Latest / Imagine If with Doone Roisin | Health, Wealth & Wisdom for Women (formerly Female Startup Club Podcast) / Beauty Business for SALE + Your Marketing Launch Plan

Transcript

Beauty Business for SALE + Your Marketing Launch Plan · Imagine If with Doone Roisin | Health, Wealth & Wisdom for Women (formerly Female Startup Club Podcast)

• 0:00
  Hello, it's Dune here, your host and hype girl. Oh my God, it has been a hot second. It feels like I haven't done a solo episode in forever. It's only been a few weeks, but it feels like forever. And so much has happened in these past couple of weeks, as you would know, and
• 0:22
  Gosh, so today I want to take you through my book launch plan and how we approach the marketing for that because I don't know if you saw this, but we are bestseller, baby. All thanks to you guys. My God, I'm just like still...
• 0:37
  in shock. I'm just in shock. It's crazy. Across the US, the UK and Australia, we hit so many bestsellers. And my favorite being women in business. We also hit e-commerce and we also hit small business books. So, I mean, I just have no words, but I have all the words really.
• 0:58
  And besides the bestseller, for a few days in launch week, we were also number 55 of all books in Australia, all paperback books on Amazon.
• 1:12
  Can you imagine? There are so many books. I'm just, I cannot. Oh my God. So I'm going to take you through my insights and learnings on that whole thing. And I'm also going to talk to you about a business that's for sale. Maybe it's your vibe. We're going to put it out there. We have much to discuss. So let's get straight into it. This is me for Female Startup Club. Hello. Welcome back. Welcome back.
• 1:39
  Oh my gosh. Let's get into this episode. Where to start? Firstly, I want to say the biggest thank you ever. The biggest thank you in the whole world to everyone who showed up to our New York City book launch party to celebrate this special milestone, crazy moment with me. I can't tell you how grateful I am and the feeling that I had to meet you all in real life. It's just...
• 2:09
  I'm still so buzzed. I've been talking about it ever since. I cannot believe the feelings. I have no words. And I'm just so grateful that I got to meet so many of you and that you came and that you told me about your businesses. And we got to share that special book launch moment together. So thank you.
• 2:29
  Secondly, obviously, the book. Just wow. I mean, wow. To everyone who has shared the book, shouted about it on social media, sent it to your friends, bought copies, the response has been kind of crazy. I just, I don't know, these past few weeks have been nonstop. And looking back, I think I even said this on the show, I'm going to be a little bit
• 2:54
  there was that feeling of like, I might throw up. And you know that feeling when you're putting something out there in the world and you don't know, you don't know if people are actually going to care or if they're going to like it or, you know, the judgment you're going to get. You're just putting something out there and seeing what happens. And then, you know,
• 3:14
  When you do do that and you kind of take a step back because you start to realize people do really like it and people want to show up and support you. So I had that feeling. Like I had the vomit feeling and then the breath of fresh air like, oh, my God, everything's okay. Yeah.
• 3:32
  So with all of that in mind, I thought this could be a cool opportunity to do a quick episode breaking down my marketing launch plan and what I learned from this experience and what I'll do next time. Because even though it's for a book, this is just an easy launch step-by-step plan that you could use to launch anything really, because the same principles apply. Okay.
• 3:56
  Basically, my approach to the book launch was just to try and cover a few different channels, have the omni-channel approach, and create some buzz online.
• 4:07
  Of course, number one, I started with content on my channels. Content, content, content. I was posting one to three times a day on TikTok to get in front of new people and grow my audience, which was definitely a success. We grew by thousands of followers. Closer to the launch, I was posting more like once a day and I'm still posting once a day and I'm talking about the book every here and there, not all the time.
• 4:33
  And then I was reposting this content directly back to Instagram. I was also posting and circulating the content on LinkedIn and obviously just, you know, highlighting the book as much as possible on the podcast too. And you will know because you will have heard me talk about it a million times, but basically just putting it out to all of my communities in all the places.
• 4:55
  Obviously, yes, I have a community. But even if you just have a small community or no community at all and you're just getting started...
