July 29, 2024 • 26 mins
You know what you're going to be making and selling for the holiday season - but do you know how you're going to package it up for selling and shipping?
In this week's Prep for the Holiday's episode, Melissa walks you through the process of figuring out your delivery systems. If you're a creative services provider or content creator, you still need to get your "product" into the hands or in front of the eyeballs of your customer. If you're a maker or artist, you need to package your product for markets, wholesale platforms like Fair and your Etsy shop or website. And then, you have to pack it up for shipping via Canada Post or a courier.
We discuss the difference between packaging materials and shipping materials as well as some places to start sourcing out your supplies - including environmentally responsible options. If you act now, you have time to order samples and make informed decisions before ordering larger quantities!
Tune in and gear up for a successful holiday season.
This episode is brought to you by our Premium Subscriber Community on Patreon and Buzzsprout
You can find Melissa at finelimedesigns.com, finelimeillustrations.com or on Instagram @finelimedesigns.
You can connect with the podcast on:
- Instagram at @andshelookedup
- YouTube
- Tik Tok at @AndSheLookedUp
For a list of all available episodes, please visit:
And She Looked Up Creative Hour Podcast
Each week The And She Looked Up Podcast sits down with inspiring Canadian women who create for a living. We talk about their creative journeys and their best business tips, as well as the creative and business mindset issues all creative entrepreneurs struggle with. This podcast is for Canadian artists, makers and creators who want to find a way to make a living doing what they love.
Your host, Melissa Hartfiel (@finelimedesigns), left a 20 year career in corporate retail and has been happily self-employed as a working creative since 2010. She's a graphic designer, writer and illustrator as well as the co-founder of a multi-six figure a year business in the digital content space. She resides just outside of Vancouver, BC.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Welcome to the and she Looked Up podcast.
Each week, we sit down withinspiring Canadian women who
create for a living.
We talk about their creativejourneys and their best business
tips, as well as the creativeand business mindset issues all
creative entrepreneurs strugglewith.
I'm your host, melissaHartfield, and after leaving a
20-year career in corporateretail, I've been happily
(00:32):
self-employed for 12 years.
I'm a graphic designer, anillustrator and a
multi-six-figure-a-yearentrepreneur in the digital
content space.
This podcast is for the artists, the makers and the creatives
who want to find a way to make aliving doing what they love.
(00:53):
Hello everyone and welcome to abrand new episode of the and she
Looked Up podcast.
As always, I am your host,melissa, and this week we have
another prep for the holidaysepisode.
In fact, it's episode four inthis mini-sode series.
I think it will show up in yourpodcast players as episode 163
of the show, but it is numberfour in the series and, if you
(01:16):
are not familiar with thisseries, it's a very short
mini-sode series that we arerunning through the summer and
into the fall to help workingcreatives prep for the holiday
season, which, for most of us,is where we generate the
majority of our revenue.
So the episodes are short.
(01:37):
Each one covers one particulartask that we need to work on to
get ready for the season, and itis designed so that when an
episode airs, that task is onethat you should be working on in
that moment.
We're trying to make this asaccessible as possible to all
working creatives.
So whether you're an artist, amaker, a content creator ie a
(02:01):
blogger or a YouTuber, or acreative services provider like
a graphic designer, a fashiondesigner, photographer, you will
find some relevant informationin this series.
So, on that note, for today'stask, we are going to be talking
about shipping and packingmaterials.
So I know that probably thecontent creators and the
(02:23):
creative service providers are.
So I know that probably thecontent creators and the
creative service providers arethinking this is not an episode
for them, but we are actuallygoing to try and make this
relevant to you as well.
And I'm going to start with you, because I know these are the
ones that maybe don't seem likethey would fit into this episode
.
But even if you are a contentcreator or a creative services
(02:44):
provider, you still need to havea mechanism to get your product
into the hands of your customer.
So if you are a content creator.
You are creating content and,for most of you, q4 is when you
get the most traffic and it iswhen your ad revenue dollars are
(03:04):
the most I was going to say themost valuable, but it's when
your CPMs and RPMs tend to bethe highest.
And because you're getting moretraffic, you are generating
more ad revenue.
So, for you, your mechanism toearning revenue is getting that
content up, getting it SEO ready, promoting it on your various
social media channels and onplaces like Pinterest.
(03:27):
And one of the things you wantto do because you're going to be
having all this new trafficcoming to you is you want to
make sure that your website isprepped and ready to handle it
and that you are providing thoseusers with a good user
experience.
So, for this, this means takinga look at your website with
fresh eyes, not as yourself as acontent creator, but as the
(03:52):
user, the person who is landingon your site for the first time.
What is the experience like?
And I know, as a blogger myself, that finding that balance
between generating ad revenueand having a good user
experience is very tricky tomaneuver.
(04:13):
So what I'd like you all to dois to go and make sure that your
website is ready.
Make sure that your adplacement is ready, that your ad
placement is not ready butoptimized, and make sure that
it's easy for people to sign upfor your email list all those
things.
And talk to your ad company,ask them if there's anything you
(04:34):
could be doing to increase yourCPMs or RPMs and if they have
any suggestions, take them witha grain of salt, though, because
ad revenue companies earn moneywhen you earn money, so it's in
their best interest tosometimes prioritize earnings
over user experience, and that'sa bit of a short-term game.
(04:56):
So you want to make sure thatyou're balancing those two
things.
So that is a task for you,because your website is your
delivery mechanism.
