Posts in marketing
068 | How to find a literary agent & pitch publishers with Kate Woodrow, Present Perfect
068 | How to find a literary agent & pitch publishers with Kate Woodrow, Present Perfect

Kate Woodrow is the founder of Present Perfect, a full service literary agency serving clients from across the globe. Kate launched the agency in 2015 with the goal of advocating for artists and creatives in publishing and is recognized as an industry leader in design-driven nonfiction work. Kate specializes in developing visually arresting books that offer a unique perspective across a wide range of topics, particularly art, lifestyle, personal growth, and anything with a practical bent.

Before becoming an agent, Kate was an acquisitions editor at Chronicle Books where her experience spanned 10 years and hundreds of books and gift products. Bringing that many projects from a simple brainstorm to the bookshelf gave Kate a keen sense of what makes a book commercially successful and how to be a professional collaborator.

On today’s episode, we’re talking about the process for finding an agent, how to create your pitch, and how to find the right publishers. If you have ever wanted to write a book or wondered what the process was like, this episode is for you.

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marketing, Operations & SalesGuest UserComment
067 | Why success sometimes leads to failure with Don Hejny, Nerdwax
067 | Why success sometimes leads to failure with Don Hejny, Nerdwax

Don Hejny is the inventor of Nerdwax, a wax based product that keeps your glasses in place. Nerdwax was launched on Kickstarter in 2014 and featured on the hit television show Shark Tank the following year. Nerdwax is handmade in Nashville, TN and shipped all over the world. On today’s episode, we talked about managing risk, running a debt-free business and why Don strives to work smarter, not harder.

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marketing, Operations & Sales, productGuest UserComment
066 | Gaining visibility for your brand with Brittney Lynn
066 | Gaining visibility for your brand with Brittney Lynn

Brittney Lynn a PR and marketing strategist who works with online entrepreneurs worldwide. She’s also the host of Day in the Life podcast. Brittney has nearly 10 years of experience working in the online marketing industry, and has a passion for helping others grow their reach, their revenue, and impact through strategic PR.

On today’s episode of Proof to Product, we talked about the importance of building a brand story, how to find the right media opportunities for you, and strategies for gaining visibility for your brand.

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marketing, Operations & SalesGuest UserComment
065 | The importance of knowing your customer with Caroline Vásquez, Paloma’s Nest
065 | The importance of knowing your customer with Caroline Vásquez, Paloma’s Nest

TSBC Alum, Caroline Vasquez is the founder of Paloma’s Nest, a family-run business, founded in 2007, that creates timeless, heirloom-quality pieces and new traditions for modern families to celebrate wedding, baby, home and holiday.

The brand has been featured in countless publications including Martha Stewart, the New York Times, Magnolia Journal and more, and their work has been carried by Anthropologie and Nordstrom.

Today, Caroline combines her education as a professional counselor with her experience and passion for small creative business through Handcrafted Consulting, where she provides education on the marketing, growth and management of online business to clients worldwide. She also serves as the marketing consultant for the web design firm, Aeolidia. All while also running Paloma’s Nest and nurturing her family.

On today’s episode, Caroline talks about the growth of Paloma’s nest, staying true to your brand story in both your messaging and the products you sell, why we need to be proactive in press and marketing outreach and why it’s so important to know who your customer is.

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063 | Managing critics with Mary Bruno, Bruno Press
063 | Managing critics with Mary Bruno, Bruno Press

Mary Bruno is the owner of Bruno Press, a printer, artist, and advocate for her local creative community. She grew up in a small town in central Minnesota and learned the love of printing from her father Don Bruno. Mary has an irreverent line of greeting cards that is sold nationwide and she teaches the old school art of letterpress printing the way her father taught her. Mary loves to collaborate with other printers, poets, musicians, kids, designers, you name it. And, we’ll talk about some of those collaborations today.

On today’s episode Mary tells it like it is, shares her story and how she organically grew her business through hard work and learning as she went. We also talked about her personal growth—why she no longer let’s the criticism of one person overpower the praise of hundreds. She also shares about why she’s her ideal customer.

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marketing, wholesale, product, Operations & SalesGuest UserComment
Search Engine Optimization vs Conversion Rate Optimization with Katie Hunt
Search Engine Optimization vs Conversion Rate Optimization with Katie Hunt

On this mini episode, Katie Hunt reiterates something Brice McBeth of Reap marketing talked about on Episode 62 of Proof to Product — the difference between search engine optimization and conversion rate optimization.

Here’s what we learned from Brice:

Search engine optimization is driving traffic to your website.

Conversion Rate Optimization is getting people on your website to take action & buy.

Brice shares a lot of great ideas and strategies in episode 62 if you haven’t listened yet I highly recommend it.

There’s so much more to dive into here, so Brice and I will be hosting a free online masterclass next month to talk about why SEO is a hoax. And, how you can be leveraging your existing marketing to get more customers. If you to be notified about the details when we open registration. Head to http://www.tradeshowcamp.com/join and make sure you’re on our mailing list.

