Full Transcript

Sari 0:04
I'm Sari, Kimbell and I've done just about everything in the food industry. I have helped hundreds of packaged food business entrepreneurs. And now I want to help you make your delicious dream a reality. Whether you want to be successful at farmer's markets, online, or wholesale on the store shelves, Food Business Success is your secret ingredient. I will show you how to avoid an expensive hobby, and instead run a profitable food business. Now let's jump. Hey there, welcome back to the podcast. I hope you all enjoyed the first episode in the series all about connecting with your customers. And that interview with Katie was so great. And I'm excited to continue the conversation with Anna Bradshaw in this interview today. And I do have a confession to make. And I should apologize. I'm gonna apologize on air here for Anna. She and I recorded this episode way back in January of 2020. And for various reasons, it just kind of kept sitting on the shelf and I had other topics I wanted to talk about. And then it all just worked that this month really seemed like a great time to focus on your customer. And I have to say it was really fun going back and listening to this. I got so much out of it. I guess that's a good bet it stands the test of time because what we talk about in here is pure gold. So I will just get right to it. And off we go. And so I'm very excited to welcome Anna Bradshaw with us today. Anna is a copywriter and content strategist specializing in website copy and email marketing for independent CPG brands. And that's you if you make a package product, you are CPG brand. She loves marketing strategies so much that it's not just her job. It's also her hobby too. You'll likely catch her spending her weekends with a book in hand and a notebook open beside her. And his approach combines data driven research with a proven copywriting process to create rich and flavorful brand messages. Welcome, Anna.

Anna Bradshaw 2:26
Well, thanks so much for having me. Sorry, I'm looking forward to our chat today.

Sari 2:31
Yes, this is such a great topic because we were talking before we started recording that either I find that people really get this piece around their brand identity and brand story. And they they do such a great job. And you can really see how it carries through in their whole presentation, whether it's in person at a farmers market, or their emails or their website. And then the ones that we I'm sure you have that too, where I feel like I'm just dragging them along and trying to convince them that this is really, really important. So tell us a little bit more about what you do and how you got into I love that you are focused on the CPG industry before we jump in.

Anna Bradshaw 3:16
Yeah, absolutely. Well, honestly, I picked CPG. Because I'm kind of an avid consumer myself, I love discovering delicious new treats at the store and admiring gorgeous packaging and wonderful brands from you know, skincare and beauty and food brands and kind of watching that space and how newcomers can really make a big impact with a new product offering and a really great brand. So that's kind of how I got into this specific niche. But I've always been sort of adjacent to marketing or sales with a background in nonprofit and higher education as well as enterprise level sales. And all of them really share key threads. You're trying to get someone to make a decision and usually part with some of their money, whether it's for a good cause or to enjoy your product.

Sari 4:11
Absolutely. I mean, I think much. That's a whole other conversation. But people are so scared to like, ultimately, we are asking for people to open their wallet and pay you money for your product. And are you delivering value in some way that makes the customer say yes, I want this product in exchange for giving up some of my money so it's not a bad thing. All right. Well, let's talk first about I think it's a great way to because we're going to talk about your website and email strategy. But let's talk first about why you need a brand identity why you need a brand story and maybe you can give us some good examples of, of brands who do this well because I think it's especially with this examples will be really helpful for people.

Anna Bradshaw 5:03
Yes, absolutely, well, you need a great brand, because every space you're in is crowded with competitors. Even if you have a product that's never been seen before, that's never been done before. Totally one of a kind, it still has a lot of competitors. And that might be someone just sticking with the older version. So if you have a keto cereal, you know, you might say, Oh, it's the first of its kind. And there's several but as an example, this is a like a newer product space, right? It's like, how could a cereal also be keto? Well, you could have one that's delicious and wonderful. But people could choose to either stick with their traditional grain cereals, or they could choose to stick with a more traditional keto diet that doesn't include cereal. So even if you think that you're free of competitors, you still have, consumers still have a choice to make to choose you or something else. And for most of us, there are some more similar products in the space already. If you're starting a new chocolate brand, there are already hundreds of them, I need to stand out and tell a story. You know, because we do have so many options in our grocery stores, and especially online now, it's more important than ever to tell your unique story and show people how your chocolate is different, how your flavors are different than everyone else out there. And you can definitely see some people winning at this and others who missed the mark. But some good examples. One of my clients is beauty bar chocolate. And this is Candace developed a chocolate that doesn't have any sugar in it. So it's very healthy. And she also from the beginning, put in collagen to give it you know, more like skin benefits and more, you know, beauty from the inside out kind of benefits. And so she tells that story, it's not just regular chocolate, it's chocolate with these added benefits. And similarly, I think there's a few ways that you can choose to stand out. So beauty bar chocolate does it with their ingredients. And also with the founders personal story. Jenny's ice cream does it with the founders personal story and really fun and unique flavors, and then different approach to flavors. Belgian boys waffles is a brand I love to follow. They have a very strong brand aesthetic. So their colors, their design, their logo, it's all very cohesive, and very different from Eggo, or other snack brands that are out there.

