The Business Buzz Podcast: For Makers, Artists & Designers

I wanted to share with you a kind of funny, kind of ironic, but kind of interesting story.

When I started my business Creative Hive Co, I told myself two things.

One, that I will never write a book and two, that I will never start a podcast.

But here I am today, hosting my own podcast.

It was mostly because, at the time, I had friends who have written books and who are published authors and writers and who do run podcasts and I got some insight as to how tedious and how time consuming writing a book or running a podcast can be.

Then you get to see the return on investment of either of these types of projects and it’s usually not very good.

My podcast got started because my assistant Brittany was on a road trip one day.

As you know with all road trips, especially if you’re not driving you start to think about things kind of like when you’re in the shower and some really good ideas come to you.

She sent me a text message with a really good idea and I was sold.

I thought it was a really good idea and over time I got convinced that a podcast was something I really wanted to do.

The reason I am doing it, the reason I started the Business Buzz Podcast, is not because of the money and I don’t ever intend to have sponsors, but I just want another way other than workshops, online webinars, and through my blog, to teach you and share with you what I know and you get to know how my brain works as well.

What is my podcast all about?

Throughout this entire show, I want to be sharing with you everything I know, marketing tips and strategies on how to build a stand out, online brand with your handmade business.

Now, I want to define what a brand means in my mind, but I think that the best way to define it is to contrast it with an Etsy shop.

We all know what Etsy is and what the landscape of an Etsy shop is like.

My missions for you is to build a brand that is long lasting and that can grow and live with you over 5 years, 10 years, 15 years or however long you want to be running your business. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have a lot against Etsy.

I have my own Etsy shop, I love it, and I get sales from it, but running an Etsy shop by itself and not having your own website is in my opinion not a recipe for long term business building.

Etsy can change their layout overnight, they can take your shop down without any notice, they can change the layout of how Etsy looks and where you were once making tons of sales every day you might start seeing your traffic drop and all of that is outside your control.

My goal for you is to help you build a brand where you are like the house name brand that every family out there knows about, where you have insane brand awareness, and people are googling your name because everyone and their friends are telling everyone about your shop.

Having said that, here’s a little bit more about me just so you can get a glimpse of who I am as a person and a little bit into my life as well.

For those of you who don’t know, I am a total foodie.

I love cooking, I love baking, and most of all I love eating.

I love trying out new foods, trying out new restaurants, and I can bet you that I have probably eaten the craziest and weirdest things that you would either never want to touch with a ten-foot pole or that you have never heard of before.

I’m very adventurous with what kind of stuff.

I also love playing video games and board games.

I’m a total nerd and I’m really goofy.

I love making jokes, I’m a very positive and bubbly person, and I’m all about the positive stuff.

I hate watching TV shows that are super dramatic and make me want to cry and feel all tense inside – that’s really not what I’m all about.

One thing also that you may or may not know about me, is that I did not grow up in America.

In case I mispronounce a name, a thing, or if completely mess up saying an English or American proverb, idiom or slang, let’s just laugh about it and you can send me an email telling me how it should be said.

I would kind of identify as an entrepreneur.

I’m always coming up with product ideas and I actually run multiple businesses.

The most notable is Tiny Hands.

I started it in 2006 and this is where I design super cute scented food jewelry.

Think little cupcakes, waffles, doughnuts and I make necklaces, earrings, bracelets and best of all, they smell like what they look like.

Waffles smell like maple syrup, strawberry cupcakes smell like strawberries and so on.

I have done virtually every form of marketing that is out there revolving around running a handmade business.

I have tried so many different things, I’ve made mistakes, I’ve gone through failed projects, and I have seen a lot of success and I know what works and what doesn’t work and that is what my podcast is about.

It’s about me sharing my experiences and what I’ve found to be the best things that work to get you more traffic and more sales to your online brand.

Some of the really cool things that I’ve been able to accomplish with Tiny Hands:

You can go check this out yourself, but as of now I’ve got 30 thousand Facebook fans, about 32 thousand Instagram followers, I’m approaching 20 thousand Pinterest fans, and about 7 thousand email list subscribers.

I’ve also had a ton of experience working with brick and mortar stores, done a lot of wholesale, I’ve done trade shows, worked with sales representatives, and I do a lot of PR and publicity as well.

I have hired agencies and I’ve done it on my own, I’ve got Tiny Hands into some really huge TV shows like Parks & Recreation, and some other really small regional segments.

Some of the magazines Tiny Hands has been in: In Touch Magazine, Rachael Ray Every Day, Girls Life Magazine, and just a ton of other large online websites. I also have a small team of helpers. I have two production assistants and one of them also helps me do packing and shipping and I also have a virtual assistant that helps me manage all of the online stuff. I started Creative Hive Co in the fall of 2014 and this is where I help other makers, artists, and designers make a consistent income with their business online so they can spend more time with their family and do more of what they love.

The reason I started Creative Hive Co was, as I was learning the different ways that I could grow Tiny Hands, I took so many e-courses, I consulted with coaches and gurus, I read books, I attended so many webinars, and I was a part of so many forums and online communities just learning everything I could to grow my jewelry business.

Along the way, through my journey of exploring and learning, I came to realize that a lot of the marketing education that was available out there does not specifically address people who run handmade businesses.

Yes, a lot of the marketing concepts are the same, but people who run a handmade business have very specific and particular nuances that make it either more challenging or just different how you market your business.

There are topics and things that come up with a handmade business owner, that don’t come up for someone else’s product or someone selling an information product.

I recommend you listen to my podcast if you are a maker, artist or designer.

You might create something with your bare hands, you might sell a physical product like soap, jewelry, or children’s clothes or even if you’re an artist and you paint or illustrate online and you print your product on mugs or phone cases.

My podcast is for you if you want to build a long-term brand on your website and you want to get more traffic and more sales, so you can make a full-time income running your business.

Having said that, it doesn’t mean that if you have an Etsy shop the tips and strategies I have to share will not be relevant to you.

They absolutely still will be, but just so you know this will be my focus for the Business Buzz Podcast.

I want to give you an idea of what you can expect in future episodes.

We will be talking about things like raising prices, the differences between social media and PR, what are the three most important things you need for social media, how to run a subscription product for your business, how to track your numbers and why that’s important, blogging for your handmade shop, and outsourcing.

If all of that sounds interesting to you, what I would love for you to do right now is to head on over to BusinessBuzzPodcast.com and subscribe and please leave a review as well.