build your profitable product business with mel robbins thelotco business podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

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In this episode, I chat with Rene Skelton of Concrete Jellyfish. 

We dive into the challenges of running a small business, to the unique ways Renee maintains her creativity.
We talk about the origins, growth, and innovations of her fashion accessories brand Concrete Jellyfish.
Rene shares insights about transitioning her business to Italy, the importance of community, dealing with production challenges, and her passion for creating handmade accessories. 
The episode also highlights her unique approach to product design, the balance between creativity and business operations, and the importance of setting proper pricing from the start. 

Overall, this episode offers an inspiring look at Rene's dedication to her craft and the personal touches that set Concrete Jellyfish apart.

We also find out how much Rene hates pop ups. And she wishes she started collecting emails a long time ago!

00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome

00:24 Challenges of Small Business and Motherhood

01:06 What is Concrete Jellyfish?

02:12 The Journey of Concrete Jellyfish

03:36 Building a Community Through Business

05:31 Moving the Business to Italy

06:43 Logistics and Operations

12:27 Creative Process and Design Inspiration

21:12 Wholesale vs. Direct-to-Consumer

25:49 Pricing for Sustainability

27:52 Investing in Quality Equipment

28:29 Innovative and Unique Creations

29:57 Building a Supportive Team

31:07 Marketing and Email Strategies

36:56 Balancing Work and Personal Life

43:56 Future Plans and New Ventures

47:54 Creating Joy and Excitement

You can check out Rene's instagram here @concretejellyfishco and her website at
https://concretejellyfish.co/ where her new collection has just been released.  Check out her innovative light weight hoops skins here

Support the show

I'm Mel Robbins! from @thelotco

Want a Roadmap to Building a Profitable Product Business head here for directions!

Looking for ongoing support to grow your brand and sell more of your product? Join the Product Business Growth Club here.

Find more details at https://www.thelotco.com.au/

Business Coach for product-based businesses. Teaching creative business women how to build a scalable and profitable million-dollar product business whether a physical Retail store or Brand.

Over 25 years as a Retail and Wholesale Strategist (Sales and Marketing for Brands).

Grab my 8 step checklist on building a profitable product business.

Send us a text

Anna Shipley, a Facebook ads expert, shares her journey and insights into running successful Facebook ads for e-commerce businesses. She emphasizes the importance of understanding your customer and having a well-designed website before starting Facebook ads. Anna also discusses the common mistakes people make with Facebook ads, such as constantly changing the ads and not having enough content. She highlights the need for consistency in social media and email marketing to support the ads. Anna advises businesses to carefully consider their budget and financial sustainability when running Facebook ads. The principal themes of the conversation are: 1) Riding the storms in Facebook ads, 2) Knowing your numbers and margins, 3) The importance of bundles, and 4) Investing in a Shopify website.

Takeaways

• Understanding your customer and having a well-designed website are crucial before starting Facebook ads.
• Consistency in social media and email marketing is essential to support Facebook ads.
• Avoid common mistakes like constantly changing ads and not having enough content.
• Carefully consider your budget and financial sustainability when running Facebook ads. Don't panic if your Facebook ads have a bad week or day, ride the storms and trust the process.
• Good margins are crucial for running successful Facebook ads and acquiring customers.
• Bundles can be a great strategy to increase revenue and profits, especially for low-priced products.
• Investing in a Shopify website is worth the cost as it integrates easily with other platforms and provides a user-friendly checkout experience.

Chapters

00:00
Introduction and Background

02:14
How Anna Got Started in Facebook Ads

03:57
Essentials Before Getting Started with Facebook Ads

05:45
The Importance of a Well-Designed Website

08:48
Monitoring Metrics and Optimizing Ads

11:35
The Role of Email Marketing and Social Media

14:11
Lessons Learned from Running Facebook Ads

18:18
Considering Budget and Financial Sustainability

20:19
Introduction and Lessons Learned

22:45
The Power of Bundling Products

26:05
Why Shopify is the Best Choice for E-commerce

31:06
The Cost of Doing Business

34:35
Building a Strong Foundation for Success

Facebook ads, e-commerce, customer understanding, website design, content creation, retargeting, metrics, budget, financial sustainability, Facebook ads, riding the storms, knowing your numbers, margins, bundles, Shopify website

Support the show

I'm Mel Robbins! from @thelotco

Want a Roadmap to Building a Profitable Product Business head here for directions!

Looking for ongoing support to grow your brand and sell more of your product? Join the Product Business Growth Club here.

Find more details at https://www.thelotco.com.au/

Business Coach for product-based businesses. Teaching creative business women how to build a scalable and profitable million-dollar product business whether a physical Retail store or Brand.

