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Boring post about a 23yo gal who is starting her journey! :)

A

Anon64574

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Hi everyone, currently reading Unscripted , and new to this forum and terrible at writing so please forgive me!


About me
23yo female that's always been ambitious growing up. I've never been scared to leave a comfort zone to seek better things. After 12th grade I moved overseas to live with my father as the plan was that I study there, (my parents are divorced and my father is well off financially, I've always suffered growing up with my mom) I would describe my life at the time as being comfortable, never needed to stress about money, which was strange as this was a constant stressor, but despite that I wasn't happy. I felt like I needed to be independent and make my own money, basically, I wanted freedom. So I started researching online and somehow came across an article that mentioned the amount of money strippers make. I don't know WHAT came across me, but I emailed them and applied online. (I will add that I never had a boyfriend or any experience with men and I was EXTREMELY shy and awkward) Anyhow I did that for a year until I met my first boyfriend, who I'm still with :) and I've been living a VERY comfortable life, he supports me financially. I felt I lost that ambitious go-getter girl I used to be when I was younger, I think it is largely due to me not really needing anything, however over the years I started feeling this urgency to do something for myself because I want to be financially independent.

This urgency of wanting to do something, but not knowing what to do made me depressed. What made it worse was the fact that he started getting serious with work, and I could see how happy it made him. He works for his dad and also has his own company. He was progressing at such a fast rate under the guidance of his father, and though I was happy for him, it kind of made me frantic, so I decided to apply to study, doing this was both me occupying my time and to prove that I wasn't dumb. Despite not picking up a book in 4 years, I was at the top of my class which were a bunch of fresh high school graduates, I studied really hard and did exceptionally well in the exams - top 5 in the country! I dropped out a month before the last semester.

That was 2 years ago. This year I decided I wanted to give it another shot, but study online, WORST decision. I don't know why, but I think attending actual lectures just works best for me. I had this idea that I would use studying as a tool to help my business, constantly apply everything I learn to my own business, so I will give university another shot. Until then, I just want to grow my business and start making money.

Where I'm currently at -
2 years ago I came up with a nifty little solution to a problem I had, I searched online to find such a product but wasn't able to find it. Then I went onto Alibaba and found it! I ordered some samples, then got an agency to do the logo and packaging, it took way longer than expected due to me studying and not being on top of the designer. I found someone on Upwork that's currently doing my website and thinking of hiring someone else to help me with a marketing strategy. My plan as of now is do courses on coursera/udemy that provide me with more knowledge on certain topics, so even though I plan on hiring someone to do my marketing plan, I will be learning as well.

This is my first time ever posting to a forum, I'm not a good writer, and I'm very scatterbrained, so things might not exactly 'flow' if anyone has any advice on how to be more cohesive, please fill me in! Also - what are your thoughts on hiring a business mentor? I feel like it would be nice to have some guidance from someone who has been down this road.

I look forward to interacting with all of you!
 
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Stargazer

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Hello,

You have stated that your boyfriend has a business and that he also works for his father.

So why do you think you need to hire a mentor? What do they do?

Dan

PS: Your post was not boring.
 

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Hello 23 y/o girl who's not scared to leave comfort zone or seek better things, I'm a 29 y/o girl who's not scared to leave comfort zone nor seek better things! I've also moved abroad and I'm all by myself plus bf! <3 :p

I'm ecstatic you found a solution to a problem 6 years before I did, don't waste time, do a small thing a day that gets you closer to shipping those nifty things to your customers. I believe in you. Make use of alllll the info here, a lot of people did that already and shared all the obstacles, all the outcomes and all the workarounds out the generosity of their hearts so you can save time and money.

Get goin, chap chap. Or chop chop idk how it is- n_n~
 
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MJ DeMarco

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Welcome aboard! And thanks for the intro!
 

BlokeInProgress

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@Soon2bebossy Welcome to the forum and its not a boring intro post!

I commend you as you've already started ahead of many whose idea is...still and idea! That can be your progress thread as well, keep us updated, and post questions about anything. I'm sure a lot of people is willing to help out and point you to the right direction. Good luck on your progress!
 

