How to drive sales to your business during the holidays

LaTisha, Naima, and Zahiyya discuss strategies for driving sales to their respective businesses during the holiday season. LaTisha emphasizes the importance of researching current trends and customer preferences, focusing on personalized Christmas ornaments and themed T-shirts.   Zahiyya, while not adhering strictly to holiday themes, plans to create dresses for special occasions around the Eid season. The discussion touches on various marketing tactics, including bundling products, offering discounts, and creating an exclusive customer experience.   Naima highlights the significance of planning and logistics, recommending a cutoff date for custom orders and advocating for a seamless shipping process. The trio also explores collaborative efforts, using referral links, and leveraging influencers to expand their reach. In the closing remarks, they share parting advice on staying informed about market trends, using data for promotion, and simplifying the shopping experience for customers.   Key Takeaways:

• Research current trends and customer preferences to align products with market demands.
• Consider personalized and themed products, such as Christmas ornaments and festive clothing.
• Implement marketing tactics like bundling, discounts, and exclusive customer experiences.
• Plan logistics, including a cutoff date for custom orders and efficient shipping processes.
• Explore collaborative efforts, referral links, and influencer partnerships to expand reach.
• Stay informed about market trends, leverage data for promotion, and simplify the shopping experience for customers.

  Use coupon code DPC20 on all websites: Shop Designers Plants and Coffee LaTisha: keepingyouinstitches.com Naima: lovefearlessthreads.com Zahiyya: covermechic.com

LaTisha

Really do the research, researching what’s selling right now and the customer.  

Naima

Welcome to the Designers, Plans and Coffee Podcast, where we discuss how to succeed as a designer while staying true to yourself, finding peace in the process, and making money doing what we love. Subscribe on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts. Today, we’re talking about how to drive sales to your business during the holidays.  

LaTisha

I do some T-shirts, like the little ugly Christmas sweater shirts. It was T-shirts and sweat shirts, also branching into the personalization of the Christmas tree ornament. I’m doing those, setting up the empty shop for that. Those will be some specific holiday thing because they’re really popular right now and they are pretty good source of passive income.  

Naima

I don’t really do themes too much, but I mean, it’s focused around the holiday. I don’t necessarily focus on Christmas, but I do focus on the itch because I know people get dressed up around that time. So around that time, I think it’s going to be in about April next year. So I will be doing something, make a dress for the itch. So it’s not necessarily holiday theme, but it’s around what people would do for that holiday. Itch is.  

Zahiyya

Around that celebration.  

Naima

When I think holiday theme, I always think lights and that stuff. But I don’t do that specifically. I just what do people do around that holiday and then try to help them achieve that goal?  

LaTisha

There are pretty good types of shirts. I did a shirt for Amazon because November is diabetes month. So when I actually began to sit and think about it like, well, it’s also Thanksgiving and we all like to eat. So I made a shirt. I think one of them was balancing plates and glucose rates.  

Zahiyya

That’s a good one, though. We’re going to drop the link to T-shirts in the chat.  

LaTisha

I’m doing some things like that. Things to draw awareness to diabetes and also say don’t.  

Zahiyya

Don’t, over and don’t. I traditionally don’t do those types of marketing campaigns because I won’t say a specific product, but all my fabrics are pretty specific. I will maybe add some products with some glitter or some shine, or maybe I’ll make a special occasion clutch, but I don’t push them as holiday items because we have talked about this before. I wear sparkles anywhere. How do you all feel about gift guides or maybe creating a bundle? I know for me, I’ll create a bundle. I do a series of zippet bags and they come small, medium, or large. I’ll do a three-pack and say, Hey, get this as a bundle and you can throw on your tote for 20 more dollars. You can throw on the tote and you’ll have the whole set. I do things like that.  

Naima

I do bundles not in that respect, but just say, for instance, you buy to get one 50% off or that type of thing, or you buy $100 worth of items and you get free shipping. Something to incentivize people to buy more, but with a benefit for them to do so. They get an extra item, they get a free shipping, they get expedited shipping, something to that effect. But I don’t necessarily do the bundle thing because the product that I have doesn’t lend itself to that. I think when you start to do that, you really have to do the math to make sure that you’re still making money.  

Zahiyya

I’ve been yelled at enough on that, Michelle. I’ve done enough.  

