Hey, product friends. Welcome back to the buyer side chat. I’m your host and your buyer bestie, Kristen Fisher, and I’m currently in my closet with a face mask on and my hair in a towel and just, like, could barely show up today on video.

I was like, I can’t be on video. I’ve been really challenging myself to try and record all my podcasts in the fancy video recording app that I have, and I just, like, can’t do it sometimes. I don’t know. I think probably we all resonate with this, but I really thought I could do it today, and I just couldn’t. So instead of spending the time, like, getting my hair done, I decided to actually not get my hair done, to actually, like, put makeup on and do my hair. That’s more what I meant. And, like, pick out an outfit. I decided to work out and use that time to, like, do something for myself. Working out, which I don’t do enough, I need to do more of. I take walks every day. But, like, I did a legit workout today and I showered and I shaved my legs, and I’m doing a face mask. And, like, that’s just what the state of my life is right now. Not that anyone cares that I shave my legs, but I feel like you get it. So I pulled it together. I pulled it together enough because I really wanted to record this episode for you because I’m freaking pumped about this content and this topic, but I just didn’t want to be on video.

So that’s, like, what’s happening here. And I think that that just leads me into, like, this is kind of a crazy time of year. It is a crazy time of year. May, I just think, is, this ramp up where we should be kind of slowing down and easing into summer months where we can just have this leisurely life. But for some reason, everything starts to happen in May.

And then Memorial Day is here suddenly, and we’re like, oh, my God, it’s the unofficial start to summer, and I don’t have kids yet. But for all of my friends that do, I know it’s like a wild time because suddenly kids are about to be out of school or they are out of school, depending on where you live. And it’s like, suddenly you are wearing all the hats, even more than you already were.

And so it’s just a crazy time of year. And there’s this, like, push and pull, I should say, between, like, I want to just live my life, but also, I run this business and I need to make sales and so these times of the year are when your efforts need to be like really locked in and laser focused on the needle movers and not like all the other bullshit that we feel like we should do. Like things that maybe you can do when you have extra time that aren’t actually moving the needle.

This is the time when it’s like okay, I have less time to work or I want to work in less hours, I want to condense my schedule. And so the things that I’m doing during that time need to actually move the needle and be like more impactful.

And when I was trying to think about like what I wanted this episode to be about, I was like, well, when this comes out, it’s Memorial Day, I think is the date that this is airing. And we are just under two months away from the fair summer market, which I know without a doubt is one of the biggest opportunities for you if you are a brand. It’s also a big opportunity for us buyers because we have the opportunity to make more margin, which really rarely happens, to be honest. So it’s like a win win for both sides.

Which is why for my brand clients, it’s like doubling down on this time period is just so super important because you can really like get a nice burst of sales during a time that’s maybe been a little bit more challenging this year if you are not on Faire or if you haven’t seen the success on Faire yet and you’re like, well that’s not really, this doesn’t really apply to me because I don’t see these level of results from a market. Then let’s talk about it because it absolutely can and will be a really big crucial piece of the pie, the puzzle for your wholesale business.

So today I really wanted to talk about one thing, just one thing that you should be doing right now that’s going to set you up for a successful summer market. Just one laser focused thing.

So before I guess I get into that one thing, I feel like just addressing the elephant in the room. I’ve been having a lot of conversations with my clients and other just industry friends lately about sales being slow and what we can do to focus on what actually does work for us. Whenever it feels like nothing is actually working. And just with my clients specifically, really digging into their specific businesses to come up with tailored strategies for them that will actually make an impact because sometimes it’s really hard to even, like, see the forest through the trees, whatever that phrase is, it’s sometimes hard to see that and identify those areas of opportunity in our business.

So I love being able to do that with my mentorship clients. And I actually have an episode that I recorded with my friend Ciara Stockeland, who’s been on the podcast before. We did a joint episode that I’m really excited for you to listen to. It’s. I just thought it was so much fun. It’s coming out, I think, in two weeks. Yeah, I think it’s two weeks from the time that this episode’s airing. And we go into it more deeply where we, like, really talk about what you should focus on and some, like, really tangible takeaways.

But at the end of the day, like, the big kind of overarching thing that came out of that and that I’ve also been talking to my clients about is just cutting out all that excess work. Stop chasing the new shiny object. Double down on what you know works for you in your business.

So it’s like, really tempting when sales aren’t doing well to, like, look for the new avenue, but it’s actually better to be like, I know that these couple of things work really well for me, so let’s focus on that. And particularly whenever it comes to wholesale, like, you know, you can have a really large reach and therefore the largest impact on your sales.

