Full Transcript

Sari 0:00
Holiday planning begins now this summer, you have a choice of how you want your holidays to go. Do you want to be frustrated and running around in emergency mode and losing out on opportunities? And really just hating life while not making the sales that are possible? Or do you want to feel really confident going into this holiday season? Having all the materials ahead of time thinking through your marketing strategy, knowing what your promotions are, and actually enjoying your own holiday? This is possible and I am helping you do it. I am running the first ever Holiday Ready Bootcamp. Every year, I give you a holiday prep checklist which you can go get at foodbizsuccess.com/holiday. But this year, I am doing a virtual bootcamp three days, we are going to get this done. Listen, when I was at Whole Foods Market, we had our holiday plan ready to go fully planned. So we could have the best season ever and I won a lot of awards for having the best holiday season. And it happens now, we need to be ready in August so that we can take advantage of opportunities and really set yourself up to make more money this season. It takes getting ahead of it so that we can say no to overwhelm and procrastination and running around in emergency mode. To get registered for this limited ticketed event, go to foodbizsuccess.com/holidayready right now. There are presale tickets available and all you have to do is put down a $25 deposit to hold your spot. I want you to think ahead, get in front of the problem, that's what entrepreneurs do. And we take advantage of things like this that are going to hold us accountable and make us do the work. So I want you to commit to yourself, go get your presale Holiday Ready deposit down and you're going to save $100 on the whole program if you do that. Pause this, go get your ticket and then come back, and here's the show. Welcome to your Food Business Success. This podcast is for early stage entrepreneurs in the packaged food industry ready to finally turn that delicious idea into reality. I'm your host Sari Kimbell, I have guided hundreds of food brand founders to success as an industry expert and business coach and it's got to be fun. In this podcast I share with you mindset tools to become a true entrepreneur and run your business is like a boss, interviews with industry experts to help you understand the business you are actually in and food founder journey so you can learn what worked and didn't work and not feel so alone in your own journey. Now let's jump in.

