383 | Navigating Seasonal Fluctuations in the Gift & Candle Industry with Sarah Hart, Simply Curated

When you think of public relations or PR, what first comes to mind? Is it holiday gift guides, being on the Today Show? What if I told you that PR can often be more effective than social media or paid ads for boosting a business's credibility and visibility? That's exactly what today's guest is sharing.  Gloria Chou is an award-winning PR strategist and the host of the top-rated Small Business PR Podcast. Known for her untraditional yet proven approach to PR, which makes visibility and access to media accessible for anyone, Gloria helps BIPOC and female founders get featured organically in top-tier media without needing PR connections or a large social media following. Her strategies have earned small businesses in nearly every industry over a billion organic views and features in outlets like The New York Times, Oprah's Favorite Things, Vogue, and Forbes without any pay-to-play options. Gloria shares how to write a compelling pitch to the media, how to pitch and find gift guides that happen year-round, how to find the right journalist to pitch, and so much more. Today's episode is brought to you by PrintsWell, who is a sponsor of our Paper Camp program. PrintsWell has helped stationers for thirty-five years grow their business with premium paper products, modern printing solutions, and best-in-class customer service. They have top-tier paper products at wholesale prices. They do branded drop shipping. They even have foil and white printing available and fast turnaround times. Our Paper Camp students receive an exclusive discount on PrintsWell service. You can learn more about PrintsWell services at http://printswell.com.  You can view full show notes and more at http://prooftoproduct.com/384  Quick Links: Free Wholesale Audio Series Free Resources Library Free Email Marketing for Product Makers PTP LABS Paper Camp

Today's guest is LABS member, Sarah Hart, the founder and creative director of Simply Curated, a home fragrance brand that has been in business for twelve years. Sarah also recently launched a sister brand called Hart and Co.  In this episode, Sarah shares the origins of her candle and home fragrance business, including the pivotal moments and challenges that she faced along the way. She provides insight into the nuances of the candle industry and the unique hurdles that it presents, like seasonal fluctuations in demand and the importance of in-person customer experiences.  Sarah also shares what it was like to launch a sister brand that ventures into new territory with a different aesthetic appeal and product approach. Sarah shares how she balances managing two thriving brands to really harness the power of social media in supplementing her business. Today’s episode is brought to you by Digital Lizard, who is a sponsor of our Paper Camp program. Digital Lizard is a leading marketing company that offers a wide range of print, procurement, and creative production solutions, including digital and offset printing, sourcing, and logistics.  All of our Paper Camp and our LABS students get access to a private Proof to Product print portal with Digital Lizard, where they get discounted rates on print services and a dedicated sales rep to help us with all of our project management.  Many of our community members use Digital Lizard to print products, do their packaging, their catalogs, marketing materials, and more. Digital Lizard offers low minimum quantities and quick turnaround times which our community loves. So if you're looking for a new print partner, our community has great experiences working with Digital Lizard. You can learn more about Digital Lizard's capabilities and services online at digitallizard.com. You can view full show notes and more at http://prooftoproduct.com/383  Quick Links: Free Wholesale Audio Series Free Resources Library Free Email Marketing for Product Makers PTP LABS Paper Camp  

