Good afternoon.
Hey, two people on so far.
I'm sure we'll have more join us but this is super casual.
Anything, let's start with, let's start with, while we're waiting for people to come in.
Okay, let's start with, this is something we used to do internally as a team, business best and personal best.
So like just in general, what is something you are happy with celebrating in your business life and also in your personal life?
Who wants to go first.
The coaches are not going to go first.
Good rule I like that. I was actually gonna say Jenna you go first. So I'm as maybe.
Hello, I came in late so let me just say hello to everyone. I know a lot of you in here but I don't know everyone.
So if you just jumped in. Jenna just said, if you want to share a business based and or a personal based.
Who's gonna break the business best or personal best. Yeah, I would say business best is just becoming an entrepreneur and
seeing yourself being one, and doing the things of an entrepreneur and how different it is, and the challenges involved.
The good things about it, the freedom in it, but yet the crazy challenge that it is personally, emotionally and everything to just kind of take that one.
Keep putting one foot in front of the other and keep advancing down that road of entrepreneurship.
As a person that worked in the corporate world.
I will tell my age I am 60 years old, and I was in the corporate world, up until about a year and a half ago.
So it's totally transformed. I think who I am and seeing myself in a new light.
What feels like the biggest challenge?
That's a good question. Biggest challenge.
Probably when those roadblocks come and those fears come, how to not rely on somebody else to get through them or tell me what to do.
I have to figure it out myself.
Yep. Next level.
That was good, Vicki. Thanks.
For me, I think the business best.
I'm on track to get a paycheck from Amazon again this week.
So I guess they pay you every two weeks or something.
And two weeks ago, I got $98.
And today when I checked, it looked like I was going to get $144.
So it's like a 40% increase.
I'm saying like, that's a big increase.
That'd be cool. I can keep that up.
And then personal best.
I've been doing my time mapping, according to the videos.
And having to have hard conversations with my family about how they just aren't pulling their weight.
And then just seeing my 12-year-old put the trash out on the curb without me having to ask her just because I had that conversation days ago.
And she's internalizing it and knowing that it has to be done.
And watching my husband lean into parenting more and not just checking out and making me do everything.
It's good to watch everybody else actually care about me as much as I care about them.
That's amazing.
I mean, when she took the trash out, I almost cried.
I was like, thank you.
That's amazing.
Family transformation.
I would actually advise everyone, if you've got kids in the house, one of the inner circle
students in the previous inner circle actually had a family meeting and told her kids about
what it is that she was wanting to achieve and how it's going to look different and they
are going to need to pull their weight and all her kids are small and they were so excited.
They wanted to just help mommy and support her but if she didn't have that conversation
she kept thinking it's going to change, they're not going to support me, you know, as typical
moms, I'm doing everything for everyone else, it's going to just be all on me even more
and it really did help to set her up for success.
It's a good piece for everyone to take.
It's a good piece to take home with you all though.
Christy why don't you pick someone, we'll tag team that way.
I'll pick Amara.
Hi guys, business best.
I'm still waiting for all of my stuff to get checked into Amazon so I was really hoping
I was going to have a more accurate launch date but I kind of feel like, yeah, that's
to be determined still but I'm sitting at a point right now where I'm trying to make
decisions of like how much do I put into building the brand, like do I hire somebody to help
me do social media, like am I making photos or am I adding videos, which I think feel
like minor details but also like these are big moments and like what's going to happen
over the next year and so I'm proud of myself for not, for being more reflective instead
of like getting bogged down and like, oh, I just have to add this to my to-do list and
check it off and follow all the steps and stuff and just like taking a step back and
kind of looking at the big picture, like try not to get sucked into all the details
that then make me lose sight of the overall goal.
So that feels pretty good and then personal best, sorry, I just realized, are you able
to hear me okay?
Uh-huh.
Okay, my headphone jack is like not plugged in all the way so I thought for a second it
might have been messing up but today is actually my husband and my 14-year anniversary and
so and the last few years have been not easy ones in our family so it feels nice to just
have plans to like go out to a nice dinner and bring the, we're going to bring the kids
with us, our babysitter fell through but we're going to just make the best of the evening
and celebrate and, you know, let our kids witness that celebration and so, yeah.
Congratulations.
Thank you.
It always feels like a bigger deal when the last few years have been a little harder than
maybe the ones before that and you can call on somebody, Amara, or pick somebody.
Sean, Sean didn't go, right?
You're a bit muted, Sean.
Am I here now?
You sure are.
I guess business-wise, and thanks, Janine, I made a big pivot and I bought a notebook
and this, I'll explain that.
So, my wife, Carrie, started this journey.
She's at work, couldn't be here.
I was in business for myself for 30 years and it's time to get out of that business
and, you know, I was trying to find a new job or a new business.
After 30 years, it'd be tough to work for somebody else and I've had all these ideas
and I get a notebook and I start filling it up with the questions or the things and, you
know, Carrie was, she's like, I really think we can do this, I really think we can do this
and kind of just, okay, you go do it.
