Podcasts about tiny prints

In 2005, I took my first affiliate program from $120,000 a month to $260,000…in less than 90 days. In 2009, when I won my first Affiliate Manager of the Year award, I took Legacy Learning Systems' affiliate program from $150,000 a month to $310,000…in 90 days. In 2012, I helped Tiny Prints grow their affiliate program from $2.6 million a month to more than $6 million…in, you guessed it…90 days. And I've done the same thing over and over again for our clients. How did I do it? Well, I share exactly how in today's podcast episode. LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE How to Turn Inactive Affiliates Into Your Best Partners: https://www.mattmcwilliams.com/how-to-turn-inactive-affiliates-into-your-best-partners/ FREE REPORT - Your First 100 Affiliates: https://mattmcwilliams.com/first100

Have you ever had a client with a vision so specific you kind of wondered what brought them to that point? On this episode I explore that topic with my guest Kristen, who is a client that knows what she likes and knows what she wants. As a brand stylist and creative director she understands what she wants to see visually and has cultivated her own way of making sure her hair goals are achieved. More about Kristen Poissant: Taken from kristenpoissant.com: "Kristen is the Creative Director behind Kristen Poissant Studio LTD. and resides in Astoria, NY with her Corgi and Design Assistant Olive. She has 13+ years of experience working in the stationery & gift industry designing for a number of different multi-million dollar brands such as Vera Bradley, Tiny Prints and Shutterfly. However, today her passion lies with spirited small businesses who have creative ideas and big goals! She values the power of branding and believes that a strong intentional visual strategy is what truly set you apart from your competition. Kristen's goal is to support you in building a business you are confident with and excited to share with your community and followers." You can find more info on Kristen on her website (linked above) or on her instagram account @kristen.poissant (where you can also see pictures of the adorable Olive!) For more podcast content and info follow on instagram @coffeeandfoilspodcast . DM me if you are interested in being featured on an episode or with any topic ideas. Don't forget to rate, share, and leave a review to help spread the word. Xo

