243 – How to Sell Left Over Holiday Products with Alesia Galati

Alesia GalatiAlesia is an e-commerce business strategist. She helps physical product sellers increase their revenue, improve profit margins and bring home more cash while creating a sustainable business.

After six years in the manufacturing and packaging industry, Alesia’s learned a thing or two about how to work with international and domestic vendors, make strategic production plans, analyze trends and utilize marketing strategies.

This is what she brings to assist product-based businesses.

Alesia lives in North Carolina with her fellow nerd husband, two wild boys and a rescue dog. She loves all things savory – cue the lasagna and glass of Cab.

Business Building Insights

  • As a business owner, you must watch your numbers. See where dollars are being tied up in inventory, how actions affect the bottom line and keep your overall costs in check.
  • Have a plan for safety stock during the holidays. You don’t want to miss out on sales growth because you don’t have the materials or product to sell.
  • A strategy to consider is bundling your products during and after the holidays. That way you can quickly sell consumable or holiday themed products and turn product into usable cash.
  • Your email list is the key to push those bundle sales because customers will feel it’s an exclusive deal for them.
  • See what the numbers indicate as you prepare for the following year.
  • No mistake is a mistake if you learn from it.

Resources Mentioned

25 Ways to Promote Your Shop

Contact Links

Website

Facebook

Instagram

LinkedIn

Join our FREE Gift Biz Breeze Facebook Community

If you found value in this podcast, make sure to subscribe so you automatically get the next episode downloaded for your convenience. Also, if you’d like to do me a huge favor, please leave a review. That helps other creators like you find the show and build their businesses too.

Apple Podcasts

Google Podcasts

Spotify

Thanks so much! Sue

Transcript
Speaker:

Gift biz unwrapped episode 243 the first mistake that I definitely

Speaker:

see is this fear of inventory and understanding it.

Speaker:

Attention gifters,

Speaker:

bakers, crafters,

Speaker:

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 packed full of invaluable guidance,

Speaker:

resources, and the support you need to grow your gift biz.

Speaker:

Here is your host gift biz gal,

Speaker:

Sue moon Heights.

Speaker:

Hi there,

Speaker:

it's Sue and thanks for Joining me here today.

Speaker:

Before we get into the show,

Speaker:

I have a question for you.

Speaker:

How'd your day go yesterday?

Speaker:

Maybe a crazy question.

Speaker:

I know and yes,

Speaker:

you heard me right?

Speaker:

If you were to rate yesterday,

Speaker:

how much did you get done?

Speaker:

How far did you advance toward your goal or maybe in

Speaker:

your mind you're saying what goal?

Speaker:

Many of you have told me you aren't sure whether what

Speaker:

you're doing is the right thing for your business.

Speaker:

You're confused that you may be focusing on the wrong things

Speaker:

and wasting time and money and you compare yourself to others

Speaker:

and feel like you're just not keeping up.

Speaker:

Sound familiar?

Speaker:

Maybe you find that you're busy all day long,

Speaker:

but when you finish up,

Speaker:

you haven't accomplished much of anything at all.

Speaker:

I've been there too until I started working with what I

Speaker:

now call the power of purpose.

Speaker:

I made a free video for you that explains how to

Speaker:

boost your productivity and get results using the power of your

Speaker:

purpose. Isn't it time to make all the effort that you

Speaker:

put into your business and your life do for you what

Speaker:

you've intended.

Speaker:

Now full disclosure,

Speaker:

this video does lead into showing you my brand new inspired

Speaker:

daily planner.

Speaker:

But listen,

Speaker:

you don't need the inspired planner to get all the advantages

Speaker:

out of the power of purpose that I show you in

Speaker:

this video.

Speaker:

So if you're interested in discovering a new way to work

Speaker:

through your days,

Speaker:

so your time is intentional and your results are real,

Speaker:

I encourage you to go over and watch this video and

Speaker:

you can find it.

Speaker:

It, gift biz,

Speaker:

unwrapped.com forward slash planner.

Speaker:

That's gift biz,

Speaker:

unwrapped.com forward slash planner and as a little bit of an

Speaker:

extra special announcement.

Speaker:

My favorite thing about the inspired planner are the daily bite-sized

Speaker:

bits of information that either remind you of a best business

Speaker:

practice or share a motivational quote.

Speaker:

They sit right in each daily section,

Speaker:

so seven days a week,

Speaker:

our new tip on how you can grow your business.

Speaker:

This is the very planner that I use every day.

Speaker:

People ask me all the time,

Speaker:

how do I get so much done from a weekly podcast

Speaker:

to weekly mastermind calls,

Speaker:

writing a book,

Speaker:

traveling, exhibiting,

Speaker:

and speaking at shows.

Speaker:

It gets done because of this planner and the system that

Speaker:

I've created.

Speaker:

There is nothing else out there like it.

Speaker:

So if you haven't,

Speaker:

I really do encourage you to check it out.

Speaker:

Plus, and this is the special announcement part of this is

Speaker:

it makes a great Christmas gift too,

Speaker:

and speaking of Christmas with Thanksgiving now behind us,

Speaker:

we are in full swing for holiday sales and this is

Speaker:

one of those years where we lose a week.

Speaker:

Christmas is only four weeks away.

Speaker:

You guys,

Speaker:

one week less than you'd normally have to bring in sales

Speaker:

and go through your holiday themed inventory.

Speaker:

Our show today gives you ideas on how to manage through

Speaker:

getting the most out of your holiday items as possible.

Speaker:

That includes what to do with inventory in January that didn't

Speaker:

sell. Some of the ideas really surprised me and I like

Speaker:

them. I think you will too.

Speaker:

Let's get right to it Today.

Speaker:

It is my pleasure to introduce you to Alicia Galodie.

Speaker:

Alicia is an eCommerce business strategist.

Speaker:

She helps physical product sellers increase their revenue,

Speaker:

improve profit margins,

Speaker:

and bring home more cash while creating a sustainable business.

Speaker:

After six years in the manufacturing and packaging industry,

Speaker:

Alicia has learned a thing or two about how to work

Speaker:

with international and domestic vendors,

Speaker:

make strategic production plans,

Speaker:

analyze trends,

Speaker:

and utilize marketing strategies.

Speaker:

This is what she brings to assist product based businesses.

Speaker:

Alicia lives in North Carolina with her fellow nerd husband.

Speaker:

Her words,

Speaker:

not mine,

Speaker:

two wild boys and a rescue dog.

Speaker:

She also loves all things savory,

Speaker:

so Q,

Speaker:

the lasagna and the glass of cab.

Speaker:

Alicia, you're right up my alley.

Speaker:

I love that.

Speaker:

Welcome to the gift biz on rep podcast.

Speaker:

Yes. Thank you so much for having me,

Speaker:

so I really appreciate it.

Speaker:

I am really excited to get into the conversation.

