372 – BASH – What REALLY is Social Media’s Role in Your Business?
Today’s topic couldn’t be more timely with all the questions, concerns, and what seems like daily changes happening in the social media landscape.
👉 Are you spending a lot of time on social media tasks because you’re clear on specifically what it can do for your business?
👉 Or are you doing it because everyone else is?
It’s time to break through all the social media hype and determine exactly where social media should fit into your business and the purpose it serves.
It’s not the same for everyone and I may just surprise and give you some peace around social media and its role.
What’s In This Bash Party?
- LEARN how social media fits into your handmade product business promotional plan and what to post based on your stage of business.
- HEAR Q&A on this training with Bash attendees
- DISCOVER attendees share their upcoming events, unique collaborations, and discount promo codes! << Tune in to grab these deals + get ideas for your own business!
Tune in now to finally get clear on social media’s role in your business, how to make it work for you, and hear the Q&A. Plus, hear the attendees’ promotions and upcoming events!
Resources Mentioned:
Join Me At The NextBash Party!
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Thank you so much! Sue
Transcript
You're listening to gift biz unwrapped episode number 372.
Speaker:And yes,
Speaker:this is a bash Attention.
Speaker:Gifters bakers,
Speaker:crafters, and makers pursuing your dream can be fun.
Speaker:Whether you have an established business or looking to start one.
Speaker:Now you are in the right place.
Speaker:This is gift to biz unwrapped,
Speaker:helping you turn your skill into a flourishing business.
Speaker:Join us for an episode.
Speaker:Packed full of invaluable guidance,
Speaker:resources, and the support you need to grow.
Speaker:Your gift biz.
Speaker:Here is your host gift biz gal Sue moon Heights.
Speaker:Hi there.
Speaker:It's Sue and thanks for joining me here today.
Speaker:I am so excited that you're with me because this is
Speaker:bash. Number three,
Speaker:what's abashed.
Speaker:You ask,
Speaker:stay tuned.
Speaker:You're going to experience it in just one minute.
Speaker:But first as a handmade product maker,
Speaker:you make the most beautiful,
Speaker:delicious, and life enhancing products.
Speaker:I'm honestly so impressed with your talent and you always put
Speaker:a smile on my face.
Speaker:When I see your newest creations,
Speaker:I'm always watching and I'm also always listening.
Speaker:Let me back up here for a second.
Speaker:In our Facebook group,
Speaker:gift biz breeze.
Speaker:I asked you a while back,
Speaker:what you need help with the most right now.
Speaker:And you totally surprised me.
Speaker:It wasn't email marketing strategy.
Speaker:It wasn't doing video or any number of topics that make
Speaker:up a solid growing business.
Speaker:Nope. What you are asking for help with is social media
Speaker:posting. What you've told me is you're putting in the time
Speaker:you're posting frequently,
Speaker:maybe even several times a day,
Speaker:and you're discouraged because you aren't seeing any of this move
Speaker:the needle for your sales.
Speaker:I hear your frustration.
Speaker:Some of you have even told me you're at the point
Speaker:of throwing in the towel on social media altogether,
Speaker:wait, please don't do that.
Speaker:Here's the thing.
Speaker:Some adjustments are needed.
Speaker:That's all you see putting in more time posting the same
Speaker:way isn't going to magically bring in sales.
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:And that's when things will change.
Speaker:So based on all of your comments,
Speaker:I decided to create your solution.
Speaker:It's called content for makers and is specifically created for handmade
Speaker:product makers like you because when you get your posting strategy
Speaker:and topics,
Speaker:right, everything else falls into place.
Speaker:Content for makers will enlighten you as to why your current
Speaker:social media activities aren't converting into sales.
Speaker:It will also show you how to put in less time
Speaker:and start seeing activity that will lead to increased sales.
Speaker:Just imagine a day when you know exactly what to post
Speaker:and get it done in five minutes or less,
Speaker:then you can interact with your potential clients,
Speaker:deepen relationships with those you already know.
Speaker:And all of this continues to build upon itself naturally.
Speaker:Yes, this really is possible.
Speaker:Content for makers includes a step-by-step strategy to formulate your unique
Speaker:plan based on your products and your business.
Speaker:Then you'll get 375 social media prompts.
Speaker:That's over a full year of ideas along with the 375
Speaker:prompts also comm 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 to images,
Speaker:live streaming reels,
Speaker:even email topics.
Speaker:There's more to content for makers to,
Speaker:to see all the details,
Speaker:jump over,
Speaker:to give to biz unwrapped.com
Speaker:forward slash content for makers.
Speaker:But honestly at only $27,
Speaker:it's a no brainer.
Speaker:Plus you only have to buy it once for use year
Speaker:after year.
Speaker:Why carry on posting as you've been doing all along expecting
Speaker:to see different results,
Speaker:sign up for content for makers now and see the transformation
Speaker:of your posting experience change right before your very eyes gift
Speaker:biz on.com
Speaker:forward slash content for makers ready and waiting for your immediate
Speaker:access. Right now today's topic.
Speaker:Couldn't be more timely with all the questions,
Speaker:concerns, and what seems like daily changes happening in the social
Speaker:media landscape.
