320 – The Signs that Lead to a Profitable Product Niche with Gail Zona of gJoolz

How to find a profitable nicheNiche, niche, niche! Everyone says to choose a niche. But how to find a profitable niche that works for your business? Today’s guest shows us how.

Gail is an artisan specializing in hand-crafted, personalized gifts. She works mostly with businesses that use gift-giving as part of their client retention program. Realtors, mortgage brokers, insurance agents, financial advisors, CPAs, and business/life coaches are her best clients.

Gail got started in the gift business at age 10 when she made customized mice finger puppets for a local consignment shop. Fast forward after a career in high-tech to 13 years ago when she started making glass and sterling jewelry. That led to personalized jewelry which eventually led to her current gift business.

She says that when she left her high-tech executive position 4 years ago, she didn’t look back. And it was a great move because she’s having a blast today!

BUSINESS BUILDING INSIGHTS

  • Take those next steps. Keep figuring out what the next thing is because eventually, it will all work.
  • Do the show, record the results, and analyze what worked and what didn’t work.
  • Naturally sharing with friends and family what you’re up to opens opportunities for business.
  • Validate that your product will sell before you build a business around it.
  • The display is important because people want to experience touching your products.
  • Have a range of price points so people will have options for what they are comfortable buying.
  • Having high-priced things positions you as an expert in your field.
  • Have multiple avenues to build relationships with people.

How To Find A Profitable Niche

  • Create products that are different and unique so you are top of mind.
  • Focus your efforts on things that you love doing. Love what you do and make people happy.
  • Get ideas from your customers. Listen to what products they want.
  • At every show, write down notes about what sells to who and why, what you learned from speaking to your customers, etc.
  • Try different ways to sell – in person, at shows, online, via Zoom, and so on, and see what works best for you. You may find your niche in an unexpected place.
  • Be flexible – you never know where your next best-selling product or favorite customer will come from!
  • Tune in now to get all the signs to look for your profitable niche!

Resources Mentioned

Gail’s Contact Links

WebsiteFacebook | Instagram


Join Our FREE Gift Biz Breeze Facebook Community

Become a Member of Gift Biz Breeze

If you found value in this podcast, make sure to subscribe so you automatically get the next episode downloaded for your convenience. Click on your preferred platform below to get started.

Also, if you’d like to do me a huge favor – please leave a review. It helps other creators like you find the show and build their businesses too. You can do so right here: Rate This Podcast

Apple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsSpotify

Thank you so much! Sue

Know someone who needs to hear this episode?
Click a button below to share it!

Transcript
Speaker:

Gift biz unwrapped episode 320.

Speaker:

If I act successful,

Speaker:

then maybe that'll help me feel successful.

Speaker:

Attention. Gifters bakers,

Speaker:

crafters, and makers pursuing your dream can be fun.

Speaker:

Whether you have an established business or looking to start one.

Speaker:

Now you are in the right place.

Speaker:

This is gift 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.

Speaker:

Your gift biz.

Speaker:

Here is your host gift biz gal Sue moon Heights.

Speaker:

Hello. Hello.

Speaker:

Thanks for being here with me today,

Speaker:

we are entering into a motivating new season in person shows

Speaker:

are opening up again and the opportunity to present your product

Speaker:

and find new customers in this face to face format is

Speaker:

finally here.

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:

live 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 too.

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:

I have something to tell you.

Speaker:

I had so much trouble deciding on a title for this

Speaker:

episode. Don't worry.

Speaker:

We're absolutely talking about identifying your profitable product niche,

Speaker:

but as we started our chat,

Speaker:

Gail shared with me how her first craft show was a

Speaker:

total, just,

Speaker:

I mean,

Speaker:

no sales,

Speaker:

zero, like the worst of worst possible fears.

Speaker:

And I know many of you can relate to this because

Speaker:

either you've had that same thing happen or are putting off

Speaker:

shows because you're afraid that you won't get any sales and

Speaker:

it makes my heart stop because I look at Gail and

Speaker:

the success that she's having today.

Speaker:

And I think what if she threw in the towel after

Speaker:

that first show or the second,

Speaker:

because that one was only slightly better.

Speaker:

If she had given in to any thoughts that she wasn't

Speaker:

cut out for this,

Speaker:

she wouldn't be where she is today.

Speaker:

So I was tempted to title this episode.

Speaker:

Something about overcoming disappointing show results or something like that.

Speaker:

But Gail's message is so much more than that.

Speaker:

It's about finding the space in your market that was made

Speaker:

for you,

Speaker:

the perfect product niche,

Speaker:

where you can shine and sales come naturally because you have

Speaker:

what people want to buy because you see that very first

Speaker:

craft show Gail brings up was just a stepping stone to

Speaker:

the amazing business she has today.

Speaker:

Today, it is my pleasure to introduce you to Gail zona.

Speaker:

The founder of G jewels.

Speaker:

Gail is an artisan specializing in hand crafted personalized gifts.

Speaker:

She works mostly with businesses that use gift giving as part

Speaker:

of their client retention program.

Speaker:

So think of realtors,

Speaker:

mortgage brokers,

Speaker:

insurance agents,

Speaker:

financial advisors,

Speaker:

CPAs, and business,

Speaker:

life coaches.

Speaker:

These are her best clients.

Speaker:

Gail got started in the gift business.

Speaker:

A very young age tend to be precise when she made

Speaker:

custom mice finger puppets for a local consignment shop.

Speaker:

Fast-forward after a career in high tech to 13 years ago,

Speaker:

when she started making glass and Sterling jewelry that led to

Speaker:

personalized jewelry that eventually led to her current gift business.

Speaker:

She says that when she left her high tech executive position

Speaker:

four years ago,

Speaker:

she didn't look back and it was a great move because

Speaker:

she's having a blast.

Speaker:

Gail, welcome to the gift biz on wrapped podcasts.

Speaker:

Thank you,

Speaker:

Sue. It's just a pleasure to be here,

Speaker:

chatting about the thing I love the best,

Speaker:

my company G jewels.

Speaker:

So you're right.

Speaker:

I did start at a very,

Speaker:

very young age.

Speaker:

I don't know if you remember the family circle magazine,

Speaker:

but they had a little article in there about how you

Speaker:

could make mice finger puppets.

Speaker:

And so you made them out of toilet paper tubes curled

Speaker:

up and scraps of fill.

Speaker:

Well, I happened to have both,

Speaker:

so I made a bunch of them.

Speaker:

And then my mother's friend said,

Speaker:

oh, so cute.

Speaker:

And so she found a woman's consignment shop and I put

Speaker:

them in there.

Speaker:

Well, it wasn't long before I was making customized ones.

Speaker:

Oh, could you make a nurse?

Speaker:

Could you make a teacher?

Speaker:

Could you make a cheerleader?

Speaker:

And that's basically what I do today,

Speaker:

not my finger puppets,

Speaker:

but the idea of making personalized gifts for people to make

Speaker:

them happy and to make it meaningful for them.

Speaker:

It's amazing to me that I started so long ago doing

Speaker:

that, but it's still so true today.

Speaker:

Well, and you kind of had it in your blood,

Speaker:

apparently from doing something like this at such a young age,

Speaker:

that is a wonderful quick rundown of how you got started.

Speaker:

And before we go too far along in your journey,

Speaker:

I want to jump back and ask you a question that

Speaker:

gives us a little bit of a different look inside who

Speaker:

you are.

Speaker:

And that is by having you describe yourself through a motivational

Speaker:

candle. So if you were to share with us what a

Speaker:

candle would look like through a color and maybe a quote

Speaker:

or a saying that would be on the candle,

Speaker:

what would that motivational candle look like for you?

Speaker:

Sure. So the color would certainly be awkward.

Speaker:

That is absolutely one of my favorite colors.

Speaker:

And as I learned in my jewelry business,

Speaker:

everybody looks good in Aqua.

Speaker:

So it's a color that I use in my logo,

Speaker:

even just because I like it so much.

Speaker:

And on the candle,

Speaker:

it would say proceed as if success is inevitable.

Speaker:

That is one of my all-time favorite quotes.

Speaker:

And I found it when I was dejected and despondent,

Speaker:

bouncing around a staples store,

Speaker:

looking at the clearance section,

Speaker:

cause I didn't have much money.

Speaker:

And I found this mug with that thing on it proceed

Speaker:

as if success is inevitable.

Speaker:

And I thought,

Speaker:

yeah, that's what I should be doing.

Speaker:

So I bought the mug,

Speaker:

took it home,

Speaker:

kept looking at it and I thought,

Speaker:

yeah, who else on the outside knows that I'm not successful.

Speaker:

I look successful.

Speaker:

If I act successful,

Speaker:

then maybe that'll help me feel successful.

Speaker:

So it was an interesting kind of lesson in stop wallowing

Speaker:

in your despondency and despair,

Speaker:

but just get out there and make it happen because we

Speaker:

all do that.

Speaker:

Don't we,

Speaker:

we do every entrepreneur is busy worrying about what it looks

Speaker:

like and what it feels like.

Speaker:

And you need to kind of get through that and keep

Speaker:

doing the stuff you're doing.

Speaker:

Keep taking those baby steps,

Speaker:

keep making those mistakes,

Speaker:

keep figuring out what the next thing is because eventually it'll

Speaker:

all work.

Speaker:

Absolutely. I've heard several spinoffs of this quote too.

Speaker:

One is if you couldn't fail,

Speaker:

what would you be doing right now?

Speaker:

Yeah. Oh,

Speaker:

I like that.

Speaker:

And it,

Speaker:

it really makes you think like,

Speaker:

what are your true,

Speaker:

I mean like seriously inside your heart desires,

Speaker:

where do you want to go?