Speaker:

I'm not going to share with the listeners yet what we're

Speaker:

going to be talking about,

Speaker:

but it is so timely and relevant.

Speaker:

Before we dig in though,

Speaker:

I would like for you to share with us a little

Speaker:

bit something creative,

Speaker:

which would be what a motivational candle would look like that

Speaker:

resonates with you.

Speaker:

So if you were to tell us a color and a

Speaker:

quote on a candle that speaks all you,

Speaker:

Alicia, what would the candle look like?

Speaker:

So for color,

Speaker:

I was thinking like an ivory or a cream because I

Speaker:

am all about being able to be multifaceted and fit anywhere

Speaker:

in the house.

Speaker:

Just make things work as long as it can be like

Speaker:

functional, but it can be in the bathroom or it can

Speaker:

move to the kitchen wherever you need it to be.

Speaker:

That's where it can be.

Speaker:

So I was thinking like an ivory cream cause it goes

Speaker:

with anything.

Speaker:

There you go.

Speaker:

Okay. And what about a quote or a saying or mantra,

Speaker:

something like that?

Speaker:

Yeah, so I would say something like,

Speaker:

so Mark is a really,

Speaker:

is one of my favorite kind of like inspirational,

Speaker:

motivational quote or people.

Speaker:

And he says this thing that I have everywhere,

Speaker:

I have it on my desktop,

Speaker:

I have it on little sticky notes everywhere.

Speaker:

And this is very little is needed to make a happy

Speaker:

life. It is all within yourself in your way of thinking.

Speaker:

And that resonates so much with me because I didn't really

Speaker:

grow up in the best home situation and the cards were

Speaker:

always against me.

Speaker:

But yet by perseverance and choosing to make my life what

Speaker:

I want it to be,

Speaker:

I have been able to graduate while working a full time

Speaker:

job, be a mom and graduate and have a full time

Speaker:

job. Like all those different things.

Speaker:

Just perseverance and make the life that you want.

Speaker:

That's up to you.

Speaker:

Love it.

Speaker:

I think that that will resonate with a lot of people

Speaker:

who are listening to and you know,

Speaker:

I don't know where we got to on the material side

Speaker:

of that type of thing.

Speaker:

In terms of very little as needed material wise,

Speaker:

I think we're gravitating back to that now.

Speaker:

But that whole pressure of keeping up with the Joneses,

Speaker:

with material,

Speaker:

things like the car you drive,

Speaker:

the products you have that house size or whatever I think

Speaker:

is finally starting to go away because people are understanding what

Speaker:

you're saying in the quote that very little is needed.

Speaker:

No for happiness.

Speaker:

Absolutely. So I love that.

Speaker:

You know,

Speaker:

the other thing that I think comes to mind when I

Speaker:

was hearing you talk about this is I think also when

Speaker:

you start talking about education,

Speaker:

it's a great way to continue doing something that's,

Speaker:

I'm not going to say education and getting degrees is easy,

Speaker:

but it's kind of safe because you know you're in school,

Speaker:

you know you're educating,

Speaker:

you're not actually out there doing and proving yourself.

Speaker:

So in a way it can be something that you can

Speaker:

hide behind.

Speaker:

What do you think of that?

Speaker:

Absolutely. So little background about me,

Speaker:

I used,

Speaker:

lived in New Jersey a couple of years ago and I

Speaker:

was pumping gas at a Wawa and trying to finish my

Speaker:

associate's degree and had just moved in with my now husband

Speaker:

and he was then my boyfriend and networking talking ended up

Speaker:

getting a manufacturing job cause obviously boots to the ground.

Speaker:

That's just my attitude.

Speaker:

So they were like,

Speaker:

Hey, it's manual labor.

Speaker:

I think you'll be good at it.

Speaker:

And so I did.

Speaker:

I went into it and I still,

Speaker:

I took night classes.

Speaker:

I was doing that and then I got pregnant and I

Speaker:

could have easily just said,

Speaker:

Oh, you know what,

Speaker:

the pregnancy and the school like,

Speaker:

let's hide behind that.

Speaker:

But being the ambitious person that I am and the high

Speaker:

achiever, I was like,

Speaker:

no, I am going to go all the way with this,

Speaker:

make this my career.

Speaker:

Didn't really know about the online space at the time,

Speaker:

but knew,

Speaker:

Hey, I want to get this degree.

Speaker:

I want to finish my education,

Speaker:

but I also want to be able to have that work

Speaker:

experience that's going to help me longterm because if you hide

Speaker:

behind just the degree,

Speaker:

and I believe a lot of people and young people are

Speaker:

realizing this now that that work experience is going to take

Speaker:

you way further financially because of all the school debt,

Speaker:

but also like in your mind and having that experience.

Speaker:

It's going to take you so much further than if you

Speaker:

just sit in a classroom.

Speaker:

Absolutely agree with you.

Speaker:

So you sound very confident.

Speaker:

You and I don't know each other.

Speaker:

We're just getting to know each other on this interview.

Speaker:

Right. But you sound very confident.

Speaker:

Were you at all hesitant to make that move?

Speaker:

Jumping in,

Speaker:

you know,

Speaker:

I know you were doing education on the side too,

Speaker:

but getting that experience right at that time,

Speaker:

or did it feel totally natural and you were,

Speaker:

you're the type of person that could just go do it.

Speaker:

It felt like the right thing to do to me just

Speaker:

because I did grow up in a single parent home,

Speaker:

so working was always something that you kind of have to

Speaker:

do and I didn't have the luxury of,

Speaker:

Oh well,

Speaker:

you know,

Speaker:

I can just live at my mom's house or do that

Speaker:

and be pregnant and go to school.

Speaker:

Then going to a community college,

Speaker:

like you don't have housing to just live in,

Speaker:

you have to get your own house,

Speaker:

you have to do your own thing.

Speaker:

And I was on my own besides my now husband,

Speaker:

but he wasn't working at the time,

Speaker:

so it was really just like up to me.

Speaker:

All right,

Speaker:

you're, we're going to do that.

Speaker:

Which is funny because fast forward five,

Speaker:

six years now,

Speaker:

I still work a full time job.

Speaker:

I have finished my degrees,

Speaker:

but now my husband is a stay at home dad.

Speaker:

Oh that's cool.

Speaker:

I love that.

Speaker:

So initially it was necessity.

Speaker:

I mean you really didn't have a choice whether you were

Speaker:

anxious about it or not.

Speaker:

This was what you two saw was the best next step

Speaker:

for you both really.

Speaker:

And so you just jumped in.

Speaker:

Absolutely. Okay.

Speaker:

Well so tell us now,

Speaker:

I'm really curious.

Speaker:

What are you doing for your full time job?

Speaker:

Yeah, so I recently changed in the last year I was

Speaker:

a production planner for an international gas company and I was

Speaker:

doing production planning on the shop floor,

Speaker:

taking care of customer orders,

Speaker:

that kind of thing.

