The Entrepreneur’s Guide to a Powerful Personal Brand with Social Media Guru, Stephanie Cartin

WEBVTT

00:00:00.861 --> 00:00:18.150
<v Speaker 1>Hi and welcome to the Handbag Designer 101 podcast with your host, emily Blumenthal, handbag designer expert and handbag fairy godmother, where we cover everything about handbags from making, marketing, designing and talking to handbag designers and industry experts about what it takes to make a successful handbag.

00:00:18.150 --> 00:00:30.684
<v Speaker 1>Welcome, steph Carton of Entreprenista to Handbag Designer 101, the podcast we have been chit-chatting.

00:00:30.684 --> 00:00:32.286
<v Speaker 1>What a divine person to have.

00:00:32.286 --> 00:00:33.643
<v Speaker 1>You are an absolute delight.

00:00:33.643 --> 00:00:34.484
<v Speaker 1>Welcome, welcome.

00:00:34.484 --> 00:00:36.570
<v Speaker 1>Thank you, emily, excited to chat.

00:00:36.570 --> 00:00:40.570
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, now we were having such lovely banter.

00:00:40.570 --> 00:00:51.429
<v Speaker 1>People always say that in podcasts and it's like, well then you should just save it, but I feel like it would have been boring because it was talking about Florida wallpaper, glasses important things, though.

00:00:51.429 --> 00:00:52.311
<v Speaker 1>People want to hear that.

00:00:52.311 --> 00:01:06.234
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, yeah, I mean, I think podcasts are so much more interesting to listen to when you hear like organic conversation as opposed to, like we were saying, questions being read, ps, like this is also being recorded, but your mic is super dope.

00:01:06.234 --> 00:01:08.906
<v Speaker 1>Can you tell me what's on your mic for those who are listening?

00:01:09.549 --> 00:01:21.793
<v Speaker 2>Oh, yes, it is a little cube that has our Entreprenista e-logo on it, so always have to focus on building that brand and everything that you do, there you go.

00:01:22.079 --> 00:01:23.686
<v Speaker 1>Prominently focused featured.

00:01:23.686 --> 00:01:31.388
<v Speaker 1>So, steph, you are a creative bird and a successful one, so kudos to you.

00:01:31.388 --> 00:01:36.125
<v Speaker 1>You know, typically we talk about the nitty gritty of people's backgrounds, how they got to where they are.

00:01:36.125 --> 00:01:43.111
<v Speaker 1>If anybody wants to learn about Steph's storied successes, follow her on social, which we'll obviously get to at the end.

00:01:43.111 --> 00:01:49.781
<v Speaker 1>But, being met, you have this incredible community that you have developed, fostered, built from nothing.

00:01:49.781 --> 00:02:01.287
<v Speaker 1>I think this podcast will be an interesting one because we can really talk about what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur, to take something from nothing, from inception to shelf and then some.

00:02:01.287 --> 00:02:10.211
<v Speaker 1>So if you want to talk because I'm monostationing if you want to talk a little bit about you and what you do, and then we can just dive right in, absolutely.

00:02:10.411 --> 00:02:17.972
<v Speaker 2>So I'll share a little of my backstory and the process of building multiple businesses.

00:02:17.972 --> 00:02:20.200
<v Speaker 2>So I will take you back.

00:02:20.200 --> 00:02:25.472
<v Speaker 2>Let me take you back to my college days first, because that really kind of set the stage for In Cornell.

00:02:25.472 --> 00:02:37.843
<v Speaker 2>At Cornell I was in the hospitality school, the hotel school, and I focused on in school studying sales and marketing in the hotel school and when I was at Cornell.

00:02:37.843 --> 00:02:40.371
<v Speaker 2>This is when Facebook first started.

00:02:40.371 --> 00:02:51.942
<v Speaker 2>So I was a sophomore at Cornell and I remember I get access to the platform and back then it was called thefacebookscom and it was only available at the time to Ivy League college students.

00:02:51.942 --> 00:03:10.709
<v Speaker 2>We all thought we were like so cool, we got access to this platform and really back then it was like we could all connect with each other and we could take pictures on our physical digital cameras and then upload them onto Facebook and you could see what was going on with cameras, with actual physical cameras, not our iPhones.

00:03:10.709 --> 00:03:27.721
<v Speaker 2>So I remember thinking this is going to change everything I'm learning about in college and I didn't exactly know quite how back then but I just became so fascinated and so interested in social media and what was going to happen.

00:03:27.721 --> 00:03:30.366
<v Speaker 2>So I graduated from Cornell.

00:03:30.366 --> 00:03:35.103
<v Speaker 2>I worked for big hospitality companies doing sales and marketing for a few years.

00:03:35.204 --> 00:03:39.943
<v Speaker 2>But social media I always stayed on the forefront of everything that was happening with social media.

00:03:39.943 --> 00:03:50.661
<v Speaker 2>Twitter then started, then Instagram and at that time, a few years out of college, I had some friends who were starting businesses and people that I grew up with that were starting businesses.

00:03:50.661 --> 00:04:05.712
<v Speaker 2>And because of my sales and marketing background and because even back then I was like always posting on social media, just like organically how we used to post, you know how, like now, if you go back and get those reminders from Facebook of things you posted 12 years ago, you're like, oh my God, so embarrassing.

00:04:05.712 --> 00:04:17.163
<v Speaker 2>But you know, I was just always posting and sharing stuff on social media and I remember thinking then I'm like, oh my gosh, businesses really need to start using social media.

00:04:17.163 --> 00:04:22.108
<v Speaker 2>And friends of mine and people that I knew were reaching out to me Like, can you help me put together a sales and marketing strategy?

00:04:22.108 --> 00:04:29.865
<v Speaker 2>And I would say to them you know, you really start using social media.

00:04:29.865 --> 00:04:30.810
<v Speaker 2>This is going to be the way of the future.

00:04:30.810 --> 00:04:32.053
<v Speaker 2>And this is back in 2010, 11 and 12.