Speaker:

Honestly, a lot of people don't even think about it.

Speaker:

They just think,

Speaker:

well, I'd rather have a business on my own than always

Speaker:

having to depend on my full-time nine to five salary,

Speaker:

but they don't really play out the dream.

Speaker:

If you will,

Speaker:

these questions kind of get you there.

Speaker:

Well, that's true.

Speaker:

One of the things I've gained my play with myself constantly

Speaker:

is by won the lottery.

Speaker:

If I had a run chuckle who left me a bunch

Speaker:

of money,

Speaker:

whatever the situation is,

Speaker:

if I had all the money I needed,

Speaker:

what would I do?

Speaker:

And I'd still be doing exactly what I'm doing.

Speaker:

I wouldn't stop.

Speaker:

I love what I'm doing.

Speaker:

And I love making people happy.

Speaker:

I love the fact that I can give people things that

Speaker:

are meaningful.

Speaker:

The whole personalization thing is a real phenomenon.

Speaker:

It really works to make people feel good.

Speaker:

So why wouldn't I do that?

Speaker:

Right. Well,

Speaker:

it doesn't mean that you're done growing and evolving.

Speaker:

Right. But it just certainly means that you're successful because you've

Speaker:

reached a place where you've wanted to get to and that's

Speaker:

fulfilling and energizing and exciting for you to wake up every

Speaker:

morning. Right.

Speaker:

And that's the goal.

Speaker:

That's the goal.

Speaker:

I keep telling people I play all day.

Speaker:

I mean,

Speaker:

not really,

Speaker:

but I kind of feel like I'm playing all day.

Speaker:

I've talked to you a couple of times when you've had

Speaker:

a bunch of orders that you've had to get out.

Speaker:

Yes. But it's good tense.

Speaker:

It's what you want,

Speaker:

right? Yes.

Speaker:

The tense,

Speaker:

it's a tense that I welcome and I create,

Speaker:

I mean,

Speaker:

yeah. I had a very difficult week last week trying to

Speaker:

get all my mother's day stuff shipped out.

Speaker:

Yeah. I mean it's tense and I'm working late hours,

Speaker:

but it's what I want to do.

Speaker:

Right. Not like I have a boss telling me I have

Speaker:

to stay late and I don't want to,

Speaker:

so that's the difference,

Speaker:

right, for sure.

Speaker:

Okay. So let's talk a little bit more about the development

Speaker:

of Juul walls.

Speaker:

So you did this on the side for a long time,

Speaker:

as you were still in your high tech position.

Speaker:

I did.

Speaker:

So I started,

Speaker:

I've always liked jewelry and I couldn't find jewelry that I

Speaker:

wanted to wear that matched my outfit.

Speaker:

So I took a class in a glass making and land

Speaker:

forking specifically decided to make my own jewelry and it was

Speaker:

messing around with that.

Speaker:

And then I realized I wanted to make things that I

Speaker:

wouldn't necessarily wear on my own because I have a certain

Speaker:

style, but I wanted to try different things.

Speaker:

So friends and family,

Speaker:

oh, you should make this to sell like,

Speaker:

okay, fine,

Speaker:

whatever. So I started doing that.

Speaker:

And then of course I started the whole craft show circuit

Speaker:

learned how to do that.

Speaker:

Got an opportunity to do some personalized jewelry and realize what

Speaker:

a big deal that was.

Speaker:

So my hair stylist had two daughters who were cheerleaders.

Speaker:

They needed a banquet gift if you're familiar with that whole

Speaker:

scene. And so I did that in their school colors and

Speaker:

with their school mascot,

Speaker:

it was a tiger.

Speaker:

And I did a little tiger paw and put IHS Ipswich

Speaker:

high school on it.

Speaker:

Oh my God,

Speaker:

you thought I had made something out of nothing.

Speaker:

So this is a thing I said and started doing personalized

Speaker:

jewelry for schools and teams.

Speaker:

And you know,

Speaker:

it was working on that.

Speaker:

But then about that time is when I was looking at

Speaker:

what I do after I left high tech,

Speaker:

I said,

Speaker:

I really need something that's going to scale because I'd like

Speaker:

to actually make a real business out of this.

Speaker:

So he around by couldn't really make the jewelry thing scale.

Speaker:

And a friend of mine said,

Speaker:

well, why don't you do corporate gifts?

Speaker:

I said,

Speaker:

I make jewelry.

Speaker:

What do you mean corporate gifts?

Speaker:

That's kind of a big leap.

Speaker:

Well, the charms led to wine charms.

Speaker:

Okay. And that led to a wine stopper.

Speaker:

And I'm still doing the glass Nigeria because I was making

Speaker:

glass beads.

Speaker:

So the handle of the wine stopper where the glass fees

Speaker:

and then that led to,

Speaker:

well, I can also make a glass handled fork and knife

Speaker:

like you would for a cheeseboard.

Speaker:

My husband says,

Speaker:

well, I can make a cheeseboard for you.

Speaker:

Okay. So now we're making cheese boards.

Speaker:

Well, it just led to one thing after another.

Speaker:

And here I am and the gift business,

Speaker:

the funny thing is,

Speaker:

as I think back to my executive career,

Speaker:

I was in the high-tech.

Speaker:

And so when we finished a big software project,

Speaker:

we do ship parties,

Speaker:

right? We'd ship the software.

Speaker:

I was busy doing personalized gifts back then for my whole

Speaker:

team. And so the whole personalized gift thing,

Speaker:

I think just came naturally because I've been doing it for

Speaker:

years. So a good portion of people that I'll talk to

Speaker:

will say,

Speaker:

yeah, I don't really want to tell my friends and family

Speaker:

what I'm doing yet.

Speaker:

I'd rather tell them about it when it's on the road

Speaker:

and it's being successful.

Speaker:

Right. And I try to stop people from thinking that way,

Speaker:

because if you don't include your friends and family,

Speaker:

as you're developing your business,

Speaker:

you're missing a huge opportunity.

Speaker:

Number one,

Speaker:

to make some initial income from people who will support you.

Speaker:

Also people who will be sympathetic.

Speaker:

If there are glitches in your system like online sales processes,

Speaker:

or even in the product overall,

Speaker:

as you're developing and growing.

Speaker:

And you had mentioned way in the beginning,

Speaker:

when you started making your jewelry,

Speaker:

that you were selling to friends and family,

Speaker:

what was your thinking there?

Speaker:

And how did you start talking about it with them?

Speaker:

It's been awhile,

Speaker:

but I probably started talking to them just because I'm excited

Speaker:

about learning,

Speaker:

how to make glass.

Speaker:

That was just super cool.

Speaker:

And I got whopping encouragement from my buddy,

Speaker:

oh, class,

Speaker:

you make glass.

Speaker:

What does that even mean?

Speaker:

And so just through naturally discussing that.

Speaker:

So just generally sharing what you were up to you weren't

Speaker:

selling products to them.

Speaker:

You were just saying,

Speaker:

I'm experimenting,

Speaker:

you know,

Speaker:

I'm doing something fun on the side.

Speaker:

I'm learning how to make things out of glass.

Speaker:

Right. Right.

Speaker:

And then I would show them either pictures or show them

Speaker:

in person,

Speaker:

the stuff I was making.

Speaker:

And so you get to that natural point where,

Speaker:

oh, could you make one of those for me?

Speaker:

Sure. And so I made one for prince for this family

Speaker:

member, et cetera.

Speaker:

And so it wasn't a very big leap when they said,

Speaker:

well, you should do this to sell because I'd already had

Speaker:

initial success with friends and family.

Speaker:

And they were hugely supportive.

Speaker:

You get worried as an artist,

Speaker:

I'm going to make something.

Speaker:

Will anybody like it?

Speaker:

I mean,

Speaker:

I'll have to say the very first craft show I went

Speaker:

to. I sold nothing.

Speaker:

Let's talk about that though.

Speaker:

I think that's important because I call this validating your product

Speaker:

because you could make something that's beautiful and fun and cute.

Speaker:

And people love looking at it,

Speaker:

but they would never buy it.

Speaker:

That's the hard truth.

Speaker:

So you need to validate that your product can sell before

Speaker:

you go so far as starting to build a business around

Speaker:

it. You don't want to find out later.

Speaker:

You want to find out right in the beginning.

Speaker:

Well, exactly.

Speaker:

So luckily I have my husband with me throughout that whole

Speaker:

craft show journey.

Speaker:

So let's go to your first show.

Speaker:

My very first show,

Speaker:

Talk us through the story.

Speaker:

Wait, 250 bucks.

Speaker:

It was in my hometown.

Speaker:

It was out in the street of spring festival.

Speaker:

Over Memorial day.

Speaker:

I prepped like a mad woman.

Speaker:

I had all this stuff.

Speaker:

I had a collection.

Speaker:

Cause of course I'm doing jewelry.

Speaker:

I can't have one a collection that speaks to the fact

Speaker:

that I'm an artist the whole bit.

Speaker:

Right. I had collateral cards made.

Speaker:

I went all in and had bought a tent.

Speaker:

It's sounding good.

Speaker:

So far Gail.

Speaker:

Right. And you know,

Speaker:

it was wearable art.

Speaker:

Oh, is that cool?

Speaker:

So I had little frames.

Speaker:

I had my jewelry kind of taped to the frames.

Speaker:

Like it was wearable art.

Speaker:

Okay. I sold nothing.

Speaker:

Now why was that?

Speaker:

And this goes to one of the things that I learned

Speaker:

to do.

Speaker:

I mean,

Speaker:

you do the show,

Speaker:

you record the results,

Speaker:

you analyze it.