Naima

You want to draw eyes to your product, but you also want to make money in the process. Just do the math before you start offering things. How much do they have to spend in order for you to afford free shipping? That stuff you really have to-.  

Zahiyya

To piggyback on that, it goes hand in hand with just enhancing your customers experience. So gift wrap is available on my website. A lot of people don’t even look at that option. I think I’ve maybe had a couple of people choose for me to gift wrap their gifts, $7 extra. So this season I am getting more into reusable gift wrap and fabric gift wrap, and it probably won’t be Black Friday. It’ll be closer to Christmas where I’ll offer this free reusable gift wrap with a $55 purchase or something like that. And then… And I do this in general, just with every order. I’ll include a coupon with a discount code in everybody’s order, and I’ll put it inside a thank you card. So when they get that Fearless Threads experience, they’re getting this beautifully wrapped. I’m a gift wrapper anyway, so a couple of people reach out to me and be like, I didn’t want to open it. Yeah, that’s a good thing. And it’s all branded. I close it with a Feelings Dead sticker, and I put business cards in there. So it’s just about creating the exclusivity for me and the products that I make just to make them feel good.  

Naima

For this holiday season, Naima, are you running any specials?  

Zahiyya

We have not been fleshed out yet, but yes. Probably it’ll be like cool weather gear next Friday for Black Friday. So all of the knits will be on sale. There’ll be a day when they’ll be like, Hey, all earrings are 50% off, or, Buy a hoop, get a stud freak. So whoever is watching this, please know that I am starting late in the season of doing my discounts, but there’ll be a couple of them in there. One thing I do recommend is if you make your product, if you drop your ship your product, if you have a cut off of your services, have a date where you are cutting off custom dates.  

Naima

So that everybody knows that you have to order by this date so it gets shipped and they get the item before whatever holiday it is.  

Zahiyya

For me, because if it is custom, it’s going to take me time to make it. My cutoff date is December 10th, period. That doesn’t mean you can’t shop. But if you order after December 10th, you’re going to get what’s on the website. You can’t create your own.  

LaTisha

And expect it by Christmas.  

Naima

Right. But when this airs, Naima will have the special. So go to the website. The special will be in the chat. Just go to her website and sign up so you know when she’s having her sales. Because this is the time to get the stuff, I’m telling you.  

Zahiyya

If you’ve never seen, it’s called For Ashuki, it’s fabric gift wrap. If you’ve never seen what those gifts look like, and I will drop a picture for whoever’s watching this, they’re beautiful. They are beautiful. They’re fabric. Most of them are either a bandana size for a smaller jewelry box and then slightly bigger for a bigger box. But it’s just elaborately tied fabric. I will send you all a picture of what it looks like. I have some very, very beautiful fabric that is exclusively for my gift wrap. I will not show it. It will be on the website. You got to log on to see it. You can buy the gift by itself.  

LaTisha

I do want to mention I’m looking into creating more of the family Singles Christmas gifts bundles. I’ve discovered that there’s a few P. O. D. P. O. D. Is print on-demand, where you can actually create your custom print, Singles prints, plop it into just a regular pair of leggings, and then actually add a custom where they can add their name to it. Also with the… What is it? The…  

Zahiyya

Jeez.  

LaTisha

The personalization? The personalization.  

Zahiyya

Oh, my goodness. I’m like, did I just draw a blank? That’s why there’s three of us. Is this something that will be available this season?  

LaTisha

I’m trying. When I looked at how long it’s going to take, that’s what I’m trying to factor into. How long is it going to take? And is it feasible for everybody to get the entire family bundle within a certain amount.  

Naima

Of time? You would have to have a cutoff date to make sure that they get it in time for the holidays. I’ll be running some specials. Actually, what I’m going to do is people who listen to this podcast will get a coupon code, DPC 20 at Coving Me Sheet. You have to go to Coving Me Sheet.  

Zahiyya

I’m going to piggyback on that. You can also use dpc20@lovefeelers.  

Naima

Com. You’ll use the same coupon code for all of our websites, and then you can get 20 % off.  

Zahiyya

That for me will run from the air date of this episode to the end of the year. I’ll leave it up to New Year’s. Actually, I’m going to give you all a trophy. I’m going to leave it up to my birthday. That’s my birthday gift to you.  