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Operations & Sales, marketingGuest UserComment
061 | Why she'll never give up custom work with Rhonda Warren, Color Box Design & Letterpress
061 | Why she'll never give up custom work with Rhonda Warren, Color Box Design & Letterpress

Rhonda Warren is the owner of Color Box Design & Letterpress, a letterpress studio located in Dallas Texas. Rhonda has a multi-faceted business. She has a line of paper goods that she sells to both the retail and wholesale markets; as well as a bustling custom invitation arm through which she creates wedding invitations, corporate event invitations and everything in between.

On today’s episode, Rhonda jokes that she accidentally started this business that is still going strong after 13 years. She shares details about the custom side of her business and why relationships with local vendors and word of mouth referrals make up almost 70% of her business. Rhonda also shares information about her team – how she knew it was time to hire, everyone’s roles and why she wished she had hired sooner.

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Operations & Sales, marketing, productGuest User
059 | Launching a brand through Kickstarter with Suann Song, Appointed
059 | Launching a brand through Kickstarter with Suann Song, Appointed

Suann Song is a graphic designer and founder of Appointed, an American-made brand of carefully designed desktop products that make utility look luxurious. Prior to starting Appointed, Suann conducted an exhaustive but unsuccessful search when she tried to find refined and well-made desktop products that are manufactured in the US, so she decided to create her own. In March 2015, Suann launched Appointed through a kickstarter campaign reaching her goal of $25,000 dollars in the first five days.  

On today’s episode, Suann is sharing what it was like to launch a brand and product line through Kickstarter.  She’s also sharing some behind the scenes info on why she’s redesigning the Appointed website and what that process has looked like.  Suann also reminds us that relationships and fresh product are at the core of a successful product based business.

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Operations & Sales, product, marketingGuest User
58 | Layering in New Products and Working Towards a Freedom Business Model with Chelsea Sonksen, Bossladies Magazine
58 | Layering in New Products and Working Towards a Freedom Business Model with Chelsea Sonksen, Bossladies Magazine

Chelsea Sonksen is the founder and Editor in Chief of Bossladies, a movement that began with a print magazine in 2016 and has grown into a vibrant in-person and online community of entrepreneurs through her monthly event series, Work Sesh.

On today’s episode we’re talking about the mission behind Bossladies, how Chelsea is layering new products and services that will give her the freedom and flexibility to work from both California and Maine.  Chelsea also shares her thoughts on why making a good first impression is so important.

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marketing, wholesaleGuest User
054 | Shifting from services to products with Jessica McSweeney
054 | Shifting from services to products with Jessica McSweeney

Jessica McSweeney is the owner of Little Well Paper Co, a letterpress greeting card company aimed at celebrating and deepening the connections between loved ones. Prior to starting Little Well she taught herself calligraphy and offered wedding calligraphy and invitation services. Jessica’s calligraphy work has been featured in The Knot, Southern Weddings Magazine, and Once Wed. Jess attended Paper Camp in fall 2016 when Little Well was just a spark of an idea, and she launched to the retail and wholesale markets in fall 2017.

On today’s episode we’re talking about shifting from a service based business to a product based business, her vision for Little Well Paper Co., and why relationships are critical to building a successful business.

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marketing, Operations & Sales, productGuest User
053 | Leveraging Pinterest for product sales with Megan Auman
053 | Leveraging Pinterest for product sales with Megan Auman

Megan Auman is a designer, metalsmith, educator, and entrepreneur who has built a multi-faceted business around her passion for art, commerce, and visual content creation! (Which is just a fancy way of saying she’s obsessed with Instagram and Pinterest.) In addition to running her Megan Auman jewelry line, she runs the site Designing an MBA, where she writes and teaches about the intersection of art and business.

On today’s episode we’re talking about product photography and why you should be leveraging pinterest to get more sales.

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marketing, Operations & SalesGuest User
052 | Building a team and leveraging systems with Lichia Liu, Gotamago
052 | Building a team and leveraging systems with Lichia Liu, Gotamago

Lichia Liu is the founder and creative director of Gotamago, a stationery & gifts brand based in Toronto, Canada. A self-taught illustrator, Lichia took a detour from her urban design career in 2013 to start Gotamago when she realized that she needed more authenticity, autonomy and artistic exploration in her work.  Besides running Gotamago and being a mom, Lichia is a musician, an urban sketcher, a member of a Japanese Taiko drumming group, and a foster dog parent.

On today’s episode we’re talking about how Lichia left her day job to pursue her passion, how she involves her team in building systems to automate and streamline her business and why she thinks it is important to jump before you feel ready.

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marketing, wholesale, product, Operations & SalesGuest User
051 | Using reps to enhance wholesale sales with Kim Burks, Ramona & Ruth
051 | Using reps to enhance wholesale sales with Kim Burks, Ramona & Ruth

TSBC alum, Kim Burks is the founder of Ramona & Ruth is a boutique letterpress studio located in Omaha, Nebraska. Kim started Ramona & Ruth in 2009 with her tabletop letterpress in a spare bedroom of her home. Kim makes simple and thoughtful letterpress greeting cards and a variety of other paper goods including gift wrap, notebooks and planners. Ramona & Ruth products can be found in retail shops across the country.

