Podcast — Proof to Product | Wholesale Sales & Marketing Strategy for Product Brands

215 | Growing a Multi-Faceted Business while Managing a Chronic Illness with Morgan Swank, Morgan Swank Studio

The challenges of running a business can be numerous. For those living with chronic illness, there are even more nuances to navigate, especially when it comes to listening and working with your body’s natural rhythm.

In this episode, I was joined by Morgan Swank of Morgan Swank Studio. Morgan is a longtime student of our LABS community and a Paper Camp alumni. She and I discussed what led to her decision to start her paper goods brand. Morgan also gives us insight into what it’s like to be a business owner with a chronic illness and her journey of licensing her products in big retail stores.

product, pep talkKatie HuntAugust 31, 2021Comment

214 | Leaving a Corporate Career with Desiree Perez, Paper Anchor

Considering making an exit from your corporate career? If you feel like you’re almost ready to make that jump then you’ll want to take a listen to this episode to know exactly what to prepare for as you make the leap!

In this week’s episode, I chat with Desiree Perez of Paper Anchor. Desiree made this transition herself in January of 2021 and she takes us through her journey of how she knew she was ready to do it, how her experience has been so far and what she’s preparing for now as she is in the process of hiring her first employee.

Operations & SalesKatie HuntAugust 24, 2021Comment

213 | 4 Ways To Increase Your Product Profit Margins With Katie Hunt

213 | 4 Ways To Increase Your Product Profit Margins With Katie Hunt

Are you ready to put money back into your pocket? In this episode, I am uncovering how you can do just that by increasing your products’ profit margins.

I will walk you through everything that you need to know about profit margins from a micro-level. As a business owner, you’ll want to observe the profit margins for many reasons but it can be especially important when it comes to knowing what sells, what should be discontinued and to help fuel your strategic decision-making.

Operations & Sales, wholesaleKatie HuntAugust 17, 2021Comment

212 | The Art of Storytelling for Your Business with Michelle Knight, Brandmerry

212 | The Art of Storytelling for Your Business with Michelle Knight, Brandmerry

Storytelling is such a powerful way to connect with your customers. Our current and prospective customers want to know the people behind the brand, why you make the products you do and what your brand stands for.

In this week's all new episode of Proof to Product, I chat withMichelle Knight of Brandmerry. She takes us on the path to discovering how to create a more authentic connection with our customers through storytelling; and how this type of marketing will provide you with more income and impact.

marketing, pep talkKatie HuntAugust 10, 2021Comment

211 | Why She Hired a Graphic Designer to Create Her Product Line with Ashley Brown, Routine & Things

211 | Why She Hired a Graphic Designer to Create Her Product Line with Ashley Brown, Routine & Things

One big lesson I learned over the past year: the importance of routines! I crave a routine and to be honest, before now, I don’t know if I ever realized how deeply I needed routines. When we were thrown into the pandemic and our school, work and household routines were constantly in flux, I saw the influence that routines had.

In this episode, I’m chatting with routine expert, host of the Routine & Things Podcast and founder of Routine & Things, Ashley Brown. Routine & Things is a product based business company that equips women to consistently live their happiest life one routine at a time. She opens up about how she began this business based on her personal struggles as a stay-at-home mom.

Ashley shares her insights into why she decided to hire a graphic designer for her products instead of creating them herself. She talks about her experience with gaining press and her strategy for getting her brand featured in the media. We also talk about the incredible giveback program she did with She Rises for Mother’s Day.

marketing, Operations & SalesKatie HuntAugust 3, 2021Comment

210 | How 2 Months on Tiktok Led to 40% Rise in Website Traffic & 25%+ Increase in Sales With Kyle Sommer, Sommer Letter Co

Dream with me for a moment: what could happen if you committed to posting daily on TikTok for 2 months straight? Could you perhaps significantly grow your visibility, traffic to your website and even sales?

