031 | Heather Lins, Heather Lins Home on licensing opportunities, pitching the press and how being busy doesn't always equate to being productive

Heather Lins is the founder of Heather Lins Home, a textile and home goods business. Heather comes from a design background and has a fascinating story of starting her business before she even had products to sell.

On today's episode we're talking about licensing opportunities, simple strategies for pitching the press and why hard work and being busy doesn't always equate to being productive.

ON TODAY'S EPISODE:

• How Heather got into this business & Heather Lins Home's product offerings
• Thinking about wholesale and outsourcing from the beginning of her business
• Entering a competition for a spot in Accent on Design before even having product made
• Heather's experience with licensing
• Her advice on how to structure the licensing aspect of your business
• How Heather pitches to the media
• Diminishing the fears of not selling enough or selling too much when seeking press coverage on your products
• Heather's experience as an American Made Award
• Incorporating ideas from Tim Ferriss's Four Hour Work Week into her business and life
• Her definition of success
• What's next for Heather Lins Home

KEY TAKE-AWAYS:

"I kind of took a different route of thinking about wholesale from the beginning and pricing it accordingly, and also about outsourcing from the beginning." - Heather Lins

"I thought to myself, the only way I'm going to get 20 years' experience is screen-printing for 20 years. That's part of the beauty of outsourcing or delegating. You get 20 years' experience when you didn't have to wait that long to get it." - Heather Lins

"You need to know where your customers are and how to find them." - Katie Hunt

"If you outsource, you can have more variety in the materials you're working with." - Heather Lins

"There's a lot of value in putting yourself out there even though it's sometimes hard to hear no." - Katie Hunt

"To get press on a product is great, but to get press on the right product is super awesome." - Heather Lins

"When I approach bloggers, I don't send my whole line. I just send what works for me and what's timely." - Heather Lins

"When you're reaching out to your customer, to the press, whatever it is, talk about how people are feeling when they use your product, how it's going to benefit their life, and how it's going to impact them." - Katie Hunt

"My ideal is really a 20 hour work week. I've told myself, I'm looking for a full-time salary, full-time payment from a part-time job. I can't run my business how most people run their businesses. I'm going to have to make different decisions." - Heather Lins

CONNECT:

Website: http://heatherlinshome.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heatherlinshome

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heatherlinshome/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/heatherlinshome/

JOIN THE TSBC FAMILY:

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ABOUT PROOF TO PRODUCT:

Proof to Product is brought to you by Tradeshow Bootcamp and hosted by Katie Hunt. Since 2011, TSBC has worked with hundreds of product based businesses to help them up level, scale, and build profitable sustainable companies. You can find our show notes and additional resources at ProofToProduct.com. If you like what you heard today, please head over to Apple Podcast to leave a five star review and subscribe. Thanks so much for listening. We'll be back next week with a new episode!