Whenever wholesale is like, rocking and rolling for you. Like, whenever you’re on fire, your business is like crushing it because you can get just a couple of really amazing wholesale orders and all of a sudden, boom, huge ad to your revenue, your unit sales and your reach, which is important. Right? It’s like getting your brand out there in front of all of their customers. That’s your brand reach. So that’s the power of wholesale.

And we know that that’s what it can do for you. Now. It’s not the only answer to growth at all. I definitely think that there is a massive miss in the market with focusing on your own D2C customers too. I’ll save that conversation for another day. But they’re equally, if not more important, your DTC customers, because there’s more profit there and they’re your own audience. And your wholesale buyers want you to have a strong DTC following. So it goes hand in hand, right? It definitely goes hand in hand.

But we know that if you do wholesale right, it can really, really work for you and make a super impact on your business. And with everything that’s going on this time of year coupled with the uncertainty that you’re probably feeling in your business now, I hope that you’re like, what are you talking about, Kristen? My business is amazing right now, and I have been like, crushing it this year.

If you’re newer in business, you probably are having a great year because you started last year and. Or you hadn’t even been in business last year. So, like, your natural growth just by, like, being around longer helps. But if you’ve been around longer and your business is more seasoned, then you might be feeling like, a little uncertain. Orders might be a little smaller than they you’d like to see from those retailers, or they’re less frequent, or it’s crickets, or you are seeing some success in certain areas, but maybe it’s just not as happening as rapidly as you’d want it to.

So in these moments, it’s definitely easy to lose sight of those needle mover focus areas that you could be focusing on that actually will move the needle for you either right now or when the time comes, I. E. When that Faire summer market hits in the next, like seven or so six or seven weeks, the things that you do right now are the things that are going to catapult your brand and really set you up for success whenever that time does come.

And so if you’re focusing right now on things that you know are going to move the needle, you just have to be patient. You can kind of rest a little easy by saying, okay, I’m working on less things that actually will make more of an impact so that I can insert. Enjoy my summer. Like, I have a summer bucket list personally, which I will share more on Instagram about that for anybody that’s interested, because I did this last year and it made my summer so much better. So I’ll share more about that.

But I made like an old school handwritten bucket list and I crossed so much stuff off and it made me, like, really live in more of the moment than I typically do in the summer. Because I’m usually like, heads down. And it was awesome.

So whether you’re spending more time with your kids doing your own summer bucket list, just spending time in your garden or on your deck or swimming or biking or more time with your family, just whatever it is that lights you up in the summer, just, like, live your life more and embrace these moments that are fleeting.

Because guess what? In December, you’re gonna be exhausted and really wishing that you had taken advantage of the summer. So all this to be said, this is why I’m like, here, let’s just talk about this one thing that I know was going to pay off for you soon so that you can, you know, enjoy your life and actually move the needle in your business and not feel like you’re a hamster on a wheel.

So let’s just get to it. So summer market around the corner. Let’s focus on what you can do. The one thing you can do right now to know that you’re going to absolutely crush it at the summer market, and that, my friends, is nurture your buyers. Nurture your buyers.

What I mean when I say nurture your buyers, I mean, that seems pretty obvious, right? But what I actually mean by nurturing is authentic relationship building. The key word here is authentic, authentic relationship building. It’s not just going out there and sending mass pitch emails and just being like, okay, I’m nurturing. I’m trying to find new people, and they’re not responding. So, like, that’s not working either.

So focusing on that negative side of things. No, no, no. This is a more interesting way to think about how you can nurture buyers in 2024. Right? Because it’s evolving. And there are some things you can do to, I don’t know, build more authentic relationships. At the end of the day, that’s what we want to do.

So I recently sent an email out a couple weeks ago, now maybe like a week and a half ago, to everyone on my list with three ideas, three really specific ideas that they could pitch their retailers right now. And it sparked a lot of conversation. I had, surprisingly, a lot of people respond to that email, which doesn’t always happen. And it was just a really fun conversation, just talking to them about, like, ideas for their own business that they could pitch their buyers based, kind of spawning off of that email.

And so I felt like that was what gave me more of a seed of an idea for this episode, because I felt like I could go a little bit deeper on these kind of topics and things that you can actually use to reach out to your buyers and give you a reason to connect with them. But also, more specifically, just sharing how you can think about your nurturing strategy.

Because it’s not just a pitch. Email pitching is not the first step. I think this is something that is a pretty big mistake that I see brands making out there, going straight for the pitch, or like following me on Instagram and then diving right in with a pitch. Pitching is not the first step. Pitching is like the third date, maybe the fourth date. You have to swipe right, then you have to text, then you have to ask them out and go on the date. That’s like the order in which proper relationship building happens in the real world.