In this episode, I’m talking to Kyle Sommer of Sommer Letter Co. She's someone who did exactly that and her results were pretty incredible. Kyle and I dive deep into her TikTok growth including how she’s grown her website traffic by 30% and increased daily sales by 15%+. Kyle reviewed her stats after we recorded and found her stats to be even better than she shared in the episode with a 40% increase in website traffic and increased daily sales being 25%!

She shares her story of how she got started on TikTok and why she decided to commit to 2 months of daily posting as a test. We also chat about how the platform is different from Instagram, her content strategies (plus what hasn’t worked in her experience) and of course the analytics that she monitors to track audience and financial growth.

marketing, Operations & SalesKatie HuntJune 22, 2021Comment

209 | Should I Invest In an In-Person Trade Show Right Now with Katie Hunt

209 | Should I Invest In an In-Person Trade Show Right Now with Katie Hunt

Are in-person trade shows worth it right now? This is a question that came up in my community recently in my LABS group coaching call. Jodi, a member of Proof to Product LABS was feeling unsure of where to focus her efforts: trade shows? A big marketing push?

In this episode, I am going over my 4 ideas for this client to help her meet her goals within her budget. As more things begin to reopen it’s no surprise that many are wondering where they should invest their time and energy.

You’ll hear why you should first get clear on your bigger picture goals. I also go over my ideas for the suggested opportunities she could pursue along with the pros and cons of each.

Katie HuntJune 15, 2021Comment

208 | How winning the Minority Business Women’s Grant fast forwarded her business with Tiffany Grimes, Posterity Paper

208 | How winning the Minority Business Women’s Grant fast forwarded her business with Tiffany Grimes, Posterity Paper

Think back for a minute to April of 2020. We’re all on lockdown from the pandemic and figuring out new routines and ways of life. Now, imagine that you’re launching a business for the first time all while homeschooling your children and your business is taking off very quickly.

This was the reality for Tiffany Grimes, founder of Posterity Paper. After winning the Minority Business Women’s Grant her business accelerated - she was able to collaborate with brands like A Beautiful Mess and Kids Made Modern.

In this episode, she shares her startup story of launching her business in 2020. She also gives information about the grant she won and the importance of community and connection when growing your business. Tiffany shares a wealth of information about her first year in business so you definitely don’t want to miss out on her story!

product, wholesaleKatie HuntJune 8, 2021Comment

207 | Why She Closed Her Successful Business with Tammie Bennett, Show Up Society

207 | Why She Closed Her Successful Business with Tammie Bennett, Show Up Society

Closing one chapter and deciding to put an end to things is never easy. Whether that’s discontinuing a product line that was close to your heart or even shutting down your business entirely. In this episode, I had a conversation with Tammie Bennett of Show Up Society.

Tammie is a creative entrepreneur and mindset coach who closed down her business at the height of its success. In fact, during the pandemic, her business, Tiger Pocket Press tripled and had tremendous growth but that success didn’t change her mind about where she was headed next. She followed her intuition and decided to close her product based business so she could help people through coaching.

She shares how she prepared for that transition and how she made the final decision to make this big change. She gives her candid advice for how she communicated this change to customers, got rid of inventory and the process of closing down that business. We also explored the work she’s doing now to help creatives ditch overwhelm, procrastination, fear of failure, and imposter syndrome.

Operations & Sales, productKatie HuntJune 1, 2021Comment

206 | How Far You Have Come with Morgan Harper Nichols

206 | How Far You Have Come with Morgan Harper Nichols

How often do you take a step back to look at and soak in the goodness of how far you’ve come? That’s exactly what guest Morgan Harper Nichols encourages us all to do as she joined me to chat about the inspiration behind her new book, How Far You Have Come.

In this episode, we talk about how she was diagnosed with autism in her thirties after seeing a TikTok about it last year.

Morgan and I also dive into setting boundaries and upholding them, how she maintains being true to herself on Instagram and why she’s a big advocate for collaboration.

pep talkKatie HuntMay 25, 2021Comment

205 | Three Positions to Hire For In Your Product Business with Katie Hunt

205 | Three Positions to Hire For In Your Product Business with Katie Hunt

Are you wearing all of the hats and juggling all of the balls in your business? That might be a sign that it’s time to hire help and bring on support.

