325 | How To Plan Out New Wholesale Product Releases With Divya Guruju, Mellowworks

I’ve been thinking a lot about how our past work experience and general lived experience shape how we start and build our businesses. For me, I spent 12 years in the corporate world leading business development and strategic marketing teams for large law firms before starting my product line. That time in my life taught me about project management, budgeting, and how important relationships are in business. These are lessons that I carried into my product brand and also into the way we run Proof to Product today. Our guest Divya Guruju of Melloworks, spent many years in the corporate world designing menswear in New York City. Today, she’s talking about how her time in the fashion industry led her to create her bold, colorful, and modern stationery and gift line. In this episode, we’re talking about how Divya is expanding into textiles and home goods products. She shares how she plans out her new product releases based on logistics she learned in her corporate job. She also shares how Paper Camp provided her with a roadmap for the success she’s had with wholesale. Through Melloworks, Divya sells luxurious wrapping paper, colorful and eye-catching notebooks, fun greeting cards, and cool gifts. All are designed to be color-coordinated for a stunning presentation.  Today's episode is brought to you by our Is Wholesale Right for You private podcast!  This free 12-part audio series will help you decide whether wholesale is a good next step for your specific business. After listening to this audio series (in less than an hour), two things will be true. You'll know whether you want to pursue wholesale for your product business, and you'll have the confidence and action steps to get started with wholesale. Sign up for the private podcast today! Listen to the free Audio Series You can view full show notes and more at http://prooftoproduct.com/325  Quick Links: Free Wholesale Audio Series Free Resources Library Free Email Marketing for Product Makers PTP LABS Paper Camp  

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Ranked in the top 1% of ALL podcasts, the Proof to Product podcast is your trusted resource for sustainable business growth - especially if you make and sell physical products! Join Katie Hunt, each week as she shares strategies & solutions to enhance your sales & marketing so that you’re building a business that supports your best life. If you’ve ever asked yourself can I make money selling physical products? Am I ready to sell my products wholesale to stores like Target, Anthropologie, Nordstrom or Barnes & Noble? When should I consider hiring a sales team or sales reps? Can I really turn my passion into profits? Whether you’re a just starting out on your business journey or you’ve been at it a while growing an empire, this show is for you. Proof to Product is like on-demand business school for product sellers spanning a wide range of industries. Whether you’re in home decor, apparel, beauty, food & beverage, hand-made items, jewelry, consumer gifts or the stationery world, you’ll gather new ideas each week to help you grow your profit, build your team and lead with integrity. Host Katie Hunt and her guests bring you actionable ways to expand your product line, manufacturing overseas, optimize your e-commrce websites on Shopify, Faire, Etsy, Abound, Tundra, Squarespace or in brick & mortar locations. How to start or scale wholesale sales including pitching stores, wholesale outreach, trade show exhibition, working with sales reps, managing inventory, warehousing product, sales systems, wholesale follow-up strategies and working with key accounts. Marketing strategies for small businesses including content creation, leveraging tik tok and instagram tactics without feeling burned out, why you can’t rely solely on social media for sales and why email marketing systems on platforms like Klaviyo, Flodesk and Active Campaign are so powerful. Listen in as Katie and our guest experts help you strategize and tackle your biggest business goals. Host Katie Hunt brings a unique perspective to entrepreneurship. Since 2011, she’s helped thousands of product brands get their products on the shelves of their favorite retail stores through her Paper Camp program (www.prooftoproduct.com/papercamp). Prior to that she worked in the corporate world for over a decade leading business development and marketing teams. She has two MBAs - one in finance and one in marketing. And, she owned & operated her own product based business for over 8 years, selling her products to stores throughout the world from her garage. Katie knows the struggles you face as a product based business and she’s here to pull back the curtain and share her best kept secrets so that you don’t have to learn things the hard way. Find our free trainings & resources for product based business owners at www.prooftoproduct.com/resources