So for those of you who arecreative services providers, so
you probably already have asystem in place to deliver your
services to your clients, andfor most of you, you're probably
(05:17):
doing a pretty straightforward.
They come to you, you providethe service, you send them an
invoice, they pay you and you'redone.
But if you are deciding thatthis year is the year that you'd
like to start selling eBooks orguides or courses or one-on-one
coaching sessions or anythinglike that, where they are going
(05:40):
to be paying upfront andsomething needs to be delivered
to them, whether it's a course,a PDF, a digital file, anything
like that.
You need to have a mechanism toget it to them.
That is your shipping.
So if this is something you'realready doing, then you probably
have a system set up and maybethis is a great time to review
it and see if it's working in away that makes it a smooth
(06:03):
process for your customer.
If this is the first time thatyou have done this, then you're
going to need to think aboutwhere you're going to sell this
item, and there's a lot ofdifferent options out there for
you.
You could sell it on athird-party platform.
These would be places likeGumroad, I think.
Thrivecart is another one.
You may even sell on Etsy,depending on what it is.
(06:27):
There are a lot of digital filesales on Etsy.
You might want to be selling onAmazon through Amazon KDP.
Those are all things you needto start researching now.
It's not something you want tofigure out the week before Black
Friday.
If you want to have sell viayour own website, then you're
(06:47):
going to have to think about howyou're going to manage payment,
and there's a lot of differentways you can do this.
If you're on WordPress, youcould use WooCommerce, which is
WordPress's e-commerce solution.
You could start a Shopify store.
You can even Shopify has afeature where you can use the
Shopify checkout system on yourown website without actually
(07:10):
paying for a full-blown Shopifystore.
So if you've just got oneproduct that you're trying to
sell this way, you might want touse a third-party system.
You might not want to gofull-blown e-commerce just for
one item, especially if you'venever done this before, because
you want to test the premise andsee if it's worth it.
I sell one product through myservices business.
I use Gumroad because I just Idon't want to go through the
(07:33):
hassle of setting all of that upon my services website for one
product.
If I start launching moreproducts, then I will probably
look at another solution, butthat's the kind of thing you
want to be taking a look atright now and doing a little
research on.
So those are all things thatyou need to be doing.
You need to have a mechanism toget whatever it is that you're
(07:55):
selling to your customer.
If you're selling a course, alot of course platforms will
have a payment system includedso you can piggyback on that.
But those are all things youneed to research and it can take
a bit of time if this is new toyou.
So you wanna check those thingsout.
Now, for those of you who aremakers and artists, who are
(08:18):
selling a physical product, sosomething that you have made
that you can hold in your hands,and maybe you're selling it
through your own website orthrough Etsy, or you're just
going to be selling at marketsthis holiday season, or you
might be considering wholesale,so using a platform like FAIR,
or actually reaching out tolocal shops and boutiques to see
(08:39):
if they would like to carryyour product.
So in that case, you want tolook at two different things.
You want to look at packagingmaterials and you want to look
at shipping materials.
What's the difference?
So packing materials are whatyou put your product in to sell
it directly to the consumer.
Shipping materials are what youput your product in to send it
(09:01):
through the shipping system.
So, whether that is Canada Post,through the shipping system, so
whether that is Canada Post,usps, fedex, ups, whoever you're
going to be using, you need topackage it in something a little
heftier.
So a good way to look at thisis when you're at the grocery
store and you're walking through, let's say, the cereal aisle, a
(09:21):
box of Cheerios it comes in.
The Cheerios are packaged inthat kind of wax papery bag and
then that bag is put inside abox.
A cardboard box with theCheerios are packaged in that
kind of wax papery bag and thenthat bag is put inside a box, a
cardboard box, with the Cheeriosbranding on it.
That is consumer packaging.
When the Cheerios are shippedto the store, they are put into
cases inside larger shippingboxes or on pallets that are
(09:45):
wrapped in like a cellophanetype thing.
That's the shipping materials.
So they're two different thingsand you need to be prepared to
use or to purchase and sourceout both of those, depending on
how you're going to be selling.
If you're only going to beselling at markets, you probably
don't need to worry aboutshipping materials.
If you're going to be doingmarkets and Etsy, you need to
worry about both.
(10:05):
When it comes to packaging,there's different ways that you
might want to package the sameproduct, depending again on
where you're selling it and whoyou're selling it to.
So, for instance, I sellgreeting cards.
Let's use that as an example.
So when I am at markets, all mygreeting cards are individually
packaged in clear sleeves, andthe reason for this is because
(10:26):
they get handled a lot at amarket.
People pick them up, they wantto look at what the paper is,
they want to flip it over andsee the back, they want to know
if there's anything writteninside.
And all of those hands andfingerprint oils on my paper
greeting cards can cause a lotof wear and tear on the cards,
to the point that some of themmay become unsellable after a
(10:47):
market, and so I package them inclear sleeves to protect them
so that I can sell them again.
If they don't sell at thatparticular market, I can still
sell them at the next one.
However, when I am working outof my studio and I'm filling
Etsy orders or Shopify orders,all my cards are naked, for lack
(11:09):
of a better word.
They're not pre-packed in theircellophane sleeves, they are
just in file boxes and I pickout what cards the customer has
ordered, and if they're orderingfour cards, all four will go in
the same clear plastic sleeve.
So I'm not using as muchpackaging.
It's a little moreenvironmentally friendly and it
(11:29):
saves me money.