And some deep thinking and I'm like, wait a minute, I could be missing the big picture.
Why, you know, she already had a business for three years, why not make that the business?
So, I went out and bought a notebook.
Got a brand new notebook, sounds a little fashion strange,
but like dove in and I've been contacting co-manufacturers
and so yeah, it's took a big leap of faith in business
and a weight's been lifted and I'm ready to rock and roll.
That's cool, I also love notebooks.
I'm a paper and pen, that's all I need
and it will stick in my brain most of the time.
Perfect.
So you can choose someone else, Sean.
Well, it's actually only correct.
Sorry guys, I came in a couple minutes late.
Okay, so business win this week.
Okay, well, so one just getting into this
is I think gonna be really a big deal for me.
I'm spinning lots of plates right now
and it's been great to have this to just sort of focus me
but this week I had, so I'm in the process right now
of building out the content for my online coaching program
and I'm collaborating on some of that content
with a midwife and her and I had like three really good,
juicy, like three hour long deep work sessions
where we really move the needle
really significantly and it felt,
I don't know if it was the accelerator vibes,
just vibing or whatever, I honestly hadn't even,
I didn't even know what we did was deep work
until I just watched the content like three minutes ago.
So it turns out that's what I did.
So osmosis is already happening.
So I'm excited about that
and now I've taken the content this week
and run with that because she's offline all week
and so that's why we kind of front loaded last week
with working with her and now I'm gonna take this week
and start to actually like map out my thing
and the whole buckets thing.
Like, I mean, I've been a Rainmakers forever.
I've been hearing the people talking about the buckets
but the buckets never really kind of got into
and then now I've got the online aspect of things.
I've got my Amazon FBA and it's like,
my company is starting to develop like literal departments
and so the bucket thing is something that I like
really all of a sudden, you know,
like Wednesdays are gonna be for FBA
and I have a meeting every Wednesday morning
with my FBA management people
and then I have, you know, my deep work sessions
where I need to be doing the content on the coaching stuff
which is like actually what I do like well
and then Fridays are gonna be for the tech development people
for all the platform stuff and so it's like,
oh, this is how I'm gonna get this done.
Now I get it because when I'm thinking about it
all as one thing, I'm just like, you know,
it's just like the list gets really long
and it's just like, oh my God, I can't do all of this
and that whole piece of like,
like switching the cost switching
and like all of that is so real for me
because I also am a single mom with three kids
and they all started school this week too
and it was just like backpacks and new shoes
and what supplies do you need
and all this kind of ping ponging around
and so I think I always use the expression spinning plates
because that's what it feels like
and you know that like circus trick,
does everyone know what I'm talking about or yeah?
So it's just like, oh, you don't spin all six plates
at the same time, you just spin one
and you let the other one sit on the ground
where they're nice and safe
and then you finish with that one
and then you put it down and you get the other one
and I'm like, okay, I get it now.
Anyway, so that was sort of like a big moment
for me this week and just really starting to feel
like I'm getting into a rhythm and a flow
and that this is what I'm attempting to do is doable
if I do what I do.
Something I'll add and share too,
a month and a half ago, I read the book,
The 5am Club, has anybody read that book?
It's a good one for I think looking at
like one of the takeaways from that book
was manage your focus, not your time
and I think that that is like something
that really speaks to what was the content this week as well
and that getting up early in the morning
and I mean, in the 10 minutes that I've been here
and just the content.
10th this week, it's like everyone's saying, you know, I'm
my morning hours, those are the ones right. And so it's like,
okay, how am I capturing and preserving that it's called?
It's called the 5am club. Robin Sharma. It's really great.
There's lots of little nuggets of stuff. And it has like an
actual method and practice for like how to sort of implement
some of this focus management stuff. So anyways, a lot of what
was in the content this week really kind of leaned into that
idea also. So big wins, lots of light bulbs. And then on a
personal level, I made got my printer to work to print out the
worksheets. That's my personal win of the week. Because I have
a bad relationship with printers.
That's hilarious.
Anyway, that's, that's what happened this week.
Sean, can you share what book it was you mentioned? Also, you
mentioned a book you got, did you get a book or you're just
saying you got a notebook?
Notebook? Yeah, I just got, I got a notebook, which, you know,
for me, is I'm taking it, I'm taking this serious. This isn't
just something I wanted to coach or encourage my wife. I got the
notebook, because typically, you know, she would ask me, can you
do this for me? Can you do that for me? And now I'm just, you
know, I'm excited. I'm jumping in. And, you know, going outside
of the box, the way the box has been lately, and doing things
making phone calls for our business. And I really think
she needed, she really needed to hear me say, our business,
because it's, it's, it's always been, you know, my work, my
work, my work, her and my son had to work there, you know,
work their schedules around my schedule. And it's just, it's
going to be good for the family to be really good.
And I was wondering if you wanted to lay out, like, what is
office hours? What is office hours, not kind of like those
parameters, so everyone knows what to expect?
Yeah. Well, I mean, you guys can decide to you guys, the first
one's here, this can kind of be whatever you want it to be, do
you want it to be, like, actually get to know each other?
