Growing a brand is difficult and it can take a lot out of you. The constant deluge of distractions fights for your attention and can derail you. Your brand's success is a reflection of your overall health - to maximize distribution, sales, and profits.

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New product innovation is the lifeblood of every brand. New products fuel sustainable growth, attracts new shoppers, and increases brand awareness. Know the critical steps to get your product on more retailer’s shelves and into the hands of more shoppers.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE STRATEGIC GUIDE: The Essential New Item Checklist - The Recipe For Success

Today's story is about you. Today's story is about helping to give you the strategies that you need to be successful in every aspect of your life, as well as running your business.

Let's face it, running a brand, growing a brand can be stressful. There are a lot of people pointing at you from all different directions. There are a lot of distractions. The only way that you can show up and be present with your brand, to be authentic, to have the confidence that you need to be successful grow and nurture your brand, is to make sure that you take care of yourself first. That's what today's show is about.

On today's podcast, if you don't know them already, I look forward to introducing you to Jason Wrobel and Whitney Lauritsen of Eco-Vegan Gal. They founded a company called Wellevatr, wellness elevated, something that you really want to check out. Their focus is on helping you be at your best 100% of the time. They help you sort through the things that cause you stress, to go beyond your game so that you can deliver the highest level all the time, this is what every brand leader needs.

I'm thrilled to have them on the show today and I'm also very thrilled to have them provide this resource to you to talk about Wellevatr. This will help you be your best each and every time you get in front of a retailer and will help you align your brand strategy with the message that you communicate with your customers.

Before I go any further, I'm going to give a quick shoutout to Michael J. who left an amazing review for me. Michael says, "Daniel is the foremost expert in brand building in today's market place. Daniel's common sense approach to helping all companies, from small to large, become successful in a sound process. Daniel provides passion and intelligence to ensure your success in every retail format. Daniel provides sound strategies to guide your brand for increasing profitable sales. I've been a follower of Daniel for years, I feel his process makes sense in today's competitive environment." I want to thank Michael for leaving a review, I really appreciate it. This is why I do this. If you want me to share your review on the podcast, leave a review on iTunes, send me an email, or comment on any of my social posts. Remember, this show is about you and for you.

Before I go any further, I also want to remind you that there's a free downloadable guide for you at the end of every episode. I always try to include one free downloadable guide that you can instantly adopt and make your own, a strategy that you can use to grow sustainable sales. Remember, the goal here is to get your product on more store shelves and into the hands of more shoppers.

Want an unfair competitive advantage? 

Take the 30 Days To Prosperity Challenge to master the brand-building skills and strategies required to give your brand a substantial and sustainable competitive edge. Stop Using the same cookie-cutter tactics your competitors rely on. RetailSolved.com/30daychallenge

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Over 80% of natural brands fail within the first year. I’m committed to changing this. Many “experts” offering advice lack the creativity to grow your brand. Your sales strategy needs to be as unique as your brand. The perils of choosing the wrong expert

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Want an unfair competitive advantage? 

Take the 30 Days To Prosperity Challenge to master the brand-building skills and strategies required to give your brand a substantial and sustainable competitive edge. Stop Using the same cookie-cutter tactics your competitors rely on. RetailSolved.com/30daychallenge

FREE Trade Promotion ROI Calculator: 

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Download the show notes here:

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Digital strategies can add rocket fuel to your sales growth. They can give you more runway helping you compete at a much higher level. Traditional retail is expensive & it’s pay-to-play. A blended strategy makes it easier for shoppers to find your brand.

This episode's FREE downloadable guide

Nothing happens until someone buys your product and shoppers can’t buy what they can’t find. The path to sustainable sales and getting your product onto more retailers shelves and into the hands of more shoppers.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE STRATEGIC GUIDE: Top 10 Strategies To Meet Your Business Goals

We spend a lot of time talking about how expensive retail is. It's pay to play. But there are better ways to get your product on more store shelves and into the hands of more shoppers. One of the best ways to do that is with a robust and solid business strategy that includes digital. Let me explain. With traditional strategies, you go out and you raise money. Then you raise more money. Then you raise more money, and then after you do that, you raise more money because you're taught that the only way that you can get your product on a retailer shelf is by spending a lot of money to do it. You essentially pay to play, you pay to get your product on the store shelves.

