Executing A Collaborative Product Launch End Hype With Callye Keen podcast

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<div class="span index">1</div> <span><a class="" data-remote="true" data-type="html" href="/series/all-about-change">All About Change</a></span>

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All About Change

for 6 dage sidenfor 6d ago

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How do we build an inclusive world? Hear intimate and in-depth conversations with changemakers on disability rights, youth mental health advocacy, prison reform, grassroots activism, and more. First-hand stories about activism, change, and courage from people who are changing the world: from how a teen mom became the Planned Parenthood CEO, to NBA player Kevin Love on mental health in professional sports, to Beetlejuice actress Geena Davis on Hollywood’s role in women’s rights. All About Change is hosted by Jay Ruderman, whose life’s work is seeking social justice and inclusion for people with disabilities worldwide. Join Jay as he interviews iconic guests who have gone through adversity and harnessed their experiences to better the world. This show ultimately offers the message of hope that we need to keep going. All About Change is a production of the Ruderman Family Foundation. Listen and subscribe to All About Change wherever you get podcasts. https://allaboutchangepodcast.com/

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Executing a Collaborative Product Launch

for 3 år siden 29:32

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Indhold leveret af Callye Keen. Alt podcastindhold inklusive episoder, grafik og podcastbeskrivelser uploades og leveres direkte af Callye Keen eller deres podcastplatformspartner. Hvis du mener, at nogen bruger dit ophavsretligt beskyttede værk uden din tilladelse, kan du følge processen beskrevet her https://da.player.fm/legal.

Great Execution is Collaborative
Most entrepreneurs launch a product with a little marketing hype running up to release and spend the majority of time, money, and effort pushing the product sales after release.
Most product launches fail.
Most businesses fail after successful launches.
They do not understand we are in the demand generation business.
While executing a collaborative product launch, the audience conversation starts immediately and builds the demand for what we develop.
In this episode, Callye Keen breaks down the Execute step (step 4) of the Collaborative Growth Blueprint.
Download your blueprint at
www.redbluecollective.com/collab

… continue reading

135 episoder

#MBA #Entrepreneur #Business #Callye Keen #Entrepreneurship #Ecommerce #Product Development #Hardware Startups #Manufacturing

End Hype with Callye Keen

End Hype with Callye Keen podcast artwork

Executing a Collaborative Product Launch

End Hype with Callye Keen

published for 3 år siden

Del

MP3•Episode hjem

Indhold leveret af Callye Keen. Alt podcastindhold inklusive episoder, grafik og podcastbeskrivelser uploades og leveres direkte af Callye Keen eller deres podcastplatformspartner. Hvis du mener, at nogen bruger dit ophavsretligt beskyttede værk uden din tilladelse, kan du følge processen beskrevet her https://da.player.fm/legal.

Great Execution is Collaborative
Most entrepreneurs launch a product with a little marketing hype running up to release and spend the majority of time, money, and effort pushing the product sales after release.
Most product launches fail.
Most businesses fail after successful launches.
They do not understand we are in the demand generation business.
While executing a collaborative product launch, the audience conversation starts immediately and builds the demand for what we develop.
In this episode, Callye Keen breaks down the Execute step (step 4) of the Collaborative Growth Blueprint.
Download your blueprint at
www.redbluecollective.com/collab

… continue reading

135 episoder

#MBA #Entrepreneur #Business #Callye Keen #Entrepreneurship #Ecommerce #Product Development #Hardware Startups #Manufacturing

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End Hype with Callye Keen

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Leadership Traits Entrepreneurs Need to Develop Strategic Partnerships 24:36

for 2 years siden24:36

24:36

Entrepreneurship is an exciting and rewarding career path, but it also requires a great deal of hard work and dedication. In order to succeed, entrepreneurs need to develop certain leadership traits that will help them build and maintain strategic partnerships. These traits include communication, collaboration, trust, flexibility, vision, and resilience. Communication Communication is an essential leadership trait for entrepreneurs. Effective communication skills are key to building and maintaining strong relationships with customers, partners, and other stakeholders. This includes being able to clearly articulate goals, objectives, and expectations and to listen actively to the needs and concerns of others. Getting started Start a podcast Learn to speak Collaboration Collaboration is also an important leadership trait for entrepreneurs. By working together with partners and stakeholders, entrepreneurs can create more effective solutions and achieve greater success. This requires the ability to build consensus and to understand the perspectives of all parties involved. Collaboration goes beyond management Collaboration means exchanging ideas and responsibilities Getting started Create content with someone Join a community Mentor someone Help plan an event Trust Trust is another important leadership trait for entrepreneurs. Building trust with partners and stakeholders is essential for successful collaboration and for creating long-term relationships. This includes being honest and transparent and demonstrating a commitment to the partnership. Getting Started Be reliable. Be consistent. Add value in a clear, measurable way. Make people people money Flexibility Flexibility is also an important leadership trait for entrepreneurs. The ability to adapt to changing conditions and to respond quickly to customer needs is essential for success in the business world. This requires being open to new ideas and approaches and being willing to take risks. Getting Started Learn PDCA Allocate a portion of time and energy to risky experiments. Learn to execute, analyze, and adjust. Get more comfortable with the unknown and being wrong. Vision Vision is another important leadership trait for entrepreneurs. A clear vision of the future is essential for setting goals and creating strategies to achieve them. This requires the ability to think creatively and to identify opportunities for growth and expansion. Getting Started Understand your North Star … the why Create a massive goal Work with a coach or mentor. They will ask uncomfortable questions. Communicate with employees and collaborators your shared destiny Resilience Resilience is a critical leadership trait for entrepreneurs. The ability to bounce back from challenges and setbacks is essential for success. Nothing ever goes perfectly as planned. Even success can break a business system. Success requires having the mental toughness and determination to stay the course. You will have challenges Business success is a partially a game of attrition. Your competition quits. Getting Started Do Hard Things…

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Validate Product Ideas using Prelaunch with Narek Vardanyan 28:24

for 2 years siden28:24

28:24

Narek founded The Crowdfunding Formula helping people launch products through platforms like Kickstarter and Indiegogo. From that experience, he developed a prelaunch platform for creators to validate their ideas with customers. We discuss why success requires testing, why entrepreneurs get pricing wrong, and why the best designed products do not always win. Learn More https://prelaunch.com/ https://www.narekvardanyan.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/narek-vardanyan/…

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Licensing Ideas and Partnering with Top Brands with Stephen Key 22:48

for 2 years siden22:48

22:48

Stephen Key is the world’s leading expert on how to license a product idea and a 2018-2019 AAAS-LemelsonInvention Ambassador. As an independent inventor, he achieved repeat success commercializing products ranging from simple novelty gifts to complex packaging innovations. He is currently the patent strategist for Fishbone Packaging, the environmentally-friendly solution for single-use plastic rings. In 1999, he cofounded inventRight, the coaching program that has taught inventors from more than 65 countries how to harness the power of open innovation and the licensing business model to bring their ideas to market. He is the author of One Simple Idea , Sell Your Ideas With or Without a Patent , Become a Professional Inventor , and Licensing Ideas using LinkedIn . To help creative people become profitable inventors, he has written more than 1,000 articles for Forbes , Inc ., and Entrepreneur magazines and published over 900 videos on his popular YouTube channel inventRightTV. Links Personal website — https://stephenkey.com inventRight website — https://www.inventright.com YouTube channel — https://www.youtube.com/inventRight/ One Simple Idea — https://www.amazon.com/One-Simple-Idea-Revised-Expanded/dp/1522690379 LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenmkey/ Twitter — https://twitter.com/stephenkeymedia Forbes — https://www.forbes.com/sites/stephenkey/ Inc. — https://www.inc.com/author/stephen-key Entrepreneur — https://www.entrepreneur.com/author/stephen-key…

