Mary is in a tight spot. After growing her audience, keeping them engaged, and making her product, she’s realized sales are not what she thought they would be.
In this episode we sort of virtually consult Mary about her business, developing ideas for her and anyone else in a similar situation, handling stuff like:
- Doing back of the napkin math to see how much of anything you need to sell to pay your bills.
- Lots of candid conversation about how we view traffic and conversion.
- How to develop ideas for “what’s next” strategies.
- How to discover debilitating expectations (and correct them).
Have you ever had to go back to the drawing board after you hit a wall of disappointment?
If you haven’t yet… you will. This episode is an excellent guide through that process; how to think about it, how to develop strategies, where to find inspiration. Enjoy!
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“Entrepreneurs: Have you ever hit a wall of disappointment?”
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Show Notes
Mary’s Site: Adult Coloring Books
10 Business Archetypes: How to Choose a Business Model That Makes Sense (and Money, FS091)
Layout a Day | Simple Scrapbook Layouts
Sales Sans Sleaze: Sell More, Goodly (FS014)
Learn how to set goals that actually stick!
The Top 10 Mistakes in Online Business
Every week we talk with entrepreneurs. We talk about what’s working and what isn’t. We talk about successes and failures. We spend time with complete newbies, seasoned veterans, and everything in between.
One topic that comes up over and over again with both groups is mistakes made in starting businesses. Newbies love to learn about mistakes so they can avoid them. Veterans love to talk about what they wish they had known when starting out.
These conversations have been fascinating, so we compiled a list of the 10 mistakes we hear most often into a nifty lil' guide. Get the 10 Most Common Mistakes in Starting an Online Business here »
1. Bob Ross style short videos on YouTube and link to coloring book
2. Package book with high quality felt tip coloring pens
3. Different coloring books (a series)
4. Educational YouTube videos on topic (doodling, color, art, etc.) link to coloring book sale
You guys started to coach to her gremlin about Chinese cheap crayons
You need to give your new woman team member more credit (you dissed the coloring book idea until she brought up scrapbooking)
There’s a balance to bringing it down to the numbers (x number of sales per day) and the joy of communicating to people who share a similar love, similar joy in expressing themselves creatively in coloring…
Good show. Four people brainstorming a business problem for a specific business archetype (for an actual Fizzle member!) is very valuable and a good use of the podcast. The benefits I see are (Barrett notation):
1. it showcases your skills as authorities,
2. it raises moral of the community,
3. it demonstrates the value of being a member of the community,
4. it helps people in the same circumstances,
5. it provides perspective on the problem and clarifies expectations,
6. it highlights specific Fizzle training courses that help for specific issues
7. it demonstrates the use of the skills you teach.
8. it highlights the different business archetypes.
9. if nothing else, it certainly helps the person with the challenge.
10. it could drive more casual listeners to the community.
For Chase: There is a third F word: Fun, Frivolity and *Fizzness*.
-James
Thanks James!
Yeah, I agree with James. This is super-special and separates Fizzle from other communities. I think this is a very awesome episode. I think that if more of these happen, many Fizzlers will appreciate it. It’s also helpful for us who can relate to the person and where they’re at in their Journey (Mary in this case). Great idea and good podcast.
I have and am in Mary’s position. Love this episode.
A list of why I like this style of episode:
1. I love hearing how fellow Fizzlers are doing. I know Mary from the forums, but don’t always have time to check up on every progress log I subscribe to.
2. Hearing other Fizzler’s struggles allows for some commiserating (in a good way). It is nice to know I am not the only one struggling with these problems.
3. Gives an opportunity to see theories & strategies as actionable items. They may not be what I need to do exactly, but I can still learn from them.
Great show and hope to hear more like it.