Are you struggling to retain employees? Do you know how to keep scaling without burning through talent? When Robert Glazer started Acceleration Partners, he always had a vision of working with an international team. Now, his agency, which is focused on managing partnership and affiliate programs for high-growth brands, has 300 employees in eight different countries. Robert joined Jason in this episode to talk about how he avoids burning through talent, how he trains his employees to ask why, and what he invested in to get beyond the referral stage. 3 Golden Nuggets Beyond the referral stage. Robert ran a referral-based agency for about 15 years. Of course, it couldn't last forever and eventually, they started focusing more on sales and marketing so he and his partner would be less overwhelmed by the sales aspect. It's a stage every agency will go through and they faced it by investing in leadership, having great marketing, and great delivery. In the end, they have exponential revenue growth from the time they started scaling the sales and marketing team and hired a fully integrated sales and marketing team. On not burning through talent. With an agency that has been in Glassdoor's best places to work, what have they focused on when building their culture? Robert says they always had a vision of working remotely with employees from different countries. They have also focused on offering a work environment where employees can grow professionally, which is one of the main reasons people leave their jobs. In the end, agency life is not for everyone, some will love its unpredictable nature and others won't, but Robert made sure to create a culture that does not reward overworking employees unnecessarily and offers flexible hours. Asking why. On the subject of them not rewarding working extra hours with little results, Robert explains they have resorted to training employees to ask why. Why does the client need this data by tomorrow? Could this be solved any other way? Do they really need everything they think they need? “Don't assume, because they're asking for something that it's the right thing or you can't explain to them the trade-off or explain the consequences,” he says. Sponsors and Resources Verblio: Today's episode of the Smart Agency Masterclass is sponsored by Verblio. Check out Verblio.com/smartagency and get 50% off your first month of content creation. Our team loves using Verblio because of the ease in their process and their large pool of crowd-sourced writers. Subscribe Apple | Spotify | iHeart Radio | Stitcher | Radio FM Scaling Your Agency Faster Without Burning Through Talent {These transcripts have been auto-generated. While largely accurate, they may contain some errors.} Jason: [00:00:00] What's up, agency owners? Jason Swenk here and I have another great episode where we're going to talk about how you can scale your agency rapidly without burning through a ton of talent, because all of us have been going through and going, how do we keep employees and how do we find the right talent? And on today's episode, I have a guest that's going to talk exactly about that, that's done this. So let's go ahead and jump into the episode. Hey, Robert, welcome to the show. Robert: [00:00:32] Thanks for having me, Jason. Jason: [00:00:33] Yeah. So tell us who you are and what you do. Robert: [00:00:36] Uh, yeah, I'm Bob Glazer. I'm the founder and the chairman of the board of Acceleration Partners. Acceleration Partners is the largest global independent agency focused on managing partnership and affiliate programs for well-known and high-growth brands. Uh, we have almost 200 clients and, uh, I think, uh, getting close to 300 employees across eight countries and we manage programs across 25 different countries. Jason: [00:01:02] Very cool. And so how did you start the agency? What made you fall into this? Robert: [00:01:08] Uh, like most agency owners… No, I don't know anyone who started the agency intentionally. I just, you know, I started doing some work in the affiliate space. I found a lot of problems with it. I started helping a company fix its program. Uh, that company ended up being a huge success. It was called Tiny Prints. Sold them to Shutterfly for $300 million. People then spread out from that and start saying, hey, can we do that thing that you helped us with there? And then I couldn't do enough of those. So I hired some people, so, and sort of the rest was history from there. So we were very, for years, just all referral-based, uh, word of mouth, you know, 15 years. It's really in the last five years that we've had kind of sales and marketing a little bit before. Jason: [00:01:47] So, what were some of the stages that you went through, you know, in order, like, obviously go through the referral stage, right? And you only can get to a certain plateau. And I feel a lot of people listening to the show right now, you know, are at that level, right. They're kind of plateaued, you know, it could be at 5 million, 10 million, whatever it is, they're plateaued, but you have to do something different. What were the things that you guys did different? Robert: [00:02:10] We invested a lot in thought leadership, content marketing. We wrote a book that was the first in our industry called Performance Partnerships. So we really focused on having great… someone sent me the barbell strategy, having great marketing, having great delivery, which drove the word of mouth. Eventually, though, you know, we were like, look, we don't want to sell or need to sell. Eventually, myself and Matt who is now CEO who is the VP of client services, we're just handling sales calls all day. So even if they were inbound, right, then you had to talk to these people. And we were, you know, the people that called us, we answered the phone, but we weren't following up with them and checking in and the things that you need to do to keep, uh, a sales pipeline moving. So eventually we started to acquiesce. It was like, look, even if we don't want to be cold calling people like this is a lot of, I find, to manage. But from the time we started scaling the sales and marketing team and now with a fully integrated sales and marketing team, I mean, we will, we will sell more this year revenue than we did in our for… Our revenue growth this year will be more than our first 10 years, right? Combined. So it takes a while to get those pieces working. You can go either way. Again, it depends on the type of business you want to build. I wanted to establish our marketing before our sales, like, get the demand going, but, you know, I've seen the opposite approach work too where you get account development and people calling and doing that. We had a really good referral pipeline and we thought that that thought leadership would also help on the conversion of, you know, the people who are examining us. Jason: [00:03:39] Gotcha. So what have you seen work to allow you to scale rapidly without burning through talent? Robert: [00:03:45] Yeah, look, it's hard in this business. Paradoxically, I would say, you know, we, we started by sort of in the premise, you know, five or 10 years ago that people aren't gonna stay here forever and turning that into sort of an open conversation and, you know, having a productive alumni group. But we've, we've actually always been remote. We focused on having sort of a world-class, uh, culture. We spent a lot of time and energy on our culture have been in Glassdoor's best places to work a few years. And look, agency life is not for everyone, but what's interesting is people who come here from other agencies really say to us, this is really different. Some people are a lot of people, realize agency is not right for them. Maybe that's not the work that they want. So we've done a lot to really screen the type of person who likes that fast growth, high pace. You are serving clients. If you don't like client service, probably not a great role, but they like the kind of unpredictability and working on something new and different. I think that the biggest thing that keeps your talent around is investing in your talent and helping them grow and develop. That's one of the reasons we are a growth firm and that growth has allowed for, you know, I think we've had 87 seven promotions last year or something like that, you know, across our team. So for people to see that, oh, that person started associate and manager and now they are a director or VP. And that, that path is available to them. I think these days people leave for two reasons. They don't, they don't like their manager, maybe three reasons, they don't like what they're doing or they just don't, they're not growing or don't see a path for them. I don't think anyone here is blocked. I mean, that's one of the nice things. If you go up 30% a year for a while, as we have, there's just new roles available every year. No, no one is blocked on their development path. Jason: [00:05:31] So when someone joins from another agency, what do they say it's different? Robert: [00:05:35] I think that… look, there's an interesting expectation gap. I actually think the last year has really shown some almost generational gaps in the workplace. We didn't see it before, you know, for better, for worse. I think some gen Z or people coming out now, I mean, they just, they think a 35 hour or 40 workweek is, is a work. That's the workweek and the expectation isn't above that. Some people want to learn and be exposed to a lot of things and understand that they're going to have to do that. But I think the biggest difference… so, so look there's times when there's a lot of work or whatever proposal was due and clients are, but we generally want to solve these problems. We generally don't want people, they don't work weekends. They don't work nights. And so what I've heard people express is at other agencies, people just didn't care if I was working 18 hours a day and they didn't care if I was burnt out or work weekends. They're like, no one wants that here. No, one's asking me to do that. But again, I think we all have to be honest, and this is the nature of the business. Sometimes if there's a million-dollar proposal and the client wants it on a Monday morning, someone's probably going to be working on that on a Sunday night. Like I, I, to me, that's the trade-off of flexibility. The other side is you want to go watch your kid's soccer game on a Friday afternoon? Like you can do like awesome. Go do that. So I think that's the biggest difference is people feel really supported. We are not celebrating. We actually talk culturally, we celebrate work performance, marketing, and we get paid how well these programs do. So we talk culturally about, we don't reward working hard. We reward working smart. I've seen people work a hundred hours a week and not get a lot done and really exhaust themselves and those around them. So I think that's the difference. If you haven't worked in an agency before, agency life can feel different. If you have, I think there's some ones who… again, it's a badge of honor to pull it all night, or I don't think anyone's ever done that in history of our company. Jason: [00:07:27] Are you looking for a content creation solution for your agency and/or clients? Verblio can help you with everything from blog posts, eBooks to video scripts, and a lot more. Verblio is a crowdsource solution to content creation with the pool of more than 3000 highly vetted writers who produce custom SEO-rich content. In fact, my team has been using Verblio and we love the ease of their process. With Verblio, we set the criteria for the style and the tone, and then they match you with the writers that have the expertise in your subject matter. Verblio is a platform specifically designed for agency. And that's why for a limited time, they're offering my listeners 50% off the first month of content. Just go to verblio.com/smartagency to learn more. That's Verblio, V E R B L I O.com/smartagency. Well, I mean, there's lots of people out there that talk about how much they work and how much they hustle. And that's really all they do. And that's perfectly fine for them. But I know when I'm working with agencies and I know when I'm running this business or the other agency, it's like, look, I want to do it smart. I want to be able to maintain, to take off Monday and Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and only work Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. That's what I want. And then you have to figure that out. Like in our mastermind, we were chatting at the end of the year, we were talking about what are the things we're going to say no to, in order to really like set the goal around time. Your goal should be around your time, not around money because you always sacrifice money. And that always makes a big difference. Cause yeah, I remember out of school I worked for Arthur Anderson and that was like a badge of honor to see how many hours, you know, oh, you got to 80 hours a week? I got a hundred hours a week. I'd be like, you're an idiot. Robert: [00:09:24] We actually train around asking, you know, why a lot. And when a client asks for panic for a ridiculous amount of things last minute, you go to them and you say, well, why do you need…? Well, my boss, I have a new boss starting tomorrow. And I wanted them to have this two years of data. And he said, hey, how about we give them X, Y, and Z? And like, I don't want to reward the person spending 10 hours on something they didn't need to do, because it didn't produce a better outcome and it exhausted them. If they could solve that problem in a half an hour by asking why, what do you need? You know, a lot of times, I think it's explaining to clients too what that means. Yes, we can chase those new to new markets, but you realize that mean the core launch mark is then aren't going to get the same support? And they'll say, well, can we do both? Can't… no, so we can either double the team or we can, I think a lot of times it actually if you're an agency that provides great services, your biggest problem is that your teams don't know how to say no well, or sort of put a lid on scope creep and they over-deliver. And by the way, what happens when you overdeliver in an agency? I go look at the PNL at the end of the month and not only is the employee upset, but we haven't made any money. So that's a lose, lose. Jason: [00:10:36] Well, yeah. And the clients are getting overwhelmed by all the stuff that you just provided them. And a lot of times they get confused, which means they're going to leave. So you just burn out your clients. Robert: [00:10:45] Don't assume, because they're asking for something it's the right thing or you can't explain to them the trade-off or explain the consequences. Again, if they say, well, let's chase this city and that city, are you okay if that deteriorates the results on the existing two cities? Well, if it's one of these things where it's 99, 1% and it's oh, when you put it that way, I know I don't want to put those campaigns at risk at all. Jason: [00:11:08] Yes. Awesome. Well, Robert, this has been great. Is there anything I didn't ask you that you think would benefit the audience? Robert: [00:11:14] Yeah, just in terms of, I think thinking about where you want your agency to go in terms of determining how you want to run it, right? I think there are a bunch of different paths, particularly, you know, there are a lot of people exiting these days, and I think there's a specific set of things that you need to do and understand your industry if you want to move towards that outcome. Jason: [00:11:33] Let's go over a couple of those. What's important in your eyes? Robert: [00:11:37] A couple of things. Cause you might hear from your friends who have SAS businesses or otherwise, but agencies are sold on EBIT. They are not sold on revenue. They're not sold on customers or clients or other things they're sold on trailing 12 month EBIT. So, first of all, you can get over the fact that you haven't started a SAS business, you know, and your friend did, and he sold it for 10 times sales. And then you need I, so I think the two things that I see really hurt the most… one is not having everything relying on the founder, right? These are the things that impact valuation. Understanding that trailing 12 months EBITDA is the primary driver and then having a proper cost accounting for your business. The amount of agencies I've seen who don't have for gross margins correctly, who aren't putting, you know, the actual people cost of doing the works in a gross margins. Like this is kind of finance 101. You can't, if the people are delivering the service, then that is, you know, you can't say you have a hundred percent gross margin and operating expenses, it doesn't, it doesn't present an accurate picture. And I would also encourage everyone out there to, you know, if you're an owner-operator, pay yourself a market salary in the business and then take the profits, so that you have a proper PNL. Because we, we've gone to look at businesses and they say their profits' a million dollars in EBITDA, and then there's three founders taking $30,000 a year. Well, those financials are not accurate. And then you're very upset, but your evaluation is not going to be there. So those are three of the things I would really encourage people to do if they're thinking about an exit down the line. Jason: [00:13:07] What do you see the multiples being in? Uh, you know, I've seen them as ranges, so let's say you're under a million in EBITDA. What's the multiple? Robert: [00:13:15] Yeah. So I built a chart on this for marketing agencies. I'm happy to share it with you. So under a million in EBITDA, I mean, right now it's hard, but it could be two to four times EBITDA with a heavy earn-out. Because again, under a million EBITDA, the owners, probably the head of marketing head of sales. I wouldn't expect them to get more than 50% of that upfront. I think two to 3 million in EBITDA these days, maybe 5, 6, 7, you know, the first inflection point, major inflection point, is 5 million in EBITDA. And I think, you know, healthy agencies have 5 million EBITDA with recurring revenue, you know, business are, are going for 10 times plus EBITDA these days. Jason: [00:13:58] Yeah, what we'll do is anything under a million in EBITDA is usually one to two X EBITDA. A million to 3 million is usually four to six. Three to about, you know, six would be a little bit more. And then if you're over the 10 figure mark in EBITDA, then it's really write your own ticket, depending on a number of different things. Robert: [00:14:20] Agencies over 10 million, 20 million are getting 20 times earnings some of them these days. But I think he made the point you made is really interesting. Again, this is why you need to focus on what your strategy is. The problem, it's hard to get one of those one to two times EBITDA deals done, because why would that founder sell when they can just have to hold on a business for two years? But they haven't created anything beyond themselves that has value. In fact, if the earnings of that $1 million EBITDA, you know, and they are the head of sales, the head of marketing, the head of whatever, that includes $400,000 of things that you'd need to pay for other people, then it's really 600,000. So that's the problem. That's why those deals don't get done. Again, if I'm the seller, do I want to give up the…? You know, you wouldn't give up one time, EBIT if it's, unless you saw it, your business is going to collapse. And even too, he said, if I just held on for two years. So if you want to get real value for your business, it needs to be a valuable business beyond yourself. And the more that you can take yourself out of functions, you know, when you start having a marketing person, when you start having a salesperson and you're not on all the sales calls, these are the things that might get you up to a two to three from one to two. Jason: [00:15:28] Yeah. My partners always get mad at me. A lot of times I talk people out and I'm like, look, you're not worth what you think you're worth, and if you are worth what you think you are, like, why do you want to sell? Like, there's lots of mastermind members that we've gotten to the level where they're the chairman and they're not in the day-to-day and they're getting millions of dollars every year. So why would they sell? Robert: [00:15:51] Let's say, it's, let's say it's a million-dollar EBITDA business and you're out of it, but it's just only a million of EBITDA, which again is not a lot of scale. And let's just say someone will pay two to three times for that. I mean, do you want to sell the golden goose or do you want to keep getting the eggs, right? That becomes a tough, tough equation. But I think if you certainly don't want to get a deal done, you go to market and you tell everyone, you know, that you want evaluation either, or you're… An agency is an agency. There could be a hot segment, but they've all, every sale has been valued generally the same for the history of, of time. And I think when you go to market and talk to people and your expectations are just nothing like the deals that are, I always say market-clearing prices. We hear a lot of rumors, right? We hear LOIs… 80% of deals I think don't close, right? So you hear a lot of headline LOI that didn't close. You don't know whether the headline number had earn-outs or not. It could have had five or six years of earn-outs. And so I, the only prices and comps you can use or what I call market-clearing prices, not the rumor that your friend said, or the LOI that your other friend said, or otherwise. Jason: [00:17:00] Yeah. Awesome. Well, Robert, what's the agency website, people can go and check out? Robert: [00:17:03] Yeah. It's probably easier to Google than it is to spell it all out. It's accelerationpartners.com. Uh, hopefully, we're doing a decent job at SEO and you put Acceleration Partners. I'm sure one of your SEO agencies listening will, uh, will give us a call and offer to fix. Jason: [00:17:18] Awesome. Well, thanks so much for coming on the show. And if you guys enjoyed this episode and you want to be around amazing agency owners that can see the things that you're not able to see and help you scale and grow and get to a point where you've really created the freedom in your agency, where you're making the profit. You don't have to make all the decisions. You don't have to have all the risks and your team is, you know, humming along. I'd love to invite all of you to go to digitalagencyelite.com. This is our exclusive mastermind for agency owners that are experienced. Go there now and until next time have a Swenk day.

