha that is always a question.
Speaker:Zuzu is my nickname for SU and Baba is for the
Speaker:wool because everything we make is from reclaimed woolens.
Speaker:So it always is part of our conversation,
Speaker:which is great.
Speaker:I don't think that we really thought that would be,
Speaker:but it doesn't matter if we're at a show or someone
Speaker:walks into my little retail store here off the beaten path
Speaker:or you and I are talking,
Speaker:it's always part of our conversation and it's pretty neat.
Speaker:Yeah. It's very cool.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:So I think to help our listeners and for them to
Speaker:get as much out of the conversation as possible,
Speaker:let's talk about two different things.
Speaker:Let's talk about the retail side first,
Speaker:and then let's talk a little bit about wholesale and then
Speaker:I have a couple of just random questions for you.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:So direct to consumer.
Speaker:So that was what you started with way back when,
Speaker:before there was website,
Speaker:before you even knew about wholesale and the potential of getting
Speaker:your pieces into local boutiques,
Speaker:bigger, small,
Speaker:how did you start selling way?
Speaker:In the beginning,
Speaker:We would do a lot of holiday markets.
Speaker:A lot of like junior lewd shows,
Speaker:holiday markets at a point art fairs,
Speaker:that sort of thing,
Speaker:because we are an art full product.
Speaker:So that's really how we started.
Speaker:And that's kind of all that was available in terms of
Speaker:being direct to our consumer being right in their space.
Speaker:Did you have a good feel for who your consumer was?
Speaker:So in terms of being able to select the right shows
Speaker:or was there some trial there?
Speaker:I don't think so.
Speaker:Well, I think that we had a product that was so
Speaker:unique that people gravitated toward it.
Speaker:I feel like we had success no matter where we went,
Speaker:because we were pretty eye-popping we were artful in handmade.
Speaker:So certainly our price reflected that.
Speaker:So that might've been one thing we had to keep in
Speaker:mind is the types of shows we were doing.
Speaker:What was the consumer that would be strolling the show.
Speaker:Right. For sure.
Speaker:And so how has the evolution of the shows gone over
Speaker:the course of this whole time?
Speaker:Well, we still do a lot of holiday and art fairs.
Speaker:It just kind of depends on what our schedule is.
Speaker:Like. I mean,
Speaker:we really pack it in we're a fourth quarter business.
Speaker:We start in January making our product to sit on a
Speaker:shelf for a good eight to nine months and then rolling
Speaker:it out in the next three months is pretty challenging.
Speaker:So while we're in our busy,
Speaker:busy time of stacking our stores and maybe restocking our stores,
Speaker:it's also the time that we're doing those markets that are
Speaker:travel. So I sometimes don't know how we do it,
Speaker:but somehow we do.
Speaker:Yeah. So how many shows a year do you do approximately?
Speaker:Gosh, I'm looking at my chalkboard here.
Speaker:I still do a chalkboard.
Speaker:Don't look at last year.
Speaker:It was just,
Speaker:let's looking at this year.
Speaker:This is current.
Speaker:No. And they asked her,
Speaker:we packed some into honestly,
Speaker:so, oh,
Speaker:I'm looking at 10 that are pretty local with the exception
Speaker:of a few that are out of state.
Speaker:So those are those art fairs and a few of the
Speaker:holiday shows there.
Speaker:In addition to that,
Speaker:we do the wholesale trade shows.
Speaker:So typically we would be in New York for the New
Speaker:York now and give show twice a year.
Speaker:That would be January and again,
Speaker:August we also do the Philadelphia used to be the buyer's
Speaker:market of American craft.
Speaker:Now all these shows have changed names so many times.
Speaker:And so recently American handcrafted.
Speaker:So that's the Philly show that's always in February.
Speaker:And then we've always done the American craft council,
Speaker:Baltimore show,
Speaker:which also lines up with that.
Speaker:So essentially the month of February,
Speaker:we go to the east coast and we stay out there
Speaker:for a month and we do all of those shows.
Speaker:You are one travel donkey,
Speaker:For sure.
Speaker:Yeah. You could say so it's part of it.
Speaker:And you know,
Speaker:we enjoy that as much as we enjoy staying right here
Speaker:and creating.
Speaker:So, so your year is made out of going to the
Speaker:shows. Then when the shows aren't in progress,
Speaker:you're really producing and creating,
Speaker:but then the real big sales thrust is at the end
Speaker:of the year and of third and fourth quarter.
Speaker:You're absolutely right.
Speaker:Yes. Talk a little bit about the shows in terms of
Speaker:tips or things that you've seen work best in your booth.
Speaker:Well, I Obviously your presentations,
Speaker:so your booth design is really important and I think accessibility
Speaker:to your product for us,
Speaker:everything has to be able to be touched,
Speaker:maybe try it on a mirror,
Speaker:like making it easy for people to fall in love with
Speaker:what you do.
Speaker:Half of that is being able to touch it and maybe
Speaker:try it on.
Speaker:So I think those two things are really important.
Speaker:I love my customer base.