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10X Abandonment Revenue using MarTech with Adam Robinson 37:29

for 2 years siden37:29

37:29

What if you could reach out to the people who add products to their cart but never log in and do not buy? That is only the start of what Retention.com enables e-commerce brands to do. Adam Robinson discusses - Using data to resolve deliverable, emails from web traffic - Growing his company without investment or paid advertising - The value of partnering and collaborating with other SaaS tools Learn more: https://retention.com/…

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Using Social Media for Collaboration and Partnership with Julie Traxler 48:06

for 2 years siden48:06

48:06

Special edition of End Hype. Callye Keen brings on friend and small business business expert Julie Traxler to co-host. They talk - Using social media to build relationship - Why followers don't always matter - The silly, toxicity of the "bro entrepreneur" attitude Learn more about SB Pace: https://www.sbpace.com/ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bizquik/id1529912942…

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Winning Product Ideas from Listening to Customer Pains with Ken Okazaki 38:25

for 2 years siden38:25

38:25

While running a well-known video editing agency, Ken Okazaki consistently heard from customers about the pain of setting up record content. Go Box Studio was born from those conversations. Ken teaches us about 1. How join and participate in communities 2. How to involve customers in development 3. Why learning technical skills creates better products ... and more Learn more: Go Box Studio Ken Okazaki on IG Content Capitalist Podcast…

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Building Community, Pitching Investors, and Developing Partners to Launch with Dawn Myers 44:27

for 2 years siden44:27

44:27

Dawn is a perfect case study in the power of developing relationships to launch a product and build a brand. We discuss: - Aligning passion to a mission bigger than you - Participating in community and engaging important conversations - The benefits and levels of pitching to win money, mentors, access, and investors - How partnerships with massive corporations work and how they change your business Learn more about Dawn and The MOST https://www.instagram.com/dawndoesthemost/…

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Increase Customer Retention and LTV Through Email Marketing with Jess Chan (Longplay Brands) 40:35

for 2 years siden40:35

40:35

Longplay Brands focuses on brands who are in it for the long play. Jess Chan provides expert insights in keeping customers engaged by building relationships with them through email and SMS. Struggling brands are obsessed with lowering customer acquisition costs by a couple of percentage points. Great brands obsess with the entire lifecycle of engaging customers. Learn more: https://www.longplaybrands.com/…

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The Path to Making Money Online and Building an Audience with The Utopia and Wiz of Ecom 33:26

for 3 years siden33:26

33:26

Callye Keen talks to the mysterious Wiz of Ecom about the value of attention, building audiences, making money online, how starting an agency leads to launching a successful ecom brand, and why we should all give Twitter a second look. Learn more about Wiz of Ecom Twitter: https://twitter.com/wizofecom The Utopia: https://www.theutopia.io/…

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Getting Clarity on How to Grow a Product Business 17:11

for 3 years siden17:11

17:11

Lack of clarity plagues entrepreneurs. End Hype answers any question submitted by listeners. The most common questions people have lack enough focus where answers can have any meaning. How do I grow my business? How do I increase my product sales? What is the best strategy to market a product? These questions are common but general questions can only receive general answers. In this episode, Callye Keen explains a simple framework for getting clarity and asking better questions so you can grow your product business.…

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Mastering Amazon FBA - Winning Products, Listing Optimization, PPC with Mina Elias 54:57

for 3 years siden54:57

54:57

Amazon accounts for almost half of all e-commerce sales. How to you succeed on a massive platform? How do you use the platform to create a brand? Mina Elias is the founder of Trivium Group. Their goal is to be the last Amazon agency you ever hire. Mina uses his experience as a successful brand owner and experience from help 100s of Amazon sellers to tell us the best strategies working today. Learn more https://triviumco.com/ https://www.instagram.com/theminaelias/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/mina-elias-52313772/…

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Viral Video Marketing and Growing Unicorns with Benton Crane Harmon Brothers 36:38

for 3 years siden36:38

36:38

What if you could create a piece of content so good everyone watches, buys, and shares? Harmon Brothers have created some of the most memorable viral video ads including Squatty Potty and Purple mattresses. Benton breaks down how the philosophy of Harmon Brothers goes beyond creating great videos but focusing on growing customers into unicorns. Learn more https://harmonbrothers.com/home Raising Unicorn Podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/raising-unicorns-a-harmon-brothers-podcast/id1462554440?uo=4…

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Growing CPG Product Businesses with Celebrity Partnerships 37:05

for 3 years siden37:05

37:05

Ryan Lewendon is a Partner at Giannuzzi Lewendon, a premier boutique law firm that focuses on the representation of privately-held, high-growth consumer products companies. Since 2007, Ryan has focused his practice on helping innovative consumer products entrepreneurs grow their companies by navigating both the day-to-day hurdles and the tent-pole obstacles and opportunities a consumer products company must navigate on its way towards an acquisition. Ryan discusses working with Vitamin Water, Body Armor, and other major brands from inception through acquisition including collaborating with celebrity partners to enable rapid growth. Learn more about Ryan Giannuzzi Lewendon - https://gllaw.us/ Naturally New York - https://www.naturallynewyork.org/…

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What Separates Successful E-Commerce Brands with Alex Fedotoff 48:17

for 3 years siden48:17

48:17

Callye Keen and Alex Fedotoff talk about why some some entrepreneurs succeed against all odds and others crumble with every advantage. The episode covers a range of topics from mindset to action to partnerships. Alex runs a 30 million-dollar e-commerce business and coaches through his group E-commerce Scaling Secrets. Learn more: Program: https://www.ecommercescalingsecrets.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/AlexFedotofff Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexfedotofff/…

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Innovative Branding and Marketing Strategies with Coca-Cola 28:10

for 3 years siden28:10

28:10

Kate James (Digital Commerce Marketing @ Coca-Cola) provides explains breaking through the noise with collaborative limited editions releases and experiences.

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Dirty Dough and Real Business Growth through Franchise Sales 25:48

for 3 years siden25:48

25:48

From selling solar to selling cookies, Bennett Maxwell breaks down his growth in the cookie business. Focusing on business processes allows him to franchise the business scaling from a single operation to selling 120+ locations. Learn more about Dirty Dough Cookies: https://dirtydoughcookies.com/

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Building a Recession Proof E-commerce Business 13:09

for 3 years siden13:09

13:09

Part of me hopes I am wrong but recessions are inevitable. The US has avoided a true recession for a long time. In this episode, I share what am I doing and what am I coaching clients to do to thrive I cover ... General Strategies Having a Purpose-lead Business Staying Relevant with Positioning Capturing Imagination and the conversation Diversifying Sales Channels and ... a little on the Judo of Market Dynamics This episode is fast. I want to lay the groundwork for other highly tactical episodes coming to help you build a recession proof E-commerce business…

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Product Research to Validate Winning Products 16:57

for 3 years siden16:57

16:57

Product Research to Validate Winning Products You are in the shower, you got struck by some random idea. You got hit by Zeus's lightning bolt. ... And years of your life are just gone down the drain OR You're gonna be a millionaire. You had a million dollar idea. It's gonna skyrocket to the moon. All of your hopes, your dreams, your desires, your wildest fantasies are about to come true because you have just come up with a winning product idea. Well, probably neither of those things are true, but I wanna step through a very simple process.…