Sari 8:05
Absolutely. And you can look you know, I would just encourage people to go to the grocery store. Look at categories, especially crowded categories like chocolate, like energy bars, ice cream, cereals are good one hot sauce and salsa. I'm in Colorado, so when when I get new, like oh no one more hot sauce. Oh, gosh. But really look at Yeah, like what is the story? And do they have an identity that that is? Can you recognize it? And then Food Business Success when we do branding and brand identity and story we start with, like identity personality traits as a way to, like start that conversation. So I always say, Who would I meet if I met your brand, at a cocktail party? Remember those things?

But who would I need at there. And so we have a whole list of attributes and personalities. So it could be you know, coffee's another good one where you can really see like if somebody's trying to be like rebellious or hipster or witty or, you know, more soft and feminine and those kinds of trades. So I'm assuming you kind of start with something like that when you're helping to create a story from the beginning.

Anna Bradshaw 9:35
Absolutely. And there's kind of two sides of it. You start with who you are as a brand, and I love that you personify it. It's so much easier to think of it that way. You know, if your brand was a person, you know, what would they be cheerful and bubbly and outgoing. Would they be more serious? It can even help you know, they're easy prompts to do with this what famous people, what did your brand sound like when they're speaking? You know, would it be like that educated? Or the very, you know, intellectual professor? Or would it be your best friend next door? You know, is it the comedian on TV? Um, and that is a really great place to start. And, you know, use those adjectives and those feeling words, to start with a brand identity. And then I think there's another really important side of it. And that's what's your unique value proposition? And what are you offering your customers because, especially today, when there's so many good looking brands, and there's so many well designed brands out there, you can't just look good, you have to offer really great value that people care about. So whether that's your ingredient list, or your unique flavors, or how, you know, maybe you have a portable version of something that's usually you have to make at home, or maybe you have more sustainable packaging, that ties in with your consumers desire to be more, you know, sustainable, you have to find those values and those needs that your customers have, and then really offer that value upfront, and make it a part of your brand story.

Sari 11:33
Yeah, 100%. I call that being defensively unique. And, you know, I do get a lot of people that say, Well, I don't know, it's just, you know, it's salsa or, like, it's just good. And so sometimes we have to dig a little bit deeper. And really, yeah, what what are the things that are going to set you apart? in a crowded in a crowded space, right? Wherever your sales channels are? So super important to think through. What value are you offering? Because, yeah, a customer has so many choices. And often, you know, when you're starting out, when you're a startup, you can't compete on price. So that's just off the table, you need something else.

Anna Bradshaw 12:18
Definitely. And I find too, it can help to look at brands outside of your space, if you're looking for inspiration, if you're just feeling dumped

Sari 12:27
great. You know,

Anna Bradshaw 12:28
look at brands like Rossi's or Allbirds. You know, shoe brands are totally unrelated to food, but see how they're presenting value in a way that instantly connects and resonates with their customers.

Sari 12:42
Yeah, I'm looking actually at the Beauty Bar Chocolate site, and it's beautiful. And you can really see how I mean, every that brand story really carries through from the packaging to the text, the fonts, the imagery, you know, who the the people are in, in the photos? So yeah, great, great job. On the work on that, but um, so those are some good examples of brands story. And I think, you know, sometimes people see large, large names, big brands, and they're like, Well, how do you know, I'm just starting now, how on earth do I do that? But I think that there are very small ways you don't have to come out super professional out of the gate, but things like on your on your Instagram, or as you're taking photos and the things that you use on your website. I mean, it needs to come through consistently, are we? Are we talking to our customer? Which maybe we should back up and say, let's just talk about that actually, for a second? Because, yeah, do you see that as a as a pain point with with folks that sometimes they aren't always putting their customer first?