Speaker:I absolutely love interaction with my customers.
Speaker:So I just love the platform of being able to talk
Speaker:directly to my customers.
Speaker:So I think attitude and just some confidence,
Speaker:which I wouldn't say I had in the very beginning for
Speaker:anybody. Who's just starting.
Speaker:It's hard to put yourself out there and hope that everybody
Speaker:receives you as well as you want them to.
Speaker:Probably they will.
Speaker:But in the beginning,
Speaker:it's a hard place to throw yourself,
Speaker:but don't let that scare you.
Speaker:No, no,
Speaker:no. Well,
Speaker:I will tell you that it's very apparent that you enjoy
Speaker:people. You enjoy talking,
Speaker:sharing what I'll say,
Speaker:quote, unquote,
Speaker:working your booth.
Speaker:You're not showing up as if it's your job.
Speaker:You're showing up that you really enjoy it.
Speaker:But I'm also going to say for people who have a
Speaker:product like yours,
Speaker:where you're talking about,
Speaker:like they have to make a selection,
Speaker:they want to try it on.
Speaker:They want to see how it would fit.
Speaker:Mirrors are really important,
Speaker:as you said,
Speaker:because you can see that it fits,
Speaker:but you want to see how you look in it.
Speaker:Why I was starting to talk about all of that is
Speaker:it makes someone who feels like they are an,
Speaker:and that it would be harder to talk.
Speaker:It gives you something to talk about because with you you'll
Speaker:say, well,
Speaker:you gravitating more to the autumn colors or do you like
Speaker:bright colors?
Speaker:Or do you like more of the black,
Speaker:white, gray blend?
Speaker:Like you're talking about a product which makes it so much
Speaker:easier to interact with them.
Speaker:Yeah, I would agree.
Speaker:And I think also now you're taking the focus off from
Speaker:you and you're putting it onto the customer.
Speaker:Like what color do you like?
Speaker:Or we have five hit styles here,
Speaker:which one speaks to you?
Speaker:What are you looking for in a hat for fit?
Speaker:Or this is a really feminine style.
Speaker:This one's a little sportier.
Speaker:Like suddenly you can get the customer talking about themselves and
Speaker:you can take that information and apply it to your sales
Speaker:technique in which product you would sell to that person.
Speaker:Right. Is there anything that you've learned over time and working
Speaker:in your booth,
Speaker:that would be a key tip.
Speaker:Like I'm thinking signage or something about displays or how much
Speaker:inventory you have are like,
Speaker:are there any tips in that arena again,
Speaker:We've been at it so long and we've changed so much,
Speaker:I guess,
Speaker:because some things don't work as well as others,
Speaker:but yeah,
Speaker:signage is really important.
Speaker:There were periods of time where we didn't have signage or
Speaker:we didn't have good signage And signage with what the product
Speaker:is or pricing.
Speaker:Or when you say signage,
Speaker:what are you thinking there?
Speaker:I guess I'm talking about our brand because after a while
Speaker:we did become a brand and people knew our name.
Speaker:And so we felt it was really important.
Speaker:If someone were walking down an aisle that from a distance,
Speaker:they could see our logo and our name.
Speaker:So that became important to us.
Speaker:Oh, To make that very visible within the booth,
Speaker:you mean?
Speaker:Yes. So a customer who is familiar with your brand and
Speaker:maybe your logo and your name sees that and says,
Speaker:oh my gosh,
Speaker:they're with their friend.
Speaker:Oh my gosh,
Speaker:those bounces that we got to go down there or here's
Speaker:the thing I'll tell you,
Speaker:like, not booth,
Speaker:but like I said,
Speaker:we have a retail store.
Speaker:We're off the beaten path here where we are in Northern
Speaker:Michigan. And we have some of the pure Michigan signs that
Speaker:are out on our highway,
Speaker:beautiful and 22 corridor.
Speaker:And it's a directional sign that tells you where we are.
Speaker:Lots of people will go by that sign.
Speaker:And they're like,
Speaker:oh honey,
Speaker:there's that?
Speaker:Barboza that had I bought in Des Moines,
Speaker:Iowa, they're up the road here.
Speaker:No idea.
Speaker:Or we get people who pass our sign and go,
Speaker:what is that?
Speaker:We have got to go find Out because the name is
Speaker:so new,
Speaker:unique. Yeah.
Speaker:And whether,
Speaker:you know it or not,
Speaker:whether you know the name and you can connect with that
Speaker:or you don't,
Speaker:and they're curious about who you are because of your name.
Speaker:I think that's been important for us,
Speaker:the signage.
Speaker:And then as far as you were asking,
Speaker:maybe about like signage for styles or pricing,
Speaker:we always do pricing because you know what,
Speaker:when you're busy and you have 30 people on your booth
Speaker:or whatever,
Speaker:nobody wants to wait to ask.
Speaker:So we try to make things like that,
Speaker:a parent.
Speaker:And then I feel like I do want to interact with
Speaker:my customers.
Speaker:Maybe we leave a little bit of things to question like
Speaker:the hat styles.