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Losing Everything and Starting Ecommerce from Scratch 24:41

for 3 years siden24:41

24:41

What would I do if I started from scratch? If I lost everything, I had no money. Find out in this episode

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From Amazon to Outsourcing to Acquisition with EcomBalance 25:37

for 3 years siden25:37

25:37

Nathan Hirsch and Callye Keen talk through the evolution of business, stacking skills, and the power of outsourcing. EcomBalance https://ecombalance.com/ Outsource School https://www.outsourceschool.com/

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How to Grow your Sales with our Community The End Hype Movement 15:58

for 3 years siden15:58

15:58

You want to launch and grow your product business. You want to have a brand. You want to turn that idea into something that impact your life and community. Maybe you have massive goals, maybe you're just having an obstacle you want to tackle today. Focus and follow what I tell you... In this episode, I have something very special to share. I know this sounds wild, but the technique I use to presale $700 fidget spinners is the same simple technique. I consistently use to sell eight figures of my products to the biggest companies on earth. If you listen to the show regularly, I share the lessons and strategies that I've learned. But the show is short. I try to make topics more entertaining. I bring on guests, we chop it up. But in the end to really teach you how I need to go in depth. We need to communicate. We need to collaborate. We need to ask each other difficult questions to get simple answers. Here's the deal. I, my clients, my partners are taking advantage of new opportunities in sourcing and marketing to build new products and to grow product companies. Without years of engineering experience or millions of followers or some rich uncle showering you with cash. When you click on the link in the notes Redbluecollective.com/movement You can watch the testimonials if you are that skeptical. But look. For any business or product or idea someone has already earned an audience who would want to buy. Why not let them sell. It for you. Instead of posting to social media every 10 minutes, instead of paying the skyrocketing costs of ads, instead of hoping some hot influencer goes viral. You create a legit brand, you sell premium products. And you sell using other people's businesses. Sure. If you listen to the show and join the community, You'll improve your core direct to consumer business. If that's your thing. But I can help position you and your brand to have an army of salespeople, distributors offline, online retailers. This scales. This scales from working with small online brands to wholesale, to partnering with massive corporations companies. Putting you on a platform. For success. I want to protect you from the scammers and gurus selling drop shipping, Amazon automation and marketing gimmicks that we all know don't really get results. I want to share with you the secrets that I've learned in a special private community called The End Hype Movement. We are laser focused on results. Growing your revenue. Membership to the end height movement includes weekly training driven by a roadmap of topics from you. Access to a vetted network of partners. We have product developers, manufacturers, access to capital consultants. And more partners coming. They're all just designed to solve your problems and speed your growth. I've got incredible guest experts, friends coming in sharing disruptive insights. We have a growing vault of training, videos and resources detailing exactly how to execute the specific strategies to grow your business. And yeah, a community of product owners to network and collaborate with on your business. It's pretty simple. I want to share with you what I've learned. I want you to be able to replicate that success. I want to share with you what I've learned over developing and manufacturing, hundreds of products for businesses of all sizes. gave me the opportunity to see how eight and nine figure businesses go from idea to growth, to acquisition. If you want support and advice from somebody with actual experience, this community is where I'm pouring my energy and attention focus is leverage. If I put more of what I do into one place, I can have greater impact. I'll see you on the inside.…

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Growing an 8-Figure Business without Ads 28:25

for 3 years siden28:25

28:25

Austin Larson shares his experience growing an e-commerce business to 8 figures without ads. Learn More about Austin IG: https://www.instagram.com/driven2do/ FB: https://www.facebook.com/a.lars24

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High Competition and the CBD Market 30:04

for 3 years siden30:04

30:04

On this episode, Callye Keen brings Weston Wenner to give real insight to winning in a competitive industry. We talk CBD and snakes. Learn more about Weston CBD: https://any1cbd.com/ IG: https://www.instagram.com/wildfire_retics/ YT: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNkwPYAFrDVI4HQP2s1MjIQ

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Followers Don't Matter and Customers Mean Everything 55:22

for 3 years siden55:22

55:22

Welcome back to the End Hype podcast. In episode 112 Callye Keen welcomes back Julie Traxler, co-founder of SB PACE to dispel the myths around followers. There is a misconception that there is a direct correlation between followers and customers. That correlation doesn't exist. 10,000 followers does not equate to 10,000 paying customers. And at the end of the day, that’s what you need, paying customers. Paying customers means everything in business. Followers don’t matter. Listen in as Callye and Julie talk about alternative methods to social media marketing, and why someone who is watching you on social media platforms is more likely to buy from you than someone who is actually following and engaging with you on social media and social networks. And you’re more likely to make a purchase during a product launch from someone and then start following them to support a product or service you like than you are to follow someone and then make a purchase. It’s not a straight line from follower to sale. [10:03] Get out of your head You've created some kind of crazy obstacle and you say if I do these things, then I'm going to be ready to offer something to my audience. I can tell you that you're just adding risk. And you're also building up an audience that doesn't know you're about to offer this thing. It's all in your head. You're complicating the product development process. [10:57] What are you afraid of How many people do you think are afraid to move off of social media as the marketing tool for their company because they're uncertain. Either they're afraid of the work effort to go someplace else. Or because they are afraid that maybe they don't actually have something that people want to buy? What if the fear is they will never make revenue, so they don't try? [12:34] Who already has the attention of your audience If he wanted to do this through social media, he'd have to create a Facebook page or start polling people, find all the Facebook groups created and start messaging. He'd have to do the whole social media thing from scratch. Now using the simple techniques that I use, we just went to the bike shop. Get in front of where the traffic already is. People in a bike shop, what do you know about them? Right off the bat. They like biking. They have a high intent ratio of purchasing like products. [17:00] Know your customer You have to go where your actual customer is. I think a lot of people don't know where their customer is though, because they don't know who their customer is. Yes. So we dial it all the way back. And that's why I shared a new benchmarking tool that we're working on. [18:03] Partnerships Then I show them what you could do with B2B, what you can do with partnership deals. And it’s this lightbulb moment, “I'm missing this whole other side of my brain”. [19:52] Ideal customer That is not how things went, it was tons of networking to get in front of people, talk and figure out who our customer is and how we talk to them. How do we get specifically in front of that person and talk to that ideal customer versus everybody in the universe and hope that what we're saying resonates with the person we want to work with. “People don't care enough about you to get offended at something that you do. And if they do, if you're living so rent free inside of somebody's head that they're obsessed with stuff that you do, they weren't going to be a customer in the first place there. You're not going to convert the unconvertible.”…