Anna Bradshaw 13:59
It is, you know, it's hard when you're so close to your own brand and your own product. And it's easy, especially if you're in a hurry, you know, it's hard to devote big chunks of time to writing your messages for every Instagram post. And so it's easy to fall back into a pattern of just saying what the product is or making your announcement or talking about yourself, without remembering to always put it through a lens of why does my customer care. And it's not that your customer is just selfish, and they don't care about you, but they are in a hurry. And like we said they're parting with their money. They're looking for brands that give them value. So that can be you know, a recipe that you know, you know, some of your customers are going to really appreciate that free value for them that they can enjoy or, you know, just saying what's great about your new co packing facility We'll let you sell more or saying, okay, we're going to be at the farmers market this coming Saturday, and you can pick up, you know, and list the top selling products that you know, they'll love or something that you haven't had for a while that you're going to be able to sell again this weekend, um, you know, whether it's big or small, share every message through the lens of why does my customer care? How does this help them?

Sari 15:25
Yeah, that's so good. And I will actually state in a little bit stronger, you were trying to be really nice, but I don't think your customer cares about you as a person, like your mom, but your general customer, they only care about themselves. And we are selfish, to some extent, or we're thinking about the other people around us. But most of us are not putting ourselves in the producers shoes, we're just looking for a product that's going to solve a problem in our lives or make our lives better. And so I think sometimes people get into this thinking it is all about them and making that shift about like, when it gets time to sell your product and to start putting a website out there and doing social media, and sending emails, so important to make this switch to say what does my customer want to hear from me and, and we drill down to creating one single customer Avatar and you always keep that person in mind that you know, Suzy wants to hear this message. And I'm writing this message for Suzy. And so getting really specific in your brand story with a customer and your identity will really help you to I mean, really, it's about consistency. I guess to go back to what I was saying earlier, it's like your copywriting, your Instagram posts, your photography, like who you have in the photos will appeal to your customer. And carrying that all the way through.

Anna Bradshaw 16:57
Yeah, and you know, it's worth taking the time to go through these exercises and create that avatar. And once you do, don't let it just sit in your Google Drive and collect dust, print it out or pull it up on your desktop homescreen and have it within eyesight because it is so easy to lose focus when you are, you know, multitasking and wearing multiple hats in your business. It'll be you'll be surprised at just a simple thing, like keeping it within eyesight will make a big difference and help you stay consistent.

Sari 17:35
Such a good tip I highly recommend doing that because you'll Oh force you to remember Yeah, who you're doing this for and, and the messages that you're crafting. While you're while we're all very busy, but it'll keep that person front of mine. Alright, so we have a brand story. we're communicating or value proposition. So really, I guess and we talked a little bit about them already, but let's dive into them. So really, it's your website? And then it's any kind of communication that you're doing with customers so email and probably social media, would you say what are the main ones?

Anna Bradshaw 18:16
Yeah, and even even ads if you're running ads, even your banner at your Farmers Market stand everything really but the things that you know you want to invest the time and get it right on your website first I find that once you have a strong website, it's easy for you to use the same messages and the same you know, benefits and phrasing across you know your Instagram and Facebook and emails. So once you get a good base then it's easy to go from there to keep things consistent.

Sari 18:50
Yes, absolutely. And and like you said, sometimes it can be so difficult to see the forest from the trees you're so close to it. That I think this is an area getting some outside perspective can be so helpful.

Anna Bradshaw 19:04
Yeah, definitely. And that's what I love helping my clients with I can come in as a more you know, objective outside party and hope because as a founder It is so you know, it can be overwhelming, I think and if it's not overwhelming, that's great. So um, you know, depending what you've done for work in the past or your own natural inclinations this might come as second nature or it might feel awkward and difficult and either waves okay.

Sari 19:29
Yeah, absolutely. So let's talk first about your ecommerce your or your website pages and jump into your work with websites and how you help you know what, what are your some of your recommendations for building up a great website with that brand story?

Anna Bradshaw 19:53
Yeah, so your website is what two things it's one telling your story and letting people know that what your brand is all about in a very, like nice, engaging way. But secondly, it's about making it easy for people to buy from you. And sometimes that stuff is less fun and less exciting. But it's really, really important because just having a pretty website isn't enough, you need to make it so that people get their questions answered and have an easy path to check out. Or an easy path to finding their local market that is selling your brand right now.