00:04:32.093 --> 00:04:38.975
<v Speaker 2>When social media isn't what it is today, it was like, you know, everyone was on it and using it more socially, but I just knew how it was going to grow and expand.

00:04:38.975 --> 00:04:48.827
<v Speaker 2>So I start putting together these strategies on the side of my full-time job and I start realizing, you know, this is not an after work activity, this can actually be a business.

00:04:48.827 --> 00:05:03.862
<v Speaker 2>And Courtney, my business partner, and I we had met through a mutual friend who is also an entrepreneur, and Courtney and I became fast friends and I started like convincing her I'm like we should build this business together.

00:05:03.862 --> 00:05:12.829
<v Speaker 2>So we got very lucky in the sense that Courtney and I have completely opposite skill sets, which makes for a great partnership which we can definitely talk more about.

00:05:12.829 --> 00:05:14.646
<v Speaker 2>But Courtney and I partnered together.

00:05:14.759 --> 00:05:16.024
<v Speaker 2>We are in our early 20s.

00:05:16.024 --> 00:05:18.105
<v Speaker 2>At this time she was, I think, 24.

00:05:18.105 --> 00:05:20.024
<v Speaker 2>At the time, I was 26, 27.

00:05:20.024 --> 00:05:22.963
<v Speaker 2>So old yeah, we were so, so old.

00:05:22.963 --> 00:05:47.564
<v Speaker 2>And we start taking on clients on the both of us on the side of our full time jobs and we are charging, I think, back then, you know, $300 a month, $500 a month, and we're going to help you put together a social media strategy and we're going to help build your business for a lot of like local type businesses in New York City and after doing that for about 10 months, we said to each other this is a lot.

00:05:47.564 --> 00:06:01.920
<v Speaker 2>We were working full-time, we were getting together every single weekend, we were meeting at the gym, in the cafe to work on client projects and on our lunch breaks at our full-time jobs working on stuff, and we're like this is not sustainable if we want to actually build this business.

00:06:01.920 --> 00:06:11.742
<v Speaker 2>So we decided to quit our corporate jobs, which was on the same day.

00:06:11.742 --> 00:06:12.947
<v Speaker 2>It was May 4th of 2012.

00:06:12.947 --> 00:06:22.428
<v Speaker 2>And we never looked back and grew and scaled our agency business, social Apply, really organically doing great work for our clients but then always practicing what we preach with our own marketing strategies for our agency business and also working to build our personal brand.

00:06:22.428 --> 00:06:27.827
<v Speaker 2>So we were quickly number one on Google for social media agency and influencer agency and winning awards for our work.

00:06:28.028 --> 00:06:39.824
<v Speaker 2>And what started to happen was, because of this quick growth of social fly, so many women entrepreneurs and women that wanted to start a business were reaching out to us, wanting to go out to coffee and pick our brain and just wanted to hear how we did it.

00:06:39.824 --> 00:06:45.108
<v Speaker 2>And what you'll learn about the two of us is we are the type of people that like to help absolutely everyone.

00:06:45.108 --> 00:06:52.079
<v Speaker 2>But what we realized very quickly it was physically impossible and it was not scalable to go out to coffee all day, every day, and run a business.

00:06:52.079 --> 00:06:57.653
<v Speaker 2>So we started thinking how can we help as many women founders as possible but actually do it at scale?

00:06:57.653 --> 00:07:05.951
<v Speaker 2>So that was our initial aha was like oh, we'll start a podcast like this to share awesome stories of women that are building businesses and have so much advice and insight to share.

00:07:05.951 --> 00:07:15.540
<v Speaker 2>So when someone reaches out to us and says I want to start a business or I want to start a fashion business, we say go listen to this episode with Michelle Cordero Grant and hear how she grew and scaled lively and sold her business.

00:07:15.540 --> 00:07:18.103
<v Speaker 2>So that was our initial solve for the problem.

00:07:18.103 --> 00:07:21.449
<v Speaker 2>And then we launched the podcast November of 2018.

00:07:21.449 --> 00:07:28.966
<v Speaker 2>Podcast started to take off from that first episode and then again it was this side content project, on the side of running our agency.

00:07:28.987 --> 00:07:30.490
<v Speaker 2>2020 happens.

00:07:30.490 --> 00:07:34.290
<v Speaker 2>We all know what happens in 2020, world changes, life changes, business changes.

00:07:34.290 --> 00:07:56.752
<v Speaker 2>And that's when Courtney and I really made a plan to build Entrepreneesta to be what it is today, which is a media company and a membership community called the Entrepreneurista League, where our goal is to help as many women founders as possible have all of the resources, tools, connections, support everything that we wish we had when we first started Socialfly.

00:07:56.752 --> 00:08:00.011
<v Speaker 2>We've put it all together under one platform now in our community.

00:08:00.011 --> 00:08:03.122
<v Speaker 2>So that is the few minute backstory on how everything came to be.

00:08:03.122 --> 00:08:05.853
<v Speaker 2>Obviously, a lot has happened in between during that time, but that is the few minute backstory on how everything came to be.

00:08:05.853 --> 00:08:10.310
<v Speaker 2>Obviously, a lot has happened in between during that time, but that is the high level story of how Entrepreneurs actually started.

00:08:11.100 --> 00:08:22.250
<v Speaker 1>So I mean bippity, boppity, boo, that's amazing, like I love, love, love, love talking to people and having this meeting of the mind, because I already know like this could be 12 hours long and we wouldn't get bored.

00:08:22.250 --> 00:08:23.826
<v Speaker 1>So I'm so into this.

00:08:23.826 --> 00:08:33.279
<v Speaker 1>You know we talk a lot about being your own best publicist and what it takes from creating a brand from nothing to something.

00:08:33.279 --> 00:08:56.811
<v Speaker 1>And at least within the handbag industry, it's kind of twofold because one, you have the people who are aspiring designers or are already designers but don't really have a grasp in terms of where they fit into the market, and then you have established brands who've been doing this for a long time and are kind of driving the blah blah blah bus and what next.