Speaker:

You figure what worked,

Speaker:

what didn't it,

Speaker:

move on and do the next one.

Speaker:

I mean,

Speaker:

you really have to get into that mindset.

Speaker:

But I did the show and what I figured out was

Speaker:

first people wanted it because it took lots of notes.

Speaker:

And you know,

Speaker:

I talked about it with my husband.

Speaker:

People wanted jewelry.

Speaker:

They didn't want beads.

Speaker:

Oh, that's interesting.

Speaker:

I was selling beads,

Speaker:

but they wanted full jewelry pieces.

Speaker:

Oh, so you were selling loose.

Speaker:

Speed's not finished product.

Speaker:

Right? I was selling beads that were ready to hang on

Speaker:

a pendant on a chain,

Speaker:

but I did supply the chain.

Speaker:

And so how did you find out that that's what they

Speaker:

were wanting.

Speaker:

Were you talking with them?

Speaker:

For sure.

Speaker:

You're just talking with people and perfect.

Speaker:

Okay. Do you have chains?

Speaker:

No, that was my first.

Speaker:

Oops. So,

Speaker:

okay. People want change then the other thing I found,

Speaker:

cause I had them all fixed to the frames.

Speaker:

People want to pick up jewelry at a craft show.

Speaker:

They want to pick it up touching.

Speaker:

It's a big deal so that I learned,

Speaker:

all right,

Speaker:

next time you need to have a different display.

Speaker:

My price points were wrong.

Speaker:

Some were too high,

Speaker:

some are too low.

Speaker:

And what I found over time was that you need a

Speaker:

range of price points.

Speaker:

People want going to buy the highest thing.

Speaker:

Most likely they might buy the lowest,

Speaker:

but you know,

Speaker:

they're going to buy in that sweet spot,

Speaker:

but you've got to have it priced.

Speaker:

So that,

Speaker:

I mean,

Speaker:

this is all merchandising,

Speaker:

right. But you've got to have something priced in the middle.

Speaker:

They feel more comfortable buying at that point unless they know

Speaker:

you. Yeah.

Speaker:

And the other thing that you always want to do,

Speaker:

I have to bring this in because we had a podcast

Speaker:

just a little while ago,

Speaker:

talking about the mindset of purchasing and part of this was

Speaker:

priming your price still at a show.

Speaker:

You always want higher price things.

Speaker:

Then maybe even you think anyone will buy because then it

Speaker:

makes your medium priced things.

Speaker:

Not the top tier anymore.

Speaker:

Exactly. Yeah.

Speaker:

So you were already doing that.

Speaker:

It sounds like.

Speaker:

No, no.

Speaker:

I learned that over time,

Speaker:

that first show yet it was all priced the same duck.

Speaker:

So I learned that over time.

Speaker:

And so that's what I ended up doing then was I

Speaker:

bumped up my collection prices to be very high priced and

Speaker:

people would look at that and I sold them every once

Speaker:

in a while,

Speaker:

but it was more just,

Speaker:

wow, she can do that.

Speaker:

I can't afford that,

Speaker:

but I'll go buy this medium price thing because the same

Speaker:

person made it.

Speaker:

Right. That kind Of thing.

Speaker:

Would you say that offering some of those higher price and

Speaker:

you're not bumping up the price because it's not of that

Speaker:

quality. Like you still are being genuine as to what the

Speaker:

prices should be,

Speaker:

but you're just creating something that is more expensive,

Speaker:

you know,

Speaker:

whatever. But I think it also positions you at a different

Speaker:

level as an artisan when you have higher priced things as

Speaker:

well. So even if someone buys something a little less expensive,

Speaker:

it's that psychological feeling that the specialist of that artisan is

Speaker:

higher. Exactly.

Speaker:

So it was a friend who kind of turned me onto

Speaker:

that because she said,

Speaker:

you know,

Speaker:

you should have some less expensive things scale.

Speaker:

So people who can't afford the higher price things,

Speaker:

but they still like what you do can feel like they

Speaker:

have a little part of your art when they buy the

Speaker:

lower price.

Speaker:

I know.

Speaker:

Okay. That makes some sense.

Speaker:

You know,

Speaker:

at first I resisted,

Speaker:

I'll have to say,

Speaker:

I don't want to sell things for cheap,

Speaker:

but that wasn't the point.

Speaker:

The point was that people have different price points that they're

Speaker:

willing to part with money for.

Speaker:

And you need to see if you can acknowledge those price

Speaker:

points in your product line.

Speaker:

I mean,

Speaker:

that's really all that was.

Speaker:

And so I learned how to do that.

Speaker:

Yeah. And I would also say,

Speaker:

especially at a craft show too,

Speaker:

sometimes people are meeting you for the first time.

Speaker:

So they're not necessarily willing to invest in a higher priced

Speaker:

piece yet they want something kind of entry-level Yes,

Speaker:

I would agree.

Speaker:

And then do you know if you collect their name and

Speaker:

treat them as a customer and over time they might get

Speaker:

to the point where they'd like to buy something more expensive

Speaker:

from you.

Speaker:

So yeah.

Speaker:

I learned a little bit of that,

Speaker:

but that first craft show.

Speaker:

Oh my God.

Speaker:

All right.

Speaker:

So this is important.

Speaker:

And can I tell you how happy I am?

Speaker:

We're going to be able to be at more regular,

Speaker:

I guess I want to say normal face-to-face shows again soon

Speaker:

I hesitate a little insane that,

Speaker:

but it's coming.

Speaker:

Like I see all the shows coming,

Speaker:

even some of the trade shows are coming back.

Speaker:

I mean,

Speaker:

we'll probably still be social distancing and things like that.

Speaker:

I get it.

Speaker:

But this is such valuable conversation,

Speaker:

Gail, because I talk with people a lot about doing the

Speaker:

shows for exactly what you're saying.

Speaker:

Even if you don't sell,

Speaker:

you're getting so much feedback that then will help you be

Speaker:

better later.

Speaker:

But for your experience,

Speaker:

what got you to doing the second one?

Speaker:

Cause you did the first one,

Speaker:

you put down $250 and this was a while ago.

Speaker:

This was quite a while ago.

Speaker:

Yeah. 250 Is kind of standard or on the sometimes lower

Speaker:

end for some of the shows right now.

Speaker:

But that was a lot money.

Speaker:

And you came out with nothing,

Speaker:

not to mention the work of getting your booth set up

Speaker:

All the work that I had to buy the tent and

Speaker:

the whole thing yet.

Speaker:

Yeah. But so What did you say to yourself about this

Speaker:

and how did you encourage yourself to do it again?

Speaker:

So know I complained to my husband a lot.

Speaker:

That was first thing.

Speaker:

He was quite supportive,

Speaker:

but I think it was more of a,

Speaker:

I already had made sales to friends and families.

Speaker:

And I already had a lot of people who liked what

Speaker:

I did so that wasn't the problem.

Speaker:

I concluded.

Speaker:

It must be the way that I was trying to sell

Speaker:

it. And the price points.

Speaker:

I mean,

Speaker:

there were so many things that I really did get right

Speaker:

that first time.

Speaker:

And I could tell just by the questions that people would

Speaker:

ask me or the comments that they would make.

Speaker:

So even the second show,

Speaker:

I didn't do all that much better,

Speaker:

but you know,

Speaker:

it took a little while and I learned over time how

Speaker:

to make a very nice looking craft with.

Speaker:

And in fact,

Speaker:

I went from having say $2,000

Speaker:

inventory for my craft booth 10 by 10 booth to having

Speaker:

$11,000 at retail worth of inventory,

Speaker:

because then I had different lines of things and I had

Speaker:

all sorts of price points.

Speaker:

I had charity jewelry.

Speaker:

I started learning that I had to for jewelry.

Speaker:

I did best if I organized by color because remember I'm

Speaker:

making glass or things about the color.

Speaker:

So I had a section for people who like blue,

Speaker:

a section for people who liked pink,

Speaker:

that made a whopping difference.

Speaker:

All these things over time that each time I did a

Speaker:

show, I wrote stuff down.

Speaker:

I mean,

Speaker:

this is another interesting thing.

Speaker:

I would tell people every single craft show I've done,

Speaker:

I have all the sheets I wrote down the sale.

Speaker:

And I tried to write down a little bit about the

Speaker:

person who bought the stuff if I had time.

Speaker:

And what I learned early on was that single women tended

Speaker:

to buy gifts.

Speaker:

Women who were showing up by themselves,

Speaker:

I should say it that way,

Speaker:

not their marital status,

Speaker:

but women who were shopping by themselves or would buy things

Speaker:

for other people.

Speaker:

And they wanted to spend at the time 50 to $75,

Speaker:

if they're buying gifts for someone else,

Speaker:

I said,

Speaker:

well, it's interesting.

Speaker:

So I started to create a line of jewelry specifically for

Speaker:

that purpose.

Speaker:

And that became my middle tier line.

Speaker:

And it was very,

Speaker:

very successful.

Speaker:

In fact,

Speaker:

that was the original G Jules was my middle tier line

Speaker:

of jewelry.

Speaker:

And because that was so successful,

Speaker:

I decided to name my entire company Juul after that,

Speaker:

because that had a sweet spot in my heart.

Speaker:

I love the name.

Speaker:

It's perfect.

Speaker:

It's perfect.

Speaker:

So how long were you on the craft show circuit?

Speaker:

So I did that.

Speaker:

I started in oh eight and I did that until 13.

Speaker:

So I guess about four years and then the whole personalized

Speaker:

jewelry thing took over and I slowly phased out of the

Speaker:

crash. I mean,

Speaker:

I probably did the one of a kind jewelry for another

Speaker:

couple of years,

Speaker:

but then I went exclusively to the personalized jewelry and that

Speaker:

was like 13 to say 18.