Speaker:I expect to engage with my customer all the time.
Speaker:So if there are some questions laughed or because I haven't
Speaker:put signage or something,
Speaker:like, I think it's important to have the interaction with the
Speaker:customer. So do you intentionally leave a little bit of something
Speaker:out so that they'll talk with you?
Speaker:I don't know that I leave anything out,
Speaker:but maybe our product does take some explaining.
Speaker:So we have like a half dozen hat styles.
Speaker:We have three different types of mittens down to different types
Speaker:of fingerless gloves.
Speaker:We have,
Speaker:I don't know,
Speaker:a half dozen different scars.
Speaker:I feel like they all take some explaining and you've maybe
Speaker:you got well mittens or mittens.
Speaker:Well, there are things that are different.
Speaker:Maybe about our mittens are two types of fingerless gloves.
Speaker:And I couldn't put all that into written words.
Speaker:I feel like it takes some explaining.
Speaker:And the other thing is demonstrating.
Speaker:There were some of our products that I can sell hand
Speaker:over fist all day long because I put it on.
Speaker:And I think you have to be willing to do that.
Speaker:I was going to get to that.
Speaker:I'm so glad you said that because you always are wearing
Speaker:something of yours.
Speaker:Yes. And you know,
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:that's tough because if I made an indoor venue,
Speaker:I can't because we're outdoor,
Speaker:but I will take anything and put it on.
Speaker:If I'm at an art show and it's 90 degrees out,
Speaker:I will put a hoodie scar fun because somebody's asking about
Speaker:it. And all I have to do is show how it
Speaker:works and I'd probably have a customer.
Speaker:Yeah. I think that's true.
Speaker:But demonstrate,
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:that's almost signage in and of itself,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:actually wearing the product.
Speaker:Yes. The thing like a website,
Speaker:you don't have the opportunity to do what I was just
Speaker:explaining. So when you're in that place and space where you
Speaker:can do that,
Speaker:you had to take advantage of that.
Speaker:I agree with you totally let's stick with direct to consumer
Speaker:for a second.
Speaker:What happened when you had an opportunity now to go online,
Speaker:enter in the game,
Speaker:changing worldwide web.
Speaker:Sue's going to share with us how she integrated this into
Speaker:our business,
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Speaker:in the beginning,
Speaker:our Wholesalers,
Speaker:our stores that we sold to were especially unhappy about that.
Speaker:It was a really challenging transition.
Speaker:And as you can imagine,
Speaker:because it's been really tough for the retail industry to go
Speaker:to battle with online sales.
Speaker:So it was tough for us to kind of mollycoddle our
Speaker:customers and go into this new way of selling though.
Speaker:We absolutely had to,
Speaker:we could not ignore that there's a customer over here.
Speaker:And we had to be part of this evolution and this
Speaker:new way that our old way was still so important to
Speaker:us. So the first thing that we did was we put
Speaker:our website on our hang tags one year,
Speaker:that year that we had a website.
Speaker:And I remember some of our stores were really pretty outraged
Speaker:and oh,
Speaker:they would come back to me and they'd say,
Speaker:I'm going to tell you right now that the second we
Speaker:get your product in,
Speaker:we cut that part of your hang tag off right away.
Speaker:So I knew it was a tough road,
Speaker:but it also was a new time for everyone.
Speaker:So in that period of time,
Speaker:and there was all this resistance here,
Speaker:we are fast forward now,
Speaker:15 years or 20 years.
Speaker:And there isn't anybody in the world that wouldn't have a
Speaker:product without a website.
Speaker:Right. It was kind of some rough water there.
Speaker:Yeah. I mean,
Speaker:you could see,
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:there are definitely feeling that it's threatening their ability to sell
Speaker:your product too.
Speaker:But I would imagine like once they actually got going,
Speaker:I mean your product,
Speaker:because they're all one of a kind for the most part
Speaker:and every one of them is just a little bit different.
Speaker:There is such an advantage of picking out that exact one
Speaker:that you want in person.
Speaker:And that was our selling point.
Speaker:That's what our kind of rebuttal was.
Speaker:Look, I understand your frustration,
Speaker:but I will tell you that the 12 pair of mittens
Speaker:that are coming to your store September 15th are the only
Speaker:12 pair that looked like that.
Speaker:So I think that smooth things over a little bit for
Speaker:us and other people didn't have the same luxury,
Speaker:but it piece some and not so much of those.
Speaker:And then time softened that.
Speaker:Yeah. And you're right.
Speaker:Time did soften that and now we're all used to it.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:it's just accepted,
Speaker:but it's a good example of the way business changes and
Speaker:evolves and you have to accommodate and adjust with it,
Speaker:I guess I'd say.
Speaker:Yes. All right.
Speaker:So you have also been an exhibitor at the at-home craft
Speaker:and gift show.
Speaker:That's right.
Speaker:So this whole new segment of opportunity,
Speaker:and I'm actually calling this too.
Speaker:I don't know if you,
Speaker:and I've had this conversation,
Speaker:maybe we have,
Speaker:but I'm really feeling like these virtual shows are a category
Speaker:unto themselves.