• 5:03
  creating content on your own channels is an absolute must. It must not be overlooked. There's no getting around it. As a founder, and especially as a founder on a limited budget, you need to start putting content out there and telling your story to reach people who will like your story. And always keep in mind, people like people.
• 5:27
  not brands. People want to hear your story. They don't want to be told about the features of a product, blah, blah, blah. They want to hear about the how. They want to hear about the why. And they want to be like part of the journey. They want to be going along that with you. So even if you've got, you know, 100 followers or 500 followers, or it's just your friends and family on Facebook,
• 5:50
  start posting there, start getting out there and sharing your story on those channels and talk about what you're doing and why it's important to you and what the impact of this is in the world or what the impact of this is just in your community. All that stuff, all that storytelling stuff is so important. And that's like 100% where to start with any marketing plan.
• 6:12
  So on the note of TikTok and creators and things like that, the second thing I did was I obviously wanted other creators talking about us on those channels. I didn't have a big budget to work with. I had $1,000 USD or thereabouts. And what I did was went through all the people in my network that I knew who were friends and might be able to do some kind of cross promotion swap, offered them to do a cross promotion swap.
• 6:37
  But then I also created a list of creators who I didn't know that I would love to work with and reached out to find out their rates and see if there was a way that we could work together within my budget. Again, during this process, I was sharing my story, telling them about the book, getting them excited about what I was doing and seeing if there was any creators who were aligned to me and the mission that we have with Female Startup Club and were able to meet me where I
• 7:06
  hundreds of thousands of dollars. I'm a small independent creator and I had a small budget that reflected that. But of course, I wanted to try and reach creators and create those partnerships. So we had a few really incredible creators come on board to help spread our message. And I saw a lot of people commenting on the videos that went out saying that they'd bought the book and then come to my channel and saying they'd found me through
• 7:35
  the creative videos. And I could just see it. I could see the buzz. The issue that I have that you won't have as a founder is that Amazon does not share any customer data. So I could only know this based on the comments I was seeing and reading online and not as a fact, which is a bit of a shame when it comes to what I was doing. But I mean, I was just still so excited seeing people being like, I've just ordered your book or like I discovered you and now I've ordered your book. It was
• 8:03
  I can't describe the feeling. Amazing. So yes, loved working with the creators. You know, we had some brilliant women like Nadia from August share on her platform. She has 2.4 million followers on TikTok and she has 100,000 on Instagram. And she just went above and beyond for me, which was so great. And we also just had like a few other amazing women, amazing, amazing women to work with. So that was very cool.
• 8:30
  Then I kind of looked at press and I think this is where I didn't do as well and where I think I could have done better. So through my network and sharing my story again with people that I knew, I was able to secure a ridiculously epic article in Refinery29 on launch week. And this is like, you know, amazing. It was a dream moment for me. I was so happy with that. But that's the only press that we were able to get.
• 8:58
  Now, I did hire someone at the last minute to do a PR campaign for me, which was too close to the launch to secure anything during that week. And it's a longer tail approach and still in action. So I don't really have any results to report back on yet. Yeah.
• 9:15
  I mean, I hope we do have some, but I think what I could have done better here is given it just more energy, again, telling my story, getting out there, introducing myself to journalists, trying to get more introductions and fostering those relationships directly. But, you know, live and learn. Only so much you can do. Next time, that is the approach that I'll take.
• 9:38
  then I focused on podcasts. So obviously I have my own podcast, which you're listening to, but I was focused on getting on other people's shows. So talking about why I was launching the book, how I launched the book, what the blueprint was, how I was planning on marketing it, all of that kind of stuff. And obviously my story with Female Startup Club. So in the months leading up, I hopped on a bunch of podcasts. I'm going to say 10. I can't remember right now off the top of my
• 10:07
  And some of those went live during launch week. Some of them are still coming up because, again, that's one of those bigger long tail kind of strategies. And the key to things like podcasts and creators, for me, this is what I found, is that you don't need to overwhelm yourself with having like a list of 100 influencers and 100 podcasts and 100 pieces of press.