Frankly, as the business owner,it saves me money.
I'm not paying for packaging onevery single order, so you want
to think about those things.
What kind of packaging do youneed for what you make and where
are you going to source it?
And then you need to thinkabout if you are sending those
(11:52):
parcels in the mail or through acourier.
How do you need to package itfor that and where are you going
to get those shipping supplies?
So let's talk a little bitabout where you can find these
items.
So one thing I will just wantto say is that here in Canada
our options are a little bitfewer.
(12:13):
They're fewer, we have feweroptions, and there are a lot of
US companies that we can orderfrom as well.
I do just want to caution youwhen you do that.
Make sure that you do your pricechecking.
So remember that when you buyfrom the US, you have to factor
in the exchange rate.
You also need to factor in anytaxes, duty or brokerage fees
(12:35):
and shipping costs, and if youare a newbie, brokerage fees can
get you every time, becausenobody tells you about these
things until you actually havean order arrive and the UPS guy
wants some money to give it toyou, and it can be a bit of a
shock.
So those are all things youneed to factor in to the cost,
(12:56):
and very often I found that whathappens when you do that is
that the Canadian suppliers arevery on par in terms of what
it's going to cost.
Sometimes they're cheaper,sometimes they're more expensive
, but it tends to even out andit is worth doing a price
comparison pretty regularly.
If you don't need to ordershipping and packaging supplies
(13:16):
too often maybe you order themonce a year or twice a year you
definitely want to check yourpricing when you do your reorder
.
If you're ordering them everymonth, then you probably have a
pretty good idea of whether theprices are going up or down.
So that is something to lookfor as you source these
(13:36):
materials out.
Another thing I just want tocaution you all on is that some
of the bigger companies in theseareas have very they're very
vocal about their politicalviews, and if that is important
to you as a business ownerknowing who your suppliers and
manufacturers align with youneed to do some research on that
, particularly depending on thecustomer niche that you yourself
(14:00):
serve.
So that's all I'm going to sayabout that.
That is up to you to researchand it is up to you to make
those decisions based on whereyour values align and the values
of your customer, but it isworth noting as you go down that
road.
So some of the places that youmight want to look for these
things in terms of shippingmaterials there are actually
(14:24):
quite a few places in Canadawhere you can get really good
deals on shipping materials.
I use a company called ClearBags out of Ontario.
I find they have everything Ineed for the way that I ship and
for the way that I package.
There's very few things that Iwant that I can't get from them
that they have very low minimumquantities.
(14:45):
This is another thing to lookfor.
Some companies will require youto order 500 or a thousand or
something, which for a lot of usis a lot.
We don't need 500 or a thousand, but some of the smaller
companies out there will offeryou minimum quantities for as
low as five or 10 of something,which also makes it really great
(15:09):
and really affordable to testthings out.
I have done that many times.
I'll just order five ofsomething to see if it works, if
the sizing works, if things fitnicely, if it looks good, if I
feel like it's going to stand upthrough the abuse that it's
going to go through as ittravels across the country.
So I really like clear bags.
(15:30):
I also it's very important tome to source out eco-friendly or
environmentally responsible,sustainable type packaging for
my business, and they are one ofthe companies that carries
compostable clear sleeves forthings like greeting cards.
So that to me, is veryimportant, and so you you'll
(15:51):
want to check those types ofthings out.
Do some research.
There's lots of them out there.
There are.
There's two Canadian companiesrun, I believe, by, by Canadian
moms.
I can't.
One is in Ontario, one is inVictoria, bc, and they are
called Slotbox and Mini Mailer.
I can never remember which oneis at which end of the country,
but these are two women who cameup with these ingenious boxes
(16:16):
that are skinny enough to fit inthe letter mail slot for Canada
Post.
So if you're new to shipping,canada Post has a letter mail
rate and then they have a parcelrate and there's a big jump in
between the two and there's noreal service that fits the
middle.
So if you are able to getthings into a package that fits
(16:38):
through the letter mail slot, itcan go with letter mail.
The downside of that is there'sno tracking with letter mail.
If you want tracking, you haveto move up to the parcel size.
So they came up with theselittle boxes.
I think they come in threedifferent sizes and they fit
inside polybag mailers and youcan toss them in the mailbox.
(17:01):
I think it's a brilliant idea,especially if you sell small
items like jewelry.
Especially if you sell smallitems like jewelry notepads,
notebooks, stickers, art printsor anything where you have an
order where it's too big for aflat mailer but not big enough
to go parcel.
The one warning with this isthat if you are shipping to the
(17:24):
United States or anywhereoverseas, you cannot use letter
mail.
For the vast, vast majority ofitems that you send.
You have to do small packetbecause you have to fill out a
customs declaration because youare selling goods.
So that is something to keep inmind when you're doing that.
So Slotbox Mini Mailerdefinitely, too, worth checking
(17:45):
out.
I know a lot of people who swearby Staples Business and by
Amazon for things like flatmailers, bubble mailers, poly
bags.
Again, I have found when I havelooked that the pricing never
really works for me.
I think you have to catch themwhen they're having a good
(18:05):
promotion or where there's agood sale going on, and then it
can be really worth it, but thatnever seems to happen when I'm
looking.
But definitely worth checkingout.
I do look at Staples and Amazonevery time I'm going to place
an order for something that Iknow that they'll have.
If you are looking forenvironmentally responsible or
(18:27):
sustainable packaging, there hasbeen an explosion in the
marketplace of companies both inCanada and the US who are
offering these types of products.