Like, what are you doing your free time? Who are you? So when
you go to the castle, it's like, Oh, my gosh, I already know you.
Is this like a way to connect with other business owners? And
it's not just like, technical strategy, q&a? Like, what do you
guys want from this? I'll open the floor for you guys first.
This is our ones random business questions.
Yeah, this is where we need Carrie, because she was
mentioning to me, Janine, are we going to have office hours like
we have with you in the inner circle? In my office hours, I've
got people on different levels. And I assume that here as well,
like different levels of business and just bouncing ideas
of people and getting other people's input, where it's not
just like, oh, we're in lesson one, week one. So I just
mentioned that because that's what's worked for our office
hours. Just different levels, bouncing ideas and getting to
know each other that way as well. Vicki, you can add to this if
you want.
Yeah, I've, I've part of Janine's office hours and Sean
and Carrie and, and that I've, I always enjoy showing up and
just, it's very informal. We all just share where we're at. We
have, we ask questions, we talk about this random topics based
on, you know, if somebody might bring up something they're
struggling with, then we'll just feed off of that from the group.
So it's just a, it's like we're sitting all at a coffee table
that we're going down to, you know, the coffee shop, and we're
just hanging out and talking about what's going on and with
what we're doing inner circle wherever we're at in the
Rainmaker journey and as entrepreneurs.
Christy, Corinne, any thoughts from you?
Yeah, just the same, just like to build community and
understand kind of where everybody else is coming from
and going to, and just knowing, like, you know, how you're
making your decisions, why you're making your decisions the
way you are, why it's like a good fit for you and your
business model. And then just like kind of having people to
ideas off of in an understanding, like, you know,
with my metrics and where I'm going, what other people might
say and do in my position.
you know, even like, it's like, this is where you click that button, like, this is how you find that.
Because I think sometimes, you know, just not having anybody else to ask those, like, quick
questions, but then also, like, the more, like, 10,000 feet kind of questions, it would just be
nice to have a place to go to, to talk to people about it. I don't really, like, my family is not
family of entrepreneurs, like, I don't have people who get me, like, while they are very supportive
family, and like, you can do anything you want, they're very risk averse, and very, like, maybe
just not, like, the people that you actually can talk to about entrepreneurship, so.
I'm just happy to see Vicky again. I missed Vicky. She, when we first started this,
we got so much information, so it's good to be back with you, Vicky. I'm super excited to see
you and Jerry here. That's awesome. She was on one of the office hours with Farah, I don't even know
how many months ago it was now, and I was just taking notes. I'm like, oh, okay, yes, this is good.
This is very good information, yeah. When did you launch your product, Vicky? We build friendships
with each other, because we're, they're helping each other out every week on the call, so.
I'm sorry, what was that, Christy? When did you launch your product, the bocce balls?
Yeah, bocce ball set, I launched last November, so it's going on. I'm preparing for the second Q4
already, and have placed my third full quarter, and every full quarter has been a little bit more,
and so looking forward to doing Q4 the second time. A little bit ahead of the game this time,
knowing what's coming. Have you made any product modifications,
whenever you did your next bulk order? No product modifications, specifically to the product,
other than I have a product insert inside the bocce ball set, where I have instructions in there,
and I have like a, my QR code goes somewhere, and I try the somewhere different every time.
I'm yet to get a click off of my QR code, so I'm going to do the third renovation of
the QR code landing page this time. Can you say if you have people landing on the page,
like are people scanning the code? No. They're not, they're not even scanning it?
No. Okay, I'm just curious. Have you verified that it works, though?
Have you verified that it actually works, like you got it from Amazon, whatever was actually,
like you got your product from Amazon, and verified whatever was in the box works?
Yeah, yeah, yeah. This time I'm giving them a 15% coupon code if they sign up, so,
but I only have one product, so hopefully they like it well enough to purchase it for a gift,
or a second one for a second home, or lake house, or beach, or wherever, but
I'll keep trying till one of them clicks.
I have a QR code on my product, too, and I'm shocked at how few people scan it,
so it's been a thing that I'm like, all right, well, it's there, it's fine, and honestly,
it was meant more to be a place for them to find their way to the instructions on
how to like specifically set it up, and I'm shocked how many people will go out of their
way to send me a message going, the straws don't fit, when the QR code that shows them
how the straws fit is right on the package, it's for use in insertion instructions, anyway,
that's, what are you going to do? I did print out the instructions for them, thinking, okay,
well, I'll give them that, but then, well, I ended up producing an entire instructional video
that now lives right on the listing, so people can't, sometimes you got to resort to those
fine, it was actually, it was needed, it was a common feedback, so it was a good thing to do,
so I think someone just said, what's your products? My product, I have two products, I have a,
they're both in the baby niche, I have a Honey Bear Straw Cups, it's a baby sippy cup that's
designed for two purposes.
oral muscular therapies for kids
with oral muscular developmental issues and speech issues.
And then it also doubles as a straw learning cup
for a young baby.
