673. "I want to increase the profitability of my product-based business, how do I do that?" | Coaching Session

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Product Boss Podcast - Episode 673

Title: "I want to increase the profitability of my product-based business, how do I do that?" | Coaching Session
Host: Jacqueline Snyder
Guest: Connie, Owner of Contour Collective
Release Date: March 13, 2025

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Introduction

In Episode 673 of The Product Boss Podcast, host Jacqueline Snyder conducts a transformative coaching session with Connie, the entrepreneur behind Contour Collective, a business specializing in self-help stationery. The episode delves deep into the challenges Connie faces in balancing inventory, managing cash flow, and enhancing profitability. Through this insightful dialogue, Jacqueline provides actionable strategies aimed at helping product-based businesses elevate their profitability and achieve sustained growth.

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Connie’s Business Challenges

[04:46] Connie:
Connie outlines her primary struggles:

• Cash Flow vs. Stock: Her bespoke journals require substantial inventory purchases, tying up her cash and limiting her ability to launch new products frequently.
• Limited Product Launches: Currently, Connie can only introduce about one new journal per year, restricting customer engagement and repeat purchases.
• Declining Organic Traffic: Over the past few years, organic social reach has dwindled, forcing her to invest heavily in expensive social media advertising with high customer acquisition costs and low repeat business.

[05:27] Connie:
Revenue Insights:

• 2023: £45,000
• 2024 (up to August): £40,000
  While revenue shows growth, profitability remains elusive.

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Analyzing Sales Channels

[06:01] Connie:
Sales Breakdown:

• Website: 60%
• Amazon: 12%
• TikTok Shop: 12%
• Etsy & Other Marketplaces: 15%

Connie primarily relies on social media ads and her website for sales, with a small portion coming from Amazon, TikTok Shop, and Etsy.

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Focus on Bestsellers

Jacqueline emphasizes the importance of narrowing down the product range to focus on bestsellers to enhance profitability and brand recognition.

[09:46] Connie:
Expresses uncertainty about encouraging repeat purchases due to the sentimental and usage nature of journals.

[09:46] Jacqueline:
Suggests creating a community and content around journal usage to foster repeat business. For instance, Full Focus Planner excels by teaching users how to utilize the planner, creating a dependency that drives repeat sales.

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Strategic Marketing and Community Building

Jacqueline advises Connie to position herself as a manifestation expert, leveraging her authentic experiences and the unique, magical vibe of her products.

Key Strategies Discussed:

1. Educational Content:

   • 30-Day Journaling Challenge: Connie could host daily live sessions guiding customers through journal prompts, fostering engagement and habitual purchasing.

   [26:35] Connie:
   Acknowledges fear but recognizes the necessity of stepping out of her comfort zone.

2. Astrological Alignment:
   Leveraging astrological events (e.g., Scorpio season, full moons) to create timely marketing campaigns that resonate with her spiritual audience.

3. Content Repurposing:
   Utilizing the same content across multiple platforms (social media, email marketing) to maximize reach and engagement without additional effort.

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Optimizing Product Range

Jacqueline advises Connie to simplify her product offerings, focusing on what drives the most revenue and eliminating underperforming products.

Recommendations:

• Maintain: Journals, gift boxes, manifestation affirmation cards, and pens.
• Eliminate: T-shirts, sweats, hoodies, tote bags, wall art, and crystal jewelry.

[17:36] Connie:
Agrees to remove non-performing products, acknowledging that simplifying her range will enhance marketing effectiveness.

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Enhancing Customer Engagement and Repeat Business

To boost repeat sales, Connie should:

• Create a Community: Encourage customers to engage with their journals, share experiences, and participate in challenges.
• Email Marketing:
  • Weekly Journal Prompts: Engage her email list with actionable content that complements her products.
  • Retention Strategies: Implement email sequences that guide customers through using the journals, fostering loyalty and repeat purchases.

[31:38] Connie:
Mentions having a growing email list but recognizes the need for better engagement and conversion.

[32:49] Jacqueline:
Highlights the importance of nurturing existing customers to increase their lifetime value, emphasizing that repeat customers are more cost-effective than acquiring new ones.

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Scaling Profitability

Jacqueline outlines steps for Connie to scale her business sustainably:

1. Improve Website Conversion:

   • Optimize Product Pages: Enhance the presentation of bestsellers to increase conversion rates.
   • Upselling Opportunities: Introduce add-ons at checkout (e.g., a discounted gratitude journal or a pen) to increase average order value.

2. Leverage Organic Reach:

   • Consistent Content Creation: Regularly post educational and engaging content that aligns with Connie’s brand and values.
   • Viral Content Tactics: Experiment with different content formats to identify what resonates best with the audience.

3. Maximize Existing Sales Channels:

   • Enhance Performance Across Platforms: Improve marketing strategies on Amazon, TikTok Shop, and Etsy to drive higher sales without expanding the product range.

[35:09] Connie:
Inquires about enhancing product photos to better showcase journals, expressing concern about revealing too much while ensuring the products remain desirable.

[35:51] Jacqueline:
Encourages showcasing the practicality and beauty of the journals through engaging content, such as demonstrating journaling rituals and incorporating product use in posts.

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Action Plan and Next Steps

Jacqueline summarizes the key action points for Connie to increase profitability:

1. Niche Down:

   • Focus solely on journals, eliminating non-essential products to streamline operations and marketing efforts.

2. Content Strategy:

   • Implement a 30-day live journaling challenge on a primary platform (preferably TikTok) to engage and grow her audience.
   • Align content around astrological events to stay relevant and timely.

3. Email Marketing Optimization:

   • Develop a robust email sequence that provides value through weekly prompts and encourages repeat purchases.