Speaker:

So I learned a lot about the production side and I

Speaker:

would also work with international vendors to get our steel and

Speaker:

our aluminum and all those things so that we could produce

Speaker:

the products.

Speaker:

Then I recently moved to a more corporate side of the

Speaker:

packaging industry.

Speaker:

So now I work for a motor oil company,

Speaker:

very small kind of almost family run style,

Speaker:

so it's completely different than the international multi trillion dollar company

Speaker:

and now I'm working for someone who is more small town.

Speaker:

They cook breakfast for you most mornings.

Speaker:

That kind of like attitude but doing inventory analysis for their

Speaker:

multiple facilities,

Speaker:

being able to give upper management and the leadership team,

Speaker:

those statistics and that data so that they can make the

Speaker:

right decisions for the company.

Speaker:

Got you.

Speaker:

And Although both of these products,

Speaker:

gas and motor oil,

Speaker:

so very industrial don't relate as much to our audience.

Speaker:

I think the skills that you learned really early on and

Speaker:

at a massive level running huge volumes and production and also

Speaker:

inventory apply.

Speaker:

Then even to makers here whose inventory is a little bit

Speaker:

smaller, little bit more manageable,

Speaker:

but you're bringing in the big power to the topic I

Speaker:

guess is the way I'll say it.

Speaker:

Yes. And I was in the online space for a few

Speaker:

years and I saw,

Speaker:

you know,

Speaker:

serving service based businesses and doing some marketing,

Speaker:

doing some social media management and not really being able to

Speaker:

feel like I was using my day job in this side

Speaker:

business. And then I realized like there aren't as many resources

Speaker:

or visible resources in the online space for product businesses and

Speaker:

with massive platforms like Shopify or Etsy or things like that.

Speaker:

I was like why aren't there more resources?

Speaker:

And that's when I discovered podcasts like yours and businesses like

Speaker:

yours that are helping these product businesses.

Speaker:

And I was like,

Speaker:

I want to do that.

Speaker:

I want to be able to use the expertise that I've

Speaker:

developed over the last six years to be able to scale

Speaker:

it down and help these businesses who otherwise might not have

Speaker:

those resources because they are so creatively minded.

Speaker:

Right. And that's a big point too is the skills and

Speaker:

the talent are more on the creative side versus the analytical

Speaker:

number side,

Speaker:

which is also why we shy away from all the financial

Speaker:

stuff too.

Speaker:

Yes. So on the side you're working with eCommerce businesses and

Speaker:

helping them do what.

Speaker:

So helping them really be able to feel empowered to look

Speaker:

at their numbers and understand maybe where their profit margins can

Speaker:

be changed or adjusted,

Speaker:

how they're pricing their products,

Speaker:

where they're resourcing their products from making sure that they are

Speaker:

getting the best buy they are utilizing their min and max

Speaker:

levels, making sure they have that safety stock for holidays and

Speaker:

for those busier seasons without getting overwhelmed with having too much

Speaker:

where it carries over to the new year,

Speaker:

all that stuff.

Speaker:

So just really being able to hand them that information in

Speaker:

a very digestible way,

Speaker:

but also empowering them that if you want to,

Speaker:

this is how you can look at your numbers too,

Speaker:

because I feel so strongly about empowering the women that I

Speaker:

work with to really be able to take it and run

Speaker:

with it and create that business that they dream about building.

Speaker:

Wonderful. Yeah.

Speaker:

And to manage it on their own and work with the

Speaker:

numbers that then obviously affect the profits that are going to

Speaker:

come into the company.

Speaker:

Yes. So.

Speaker:

All right,

Speaker:

so here we are.

Speaker:

We're sitting in December and if you're listening to this live

Speaker:

gift biz listeners,

Speaker:

maybe you are,

Speaker:

maybe you aren't because you're so busy right now with orders

Speaker:

coming in,

Speaker:

promotions. I mean holiday sales are definitely in full swing right

Speaker:

now. And I think that something that happens to us a

Speaker:

lot Aleesha as makers is we have that challenge with,

Speaker:

I know what my sales were last year,

Speaker:

my business has advanced since last year.

Speaker:

How in the world do I predict how much product I

Speaker:

need because I don't want to lose sales if I don't

Speaker:

have product yet.

Speaker:

Again, I don't want to buy too much because that inventory

Speaker:

might sit.

Speaker:

And so it's a challenging balance that I think we all

Speaker:

face every year.

Speaker:

So I don't know if you have any comments about that,

Speaker:

but it's going to lead to what do we do then

Speaker:

at the end when holidays are over and we're left with

Speaker:

inventory, that if it just sits there,

Speaker:

it's dollars on the shelf.

Speaker:

Right? So what direction can you give me with both of

Speaker:

those types of things?

Speaker:

Yes. So to answer your first question,

Speaker:

when you're looking at your business overall and you're seeing,

Speaker:

okay, I have increased my sales 10% let's make it a

Speaker:

nice pretty number,

Speaker:

10% my sales have increased from last year,

Speaker:

then I would feel confident in saying that your sales are

Speaker:

going to increase,

Speaker:

your holiday sales specifically will increase 10% now you might want

Speaker:

to throw in a little bit of extra safety stock to

Speaker:

make sure that,

Speaker:

say they ended up being 20% more than last year.

Speaker:

You still already have that safety stock on hand and you

Speaker:

have all of those lead times nailed down where you are

Speaker:

ready to go,

Speaker:

you know?

Speaker:

Exactly. So if you're hand making your product,

Speaker:

you know exactly how long it's going to take you to

Speaker:

quickly make up those products that you need to,

Speaker:

you have enough on hand to cover you for those specific

Speaker:

days that you will be making more product.

Speaker:

That's what I mean when I'm saying those lead times,

Speaker:

and I know some of you might not understand those kinds

Speaker:

of verbiage,

Speaker:

so please stop me if you're like,

Speaker:

Hey wait.

Speaker:

They might not know what that means.

Speaker:

Okay. You know I will.

Speaker:

I will definitely do that.

Speaker:

Yes. I definitely want to be able to explain it.

Speaker:

Yeah, So looking at it in that sense,

Speaker:

you want to make sure that you are focusing on those

Speaker:

numbers and I know it gets really hard because your business

Speaker:

is your baby.

Speaker:

You're creating this product and you're like,

Speaker:

everybody's going to love it and your sales might've even dipped

Speaker:

this year and you might feel like,

Speaker:

okay, well if sales dip this year,

Speaker:

then my holiday sales might dip.

Speaker:

That's true.

Speaker:

So plan for that,

Speaker:

but also have that little bit extra on the side.