Speaker:

And the gift business is relatively new.

Speaker:

I only started that back in the fall of 2018 and

Speaker:

was going gangbusters through 19 until the pandemic last year.

Speaker:

That may be pivot.

Speaker:

And that was an interesting pivot.

Speaker:

I mean,

Speaker:

if you talk about what was like,

Speaker:

the worst thing happened to you,

Speaker:

I had four in-person events cancel on me that Friday after

Speaker:

the NBA shut down for that was basically the first half

Speaker:

of my year.

Speaker:

Okay. Well I decided to go ahead and move my studio,

Speaker:

which I had planned anyway over the summer thinking,

Speaker:

well, what else am I going to be doing?

Speaker:

But then I hate that stupid word pivot,

Speaker:

but that's what I did.

Speaker:

And I learned that I actually could be very successful selling

Speaker:

over zoom calls one-on-one to my realtors,

Speaker:

mortgage brokers,

Speaker:

et cetera,

Speaker:

because I could have all my samples here and,

Speaker:

you know,

Speaker:

we could have a nice one-on-one conversation.

Speaker:

It wasn't a nasty zoom call with all the postage stamp

Speaker:

heads. It was a nice zoom call where we could develop

Speaker:

a little bit of a relationship.

Speaker:

And as I thought about it,

Speaker:

I said,

Speaker:

wow, this is really working.

Speaker:

This is what I should be doing at least for now.

Speaker:

I mean,

Speaker:

this is giving me repeat business.

Speaker:

I mean,

Speaker:

these are clients who will order many things over time,

Speaker:

not just a one and done kind of a sale Build

Speaker:

up to that point.

Speaker:

First, I think what would help serve people who are listening

Speaker:

to us chatting is share with everybody,

Speaker:

the products that you're creating now.

Speaker:

Yeah. So I went from making the glass and Sterling silver

Speaker:

jewelry to what I'm doing now.

Speaker:

I still make the glass,

Speaker:

but now it's limited to last handled forks and knives serving

Speaker:

pieces. So that's really the only place that a glass shows

Speaker:

up in some wine terms that I do.

Speaker:

So right now I'm doing,

Speaker:

I have a variety of cutting boards,

Speaker:

different sizes from small little four inch by eight inch cutting

Speaker:

board, a cocktail board.

Speaker:

I call it all the way up to a huge oval

Speaker:

cutting board with handles that's 15 by 11,

Speaker:

which is big spectacular kind of a cutting board.

Speaker:

But sweet spot though is the cheeseboard I saw,

Speaker:

which is about five by eight,

Speaker:

that has a glass handled serving knife that comes with it.

Speaker:

The nice thing is that I'm a laser engraver,

Speaker:

so I'll personalize that on the front for the client.

Speaker:

And then on the back,

Speaker:

I personalize it for the professionals.

Speaker:

So over the realtor broker insurance agent,

Speaker:

whoever. So the client gets a personalized gift for themselves,

Speaker:

which of course goes over huge because it has their own

Speaker:

name or street address or whatever on it.

Speaker:

And then the professional gets a gift that can now be

Speaker:

classified as a marketing expense because it has their professional information

Speaker:

on it.

Speaker:

So it's been a big win-win Right?

Speaker:

So, and it plays right into the popularity right now of

Speaker:

charcuterie boards too.

Speaker:

Right? I mean,

Speaker:

so you're combining your product with a very popular cultural item

Speaker:

right now.

Speaker:

I don't know if I'd call it cultural,

Speaker:

but current entertainment,

Speaker:

popular item.

Speaker:

However you want to say that that's beautiful,

Speaker:

but it's all customizable.

Speaker:

However you want to do it.

Speaker:

So logos words,

Speaker:

graphics, all different types of things,

Speaker:

even Colors of the boards.

Speaker:

I use exotic hardwoods.

Speaker:

So there's all sorts of different things.

Speaker:

Reds, purples,

Speaker:

golds, and everything else in there.

Speaker:

And people can customize the boards too.

Speaker:

So cutting boards in general are having a moment right now.

Speaker:

I mean,

Speaker:

people love wood.

Speaker:

I mean that,

Speaker:

there's something about it.

Speaker:

That's more popular now than it was say 10 years ago.

Speaker:

I love what you say.

Speaker:

You don't know how long it's going to last,

Speaker:

but I'm cashing it and I'll have to tell you that.

Speaker:

So For sure.

Speaker:

And I think that's an interesting point too,

Speaker:

is if there's something going on that seems to be trending

Speaker:

and it in any way can attach to something that you're

Speaker:

making jump on board,

Speaker:

ride the moment with it.

Speaker:

And 10 years from now,

Speaker:

maybe it won't be the case,

Speaker:

but it is right now or five years from now who

Speaker:

knows, but ride the trend while you can,

Speaker:

for sure.

Speaker:

Definitely. I mean,

Speaker:

two years ago,

Speaker:

no one would have been buying masks and look at what

Speaker:

happened hopefully a year from now.

Speaker:

We won't be anymore either.

Speaker:

So we go with that.

Speaker:

But so still before the pandemic hit and you had to

Speaker:

restructure how you were working with people,

Speaker:

where were you going to share your product with people like

Speaker:

the realtors and financial advisers,

Speaker:

et cetera.

Speaker:

How were you initially getting in front of them before you

Speaker:

had to go to zoom?

Speaker:

Right? That was networking,

Speaker:

networking events.

Speaker:

Okay. Talk to us about that.

Speaker:

Yeah, the BNIs,

Speaker:

the various networking groups that you can do locally.

Speaker:

And so I had joined some of those.

Speaker:

I was starting to show up at those events.

Speaker:

Although the interesting thing is a lot of them were evening

Speaker:

events, which I detest,

Speaker:

I hate evening networking events.

Speaker:

So I wasn't really looking forward to doing this.

Speaker:

Now I tried a bunch of other things cause I just

Speaker:

detest that evening networking so much.

Speaker:

So I was doing Facebook has all sorts of things to

Speaker:

build that up,

Speaker:

hoping to try and reach people in different way.

Speaker:

But the zoom things worked for me just because I didn't

Speaker:

have to pack all the,

Speaker:

I mean,

Speaker:

I've got cutting boards that are kind of heavy.

Speaker:

So to pack all that stuff up and just try to

Speaker:

show up at a coffee shop with somebody,

Speaker:

it was not fun.

Speaker:

I mean,

Speaker:

I was dirt to do it,

Speaker:

but I was like,

Speaker:

ah, I hope there's a better way.

Speaker:

I can figure out how to do this.

Speaker:

Initially you were doing networking events where people got to know

Speaker:

who you were,

Speaker:

what you do and you are absolutely right.

Speaker:

I mean,

Speaker:

the types of people that you're looking at are the very

Speaker:

people who would be going to these networking events because that's

Speaker:

how they're getting business too.

Speaker:

Right? So you intercepted them.

Speaker:

You like walked right in front of their path to find

Speaker:

them, right.

Speaker:

So that's just getting to know people like starting relationships.

Speaker:

You're not going and selling immediately.

Speaker:

You're just starting to build a relationship.

Speaker:

And then where you getting on the zoom calls,

Speaker:

where you could have all your product behind you and you

Speaker:

could talk about what their specific orders could look like.

Speaker:

Right? So what I would do is,

Speaker:

as I was beating these people in these networking groups,

Speaker:

the other cool thing I took advantage of was the virtual

Speaker:

background in zoom.

Speaker:

And so I could put pictures of my stuff behind me,

Speaker:

which figured that out pretty darn fast.

Speaker:

Oh, this is great.

Speaker:

Well, of course now you're in breakout sessions and people are

Speaker:

like, what's behind you.

Speaker:

What do you do?

Speaker:

There we go.

Speaker:

There's a lead in question that I need.

Speaker:

So that was working pretty well.

Speaker:

And then I'd either get people,

Speaker:

Hey, let's do a one-on-one or I get their information that

Speaker:

chat and reach out to them later and say,

Speaker:

Hey, did you see the thing behind me?

Speaker:

Are you interested in finding out a little bit more,

Speaker:

et cetera.

Speaker:

So that's been pretty easy actually.

Speaker:

So is that what sustained you all of the past year?

Speaker:

And that's,

Speaker:

what's propelling me forward at breakneck pace right now.

Speaker:

Yes. Well,

Speaker:

yeah, I know you kind of teased me before I pressed

Speaker:

record that you have some things to share us about what's

Speaker:

going to happen in the future.

Speaker:

So I'm really excited about that.

Speaker:

But for this last year,

Speaker:

when obviously networking events were non-existent in-person existence on zoom,

Speaker:

but I know on my side,

Speaker:

a lot of people just bagged the zoom networking events.

Speaker:

It's kind of like people took a little bit of a

Speaker:

hiatus. Did you see that attendance was lower than what you

Speaker:

would have normally gotten with your networking events Perhaps,

Speaker:

but at the beginning.

Speaker:

But what I found is that people have learned how to

Speaker:

do them.

Speaker:

They've embraced them and they realized that if they want to

Speaker:

get in front of people,

Speaker:

they're going to have to do that.

Speaker:

The other thing that's happening,

Speaker:

which I think is very positive,

Speaker:

is there a virtual thing springing up now,

Speaker:

there are virtual networking groups where no one will ever see

Speaker:

each other because people are all over the arts.

Speaker:

I live in Massachusetts.

Speaker:

There's a virtual one that I'm in,

Speaker:

that sets the state of Massachusetts.

