My guest today is Charlotte Watts, owner of Made on the Street. Charlotte makes stylish, affordable, sustainable clothing for babies and children. Charlotte set up her business in lockdown, teaching herself to sew, and sourcing original fabrics and prints online. 

Charlotte works closely with her customers, which informs the designs and patterns she makes. She also has a really interesting model of encouraging and incentivizing customers to promote her business, and shares some great tips about how to make this work for you. 

Listen in to hear Charlotte share:

• An introduction to herself and her business (01:20)
• What inspired her to set up Made on the Street (01:47)
• Sourcing fabrics from pattern designers in the UK (03:52)
• Working with pattern designers to create exclusive designs (06:20)
• Getting her fabrics printed (07:46)
• How the business has evolved in the past two years (11:58)
• Making and selling on demand (14:00)
• Getting feedback and input from customers (14:50)
• Using customer reps to promote her brand (16:00)
• Tips for finding the right people to work with (19:51)
• Her number one piece of advice for product creators (22:50)

USEFUL RESOURCES:

Made On The Street Website

Made On The Street Instagram

Made On The Street Facebook

LET’S CONNECT

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If you enjoy this podcast, and you’d like to leave a tip, you can do so here: https://bring-your-product-idea.captivate.fm/support

Mentioned in this episode:

Amazon Made Easy is now open

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Ami Rabheru is the founder of the Retail Business Hub and Scale with Wholesale Academy. Ami is a returning podcast guest, last time Ami was sharing her advice about selling your products via wholesale, and this time she is back to talk about another topic she is really passionate and knowledgeable about - popup shops. 

Maybe you’ve shopped at a pop-up shop, maybe you’ve sold your products in one. Ami explains what a pop-up shop is and the different methods of running one. We talk about how to look for shops to be stocked in, and what to expect when you are in that partnership. We also cover Ami’s top tips for setting up your own pop-up shop and how you might want to manage this. 

This really is the definitive podcast on pop-up shops!

Listen in to hear Ami share:

• An introduction to herself and her business (01:38)
• How she fell in love with pop-up shops and started running her own (01:55)
• What a pop-up shop is (06:55)
• Different models of pop up shops (09:32)
• What a pop-up shop may expect from you (11:36)
• The benefits of working with a pop up shop (12:43)
• How to find pop-up shop opportunities (16:57)
• Things to consider before signing up with a pop up shop (17:54)
• How to navigate being in competition with other brands in a pop-up shop selling similar products (20:11)
• How pop up shops are developing (24:17)
• Your role in marketing a pop up shop (26:33)
• Tips for setting up your own pop up shop (27:37)
• Her number one piece around pop-up shops (34:17)

USEFUL RESOURCES:

The Retail Business Hub website

The Retail Business Hub Instagram

The Retail Business Hub Facebook

The Retail Business Hub Twitter

Ami Rabheru Linked In

Podcast Episode 145 - How to get started wholesaling your products with Ami Rabheru

LET’S CONNECT

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If you enjoy this podcast, and you’d like to leave a tip, you can do so here: https://bring-your-product-idea.captivate.fm/support

Mentioned in this episode:

Amazon Made Easy is now open

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This was an episode that I really wanted to record as I know that right now things are a little bit tough. Lots of businesses are seeing less sales, both on Amazon and elsewhere. So I wanted to share some really practical ideas of things you can do to improve your sales, cut down your costs, or both.

Now, these tips are mainly going to be Amazon specific, but some will work in other places. So even if you’re not selling on Amazon, there might still be some ideas in here that you will find useful.