Speaker:

Let me just jump in here with one thing that I'm

Speaker:

thinking. I think it also does vary by industry a little

Speaker:

bit. And let me explain what I mean when you say

Speaker:

if you've had 10% up through the year,

Speaker:

you're riding at a solid clip,

Speaker:

10% increase,

Speaker:

then holidays you can definitely do 10% or maybe more if

Speaker:

traditionally you found that all your business falls in the holidays.

Speaker:

But I also think it can be industry dependent a little

Speaker:

bit too,

Speaker:

how much of a risk you take.

Speaker:

Because if you have a themed product where you're buying lots

Speaker:

of things that are Santa Claus or dreidels or things like

Speaker:

that, that's inventory that you can't use any other time of

Speaker:

the, so you might want to be a little more conservative

Speaker:

because it's not as easy to do flash sales afterwards or

Speaker:

whatever you're going to recommend for the second question.

Speaker:

Okay. But also if you have a consumable product where your

Speaker:

product expires,

Speaker:

then that's just wasted product if you don't sell it.

Speaker:

So I think in those two cases you have to be

Speaker:

a little bit more careful in which point you want to

Speaker:

have a good backup system.

Speaker:

Maybe multiple vendors.

Speaker:

If you run out of a product you want to be

Speaker:

able to refill it,

Speaker:

but other products where you're getting the components and they aren't

Speaker:

just holiday specific and they don't expire,

Speaker:

I think you can take more of a chance.

Speaker:

Do you agree with the thinking here?

Speaker:

Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker:

So on the part of the Santa Claus and holiday specific

Speaker:

products, so for things like Hanukkah products,

Speaker:

you definitely can only sell those in that December timeframe,

Speaker:

but some Santa Claus things you might be able to sell

Speaker:

for Christmas in July next year.

Speaker:

So if you do have a tiny bit more extra than

Speaker:

maybe you had planned for,

Speaker:

then you always have that option.

Speaker:

For people who like to start shopping a little ahead of

Speaker:

time for those Christmas in July sales and for my thoughts

Speaker:

on the consumable products and the ones that have that timeframe

Speaker:

where you kind of have to get rid of them.

Speaker:

That's going to tie into the second half of your question

Speaker:

because a main part of how I work with my clients,

Speaker:

especially after the holidays,

Speaker:

is all about bundling your products in a way that makes

Speaker:

sense for the consumer to say,

Speaker:

Hey, yeah,

Speaker:

absolutely. I definitely want that product.

Speaker:

That makes sense.

Speaker:

I want to buy the two and then get a free

Speaker:

coffee mug or whatever it is,

Speaker:

however you want to bundle it,

Speaker:

and that way you can get rid of those consumable items

Speaker:

a little quicker.

Speaker:

All right,

Speaker:

so let's get into the details of some of these strategies

Speaker:

because although we don't necessarily need them right now,

Speaker:

the time that the podcast is going live in about three

Speaker:

or four weeks from now,

Speaker:

I think I'm going to be resourcing people back to listen

Speaker:

to this,

Speaker:

to figure out what to do with some leftover inventory.

Speaker:

So you started with bundling and for those listeners who might

Speaker:

not understand what that is,

Speaker:

let's start from the top with bundling idea.

Speaker:

Yes. So if you are manufacturing coffee beans,

Speaker:

that's one that I always love to use.

Speaker:

And then you also say you're like coffee and there's a

Speaker:

local weather cream,

Speaker:

beans and cream.

Speaker:

That's their business and they have coffee and they have ice

Speaker:

cream. But see,

Speaker:

I also have a line of coffee mugs that are specific

Speaker:

to their business.

Speaker:

They say beans and cream on them and they want to

Speaker:

sell more coffee beans.

Speaker:

So they are giving you a buy two coffee bean packets

Speaker:

and you get a free mug.

Speaker:

Say the mug is holiday specific.

Speaker:

People still like holiday mugs.

Speaker:

It doesn't matter what time of the year it is.

Speaker:

People still love those kinds of things.

Speaker:

I'm a big mug person and I get tied into target

Speaker:

mug aisle.

Speaker:

Every single time I would,

Speaker:

my husband asked to say,

Speaker:

Alicia, you have enough mugs.

Speaker:

So I am all about if they're cute and fun,

Speaker:

it does not matter what time of the year it is.

Speaker:

I will buy it.

Speaker:

So if it's seasonal,

Speaker:

it's okay to sell that in January as a bundle.

Speaker:

Don't feel like you have to be specific with that.

Speaker:

If you can throw some snowflakes on it instead of Santa,

Speaker:

you're going to have a longer lifespan for that product.

Speaker:

Yeah. Are you saying that even if the mug has Santa

Speaker:

on it,

Speaker:

you can still sell it in January?

Speaker:

Yes. I would definitely buy a Santa mug in January if

Speaker:

it is cute enough and it's a buy to get the

Speaker:

free mug.

Speaker:

Absolutely. So you're kind of,

Speaker:

you're in a way discounting the mug,

Speaker:

but you're not leaving it as a standalone item.

Speaker:

You're merging it with other product,

Speaker:

which then could be incremental sales if someone's never tried the

Speaker:

coffee beans before,

Speaker:

they've got the mug ready for next holiday season,

Speaker:

but they're also then getting the coffee beans and it looks

Speaker:

like a deal.

Speaker:

It looks like a deal to the consumer.

Speaker:

Absolutely. And if you think,

Speaker:

okay, my mugs are going to be a lot lower priced

Speaker:

than say my coffee beans,

Speaker:

that's my high ticket item.

Speaker:

That is the thing that is my sales maker.

Speaker:

That's what I'm pushing.

Speaker:

Then that complimentary product,

Speaker:

it's just icing on the cake for the customer.

Speaker:

Right. And so the numbers still work out.

Speaker:

If you were to play the numbers together for that new

Speaker:

product that you've created,

Speaker:

right? That has the mug,

Speaker:

the two coffee packets.

Speaker:

And what was the cream part?

Speaker:

Oh no,

Speaker:

I was just saying it's like icing on a cake.

Speaker:

Okay. Alright.

Speaker:

But the numbers still work out where you're making a margin

Speaker:

on the product,

Speaker:

right? Yes.

Speaker:

All right.

Speaker:

So bundling is one option in terms of what you can

Speaker:

do to get rid of holiday stock.

Speaker:

What else would you suggest?

Speaker:

Yeah, so if your product is not seasonal specific,

Speaker:

then I know that January is typically a time where people

Speaker:

start winding down.

Speaker:

Product makers aren't really making anymore during that time unless that

Speaker:

is their peak season and but all is industry specific.

Speaker:

But after the holidays you kind of want to wind down,

Speaker:

take a little bit of rest time.

Speaker:

But people are still buying.

Speaker:

And I remember growing up it was always you don't buy

Speaker:

certain items,

Speaker:

clothing specifically during the holidays because it always gets up priced

Speaker:

during that time.

