We just wrapped up our 47th round of Paper Camp a few weeks ago, and I am still riding high from working with this cohort.

It's an intense four weeks, for me, for our coaches, for our students. But so much progress happens in a short amount of time. I love hearing about their light bulb moments, their clarity, answering their questions, and there's so much forward momentum that comes.

One thing that is really important to me inside of Paper Camp is bringing in a variety of voices because there is no one singular way to build a business right?

I want our students to hear directly from people who are doing this work in different ways.

During our weekly coaching calls, they get to learn from shop owners, wholesalers, sales consultants, and other experts that are in the wholesale field. People who are helping to develop and are currently utilizing relevant new sales and marketing strategies, which is what we focus on in Paper Camp: wholesale sales and marketing strategies.

Today on the podcast, I wanted to share a small piece of this with you. This episode is an excerpt from our coaching call in Paper Camp that was centered on exhibiting at trade shows. I asked Paper Camp alums Karen Sawyer-Meehan of Pier Six Press and Alyson O'Connor of Rust Belt Love to come and share their experiences with the class.

Both are members of my Advisory Board mastermind, and between the two of them, they have done dozens of wholesale trade shows, including several this past winter.

They're sharing what's working, what they experienced at the winter shows, and sharing a lot of other insight.

In this snippet, you're going to hear them talk about the shows that they've participated in, how they knew they were ready to exhibit, and how they decide which trade shows are worth the investment.

We know these things cost a lot of time, money and energy and we want to make sure if you are going to say yes to a show that you're choosing the right ones for you.

Today's episode is brought to you by our Paper Camp program. Paper Camp is our wholesale coaching program where we teach you everything you need to know to build strong wholesale foundations. Over the course of 4 weeks, we tackle your product line, sales tools, and marketing plan, and we even talk about how to exhibit at trade shows if that's what you want to do. We start with your product line and go into everything from how often you should be releasing new products to ensuring that your numbers are sustainable for the wholesale market and their price for profit.

Then we move into sales tools you must have for selling wholesale so you make a strong first impression with buyers like catalogs and your terms and conditions. Then, we cover marketing strategies and ways to reach various store owners.

Each week's teachings build on the previous week, and we host weekly live engaging coaching calls to answer all of your questions. We will open enrollment for our next round of Paper Camp soon, and we sell this program out every time we run it. Join the wait list and you'll get early access to enroll.

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You can view full show notes and more at http://prooftoproduct.com/438

Quick Links:

Free Wholesale Audio Series

Free Resources Library

Free Email Marketing for Product Makers

PTP LABS

Paper Camp

One pattern I've noticed time and time again after working with thousands of product brands across lots of different categories, is that while our products might be different or our tools and platforms might change, all of our core business foundations and fundamentals are not changing.

And that's exactly why I wanted to share this short clip from the archive, something that I think is worth revisiting because the takeaways still hold true today.

Maybe listening will spark an idea or help you take action on a decision that you've been sitting on. Really, the goal here is to help you take your next intentional step in business. That's what I want for you.

Enjoy this clip!

You can listen to the full episode with Divya Guruju of Mellowworks here: http://prooftoproduct.com/325

Quick Links:

Free Wholesale Audio Series

Free Resources Library

Free Email Marketing for Product Makers

PTP LABS

Paper Camp

Today's conversation is a really good one, especially if craft shows, retail markets, or in-person events are on your radar for this year. The market is shifting, fees to exhibit are higher, competition to apply and get into shows is stronger, and buyers are showing up differently than they did even a few years ago.

At the same time, I keep seeing how valuable it is to get offline and to connect with our customers face-to-face. That human connection is hitting differently right now. And people are craving that in person connection.

What I love about today's episode is that we are looking at this from both sides of the table. We have Lib Ramos, she runs Indie Craft Parade with her team. This is an incredibly well respected, longtime running show.

And we also have Jessie Tyree Jenness, founder of Root and Branch and one of our Proof to Product community members who has exhibited at shows like this multiple times.

In the episode we're digging into what organizers are actually looking for when you apply for these shows, how exhibitors can decide if a show is worth it, and how to also measure ROI following a show and then how to think about your strategy so that you're not just showing up for the shows, but you're showing up with true intention.

Applications are now open for exhibiting at Indie Craft Parade, you can apply now through April 20th!

If you are planning to exhibit at retail shows this year, I want to tell you about some resources we have inside of our LABS community so that you can do this more strategically.

We have checklists, tools, and things that will help you bring your booth plus to life, but also have community discussions about things like inventory, sales goals, and strategies for upping your AOV. If you want support as you plan for your in-person retail events, join us!

REQUEST YOUR INVITATION

You can view full show notes and more at http://prooftoproduct.com/437

Quick Links:

Free Wholesale Audio Series

Free Resources Library

Free Email Marketing for Product Makers

PTP LABS

Paper Camp