Speaker:Are you spending a lot of time on social media tasks?
Speaker:Because you're clear on specifically what it can do for your
Speaker:business, or are you doing it because everyone else's.
Speaker:So of course you should too.
Speaker:Or so the thinking goes,
Speaker:it's time to break through all the social media hype and
Speaker:determine exactly where social should fit into your business and the
Speaker:purpose it serves.
Speaker:It's not the same for everyone.
Speaker:And I may just surprise and give you some peace around
Speaker:social media and its role.
Speaker:You ready?
Speaker:Welcome to our third gift biz bash.
Speaker:I'm here with some amazing handmade creators and you're going to
Speaker:hear from them shortly.
Speaker:But before we do,
Speaker:I am going to talk with you a little bit about
Speaker:social media and its current role in our businesses.
Speaker:When social media is thought of when it comes up in
Speaker:your head.
Speaker:I think a lot of us go to some basic default
Speaker:thinking of why and how meaning,
Speaker:why are we using social media?
Speaker:Well, clearly the end result is to get sales,
Speaker:right? I mean,
Speaker:that's an obvious and then how well there's multiple platforms we
Speaker:watch what other people are posting.
Speaker:We probably are posting our own products and where you can
Speaker:go buy them.
Speaker:So that's it.
Speaker:It's why for sales and a towel for all the different
Speaker:platforms and then posting.
Speaker:And I want to talk through a little bit of a
Speaker:revision of how I think you should be looking at social
Speaker:media today,
Speaker:but to lay the groundwork and to understand why I'm saying
Speaker:what I am.
Speaker:I want to take us back to the history of social
Speaker:media in its entirety.
Speaker:And I don't know if all of you can think back.
Speaker:So people who are listening and those of you who are
Speaker:here in the bash with me,
Speaker:do you even remember six degrees,
Speaker:which was the very first quote unquote social media platform that
Speaker:was back in 1997.
Speaker:And there were a couple of other platforms that came through
Speaker:that time too.
Speaker:But six degrees was the first one.
Speaker:I think if we really think of platforms that are available
Speaker:now and probably a better place to say social media started
Speaker:because it puts a pin in the map of things that
Speaker:we can understand and relate back to would of course be
Speaker:Zuckerberg and his famous Facebook,
Speaker:which started from his college dorm room.
Speaker:And I don't know if all of you know this and
Speaker:some of you who are listening,
Speaker:who might be younger,
Speaker:may not know this.
Speaker:It used to be where they would put faces up of
Speaker:college students.
Speaker:And you decided whether you liked the face or didn't like,
Speaker:how horrible is that?
Speaker:But that was back in 2004.
Speaker:And it used to be called the Facebook because it served
Speaker:the purpose that I just described.
Speaker:And now it's moved on to,
Speaker:they dropped the,
Speaker:the, and so now it's just Facebook and that's been going
Speaker:on since now,
Speaker:2005. So in essence,
Speaker:only 17 or 18 years has social media even been in
Speaker:existence. Have we understood what these words are?
Speaker:Any of that?
Speaker:Just to give you a little historical timeline again,
Speaker:just so you know,
Speaker:where the different platforms fell.
Speaker:Twitter and LinkedIn both started in 2006 and it wasn't until
Speaker:2010 when Instagram and Pinterest showed up.
Speaker:So think of that only 12 years ago,
Speaker:that's kind of crazy to think of.
Speaker:And of course along the way,
Speaker:all of these platforms have changed they've compared and contrasted with
Speaker:each other,
Speaker:picked up things that others are doing in the case of
Speaker:YouTube, which I really didn't even talk about here in Pinterest.
Speaker:They've morphed from being so much a social media platform to
Speaker:more a search platform,
Speaker:everyone finding their spot kind of how it is with kids
Speaker:when they're toddlers and they move into children and then they
Speaker:move into teenagers,
Speaker:right? And I'm going to suggest to you that social media
Speaker:also has taken the same route.
Speaker:And given that it's only 18 years old in total,
Speaker:it's still a teenager.
Speaker:It's getting to the end of the teenage years.
Speaker:And there's been a lot of jostling of position finding their
Speaker:ways. And consequently us as business owners have had to do
Speaker:the same thing.
Speaker:That is one reason why there's been so much confusion around
Speaker:social media to taking you back.
Speaker:Once again,
Speaker:to the very beginning of social media,
Speaker:a couple of things happened right?
Speaker:When Facebook,
Speaker:Twitter came out,
Speaker:I recognize two things happening at this time.
Speaker:And I was already established with the ribbon print company.
Speaker:So I was very in tune already for my own businesses.
Speaker:What role social media would play?
Speaker:A couple of things started happening.
Speaker:Number one,
Speaker:this transition from we are a big brand and we are
Speaker:going to tell you what you're going to think about us,
Speaker:by the way they branded by the messaging.
Speaker:They put out,
Speaker:et cetera.
Speaker:All of a sudden this new term called authenticity came to
Speaker:play. And by authenticity it meant if brands were brave enough,
Speaker:they let employees post about the business.
Speaker:Do you remember this?
Speaker:A lot of the big brands at this time.
