Tips & Talk 106 – A Different Way to Look at Your Competition

Hi there.

It's Sue and thanks for joining me for Tips and Talk

Day. These are bite-sized topics that I pull from community questions

and things that I'm observing in the world of handmade small

business. If you'd like to submit a topic,

DM e over on Instagram at Gift Biz Unwrapped,

before I get into the show today,

I have a message for you.

If you're just now starting to think of starting a handmade

product business,

at this point,

you may be thinking about your business name and logo.

That's what would be natural and what most people would do,

but hold on a second.

It's not the best initial step.

There are other important things to do first to make sure

you're set up for success and ensure your product easily attracts

buyers. Sometimes it's just a little tweak.

That's the difference between a thriving and failing business.

Before you spend a lot of time and money,

make sure to validate your product and ensure it's positioned and

priced so you'll see results right from the beginning.

That way you can start your business with confidence.

I can help you with that.

Go to gift biz unwrap.com/start

for all the details.

At first thought,

having a product that's in a league of its own with

absolutely zero competition sounds fabulous,

doesn't it?

I mean,

you're not competing against anyone else,

so all the sales will come your way.

That's the thinking anyway.

I can tell you from experience,

having a product that has barely any or no competitors isn't

all it's cracked up to be.

The majority of the time I spent in corporate was with

a company you would've never recognized by name.

We provided a service that allowed retailers to target their advertising

pieces, to specific household demographics through direct mail,

but not at the cost of high priced single mailings and

buying questionable quality mailing lists.

Our service was a brand new concept that proved very successful

in the long run,

but was extremely difficult when it was starting out.

It was hard to get appointments to talk about our services.

There was no brand recognition and we were up against all

the large reputable newspapers and television networks in the country.

Definitely the underdog.

It took an unbelievable amount of time and energy to build

credibility and get people to agree to test our program,

but once we got a foothold,

things would go quickly from there.

Yet we always battled for business with known and traditional advertising

methods. Secretly,

I'll tell you that I was always a little jealous at

social events when we'd talk about where we worked and my

dear friend Debbie would say,

IBM, instant respect from others.

For me,

it took a lot more explanation and honestly,

most never really got it.

I'm not complaining though.

My 15 years in corporate paid off well financially in knowledge

and experience and personal fulfillment because I loved my job all

the way up until I decided to leave,

so you'd think I'd learned my lesson.

Yet, a few years later,

I entered into a similar situation this time with my own

business, the Ribbon Print Company.

You've probably heard some of the promos for it here on

the podcast.

We provide systems so that small businesses like yours can custom

print on ribbon right in your own production studio or at

retail checkout.

I won't go into detail about it here,

but it's not commonly known that this possibility exists.

People find us every day online and tell us they had

no idea about this potential capability.

The Ribbon Print Company is a strong and thriving business,

yet still largely unknown,

and we have literally only a handful of competitors worldwide.

Sounds great,

right? Yes and no.

We definitely have a specialty niche but have to work really

hard to get our name and the value of what we

offer out there.

Trade shows are the best way to accomplish this.

That's actually a lot of fun because our booth is always

humming with people wanting to see their name company or logo

on a ribbon.

You've heard me say before,

it's my favorite part of the business,

but it's costly,

time consuming,

and again,

a lot of work.

I already said,

people find us online.

That's true,

but it's not like anyone thinks,

oh, I'll Google custom ribbon printing machines.

They need to know something about it first for us to

even have a chance of being found through a search.

I tell you all this so you know that I know

what I'm talking about when I talk about living in a

world with little competition,

and it's not all you might think.

Luckily with your products,

that's probably not the case.

People can relate when you tell them,

even in general terms what you make.

You design and sell jewelry,

create custom ceramic pieces or make wedding cakes personalized by flavors

and style.

People have a general understanding of your product,

and from there you can detail how yours are different and

special. That's one of the values of having competition.

There's a base knowledge that people can relate to if they're

in need or want.

What you make the potential of a sale is already under

consideration, not so when your product product is unknown.

In that case,

you have to explain and validate its use first.

That's a whole extra step in the sales cycle.

Lucky you when this isn't the case,

but you still wanna stand out and be recognized as special

when considered amongst all other businesses that make generally the same

thing that you do.

There's no magic formula to this.

It only takes strategy and implementation to create a unique twist

to your products that spark excitement and interest.

What types of things can you do to make you your

business and your product unique?

Here are some ideas.

One, create a special element to your product that's different from

others. Think of papyrus cards that include a hummingbird sticker in

each one,

or Ashley Kincaid s idea of adding a piece of jewelry

into each of her bath bombs.

You can hear her story on episode 4 0 9.

Second idea is to create a signature product that your business

becomes known for.

Three, add something into your product that's selective.

For example,

is only grown in your available region.

This is what Katie Leaky did with her Zulu Grass necklaces.

That's an episode number 49 4.

Are you connected with a cause where each sale or a

portion of your overall proceeds goes to support something that you

care about?

Like Jennifer of Marni and Michael,

episode 360,

or Marjorie with Little Rebels,

episode 398.

Idea number five,

utilize a pattern or color that has meaning attached to it

and makes your brand easily recognizable.

Six, provide a unique customer experience different from what others do

that has an impact on your customers.

This can be done in your packaging.

Loyalty programs,

social media groups.

Let your imagination go here,

and seven,

my all time favorite.

Make sure you allow customers an opportunity to know you.

When they know you and feel connected with you,

they're more likely to continue to support you and tell others

about you.

Check out tips and talk.

Episode number 105,

which goes into more about this competition,

is not something you need to fear.

This emotion and feeling of discomfort comes up when you don't

have a plan to tackle competitive situations.

I've just gone through why competition is a good thing.

Now it's time for you to make sure you have things

in place to attract attention and be the star when in

the midst of all the others.

That's a wrap.

I'm a get to the point kind of girl,

and this is what you can expect from these quick midweek

sessions. Now it's your turn.

Go out and fulfill that dream of yours.

Share your handmade products with us.

We want them and they bring us both.