Speaker:So there obviously it's a direct to consumer.
Speaker:So it would either be instead of going into someone's store
Speaker:or going to a show or online,
Speaker:like I'm looking at this as not just an option as
Speaker:a different version of a craft show,
Speaker:I'm looking at it as something entirely different.
Speaker:I'd love for you to share with us your experience.
Speaker:You were in the December show,
Speaker:the holiday show,
Speaker:cause you already told us you're a seasonal product with all
Speaker:of that wall.
Speaker:And it would be great to hear because you've had a
Speaker:lot of experience with all different types of shows.
Speaker:So share with us a little bit about what happened for
Speaker:you at the at-home show.
Speaker:Okay. So the highlight of that show for us was the
Speaker:fact that there was a live portion of the show.
Speaker:So I'll just have to back up a little bit to
Speaker:COVID and what that did to us as far as shows,
Speaker:which is no surprise,
Speaker:they were all canceled and immediately some of the art fairs
Speaker:that we would do,
Speaker:and especially all of our wholesale shows started to offer virtual
Speaker:shows, which we thought was a great,
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:what are we going to do?
Speaker:It's all there is.
Speaker:And one of the venues for a wholesale virtual show,
Speaker:they have been in the tech,
Speaker:I guess,
Speaker:tech, digital marketing for quite some time.
Speaker:And I was sure they would have a live portion of
Speaker:the show.
Speaker:I was so disappointed when they didn't,
Speaker:all of those shows have yielded little to no results.
Speaker:And I was so excited about the at-home show because of
Speaker:that live portion.
Speaker:And it just felt like all the things I've been talking
Speaker:about about being able to interact with our customer became available.
Speaker:Again, even though we had to be remote,
Speaker:we could be in touch with people.
Speaker:So I had people call during the show.
Speaker:They came into our booth,
Speaker:virtually came in.
Speaker:So they're live on my screen.
Speaker:They bought my product for years.
Speaker:They were from out east,
Speaker:but they've never met me.
Speaker:They've never been to a show that I've been at now,
Speaker:suddenly somebody who knows me because they bought my product maybe
Speaker:at a store and they're loyal to my product.
Speaker:They love it.
Speaker:They bought it off my website.
Speaker:They were so delighted to be able to meet me as
Speaker:if we were standing in my 10 by 10 booth somewhere.
Speaker:I think that that is such a valuable tool to any
Speaker:digital marketing and digital shows that will happen or virtual shows
Speaker:that will happen.
Speaker:That live portion is just it's essential.
Speaker:Yeah. It's really key.
Speaker:It was so fun with you and your product specifically too,
Speaker:because of course I did my share shopping and we could
Speaker:go through and I could say,
Speaker:oh, for my son.
Speaker:And then you could ask me,
Speaker:and then you could show me,
Speaker:like you just held up because remember,
Speaker:and I'm talking to people who are listening now,
Speaker:not used to obviously,
Speaker:but all of Sue's products look different.
Speaker:You can hold up then Sue,
Speaker:like, okay,
Speaker:well, do you think he'd like this pair and you show
Speaker:me the left and the right hand glove or this pair,
Speaker:right. Left-hand glove.
Speaker:And then I'd say,
Speaker:oh, I like the ones on the right.
Speaker:And you say,
Speaker:okay, so olden,
Speaker:you would start making me my pile of things.
Speaker:Yes. So it was a really experience,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:how we talk about how retail shops now it's all about
Speaker:experience. This was kind of like being in an online retail
Speaker:shop combined,
Speaker:because I was looking at you,
Speaker:you were showing me pieces that were available.
Speaker:I was making decisions was kind of like that.
Speaker:Okay. You were putting them at the checkout counter.
Speaker:For me.
Speaker:It really Was the closest thing to being in a store
Speaker:or a booth for me as well.
Speaker:It just really,
Speaker:really did emulate that experience.
Speaker:Wonderful. And I know you're going to be there this coming
Speaker:year too.
Speaker:Right? The holiday show.
Speaker:I am yes.
Speaker:One more time.
Speaker:So anyone who wants to see Sue's things it's going to
Speaker:be end of November,
Speaker:December, you'll definitely want to come.
Speaker:That's the at home craft and gift show.
Speaker:We're looking forward to it.
Speaker:Yeah. We've already talked a lot on the podcast about that
Speaker:show. So we're not going to go into more of that.
Speaker:Now. I want to continue on with your story because I
Speaker:see my list of questions and I see the time going
Speaker:by. So let's talk a little bit just to address your
Speaker:wholesale portion of the business.
Speaker:So at what point did that enter in,
Speaker:if you were thinking number of years in,
Speaker:when did you start selling wholesale?
Speaker:So Probably two years in,
Speaker:we hooked up with that rep out of Chicago,
Speaker:as I explained to you.
Speaker:And then we had a friend in a local store,
Speaker:he had a gift store and he attended what was then,
Speaker:as I said,
Speaker:the buyer's market of American craft in Philadelphia,
Speaker:which was all handcrafted American made products.