Great podcast filled with enormously helpful info that I’ll be able to implement as early as today. And because I cannot absorb knowledge unalloyed with humour, thanks Chase. (I too have thanked my friends for putting up with me.) This is one of those podcasts I’ll listen to over and over again. And uh…~crossing arms and tap-tap-tapping foot~ …not to be picky but…was it a little late coming out today? Hmmm? Just a little? Coz I was waiting for it, man! Today is my birthday and the thing I kept checking was whether the Fizzle podcast was up. Either you can feel sad for me and the state of my life or take it as a huge compliment. Anyway the wait was totally worth it. Again, great episode.
-Laura
Thanks so much, guys! It’s funny you mentioned it, but I did actually have another successful coloring book artist tell me I had already sold more books than she had of her first book. It wasn’t as uplifting as you would think when I was comparing it against my expectations. (Yeah, I got bit by the unrealistic expectation manifestation. ;) )
And yes, all of the comments, ideas, and support from other Fizzlers has been amazing! Love you guys! Oh, and to answer your question – my mailing list is at about 250, so yes, the FB group is a lot larger. I’ve had several people tell me they prefer the group, although growing the group also appears to be growing my mailing list (and my FB artist page) organically.
I like the idea of pointing people to the FB group from my site. It’s something I’ve been thinking about, but haven’t done yet. I also have been thinking I should add an “as seen on NBC” banner somehow. Thanks for the other notes on my site. I haven’t really adjusted it since I first launched it in February. The rapid (unexpected!) growth in my FB group has changed my direction since then and should be reflected on the site. However, I will be ignoring (gasp!) the comments to not include reviews. They are actually the reason I created the site, and the main reason I gained my following. They love the reviews!
Interestingly, I ended up coming up with a direction none of you mentioned, but which allows me to do all the things I enjoy about this niche – publishing. Not just my own work, but that of other artists as well. Basically, I’m going to start publishing a digital magazine, which can give me regular monthly income through subscriptions and advertising. I can do reviews, how-to articles and videos (love the idea of product sponsorships for the videos!), and feature-length articles about this growing trend. It will also allow me to publish quarterly oe semi-annual anthologies of the designs in the magazine, and possibly annual compilations of the how-to videos. I already have some art therapists willing to write articles for me.
I also already have one artist I’m currently negotiating with to publish his work through Amazon in exchange for a percentage of the book sales. He has over 20 books worth of designs he wants to publish, and he’s excited to work with me *because of the audience I’ve built*. If I can do the same for other artists who don’t have the computer skills to publish their own work, I’ll eventually have a whole lot of passive income coming in. (I’ll try not to let those expectation manifestations occur, though, as I work on this new direction!) :P
Thanks again for all the ideas and thoughts about my brick wall. With your help and that of the Fizzle community I’ve found a way to tunnel through to the other side! :)
Oh, and Chase, I’m stunned you didn’t make a single joke about “adult coloring” – I can’t imagine how much willpower that took!!! :P
Barrett, I have to admit I both love and hate the idea of getting rid of comments on my blog. On the one hand, it bugs me that there aren’t any/many. I have to admit that most of my comments are from having a “post a comment for a chance at this giveaway” contest in my FB group, and even then, I only got a handful… On the other hand, I don’t want people to think I don’t welcome other opinions, especially on the reviews. Definitely something to think about…
I worked SO HARD for you, Mary :) And it was my pleasure.
This has been one of my favorite (certainly most directly helpful) shows so far. Getting to listen in on a brainstorm session on a particular business challenge has been so helpful for thinking differently about my own challenges. Even though the potential solutions are particular to this Fizzler’s market, it has given me such a different perspectives on avenues for my own market that I hadn’t previously considered.
Love this format and would love to see more shows like it.
Thanks, yall!
I have so many ideas for Mary! Maybe it’s because her market intersects with mine – scrapbooking/rubber stamping. Some off-the-top-of-my-head thoughts:
1. She could create printable e-books to sell on larger marketplaces like Etsy, Big Cartel, and Creative Market.
2. She could contact larger craft classes aites like Craftsy, Creative Bug, and Big Picture Classes.
3. She could do classe exclusively for Copic, which is the hot, trending, artists’ marker of today.
4. She could try for a book deal with the publishers of those top 7 Amazon books.
5. I’m sure there’s something to the membership site idea. Maybe it just needs a bit more fleshin out. Perhaps Mary could engage some of the “big names” in adult coloring and collaborate with them somehow. A great example of this in the scrapbooking world is Lain Ehmann at layoutaday.com.