Your time as an entrepreneur is so valuable and you want to make sure that you are focusing on what you do best. Recently, my mastermind retreat clients and I got together virtually for a retreat and one of the big topics that came up was hiring. This has also been a hot topic within my Labs community so I wanted to create an episode to chat about it.

In this episode I talk about the pain points that lead to reactive hiring, why you need to shift your mindset about hiring and the 3 key areas you should hire for first in your product based business.

Operations & SalesKatie HuntMay 18, 2021Comment

204 | Marketing Data Points We Should Focus On with Maureen Mwangi, Startward Consulting

204 | Marketing Data Points We Should Focus On with Maureen Mwangi, Startward Consulting

Have you ever taken a look at bigger brands or household products and considered, how can I implement what they’re doing in my own business?

In this episode, I was joined by brand growth strategist and founder of Startward Consulting, Maureen Mwangi. She shares how big brands are humanizing their marketing and what data points we should (and shouldn’t) be paying attention to. Spoiler alert: you can stop worrying about the number of followers you have on Instagram.

Maureen and I also chat about tech tools to use for measuring the ROI on your marketing, how you can leverage data and her tips on optimizing your brand!

marketing, productKatie HuntMay 11, 2021Comment

203 | How to Negotiate Licensing Contracts with Stacie Bloomfield, Gingiber

203 | How to Negotiate Licensing Contracts with Stacie Bloomfield, Gingiber

Hey friends! Considering additional revenue streams for your business? Ever thought about licensing? It’s true that most of the seasoned product based businesses have multiple arms of their business: they might sell wholesale, retail, license art, have a brick & mortar shop or offer drop shipping….. there are a lot of ways to build a profitable, sustainable business.

That’s why I brought on Stacie Bloomfield. Stacie has an abundance of experience in licensing and has been creating artwork for brands and products since 2009. Her brand, Gingiber, has products sold in more than 800 stores. In 2020, Stacy began educating the creative community about licensing through her course Leverage Your Art AND she published her first book!

Take a listen to hear how she landed her first licensing deal, tips for negotiating licensing contracts and the importance of resilience when it comes to pitching yourself for licensing deals.

marketing, productKatie HuntMay 4, 2021Comment

202 | Community & Coaching in LABS with Janine Kwoh, Kwohtations & Christy Asper, Paper Baristas

202 | Community & Coaching in LABS with Janine Kwoh, Kwohtations & Christy Asper, Paper Baristas

Hey friends! The doors to Proof to Product LABS are wide open. We are welcoming a new class to our community so on the podcast this week we wanted to highlight the growth of our community and how we’ve enhanced the program throughout its first year.

In this episode, I am joined by two people you might recognize if you’re a longtime listener of the show, Janine Kwoh of Kwohtations and Christy Asper of Paper Baristas. Both of these ladies are founding members of our LABS program and have been active participants in our monthly masterclasses, group coaching calls and our peer masterminds and coffee chats.

You’ll hear their experiences with LABS — which trainings have been most impactful and how LABS has helped them grow their business and connections with colleagues.

pep talk, Operations & SalesKatie HuntApril 29, 2021Comment

201 | LABS Celebrates One Year with Madeline Hunt

201 | LABS Celebrates One Year with Madeline Hunt

Hey friends! This episode is a little different today. The roles were reversed and I was in the passenger seat as I was joined by my daughter, Madeline for an interview. Madeline asks me some of the most commonly asked questions I get about the Proof to Product LABS as we head toward the one year anniversary of the program. Take a listen to get a peek inside of what we do inside of LABS.

pep talkKatie HuntApril 27, 2021Comment

200 | The Most Common Thread Among Entrepreneurs (You Might Be Surprised!) with Katie Hunt

200 | The Most Common Thread Among Entrepreneurs (You Might Be Surprised!) with Katie Hunt

Hey friends! Can you believe that it’s the 200th episode of the Proof to Product podcast? Quick confession: I’ve been stewing over this episode and what I’d cover for weeks to celebrate this landmark 200th episode.

