035 | Gia Graham, Betsywhite Stationery on Pinterest, faking it until you make it and why she chose to discontinue her wholesale line

Gia Graham is the founder of Betsywhite Stationery. Gia started her first stationery business in 2005 and has been undergone major transitions over the last 12 years. She’s renamed and rebranded her business, shifted from custom work to ready-made products,  ramped up wholesale to the point she was working with big box stores and multiple reps and most recently she’s scaling back and slowing down. On today’s episode we’re talking about how pinterest helped her business, the importance of faking it until you make it, and why she chose to discontinue her wholesale line.   ON TODAY’S EPISODE: What prompted Gia to launch her business How her business first began Rebranding her business as “Betsywhite” and the transitions her business underwent How Pinterest impacted and enhanced her business Learning how to create Pinterest ads The importance of having beautiful pictures of your products How fakin’ it ‘til you make it really does work Creating a line that could be sold wholesale Making the decision to discontinue selling on the wholesale market How her life and business has changed since discontinuing her wholesale business What’s next for Betsywhite The importance of determining what success looks like for yourself The advice that she would give to someone just starting out in a product-based business KEY TAKE-AWAYS: “I chose Betsywhite because it linked to my heritage; I'm from Barbados and I had this book of Barbadian dialect and "betsywhite" was in there. It refers to the chirp of a local bird that we have in Barbados.” - Gia Graham “Pinterest came on the scene, and that made a big change in how I was able to connect with customers.” - Gia Graham “It wasn't as easy to connect with customers with just the wedding invitations anymore, so I realized that I needed to pivot a little bit so that I stay afloat.” - Gia Graham   “If you can style your photos and your products in ways that people can see themselves using them or having them in their home, they want to buy.” - Katie Hunt   “The "fake it 'til you make it" absolutely works.” - Gia Graham   “I was forced to step outside of the hustle and look at it from the outside, and you know, that helped me to really take stock and think about what I really wanted.” - Gia Graham   “I loved designing products, I loved all of that, but what I didn't love was the never-ending churn.” - Gia Graham   “You cannot look at what anybody else is doing because you have no idea that's going on behind the scenes.” - Gia Graham   “It's weird that it took me forever to realize that, ‘Hey, you're your own boss. Do what works for you.’” - Gia Graham   “The goal now is to figure out how to work even smarter rather than working harder.” - Gia Graham   “You have to determine for yourself what success looks like.” - Gia Graham LINKS: Website: https://betsywhite.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shopbetsywhite Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shopbetsywhite/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/shopbetsywhite/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/shopbetsywhite   JOIN THE TSBC FAMILY: Our signature Paper Camp program is back and we’re now enrolling for Winter 2018!  We’re talking about product development  sales tools, trade shows, marketing, working with buyers, sales reps and the press.  Attend live or online.  It’s the similar content, available in different formats. Paper Camp Conference:  an intensive 2-day program taking place March 1-2 in Los Angeles. Paper Camp E-Course:  4-week online program with live Q&A calls starting January 16th. Figure out which program is best for you 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!