Speaker:And we thought that would be a good fit for us.
Speaker:So we put that on our list.
Speaker:I guess we juried in,
Speaker:we got into that show and I always say that show
Speaker:was the gateway to wholesale business for us.
Speaker:We just had immediate success.
Speaker:All of the top galleries in the country attended that show.
Speaker:And it was,
Speaker:oh my gosh,
Speaker:those were the days like they say,
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:it was shoulder to shoulder buyers,
Speaker:the enthusiasm and our product was just so fresh and do,
Speaker:and there was nothing like it.
Speaker:Like I said,
Speaker:our success out of the starting gate was pretty immediate.
Speaker:We were lucky for that.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:we continued there for years and then we started to add
Speaker:things like the New York now.
Speaker:And we would be in their American made handcrafted section.
Speaker:And we just grew into other formats or venues that catered
Speaker:to that as we grew our production About any adjustments you
Speaker:had to make in the business to accommodate wholesale,
Speaker:like pricing or production,
Speaker:anything on that end because We started with our children's wear.
Speaker:And then we almost,
Speaker:at the time that we morphed into the adult,
Speaker:we had started off with our connection in Chicago and we
Speaker:had our wholesale pricing we started with right away.
Speaker:So I think that that's always hard though.
Speaker:I think that pricing your own product is very hard.
Speaker:I think you get scared of pricing yourself out of the
Speaker:market. You want your cut yourself.
Speaker:We deal with it.
Speaker:Even still today we go,
Speaker:how much can you sell a pair of mittens for?
Speaker:So the price of polar tech going up like crazy,
Speaker:our liner,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:that labor is always going up.
Speaker:We have employees that have been here for a good long
Speaker:time. We have to reward them for that.
Speaker:So I would say pricing is always really hard,
Speaker:especially when you have to jump your price for the same
Speaker:product that gets tough.
Speaker:I'm not the only one.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:everybody has to do that.
Speaker:I think that's a hard place in wholesale,
Speaker:but again,
Speaker:the number of years we've been at it where you get
Speaker:wiser and you do what you have to do.
Speaker:Yeah. You know,
Speaker:it sounds like you didn't have too much of a struggle
Speaker:cause you were instilled a little bit product development because you
Speaker:were also now creating an adult line,
Speaker:correct me if I'm wrong,
Speaker:but you weren't having as much of a comparison to past
Speaker:products because you didn't have a full established line of adult
Speaker:yet you were still in the develop,
Speaker:right. You're exactly right.
Speaker:Yes. Yeah.
Speaker:But it's something that I think everyone,
Speaker:if you're thinking about eventually your interest is doing wholesale because
Speaker:some people,
Speaker:it isn't,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:it's a whole different animal.
Speaker:It's a whole different way of running business.
Speaker:It puts different pressures on different areas of the business.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:employees with production.
Speaker:If you're running a lot,
Speaker:the pricing is different.
Speaker:It's just a different animal.
Speaker:You can do one or the other or both.
Speaker:There's lots of options there.
Speaker:Yeah. You know,
Speaker:we wouldn't dream of omitting either.
Speaker:I just think that we see value in all of the
Speaker:ways that we market and sell our products.
Speaker:That's good input,
Speaker:really good.
Speaker:But having that plan and thinking about that and considering those
Speaker:different avenues upfront,
Speaker:and then you don't get caught with pricing.
Speaker:Like if you price too low,
Speaker:direct to consumer,
Speaker:and then you have a wholesale opportunity,
Speaker:then your pricing is going to be way off.
Speaker:If you didn't plan for it initially.
Speaker:Yes. And obviously you don't want to undercut your retailers.
Speaker:And I know some people make the mistake of doing that.
Speaker:Maybe some people starting out.
Speaker:So it is really important to set your price so that
Speaker:if you expect to get into wholesale,
Speaker:you have the buffer to do that.
Speaker:Right. The other thing I would say that's really important with
Speaker:wholesale business is on-time delivery.
Speaker:We just have never not delivered on time.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:you will burn a bridge so fast.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:you are better off saying you can't have those for three
Speaker:months, then you can have at one month from now and
Speaker:not until the ring.
Speaker:So be really fair to yourself about what you will promise.
Speaker:And if you can deliver that promise,
Speaker:that's Really good input for sure.
Speaker:So what role does social media play in your business?
Speaker:So I would say a lot and I am not a
Speaker:big social media fan.
Speaker:Like the tone of your voice when you said that.
Speaker:Well, You know why?
Speaker:Because I feel like it's a big time consumer and I
Speaker:don't have that kind of time.
Speaker:So honestly I pay someone to do mine and it's not
Speaker:inexpensive, but I feel like we cannot live without it for
Speaker:a while.
Speaker:This is why I said that the way I said it
Speaker:for the longest time,
Speaker:I feel like we spend money and there's no way to
Speaker:what it does for us.
Speaker:So what that you get likes or do you know what
Speaker:I mean?
Speaker:So what that you have followers,
Speaker:does it transfer to dollars?