4. Optimize Sales Channels:

   • Improve website conversion through better product presentation and upselling strategies.
   • Refine marketing tactics on Amazon, TikTok Shop, and Etsy to enhance sales without increasing product complexity.

[42:36] Connie:
Expresses a mix of fear and inspiration, ready to step out of her comfort zone and implement the strategies discussed.

[43:00] Jacqueline:
Encourages listeners facing similar challenges to niche down, focus on bestsellers, and create educational content to drive profitability.

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Conclusion

In this episode, Jacqueline Snyder effectively coaches Connie through the intricate process of increasing profitability in a product-based business. By advising Connie to simplify her product range, focus on bestsellers, engage customers through educational content, and optimize her sales channels, Jacqueline provides a clear and actionable roadmap. The session underscores the importance of niche focus, community building, and strategic marketing in transforming a product-based business into a profitable and scalable venture.

For entrepreneurs seeking to elevate their product businesses, Connie’s journey serves as an inspiring blueprint. By implementing these strategies, business owners can streamline operations, enhance customer loyalty, and significantly boost profitability.

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Notable Quotes:

• Jacqueline Snyder [00:02]:
  "All you need is the right mindset, a little courage, strategy and support, and you too can be the next million dollar product boss."

• Connie [04:46]:
  "The journals are very bespoke, I design them all, they're very kind of celestial beautiful journals but it does mean I have to order large quantities of them to make them profitable."

• Jacqueline Snyder [09:33]:
  "What if you didn't have to bring out more? You can focus on your bestsellers and still reach the multi six-figure level."

• Jacqueline Snyder [12:12]:
  "If you can be known for something and be easily referable and recognizable, you'll start to see your profits increase in no time."

• Connie [42:52]:
  "I feel like I'm going away scared but inspired."

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Resources Mentioned:

• Multi-Stream Machine: www.multistreammachine.com
• Contour Collective Website: contoura-collective.co.uk

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Join the Conversation:

If you're inspired by Connie’s story and looking to boost your product-based business, consider subscribing to The Product Boss Podcast for more insightful strategies and coaching sessions. Don't forget to leave a review and share the podcast with fellow entrepreneurs aiming to create their dream lives through successful product businesses.

Transcript

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Hi, I'm Jacqueline Snyder and this is the Product Boss podcast. I've helped launch and grow thousands of product based businesses, even one of my own. And over the last 20 years, I've seen behind the scenes of businesses just like yours. Whether they are makers, manufacturers, artists, or food and beverage businesses. I have spent so many hours studying it all. I've discovered what makes them successful, what mistakes they could have avoided, how did they turn their ideas into successful business, and what are the strategies that they have used to make more sales and be discovered by more customers. And this is what this show is all about. Whether you're just starting out or you're looking to become a million dollar product boss, I'm here to give you the permission to chase your dreams, no matter how big or small. All you need is the right mindset, a little courage, strategy and support, and you too can be the next million dollar product boss. Let's do this. Hey, hey, product bosses. And welcome back to another coaching session. I know you all are loving these sessions. I get so many messages every day from you saying like, oh my God, it feels like you were talking about me. And so I'm so glad that they are so helpful. If you wouldn't mind doing me a favor and pause the podcast and hop on over and leave a review if you're loving the show because the reviews are really helpful and make sure that we know we're on track and also just really, really apprec of you to support the podcast in that way. All right, now, today what we're going to do is we're jumping into coaching Connie. And Connie is the owner of Contour Collective, who creates and sells self help stationery. Now, Connie's been struggling with figuring out how to balance her inventory and figure out the best cash flow strategies and increase her profitability, something I know so many of you can relate to. But not to worry because that's exactly what we're going to dig into today. So if you've ever felt stuck on how to grow without adding more products, this episode is for you. And then, really quick side note, we do have some spots available to be coached by me and to have it aired on the podcast. So we're gonna drop that into the show notes if you want to get a coaching call with me. I do have some limited spots and go ahead and try. Even if you're like, oh, they might be sold out, go ahead and try. If you're like, this is something that I want. Because we're looking to book future coaching calls and I'm excited to work with you. And I know a lot of people are messaging me saying, like, hey, like, can I get coached? And so we're gonna open up some spots. So check out the show notes for that. And I hope to work with you. All right, now let's get into it. Oh, my goodness, friends, if you are anything like me, you probably spend more time running errands than running your business. Am I right? Like, everything needs something, we gotta run around. And I knew that this was like a major issue for me back in the day, which is why I decided to get help where I could. And I decided to let Instacart handle all of my grocery shopping. So I no longer had to worry about running all the errands and having to run out and get more almond milk for my lattes. Rather, I was like, you know what? We're just gonna let Instacart handle that. So I want you to imagine skipping the store and getting back to designing packaging, orders, making, or maybe actually taking a break, even a nap. Remember those? Okay, so with Instacart, you can get groceries and essentials delivered in as fast as an hour. So you can focus on growing your business without sacrificing a meal. Plus, less stress and more focus. And here's a tip. I've actually used Instacart before to order gifts from my daughter's friend's birthday parties because I haven't had time to run out and get presents. And I've been able to get the packaging like the gift bag and the gift, like hello Sephora. Delivered to my house while I was in the middle of coaching sessions so that I could have the present right. It's like having a personal assistant without having a personal assistant. So if you want to do what I do and get the help where you can, you can try it now if you head to the product boss.com instacart so tell me about. Tell me what you sell and where your main sales channels are, like where you're selling.