Tanu1234

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Hi everyone, currently reading Unscripted , and new to this forum and terrible at writing so please forgive me!


About me
23yo female that's always been ambitious growing up. I've never been scared to leave a comfort zone to seek better things. After 12th grade I moved overseas to live with my father as the plan was that I study there, (my parents are divorced and my father is well off financially, I've always suffered growing up with my mom) I would describe my life at the time as being comfortable, never needed to stress about money, which was strange as this was a constant stressor, but despite that I wasn't happy. I felt like I needed to be independent and make my own money, basically, I wanted freedom. So I started researching online and somehow came across an article that mentioned the amount of money strippers make. I don't know WHAT came across me, but I emailed them and applied online. (I will add that I never had a boyfriend or any experience with men and I was EXTREMELY shy and awkward) Anyhow I did that for a year until I met my first boyfriend, who I'm still with :) and I've been living a VERY comfortable life, he supports me financially. I felt I lost that ambitious go-getter girl I used to be when I was younger, I think it is largely due to me not really needing anything, however over the years I started feeling this urgency to do something for myself because I want to be financially independent.

This urgency of wanting to do something, but not knowing what to do made me depressed. What made it worse was the fact that he started getting serious with work, and I could see how happy it made him. He works for his dad and also has his own company. He was progressing at such a fast rate under the guidance of his father, and though I was happy for him, it kind of made me frantic, so I decided to apply to study, doing this was both me occupying my time and to prove that I wasn't dumb. Despite not picking up a book in 4 years, I was at the top of my class which were a bunch of fresh high school graduates, I studied really hard and did exceptionally well in the exams - top 5 in the country! I dropped out a month before the last semester.

That was 2 years ago. This year I decided I wanted to give it another shot, but study online, WORST decision. I don't know why, but I think attending actual lectures just works best for me. I had this idea that I would use studying as a tool to help my business, constantly apply everything I learn to my own business, so I will give university another shot. Until then, I just want to grow my business and start making money.

Where I'm currently at -
2 years ago I came up with a nifty little solution to a problem I had, I searched online to find such a product but wasn't able to find it. Then I went onto Alibaba and found it! I ordered some samples, then got an agency to do the logo and packaging, it took way longer than expected due to me studying and not being on top of the designer. I found someone on Upwork that's currently doing my website and thinking of hiring someone else to help me with a marketing strategy. My plan as of now is do courses on coursera/udemy that provide me with more knowledge on certain topics, so even though I plan on hiring someone to do my marketing plan, I will be learning as well.

This is my first time ever posting to a forum, I'm not a good writer, and I'm very scatterbrained, so things might not exactly 'flow' if anyone has any advice on how to be more cohesive, please fill me in! Also - what are your thoughts on hiring a business mentor? I feel like it would be nice to have some guidance from someone who has been down this road.

I look forward to interacting with all of you!

Hi,

Welcome to forum.

Best wishes for your business.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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Readerly

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Hi everyone, currently reading Unscripted , and new to this forum and terrible at writing so please forgive me!


About me
23yo female that's always been ambitious growing up. I've never been scared to leave a comfort zone to seek better things. After 12th grade I moved overseas to live with my father as the plan was that I study there, (my parents are divorced and my father is well off financially, I've always suffered growing up with my mom) I would describe my life at the time as being comfortable, never needed to stress about money, which was strange as this was a constant stressor, but despite that I wasn't happy. I felt like I needed to be independent and make my own money, basically, I wanted freedom. So I started researching online and somehow came across an article that mentioned the amount of money strippers make. I don't know WHAT came across me, but I emailed them and applied online. (I will add that I never had a boyfriend or any experience with men and I was EXTREMELY shy and awkward) Anyhow I did that for a year until I met my first boyfriend, who I'm still with :) and I've been living a VERY comfortable life, he supports me financially. I felt I lost that ambitious go-getter girl I used to be when I was younger, I think it is largely due to me not really needing anything, however over the years I started feeling this urgency to do something for myself because I want to be financially independent.

