414 – A New Look at User Generated Content with Lauren Schwartz

There are times for change. It happens in business and life overall and opens the path for new experiences and advancement. Today I want to share with you such a change. This is the last episode of the Gift Biz Unwrapped podcast. Over these last 8 years and 545 episodes, we’ve covered every topic currently out there that applies to starting and growing a handmade product business. We’ve heard from amazing expert guests who didn’t hold back with their knowledge and expertise. We’ve also heard the experiences of small business owners just like you in all phases of development. Startups and established businesses alike have valuable stories to share. Lessons to learn from or points that bring us back to the basics that often get lost over years in business. All this guidance is still accessible to you anytime … which is one of the beauties of podcasts. I’m proud of the library of content that’s been created here. Most of it is evergreen, meaning it stays relevant over time. That was my goal from the start - to build up this resource bank of knowledge for you. In this episode, I review everything available to you and how to access it all as you move forward. I want to thank you for being a listener. Maybe you’ve just recently found this show, or you’ve been listening for years – I want you to know how much I appreciate and feel honored that you chose to spend time with me. You may be a coaching client, have purchased products from me, are part of The Breeze, or are a casual listener I’ve never met. No matter our level of connection, I am thankful for you. And now, be safe and well, and I hope to interact with you again outside of the Gift Biz Unwrapped Podcast. Bye for now. Resources for Growth of  Your Handmade Biz 5 Rookie Mistakes Webinar (FREE) Start with Confidence Networking Ninja Content for Makers Inspired! Daily Planner Makers MBA Directory Of Podcast Topics Connect With Sue GBU Instagram | Sue's Instagram | Biscotti's Instagram Check out the Merch Shop Gifts for you or your biz friends that will make the days brighter and add a touch of inspiration and happiness. Enter the shop here. Join our community of handmade product makers Gift Biz Breeze is an active and inspiring group of creators at all levels of business development. Ask questions, see what others are working on, and learn new things - it's all there and we're waiting for you to join us!...

I’ve heard it said that the answers you seek in life are only as good as the questions you ask. Because so much goes on in our heads, sometimes our thoughts are trying to answer the wrong questions. Or you get in a brain spin and ideas go round and round randomly without even attempting to answer a specific question. To make some sense of this random thought behavior, I decided to put together sets of questions to ask that will help reflect on your handmade product business journey. Some won’t apply to you at all, some you’ve got covered and some may poke at you and perhaps make you uneasy. The best way to work through this is to listen to the entire podcast first. Then go back and write down the questions that resonate with you the most or the ones that you know deserve some time to ponder. Resources Mentioned in this Episode Gift Biz Unwrapped Podcast Resource List Inspired! Daily Planner CONNECT with me here: Website | Facebook | Instagram SUBSCRIBE to the podcast: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify PAY IT FORWARD by leaving a rating and review. I'd love to hear your comments. Tell me how the show has helped you or a specific guest or point that had an impact. You can do that right here. Thanks for listening! Resources for Growth of Your Handmade Biz 5 Rookie Mistakes Webinar (FREE) Start with Confidence Networking Ninja Content for Makers Inspired! Daily Planner Makers MBA Check out the Merch Shop Gifts for you or your biz friends that will make the days brighter and add a touch of inspiration and happiness. Enter the shop here. Join our community of handmade product makers Gift Biz Breeze is an active and inspiring group of creators at all levels of business development. Ask questions, see what others are working on, and learn new things - it's all there and we're waiting for you to join us! Finally, would you please leave a review? Thanks! It helps other makers like...