So, you've created an amazing product, but if you've ever wrestled with how to style it, you should have a quick word with my guest today. Erika Firm describes herself as an "artist, surface designer, graphic designer, brand builder, magazine hoarder, kitty squisher, wife, and mother," but that doesn't begin to scratch the broad scope of her experience and expertise.Erika's stationery range, Delphine, differentiated itself from the many other letterpressers at the time by approaching paper as not just a surface, but a distinctive design element in its own right. Since closing Delphine's doors, Erika's talent for delving deeply into the analog world of paint, pen, ink, and paper — as well as the wondrous results she reaps — have been much in demand. Her client list reads like a who's who of the gift and stationery industries, and includes American Greetings, Anthropologie, Cardstore,  HP Smiles, Ink, Keka, Knithouse, Maison Belle, Minted, Postable, Revel & Co., Revel Paper, Simply to Impress, Snapfish, Society6, Tiny Prints, Wedding Paper Divas, and Zazzle, among many others.Erika's artful eye for presentation is legendary; when she sends me images, the question is never, "Will there be something I can use?" but rather, "How will I ever pick a favorite?" The design wonders that are generated from her four-generation home in Charleston, South Carolina — Erika resides with not just her husband and son, but mother and grandmother as well — are not just a testament to her talent, but the true potential of paper.**Thank You Sponsors**Please be sure to support these all-American, women-owned houses of paper.Girl w/Knife is your incredibly sharp new stationery BFF. Check out this award-winning, ultra-polished range that everyone's talking about — it slays on several brilliant levels!Kitty Meow Boutique was founded on the idea that your paper goods don't have to be a snooze fest. These stylish, laugh-out-loud selections are by turns sassy and sweet, all the while maintaining a consistent cool.