[Connie]

And currently, like, our core collection is self help, sort of personal development, slightly spiritual journals for women started off with spiritually inspired artwork, and then I launched a manifestation journal in 2022, I think, and that really changed everything. It was the first product that really kind of took off in my business and that caused me to kind of niche down into journals and stationery. And it's still our bestseller today. Since then, I've added a gratitude journal to our range. I'm just about to launch a 12 month self development planner so yeah, really like niched down into that kind of self help stationary area. But our main kind of struggles at the moment is cash flow versus stock and profitability. So the journals are very bespoke, I design them all, they're very kind of celestial beautiful journals but it does mean I have to order large quantities of them to make them profitable.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

So.

[Connie]

So then my cash flow gets locked down in lots of stock every time I order a new one. So I've been kind of limited to being able to only launch about one journal a year. So then I feel like I don't have that much to talk to my customers about and repeat customers are quite low. And alongside this I've sort of had a bit of an issue with organic traffic or organic sort of socials declining over the last couple years. So I've ended up having to invest in kind of social media advertising which is expensive and obviously with a high cost per acquisition and my customers not returning very often. I'm really sort of struggling with profitability.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

You've been in business for a few years now. What type of revenue are you making?

[Connie]

So 2024 till August I've made 40,000, I think 2023, I made about 45.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Through the whole year.

[Connie]

So it is increasing and I'd really like to get to that multi sort of six figure level. I think that's how that's the only point I can see it being profitable. So yeah, it's growing but the thing is like the revenue's increasing but my profitability is not.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Okay, so my two questions are, where are people mainly buying from you? Are they discovering you on social media and buying from your website?

[Connie]

Um, so at the moment it's mainly social ads, meta ads. Um, I do run some, a small budget of Google Ads and then most of the purchases. Yes. Come from my website. I think about 60% in the last year have been on my website.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

What's the other 40%?

[Connie]

So I've got 60% on my website, I've got 12% on Amazon, 12% on TikTok shop and then the remaining 15% is Etsy and not on the high street.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Etsy. And what was the other one?

[Connie]

Is that not on the high street? It's like a UK sort of gift.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Gifting shop and they're not buying from you. Right. It's like a drop ship or sort of like an Etsy.

[Connie]

It's like an Etsy, Yeah, it's a marketplace. Yeah.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Okay. And then the next thing I want to know, because I love that you know your Numbers. So good job. So good. You sell a lot. You sell journals and gifts, crystal pens, wall arts, T shirts, sweats and hoodies, tote bags, crystals. Crystals, jewelry. So what are your best sellers and what's not selling?

[Connie]

So it is like 90% the journals. The gift box sells really well, which has like a crystal and an affirmation deck pack in it with the manifestation journal. So that sells quite well. But it is mainly the journals. The. The pens kind of. I added as a bit of a. An attempt to increase average order value, which has worked a little bit, but, like, they're not, like, flying off the shelves on their own.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Probably because they haven't been built to be special enough yet, where they're like, they really want your pen.

[Connie]

Yeah. And that's it as well. Like, I. With my journals, they're all, like, bespokely designed. I talk about them a lot because of that. But the other stuff I sort of source in, and it feels a little less special, I think, but they still make nice additions for gifts and things.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Do you sell the feather pens?

[Connie]

Not yet. I have thought about it, actually. I noticed a customer searching for it the other day on my analytics.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

I was like, oh, that'd be nice. You know why? Because your photograph of you writing in your journal uses that pen.

[Connie]

Yeah.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Yeah, right.

[Connie]

I have had someone message me asking if it's included as well.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Yeah. So you're getting some notes from people while you have the other one with the orbs on top. It might even be easier to sell the feather because then it's even lighter weight. And how long have you been a part of the product boss community?

[Connie]

I followed you for maybe about a year, but I basically started listening to your podcast a few months ago and became just completely addicted. Honestly, I have you to thank for my business, not, like, being in the bin. I feel like it reinspired me earlier this year to give it another go rather than, like, go and look for a job. So thank you for that.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Oh, I love that. Thank you for saying that. I'm really grateful and also I'm excited that we get to do this one on one together. I actually love your stuff, and it's right up my alley, so it's so good. So what I want you to do, and the reason I'm just asking you historically, is that you know about when we talk about being known for something, leaning into being known for something and deciding your best seller. So you've just given me, you know, £45,000 worth of reasons why the journal is the thing that you sell. Right. Because 90% of that, that means all this other stuff that you're making and selling and on your website and distracted and market marketing about is not what they're actually buying. So what would it be like for you if you were known for this journal?

[Connie]

Just the one journal, the.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Whatever the 90 is. So if it's a couple variations of a journal, so.

[Connie]

So I've only really had one journal on offer until November last year. Then I added a gratitude journal. Doesn't sell quite as well as the first one, but I do like, I love creating them. So I would like to bring out more like journals and be known for journals.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Okay. What if you didn't have to bring out more? So I know your creativity wants to make some more and you can down the road, but we want to get you to multi six figures. And what if you did that just with the gratitude journal and the manifestation journal?

[Connie]

Okay, interesting. And how would I get people to keep coming back?

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Well, on this, they'd have to use it and want a new one. Right. So for you, you can create community or content that gets them to work through the journal so that they get done with it, and then they need to buy another one.

[Connie]

And that's the thing. I'm not sure how many people do come back for a second one at the moment. I don't know if it's like they get. They. They have that thing where they want something fresh and a bit different to like mix up the variety or. It's just that I'm not kind of pressing them to come back for a second one.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Do you know Chani the astrologer?