Hello and welcome back to the podcast. How are you guys? I am just getting back, today's my first day back from a two week vacation. It was incredible. I have never taken that much time maybe ever, but certainly not as an entrepreneur. And it was a real gift and honestly took some grit to actually rest. Now I did have a couple of working days I actually did have a work retreat, where I was able to go and really work with some amazing women who are my engines, who are my posse, my squad. And we get together, we've gotten together now twice in a year and we get together and we mastermind and we help each other with our businesses. We give ourselves work time to really focus on what matters. And this time is so invaluable. If you are a business owner, you need to be doing this kind of work yourself. And it can be really hard to set aside that time for you, right, where you're in the middle of your business, you're working in your business, not on your business. And it's so hard when you're in your space and all the day to day things are happening. And you have your personal life and it's really hard to create that space mentally. And so I always recommend if you can get away even if it's just a retreat of one. That's actually how I started Food Business Success. I took myself to a two day corporate retreat and holed up in a hotel, the weekend after Thanksgiving. And I was able to really focus and get everything out onto paper of what I wanted to teach, what that program was going to look like, and how I needed to start promoting that and all the things. So give yourself that gift specially as we are heading into the back half of the year, it's going to be so important, both for the holidays, right? The Holiday Bootcamp actually starts today. And I'm so excited, the content is going to be incredible. And we have some awesome guests coming. And I am going to put the bootcamp up as a standalone product that you can purchase. So stay tuned for that if you are listening after the fact and you're like, no, I need this. This will be a really great tool for you and a great strategy to employ every year for the holidays by getting that bootcamp. And then in Master Your Business, we're going to be talking about the end of the year planning and planning for 2024. Whoa, so crazy. But give yourself some strategic accountability, either book a trip, get to a hotel, even if it's just a local hotel. And you can just get away or book a room in a co working space. And you're going to be there for a full day or two days. Whatever you can do, if you have a squad, if you have a group, people who are doing similar things that understand the general business model, and can really help support you that you can help each other, it is just the most productive time. So that was awesome. I also just took downtime, I was with my best friend in Seattle. And I got to see her and her husband and her daughter. And it didn't exactly go all the way that we planned, her daughter end up getting sick on the very first day I got there. And so that first week was a lot of triage. And it was kind of serious. And so the whole thing of like the trip that we had imagined was not to be. And that's life, right? And I think we both did a really great job of just allowing it and saying it's okay, this is what it is, what can we do. And I also just took care of myself, right? And just gave myself space to rest and it was an incredible trip. So I'm coming back very rested and refreshed and excited for the Holiday Bootcamp, excited for Master Your Business to start up again. We start on September 19th. And so get on the waitlist, I will be opening it soon. And if you are on the waitlist, you get a special offer. So you definitely want to do that, you can go to masteryourbiz.co or just go to the regular homepage website and you'll find it on there. And I have some projects with the book and some speaking engagements. And things are just exciting right now in my business, plus the whole reinvention coaching. It's just been so much fun. And I'm so grateful. And I'm grateful for you to be here listening. And as you may know, you may have heard from last week that for three months, I am opening up Fuel as a standalone product. So usually in order to get inside my membership Fuel, which is our community of other foodpreneurs, other people building businesses, just like yours, the one you're thinking about doing or the one you already have, I usually only allow you to get in by purchasing Food Business Success and having the full course and so I'm trying something new, I thought I want to open it up because I do get requests from people saying you know, I don't necessarily need the course I'm farther along than that. But I love the community. And I want access to you, Sari. I want access to your brain. I want to be part of this awesome community. And so here is your chance. And you can go to foodbizsuccess.com/fuel or just go to the main website and click on Food Business Success and you'll see that option in there. And what was so crazy you know that you're in alignment with what you're supposed to be doing is as soon as I had put together the page and the offerings and you can actually just do the monthly which is $57 a month or if you want to commit and you save a little bit of money, you can do a six month membership and you save a month and you get automatically upgraded to VIP status. Or you can even add on some one on one calls with me, there's an option. And in case I just put together all the offers, the pages, all the things, and somebody emailed me with that exact thing and said, I don't need the full program, how can I work with you? How can I just get the membership? And I was like, actually, yes, you can. Here's the link and now she's in the membership. And that was so cool. So take advantage of this. And on today's podcast, I am giving you a recording from our Fuel VIP call. So as I mentioned, it's $57 a month, that does not include VIP, you have to wait three months to get into that. Or you can add that on when you go to checkout. Or you can get the six months program and you get five months free and you automatically get upgraded to VIP status, which includes a bonus call with an expert, with a colleague, a friend of mine, somebody I know in the industry that is like, they're my go to person, they have been well vetted. I have relationships with all of these people. And they have incredible insight and knowledge and expertise. And so it's kind of a, it's not webinar style, like we all come in, and we hear the presentation, but then it's just open to questions. And you get to talk to this person in ways that you normally would never have access to for free as part of Fuel and that your VIP status. And this is on top of our two group coaching calls, our Power Hour. And I'm adding a bonus mindset call for August, September and October to really help you through what I think is a challenging time, what I hear from other brand founders that now is a challenging time to get through their business. So I'm offering those bonus calls inside Fuel. So today's podcast is a recording from our June VIP call. And this call featured Kristine Carey. And she is the founder and creator of Brand Guide and she is a Master Brand Strategist. She works with so many incredible CPG brands, really helping them hone in their strategy and tell their story better, which increases your sales. This is the work that we don't think about. We think if we just offer the most amazing product, people will buy. And then you put up your website and then it's crickets, like your friends and family all buy in the first week or two. And then you're like, okay, now where are the sales? Nothing's happening. It is through this work of honing in your brand story, your founder's story, really creating a brand strategy, that that's where the sales to strangers come from. That is how you get your message and how people start aligning with you and saying, Yes, I want your product. So without further ado, this is the recording from that call. And you're going to hear Kristine's amazing presentation. And you're also going to hear from some of our Fuel members who are on the call and ask their question directly to Kristine, got answers. And you're going to hear their questions and Kristine's answers, which is really fun, you'll get to hear me coach as well. So this will give you a lot of insight into what Fuel is like, and then you got to come join us. It's a monthly membership. It's $57. And it could change everything for you as you head into the back half of 2023. Without further ado, let's jump in. All right, welcome everybody to the Fuel VIP call for June. So excited to have our VIP expert guest here today. Kristine Carey, I'll let her do a little intro but she and I have been getting to know each other. We're both here in Denver, Boulder area. And she's been doing Brand Guide for a number of years and running her own business, helping brands with their positioning and strategy. But she recently actually took a new position with Naturally Boulder. She's now the Executive Director. So she and I because I'm the Executive Director for Colorado FoodWorks. So she and I will be doing more stuff together if you're in Colorado, but exciting to have her in that role and but we still get her in her marketing branding capacity. Kristine, introduce yourself a little bit and then dive in and I really wanted to bring somebody on. I've been looking for the right person to talk about, like your positioning and everything but also just telling your story as both the business and the founder you guys who like to hide behind your product. So I'm excited to have Kristine here. So welcome and tell us a little bit more about what you do.

Kristine 14:58
Thank you so much for or the invitation to chat with you and all your members. Super exciting. So as she said, I have my own company called Brand Guide. And I've been working with startup and emerging brands to really help with that brand positioning, that brand strategy, the messaging, how you talk, what'd you say, etcetera. And really going beyond your products because, you know, like she said, it's so much more than your products, you have to tell a bigger story to really bring in consumers that are attracted to you personally, check to see yes, your product, but really the problem that you're solving. I had my business for about seven years now and I was also in house at small startup companies. So I was at my shoulder Masuda goals and Healthy Scoop and Frontier, Co Op, or Scacia, and you know, wearing a lot of different hats, doing a lot of different things just like you guys, my focus obviously, was marketing and branding. But I really understand, you know, bootstrapping, I understand grassroots and the DIY, all those pieces. But the important element that I've always highlighted is know your story and tell your story. And once you do that, you can really connect to your consumers. So what I thought would be good is to kind of talk to you today about kind of a brand positioning framework. I do have some slides, I promise I'll go up and down so that we're not just all slides, slide, slide. But I do think sometimes visuals help. And I have some bullet points that I'll send you guys the slides that you can look through because I give kind of some execution points for you guys. If you haven't really put together your brand positioning, you know, in a really strong way yet, this will be super helpful. Does anyone have any questions?

