591. The Day Kim Kardashian Bought My Product

All of a sudden I get a message from the store and they send me a picture and it's Kim Kardashian holding three of my cuffs. And I was like, holy moly. Hi, I'm Jacqueline Snyder and this is the Product Boss podcast. I've helped launch and grow thousands of product based businesses, even one of my own. And over the last 20 years, I've seen behind the scenes of businesses just like yours. Whether they are makers, manufacturers, artists, or food and beverage businesses. I have spent so many hours studying it all. I've discovered what makes them successful, what are mistakes they could avoid, how did they turn an idea into successful business? And what are strategies they have used to make more sales and be discovered by more customers. This is what this show is all about. Whether you're just starting out or you're looking to become a million dollar product boss, or I'm here to give you the permission to chase your dreams no matter how big or small. All you need is the right mindset, a little courage, strategy and support, and you too can be the next million dollar product Boss. Let's do this. Hey, Product Boss. And welcome back to another episode. I am so excited to be here with you. I cannot believe that we are halfway through the year. Summer is kicking off for my kids. It is just going to be, let's just say, really blended. So if you know anything about me or at the Product Boss, I don't believe in balance because balance just is, I don't know, nothing's ever really in balance. It feels like. And also juggling feels like I'm always gonna drop a ball. So what I really believe in is the blend. And the blend is where it's like an ingredient to my smoothie that sometimes I have a little extra almond butter in there, sometimes I might throw in spinach. Right. Each day things are gonna look a little bit different and it's going be different. And that's kind of what we're heading into as like, I'm a mom of two kids that are in school, I have this business and then I've got family and friends and travel for the summer and all the things. And so it's really thinking about, like, how do I blend these all in and make them work for my world? So it's really what I'm digging into now as we're kind of moving into the summer. So that's kind of the update here. There's a bit of travel happening. I love all the connections we're having and making over on Instagram. It's been so awesome. For those of you who are following us at the product boss. And I want to dig into something really cool because we've been talking about this over on social media and I'm actually going to be digging deeper into this because I've got a totally, totally brand new training for all of you. Okay. And it is the three part framework to building a consistent, profitable, revenue generating product business in 2024. Yes. I've got this totally new training. It's gonna be totally free and live and I'm gonna be teaching it. So all you have to do is head to the productboss do if you want to jump in. So listen, let's talk about the day that Kim Kardashian bought Cuffs Couture. So Cuffs Couture, if you don't know, was the business that I ran and had. And it was a wearable wrist wallet. And it's an idea that I had when I was in my 20s and I'd go out to Hollywood and I dance with my friends. And back then our purses were like tiny little shoulder straps. I feel like, you know, I'd be dancing and put my hands in the air, which, by the way, I just found out that, you know, you're old when you dance with your hands in your air. Because the kids these days don't raise the roof. But when I was raising the roof, I did not want to have a bag on my shoulder and I didn't want to put it down on a couch or at a table. So I was like, I hate this. I was not high maintenance with what was in my bag. So I came up with this idea of a wrist wallet that was fashionable, that looked like a bracelet or a really cool accessory. And I called it Cuffs Couture. Now I'm going to dig deeper into my story inside of this free training. Okay? But what I want to tell you about is the day that Kim Kardashian bought my product. And it was such a cool day. So I came up with this idea and I started trying to sell it online. So I took my $20,000 that I'd been saving forever and working for other people. And you know, this, like, you have a really cool, creative idea, and I want to bring it to life. And I figured out how. I figured out where to get the fabric and the charms and the things that I sewed onto them, and I figured out how to get them sewn and made and all the things. And then I took that money that I had made all the product with and I took what was left, and I built a website. Because in my brain, I was like, you know, if you build a website and put it out on the Internet, the customer's gonna come. Obviously, I knew nothing. So I also built this expensive website, and I launched it around the holiday season. And literally, I launched it right? I was like, if you build it, they will come. And they did not. Nobody came. This is crickets. And I was just, like, in shambles. So dismayed. I was like, what am I even doing here? I thought I knew what I was doing. I coach people on how to design and develop, and I can do this for other people on making clothing lines. I mean, at that point, I probably had launched over a