Speaker:

Okay. We're not a very big state,

Speaker:

but still people don't want to drive an hour to go

Speaker:

meet people.

Speaker:

Right? So this is a group that formed during the pandemic

Speaker:

and we will continue to be virtual I'm in another group,

Speaker:

a women's networking group that has chapters all over the women's

Speaker:

business league.

Speaker:

I'll put a word in for them cause they're very good

Speaker:

group to join.

Speaker:

Has chapters all over the country.

Speaker:

They'd started a couple of years ago,

Speaker:

they're growing like crazy.

Speaker:

They have started a virtual group with the idea that these

Speaker:

people will never meet in person,

Speaker:

but there's no reason with zoom where you can't have a

Speaker:

virtual networking group.

Speaker:

So just like the virtual craft events.

Speaker:

I mean,

Speaker:

there's some stuff that's happening that I think is definitely for

Speaker:

the better,

Speaker:

because why spend all that time driving around when you can

Speaker:

get on a zoom call and see people?

Speaker:

Absolutely. Yeah.

Speaker:

And let's go ahead and roll with that since you brought

Speaker:

it up because that's how our paths crossed it was with

Speaker:

the at-home Crafton gift show.

Speaker:

So the zoom meetings just for networking and developing relationships and

Speaker:

then taking conversations further you saw were really great over zoom.

Speaker:

And now also you've been a craft show professional now for

Speaker:

quite a while,

Speaker:

have a lot of experience with that.

Speaker:

And now we've done some online things.

Speaker:

So can you share with us a little bit of your

Speaker:

experience with that right after this quick break,

Speaker:

we'll hear what Gail has to say about virtual shows,

Speaker:

specifically the at-home craft and gift show.

Speaker:

Yes, it's Possible increase your sales without adding a single customer.

Speaker:

How you ask by offering personalization with your products,

Speaker:

wrap a cake box with a ribbon saying happy 30th birthday,

Speaker:

Annie, or at a special message and date to wedding or

Speaker:

party favors for an extra meaningful touch.

Speaker:

Where else can you get customization with a creatively spelled name

Speaker:

or find packaging?

Speaker:

That includes a saying whose meaning is known to a select

Speaker:

to not only are customers willing to pay for these special

Speaker:

touches. They'll tell their friends and word will spread about your

Speaker:

company and products.

Speaker:

You can create personalized ribbons and labels in seconds,

Speaker:

make just one or thousands without waiting weeks or having to

Speaker:

spend money to order yards and yards print words in any

Speaker:

language or font,

Speaker:

add logos,

Speaker:

images, even photos,

Speaker:

perfect for branding or ingredient and flavor labels to for more

Speaker:

information, go to the ribbon print company.com.

Speaker:

Yeah. That's interesting.

Speaker:

It very much appeals to me because all my stuff is

Speaker:

made to order.

Speaker:

I mean,

Speaker:

I'm doing personalized things.

Speaker:

So if seldom order anything for me that I haven't personalized

Speaker:

for you in some way.

Speaker:

So for me,

Speaker:

that was perfect.

Speaker:

Cause I can't really do craft shows anymore because I don't

Speaker:

have my laser engraver on site theirs.

Speaker:

Right? So for me I thought,

Speaker:

oh, this is perfect to do a virtual craft show because

Speaker:

people can see this stuff.

Speaker:

They see lots of different pictures and examples and then they

Speaker:

can order it and we'll take a week or two to

Speaker:

get it,

Speaker:

but perfect timing.

Speaker:

So I've been very excited about participating in those and in

Speaker:

finding out more events.

Speaker:

Plus there's no reason in the world why I can't participate

Speaker:

in an event and sell something I'm in Massachusetts sales center

Speaker:

because I'm going to California.

Speaker:

So what I just ship it,

Speaker:

no big deal.

Speaker:

So for me,

Speaker:

it was a very interesting opportunity.

Speaker:

I'd love to see those things get bigger and bigger and

Speaker:

bigger. The odd part though,

Speaker:

coming out of a craft show background is you can't see

Speaker:

people unless they kind of sign into your booth.

Speaker:

So that's been kind of odd.

Speaker:

I mean,

Speaker:

yes, if you're at a craft show,

Speaker:

sometimes people will pass by your booth and not come in.

Speaker:

Right. You can see them looking,

Speaker:

but you can see what they look at.

Speaker:

You can also see who they are.

Speaker:

You can perhaps engage them visually and maybe get them to

Speaker:

come in.

Speaker:

You know,

Speaker:

you've got these people who hang out and kind of look

Speaker:

in, but don't want to engage.

Speaker:

But a lot of times you learn how to engage them,

Speaker:

but you get a sense of who's at the show.

Speaker:

You can't do that yet with a virtual craft show.

Speaker:

So that's been a little odd.

Speaker:

You don't have a sense of whether there's lots of people,

Speaker:

whether looking at your stuff and making faces and walking by,

Speaker:

like you see at some real craft shows,

Speaker:

right? You can't do that kind of behind the scenes observation,

Speaker:

if you will,

Speaker:

or which products that they're naturally going to look at in

Speaker:

your booth,

Speaker:

at the at-home show,

Speaker:

we did have the ability to talk one-on-one with the artisans.

Speaker:

And I think that's a little different with the at-home show

Speaker:

than other craft shows that I've been seeing.

Speaker:

Did you have a lot of people pop on and talk

Speaker:

with you and use that functionality?

Speaker:

I had a few,

Speaker:

they tended to be younger,

Speaker:

which was interesting.

Speaker:

Oh, that makes sense.

Speaker:

I guess.

Speaker:

Yeah. They tended to be younger people.

Speaker:

They pop in and it was clear there at home,

Speaker:

in their pajama type of thing.

Speaker:

They were comfortable at home eating and drinking is Kind of

Speaker:

funny my way to roll.

Speaker:

They're clearly comfortable,

Speaker:

which is good.

Speaker:

Yeah. We had that.

Speaker:

Then I had people that bought stuff that never popped in,

Speaker:

which I thought was odd too.

Speaker:

But part of it's just learning.

Speaker:

I mean,

Speaker:

I first started doing craft shows.

Speaker:

I didn't know how to do those either.

Speaker:

So a little bit of this is learning what works.

Speaker:

I would say it's also learning on both ends because not

Speaker:

many craft shows have that face-to-face function.

Speaker:

And so when it is there,

Speaker:

people are still learning how to use it.

Speaker:

And I think as these shows continue to go,

Speaker:

especially the at-home shows because we're seeing people who went to

Speaker:

the holiday.

Speaker:

One, some came to the spring one a lot will come

Speaker:

back to the next holiday one they'll now know because they'll

Speaker:

have had the experience from before.

Speaker:

But I got to tell you,

Speaker:

like, I think honestly for me,

Speaker:

unless I have my makeup on probably,

Speaker:

and certainly not,

Speaker:

if I'm in my jammies,

Speaker:

like I want to go in and just look around myself

Speaker:

too. Oh,

Speaker:

sure. Sometimes I'd be interested in popping in and sometimes maybe

Speaker:

not. So being able to do one or the other is

Speaker:

good and now we have where you can just talk,

Speaker:

but not show your face too.

Speaker:

I liked it because then I had a bunch of people

Speaker:

do that or they sign into the chat and do things,

Speaker:

but from a technology perspective,

Speaker:

because remember that is my background.

Speaker:

There ought to be a way where you can watch people's

Speaker:

mouse and at least figure out what part of the screen

Speaker:

they're engaging in.

Speaker:

So you might get a sense of what products are looking

Speaker:

at when they're scrolling,

Speaker:

because it's just something that,

Speaker:

so I prepare the whole screen here or the product through

Speaker:

the pictures.

Speaker:

If people are glossing over one or more of them,

Speaker:

then you at least get a sense of,

Speaker:

yeah, I didn't display that correctly,

Speaker:

which is what you learn when you're at a real craft

Speaker:

shows. We need some technology,

Speaker:

some deeper level analysis.

Speaker:

Yeah. So we can get a better sense of what's attracting

Speaker:

people because that's,

Speaker:

what's missing to me.

Speaker:

That's really good Feedback,

Speaker:

but it sounds like you're a thumbs up for virtual shows.

Speaker:

I think about it from this perspective.

Speaker:

I didn't have to make a whole bunch of inventory.

Speaker:

I didn't have to schlep at somewhere.

Speaker:

I didn't have to set up a stupid tent Cause your

Speaker:

pieces are heavy too.

Speaker:

They Are heavy.

Speaker:

And it doesn't even matter what it was.

Speaker:

Even with jewelry.

Speaker:

I mean,

Speaker:

I had stuff all pre-staged on boards,

Speaker:

but I still had to schlep it somewhere.

Speaker:

I didn't have to take all bunch of packaging with me.

Speaker:

I mean all this stuff that you have to do.

Speaker:

And plus I could reach people that were far away from

Speaker:

me. I did make sales to California.

Speaker:

That would never happen.

Speaker:

Otherwise to me,

Speaker:

that's Huge.

Speaker:

Yeah. You haven't heard me maybe talking about this,

Speaker:

but I don't look at virtual shows as just a craft

Speaker:

show online.

Speaker:

I look at it as a completely separate opportunity to be

Speaker:

selling because just like you were talking about the value of

Speaker:

that face-to-face and maybe just even observing from a distance or

Speaker:

what they pick up or the interaction that you have when

Speaker:

you really are in person,

Speaker:

that's one thing.

Speaker:

And then there's also value to these virtual shows.

Speaker:

Like you're talking about national audiences,

Speaker:

people coming in 24 seven,

Speaker:

maybe when you're not even there.

Speaker:

So the shows can be a little longer.