What is the role of your website in your handmade product business? Let's talk about this, because my answer may surprise you. The biggest misconception of eCommerce is the idea that putting up a website is the “do all, end all” of getting sales online. In reality, it’s just the beginning. Many people are shocked when they put so much time into getting their website set up, and designing the perfect layout before finally pushing the live button … but no sales come in. This situation is one I'm often asked to talk about at trade shows. Given that, I decided to record an audio version of my presentation on the purpose of your website, so you can take advantage of this information, too. My goal today is to get you thinking about your website and overall online presence in a whole new way. The Role Of Your Website In Your Handmade Product Business In this episode, you'll hear ... Your overall approach to marketing + 6 different channels you can use The true purpose of your website How your website is your HQ and all the roles it can fill The sections and content your site should have What your website can and can't do for you Two strategies for attracting people to your site and (of course), more! Tune into this special episode with Sue to discover the true role of your website and start making it really work for you! Resources Mentioned in this Episode GBU Topics Directory Content for Makers Inspired! Daily Planner Start with Confidence Join our community of handmade product makers Gift Biz Breeze is an active and inspiring group of creators at all levels of business development. Ask questions, see what others are working on, and learn new things. It's all there and we're waiting for you to join us! Finally, would you please leave a review? Thanks! It helps other makers like you find the show and build their businesses too. You can do so right here: Rate This Podcast

There are lots of ways to increase your sales but today I’m going to tell you what I believe to be the number one thing you should be doing to see your orders increase. What I have to say is going to be controversial because it goes against natural inclinations. It will feel like you’re wasting time on something small that will barely move the needle. Except you’ll think differently when you see the results. Resources Mentioned in this Episode Content for Makers Inspired! Daily Planner Start with Confidence CONNECT with me here: Website | Facebook | Instagram SUBSCRIBE to the podcast: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify PAY IT FORWARD by leaving a rating and review. I'd love to hear your comments. Tell me how the show has helped you or a specific guest or point that had an impact. You can do that right here. Thanks for listening! Resources for Growth of Your Handmade Biz 5 Rookie Mistakes Webinar (FREE) Start with Confidence Networking Ninja Content for Makers Inspired! Daily Planner Makers MBA Check out the Merch Shop Gifts for you or your biz friends that will make the days brighter and add a touch of inspiration and happiness. Enter the shop here. Join our community of handmade product makers Gift Biz Breeze is an active and inspiring group of creators at all levels of business development. Ask questions, see what others are working on, and learn new things - it's all there and we're waiting for you to join us! Finally, would you please leave a review? Thanks! It helps other makers like you find the show and build their businesses too. You can do so right here: Rate This Podcast  

Today's episode is guaranteed to bring more beauty and richness into your life. This show is a special one because it brings two different but connected messages your way. An inspiring start-up story that illustrates just how far you can go starting from your home. We also explore the ancient Korean belief about health and wellness. You'll get an inside look into self-care tips to enhance your inner and outer beauty, which then shines onto all areas of your life. Angela Jia Kim is the founder of Savor Beauty, a natural skincare and facial spa brand inspired by Korean beauty and self-love rituals. She’s also a former international, classical concert pianist. Called “the unexpected beauty virtuoso” by MindBodyGreen, she created her award-winning skincare products in her kitchen, becoming an accidental entrepreneur. This led to a multimillion-dollar enterprise around the philosophy of manifesting beauty, brilliance, and balance. Angela has led hundreds of women empowerment workshops and her Savor Beauty Self-Care Planner has sold over 100,000 copies. A highly recognized skin and self-care expert, her skincare and spas in New York City have been chosen as “Best of New York” and featured in top publications such as The New York Times, Vogue, Elle, People, and Allure. Angela lives in New York City with her teen daughter, mini golden retriever, and philanthropic partner. Raise Your Revenue By Raising Your Radiance How the jobs you do before you start your business help prepare you for success. Why prototyping is absolutely crucial and is the key to success. The importance of being passionate about what you're doing. How to look at failures to propel yourself forward. Angela's 5-point sales process that has been key to her success. Reframing your sales mindset. How your relationship with yourself affects everything. And so much more inspiration packed into this conversation! Tune into this episode now to learn how to raise your revenue by raising your own radiance! Resources Mentioned Get a virtual goodie bag when you buy Angela's book! GBU Topics Angela's Contact Links Website | Website | Instagram (biz)| Instagram (personal) Join Our FREE Gift Biz Breeze Facebook Community Become a Member of Gift Biz Breeze If you found value in this podcast, make sure to subscribe so you automatically get the next episode downloaded for your convenience. Click on your preferred platform below to get started. Also, if you'd like to do me a huge favor - please leave a review. It helps other creators like you find the show and build their businesses too. You can do so right here: Rate This...