Sari 16:56
Oh, and I will say, she'll share a little bit and then we will open it up to you guys, as always on these VIP calls, you get to talk and converse and ask questions. So you're welcome to put anything in the chat. I'll help moderate or we can unmute you. But I always like to keep these community collaborative. So glad you're here. So you may have any questions before we get started, or we'll just jump right in?

Kristine 17:23
Awesome. I'm going to share my screen. All right. So I did want to just like quickly show, you know, the kind of idea that I was saying that I've worked and done a lot of the DIY, packaging, photo shoot, copywriting website, logo design, brand identity, colors and fonts, working with outsource PR, or outsource designers. So I really understand all those pieces. So if you have any questions from that perspective, please again, you know, raise your hand, and I'll be happy to answer anything. But I really wanted to highlight a couple of things, you know, when you're building your brand, what really does it mean for your brand to be successful? Your brand positioning, I have a framework to talk through, really highlighting your target audience. And I will, you know, vehemently say everyone is not your target audience. So you have to hone in on it. Brand Character is really taking you as the founder and pulling your personality through to the into the brand. Even if you're an introvert, there's ways to really build that brand character around you, or build that brand character specifically based on who your target audience is. And then really getting that clarity and that consistency for your brand. And last but not least, is really going beyond your product. So you can't always talk about just your product, you have to circle around it with other topics. So you know, success for your brand is really, in my mind getting clear direction on who you are, what you do, and why you do it. Because a lot of times that's a reason why you get up in the morning, right? It's not specifically like I make this product, it's so much more, it's much bigger picture of being very holistic, and it pushes you out of bed and says okay, time to go and do this again. But at the same time, once you start really outlining these really key important pieces that I'm going to talk about, you really know that you have a differentiated message, and you're not just talking about one specific thing. And then you have something visually engaging because you have to build that logo, that website, that packaging and getting that consistency, you know overall. So I'm going to talk a bit about this framework because I think this framework is really important as you build your business. I've kind of have it in this you know pyramid format where you have your vision, your brand purpose why you started this business, book then with your values because your values are really important to what the company is. And those values should be talked about within your company. And if you want to relate them specifically to how and why you built your business, or if they just want to be the strength of you, and potentially down the road, your team, so that you really kind of connecting all the importance to you of your business. In the middle is more the tactical, the identity, the pieces that really ladder up to your vision, to your mission, like I mentioned, what you do, how you do it, and for who you do it, your reasons to believe, and this, in my mind is really telling your story, why do people want to believe in you? So you give them some evidence, you give them some pointers, certifications, your expertise, your background, all those pieces, and then together, all those things start to come together. And then you can build a brand personality. Because consumers look for like minded brands, they want to see a personality within the brands that they can connect with, that they can be friends with you and your company. And building that all comes from all those pieces, your vision, your values and your mission. So I'm going to kind of quickly go through each one of these pieces and highlight what they are. And let's start at vision. It's really again, your purpose that you see for the future, for the industry, the things that are really important to you, and important to your consume but also the industry. So you're trying to wrap everything into one of the reason why you started the business. And it does tie into your values. So that they I like to say is when you're creating your vision, I do really want you to have something written out. Maybe you have something written out. You want to talk about that in a little bit. I'd love to hear what you have. But it's why did you start the business, your passion? What are you promising to maybe your category because there's innovation that happens, and really creating something that's more purposeful in your vision, you don't want to talk about your product specifically, you want to talk about that purpose, that bigger idea and encouraging growth, and you're dreaming. And so I know and nowadays times, you know, we used to say let's plan for 10 years, how about we just plan for two or three, right? You're just starting, you want to think down the road, but you get that permission to dream. And there's nothing wrong with that and you want to tell people about it. Your brand values are specifically those things that remain true to you, I like to take kind of a list approach. So these are a couple words that I've put out as examples for values that are important to you, and important to your business. But then your consumer is really going to connect to them, you know, being very authentic, or transparency, because you talk about your ingredients and your sourcing, you're super friendly or approachable. You know, all those pieces that might be important to the consumer of stewardship, or what's happening with the environment and those values start to bubble up. I like to say when you're thinking of your values, think of 3, 4, 5 values, we know that there's so many more values that you can pick through but again, your consumer wants to be very focused and get the highlights of your business. Not all the things of your business, righ? So that you can be focused. Mission statement, specifically what you do and who you do it for. So you're being very specific on, you know, the focus and attention of building your business, what's moving your business forward, I'm sure this is a lot of stuff that you talk about. Because it's very product specific. What you make, and for who you make it for, and it shapes your direction. And again, here, I like to really highlight a couple bullet points when you're creating your mission. What is it that you specifically make? Do you make you know fresh food? Do you make grab and go food? Do you make a shelf stable food or beverage, no actually having those pieces and talk about what the ingredients or the innovation that you're developing with these products because then you're looking at quality and pricing and sourcing and you're really getting down to the important aspects of your mission because these things will then enlighten you on the content and the messaging that you're going to talk through. So each one of these pieces allows you to focus because a lot of times I know as an entrepreneur, there's all these shiny things that are happening, right? You're always like I can do this and I can do that. But as soon as you start to put some guardrails on what you do, you focus it helps you in lots of ways mentally so you're not all over the place. Secondarily from resources, budget and people if you're the one that's running the business right now and doing the business, you have to focus, you can't do it all. So once you start to really focus, I think that's an important aspect of success for your business. The one place that I'm not going to really dive deep in, but I'm happy to answer any questions, but really finding the whitespace and doing a competitive analysis. The one thing that I hear from entrepreneurs a lot is, you know, they can kind of name a few competitors, and they say, they know they've seen them on the shelf, or that they don't taste as good or they don't source as well as you do. Which is fine. But I really want you to get down to the details, create a spreadsheet that shows pricing, their sourcing, what ingredients are they highlighting? What kind of colors are they doing, what's their logo look like? So when you're creating your business, you making sure that if everybody's using blue, you want to use red, right? And that's just a quick highlight of looking at your competitive analysis to know exactly what's happening. Think that, you know, when we're talking about our target audience, and I kind of started with, not everyone is your target audience. Eventually, let's hope that everybody can be your target audience because you grow your business so well, that so many people want your product. But I really want to highlight that, you know, there's motivations to why someone's going to buy your product, there's key triggers, and there's really the problem to solve. And I think the problem to solve is really the answer to what you do and why you do it because you're solving your consumers problem. Maybe it was the problem that you had, when you started your business, right? You're like, oh, I don't like this about all these the options that I do have, I'm going to make my own product. And that problem to solve should be really highlighted in your messaging. So highlighting some key identifiers for finding your specific target audience is, what does your brand mean to your target audience? Like truly is that something that is really important because they're sick, and they can't eat or drink certain things and certain ingredients? So that's really important to them? What motivates them? Is that pricing? Is it quality? Is it your give back or your certifications? So again, highlighting those pieces? And then what kind of things trigger your consumer? So again, it's very similar to the motivations, but is it price and quality? Is it where you're selling? Are you selling on Amazon? Are you selling brick and mortar? Are you just selling direct to consumer? No wrong answer, but you have to know where your consumer is, so that you're really, really targeting them. And then you know, the barriers to entry. Again, a lot of times that's price or quality or where you're selling. But as I mentioned, the most important question you can answer is, what problem are you solving for your consumer? Because when you know what that problem is, that is your conversation to them, that you're helping them solve that problem. And you can focus there your messaging, and then ultimately, you know, what's your next product? What's your product pipeline? And really saying, Alright, I know that these are the problems that I'm solving for my consumer, and I can really directly address that.