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Product Launch and Brand Breakdown Live (Part 2) 34:11

for 3 years siden34:11

34:11

Welcome back to the End Hype podcast. Today is Part 2 of Product Launch and Brand Breakdown with host Callye Keen. If you missed part 1, check out episode 110. In today’s episode Callye continues the conversation with business coach and operations expert, Julie Traxler of SB PACE, Tim Kincer and Logan Sanburn of Timberwolf Supply Co. In Part 1 we talked about the importance of your business name, the power of telling stories, how to build an audience, and how money doesn’t solve problems, it just buys you speed. In part 2 we talk about leveraging other people's products, why it pays to care more about your audience, brand development, marketing strategy, brand strategy, and speed to market. [00:25] Planning horizon Right now, because you don't have a brand, if it takes you more than a couple of weeks to get a prototype in hand, your idea is too complicated. If you have to invest more than a handful of dollars in it, it's too expensive. [01:25] Develop better products I come from a product development world. And in that world, we think of everything as prototypes. And what a prototype's job is to reveal and answer questions. It's to reveal the gaps in our knowledge so we can make a better version of it. It's to help develop a solid product roadmap. Maybe improve an existing product. [02:22] Traction products I have a different strategy I think works for physical products better. We've had clients make millions of dollars in a strategy called traction products. It's a tremendous tool to acquire new customers, clarify your target market, and get wins in the early stages. [03:01] Other people’s products This is why I like beauty products. I like supplements because there's whole companies that provide white labeling and co-packing for you. You don't have to have an infrastructure business. You don't need to follow a product development process. You can focus on white label products. You can look across the market for product ideas. [08:59] Care more When you actually care and actually know your audience, it's really easy to step into that role of saying this is what I would want and reasonably assert that other people would want it as well. [14:34] Think fast and scrappy A big mistake that people make is making a walled garden for their business. They think it's gotta be perfect before releasing it, having a really cool website and an awesome logo. When in reality, for a lot of supplements and supplement companies that are starting, it looks like getting a vile of stuff in a white jar. We need to start thinking fast and scrappy. [17:35] Communication Communication breeds clarity. If you can't communicate your brand, it's very hard to do any type of meaningful marketing or any type of B2B sales. [21:43] Customer acquisition In general, acquiring a customer is getting more expensive. So then if you look at your costs and your margins, especially when you're starting, it's a really easy way to lose a lot of money. [24:31] I want you to think about this, how are you going to acquire a customer? Where are they going to buy from you? What's going to capture their attention on that platform? And once you can answer some of those questions, we can back into what you can do. “Businesses are here to make money and a business should be making you money and giving you freedom.”…

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Product Launch and Brand Breakdown Live 33:03

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Welcome to End Hype podcast. Episode 110 is Part 1 of a two part podcast where Callye Keen welcomes back business coach and operations expert, Julie Traxler of SB PACE. Together, Callye and Julie introduce the upcoming product launch that Tim Kincer and Logan Sanburn have been working on since the fall of 2020. Tim and Logan love the outdoors, and during a hunting trip to Colorado found an opportunity in the market with pre-packaged foods marketed towards outdoorsmen. Current products are not optimal for fueling our bodies, and Tim and Logan have a plan to solve that gap. Solving that problem during a worldwide pandemic proved difficult. Supply chain issues were the tip of the iceberg. With so many people going into “prepper” status and building up their “end of the world supplies”, it made it impossible for a new small business to gain traction with production companies. The demand for pre-packaged food production caused Tim and Logan to get creative, and resulted in the creation of a second product development opportunity, a nootropics drink stick. [11:00] Your business name Your brand is what someone else tells someone else it is. It's the story about you when you're not in the room. Your company name can be totally made up. It could be nonsense. As long as somebody can remember what it is, they can write it down and they can spell it when you tell them over the phone. [15:25] The power of story Our brains are hardwired from primitive times to remember things in terms of stories. And we are incredibly selfish beings. We only remember things relative to ourselves. So stories allow us to be Harry Potter, right? [18:39] Audience over everything So most people that start a business spend money, but then they don't have an audience. And they think that if they have a product, then they will be able to get an audience, which is exactly wrong. It's precisely the opposite. [21:52] Money doesn’t solve problems Money doesn't solve problems, it buys you speed. This is the biggest mental problem that people have. I make all kinds of wild things. And in every one of those cases where the business is successful, we incrementally grow that brand and audience with a solid launch strategy and brand development. [25:01] Start small How do I monetize my audience? Get a bigger audience, first of all. Second, you have to know what they want. It starts with building a very small group and talking to 10 people that are my target group. Have a strategic marketing plan, an email marketing strategy, build your email list, and talk to other entrepreneurs. [31:01] Build an audience Somebody already has enough of your audience where you can make a million dollars in a month. Being able to describe your brand, describe who you are, telling your story well enough to get that one deal because that one deal will change your life and change your business. “You're $1400 bucks in. You're a 301 redirect away from a more memorable brand. All of the advice I have is because I've already made this mistake or I've already worked with somebody where we have encountered this mistake over and over again.”…

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From Passion to Product Brand with Viking Coffee 31:30

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Creating Business Resilience or Building Failure 18:41

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Create resilience or prepare for failure.

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Growing the Family Tortilla Business with E-commerce 29:00

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Callye Keen sits down with Chalo Hernandez of El Paso, TX. Chalo and Callye share experiences of growing up in family owned product businesses. The challenges. The opportunities, and how that experience has shaped their career paths. Chalo’s parents immigrated from Mexico, and started Tortilleria Cuauhtémoc, their food based business with nothing more than a dream and their credit cards. Now Chalo begins the process of taking over the business that has been in his family since he was eight years old. Over the past 20 years that business has grown from nothing to 40 employees, six delivery trucks, and over 250 regular accounts. Their products are special because they have no preservatives in them. There is nothing to extend the shelf life, which makes logistics a key component of their success. As Chalo moves into that role he created an online store and has set a goal to ship their fresh tortillas and chips to all 50 states before the end of 2022. [04:16] Family business before all else In middle school we would have parent teacher conferences and 99 percent of the time my parents wouldn't be able to attend because of the business. They were grinding it out. I would see my friends go out to the mall and I would call my parents, "hey, can I go with my friends? They are going to go hang out." And that was just not allowed because I had to work in the family business. There was always a need for more corn tortillas and flour tortillas. [07:23] No need for a resume Friends don’t understand when I tell them I don’t have a resume. I’ve never needed one. I’ve never been on a job interview or filled out an employment application. I’ve never had those experiences, yet I’ve interviewed lots of people for jobs in our company. It’s always been the family business for me. Even before my formal education was complete, I knew I would be working in a legacy business. [10:00] Employee mindset People will bring the employee mindset into their business. “I'm going to be my own boss. I'm not going to have to answer to anyone.” The reality is every employee is your boss. Every customer is your boss. The bank's going to be your boss. All you've done is sign up for every single person in the world to be your boss. [11:08] How do you sell tortillas? We’ve built this business without paid ads or an intentional marketing strategy. The quality of our products and word of mouth have been the biggest factors in growing the business. It’s only recently that we have started focusing more on social media and marketing. We’ve grown because we care about our customers and our quality. We make a thicker tortilla, which makes for a better experience. [14:21] Layering success As a business, how can you take what’s already working and layer new success on top of that? Subscriptions are one way to layer success. [22:38] Start with the end Start with the end in mind. Understand what you want the company to grow into.. How do you want it to look? How many employees? How many locations? Start building in that direction or you’re going to end up somewhere you don’t want to be. Don’t leave it up to chance. “It sounds like magic, but it is a harsh reality. The thing that you want, you couldn't keep it if you got it, because you're not the person that would be able to run with it. Yet.”…

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Email Marketing for Winning Versus Annoying 29:09

