033 | Samantha Barsky, Noteify on sourcing new manufacturing partners, leveraging passive income streams, and starting small when branching into new products

Since 2010, Samantha Barsky, the founder of Note•ify has combined her love of travel, photography, and entrepreneurship into making paper and textile goods. She has had success growing her business through a wide range of sales channels including Etsy, craft shows, her own website, as well as licensing and collaborations. On today's episode, Samantha talks about sourcing new partners for manufacturing and how tough it is, leveraging passive income streams, and the importance of starting small when branching into new products.   ON TODAY’S EPISODE: When Samantha knew she wanted to be an entrepreneur Her background prior to starting her business Note•ify’s products and the basis for the design elements How she decides what products to pursue and which ideas to drop Researching manufacturers and how to decide who to use How Samantha has nurtured her retail clients through her online shop and craft fairs Her strategy on where to direct customers to purchase products when selling from multiple platforms The necessity of managing two stores The statistics she looks at and why Samantha’s advice for those starting out in the product industry How she leverages passive revenue streams What’s coming up for Note•ify KEY TAKE-AWAYS: “I'm done working for the people. I'm going to try this stationery thing. See what happens." - Samantha Barsky “My products are based off all of my original photographs.” - Samantha Barsky “Obviously paper is and was my first love.” - Samantha Barsky “I think it's important to remind people that you don't always get it right the first time. Sometimes, you gotta work through a few different print partners or manufacturing partners or whatever it might be.” - Katie Hunt “I think we all, we start ourselves, but there comes a point where we need to outsource it and pass it off to somebody else.” - Katie Hunt “I do think that they're [Craft Shows] the best way to get direct feedback.” - Samantha Barsky “I have everything on Etsy as well as on my website. I just think it's what you gotta do. I mean, there's traffic there. Why not?” - Samantha Barsky “I will order in smaller quantities at the beginning just to test them and see, and obviously, I'm paying a little bit more, and so my profit margin isn't as great, but I don't want to be stuck with a whole lot of extra inventory.” - Samantha Barsky “I'm a huge proponent of passive income.” - Samantha Barsky   LINKS: Website: http://www.noteify.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/noteify Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/noteify/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/noteify/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/noteify JOIN THE TSBC FAMILY: Our signature Paper Camp program is back and we’re now enrolling for Winter 2018! Paper Camp Conference our 2-day, intensive conference focused on wholesale and tradeshows will take place March 1 - 2, 2018 in Los Angeles. Our Paper Camp E-Course starts on January 16th and is a 4- week online program with live Q&A calls. Both programs dive deep into product development, sales tools, trade shows, marketing and working with buyers, sales reps and press.   Our Paper Camp conference will only run ONCE in 2018, which is a change from previous years.  And, we like to keep things intimate so you can get all your questions answered. Get all the details and grab your seat at www.tradeshowcamp.com/papercamp   ABOUT PROOF TO PRODUCT: Proof to Product is brought to you by Tradeshow Bootcamp and hosted by Katie Hunt. Since 2011, TSBC has worked with hundreds of product based businesses to help them up level, scale, and build profitable sustainable companies. You can find our show notes and additional resources at ProofToProduct.com. If you like what you heard today, please head over to Apple Podcast to leave a five star review and subscribe. Thanks so much for listening. We'll be back next week with a new episode!