Moda Designer Stacy Iest Hsu joins Sherri and Chelsi to share her design and quilting journey. You'll love hearing Stacy's ideas and insights on fabric design and quilting. Thank you Stacy for sharing your Quilting Life with us today! For complete show notes, pictures, and links to all of today's featured quilts and fabrics, visit the A Quilting Life Blog: https://www.aquiltinglife.com/2021/09/a-quilting-life-podcast-episode-37-show-notes.html/Where to Find Stacy:Stacy's Website: stacyiesthsu.comStacy's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stacyiesthsu/Stacy's Shop: https://tidd.ly/3A0wrnOStacy's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Stacy-Iest-Hsu-DesignsStacy's Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/stacyiesthsuStacy's Pineapple Pop Quilt Pattern: https://tidd.ly/3E1LYGaStacy's Jungle Paradise Fabric: http://shrsl.com/35it1NOTE: Some of the links provided here are affiliate links.Stacy's Bio:Bay area based designer, Stacy Iest Hsu has been designing for almost 20 years. She grew up on her parents farm in the central valley where she often sketched and dreamed of being a designer. After college, Stacy decided to move to San Francisco to try and make her mark as a designer. Not sure what area of design she wanted to persue, Stacy enrolled in a local school that focused on textile and surface design. After her first class, she knew this was what she was meant to do. After graduating, she worked for various companies such as Janie and Jack, Gap Baby and Tiny Prints. Stacy has designed rugs, stationary and fabric for apparel but considers herself finally home designing fabric for Moda, which has been a life long dream.Stacy's designs tend to be whimsical and sweet. She loves designing novelty prints and has developed a passion for designing projects for all ages in her cut and sew panels.Stacy is married and has three children that keep her very busy. She loves spending time with them and is constantly inspired by their amazing talents.Visit the A Quilting Life YouTube channel for more great video content: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmSR-jDR956ATQe30JHX87wEnjoy what you heard? Be sure to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts and your review could be read on the show! 