00:08:56.811 --> 00:09:01.184
<v Speaker 1>So I mean, essentially those are our target listeners.

00:09:01.184 --> 00:09:08.580
<v Speaker 1>So in terms of you know you dealing with both like let's just dive right in into you know you dealing with both like?

00:09:09.980 --> 00:09:15.662
<v Speaker 2>let's just dive right in into your thoughts on how you would handle either at least just to get started In terms of someone who's just starting out wanting to build a brand and people that are established.

00:09:15.662 --> 00:09:19.149
<v Speaker 2>Yes, so my advice is the same for both.

00:09:19.149 --> 00:09:27.514
<v Speaker 2>Right, it all starts with building a community and your customers, your potential customers.

00:09:27.514 --> 00:09:30.067
<v Speaker 2>They're all people and they all have interests, right?

00:09:30.067 --> 00:09:31.169
<v Speaker 2>Who is your target audience?

00:09:31.169 --> 00:09:38.282
<v Speaker 2>What is that common thread between all of them and how can you create the right content to actually bring everyone together?

00:09:38.802 --> 00:10:03.653
<v Speaker 2>Because there's so much noise on social media now, right, and especially if you're using social media as a content strategy to ultimately acquire customers who are going to buy your handbags, there's a lot of noise out there and really the only way to cut through all of that noise is to build actual, real connections with other humans who are on the other side of your bone on social media.

00:10:03.653 --> 00:10:06.489
<v Speaker 2>So how do you go about actually doing that?

00:10:06.489 --> 00:10:16.350
<v Speaker 2>So I truly believe a lot of it starts with personal brand building, right, people like to do business with people they know, people that they love and people that they trust.

00:10:16.350 --> 00:10:25.886
<v Speaker 2>So you, as a handbag designer, the first people that are going to want to buy your products are the people that know you and that have been following you right.

00:10:25.886 --> 00:10:30.162
<v Speaker 2>They want to watch the process of building your business, the behind the scenes.

00:10:30.162 --> 00:10:36.364
<v Speaker 2>What did it take to do that, sharing that type of content, to build that organic community?

00:10:36.364 --> 00:10:40.479
<v Speaker 2>Now, once you actually create your products, customers will come.

00:10:40.519 --> 00:10:49.741
<v Speaker 2>If you create a really awesome product that people want to buy, but that initial like traction in the beginning, that's going to come from your people, that's going to come from your community.

00:10:49.741 --> 00:10:53.110
<v Speaker 2>And what type of content do they want to see?

00:10:53.110 --> 00:10:57.690
<v Speaker 2>And you can ask and that's the great thing about social media, right, social media, it's meant to be social.

00:10:57.690 --> 00:10:59.643
<v Speaker 2>It's not this one sided thing where it's.

00:10:59.643 --> 00:11:07.078
<v Speaker 2>I post a photo of a handbag on Instagram and expect all of these you know customers to come and people to like this.

00:11:07.078 --> 00:11:07.259
<v Speaker 2>Like.

00:11:07.259 --> 00:11:11.893
<v Speaker 2>That's just not how social media works, especially not today with the algorithm.

00:11:11.893 --> 00:11:14.428
<v Speaker 2>You have to actually connect with people.

00:11:14.428 --> 00:11:23.467
<v Speaker 2>You have to evoke some type of emotion, provide value, make people laugh, make people care, and the process takes a while.

00:11:23.467 --> 00:11:27.424
<v Speaker 2>You know someone's not going to see something once and be like oh, I'm going to buy this right now.

00:11:27.424 --> 00:11:31.423
<v Speaker 2>They have to be connected to you and a lot of that does start with your personal brand.

00:11:32.667 --> 00:11:38.187
<v Speaker 1>And I grapple with this and I've spoken to a handful of people who you know.

00:11:38.187 --> 00:11:44.004
<v Speaker 1>We have a common friend colleague, Sabina, who is amazing and you know I worked with her.

00:11:44.004 --> 00:11:51.565
<v Speaker 1>She's my publicist for 800 years and she would always say to me you have to put yourself in front of the camera, you have to do that, you have to do that.

00:11:51.565 --> 00:11:58.249
<v Speaker 1>And I always said well, I'm working and representing independent designers, it's not really my bags to speak about, it's not my life.

00:11:58.249 --> 00:12:07.322
<v Speaker 1>I don't want to put my kids on, I don't want to put my home life on.

00:12:07.322 --> 00:12:14.543
<v Speaker 1>So how do you deal with people like that, who are developing a brand and are trying to come up with this unique traction sticky strategy when they don't even want to put their own faces up?

00:12:15.184 --> 00:12:22.967
<v Speaker 2>So it is absolutely possible to build a brand, even a personal brand, without it being your face everywhere and without it being your kids.

00:12:22.967 --> 00:12:26.345
<v Speaker 2>The first thing you do need to do is figure out, like, what are you comfortable doing?

00:12:26.345 --> 00:12:29.323
<v Speaker 2>Right, and what are your non-negotiable so like for you?

00:12:29.323 --> 00:12:33.264
<v Speaker 2>If you're not comfortable putting your kids on, totally fine, they don't have to be part of your brand at all.

00:12:33.264 --> 00:12:40.344
<v Speaker 2>If you are not comfortable having your face on camera all the time, totally fine, right Now.

00:12:40.344 --> 00:12:44.490
<v Speaker 2>Would it be a little bit easier if you maybe take the kids out of it, right?

00:12:44.490 --> 00:12:45.091
<v Speaker 2>Kids?

00:12:45.091 --> 00:12:47.054
<v Speaker 2>Yes, no, you make that decision.

00:12:47.054 --> 00:12:51.825
<v Speaker 2>You can totally build a personal brand without your kids Having your face as part of it.