Obviously, obviously, there isa demand for it.
I know here on the West coast Idon't know about the rest of
Canada, but here on the Westcoast there are so many new
rules for how takeout packagingcan be done, and so a lot of
(18:50):
companies have kind of steppedup to meet that demand and
that's great for all of us aswell, because it means there's
more options for us when itcomes to packaging and shipping.
So some of these that I've gottwo that have been around for a
long time and they're notCanadian, I don't think, but
they do serve Canada isEco-Enclose and no Issue.
So no Issue does tissue paper,printed tissue paper, and I
(19:15):
believe they also do bubblemailers.
Eco Enclose, I think, does anentire range of packaging and
shipping materials, includingpacking tape and lots of other
things Definitely worth checkingout.
A few of the others that Ifound online that I have not
used personally, but I have seenthem online a few times now are
(19:37):
Friendly Mailer.
I believe they are Canadian,canada Brown Creative Bag Co,
which is in Ontario.
Impact, which is here inVancouver.
Impact does bubble and poly bagmailers, I think, and they do
printed designs on them that aresuper cute.
So if you want to sendsomething that, if you want
(20:00):
shipping materials that are alittle bit more interesting than
the usual brown or gray,they're worth checking out.
They have some really cutestuff.
But I did a Google before Istarted recording this episode.
I just searched forenvironmentally friendly
shipping materials for smallbusiness in Canada and tons of
stuff came out.
I didn't have time to checkthem all out or to look at
(20:21):
pricing or to see what kind ofminimum ship quantities you need
to have, but lots of stuff isavailable that was not available
a year ago.
So it's definitely worthlooking and, as I said, if you
can order these things now, ifyou've done the first three
tasks on our checklist, youprobably have a pretty good idea
(20:42):
of what you're going to beselling this year and who you're
going to be selling it to andwhere you're going to be selling
it.
So now is the time to startthinking about how you're going
to package those items up.
What do you need to packagethem for markets?
What do you need to packagethem if you're going to sell on
fair?
Because, remember, when you areselling on fair, you're selling
to shops who are going to bringyour product in, so they need
(21:04):
the product to be able to standup to shop wear and tear as well
.
So hands are going to betouching it.
You need to think about theactual consumer packaging that
your product is going to go in.
So now is the time to sit downand start making lists, start
thinking about what you're goingto need and start figuring out
(21:25):
how much you think you're goingto need.
And right now you still havelots of time to place some very
small orders where you can testout different types of products.
So if you are looking forsomething like a clear,
compostable sleeve, or you needsmall jewelry boxes, or you want
backer cards for earrings orany of those types of things,
(21:47):
now's the time to start gettingsome samples or ordering one or
two or five of something to seeif it's going to work for you.
And then you'll still have lotsof time, once you've evaluated
them, to place an order, have itcome ground shipping, so you
don't have to pay a fortune forshipping and have it well in
advance of when you're actuallygoing to need it.
(22:08):
One thing if you are new to this, I will just remind you that
packing materials so theconsumer packaging, the cost of
those should be factored intothe cost of your product, so the
item you're making.
So when I sell a greeting card,the cost of those should be
factored into the cost of yourproduct, so the item you're
making.
So when I sell a greeting card,the cost of my greeting card
has to factor in the clearplastic or cellophane or
compostable sleeve that I'mpackaging it.
(22:29):
Your shipping materials, whatyou use to ship it out through
Canada Post or through a courierthose are not included in the
price of your finished product.
That's a different line itemfor most of us in our budgets
and business, and I think don'tquote me on this check with your
accountant or your bookkeeper,but I think that shipping
(22:50):
supplies are actually taxdeductible or there is something
like that.
So that's something you willwant to check out on.
And again, I'm in Canada.
This podcast is mostly forCanadians, so if you're in the
US or elsewhere, you absolutelywant to check that out with your
state or federal laws when itcomes to deductions and taxes
and things like that.
(23:10):
I am not a tax professional, sothose are things you want to
think about when you're makingthese decisions, because you do
have to factor that in to howyou're going to make a profit.
It can be very easy when we'resmall business owners to get
carried away with the packagingand wanting to do the pretty
(23:32):
tissue paper and the cutestickers and the nice boxes and
bags and things like that, andthat's great.
But just remember first of all,more and more people are
becoming more sensitive towhether it's something they're
going to have to toss or not,and so I'm definitely noticing
from people that they want lesspackaging where possible.
(23:54):
But we want to give ourcustomers an experience, but you
have to factor in the cost ofthat experience and make sure
that your pricing reflects that.
So if you're providing apremium experience, then you
should have the premium price togo with it, because we need to
eat right.
We are not starving artists inthis community.
(24:16):
So that is it for thisparticular episode, this
particular task.
We'll be back in another weekwith task number five on the
list, but in the meantime, ifyou would like to check out past
episodes, you can head over toyour favorite podcast app and
find them there.
You can also head over to ourYouTube channel.
We have a special playlist forprep for the holidays.
(24:38):
If you have suggestions orplaces where you have ordered
shipping or packaging materialsand would like to share them,
please head over to our YouTubechannel, leave a comment there
and let everyone know that thisis a company you've used and you
think they're great,particularly if they're Canadian
, because that's what we're allabout here.
We want to help other Canadiansmall businesses too.
So, yes, please let them knowthat and, as I said, we'll be
(25:03):
back again in another week withanother brand new episode.