Maura Walsh, a Chicago-based artist, gained notoriety during the pandemic for her appropriately named Tiny Guide to Chicago's Best Music Culture Spots and Tiny Guide to Chicago Arts which raise funds for local organizations Chicago Independent Venue League and Save our Stages. We explore the origins of this project, the challenges of communicating architectural detail on such a small medium, and dive into the experience of having a project go viral overnight. We also touch on Maura's most recent Tiny Chicago Music Scene project and why these spaces are front of mind for someone with a fine art background. Photos provided by Maura Walsh. Listen to Maura's companion playlist for the episode, containing some of her favorite Chicago-based bands. Find Maura Walsh: Black Nail Studio Organizations Discussed: Chicago Independent Venue League (CIVL) Save Our Stages Support Chicago Arts Girls Rock Chicago Find Heavy Hops: Website (Listen to all episodes and access detailed show notes!) Facebook Instagram Twitter Support The Show By Donating Episode Art and HH Logo By: Bryn Gleason Please Subscribe to our podcast via your preferred listening platform. Rate and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts to help others find us! Support The Show By Donating. Give the gift of HH by sharing our episodes on social media! Small actions such as these go a long way in helping others find us!

So, you've created an amazing product, but if you've ever wrestled with how to style it, you should have a quick word with my guest today. Erika Firm describes herself as an "artist, surface designer, graphic designer, brand builder, magazine hoarder, kitty squisher, wife, and mother," but that doesn't begin to scratch the broad scope of her experience and expertise. Erika's stationery range, Delphine, differentiated itself from the many other letterpressers at the time by approaching paper as not just a surface, but a distinctive design element in its own right. Since closing Delphine's doors, Erika's talent for delving deeply into the analog world of paint, pen, ink, and paper — as well as the wondrous results she reaps — have been much in demand. Her client list reads like a who's who of the gift and stationery industries, and includes American Greetings, Anthropologie, Cardstore, HP Smiles, Ink, Keka, Knithouse, Maison Belle, Minted, Postable, Revel & Co., Revel Paper, Simply to Impress, Snapfish, Society6, Tiny Prints, Wedding Paper Divas, and Zazzle, among many others. Erika's artful eye for presentation is legendary; when she sends me images, the question is never, "Will there be something I can use?" but rather, "How will I ever pick a favorite?" The design wonders that are generated from her four-generation home in Charleston, South Carolina — Erika resides with not just her husband and son, but mother and grandmother as well — are not just a testament to her talent, but the true potential of paper. **Thank You Sponsors** Please be sure to support these all-American, women-owned houses of paper. Girl w/Knife is your incredibly sharp new stationery BFF. Check out this award-winning, ultra-polished range that everyone's talking about — it slays on several brilliant levels! Kitty Meow Boutique was founded on the idea that your paper goods don't have to be a snooze fest. These stylish, laugh-out-loud selections are by turns sassy and sweet, all the while maintaining a consistent cool.

#001: On this episode, Margo chats with Nicole LaRue, a graphic designer and illustrator whose own adventures have taken her across the world from California to South Korea to Japan and more. Now residing in Salt Lake City UT, she spends her days as the Art Director, Designer & Illustrator for Gibbs Smith Publisher & Spumoni Studio. Nicole and Margo discuss: Nicole’s graphic design journey The trickiness of managing business and creativity Creating the Women’s March on Washington logo and how the opportunity found her The trickle effect of opportunity that arose after creating the logo How understanding human design has helped her as a freelance designer The importance of learning our own creative processes And more! Some of her clients include: The Women’s March on Washington, Chronicle Books, Abrams Books, Gibbs Smith Publisher, Oxford University Press, Compendium, Inc., Madison Park Greetings, Johnson & Johnson, Spumoni, Chatbooks, Tiny Prints, DC Shoes, American Eagle & more. Connect with Nicole:  www.smallmadegoods.com https://www.instagram.com/smallmadegoods/ https://www.facebook.com/nicole.larue.509 https://spumonistudio.com/ Small and Mighty - An Activist's Guide for Finding Your Voice & Engaging with the World Girl Almighty - An Interactive Journal for Being a Mighty Activist of the World & Other Utterly Respectable Pursuits