thousand brands. And in my brain, I'm like, okay, I've got my own. But the thing is that I wasn't teaching them at that point how to sell. At that point, I was really just designing and developing and producing and then giving them their line, and they were figuring out how to sell. But I knew how to design and develop. I was a creative, so I knew how to make something, but at that point, I hadn't figured out how to sell it. In a way that worked for me and my small business, because I'd only ever worked for big businesses. I had worked as a designer for, like, a huge Italian lingerie and swimwear company. I had worked for a celebrity and her brand. I had worked for a bridal designer. I'd done all sorts of things, but they were big and they were established, and they kind of had, like, these proven ways of selling. So I launched the website, and then crickets. And then a couple weeks later, I finally get that cha ching on my phone, which was so exciting. And I look at it, and it's my friend Beth. So shout out to Beth if you're listening. Thank you for being my first customer. But it was someone I knew, right? I was like, yay, I made a sale. It's somebody I know. I know you felt this way. And then I'm like, okay, maybe it'll start working. Still didn't work. But then, like, a week later, I get another cha ching on my phone, and I'm like, oh, my God. I don't know know this name. I don't know this person who just bought for me. But I look at the shipping address, and it's the same address I shipped Beth's stuff, to, which I realized I wrote to Beth. I was like, do you know this person? And she's like, yeah, it's my coworker I told her all about your cuffs. So I was like, all right, how about I just drive them to you and save the shipping, right? Take them all to the same place. So that's what I did. And those are my first two sales. And while I am so grateful, I was also in such a downward spiral. Cause, like, I don't know what to do next. And it just felt like I had wasted all my money, my time. I thought I knew what I was doing. I knew I had this awesome product. It was creative, it was interesting. But why was nobody buying? What I didn't realize was that people weren't actually seeing my product. They didn't know to look up a wearable wrist wallet to wear out while clubbing with your friends in Hollywood. They had no idea to look for me. And even if wrist wallets, fashionable wrist wallets were a trend, and they were typing it in, bet your bottom dollar that the big guys would show up first, right? Like, this is what I would tell my people that I would coach all the time, too. It's like, you make T shirts, you're not showing up first for T shirts. You make bras, you're not showing up first bras, you make candles, you're not showing up first for candles or jewelry or any of that, right? The really, really, really big companies are. Or Macy's or whatever it is. So I had to figure out what to do next, how to take this tiny, tiny trickle that was happening. And I needed that thing. I needed to turn on the faucet. Like, I needed it to fly low because I needed to make my money back. At least that was like my. At least, let's just make the money back. I did not want to be at a total loss. So I'm going to teach this inside of the free training. But here's the coolest thing. Eventually I started selling wholesale, and I had figured out that, listen, I need to get in front of other people's audiences. I need to get in front of other people's customers. There was no way I was doing it. I didn't have a budget for ads. I didn't have a budget for any of it. I didn't have a social media following. I didn't have an email. I had nothing. So I was like, how am I gonna do this? And so one of the ways I knew from working for other people was wholesale. I used to do the trade shows, and then buyers would walk through, and then they would buy from us. And, you know, then that's how, you know, when I Worked for the lingerie company, Our stuff was sold at Neiman Marcus. Or when I worked for the celebrity brand, I got sold at Macy's and all these other places. So I was like, okay, maybe that's what I need to do. This whole building and doing E commerce thing wasn't gonna be the easiest, fastest way for me to do it. So I started selling wholesale. And it was cool because really I started where I knew. So I started in la. I was lucky that I got into some cool, fashionable, trendy stores. And again, I'll share with you how I did it all instead of the training, but I do want to tell you that I went local. I went local and I was like, who can I sell to that's local before I ever expanded globally? Because eventually I was selling all the way. Like in Japan, I was selling worldwide. I was carried in like a major chain store, which was everything but water. But I got into this one really cool trendy store. And if you remember anything about some years ago when Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton and all the celebrities, like when we used to read magazines when that was like kind of more popular, you'd be like, oh, there is Paris Hilton walking down the street shopping in Beverly Hills, right? And so Kim Kardashian was out shopping sort of close to Beverly Hills, and she went to one of the trendy stores and my cuffs were being sold at that store. All right, product boss, I have a serious question. Does