Listen in to hear me share:

• Why you shouldn’t quit (01:06)
• Ways to save money when you are selling on Amazon (02:41)
• How to optimise your ads performance (04:30)
• Review your inventory (07:50)
• Review your shipping prices (09:00)
• Review your product price, does it still make sense (11:28)
• How you can increase your sales (13:35)
• Review your product listings (13:49)
• How to get more reviews (18:12)
• Share your Amazon listings with others (20:32)
• Ways to boost your sales by spending a little bit of money (21:07)
• Start a sponsored product campaign (21:15)
• Set up discounts or promotions (22:32)
• Is Amazon the right marketplace for you and your products? (24:05)
• How I may be able to help you (25:12)

USEFUL RESOURCES:

FREE AMAZON CHECKLIST

FREEBIE: How to Successfully Launch a Product on Amazon or Rescue One That's Not Selling

Podcast Episode 159 - How to start selling on Amazon

Podcast Episode 68 - How to successfully launch a product on Amazon

Blog Post: 

How to optimise your Amazon Sponsored Products advertising campaigns

HOW I CAN SUPPORT YOU ON AMAZON:

My Free Resources 

Is Amazon Right For You? Mini Strategy Session

Amazon Account Audit

Amazon Launch Package

Amazon Training Q&A Hour

Book a Power Hour with me

LET’S CONNECT:

Join my free Facebook group for product makers and creators

Find me on Instagram

Work with me

If you enjoy this podcast, and you’d like to leave a tip, you can do so here: https://bring-your-product-idea.captivate.fm/support

Mentioned in this episode:

Amazon Made Easy is now open

My membership, Amazon Made Easy is now open.

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My guest today is Elle Williamson of The Ecommerce Assistant. Elle helps people build and grow their online businesses with the power of Shopify + Klaviyo to sell more online. Ella has made it her mission to teach everything she knows about ecommerce to founder-led businesses looking to thrive online.

Elle joins me to explain the Shopify 2.0 update, which has not received much publicity, and outlines what these new updates mean, and the additional features now available. 

Elle also shares a lot of great advice about how to personalise and elevate your Ecommerce website, and much of this advice will translate to whatever platform you are selling on.

Whether you are thinking of setting up an ecommerce website or looking for ways you can boost the performance of your current platform, there are lots and lots of tips here to take away and try. 

Listen in to hear Elle share:

• An introduction to herself and her business (01:24)
• What Shopify is (03:03)
• The advantages and plus points of Shopify (04:06)
• How Shopify compares with Amazon (05:39)
• What the Shopify 2:0 update is (07:01)
• The changes that Shopify have made, including reducing the need to rely on apps (08:05)
• How to get the updates (11:43)
• How much time to schedule for updating your Shopify to 2:0 (14:31)
• How to update your theme (17:44)
• What a theme is, and what to look for and consider when choosing a theme (19:05)
• How to demo and test a theme before purchasing (24:01)
• How much you expect to pay if you choose a paid theme (25:03)
• Tips for how to personalise a free theme, and make it stand out (29:00)
• Recommended best practises for your Shopify website (34:41)
• Examples of brands that have great Shopify websites (44:09)
• Ways to elevate your website with Shopify 2:0 (48:38)
• Her number one piece of advice for having a great Ecommerce website (53:04)

USEFUL RESOURCES:

The Ecommerce Assistant Website

The Ecommerce Assistant Instagram

Elle Williamson Linked In

Shopify

Beauty Pie

Passenger

LET’S CONNECT

Join my free Facebook group for product makers and creators

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If you enjoy this podcast, and you’d like to leave a tip, you can do so here: https://bring-your-product-idea.captivate.fm/support

Mentioned in this episode:

Amazon Made Easy is now open

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My guest today is Dan Shearman of The Wilder Kitchen. Dan was originally a street food chef, and created the UK’s original chilli infused hot honey, Wilder Bee Hot Honey, which is sold into retailers and restaurants across the UK.

Dan explains what Hot Honey is, how he came to create his own recipe, and how he has since scaled the business from selling on a food truck to outsourcing production and distribution and supplying major national chains. 

We look at specific food industry challenges, such as getting the nutritional and shelf life information you need, and the changes that need to be made to recipes as you scale up production quantities. We discuss how he got stocked by a range of retailers, his experience of selling on Amazon & Faire, and the challenges of staying ahead of every changing trends in the food industry.