I wish I would have thought of that! Or maybe you did, but now someone else has actually turned your idea into a product and it’s catching the world by storm. The old saying is true, ideas come a dime a dozen. But they don’t mean anything unless you take action. It’s the person who stops in their tracks and makes a decision to claim the new idea and follows-through with its development who is the winner. Towards that end, I’m going to share with you some ways, categories if you will, that are the foundation for creating ideas that can turn into profitable goldmines. Mentioned in this Episode Content for Makers Inspired! Daily Planner Start with Confidence Get Free Coaching thru a Gift Biz Boost! A Gift Biz Boost is a free one-on-one strategy session discussion a part of your business you're trying to grow. Maybe it's the first steps to getting started, or how to attract more sales, whatever your current focus is. You'll leave with actionable steps to "boost" you forward. CONNECT with me here: Website | Facebook | Instagram SUBSCRIBE to the podcast: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify PAY IT FORWARD by leaving a rating and review. I'd love to hear your comments. Tell me how the show has helped you or a specific guest or point that had an impact. You can do that right here. Thanks for listening! Resources for Growth of Your Handmade Biz 5 Rookie Mistakes Webinar (FREE) Start with Confidence Networking Ninja Content for Makers Inspired! Daily Planner Makers MBA Check out the Merch Shop Gifts for you or your biz friends that will make the days brighter and add a touch of inspiration and happiness. Enter the shop here. Join our community of handmade product makers Gift Biz Breeze is an active and inspiring group of creators at all levels of business development. Ask...

Today’s show might just be the game changer you’ve been hoping for if you know you should send regular emails but that’s where it ends. You tell yourself you’ll get to it in the future and then bump it back week after week until it finally drops from the list. Or you’ve sent out a few emails, maybe even years ago, and just couldn’t make the connection with the effort put into results that make it worth it. This all changes right now! Liz is here to present a fresh approach to email marketing. You’ll hear why it can bring in additional sales and how to make it so much easier than you’ve been approaching it in the past. The Fresh Princess of Email Marketing, Liz Wilcox is an Email Strategist who shows small business owners how to build online relationships, package up their “magic” and turn it into emails that people want to read and (more importantly) purchase from. In the span of 5 years, Liz grew and sold a successful blog, got bought out of her second company, and built her third business into a multiple six-figure party that just won’t quit! Liz Wilcox is on a mission to help more businesses package up their magic and sell through email in a way that leverages their personality, vision, and values. She's also a walking 90s pop culture encyclopedia for a unique teaching style you're not likely to forget anytime soon. Email Copy For More Opens And Sales The secret to creating a relationship with your subscribers. Liz's Email Staircase system. Why it's crucial to remember there's a real person on the other side of that email address. Who your BEST customer is. Ideas for what to put in your emails. How to invest in your customers so they invest in you. The key to being relatable - people buy from businesses they trust. How to get people to like and trust you. Who to scrub from your list. And tons more! Tune in to this episode PACKED with tips to help you write email copy that gets more opens and more sales! Resources Mentioned GBU Topics Directory Liz's Contact Links Website | Facebook | Instagram Join Our FREE Gift Biz Breeze Facebook Community Become a Member of Gift Biz Breeze If you found value in this podcast, make sure to subscribe so you automatically get the next episode downloaded for your convenience. Click on your preferred platform below to get started. Also, if you'd like to do me a huge favor - please leave a review. It helps other creators like you find the show and build their businesses too. You can do so right here: Rate This Podcast Apple Podcasts | <a...