[Connie]

Don't follow. Oh, each is her surname, is it? No.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

So Chani's huge here in the US Is Chani Nicholas. And she has an app now, you don't have to worry about that, but she has a podcast and she talks about horoscopes and astrology and all the things. But she has a shop and she does an astro planner for the year, so you can pre buy it. So basically you just pick your rising sign if you wanted to do something like this. Right? But she does your rising sign and then you get the digital or you can get the physical sent to you and then it's supposed to go with through you through the whole year. So it tells you about, like, what. What's happening with like retrogrades and certain cycles of the moon and all the other things. Right. So she does something like this where it's an astro planner for the year. You don't have to do that specific. But that's just an example of someone who creates content. People follow her on social media, they follow vibes, they do all the different things like that, and then they buy the product in support of that. So that's what more people will share. That's what people will follow you for the content and then they'll buy the thing that you're selling Then. So there's this, this company, the Full Focus Planner. Michael Hyatt created it. And the entire business is built on this planner. And the way that you use the planner. So it's not a dated planner where you don't have to worry about creating something every year. And if you don't sell through all the product, it's gonna expire. So the way that you currently have your journals could very much be the way that Full Focus teaches theirs. They teach you how to use it and then you use it. And then when it's used, you need to get another one because you start to buy into the methodology behind using the Full Focus Planner. And he got really far just with one planner. And then all the new stuff that we see now is in addition to how long he's been doing this, now he's got like all these other products. But you don't have to do all of that to start to be successful.

[Connie]

So essentially Focus Focus down and teach more about how to use it and create community around it.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

I don't want you to be scared about niching down because the numbers aren't lying. So what if you just got better at marketing? Better at TikTok Shops, better at Amazon, you got better at that and attracted more people to you. And you could easily double what you're doing because you already have all the numbers. You're already selling 90% of that. So if you look at your actual numbers, if 5,000 of it, 10,000 of it's coming from all the other products, but you're like split in all these different ways. What would it look like if you could go all in and sell one thing? What's coming up for you when I say this?

[Connie]

I guess like for quite a long time I was just selling the Manifestation Journal and promoting it. And I guess I think I'm. I still need some direction in how to market it well, because as I say, at the moment, I'm spending quite a lot on ads that aren't necessarily performing yet. And what used to work didn't work. At one point, I was doing really well on TikTok shop, which is actually kind of surprising because I've realized most of my customers are actually slightly older women, like 35 to 55, maybe. Maybe even 45 to 55. So I was surprised that TikTok shop was doing quite well. I expected them to be more like on Facebook. But anyways, my sort of marketing was very quite like salesy back then, but it got quite high reach and I was getting loads of sales from it. I actually hit, yeah, got thousands worth one January and then that kind of started to tail off. And I've never really managed to get that organic sales back really. So at the moment I'm just spending loads on ads and it's. It's difficult to try and make it profitable.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

So if we could start to follow you as this person who can teach us about manifestation, then I'm going to buy the thing. You also are selling me about manifestation.

[Connie]

Yeah, I completely see what you're saying. I think there's definitely some imposter syndrome that comes up. Like, I don't feel like a confident manifestation expert, I guess, but I mean, I create the journal for a reason and I do know how it works. And I've manifested some amazing things in my life. I guess a struggle I've been going through recently is obviously the business has been struggling and that's made me sort of question my authority on manifestation because I haven't been able to like manifest a thriving, profitable business yet.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

I would say that there are lots of people in this world that would listen to you say that and they would disagree because they would love to have been making £45,000 or £40,000. And you know, this manifestation for a happy life doesn't mean it comes without death and tragedy and all the other things. Right? But it's believing that there's no timeline on manifestation. Right. So in hindsight, you're going to look back and be like, yeah, I manifested the business I have, but you're just still on that journey, do you know what I'm saying? So it's like I can manifest all the things I want, but doesn't mean I get to tell the universe I want that done in the next two weeks, you know, and you can. The things that you feel, that you feel and are going through your brain, other people are feeling the same way. So, like, who's doubting their manifestation powers? What are some little things? So for example, money. Money flows to me. That's my. One of my things that I've been saying lately in terms of manifesting. Does it mean that financially everything's looking Amazing. In 2024. No, it's 2024. But I needed 10 cents to buy a bag at Lululemon. I did not have it. And they're like, here, just take it. They gave it to me for free. So instead of charging me the 10 cents, and then the next morning, 10 cents fell out of my bag on the airplane and I was like, there's the 10 cents I was looking for. So not only did I get the bag, I also got the 10 cents. So sometimes it's us missing these, like, little winks from the universe. So I just want you to not doubt yourself and be like, well, I'm not. I haven't manifested my own private jet yet. So who am I to tell people about manifestation? No, you' Human journey.

[Connie]

Yeah, that makes sense.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

So believe that the way that you feel, even as a spiritual person, even with all the proof that you know that manifestation works, that things take the time it takes, things take longer. And we can't just imagine, like, the universe isn't working on our timeline. So share that, tell the story. So if I start to follow you for manifestation tips, how to write in the journal, how to manifest, like little things like that, and you're already showing your face. You're not afraid of showing your face. But I think what you said is believing that you are the person for us to follow, I will say, yes, you are. So if we position you in being someone that we follow for manifestation, and it could still be 60,000 followers, you don't need 600,000 followers right now to be have a successful business. But if we can just start to grow your content the way that those other content creators are growing, then the default for the person following you will be they'll be fangirling over you, and then they're going to want what you use. So how do you feel about being. Because I already see you as a face on your brand, but how do you feel about leaning more into that?

[Connie]

Yeah, it's scary, but I feel like outside the comfort zone is always scary, isn't it? So, yeah, I'm happy showing my face. I think it will take some practice, but I'm willing to give it a go.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Okay. I love that. So the couple things you just want to figure out are advice on your product range and cash flow management. So we kind of went into that. So product range. I think that if you. You can keep your deck, there's like a few things you can keep if you really want to keep them. I just think that you have a lot like crystals Crystal jewelry, tote bags, sweats and hoodies, T shirts, wall art. I don't think they need any of that.

