Getting Your Brand in the Stores D’Shawn Russell is the owner of Southern Elegance Candle Company. She has been able to take a locally owned and sourced company based in Raeford North Carolina and bring her brand to over 300 stores nationwide. Attendees will discover her journey to getting on the shelves and creating, scaling and keep up with the demand for her brand. Speaker(s): D'Shawn Russell

2. Hobby to Wholesale
8 key Factors to Consider before
Making the Leap
D’Shawn Russell, Owner Southern Elegance Candle Co

3. Introduction
• This class will provide an overview of the 8
factors a hobbyist should be aware of before
they decide to approach retail locations for
wholesale. This presentation will review
Branding, Naming, Pricing, Creating Labels,
Selling, Photographing, Marketing and Using
Social Media Platforms to create a cohesive
and appealing product line that is ready for
retail shelves .

5. Types of Business
There are four basic
types of businesses
– Sole Proprietorship
– Limited Liability
Company
– Corporation
– S Corporation

6. Choosing A Unique Name
• Review the competitors
• Be imaginative
• Think about your target
audience
• Visualize how the name
and the brand go
together
• Pick a name that is
available both online
and in social media

7. Things to Avoid
• Making the spelling difficult
• Making your business difficult to pronounce,
spell, or remember.

8. Important Note about
Trademarks
• Always do a basic Google search of the name
• To register a trademark, go to the U.S. Patent and
Trademark Office's Web site, www.uspto.gov.
• Make sure someone else hasn't already registered
the mark your category by checking the
Trademark Electronic Search System database .

9. What is Your Brand Communicating

10. Your Brand is More than a Logo
• Definition: The marketing practice of
creating a name, symbol or design
that identifies and differentiates a
product from other products .
• An effective brand strategy gives you
a major edge in increasingly
competitive markets. But what
exactly does "branding" mean?
Simply put, your brand is your
promise to your customer. It tells
them what they can expect from your
products and services, and it
differentiates your offering from that
of your competitors. Your brand is
derived from who you are, who you
want to be and who people perceive
you to be.

11. What Are You Really Selling?
• Make a Positioning Map
– Know thy enemy. Identify all your competitors, direct
and indirect. They could be brands that places you
intend to sell have products similar to yours or brands
that sell in the same
• Know Your Customer
– Statistical data is important but you need to be
specific: “age 20-30, professional woman” or
“sophisticated, independent, strong woman” won’t cut
it. Instead, envision your target customer’s personality
and daily life.

12. What Are You Really Selling?
• Identity Your Brand’s Top Attributes
– These are the 3 or 4 words that define your brand and
make you unique; these attributes are adjectives, not
nouns. (This but not That)
• Write a Positioning Statement (or a press release)
– You now have the building blocks to write your
positioning statement (brand description for your
internal team), your brand tagline or seasonal slogan,
and your “about” story for the website, social media,
and PR.

13. Who Are Your Ideal Customers

14. Who Is Your Ideal Customer?
• Most entrepreneurs aren't clear about their
ideal customer. For this reason, they waste a
lot of time and money trying to sell their
product to people who aren't good potential
customers.
• Your ability to clearly define and focus in on
the customers who can most rapidly buy your
product or service will be essential to your
business success.
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/75648

15. Who Is Your Ideal Customer?

16. Who Are You Selling To?
• Define your product or service from the customer's
point of view. What does your product do for your ideal
customer? What problems does your product solve for your
customer? How does your product improve your customer's
life or work?
• Define the ideal customer for what you sell. What is his or
her age, education, occupation or business? What is his or
her income or financial situation? What is his or her
situation today in life or work?
• Determine the specific benefits your customer is seeking
in buying your product. Of all the benefits you offer,
which are the most important to your ideal customer. Why
should your customer buy from you rather than from
someone else?
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/75648

17. Who Are You Selling To?
• Determine the location of your exact customer. Where is
your customer located geographically? Where does your
customer live or work? Where is your customer when he or
she buys your product or service?
• Determine exactly when your ideal customer buys your
product or service. What has to happen in the life or work
of your customer for him to buy your product? What time of
year, season, month or week does your customer buy?
• Determine your customer's buying strategy. How does
your customer buy your product or service? How has your
customer bought similar products or services in the past?
What is your customer's buying strategy? How does your
customer go about making a buying decision for your
product?
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/75648