Speaker:So now I'm talking about in the 2005 to seven era,
Speaker:a lot of the big brands were putting rules in place.
Speaker:Like you can not be posting on our company pages,
Speaker:or you can not talk about our company on your personal
Speaker:page because they were so fearful about what people would say.
Speaker:Just remember that.
Speaker:Yeah. And I'm sure there's nodding from people who are listening
Speaker:to, and that was a big mindset.
Speaker:And a lot of the larger companies took a long time
Speaker:to jump on board,
Speaker:to get comfortable with it.
Speaker:And now today it's one of the best assets we have,
Speaker:right? To be authentic and personable and sharing what our brands
Speaker:are really like.
Speaker:So that was a big switch on the marketing landscape.
Speaker:If you will,
Speaker:of telling customers what they could think about us and keeping
Speaker:a very tight seal on everything else to everything being open
Speaker:and us really truly honestly,
Speaker:knowing what's behind some of these businesses.
Speaker:Another thing that was happening is when social media came on
Speaker:the scene,
Speaker:everyone thought,
Speaker:okay, this is the solution.
Speaker:I no longer have to do newspaper ads,
Speaker:print ads,
Speaker:billboards. Any of that social media is going to become the
Speaker:favored child and that's all we're going to do.
Speaker:And so a lot of people stopped promoting advertising and remember
Speaker:everything was free then.
Speaker:And everybody saw everything you posted,
Speaker:not like it is today.
Speaker:And so as is I think human nature and very typical
Speaker:when something's new,
Speaker:everyone jumps on board.
Speaker:You want to test the waters.
Speaker:You want to be the first ones there,
Speaker:but they did that to the exclusion of some of the
Speaker:other things they did.
Speaker:And that's where we got to today,
Speaker:where a lot of people still feel social media is the
Speaker:do all end,
Speaker:all print advertising became abandoned and truth be told because I
Speaker:was in journalism for a portion of my career,
Speaker:newspaper and magazine subscribers ships have been declining for years.
Speaker:And for years it's been happening when radio came to play,
Speaker:when television came to play,
Speaker:but then social media also.
Speaker:So those have been declining,
Speaker:but people just abandoned ship with a lot of that.
Speaker:That was the global perspective.
Speaker:Now I'm going to talk about just us small handmade business
Speaker:owners who are trying to get visibility for our business.
Speaker:And most of us I'm going to say 95% of us
Speaker:have felt that social media was the single way we should
Speaker:be promoting our business.
Speaker:And we haven't been looking at newsprint.
Speaker:We have very rarely looked at networking for the most part,
Speaker:some industries,
Speaker:yes, but not too much.
Speaker:And we're counting on social media.
Speaker:We don't even have email lists.
Speaker:And a lot of people today have felt,
Speaker:I don't need an email list.
Speaker:I have Facebook.
Speaker:I don't need that.
Speaker:And gosh,
Speaker:have we learned at Anita's putting in the comments here,
Speaker:radio or radio?
Speaker:Absolutely. And what we are finding is that's not true because
Speaker:social media,
Speaker:just as a teenager will do is perfecting and changing and
Speaker:adjusting. And so all social media is now entering into more
Speaker:adulthood. We're seeing that that's not the right idea.
Speaker:We shouldn't be putting all of our eggs in one basket.
Speaker:We've now seen multiple situations where Facebook has gone down for
Speaker:a couple of hours.
Speaker:Instagram's gone down for a couple of hours.
Speaker:Those of you who have listened to me for a while
Speaker:were surely have heard this story about this is not the
Speaker:latest one,
Speaker:but the one before that Facebook went down for a while.
Speaker:I think it was either Facebook and Instagram or just Facebook.
Speaker:I forget,
Speaker:but I have a coffee shop right below where I am
Speaker:right now in my office.
Speaker:And I went down to get some coffee.
Speaker:And everybody in that coffee shop was freaking out.
Speaker:They were running from table to table with each other,
Speaker:checking phones against phones because everyone was seeing that Facebook was
Speaker:gone. And they're all thinking now,
Speaker:of course they aren't all makers like us,
Speaker:but they are insurance agents or financial analysts or realtors.
Speaker:And all of them were freaking out because they're seeing,
Speaker:oh my gosh,
Speaker:where is my Facebook account?
Speaker:And where are all my followers?
Speaker:And if I've lost them,
Speaker:I am in deep trouble.
Speaker:And that was the first warning sign for all of us,
Speaker:not to be counting 100% on social media alone.
Speaker:So that leads us to today and the role that it
Speaker:should be playing in our businesses.
Speaker:And that is it's part of an overall strategy.
Speaker:It's not the do all end all,
Speaker:as we all felt when the first new child on the
Speaker:scene, everyone gravitated there,
Speaker:it is one element of the whole that you can use
Speaker:to be bringing customers into your business.
Speaker:So for a lot of people,
Speaker:you should be out networking,
Speaker:okay? Meaning true networking meetings,
Speaker:chamber of commerce meetings,
Speaker:or face-to-face selling like craft shows or depending on your product,
Speaker:farmer's markets and hundred percent everybody email lists be collecting emails
Speaker:from prospective clients and existing clients.