This desire to stretch for more and more has been ingrained in us over the decades. The thinking that bigger is better. You were exhilarated when you made your first sale. And from there the focus was on getting another sale … and then another one. And when that happens, then you start thinking about how you can grow even faster and bigger. Always looking for that next level. Think back to why you started your handmade business. It’s because you love the act of making. Doing more of that and seeing others enjoy your products is a beautiful vision. Reality is slightly different however, and by thinking ahead about how you’ll manage the changes (or to what level you want your business to evolve) can keep it a business you love. Resources Mentioned in this Episode Gift Biz Unwrapped Podcast Resource List Inspired! Daily Planner Get Free Coaching thru a Gift Biz Boost! A Gift Biz Boost is a free one-on-one strategy session discussion a part of your business you're trying to grow. Maybe it's the first steps to getting started, or how to attract more sales, whatever your current focus is. You'll leave with actionable steps to "boost" you forward. CONNECT with me here: Website | Facebook | Instagram SUBSCRIBE to the podcast: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify PAY IT FORWARD by leaving a rating and review. I'd love to hear your comments. Tell me how the show has helped you or a specific guest or point that had an impact. You can do that right here. Thanks for listening! Resources for Growth of Your Handmade Biz 5 Rookie Mistakes Webinar (FREE) Start with Confidence Networking Ninja Content for Makers Inspired! Daily Planner Makers MBA Check out the Merch Shop Gifts for you or your biz friends that will make the days brighter and add a touch of inspiration and happiness. Enter the shop here. Join our community of handmade product makers <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/GiftBizBreeze"...

Do you know what user-generated content is and how can it help you in your handmade business? User-generated content deserves more attention because understanding and utilizing this content creation strategy can help you more easily create customer communications and add depth and variety to the messages you send out. The beauty is, user-generated content can be used in all touchpoints from social media posts, to email content and even what you include on your website. To be honest, I entered into this discussion with the idea that we were talking about one thing, and Lauren expanded the topic by defining User Generated Content in a much broader way. So, you’re getting both what I expected to cover and more! Lauren is a thought leader in producing profitable creative strategies for eCommerce brands and a design professional with over 15 years of experience within the digital space. Lauren's passion lies in generating top-performing ad creatives. She’s personally led the creative strategy for top brands such as Love Wellness, Needed, Kate Farms, and AutoBrush. When not working with clients, Lauren teaches others her profitable creative methodology, focusing on Direct to Consumer Advertising, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. She’s also spread her knowledge as an AdWorld Conference speaker for the last 3 years. Ideas For User-Generated Content In this episode, you'll hear ... What Auser-generated content is all about. The easiest way to connect with your audience. How to make your videos sound natural instead of scripted. Tips for working with content creators. The value of planning and strategy vs posting on the fly. Which platform to focus on. How your content strategy can contribute to business growth. And lots more! Listen to this fascinating conversation to hear all the ideas for user-generated content that can help build your handmade product business! Resources Mentioned GBU Topics Directory Lauren's Contact Links Website | Facebook | Instagram | Linkedin Join Our FREE Gift Biz Breeze Facebook Community Become a Member of Gift Biz Breeze If you found value in this podcast, make sure to subscribe so you automatically get the next episode downloaded for your convenience. Click on your preferred platform below to get started. Also, if you'd like to do me a huge favor - please leave a review. It helps other creators like you find the show and build their businesses too. You can do so right here: Rate This Podcast Apple...

Competition is not something you need to fear. There are actually advantages to being in a well-known and established industry. I explain why and how to look at your competition differently. The emotion and feeling of discomfort comes up when you don’t have a plan to tackle competitive situations. Here’s why competition is a good thing and what you can do to be the star when in the midst of all the others. Resources Mentioned in this Episode Inspired! Daily Planner Start with Confidence Get Free Coaching thru a Gift Biz Boost! A Gift Biz Boost is a free one-on-one strategy session discussion a part of your business you're trying to grow. Maybe it's the first steps to getting started, or how to attract more sales, whatever your current focus is. You'll leave with actionable steps to "boost" you forward. CONNECT with me here: Website | Facebook | Instagram SUBSCRIBE to the podcast: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify PAY IT FORWARD by leaving a rating and review. I'd love to hear your comments. Tell me how the show has helped you or a specific guest or point that had an impact. You can do that right here. Thanks for listening! Resources for Growth of Your Handmade Biz 5 Rookie Mistakes Webinar (FREE) Start with Confidence Networking Ninja Content for Makers Inspired! Daily Planner Makers MBA Check out the Merch Shop Gifts for you or your biz friends that will make the days brighter and add a touch of inspiration and happiness. Enter the shop here. Join our community of handmade product makers Gift Biz Breeze is an active and inspiring group of creators at all levels of business development. Ask questions, see what others are working on, and learn new things - it's all there and we're waiting for you to join us! Finally, would you please leave a review? Thanks! It helps other makers like you find the show and build their businesses too. You can do so right here: <a