[Connie]

Yeah, I'm happy to like ditch the, the wall art, the clothing. Like that's already kind of done within my head anyway. I guess it's just there because it's there. But I'm happy to remove that. I do think that the crystals are kind of good add ons for gifts and stuff.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Well, you have the manifestation box, so that's a great gift. You could do a bundle of the gratitude journal, the manifestation book and a pen if you wanted. Like you could bundle both books so they don't have to choose between either. The gift box is good. The pens are fine. They just need to be used in the photos that you're writing in your journals so they can desire to have that similar look. And also I think the manifestation affirmation cards are also fine to stay. And then wall art. I would get rid of T shirts, I'd get rid of sweats and hoodies, totes, bat tote bags. I don't think you need to sell crystals. There's enough people out there selling bracelets and crystal jewelry and stuff. So I think as a gift box or during the holidays you can put something together like that. But I don't, I don't think I'm going to come to you for. I think it's confusing and it's more things to sell. And it'd be great if you were like more of this like stationary book company to start. Right.

[Connie]

Okay. I had a feeling you were gonna say that.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

There's people making millions and millions and millions and millions of dollars selling three products.

[Connie]

Actually this leads me to my next question because obviously I do listen to the podcast and quite often when people ask about like what to talk to people about in terms of like email marketing and you always say kind of make sure your sort of banner on your website is selling one thing and then you're emailing about the. So it's like a collection or a different color. But obviously I don't really have that because it's just like one product. So how do I keep people like, I don't know, what do I talk to them about and how do I keep them interested?

[Jacqueline Snyder]

So when you came up with this idea, why did you come up with it? Or let's say the journals which are 90% of your revenue?

[Connie]

I'm quite creative and I wanted to create something beautiful that stood out from like standard stationery. And I was really into manifestation at the Time and it was, I found it very inspiring and I thought it would be a product that would inspire other people to kind of make. I mean I had made some big changes in my life. I'd. I'd left like an eight year relationship, I'd met a new partner, I'd bought my first house and left my career as an architect to start a business. So like I'd made all these changes and I just felt like, I guess I manifested those and wanted to provide something that might help beginners manifest change in their lives, I guess.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

And why did you choose the vibe that you chose, which is a little bit witchy in a very beautiful, magical way? I guess.

[Connie]

I guess that's like the vibe I lean to as quite a spiritual person. And I feel like spiritual people do love that kind of witchy vibe and those colors and the celestial stuff.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Okay, so you've just told me the why and you've also just told me what differentiates you from what's out there. Right? You've proven that you can manifest through life and manifestation doesn't have to be so grand. I think that there's a lot of people who teach manifestation that are teaching it from a dolla dollar bills sort of situation. They're like either the sexy manifester, they're the hot rich babe manifestor, but you have a vibe to you that you're not gonna fake. And so it could be this idea of like, yes, there's the witchiness which you have your own vibe. And so what would happen if you were authentically your vibe showing another woman like you, Connie, who broke up with someone after a long term relationship that changed her entire career, that needed to believe that different for them. They may not know the exact steps, but to start to manifest and believe and live in that world, what could be possible? It could also be simpler. It doesn't have to be for I want the private jet and I want, you know, to swim in a bathtub of money. Even though maybe that is something you want, it's still not your full vibe. You're not like flashing, you know, you're like, I've manifested a million dollars and here it is. You're manifesting a beautiful life with this vibe. So I think that that already differentiates you. And then the second part is that the product looks different, it's attractive, it's, it feels old. Like I'm not going to say it's Harry Potter, but you know, when people imagine like Hogwarts and what the library would look like, this could slide out of that bookshelf. So it has this feeling of nostalgia, magic value, and it's something that could be collected. There are so many people in the world that can buy this from you that you've not even scratched the surface. Did you see where I guided Connie here? So, like so many product bosses who I do coach, Connie wants to expand her product line before trying to lean in and maximize what's already working, which is actually focusing on her bestseller. So for Connie, 90% of her revenue comes from her journals, but she's also selling apparel and crystals and other accessories that aren't seeing significant sales. So by trying to focus on all of these products at once, she's not only making her marketing less effective, but she's also leaving revenue on the table because her customers don't know what to buy from her. Right? They're overwhelmed. So how do they know what to buy? That's why I coach Connie to go all in on her bestsellers and make them the focus of her brand. Now, this is the quickest way for Connie to become known for something and to become the go to person for journals, which will lead to more sales and increased revenue win. Am I right? So, similarly, if you're struggling to grow your revenue, you need to figure out the product you're known for, which we call your bestseller, and then start leaning all your efforts into it. So if you're looking for your simplest path forward, that would be it. Now that we know Connie's first step, let's figure out how she can scale her business. So even though you're running ads, it's not. It could be that the website isn't converting the way you want it to do. So tiny tweaks that you run in your business could be the things that make really big changes and ripples in your business. Meaning, can we make a better conversion page? If you're running your ads really specifically to certain things, and you start to understand what your customers need, and you can speak the language and be a really good marketer, you can sell a lot of these. And now people are going to see other people using it and say, like, where'd you get that? And they tell them, so it's word of mouth. And then your job will be not only to sell it and acquire new customers, but it'll get your current customers to use it, go through it, and want to buy another one from you.