Let's face it, this strategy is not sustainable especially for small brands. I believe that this is the primary reason why over 80% of natural brands fail within the first year. I'm committed to changing that, which is a big reason why this podcast exists. I have a firm belief that a CEO should not be a perpetual fundraiser. One of the best ways to avoid this and to develop a solid following for your product is with a solid digital strategy. Let me explain. It costs a lot less money for you to sell your products on your own website, or with an online provider like an Amazon, for example.

Now, while I'm a huge proponent for natural retailers, it's sometimes really difficult to get your products on their store shelves when you consider what it costs to get your products into a distributor and then go through a broker and then get it on a retailer shelf. This can be extremely expensive, and the inefficiencies in the supply chain can actually bankrupt many brands. For this reason, I frequently suggest that brands start with an online strategy, a digital strategy, a strategy to help get your products into the hands of more shoppers before you go the traditional route of brick and mortar.

There are several key reasons why I love this strategy. One, you get to develop awareness about your brand, around your brand, so that you can actually leverage your community to help drive sales in a specific retailer. Additionally, the ability to develop a community, a strong loyal community around your brand is the best way to develop a solid marketing strategy, as well as a lot of other benefits that we talk about frequently on this podcast.

Now, the other reason why I think a strategy like this makes sense is because it allows brands to gain some runway and to gain some momentum so that when they do gain traction in traditional retail, they're in a better position to sell their product and to support it. That's what today's story is about. It's about a brand that was able to leverage a digital strategy to help gain momentum in traditional brick and mortar. This dual strategy is the secret sauce behind Wild Zora's success. In this podcast, you're going to learn what they did so that you can leverage those strategies to help grow your brand.

Want an unfair competitive advantage? 

Take the 30 Days To Prosperity Challenge to master the brand-building skills and strategies required to give your brand a substantial and sustainable competitive edge. Stop Using the same cookie-cutter tactics your competitors rely on. RetailSolved.com/30daychallenge

FREE Trade Promotion ROI Calculator: 

RetailSolved.com/PromotionROI

Download the show notes here:

RetailSolved.com/session131

Packaging is more than just the container you put your product in. It should also amplify your brand message. It should help sell your brand. Packaging can be very confusing – we make it simple and straight forward on this episode. What you need to know.

This episode's FREE downloadable guide

This short guide levels the playing field between small brands and their more sophisticated competitors. It highlights the advanced strategies the big brands use called Category Management - what retailers want. 

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE STRATEGIC GUIDE: Strategic Solutions To Grow Your Brand

Welcome. Thank you for listening. This podcast is dedicated to helping you get your product on more store shelves and into the hands of more shoppers. Now there’s a lot to it before you can actually get your product on a retailer’s shelf. In this episode we’re going to talk about packaging. While this is a topic I’ve covered in great detail on other episodes about compostable packaging, recyclable packaging, what the difference is, what you need to know, et cetera, the focus on this episode is on answering those questions. What do you need to know when you think about putting your product in a package? Who do you go to? Do you go to a packaging broker, or do you go directly to the converter?

A converter is an industry term. These are the people that work the magic to create the packaging that your product goes in, the packaging that you see on retailer shelves. What questions do you need to ask them? What are the options that are available to you as a brand, and then how does that packaging supplier work with your co-packer, your marketing company, and anyone else who’s involved in designing your packaging and your product? Essentially everything that has to go on behind the scenes before you can get your product on more store shelves and into the hands of more shoppers.

But before we can go down that path we’ve got to talk about some of the other very important elements that you need to have in place before you even develop your packaging. For example, how can your packaging to tell a compelling story about your brand? What are some of the ways that you can leverage your packaging to help grow incremental sales to make it easier for a retailer to say yes to your product? What can you do to catch the consumer’s eye so that they buy more product and then evangelize your product to their friends? Once you come up with your packaging design, what’s next? What format does it need to be in and how does that work? What are the limitations around your packaging? How customized can you make your packaging? What are some of the different strategies and technologies that you can take advantage of today to gain a significant competitive advantage in your category?

Then more importantly, what are the different options available to you? This can vary greatly depending on what kind of product you have, whether it’s hot, cold, how much liquid is in it. There’s a lot to know here. Anyhow, don’t fret. This no longer needs to keep you up at night. This podcast episode is dedicated to answering many of those questions that you have, plus a whole lot more. In preparing for this episode I actually made a list of all the questions that brands ask me when I mentor and work with them. You’re going to hear a lot of them repeated here, and a lot of those questions get addressed. If there are any questions that weren’t addressed here, you can always reach out to me via email or any social platform, or you can reach out to our guest today.