Are you dreaming of one day starting your own business? Are you considering going into business with a friend but aren’t quite sure? Today’s guests Carrie Kiefer and Morgan Georgie of Ampersand Design Studio share their creative journey and how they are truly - better together. To call these girls close would be a serious understatement. For years it’s been Carrie & Morgan, Morgan & Carrie. The name of their design venture says it all — Ampersand, which is the symbol that with one single stroke, connects two formerly separate elements.    Ampersand quickly became known for combining graphic and handmade marks to create bold patterns in refreshing color palettes. Together they create and collaborate on every design with paint, pen and ink, cut paper and anything else they can get their hands on! Their artwork appears on products ranging from textiles to stationery to home décor to fashion for companies such as The Land of Nod, Windham Fabrics, Giggle, and Tiny Prints in addition to their own line of products sold in shops across the world.   These days, Carrie & Morgan not only work together, they live five minutes apart with their sweet, (and very supportive), husbands and adorable kids. Whether they are playing with their children or painting in the studio, their mission is always to create looks and lives that are creative, harmonious and happy. Ampersand is where color and pattern come to play!   TODAY WE WILL LEARN HOW TO Take the leap from a stable job to starting a business See negative surprises as opportunities for something new  Work with a business partner when you both overlap on a lot of skills Put friendship first over a business partnership  Respect each others opinions when working together Leverage what each person brings to the table, to make something stronger, together   FIND CARRIE AND MORGAN HERE: Ampersand Design Studio’s Website @AmpersandStudio on Instagram Ampersand Design Studio on Facebook Ampersand Studio on Twitter   FOR MORE OF HIGHLIGHT REAL: Visit JOSEPHINEKIMBERLING.COM/HIGHLIGHT-REAL-PODCAST  for the show notes of each guest Follow @letshighlightreal on Instagram

When Robyn Miller decided on a whim to show her side-hustle line of birth announcements at the New York Stationery Show, she never dreamed that she would walk away as one of the first designer licenses for a little startup named Tiny Prints.  Cut to 16 years later, Tiny Prints was acquired by big company Shutterfly, and Robyn Miller + Tiny Prints is still growing strong.  In this episode, I talk to Robyn Miller about how she make the leap from former SELF magazine art director to working full time on her brand, and how her license with Tiny Prints became the cornerstone of her brand.  Check out @robynmillerdesigns on Instagram. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

You know when you meet someone and you just know that you will be friends with them? That is how it was when I met Stacy and Heather of Klique, a small but mighty branding agency based out of Naperville, IL. When we first met, I was writing the quote, "well behaved women rarely make history" by Eleanor Roosevelt on a white board. Fast forward to today and that is even more fitting as I have gone on to create this podcast to highlight said ill-behaved women and the history they are making. As fast as I knew that we'd be friends, I knew that Stacy and Heather would be my very first podcast guests. I've been fortunate to work with these rock stars on several brand strategy projects and they continually amaze me with the magic they create - from telling a powerful story to creating moving designs. In addition, they've supported and championed me personally which I will be forever grateful. Now back to the episode! If you want to learn more about the importance of brand to your business then this is the episode for you and you will be hearing from the masters! If you have any interest in starting your own business then this is also for you. Stacy is a self-taught designer with impressive branding chops. She has designed for some of the biggest names in the business: Tiny Prints, Pepsi, Hillshire Brands, and Land of Nod to name a few. As one of Shutterfly's top selling designers, her designs capture the essence of a personal story and sales always follow. Her family couldn't be more proud of her badass design skills, business-style swagger and her “just freaking do it” attitude. Heather loves nothing more than a pen, blank piece of paper (and mother nature). Her best stories and strategies always start there. She believes something magical happens when your pen touches a blank page. She has helped shape big global brands among the likes of Visa and AT&T - along with regional favorites like The Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce. She is an award-winning writer and storyteller and has a knack for understanding just what your brand needs. http://www.kliquecreative.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/stacy-amoo-mensah-9333a02a https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-demonte-786798b2 3:06 Heather's career path (started at age 8) 5:04 Stacy's career path 5:30 Teaching Kindergarten and being a mom = rough combination 13:31 The emotional impact of branding 13:52 The journey of finding your value for creative women 16:00 Be kind but unwavering 16:29 What branding means for a business 18:12 Helping people find their story 19:00 Being an entrepreneur is HARD 24:04 The promise of DavidaJane is to take up space 24:45 Take yourself and your story with you on your journey 27:40 Are you getting the leadership team on your project? 28:00 Importance of having a process that works for you (and sticking to it!) 34:12 Translation vs. adaptation 34:44 Being lifted up by a female colleague (vs. stepped on) 36:59 Missing mentorship 38:21 Flipping the script on the fraud complex 44:00 From acceptance to empowerment 46:58 Reasons to rebrand 47:22 Your brand is an investment 51:31 Public speaking - think of your nerves as rocket fuel 56:30 Authenticity = success 1:01:45 The key to their relationship: boundaries 1:02:31 The magic of women in the workplace 1:05:00 When you should start thinking about brand (spoiler alert: from the very beginning!) 1:08:09 What the future holds for Klique

In this episode Adam interviews Eric Chen. Eric is a Stanford graduate and silicon valley venture capitalist. He and his wife co-founded Tiny Prints with two other Stanford classmates (acquired by Shutterfly for $340 million), and he's also the founding partner of OVO Fund.  Eric and Adam discuss investing in startups, the importance of finding a good mentor, and the legacy that Eric hopes to leave behind. Let’s find out what Eric Chen is up to!