Sari 28:23
Kristine, is that always a problem that we're solving? Because I think that's where people can get a little hung up. They're like, I don't know, I'm just, you know, Charles making a marinade and helping people speed up their dinner or make it more flavorful. I mean, I can kind of word it in terms of problem, but I think sometimes, I mean, is it always a problem? Like, a delicious chocolate bar?

Kristine 28:51
I wouldn't say it always has to be a problem. But you're providing a solution to something. And the key is also that it's different than what other people are doing because you have to, especially when you're talking, if you're going into retail, when you're talking to a buyer, they're immediately going to say I have these products, what makes yours different? Why would I bring yours in? Why would I kick somebody else out? So you have to highlight a problem differently, that you're solving, a different ingredient, a different way that you're making something or maybe that you're sourcing it because you are righ in one instance that there's so many products out there, how often and how much difference can you make? Well, if you're in a really innovative category, or something that you're bringing out, absolutely, you can do that. And that's obviously the goal. But a lot of times if you're just making a more flavorful or a better product, those are the things that you do want to highlight because there are a lot of products out there and there's nothing wrong with just making a better tasting something but highlighting and that would that would bring us back to that initial piece that you have to tell a story because now if you don't have a directly, you know, big innovative difference in your product, you connect with people just by brand story, by your story by people liking you and going, oh my god, you know, that founder of that company is so awesome, I connect with them so well, that I'm going to buy their product because I love them and love their product at the same time.

Sari
Yeah, and we have to always remember, we think that we are rational beings, right how that quote goes, like, we think we're logical, rational beings, and that we're all making decisions based on the facts and logic. And the reality is we are emotional beings, right? We make decisions on feelings, and then we back it up later. But like, and here's why I did that. So, over that, I don't think I quite got the quote right. But it's like, we think that we are logical beings who sometimes feel but actually we're feeling beings who sometimes think.