[Connie]

And I think that's the one where I've, like, questioned it in the past because I've been like, will they come back for A second. But it is a beautiful book.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

They may not and they might. And if they bought the manifestation guide book and journal, maybe they buy one as a gift for somebody. Maybe they come in and get the gratitude. You may need to just run a lot more ads with variations to those ads. And knowing what's happening in the world, like, let's say we knew. And I'm saying this to you because when I look at you on Instagram, that you're already talking about things that are happening in astrology, like Virgo season, Full moon in Aquarius, all that. So we knew Lionsgate portal was coming. And then there was this huge amount of people that were talking about the Lionsgate portal and all this stuff. I just thought everybody was talking about how this is like the most powerful data manifest. Knowing that that was happening. You probably could have run ads that were a little bit more specific to this for a few weeks prior, really gearing people up to Lionsgate. You could have done a Lionsgate, like a free registration for a Lionsgate manifestation time. You could run that live on TikTok, because it's TikTok shops is something I think you could grow as well. And then you could do another one, like live on Instagram. People come and you teach them about manifestation, but you're writing in your book and then a soft sell is like, I love using my manifestation journal. This is where I'm using it. This is what I'm doing. Hey, if you're on right now for Lionsgate, you could have given them like 8% off or $8 off, something like that. So if you're starting to think about what's happening in astrology, you can create your own kind of mini events around it. And that is what you're marketing the book or the books stay the same, but you're hitting people at different points that they're like, oh, yeah, I want to do this. And then journals and stuff like that make a lot of sense for the new year as well. So Manifest your best 2025. You're not being an astrologer, but you're just talking about manifestation. What would it look like if I were to challenge you to do like a. You could create like a 30 day challenge where you for 30 days show up live on one of the platforms. I see this smiling at you. You do a manifestation a day. You teach people what you're going to journal about. How to do a journal prompt. Maybe you start it with a journal prompt and then you spend 15 minutes and you're guiding people through how to write it and answer questions. And you do it every single day where you create a prompt and you're doing it live and you're teaching people like the idea of writing down how you can use writing in manifestation and give them a couple tips and then people can start to show up. If they do or they don't, you will get really comfortable in 30 days and you'll start to see the more in your consistency. On the one platform. I'm not going to say do Instagram and TikTok. I would pick one and I kind of maybe think TikTok for you because you've got TikTok shop set up and just start to talk about manifestation. Look at some of the people I told you about and then just show up live every day for like 5, 10 minutes to do some sort of prompt talking about how to use it. You could have zero people watching you. I used to have zero, one person and I'm like, I'm still going to do this and then you'll start to see it work.

[Connie]

Going live does scare me, but again, it's the comfort zone that needs to be broken.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Did you catch how she's going to scale? Did you see that? Okay, so by building a content strategy that drives repeat customers. Because when it comes to scaling, it's not just about getting new customers, but also keeping the ones you already have. Do not forget this, my friends. It is way easier and less expensive to get repeat customers so people to come back and buy again and again than it is to constantly have to bring in new traffic and new customers. So if you aren't leaning into your current customer base, then you're missing out on sales. And for Connie, she's significantly missing out on the opportunity to guide her customers through the journaling experience so they finish their journals and return for more. So we discussed how she could use this 30 day journaling challenge to achieve this and lean into her email list and send weekly journal prompts to engage fast buyers. Now the key takeaway here is that if you want to increase repeat customers, you need to keep them coming back for more and engaged with your product and your business and your brand beyond that initial purchase, right? They want to be. You want them engaged with your brand so they come back for more and more. They think about you, they think about your brand. So now let's dive a little bit deeper into how Connie can continue scaling while being profitable. Hey, friends. Okay, so I don't know if you're anything like me, but sometimes it feels like my self care routine is slipping through the cracks because when I'm juggling and wearing all the hats in my business and doing all the things, I mean, the last thing I have to do is like, like really fulfill that self care routine that my doctor's talking about. She's like, mom, so listen. So when it comes to running a successful business, you can't really pour from an empty cup. And a lot of times that self care is like one of the first things to get yourself recalibrated. So that's why I want you to meet Glossy. Now, Glossy is my favorite daily beauty supplement designed to transform your skin and gut health from the inside out. And I'm actually an investor in this business because I so believe in this idea of science backed ingredients for digestion and skin hydration. And Glossy makes it really easy to look and feel your best without that whole 10 step routine in the mirror. The thing I don't actually have time for, all I have to do is simply mix a stick into my water and I'm good to go. So if you want to try this, because I so believe in this business, I think it's amazing. It's done so many wonders for my skin and my gut, which are two things that I need help with. And you want to simplify your wellness and your beauty. All you have to do is click in the show notes and you can use the code Jaclyn Snyder. So it's my full name. Use the code Jaclyn Snyder and I'm hooking you up with 15% off your order. So cheers to glowing skin and a thriving business. Hey friends, are you unsure of what to say on social media or what to even send in your weekly emails? Well, what if creating content could be easy? Would you be looking for a shortcut to creating consistent content? Yes. Yes, consistent content. Because you know, consistency is key. Well, let me tell you, you are not alone when you feel like you're struggling on what to post or what to write in emails. And we know that you have that product part of your business down. But as you're listening to this podcast, you probably already know that to get more people to your products, to buy your products, you need to create great content. Oh, I know, I see. I keep saying content, and that's the dreaded C word. And we can't tell you how many product bosses tell us that they want to create great content for their audience and their customers, but they don't know what to say, or they are so busy they can't find the time, or they really really, really don't want to be the face of their brand. Well, no worries because that's exactly why we created a year of content. It is your shortcut to creating consistent content that resonates with your audience and brings more loyal customers who can't wait to buy your products. If you want to see how easy this is and how easy it is to create content for your audience and your customers, head to www.yearofcontent.com. so to answer your first question is I really believe that you need to reduce the amount of things you're selling. You absolutely don't need to sell clothes, posters, and if you turn into the journals, the gift box, that can come with the crystal because we also don't need the crystal bracelets. You can do bundles right now to clear out of that inventory. You can put it on sale, you can move those to Etsy or whatever. But I think across all these sales channels, if you started to get really good at what you're doing, you could increase all of them. Even if you kept at 60%, 12%, 12%, 15%, 15%. But even, but if we started making more money on each channel, that's how you can see your sales start to snowball, your revenue starts to get generated.