This urgency of wanting to do something, but not knowing what to do made me depressed. What made it worse was the fact that he started getting serious with work, and I could see how happy it made him. He works for his dad and also has his own company. He was progressing at such a fast rate under the guidance of his father, and though I was happy for him, it kind of made me frantic, so I decided to apply to study, doing this was both me occupying my time and to prove that I wasn't dumb. Despite not picking up a book in 4 years, I was at the top of my class which were a bunch of fresh high school graduates, I studied really hard and did exceptionally well in the exams - top 5 in the country! I dropped out a month before the last semester.

That was 2 years ago. This year I decided I wanted to give it another shot, but study online, WORST decision. I don't know why, but I think attending actual lectures just works best for me. I had this idea that I would use studying as a tool to help my business, constantly apply everything I learn to my own business, so I will give university another shot. Until then, I just want to grow my business and start making money.

Where I'm currently at -
2 years ago I came up with a nifty little solution to a problem I had, I searched online to find such a product but wasn't able to find it. Then I went onto Alibaba and found it! I ordered some samples, then got an agency to do the logo and packaging, it took way longer than expected due to me studying and not being on top of the designer. I found someone on Upwork that's currently doing my website and thinking of hiring someone else to help me with a marketing strategy. My plan as of now is do courses on coursera/udemy that provide me with more knowledge on certain topics, so even though I plan on hiring someone to do my marketing plan, I will be learning as well.

This is my first time ever posting to a forum, I'm not a good writer, and I'm very scatterbrained, so things might not exactly 'flow' if anyone has any advice on how to be more cohesive, please fill me in! Also - what are your thoughts on hiring a business mentor? I feel like it would be nice to have some guidance from someone who has been down this road.

I look forward to interacting with all of you!

Congrats on catching the entrepreneurial bug! You're already way ahead of most.

My advice to you: order as few of your Alibaba-sourced, private label product as you can and slap up a basic product listing on Amazon, Ebay, Etsy, or Shopify to see if it sells. Validate your idea as quickly and cheaply as you can before you devote yourself to making it perfect.

You'll learn more from putting it out there and asking for a sale--even a crude version of it--than you with trying to make it perfect before exposing it to the market. (This is coming from a chronic overthinker.)

Also, check out threads on this forum by @Walter Hay and @biophase. They know a ton about overseas sourcing and ecommerce.
 

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Andy Daniels

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If you need help persuading your Alibaba supplier to supply a small order, I will be happy to help.

You could either post your question on my AMA
GOLD! Sharing my lifetime experience in export/import. Product sourcing specialist. or if you want to keep the details private you could PM me.

Walter

@Soon2bebossy welcome! I would take up Walter on this offer. Give his posts a read-through as well, TONS of golden bread crumbs scattered among the pages.

Woohoo! Excited for you to grow with us!!

-Andy
 
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A

Anon64574

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Thanks for all your replies! Feels AMAZING being part of a community like this.

So I'm going ahead with hiring a marketing strategist to help me come up with an action plan, however, I'm torn between two freelancers, the one is highly qualified (marketed an iPhone game which achieved 1 million downloads in less than a year, among her many other achievements) HOWEVER she charges $170ph. The other freelancer is also good (but more business focused) and charges $70ph.

I know readerly advised this,

Congrats on catching the entrepreneurial bug! You're already way ahead of most.

My advice to you: order as few of your Alibaba-sourced, private label product as you can and slap up a basic product listing on Amazon, eBay, Etsy, or Shopify to see if it sells. Validate your idea as quickly and cheaply as you can before you devote yourself to making it perfect.

You'll learn more from putting it out there and asking for a sale--even a crude version of it--than you with trying to make it perfect before exposing it to the market. (This is coming from a chronic overthinker.)

Also, check out threads on this forum by @Walter Hay and @biophase. They know a ton about overseas sourcing and e-commerce.

But my thinking (PLEASE CORRECT ME IF THIS IS WRONG) is that by starting to sell on eBay (for example) it would take away from the brand image I want to create. Everywhere I read, everyone always says that if your marketing efforts are focused on selling the problem, not the product, it will sell. This is why I haven't listed it on eBay and this is why I need a professional to help me sell this 'problem' and position my product. I really do hope this makes sense!

SO - Do I splurge on the 170$ freelancer? Or do I go for the other one?