After grappling with this thought for a while, something happened at home that really put it all into perspective and brought me a lightbulb moment.

In this episode, I share that story with you and reveal the one common thread that ties all entrepreneurs together (and it might even surprise you!).

pep talkKatie HuntApril 20, 2021Comment

199 | How to make your website diverse, inclusive & accessible with Myrna Daramy

Hey friends! In 2020, conversations around diversity, inclusion and equity rose to the forefront of conversations around how we’re conducting business. Many entrepreneurs in the online space took time to reassess their company values to include more diverse images and copy while weaving more inclusivity into their brand, marketing and customer experience.

In this episode, I had on Myrna Daramy. Myrna is a friend of mine and a tech-savvy Digital Media Optimization Specialist who came on to talk about what has been missing from this conversation: technology.

She has spent the last year diving into what it means to have diverse, inclusive and accessible technology and how business owners can make their digital home welcoming to all. She shares so much wisdom around digital inclusivity, 3 reasons why you want to make accessibility a priority for your business and simple solutions that you can implement right away.

She will be doing a live training in our LABS community later this year so if you love this conversation and want to hear even more be sure to join us in LABS so you don’t miss out.

Operations & SalesKatie HuntApril 13, 2021Comment

198 | Pinterest trends & best practices with Kate Ahl, Simple Pin Media

198 | Pinterest trends & best practices with Kate Ahl, Simple Pin Media

Hey friends! Are you ready to start getting more results from your Pinterest strategy? Then you’ll love this conversation with guest, Kate Ahl. Kate is the owner and CEO of Simple Pin Media, a Pinterest management and marketing agency.

Kate and her team have worked with over 600 Pinterest accounts and consulted with thousands of people about how to best use Pinterest for their business or brand. In this episode, she talks about some of the upcoming trends she’s seeing for Pinterest and how to rethink your Pinterest strategy to inspire and inform pinners.

Kate and I discuss a lot in this episode about the things you need to know about Pinterest including what analytics are important and how to determine when you should outsource your Pinterest strategy.

If after this episode you find yourself wanting to know even more about doing ads on Pinterest, be sure to check out our LABS community. Kate’s colleague at Simple Pin Media, Erin Harding will lead an upcoming training on Pinterest ads for our community very soon!

marketingKatie HuntApril 6, 2021Comment

197 | 4 Virtual Roles to Hire in your E-Commerce Business with Katie Hunt

197 | 4 Virtual Roles to Hire in your E-Commerce Business with Katie Hunt

Hey friends! I recently sat down and had a conversation with Micala Quinn on her show, the Live Free Podcast to have a conversation about how virtual support professionals could support e-commerce and product based businesses.

I wanted to bring a piece of that conversion to my podcast. In this episode, I am exploring the 4 areas of your business where virtual, freelance support could make a positive impact for you.

If you’ve been wondering how you can get some remote, flexible, rockstar team members to support you while you grow your business then tune in!

Operations & SalesKatie HuntMarch 30, 2021Comment

196 | When should you outsource social media with Andréa Jones, OnlineDrea

196 | When should you outsource social media with Andréa Jones, OnlineDrea

Hey friends! How are you feeling about social media these days? Is it lighting you up? Does it leave you feeling heavy? I personally have been on both sides of the pendulum and thought my guest in this episode would be perfect to help you determine if it’s time to outsource social.

I had Andréa Jones of OnlineDrea to walk us through everything we need to know. She explains the pros and cons of hiring a social media agency versus hiring a VA or freelance social strategist. We chat about what you need to know before you hire and how she tests potential hires with paid projects!

We covered a LOT in this episode so you’ll want a pen and paper handy to jot down some notes and if you’re wanting even more from Andréa, I have great news - she’s doing a private live training inside our Labs community. She’ll be doing this training in April so if you want to get your questions answered directly from Andréa, be sure to check that out!

marketingKatie HuntMarch 23, 2021Comment