And so business is no different. And so you really want to think about, okay, what does this look like? Not on Tinder, but in like wholesale buyer land, what does that build up of a relationship look like? Because it’s no different. And by not taking the time to do that, you’re doing yourself a disservice because you’re really wasting your time and you’re wasting the buyer’s time because they’re, it just doesn’t feel authentic and it’s not something that they’re going to want to respond to.

And so I encourage you to think about how you can do this in your own business that feels really organic and authentic to you. And I will say this time and again, I’m going to say it again here. It’s not yet. Okay, yes, it’s a numbers game, but it’s more about a quality game versus a quantity game. So yeah, you do need more numbers in your funnel, more buyers so that you can funnel it down and get, you know, the people to convert at the rate that you ideally want.

But ultimately you want quality people at the top of your funnel to then ultimately convert. You’ll have a higher conversion rate of buyers when you spend the time working on more of those ideal buyers for yourself.

So I want to talk a little bit about what this strategy could look like for you. Just to kind of get your wheels turning about. When I’m talking about like what do you mean by a nurturing strategy? This is what I mean and this is like what it’s more relevant for 2024.

So let’s first just think about your content. How are you showing up as a brand and creating authentic content that’s going to really engage those buyers and make them fall in love with your brand or you or your product. And I can think of some brands out there that it’s like they’re not, it’s like they’re putting reels out there that are necessarily geared towards buyers. It’s just their brand voice. They’re funny, they’re engaging, they come up with fun, unique ways to show their product. And if they’re, they’re not selling it, they’re just creating a brand and a brand or other product. And yeah, there might be educational type reels, but like showing behind the scenes.

I was just talking to the, some of the clients inside my product scaling intensive and we were talking about just some content ideas and kind of that behind the scenes process of creating the product, I know that seems like such a silly thing or maybe like something you don’t have time to pause and do, but like just doing a time lapse reel of your bottles of essential oil going down the assembly line and being filled, like that’s fascinating for somebody who’s never been inside of a production space like that.

And those little reels are just things that’s like, it doesn’t really take a lot of effort. Just plop your phone on a tripod, time lapse it, film yourself creating your product like that’s what people want to see and that builds that brand. So creating a content strategy around engaging and showing the behind the scenes and talking about you, if you’re comfortable with that, doesn’t always have to be you. You know, it’s really just like, what is that lifestyle that will make a buyer be like, oh, this brand is really fun or this brand is like really resonating with me.

So when you do that outreach and when you are connecting and engaging with them, when they go to your profile, they’re going to start to see content that they’re like, oh, this is a really fun brand. I actually like this brand. It’ll feel like you are putting yourself in the right position so that when they go to that page they can quickly know like who you are as a brand and what you stand for.

So thinking about your content and if you’re going to create less content in this summer, which is totally fine to do, have some strategy behind the posts or the reels that you are going to make so that the top, you know, couple of rows on your feed and your highlights are really your best foot forward. And they’re kind of like a little portfolio or a little mini website around your brand. So think about how your content, your content is positioning you.

Okay? The next thing is your target audience. So having a targeted list of prospective and existing buyers that you can be engaging with that are your ideal buyer. Now I talk about this really in depth in the Unlocking Faire private podcast. So if you have not downloaded that and you want access, it’s completely free. It’s five episodes that are like very to the point and not super long, but giving you really impactful information that’s going to help you on fair. But I really talk about this, the concept and the importance rather of your ideal buyer because that’s how you get those quality buyers to come into the top of your funnel and become that target audience.

So the more you can refine that the better you’ll get at it and the more success that you’ll see with that connection, that outreach, you’re not going to get ghosted as much. It certainly helps. So really getting clear on who you’re targeting for new buyers.

But also don’t forget about the buyers that have already bought from you. So when you’re doing this engagement over the next six weeks, make sure you’re really like warming up your old audience that maybe hasn’t bought from you in a couple months or a year, even two years, those buyers might still come back to you. I have bought from brands I’ve said this before, I think on here, but I’ve bought from brands really spaced out because they’re new to my customers and I know that it worked before.

So I might dip back into something that I know worked before and that could be you. So you don’t wanna leave money on the table. It’s way better to get that retention up and get those repeat buyers because that takes way less effort on your part than finding all new buyers. So you could be leaving money on the table by not giving them that little bit of love over these coming weeks, weeks leading up to the fair summer market.

Okay, like, when was the last time you connected with those existing accounts? It might be longer than you realize. And so it’s a perfect opportunity to start kind of like buttering them up for the sale. Oh and then, then that’s whenever we get to a really solid pitch strategy. So less really is more. So I go like deeply into this topic in episode. Hold on, I’m looking at my list here, episode 59. So I will link that episode in the show notes for you or just go back into your player and give that a listen if you have. Not yet. I talk more in depth about a buyer pitch strategy that really genuinely works, especially in kind of this new age of wholesale outreach that we’re in right now.