00:12:52.145 --> 00:13:08.606
<v Speaker 2>Might be a little bit more challenging if you're like, totally non-negotiable, you don't want your face on anything, but there are ways to position you as this thought leader, but using your independent designers as all of the content where you're featuring them on your social media.

00:13:08.606 --> 00:13:11.301
<v Speaker 2>So maybe let's we'll just take Instagram, for example.

00:13:11.301 --> 00:13:18.376
<v Speaker 2>So maybe your account people get to know your account as the account where you're always featuring these incredible independent designers.

00:13:18.376 --> 00:13:30.186
<v Speaker 2>So they're going to want to come there because they're going to meet all of these up and coming designers first, before anywhere else, and you have all these people on first, and that's what you're known for, right, it's like what are these pillars and what are these things that you're known for?

00:13:30.186 --> 00:13:40.884
<v Speaker 2>But I will say, like I just said, say you're not negotiables first of what you're not okay with, and then are there things that you just might not be comfortable with now Because you just don't feel comfortable doing that.

00:13:40.884 --> 00:13:43.128
<v Speaker 2>You haven't practiced, you feel like you're not good at it yet.

00:13:43.128 --> 00:13:56.524
<v Speaker 2>Where, if someone told you hey, emily, if you show up a little bit more on Instagram or on social and we actually build out a strategy and you practice and it's going to help drive more business for you, like, would you want to do that?

00:13:56.524 --> 00:14:07.739
<v Speaker 2>And if the answer is yes, like you're open to doing that, but you just haven't done it because you haven't felt like you have the strategy, or maybe just don't feel comfortable doing it because you haven't practiced and it's nerve wracking.

00:14:07.778 --> 00:14:11.490
<v Speaker 2>Like I still, to this day, I don't like talking to camera on Instagram.

00:14:11.490 --> 00:14:12.897
<v Speaker 2>It's so uncomfortable.

00:14:12.897 --> 00:14:16.345
<v Speaker 2>Even after doing this for years, it's not my favorite thing to do at all.

00:14:16.345 --> 00:14:24.086
<v Speaker 2>I do it because, ultimately, I know that I'm providing value when I'm helping people and ultimately, like that is my goal.

00:14:24.086 --> 00:14:32.330
<v Speaker 2>So if I know that by doing some of these things that feel uncomfortable for me, that by doing them it's actually going to help other people, that I'm all for it.

00:14:32.330 --> 00:14:40.125
<v Speaker 2>I will do it, I will practice it, I will do whatever it takes, because my mission is to make impact and to help as many women founders as possible.

00:14:40.125 --> 00:14:42.014
<v Speaker 2>So that means I need to show up a little bit more on camera.

00:14:42.014 --> 00:14:45.144
<v Speaker 2>I'm going to do it, but I have to make a plan and strategy.

00:14:45.144 --> 00:14:48.846
<v Speaker 2>So I'll pause there because I know I just no, no, no, no, I mean, it's funny.

00:14:48.955 --> 00:14:49.857
<v Speaker 1>I mean me personally.

00:14:49.857 --> 00:14:52.765
<v Speaker 1>I can speak in front of 5,000 people without batting an eye.

00:14:52.765 --> 00:14:59.447
<v Speaker 1>I can go on air without batting an eye, but talking into a camera alone, I all of a sudden I'm like, yeah, I can't do this.

00:14:59.447 --> 00:15:12.916
<v Speaker 1>So it's yeah, like da, da, wow.

00:15:12.916 --> 00:15:14.581
<v Speaker 1>And then I start looking around and saying, wow, I need to clean that corner.

00:15:14.600 --> 00:15:16.868
<v Speaker 1>But if you ever wanted to start a handbag brand and you didn't know where to start, this is for you.

00:15:16.868 --> 00:15:19.014
<v Speaker 1>If you had dreams of becoming a handbag designer but aren't trained in design, this is for you.

00:15:19.014 --> 00:15:22.923
<v Speaker 1>If you have a handbag brand and need strategy and direction, this is for you.

00:15:22.923 --> 00:15:31.522
<v Speaker 1>I'm Emily Blumenthal, handbag designer expert and handbag fairy godmother, and this is the Handbag Designer 101 Masterclass.

00:15:31.522 --> 00:15:38.649
<v Speaker 1>Over the next 10 classes, I will break down everything you need to know to make, manufacture and market a handbag brand.

00:15:38.649 --> 00:15:48.056
<v Speaker 1>Broken down to ensure that you will not only skip steps in the handbag building process, but also to save money to avoid the learning curve of costly mistakes.

00:15:48.557 --> 00:15:59.198
<v Speaker 1>For the past 20 years, I've been teaching at the top fashion universities in New York City, wrote the Handbag Designer Bible, founded the Handbag Awards and created the only Handbag Designer Podcast.

00:15:59.198 --> 00:16:05.782
<v Speaker 1>I'm going to show you like I have countless brands to create in this in-depth course, from sketch to sample to sale.

00:16:05.782 --> 00:16:15.904
<v Speaker 1>Whether you're just starting out and don't even know where to start or begin, or if you've had a brand and need some strategic direction, the Handbag Designer 101 Masterclass is just for you.

00:16:15.904 --> 00:16:19.763
<v Speaker 1>So let's get started and you'll be the creator of the next it Bag.

00:16:20.134 --> 00:16:24.124
<v Speaker 1>Join me, emily Blumenthal, in the Handbag Designer 101 Masterclass.

00:16:24.124 --> 00:16:36.166
<v Speaker 1>So be sure to sign up at emilyblumenthalcom slash masterclass and type in the code PODCAST to get 10% off your masterclass today.

00:16:36.166 --> 00:16:55.625
<v Speaker 1>It's funny that, because I run a masterclass for handbag designers and I always say, which is so interesting, you know, make sure you start recording content of everything you're doing, of your process, because you'll be able to reflect on that Once your product is done.

00:16:55.625 --> 00:16:57.171
<v Speaker 1>This is where I was here.

00:16:57.171 --> 00:17:03.355
<v Speaker 1>I am because everything tells a story and it sounds so cliche to say, but creating a brand, it's all about storytelling.