So you can teach a baby as young as four to six months old
how to use a straw.
So, and it's specially designed.
It was a product that I used with my kids
for years and years and years,
but I always cursed the design
because no one had actually taken the cup
and properly designed it into a proper cup.
It was just medical tubing that was stuck down the hole
of like what is a honey bear, right?
With the lid that flips.
And so I redesigned the lid and then patented my design.
So, and then a bunch of people copied my design
and then now I have to get them removed
and then they came back and, you know, Amazon.
So I have that.
And then I also have just like a little
stainless steel mini masher that I sell
that I sell it and I brand it and market it on Amazon
under like baby food masher keywords.
I'm on potato masher,
but it's such a huge expensive keyword to be on.
I'm constantly conflicted as to whether
I really want to be there or not.
Eats all my PPC.
Follow the data.
So what works?
The data's good, but it's still, it's just like,
ugh, how many people are clicking?
And then it's a small, it's a little masher
and people are like, it's so small, but it's mighty.
Anyway.
Did you say you got a patent on your design?
I have a design patent, yes.
Okay, so the people who copied it,
are you able to like patent infringement?
Yeah.
Stuff, okay.
Yep.
Serious.
It sounds much easier than it is.
I bet.
I had them, we took forever to pursue it.
The design patents don't qualify
for the apex process on Amazon.
And so you just have to do like an infringement report,
but like the products, the copycats are,
if they're not making them at my manufacturer in China,
I'd be shocked.
But like, if you put them beside, up side by side,
and then I close my eyes, they're identical.
And the number of times that Amazon has come back saying,
they're not substantially similar.
And I'm like, I need to talk to a person
with eyeballs and a brain.
I was like, I cannot deal with the robots at Amazon.
And so, it's just a process.
It's a lesson that when you've been doing Amazon this long,
it's like, you just kind of know,
it's a bit of a slog sometimes to sort of get beyond the wall
of sort of the mechanisms that have set up
to manage the volume of stuff that they have coming in.
And so you just have to kind of be persevere with it.
And so we got 60% of the listings taken down in June.
And then last week,
they all went back up again for some reason.
So we're just gonna keep going.
Yeah, it's interesting.
What's that?
It keeps life interesting, keeps you on your toes, right?
You almost need to design a little bot
that's gonna just scour Amazon for any copycats.
It sounds like you have so many.
Right now, I'm the bot.
And the good news is, is that my keyword's very niche.
The competition is very small.
It's really one seller that's taking,
that's undercut my price by half
and is taking with a copy of my design.
And so, I went as far as to duplicating an application
for the patent in China
so that they wouldn't be able to block me from exporting,
even if I got them off here.
So, it's a process.
The good news is, is that the two months
that I had 60% of their listings,
not even 100% of their listings,
my sales tripled overnight.
So it's a huge piece of market share
and it's worth the time and energy to do it.
And once I can get them off permanently,
I'm anticipating a pretty good recovery.
Worth it.
Carrying on, perseverance is the lesson.
I wanna know what everyone's products are.
I mean- Yeah, me too.
Told her products, Vicky said she's got the bocce balls.
What is, I think, Chris,
you've mentioned it before, but I forget.
It's a stainless steel lunchbox,
like a bento box for smaller kids,
the younger age bracket.
My product that I'm about to launch
is a titanium cutting board
that comes with a silicone mat
that goes underneath the board
so it doesn't slide on the counter.
Why titanium?
So, I personally was looking for something that wasn't wood because my family got really
mold sick from a home we were living in a couple years ago, like really, really mold
sick.
And now, even the, like the, I just, I am mold paranoid, basically.
So like wood stuff in the kitchen, if you're not, found out if you're not regularly like
oiling your cutting boards and your wooden utensils, it's really easy for bacteria and
mold to get trapped in there.
And I have a son who's immunocompromised from cancer treatment, actually.
So it's like more than just being paranoid at this point.
And the titanium is like naturally antimicrobial, even though you can't say that in your listing
because it gets the pesticide flag.
So it's like more hygienic.
So yeah, I just was looking for something for my family and, oh, and so I asked a local
store here.
I was like, you know, how do I make sure that my wood cutting boards and my wood utensils
are like safe to use?
Because the woman at the store was like, I hate those titanium cutting boards, they'll
ruin your knives.
She was like, you need to be like oiling your stuff every week or two weeks.
And I was like, I'm a busy mom, like I'm lucky if I'm oiling it maybe once or twice a year.
So then it just was out of necessity.
And then it was kind of also trending when I started looking into it last year.
The data only goes back to May of last year.
So it's kind of a newer product and yeah.
So I took it a step further and was looking, there are a significant number of searches
for titanium cutting board made in the USA specifically.
There's like over 4,000 searches a month for one that's made in the USA and nobody's selling
one yet.
So that is likely going to be my second product.
If I can find a manufacturer who's willing to do the low MOQ, it's extremely expensive.
Like I'm actually getting a sample from a manufacturer finally, but I had to source
the titanium from the United States from one company, have it sent to the manufacturer.