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Welcome to End Hype podcast, in episode 106 Callye Keen is sharing some hard truths for entrepreneurs to hear, and they all center around email marketing. If you’re a coach or a knowledge worker it’s easy to understand the strategy behind growing a list and sending out lead magnet offers. But for product based businesses, an email list strategy can be confusing. It takes more than sending out regular newsletters to your list, and then hitting them with an offer when you have a new product launch. “Email marketing is both a powerful tool and it's an archaic annoyance.” [03:26] Email enhancement Email is still very powerful, but how, and when can you deploy email to enhance the customer experience and enhance revenue? Let's put this in simple terms. How can we make money with email, make happy customers instead of annoying people? [05:43] The customer journey Here's the big challenge: create an email that's worth reading, great headline, great hook, great content. It requires effort. It requires creating a customer journey. Most people don't want effort. They want magical thinking. They want silver bullets. They want to be able to slap and smash their product in somebody's face over and over again until they purchase it. [09:54] Lead magnets If you can figure out what your customer is trying to do, what their goal is, you can make a cheat sheet, an ebook, a guide that helps them mentally process what they're trying to do. Maybe it's a review. Maybe it's all the different products that they need for their camping trip. Maybe it's everything that they need to cook that perfect first date meal. I don't know what you sell, but you can definitely produce a lead magnet. [12:18] Strong relationships I really like the idea of starting relationships off in a strong way. If I can help somebody achieve what they want to achieve, I can send emails that contain a lead magnet that puts me in the best situation. It also puts me in a really great situation to explain the context and value of that specific product or our product line, and then give them a call to action to purchase it. This improves conversion rates and helps build a successful brand. [14:21] Newsletters are trash Do I enjoy getting newsletters in general? The answer is no. Why do people do it? In theory they are still more effective than nothing. In practice it's because email marketers don't care about your customer. If you're using an email marketing agency, they don't care about your customers. If you use this tactic, you don't care about your customers. Customer feedback and open rates will confirm this. [20:30] Meaningful emails If it's supporting something that's important to those people, to your customers, you can fill them with positive energy, with happiness. Something that will motivate them to share it out, to spread your message. It's not going to be a discount. It's not going to be because you hammered them with a newsletter every week. It has to be something that goes to their core values. Those emails result in customer interaction with your brand. Consumers will share that on Facebook. “Your emails. They annoy everyone. They prevent people from purchasing.”…

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Contrarian Thinking to Destroy the Myths of Entrepreneurship 23:23

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When you hear some amazing piece of fortune cookie coaching, does that phrase unlock new thoughts and modes of being or is it BS? Is the opposite equally true? What if the biggest opportunities in life were from thinking the opposite as the trending "truth"? Contrarian Thinking provides exactly this approach.…

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Predicting the Social Commerce Explosion 18:31

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Learn how social selling is changing ecommerce. How will you prepare and take advantage of this growing mega-trend?

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The Future of Ecommerce - Shopify Trends 20:14

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End Hype host Callye Keen dives into the future of e-commerce, looking at Shopify trends. It’s hard to believe that e-commerce isn’t the leading way consumers buy. Online stores are so prevalent in our lives. Especially after the past 2 years, with more businesses online. E-Commerce is on the rise, and Shopify is the platform that most direct to consumer businesses use. Shopify recently released The Future of Commerce report, and they cover the same topics I cover in group coaching, in my Facebook group, and on this podcast. Today we’re going to talk about one of those trends, rising customer acquisition costs. A topic that includes brand messaging, brand strategy, and satisfying the market. “Direct to consumer competition is rising. Advertising costs are skyrocketing across platforms and brand building is helping attract and keep customers.” [01:44] Brand loyalty and product fit is a necessity Rising acquisition costs are forcing brands to foster long-term relationships with their customers. Actually building real brands. Getting off the addiction to paid ads. As e-commerce grows, as more big brands see e-commerce as their main channel, the competition for eyeballs is fierce. [04:01] Don’t blame iOS We could also try to blame the iOS update and technical reasons for why ads are getting more expensive. But I'm seeing this kind of cumulative effect because as ads work less, people are spending more to get less. Instead of people leaving the system, they're spending more money. Ad expense is increasing as its effectiveness decreases. [06:15] Long term strategy over short term gains If you think of spending money on ads as a brand positioning exercise at the top of your funnel, in which you continue to nurture a community of customers, you're going to win. [09:17] Measure what matters You need to figure out how to measure what's important to you. How many customers do you need to get? What's their average order? How many customers do you need to return? Who's opening up your emails? [10:20] Position yourself for success The long-term optimal scenario is to not spend any money on ads. Maybe on ads for growth or penetrating a new market, but best case scenario, no ads. Your product sells because people love you. They want what you have. And when you announce that it's coming, it sells out. That's what real product market fit looks like. [12:48] Try a marketplace Shopify suggests using marketplaces as both sales and marketing channels for your ecommerce business. A place where you can list your product and sell it everywhere. Amazon, Facebook Marketplace, eBay, and Etsy are great examples. This doesn't have to be your home base of operations. But if you're looking at additional channels to test, if you're looking at new channels to acquire customers, these people own the eyeballs. Marketplaces are an effective marketing strategy. [16:00] Differentiate If you want to build a brand it needs to be simple and memorable. Something people can remember so they tell others, but it needs to deeply resonate with who they are. You don't need everyone. The world is big. “Everything works until it doesn't, but the brand will always work. It is an eternal strategy. So you've got to figure out how to speak to somebody. Create differentiation, create a community, curate that community, nurture that community.”…

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Business Secrets from Two Years of Podcasting 15:14

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Welcome to the 2 year anniversary of End Hype Podcast. Callye Keen has led us through over one hundred episodes on product businesses. He's interviewed successful entrepreneurs, breaking down obstacles and big challenges early stage and existing product businesses face. Providing tips, tactics, and strategies. Everything you need to help you grow your business from product concept to product design to products to market. Two years goes by quickly. At End Hype we thought the podcast would be successful very early. We put in significant effort. We talked to people that host successful podcasts. We jumped into a mentorship group. We hired a top-tier coach. We put the pieces in place and it still took two years to make significant progress. It took a year and a half before we had a 10,000 download month in podcasts. That's a hallmark milestone in podcasting. Not a lot of podcasts have even a hundred downloads a month. We achieved 10,000 downloads in a month. We appreciate our subscribers and listeners. End Hype is a labor of love. End Hype provides us a way to communicate effectively on a large scale. [05:40] Continue the conversation You need to find a way to constantly communicate with your customer. That means you've got to figure out who your customer is and how they want to be communicated with. You need to continue the conversation, whether it's a one-sided conversation like we're having right now, or it's a proxy conversation where you come on this show. Communication promotes idea generation and product ideas. [05:52] No excuses allowed How are you communicating with customers? How are you bringing them into your world? How are you having a conversation and figuring out what the real problems are? The other takeaway from here is adaptation. What forms of communication are you leveraging? [06:50] Superior Product and Service Real entrepreneurs take excuses and use them as input data to adapt, to come out with a new strategy. If I can't go around the country and speak anymore. I'm going to go around the world and speak through this podcast. You can't excuse your way to success. Whether it's product management, advanced manufacturing or dropping an episode of your podcast on apple podcasts, you have to develop a strategy. [08:55] Failure is normal If you were to try a new strategy that you've never done before and you receive no guidance, no coaching, no mentorship and it just magically worked, that would be an extreme outlier. I'd love to hear that story. That's not the story of my life. I test things, they're a little broken, but I can see them starting to work.I learn and then pass that information on to clients. I pass that information onto you. Not everything that I do works. Even with advanced technical skills, I still fail. [10:25] Dig deeper When you find something that works, dig deeper into the knowledge. Find something that works and just double down. This will help you defeat that shiny object syndrome, because you want to keep contributing towards your business. Dig deeper. All the value in life is in depth and not breadth. [13:15] Seven figure business My goal is to provide the information that allows you to create a seven figure business. That's not an easy thing. That is a massive challenge, but that's the challenge that I hold in my head. That's my north star. “My mission is to put out the content that will help you take your idea and not just turn it into a product, but turn it into a product business.”…