On today’s episode we’re talking about Kim’s decision to change her business name after being in business for five years, how her design aesthetic has evolved and how bringing on sales reps has enhanced her business.

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marketing, wholesale, product, tradeshows, Operations & SalesGuest User
050 | How angel investing fueled their business growth with Zoe Scharf, Greetabl
050 | How angel investing fueled their business growth with Zoe Scharf, Greetabl

TSBC alum Zoe Scarf is the co-founder and Chief Brand Officer at Greetabl–a personal and easy way to make your friends feel super loved. If you’re not familiar with Greetabl, you should be. It’s an impressive gifting service where you choose your packaging, gift and personalize your message and they take care of the rest — getting it in the hands of your recipient.  Greetabl has delivered 200,000 happy moments and is continuing to quickly grow.

On today’s episode Zoe shares how they unsuccessfully chased wholesale, struggled with figuring out who their audience was and how impactful their fulfillment relationships have been.  We also spent a good amount of time talking about how Greetabl sought funding from angel investors. They achieved three rounds for $50k, $750k and most recently $1.5M — we talked about how the process worked, what they did with the money and she shared some resources for those interested in learning more.

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wholesale, product, Operations & Sales, marketingGuest User
049 | Vision, hustle and boundaries with Emily Thompson, Being Boss
049 | Vision, hustle and boundaries with Emily Thompson, Being Boss

Emily Thompson is an author, educator and web designer.  She’s the founder of Indie Shopography and co-host of the Being Boss podcast, where she inspires, writes and curates content to help creatives own their path and be more boss.  With over 3 million listens, the impact of the podcast inspired Emily and her business partner and co-host on Being Boss, Kathleen Shannon to write their first book called Being Boss:  Take Control of your Work and Live Life on your Own Terms.

This episode is a fun one and we talked about some key topics in the book.  Emily shared her thoughts on why being boss requires vision and hustle, the importance of setting boundaries that align with your values and why you need to do the work.

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marketing, Operations & SalesGuest User
048 | Pricing custom calligraphy projects with Laura Hooper & Alyssa Bobbett, Laura Hooper Calligraphy
048 | Pricing custom calligraphy projects with Laura Hooper & Alyssa Bobbett, Laura Hooper Calligraphy

TSBC Alums Laura Hooper Leader and Alyssa Bobbett of Laura Hooper Calligraphy have served clients with hand calligraphy and stationery needs for weddings, showers events & more since 2002. These sisters have grown a dynamic business that includes their custom work, ready made product, calligraphy kits, offer in person and online educational programs and these girls wrote a book last year.

On today’s episode we’re talking about their business model including their process for adding new revenue streams. We dove deep into their custom work regarding pricing and how they’ve set better boundaries to provide a better experience for their customers. And, we talked about their strategies and goals for engaging with their 318k instagram followers! A little side note here — but they aren’t happy with the IG algorithm changes either!

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product, Operations & Sales, marketingGuest User
043 | Why she scraped her product line & started anew with Renee Griffith, HeartSwell Co
043 | Why she scraped her product line & started anew with Renee Griffith, HeartSwell Co

Renee Griffith, the founder of HeartSwell, designs and creates her products using her original hand lettering style, incorporating patterns, colors and textures inspired by her deep love of the ocean and lush landscape where she lives in South Florida. Renee is a TSBC alum who has attended our Paper Camp Conference twice, once when she was starting her business and a second time after she had revised her line and rebranded her company.

On today’s episode we’re talking about why she changed her business name, how she nurtures relationships with customers and the importance of finding your voice within your product and brand.

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marketing, wholesale, product, Operations & SalesGuest UserComment
041 | Overcoming creative blocks with Melanie Karlins, Grey Moggie
041 | Overcoming creative blocks with Melanie Karlins, Grey Moggie

TSBC alum, Melanie Karlins of Grey Moggie started letterpress printing in 2008 as a creative outlet while she was in law school, and later taught letterpress classes at a local art center. In 2011 she started selling her products at local craft fairs and picked up wholesale accounts through her Instagram feed. Today, Grey Moggie is Melanie’s full-time job and her greeting cards are sold in stationery and gift shops all over the United States, including Paper Source

On today’s episode, Melanie is sharing how retail craft markets shaped her business and product line, how she overcame creative blocks, and why her definition of success shifts with different seasons in her life.

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marketing, Operations & Sales, product, pep talkGuest UserComment
038 | Licensing partnerships with Erin Dollar, Cotton & Flax
038 | Licensing partnerships with Erin Dollar, Cotton & Flax

Erin Dollar, the owner of Cotton & Flax is an artist and textile designer, focused on creating home goods and bold surface pattern designs. Her background as a printmaker guides her work for Cotton & Flax, and the entire collection of Cotton & Flax home goods are designed, silkscreen printed, and sewn in California.

On today’s episode we’re talking about how Erin licensed her artwork for a line of fabrics manufactured by Robert Kaufman. She’ll share her story of how this licensing partnership came to be, considerations when partnering with other brands and things she learned along the way.

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marketing, product, Operations & SalesGuest UserComment