Speaker:

And I just look at these as not one is a

Speaker:

subset of another,

Speaker:

but two entirely different types of selling opportunities.

Speaker:

Yeah. It's an additional channel.

Speaker:

Cause the other thing you think about craft shows.

Speaker:

So like we talked about earlier,

Speaker:

people may not want to spend big money on something where

Speaker:

they see it just once,

Speaker:

but in a virtual craft show,

Speaker:

you've got the in-person live portion of it,

Speaker:

but then the site or the show stays up for a

Speaker:

few days.

Speaker:

Well that gives you a chance to think about it.

Speaker:

Go talk with a friend,

Speaker:

go find out if your friend would like that cool thing

Speaker:

that you saw in the craft show and talk to your

Speaker:

husband, Hey honey,

Speaker:

I'd really liked that.

Speaker:

Can you get it for me?

Speaker:

All that stuff that you can't do with a craft show,

Speaker:

that's there for like one day.

Speaker:

And even if the crash is there for a weekend,

Speaker:

do you really want to physically go back there?

Speaker:

Probably not.

Speaker:

So I mean,

Speaker:

that's what makes it so easy.

Speaker:

Yeah. I mean there's pros and cons to both,

Speaker:

right? Because a craft show is like going to a retail

Speaker:

shop. You see it,

Speaker:

you get it,

Speaker:

you leave and the value of being able to touch it

Speaker:

like you were talking about before and touch it.

Speaker:

Yeah. I don't know the exact number,

Speaker:

but research verifies that if you can get your product into

Speaker:

somebody's hand,

Speaker:

the likeliness that they'll buy is so much greater.

Speaker:

Oh. Has to be trying things on,

Speaker:

just handing it to somebody in.

Speaker:

I don't think it will be this summer,

Speaker:

but like samples that you could do if you had a

Speaker:

consumable product,

Speaker:

all of those types of things.

Speaker:

So two thumbs up for virtual shows in-person shows all of

Speaker:

that. Let's talk some more about your corporate retention programs.

Speaker:

What's the language that you use with people,

Speaker:

for them to really understand the value of putting a program

Speaker:

like this in place.

Speaker:

I usually tell people that my gifts are three things.

Speaker:

One, they are meaningful.

Speaker:

It's not just some something from Amazon.

Speaker:

It's something that's custom crafted for an individual or for family.

Speaker:

So it's got something about them on it,

Speaker:

their initials,

Speaker:

a picture of their dog,

Speaker:

their street address,

Speaker:

something that speaks specifically to them.

Speaker:

So there's the meaningful part.

Speaker:

The gifts are practical.

Speaker:

There's stuff that people will use every day.

Speaker:

I'm a big believer in that,

Speaker:

but I didn't go into fine art.

Speaker:

When I initially started doing artsy stuff because I liked stuff

Speaker:

that people use.

Speaker:

That's why I went into jewelry because people use it,

Speaker:

they wear it.

Speaker:

So I'd like stuff that,

Speaker:

that people are actually using everyday because then they get more

Speaker:

out of it.

Speaker:

And the third thing is that it's memorable.

Speaker:

So that speaks to the fact that the professional's information is

Speaker:

either on the back or the bottom in a discrete location,

Speaker:

in a discrete size.

Speaker:

So it doesn't scream sales,

Speaker:

but it's still there.

Speaker:

And so it keeps the professional top of mind.

Speaker:

And that usually plays very well into most people's idea of

Speaker:

what they should be doing as a retention gift.

Speaker:

Yeah. I like that a lot.

Speaker:

I just had someone else on another podcast and we were

Speaker:

talking about where you should be putting your logo for promotional

Speaker:

items. And when you should be leaving it off,

Speaker:

no, don't send a Christmas present to somebody with your business

Speaker:

logo all over it.

Speaker:

It's funny you say this,

Speaker:

that I've got a good story about this.

Speaker:

So I find that men want to put their logo large

Speaker:

on the front.

Speaker:

Women tend to take my advice and put a discreetly on

Speaker:

the back of the side of the bottom or something.

Speaker:

So I had this financial advisor orders,

Speaker:

charcuterie boards,

Speaker:

which are not cheap gifts for all his clients that last

Speaker:

Christmas. And so we were mocking up various ways to display

Speaker:

the personalized piece and his professional information.

Speaker:

And I did it on the back and a couple of

Speaker:

other ways he said,

Speaker:

could you show me what it looked like on the front?

Speaker:

So I mocked that up.

Speaker:

I thought,

Speaker:

oh, don't do this.

Speaker:

I shot him the picture at all.

Speaker:

I really like it there.

Speaker:

I thought,

Speaker:

oh my God,

Speaker:

these people are not going to use this.

Speaker:

They are not going to use this gift with your professional

Speaker:

stuff all over the front.

Speaker:

But I couldn't dissuade him.

Speaker:

I tried to be tactful.

Speaker:

So I made the guests.

Speaker:

I never heard back from him.

Speaker:

I don't know if people liked him or didn't,

Speaker:

but I just showed it to my husband says,

Speaker:

no, one's going to use that.

Speaker:

Just Ugh.

Speaker:

But yes,

Speaker:

the whole point is that.

Speaker:

And I try to help my clients with this.

Speaker:

How much do I put on things?

Speaker:

Like I sell mugs that I've engraved with the personal information

Speaker:

on the side.

Speaker:

That because they're clear glass mugs,

Speaker:

I can engrave anything on the bottom because I have a

Speaker:

nice big,

Speaker:

wide flat circle to do it on.

Speaker:

And so,

Speaker:

oh, people want to put all sorts of stuff on the

Speaker:

bottom. I said,

Speaker:

well, put something that somebody doesn't mind looking at it every

Speaker:

day. So for example,

Speaker:

if you want to say thank you to a client,

Speaker:

say something like,

Speaker:

thank you,

Speaker:

Gail, or put your name on there.

Speaker:

Just they're reminded of you.

Speaker:

But I say even better,

Speaker:

say something about them.

Speaker:

Thank you for being so thoughtful.

Speaker:

Thank you for being so easy to work with.

Speaker:

Say something like that.

Speaker:

That makes them feel good.

Speaker:

Every time they take a drink and then they're reminded of

Speaker:

you. Yeah.

Speaker:

And it makes them want to use it and maybe even

Speaker:

use it when they have a friend over,

Speaker:

because it's a nice message that you're giving back to them

Speaker:

that you're reflecting back on them.

Speaker:

Oh, that's frustrating about that one,

Speaker:

gentlemen though,

Speaker:

it's gotta be so hard.

Speaker:

I thought you spending all of this money on my God.

Speaker:

Don't do it.

Speaker:

You tried.

Speaker:

Yeah. You know my husband and I talk about this frequently

Speaker:

because he's like,

Speaker:

I'm not buying a sweatshirt with someone else's big,

Speaker:

huge logo.

Speaker:

All I am is a big advertising board for them.

Speaker:

Like the most he'll do is like up in the little

Speaker:

corner of your chest.

Speaker:

You know how you can have that little logo,

Speaker:

but some people,

Speaker:

you know,

Speaker:

if you support a cause or a business that you feel

Speaker:

very bonded with,

Speaker:

then you want to do that.

Speaker:

Cause that represents what you are and who you are and

Speaker:

what your beliefs are and all that.

Speaker:

But it's different having a wine glass with a realtor's logo.

Speaker:

Well, right.

Speaker:

And so what I do is,

Speaker:

so for that,

Speaker:

I can put the realtor's logo on the bottom of the

Speaker:

stem wine glass,

Speaker:

which is,

Speaker:

I've been doing that a lot.

Speaker:

But I counsel people don't put anything besides your logo in

Speaker:

there. I mean that people are okay,

Speaker:

looking at a graphic,

Speaker:

but you start putting phone numbers on there.

Speaker:

No. Right.

Speaker:

Good point.

Speaker:

And it's not front and center in your face either.

Speaker:

It's on the bottom.

Speaker:

So I like that.

Speaker:

I like that a lot.

Speaker:

I've never thought of that.

Speaker:

And I never thought of what you're talking about on the

Speaker:

back of your boards,

Speaker:

either, maybe a little bit in the corner because people can

Speaker:

see it if they want to,

Speaker:

but it's not like right out there glaring at you.

Speaker:

It's like strobe lights.

Speaker:

That's the Thing.

Speaker:

And then it becomes this big salesy thing because what's happening

Speaker:

with my boards.

Speaker:

I can't say I plan this,

Speaker:

but I found it out from clients is the boards are

Speaker:

especially the smaller ones are emphasized and they're so pretty.

Speaker:

And that people leave them out on their islands or on

Speaker:

their counters.

Speaker:

And so they're there all the time.

Speaker:

Well now friends come over.

Speaker:

Hey, that's cool.

Speaker:

Where'd you get that?

Speaker:

They flip the thing over.

Speaker:

It's got the professionals info,

Speaker:

want it,

Speaker:

there's the conversation that you want to have happen.

Speaker:

So that's what's happening,

Speaker:

which is fabulous.

Speaker:

Is this your insights that you've been learning over the last

Speaker:

couple of weeks?

Speaker:

Okay. So talk some more about that.

Speaker:

So you have put the board,

Speaker:

as we were talking about you getting on zoom and walking

Speaker:

down the internet channel with you.

Speaker:

Exactly who your clients are,

Speaker:

right. You're then now also putting your product in potential new

Speaker:

clients pathways through existing clients.

Speaker:

Well, right.

Speaker:

The other thing that's happening is so with each product,

Speaker:

because now I'm making things for other clients.

Speaker:

And so I'm basically the software term is OEM.