We'll talk to you all then.
Thank you so much for joining usfor the and she Looked Up
Creative Hour.
If you're looking for links orresources mentioned in this
episode, you can find detailedshow notes on our website at
andshelookedupcom Looked UpCreative Hour.
(25:25):
If you're looking for links orresources mentioned in this
episode, you can find detailedshow notes on our website at
andshelookedupcom.
While you're there, be sure tosign up for our newsletter for
more business tips, profiles ofinspiring Canadian creative
women and so much more.
If you enjoyed this episode,please be sure to subscribe to
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We always love to hear from you, so we'd love it if you'd leave
(25:46):
us a review through iTunes orApple Podcasts.
Drop us a note via our websiteat andshelookedupcom, or come
say hi on Instagram atandshelookedup.
Thanks for listening and we'llsee you next week.
Welcome to the and she Looked Up podcast.
Each week, we sit down withinspiring Canadian women who
create for a living.
We talk about their creativejourneys and their best business
tips, as well as the creativeand business mindset issues all
creative entrepreneurs strugglewith.
I'm your host, melissaHartfield, and after leaving a
20-year career in corporateretail, I've been happily
(00:32):
self-employed for 12 years.
I'm a graphic designer, anillustrator and a
multi-six-figure-a-yearentrepreneur in the digital
content space.
This podcast is for the artists, the makers and the creatives
who want to find a way to make aliving doing what they love.
(00:53):
Hello everyone and welcome to abrand new episode of the and she
Looked Up podcast.
As always, I am your host,melissa, and this week we have
another prep for the holidaysepisode.
In fact, it's episode four inthis mini-sode series.
I think it will show up in yourpodcast players as episode 163
of the show, but it is numberfour in the series and, if you
(01:16):
are not familiar with thisseries, it's a very short
mini-sode series that we arerunning through the summer and
into the fall to help workingcreatives prep for the holiday
season, which, for most of us,is where we generate the
majority of our revenue.
So the episodes are short.
(01:37):
Each one covers one particulartask that we need to work on to
get ready for the season, and itis designed so that when an
episode airs, that task is onethat you should be working on in
that moment.
We're trying to make this asaccessible as possible to all
working creatives.
So whether you're an artist, amaker, a content creator ie a
(02:01):
blogger or a YouTuber, or acreative services provider like
a graphic designer, a fashiondesigner, photographer, you will
find some relevant informationin this series.
So, on that note, for today'stask, we are going to be talking
about shipping and packingmaterials.
So I know that probably thecontent creators and the
(02:23):
creative service providers are.
So I know that probably thecontent creators and the
creative service providers arethinking this is not an episode
for them, but we are actuallygoing to try and make this
relevant to you as well.
And I'm going to start with you, because I know these are the
ones that maybe don't seem likethey would fit into this episode
.
But even if you are a contentcreator or a creative services
(02:44):
provider, you still need to havea mechanism to get your product
into the hands of your customer.
So if you are a content creator.
You are creating content and,for most of you, q4 is when you
get the most traffic and it iswhen your ad revenue dollars are
(03:04):
the most I was going to say themost valuable, but it's when
your CPMs and RPMs tend to bethe highest.
And because you're getting moretraffic, you are generating
more ad revenue.
So, for you, your mechanism toearning revenue is getting that
content up, getting it SEO ready, promoting it on your various
social media channels and onplaces like Pinterest.
(03:27):
And one of the things you wantto do because you're going to be
having all this new trafficcoming to you is you want to
make sure that your website isprepped and ready to handle it
and that you are providing thoseusers with a good user
experience.
So, for this, this means takinga look at your website with
fresh eyes, not as yourself as acontent creator, but as the
(03:52):
user, the person who is landingon your site for the first time.
What is the experience like?
And I know, as a blogger myself, that finding that balance
between generating ad revenueand having a good user
experience is very tricky tomaneuver.
(04:13):
So what I'd like you all to dois to go and make sure that your
website is ready.
Make sure that your adplacement is ready, that your ad
placement is not ready butoptimized, and make sure that
it's easy for people to sign upfor your email list all those
things.
And talk to your ad company,ask them if there's anything you
(04:34):
could be doing to increase yourCPMs or RPMs and if they have
any suggestions, take them witha grain of salt, though, because
ad revenue companies earn moneywhen you earn money, so it's in
their best interest tosometimes prioritize earnings
over user experience, and that'sa bit of a short-term game.
(04:56):
So you want to make sure thatyou're balancing those two
things.
So that is a task for you,because your website is your
delivery mechanism.
So for those of you who arecreative services providers, so
you probably already have asystem in place to deliver your
services to your clients, andfor most of you, you're probably
(05:17):
doing a pretty straightforward.
They come to you, you providethe service, you send them an
invoice, they pay you and you'redone.
But if you are deciding thatthis year is the year that you'd
like to start selling eBooks orguides or courses or one-on-one
coaching sessions or anythinglike that, where they are going
(05:40):
to be paying upfront andsomething needs to be delivered
to them, whether it's a course,a PDF, a digital file, anything
like that.
You need to have a mechanism toget it to them.
That is your shipping.
So if this is something you'realready doing, then you probably
have a system set up and maybethis is a great time to review
it and see if it's working in away that makes it a smooth
(06:03):
process for your customer.
If this is the first time thatyou have done this, then you're
going to need to think aboutwhere you're going to sell this
item, and there's a lot ofdifferent options out there for
you.