Sari 20:35
Yep, 100%. It needs to be about that user experience as well as the beautiful images and copywriting.

Anna Bradshaw 20:46
Yeah, totally. So, um, you know, there are a few things with that your website copy could be pretty brief and concise, or it could be more engaging and long. And I think it's helpful to keep in mind your experience that you've had selling face to face. So if you've ever sold at a farmers market, or you know talked with your friends and family, and try to get them to understand what your product is, what questions were they asking you? Were they asking about? What is this really taste? Like? Were they asking? Can I put this jam in baked goods? Or is it only for toast? What are all the questions that people have? And what are some of the reasons they shy away? Are they shying away from taking a free sample? Because they don't usually like mustard even though your mustard is totally different than everyone out there? Or if it's a hot sauce? Are they really too hot? Or are they very picky and think it's not hot enough? Um, you know, what are all the questions and hesitations people have had that you know of, and then make sure that you answer and address every single one of them on your site.

Sari 22:00
That's great. So what do you suggest I should put on a homepage? I mean, do I put all of that there? Do I put my products like with some of the nitty gritty of a homepage, what do you recommend?

Anna Bradshaw 22:13
Yeah, think of it you know, it's like the front entryway of your house, or like your first elevator pitch. If you're meeting someone in an elevator, what's the first thing that you'd say to them. So that should somehow communicate your unique value proposition. Whether that's, you know, gluten free breads for picky eaters, or gluten free flour for baking bread, or whatever that thing is make it very clear what you're selling on your homepage. And you can get into a little bit of your brand story without making it too extensive. Give a little blurb tell a little bit about who you are. And then get to the benefits and showcase the benefits of your products. There are a lot of templates for especially like the default ones that you're likely seeing if you're just setting up your first Shopify or your site, where all the products are just sort of listed on the front page without much copy. And that works for Amazon that works for Walmart.com. But you aren't either one of those you're not selling to the same kind of audience or if you are not listening while they're looking for something different from you, you have to tell them what makes your your hot sauce special. Instead of just listing all the varieties right on that homepage. You can have them on there, just make sure that there's an introduction first before people scroll to see what you're selling. That's that's how you generally approach home pages. But there are other things to keep in mind too. So the number one thing you want someone to do is buy your product on your site. The second thing is they're not going to be ready to buy not everyone is then you want them to sign up for your email list so that you can cultivate the relationship and get to know them and they can get to know you. So make sure that you make it really easy for people to sign up for your list. And, again, a lot of templates put this in the footer, which is fine, but you should also have it higher on the page. Don't hide it away, make it pretty prominent so that people can see it and we can get into this if you want but there's different incentives you can offer. We're used to seeing discounts. You don't have to do a discount, but discounts do work and they can be a great way to get that first order right away and capture someone's email address as well. They're not quite ready to buy.

Sari 24:57
So important to get that email I still have people question me and say, come on, I hate all those emails I get, and I don't want to get people's emails it feels spammy. Or, like, does email really work? And yes, yes, yes, email does work. And it's really about like, it's like, we own the relationship when you have the email from your customer. And you can continue to nurture that. And providing some kind of value is typically, you know, it's very normal on a homepage, whether it's a discount or a recipe, or, you know, something interesting. And so I would encourage people to think about, maybe a discount doesn't work for you right now. But is there another piece of value that you can offer, in exchange for their email, because our emails are very valuable to us, right? A lot of us don't like to sign up for a million things and get, get all those emails. And

Anna Bradshaw 25:59
it goes back to value too, right? Like people want value in exchange for their email address. They're not just looking for more emails, to subscribe too. So yeah, give value and they're, you know, it can be different things that can be special access to new upcoming products, it can be not just a percentage discount, but the chance to get a bundle, or buy in a more bulk rate that comes with a built in discount, it could be you know, the promise of an once a year birthday gift. And recipes are a great way to add instant value that doesn't cost you anything, especially after you create it the first time. But it can give your customers you know, a reason to sign up for those emails. And remember, especially if you're paying to get traffic to your site, if you're running any kind of ads, or if you're doing PR work to try to get links out there to your site. And then you're not capturing email addresses when people are on your site, you're just going to have to spend those dollars over and over and over again. Whereas if you get someone's email, you can follow up with them. And when they're ready to buy, you know, they'll they'll already know your name and be more familiar with you from seeing you pop up in their inbox. Not like what was that once I went to two months ago, they don't remember?