Over 25 years as a Retail and Wholesale Strategist (Sales and Marketing for Brands).

Grab my 8 step checklist on building a profitable product business.

Send us a text

Today’s special guest is, Dr. Ben Robbins.

I spoke about getting him on the podcast a few months ago and we finally we managed to record an episode. Ben is a Clinical Psychologist, and I wanted to bring him on to talk about limiting beliefs, negative self talk and how we can all work on our mental fitness.

Now I know the world of athletes and entrepreneurs can be very different, but they have one thing in common.. Mindset! You can’t be a successful athlete if your head isn’t in the game and you won’t be a successful business owner if you aren’t in the right headspace. 

 Ben’s expertise is in Mental Health and Wellbeing and he shares ways you can separate yourself from your limiting beliefs no matter who you are.

In this episode, we discuss all of the following:

01:52 What sort of work Ben does

03:43 What is mental fitness?

06:53 Reactive responding

11:05 Managing your mental fitness

15:59 Training your mind and inner dialogue

31:46 What type of clients does Ben work with?

34:22 The mental health continuum

Follow Ben on Instagram.

Connect with Ben on his website.

Support the show

I'm Mel Robbins! from @thelotco

Want a Roadmap to Building a Profitable Product Business head here for directions!

Looking for ongoing support to grow your brand and sell more of your product? Join the Product Business Growth Club here.

Find more details at https://www.thelotco.com.au/

Business Coach for product-based businesses. Teaching creative business women how to build a scalable and profitable million-dollar product business whether a physical Retail store or Brand.

Over 25 years as a Retail and Wholesale Strategist (Sales and Marketing for Brands).

Grab my 8 step checklist on building a profitable product business.

Send us a text

Gone are the days when you needed to post on your Instagram feed 3 times a day just to be seen (hello chronological feed 👋🏻).  Things have changed and you need to be changing too.

Now I know you don't want to be learning something new and I am the first to say stop chasing shiny objects (or squirrels as some like to say) but video and reels are here to stay.

If Instagram is where your audience hangs out and that is where their attention is  then you need to be there too and spend a bit of time getting your strategy right.

I dive into here what  your Instagram should look llike in 2021 and the importance of always evolving (and if that means learning reels then YES!!).

I have a list on my blog post that you can read here:
https://www.thelotco.com.au/2021/05/04/why-using-reels-should-be-part-of-your-instagram-strategy/

And a few of the people I mention in the podcast for inspiration you can find here:

https://www.instagram.com/thesocialimpact.au/

https://www.instagram.com/risewithreelscourse/

Hope this has given you a bit of inspiration and ideas on where to get started!!!
If you want to learn a bit more about how to actually create a Reel you can get a copy of my Reels tutorial here! Xxx 😘😘😘

You can find lots more infomration on my website at https://www.thelotco.com.au/ or follow on instgram @thelotco

#retailconsultant#mentoringforbusiness#retailing#increaseretailsales#increasewebtraffic#businesscoachmelbourne#wholesaletips#retailconsultantaustralia#growyourbusiness#savvybusinessowner#retailtipsmelbourn

Support the show

I'm Mel Robbins! from @thelotco

Want a Roadmap to Building a Profitable Product Business head here for directions!

Looking for ongoing support to grow your brand and sell more of your product? Join the Product Business Growth Club here.

Find more details at https://www.thelotco.com.au/

Business Coach for product-based businesses. Teaching creative business women how to build a scalable and profitable million-dollar product business whether a physical Retail store or Brand.

Over 25 years as a Retail and Wholesale Strategist (Sales and Marketing for Brands).

Grab my 8 step checklist on building a profitable product business.

Send us a text

What do you know about trade shows?  I am talking today with Flyn Roberts - Event Director of the boutique Australian trade show Life Instyle.  We talk about the why, what, and of course how to get into trade shows and also ensure you succeed while there!
Coronavirus and 2020 seriously interrupted many industries, and the events one was severely impacted and unfortunately continues to be.  Flyn and I talk about that and much more!!
Flyn leads a passionate and high performing team to deliver Australia's premier boutique retail trade shows; Life Instyle Sydney and Melbourne.
She has over 15yrs experience in the events world where she and her team consistently deliver innovation-rich, first-class events with passion and a customer-focused approach. 

As the Exhibition Director she is responsible for brand and product management, strategy development and execution, industry engagement, budget management, and creating superior solutions and experiences for our customers and community.