You could sell it on athird-party platform.
These would be places likeGumroad, I think.
Thrivecart is another one.
You may even sell on Etsy,depending on what it is.
(06:27):
There are a lot of digital filesales on Etsy.
You might want to be selling onAmazon through Amazon KDP.
Those are all things you needto start researching now.
It's not something you want tofigure out the week before Black
Friday.
If you want to have sell viayour own website, then you're
(06:47):
going to have to think about howyou're going to manage payment,
and there's a lot of differentways you can do this.
If you're on WordPress, youcould use WooCommerce, which is
WordPress's e-commerce solution.
You could start a Shopify store.
You can even Shopify has afeature where you can use the
Shopify checkout system on yourown website without actually
(07:10):
paying for a full-blown Shopifystore.
So if you've just got oneproduct that you're trying to
sell this way, you might want touse a third-party system.
You might not want to gofull-blown e-commerce just for
one item, especially if you'venever done this before, because
you want to test the premise andsee if it's worth it.
I sell one product through myservices business.
I use Gumroad because I just Idon't want to go through the
(07:33):
hassle of setting all of that upon my services website for one
product.
If I start launching moreproducts, then I will probably
look at another solution, butthat's the kind of thing you
want to be taking a look atright now and doing a little
research on.
So those are all things thatyou need to be doing.
You need to have a mechanism toget whatever it is that you're
(07:55):
selling to your customer.
If you're selling a course, alot of course platforms will
have a payment system includedso you can piggyback on that.
But those are all things youneed to research and it can take
a bit of time if this is new toyou.
So you wanna check those thingsout.
Now, for those of you who aremakers and artists, who are
(08:18):
selling a physical product, sosomething that you have made
that you can hold in your hands,and maybe you're selling it
through your own website orthrough Etsy, or you're just
going to be selling at marketsthis holiday season, or you
might be considering wholesale,so using a platform like FAIR,
or actually reaching out tolocal shops and boutiques to see
(08:39):
if they would like to carryyour product.
So in that case, you want tolook at two different things.
You want to look at packagingmaterials and you want to look
at shipping materials.
What's the difference?
So packing materials are whatyou put your product in to sell
it directly to the consumer.
Shipping materials are what youput your product in to send it
(09:01):
through the shipping system.
So, whether that is Canada Post,through the shipping system, so
whether that is Canada Post,usps, fedex, ups, whoever you're
going to be using, you need topackage it in something a little
heftier.
So a good way to look at thisis when you're at the grocery
store and you're walking through, let's say, the cereal aisle, a
(09:21):
box of Cheerios it comes in.
The Cheerios are packaged inthat kind of wax papery bag and
then that bag is put inside abox.
A cardboard box with theCheerios are packaged in that
kind of wax papery bag and thenthat bag is put inside a box, a
cardboard box, with the Cheeriosbranding on it.
That is consumer packaging.
When the Cheerios are shippedto the store, they are put into
cases inside larger shippingboxes or on pallets that are
(09:45):
wrapped in like a cellophanetype thing.
That's the shipping materials.
So they're two different thingsand you need to be prepared to
use or to purchase and sourceout both of those, depending on
how you're going to be selling.
If you're only going to beselling at markets, you probably
don't need to worry aboutshipping materials.
If you're going to be doingmarkets and Etsy, you need to
worry about both.
(10:05):
When it comes to packaging,there's different ways that you
might want to package the sameproduct, depending again on
where you're selling it and whoyou're selling it to.
So, for instance, I sellgreeting cards.
Let's use that as an example.
So when I am at markets, all mygreeting cards are individually
packaged in clear sleeves, andthe reason for this is because
(10:26):
they get handled a lot at amarket.
People pick them up, they wantto look at what the paper is,
they want to flip it over andsee the back, they want to know
if there's anything writteninside.
And all of those hands andfingerprint oils on my paper
greeting cards can cause a lotof wear and tear on the cards,
to the point that some of themmay become unsellable after a
(10:47):
market, and so I package them inclear sleeves to protect them
so that I can sell them again.
If they don't sell at thatparticular market, I can still
sell them at the next one.
However, when I am working outof my studio and I'm filling
Etsy orders or Shopify orders,all my cards are naked, for lack
(11:09):
of a better word.
They're not pre-packed in theircellophane sleeves, they are
just in file boxes and I pickout what cards the customer has
ordered, and if they're orderingfour cards, all four will go in
the same clear plastic sleeve.
So I'm not using as muchpackaging.
It's a little moreenvironmentally friendly and it
(11:29):
saves me money.
Frankly, as the business owner,it saves me money.
I'm not paying for packaging onevery single order, so you want
to think about those things.
What kind of packaging do youneed for what you make and where
are you going to source it?
And then you need to thinkabout if you are sending those
(11:52):
parcels in the mail or through acourier.
How do you need to package itfor that and where are you going
to get those shipping supplies?
So let's talk a little bitabout where you can find these
items.
So one thing I will just wantto say is that here in Canada
our options are a little bitfewer.
(12:13):
They're fewer, we have feweroptions, and there are a lot of
US companies that we can orderfrom as well.
I do just want to caution youwhen you do that.
Make sure that you do your pricechecking.
So remember that when you buyfrom the US, you have to factor
in the exchange rate.
You also need to factor in anytaxes, duty or brokerage fees
(12:35):
and shipping costs, and if youare a newbie, brokerage fees can
get you every time, becausenobody tells you about these
things until you actually havean order arrive and the UPS guy
wants some money to give it toyou, and it can be a bit of a
shock.