Speaker:

I don't have any of my logos or any of my

Speaker:

information on that product that I make.

Speaker:

Right. It's got my client's information on there.

Speaker:

Right? What I've been doing is putting a little card in

Speaker:

the box that says,

Speaker:

okay, by the way,

Speaker:

real people made this as a picture of my husband and

Speaker:

me and Hey,

Speaker:

we make this stuff together and we make lots of other

Speaker:

cool stuff on our website.

Speaker:

Here's a coupon for money off,

Speaker:

et cetera.

Speaker:

You know,

Speaker:

there's a little bio card.

Speaker:

I call it.

Speaker:

Well now I'm finally starting.

Speaker:

I've got enough stuff out there.

Speaker:

I'm finally starting to get some gifts back from that.

Speaker:

So it's like a double whammy,

Speaker:

right? So this person gets a gift from the mortgage broker

Speaker:

and they like it so much that they reach out to

Speaker:

me and order something for a friend.

Speaker:

So that's been pretty cool.

Speaker:

I mean,

Speaker:

I was starting to get that happening now,

Speaker:

which I really like.

Speaker:

That's exciting.

Speaker:

And you were saying you called us OEM,

Speaker:

originally Equipment manufacturer.

Speaker:

So that there's a concept in the software world where it's,

Speaker:

you're white labeling it.

Speaker:

You're putting somebody else's brand on something that you make because

Speaker:

it's going out as part of something they do.

Speaker:

Right. But then you're including your information in there also,

Speaker:

which yeah,

Speaker:

I mean,

Speaker:

and you're sharing who it is that you personally made these

Speaker:

products. It also helps having forbid there was something that they

Speaker:

questioned about the product.

Speaker:

Like I know your product,

Speaker:

so I know the quality that you provide and all of

Speaker:

that. But if something Happened and they know how to talk

Speaker:

to exactly.

Speaker:

And then with the added benefit that then they can order

Speaker:

some more for themselves.

Speaker:

They have started,

Speaker:

which has been pretty cool.

Speaker:

The first one of those I got back was,

Speaker:

I mean,

Speaker:

I've been doing this for a couple of years,

Speaker:

but the first one I got back was maybe a month

Speaker:

ago and I was like,

Speaker:

woo. It worked.

Speaker:

Yeah. That's awesome.

Speaker:

And only more to come only more to come.

Speaker:

Yeah. Very,

Speaker:

very exciting.

Speaker:

How are you feeling about as you move forward,

Speaker:

your product line,

Speaker:

are there any other things ideas swirling around that can enhance

Speaker:

what you're already offering?

Speaker:

Well, yeah,

Speaker:

and I get ideas from my clients all the time,

Speaker:

too. The large cutting board idea came from one of my

Speaker:

clients. Although that speaks back to what we're talking about before

Speaker:

you need to have a higher end item.

Speaker:

That's why recently made this oval cutting board,

Speaker:

which is fairly expensive,

Speaker:

but just a wow factor.

Speaker:

But it looks at,

Speaker:

oh my God,

Speaker:

that's so cool.

Speaker:

Then I can't afford that,

Speaker:

but here I'll buy this other thing.

Speaker:

But yeah,

Speaker:

it would be edited into,

Speaker:

I do a lot of coasters and slate coasters.

Speaker:

I expanded to the glasses.

Speaker:

Now this was interesting.

Speaker:

This is one of these listen to your customers.

Speaker:

Because at first I said,

Speaker:

there's no value.

Speaker:

Add to me making glasses,

Speaker:

any idiot with a laser engraver,

Speaker:

sorry for those of you who have laser grabbers,

Speaker:

but anyone with a laser and Kramer can buy glasses and

Speaker:

a gray bottom,

Speaker:

it just,

Speaker:

it takes,

Speaker:

there's just nothing special about it.

Speaker:

But what I found was everybody wants like two glasses or

Speaker:

one. And if you go to the big online personalization places,

Speaker:

it's hard to get that you have to buy more.

Speaker:

So part of what I offer is the whole design service

Speaker:

mean you don't need to give me artwork.

Speaker:

I'll create it.

Speaker:

You tell me what you'd like.

Speaker:

So I found that that's a huge deal.

Speaker:

And when I started offering first wine glasses and rocks glasses,

Speaker:

and now glass coffee mugs,

Speaker:

that's just been huge.

Speaker:

People like to combine that with the coasters for a nice

Speaker:

gift. And it works extremely well.

Speaker:

So that was a client idea.

Speaker:

I didn't come up with that.

Speaker:

But client says,

Speaker:

Hey, do you do glass coffee buddies?

Speaker:

Hmm. I guess I could.

Speaker:

Well, and they extend.

Speaker:

Cause there are other things that you do that are not

Speaker:

as easy as just etching on the glass,

Speaker:

right? Like your wooden boards.

Speaker:

They take a while.

Speaker:

I mean,

Speaker:

we sourced the wood from a local place,

Speaker:

but my husband has to cut the slats and surface the

Speaker:

boards and the whole nine yards.

Speaker:

We build them together.

Speaker:

We played him,

Speaker:

we finished the sand.

Speaker:

I mean,

Speaker:

yeah, they take awhile,

Speaker:

but yeah,

Speaker:

they're the prettiest thing they make and people love them and

Speaker:

they respond to them a lot.

Speaker:

But a lot of times they'll like to include,

Speaker:

like we do a lot of wedding gifts,

Speaker:

they'll take a board and then include like glasses or coasters

Speaker:

or something else with that because people want to give you

Speaker:

a very nice wedding gift.

Speaker:

So they'll kind of fill it out with them.

Speaker:

Right. So you're enhancing your sale of the boards because people

Speaker:

are now buying the boards.

Speaker:

And then also the wine glasses Right.

Speaker:

The wineglasses,

Speaker:

the rocks glasses.

Speaker:

Yeah, exactly.

Speaker:

And those really cool charms that you have for your wine

Speaker:

glasses, Another customer requests.

Speaker:

Can you make wine charms for stemless glasses?

Speaker:

Because no one buys stem to glasses anymore.

Speaker:

Well, and these Wine terms,

Speaker:

aren't lying terms like you would normally think.

Speaker:

And so I said,

Speaker:

well, somebody must be doing wine charms with stemless glasses.

Speaker:

And then,

Speaker:

you know,

Speaker:

I researched that,

Speaker:

oh yeah,

Speaker:

they're all making magnets.

Speaker:

Well, I can do a magnet.

Speaker:

And it's because I do the glass,

Speaker:

I make the glass myself and then I attach it to

Speaker:

a magnet and glue it to a magnet.

Speaker:

And now it sticks onto your glass,

Speaker:

no matter what,

Speaker:

which is.

Speaker:

I mean,

Speaker:

you could use it for stem classes too,

Speaker:

but it was a way to,

Speaker:

because of my client asked me to do it.

Speaker:

She really likes the glass that I make.

Speaker:

So she says,

Speaker:

I want to do something with the glass and I want

Speaker:

to give them wine glasses because every year we go back

Speaker:

and give gifts to her same clients every year I have

Speaker:

to come up with something new that fits with what we've

Speaker:

been doing,

Speaker:

which has been interesting.

Speaker:

I made it the third year was when we came up

Speaker:

with this past year,

Speaker:

the wine glass is not charged and I have to figure

Speaker:

out now what I'm going to next year for it.

Speaker:

But it's been kind of fun because it's a way to

Speaker:

kind of make a line of products that,

Speaker:

that work together.

Speaker:

Yeah. And She is then giving her clients the set that

Speaker:

keeps being built upon year over year.

Speaker:

Yes. Right.

Speaker:

Exactly. That's pretty cool too.

Speaker:

Yeah, that's been pretty cool.

Speaker:

So it forces me to get very creative about kind of

Speaker:

how we can add stuff to the line.

Speaker:

So what's coming up lately,

Speaker:

I've got a customer,

Speaker:

who's a boat owner.

Speaker:

And so he wants a bunch of nautical stuff.

Speaker:

So I came up with a little cutting board,

Speaker:

small one that can go on a boat with a little

Speaker:

paring knife.

Speaker:

And it's in kind of nautical design with the signal,

Speaker:

flat, spelling out the name of the boat,

Speaker:

that kind of things.

Speaker:

I don't like plastic,

Speaker:

but I'm going to add a curl at glasses because the

Speaker:

boat owners are going to want them.

Speaker:

And so that'll be a set that you can get with

Speaker:

a nautical flag,

Speaker:

spelling out the name of your boat,

Speaker:

and then a curling glasses with the name of your boat

Speaker:

on them.

Speaker:

Boat owners love that sort of thing.

Speaker:

So I mean,

Speaker:

that's the next thing.

Speaker:

Yeah. And with acrylic,

Speaker:

I mean,

Speaker:

that's a need that you would have,

Speaker:

right. I Mean,

Speaker:

that's a legitimate thing.

Speaker:

I don't do the Yeti mugs.

Speaker:

I don't do kind of the typical thing.

Speaker:

Cause I want to do something that's just different.

Speaker:

I mean,

Speaker:

people like the things they make because of Absolutely love it.

Speaker:

So talk to me a little bit about how you're planning

Speaker:

out the rest your year is going to be starting.

Speaker:

Just share with us a little bit of how you're going

Speaker:

to ensure that those sales are going to keep coming in

Speaker:

for the holiday.

Speaker:

Yeah, this is interesting.

Speaker:

I think I mentioned to you earlier that I've had a

Speaker:

couple of Tiffany is over the last few weeks.

Speaker:

So you all know now I started out making jewelry.

Speaker:

So I had two requests over the last month wanting to

Speaker:

make some,

Speaker:

one of a kind jewelry.