I hope you get lots of great information from our chat and if you want to get in touch with Flyn or find out about exhibiting at Life instyle you can reach her at: @life_instyle or https://www.lifeinstyle.com.au/.

You can also register for finding out about my Trade Show bootcamp here and the essentials you need to know before exhibiting. 

Thank you so much for listening to thelotco business podcast.  If you enjoyed this episode please make sure you subscribe to receive future episodes as they are released and I'd be so so grateful for a review on Apple podcast.

You can find out more about thelotco at @thelotco or https://www.thelotco.com.au/

Support the show

I'm Mel Robbins! from @thelotco

Want a Roadmap to Building a Profitable Product Business head here for directions!

Looking for ongoing support to grow your brand and sell more of your product? Join the Product Business Growth Club here.

Find more details at https://www.thelotco.com.au/

Business Coach for product-based businesses. Teaching creative business women how to build a scalable and profitable million-dollar product business whether a physical Retail store or Brand.

Over 25 years as a Retail and Wholesale Strategist (Sales and Marketing for Brands).

Grab my 8 step checklist on building a profitable product business.

Send us a text

I am so excited to welcome Jenn Donovan to the podcast today to chat all about keeping it simple with your marketing!!

Jenn is a self-proclaimed marketing nerd, but really is a gun when it comes to social media and marketing your business.
We chat today all about how marketing and social media can help your brand, some tips on what is happening in 2021 and beyond.

Jenn works with small businesses throughout Australia and helps guide them through their marketing.  We both have a background in Retail and branding and chat about how to help businesses navigate what is often overcomplicated but does not need to be!

Jenn also runs the facebook group Like Minded Business Owners on facebook and is starting to get addicted to chatting in Clubhouse ; )

 You can find out more about Jenn and Social media and Marketing at @smallbusinessmadesimple and check out her courses and services at  https://socialmediaandmarketing.com.au/

Thank you so much for listening to thelotco business podcast.  If you enjoyed this episode please make sure you subscribe to receive future episodes as they are released and I'd be so so grateful for a review on Apple podcast.

You can find out more about thelotco at @thelotco or https://www.thelotco.com.au/

Support the show

I'm Mel Robbins! from @thelotco

Want a Roadmap to Building a Profitable Product Business head here for directions!

Looking for ongoing support to grow your brand and sell more of your product? Join the Product Business Growth Club here.

Find more details at https://www.thelotco.com.au/

Business Coach for product-based businesses. Teaching creative business women how to build a scalable and profitable million-dollar product business whether a physical Retail store or Brand.

Over 25 years as a Retail and Wholesale Strategist (Sales and Marketing for Brands).

Grab my 8 step checklist on building a profitable product business.

Send us a text

Here we are kicking off season 2 of the podcast.

What do you get when you combine someone passionate about sustainability, a school excursion, and a can-do attitude?  Rolla Bottle!!!  The coolest reusable water bottle that rolls up when empty.

Katy Reed is someone who wants to Stop the Madness of single-use plastic bottles and contribute to the clean-up solution!!!

Do you have an issue with the amount of single-use plastic water bottles that are out there polluting the environment?

Well, Katy Reed did!!  Rolla Bottle is an Australian start-up that is working hard to provide an alternative to the single use plastic bottle that is not only super functional and easy to carry around but super colourful (appealing to my love of colour) and customisable too!!!!

Rolla Bottle was launched with a mission to help rid the world of single-use plastic bottles and to be part of the plastic pollution clean-up solution.  Listen to Katy's story here today and we dive into how she started, some tips for those who are heading into new product territory now, and what is up with that jellyfish ;)

 You can find out more about Katy and Rolla Bottle at @rollabottle and check out her customized bottles to stop the waste at https://www.rollabottle.com.au/ 

Support the show

I'm Mel Robbins! from @thelotco

Want a Roadmap to Building a Profitable Product Business head here for directions!

Looking for ongoing support to grow your brand and sell more of your product? Join the Product Business Growth Club here.

Find more details at https://www.thelotco.com.au/

Business Coach for product-based businesses. Teaching creative business women how to build a scalable and profitable million-dollar product business whether a physical Retail store or Brand.

Over 25 years as a Retail and Wholesale Strategist (Sales and Marketing for Brands).

Grab my 8 step checklist on building a profitable product business.

Send us a text

Buying and Selling and all the in-betweens episode.  Covering times on the buying calendar and when stores will be doing their buying.

In this episode  I dive into when buyers spend time buying what it looks like for different industries and the difference between boutiques and department store buying and what the heck does indent mean!! 

 Of course, this means covering off when you should do your selling then to match!!

 I work with a lot of brands and also work with a lot of retail stores.  They are my main two types of clients.  