• 10:32
  You can be so much more like realistic than that. Pick a number and just work towards that number, even if it is just 10, which for me, it was 10 across the board. I was like 10 creators, 10 podcasts, 10 pieces of press. I didn't hit all of those things.
• 10:49
  And you quickly realize whether it's achievable or not, but it's a great number that's easy to aim for that doesn't make you feel super overwhelmed. And it also just kind of keeps you on track because it's easy for you to be like, what are 10 podcasts that I would love to be on? Or what are 10, who are 10 creators that I already engage with who already know what I'm up to that I would love to work with. It's just so much more realistic than being like, okay, I'm going to sit down and do a list of a hundred, which is probably going to take me all day to research and, you know,
• 11:17
  the outreach alone would be crazy. So 10, have 10. It's an easy number. Next thing I did was I went through my email list, my WhatsApp and my Facebook contacts, just kind of like went through all these different communities to see who I knew already that might be able to shout about the book in some way or connect me to someone who I should talk to. And this is how we got a few cool promotions in other branded newsletters.
• 11:47
  And it's also what led to my two launch events because the lovely chaps at SohoWorks and Norby were really interested in supporting me and came to the party throwing, you know, epic, cute parties. So...
• 12:02
  you really do have to put yourself out there. You have to ask for favors, which can sometimes feel like a bit daunting. Again, because you have that like, oh my God, are they going to judge me? What's the feeling going to be like? But what I found with this and asking so many favors was people want to rally behind you. People are just there to support and be your cheerleader. And it's not this big, scary thing.
• 12:26
  And sometimes it's not about just like asking a favor and it's a one way street. I was also thinking about how I could support them and what we could do in return and cross promotions and things like that. So it's not just a one way street. You can also think about how you can offer value to the person that you're asking something of. And this point leads me to the launch party.
• 12:48
  The launch party. Oh, my God. Well, two launch parties. A gathering of any sort, whether it's an intimate breakfast just for some founders and your girlfriends or a party with the wider community like we did, is an amazing chance to meet people in real life. Yeah.
• 13:07
  get to know people face-to-face and take your brand from being behind the computer screen or, you know, in your house where you hang out all day into the big world. It is such a nice feeling. I had all the giddy butterflies. Like, I mean, it was so cool. The launch events were just so much fun and something I'm absolutely wanting to lean more into now moving forward. Even if it's just a
• 13:33
  in whatever city I'm in for some founders to get together, like super low key. I just feel like if there's a way that you can gather people, especially if it's around the launch or if it's an ongoing series or whatever it might be, make that happen because there's something really special about RIL meetings now, I think, especially since the pandemic.
• 13:58
  Okay, where am I up to? That was launch party gifting. In the end, we sent out about 100 books for gifting. That was to some friends. That was to some loyal listeners. That was to people in my network. And it also included the women who were featured in the book, which were 51. If you haven't seen me say the 51 before, 51 of them.
• 14:22
  Which, side note here, I did not account for how expensive shipping books is. My cost of goods for those parcels was very high and unexpected. Definitely something to look into, but I had no other way. I really wanted to send handwritten notes and I really wanted to send them in these pink boxes.
• 14:44
  metallic fun padded bags. But what I didn't account for was that the pink fun padded metallic bags pushed me up from being in the size of a large letter that could fit through the mailbox into a small parcel. So learning there should definitely explore those kinds of things. But sending out the gifting was also a really fun photo moment. We got a lot of content being posted in the lead up to the launch, which was cool.
• 15:10
  And then with the founders who were involved in the book, we also had specific asks. Like I asked them, you know, and I sent everything like as an individual personal message, you know, to that person, not like some, you know, BCC group message, asking them specifically. Well, I mean, also letting them know that the book had been shipped to the address that they gave me, asking them to post on their personal social media or their brand social
• 15:40
  And also to include it in company Slack channel or newsletters. So I had a lot of asks for the founders who were featured in the book. I said, you know, don't do all of those things. But if you could just do one, that would be super appreciated. And we got a really good response from that. A lot of people shared.