Speaker:

And then in January the market,

Speaker:

the price tag goes down.

Speaker:

So if you are making some type of embroidery shirts or

Speaker:

things like that,

Speaker:

then that's going to be a time where you might want

Speaker:

to push your product a little more because people are going

Speaker:

to be buying more electronics,

Speaker:

things like that,

Speaker:

the gift kind of giving for that season.

Speaker:

Whereas if you maybe went a little too high on your

Speaker:

inventory in the clothing department,

Speaker:

then you can use January and early February to push your

Speaker:

product. People aren't really as adverse to buying those kinds of

Speaker:

things as they would during the holidays.

Speaker:

How would you think about marketing some of this?

Speaker:

Would there be specific different messages or what are you thinking

Speaker:

there? So for that you're going want to use AB testing,

Speaker:

see what kind of works,

Speaker:

but you could use some type of post-holiday copy so you

Speaker:

could say something in your messaging like now that you have

Speaker:

that cash from grandma,

Speaker:

then this is a great way to spend it.

Speaker:

You might've wanted this.

Speaker:

If you're in the Northern States,

Speaker:

then January is definitely going to be a time where people

Speaker:

are going to want to buy sweaters and those cowls and

Speaker:

scarves, things like that,

Speaker:

so you can definitely market to the upper half of the

Speaker:

country. Whereas my husband was mowing the lawn in North Carolina

Speaker:

January 1st last year.

Speaker:

That is not fair to talk about.

Speaker:

I'm in Chicago,

Speaker:

I'm sorry,

Speaker:

but you can target your ads specifically to those Northern States.

Speaker:

If you are United States based and say,

Speaker:

Hey look,

Speaker:

I get it.

Speaker:

It's cold.

Speaker:

Here you go.

Speaker:

Here's 10% off for new customers or 10% off for returning

Speaker:

customers. Utilize your email list during this time to really push

Speaker:

those sales because conversions on your website are usually what,

Speaker:

2%. It's very low statistically speaking,

Speaker:

but conversions on your email list are going to be a

Speaker:

lot higher,

Speaker:

so those emails that you've collected for the holiday,

Speaker:

Hey, 10% off or giveaways you've done,

Speaker:

whatever you've done to grow your email list up until this

Speaker:

point is going to be key in helping you make those

Speaker:

bundle sales because they're going to feel like it's an exclusive

Speaker:

deal for them,

Speaker:

which it can and will be exclusive for them.

Speaker:

Only offering it to my email list first.

Speaker:

You guys get first dibs on this inventory blow out or

Speaker:

whatever you want to call it to create that excitement.

Speaker:

Yeah, I think that point in terms of making that group

Speaker:

of people feel really special or that there's a limited amount

Speaker:

left, which to holiday product,

Speaker:

there really is,

Speaker:

you might have 200 left versus only two,

Speaker:

but feeling that level of exclusivity and being special,

Speaker:

getting the offer special,

Speaker:

I think really holds a lot of weight.

Speaker:

Absolutely. Okay.

Speaker:

Can you share with us a client that you've worked with

Speaker:

who did have leftover holiday inventory and how you helped manage

Speaker:

them through the situation?

Speaker:

We're going to get into the story with Alicia's client right

Speaker:

after a quick word from our sponsor.

Speaker:

This podcast is made possible thanks to the support of the

Speaker:

ribbon print company.

Speaker:

Create custom ribbons right in your store or craft studio in

Speaker:

seconds. Visit the ribbon,

Speaker:

print company.com

Speaker:

for more information.

Speaker:

Yeah, so one client,

Speaker:

she makes baby blankets.

Speaker:

Well, she produces them through a manufacturing company and she was

Speaker:

struggling because several of her wholesalers had not sold through their

Speaker:

inventory during the holiday season as she had anticipated.

Speaker:

We looked at our numbers,

Speaker:

said, okay,

Speaker:

this is what we can expect in sales.

Speaker:

They'll reorder,

Speaker:

but it didn't pan out how we had anticipated.

Speaker:

So she's applying the product to stores that are then selling

Speaker:

the product?

Speaker:

Yes. And so they're not holiday themed necessarily,

Speaker:

but because that line didn't sell,

Speaker:

she's not getting the reorder.

Speaker:

So it's affecting her numbers.

Speaker:

Correct. Right.

Speaker:

Okay. So we were able to figure out,

Speaker:

okay, if we can maybe add in a new product for

Speaker:

next year,

Speaker:

we knew that this product would eventually sell out as most

Speaker:

seasonal products do.

Speaker:

Eventually you will sell them.

Speaker:

But we figured that okay to plan ahead for this next

Speaker:

year we are going to want to do a few tweaks

Speaker:

to both her website copy cause she does sell direct to

Speaker:

customer as well.

Speaker:

But also with the information that she's giving these wholesalers and

Speaker:

these boutiques,

Speaker:

how many she shipping to them,

Speaker:

streamlining that reorder process for them so that if they do

Speaker:

run out,

Speaker:

she can quickly send it up there to them.

Speaker:

But without really having that extra lagging inventory on their shelves.

Speaker:

Oh so ordering less so that it's not sitting there but

Speaker:

being able to refill it if itself.

Speaker:

Correct. So streamlining that process was what definitely we hope to

Speaker:

anticipate will help us this year better anticipate that.

Speaker:

Okay. If they do sell a lot quicker this year,

Speaker:

they'll have less product on their shelves,

Speaker:

but we will be able to get it to them very

Speaker:

quickly. Okay.

Speaker:

So I'm just kind of curious in,

Speaker:

this leads to the question that I was waiting on a

Speaker:

second ago.

Speaker:

It's kind of an equal play in terms of the responsibility

Speaker:

of product selling through,

Speaker:

right? Because your wholesale client,

Speaker:

the one who makes the baby blankets wants to provide as

Speaker:

much information.

Speaker:

Maybe, I don't know that you would call them shelf talkers

Speaker:

in gift shops,

Speaker:

but some type of promotional material or make sure that that

Speaker:

retailer understand why these baby blankets are so special and why

Speaker:

they're different.

Speaker:

Maybe from someone else's baby blankets.

Speaker:

That would be probably part of the sale of getting the

Speaker:

product placed in that gift shop in the first place.

Speaker:

But then it's also the retailer's responsibility to sell through to,

Speaker:

right. I mean where does that all fall in terms of

Speaker:

visit 50 50 did you guys feel in this situation that

Speaker:

it was more an issue on the retailer's end or your

Speaker:

end or when you were thinking afterwards about how all this

Speaker:

happened? Where did you feel besides what you're going to do

Speaker:

next year in terms of the replenishment,

Speaker:

but where did you feel it could have been better?

Speaker:

Yeah, so I think it was a combination of both our

Speaker:

part and the boutiques.