Speaker:And it is really hard to say that it does or
Speaker:doesn't. So for me,
Speaker:the girl that I use or the marketing team that I
Speaker:use, she does a lot more than that for us.
Speaker:So not only does she post on our Instagram and Facebook
Speaker:is what we use.
Speaker:Not only does she does our post three times a week,
Speaker:she actually comes and chooses the product.
Speaker:She finds models,
Speaker:she styles shots in the models.
Speaker:And so if it were me and I were directing my
Speaker:own social marketing,
Speaker:I would be the girl in every shot because where am
Speaker:I going to get a model every three days?
Speaker:And I would be in front of the red barn,
Speaker:outside of my facility.
Speaker:So I just felt like even if it didn't turn into
Speaker:direct dollars,
Speaker:I was getting something over here.
Speaker:And then I had this beautiful photo library that I could
Speaker:use for lots of other marketing.
Speaker:So I feel like I had to make it work for
Speaker:me in more ways than just what we know to be
Speaker:Facebook and Instagram postings.
Speaker:And then last year,
Speaker:again, with all of our crazy changes,
Speaker:I had her do a Facebook advertising campaign for us that
Speaker:was super successful.
Speaker:And if you want to details for me,
Speaker:I couldn't tell you because I don't understand all of that,
Speaker:but I feel better about social marketing than I used to
Speaker:in terms of money spent.
Speaker:So I'm more of a believer,
Speaker:but I think it's hard to throw money at that and
Speaker:feel okay about it in terms of what will come back
Speaker:at you for that.
Speaker:Well, when you start doing ads,
Speaker:then you're able to measure much better.
Speaker:Correct? I think it's the evolution of social overall too,
Speaker:because social initially was free.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:all you did was post.
Speaker:You could get a lot of attention for nothing and all
Speaker:of that has now changed.
Speaker:And so now you have to do ads,
Speaker:but before social media,
Speaker:we would put money in promoting through newspapers years,
Speaker:talking about outdoor,
Speaker:that you do all different types of things.
Speaker:So it's just another version of that.
Speaker:And once you spend start doing ads,
Speaker:then you can track.
Speaker:And like you,
Speaker:I see success with Facebook ads and you know,
Speaker:and I just look at it as it's just a different
Speaker:way to promote your business.
Speaker:You've got to get people out there seeing what you're doing
Speaker:before they can even think of making a purchase,
Speaker:whether it's driving them to your website,
Speaker:driving them to a show you're going to be at selling
Speaker:directly through the platforms,
Speaker:all of that.
Speaker:Yeah. In the last year we switched over to the Shopify
Speaker:website platform.
Speaker:My favorite there's So much information behind the scenes there about
Speaker:where your sales are coming from and or your visitors on
Speaker:your site.
Speaker:And so again,
Speaker:we were able to track our Facebook or Instagram sales or
Speaker:website visitors,
Speaker:and I felt more comfortable about throwing money at it when
Speaker:I could really see what it was doing for us.
Speaker:Right. I mean,
Speaker:this has been a common challenge,
Speaker:even through the huge brands that spend millions and millions of
Speaker:dollars, you know,
Speaker:and people trying to justify their positions in the beginning,
Speaker:when there'd be social media departments,
Speaker:it's like,
Speaker:okay, we're spending all this money.
Speaker:We've hired you,
Speaker:you're spending weeks.
Speaker:How do we track it back?
Speaker:Like what portion of the sales is attributable to that?
Speaker:And I mean,
Speaker:it continues to be a challenge.
Speaker:So I agree with you you're right on with your assessment
Speaker:with that.
Speaker:Yeah. I'm happy to be a little bit on the other
Speaker:side of it because yeah.
Speaker:You heard me start out with the hesitation and yeah,
Speaker:No, it was cute.
Speaker:I had to call it out cause it was just so
Speaker:cute. It was fun.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:when The girl that we work with,
Speaker:when we approached her,
Speaker:I just said flat out,
Speaker:I was like,
Speaker:I just have to tell you hands down.
Speaker:I am a skeptic,
Speaker:but here I am sell me Well.
Speaker:And she clearly did that.
Speaker:So that's awesome.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:We have to approach this one other question that we were
Speaker:talking about earlier,
Speaker:I'm dying to know and one or two or whatever you
Speaker:want to respond to this,
Speaker:let's talk about one of the products that you put out
Speaker:in the market that you saw,
Speaker:just wasn't going to get traction.
Speaker:Give us one of those stories.
Speaker:Okay. So I probably did this,
Speaker:not once,
Speaker:not twice,
Speaker:but three times a spring line.
Speaker:So we're all winter.
Speaker:And I actually,
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:yesterday I had a phone call from somebody.
Speaker:Do we make a spring jacket?
Speaker:And I tried it three different ways and failure,
Speaker:failure, failure.
Speaker:So, you know,
Speaker:I just couldn't find things that would resonate with what we
Speaker:are known for,
Speaker:which is wool,
Speaker:winter, and recycled.
Speaker:And I tried recycled kimonos.