Want an unfair competitive advantage? 

Take the 30 Days To Prosperity Challenge to master the brand-building skills and strategies required to give your brand a substantial and sustainable competitive edge. Stop Using the same cookie-cutter tactics your competitors rely on. RetailSolved.com/30daychallenge

FREE Trade Promotion ROI Calculator: 

RetailSolved.com/PromotionROI

Download the show notes here:

RetailSolved.com/session130

Knowing your ideal customer is at the heart of every successful strategy. Retailers need brands to collaborate and educate them to drive shopper traffic and category growth. It’s the foundation to build sustainable sales.

This episode's FREE downloadable guide

Want an unfair competitive advantage? 

Take the 30 Days To Prosperity Challenge to master the brand-building skills and strategies required to give your brand a substantial and sustainable competitive edge. Stop Using the same cookie-cutter tactics your competitors rely on. RetailSolved.com/30daychallenge

FREE Trade Promotion ROI Calculator: 

RetailSolved.com/PromotionROI

Download the show notes here:

RetailSolved.com/session129

Your brand's packaging needs to work hard and it should sell itself. Personalize your brand with your packaging. It should align with your mission and it should be compostable. Wouldn’t it be great if it could also help pay for itself? Learn how!

This episode's FREE downloadable guide

New product innovation is the lifeblood of every brand. New products fuel sustainable growth, attracts new shoppers, and increases brand awareness. Know the critical steps to get your product on more retailer’s shelves and into the hands of more shoppers.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE STRATEGIC GUIDE: The Essential New Item Checklist - The Recipe For Success

Packaging is a topic that is near and dear to my heart. This is one of the biggest pain points that most brands share with me.

You work really hard to create a product that's aligned with a great mission. Your packaging needs to align with that same mission.

In this podcast, you're going to hear Kelly talk about what he calls a fool's errand. What he means by this is that when you put a product, a package into a recycle bin, most often, it just ends up in the landfill. You're going to learn more about that in a little bit so stay tuned.

The reason that Kelly and I chose to do another podcast and another mini-course is to help answer many of the questions that we received at Expo West.

These are the specific pain points people shared with us that were not included in podcast episode 116, The Shocking Truth About Sustainable Packaging: Strategies to Save Time, Money, and Grow Sales. Basically, what all Expo West exhibitors and natural brands need to know.

I'll put a link to that podcast episode as well as the free mini-course that we've put together in the podcast show notes and on the podcast webpage.

The name of that free mini-course is "Earth Digestible Print On Demand Packaging Solutions." You're going to want to check it out. In that course, we talk about what earth digestible packaging actually means as well as strategies that you can use to gain sustainable sales and compete more effectively in any category.

This podcast episode is a snippet of the new course that we just created, "The Secret Compostable Strategy Your Brand Needs to Know: Strategies to Grow Sales with Earth Digestible Printer Demand Packaging as a Profit Center."

Yes, you heard me correct. A strategy to leverage your packaging as a PROFIT CENTER to help you get your product on more store shelves and into the hands of more shoppers. This is something that we discuss in depth in the free mini-course, over and above what's included in this podcast.

You will learn many helpful strategies including how to use your packaging to reduce your trade spending and maximize your trade marketing ROI, how to personalize each item, how to customize your packaging for a specific event, and how to turn your packaging into a profit center.

We also talk about what small brands need to be thinking about when they think about packaging. Spoiler alert. You're probably thinking about packaging in the wrong way and changing your thinking about packaging can help you compete more effectively to leverage this new technology to grow sales and differentiate your brand on a retailer's shelf.

Want an unfair competitive advantage? 

Take the 30 Days To Prosperity Challenge to master the brand-building skills and strategies required to give your brand a substantial and sustainable competitive edge. Stop Using the same cookie-cutter tactics your competitors rely on. RetailSolved.com/30daychallenge

FREE Trade Promotion ROI Calculator: 

RetailSolved.com/PromotionROI

Download the show notes here:

RetailSolved.com/session128

Your branding needs to be an extension of your product. It must be memorable and install trust and confidence. It should stand out on a store shelf, be recognizable from a distance and be able to sell itself even in the absence of good copy

This episode's FREE downloadable guide

Want an unfair competitive advantage? 