Speaker:

They could have done a better job of,

Speaker:

all right,

Speaker:

this product is in my shop and I need to sell

Speaker:

it. And that way I can make more money out for

Speaker:

my business.

Speaker:

But then also on our end,

Speaker:

the promotional material could have been better.

Speaker:

These baby blankets are not like the ones that you would

Speaker:

get at Walmart or target or even Amazon.

Speaker:

This is a specially made organic of material where we could

Speaker:

have packaged it better in a way for our boutiques to

Speaker:

better understand why this is such a high quality product for

Speaker:

their customers and why their customers are gonna want to buy

Speaker:

this product over something else.

Speaker:

So really educating those boutiques to understand this is why you

Speaker:

want our product,

Speaker:

but also this is why you want to sell our product.

Speaker:

Got it.

Speaker:

Okay. And I'm also thinking from a gift shop owner perspective,

Speaker:

that's something for those of you who are listening,

Speaker:

who owned shops and you stock other people's products.

Speaker:

So you're the recipient.

Speaker:

So either retailer,

Speaker:

obviously in this case,

Speaker:

understanding what is provided by someone whose product you are now

Speaker:

going to dedicate very valuable shelf space for because you're a

Speaker:

shop. If you're physical,

Speaker:

brick and mortar,

Speaker:

you only have so much space.

Speaker:

So each of those products has to be really valuable and

Speaker:

important for your customer.

Speaker:

But then you as the shop owner also have to understand

Speaker:

and be able to explain why this is so special and

Speaker:

why you're carrying it in the first place.

Speaker:

So I think that always helps.

Speaker:

Yes. As a shop owner and retail or don't feel like

Speaker:

you can't go back to,

Speaker:

especially if it's a small business,

Speaker:

like they want the product to sell because they want to

Speaker:

be able to that you buy more from them.

Speaker:

So don't feel like you can't go back to them and

Speaker:

say, Hey look,

Speaker:

I'd really like a little more information on the product so

Speaker:

I can sell more.

Speaker:

Like this is a collaboration between both of you and asking

Speaker:

those questions is going to make that deeper connection.

Speaker:

It's all about the vendor management side when working with vendors

Speaker:

and in the retail space,

Speaker:

working with these smaller handmade businesses,

Speaker:

if that's kind of where you're getting your products from,

Speaker:

having those connections is going to grow your business because then

Speaker:

they are making sure that you are getting the best product

Speaker:

for your shop and that way you are able to sell

Speaker:

the best product in your shop.

Speaker:

So make sure that you feel okay and having those conversations

Speaker:

up front or having your sales team do it however your

Speaker:

business is set up.

Speaker:

But making sure that those connections and those collaborations truly are

Speaker:

there is going to take you further.

Speaker:

Perfect. Okay.

Speaker:

And we kind of got off on a little side road

Speaker:

here. Let's go back again to talking about what you do

Speaker:

about leftover holiday products.

Speaker:

So you talked about the bundling,

Speaker:

great idea and then seasonal specific strategies.

Speaker:

Is there anything else you would suggest?

Speaker:

I would suggest no other real promotional ways other than like

Speaker:

your email list.

Speaker:

If you need to run ad run ads,

Speaker:

the marketing side,

Speaker:

but take it as a lesson for next year.

Speaker:

It's easy to say,

Speaker:

Oh yeah,

Speaker:

it was great last year.

Speaker:

It was great,

Speaker:

we sold and let's buy the same amount.

Speaker:

But really next year is the time to be focusing on,

Speaker:

okay, what did my numbers actually tell me and what did

Speaker:

my sales actually tell me that I can use to prepare

Speaker:

for this season?

Speaker:

And I know typically you guys are preparing in like June

Speaker:

and July.

Speaker:

So taking that time as summertime to really focus on,

Speaker:

okay, how can I better use this information to my advantage

Speaker:

for next year so that I'm not stuck in the mud?

Speaker:

Right. And I think that leads also to a point that

Speaker:

after the holiday season is over and the Russia's done and

Speaker:

some people's business honestly never takes a dip,

Speaker:

it just starts going into January again.

Speaker:

So whether you're that type of a retailer where it just

Speaker:

keeps going or whether you get to sit back for a

Speaker:

minute and breathe,

Speaker:

catch your breath.

Speaker:

I think that's still the point where you should jot down

Speaker:

what did happen,

Speaker:

what worked,

Speaker:

what didn't work.

Speaker:

Just even if it's on an eight and a half by

Speaker:

11 sheet of paper that you're going to file somewhere.

Speaker:

So Alicia,

Speaker:

to your point to compare against what happened the prior year,

Speaker:

if you don't do that,

Speaker:

you're going to forget.

Speaker:

So that's my 2 cents added in there because I know,

Speaker:

I think I'll remember because it's just so dramatic and so

Speaker:

much is happening at the time,

Speaker:

but 12 months pass and you might not remember everything that

Speaker:

you wanted to adjust for the next holiday season.

Speaker:

Absolutely. So I always like to tell my customers that no

Speaker:

mistake is a mistake if you learn from it.

Speaker:

So if you are able to take that information,

Speaker:

it's a learning lesson.

Speaker:

It is a way that you can grow your business the

Speaker:

next time around or the next season or the next year.

Speaker:

However it is that you want to take that information.

Speaker:

You are not failing as a business owner because you made

Speaker:

a quote unquote mistake.

Speaker:

It is simply something to learn from and we move on

Speaker:

from here.

Speaker:

Oh great.

Speaker:

I'm glad you said that.

Speaker:

Glad you brought that to the table.

Speaker:

We always have to remind ourselves that I think though.

Speaker:

All right,

Speaker:

so you're an expert in inventory for sure.

Speaker:

What mistakes have you seen with your clients?

Speaker:

Maybe two or three things that you've been seeing that repeatedly

Speaker:

happened that seemed to be the common mistakes for small business

Speaker:

owners with their inventory?

Speaker:

Yeah. Oh man.

Speaker:

Okay. Like do you need me to extend that to a

Speaker:

hundred different misdiagnosed?

Speaker:

Just the top ones.

Speaker:

Let's do top three.

Speaker:

So the first mistake that I definitely see is this fear

Speaker:

of inventory and understanding it,

Speaker:

not counting it.

Speaker:

Just kind of putting things on your shelf and then hoping

Speaker:

it sells and then scrambling when you have sold out and

Speaker:

then you've got quote unquote angry customers or maybe you do

Speaker:

have literal angry customers.

Speaker:

That is not what we want in your business.

Speaker:

You have to be looking at those numbers.

Speaker:

You have to be looking at your sales history to be

Speaker:

able to make better decisions because even though you are a

Speaker:

creative, if you want to take this business to the next

Speaker:

level, increase your profit margins and be able to take more

Speaker:

money home.

Speaker:

You have to be making decisions based on numbers and not

Speaker:

on the fear of looking at those numbers.