00:17:03.534 --> 00:17:18.489
<v Speaker 2>Yes, everything, everything and people want to be part of that journey, especially now because, again, people want to connect with people and people want to support and be cheerleaders and be part of that journey.

00:17:18.489 --> 00:17:31.939
<v Speaker 2>And it's almost doing a disservice, like if you're not sharing that with people, you're not letting them in on that and ultimately, these are the people that are going to become not only your customers but they're going to be sharing with other people about your products or about your services as well.

00:17:31.939 --> 00:17:40.027
<v Speaker 2>So it's really like building that muscle and is building that content muscle, and it's not easy, like I'm not sitting here saying it's easy.

00:17:40.027 --> 00:17:42.999
<v Speaker 2>It's really hard if it doesn't come naturally to you.

00:17:42.999 --> 00:18:01.297
<v Speaker 2>But building a business, no matter what type of business you're building, naturally to you but building a business, no matter what type of business you're building, is really hard and there's ups and downs at every point and you need to build that right team around you and the right squad and the right community around you to be able to have that support.

00:18:01.396 --> 00:18:06.392
<v Speaker 2>Because I work with so many different types of entrepreneurs.

00:18:06.392 --> 00:18:17.243
<v Speaker 2>There's entrepreneurs in our Entrepreneurs League community that have service-based businesses, product-based businesses, nonprofits, tech companies, everything in between, and typically when we start businesses.

00:18:17.243 --> 00:18:22.145
<v Speaker 2>We're starting businesses because we're really passionate about one thing right.

00:18:22.145 --> 00:18:32.988
<v Speaker 2>So for handbag designer, you're really passionate about wanting to design these bags, but are you passionate about learning the finance and operations of the business to be able to do that?

00:18:32.988 --> 00:18:35.984
<v Speaker 2>Are you passionate about social media and building a marketing strategy?

00:18:35.984 --> 00:18:38.163
<v Speaker 2>Maybe you are, but maybe you're not Right.

00:18:38.163 --> 00:18:43.334
<v Speaker 2>The key is finding the right people around you who can support those things that.

00:18:43.334 --> 00:18:46.481
<v Speaker 2>Maybe you're not a 10 out of 10 because you're not going to be a 10 out of 10 in everything.

00:18:46.481 --> 00:18:54.603
<v Speaker 2>Like I'm a one out of 10 at most things in business, I'm a 10 out of 10 at a few things, but I bring the right people around me to be able to fill in those gaps.

00:18:55.164 --> 00:18:56.455
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, it's so important.

00:18:56.455 --> 00:19:17.968
<v Speaker 1>You bring up so many good points and, honestly, it's like one of the designers I dealt with recently I've dealt with a handful, actually, that had the exact same issue and it was kind of interesting that they were all back to back the clients that I had, that they were all selling bags that were extraordinarily expensive and doing the research.

00:19:17.968 --> 00:19:22.104
<v Speaker 1>And I always tell my clients and I preach about this that homework is free.

00:19:22.104 --> 00:19:27.486
<v Speaker 1>So before you even create a product, make sure you do the back backend research to who's your customer?

00:19:27.486 --> 00:19:28.881
<v Speaker 1>How do you design into it?

00:19:28.881 --> 00:19:30.320
<v Speaker 1>Is it a need or a want?

00:19:30.320 --> 00:19:33.003
<v Speaker 1>If it's a need, then you know it has to be more of that function.

00:19:33.003 --> 00:19:37.386
<v Speaker 1>If it's a want, then you need to make sure that there has a unique DNA that ties back to it.

00:19:37.386 --> 00:19:42.279
<v Speaker 1>But also, what is the price point that they can afford and what are they already buying?

00:19:42.339 --> 00:19:54.031
<v Speaker 1>And to say that I'm creating this bespoke handbag that's $2,000, which was one of them $3,000, $4,000, $5,000, $6,000, people aren't going to spend that kind of money on a brand that they are unfamiliar with.

00:19:54.031 --> 00:19:55.381
<v Speaker 1>It's just cold hard facts.

00:19:55.381 --> 00:20:02.527
<v Speaker 1>So are you comfortable with coming in at a price point, taking a smaller margin, because you need to actually get started right.

00:20:02.527 --> 00:20:18.222
<v Speaker 1>You got to start somewhere, yes, so you know who do you hang with, which is a lot of what the retailers used to ask when you're filling out a form and now retailers won't even touch you because they need to make sure that your brands with fans, that you're coming in with people to shop because they've got real estate that they've got to sell.

00:20:18.222 --> 00:20:27.607
<v Speaker 1>So it's a lot of that homework that I think a lot of people tend to disregard because they're just excited to follow an idea and see it through.

00:20:28.108 --> 00:20:31.263
<v Speaker 2>Absolutely, and you have to do that homework and you have to do that research.

00:20:31.263 --> 00:20:38.422
<v Speaker 2>I will say I say this all the time and this is something Marie Forleo says all the time right, she wrote a book Everything is figureoutable, right?

00:20:38.422 --> 00:20:42.224
<v Speaker 2>If you do this research and you're like, oh my gosh, how am I going to do this?

00:20:42.224 --> 00:21:01.721
<v Speaker 2>I'm not an expert at all of these different things Like, it's OK, there are people that are, and you need to surround yourself with those people that are going to be like on your team, right, whether these are advisors or freelancers that you work with, or just people like in our Entrepreneurs League community that just want to share advice and help, because everyone's in there helping each other.

00:21:01.914 --> 00:21:14.855
<v Speaker 2>But you can't build a business and you shouldn't build a business alone and by yourself in your home office and not surround yourself with other people who are going to be there to support you or you will think it's too hard from the beginning and you won't start.

00:21:14.855 --> 00:21:16.742
<v Speaker 2>So when you just said, just get started, I like that.

00:21:16.742 --> 00:21:18.881
<v Speaker 2>We literally put this on a mug right here.