Listen in to hear Dan share:

• An introduction to himself and him business (01:24)
• Dan’s food truck journey and how he discovered hot honey (01:49)
• Developing his own hot honey, and starting to sell it (02:22)
• Deciding to scale up the business, and bringing in a business partner (03:51)
• Making the shift from selling from a food truck, to selling to trade and online, and the factors that needed to be considered (04:27)
• Transitioning from making a product by hand to finding a production partner (06:51)
• Changes that need to be made to recipes as you scale production (09:56)
• The process of getting nutritional and shelf life information for your product (12:43)
• Getting stocked by restaurants and small independent retailers (13:58)
• Why they rebranded and changed the product name (15:24)
• Getting approached by retailers who want to stock their product (16:12)
• The additional costs that come with scaling such as paying distributors, and how this affects your profit margins (17:55)
• Ways to use hot honey, and recipe tips (25:37)
• His experience of selling a food product on Amazon (27:47)
• Getting reviews from customers (30:13)
• His experience of selling on Faire (32:14)
• Using fulfilment warehouses (37:45)
• His number one piece of sales advice for product creators (39:29)

USEFUL RESOURCES:

The Wilder Kitchen website

The Wilder Kitchen Instagram

The Wilder Kitchen Facebook

The Wilder Kitchen Twitter

Faire

LET’S CONNECT

Join my free Facebook group for product makers and creators

Find me on Instagram

Work with me

If you enjoy this podcast, and you’d like to leave a tip, you can do so here: https://bring-your-product-idea.captivate.fm/support

Mentioned in this episode:

Amazon Made Easy is now open

My membership, Amazon Made Easy is now open.

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My guest today is Jenny Tse Sipping Streams Tea Company. Sipping Stream Tea Company is an international award-winning tea company and tea educator based in Alaska. Direct tea importer and master blenders. Creating community through their tea offerings: loose-leaf tea, custom blend specialty teas, matcha tea, fireweed honey, bubble tea kits, tea accessories and more!

Jenny started her business 17 years ago, so we chatted about how e:commerce and sourcing international suppliers worked before the explosion of social media and e:commerce sites such as Shopify. Jenny shares how she used her background as an academic and teacher to set up her business . And for all you tea lovers out there, Jenny also shares lots of fascinating information about tea including the benefits of drinking it, how tea farms are set up, and how she ensures that she sources her tea sustainably. 

Listen in to hear Jenny share:

• An introduction to herself and her business (01:29)
• What inspired her to set up Sipping Streams (01:51)
• The benefits of drinking tea (03:48)
• How she moved from drinking tea, to setting up her own tea business, and the role her heritage played (05:00)
• How she sources her tea (10:08)
• Finding suppliers before the explosion of social media (12:28)
• Sourcing tea sustainably (15:43)
• The process of setting up a tea farm (22:56)
• How she initially started selling the tea, and how being a teacher helped (27:06)
• Her first physical store (30:12)
• When she decided to give up teaching, and run the business full time (33:09)
• Starting to sell online in 2009, and the differences with e:commerce now (35:34)
• His number one piece of sales advice for product creators (36:56)

USEFUL RESOURCES:

Sipping Streams Website

Sipping Streams Facebook

Sipping Streams Instagram

Sipping Streams Twitter

Sipping Streams Youtube

LET’S CONNECT

Join my free Facebook group for product makers and creators

Find me on Instagram

Work with me

If you enjoy this podcast, and you’d like to leave a tip, you can do so here: https://bring-your-product-idea.captivate.fm/support

Mentioned in this episode:

Amazon Made Easy is now open

My membership, Amazon Made Easy is now open.

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How do you start selling on Amazon? In this episode I walk you through everything you need to know about setting yourself up and starting to sell on Amazon, from how to apply to become an Amazon seller, through deciding whether to fulfill orders by FBA or FBM, to what to do to encourage those first orders once your account is all set.