Speaker:I tried recycled upholstery sample fabrics.
Speaker:It just didn't resonate with our customer.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:it was a flop every single time.
Speaker:And I,
Speaker:at this point and not really unhappy about that,
Speaker:I'm thrilled because I never have to say yes to that
Speaker:again. Right.
Speaker:You could ask me all day long to do is bring
Speaker:nine. And I would tell you no with ease.
Speaker:So I'm happy to be in that place.
Speaker:And that's sometimes what failure or little non successes that's sometimes
Speaker:what they're for is to get you back on track or
Speaker:I'm happy to say I tried it and I don't have
Speaker:to go there again.
Speaker:Yeah, strategically it would make sense if there is a hole
Speaker:in your year of selling and you could fill it with
Speaker:a product with your existing audience,
Speaker:why would you not try and do that?
Speaker:Absolutely. If people had loved it,
Speaker:if they had eaten it up,
Speaker:I would be so happy to be turning.
Speaker:I say,
Speaker:I wouldn't be happy though.
Speaker:I didn't love doing it as much as I love what
Speaker:we do,
Speaker:but I would do it,
Speaker:but you're absolutely right.
Speaker:I would do it if people were clamoring for it.
Speaker:But now,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:people are very clear in what you offer,
Speaker:right? There's no question about what you offer.
Speaker:And if you had a spring line,
Speaker:it would a little bit dilute the brand that you have
Speaker:now, You know,
Speaker:and honestly it did.
Speaker:It took us away from that.
Speaker:And you know,
Speaker:in hindsight it wasn't the best direction for us to go
Speaker:in. But like I said,
Speaker:we had to try it more than once.
Speaker:And the results not working was probably the best thing for
Speaker:you. As you said,
Speaker:you tried it now.
Speaker:You can be very clear that that is not a direction
Speaker:for you.
Speaker:So now you can be true,
Speaker:solid, streamlined,
Speaker:focused on what you're doing.
Speaker:Absolutely recognizing exactly what time of the year is for sales.
Speaker:What time of the year is for more production.
Speaker:What time of the year is going out to trade shows
Speaker:to get your product into the stores in time for your
Speaker:sales period?
Speaker:Like all of that is so clean and clear.
Speaker:Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker:You're right.
Speaker:The breakdown of how you put that as exactly how we
Speaker:break down our time in a calendar year.
Speaker:So yes.
Speaker:Beautiful. Wonderful.
Speaker:So give us peek into what you think the future holds
Speaker:for you.
Speaker:Oh boy,
Speaker:It's not a spring line.
Speaker:I can tell you that.
Speaker:I think just Expanding our markets,
Speaker:I feel like we have a pretty good product line size,
Speaker:so almost 50 products.
Speaker:And I would like to see us in more markets and
Speaker:I'm not really sure with the wholesale industry is pretty challenging
Speaker:right now,
Speaker:as far as growing into that.
Speaker:Not sure how to do that,
Speaker:but I know that in our digital marketing and sales will
Speaker:continue. We put into place some new tools last year that
Speaker:were really successful for us.
Speaker:I'm excited to see those take off and drive more website
Speaker:traffic to us.
Speaker:If you recall,
Speaker:the Bernie Sanders mittens.
Speaker:Yep. That Thing did wonders for us.
Speaker:Paperwork, Googling sweater mittens,
Speaker:and our girl that monitors our website does our SEO does
Speaker:a great job.
Speaker:And she has us out there front and center and people
Speaker:landed on our site and I'm telling you our sales in
Speaker:January and February and half of March were like December all
Speaker:over again.
Speaker:And I know that's where they stemmed from.
Speaker:So we grew our audience.
Speaker:Most of those contacts,
Speaker:they were first-time buyers.
Speaker:And four days later we were shipping to them again.
Speaker:And seven days later,
Speaker:they be taking another shipment.
Speaker:So I love expanding our customer base and getting our product
Speaker:out there further.
Speaker:We probably don't have any new products this year.
Speaker:We had a couple of pieces last year that we didn't
Speaker:get a chance to throw out there.
Speaker:So they're a little bit new to our customer base this
Speaker:year. It's tough for us to come up with completely new
Speaker:product. When we are breaking down the post-consumer sweaters that we
Speaker:use, we have a lot of limitations.
Speaker:So we're cutting around arm holes and side scenes.
Speaker:And it's not like yards of fabric on a roll.
Speaker:The sky's not the limit.
Speaker:So when we kind of tool a way to break down
Speaker:those sweaters into our new product,
Speaker:it takes a lot to get that product or that process
Speaker:into place.
Speaker:So completely new product is tough for us.
Speaker:We try to come out with one or two things a
Speaker:year. We hardly retire anything every,
Speaker:and then something is slow and we'll take it off from
Speaker:our list of things.
Speaker:But then our line grows pretty big and it's kind of
Speaker:hard to continue to make an all of our color ways
Speaker:and right.
Speaker:No, I mean,
Speaker:what I'm hearing from you is you're staying in your lane.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:you know what you offer,
Speaker:couple of style variations are fine.