Naima

I’m leaving it up to New Year’s.  

LaTisha

I don’t know. I made my birthday two days before her.  

Zahiyya

Well, you do your own code for your birthday.  

Naima

Yeah, mine is in February. That’s just too long.  

Zahiyya

The second week of January is doable.  

Naima

Another thing I know we spoke about was the custom experience. I mean, it’s basically just having your stuff ready so that the customer is able to check out quickly with no hiccups. If you’re selling online, make sure that your website is working. Make sure your e-mail is working, your payment process is working. Make sure you have the inventory needed so that you can ship out. Make sure you have your labels and all the supplies.  

Zahiyya

That you need. On the.  

LaTisha

Envelopes, tape.  

Zahiyya

Label paper, ink, everything you need. You should have stocked up on in September for back to school sales. On top of that, I will say I do on my website, there are things that are custom-only. Anything that does not say custom-only is typically ready to shift.  

Naima

Just make sure you’re ready. Yeah, exactly. When we say ready, we should have practiced what we preach more. This stuff should have been done at least a month or so before. You’re building up to this point so that everything else is ready. There’s a lot of stuff going, moving pieces and everything, but make sure that you have things in place. It just makes the process easier on you so that you can just ship in time so that your customers are satisfied.  

Zahiyya

I will also say it’s very, very important to know what your post office hours are. I don’t even call it the off-season, non-holiday season. For me, holiday season starts in September. September through December, instead of doing two post office runs a week, I’m doing four because I’m shipping those things out as they come in. You just want to know that invest in a USPS, click and ship account. Link it to your PayPal. You can pay for your postage, print it on labels, put that label on there, go dump it in the bin, and leave the post office. You’re going to get mean looks from all those people in line. But you’re just sashing right on out of that. I do it every day.  

Naima

Sometimes it depends on where you live or where your office or wherever you store your things. Sometimes the post office picks it up at your house or wherever you have your business. Say, for instance, I know I did this for a while. If it did, it doesn’t have to go out that same day. When they pick it up the next day, you have your mailbox and they can just take it. Sometimes it saves your trip, depending on how much trip you have. If you have a box full of stuff, take it to the post office because-.  

Zahiyya

I have a wagon. I have a good old fashioned shopping cart that I will load up and wheel up to the post office.  

Naima

Yeah, that’s for one-offs. But if you have a big order or something like that, take it to the post office and make sure everybody.  

Zahiyya

Gets that stuff. I would also say test it out because I live in a secure building and sometimes they don’t pick up the packages for days. Whatever your system is, have a reliable system. If they want to expedite it, just know that FedEx and UPS are going to run you $40. You need to incorporate that. If you’re doing free shipping and you’re doing free expedited shipping, know that you need to factor that into the cost of your items because expedited holiday shipping is $40.  

Naima

It depends on the price of.  

Zahiyya

Your product. But I’ve had customers pay that because they waited to the last minute and I tell them, This is what your shipping is going to be if you want it next day or if you want it to day. This is what your shipping is going to be and they pay it. If they really want it.  

LaTisha

They pay it. This is why I do print on demand. I don’t have to ship a lot. I literally make it and have them print it and they.  

Zahiyya

Ship it. Or you could just know all of your post-to-service people. When you run in the post office, they’re like, Hey, girl, just drop it. There is nothing worse than two weeks before Christmas trying to make stuff because somebody has already ordered it and you’ve committed and it’s not ready. You have to call and be like, Your package is not ready. For me, I do local pickup. If you’re in the area, we set a designated place and I will bring you your order date and time. Calendly is great for that. You tell me you want local pickup, I’ll send you the link. You pick a time, I’ll see you there. Just little things to make it more effective. If you have Magic Elves in your family, in your friend group, you have little helpful angels around, please rely on them. Some angels will work for food, feed them.  

LaTisha

There’s thing called Fulfilled by Amazon. You can actually look this up, where you take it to Amazon warehouse and you’re paying them to store it and to.  

Naima

Mail it. Yeah, if you do something like that, you have to set that up along way before the holiday season. Definitely, if he’s involved with that. I mean, if you’re shipping out a lot, it makes sense. You don’t have to.  