Listen in to hear me share:

• Why you should consider selling on Amazon (01:20)
• How to check if Amazon is the right marketplace for your product (02:15)
• How to apply to become an Amazon seller (03:22)
• How to decide which type of Amazon seller account you need (04:42)
• How to sign up for an Amazon seller account, and the information that you will need (07:40)
• Verifying your account, and what to do if you have issues (10:28)
• Deciding how you want to fulfil orders, FBM vs FBA (12:43)
• Things to do if you decide to FBM (15:58)
• Things to do if you decide to FBA (17:58)
• Creating your product listings (19:00)
• The format for Amazon product descriptions (19:53)
• Setting up the brand name for your product (21:00)
• Sourcing and setting up barcodes (22:03)
• Working out if you need a Safety Data sheet (23:14)
• Products that will need approval from Amazon (24:20)
• What Amazon Brand Registry is and why you might want it (25:39)
• What happens next and why pay per click advertising is worth trying (26:36)
• Free ways to spread the word (27:39)
• How I can help you get started with selling on Amazon (19:59)

USEFUL RESOURCES:

I have written a blog post to accompany this episode, which you can read here

My Amazon launch package

Amazon Seller Central

GS1 Org - for barcodes

FREE AMAZON CHECKLIST

FREEBIE: How to Successfully Launch a Product on Amazon or Rescue One That's Not Selling

Blog post about whether you should sell on Amazon

Blog post about writing product listings 

Podcast: Where’s the best place to sell your products online

Podcast: Should you sell your product on Amazon?

Podcast: Common Amazon issues and how to resolve them

Podcast: The tools I use to run my business on Amazon

HOW I CAN SUPPORT YOU ON AMAZON:

My Free Resources 

Is Amazon Right For You? Mini Strategy Session

Amazon Account Audit

Amazon Launch Package

Amazon Training Q&A Hour

Book a Power Hour with me

LET’S CONNECT:

Join my free Facebook group for product makers and creators

Find me on Instagram

Work with me 

Mentioned in this episode:

Amazon Made Easy is now open

My membership, Amazon Made Easy is now open.

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Today I'm talking to Jennifer Cooper. Jenny is the founder of Jennifer Cooper Timesaver, and with her team Jenny provides time saving support, support to small business owners and entrepreneurs. Jenny's also the founder of Kindred Spirits, a community for fellow small business owners that provides opportunities for connection and collaboration with unique events and group mentoring. And as part of Kindred Spirits, Jenny has recently set up the Kindred Spirit Shop, a curated collection of stationery and crafts for small business owners. So these are perfect gifts for clients, colleagues, your team members, or even yourself. 

So Jenny sources all of her products from Faire, which we spoke about, um, in a previous episode with Em Royston, who has a small business who sells her products wholesale on Faire. So speaking to Jenny today was amazing because it means we're getting the other side of the story and finding out what Faire is like for a buyer. I was really pleasantly surprised to hear that the experience for a buyer is just as positive as Em's was as a seller. And we, lows as usual, went into all the questions, all the logistics about how you curate and buy products on Faire 

Listen in to hear Jenny share:

• An introduction to herself and her business (01:39)
• What inspired her to set up an online shop (03:08)
• Who the shop is aimed at (05:15)
• Her background in retail (06:15)
• Starting to buy stock, and the amount of capital you need (09:41)
• How she discover Faire (10:47)
• The sort of business that are on Faire that you can buy from (12:53)
• How she curated what to stock (13:35)
• How the pricing works (16:39)
• How the ordering process works (17:42)
• Creating product descriptions (20:12)
• The joy of retail (22:34)
• Trying to predict what will sell and building out a range (25:25)
• Advice for using Faire if you don’t have a retail background (26:31)
• Making sure you don’t buy all the things (29:03)
• The application process (30:02)
• The opportunities for artists and creators to sell on Faire (31:33)
• Her number one piece of advice for other product curators (34:03)

USEFUL RESOURCES:

Kindred Spirits Shop Website

Kindred Spirits Facebook

Kindred Spirits Instagram

Jennifer Cooper Timesaver Website

Faire

Episode 148: Selling To Retailers Using Wholesale Platforms with Em Royston - Chasing Threads

Woodlands Bay

Little Box Of Books

Blackbird House Designs

LET’S CONNECT

Join my free Facebook group for product makers and creators

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If you enjoy this podcast, and you’d like to leave a tip, you can do so here: https://bring-your-product-idea.captivate.fm/support

Mentioned in this episode:

Amazon Made Easy is now open

My membership, Amazon Made Easy is now open.

