How to Sell Online

Latest Episodes:

How Kati's Been Able To Get Influencers Pounding On Her Door Dec 24, 2019

Show notes

In this episode, I share with you the story of Kati Evans - how these last seven months have completely changed her life. Kati talks about the switch from the work of setting up a boutique every month and bringing her inventory out - something she didn’t love - versus focusing on a product that she loves, and working at home.

This business-building hasn't just changed her bank account. It is giving her so much more. As she gushes: “If I was still doing boutiques, I would've never had the opportunity to actually create a product and just going through that process. And so it's changed my life financially, but it's changed my life to where I'm learning so much.”

She goes on: “I'm learning to be creative and I'm learning how to run a business and so more than just the financial end, it's really given me this sense of importance and belonging of something that I truly value.” No wonder then, that she effuses: “Oh, it's amazing. E-commerce is just amazing.”

Stay tuned as in this episode, not only will you get to hear how she's been able to get influencers pounding on her door, but also the ripple effect that her product is creating. You'll also hear us talking about a challenge that I put on called The 21 Days to Find your Perfect Product this last fall. This challenge completely changed how Kati thinks about herself.

Key Points of Discussion:

It was getting exhausting, so Kati wanted to get into e-commerce (4:35)
She sold home decor… She thought: “What am I passionate about?” (6:20)
Wanting to focus on families, she brought out family tradition products (6:52)
Starting in the middle of April, she hit $100,000 in sales last month (7:51)
A 21-day Challenge from me got her to zero in on what she wanted to sell (9:55)
That 21-day journey has helped her in her personal life too (11:09)
The Challenge helped her sell her house for $50,000 more (15:00)
Her family has been a huge part of this journey (17:34)
They will roll out four new family tradition products this year (19:56)
They offer a journal, where you ask your family their highs & lows (20:14)
Getting over the self-doubt and the fear of creating a product (26:06)
Right now, she’s in the process of working with influencers (27:17)
“Being able to see the journal blessing people's lives has been amazing.” (27:48)

Additional Resources:

Download your free personal bundle at alisonjprince.com/bundle
21-day Challenge to Find your Perfect Product: alisonjprince.com/21
Kati's site: CreatingFamilyTraditions.com (35% discount code: ALISON)
"Creating Family Traditions" on Facebook
"Creating Family Traditions" on Instagram

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Should You Lower Your Prices? Dec 17, 2019

Show notes

Should you drop the price of your product to match or even go lower than your competitors, or even go lower than or match Amazon prices so that you can sell more? That was one of the questions I got from my students. I think some of you are actually having the same question.

Maybe you've looked at products that you want to sell and you're like “I'm not going to be able to make any money if I price match that. And so I just don't want to sell it because I'm not about to work for free,” and I'm with you right there. I don’t want you to be a volunteer in your own business. You should be making money. That's what businesses do.

Maybe you have that feeling that you have to continually drop prices in your online store to beat out the competition or you won't make any sales.

Well, I get that feeling. I actually get that feeling way too much. But if you look at the big picture on the way of this thinking, it's like a rat race to the bottom where someone will be willing to beat you out on the price.

And I say: “Let them - they can work for pennies. You are worth way more than that.” Stay tuned as I show you in this episode that the race to the bottom is never the solution to online sales success - It all comes down to delivering what I call the concert experience.

Key Takeaways:

When you feel you have to continually drop prices in your online store… (6:41)
They can work for pennies. You are worth way more than that (7:43)
Odds are you're willing to pay more to shop in the online store you love (9:28)
Your online boutique or store can deliver an entire concert experience (11:31)
How to win while you keep the prices where they need to be (13:12)
By adding more value to the product, you can stand out (14:32)
You can copy public domain content sans permission or paying fees (14:54)
Fiverr, Etsy, Canva, and Pinterest can help deliver the concert experience (15:16)
How great would it be to have a concert brought to your house? (17:05)
About returning a product, and free shipping… (18:06)
You could offer a chatbox on your website (19:05)
With every package I ship out, I add a piece of Laffy Taffy candy (19:20)
Your product packaging can also make for that concert experience (20:15)
Delivering that wow-worthy experience in a simple yet effective way (20:27)
Fostering a customer base that is loyal to you and your brand (21:45)

Additional Resources:

Download your free personal bundle at https://alisonjprince.com/bundle
Free ebooks to download: https://www.gutenberg.org

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>>> Join the $1-100k System

How To Go From A Simple Brown Box To A BIG Branded Product Dec 10, 2019

Show notes

In this episode, I'm bringing in Dave Lindenbaum, the King of DIY kits. He's going to dive into how he legally collects emails from Amazon. Some of you know Amazon doesn't let you collect emails. In fact, they can shut you down, but the way he does it, you're going to actually be able to experience it.