Speaker:And it's very scary to me,
Speaker:but you've heard it now.
Speaker:So if you've been doing it in the past,
Speaker:it's okay.
Speaker:Just change your ways from this point forward.
Speaker:How many of us,
Speaker:if you're at a craft show and you sell something,
Speaker:don't get the email of the person who just bought something
Speaker:from you.
Speaker:They're now a customer.
Speaker:What if they wanted to buy again?
Speaker:And they couldn't get back to that craft show ever again,
Speaker:maybe they're even from out of town,
Speaker:how are they ever going to find you and be on
Speaker:your website?
Speaker:You want them on your email list.
Speaker:Okay. Obviously I'm a big proponent of email list.
Speaker:A lot of people are going back to some direct mail,
Speaker:handwritten notes with maybe bounce back coupons,
Speaker:websites. There's all these different ways that you can attract people
Speaker:to your business and social media is.
Speaker:But one now having said that,
Speaker:because this topic is specifically social media and its role in
Speaker:your business,
Speaker:given that it is just one tool that you have of
Speaker:everything I want to talk.
Speaker:As we wind down here of the ways that you should
Speaker:be using social media based on various stages of your business.
Speaker:Back in episode 368 of this podcast,
Speaker:I introduced the five stages of gift biz growth.
Speaker:And what I want to do now is I'm going to
Speaker:go through those five stages,
Speaker:not describe them at all.
Speaker:You can go back and listen to the other episode to
Speaker:hear the details of that.
Speaker:But we're going to talk about what you should be posting
Speaker:on social and your place on social based on the five
Speaker:stages that you're in.
Speaker:So the very first stage is what I call visibility.
Speaker:The word is like visibility,
Speaker:but it's with a B instead of a V and virtually
Speaker:where you are right.
Speaker:Then these are the starters.
Speaker:So this is anyone who's here listening,
Speaker:who is thinking about maybe starting their business.
Speaker:Haven't done a thing yet.
Speaker:It's just brainwork right now.
Speaker:Kind of deciding whether this is a good idea or not.
Speaker:What are you doing on social,
Speaker:personal stuff?
Speaker:You probably have personal accounts,
Speaker:Facebook, Instagram,
Speaker:your whatever platforms you're on.
Speaker:And it's all personal.
Speaker:You're connecting with your friends and your family.
Speaker:I'm going to suggest here.
Speaker:If you have a hobby,
Speaker:if you're not doing this already,
Speaker:and you're thinking about a business,
Speaker:just start posting pictures of what you're making in your spare
Speaker:time. Are you knitting some really fun mittens or summertime?
Speaker:So maybe that's not it headbands.
Speaker:I don't know.
Speaker:Are you making candles?
Speaker:Are these things that you're just doing for fun?
Speaker:That's establishing some experience for you with people that,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:if you decide to start a business,
Speaker:the second stage is validating.
Speaker:And when you're in this stage,
Speaker:you've mentally committed.
Speaker:I am going to start a business,
Speaker:but now you're trying to make sure that you have a
Speaker:market for the products that you make.
Speaker:So here's a place where still,
Speaker:even on personal accounts,
Speaker:I know it's very,
Speaker:very hard for people at this point,
Speaker:not to decide to start a business account.
Speaker:You could,
Speaker:if you wanted to,
Speaker:but I'm almost suggesting you still hold off,
Speaker:but start showing people what you're making.
Speaker:And as you're validating a product,
Speaker:if you go out to a craft show to test the
Speaker:market, see if there's people who will buy from you,
Speaker:let people know that you have things for sale.
Speaker:You're not officially starting your business yet,
Speaker:per se,
Speaker:but let those people who are friends and family see that
Speaker:you're testing the water here.
Speaker:They can be your very first customers.
Speaker:And they're very forgiving to,
Speaker:let's say your payment system doesn't work or there's something with
Speaker:your product that could be tweaked a little bit.
Speaker:They're very forgiving.
Speaker:And that's what you're doing.
Speaker:You're testing the waters.
Speaker:Even big brands do this.
Speaker:Restaurants will do soft openings.
Speaker:Restaurants will test recipes to see if they're enjoyed.
Speaker:Like they'll pick a few restaurants across the country and test
Speaker:some of them.
Speaker:And a lot of them don't ever even make it to
Speaker:market as a whole,
Speaker:because nobody really liked them or was buying them.
Speaker:Right? So what you're doing here is exactly what the big
Speaker:brands do.
Speaker:Just on a smaller level.
Speaker:Then you move into stage three of my gift,
Speaker:biz development stages,
Speaker:and that's called making it real.
Speaker:This is where you actually form your business,
Speaker:create your name,
Speaker:all the things that you are very tempted to do right
Speaker:in the beginning.
Speaker:But I suggest you wait until after you validate,
Speaker:before you actually move forward with this,
Speaker:here's where you present on social media,
Speaker:your business to the world.
Speaker:And you do then have a business platform.
Speaker:You make a Facebook page,
Speaker:that's for business.
Speaker:The reason you always want to change or create these platforms
Speaker:as business platforms,
Speaker:as you can get insights,
Speaker:you can get all the analytics,
Speaker:you present your products.
Speaker:You start showing real time and actually selling products on social.