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A Simple Product Marketing System for Real Businesses 24:15

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Silver bullets are for werewolves, not for businesses. Callye Keen digs into the myths around product marketing that set false expectations for entrepreneurs. While Callye is quick to point out that he's not a marketer trying to create the perfect offer, he's a product person who knows that in order to be successful he has to market and sell his products. He believes in and promotes collaborative growth, and has built a business development system around that philosophy. There are too many marketers who push fantasy when it comes to marketing strategy. Callye believes reality is paramount to successful marketing systems and an organization's growth. He recommends starting with an understanding of why you’re on a given social media channel. Then consider, once you become successful on a specific social media channel do you need to be on more channels? Understand the value before adding more social media platforms or changing strategy. Successful product development businesses need to create quality products, invest in partnerships and build systems around those things. If you’re a marketing expert, Callye recommends that you create something simple that can help people. Complex systems take a long time to plan and put in place. Ultra simple processes are scalable. Share information with small businesses to build credibility and add value. Marketing is all about attention. And most entrepreneurs need an easy way to get attention from the right people. They need qualified traffic from potential customers who trust your brand. [02:55] Myth #1: Working hard equates to more money More effort, hours and grind equates to results. There are people who work extremely hard, but that effort doesn’t necessarily match with revenue. [03:46] Myth #2: Everyone runs ads on social media Most “social media experts” aren’t experts at all. They run paid ads and claim huge results and then recommend paid ads as the solution to your growth problems. [04:49] Myth #3: Complexity and magic You’re just one ad hack away from success. Every failure brings you one step closer to success. Yes, there is learning in failure, but there isn’t one single silver bullet to fix your business problems. [06:50] Marketers aren’t good at marketing Crazy customer journey maps, bad market research and funnel shapes, conversions and other crazy data are easy to find. There’s an army of college educated marketers creating infographics designed to confuse people. Most marketers that I’ve met aren’t good at marketing, they are good at confusing people. [10:00] Attract and nurture Your product launch only needs two marketing activities. Attract and nurture. People in general take a long time to make a decision on high ticket items. Because you’re working on minimum 6-figure orders, you need to attract them and nurture them until they are ready to transform their business. Consistency in engagement helps to nurture. [14:15] Digital marketers are 5 years behind Social networking sites continue to grow in popularity. A Facebook group is risky because the ad costs are shooting through the roof and the organic traction is difficult. It’s a challenge to get people to engage in groups. The Facebook ads strategy was a great strategy 3 or 4 years ago, but not today. [16:00] Channel strategy You need three channels, and that’s it. You need a community channel, an authority channel and a partnership channel.…

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Dylan Cato - Viral Products and Selling Security 34:58

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How do you translate attention into customers into a growing business? Dylan Cato joins Callye Keen to talk about creating viral products, building a brand people trust and the value of selling security. Dylan is the co-founder and COO of Altor Locks, which creates the safe series locks. The world's only power tool proof locks. Altor's early stage product, a lightweight high-security lock, hit the market and they quickly realized there was a problem in the market that all other lock manufacturers had failed to solve. As their original product was becoming popular Altor learned that thieves were using power tools to cut through locks to steal high-end bicycles. Cycle enthusiasts were desperate to have their problem solved. Dylan knew they had the ability to solve the problem after completing some market research. The product concept designed was the introduction of the Safe Series Locks. The locks combine the world's best materials, technology, and innovative design to create unique products and build a brand people trust. They took their first Safe Series lock to Bicycling magazine, where a gear editor set out to cut through it. It took him over an hour with an angle grinder, which he had to change the blade 6 times, and he had to stop to charge the grinder. For context, you can cut through an average bike lock with an angle grinder in 20 seconds. “Do More. Worry Less.” [05:30] Innovation requires risk Anything that solves problems effectively, you have to be willing to take risks and put the product out into the market. If you want to innovate there is a certain element of risk because you are bringing something unique to the world. The product development process has to consider both risk and reward. [10:40] Crowdfunding campaigns versus pre-order on your website The company was built through Kickstarter, but the launch of the trailer lock was not a good fit for a crowdfunding platform, so we did a pre-order campaign on our website. We understood the market enough to know we would get a high conversion rate through our website. [15:05] Building a business through collaboration and partnerships Building relationships and collaborating in order to do more is a great business model. Proving out your products and processes is vital for scalability. Having partnerships allows for idea generation and expands the innovation process. [17:17] Viral growth Altor started the company in 2016 and didn’t become respected by the Lock Picking Lawyer until 2020. There were a lot of years and lessons learned in between there. Viral growth doesn't happen overnight. [19:50] Product development, innovation, and risk I was confident in the product, but the lockpick lawyer is the best lock defeating person in the world. Maybe he finds something we don’t know about and then we look terrible. With the high reward, there is risk. [24:15] Emotionally connecting with your target market The trailer lock is a divergence if you think of yourself as a bike lock company. If you think of yourself as an asset protection company, then the trailer lock makes sense. If you look at yourself as an assurance or safety outdoors company, then there is no difference in the strategy. “Imagine a bike lock on steroids. You can’t grind through it or cut through it. If I was stealing bikes I would skip any bike with an Altor Lock.” Learn more about Altor: https://altorlocks.com/ Watch Bicycle Magazine try to beat the SAF lock https://youtu.be/1HvMPh6JBBI Watch Lock Picking Lawyer review https://youtu.be/ixPFDFp8Cfo…

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Jamie Grove - From Million Dollar Product Launch to Business 39:51

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Jamie Grove and Hans Fex launched Mini Museum in 2014 via a Kickstarter campaign that out performed their initial $40,000 ask by more than 25x. Jamie and Hans raised $1.2 million in just 10 days, and that early stage Kickstarter campaign was only the beginning of their insane journey. Imagine an office that is filled with triceratops horns, samurai swords, pieces of SR71’s, and Steve Jobs turtlenecks. That’s just a sampling of what you would find at the Mini Museum offices. With a background in development, manufacturing, and fulfillment, Hans and Jamie set out to turn their million dollar product launch into a business. A business founded on interacting with customers, high quality products, and over delivering on customer expectations. A business poised for viral growth. When Jamie and Hans finished Mini Museum 3, they realized that every time they stepped up to home plate they had to hit a home run. They needed to make enough money to sustain the business for a year or more. “Manufacturing was our sweet spot. We felt totally comfortable. The question was ‘do we have enough stuff. Do I have enough stuff to make the units we need?’ That was our scary part.” [05:50 ]Leveraging your expertise We made calculations based on how much material we had. We didn’t worry about the product development process. At the end of the day that’s what we knew how to do. We knew how to scale up something, manufacturer and ship. A lot of people who get into Kickstarter may have never shipped a single thing in their life. [07:00] Being transparent with customers to increase brand awareness That first Mini Museum was really hard because there were just a handful of us. We had a short time window and we almost immediately announced a delay. We were always very open with our backers and worked hard to share information, which made everyone feel connected to our cause. [10:00] Our products make the world a smaller place When they get our specimens they ask why they are delivering with such care. And it’s because we care. We are going way above and beyond. We want to deliver something that is super awesome and will last for generations. [12:25] Leveraging someone else’s traffic to build brand awareness Part of the reason to use Kickstarter is to get funding but also to get an audience. Kickstarter is expensive money. Nothing beats selling a new product to your existing customers. If you make something that is great, your customers will buy it. [15:03] The importance of exceptional customer service for longevity You’ve been around for a considerable amount of time. How do you see the challenge of maintaining that business over time? Customer service. We work really hard to make sure that our customers are taken care of. [18:50] Reading the market, knowing what customers want, and making it work operationally Getting more customers on board and sharing more things, you have to get to a lower price point. So we moved to a single specimen model. [23:40] The importance of keeping your customers engaged If we were just doing Mini Museums we would only launch one every 18 months, what are we going to do with our customers in between? How many of them will move onto other things and not think about us anymore? Then you’re back into the cycle of acquiring customers. “There isn’t anybody doing what we do. We welcome competition though, because they are sharing science and history.” Learn more about Mini Museum www.minimuseum.com…