00:21:18.881 --> 00:21:19.483
<v Speaker 2>Just get started.

00:21:19.483 --> 00:21:23.098
<v Speaker 2>And part of just getting started is like doing that research.

00:21:23.098 --> 00:21:31.309
<v Speaker 2>But don't let that discourage you when you start to see like you may not be an expert in all these things, like it's okay, you don't have to be an expert at everything.

00:21:31.309 --> 00:21:34.164
<v Speaker 2>You can still build a very successful business.

00:21:34.164 --> 00:21:35.309
<v Speaker 2>Courtney and I have both done it.

00:21:35.309 --> 00:21:37.337
<v Speaker 2>We've built awesome businesses.

00:21:37.337 --> 00:21:39.469
<v Speaker 2>We're both not experts at absolutely everything.

00:21:39.469 --> 00:21:42.878
<v Speaker 2>We have each other and we have people around us to fill in those gaps, right?

00:21:42.999 --> 00:21:43.339
<v Speaker 1>right?

00:21:43.339 --> 00:21:53.547
<v Speaker 1>Was there a moment when you were developing these brands and they were not profitable at the time or the pace that you were expecting and therefore were like you know?

00:21:53.547 --> 00:21:58.667
<v Speaker 1>I don't think this is something we should do, or how do we pivot, how do we look at this differently?

00:21:59.275 --> 00:22:12.380
<v Speaker 2>Yes, so with Socialfly, we were always profitable because the way we built our agency was based on the way we built our agency was based on signing more clients and then hiring the team to support that.

00:22:12.380 --> 00:22:18.800
<v Speaker 2>So luckily, we never really ran into any cash flow issues with Socialfly because of how disciplined we were with building a service-based business.

00:22:18.800 --> 00:22:21.656
<v Speaker 2>Building a product-based business, it's different.

00:22:21.656 --> 00:22:23.986
<v Speaker 2>It can be capital intensive.

00:22:23.986 --> 00:22:32.326
<v Speaker 2>Now there are ways to be able to get funding for your business that don't necessarily require like going out and like raising millions of dollars in venture capital.

00:22:32.326 --> 00:22:45.804
<v Speaker 2>There's a lot of solutions that are out there right now to be able to, you know, get access to capital, whether there's grants and we do a lot of like grant workshops in our entrepreneur community, I think grants are grossly undervalued.

00:22:45.844 --> 00:22:50.444
<v Speaker 1>I think people tend to really forget that they exist because that's money you don't have to pay back.

00:22:50.545 --> 00:22:59.335
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it's non-dilutive capital, and I would take a step further and say I don't think it's that people I think a lot of people just don't even know about it and don't even have the awareness.

00:22:59.335 --> 00:23:06.585
<v Speaker 2>Actually, if you go to our Entreprenees, to Instagram, every other week we're posting a grant roundup of different grants that are available.

00:23:06.585 --> 00:23:07.806
<v Speaker 2>We post them on our website.

00:23:07.806 --> 00:23:10.650
<v Speaker 2>There's a lot of other resources out there In addition.

00:23:10.650 --> 00:23:18.397
<v Speaker 2>Like, we post these resources and do some roundups, but there's platforms out there where you can like their whole site, like Hello Alice.

00:23:18.397 --> 00:23:23.257
<v Speaker 2>They've tons of great things on Hello Alice and there's a site it's getfundedcom.

00:23:23.257 --> 00:23:27.527
<v Speaker 2>The company is called Funded and there's a lot of resources out there.

00:23:27.527 --> 00:23:31.201
<v Speaker 2>There's iFundWomen and other ways to do crowdfunding.

00:23:31.803 --> 00:23:37.300
<v Speaker 2>Now, once you have some initial capital, the goal is to build a profitable business right.

00:23:37.300 --> 00:23:39.936
<v Speaker 2>Like we're not starting businesses to be losing money.

00:23:39.936 --> 00:23:41.760
<v Speaker 2>We have to be building profitable businesses.

00:23:41.760 --> 00:23:46.220
<v Speaker 2>So, remembering to not put so much pressure on yourself to feel like you have to.

00:23:46.220 --> 00:23:48.707
<v Speaker 2>Like build this huge business right away.

00:23:48.707 --> 00:23:51.503
<v Speaker 2>Like there's no overnight success in business.

00:23:51.503 --> 00:23:59.780
<v Speaker 2>Every single business takes years to be able to build and things develop and you iterate things based on learnings.

00:23:59.780 --> 00:24:04.767
<v Speaker 2>But it's easy to compare yourself on social media to what you see other people doing.

00:24:04.767 --> 00:24:13.720
<v Speaker 2>But social media is this you know, lost the glamour shot and it's not necessarily smoke and mirrors, it's, but like you're seeing it, you're capturing a moment in time.

00:24:13.720 --> 00:24:18.762
<v Speaker 2>Right, you're not seeing the 10 years of work that went into something, or the late nights and crying on the phone.

00:24:18.762 --> 00:24:25.267
<v Speaker 2>You're not seeing all of that and that's a lot of what goes on behind the scenes of building a business.

00:24:25.267 --> 00:24:32.205
<v Speaker 2>But, yes, focus on profitability because you want to stay in business I want to talk a little bit about.

00:24:32.767 --> 00:24:42.459
<v Speaker 1>once you have your product, it's the then, what moment, in your opinion, do you start focusing immediately on sales?

00:24:42.459 --> 00:24:45.644
<v Speaker 1>Do you start in terms of, like, the most rudimentary marketing strategy?

00:24:45.644 --> 00:24:47.929
<v Speaker 1>Once you have said product, then what?

00:24:48.474 --> 00:24:48.736
<v Speaker 2>Okay.

00:24:48.736 --> 00:24:52.787
<v Speaker 2>So I would be focusing on all of these things before you have the product.

00:24:52.787 --> 00:25:04.267
<v Speaker 2>So the first step is building out your business strategy and building out your marketing strategy and community building strategy at the same time as you're in product development.