I would say that that the target audience piece really aligns with your reasons to believe. So having certifications and aspects are rational reason for someone to buy a product and an emotional reason. And a lot of times you have to bring them together, or depending on your product, hit one more than the other. Because it depends on the type of product that you have and how people are purchasing. So does your brand again mean to them, and what are those, you know, triggers that are going to get them to buy. So if it's emotional, if it's more about a mental state, health and wellness, you know, getting something that they're really interested in eating, then you can have that emotional tie to it. If it's rational, then you know, that could be truly quality, pricing, you know, convenience of where you're buying something, because then they're like, this is just so easy for me, I buy it here, I shop here, I buy this here. So as I was mentioning, tying into reasons to believe. Reasons to believe is your brand promise, it's what makes you tell people to believe in you. It's something that's very relevant, it's certifications, it's your unique selling proposition. It is that differentiator that we've just been talking about. Because, you know, for a consumer, they're getting all this stuff all the time, just as much as you as an entrepreneur getting so much stuff, consumers are being inundated with information. And so you want to give quick snippets and reasons to believe do that. So reasons to believe can be, especially in our industry, backed by science- ingredients, probiotics, you know, mushrooms, all those pieces that need some science behind them sharing that, or doing some scientific, you know, research on your own products to do that. Reviews and testimonials, as you start out, are super, super valuable and super important. And you know, as the founder, all you do is have to ask, like, please, you know, do a review and testimonial on your website, have an easy app on your on your website so that people can immediately do a review. You get to review that before it goes live. So if someone doesn't like someone, it's great feedback for you. But yet, you can put all these other positive things up there. I also think you know, a lot of reasons what I said is the things that get you out of bed, like if you have category, experience, ingredient experience, product development sprint, you really need to highlight like that, tell your story. Don't be afraid, because people want to know who you are people. If I go to a website that doesn't really show me or talk about who the people are, the team or the founder, I'm less interested in being involved with that company or purchasing their products, I don't get a connection to them. So really highlight, you know, emphasize that telling your story is really an important piece. Awards. Now a lot of times when you're first starting out, award, you have to apply for stuff. You have to watch for it, you have to say there's a magazine that's doing an award or there's you know, something within the industry or within Naturally Boulder, Colorado FoodWorks. You know, there's awards that happen, you have to apply for them, I highly recommend again, applying for them. Because once you get that third party recommendation, same thing with certifications, people believe you. People believe what you're putting out there because someone else is making you trustworthy. Someone else's providing relevant background to say, you should trust these people and it makes you very authentic. And you know, those stories really inspire people to really connect with you. And I can't emphasize you know, the storytelling enough. And sometimes that sounds a little bit kind of big, but you can just, you know your history of why you started the company is one of the easiest thing to put on your website and share with your consumers. Alright, so all of that stuff comes together. And this is probably the most fun part of building your business. Unless you really love product development. So then maybe like that too. But from a brand and marketing perspective, for me, it's like really creating the personality, it's adding some tone of voice. It's adding colors, it's doing fonts, it's like doing all those pieces and a lot of that stuff, you can DIY it. You can work with freelance designers to get these pieces. But you're really looking at aspects of building your business based on your company vision, the products and services that you're offering, your target audience. What kind of things are they interested in? Do they want a really approachable company, or maybe a very educational company? You know from you? Really doing that competitive analysis. I think that's super important. And then really, kind of your own gut reaction, like, Are you super approachable, super friendly, are you confident? So here's another kind of list, I like lists, as you can see, but it gives you the tools to say, well, you know, we want to be an approachable company, or we're very innovative, we're doing new things, like we're very visionary. So when you start to put these words down, now you have a personality, that when you're creating content, any of the storytelling about your products, just about the problem to solve, your difference, what makes you different, you can start to talk in more of a visionary, you know, vocabulary, so being really interested in saying, this is what we're doing down the road, or this is why we did something right now, and that passion will really come across. So again, looking at these kinds of words, picking four or five, and again, staying the course with those so that you really aren't having a split personality, right? Because if you're trying to say that, maybe you personally are an introvert, but you want your company to be very charismatic, do you start kind of being more introverted in your voice? Now your consumers like I'm not sure what they really are. And they get confused. So really, again, honing in on a couple of things to drive your direction. Alright, so I'm going to do a quick little pause, and kind of ask questions on that brand pyramid. So you know, kind of some ideas towards your vision and your mission, and really kind of making sure that those two, definitely our separate vision is your purpose, why. And your mission is what you do. Does anyone have any questions or some thoughts on what your vision and mission are?

I love this so much, Kristine. I think everybody knows, like, inside, like, yeah, I know, I should have those things. But it's hard to do. It's hard to set aside the time. And there's things that feel so much more important. And this is actually exactly where we start in Master Your business, my next level program, where we start with that, and I really help people question it and evaluate it and say, like, is that really what it is? Or is it this, and we get really clear when you make decisions, and then we can move on. And people have been like, oh, it's so nice. Now I have a filter. And that just seemed too daunting to do on my own, I really needed to do that with a container of a coach, and the support inside the program.