Speaker:Not a hundred percent of the time.
Speaker:You could show behind the scenes,
Speaker:you making things.
Speaker:Maybe you show when your first business cards are here are
Speaker:the first labels of your products are here.
Speaker:Things like that.
Speaker:That's all done in stage three.
Speaker:And then we move on to stage four,
Speaker:which is upping your game.
Speaker:That's when you've got all of your systems locked in and
Speaker:you are moving forward.
Speaker:Here's where you start showing successes.
Speaker:You talk about how your business is going and how it's
Speaker:growing and the achievements and the milestones that you're making.
Speaker:And this is also a great time to start doing user
Speaker:generated content.
Speaker:What is user generated content?
Speaker:You're at a craft show and somebody buys your earrings,
Speaker:have them put them on and take a picture that you
Speaker:can put on Instagram.
Speaker:So Anita,
Speaker:with your printed ribbon,
Speaker:same thing,
Speaker:like if you're sending out rolls of ribbon,
Speaker:take a photo of it,
Speaker:or you're really good at this.
Speaker:Actually having your clients send photos back from an event where
Speaker:the ribbons were used,
Speaker:those are all things to post.
Speaker:So you're validating and adding credibility to yourself as a business
Speaker:owner, through your social platforms,
Speaker:not just a hundred percent selling,
Speaker:there's no,
Speaker:I'm a stickler about that.
Speaker:You can also start including your followers at this point in
Speaker:decisions that you're making for your business.
Speaker:So are you adding a new set to align who raises
Speaker:their hand and wants to try it out before you add
Speaker:it formally to the line who wants to help you with
Speaker:naming products have fun and play with your community through social,
Speaker:by having them invested in helping in the growth of your
Speaker:business. And then finally,
Speaker:the fifth stage is,
Speaker:keep it coming.
Speaker:This is when you are an established business and you've got
Speaker:everything locked down,
Speaker:but let's face it.
Speaker:We all know business is always changing.
Speaker:Platforms are always changing.
Speaker:The culture is always changing.
Speaker:You might be introducing new extensions to your line,
Speaker:or even adding new products now into your business.
Speaker:Your at bigger shows,
Speaker:potentially you're doing demos.
Speaker:You might even be teaching others how to do what you
Speaker:do. Conducting workshops that are examples of products that you're making,
Speaker:things like that.
Speaker:So different revenue streams you're creating.
Speaker:So all of that you show on social.
Speaker:All of it.
Speaker:The one thing to remember about social is this social is
Speaker:a place for you to promote what you do,
Speaker:not the base of where you're going to house all of
Speaker:your content like blog,
Speaker:material, or videos.
Speaker:Those you want to put on your website or on your
Speaker:blog. And then your social is directing people over to those
Speaker:sites, YouTube channel as well,
Speaker:because those places,
Speaker:Pinterest, YouTube,
Speaker:your website are the places where your content resides.
Speaker:And then social media is how you direct people over to
Speaker:view those assets on those platforms.
Speaker:I'm talking here,
Speaker:of course,
Speaker:about evergreen content,
Speaker:those base pieces of information that you want to live on
Speaker:forever in the moment live video,
Speaker:of course,
Speaker:would be totally appropriate for social media.
Speaker:And that gets very significant.
Speaker:That's what you do over and over again in this final
Speaker:stage, keeping it coming.
Speaker:So to wrap this up in a big bow social media
Speaker:serves a really,
Speaker:really important part of your business.
Speaker:It is a very valuable tool to have,
Speaker:but I want us all to recognize that it's one of
Speaker:many tools that are part of the growth of the business.
Speaker:It's not the full hundred percent solution.
Speaker:You need your email list.
Speaker:You need your website,
Speaker:all of those types of things that is in summary,
Speaker:what social media is for and how it integrates into your
Speaker:business. Overall with that,
Speaker:from those who are here,
Speaker:any comments or questions on what I had to say,
Speaker:that's the advantage of coming to the bash.
Speaker:You get to make any comments and ask any questions,
Speaker:anything I need?
Speaker:I okay.
Speaker:Let's see.
Speaker:I put a question in the comments.
Speaker:Anita's question.
Speaker:How many social media platforms is too many,
Speaker:the number of platforms that you can regularly maintain.
Speaker:So this is a big question that comes up regularly.
Speaker:My position on this is once you have your name,
Speaker:then grab your name on all the platforms,
Speaker:everything. Even if you think you'd never use it,
Speaker:I don't really use Twitter,
Speaker:but I have my name on Twitter because I want to
Speaker:have it reserved for myself and all of that is free
Speaker:and it's so much easier.
Speaker:And when we get to the showcases,
Speaker:you'll see it.
Speaker:If you have to say,
Speaker:I'm this on this platform,
Speaker:this on Facebook,
Speaker:this on Twitter,
Speaker:it's really hard to direct people versus if you're the same
Speaker:name everywhere.
Speaker:So the first thing is,
Speaker:I would say,
Speaker:grab your name on everything.
Speaker:And this is important.
Speaker:Where are your customers?
Speaker:What platform do your customers exist on?
Speaker:If you are serving mostly businesses,
Speaker:where is the decision maker that you would be interacting with?