Sari 27:24
Exactly, exactly. So good. Alright, so we actually collect their email, we have a great home home website, our homepage, we're following, we're consistent with our brand identity and telling a brand story. Obviously, we're making it easy for people to buy our products and have a product, a great product page. But we get that email, whether it's through a pop up or you know, offering value or certainly if somebody buys. So let's shift over to email strategy. And you know, a lot of people collect that email and then it goes into the black hole and nothing. And nothing really happens with it. So what you know, what do you recommend? We've talked that email is important. What What next?

Anna Bradshaw 28:22
Yeah, definitely don't let them go into the black hole, what you can do is you can set up an automated welcome sequence. And all you do is set it up once and that keeps running forever or until you want to update it. And that ensures that you're not just leaving your subscribers hanging. Because that first moment, the first day that they sign up for your emails is when they're when you know that they're really interested in your brand. And if you wait a week, two weeks a month, before they get an email from you. That's too much time a lot. They're already you're gonna forget and be like, oh, who is this? What hot sauce? What was this? I don't remember signing up for this. Where's that first day they're already interested, you know what you can trust that they're interested because they did give you their email. So it's important to keep sharing value right away. So I work with clients to set up usually a three to five, five emails as usually a good number of emails for a welcome sequence, but they can definitely be much much longer. But you can start with one email. No one is better than none. I'm winning when it comes to email. One is better than none. Any emails better than no email. But your welcome sequence is a great chance to go more in depth with sharing the value that you offer your customers so you can send one email that tells more of your story, again through that lens of you know what it does for your customer, you can also suggest first purchase for someone. So if you have a line of, you know, meat jerky snacks, and you find that people aren't quite sure about the salmon, it's a little more of a nice flavor. But pretty much everyone loves the beef jerky. Well then recommend that or if you have a line of herbal teas and you have you know, your chamomile far away your best seller, send an email letting people know that's your best seller, people love, you know, hopping on the bandwagon of Oh, other people are buying this, that must be good. And another thing that's a missed opportunity for a lot of startups, you'll see big brands do this, but startups sometimes miss it is sharing social proof via email. And social proof is just you know that, Oh, I see serious drinking this brand of tea, that looks good, I'm going to trust that it's good and, and try it myself. So usually social proof social proof is other reviews, whether or not you have a full bunch on your site, it's worth it to always be collecting reviews. I love that. So maybe you should have reviews on your site. But sometimes it takes a while, you know, for them to build up when you're just getting started. But as soon as you get in those reviews, put them you know, get your customers permission, but put them in an email and send them out as part of the welcome sequence. And I can have a subject line like, see what people are saying about Kimball herbal teas, and then let other people set See? Oh, wow, people are saying they're delicious. I was worried they'd be bitter, but looks like they're delicious. And that, yeah, I can do a lot for your brand. For sure. I

Sari 31:59
mean, we think I mean, I think you're right that this definitely gets missed by startups. But this is how we buy we go to Amazon and read the reviews. We look on social media, right? We we do care about those testimonials a lot. And even if you just have to start with friends and family, in the beginning, that's fine. Just have you know, on your website, I think it's important to have that, but I love that I hadn't really thought about turning it into part of your email sequence. That's great.

Anna Bradshaw 32:32
Yeah, you can definitely do this not just in your welcome sequence. But you know, every once in a while, send out another one with some fresh reviews, you know, as long as they're honest, and legit reviews, share them and keep sharing them because they make a big difference, especially if you can't do in person sampling. And you know, people are discovering you online and can't just get like a free sample to see what your product tastes like, or how it really performs in recipes and stuff.

Sari 33:02
Yeah, so So three to five is ideal. I love that. Yeah, sharing social proof sharing your story, like you said, that is a place where first you make it about your customer, but once they get to know you, they're like, Oh, I want to learn more about you. So that's an okay time to make it about you. And then sharing about other people. And then kind of going in for that last like, okay, you know, here's a discount, or here's something to help it, you know, incentivize you to make that that first purchase, is that kind of usually how you end the sequence.

Anna Bradshaw 33:40
Yeah, especially if there wasn't an initial discount code. Or even if you do send a discount code in your first email, you can remind people and depending on what email software you're using, there are different levels of automation to make this super simple so that it can send a unique code. And then once that code is used, once it's done, you don't have to worry about people like forwarding it to their friends, or going back and using it over and over.