Kristine
Well, it kind of seems easy, you know, but when you really start, when you look at the list, you're like, well, I'm like 10 of these things. And I really the list, I want you to hone it into three, four or five, because the more focused you are, the more you know, direct that you can be in your messaging and what you share with one yourself and your team eventually, but also, you know, to your consumer.

Sari
And Charles, go ahead. Yeah, I saw you on mute yourself. So jump in.

Charles
Alright, thank you. Thank you. And this is very helpful for me. And I guess what kind of resonated with me a little bit is what problem are we trying to solve? And, and so we're Papa Jack's marinade, so we make marinated, help tenderize and flavor your foods. It's kind of a, I would say different than any marinates out there. But, you know, in my, I guess I hadn't thought about that. Because in my mind, I'm thinking that people will know, it's kind of self explanatory. But I think helping them understand. Okay. Yeah, it does that. But why is that important to you? I'm starting to think about that. So I don't I don't know if I had a question as much as just the fact that it is kind of prompting me to start thinking about that, because I guess it's not self explanatory, necessarily have to kind of help people understand it.

Kristine
Yeah. And I think that it's a really good point. It's not because you're in the business and or you're a great person for marinates and be barbecuing and you know, just making really good food that you have to explain to people like why do I want my meat tenderize? Why do I want to have it marinating for however many hours or overnight? And then when you put it on the grill, when it goes in the oven, like what's the temperature? So I think a lot of people don't know those details, they just know that I should marinate on that I put it in the oven, or I put it on the grill. And you can provide those details because now you've honed in on the fact that really your differentiator is that you're tenderize, you're putting more flavor into it. And this is how you can do it. And at the same time, it's a way that you can say that you're offering convenience to people, because it's already pulled together, right? So they don't have to mix up 10 ingredients, you know, they have it already mixed up for them.

Sari
Yeah. And I know, Charles, you and I've talked about that question before. And it's so funny. I told Kristine, I'm like, it feels like, I just need somebody else to say it. Because it's like, I know, I've asked these questions, you guys and like, you got to hear it again and again, right? Oh, wait, this might be important. This time I get it. But we've talked about that and your marinade so unique in that you don't need to marinate it overnight. So but here's the thing for everybody is that we we live it, right? I live my program. I'm like Food Business Success. Why would you be so crazy not to do this? But you guys, I have to explain all of the benefits, right? And you got to do the same thing. Like, why is like, we think people know all the things that are in our heads, but they don't, they're worried about their heads. They got a lot going on, right? And they're walking through a farmers market and there's a million other things. And you got to be able to like very concisely explain what it is you do ,how you solve the problem? How, you know, tap into those triggers, all the all those good things. So, so good. Kirati, you have your hand up?

Kirati
Yes. So the product that I am making is something that people don't know. So I have to start from introducing it, and then how good it is for you. But how do you like have all of those things in like one small pitch, you know, I don't have like their attention, I'm not going to have their attention for like 10 minutes. So what I make is waterlily seeds, they're popped. But most of the time when I'm talking to customers, they're like, oh, we've never heard of anything like this. And I'm like, okay, let me explain to you what it is. And if you could please give any guidance.

Kristine
I think the important part, which I was kind of getting to is really focusing. So a lot of times, I'll just use an example, there might be 10, things that are really important about your product, right? But you want to highlight five of them. Because one, it's better for you you're focused, resource wise, you can tell very focused messaging, but also for your consumer very much to your point, like you don't have enough time to tell them all 10 things. But if you tell them the five things that are the priority, then they really get it. So my question to you would be, what is the real benefit to those seeds? And then how does that, you know, solve kind of the problem for your consumer, or kind of give them an idea of this idea that no one else is doing something like this. So what an excellent experience for them to try something new, and kind of get on a new, you know, step in a different direction.

Sari
For you Kirati, I would say anytime you have an unusual product or something new that most people haven't heard of, is to do that comparison thing, right? It's like this. And this. So you're, you gotta like bridge a visual imaginary gap in their brain because they're just seeing and they're like, I'm not what is this like? You know, and so it's like, it's, you know, you got to have two things that people are going to know that you kind of marry together. I think that would be a nice way to get them.

Kristine
Oh, that's a that's a really, really good point. Because if people don't know what it is, and you try to tell them what it is, then they're still kind of lost potentially.

Andrea
Actually not so much a question. I just wanted to share. I love what you're saying, Kristine, and really appreciate the validation because we really have, I actually have a lot of fun as we've grown in the last few years and going into markets and events. I'm trying to kind of play a guessing game with people, right. So I have like people that will come up and specifically ask they love our packaging our products, we make all natural syrup. Started off on our breakfast foods. And we discovered that we love it and just about everything. So I'll have people that come up and my logo is our kids, my oldest daughter drew our logos. So I'll have people that come up and just love the packaging and the logo and ask specifically to tell our story. So then I immediately go into more of our story and how we started versus talking about our product. Whereas I have other people that are like, I don't eat pancakes. I don't eat waffles and I see they have a cup of coffee in their hand and I'm like great, it's wonderful in your coffee, this is a great flavor for your coffee. But it's been a lot of fun for me to kind of see what people are doing and kind of direct them in the right direction.