18. Effectively Pricing Products

19. Basic Principle of Pricing
• Here's how to set it.
• Know the market. You need to
find out how much customers will
pay, as well as how much
competitors charge. ...
• Choose the best pricing
technique. ...
• Work out your costs. ...
• Consider cost-plus pricing. ...
• Set a value-based price. ...
• Think about other influences on
price.
• Keep on your toes.
http://www.inc.com/guides/price-your-products.html

20. Factors To Consider
• Know Your Costs
A fundamental tenet of pricing is that you need to
cover your costs and then factor in a profit. That
means you have to know how much your product
costs. You also have to understand how much you
need to mark up the product and how many you
need to sell to turn a profit. Remember that the cost
of a product is more than the literal cost of the item;
it also includes overhead costs. Overhead costs may
include fixed costs like rent and variable costs like
shipping or stocking fees. You must include these
costs in your estimate of the real cost of your
product.
http://www.inc.com/guides/price-your-products.html

21. Factors to Consider
• Know Your Customer
This type of research can range from informal
surveys of your existing customer base that you send
out in e-mail along with promotions to the more
extensive and potentially expensive research
projects undertaken by third party consulting firms.
Market research firms can explore your market and
segment your potential customers very granularly --
by demographics, by what they buy, by whether
they are price sensitive, etc. Research the budget
sensitive, the convenience centered, and those for
whom status makes a difference; Then figure out
which segment you're targeting and price
accordingly.
http://www.inc.com/guides/price-your-products.html

23. Presentation Matters!
Before $10
After $18

24. Presentation Matters!
Before
$18
After $28

25. Presentation Matters!

26. Designers on a Budget
• Fiverr (Cheapest)
• 99designs
(Moderate)
• Find a Designer
with experience
designing labels for
RETAIL SPACES

27. DIY Printing
• Regular
Inkjet
• Laser Printer
• Primera
• Epson

28. PROFESSIONAL PRINTING
Frontier Label: Product
labels
Lighting Labels: Product
labels
Jakprints: Postcards,
hangtags, brochures, and the
like.
PS Print: Postcards, hangtags,
brochures, and the like.
Greener Printer: Postcards,
hangtags, brochures, and the
like.

29. Resources: Printed Items
• Custom Clothing Labels (US) – woven garment labels, printed clothing labels, PVC
labels
• Custom Couture Label Company (US) – woven garment labels, hangtags, ribbon,
zipper pulls, etc.
• Got Print (US) – business cards, banners, flyers, catalogues, hangtags, etc.
• Jakprints (US) – business cards, flyers, postcards, magnets, banners, etc.
• Moo (US) / Moo (UK) – business cards, mini cards (great for hangtags), stickers/labels,
postcards, greeting cards
• Overnight Prints (US) / Overnight Prints (UK) – business cards, mini cards, magnets,
postcards, etc
• Sticker Mule (US) – custom stickers, die cut stickers, bumper stickers, electronic skins
• Sticker Robot (US) – custom stickers
• UV Cards (US) – business cards, postcards, stickers, magnets, etc.
• Vistaprint – business cards, flyers, signs, magnets and pretty much anything else you’d
want to put your business name on
• TIP – Why not reach out to local print shops in your town – support a local small biz &
make a personal connection!

30. Resources: Packaging
• Clear Bags (US) / Clear Bags (Canada) – plastic bags, plastic boxes, food safe boxes,
eco plastic packaging, etc
• In The Clear (US) – paper bags, plastic bags, boxes, metal tins, plastic tubes,
ribbon, tape, etc
• Muslin Bags (US) – drawstring muslin bags – can order single sample to check
sizing, etc.
• Online Labels (US) – blank labels in a variety of shapes, sizes & colours. Check out
their Customer Creations section for label inspiration.
• Papermart (US) – paper bags, plastic bags, jewelry boxes, stationery boxes, muslin
bags, ribbon, tags, etc.
• Robert H Ham (US) – jewelry packaging, ribbon, tissue paper
• SKS Bottle (US) – glass bottles, glass jars, plastic tubes, plastic bottles, plastic jars,
etc.
• Sunburst Bottle (US) – glass bottles, glass jars, plastic bottles, plastic jars, metal
containers, etc.
• *Bayousome : glass bottles, glass jars, plastic tubes, plastic bottles, plastic jars, etc.
• *Rustic Escentuals: glass bottles, glass jars, plastic tubes, plastic bottles, plastic
jars, etc.