00:25:04.267 --> 00:25:10.977
<v Speaker 2>Because the last thing you want to do and I see this all the time people are like I created this product, I created this handbag, I created this skincare product.

00:25:10.977 --> 00:25:11.699
<v Speaker 2>I did this.

00:25:11.699 --> 00:25:14.817
<v Speaker 2>Now, what I do for marketing and it's like I spent all my money for developing the product.

00:25:14.817 --> 00:25:29.356
<v Speaker 2>I'm like no, yeah, you have to start marketing before you have a product, and that's why storytelling and building your personal brand and coming up with strategies to be able to, like be acquiring email addresses long before you've gotten that product.

00:25:29.356 --> 00:25:39.696
<v Speaker 2>When you have that product in hand and you're ready to start selling, you should have already, like, started building an email list and gotten pre-orders and done a lot of things leading up.

00:25:39.696 --> 00:25:42.705
<v Speaker 2>So if you're waiting until you get product in hand, say that now.

00:25:42.705 --> 00:25:43.215
<v Speaker 2>Say now what?

00:25:43.215 --> 00:25:43.355
<v Speaker 2>Like?

00:25:43.355 --> 00:25:44.058
<v Speaker 2>You're way too late.

00:25:45.686 --> 00:25:49.220
<v Speaker 1>And I think that's something that a lot of people do yeah, don't do that.

00:25:49.220 --> 00:25:55.057
<v Speaker 1>No, no, in terms of that said, now we have a product, we have a basic strategy.

00:25:55.057 --> 00:26:09.067
<v Speaker 1>I mean, again, I'm just trying to outfit our listeners with like, okay, or I'm developing the product, what would you say moving into with the basic strategy, because I really want them to have some sort of takeaway while they're developing.

00:26:09.489 --> 00:26:27.935
<v Speaker 2>Yes, so I can tell you right now what I see is working really well, and this is if you're going to be selling your products e-commerce I would say actually in-store, like if you're getting into boutiques or Nordstrom or wherever physically in-store, I think there's ways to activate your customers to go in store as well.

00:26:27.935 --> 00:26:31.909
<v Speaker 2>But email, email, email you're selling ecommerce.

00:26:31.909 --> 00:26:34.818
<v Speaker 2>People ultimately are going to convert from email.

00:26:34.818 --> 00:26:40.458
<v Speaker 2>So, building your email list, focusing on your email marketing strategy, we use Klaviyo.

00:26:40.458 --> 00:26:42.544
<v Speaker 2>Now there's a lot of really great ESPs that are out there.

00:26:42.544 --> 00:26:45.019
<v Speaker 2>Klaviyo is really great for ecommerce businesses.

00:26:45.019 --> 00:26:50.759
<v Speaker 2>And then I would also, as opposed to MailChimp or something, mailchimp's a great platform.

00:26:50.759 --> 00:27:03.028
<v Speaker 2>Klaviyo is really great for e-commerce businesses with all of the tools that they have and just the way you can measure everything Text message, marketing, texting, texting, texting so I would definitely build out a tech strategy.

00:27:03.028 --> 00:27:10.354
<v Speaker 2>And then we're just seeing a lot of brands right now having really great success with TikTok shop.

00:27:10.354 --> 00:27:18.359
<v Speaker 2>So I would definitely be looking at TikTok and someone who I recommend following on TikTok is Sarah Potempa.

00:27:18.359 --> 00:27:20.142
<v Speaker 2>She's the founder of the Beach Weaver.

00:27:20.142 --> 00:27:26.568
<v Speaker 2>They have completely like killed it, crushed it with their TikTok strategy, their live shopping.

00:27:27.471 --> 00:27:35.454
<v Speaker 2>I would study Sarah's brand and their social media and live strategy and their live shopping strategy and what they've done over the past few years.

00:27:35.454 --> 00:27:36.425
<v Speaker 2>We just had Sarah.

00:27:36.425 --> 00:27:43.799
<v Speaker 2>She came, she was at our Entrepreneurs at Founders Weekend event just a few weeks ago and we did a live podcast recording with her at the event.

00:27:43.799 --> 00:27:49.625
<v Speaker 2>So that episode will come out soon and we can happy to share that with you, to share with your community as well.

00:27:49.625 --> 00:27:54.518
<v Speaker 2>She talked all about like the tech stack that she's using for social, for live shopping.

00:27:54.518 --> 00:27:58.401
<v Speaker 2>But, yeah, those areas and everything is like connected.

00:27:58.401 --> 00:27:59.826
<v Speaker 2>Right, you can't just do like one thing.

00:27:59.826 --> 00:28:07.574
<v Speaker 2>People are finding your customers are finding you at all different touch points, so like everything has to funnel into the next thing.

00:28:08.135 --> 00:28:09.105
<v Speaker 1>Right, right, right right.

00:28:09.105 --> 00:28:11.472
<v Speaker 1>I mean for as long as TikTok's around.

00:28:13.798 --> 00:28:15.263
<v Speaker 2>I don't think TikTok's going to go anywhere.

00:28:15.263 --> 00:28:20.134
<v Speaker 2>I mean, you know how all of this goes, it's yeah yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:28:20.734 --> 00:28:29.894
<v Speaker 1>No, it's definitely something I think to neophyte within that space, it's so overwhelming because then you have to like be really good at each platform and each platform.

00:28:29.894 --> 00:28:31.894
<v Speaker 1>You can't disseminate the same information.

00:28:31.894 --> 00:28:35.451
<v Speaker 1>There has to be a tweak, there has to be something that's different per audience.

00:28:35.451 --> 00:28:38.933
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, and that's a lot really to digest and take on Truly.

00:28:38.973 --> 00:28:40.776
<v Speaker 2>It is Don't do it all at once.

00:28:40.776 --> 00:28:44.278
<v Speaker 2>Right, you focus on one platform to start.

00:28:44.278 --> 00:28:45.299
<v Speaker 2>You get really good at it.