Speaker:What platform are they on?
Speaker:Maybe it's LinkedIn.
Speaker:Okay. If you're direct to consumer,
Speaker:is it Instagram?
Speaker:Is it Facebook?
Speaker:I would pick one place first.
Speaker:And it's not the place necessarily that you feel the most
Speaker:comfortable. It's where are your customers residing?
Speaker:Now? It's great.
Speaker:If those combined together,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:that it's the platform you enjoy and are most comfortable with,
Speaker:but you can be comfortable on a platform,
Speaker:but if no one who would potentially buy from you,
Speaker:is there,
Speaker:how's it helping you?
Speaker:So, and then what I do is get to know the
Speaker:platform, get into a routine with posting,
Speaker:and then you can add on another platform.
Speaker:I think we can get overwhelmed.
Speaker:And I did this,
Speaker:I raised my hand to this because I have two businesses,
Speaker:right? And they're two totally separate businesses.
Speaker:I had Facebook,
Speaker:Instagram, you tube.
Speaker:Like I had accounts for everything and there was no way
Speaker:I could post well or properly on at all.
Speaker:I still have all my names,
Speaker:like I said,
Speaker:but I'm choosing specific places where I'm going to post.
Speaker:And then I'm watching to make sure that I'm getting engagement,
Speaker:that people are commenting,
Speaker:et cetera.
Speaker:Most of you are a part of the Facebook group gift
Speaker:biz breeze.
Speaker:And that is my biggest place to be.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:we're attracting people over to the page,
Speaker:but I'm mostly driving people into that group versus anything else
Speaker:for the gift bedside.
Speaker:Anything else before we move into showcases?
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:So let me talk about what is going to happen with
Speaker:the showcases for those of you who are here.
Speaker:And then I want to describe it also for people who
Speaker:are listening,
Speaker:because if you are interested in coming and being part of
Speaker:one of these bashes,
Speaker:you absolutely can.
Speaker:And I'll tell you at the end,
Speaker:how you can see about the upcoming bashes.
Speaker:So here's what happens.
Speaker:Each person who's here gets a chance to talk about their
Speaker:business. And so what they're going to talk about is they're
Speaker:going to say who they are,
Speaker:what their business is,
Speaker:what their product is.
Speaker:If it's not immediately apparent and then something that's coming up
Speaker:in the future.
Speaker:Like if you have a special promotion going on,
Speaker:if you're looking at doing some sort of collaboration,
Speaker:you could talk about that.
Speaker:If you're going to be at a show now,
Speaker:even local shows,
Speaker:it's okay to talk about that here,
Speaker:because we have listeners on the podcast from all over.
Speaker:So there may be some listeners who never knew you were
Speaker:even in their community and they'd want to come and meet
Speaker:you in person and buy your product.
Speaker:Okay? So you can talk about any of that.
Speaker:And then one place online where people can come and find
Speaker:you. And I'm saying only one place,
Speaker:because it's a lot easier that way for people to remember,
Speaker:if you start talking this on Instagram,
Speaker:this on Facebook,
Speaker:it's too much.
Speaker:Okay. So one place,
Speaker:and for those of you who are listening and are going
Speaker:to be listening to our marvelous makers here and their showcases,
Speaker:this is a good opportunity for you.
Speaker:Also, if you have a collaboration and want to reach out
Speaker:to somebody here to do something together,
Speaker:of course you can support them by purchasing their products if
Speaker:you want to.
Speaker:But also it's a way to get ideas for you on
Speaker:other things that you can do in your business,
Speaker:not copying,
Speaker:but getting ideas of what other people are doing to promote
Speaker:their businesses.
Speaker:That could be useful for you as well.
Speaker:So there's multiple benefits,
Speaker:both if you are doing a showcase and also if you're
Speaker:listening to a showcase,
Speaker:so we're going to go ahead and get started.
Speaker:The other thing I was going to say about these bashes
Speaker:is I am doing this all different days of the week,
Speaker:all different times of the day,
Speaker:so that I can include as many people as possible.
Speaker:I actually have a weekend one coming up in the future.
Speaker:I've done some night ones and I'm just getting a feel
Speaker:for when are the best times I'm still going to scatter.
Speaker:This seems potentially to be a less favored time because a
Speaker:lot of people who signed up aren't here and I know
Speaker:they didn't forget.
Speaker:I don't know what happened,
Speaker:but anyway,
Speaker:so you guys have a little bit more time.
Speaker:So when you show up,
Speaker:that's an advantage because you have more time.
Speaker:So when I call you just unmute yourself and then you
Speaker:can go ahead and roll through your showcase.
Speaker:And Kim,
Speaker:I'm going to let you kick it off.
Speaker:Why don't you get started and let us know everything about
Speaker:you. Hello,
Speaker:I'm Kim from Kim's cattle confections.
Speaker:I have a brick and mortar big shop where we do
Speaker:daily pastries,
Speaker:coffee cookies,
Speaker:and a full custom cake business.
Speaker:So weddings,
Speaker:showers, birthdays,
Speaker:anniversaries, all the sweets you can think of.
Speaker:And we're getting ready to launch a product we've been working
Speaker:on for some time.