I know we've been talking a lot about our wholesale coaching program, Paper Camp, which is where we are going to teach you everything you need to successfully sell wholesale.  But today, I want to hand the mic over to four of our Paper Camp alumni to share their experiences. I'm calling this our “Before and After Paper Camp” series, where you can hear from real people who took our program.  They came to Paper Camp. They actively participated, asked questions, and soaked up everything that there was to learn. Then they went home and did the hard work. And friends, their transformations are incredible.  In this episode, you'll hear from: Janine Kwoh of Kwohtations | Follow on Instagram Jesse Regis of Virgins on Fire Candle Co | Follow on Instagram Carly Brenton of Paper Script | Follow on Instagram Amy Frazer of Keller Design Co | Follow on Instagram Today's episode is brought to you by our Paper Camp program, which is now open for enrollment. Paper Camp is our wholesale coaching program where we teach you everything you need to know to build strong wholesale foundations. Over the course of 4 weeks, we tackle your product line, sales tools, and marketing plan, and we even talk about how to exhibit at trade shows if that's what you want to do. We start with your product line and go into everything from how often you should be releasing new products to ensuring that your numbers are sustainable for the wholesale market and their price for profit. Then we move into sales tools you must have for selling wholesale so you make a strong first impression with buyers like catalogs and your terms and conditions. Then, we cover marketing strategies and ways to reach various store owners.  Each week's teachings build on the previous week, and we host weekly live engaging coaching calls to answer all of your questions.  ENROLL NOW You can view full show notes and more at http://prooftoproduct.com/382  Quick Links: Free Wholesale Audio Series Free Resources Library Free Email Marketing for Product Makers PTP LABS Paper Camp  

To successfully sell wholesale, you must focus on your product line first. If you do not have a product line that has a unique point of view, is priced right, and has strong profit margins, you'll have a difficult time when you start doing sales and marketing, particularly on the wholesale side.  A strong product line is the foundation of a strong wholesale revenue stream, which is why we start every round of Paper Camp, our wholesale coaching program, helping everyone audit their product line.  We want to ensure that your products are priced for profit and they meet industry standards. For seasoned wholesalers, we want to ensure that you're releasing new products when the market is primed to buy and that any new product categories that you're offering will fold well into your primary offerings.  Now more than ever, it is easy to start a product-based business, but strategically growing a product-based business and selling those products to the wholesale market requires unique strategies, which is what we focus on and teach you in Paper Camp.  Today's episode is an excerpt from a Paper Camp coaching call with Alex Gagné of Chez Gagné, who is also a speaker for this round of Paper Camp. She talks about her wholesale growth, product expansion, and she speaks candidly about the challenges and successes she's faced along the way.  Today's episode is brought to you by our Paper Camp program, which is now open for enrollment. Paper Camp is our wholesale coaching program where we teach you everything you need to know to build strong wholesale foundations. Over the course of 4 weeks, we tackle your product line, sales tools, and marketing plan, and we even talk about how to exhibit at trade shows if that's what you want to do. We start with your product line and go into everything from how often you should be releasing new products to ensuring that your numbers are sustainable for the wholesale market and their price for profit. Then we move into sales tools you must have for selling wholesale so you make a strong first impression with buyers like catalogs and your terms and conditions. Then, we cover marketing strategies and ways to reach various store owners.  Each week's teachings build on the previous week, and we host weekly live engaging coaching calls to answer all of your questions.  ENROLL NOW You can view full show notes and more at http://prooftoproduct.com/381  Quick Links: Free Wholesale Audio Series Free Resources Library Free Email Marketing for Product Makers PTP LABS Paper Camp

How did you decide that it was time to start wholesaling for your business? This is one of my favorite questions to ask my coaching clients, our Paper Camp students, and even the guests here on this podcast.  Even though there are a lot of similarities between our stories, everyone's journey is so incredibly different.  In some cases, like mine, deciding to sell wholesale was a very intentional and deliberate choice. When I started my stationery business, I knew that wholesale would be the best business model for me and the life that I wanted to live. I had already dabbled in custom design, and I didn't really love it. I had an Etsy shop that was bringing in a decent volume of orders, but it felt like a slow grind, and they were smaller orders one by one. I was intrigued by wholesale, although I was also a little bit naive. The idea of selling in higher volume, building relationships with other business owners, that felt right for me, and it felt like that was right for the season of life that I was in at the time. Today on the podcast, I want to share some of the biggest mistakes that I see new brands making when they enter the wholesale market.  I will also share our four-part wholesale framework that we teach during Paper Camp so that you can avoid making common mistakes and, ultimately, sell more of your products.  Today's episode is brought to you by our Paper Camp program. The next round of Paper Camp is going to open for enrollment soon. Paper Camp is our wholesale coaching program where we teach you everything you need to know to build strong wholesale foundations. Over the course of 4 weeks, we tackle your product line, sales tools, and marketing plan, and we even talk about how to exhibit at trade shows if that's what you want to do. We start with your product line and go into everything from how often you should be releasing new products to ensuring that your numbers are sustainable for the wholesale market and their price for profit. Then we move into sales tools you must have for selling wholesale so you make a strong first impression with buyers like catalogs and your terms and conditions. Then, we cover marketing strategies and ways to reach various store owners.  Each week's teachings build on the previous week, and we host weekly live engaging coaching calls to answer all of your questions. We will open enrollment for our next round of Paper Camp soon, and we sell this program out every time we run it. Join the wait list and you’ll get early access to enroll. SIGN UP FOR THE WAITLIST You can view full show notes and more at http://prooftoproduct.com/380  Quick Links: Free Wholesale Audio Series Free Resources Library Free Email Marketing for Product Makers PTP LABS Paper Camp  