Speaker:

Another was to make some of my personalized jewelry and I

Speaker:

honored most requests,

Speaker:

but I thought,

Speaker:

I don't really want to do this anymore.

Speaker:

This is not my sweet spot.

Speaker:

It's not who I am.

Speaker:

So I took down the jewelry section of my website.

Speaker:

It was a little heartbreaking,

Speaker:

but I said,

Speaker:

this is just not what I'm doing.

Speaker:

Well, that was a little bit uplifting and empowering because all

Speaker:

of a sudden,

Speaker:

I don't have to focus on that anymore.

Speaker:

And in fact,

Speaker:

I'm busy redesigning my studio to move the jewelry making piece

Speaker:

out so I can make room for some other new things.

Speaker:

I want to try like fuse glass using slumped glass.

Speaker:

That's where I really want to be,

Speaker:

but didn't have any space.

Speaker:

Well, if I take the joy part out,

Speaker:

I can do the fuse and slumped glass.

Speaker:

So that was kind of exciting.

Speaker:

The other epiphany I had,

Speaker:

I went to an actual face-to-face pop-up market last Saturday,

Speaker:

first one I've done in what year and a half now.

Speaker:

And I realized that,

Speaker:

of course I don't have many things that are kind of

Speaker:

cashing carry anymore,

Speaker:

but I made a few things and hopes for mother's day.

Speaker:

Well, I made one sale and I thought,

Speaker:

you know what?

Speaker:

I don't do this anymore.

Speaker:

I am a B2B customized gift person.

Speaker:

That's what I do.

Speaker:

That's where I've been hugely successful in the last eight months.

Speaker:

And that's what I'm doing.

Speaker:

So no more craft shows.

Speaker:

I mean,

Speaker:

I'll do the virtual ones because that's different,

Speaker:

that's made to order,

Speaker:

but it was just kind of interesting too,

Speaker:

that I took the two things I've been doing for ages

Speaker:

and said,

Speaker:

I'm not doing those anymore.

Speaker:

So the other thing I had to kind of work through,

Speaker:

I have probably 11,

Speaker:

$12,000 worth of inventory that I use for my personalized joy.

Speaker:

I was selling a lot to schools and teams.

Speaker:

I'm going to take all of that and go back to

Speaker:

those coaches that I've worked with over the past few years

Speaker:

and just donate the stuff I have to them here.

Speaker:

Use this for gifts,

Speaker:

for prizes,

Speaker:

for raffles,

Speaker:

for fundraising guys,

Speaker:

thank you for all your help and support over the years.

Speaker:

That made me feel good too.

Speaker:

Like I'm done,

Speaker:

and this is a good way to end It.

Speaker:

Well, I think what you're showing here,

Speaker:

I mean,

Speaker:

it's gotta be scary a little bit.

Speaker:

You're giving up something that you had your heart all into

Speaker:

for so long.

Speaker:

Right. And I bet good money.

Speaker:

Well, okay,

Speaker:

well then there's that right?

Speaker:

But now look at how you can really focus your attention.

Speaker:

It's corporate business,

Speaker:

you know,

Speaker:

the different segments of the business,

Speaker:

where you've seen success.

Speaker:

There's so much more opportunity out there for you like that.

Speaker:

And it doesn't mean that you're not still creating other lines.

Speaker:

You were just talking about other things that you're doing,

Speaker:

but you're doing it within the umbrella that you've now bracketed

Speaker:

for yourself.

Speaker:

Right? I think the thing that comes out of that,

Speaker:

that the point I wanted to make with that is that

Speaker:

you can get stretched too thin,

Speaker:

very easily.

Speaker:

And if you find something that's working then focusing on that

Speaker:

is not a bad thing and letting go of things that

Speaker:

got you to that is also not a bad thing.

Speaker:

You don't have to keep something going forever.

Speaker:

And I think that to me is the empowering piece.

Speaker:

I can look at where I came from and I can

Speaker:

look at how one thing led to another.

Speaker:

But I think that going forward,

Speaker:

the place where I'm going to be the most successful and

Speaker:

the place where I'm actually having a lot of fun,

Speaker:

because of course,

Speaker:

you know,

Speaker:

I was creative types like to branch out and do different

Speaker:

things. That's where I want to focus my efforts and my

Speaker:

creative energies.

Speaker:

Well, and I think the challenge,

Speaker:

probably not for you,

Speaker:

because you're very strategic in your thinking and what you're doing,

Speaker:

but the challenge could be for someone else in a situation

Speaker:

like this is someone coming back and saying,

Speaker:

oh, you used to make those.

Speaker:

Could you just make me another one?

Speaker:

Like as a personal favor,

Speaker:

could you just make this one more time for me or

Speaker:

something like that.

Speaker:

And then you get project creep because then you have to

Speaker:

pull out all your equipment again,

Speaker:

it's cetera.

Speaker:

So you have to,

Speaker:

once you make a decision like that,

Speaker:

stick with it and not go backwards because it could be

Speaker:

so easily to go backwards.

Speaker:

That's the thing.

Speaker:

I mean,

Speaker:

I debated about whether to keep all this jewelry that I

Speaker:

had because I have all of this personalized jewelry I had

Speaker:

set. So I could go to a show and I'd have

Speaker:

pieces that I could easily assemble to create the personalized thing.

Speaker:

That's how I designed it.

Speaker:

So I could keep that.

Speaker:

And then people asked me for it,

Speaker:

I'd have it.

Speaker:

But I thought it's just going to sit there and I'm

Speaker:

not going to get that many requests and would it be

Speaker:

so much better for me to donate?

Speaker:

And then the thing is I can't go back,

Speaker:

right? I mean,

Speaker:

it's a little bit of a,

Speaker:

Oh, you've put a roadblock in your way now.

Speaker:

Yeah. Which I think is I'm doing that a little bit

Speaker:

deliberately. I can't go back.

Speaker:

Which, because you're right.

Speaker:

I'll get sucked into stuff.

Speaker:

It's not that it couldn't be profitable,

Speaker:

but it's not where I'm going.

Speaker:

And I don't think it's my future.

Speaker:

Right. Well,

Speaker:

and you're dividing your attention then to this way,

Speaker:

you can be all in on the vision that you have

Speaker:

moving forward.

Speaker:

This has been absolutely a fabulous conversation.

Speaker:

I already knew it was going to be Gail.

Speaker:

A lot of fun.

Speaker:

Yes. This has been really wonderful.

Speaker:

We've touched on some really,

Speaker:

really important points here.

Speaker:

Where could people go see gee jewels and all your products

Speaker:

that you have.

Speaker:

So I have a website www.gjewels.com.

Speaker:

So it's Jews and Gail,

Speaker:

Jules, J O O L Z.

Speaker:

It comes from the fact that I used to make jewelry,

Speaker:

right? So G jewels.com.

Speaker:

But if you want to see what's really happening,

Speaker:

I'm all over Instagram.

Speaker:

My handle is G jewels and I'm also on Facebook,

Speaker:

but I posted on Instagram many,

Speaker:

many times a week and you can see all the stuff

Speaker:

that's happening.

Speaker:

There's lots and lots of interesting stuff that we haven't even

Speaker:

touched on here.

Speaker:

So I'm happy to connect on,

Speaker:

on Instagram.

Speaker:

Perfect. And I will have all of that linked up in

Speaker:

the show notes.

Speaker:

So easy reference,

Speaker:

just jump over to a gift biz,

Speaker:

unwrapped, find this show and you'll see all the links right

Speaker:

there. Ready and waiting for you,

Speaker:

Gail. Thank you so,

Speaker:

so much for coming on today.

Speaker:

It's always fun to talk to you and having you share

Speaker:

with everybody here,

Speaker:

a little behind the scenes of what's going on with your

Speaker:

business has been so enlightening.

Speaker:

I really,

Speaker:

really appreciate you spending time with me today.

Speaker:

Oh, thank you.

Speaker:

So it has been a blast Watching for the signs and

Speaker:

interpreting what they mean for your next move.

Speaker:

A very powerful message.

Speaker:

Indeed. This is something you should be doing constantly,

Speaker:

whether it's market trends,

Speaker:

customer feedback,

Speaker:

or that knowing gut,

Speaker:

feeling that you're out of alignment with your purpose,

Speaker:

pay attention to the signs.

Speaker:

This is a reminder that I am taken to heart to.

Speaker:

I'm hearing it loud and clear.

Speaker:

I've got a great show for you coming up next week.

Speaker:

I'll drop you a little breadcrumb.

Speaker:

It's about what to do with your website.

Speaker:

That will bring you in more organic traffic,

Speaker:

organic meaning free more eyeballs on your website means more people

Speaker:

seeing your products,

Speaker:

which means new sales.

Speaker:

Don't miss it as always.

Speaker:

Thanks so much for spending time with me today.

Speaker:

If you'd like to show support for the podcast,

Speaker:

a rating and review would mean so much and helps the

Speaker:

show get seen by more makers.

Speaker:

So it's a great way to pay it forward to our

Speaker:

community. Also make sure to follow the podcast.

Speaker:

So episodes automatically download to your phone.

Speaker:

That way you don't miss a thing,

Speaker:

including my new Thursday tips and talk shows and now be

Speaker:

safe and well.

Speaker:

And I'll see you again next week on the gift biz

Speaker:

on wrapped Cast.

Speaker:

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

Speaker:

group called gift biz 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 posts every single week,

Speaker:

without doubt.

Speaker:

Wait, what,

Speaker:

aren't you part of the group already,

Speaker:

if not make sure to jump over to Facebook and search

Speaker:

for the group gift biz breeze don't delay.

Leave a Comment





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