Speaker:It's a chocolate coated popcorn that is done in a lot
Speaker:of different flavors,
Speaker:color combinations.
Speaker:Great. For any event,
Speaker:gluten-free easy to snack on and nice and easy to ship.
Speaker:So we're working on that and we're always excited to join
Speaker:these bashes because there's always something new to learn and great
Speaker:people to meet and collaborate with.
Speaker:So Enjoy.
Speaker:And where can people find you?
Speaker:Oh, so Kim's cottage confections on Instagram and Facebook.
Speaker:Okay. Kim's cottage confections.
Speaker:Wonderful. And I just have to pipe in here for a
Speaker:half a second with you.
Speaker:This is not a brand new product of yours.
Speaker:You're just remarketing it.
Speaker:Cause We're relaunching it.
Speaker:Yes. We're relaunching.
Speaker:Cause it's been so popular over the years.
Speaker:Yes. And you are sending me samples.
Speaker:Yes. Okay.
Speaker:Just check in,
Speaker:just making sure.
Speaker:Okay. Gloria,
Speaker:why don't you go ahead and take it away.
Speaker:Hi everyone.
Speaker:I'm Gloria Brown and I'm the sole proprietor of all-in woman
Speaker:herbals in Bloomfield,
Speaker:New Jersey.
Speaker:Our products made from organic,
Speaker:all natural skincare oils,
Speaker:butters and botanicals are free from harsh chemicals.
Speaker:We specialize in products where the sure sensitive or troubled skin,
Speaker:they are handmade in small batches for freshness incorporating the incredible
Speaker:benefits of plants into healthier and cleaner versions of body care
Speaker:essentials for the family.
Speaker:Right now,
Speaker:I have a collaboration with a fellow herbalist.
Speaker:We had a wellness fair and craft event planned for may
Speaker:the seventh,
Speaker:but mother nature had other plans and we got rained out.
Speaker:We've set a new date for June the 11th,
Speaker:which is coming up shortly and it's going to be in
Speaker:Clifton New Jersey.
Speaker:And you can find all the information on my website.
Speaker:I would love to see some of you there.
Speaker:Please pass the word along.
Speaker:And if they mentioned dif bash 12 at the craft fair
Speaker:checkout, or use this code at the website checkout,
Speaker:they will receive 15% off discount on all products.
Speaker:And you can find me at my website.
Speaker:Ollin woman,
Speaker:herbals.com. Could you spell that Gloria?
Speaker:Yeah, it's like a H H dash L a N D
Speaker:woman, herbals.com.
Speaker:And you can also find me on Facebook and Instagram at
Speaker:Ollin women herbals.
Speaker:And you can also find her on last week's show episode
Speaker:371. You can get her whole story,
Speaker:know all the goodness behind Gloria.
Speaker:Oh right.
Speaker:Thank you very much,
Speaker:Gloria. Rosemary,
Speaker:why don't we jump over to you?
Speaker:Hi, everybody.
Speaker:Rosemarie here.
Speaker:I'm also in New Jersey,
Speaker:Gloria, but I'm all the way up Northwest I,
Speaker:the last,
Speaker:very, very last town in the state.
Speaker:I border Milford,
Speaker:Pennsylvania and New York state,
Speaker:but I'm very familiar with that area because I originally from
Speaker:Clifton. So that was my old stomping ground.
Speaker:And I am the owner of the New Jersey gifting company,
Speaker:your personal and corporate gifting company.
Speaker:I do all occasion gifts and I'm home-based.
Speaker:I don't have brick and mortar.
Speaker:So I worked strictly with the person's budget and develop the
Speaker:gift with what they have in mind for the occasion and
Speaker:their best budget.
Speaker:And you can find me@thenewjerseygiftingcompany.com.
Speaker:Perfect. All right,
Speaker:penny, why don't you go next?
Speaker:Hi, this is penny with gift basket of collections.
Speaker:We are in Charlotte,
Speaker:North Carolina,
Speaker:and we are basically,
Speaker:or a gifting company to do Sweden savory to any of
Speaker:the non-perishable items for corporations to small businesses,
Speaker:to individuals.
Speaker:Currently we're looking into rebranding our company to more mostly target
Speaker:our corporate clients and business clients that is the shift or
Speaker:looking into it this summer,
Speaker:hoping to who kind of go forward with that.
Speaker:And my reason for joining this to sort of,
Speaker:kind of get comfortable with social media.
Speaker:I know it's a big beast and trying to do all
Speaker:of the other parts of that.
Speaker:It's just been challenging for me.
Speaker:So I'm trying to get better at that and do one
Speaker:thing at a time,
Speaker:let social media,
Speaker:but yeah,
Speaker:we are located close to uptown in Charlotte,
Speaker:North Carolina.
Speaker:We do shipment outside of Charlotte,
Speaker:out of state and we do serve local community here.
Speaker:The other part of the business is actually events and weddings.
Speaker:We do florals and we do rentals as well.
Speaker:So that's us.
Speaker:You can find us at gift basket collections on Instagram,
Speaker:take talk and Facebook.
Speaker:Okay, perfect.
Speaker:Thank you penny.