So those are all things youneed to factor in to the cost,
(12:56):
and very often I found that whathappens when you do that is
that the Canadian suppliers arevery on par in terms of what
it's going to cost.
Sometimes they're cheaper,sometimes they're more expensive
, but it tends to even out andit is worth doing a price
comparison pretty regularly.
If you don't need to ordershipping and packaging supplies
(13:16):
too often maybe you order themonce a year or twice a year you
definitely want to check yourpricing when you do your reorder
.
If you're ordering them everymonth, then you probably have a
pretty good idea of whether theprices are going up or down.
So that is something to lookfor as you source these
(13:36):
materials out.
Another thing I just want tocaution you all on is that some
of the bigger companies in theseareas have very they're very
vocal about their politicalviews, and if that is important
to you as a business ownerknowing who your suppliers and
manufacturers align with youneed to do some research on that
, particularly depending on thecustomer niche that you yourself
(14:00):
serve.
So that's all I'm going to sayabout that.
That is up to you to researchand it is up to you to make
those decisions based on whereyour values align and the values
of your customer, but it isworth noting as you go down that
road.
So some of the places that youmight want to look for these
things in terms of shippingmaterials there are actually
(14:24):
quite a few places in Canadawhere you can get really good
deals on shipping materials.
I use a company called ClearBags out of Ontario.
I find they have everything Ineed for the way that I ship and
for the way that I package.
There's very few things that Iwant that I can't get from them
that they have very low minimumquantities.
(14:45):
This is another thing to lookfor.
Some companies will require youto order 500 or a thousand or
something, which for a lot of usis a lot.
We don't need 500 or a thousand, but some of the smaller
companies out there will offeryou minimum quantities for as
low as five or 10 of something,which also makes it really great
(15:09):
and really affordable to testthings out.
I have done that many times.
I'll just order five ofsomething to see if it works, if
the sizing works, if things fitnicely, if it looks good, if I
feel like it's going to stand upthrough the abuse that it's
going to go through as ittravels across the country.
So I really like clear bags.
(15:30):
I also it's very important tome to source out eco-friendly or
environmentally responsible,sustainable type packaging for
my business, and they are one ofthe companies that carries
compostable clear sleeves forthings like greeting cards.
So that to me, is veryimportant, and so you you'll
(15:51):
want to check those types ofthings out.
Do some research.
There's lots of them out there.
There are.
There's two Canadian companiesrun, I believe, by, by Canadian
moms.
I can't.
One is in Ontario, one is inVictoria, bc, and they are
called Slotbox and Mini Mailer.
I can never remember which oneis at which end of the country,
but these are two women who cameup with these ingenious boxes
(16:16):
that are skinny enough to fit inthe letter mail slot for Canada
Post.
So if you're new to shipping,canada Post has a letter mail
rate and then they have a parcelrate and there's a big jump in
between the two and there's noreal service that fits the
middle.
So if you are able to getthings into a package that fits
(16:38):
through the letter mail slot, itcan go with letter mail.
The downside of that is there'sno tracking with letter mail.
If you want tracking, you haveto move up to the parcel size.
So they came up with theselittle boxes.
I think they come in threedifferent sizes and they fit
inside polybag mailers and youcan toss them in the mailbox.
(17:01):
I think it's a brilliant idea,especially if you sell small
items like jewelry.
Especially if you sell smallitems like jewelry notepads,
notebooks, stickers, art printsor anything where you have an
order where it's too big for aflat mailer but not big enough
to go parcel.
The one warning with this isthat if you are shipping to the
(17:24):
United States or anywhereoverseas, you cannot use letter
mail.
For the vast, vast majority ofitems that you send.
You have to do small packetbecause you have to fill out a
customs declaration because youare selling goods.
So that is something to keep inmind when you're doing that.
So Slotbox Mini Mailerdefinitely, too, worth checking
(17:45):
out.
I know a lot of people who swearby Staples Business and by
Amazon for things like flatmailers, bubble mailers, poly
bags.
Again, I have found when I havelooked that the pricing never
really works for me.
I think you have to catch themwhen they're having a good
(18:05):
promotion or where there's agood sale going on, and then it
can be really worth it, but thatnever seems to happen when I'm
looking.
But definitely worth checkingout.
I do look at Staples and Amazonevery time I'm going to place
an order for something that Iknow that they'll have.
If you are looking forenvironmentally responsible or
(18:27):
sustainable packaging, there hasbeen an explosion in the
marketplace of companies both inCanada and the US who are
offering these types of products.
Obviously, obviously, there isa demand for it.
I know here on the West coast Idon't know about the rest of
Canada, but here on the Westcoast there are so many new
rules for how takeout packagingcan be done, and so a lot of
(18:50):
companies have kind of steppedup to meet that demand and
that's great for all of us aswell, because it means there's
more options for us when itcomes to packaging and shipping.
So some of these that I've gottwo that have been around for a
long time and they're notCanadian, I don't think, but
they do serve Canada isEco-Enclose and no Issue.
So no Issue does tissue paper,printed tissue paper, and I
(19:15):
believe they also do bubblemailers.
Eco Enclose, I think, does anentire range of packaging and
shipping materials, includingpacking tape and lots of other
things Definitely worth checkingout.
A few of the others that Ifound online that I have not
used personally, but I have seenthem online a few times now are
(19:37):
Friendly Mailer.