They're making it, but I'm also having the packaging made in the USA.
So the whole thing is going to say 100% made in the USA.
So yeah, so hopefully that one will be worthwhile.
It's kind of a gamble because in order to turn a profit on that, I have to sell the
cutting board for over $100 a unit.
So I did an IntelliVie poll thinking like maybe I'd get like 5% to 10% of people would
say they'd be willing to pay that amount of money for a cutting board because of the made
in the USA label.
It was like 43% of people said they'd be willing to pay almost $180 for a cutting board.
And the comments across the board were like, you have to do made in the USA.
Anytime you get the opportunity made in the USA, you buy it.
I'm just like, okay, I guess this is worth pursuing at least getting samples made and
seeing if it can even happen.
So that's where I'm at with that one.
What's the thickness of the cutting board?
So the one that 1.5 millimeters is what we're doing.
I bought some competitors online and the ones that were like a millimeter or less, they
feel really flimsy.
So, you know, if you have a flat countertop surface or you're using the silicone mat,
it does okay.
But if you have even like the slightest, like say your towel is like accidentally underneath
of your board, it's like bouncing while you're chopping on it.
And then two millimeters feels really good in hand, like it's really thick and sturdy.
But then it costs a lot more per unit to make.
And a lot of these people who are out to like the getcha sort of people in your comment
or like in your reviews, there are a lot of people trolling competitors in this product
saying like, this isn't real titanium.
This is stainless steel.
It's way too heavy to be titanium.
And so I didn't want it to actually feel too heavy in hand because I didn't want a bunch
of people being like, there's no way this is titanium in my reviews.
My apologies.
So yeah, so 1.5 and I'm going to do that for the made in the USA one too, because I don't
I don't want it to feel cheap in hand and like bendable and stuff.
And then I've got a couple other ideas.
We'll see, I haven't ordered samples for any of them.
Yeah, but I feel like if I get, my goal is to hire,
I might do a job post on Handshake,
see if I can get somebody who's like fresh out of college
interested in helping like a startup company.
Because I have a lot of ideas
and I like that part of the business.
I like the product research, I like sourcing,
I like envisioning what the company can be.
But when it comes to like the nitty gritty
of sitting at the computer and like dialing and numbers
and collecting data and VPC and all that stuff,
that's where I just, I like glaze over.
Can't get myself motivated to do any of that part.
Can't get myself to even watch,
like getting myself to even watch the modules on that
is like pulling teeth, so.
Yeah.
Perhaps a business partner down the road.
What's that?
Perhaps a business partner down the road.
Yeah.
We'll see.
I think there's so much room for,
take this out, it's bothering me.
There's so much room for the different paths
that it's exciting.
But I have to be really careful not to like
look at every single path obsessively
and try to figure out where I'm supposed to go next
or I get like so overwhelmed that I freeze.
I know that's one of my downsides.
And I think that it has to do with more of like
what's also gone on in my personal life
over the last few years.
Just like feeling really easily overwhelmed.
So that's when I usually email Jenna.
What do I do?
I have to say, when you sent me the photos
of your cutting board, like I absolutely love them.
Like the bright, they look super high end.
Like if that, even if that was your American cutting board,
I'd be like, oh yeah, I would pay that money for it.
Like they're so good.
Your photographer was fantastic.
Yeah, Erica, she's actually a mom friend of mine
here in Madison and she,
that's one of the big things on my plate this week
is she's moving to back to Columbia in a few months.
And she's like, hey, before I go,
if you wanna do a bunch of videos,
create a bunch of content,
and then we can work on social media accounts,
websites and stuff for you.
Let's do that.
Like let's do that now while I'm in town and before I leave.
But I am hesitant because I don't like,
I don't know if I need to rebrand
before I have all these things done.
Is Sunray Life like really the right name for this company
if I'm gonna launch a bunch of products?
So this is where I'm starting,
my wheels start turning and then I don't do anything
cause I'm like, what do I,
what's actually the right move here?
So, or like, do I really need to spend
the amount of money on this right now?
Is this, am I putting the cart in front of the horse
thinking like I need to build up
and do all of these things now?
So, it's a lot to think about.
Our, I guess I'll jump in.
Our product is dog treats.
My wife's business has been organic dog treats.
She's been hitting all the markets,
the farmers markets, all of those.
And she's gotten a high class line of repeat customers.
But it just was really a time suck.
And I got tired of being free labor.
I was the one that set the tents up and things like that.
So, we started off with a travel bag,
got it manufactured in China
and had an inspection company do a 100% inspection.
And we had a thousand bags made
and I believe 280 of them were no good.
So, just completely lost faith in that company.
The contact person, she was phenomenal on it,
just got all the answers.
But the factory itself wasn't real impressive.
So, we just kept trying to shove the square peg
through the round hole.
And then finally, Carrie kind of put her foot down.
She's like, why are we ignoring this business?