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Bill Strahan - Lessons from Serial Entrepreneurship 30:41

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“Being an entrepreneur is a race without a finish line.” Callye Keen sits down with Bill Strahan to talk about the lessons learned as serial entrepreneurs. Bill has always loved making things. From a very young age he has been building things. He started by taking things apart and putting them back together, eventually moving to creating new things. He once called his grandfather at 2AM to ask him about how to rectify a current. His grandfather patiently answered him and then asked if they could continue the conversation in the morning. Bill got into computers at the age of 12, and immediately fell in love with it. He veered into software, building a company and eventually selling it. He thought once the business was sold he would retire and enjoy life. He is definitely enjoying life, but he is hardly retired. He’s a serial entrepreneur. Bill and his wife Becky started a couple product based businesses, Armored Fitness and Bruce Charles Designs. Soon after launching Armored Fitness, Bill realized that he knew how to start software companies but product development was a different challenge. As a result, he’s spent the last 10 years learning how to run these businesses. He's focused on customer success, product development, and idea generation. [06:10] Personal development and the fidget spinner I didn’t know what I didn’t know. I came across a YouTube channel, and was watching welding videos. Through those videos I realized how helpful a lathe would be. I learned how to build really cool products as a result of educating myself on YouTube. [09:30] Continuous Improvement You can buy a lathe for a few hundred dollars and start playing with it. You can be creative and make something on day one, and something better on day two. And honestly a year later you can still find a way to improve what you’re making. The product development process is all about idea generation and product ideas. [13:35] Innovations as a result of necessity Sometimes you meet people and you immediately know that they attract good people. I started at a new CrossFit gym and the owner was one of those people. I ended up welding some things for him, and eventually built what would turn out to be the XPO Trainer for him. But I wanted something different because the old model sled was inefficient. I built something with resistance and a motor to support strength training. [15:55] Actions create opportunities We made expensive mistakes when we started. It took 6 or 7 years before we had a real company. It was a hard dark time, but I’m glad we persevered. The business analysis and product management part of the business were new for me with a product. [19:10] Don’t love your ideas too much You don’t get to decide if you’re cool. You can be perfectly satisfied with being you, but that doesn’t mean you’re cool. Cool is what other people think of you. That’s how products work. That’s how businesses work. [20:30] Products that require customer education are hard to sell There have been many times I have said I will never bring a product like our fitness equipment XPO Trainer to market again. In the early stages the XPO Trainer didn’t make sense to consumers. There was so much conversation to educate the customers in the early days. No testimonials. I had to find ways to improve processes around customer education. I quit trying to explain it and started telling people to try it. The product concept was a challenge. Learn More About Bill Strahan www.billstrahan.com XPO Trainer https://www.armoredfitness.com/ Get the Collaborative Growth Blueprint https://www.redbluecollective.com/collab…

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The Imposter Holding Back Your Growth 17:40

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“Be wary of anyone selling you help without a deliverable.” Callye Keen hits on a topic that he has a love/hate relationship with, mindset, personal development, and imposter syndrome. More entrepreneurs fail from inaction than they do lack of funds, and inaction can frequently be mapped directly back to imposter syndrome. We know the exact right thing to do and still not take action. Why? Fear. Fear of failure. Fear of judgment. Fear that everyone else can see that we aren’t ready. That we aren’t smart enough. Imposter syndrome holds us back in so many ways that it's hard to see. It stops us from asking for the sale, from sending an email, and from living. It’s prevalent in our business and personal lives. It also makes us vulnerable to the bloodsucking gurus that prey on uncertainty. Because we are so consumed with our own inadequacies we don’t realize everyone has them. Those who take action, who lean into their fears, they win. They recognize they are the biggest obstacle to their own success, and they address it. [02:44] Just start Around 2007 I started professionally using CAD and helping people reverse engineer simple products. I thought I'm not an expert in AutoCAD, but I started helping people design products. I took action knowing that abilities can be developed. [05:21] Imposter syndrome When I decided to go outside the walls of our business and start speaking at colleges, and other events. I wondered why somebody would listen to what I have to say about developing products. Why would someone want me as a mentor? Eventually I realized I'm not an imposter. [07:00] Fear of rejection Why aren't we just doing whatever the hell we want? Because we're not psychopaths. We're human beings. We're regular people. We're smart people. We see risks. Imposter syndrome is really just a version of that fear that you're going to be rejected. The only way to become good enough is to take action and gain experience. No one's going to come and magically save you. Mindset is the new psychology of success. [10:15] Experience comes from action Society says that growth is linear. When you approach next level opportunities, you think you don't have any experience running a $10 million company. You think you need a Harvard MBA. Well, the Harvard MBA is busy earning $150,000 as a mid-level manager at a consulting firm pushing paperwork. The Harvard MBA couldn't run that company because they don't have the experience. The experience only comes from action. The Harvard MBA needs to start a business to gain confidence. [12:30] Leverage communities for growth Very successful people curate and develop communities. If you want to meet other people that are doing amazing things join a group. There's a lot of entrepreneurship groups or development groups to choose from. Start your own mastermind. Develop your own community to meet people that are more successful than you. [14:37] Imposters everywhere Imposter syndrome is everywhere. It prevents us from building the right team. How can you talk at an event? How can you help your customers when you're not honest with yourself about where you are? How can you have a mentor relationship? Develop a new product line? The mindset you've created doesn't support growth. [16:20] No is easier than yes How are you going to deal with the rejection of all of the nos? How are you going to deal with the yeses? Because when you get a yes, that's when you really have to think, what am I going to do? Am I good enough? How am I going to pull this off? And this happens at every single stage from your product launch to the biggest collaboration that you can lock down.…

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Scott Alexander - Building a Craft Business 30:47