Kristine
I think a lot of consumers, they want to know about you, they want to, you know, connect with you, because it's exciting, especially people who are early adaptors because they like to find new companies, and then like to see what's happening and be involved in that. And, you know, really kind of support you.

Sari
All right, well, I'll take Debbie's question, and then we'll keep moving on. And then we'll have time.

Debbie
Hi, thanks, Kristine, I'm really enjoying this. My business is all about promoting health and wellness through natural skincare. So all my products do not have any synthetic, so no synthetic fragrances, or preservatives, anything like that, which has been, which is shown to be dangerous for us. A lot of it's all the stuff that people react to. So as I put my story together, both in the my founder story and why he started it and also just in general messaging, I sometimes feel like I go towards the doom and gloom, side. Yeah, it's like, sometimes my brand is all about like health and wellness and fun, and just like happiness. And then I feel like I have this almost like Alter Ego, where like, this stuff is going to kill you. So I don't know how sometimes I feel like I'm always just, like, really torn between the messaging like, being, like really helpful, you know, for people's health, and also, maintaining that warm, inviting, I think nurturing is one of the the words that I have is, you know, the tone to you. So, yeah. So how do you marry the two?

Kristine
Sure. First, I would say you have beautiful glowing skin. And I love the idea of being really nurturing and really helping people. And I think that that's the stance you should take, tell everybody why, that your products are good that you can glow and kind of tell them you like, you know, hey, you can be gorgeous with these beautiful products and really talking on that positive stuff. That the sideline aspect of like the things that are wrong, you can let other people say that also because you know, the environmental working group, Skin Deep, they talked about all the things that are bad about skincare, and you don't have those products, those ingredients in your product. So it's almost like letting someone else tell the bad stuff and you tell all the good stuff. Yes, you can talk about some of it, because I you know, I was at my shelter and receptacles and we did talk about the bad things, you know, what the products, but at the same time, for the most part, we were basically saying, you know, that we would help you glow and that we had the right ingredients, you know, that were good for your skin, that, you know, it wasn't anything that was bad. And so we would have a little bit of conversation there. But it was always super positive. And so because I feel like your personality is really positive, I would stay along those lines, so that you don't have that doom and gloom, but you make people aware of the things that you don't include in your products because they are bad. So it's more of an awareness versus that don't use this.

Debbie
Okay, that that is helpful. That is really helpful. So more in in focusing on the positives. And then, you know, I guess the rest of it will, that story will be told anyway, but others. And maybe by elimination, they'll figure that if I'm not using that stuff, and I'm doing what's healthy for me.

Kristine
Well, in a lot of times you can do kind of you know, the list of like, our products don't include these things. And quite honestly, then your target audience already knows the reason why those ingredients are bad, right? Because you probably have a better educated consumer because they're looking for ingredients for skincare that doesn't have those bad ingredients. Okay, so I'm going to show you two examples. I think that this will really help because when you get to the piece within your business that kind of says you've got the clarity, now you can get the consistency in your visuals, in your messaging. I worked with this company that was doing frozen entrees. They were an Asian frozen entree company. On the left hand side, they went directly to a designer and said we are a frozen Asian company. And we're going to be doing spice lamb with quinoa is just one of their products and we're going to do some cured salmon with wild rice. And on the left hand side what the designer gave them is really something that is just very similar to what everyone else is doing. They have this name Pearl Present, it kind of had this idea of like, really funky with the splashes on the side, just kind of this basic image of the product. And then had all these little call outs in there that were very similar to how other people kind of list. You know what, they've got protein, or I can't read all the details there. But when I saw it, when they came to me, I said, well, what's your brand's story? What's your real purpose, you know, behind what you're trying to do? And, and they gave me much more detail, because I pulled it out of them asked lots of question, and really found out that they were a premium product, they were, you know, looking to be more fashionable and more, you know, on the shelf as looking really well. Their products were shrink wrapped so that the flavor stayed in it so that everything was more crispy when it came out now mushy, really highlighting key ingredients of lamb, salmon, and then they had a Wagyu beef. And so very premium ingredients. So looking at the first one on the left, you would know that the product is premium, let alone that the ingredients were going to be premium. And on the right hand side, now you get this flavor of an Asian food, we changed the shape so that it stood out beyond what was happening. This is a Canadian product so there is English and French. So you kind of see the difference there. But we also renamed the company so that it was this idea of love and energy, you know, so like that was really what they were trying to achieve because they have a giveback program also called Cherry Table. And the Cherry Table was basically going to a lot of taking their food and going to homeless shelters to provide, you know, meals for people who are less privileged. And so that really came out in the brand discovery and in their brand positioning. And so you can see the difference that happened here. This is another company. This is a company out of Michigan, JTS Neutra Feast, its nutritional yeast was the initial product, but she does a lot of fresh salads. And it's all plant based. But on the left, you can see it's very functional, right? And in the plant based space right now, I mean, you got to liven things up, you got to bring some more idea and color to it. And this is just the intro to it, because we're working on the sales sheet, the website, all the rest. But you can see what we did is we added fresh vegetables, we added the word deli, because that's really where the focus is. And the ingredients are powered by the nutritional yeast. So it brings this function with a tagline of plant powered grab and go. Lots more details there. So it's highlighted, instead of having this word Nutra Feast, which sounds in my mind, a little odd, you get this idea that this is a deli grabbing go company. And that wasn't being achieved before because they didn't have the guardrails, they didn't have the brand position that said, what do we make. And who is this for? This is a younger market, grab and go, convenience is important. And really looking at the nutrition aspect of it. So there's a little bit of education that comes in this category, which I'm sure for all of you it does. Education is really important. But you can see that once you get those guardrails, you can build something, you know, from a consistency authenticity, with your brand identity that really starts to come to life. So kind of being able to show you what the before and after is, again, really acknowledges that by putting together your brand positioning, now you have a force one for if you're doing the creation, maybe it's in Canva, maybe you're artists, you can work in, you know, Adobe, you are creating all that stuff. Or if you're working with a freelance designer, or your son or a friend who's ever doing the design, you give them a brief, a creative direction that says this is who we are. And now they have some direction that says, well, this is more refined, This personality is more charismatic, or more educational, or more innovative, or all those things that really allow that brand identity to come across. So are there any questions on the visual identity aspect that that is is kind of burning for you guys. Because I think that that piece is is really an important aspect and reason to believe and all the things that we've just talked about.