And then he's also going to dive into how he started his own DIY kit company. When I started Pick Your Plum, I had some kits here and there - it was really kind of just this awkwardness of trying to pull things together.

Well, Dave talks about that same thing about how he put his product out and then how he started building it and how it has truly become the number one DIY selling kit on Amazon. He dives in and pulls back the curtain so that you can do things like this as well. So stay tuned.

Key Points of Discussion:

After two years in finance, Dave realized there’d got to be more to life (5:19)
Fast forward, I took a couple of years to travel the world (8:18)
In Los Angeles, he met a tea company owner. He was his first hire (9:10)
… And one day, he drank something called kombucha (9:49)
The first $300 in a month brought in a light bulb moment (13:57)
Selling the experience, empowerment, ownership of creating something (14:54)
How the next company, DIY Gift Kits, was born (15:09)
“Whatever your passion is, it can be expressed through your business.” (16:02)
Doing the market research (21:09)
Leverage other people's marketplaces that have done the work for you (22:15)
Taking your winnings and reinvesting (23:31)
Done is better than perfect (24:21)
A bridge page can help you know, like, trust, capture emails... (29:55)

Additional Resources:

Download your free personal bundle at https://alisonprince.com/bundle
Dave's Company: https://go.diygiftkits.com/becauseican

Connect with Alison:

>>> Join the $1-100k System

Is Shipping Stopping You? Dec 03, 2019

Show notes

Way too many people think that running an e-commerce business or an online store or any type of online business that ships out a physical product is virtually impossible. Maybe that's you. You're thinking that starting an online business means you have to be right there, touching the product, packing and shipping it. Well, you actually don't have to ship them out yourself at all.

I've been shipping products out for over nine years, and for pretty much all that time, I haven't personally packed or shipped any products.

I know how to do it - shipping, that is. I just choose not to. I realized that the secret to selling more is hiring that part out so that I can concentrate on growing my business and marketing my products.

In this episode, you’ll be getting my tips on how to create the online store while you can live the lifestyle you choose and the place you want, the place you need or the place that you have to be. Stay tuned.

Key Takeaways:

I realized that the secret to selling more is hiring the shipping part out (4:55)
All of that can happen if you have the systems in place (6:26)
Set up your store online, and I recommend Shopify (7:54)
Get a sample of the products that you want to sell (9:28)
After you've approved your product, now it's time to play. Dress up (10:45)
Order the minimum product quantity needed to sell on your online shop (11:06)
Get out there. Let your customers know how awesome your products are (11:31)
You can either hire shipping out locally or use a fulfillment center (11:39)
The questions I get asked about hiring locally, and fulfillment centers (13:27)
Shippers usually don't make hundreds of dollars per hour. Biz owners do (19:14)

Additional Resources:

Download your free personal bundle at https://alisonprince.com/bundle
What are some of the products I started with? Find out in this PDF

Connect with Alison:

>>> Join the $1-100k System

How To Get More Comments On Instagram Nov 26, 2019

Show notes

In this episode, I interview Anna Macfarlane, whose Instagram account "kidsaretheworst" has almost 500,000 followers.

If you're struggling getting your Instagram followers to engage, this is the podcast episode for you. If you feel stiff and awkward when you're posting on social or maybe you feel a little bit robotic and you don't know what to post, this is the episode for you. Anna has the ability to communicate and articulate with her audience in a powerful way.

She has learned the skill of conversation and connection on social media.She's not into the hype of getting more followers or becoming Instagram-famous. She's into the real reason that social media exists - It's to be social and engage.

Anna actually charges businesses to go in and help them with the info she will be sharing with us for free, so stay tuned for her tips on getting your Instagram followers to engage.

