Oct 3, 2019
People often ask Minna Khounlo-Sithep and Jacqueline Snyder from The Product Boss how they put their product in front of potential customers. How do you sell a product without being pushy? The short answer is in your content creation. Listen to this episode as the three of us chat about creating great content for a product-based business.
Both women have extensive backgrounds in product sales. After years in corporate graphic design, Minna created Lil’ Labels—reusable labels for baby bottles that are writable and washable. Jacqueline has been in the fashion industry for over 20 years, helping over 1,000 entrepreneurs launch Fashion Apparel and Accessory companies.
Outline of This Episode
- [1:40] ‘The Laura Johnson’ Listener shoutout
- [2:50] Minna Khounlo-Sithep and Jacqueline Snyder’s stories
- [7:10] How did Minna and Jacqueline meet?
- [11:10] Questions people ask when building a product-based business
- [12:52] The 3 C’s of content creation
- [21:50] Start building an email subscription list
- [25:45] What should I start with?
- [28:20] Finding writers at an affordable price
- [33:40] Overcome excuses and set goals
How The Product Boss Podcast was born
Jacqueline heard Minna mentioned on a podcast and knew she was an Amazon expert. She was looking to clear out her inventory of a product. So she reached out to Minna to see if Amazon would be a good medium for that. As Minna answered her questions they began to chat back and forth on Voxer, often using the full 15 minutes allotted on the app for a message.
Jacqueline invited Minna to Los Angeles to be the Amazon expert on a speaking panel. They’re both Mom’s, both entrepreneurs, and they both speak “product”. They connected well and knew they could develop something together and not get sick of each other. So the Product Boss Podcast was born!
The 3 C’s of Content Creation
Recently, their listeners have been asking for content ideas—how to place their product in front of potential customers without constantly pushing sales (such as through ads). So Minna and Jacqueline developed three points of communication through content.
- Calendar: Put out content that correlates to holidays—real or made-up (i.e. National Dog Day). Or you write a piece of content that relates to something that is trending (Game of Thrones, anyone?).
- Conversational: This can easily be done on social media. You can ask questions or post a poll, but the goal is a short and engaging call-to-action.
- Cornerstone Content: These are typically blog-style posts on your website that describe your mission, values, and vision. They can be how-to posts, industry facts, case studies, testimonials and much more.
Above all, they recommend being consistent with your content. If you’re short on time, identify where your core customer is and focus your effort there. Minna and Jacqueline go into detail on this topic—if it piques your interest, keep listening!
Your list is your greatest asset
Building an email list for your product and website is the #1 thing you can do to connect with your customers. The platform you sell on is never guaranteed and Amazon’s algorithm can be fickle. The best way to build your business is to focus on funneling clients to your website.
Make your call-to-actions geared towards signing up for your email subscription or offer 20% off if they join your email list.
You are building an asset with every single piece of content you put out. Having customers on your email list is your best opportunity to connect with them and engage. Take advantage of whatever platform suits your product best—and push them to subscribe. If you have to start anywhere, make it here.
Can you outsource the writing process?
As an entrepreneur, it can be hard to find the time to post on social media or write content for your website. So what do you do? Outsource.
Jacqueline isn’t able to write consistently, so she often uses services such as Upwork or Free-Up. She sets the structure for what she wants and provides the keyword research and lets her freelancer handle it from there.
Minna hired a “Mom-blogger” to write posts for her in batches, usually around 9 articles at a time. She’ll let her blogger know the style she is going for her and points her towards other articles for inspiration. Once the posts are done Minna will go in and edit the post to fit her voice.
Both strategies work well and can be great options for busy entrepreneurs who want to put out great content but don’t have the time to do it themselves. Kevin, Minna, and Jacqueline cover this topic in-depth, as well as setting goals and overcoming excuses. Don’t miss it!
Resources & People Mentioned
- The Product Boss
- The Product Boss Free PDF
- The Multistream Machine
- Lil’ Labels
- Designer Consulting Co-op
- Voxer
- Flocksy
- Upwork
- Fiverr
- FreeUp
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