Sari
And I'll just remind everybody that we have basically that brief in module two in the branding for Food Business Success, where it's that it's all of these things we've talked about the brand voice and the competitive analysis, and taking that all. And if you give that to, I mean, I don't care if you're working with a designer on Fiverr, that's going to help them so much. And of course, if you're working with a designer like Christopher, who has come to VIP call before like, either way, giving somebody something because I think what we do is we're just like, I don't know, it's in my brain, but we don't put any words around it, we don't describe it. And then we just kind of hope that this designer will figure out what's in our brain.

I think a lot of times, the expectations for what a designer can do, or what they know about you, you know, can be really high, when you're, when you're meeting with someone, you're like, oh, my God, I'm going to work with a designer, and I'm going to get something really great. But it's really incumbent on you to give them the right road path, the right path, for them to then give you something really good.

Kristine
Alright, so one more piece that I think is really important. So going beyond your products, talking more than feature benefit of your products, and really building content. So this is something that's much more tactical. So I like to call it the 30,60, 10 content strategy. And when you're building your content, when you're writing information for your website, or social media, for any, you know, pieces that are you going to go and be consumer facing, really, what you want to be able to do is start with 30%, being content that you create, it's very original, it stories about you, the founder, your team, your reason why the problem that you're solving, you know, the day in the life of you. The day in the life of you know, your product, moving through, you know, kind of production and all those pieces, super fun information, but it's original content to you. 60% of it is curated content. So as you're starting your business, the thing that happens is that you don't have a lot of fan base, right? So you're trying to build up your fan base and curated content, borrowed content from other people, influencers, news trends, other social media posts, like minded brands that aren't competitive to you. sharing that content on your blog, and your social media space really helps you now connect with their fans, because that starts to populate when you're sharing that content. So any kind of news trends, news jacking is what I like to call it, user generated content, I flipped that it should be UGC, recipes for your product. So you know, talking about Charles, when you're talking about your marinades? Like what does that look like? What things should someone do with the meat? How much should they use? How long should they cook it for? And what's the side dish that would go with that offering any kind of tips, tricks, lists, I love list as you guys saw, you know, that kind of stuff is super, super helpful, helpful when you when you share it. My advice, though, when you share something, include a sentence or to a why you thought it connected to your brand. Why you really liked it, oh my god, I tried this recipe also, you've guys gather, you've got to try it or I saw this amazing trend on barbecuing or on beauty. And I really think it applies. And so you share that. But you say something before instead of just sharing it. So your consumer kind of sees why it's important. That last 10%. And this is going beyond your product. The last 10% is when you sell your product, your call to action. It's your selling of your services and your products. Because realistically, if you're always telling people that your product is 20% off, or this is the product that's on sale now, that's all they're thinking of for you that your product is on sale. So you have to tell the stories that 30 and 60%, which is really 90%. And it really is selling your business, selling your product, but doing it in a roundabout way that's really inviting to your consumers. So I know when it sounds like 10% seems so small, it really isn't because the other 90% is selling you and your products. So I think that when you're thinking of the content to really think of like you tell your story, tell some history, tell what you did in the past and why all of a sudden you're starting your own business now. Because people love to be involved with new companies. They like to be the first ones to talk about it. You want advocates you want you know people who are really loyal to you, but you've got to get them to connect with you beyond your products..