Key Points of Discussion:

Anna has been doing direct mail, SEO, and all kinds of things online (5:47)
She loves the fact that everyone can be a marketer on social media (6:11)
Understand what Instagram's goals are and what the site wants from you (6:42)
It's not the tool that's the problem. It's the way you're using the tool (7:45)
Do your audience audit, and invite them in. Get them that value (11:47)
Give content, give value - Start with about three values (15:32)
Understand and know who your audience is, how old they are (19:22)
Practise your captions over and over; get familiar and comfortable (21:10)
Social media is not television, it's telephone (22:56)
Starting with a quick, easy question, and then you tell a story (25:07)
Give them a reason to go below the fold (25:17)
Warm people up and give them reason to share things (26:57)
Instagram story or Instagram posts or IG TV? Answer: All of the above! (31:38)

Additional Resources:

Download your free personal bundle at https://alisonprince.com/bundle

The 14-day Challenge of Hacks: http://AnnaMacfarlane.com/14hacks

Anna's Instagram account "kidsaretheworst"

Her Instagram account "annaistheworst"

Connect with Alison:

>>> Join the $1-100k System

How She Did 6 Figure In 7 Months Nov 19, 2019

Show notes

In this episode, I interview one of my students, Megan Pyrah. We talk about so many topics that I think a lot of female entrepreneurs deal with.

She reflects on how she convinced her family, her kids, instead of doing the dreaded lemonade stand on the corner, to actually start an online business and how that resulted in their kids making hundreds of dollars of sales online versus like the $10 that you make on the corner selling lemonade.

Stay tuned as we dig into how she made six figures in seven months, and the thing that helped her to make this her goal. And then, we dive into the mom guilt and we talk about how she can kick that while she is still working.

Key Points of Discussion:

The start: Blogging, social media, physical products, digital marketing… (2:50)
One summer, Megan's two youngest boys wanted to do a lemonade stand (4:13)
A year into her family biz, she saw an ad for my webinar and signed up… (5:06)
Her sons found products, launched them, packed orders, and earned (7:07)
Diving more into my course, the family listened to what I taught them (8:36)
Being consistent over and over again, no matter what month it is (13:02)
“Don't let your family be the excuse for not going for your dreams” (14:01)
Her “why” is big enough in what her business goals are (15:03)
Journaling and figuring out where she needs to spend her time that day… (15:44)
Megan shares her goals with her family members; they inspire each other (17:01)
About mom guilt: “Bring them along with you; explain what you're doing” (22:07)
“The more products you put out, the less scary it gets” (25:44)

Additional Resources:

Download your free personal bundle at https://alisonprince.com/bundle

Find out if a biz is right for you, at https://www.alisonjprince.com/quiz

Megan's shop: https://SaltedAvenue.com (Discount Code: ALISON50)

Connect with Megan's brand at:

Get to know more about Megan at:

Instagram

Connect with Alison:

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She Failed Her Way To 6 Figures Nov 12, 2019

Show notes

In this episode, I’ll be telling you about a gal I've been coaching for a while on how to grow her business, and she's done over six figures. The interesting thing is the way she's gotten there: by what the world would call "failing". In fact, she earned her first hundred thousand dollars by failing.

Wouldn't you want to make six figures by failing? You can say "Heck yes" out loud if you want to, because who wouldn't want to earn triple a teacher's salary by failing?

Can you imagine having all your products mixed up together in a huge lump, and your products are smaller than a grain of sand? Yeah, not fun. And that’s what happened to her.

She looked around at what was happening, and decided to create a story about the event. Instead of throwing her hands up in the air, walking away, she created a new product about what happened.

A lot of us have a hard time when we think we failed. Let's face it: No one wants to feel like a failure. But what if we think of it more like a bump or disruption that is supposed to happen so we can actually get to the thing that we are headed to.

What if that bump or distraction is actually to get us on the right course? We've all got bumps in our way. That's part of life. But as humans, it can be in our nature to get so focused on the actual bump or disruption that we can totally miss out on the thing that's actually being handed to us.

Now, I might sound cliched, but it’s a time-honored truth nonetheless: At the end of the day, it’s about spotting opportunities even in failures.

Stay tuned as I share a few tips on looking at your bumps, distractions, and failures as a gift to help you get to your goals faster.