• 15:58
  We also sent out advanced copies of the manuscript to some of our loyal listeners and hype club gals of the show who were just armed and ready to leave us reviews on Amazon on day one. And that
• 16:14
  was amazing. It made such a big difference. I've been told time and time again how important reviews were. And I really think that played a key part in us doing so well in launch week. And also obviously having the community rally behind me and be my hype girl when I really needed it was so special.
• 16:34
  And then, of course, you know, the next part of my community was rallying my personal crew of hype girls and hype guys, all my friends who are close enough to me that would love me even if I hassled them day after day in the lead up to the launch. And after...
• 16:54
  By getting your personal kind of group of people, your closest family and friends together and asking them to post around the launch and just even if it's sharing an asset, like creating something that they can just immediately share to their Facebook page to shout about, something like that.
• 17:12
  yeah, you can't underestimate just the people in your life who love you the most, who want the best for you. And so my friend ambassadors, they were all lined up to buy on certain days during launch week. I asked them to shout loudly on social media and I also asked them to send it to their own network of friends who might also like the book and who would also benefit from reading the book.
• 17:35
  I also did a few Instagram lives and live events like in other people's private communities and things of that nature during launch week just to, again, connect RAL but online. And what else? I think they were the kind of main things that I did. I don't know how many points that was, but...
• 17:55
  All of this to say, it might come across as overwhelming, but I promise you it's actually not. All it is, is a simple checklist. I put everything into a spreadsheet and I just showed up day after day after day. I created content. I sent messages to people. I connected with whoever I could. And I just talked about the book every single day. That's it. Talked about the book. So.
• 18:16
  That's kind of my launch plan looking back. I would say it went better than expected in some ways. I think definitely in hindsight, it could have done better in a lot of different areas. But, you know, this for me was definitely figuring out the blueprint so that the next time I do it, I can tackle it with a new kind of approach and taking all the things that I learned and what worked and what didn't and rolling with it.
• 18:42
  Someone asked me last week at an event if I had to do just one thing, if I was doing it again, what would it be? And if you listen to the show, you can probably guess what my answer was. It's TikTok. Both creating content for myself and working with other creators on TikTok is where I was really able to see the buzz and have people directly telling me they'd purchased the book. You know, I was able to use that content across on Instagram.
• 19:11
  But it also lasts longer. Having that content there means it's kind of like continually popping off. So like a video that is three weeks old now, I see people commenting on it now. And I'm like, that's so cool. And so it lasts longer. It's less fleeting. And overall, that's what I would do again. I would create even more content on TikTok. And I'd really lean into that a lot more.
• 19:35
  And I think I'm going to lean in a lot more now moving forward. I'm going to scale up my content on there, maybe do three posts a day again and just see how that goes. But phew, that's the breakdown. If this was useful for you, please do share this episode on stories, on Instagram, or turn it into a TikTok if you want to. Helping spread the good word about the show is how other listeners find us. And I'm always just so grateful. And I love to connect with you on Instagram.
• 20:06
  in the DMs. But on to other things, there's this thing. There's this thing that I want to talk about. There are two types of founders that I often see. There's the founder that loves the early stage of building a business, that zero to one phase, rolling up the sleeves to prove out the concept, iterating the concept and finding the product market fit and getting that early
• 20:35
  And then there's like the ultimate operator who doesn't care so much about that early phase, but it's the person to scale a business from one to 10. They have the framework. They're great with operations, supply chain, logistics. They know all the levers to pull and how to turn it into a huge business. The scaler. Now...
• 20:57
  Of course, you can be both, but sometimes you lean towards a certain type. And in my case, I lean towards the builder because I just love the fun side of creating the business, that early vision, all that fun brand building stuff. Okay.
• 21:12
  But if you feel like you're the latter, a scaler, and you're interested in really growing a business that's already up and running, those folks often thrive in buying a business to take it to the next level. And all of this to say, a friend of mine reached out to me today who's looking to sell her business. So I thought I'd just drop it in here, see if there's anyone out there who's interested, who is a scaler.
• 21:39
  It is, I can't say the name, but it is a premium ingestible beauty brand that's set up as a fully operational turnkey company, including existing stock, including, you know, the IP, the relationships that they've already got going on, customer base, basically all the assets. They've got a combined social media and email list of 10,000. They're already stocked at really cool major department stores and specialty spas and boutiques.