We've all seen brand partnerships all over the place – from Target's collaboration with Missoni to Kanye West's partnership with Adidas. But as a wedding business, how can you leverage a brand partnership? In this episode of the This Week In Weddings podcast, we're chatting all about brand partnerships and how even small businesses can think about growing their brands with valuable collaborations.   About our guest:  As Head of Brand Content at Shutterfly, Amber Harrison oversees the content strategy for all of Shutterfly Inc., including Tiny Prints, the Wedding Shop and flagship Shutterfly. In this role she is responsible for the strategic development of influencer relations, content creation and amplification, organic social awareness, UGC and brand partnerships.  Previously, Amber headed up all communications for Wedding Paper Divas (now the Wedding shop by Shutterfly) where she established successful strategic partnerships with high profile industry experts, including wedding planner Mindy Weiss, designer Claire Pettibone and reality star Whitney Port. She created visibility for the brand through celebrity wedding celebrations, such as Sofia Vergara & Joe Manganello’s and Tara Lipinski & Todd Kapostasy’s. Through her work as a writer, interviewer and producer, Amber is known as a modern authority on relationships, wedding trends and etiquette guidelines. She developed and hosted a weekly web series called “Small talk. Big day”, which has accumulated nearly 2 million views to-date. Through the series, Amber offered couples and their families practical advice and insights for the wedding planning process and interviewed industry influencers. For nearly two years, she wrote a weekly etiquette and advice column, Manners Mondays, for Huffington Post. Amber’s expertise and advice is regularly featured in wide variety of national media outlets including the Today Show, ABC News, Good Morning America, E! News, FABLife, Glamour, Brit & Co., Bridal Guide and Inside Weddings. Prior to Shutterfly, Amber was an Account Supervisor at Edelman, the world’s largest communications firm. There she created and managed public relations programs on behalf of clients such as Orange France Telecom, Adobe Systems Incorporated and others. Amber came to Edelman from Zazzle.com where she developed a celebrity-endorsed cause-based marketing campaign that increased the company’s market share by nearly 15%, moving the company ahead of a major competitor. Working with The Birthday Party Project, which aims to bring joy to homeless children through the magic of birthdays, Amber brought the monthly celebrations to two new locations —San Francisco and Silicon Valley— and established awareness and support within the local communities. Amber studied Musical Theatre at Ithaca College and acting at The New Actors Workshop in New York. Her first job was in a touring production of Pippi Longstocking, in which she played the role of Annika.   In this episode, listeners will hear about: Brand partnerships and how they come to be The why of partnering with another company or brand Things to keep in mind when considering partnership opportunities Viewing styled shoots as partnerships How even small businesses can partner with larger brands Considering what you have to offer and what you have to give in a brand partnership situation     Want to connect with Amber? On the web: The Wedding Shop by Shutterfly Amber Harrison: Instagram Wedding Shop by Shutterfly: Facebook / Instagram  Shutterfly: Facebook / Instagram / Twitter   

Robert Glazer is the founder and Managing Director of Acceleration Partners and the founder and Chairman of Brand Cycle. He is a serial entrepreneur with an exceptional track record and passion for growing revenue and profits for business-to-consumer based companies. He has extensive experience in the consumer, e-commerce, retail, online marketing, and ad-tech industries—partnering with brands such as Adidas, Reebok, Target, Tiny Prints, and Warby Parker. Robert is a highly sought-after speaker who presents to global audiences and serves as an advisor to high-growth businesses. What you’ll learn about in this episode: Robert’s purpose: finding a better way to do things Acceleration Partners: the top independent affiliate marketing agency in the US Is affiliate marketing right for you? Using The Whole Life Dashboard to set up your morning for success Getting your top priorities checked off as soon as you can each day Focusing on strategy, thinking, and quiet Learning from Player-Coaches: coaches/mentors who have actually done it Vision and prioritization: why these two skills have to go hand in hand for business leaders Chunk it: chipping away at your goals one chunk at a time Figuring out what your core values are and getting rid of everything that doesn’t align with who you are and what your goals are Building a company manifesto so that you attract the right employees (and so the wrong ones decide to leave) Using an alignment strategy so that you the behavior you talk about is the behavior you reward Why great execution is more important than great strategy Ways to contact Robert: Book and free chapter: www.performance-partnerships.com Company Website: www.accelerationpartners.com Personal Website: www.robertsglazer.com Blog: www.fridayfwd.com  

In The Found *NSYNC Fan Fiction Radio Hour, we chronologically read aloud pages of an anonymous author's *NSYNC fan fiction, from a binder found at a thrift store. In this episode, it's a showdown between Joe Fatone's pregnant fiancé Kelly and his ex-girlfriend (also named Kelly). Threats are made, the narrator makes realizations about closure, and Sarah Michelle Geller makes an appearance! We drink 7-11 hazelnut coffee and continue theories about authorship of the binder. And! We realize that the Hava Nagila is basically the Can-can. Also in this episode: lighting up loved ones near and far with Tiny Prints junk mail, the Yellow Pages, pop vs soda, Grace Zabriskie, the keyboard string patch setting that makes everything sound like the X-Files, Baby Tiger Cuddle Time, threatening to to tell a story about the Goo Goo Dolls, a Phillip Glass *NSYNC crossover and more!   Find us on iTunes/Apple Music Podcasts here. Find us on Facebook here.