Key Takeaways:

She was telling her story about how she sells glitter (2:09)
Ended up with loads of spilled colorful glitter everywhere (2:46)
She didn't know how she was going to fix the problem (3:07)
She told the story of how her daughter created a new glitter recipe (4:02)
She bottled up spilled colors and created recipe cards (4:09)
Customers ate this up and actually requested more recipes (4:27)
Often, there has to be disruption before you get to success or mastery (6:16)
Repetitive use of a limited ability will produce an increased capacity (6:27)
That lonely seed living in the darkness actually has to crack… (8:18)
A baby learning to walk goes down time and time again… (9:06)
Investing into learning from someone who's been down the path before (9:28)
Learning to work through the disruption and use it as part of our story (10:10)
I just hadn't realized that first bump in the road was my greatest teacher (10:32)
I had to decide if I was going to let these bumps stop me or prove me (12:32)
I kept doing it, day in and day out, for years, even though it felt impossible (13:13)
The very first bump that helped me solidify my promise to myself (13:23)
How I look at my bump, distraction or my so-called failure differently (14:11)
No. 1: Acknowledge it didn't go as planned (that was actually the plan) (14:31)
No. 2: Remove the emotion by putting on your middle name face (15:34)
No. 3: Look at every obstacle as an opportunity (17:37)
No. 4: Put a plant or a picture of a plant next to your workspace (18:00)
What must go down before it can go up? Humans, seeds, bank accounts (18:18)

Additional Resources:

Download your free personal bundle at https://alisonprince.com/bundle
A free PDF telling you about 16 of my very first products online

Connect with Alison:

>>> Join the $1-100k System

What REALLY Works Today Nov 08, 2019

Show notes

In this episode, I will be diving into some of the business styles or platforms that I've personally used to develop a multi eight-figure business while still balancing life.

If you're here to make money, or if you are here to build the online dream brand, you are in the right spot, because that's what I like to show you how to make money, put it in your pocket, and afford to live your Because I Can life. There are so many ways to make it happen, and I bet you've heard different things about building a business online, that leaves your head spinning. Maybe you've started to wonder if only unicorns of the world are the ones actually making money online. Maybe you are actually starting to hate unicorns.

There are many promises out there of how to make big bucks and get rich quick, and it can leave you with all sorts of emotions. Like, are they lying? Is this too good to be true? Or on the flip side, it takes you down the slippery slope of thinking that there might just be something wrong with you, because you haven't gotten it yet, whatever that is in your head that you're dreaming about. Do you ever feel that way?

Now, to be honest with you, I know that I felt this way when I first got started and it was a black cloud. When you hear all these success stories and you're still trying to figure out how to set up your first website, it's like a slap upside the head, and you feel like you're getting further and further behind each day.

I'm here to tell you the truth about building a business, what it's like and show you how you can fit it in while you're still managing your sanity and trying to be the best mom that you can be.

I know there are other ways to make money online out there, but I know for a fact that what I'm about to tell you works, because not only I have done it, I've also watched others do it. Stay tuned to know more.

Key Takeaways:

An online home that has a place for customers to come back to (5:19)
Pick your home - pick something that you can control and own (6:37)
Business building’s supposed to get messy. Keep going despite chaos (8:26)
Think about your current project, not how your brand will look in 10 years (8:48)
You have to show them the vision of why they should come over (9:20)
Building a business is about the process, not the product or one platform (10:34)
Three business platforms that, I know, work (12:07)
No. 1: A blog: It helps you get your message out to the world (12:21)
Ad space, affiliate commissions, and selling products of your own (13:15)
You can write out posts for a month; your blog can auto post them (14:24)
You can put in links from other online stores, like Amazon (15:03)
You can speed up this process greatly if you sell your own products (16:03)
Using social media heavily to get your content out to the world (16:18)
You need to study something called search engine optimization (16:25)
No.2: E-commerce: For me, it’s the fastest way to make money online (17:46)
A physical product invokes a feeling they can hold it, touch it (18:49)
It's too risky for me developing something that I hope someone will buy (19:41)
Don't spend lots of money when you first get started; there is no need to (20:39)
You don't have to be creative about what to sell. What's already selling? (21:04)
You can set up an online store and it can take money for you, 24*7 (21:09)
You can set up promotions around your schedule (21:23)
Use marketplaces and even influencers to talk about your products (21:56)
You've got to ship out, but I actually recommend hiring that out (22:16)
No. 3: Course creation: You teach someone online about something... (22:28)
Once you build it, you can sell it over and over and over (23:54)
First, you have to help others recreate what you have done (24:08)
You have to be the face of your brand (25:10)
I am a huge fan of buying online courses and online coaching (26:02)
Taking it up, one project at a time, to get to that vision in your head (27:06)

Additional Resources:

Download your free personal bundle at https://alisonprince.com/bundle

A blog that I started with two of my friends: HowDoesShe.com

Connect with Alison:

>>> Join the $1-100k System

The 5 Stages Of Growth Nov 07, 2019

Show notes

You've got your business set up and you're running, and then you start to feel like: “Oh, maybe this isn't for me” or “Maybe I should try something else.” Or you begin to wonder why it seems so easy for everyone else as you start scrolling through Instagram. Or what about the time you're really excited about something and you couldn't sleep, and you just couldn't stop talking about it? Or the complete opposite, and you're finding it really hard to feel motivated and to keep going. And then another one: You know you should probably start something. Or you have this idea in your head and you're thinking you should probably start to do something about it.

Well, I want to give you the big picture to help you see where you're at and help you answer not only those questions but some of the other questions you might have about why you're feeling the way you feel, so that you can see where you're at and you can see where you're headed. Okay. Now, if this sounds a little confusing, I promise I'm going to break it down so that you understand. I’m going to talk about the five phases of growth in this episode.

I think this episode is going to give you some massive aha moments and help you start feeling calmer with where you're at in your journey, so stay tuned.

Key Takeaways:

At times, we forget what we're doing; we get frustrated with ourselves (2:34)
The five stages of growth: What stage do you fit in the best? (4:33)
No. 1: Awareness phase; knowing that something is about to happen (4:42)
No. 2: Bliss phase; this is where thoughts and ideas start coming together (5:37)
No. 3: Reality phase; you realize that this takes a whole new skillset (7:27)
Having a teacher, a coach, a mentor, or a group to guide you through (8:58)
Your brain will try and talk you right out of it, but you have to keep going (9:38)
Training your brain and telling your brain that you deserve this (11:45)
No. 4: Mini win phase; it still requires a focus
In stage four, your brain is still trying to talk you out of learning (12:31)
Training your brain to know that you are going to be consistent with it (13:00)
No. 5: Success phase; it doesn't light up our brain and boredom sets in (14:02)
When we start to get bored, we begin to go to the aware stage again (15:04)
These stages help make us better than we were yesterday (15:47)
The majority of people quit at stage three (17:22)

Additional Resources:

Download your free personal bundle at https://alisonprince.com/bundle

Connect with Alison:

>>> Join the $1-100k System

Getting Past The Big Huge Fat Lies That Our Brains Make Up Nov 06, 2019

Show notes

You're sitting in your chair, looking at your computer or your phone. You have 10 bajillion things you need to do and you don't even know where to start. And then, these thoughts start to creep in your head, like, "Oh, I have so much to do. I don't even know where to start" or "I'm not smart enough" or "I'm not sure I can even do that," or "I need to go get a Coke Zero" or insert your beverage of choice "before I can even get started". Or "Sure they can do it, but I'm just me and I'm not that good. I don't even really know how to do this. Maybe I should just look into this more and study it a little bit more," or "They can do it better than I can."

Some call them fear or excuses, but I call them big huge fat lies that our brain makes up to keep us comfortable. It's a brilliant way that our brain tricks us into staying safe. It's a lot easier to stay where you are than to move forward. Moving forward, trying new things, can be so risky, and our brain is made to keep us safe.

We know it is so much easier to go get that drink out of the fridge because it's not going to make us feel like a failure. So we push off the hard things and do the safe things. It's almost like these thoughts run rapid in our brains on a daily basis, and it causes us to stop and spiral quickly.

All the same, deep down, you have this feeling inside of you that you can't as shake, that you are not where you want to be in this life. So, how to nudge yourself into moving forward? That’s what I’ll be talking about in this episode. Stay tuned.

Key Takeaways:

When our brain takes us to the worst case scenario faster than we realize (5:45)
Lies you’re falling back on are much stronger than the promises of hope (6:41)
Knowing the truth from a lie: Things that have helped me and my students (7:39)
Number one: Recognize it; call that dang thing out (8:05)
Number two: Have an answer so you can anticipate it (9:40)
Number three: If you give into the lie, be honest with yourself (11:37)
Number four: Build your tool belt; embrace the hiccups and the trips (12:38)
Number five: Go for a run or a walk (13:22)
Allow yourself to step into who you need to be, and to set fear aside (15:03)

Additional Resources:

Download your free personal bundle at https://alisonprince.com/bundle

Connect with Alison:

>>> Join the $1-100k System

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