31. Resources: Finishing Touches
• Caramelos (US) – ribbons, trims, colorful twine, cute accents, etc.
• Knot & Bow (US) – metallic twine, colorful shipping tags, stickers, etc.
• Olive Manna (US) – paper bags, shipping tags, ribbon, twine, etc.
• Really Reasonable Ribbon (US) – ribbon, ric rac, colorful twine
• Ribbon Shop (US) – custom printed ribbon, ribbon
• We Sell Coffee (US) – large cones of baker’s twine –
• Whisker Graphics (US) – colorful baker’s twine, cute paper bags,
stickers, tags

33. Selling at Festivals and Craft
Shows
• Search online for local craft shows and festivals. Some are
juried, which means you have to apply to get in. Product and
Booth presentation accompanied with good photography
will make the difference. As much as possible, avoid vendor
events with a lot of MLM participants. Some will have
application fee. Price of event will vary based on location,
expected turn out, and number of days.

34. Selling Online
• Wix
• Woocommerce
• SquareSpace
• Etsy
• Shopify
• Bigcommerce
• Pinnacle Cart
• Spark Pay
• Magento
• Volusion
• 3DCart
http://www.luckybreakconsulting.com/blog/which-e-commerce-platform-is-right-for-you/

35. Other Online Options: But
limited
• X-CART: Once the industry leader, this platform simply hasn’t kept up with the times. It’s buggy,
the support is poor, the templates are dated, and it’s not PA-DSS compliant.
• ECWID: Billed as a plug-in you can use on any site, this software is built by X-Cart. That alone
should be sufficient to cause a dash for the hills.
• OSCOMMERCE: One of the first carts, this “freeware” cart should be avoided. It simply isn’t
secure enough to run a modern e-commerce store.
• YAHOO STORES: This dying platform isn’t a wise investment of time + resources.
• BIG CARTEL: This is a simple, basic cart with a minimal feature set. It was designed for artists
with catalogs of no more than 300 SKUs. Because it lacks many of the key core functions, Big
Cartel isn’t flexible or robust enough for modern e-commerce stores.
• MIVA MERCHANT: One of the original e-commerce companies, Miva has re-invented itself
countless times. They’ve always had great set of core features, but this cart isn’t easy to work with
and there are few templates from which to choose. Miva also has the potential to become extremely
expensive. Last year, Miva introduced a new pricing structure that caused some people to go from
$60/month to $1500/month

36. Selling in Retail Stores
*On point Branding *Shelf ready packaging
*Cohesive Collection

38. Consignment
• Consignment is when a shop sells
goods for an owner. The owner
keeps ownership of his item until
it sells, if it sells. As the owner,
you’d pay a small fee to the shop
as compensation for them selling
your item.
• For example, you consign a
children’s bicycle for $20.
Generally, when they sell your
bicycle, they take their 50% or $10.
You receive $10. If the bicycle
doesn’t sell, then you take your
items home for no charge. (Some
places do charge a small
“activation” or consignment fee.)

39. Wholesale Readiness Checklist
• Does this product make sense as part of my larger
product collection?
• How cohesively branded + packaged is this product
within my collection?
• Can this product be consistently produced?
• Does this product have a retail footprint that would be
appealing to wholesale buyers?
• Does this product’s pricing allow for a minimum of a
100% markup by wholesale buyers?
• Do I have the production capacity to fill order of this
product in a timely manner.
• Do you have Line sheets and/or Catalogs?

40. Visually Appealing Photos

41. Rule of Thirds
• One of the basic rules of
composition is the rule of thirds.
This is a very basic rule, that is
often ignored by amateurs, and can
drastically improve your pictures.
Here is how this rule works:
imagine that you draw lines across
your frame to form a tick-tack-toe
playing board. (you should end up
with nine identical squares). Now
the image is divided to thirds, both
horizontally and vertically. See the
diagram for lines positions.

42. Rule of Thirds

43. Graphic Design Programs
• Veer
• Snapseed (Mobile)
• My Fonts
• Word Swag (Mobile)
• Pic Monkey (Online)
• Canva (Online)
• Pikto Chart
• Instaquote (Instagram)
• Repost (Instagram)
• PicFlow (Instagram)
• Fancy Frame (Instagram)

45. Which Platform?
• Facebook
• Instagram
• Snap Chat
• Periscope
• Twitter
• Youtube
• Google Plus
Pick one and become proficient.
*But be flexible because the rules change constantly