00:28:45.299 --> 00:28:49.067
<v Speaker 2>You make sure that's where your customers are and if it's not like on to the next right.

00:28:49.067 --> 00:28:51.133
<v Speaker 2>You don't have to be everywhere.

00:28:51.133 --> 00:28:54.506
<v Speaker 2>You do need to be on email this Right.

00:28:54.506 --> 00:29:02.817
<v Speaker 2>You need your customers emails because, at the end of the day, if I could impart one piece of wisdom from all of this you do not own your customers on social media.

00:29:02.817 --> 00:29:11.208
<v Speaker 2>Wisdom from all of this you do not own your customers on social media, on Instagram, on Facebook, on TikTok If those go out and we've seen outages right, you have no way to reach your customers.

00:29:11.208 --> 00:29:15.182
<v Speaker 2>When you have someone's email address, you can reach your customers.

00:29:15.182 --> 00:29:18.309
<v Speaker 2>Those emails are gold for your business.

00:29:18.971 --> 00:29:22.077
<v Speaker 1>What do you think in terms of developing?

00:29:22.077 --> 00:29:27.913
<v Speaker 1>You know, in terms of test market events and having your product and collecting emails there and getting feedback?

00:29:27.913 --> 00:29:28.935
<v Speaker 1>What are your thoughts on that?

00:29:29.285 --> 00:29:31.192
<v Speaker 2>Yes, all day long, all day long.

00:29:31.192 --> 00:29:52.977
<v Speaker 2>So there are ways to do events and pop up events, I would say, like on a budget for sure, especially if you're first starting and you want to use events like that to capture email addresses but also content, because events are a really great way to get your products in the hands of a lot of people, even if they're not not everyone's like buying the product, but they're touching the product.

00:29:52.977 --> 00:29:54.909
<v Speaker 2>You can get testimonials, videos.

00:29:54.909 --> 00:30:02.776
<v Speaker 2>It's a great way to get a ton of content at one moment in time that you can then use for the next month or for years.

00:30:02.776 --> 00:30:07.729
<v Speaker 2>And, at the end of the day, like, people want connection, they want experiences.

00:30:07.729 --> 00:30:13.708
<v Speaker 2>So how can you create these events or pop ups or collaborations?

00:30:13.708 --> 00:30:18.329
<v Speaker 2>Partner with other like minded brands or brands that have similar audiences and collaborate together.

00:30:18.329 --> 00:30:26.310
<v Speaker 2>That helps, obviously, to share the costs of everything, but also gives people like an even better experience too, by having multiple brands as part of an event too.

00:30:26.310 --> 00:30:27.574
<v Speaker 2>So, love the events.

00:30:28.295 --> 00:30:37.114
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, well, I mean, collaborations are my love language, that's my success story, with everything Match up with a brand that has nothing to do with what you do except you one common thread.

00:30:37.114 --> 00:30:40.047
<v Speaker 1>And there's your marketing story, there's your social strategy.

00:30:40.047 --> 00:30:41.269
<v Speaker 1>There's a physical product.

00:30:41.269 --> 00:30:42.650
<v Speaker 1>It's got a beginning and an ending.

00:30:42.650 --> 00:30:43.832
<v Speaker 1>It gets a lot of excitement.

00:30:43.832 --> 00:30:44.511
<v Speaker 1>People cover it.

00:30:44.511 --> 00:30:46.134
<v Speaker 1>Bing bang, boom, you move on to the next.

00:30:46.134 --> 00:30:47.655
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, but it works.

00:30:47.655 --> 00:30:49.097
<v Speaker 1>People get excited about that.

00:30:49.097 --> 00:30:52.020
<v Speaker 1>Oh my God, steph, I don't want to take up so much of your time.

00:30:52.020 --> 00:31:12.165
<v Speaker 1>Do you want to no-transcript good stuff?

00:31:12.567 --> 00:31:13.490
<v Speaker 2>Yes, absolutely Well.

00:31:13.490 --> 00:31:20.031
<v Speaker 2>I'm always happy to come back, so let me know what topics everyone wants to dive deeper into and always happy to share more.

00:31:20.031 --> 00:31:24.078
<v Speaker 2>If you're on Instagram, you can find me at Steph Jill Carton.

00:31:24.078 --> 00:31:25.710
<v Speaker 2>That is my personal Instagram account.

00:31:25.710 --> 00:31:34.237
<v Speaker 2>Our business Entreprenista's account is at Entreprenista, with an S at the end, so Entreprenista's, and then feel free if you want to link out to that.

00:31:34.237 --> 00:31:36.069
<v Speaker 2>Everyone can find us over there.

00:31:36.069 --> 00:31:44.458
<v Speaker 2>And then our Entreprenista League community you can find us at Entreprenistacom forward slash join to join the membership community.

00:31:44.458 --> 00:31:59.213
<v Speaker 2>We have over 2000 women founders in the community and everyone is networking and connecting and doing business together and helping each other, and we have a lot of these resources and workshops and a lot of what I have just shared over the past 30 minutes or so with everyone.

00:31:59.213 --> 00:32:02.473
<v Speaker 2>So always feel free to DM me, message me.

00:32:02.473 --> 00:32:03.476
<v Speaker 2>I'm here to help in any way.

00:32:04.065 --> 00:32:04.726
<v Speaker 1>Beautiful.

00:32:04.726 --> 00:32:08.394
<v Speaker 1>Steph, you are an angel and an absolute delight.

00:32:08.394 --> 00:32:10.077
<v Speaker 1>Thank you so much for being part of this.

00:32:10.077 --> 00:32:14.107
<v Speaker 1>Thanks for listening.

00:32:14.107 --> 00:32:19.487
<v Speaker 1>Don't forget to rate and review, and follow us on every single platform at Handbag Designer.

00:32:19.487 --> 00:32:20.367
<v Speaker 1>Thanks so much.

00:32:20.367 --> 00:32:21.368
<v Speaker 1>See you next time.