Zahiyya

Worry about it. Do other of you use influencers, collaborate with other brands, those type of things for the holidays? Is there a person that you work with who is your brand ambassador and they’re going to promote you for the holidays? I don’t have that yet. Why? I’ve had a couple of my friends, all my friends are shy, they’ll wear my products, they’ll tag me. I think one person was like, I think my sister maybe was like, Let’s do a paid partnership. But it’s not enough.  

Naima

I don’t do any influences yet. I’m not opposed to doing that, but I just haven’t done it yet. What we’re doing, all of us have three different businesses and we piggyback off each other, which is great. It is a collaboration. You just have to find, I would say, similar businesses that have the same customer base. They don’t have the same product, but have the same customer base. You can do a collaboration and you can basically shoot emails out to all of your emails promoting everybody so that everybody gets introduced to another list. It’s a low cost way to do some type of holiday promotion.  

Zahiyya

Yeah. I will say it was long before collaborations became a thing. I had a friend who did skincare products. And so we collaborated one holiday season where she made little lavender sashes and I made the slick mask to go with them. We had the Spearless Threads partnership with her brand. I won’t say her brand because I don’t think she’s in business anymore. But we had this collaboration where we just split it. Whatever she sold on her website, she kept. Whatever I sold on my website, I kept. But that was before it became a really big thing and we really didn’t know what we were doing. But we did sell some good things. It worked out.  

Naima

Or you can just use a referral link. Basically, if anybody uses your link to shop on somebody else’s site, you get a percentage of the sale. Of course, there’s a lot of backend stuff that you have to figure out before. Like I said, you really have to plan for this. But the software that you can do that for, it’s not hard to set up. It’s just that you have to make sure it works before you start sending stuff out.  

Zahiyya

Yes, those would be really good for that also. Any other things you could think of that would help make this holiday season transition better? Parting words of encouragement, advice, except don’t forget that code.  

Naima

Also, if you sign up for the design of plans and coffeeemail. We do have merch for our collective brand. We have a mug. You have to have your coffee mug and we have a bag. If you sign up for the email list, you will be entered to win a free mug. Please sign up and you’ll get a mug.  

Zahiyya

I’m going toag.  

Naima

But you’re playing for- I said no. I just said you won’t get a mug. You will be entered to win a mug.  

Zahiyya

We will do that on a future podcast. We will spin our wheel and get us a winner.  

LaTisha

I would say to really do the research, researching what’s selling right now and the customer, really go and look to see what’s selling. You can easily go on eBay, Etsy, all of those sites to see what’s selling and make sure what’s selling and also the colors because sometimes not everything is green and red like the Barbie movie. You see a lot of pink right now. Make sure your products really reflect what’s going on right now and the colors and things.  

Naima

Also, you can use your own data. If you’re collecting data from the customers that you already have, which is your best selling item? That’s the one that you promote the most. You might offer a discount code for that one in particular to gain exposure for your other products. You can use the data that you have too to also push.  

Zahiyya

Things out. That’s really good. I was going to say the same thing because for the events that I do, that I do the same event every year, I always look back to see what my top three sellers were for that year. That’s what I concentrate on the month before. One piece of advice for your website, if you’re doing product, people don’t like to have to enter a product code. If I put a specific item on sale, I will just discount that category and put no code needed in all of my branding because no, I didn’t leave the capital. People will find something to complain about. I find it just easier to put if I’m doing earrings this week, then all earrings are going to automatically be marked down. No code needed, add it to card. I’ll get them out to you.  

Naima

Are you doing any events in December, Naima?  

Zahiyya

I am doing two events in December: local DC Metro area. One, I don’t have the details for because they just contacted me last week. The other one is called the Green Belt Sparkle Market. I will put all of the details in the chat for that. That’s going to be December second and third at the Green Belt Community Center. All that information will be in the chat. This weekend, if you’re in the area, celebrate pet work on Saturday, 11:00 to 4:00, 800 block Uptrip Street, which might not make it into the podcast because I just realized they’re not playing.  

Naima

This tomorrow. It’s going to air the 30th.  

Zahiyya

Okay, so second, third, and then the ninth.  

LaTisha

I’m signing off from Leticia Winston from Keeping on Stitches along with Naeem Madoza of Feelers Threads, and Zahia of Cover Me chic and Regist Design. Until next time.