Take the 30 Days To Prosperity Challenge to master the brand-building skills and strategies required to give your brand a substantial and sustainable competitive edge. Stop Using the same cookie-cutter tactics your competitors rely on. RetailSolved.com/30daychallenge

FREE Trade Promotion ROI Calculator: 

RetailSolved.com/PromotionROI

Download the show notes here:

RetailSolved.com/session127

Small brands tend to overlook the importance of goal setting. They are the primary component of a solid business plan. They need to contain clear, specific and timely objectives that can be measured. Learn what you need to know to grow and thrive.

This episode's FREE downloadable guide

Scorecards are powerful goal setting tools. You’ve probably heard that “what gets measured gets done”. Scorecards map out objectives in bite-size manageable chunks that keep you on-track and focused. They're what you need to succeed. 

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE STRATEGIC GUIDE: Retail Scorecard

Small brands tend to overlook the importance of goal setting. They're the primary component of a solid business plan. They need to contain clear, specific, and timely objectives that can be measured. Your goal should be incorporated into your business strategy. This is something that all brands struggle with, especially small brands. Doing this right could be the difference between how long you're going to be around; a week, a month, a year, a decade, or even longer. Doing this right can add rocket fuel to your growth.

Think about it. What do you want to be? What do you want your brand to be? Do you want to disrupt the category? Do you want to become a category leader? Do you want to be the brand that retailers call and say, "How soon can we get your product on the shelves?" Or do you just want to survive? No matter how you answer that question, there are a lot of things to consider. There are a lot of different things that you need to be able to put in place to reach any one of those goals.

For example, if you want to grow your brand, you need the right team. If you want to grow your brand, you need to make sure you've got the right retail strategy. And more importantly, how do you make sure that your selling story is clear and compelling and told with the same passion and enthusiasm as it's told by the founder? In addition to that, how do you ensure that your selling story is the same across every part of your sales funnel?

This is exactly why I launched the Free Turnkey Sales Story Strategies course. It's critical that your selling story resonates across every part of your sales funnel and that it aligns with your core customer, your target customer. So now that you have an objective, what are the fundamental things that you need to have in place to achieve that objective? What are your goals? And when you break them down, what are the things you need to do first, second, and so on? Those need to be included and baked into your business strategy. The more effective your business strategy, the more effective you're going to be able to drive your business forward. Your business strategy, when done right, can also act as guardrails to keep you from going off track, to keep you focused on what's really important.

That's what the focus of this podcast is about. And at the end of this episode, Dustin shares with me his two most pressing bottlenecks. They're probably the same bottlenecks that you're wrestling with. You're going to want to listen to the end for actionable advice that you can use to drive your business.

Want an unfair competitive advantage? 

Take the 30 Days To Prosperity Challenge to master the brand-building skills and strategies required to give your brand a substantial and sustainable competitive edge. Stop Using the same cookie-cutter tactics your competitors rely on. RetailSolved.com/30daychallenge

FREE Trade Promotion ROI Calculator: 

RetailSolved.com/PromotionROI

Download the show notes here:

RetailSolved.com/session126

There is no I in Team. Effective leaders are known for their ability to surround themselves with enthusiastic talented people who can help them build, execute, and scale. It can be the difference between even getting off the ground and long-term success.

This episode's FREE downloadable guide

This short guide levels the playing field between small brands and their more sophisticated competitors. It highlights the advanced strategies the big brands use called Category Management - what retailers want. 

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE STRATEGIC GUIDE: Strategic Solutions To Grow Your Brand

One of the biggest challenges that every founder faces is assembling a team that’s going to help them achieve their objectives and to help them rocket their brand to becoming a fan favorite. Think about all the things that are involved in running a business. It’s not just a matter of putting the product in a package and shipping it out the door. You’ve got to have people that track the shipments, people that make sure the product goes to where it needs to be, people that make sure that your product is properly merchandised on retailer shelves, and much, much more.

But before that happens you’ve got to put together a sales team. You need an effective strategy and sales plan. How are you going to go to market? What stores do you want to start with? Where should you begin? What does the category look like? How can you carve out your unique niche? These are just a few of the many questions that you need to think about as a founder, and answering those questions is the focus of today’s episode.

