Are you making samples if your products when you are creating? These are important, because a company, a boutique, a department store, a wholesale distributor falls in love with your products, the first thing they want you to send them is going to be your sample products. Time to have samples of your products at the ready.
Make your samples speak volumes
This is the time when those who have the power to buy need to be persuaded, and your samples can do that. When that interested party contacts you, you want to be able to send your samples asap. You don’t want to have them waiting a week or two because that shows unprofessional-ism. This is the reason why you need to have samples on standby, ready to be shipped off to where ever they need to go.
Remember, it’s not just shop owners that can be interested in your products. We are living in an evolving society, where companies, newspapers, magazines, small businesses are all on the same playing field. We are all meeting on common ground, this common ground is called your social network such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and more.
I know having samples are important, when I started my business, and I joined my very first social network ning, my samples came in very handy. This is what happened to me, I must have been in that Ning forum for at least a month or two. Active and engaging with other fellow business owners, when one member, who I invited to connect with was very impressed with my product.
Free promotion + a new friend =Priceless
She asked if she could have a sample, I was a bit unsure sending out my samples because even though they were samples, they did cost money to produce. After some debating with myself, I decided to send her 4 samples. In my mind, was thinking that I may be able to get a discount for advertising space in the future and that if she shows them around her business that may bring in more new more customers. Oh did I forget to mention she was the editor of a USA magazine? 🙂
Anyway, I sent her the samples and within a week she contacted me via the social network, saying she had received them and she loved them. I left it at that for I did not want to spam her with questions and prices to quickly. Well, 2 weeks went by and I received another message asking if it was ok for her to feature my business in her magazine. I was shocked and overjoyed; of course, I accepted and sent her to my about page on my business site which was about me and my journey business.
When repetitiveness becomes systems
This is where my Pre-Plan Marketing Kit system came into its own (you can get yours for free siple scroll to the end of this post). You have to remember that when I was using these methods, I knew that if she required any more information about me, she already had my contact details. She replied thanking me for the information and told me my business would be in their next issue. It was the second week of the next month that I received the PDF file of the magazine and there I was with a whole page feature in the business women’s achievements section. It was absolutely fantastic and the information I sent her she had used it for the feature, word for word, so it showed the true essence of me and my business.
Being prepared saves time
I was so glad I had that information at hand. There I was a young independent designer from the UK, with international exposure in the USA and in the process made a new like-minded international friend. I know for a fact that the cost for a full page feature would have cost a bit of money, money I just did not have at that time.
You have two put in the time and have those important samples ready and waiting. You have to be prepared to jump on an opportunity, as soon as it presents itself to you. Why? because when that happens, you will know inside, whether is the right thing to do it or not. When the “YES IT IS” moment happens, you don’t want to be fumbling around looking for samples to send to the person who’s asked for them. No, you want to be boxing, packaging, wrapping and sending via mail to that person as quickly as possible.
The world is ready to receive your awesome creations. The universe is already helping you rise to the occasion. Are you giving your business the best possible advantage, if so, “Samples at the ready!”.