it ever feel like you've tried everything and you still aren't making the sales you want to be? Or maybe you've poured countless hours, days and nights, there's been tears into your product biz, and you're starting to think that maybe you're just bad at business. I mean, trust me, I have literally been there. So I'm here to tell you that you aren't bad at business and that selling your products doesn't have to feel this hard. So what I've seen from coaching thousands and thousands of product based business owners like you is that they just don't know how to get their products in front of more customers to make more sales. And listen, I get it because I used to have that exact same issue with my product biz until I figured out the one thing that took my business from one or two sales every two weeks to people I knew to making six figures in my first year of business. That's right. I was able to take a piece of fabric that I folded over three times and turn it into a six figure international Success which was worn by countless celebrities all in just one year. And the best part is that I did it without spending a single cent on ads or having an audience or a following or an email list to sell to. Now listen, I want this for you too. Which is why I'm sharing my secrets so you can learn how to turn your product based business into a money making machine that provides the stability and financial security that you're looking for. And it's all happening inside of my free masterclass and the three part framework to building a consistent, profitable, revenue generating product based business in 2024. So if you're ready to get clarity, get profitable and take that next step, all you need to do is head over to the product boss.com/framework to save your spot. Again, that's the productboss.com framework. Or you can just click the link in the show notes and I'll see you inside. All right, now back to the show. My cuffs were being sold at that store. And the way that my cuffs were displayed in the store and the cards they were on and all the things that really kind of made them stand out. And then all of a sudden I get a message from the store and they send me a picture and it's Kim Kardashian holding three of my cuffs. So it was for her two sisters and her, and she was holding three of them and she smiled and I got the picture and she bought the cuffs. And I was like, holy moly. Now listen, Kim was not who she is today, so she was, you know, still like kind of like a tabloid celebrity that had a reality show and it was fine and all right, but today I'm like, oh my goodness. This woman, like crushes the Met Ball and everything she wears, people are like obsessed with. And she actually wore and bought, purchased. This is probably the last time she ever bought anything. She bought my products at a store. So I will share that picture over on Instagram. So head over and follow us at the product boss and I'll share the picture of Kim like holding the cuffs. But what was amazing about it, and I'll tell you, like, the reasons why this really like sealed the deal. One, the store felt more confident with selling the products because a celebrity bought them and not only bought one, bought three. I got the photo of the celebrity with them and I was able to use that photo as collateral again. Like, you know, I kind of put things on social, but I didn't have a big following. So instead I used that as collateral when I messaged other buyers in wholesale, I was like, the cuffs that Kim Kardashian loves. And side note, Carrie Underwood also wore my stuff at the Country Music Awards and on one of her music videos. And just all the different things, okay. Like, there's several celebrities that have worn my products, but I was able to say, the cuffs Kim bought, right? Here's a picture. And then they would buy. They would literally buy the style that Kim bought. And also, I would provide them with an image. So, like, when it was in a boutique, they would have the image of Kim holding the cuffs next to the product. So I was able to really help them sell more as well. So it opened up doors for me. It continued the relationship with the retailer I was buying. It built confidence for me, and I was able to use that image in so many different ways to qualify my brand. Now, you might be thinking, that's great, Jaclyn, but one, we're never gonna get Kim Kardashian to wear our stuff, and you never know, so let's never say never. Two, you might be thinking, I live somewhere else and there's no celebrities and I'm not in LA like you. Totally fine. The thing I want you to hear is that really the whole point of what I'm trying to tell you here is that I was unable to do it on my own. I was not able to just launch a website and hope people would Google find somehow they type in exactly what I wanted them type in. And it was like a direct line to my website. It was the harder way to go about it. So what I had realized was, is I needed to get in front of other people's customers, other people's audiences. And one of those ways was on the shelves of other people's stores selling wholesale. They already have customers built in. They have foot traffic. They have their own marketing that they're doing. They have their own following that they're doing. And that was one of the things that. That unlocked a new revenue stream for me. It unlocked