[Connie]

And how do you like increase it on those channels where it's not social media sort of driven.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

So you're doing for your website, you're doing exactly what you should be doing. You're either going to do organic, which is what you're doing on the social channels and paid ads. And are you growing your email list through your ads? Yes.

[Connie]

I mean most of the people that join are like people that have signed, come from an ad, signed up for the 10% off. So we've got like I think maybe two and a half thousand on there. So it's not massive, but it's not nothing.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

And out of the two and a half thousand that are on your email list, how many of them have bought from you?

[Connie]

Good question.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Probably not a lot. Right?

[Connie]

That figure I don't have.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

But would you say that the majority have not bought from you?

[Connie]

I would actually say quite a good amount have because I think most of them do. Well, there's probably, I'd estimate maybe 50%.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

So 1200 people have bought from you. Okay. So we need to encourage the people who bought from you to consume it. So the same kind of content I'm telling you, you could post on social, you can take and write an email to them. Right. So you could do it, could be join my email list get 10% off and get weekly manifestation prompts. And you could set up an email that's like a manifestation prompt. So it's getting them to engage with it. The only other thing that it doesn't look like you're doing 100% are partnerships or user generated content. But I don't know that you need to do that. I think if you work on getting people to consume your product more and how to nurture people prior to buying it, you just need a little bit of a lift in your customer retention and buying again and then a little lift in acquiring new customers. And so if you could work both of those small percentages, 1%, 2%, 3%, those are going to start to really make significant changes in your business.

[Connie]

And that's all through this kind of like what you call it, educational, I guess so. Educational content.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Yeah. I want. You need to be sticky, which means we need people to want to stick around. So the content you create, the reason why, let's say this, the full focus Planner doesn't have as many followers is because it's a little bit more traditional. E Com type Instagram versus the kind of content that you're posting. And the reason I brought up Chani was you are already talking about astrology. You're just doing them in static posts. So you could easily, the stuff you want to do as a static post, speak to or start to figure out what a bit of more engaging or viral content could be. And then people start to follow you right now with your posts. What I want you to also do is create this brand that people recognize and they're like, oh, I know that that's a post. Because on social media they need to recognize the content that's coming up with them to engage with it. So every way that you can think you can take the same piece of content and repurpose it for an ad, if you wanted, for any of the social channels, for an email. So your second job is going to be looking at the rest of the year and thinking what other astrological moments you should create content around. And then I want you. Maybe it could either be a couple weeks prior to you or the week before. You could say, like, scorpio season is coming. It's great to be used for this kind of manifestation. So it could be like an alert like, hey, Scorpio season's coming. And then as it's going up, like we're getting closer to the date, you start to do other manifestations, talking about Sagittarius or something like that. So I Want you to think around the stuff you're already posting. So full moons, new moons, all the stuff. Then you already have this content so you can actually do it again. You have one that's like, struggling to feel positive and present in the moment. So however you. This one had someone else speaking to camera using your book, this one reel that you already did, but it doesn't have the most engagement. So if you can start to think through, you're going to test and try other ways to see these things and make it your face and teach people how to use the product. So a lot of this is going to be you hacking other people, seeing what kind of content they're creating, and then figuring out how you can make this work for yours. And so I want you to not only do the 30 day live, but I want you to think through moments that you can break them up into marketing moments over the next next three months where you've got something to talk about and work through with them. And then you can send that as an email, you can do them on social, you can do posts about it, but it's going to just start to help you hone in on what your marketing ideas are. Okay.

[Connie]

Yeah. And in terms of the one other question I had is with the Manifestation journal and the other one, to be honest, and the product photos, I've always gone for, like, just take little glimpses of it. And I've looked at other competitors and some of them, like, literally, like, have like, lines coming out and they point out everything that's on, like, each page. So, like, would you consider, would you recommend doing that? I think my, like, fear was that it will give it all away and then people won't buy the book. But ultimately it comes back to, like, what you said about how I'm meant to be doing, like, Manifestation in an accessible way. Like, it is quite a simple book because it was meant to be for, like, the normal woman.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

People pay for organization. So you said you've been listening to the podcast for about a year. And I used to gate the way that I coached on the podcast so that people could buy the product from me. Plus, I had a business partner and everything was different. But what I know is I am a coach through and through. I have tons of ideas. If you can't tell, I can, like, get to the heart of the problem pretty quickly. And I was like, you know what? I am going to coach on the podcast because I can impact a lot of people. And doing that has not hurt my business. It's actually helped My business people feel way more attached to my coaching style. They, I'm getting a lot of compliments. On the podcast you said that you love the coaching calls. People are like, oh yeah, it sounds like she's talking to me. But then you actually did pay for a one on one session with me because you're like, I, I can hear how you coach other people, but what about my business? And so the more you give away, I'm not saying give away your pages for free, but don't be afraid that they're not gonna want the organization and the beauty of your book. If you're showing them how your gratitude journal, it's actually gonna help you because they're gonna start to trust you. They're gonna be kind of, there's gonna be a little FOMO for the, for the journals. And you're like, I don't like just writing on paper. I keep watching her write on this beautiful thing and make it a ritual, right? Make it beautiful. Whatever pen you're using is a pen you sell. And maybe you light the candle and you're like, okay, I've lit my candle, I've got my, you know, rose quartz crystal in front of me and you set this vibe and then you, you're writing in it. And people love all of that kind of content. I just want you to test and try and. Because you're already been doing it this way and you're feeling stuck. So let's try it another way and if it doesn't work, you can go back to this way.

[Connie]

And do you think it would ever be a problem if I brought out like a version 2 or like an updated version of it at some point in the future?