Speaker:Still every single piece is unique unto itself.
Speaker:Anyway, even if it's the same basic pattern of how the
Speaker:size is and everything.
Speaker:So you almost have a built in uniqueness.
Speaker:Every single piece is different.
Speaker:Yeah. I mean coffee,
Speaker:cause we want to stay fresh with our customers.
Speaker:However, there are things like,
Speaker:okay, so they are fingerless gloves,
Speaker:which is our number one seller alongside of our mittens.
Speaker:People will come into our store and say,
Speaker:oh my gosh,
Speaker:I'm buying my sips pair of these.
Speaker:And we feel like,
Speaker:oh, we need to offer a different styles.
Speaker:So we do,
Speaker:we have a second style.
Speaker:But with other things it's tough.
Speaker:Like our mittens,
Speaker:you can't add a second thumb and call it a new
Speaker:style, but we've done little things like we offer our classic.
Speaker:Woman's now with the option of a buckskin Palm for driving.
Speaker:And that's another thing a lot of our customers ask for
Speaker:something. And when we hear it enough,
Speaker:we know it's go time to maybe try something or it
Speaker:spawns a new idea.
Speaker:So we get a lot of our ideas from customers that
Speaker:we run with.
Speaker:And that is one of them.
Speaker:The other thing is we have a nice little men's line.
Speaker:Guys were coming in all the time.
Speaker:What about us?
Speaker:And we're like,
Speaker:what about them?
Speaker:Why don't we do so we can make some small,
Speaker:like you said,
Speaker:adjustments to some of our products to expand our line without
Speaker:it being too much of a challenge,
Speaker:Right? You're staying true to the product and what people know
Speaker:you for.
Speaker:You're just making some adjustments within the whole product range.
Speaker:Correct. And you know,
Speaker:I would say over the course of our time,
Speaker:our practice has just gotten better,
Speaker:more better made.
Speaker:And our quality is just really top notch.
Speaker:And not that we didn't always sell a good product,
Speaker:but we're always looking for ways to tweak the quality and
Speaker:the fit.
Speaker:So even little things like that,
Speaker:little changes that don't make it a completely new product,
Speaker:we feel we've made it a better product.
Speaker:Well, I can endorse the product quality for sure.
Speaker:Thank you.
Speaker:If people who are listening want to go check out your
Speaker:products, where would you send them?
Speaker:So we are@babazuzu.com
Speaker:and that's B a B a Z U Z u.com.
Speaker:You can check in with us right here and ask if
Speaker:there's somebody who sells our product in your backyard.
Speaker:We had to do a little zip code check here,
Speaker:but we're having to do that for you.
Speaker:We also have an Amazon store and an Etsy store,
Speaker:so you can find us there under
Well, Sue,
Speaker:thank you so much.
Speaker:I really appreciate you being on the show,
Speaker:pulling back the curtain a little bit and letting us see
Speaker:what goes on at Baba Zuzu from start to where you
Speaker:are now.
Speaker:That's the opportunity.
Speaker:Good stuff.
Speaker:Yes. I talk in my makers MBA program about,
Speaker:you need to make sure that your product and business practices
Speaker:stay relevant with the times Sue's leadership and direction of the
Speaker:bapa Zuzu brand is a perfect demonstration of this next week.
Speaker:I'm taking you to the movies,
Speaker:think the Sundance channel and HBO,
Speaker:any ideas on what the topic is.
Speaker:Find out.
Speaker:First thing Monday morning,
Speaker:when this episode goes live,
Speaker:I'm also curious,
Speaker:how do you like my Thursday tips and talk segment?
Speaker:I can't believe that they've been earring for over four months
Speaker:already. Gosh,
Speaker:does time fly by comments on this topics that you'd like
Speaker:me to cover DME over on Instagram at gift biz on
Speaker:wrapped with your thoughts?
Speaker:And if you're feeling generous today,
Speaker:a review over on apple podcasts would be amazing doing that
Speaker:helps the show get seen by more makers.
Speaker:So it's a great way to pay it forward.
Speaker:Did you see the new layout in the apple podcast app?
Speaker:It's entirely different.
Speaker:The subscribe button is now gone and what you do instead
Speaker:is follow a show.
Speaker:You do that by tapping the check mark that's right up
Speaker:on the right-hand side at the top.
Speaker:Just something new to get used to and now be safe
Speaker:and well.
Speaker:And I'll see you again next week on the gift biz
Speaker:unwrapped podcasts.
Speaker:I want to make sure you're familiar with my free Facebook
Speaker:group called gift is breeze.
Speaker:It's a place where we all gather and our community to
Speaker:support each other.
Speaker:Got a really fun post in there.
Speaker:That's my favorite of the week.
Speaker:I have to say where I invite all of you to
Speaker:share what you're doing to show pictures of your product,
Speaker:to show what you're working on for the week to get
Speaker:reaction from other people and just for fun,
Speaker:because we all get to see the wonderful products that everybody
Speaker:in the community is making my favorite post every single week,
Speaker:without doubt.
Speaker:Wait, what 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.