I believe they are Canadian,canada Brown Creative Bag Co,
which is in Ontario.
Impact, which is here inVancouver.
Impact does bubble and poly bagmailers, I think, and they do
printed designs on them that aresuper cute.
So if you want to sendsomething that, if you want
(20:00):
shipping materials that are alittle bit more interesting than
the usual brown or gray,they're worth checking out.
They have some really cutestuff.
But I did a Google before Istarted recording this episode.
I just searched forenvironmentally friendly
shipping materials for smallbusiness in Canada and tons of
stuff came out.
I didn't have time to checkthem all out or to look at
(20:21):
pricing or to see what kind ofminimum ship quantities you need
to have, but lots of stuff isavailable that was not available
a year ago.
So it's definitely worthlooking and, as I said, if you
can order these things now, ifyou've done the first three
tasks on our checklist, youprobably have a pretty good idea
(20:42):
of what you're going to beselling this year and who you're
going to be selling it to andwhere you're going to be selling
it.
So now is the time to startthinking about how you're going
to package those items up.
What do you need to packagethem for markets?
What do you need to packagethem if you're going to sell on
fair?
Because, remember, when you areselling on fair, you're selling
to shops who are going to bringyour product in, so they need
(21:04):
the product to be able to standup to shop wear and tear as well
.
So hands are going to betouching it.
You need to think about theactual consumer packaging that
your product is going to go in.
So now is the time to sit downand start making lists, start
thinking about what you're goingto need and start figuring out
(21:25):
how much you think you're goingto need.
And right now you still havelots of time to place some very
small orders where you can testout different types of products.
So if you are looking forsomething like a clear,
compostable sleeve, or you needsmall jewelry boxes, or you want
backer cards for earrings orany of those types of things,
(21:47):
now's the time to start gettingsome samples or ordering one or
two or five of something to seeif it's going to work for you.
And then you'll still have lotsof time, once you've evaluated
them, to place an order, have itcome ground shipping, so you
don't have to pay a fortune forshipping and have it well in
advance of when you're actuallygoing to need it.
(22:08):
One thing if you are new to this, I will just remind you that
packing materials so theconsumer packaging, the cost of
those should be factored intothe cost of your product, so the
item you're making.
So when I sell a greeting card,the cost of those should be
factored into the cost of yourproduct, so the item you're
making.
So when I sell a greeting card,the cost of my greeting card
has to factor in the clearplastic or cellophane or
compostable sleeve that I'mpackaging it.
(22:29):
Your shipping materials, whatyou use to ship it out through
Canada Post or through a courierthose are not included in the
price of your finished product.
That's a different line itemfor most of us in our budgets
and business, and I think don'tquote me on this check with your
accountant or your bookkeeper,but I think that shipping
(22:50):
supplies are actually taxdeductible or there is something
like that.
So that's something you willwant to check out on.
And again, I'm in Canada.
This podcast is mostly forCanadians, so if you're in the
US or elsewhere, you absolutelywant to check that out with your
state or federal laws when itcomes to deductions and taxes
and things like that.
(23:10):
I am not a tax professional, sothose are things you want to
think about when you're makingthese decisions, because you do
have to factor that in to howyou're going to make a profit.
It can be very easy when we'resmall business owners to get
carried away with the packagingand wanting to do the pretty
(23:32):
tissue paper and the cutestickers and the nice boxes and
bags and things like that, andthat's great.
But just remember first of all,more and more people are
becoming more sensitive towhether it's something they're
going to have to toss or not,and so I'm definitely noticing
from people that they want lesspackaging where possible.
(23:54):
But we want to give ourcustomers an experience, but you
have to factor in the cost ofthat experience and make sure
that your pricing reflects that.
So if you're providing apremium experience, then you
should have the premium price togo with it, because we need to
eat right.
We are not starving artists inthis community.
(24:16):
So that is it for thisparticular episode, this
particular task.
We'll be back in another weekwith task number five on the
list, but in the meantime, ifyou would like to check out past
episodes, you can head over toyour favorite podcast app and
find them there.
You can also head over to ourYouTube channel.
We have a special playlist forprep for the holidays.
(24:38):
If you have suggestions orplaces where you have ordered
shipping or packaging materialsand would like to share them,
please head over to our YouTubechannel, leave a comment there
and let everyone know that thisis a company you've used and you
think they're great,particularly if they're Canadian
, because that's what we're allabout here.
We want to help other Canadiansmall businesses too.
So, yes, please let them knowthat and, as I said, we'll be
(25:03):
back again in another week withanother brand new episode.
We'll talk to you all then.
Thank you so much for joining usfor the and she Looked Up
Creative Hour.
If you're looking for links orresources mentioned in this
episode, you can find detailedshow notes on our website at
andshelookedupcom Looked UpCreative Hour.
(25:25):
If you're looking for links orresources mentioned in this
episode, you can find detailedshow notes on our website at
andshelookedupcom.
While you're there, be sure tosign up for our newsletter for
more business tips, profiles ofinspiring Canadian creative
women and so much more.
If you enjoyed this episode,please be sure to subscribe to
the show via your podcast app ofchoice so you never miss an
episode.
We always love to hear from you, so we'd love it if you'd leave
(25:46):
us a review through iTunes orApple Podcasts.
Drop us a note via our websiteat andshelookedupcom, or come
say hi on Instagram atandshelookedup.
Thanks for listening and we'llsee you next week.
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