Hey, friend. I'm pulling an amazing episode from the archives with over 375 episodes here on the Proof to Product podcast. There is a gold mine of information for you to help you grow your business, and, frankly, it can be hard to take it all in.  Today's episode is a look back at Paper Camp alumni, Brittany O'Brien's journey growing her stationery and gift company, Brittany Paige. In episode 258, Brittany shared how she scaled her wholesale program up to 500 accounts. That was a big milestone for her. In this replay episode, she shares what it was like expanding to 1,000 wholesale accounts, and now she's grown even beyond that. Brittany has had such incredible growth, and I know her story has been inspiring for many of our listeners, which is why we are re-airing it today.  Speaking of wholesale, we are gearing up for the next round of Paper Camp, our four-week coaching program that teaches you how to start and scale your wholesale program. We have coached more than 31,000 wholesale brands in this program and through our other programs, and these folks sell their products to retail stores worldwide.  I'm talking about stores such as Target, Macy's, World Market, Starbucks, Anthropology, as well as independent retail shops all around the globe.  PaperCamp is a live coaching program, meaning that you will have an opportunity to get all of your questions answered by me, our coaching team, and our guest mentors. You have support in PaperCamp that no other DIY courses or memberships can provide.  Now if you want to learn how to get your products on the shelves of stores, click here to get on the waitlist. Our next round starts soon, and we do sell out every time!

Have you been thinking about joining us for Paper Camp, but aren’t sure if this program is a good fit for you?  Or maybe you're a new listener of the podcast, and you're thinking, what the heck is this Paper Camp program that I keep talking about? This episode is for you.  I'm answering the top questions that we get asked about our wholesale program to help you decide if it's the right fit for you. The next round of Paper Camp is coming soon. We're opening enrollment very soon. And if you are looking to start or scale wholesale, you are not going to want to miss this.  Today's episode is brought to you by our Paper Camp program. Paper Camp is our wholesale coaching program where we teach you everything you need to know to build strong wholesale foundations. Over the course of 4 weeks, we tackle your product line, sales tools, and marketing plan, and we even talk about how to exhibit at trade shows if that's what you want to do. We start with your product line and go into everything from how often you should be releasing new products to ensuring that your numbers are sustainable for the wholesale market and their price for profit. Then we move into sales tools you must have for selling wholesale so you make a strong first impression with buyers like catalogs and your terms and conditions. Then, we cover marketing strategies and ways to reach various store owners.  Each week's teachings build on the previous week, and we host weekly live engaging coaching calls to answer all of your questions. We will open enrollment for our next round of Paper Camp soon, and we sell this program out every time we run it. Join the wait list and you’ll get early access to enroll. SIGN UP FOR THE WAITLIST You can view full show notes and more at http://prooftoproduct.com/379  Quick Links: Free Wholesale Audio Series Free Resources Library Free Email Marketing for Product Makers PTP LABS Paper Camp  

