Tips & Talk 77 – What Kind of a Maker Are You?
If you think about your approach to product development, where do you fall? Do you stick with what’s standard and proven or do you venture off and test new things just to see what happens?
While there’s nothing wrong with either approach, I’m going to suggest that the greater opportunity for your business lies in going past the tried and true and expanding to create something truly new and unique. The trick is to do something your audience wants or needs. Or something that solves a common problem people can easily relate to.
And you might say, there’s really nothing else that can be done with soaps or candles. That all the stitches and uses for knitted items have been created. Or that every single flavor and variation of chocolate is already out there.
And I’ll challenge you on that. In this episode I explain why and give you examples that will get you looking at your product in an entirely different way.
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Transcript
Hi there.
Speaker:It's Sue.
Speaker:And thanks for joining me for tips and talk day.
Speaker:These are bite-sized topics that I pull from community questions and
Speaker:things that I'm observing in the world of handmade small business.
Speaker:If you'd like to submit a topic,
Speaker:DME over on Instagram at gift biz unwrapped,
Speaker:gosh, this year I've rolled out a number of new opportunities
Speaker:for you here.
Speaker:There are the bashes where you have a chance to showcase
Speaker:your business to this entire listening audience.
Speaker:There's the new owl app.
Speaker:When you have a quick question where you'd like my input,
Speaker:and now I'm excited to bring you gift biz boosts.
Speaker:Think of these as free strategy sessions,
Speaker:leaving you with a clear action plan to boost you forward.
Speaker:Whether you're at the beginning of your business journey and need
Speaker:concrete steps on how to start,
Speaker:or you've been doing this for a while and could use
Speaker:a fresh approach.
Speaker:These boosts are for you you'll know,
Speaker:a podcast is a boost.
Speaker:If you see that word in the title,
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Speaker:Head over to gift biz,
Speaker:unwrapped.com forward slash boost and sign up for your session today.
Speaker:I really enjoy cooking.
Speaker:It's a skill learned through hours in the kitchen with my
Speaker:dear dad,
Speaker:who was a very talented gourmet chef,
Speaker:although not by profession,
Speaker:just one of his many hobbies.
Speaker:And lucky for me,
Speaker:this love has been passed down to my kids too,
Speaker:who are great chefs in their own,
Speaker:right? But I've noticed that our approaches to creating meals is
Speaker:very different.
Speaker:David and Nicole do it one way and I do it
Speaker:entirely another.
Speaker:Here's where our approaches differ.
Speaker:I do things completely by the book I find and follow
Speaker:the recipes.
Speaker:Exactly, which serves me well in baking where you have to
Speaker:be precise,
Speaker:but not necessarily when getting dinner on the table.
Speaker:Although I know I could substitute out one product for another
Speaker:rarely do I do so it just never occurs to me
Speaker:to experiment like that,
Speaker:except in a pinch.
Speaker:When I have no choice,
Speaker:contrast this with my kids,
Speaker:they're adventurous and try new things all the time.
Speaker:Both of them have a flare for spice combinations and all
Speaker:sorts of ethnic foods that I'm just now learning about.
Speaker:Maybe it's a generation thing,
Speaker:but I admire their curiosity and experimentation in the kitchen.
Speaker:I'm sure there've been some less than successful attempts,
Speaker:but every creation I've had has been delicious.
Speaker:Honestly, it's making me rethink my approach to cooking and opening
Speaker:my mind to new ideas for my own cooking experiments.
Speaker:Someone better warned my husband to watch out in my business.
Speaker:I take a much different path.
Speaker:I don't go only by the book,
Speaker:but look,
Speaker:to provide new ways to serve my community.
Speaker:To help you realize your goals through new creative means.
Speaker:This podcast is an example of that.
Speaker:I started the gift biz bashes,
Speaker:and now the gift biz boosts.
Speaker:I've also put together the resource guide that breaks down and
Speaker:directs you to podcast episodes.
Speaker:That would be of the most interest to you based on
Speaker:where you are right now or what you need to be
Speaker:focusing on at this moment,
Speaker:by the way,
Speaker:this resource guide is free and you can find it@giftbizonwraps.com
Speaker:forward slash topics.
Speaker:To my knowledge,
Speaker:nobody else in the podcasting space has created something like it.
Speaker:And I've already heard from you that it's a huge help.
Speaker:So let's swing this whole cooking thing around to you.
Speaker:If you think about your approach to product development,
Speaker:where do you fall?
Speaker:Do you stick with what standard and proven or do you
Speaker:venture off and test new things just to see what happens.
Speaker:I'm going to give you a second to ponder this.
Speaker:Well, there's nothing wrong with either approach.
Speaker:I'm going to suggest that the greater opportunity for your business
Speaker:lies in going past the tried and true and expanding to
Speaker:create something truly new and unique.
Speaker:The trick is to do something your audience wants and needs,
Speaker:or it's something that solves a common problem.
Speaker:Lots of people can relate to.
Speaker:And you might say,
Speaker:there's really nothing else that can be done with soaps or
Speaker:candles that all the stitches and uses for knitted items has
Speaker:been created or that every single flavor and variation of that
Speaker:is already out there.
Speaker:And I'll challenge you on that.
Speaker:If you think toothpaste just is what it is.
Speaker:Let me tell you,
Speaker:I just purchased something new from a company called bite they're
Speaker:little caplets that look kind of like tic Tacs that turn
Speaker:into toothpaste when mixed with water.
Speaker:Brilliant. I can't wait to try them out.
Speaker:I'm thinking they're going to be great for traveling and it's
Speaker:going to be less plastic filling up the landfills to something
Speaker:I care about.
Speaker:What about taxis in the past?
Speaker:You would think that there's really no option except for limos
Speaker:enter Lyft and Uber has taken this a step further with
Speaker:Uber eats and even has a spinoff concept with Instacart.
Speaker:Let's see.
Speaker:Let me think of one more example.
Speaker:Oh, how about an alternative to car dealerships?
Speaker:Have you heard about the Carvana car vending machines who would
Speaker:have thought you buy a car online and go pick it
Speaker:up without spending hours in a dealership office and you get
Speaker:to avoid the paperwork nightmare.
Speaker:All of these are outside of the box,
Speaker:examples of a known product or service,
Speaker:but done in an entirely different way.
Speaker:I challenge you here and now to think about what you
Speaker:make in a different way to consider what tweaks you could
Speaker:try. That would be original yet familiar,
Speaker:a spinoff of what's already known,
Speaker:but with a twist.
Speaker:Now, I don't think that you'll land on the answer immediately.
Speaker:It will take observation thought and an open mind and my
Speaker:goal with the show today,
Speaker:and this challenge that I'm presenting you is only to give
Speaker:this concept to you.
Speaker:So your mind can go to work on it.
Speaker:Be the maker who moves past what already exists to make
Speaker:something intriguing and fascinating.
Speaker:Go back and review the few examples I stated here and
Speaker:observe what's around you because I know you're going to find
Speaker:more and just think if you take this approach and apply
Speaker:it to your product,
Speaker:what could be possible?
Speaker:That's a wrap.
Speaker:I'm a get to the point kind of girl.
Speaker:And this is what you can expect from these quick midweek
Speaker:sessions. Now it's your turn go out and fulfill that dream
Speaker:of yours,
Speaker:share your handmade products with us.
Speaker:We want them and they bring us both so much happiness.
Speaker:That's a wrap.
Speaker:I'm a get to the point kind of girl.
Speaker:And this is what you can expect from these quick midweek
Speaker:sessions. Now it's your turn go out and fulfill that dream
Speaker:of yours.
Speaker:Share your handmade products with us.