I think there are opportunities for sure. Could it lead to making a living? Maybe. There’s only one way to find out.
Ok. Clearly did not listen all the way through before commenting. Stef did a great job describing layoutaday.com. The thing I wanted to point out, though, is the way Lain works with other instructors in the biz, having them teach classes through webinars, then offering those for sale. She does one-offs each month, but then also once or twice a year, she brings on 9 or 10 people to teach two full days of online classes, like a virtual conference. She then later repackages these and sells each class individually. It’s a pretty genius model, and I don’t know why something similar wouldn’t work in the adult coloring world.
I loved this podcast. So much information and enormously helpful. Just listening to the troubleshooting and different ideas has lit a fire under my arse!
Loved this format. More please!
Great show Guys and Gals, but I’m not sure you really gave Mary something concrete. Here’s what I’d do:-
First to leverage the books she already has, I feel she needs more reviews on Amazon, she also has a mailing list problem.
Given it sounds like the books seem to only cost her ~$3 to produce, I’d do a promotion in her Facebook Group to give away some books in return for an honest review on Amazon. Limit it to 100 free books to create scarcity. People use your email list to register their interest.
Now another 50-100 reviews on Amazon should be enough to get the book sales moving upward. Be sure to encourage the freebie recipients to post a review (you have their email address, so segment them out)
With the book sales growing in the back ground, I’d get on to the training…
Mary writes 2/4 articles a week so I’d cut that back to 1 article (maintenance mode) so she can concentrate on building the course. I’d create the first month, and then with something in hand I’d
A. Give away the first month for free (again limited to first 50 people), so people can feel the product and see if the quality is there, hopefully they will become raving fans.
B. Now turn on the money tap in the second month and offer heavy discounts for yearly payments
I’m not a colouring sort of guy. But I remember these sometimes come in large poster size formats and would easily cost over $5 just for one. Maybe consider adding a poster size drawing as a bonus, or part of the normal monthly course.
For me you have to do the work, and then be rewarded later. Not starting is the biggest mistake. IMHO
Good Luck Mary. Stay sharp like your pencils and Hustle.
Love the blogs you feature on the @Fizzle show … Adult colouring books … learning bass … Excellent! Always enjoy this show and how you cover topics and issues people are actually having (not just those that give excuses to sell products). Cheers!
We need another voice call from you Tom!
Thanks Chase. Thinking of one as I write. Kind of you to remember my first. Cheers!
Interesting enough I just came back from Brazil, where I am from and guess what is the biggest trend there now? celebrities are all into it too? Adult Coloring for therapy and relaxation. A book called the Secret Garden is the most popular one with intrinsic design to color so I do think there is a tribe, I do like the idea of tools , there is a famous brand of coloring pencils in brazil so ideally they get the book and those pencils, I like idea of being sponsored by the tools used, and not be stuck on actual book. What about theme series digital coloring pages folks can download? a friend who does gorgeous art work out of those colored foams is making a great living in brazil by launching classes every 2 months based on themes/seasons, many times its the same people taking the class but makes a living out of it. And if it is great for therapy what about for nursing homes activities ‘? just some thoughts best of luck
Hello Fizzlers! Loved this podcast and couldn’t shut off the many ideas I had for Mary’s business. I love adult coloring books my sister draws some designs. I feel like it is an emerging past time. Have you thought of a membership site that offers a page a week then people could send in a picture of their work and people could vote for favorite? Creating engagement in your group. Maybe packaging them as a party game for bridal showers girl nights etc think paint nights? Send a pdf and suggested supplies for a girls night out or baby shower. Or engagement parties or such because it isn’t necessarily a girl thing. I think Pinterest would be a great place to try something like that. Congrats on growing your list and Facebook group so quickly!