a new sales channel for me. It unlocked a new way of doing business that then when I'm selling to retailers and you know this, you've done this as a consumer, and you're walking around and you're discovering products at stores and you love the product. You may either go back to the retailer and buy it, or you might actually look up the brand on social media. You might look up the brand and see if they have a website, and you might actually buy other things in a different way on a different platform. So it's also used as Discoverability. It's another way to be discovered to get more eyeballs for people to know your brand and it qualifies you because if they're getting to see your product, smell your product, try your product, wear your product, right, like try it on in a physical location and then they're able to like act and like be a part of it and then they love it. They're now going to know your brand, they're going to have discovered it in some sort of way and then if they want to buy it again, they're either going to go back to the store, which is totally fine. Because if they go back to the store and ask for your hand cream again, awesome. You want stores to sell out of your product so they come back to you and buy more. Or they're like, wow, I really love this hand cream. And I just remember seeing only hand cream at that one retailer. So let me see if they sell anything else. And they might go follow you on social media and see what you're doing on Instagram and they might buy from you on social media or they're going to look up your website and that's how you start to make sales. Because let me tell you, the more wholesale accounts that I got was directly correlated to the more online sales that I got. The more I got in front of other people's audiences, other people's customers, the more that that allowed for me to grow my direct to consumer base. And that's it. That is like what it unlocked. So not only did Kim, yes, Kim Kardashian, wear my cuffs, buy my cuffs, right? Actually purchase them at a store and discover them just like your other customers, like your future customers are gonna discover you if you decide to sell wholesale. But it also unlocked so many other things for me. It unlocked the expansion into me trying to get into other retailers and I did. And it unlocked discoverability where people then were able to come and buy from me directly from my own website. So listen, I am breaking this all down for you, all down for you inside of this brand new training. So head on over, click the link in the show notes, head to the productboss.com framework and I am going to go through this three part framework. That's exactly what I did to get consistent, profitable, revenue generating, product based business. And you'll get to see the picture of Kim K. On there and hear a little bit more of my story. All right, my friends, listen, I'm so excited for what the future holds for you. I don't need to know you, I Don't need to know what you do. I just want you to know that I believe in you. I show up twice a week on this podcast and I want you to know that I believe in you. I believe in your potential. I believe in the possibility. I believe in everything that you hold. And if you don't have all the answers right now, none of us do. You just want to keep learning and stepping through it. And you're doing that. You're doing that by following the show. Make sure to hit that follow button because if you listen on Apple podcasts, they have like, I don't know what they've done to like the algorithm. So make sure you hit the follow button so you know. Or follow us on Spotify or wherever you're listening. I want you to come here because we're going to teach you and you're going to learn things. And then anytime we offer a free training, a free challenge, a free whatever, come. Because there's always a golden nugget to be picked up from that. Because I just want you to to get all of the tools that you possibly can so that you feel more confident and you really believe in the possibilities that await you. Cause we don't know what's around the corner. All right, until the next one. Thank you for being here and listening all the way through the Product Boss podcast. If you love our show and it has helped you in any way in your business, would you mind doing two things for us? Subscribe to the show so you never miss an episode and and leave us a review. Reviews help other product entrepreneurs know that this is the place to be to grow their businesses and realize that they're not alone. And we know that you all know that a five star and honest review helps you sell more products to more people. So you know that your reviews help us reach more listeners around the world. Remember, what we give is what we receive and we are all about helping each other in the Product Boss community. We are all in this together. We would be so appreciative of you if you could take the time right now to subscribe, leave a review and even share this episode on social or someone you know so we can impact more lives. And remember, subscribing means that you will get notified each time we release a new episode so you never miss a thing. You have helped us grow and climb into the top 10 of all marketing podcasts and together we can keep climbing. Thank you friends. And remember, there is room at the top for all of us.