Sari 34:07
Sure. And I'm sure people will ask, so do you have some email platforms that you recommend that you usually use with your clients?

Anna Bradshaw 34:17
Yeah, so I always recommend klaviyo they have really great automations. And they make it easy for you to set up these flows like your welcome sequence and, you know, abandoned cart. Thank you. It might seem like a lot, but they really do make it simple and easy. And they also let you test different things, which I think is really important. They have a B testing features where you could test different subject lines and see what works better or different messages within the email. And it connects directly with Shopify, and a really great way. So if you're using Shopify, it's seamless and really awesome. If you're just starting your email list, and it feels overwhelming to, or if you just can't invest right now and email, you know, I use a free MailChimp account for my own email list. And it's very basic and rudimentary, but it works. So something is better than nothing. And there are lots of different good software platforms out there. I just find klaviyo to be my personal favorite.

Sari 35:29
Yeah, I've heard other people recommend klaviyo that are large, a little bit, you know, they've grown beyond the, the farmers market stage are, you know, they're on Amazon, they're on doing great ecommerce business. But I agree, I think you can start out with MailChimp, although they've taken away a lot of features in the free version, which is unfortunate, including the scheduling, which that kind of stinks, but so you have to be present to send the email at least that those one off emails, but they do have some automation in the free version. And I noticed that Shopify has some new features within Shopify, but I haven't actually used those before with the automated emails.

Anna Bradshaw 36:14
Yeah, I haven't either. But I think they have Yeah, they're good e commerce platform too.

Sari 36:19
So it'll get you through anyway, till you're ready to do paid klaviyo. Alright, so welcome sequence, that's when people give you their email. Um, we won't go into it too much, but abandoned cart sequence. So that's when people put something in their cart, and then walk away. I'm sure we've all gotten those. Hey, did you forget about me?

Anna Bradshaw 36:45
Those can be really annoying. And you have to decide how much you want to use them and your own brand. But they do bring in revenue or companies I've seen. So if you're skipping them, because you think oh, that's that's too like I don't too nosy. They'll feel like they're being spied on. You know, people are used to them. And they do work.

Sari 37:08
Yes. And you know, on your website, you have a, you know, a recommendation or something that you you did with a client, but they recaptured 26k in revenue for a brand with a new abandoned cart sequence. So there's no question that those do work.

Anna Bradshaw 37:26
They work! Yep.

Sari 37:28
Cause we've all done it where we got distracted and walked away. And then we're like, oh, yeah, I did want that actually. That pair of shoes that's in my cart. Yes, I did want this. And then where do you use is the thank you sequence after someone buys is that the?

Anna Bradshaw 37:48
Yeah, so after someone purchases your product, usually, they'll get some automatic emails from you know, Shopify, or whatever platform you use, just saying like order confirmation. And then they might also get shipping updates. And those are all great, that's really helpful information for your customers. But it helps to go a step further and send a more personal feeling, thank you, especially if it's someone's first time buying from you. But even if even if they're regular customer, it's nice to say thank you, and it makes your customer feel a little bit more connected with you. And it can do a few other things as well, it can get them ready for when your product arrives. Because I don't know about you. But sometimes I'll buy something maybe a little spur of the moment online. And then, especially lately, with slower shipping. By the time it arrives. I've forgotten that I ordered it or forgotten exactly how I meant to use it. So it's really helpful to have an email come in, you know, maybe it's a week after the order, because there's something that you set up in your email, software, software, how long the lag time is, but maybe it's a week after and it says, Hey, here are three recipes for using our spice blend that you're about to get. Or, hey, FYI, when here's the best way to brew our coffee. So when you get it, you have the best possible experience with it. And this info should probably be on your site too. But again, people aren't going to remember to go back to your site or they're not going to remember.. Oh yeah, I bought this spice one because it said I could use it you know with chicken or in my salad dressings. So, so help people get ready to use your product and get the most benefit from your product.