Speaker:And you're a first time VASH attendee.
Speaker:So I'm excited about that.
Speaker:Yeah, Actually.
Speaker:So is Rosemary I think.
Speaker:And so it was more,
Speaker:yeah, so yay for that.
Speaker:Okay. Anita,
Speaker:why don't you take us home?
Speaker:Hey, everybody,
Speaker:it's Nita Houseman.
Speaker:I am from the Hershey gifting company and we provide a
Speaker:unique gifting and promotional experiences that help remember special people,
Speaker:moments in life events,
Speaker:in a unique impersonal way.
Speaker:Our number one product is custom printed ribbon.
Speaker:That's personalized for our clients for their own personal message or
Speaker:their custom logo for their gifting or branding needs.
Speaker:And currently we are collaborating and looking to really enhance and
Speaker:develop our program on our ribbon on demand service for our
Speaker:clients, especially small businesses to help them promote their special events
Speaker:by providing ribbon,
Speaker:to give them a different way to promote themselves in a
Speaker:unique and creative way.
Speaker:So you can find us@thehersheygiftingcompany.com
Speaker:or of course,
Speaker:if you would like to take advantage of a promotional offer
Speaker:using the code bash 15,
Speaker:we'll offer a 15% discount on your first order with us.
Speaker:Very cool.
Speaker:And what does ribbon on demand me?
Speaker:That is actually,
Speaker:we're getting more and more people that want to add products,
Speaker:kind of like drop shippers that want to have ribbon printing
Speaker:as part of their drop shipping program that they can put
Speaker:it up on their website.
Speaker:It helps them generate some revenue,
Speaker:but they necessarily really want to print the ribbon themselves.
Speaker:So we've been doing an awful lot of that for people
Speaker:and it's become,
Speaker:it's a win-win situation and because they don't know how to
Speaker:do printed ribbon.
Speaker:And that is our specialty.
Speaker:That is fabulous.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:You guys thank you so much for these showcases.
Speaker:It's always so fun to hear how your minds are working
Speaker:and what you're thinking and what you're adding to the businesses
Speaker:and things that you adjust and change throughout the year.
Speaker:So interesting,
Speaker:even though I know many of you,
Speaker:not all of you,
Speaker:but most of you,
Speaker:it's interesting just to hear what you're doing.
Speaker:And it's also interesting to hear how you present your businesses.
Speaker:You can go back and listen,
Speaker:but hear what you're saying about your businesses.
Speaker:So that's another advantage of coming and being on the bash
Speaker:as well as getting visibility for your business.
Speaker:If you're listening and you would like to join the bash,
Speaker:our next one is May 24th.
Speaker:It's a Tuesday at 3:00 PM.
Speaker:So a later afternoon one we're testing out.
Speaker:Like I said,
Speaker:all the times of the day and to sign up for
Speaker:that bash or any of the future ones,
Speaker:the dates that are already up go to gift fizz,
Speaker:unwrapped.com forward slash bash.
Speaker:Those of you who are here live,
Speaker:just stay with me for a minute.
Speaker:After I stop this recording,
Speaker:we can chat have a little final conversation after that.
Speaker:For those of you who are listening to the podcast,
Speaker:thank you so much for joining in.
Speaker:I would love to see you participate in a future bash
Speaker:bye for now,
Speaker:Before you move on to your next activity today,
Speaker:make sure to get your name on the list for at
Speaker:least one gift biz bash.
Speaker:You can see the dates and times for upcoming sessions and
Speaker:get signed up over at gift biz,
Speaker:unwrapped.com forward slash bash.
Speaker:And if you're enjoying the podcast and would like to show
Speaker:support a rating and review would be wonderful.
Speaker:It helps spread the word about the show too.
Speaker:So it's a great way to pay it forward.
Speaker:There's also another way to get something tangible in exchange for
Speaker:your support.
Speaker:Visit my merch shop for a wide variety of inspirational items
Speaker:like mugs,
Speaker:journals, water bottles,
Speaker:and more featuring logos images and quotes to inspire you throughout
Speaker:your day makes a great gift to,
Speaker:and we've just added some new products for the season,
Speaker:which is my favorite design right now.
Speaker:It's a toss up with that gorgeous lemonade image and a
Speaker:quote about refreshing and the beautiful butterfly design.
Speaker:What yours turnaround is quick and the quality is top notch,
Speaker:nothing but the best for you.
Speaker:Take a look at all the options at gift biz,
Speaker:unwrapped.com forward slash shop.
Speaker:All proceeds from these purchases helps me offset the costs of
Speaker:producing this podcast and now be safe and well.
Speaker:And I'll see you again.
Speaker:Next time on the gift biz unwrapped podcast.
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 are a community
Speaker:to support each other.
Speaker:Got a really fun post in there.
Speaker:That's my favorite of the week.
Speaker:I have to say where I invite all of you to
Speaker:share what you're doing to show pictures of your product,
Speaker:to show what you're working on for the week to get
Speaker:reaction from other people and just for fun,
Speaker:because we all get to see the wonderful products that everybody
Speaker:in the community is making my favorite post every single week,
Speaker:without doubt.
Speaker:Wait, what,
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.