But you want to have a really solid pitch strategy so that whenever you’re ready to take it from messaging on Instagram and engaging with them and, you know, building that relationship, then when you do go to pitch them, it feels authentic and it feels like the relationship that you are building on Instagram, it doesn’t suddenly feel like this cold email that’s like, ooh, this does not feel like the vibe.

Okay, so really spend the next six weeks nurturing or seven weeks. I’m not really sure. I. I need to have a calendar up the next six to seven weeks. Nurture the out of your buyers. It’s going to really give you a massive upper hand when market hits because you’re going to be top of mind for them. I know for me on fair leading up to summer market, I will go into Faire in advance and start kind of creating board. I’m not sure if you’re familiar with this, but buyers have these secret hidden boards that we can save product down into based on whatever themes.

It’s kind of like a little mini Pinterest, I would say, the way we can create our own board so we can save products down. And I have boards for color because a lot of times I like to buy based on color themes. I have boards based on different gifting categories, so, or even product categories. So like I have a foodie board, I have a drinkware board, I have, you know, you get the point. I have a bunch of boards so that whenever the time comes for fair market or whenever I’m just buying in general, I go back and reference those.

And so leading up to the market, I will start to fine tune the season that I’m buying for, which is fall and holiday, and I will start to save things down. So if new brands are pitching me, I will take a look at their page and I’ll put some things in my folders or directly in my cart if I’m obsessed with it. That way when the market comes, I’m not scrambling for those two to three days, like trying to figure out what I’m buying. I already know essentially what I’m going to want to purchase.

Okay, so the more that you’re just engaging and connecting, the better off you’ll be because you’ll be top of mind. Now, if you are on my list or you have the Unlocking Fair private podcast or you’ve seen on Instagram, I have been not so subtly hinting at my new beta program, the Faire Bootcamp. I’m literally going to give you like the exact strategy with templates, like with literal outreach templates and marketing strategies and prompts to help you authentically nurture your buyer leads.

With this summer market in mind, I’m actually going to be creating the program live as we go. So you’re going to be able to give me your input questions that you have things that you want me to go like deeper into. And that’s going to be incorporated into the trainings for you specifically. So it’s no fluff trainings. Like none of us have time for that. They’re going to be to the point, articulate trainings. I might not always be articulate on the podcast. But I will be articulate and to the point in these trainings because I know you’re going to want to just like, power through will have templates, there are going to be live coaching calls. There’s going to be a group where we can connect and get feedback from one another. You’re going to have my buyer insights and feedback. I think that connection with other brand owners is honestly where so much magic happens.

So I am so excited for this because I have been dreaming about this for literally a year and a half now. And I wanted to do it last summer and I just, like, didn’t do it and I this year I’m like, no, I am putting the fair Bootcamp together. So it’s going to be freaking amazing. This live program, we’re going to be doing it together. So if you’ve been, you know, kind of just putting it on the back burner, this is now the time to do it and really focus on something that does move the needle in your business. So the bootcamp officially launches in one week on Monday, 6/3. I opened the doors early to those that opted into the wait list.

So some of you are probably listening. Hi. I love you. I’m really excited to welcome those people that took fast action into the boot camp. And if you’re listening to this down the road, like let’s say after the launch. So that would be. If you’re listening to this after June 10, 2024, the link in the show notes, I will make sure it’s the most up to date link so you can get the info based on whatever time you’re listening. It will be updated. So that’s going to either be on the wait list for when the course, you know, becomes available again, or the link to the course itself whenever it’s ready for you to hop right in. But if you are just like, okay, I need to like, get it together. I need someone to motivate me, support me. I need, like really articulated feedback on exactly what to do and what buyers are looking for. And you’re ready to just like, stop putting off making those fair updates.

Because I know so many of you set it and forget it, but this is the time to focus on something that’s going to move the needle and be really strategic and a repeatable nurture strategy that you can just really put in place for your wholesale growth on fair. And honestly, beyond fair. It’s like we’re focusing on fair, but these strategies and principles that are going to also be covered in this course or this program are going to help you beyond it.

So I know that this is going to help you with fair summer market, but a thousand percent help you all around. So now is the time to definitely get on it. So link is in the show Notes. Please sign up Come join me DM me at Kristen Fisher Coaching with any questions share with another business bestie. You could do it together and motivate and support one another throughout the summer. It’s going to be legitimately, really fun. I can’t wait.