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30:47

Callye Keen talks about one of his passions, art. But not art in a traditional sense, art from the perspective that the world's not all about super technical products and building drones with AI. We have little pieces of art all around us, and in this episode Callye shares a different perspective on everyday art. Scott Alexander sits down with Callye to discuss his journey from art school, to working for a large catalog company, to managing a team, and ultimately feeling unfilled with Corporate America. Scott started making furniture in his garage as a hobby, using only hand tools to create beautiful masterpieces. “I live in an area where I couldn't take a class. I'd have to fly halfway across the country to get to a qualified instructor. I hopped on YouTube, bought a couple of DVDs and dove in. Eventually I figured it out. I was awful at it for the first couple of years. Little by little, I've been turning now for seven years, I went full time in August of 2020.” “You can really build whatever life you want, if you're willing to do the work. And for me, it has been about learning the craft, becoming truly great at it. Undeniably great at it." [02:30] Acknowledge the spark I cobbled together my first lathe from a bunch of parts. I taught myself how to turn chair parts. After I made about a dozen chairs my wife asked me “do you think you could make us a bowl for the house?” And that was it. That was the spark that started everything. [04:00] When mentors become peers I’ve become great friends with some of the world's best production woodturners. It's kind of unreal to be seven years in and be able to hop on the phone with some of these people. And they're not mentors anymore. I'm almost an equal, which is kind of a cool thing. [05:10] Superior product There really hasn't been any secrets to it other than a lot of hard work and trying to take care of customers. Just keep trying things, try to make a product that stands above its function. [06:43] Long lasting products That's the counterpoint to making something that lasts. You make something truly amazing, make something worth sharing and it lasts forever. You have the length of that product to impress somebody else. [09:40] Buy for life A small part of what I'm trying to do help people to realize that you can buy something and enjoy it every day. Something sustainable and well crafted. There's a growing movement to buy for life. And that movement is at at the intersection of ecologically and sound principles. Support entrepreneurs. Support made in America. Buy high quality products. [12:15] Family business I'm hoping that their daughter takes over that company and keeps running it the same way, and doesn't go the way that other US manufacturers have gone. I've seen some really great manufacturers cash out and sell to a big corporation. And then within two years, the brand is gone. [13:53] Quality erosion Picking up our phone we say, “oh, there's a new app. This old one's no good”. And it's contributed to this replacement economy. Tech products are a good example, your phone itself or the computer that I'm using. We understand that in six months, it's not so hot. And in two years it’s garbage. [17:17] The choices we make There are some things with our modern lives that are amazing. I just think that we need to take a step back and make sure that the things we're doing with our purchases, with our money, with our lifestyles are in our best interests. “He's literally cutting down a tree. Chopping it up and making his own blanks. So from the ground to the finished bowl, and I love your content.” Learn more https://alexanderdesigns.us/…

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Ryan Bricker - Licensing Whiskey Wedge to Corkcicle 31:11

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31:11

When is just an idea valuable? Almost never, but licensing is close. Bringing a product idea to market doesn't always mean spending money on development and marketing. Different forms of partnership allow entrepreneurs to focus on their zone of genius but still launch and grow. Licensing is a different business vehicle to arrive at a similar end. Many listeners requested this topic (which is NOT in my zone) so I invited an experienced friend to join us on the show. Ryan Bricker shares - Why relationships enable business - How his design background give him skills and credibility to open doors - Why licensing may be the right avenue to start a career (or side hustle) in products. Learn more about Corcicle and the Whiskey Wedge https://corkcicle.com/ https://corkcicle.com/products/whiskey-wedge Learn more about Red Blue Collective https://www.redbluecollective.com/ Join our free Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/productsecrets…

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You Don't Need to Hire a Coach to Start a Business 24:20

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24:20

This is why I could never be an Internet guru. How many coaches do you need to launch a business and get to 100k per year in revenue? None. When is the right time to hire a coach to help take your business to the next level? This had been one of the biggest debates in the business industry. Some people argue to hire a coach as you start building your business to know the facts, while others believe in having a foundation before hiring a coach. In this episode, Callye Keen discussed why you don’t need to hire a coach to start a business. Tune in to learn more! Delivering Value [02:23] Callye believes that people do not deliver value, and they can only give you a “potential value” because the person who receives it makes it valuable. You cannot deliver value in a piece of podcast content, live streams, or even one-on-one Zoom. Unless you act on that “potential value,” it will not become valuable. [04:08] Knowledge is not power but potential power. Few programs and coaches understand the requirement of building a foundation. Many people want to start a business thinking they should have a mindset mastery, but a positive mental attitude will not build a bridge. Unless you act, nothing will change. Finding Value [08:25] Information is everywhere. Get the raw and how-to information because it is cheap. Find people who can hold you accountable to reach your goals. When you fail to make that information relevant, how it applies to your business, and fail to hold yourself accountable, you now have a better perspective on the value of coaching. Why you don’t need a coach to start a business [09:32] Every state and county offers free programs and incubators with resources and mentors. There are local colleges, business centers, and grand programs. When you dig into them, you can find rich information that is either free or cheap. These programs are run by credible people and recognized by the business community. Learn by doing things. [13:26] Experience made Callye capable of holding up his end of the bargain—from the execution, actual listening, and executing the portion of that relationship. Getting involved in a relevant community allowed him to have relevant conversations with people and see what worked and didn’t. Three Aspects to Build [16:41] Callye emphasized that there are three aspects you need to build and take a look into to build your foundation: 1. Skills. You don’t need to know everything, and you need to have the experience in applying knowledge to gain context. Experience applying your skills to overcome any obstacle, big or small, and finishing them makes it valuable. [17:36] 2. Teamwork. Before deciding the need to scale and grow, you need to have the ability to execute as a team—understand the essence and importance of team dynamics. You can’t do everything by yourself, and a single person has ever built no billion-dollar company. Learning how to work with other people is the ultimate skill. [18:57] 3. Network. Work on connecting with other winders. Help people find other people who have done what you’re trying to accomplish. They might not have used the exact strategy, but seeing how they tried, failed, and eventually pushed through and seeing their success validates whatever you are going through. It makes things become more real. Having a foundation in these three aspects will let you understand why and when hiring a coach makes sense. Conclusion [22:58] Don’t get sucked up into the knowledge world where everyone says you need a coach to get started. You can start today for free or cheap. Gain the experience and context you need, take the knowledge from someone who has done it, and apply it yourself to grow at hyp…

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Wishing for Instant Fame, Funding, and Sales 23:33

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Viral growth allows you to fail at an artificial level This time of year people waste time wishing. If you are an entrepreneur wishing for instant success, understand that success can crush your business. In this episode, Callye Keen explains Why credibility is a better focus than fame Why revenue is better than chasing funding Why sales cannot (and should not) magically solve itself Learn more on growing your product business with Red Blue Collective Get the Collaborative Growth Blueprint http://www.redbluecollective.com/collab…

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Reputation Management Beyond Beating Negative Reviews 22:01

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22:01

Making mistakes go away will not build your brand. Something will go wrong when launching a product or growing a business. What you are doing is new. Why would every little detail be perfect? How could it? Great brands are not built from avoiding every problem. Great brands are built from how they overcome problems. Think of every Kickstarter shipping late from manufacturing and fulfillment issues. The optimism of entrepreneurs met reality and delays happen. Reputation comes from communicating with customer and navigating through solutions. In this episode, Callye Keen talks about Reputation Management. How can we use social listening to uncover problems? How can we solicit reviews and user generated content? How can we gamify referrals and sharing? How can brands create an authoritative presence and build an iconic brand? Download the Collaborative Growth Blueprint www.redbluecollective.com/collab…

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A Winning Product Launch is not a Successful Business 19:42

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19:42

A win is not the end but the starting point of your growth. How do we amplify success? In this episode, Callye Keen breaks down simple actions for the 5th step in the Collaborative Growth Blueprint: Amplify. How do we capture customer information? How do we turn new customers into our own community? How can we learn from each collaboration? How can we get referrals to take this win to another level? How and why do we iterate to grow? Why is iteration better than perfection? Listen to the entire Collaborative Growth Blueprint series to learn how e-commerce brands are growing without costly hack ad campaigns, relentless SPAM emails, pointless social media posts, guessing what products to make, or hoping people care enough to buy. Download the Collaborative Growth Blueprint to follow along with the content and map each action you need to take. www.redbluecollective.com/collab If you have a product business and are ready to grow, book a call. Slots are always limited. http://www.redbluecollective.com/book…

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