• 22:07
  And it would suit anyone worldwide because it's TGA approved and they have their biggest audiences in the US and Australia, but can ship anywhere. The price is listed at the moment, circa 300,000. And if this is your vibe, send me an email. I can connect the dots and we can continue the conversation. But yeah, basically business for sale. Haven't advertised something like this on the podcast before, but yeah.
• 22:34
  Why not? If you have a business for sale, come and tell me. Maybe I can shout about it. Lastly, I've been working on the next thing for Female Startup Club. Can't stop, won't stop. Now that the book is out and totally firing, it's time for me to level up what our offering is with Female Startup Club and just change a few things around because, you know, that's a vibe.
• 22:57
  So we've had a hype club in beta for, I think I would say a good six months now. And the community aspect is just so incredible and so important and so, so needed. But something I see time and time again is people just need more of the blueprint. People just need the checklist of what to actually do, whether it's pre-launch and, you know, building out your marketing plan or whether it's post-launch and just trying to grow day by day.
• 23:23
  The community aspect is so key for that like constant cheerleader moment and the constant hype. But if you're anything like me, you just need a checklist of every single step you should be doing, you know, before you hire an agency or every single step that you should be doing, even if you have already hired an agency. Yeah.
• 23:42
  The blueprint to building a D2C brand in today's landscape is what we need. And I'm not talking about just like the fun, sexy marketing stuff. I'm talking about what you do with your website, how you optimize that, what you do with shipping, like I experienced, and ways you can reduce your costs there, how to track your sales, see what products are profitable, unprofitable, all that kind of thing.
• 24:08
  That's what I wish I had when I was building my first D2C jewelry brand.
• 24:14
  And at this point of the business of Female Startup Club, I've interviewed more than 300 women, 300 mega successful founders to understand the blueprint. I've been able to ask the questions around money and startup capital, around mistakes, around marketing, the favorite resources, you know, all the things. You listen to the show, you know how it goes. I've also watched my husband scale D2C brands and I know where brands go wrong and where they go right.
• 24:42
  Seeing the foundational work that so many founders overlook before they're trying to scale. I've worked with e-commerce experts. I've worked with consultants to understand how they work with their clients. And I've also gone through it myself and failed and have the learnings and insights from that.
• 25:00
  So basically, this is just an update to say that at the moment I'm heads down. I am putting together this blueprint and I'm making it everything I wish I had when my D2C jewelry brand was struggling to grow. And I just didn't know what I should be doing every day as a one woman show.
• 25:19
  Sometimes you just need a good old fashioned list to get cracking on and help keep you accountable day by day. And of course, on the side of that, access to a next level, amazing community of other female founders who are going through it too.
• 25:37
  Last thing before I wrap up today's mini, that's not so mini episode. I have been having so much fun over on TikTok. If you haven't seen, you should go check it out. Sharing founder breakdowns and money mistakes. If you have a money mistake that you want to share with our community in the hopes that it will help someone else going through the journey, shoot me through an email. It's hello at femalestartupclub.com. It doesn't need to be a crazy amount of money either.
• 26:07
  you know, you learn from that. I would love to create a TikTok video about your experience. Okay. That's all for today. See you next week. Bye.
• 26:23
  Hey, it's June here. Thanks for listening to this amazing episode of the Female Startup Club podcast. If you're a fan of the show and want even more of the good stuff, I'd recommend checking out femalestartupclub.com where you can subscribe to our free newsletter. We send it out weekly covering female founder business news, insights and learnings in D2C, and interesting business resources.
• 26:47
  And if you're a founder building an e-commerce brand, you can join our private network of entrepreneurs called Hype Club at femalestartupclub.com forward slash Hype Club. We have guests from the show joining us for intimate Ask Me Anythings, expert workshops, and a group of totally amazing, like-minded women building the future of D2C brands.
• 27:10
  As always, please do subscribe, rate and review the show, and post your favorite episodes to Instagram stories. I am beyond grateful when you do that.