[Jacqueline Snyder]

No, I just want you to sell them. Right? So you've got inventory. So let's get you through inventory. Another option is you can do different colors, right? Don't feel stuck with the creativity of more product. Take your energy of creativity and turn it into content, which is the marketing. Because your second part of your question was it's really expensive for paid ads. It is. That's why I don't coach small businesses like yours into paid ads unless you've got all the money to play with. So a three times Roas is great. Every dollar you put in, you get two, three dollars back. But you also have cost of goods and shipping. So there's a level of you going more viral and having way more organic reach so that you could still run ads, but you're not completely reliant on it to drive your business in case you missed it, like I told Connie, people don't just buy journals. They buy into a vision. They're buying into a transformation or a lifestyle. So for Connie, this means leaning into her niche, which is manifestation. Instead of just selling another journal, she can become a trusted source and the go to person for manifestation education. And listen, I know there's people out there, There are people everywhere making and selling and doing what we each individually do. Ok? Okay. And that's okay. That means that there is a market there. The thing is, is that we have to stand out in these crowded markets. We have to find our own little niche, our own corner of the world. There are. There are billions and billions of people in this world. There are enough customers, enough people, enough ears for all of us. So I want to give you that quick pep talk because when you're hearing me say this and you're like, ah, she gonna be the number one. She doesn't need to be the number one place for manifestation education. She just needs, needs to be someone that people know about with a steady flow of new customers. Right? That's all she needs. It's so simple. So how does she accomplish this in her marketing? Right? How does she get other people to feel like they need her manifestation journal? Well, she needs to show up, she needs to be seen, she needs to stand out. So through sharing daily manifestation tips on social media and relating them back to journaling, leveraging astrological events at timely marketing moments, and perhaps even running live manifestation sessions where she teaches journaling techniques, she can do all of this while naturally promoting her product. Now all of these will not only help Connie to become more well known in the manifestation space, but also allow for her to naturally promote and sell her journals to an audience because she is selling an experience. I want you to remember, if you want to scale and have a profitable product based business, you cannot just sell the product. We're not just selling journals, right? We have to sell, we have to take them. We have to move them from pain to pleasure. We have to move them from pain to joy. We have to solve problems, meet needs, wants and desires. So ultimately you're actually selling a transformation or an experience to your customers. So I hope that makes sense. This is something we talk a lot about inside of standout society. So now let's wrap this up. So you started this with your biggest struggle right now is how to maintain profitability and cash flow. And then you said that to make this a success to you would be getting my eyes on your business strategy as a whole. Like the missing pieces. So what I recommend is, is narrowing down on your product offerings, being known for something and being easily referable and recognizable. So when I start to see your content, when I say your emails, when I see your journal, I start to know it's Contoura collective or even if I don't know the name, I know that I've seen that piece of or that that book somewhere. Ads are going to come down to probably a little bit more digging into it on the conversion and how you can improve that but it's not a ton of money. And if you're getting your, if you're getting your money back from it. The other thing I want you to think of it as is marketing and that you're doing list building and then and the people on your list you're going to start to market to and so you're focused, you know what you're marketing about. You're growing your email list, you're marketing to your email list and you're still doing your ads which are working and then give yourself little goals. If it's I want to, you know, I have 60% of my revenue is coming from my website. X amount of people land on my website. I want to improve my conversion. Think about how you can do that or how you can raise the average order value when they are buying. So for example I could add the journal and right when I'm checking out it could be like wait, do you want to add on the gratitude journal? And you give them like the lowest price they'll ever get it and if they click off they won't get it again. You could try that. Could it be they get the pen. So the pen is normally 15 pounds and they get it for eight or ten right. Like just think like because you just want to raise your average order value. These are also ways to make more money when they're buying from you. And, and I would focus. So since 60% of your revenue is coming from the website and 90% is coming from the journal I would see how you could get better at your website and marketing in the journal. But the more you get better at just focusing on being known for the journal it'll work for all places. And then probably TikTok shops you could do Instagram, TikTok shops and website and that's where I would focus for the next 90 days. Any follow up questions?

[Connie]

No, I think that's really helpful. I feel like I'm going away like scared but inspired. But no, it's been really good. Thank you so much. Yeah, it's just outside my comfort zone and I haven't done it before, but I think it would be good for me because I need to get out of my comfort zone.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Tell us how we can support you, shop from you, follow you, all the things.

[Connie]

Yeah, you can find us at contoura-collective.co.uk.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Amazing. We'll drop it all in the show notes as well. And if you're in the uk, you're really lucky because you can buy these real easy and they're gorgeous. All right, Connie, thank you so much. Okay. I had a really fantastic time coaching Connie and I can't wait to see the action that she takes from this session. Now, the main theme here is that if she wants to increase her profitability, she does need to simplify her product line to focus on journals. I mean, because we've got the data there, right? Why not make this easier? And focus, she can always add on later because focusing is going to help increase her repeat customers and create manifestation driven marketing plan with a educational content to really sell a transformation to her potential customers. And once they use up that journal, we want them to come back and buy another one. So if Connie can implement the action plan we laid out, I have no doubt that she'll start to see her profits increase in no time. And remember, if you feel like you're struggling with increasing your profitability, the first thing you need to do is actually niche down. Right? I want you to niche down. I want you to narrow down and lean into your best selling product or the product you're going to be known for. And then when you hone in all of that, that's when you can create these marketing campaigns around the product and grow from gonna feel so much easier and so much lighter. Listen, my friend, if Connie can do it, so can you. All right, make sure to leave a review. Share this podcast with anyone that you think needs to hear this today. And as always, I'm gonna drop that link in if you're like, hey, I really want a coaching session with you, Jacqueline. We have some opportunities to be aired on the show to get access to all these amazing ears that are listening as well as get coached and really kind of like hone in and clean up your strategy. All right, my friends, see you.