So, trying to come up with a way to grow it
by being able to sell more,
goods online. So I'm thinking, okay, you know, this, you know, you go on Amazon and you say,
you know, something that I think is just a strange idea. You go on Amazon and like somebody's selling
2,000 of them a month and you're like, okay, I guess this kind of is a thing. So, you know,
start off with co-manufacturers. Well, first of all, they're in the United States. So, you know,
you're not, you know, there's somebody that, you know, and there's a lot of co-manufacturers,
I jump back to that part. So one that chat GBT threw out at me, get online, really liked them.
It looks really cool. Look at the address and they're 45 minutes away from our house.
I mean, it's right down the street. So it's just like
for this to be our first go, we already know what didn't work. And I really feel like if we took
that bag and said, okay, let's go to the next factory and get those things right. I really
feel like we would be second guessing every decision we made. So now taking this new approach
was something like, you know, our kitchen turns into a bakery once a week. So now we're going
into a field that, you know, my wife knows inside and out. She knows the right products.
She's got some killer ideas, you know, multiple things that could be, you know, sold online.
It's just, it's the right first product. So pretty much not going to get our deposit back.
So we learned basically a $3,000 lesson in what we don't want to do. So that's our story.
Did you go to the place 45 minutes from you yet?
Not yet. I just started as soon as we decided we were getting on this.
Yeah, I keep referring to Janine, but Janine put probably what was taking me five or six months,
she kind of said, shoot or get off the pot. Had a pretty hardcore session for about 15,
20 minutes. And then I saw the light. So this all pretty much started last week.
Um, you know, she's like, you know, quit looking for something that's not there right now.
Get on track with something you have. You know, these, she's like, and if you do find something
else, you know, this circle can help you with anything. And then, like I said, I just
started listening to my wife a little bit.
Oh, you froze. I'm going to see you frozen for anybody else. Oh, shoot. Okay.
We'll see if he comes back.
So what's anybody working on? What kind of questions do you have? What kind of feedback
do you want? Anything from anybody?
I'd love to know, like, how do I how do I know if I should rebrand?
I, I feel like I kind of ended up settling on the name of my brand
and the colors in a way that was more like, just get it done than
honing in on something that would really make sense and feel the most marketable, I guess.
So the, so the brand is Sunray Life and my logo is like,
uh, like a bronze outline of the sun on the horizon. And, um, because I didn't really know
what sort of products I would be developing, but I knew I wanted it to be in like the home
goods market, like anywhere from like diaper bags to kitchen supplies to dryer balls to like,
whatever it could be. So, um, when I was like, just typing things in, like asking chat GPT for ideas,
ended up getting narrowed down to that. And then based on trademarking what was available. So
yeah. What, what sort of questions would you be asking yourself if you were like,
eek, before I launch any more than this one product I have, how do I know if I should rebrand?
Who is your audience?
I know this is to be dialed down yet, but it's looking like it's probably middle-aged
women of higher socioeconomic status, or men, like householders, basically, but more likely
women.
So, like, upper-middle-class women who like to do things around the home?
Yeah.
Like, I mean, if one of my products is going to be an outrageously priced cutting board,
I feel like I'm definitely not, it's not, the brand is probably not going to be, like,
the brand that's selling the lowest-priced thing, right?
So that, I think that's as far as I've gotten with identifying who the target person is.
And I feel like identifying a target person is such a weird concept to me, because I feel
like all the reasons I chose a product to create and sell were based on data, not based
on the target person, right?
I pulled data to see, like, what was selling, what had all these, like, high search volumes,
low competition, low reviews, all that, like, that has had nothing to do with a target person.
So then, now, when I'm, like, honing in on a target person, that's obviously related
to the brand, but how do I tie that in with the fact that I settled on this product for
different reasons?
My opinion, since you, like, already have your product on the boat, like, getting ready
to get checked into Amazon, it just seems to me that you're talking about branding as
a distraction from learning your PPC stuff, and, like, you just need to focus on, like,
your storefront setup, PPC, SEO, all of that, and then you can, like, hire a store manager
off of Fiverr or the Philippines website.
You can just get an Amazon store manager to manage all that on the back end after you
launch and, like, you know, start making revenue, but it seems to me, not knowing more than
just this whole conversation we've had today, that if your friend is offering to help you
create content, you should create the content, and then in the future, if you have to rebrand,
just hire somebody to Photoshop it for you and put the new brand on whatever she creates
for you, because then you have what you need to do your advertising and you have the time
to look at your SEO, your PPC, and then just defer the branding decision until you're ready
to, like, actually place an order for your next product.
Yeah.
I guess I'm worried that if I don't make this decision now, that I'd get to the point of
being ready to place another order for something, and then it's like, wait, you know, screech,
put on the brakes, now do we need to rebrand?
I feel like I, to me, it just feels like, okay, this is something that's going to have
to be looked at in the future.
Why not look at it now so that all the packaging and everything can be made correctly right
off the bat?
And then I only have this one product to alter in any way.
Do you have data that says that your target demographic doesn't like your brand?
No.
And that's one of the questions that I think I'm looking for.