Speaker:

So that's the first one that I definitely see.

Speaker:

The second mistake that I see is you do get a

Speaker:

system in place and you think,

Speaker:

okay, well Shopify handles the inventory and the numbers and all

Speaker:

that stuff and then you just assume that it's going to

Speaker:

pop up something to tell you,

Speaker:

Hey, you need to order more.

Speaker:

Don't just simply rely on the system,

Speaker:

understand maybe what it's trying to tell you and why it's

Speaker:

telling you that.

Speaker:

So that,

Speaker:

and I guess this ties into the first one so that

Speaker:

you can be able to make those better strategic decisions for

Speaker:

your business.

Speaker:

You can plan ahead for those sales increases during certain seasons

Speaker:

and it tracks that for you.

Speaker:

But understanding why and how.

Speaker:

So going beneath just a raw number,

Speaker:

but why is the number looking like it does?

Speaker:

What does it mean and what does it suggest that you

Speaker:

should be doing for the future?

Speaker:

Exactly. Okay.

Speaker:

And then another mistake that I see on the inventory side

Speaker:

is this idea that if you just buy a bunch of

Speaker:

inventory, then you'll be good.

Speaker:

But you got to understand that that is money that is

Speaker:

tied up on your floor,

Speaker:

on your shop floor,

Speaker:

that you are not able to use to invest back into

Speaker:

your business,

Speaker:

back into maybe different products back into yourself,

Speaker:

your own self development as a business owner,

Speaker:

that's money that's in your business,

Speaker:

that's sitting there and waiting and not being able to be

Speaker:

utilized for the business.

Speaker:

So things like dead stock and that's something that I deal

Speaker:

with very heavily in my day job is analyzing that dead

Speaker:

stock. What are those products that have not moved in over

Speaker:

a year,

Speaker:

which you should be looking more on if you are a

Speaker:

smaller business than the one that I'm dealing with on a

Speaker:

more quarterly,

Speaker:

a monthly basis.

Speaker:

What is not move,

Speaker:

why hasn't this product moved?

Speaker:

Okay, what can we do?

Speaker:

Maybe we need to throw something extra on it,

Speaker:

design it a little different.

Speaker:

If you are able to do that,

Speaker:

then that's great because then you can utilize the same product,

Speaker:

but sometimes you have to cut your losses and be able

Speaker:

to have that as a write off.

Speaker:

So that's going to be the finance side.

Speaker:

You want to talk to your accountants and things like that

Speaker:

for that side,

Speaker:

but don't just keep it,

Speaker:

like you said,

Speaker:

taking up valuable shelf space that you need for more products.

Speaker:

Right. And you know what?

Speaker:

This mistake just triggered what I couldn't remember a little bit

Speaker:

earlier and that is you're right,

Speaker:

exactly with the product that you're talking about.

Speaker:

If it's just sitting there not selling,

Speaker:

it's like a little piggy bank of money that you can't

Speaker:

break into.

Speaker:

You know?

Speaker:

And if it's going to sit and stay and stay and

Speaker:

stay for so long,

Speaker:

it doesn't fit in a bundle like we were talking about

Speaker:

before, you can't find a solution to get rid of the

Speaker:

product. I would suggest,

Speaker:

and I'll be interested in your comments to Alicia,

Speaker:

but I would suggest even taking that and getting it out

Speaker:

of there at a loss,

Speaker:

selling less than cost Steven,

Speaker:

because you're not tying up your money.

Speaker:

Yeah, you didn't make any money on it.

Speaker:

You might've paid the customer for the sale to take it

Speaker:

off your hands,

Speaker:

but at least it's adding back into your cash flow and

Speaker:

you've learned that that's not the right product for your customer.

Speaker:

The sizing's wrong,

Speaker:

you know,

Speaker:

whatever the reason why it wasn't selling,

Speaker:

but getting it out of there,

Speaker:

I think there is a time and a place to do

Speaker:

that. Consciously knowing that that's what you're doing,

Speaker:

knowing that you are taking a loss on it but clearing

Speaker:

it out.

Speaker:

Yes, that's an absolute great suggestion and I highly recommend it.

Speaker:

After you have looked at those numbers,

Speaker:

like you said,

Speaker:

you want to make sure that you are being conscious about

Speaker:

it and you're not just like,

Speaker:

well, this didn't sell and I just bought it so too

Speaker:

bad we're just going to cut our losses.

Speaker:

You want to be strategic about it.

Speaker:

You want to make sure that you're looking at those numbers

Speaker:

and learning from them.

Speaker:

But another thing that you can do too is sell it

Speaker:

back to the vendor.

Speaker:

And a lot of people forget about this part is that

Speaker:

you can go back to you or if it's a raw

Speaker:

material, say and maybe you have extra leftover that you didn't

Speaker:

use for your product.

Speaker:

You can say,

Speaker:

Hey look,

Speaker:

I have this extra and start the conversation.

Speaker:

Sometimes they might say no and that's okay,

Speaker:

but at least you tried the answers already.

Speaker:

No, if you don't try,

Speaker:

Right, you might as well ask.

Speaker:

Yes. So ask the question and say,

Speaker:

Hey look,

Speaker:

I have this.

Speaker:

Are you willing to buy it back at price?

Speaker:

Or maybe you have to sell it back at a discount.

Speaker:

Obviously you don't want to,

Speaker:

but they might just buy it back at cost Or in

Speaker:

exchange for a different color.

Speaker:

If it's an ingredient as part of,

Speaker:

or an element of a design,

Speaker:

maybe the red beads aren't selling,

Speaker:

but by golly,

Speaker:

you need the pink ones or whatever.

Speaker:

So you can,

Speaker:

if you're a good enough customer,

Speaker:

and I think that gets into vendor relations,

Speaker:

right? But if you're a good enough customer and you're sitting

Speaker:

on product,

Speaker:

my never thought of doing that.

Speaker:

I think that's an excellent suggestion.

Speaker:

Talking about inventory,

Speaker:

and this is gonna be my last question for you cause

Speaker:

we're winding down here.

Speaker:

What types of tools would you suggest for a small business

Speaker:

owner to really get a handle on their inventory?

Speaker:

Because you're saying don't just rely on Shopify.

Speaker:

What would be a good suggestion of what we should be

Speaker:

using? So there are a few inventory management systems out there

Speaker:

and for Shopify does have very good tools but you don't

Speaker:

just want to use just their inventory management one.

Speaker:

You want to be able to kind of dive a little

Speaker:

deeper. So you might want to add on a few extra

Speaker:

plugins to your shop to kind of better understand where those

Speaker:

numbers are coming from and why it's doing what it's doing.

Speaker:

But on that side it's really not that difficult to run

Speaker:

the numbers.

Speaker:

And I mean I do it daily.

Speaker:

What type of plugins are you thinking people should use?