Sari 39:47
Yes, so good. I love that follow up. Yeah, like here's how you can use our product. I'm actually working with a new brand. They're called Best Assure, and it's a it's a worchestire sauce. which already has a nice pun in there, it actually took me a minute, but you know, go for the best, not the worst. And they've done such a great job I, you know, we're just getting their ecommerce pieces set up and getting them an actual product because they've been making it out of their their home and giving it as gifts. But, you know, they they sent me a package and I opened it up and it, it's all branded beautifully and tells a great brand story. And the first thing I opened it says, from your zesty bestie, and it's such a cute card. And I'm so excited for them. And and I know that this episode especially is going to be really good for them to listen to about writing those sequences, because that's one of their next next tasks. Yes, to take that on. But

Anna Bradshaw 40:55
yeah, just as you would send a thank you email, it's great to send a thank you card. And it doesn't have to be complicated, it can be super simple. But that makes a difference. And if your product does need special care, or you know, special instructions, make sure those are in the package too. And then, after they've received it, and are excited to use it, that's a great time to send another email and ask for a review or ask them to share with their share about you with their friends.

Sari 41:31
Reviews keep coming. Most of us don't go back and write reviews on our own unless we are prompted.

Anna Bradshaw 41:40
Yeah, so don't be shy. Ask for the review.

Sari 41:43
Yes, absolutely. Well, these are awesome tips. For people just starting out and you know, you can take as much or as little away from it and, and write you know, five emails, but I guess at the very least, like let's at least get one email done. And you know, start to nurture that, that customer and get them get them warmed up to you and excited. Sales doesn't have to feel icky. It can like we actually like buying from places where we want to buy the products right where we're like excited. So make it a fun, engaging experience. And that really starts on your website and with your email copy.

Anna Bradshaw 42:27
Yeah, absolutely. That's, that's what it's all about.

Sari 42:32
I love your I want you to tell people where they can find you. But I think this was such a good example of brand story brand identity. But also, you know, your website could just be could just say like, get customers to follow you. But I love this line on your website says get messages that draw in customers like the scent of fresh waffle cones on a summer afternoon.

Anna Bradshaw 42:59
Have you ever been walking past an ice cream shop and you can just

Sari 43:05
I just love I think that's such a good example of how copywriting you know, using different metaphors and vocabulary can really help like capture your customers attention. So nice, nice job on that. So tell us tell everyone where they can find you and how they can work with you.

Anna Bradshaw 43:27
Yeah, I am at Anna Kay bradshaw.com. And so you can find my services there, you can get in touch with me there. You can read the blog there, have some articles on, you know, some of the things we talked about today and other things that, you know, are helpful as you're just getting started and writing copy for your own brand.

Sari 43:47
Awesome. So to wrap up, what would be one sentence of advice, one piece of advice you give to all the folks who are just thinking about starting, or they're ready to take that brand that they you know, they got going it was at the farmers market, it's good enough, but now they're ready to uplevel it and really take it to the next level.

Anna Bradshaw 44:09
Yeah, I think my one piece of advice related to messaging is write, like you talk to a friend. You can't go wrong when you are just being down to earth and direct as you talk to a friend. And when you're in those stages before you've got your whole brand voice guide determined. You know when in doubt, just talk like you talk to a friend and your Instagram posts and your emails and your website.

Sari 44:38
That's such a great point. I mean, I love Donald Miller's story brand concept. And He always talks about writing to a fifth grade audience. So you don't want to use words that are so complex that a fifth grader couldn't understand them. And I think I don't know why we do that in emails and I mean, we're just so close to our product, I think and as service providers, we're probably the most guilty of this. But yeah, right. And really simplistic language, something that is very easy to understand very conversational. I mean, I would encourage people to go back and look at emails and brands and copy that they love it is probably more in that conversational tone.

Anna Bradshaw 45:25
Yeah, when in doubt, you can't make it too simple. You can make it too complicated and confusing. You can't make it too simple.

Sari 45:33
Great piece of advice. Yes. I love it. Well, thank you so much, Anna, for joining us today. I think this is going to be so helpful to so many people just getting started and and launching that product, getting it on their website and really nurturing their customers through email.

Anna Bradshaw 45:51
Yeah, absolutely. And if anyone has questions, definitely send me a note, you can find my email address or just the form on AnnaKBradshaw.com. I'd be happy to follow up answer any follow up questions.

Sari 46:03
Wow, that was so good. I really enjoyed listening to that again, after a few months of sitting on the shelf. I really appreciate Anna's time and her patients. But this, this episode is so good. And there's so many good gems in here. So I really hope you're willing to go back and take a look at least at one of your key email sequences or your homepage and be willing to look at it with fresh eyes through the lens of are you really talking to your customer, or are you keeping things simple? Alright guys, until next time, have an amazing week.

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