I’ve had the unique privilege of working with and talking to literally thousands of entrepreneurial brands. This is one of their biggest challenges. Do you hire someone right off the bat when you really don’t have the money? But then if you don’t hire the right person, how are you going to get your product where it needs to be? What does the right person look like, and how do you make that decision? Waiting too long can stunt your growth, and doing it too early could cause you to hire the wrong person or someone with the wrong skill set. These are all difficult questions that keep founders up at night. 

And by the way, established brands have the same problems. They’re just not as dramatic because you’ve got people that can typically fill in while you’re looking for a new hire. But in a small business this could be dramatic, and this is something that you need to be thinking about well before you even launch your product. Now I’m not saying you need to have a clear roadmap with everything well defined, who’s going to start what day, et cetera, but you do need to have an idea of what you need to be thinking about. What roles do you need to fill? 

Think of this also, as the founder you’ve got a lot of different things to be thinking about, a lot of different hats to wear. And if you’re busy working on one task, that’s taking you away from something else. So you need to be constantly asking yourself, “Is this project taking me away from something that’s more important? Could I hire someone to do that task so that I can focus on the more important things in running a business?” For example, getting your product on more store shelves and into the hands of more shoppers.

Want an unfair competitive advantage? 

Take the 30 Days To Prosperity Challenge to master the brand-building skills and strategies required to give your brand a substantial and sustainable competitive edge. Stop Using the same cookie-cutter tactics your competitors rely on. RetailSolved.com/30daychallenge

FREE Trade Promotion ROI Calculator: 

RetailSolved.com/PromotionROI

Download the show notes here:

RetailSolved.com/session125

Farmers provide the raw building blocks for brands. Many consumers don’t know where their food comes from beyond a supermarket. Celebrating the important role farmers play in our food system needs to be an integral part of your selling story and mission.

This episode's FREE downloadable guide

Nothing happens until someone buys your product and shoppers can’t buy what they can’t find. The path to sustainable sales and getting your product onto more retailers shelves and into the hands of more shoppers.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE STRATEGIC GUIDE: Top 10 Strategies To Meet Your Business Goals

Welcome and thank you for listening. As you know, this podcast is a celebration of authentic, real food, the building blocks of every natural organic product. We focus on the strategies to help you get your products on more shelves and into the hands of more shoppers. This all begins with the farmer. It’s the farmer that provides the raw ingredients for every product that you find in every retail store. Think about it. A lot of people don’t really understand or appreciate where their food comes from. Natural brands need to work hard to educate their shoppers so that they know and understand this. 

I believe that the greatest strength of every brand is to help the retailer understand that unique consumer that buys your product.  That unique consumer that doesn’t settle, the one that that looks beyond the four corners of the package to understand what is in your product, the raw ingredients. The unique consumer that wants authenticity and transparency. After all, that’s the heart of the natural channel.

To do this, you need to be able to have an intimate one-on-one relationship with your customers. Here’s why this matters. Nothing happens until someone buys something, and customers can’t buy your products if they can’t find them. Before they start looking, however, they have to know, like, and trust your brand. That goes back to the authentic ingredients that you make your product with, and that goes back to the farmer. 

Which is exactly why wanted to invite my special guest, Phil Lempert, The Supermarket Guru to join me today. Phil was on Episode 32. If you haven’t heard it, I highly recommend you go back and listen to it. It was a fan favorite. Phil is an expert on helping us understand what’s going on in the industry, the trends and things that we need to be paying attention to, and what the future of the industry looks like. 

The reason I was thrilled to invite Phil on this podcast is that he recently launched a new podcast called Farm…Food…Facts. You’ve got to check it out. It’s quickly becoming a favorite of mine. In this podcast, Phil talks to farmers and ranchers about real food. Where the real food comes from, the relationship between food and the products we all eat — your products. He also discusses the challenges that farmers face and trends that you need to be aware of, trends that can help set you apart and differentiate you from other brands.

Want an unfair competitive advantage? 

Take the 30 Days To Prosperity Challenge to master the brand-building skills and strategies required to give your brand a substantial and sustainable competitive edge. Stop Using the same cookie-cutter tactics your competitors rely on. RetailSolved.com/30daychallenge

FREE Trade Promotion ROI Calculator: 

RetailSolved.com/PromotionROI

Download the show notes here:

RetailSolved.com/session124