Speaker:

I don't know specifically off the top of my head and

Speaker:

write those down.

Speaker:

Usually I just analyze it with my customers to see what

Speaker:

they're using and then see how we can tweak it to

Speaker:

better make sense for their business so that it is tying

Speaker:

in all those things.

Speaker:

The raw materials,

Speaker:

they do have that vendor management that it's an all in

Speaker:

one encompassing kind of thing for them like dashboard style.

Speaker:

Let's move on and I'm just curious what you're looking at

Speaker:

for your future.

Speaker:

So you've got your full time job that you're already doing,

Speaker:

you're working with people to help them here with their inventory,

Speaker:

profit margins,

Speaker:

all the numbers,

Speaker:

scary things.

Speaker:

Right. Where do you see this going?

Speaker:

The future Eventually I'd like to make this my full time

Speaker:

gig. I really enjoy working my day job.

Speaker:

I don't mind it.

Speaker:

I never really have minded my day job.

Speaker:

I just always felt like I was called to do and

Speaker:

be more than clock in and out nine to fiver.

Speaker:

I would like to,

Speaker:

and this is just because I believe so strongly in self

Speaker:

care and mindset host something of a self care summit for

Speaker:

product businesses maybe in that early February season after they are

Speaker:

done with all of that back and forth and holiday and

Speaker:

craziness where they can,

Speaker:

okay, let's crunch a few numbers,

Speaker:

let's get you kind of situated,

Speaker:

but let's just take a breath to instead of rushing into

Speaker:

the next season.

Speaker:

So really being able to just create that space for these

Speaker:

product businesses where not only do you feel like,

Speaker:

okay, I can kind of understand my business and that side

Speaker:

of my business,

Speaker:

even though it's difficult,

Speaker:

but I can also feel empowered to just breathe in that

Speaker:

business doesn't always have to be a hustle and a grind

Speaker:

and a go,

Speaker:

go, go.

Speaker:

It is important to still take that time to Woosah.

Speaker:

And did you get this idea just from the fact that

Speaker:

in working with business owners,

Speaker:

you're just seeing their levels of stress?

Speaker:

Yes. And I mean,

Speaker:

okay, so I'm in my late twenties and I gone through

Speaker:

burnout. So I can only imagine the people who are putting

Speaker:

their heart and soul into a product and maybe being a

Speaker:

parent as well and just the stress and all of that

Speaker:

that goes into running a business.

Speaker:

It is hard and I get that and I've seen other

Speaker:

businesses I've worked with go from season to season to season

Speaker:

without breathing or taking a vacation or stopping.

Speaker:

So take some time to pamper yourself,

Speaker:

to treat yourself to something nice,

Speaker:

even if it's like,

Speaker:

okay. The other day I was feeling extremely stressed out,

Speaker:

been dealing with some stuff with my mom's passing.

Speaker:

I'm sorry about that.

Speaker:

Thank you.

Speaker:

And I was like,

Speaker:

I can't do this.

Speaker:

I don't know what I'm doing.

Speaker:

I'm feeling overwhelmed.

Speaker:

They make this so difficult.

Speaker:

And then I just went to a local Mexican restaurant,

Speaker:

ate some enchiladas for lunch and read a true crime book

Speaker:

for an hour.

Speaker:

There you go.

Speaker:

Getting away.

Speaker:

It does a world of good for your mindset,

Speaker:

that's for sure.

Speaker:

Absolutely. And it made all the difference.

Speaker:

I got back to my phone afterwards and everything had figured

Speaker:

out itself out.

Speaker:

I was like,

Speaker:

okay, it's okay.

Speaker:

There you go.

Speaker:

It's okay.

Speaker:

Big deep breath.

Speaker:

What I find sometimes is people so easily can call you

Speaker:

wanting answers to their questions and sometimes if you just wait

Speaker:

for a little bit,

Speaker:

they figure it out themselves and then they're empowered to figure

Speaker:

it out later too.

Speaker:

So we don't always have to take on all the problems

Speaker:

of the world,

Speaker:

but sometimes we want to.

Speaker:

Right. Okay.

Speaker:

So Alicia,

Speaker:

where can our listeners go to find out more about you?

Speaker:

Yeah, so I have a podcast called the product bench and

Speaker:

it's all about this kind of stuff that we talked about

Speaker:

today. Those promotional strategies,

Speaker:

going to have a lot of solo episodes uploaded by this

Speaker:

time, so you'll have lots to binge if you need to.

Speaker:

And then Instagram is really my favorite place to hang out,

Speaker:

mostly Instagram stories,

Speaker:

a lot of just real life craziness with my two boys

Speaker:

and my husband.

Speaker:

So Alicia DACA lady over there.

Speaker:

Wonderful. Thank you.

Speaker:

Well, I appreciate so much all of your direction.

Speaker:

This will really be helpful for all of our listeners as

Speaker:

we are past the holidays and then trying to figure out

Speaker:

what to do with all of our inventory.

Speaker:

So thank you so much for all your knowledge and expertise.

Speaker:

I really appreciate having you here today And thank you so

Speaker:

much for having me on today.

Speaker:

I really appreciated it and I really hope everyone was able

Speaker:

to find some type of nugget or truth that they can

Speaker:

take into their day and run with it.

Speaker:

Definitely. Thank you again.

Speaker:

Bye. Bye.

Speaker:

Bye. There you go.

Speaker:

Whether you just listened to this show in real time or

Speaker:

you're catching up and it's already January,

Speaker:

Alicia has given us actionable ideas to clear out product and

Speaker:

prepare for 2020 our new decade on its way.

Speaker:

That's so exciting and filled with possibility,

Speaker:

but before we get to next year,

Speaker:

I want to tell you about next week.

Speaker:

I met our guest a few months ago and she has

Speaker:

become one of my favorites.

Speaker:

You know how you meet someone and they just light up

Speaker:

the room.

Speaker:

It's almost like there's like sparkles and glitter all around.

Speaker:

That's Sam.

Speaker:

She's as sweet and bubbly as she can be and so

Speaker:

is her product.

Speaker:

Hear all about it on next week's show,

Speaker:

and until then,

Speaker:

happy holiday selling.

Speaker:

I want to make sure you're familiar with my free Facebook

Speaker:

group called gift is free.

Speaker:

It's a place where we all gather and our community to

Speaker:

support each other.

Speaker:

We've 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,

Speaker:

to show pictures of your product and to show them what

Speaker:

you're working on for the week,

Speaker:

to get reaction from other people and just for fun because

Speaker:

we all get to see the wonderful products that everybody in

Speaker:

the community is making.

Speaker:

My favorite post every single week without doubt,

Speaker:

wait, what aren't you part of the group already?

Speaker:

If not,

Speaker:

make sure to jump over to Facebook and search for the

Speaker:

group gift biz breeze.

Speaker:

Don't delay.

Leave a Comment





This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.