Thanks for taking the time to read, and any other advise is warmly welcome :D
 

Readerly

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But my thinking (PLEASE CORRECT ME IF THIS IS WRONG) is that by starting to sell on eBay (for example) it would take away from the brand image I want to create.

Maybe once you've validated your product idea, choosing distribution channels that best complement your brand identity would be wise, yes. But you're nowhere near that point yet.

The sooner you learn whether your product will sell, the better. I think you'd be throwing money into the void right now were you to hire a marketing freelancer.

You don't even really know yet what "problem" your product solves in the minds of your prospective customers (i.e. which brand story will be the most compelling to them, which benefits will be the most appealing).

Get your product in front of them first--quickly and cheaply--and see what comes of it. Then you can start to craft a more fine-tuned pitch--and hire experts to help.
 

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It might be a good idea to have a brief look at the principles of marketing psychology in relation to branding and labeling.

That will help you retain control over your own project, and not be swept along by the professionals.

Check out the contents list of my 2019 revision of my labeling book here:
PUBLISHING Forum Members and Their Books!?

Walter
 
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Last edited:

Walter Hay

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@Readerly has offered very sound advice.

You could spend a large amount on marketing freelancers, but they are not going to be able to tell you whether or not your product will sell.

Walter
 
A

Anon64574

Guest
It might be a good idea to have a brief look at the principles of marketing psychology inn relation to branding and labeling.

That will help you retain control over your own project, and not be swept along by the professionals.

Check out the contents list of my 2019 revision of my labeling book here:
PUBLISHING Forum Members and Their Books!?

Walter

Thanks for the advise Walter. My product is already branded and packaged, I sorted that out late last year. Would you mind recommending books on marketing psychology so I can learn more about it?

Thanks in advance!
Zeyneb
 
A

Anon64574

Guest
Maybe once you've validated your product idea, choosing distribution channels that best complement your brand identity would be wise, yes. But you're nowhere near that point yet.

The sooner you learn whether your product will sell, the better. I think you'd be throwing money into the void right now were you to hire a marketing freelancer.

You don't even really know yet what "problem" your product solves in the minds of your prospective customers (i.e. which brand story will be the most compelling to them, which benefits will be the most appealing).

Get your product in front of them first--quickly and cheaply--and see what comes of it. Then you can start to craft a more fine-tuned pitch--and hire experts to help.

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond! I will be taking your advise and posting updates on how it goes! :)
 
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Walter Hay

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Thanks for the advise Walter. My product is already branded and packaged, I sorted that out late last year. Would you mind recommending books on marketing psychology so I can learn more about it?

Thanks in advance!
Zeyneb
I was not thinking of you needing guidance on preparing a marketing plan, but rather alerting you to the possibility that, given free reign, experts will follow their favorite path, even if it is not tailor made to your requirements.

For example, my experience with graphic designers is that they usually have a tendency to display their skills, but don't display a knowledge of a client's product or the emotional appeal that a design should display.

Likewise with copywriters their text might be fluent and beautiful, but if they don't have a very good idea of the persuasion factors you want incorporated it will miss the mark.

If your agency listed the features of your product on your logo and packaging rather than appealing to the emotions of your target market there is a good chance that they did you a disservice, because it is well known among marketing psychologists, that emotion outsells facts.

On the other hand, marketing psychologists know how to get into the customers' subconscious using the right colors, tricks in imagery, and a subtle appeal to the emotions of the targeted market demographic.

My favorite book on Marketing Psychology is a very old volume: "The New High Priesthood" Macmillan, 1967 by Scottish Psychologist and economist, Ralph Glasser. It has a subtitle: "The Social, Ethical and Political Implications of a Marketing-Orientated Society." This is a very deep exposition that, among other things reveals the willingness of people to be persuaded.

Here is a blog that is worth reading. The Intersection of Psychology and Marketing The author quotes from the excellent book that is currently being reviewed on the forum:
BOOK Influence: The Pyschology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini
Well worth a look.

Walter
 

Prakhar Verma

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Welcome! I'm very much like you. Growing my business at the same age. Although I'm more of a blogger/content creator.

Wish you the best!
 