Maybe you need to do, like, another IntelliView poll or just, like, go to where your local
people who have high incomes hang out and ask them what they think of the branding,
you know?
Just to, like, say, is this something you need to prioritize or not?
Mm-hmm.
Just, like, I don't, I kind of agree with Christy, too, and almost the inner circle
has kind of made part of why we're here, too, is just to learn how to build our business
and kind of help us with the right path to take.
You know, before we started this class, I did the Media Master, Media Master, Mastery?
Something like that?
Media Channel Mastery.
Thank you.
And then I did the Brand Building course.
I don't know if you've done either.
there of those. But I tell you, when I started out, my brand is
Bolivic. I started out just like you did, right? I picked just
based on search volume, I did a DFOI, done for you product. And
so that's how I started. I didn't know how I was going to
reach the right audience with a bocce ball set and how I was
going to expand that. But when I did those trainings, I'm now
going to launch a different, a new kind of a brand, I guess, on
social media called Addie & Lou. And I'm going to focus on moms
and memories and time with your kids. And so I'm taking a little
bit of a turn and a twist a little bit from where I thought
I was going to be. So my point is, is that I think as we go on
this journey, we're going to have all kinds of lights go on
of how to build our brand. And honestly, that the first product
is such a learning experience from learning the whole process
of launching a product. So I would personally just keep
going. I don't know if I'm going to keep Bolivic on my bocce ball
set. And you know, I plan on launching maybe future games
with light bocce ball sets, you know, just to kind of make it I
made fun colored balls. I mean, I my vision is to kind of make
games look fun for the family and, and kind of bring that
aspect in it when you're bringing some people together
family together to play. But Addie & Lou and Bolivic don't
even sound anything alike. Am I going to rebrand to Addie & Lou?
Right now, I don't know. I don't know where it's gonna go. But
I'm going to kind of start dabbling over here and see where
this goes. I'm seeing the whole, you know, stem to stern, you
could say of launching a product on Amazon. I'm already on bulk
order three. I may go back and rebrand it. I don't I don't know.
And I think my thought would just to keep going. Just just
I don't think your brand name is that bad, really, for what you're
launching. I think it's fine to keep going. It's not that crazy
off. I like it. So just keep trusting yourself. If we keep
questioning ourselves, which we do on this journey, I've asked
Janine, like I've done this 100 times, like questioning myself.
And every time we do, I think we hit a wall, we hit some kind of
roadblock, wherever we are, as we go down this journey. And we
have to decide what we're going to do with that roadblock. Are
we going to chop it down and move forward? Or are we going to
kind of go around it and divert it and go a different direction
or around it? So what I've learned is this is just an
entrepreneurial journey is how to take what are we going to do
with this roadblock? When these things come, we don't always
have to attack them now. So I would ask you is now the right
time to address that? Or maybe it's just to finish, just learn
the launching process, because there's still a lot more to
learn. You know, to launch the listing and do the images and
the graphics and you know, the Amazon store and the shipping
and there's lots to learn. Just go ahead and learn it. That
product will always be there. And it sounds like a wonderful
product. And then when you're done with this journey, I think
your ideas are going to evolve even more. Because just the two
things I've done even week one, like I've already learned so
many things on this inner circle journey, and we haven't just
only begun. So that's just my two cents worth.
I love that. If I can jump in quick to and just add my my two
cents. I feel like you're talking about the name of your
company and your logo, but you keep using the word brand. And I
think it's a really important thing when we're thinking about
branding. That is not just the name of the company and your
logo and the colors you chose. Your brand is your story. Your
brand is the way you shoot the pictures. Your brand is how you
write your copy. Your brand is how you curate your social media
and all of your things like that. It's a feeling your brand
creates a feeling, right? If you remove the logo and the name
from a Nike ad, you'd probably know it was a Nike ad. Right?
Like, think about those kinds of things. And your logos in the
name of your company, you can change that anytime you want to
pretty simple, simply, what really matters is how you're
creating the overall assets of your company to feel the way
you want it to feel to the
people you're trying to sell it to.
So, if you want it to feel expensive,
make sure the pictures look really good
and take your friend up on her offer
and take some really expensive looking pictures
and whatever money you were gonna spend
to do a new logo and new colors,
put that money into getting some really nice
high-end accessories for the backgrounds of your pictures
and make it feel like the people
and everything in that image that's there
with your product is something someone
who would spend a lot of money on things looks like.
That doesn't mean you have to spend a lot of money on it,
you just have to have that,
it just has to give that feel, you know?
If you want your brand to be fun and for kids,
you want it to look that way, you know?
It's like branding is not just logos and colors
and the name of your company.
I mean, look at all the names of the companies on Amazon
that are selling lots of money.
They have zero branding,
they have zero name of their company.
I mean, one of the people I'm trying to take down,
it's a joke with my Amazon team
because it's literally not a word, it's just eight letters.
It's like K-C-Y-V-S-J-W or something
and we laugh every time
because none of us even remember the name
of this stupid company, you know?
But they're selling a lot on Amazon, you know?