 One of the questions that comes up for brands and new product-based businesses and is something that is covered in my wholesale group program more intensively is the buying cycle.

 I will run through that here today as well as the fine line between balancing stock as a retailer and how to manage your buying.

Thank you so much for listening to thelotco business podcast.  If you enjoyed this episode please make sure you subscribe to receive future episodes as they are released and I'd be so so grateful for a review on Apple podcast.

You can find out more about thelotco at @thelotco or https://www.thelotco.com.au/

Support the show

I'm Mel Robbins! from @thelotco

Want a Roadmap to Building a Profitable Product Business head here for directions!

Looking for ongoing support to grow your brand and sell more of your product? Join the Product Business Growth Club here.

Find more details at https://www.thelotco.com.au/

Business Coach for product-based businesses. Teaching creative business women how to build a scalable and profitable million-dollar product business whether a physical Retail store or Brand.

Over 25 years as a Retail and Wholesale Strategist (Sales and Marketing for Brands).

Grab my 8 step checklist on building a profitable product business.

Send us a text

What is a customer journey or customer map?? 

What is the difference between customer experience and just customer service?

Today I want to talk to you a little bit about the customer journey and customer experience.

And how important it is for your business that you have considered this.  I am really focusing on here product-based businesses, e-commerce store, and bricks and mortar stores.

 The past few months I have bought a few things online (well more than a few…. but anyway, let’s not get into that) and now also starting to go into stores a little more and the importance of this has really hit home.

Every touchpoint that a customer has with your brand is crucial that it aligned and considered.

The customer journey starts from the first experience or exposure they have and ends with that last piece of communication you have with them (and then really starts all over again!).

You should be able to map out every touchpoint a customer has with your brand.

Listen here for what the important aspects are on mapping the customer journey and what things you can improve to ensure the customer experience is a positive one!!

Thank you so much for listening to thelotco business podcast.  If you enjoyed this episode please make sure you subscribe to receive future episodes as they are released and I'd be so so grateful for a review on Apple podcast.

You can find out more about thelotco at @thelotco or https://www.thelotco.com.au/

thelotco FB COMMUNITY: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thelotcobizgroup

thelotco INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/thelotco/https://www.instagram.com/thelotco/

thelotco SHOWNOTES: https://www.thelotco.com.au/podcast/

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Support the show

I'm Mel Robbins! from @thelotco

Want a Roadmap to Building a Profitable Product Business head here for directions!

Looking for ongoing support to grow your brand and sell more of your product? Join the Product Business Growth Club here.

Find more details at https://www.thelotco.com.au/

Business Coach for product-based businesses. Teaching creative business women how to build a scalable and profitable million-dollar product business whether a physical Retail store or Brand.

Over 25 years as a Retail and Wholesale Strategist (Sales and Marketing for Brands).

Grab my 8 step checklist on building a profitable product business.

Send us a text

Welcome to thelotco business podcast.  I am so excited to bring you this special guest today.  Jules Laidlaw from The Clay Society is making a big impact on the world of ceramics as well as helping support Aboriginal communities with her social impact and connections with The Remote Laundries.  
You can listen to this podcast on your favourite app.

As it mentions on her website over at The Clay Society they are Getting Their Hands Dirty For Purchase With Purpose. Positive social impact to Indigenous communities is the heart within our studio, and creates a strong purpose behind getting our hands dirty.  Each product sold supports cleaning washing to remote aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory.

Listen to todays episode to hear more about how Jules changed from a career in Nursing to  attending a ceramics class and now building a business that still allows her to make an impact and help others.

Thank you for joining me her Jules.

I hope you enjoy this episode.

You can find out more about Jules and The Clay Society here and follow Jules and her journey on instagram at @the_clay_society. 

As well as learn more or support The Remote Laundries.

Thank you so much for listening to thelotco business podcast.  If you enjoyed this episode please make sure you subscribe to receive future episodes as they are released and I'd be so so grateful for a review on Apple podcast.

You can find out more about thelotco at @thelotco or https://www.thelotco.com.au/

Support the show

I'm Mel Robbins! from @thelotco

Want a Roadmap to Building a Profitable Product Business head here for directions!

Looking for ongoing support to grow your brand and sell more of your product? Join the Product Business Growth Club here.

Find more details at https://www.thelotco.com.au/

Business Coach for product-based businesses. Teaching creative business women how to build a scalable and profitable million-dollar product business whether a physical Retail store or Brand.

Over 25 years as a Retail and Wholesale Strategist (Sales and Marketing for Brands).

Grab my 8 step checklist on building a profitable product business.