A

Anon64574

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UPDATE - I've approached a major retailer and they said I can send in a proposal! :) I have no idea on how to go about drawing up one, I will do some research though, however, nothing beats advice from those of you who know your stuff. So Any advice on how to create a killer business proposal would be GREATLY appreciated.
@Readerly has offered very sound advice.

You could spend a large amount on marketing freelancers, but they are not going to be able to tell you whether or not your product will sell.

Walter
Maybe once you've validated your product idea, choosing distribution channels that best complement your brand identity would be wise, yes. But you're nowhere near that point yet.

The sooner you learn whether your product will sell, the better. I think you'd be throwing money into the void right now were you to hire a marketing freelancer.

You don't even really know yet what "problem" your product solves in the minds of your prospective customers (i.e. which brand story will be the most compelling to them, which benefits will be the most appealing).

Get your product in front of them first--quickly and cheaply--and see what comes of it. Then you can start to craft a more fine-tuned pitch--and hire experts to help.

I took your advice! Once again, many thanks.
 
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Readerly

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UPDATE - I've approached a major retailer and they said I can send in a proposal! :) I have no idea on how to go about drawing up one, I will do some research though, however, nothing beats advice from those of you who know your stuff. So Any advice on how to create a killer business proposal would be GREATLY appreciated.



I took your advice! Once again, many thanks.

Congrats! Sorry, though, I don't know much about retail placement biz proposals.

Have you tried selling your product to your social network? It may be a low-pressure way to gauge demand and hone your sales pitch.
 
A

Anon64574

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Congrats! Sorry, though, I don't know much about retail placement biz proposals.

Have you tried selling your product to your social network? It may be a low-pressure way to gauge demand and hone your sales pitch.

I have not, I’ll give that a go once my website is up and running!
 
A

Anon64574

Guest
*UPDATE

A friend recently took my product with him to the university he attends to find out
1. What people think of my product
2. What people would pay for it / what they think something like that would retail for
3. Which group of people were the most interested

I was so pleasantly surprised -

1. Everyone who saw my product showed a high level of interest for it as they said it directly solves the issue it's meant to solve
2. I calculated how much I would charge per unit to make X profit, and I was told everyone that was asked said they'd pay a price that's 50% higher than what I was thinking of charging and
3. This surprised me the most - a market I NEVER expected/considered would be interested in my product!

My plan -
*Have a website up and running
*Contact influencers to promote my product
*Be more active on social media and instead of starting a bland business page, document my entrepreneurship journey to create interest and form relationships, which I'm hoping will lead to people having a genuine 'love' for the brand as a whole.
*Make my product habit forming

Challenges -

The fact that it's a new product is a double-edged sword, while it sparks interest, I'm worried that because people have lived without it before, once the novelty fades, so will the business. So I'm reading a book called The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg, and once completed will read Hooked by Nir Eyal all in the hopes to gain insight into how to make my product habit forming.

Unfortunately, I'm not the average social media obsessed 23yo female, as I believe it would tremendously help.

Anyway - thought I'd post an update!
 
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A

Anon64574

Guest
Update

I’ve always wanted to be part of my partners company. I’ve always voiced it to him and he’s never taken me seriously. It was always a case of - sure I can learn about what they do, but it was only ever just talk. It upset me for the longest time that he employed all his friends that had no experience yet guided them and not me.

They’re in the mining industry. So recently I decided to take some initiative and spoke to people I know that work in the industry and that could be potential clients. The people I spoke to were very interested and the first project, though small in comparison to their other projects would amount to a minimum of $300k. I will continue finding potential leads, my partner will have no choice but to accept that I’m part of their team. I basically wormed my way in :) haha

I’ve spoken to all the people I know personally and now I’m going to “cold-email” more people. I’ve managed to find email addresses to directors/ceos of companies (thought it’d be better to email them than to send in an email to the generic contact us) I’m targeting specific directors that have certain interests that align with what the company offers such as innovative technology, or they’re interested in supporting young people that are new to the industry, so kind of wanting to use that to my advantage.

If anyone has some advice on how to go about “cold- emailing” please do share. I’d really appreciate it.

Anyway! Whoever’s reading this, hope you have a lovely day further! :)
 

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