If you’re listening today that means you’re likely interested in applying for our Paper Camp scholarship! Giving back is one of our core values here at Proof to Product and we give back through our time, knowledge as well as financial scholarships. Since 2011, we’ve awarded over $275,000+ in scholarship funds to creative entrepreneurs who sell physical products to the wholesale market. These brands had big dreams of seeing their products on the shelves of their favorite stores and they have obtained huge results. These scholarships are a big deal and we treat them that way. We typically have anywhere from 80-90 scholarship applications every round of Paper Camp. My team and I dedicate several days to view all the videos, read the applications, review websites, and ultimately whittle it down to one full tuition scholarship winner. It’s never an easy choice, but we do put a lot of care into our selections. And, today I want to share 5 ways that you can stand out when submitting your Paper Camp application. You can view full show notes and more at http://prooftoproduct.com/378   Quick Links: Free Wholesale Audio Series Free Resources Library Free Email Marketing for Product Makers PTP LABS Paper Camp

Hey, friend. This week, I'm pulling an amazing episode from the archives with over 375 episodes here on the Proof to Product podcast. There is a gold mine of information for you to help you grow your business, and, frankly, it can be hard to take it all in.  So whether you are a new listener or you've been around for a little while, this one is a must-listen. It features Ginger Diaz, a two-time retail shop owner of Feliz Modern and Rancho Diaz in San Antonio, Texas. We talk about a lot of different topics in this episode, but the one I want you to really pay attention to is what retail shops are looking for when they are making their wholesale buying decisions. We are gearing up for our next round of Paper Camp, which is our 4-week intensive coaching program.  We have coached more than 31,000 thriving wholesale brands who sell their products to retail stores all around the world, and we would love to help you do the same. Our next round will start soon, so get on that waitlist by going to the link listed below.  We do keep this program on the smaller side so that all of our attendees and students can get all of their questions answered, but that also means that space is limited, and we do sell out every time. So adding your name to the wait list will give you early access to tickets, and you can join that waitlist at prooftoproduct.com/papercamp.  SIGN UP FOR THE WAITLIST You can view full show notes and more at http://prooftoproduct.com/303  Quick Links: Free Wholesale Audio Series Free Resources Library Free Email Marketing for Product Makers PTP LABS Paper Camp  

I love using our platforms, particularly this podcast, to highlight our community members and all of the cool things they are doing within their businesses and lives. I also love to bring folks back for updates, a “where are they now” situation. So today's guest is Jodi Kostelnik of The Neighborgoods. Jodi was previously on episode 233 which aired in January of 2022. In that episode, she shared real numbers and feedback about her exhibiting experience at Shoppe Object, covering sales numbers, expenses, etc. We got a lot of positive feedback, emails, and notes from listeners about that episode because Jodi shared so openly and freely, and people appreciated that.  Today, she is back with an update and sharing some things that have gone on, some big changes that have happened with The Neighborgoods over the last 3 years. Jodi talks about her experience in opening up an airport store in Washington, DC, including how that opportunity came to be and how she has a unique ownership interest.  We talked about the highs and lows of hiring team members and letting go of control and how difficult that is, and Jodi shares how her products ended up being featured on the show, The View. Her team rallied together to ship out thousands of products after that feature, and a spoiler alert here, she met the contacts from The View at a trade show. Today’s episode is sponsored by our Unlock Buyer Secrets Interview series. To make a strong first impression with wholesale buyers, we need to do a few things really well: We need to make it easy for stores to purchase from us We need to have clear pricing and terms & conditions We need to clearly communicate and add value at each touchpoint We need to focus on building strong relationships with our customers. And all of this becomes infinitely easier when we actively listen to our customers. This on-demand interview series will give you a competitive edge by providing an exclusive window into what buyers want and need from you. And, the best part, it's only $27 bucks.  Get Access to the Unlock Buyer Secrets Interview Series You can view full show notes and more at http://prooftoproduct.com/377  Quick Links: Free Wholesale Audio Series Free Resources Library Free Email Marketing for Product Makers PTP LABS Paper Camp