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Ryan Margolin is the CEO of Professional Hair Labs, a cosmetic manufacturer who supply private label products and also custom formulate and contract manufacture for companies globally. 

Professional Hair Labs started off as a two-person family business and has now expanded massively with locations in the USA and Ireland and they sell their products to distributors, wholesalers and retailers all over the world. We discussed how they have successfully scaled whilst still remaining a family business, and key things to consider when scaling globally including manufacture, intellectual property rights, and how to make sure that you are not the bottleneck in your own business. 

Ryan has lots of brilliant advice, and there is lots to take away from this episode if you are looking at scaling your business, or selling your product globally.

Listen in to hear Ryan share:

• An introduction to himself and his business (01:20)
• What inspired his family to set up Professional Hair Labs (02:06)
• How Ryan got involved in the business (03:19)
• The move to rolling out their products globally (04:21)
• Selling B2B (05:06)
• Formulating and manufacturing their products (07:56)
• Why they have moved their manufacturing in house as the company has grown (09:23)
• Growing the team from a 2 person business to having over 25 staff (13:29)
• The first positions that they decided to hire for as the business grew (14:24)
• The upsides and downsides of running a family business (15:36)
• Tips for growing and scaling a business (18:51)
• Motivating yourself (21:27)
• The importance of having the right people around you (22:23)
• Ensuring that you do not become the bottleneck in your business as it grows and scales (23:09)
• Advice for selling your product globally, and the importance of getting your IP in (24:13)
• His number one piece of sales advice for product creators (31:02)

USEFUL RESOURCES:

Professional Hair Labs Website

Professional Hair Labs Twitter

Professional Hair Labs Facebook

Professional Hair Labs Instagram

Professional Hair Labs LinkedIn

LET’S CONNECT

Join my free Facebook group for product makers and creators

Find me on Instagram

Work with me

If you enjoy this podcast, and you’d like to leave a tip, you can do so here: https://bring-your-product-idea.captivate.fm/support

Mentioned in this episode:

Amazon Made Easy is now open

My membership, Amazon Made Easy is now open.

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Charlie Day is a multi-award-winning entrepreneur who has built three multi-six-figure businesses from the ground up. Charlie is passionate about helping business owners create more sales in their businesses and proclaims that ‘sales is easy if you just know how.’ She runs the free Facebook community for business owners, The Entrepreneurs Growth Club.

This is a must listen to episode, as Charlie brilliantly challenges the mindset blocks many of us have around sales, and shares her methods for generating more income, more customers and more clients in your business.

Listen in to hear Charlie share:

• An introduction to herself and her business (01:27)
• Why selling has a bad rap (02:41)
• What sales is actually about - listening (03:21)
• The mindset shift that you need to make (05:07)
• The importance of follow up (06:13)
• Understanding and making the most of hot leads and warm leads (08:02)
• Selling with integrity (09:51)
• Growing your business on your own terms (10:37)
• The power of your own confidence in your products and services (12:27)
• What a sales strategy is and why you need one(13:58)
• Understanding and improving conversion rates (16:15)
• Sales strategies for product businesses (17:45)
• The importance of knowing your numbers and where sales are coming from (18:32)
• Using sales targets (19:59)
• The importance of hard work and consistency (20:34)
• The 3 things to do immediately (21:31)
• The importance of customer service (22:40)
• Making the most of your sales funnel (23:47) 
• How to bring more money into your business (24:41)
• Why you should start selling right not, even before your product launches (25:47)
• Her number one piece of sales advice for product creators (29:15)

USEFUL RESOURCES:

Charlie Day Website

The Entrepreneurs Growth Club Facebook Group

The Entrepreneurs Growth Club Podcast

Charlie Day Instagram

Charlie’s Book: Sales Is Easy If You Just Know How!

Phonics With Robot Reg

LET’S CONNECT

Join my free Facebook group for product makers and creators

Find me on Instagram

Work with me

If you enjoy this podcast, and you’d like to leave a tip, you can do so here: https://bring-your-product-idea.captivate.fm/support

Mentioned in this episode:

Amazon Made Easy is now open

My membership, Amazon Made Easy is now open.

membership