For different reasons,
they're going into a total data strategy,
we're building brands.
So it's, be careful of getting stuck in, you know,
the name and the logo and the colors of my company
are gonna make or break
whether I'm gonna sell my product.
It's not, there's so much more to it
that you can call your company whatever you want.
Pick your favorite colors, you know?
Like, more importantly for a logo
is a logo that's really easy to print on things
and that shows up and you can see it wherever you put it
and that it feels aligned
and that there's a story behind it.
People care about that,
especially for the small business US sellers on Amazon.
There's a, you know, there's a real trend
towards people who are looking for that.
So put that front and center, tell your story.
That's your brand, not your logo and your fonts and your,
that's, you know, that's an afternoon project at best.
You don't have to sweat that stuff too much at all.
It's not gonna make or break your business.
And I also found it interesting, Amara,
that you said you picked this product based on data
but then you had a very personal story
behind why you should have the product.
So like think of that story
and a lot of times we end up creating brands
and like our avatar is us.
So if you were thinking of other people like you
who I don't care if it's a $200 cutting board,
if it makes my son stay healthy, I'm gonna buy it.
And also I know it's gonna last for 20 years.
Where else would you shop?
Where else would that cutting board be?
And what kind of products,
what kind of brand and what kind of feeling
do those stores and the people who buy in those stores,
what are they after?
Cause you're not selling a titanium cutting board.
You are selling a healthy, what are you really selling?
I think that's the question.
And I think your branding that you've done so far
is absolutely fantastic.
Yeah.
I watched the $8 million webinar the other day
and was feeling a lot better about all of it from that
because I do feel like there definitely is a way
to create a feeling and a story.
I mean, I kind of have to
in order to sell at the certain price points.
It has to be emotion.
That's almost like emotion-based purchasing.
Right?
Like the people in the IntelliView poll said,
anytime you can buy made in the USA,
I don't care what price you have to spend.
Like that is, that's an emotion.
Like they felt really good about what that meant to them
to be able to override whatever the intended use
of the product was and just like buy something
off of what the box says, basically.
So this is really helpful.
Thank you all so much.
Really appreciate it.
I can't wait to hear Amara's after.
When you get a bit further down the road,
it's gonna be like, oh man, it was right here.
I love it.
I sure don't want it to finish.
So I lost my internet.
So I missed the first part of your thing,
but your cutting board,
it just seems so elevated.
Like, you know, we have wooden cutting boards
that were the same wooden cutting boards my parents had,
my grandparents had.
You seem like a product that nowadays,
Everybody's building these mega kitchens
and these super kitchens.
You know, we used to have a mixer in the drawer.
Now we have this KitchenAid blender that sits out.
So, you know, with like the baking sheets,
you know, it used to be you put tinfoil on a baking sheet.
Now we have these rubber things that we put on them.
So it just, it seems like your product
is something that's just moving
the whole kitchen experience forward.
You know, it's safer, more sanitary,
but it just seems like it's kind of evolution
of the cutting board.
So I just wanted to throw that in.
Thank you.
Yeah, that's really, really helpful.
I like that.
Nothing stops you from having a,
you've got this trademarked and you've got a product line.
And nothing stops you from having a social media presence
with a product that's product focused.
And then like Vicky, she's got Belovec.
It's a product focused page.
It's focusing only on the products,
but then she's really building up the story
and the experience with her brand.
And then they're going to cross reference.
So nothing, I always say what's serving you now,
is this a form of distraction now
where you could be moving other things forward?
And then if you're going to come back
and then it's going to be very quick to transition
if you have to, because you're going to have more clarity.
Right now, you're still in a little bit of this way,
that way, I'm not sure.
So by making this decision,
you might still be doubting anyway,
who says you're not going to rebrand in a month
or two months again.
So I would just wait.
I would just wait until you've got more clarity
like Vicky and Corinne and Jenna and everyone was saying.
I think everyone's sort of giving the same story.
Just go through all the steps
and then you're going to get the answers.
I can already see it.
Yeah, thank you.
Yeah, I think the options that were presented to me
by my friend, she was like,
well, we could work on building you a website
and just dialing and having a really good website.
And then you could work on having like third party
fulfilling orders from your website.
So you'd have that in addition to FBA
or we could build up your social media
and do TikTok shop and all that, or we could do both.
And I started like, it was again, like option overwhelm.
And then all of a sudden I was like, wait,
that seems like a lot to do and really quickly
if I'm like worried that I don't even have the right name
or anything like that.
And so then I like reeled myself all the way back
to like, did I even pick the right logo and the right name?
And then got caught there and was like,
I've got to talk to Jenna.
I got to talk to somebody about this.
And then luckily we had office hours today.
So I was like, if I get a chance to ask about this, I will.
So thank you for bringing me back to a workable place.
Awesome, that's exciting.
Yeah, thank you so much.
Well, glad you guys were able to hop on today.
We'll do this again next week
and see what other good conversations come up.
We'll see you guys on Thursday, hopefully.
See ya.
Bye.