Robert (Bob) Glazer is the founder and Managing Director of Acceleration Partners and the founder and Chairman of BrandCycle. He is a serial entrepreneur with an exceptional track record and passion for growing revenue and profits for B2C-based companies. In demand by top brands and investment firms, he has extensive experience in the consumer, e-commerce, retail, online marketing, and ad-tech industries partnering with brands such as Adidas, ModCloth, Reebok, Target, Tiny Prints, Gymboree, and Warby Parker. Bob is a regular contributor to numerous outlets, writing about performance marketing, strategy, and culture. He is the recipient of the Boston Business Journal 40 under 40 award, the SmartCEO Boston Future 50 award, and a finalist for the E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year in New England, among other accolades. A sought-after speaker, Robert presents to global audiences and serves as an advisor to high-growth businesses. Bob strongly believes in giving back. He serves on the Board of Directors for BUILD Boston, is a global leader in Entrepreneur’s Organization (EO) and founded The Fifth Night charitable event (www.fifthnight.org). He previously served on the boards of the Performance Marketing Association and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Mass Bay and participated in the annual Rodman Ride for Kids for a dozen years, raising almost $100,000 for charity. In his spare time, Bob is an avid writer, skier, traveler, cyclist, and serial home renovator. What you’ll learn about in this episode: Why Bob says, “My job is to fire myself,” and what it means to lead authentically How you can inspire your people to be a little bit better every day The importance of hiring for your culture and how to do it A simple solution for defining your core values so well they are always on your mind What Bob gained from “a book’s worth of mistakes in hiring” Why you need to interview against aptitude and outcomes, not experience What hiring an “up and comer” versus an “old hand” can do for your company’s future Ways to contact Bob: Company Website: www.accelerationpartners.com Book (with free chapter download and affiliate grade 5 min test): www.accelerationpartners.com/performance-partnerships Book (on Amazon): amzn.to/2qUd5QM Personal Website: www.robertsglazer.com Twitter: @robert_glazer Weekly Inspiration Blog: www.fridayfwd.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/glazer

Thinking of throwing a party? Just do it! (And don’t let Pinterest-Pressure stop you!) On Episode 70 Graham and Kirsten chat with party planner, Traci Chandler, owner of Oh Sugar! Event Design & Paperie about all things party planning. Here are some beautiful party pics to get you in the mood for hosting! (And so many more on her facebook page)! Since all three of us are moms, we first had to ask Traci about Children’s Birthday Parties! Have things become too over the top when it comes to kid’s parties? (Spoiler Alert: Traci says we asked the wrong person and she never thinks anything is “too much”) But in all seriousness, Traci tells us that if we do go to one of those outlandish parties, just enjoy it and be grateful for the experience! Don’t feel pressure to compete with that party. Just do what you feel comfortable doing! Traci tells us a great story about what happened when the local train-park party venue accidentally double-booked her date and she had to make her own train parade at home for her daughter. DIY Trains ready to be decorated: Neighborhood Train Parade!  Traci’s 4 steps to throwing a great party: Step 1: Pick a theme. This is the jumping off point and will help you lay the groundwork everything that follows. Step 2: Invitations. Traci is a fan of paper invitations because it sets the tone for a party and is almost like providing a little gift for your guests right from the beginning. She says that paper invites don’t need to cost a fortune and recommends Etsy, Minted, & Tiny Prints as some great resources for invitations. Step 3: Decor! Traci admits that this is where the time is spent because every party is different and each space is different. You don’t have to go crazy, but put in a little extra effort to make the space look special.  STREAMERS= Always a good idea! Step 4: Plan food, fun drinks, and activities A Little Ice Cream Social We talk about how Kirsten first discovered Traci’s business when she realized that the annual ice cream social fundraiser at her daughter’s preschool had suddenly become one of the best parties in town! Of course it turned out that Traci had been in charge of the event and had been using her expertise to make it incredible! DIY Carnival Games from the last few Ice Cream Socials We also discuss grown-up parties! Traci gives us some great advice to just let the stress go! Don’t let Pinterest intimidate you into not hosting. Traci shares great tips about hosting adults with kids such as hiring a sitter and setting up a kids “bring a ... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Robert (Bob) Glazer is the founder and Managing Director of Acceleration Partners, and the founder and Chairman of BrandCycle. He is a serial entrepreneur with an exceptional track record and passion for growing revenue and profits for B2C-based companies. In demand by top brands and investment firms, he has extensive experience in the consumer, e-commerce, retail, online marketing, and ad-tech industries partnering with brands such as Adidas, ModCloth, Reebok, Target, Tiny Prints, Gymboree, and Warby Parker. Bob is a regular contributor to numerous outlets, writing about performance marketing, strategy, and culture. He is the recipient of the Boston Business Journal 40 under 40 award, the SmartCEO Boston Future 50 award, and a finalist for the E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year in New England, among other accolades. A sought-after speaker, Robert presents to global audiences and serves as an advisor to high-growth businesses. Bob strongly believe in giving back; he served on the Board of Directors for the Performance Marketing Association, BUILD Boston and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Mass Bay. He is a global leader in Entrepreneur's Organization (EO), founded The Fifth Night charitable event (www.fifthnight.org), and participated in the annual Rodman Ride for Kids for a dozen years, raising almost $100,000 for charity. Bob is releasing a new book "Performance Partnerships" which takes the first in-depth look at the affiliate (performance) marketing industry, examining its roots, evolution and ongoing transition into one of the most important forms of direct-to-consumer digital marketing. In the book, Robert Glazer defines the elements of true affiliate marketing for the first time and demonstrates for marketing leaders how to properly leverage the channel for its unique ability to drive attributable sales and strengthen brand awareness.   "You have to make sure that there’s an active and engaged partner on the other side of the table.” - Robert Glazer What you’ll learn about in this episode: Affiliate marketing: when a company and a marketing partner enter into a pay-for-performance commission-based relationship How the affiliate marketing industry has evolved from the “don’t ask, don’t tell” early days to today Why understanding the numbers you want is key with affiliate marketing Finding partners that are brand aligned Robert’s new book “Performance Partnerships” that will help you do affiliate marketing better Finding the right people to run affiliate marketing programs Using your resources on the right affiliate marketing programs Ways to contact Robert: Website: www.accelerationpartners.com Friday Forward: www.fridayfwd.com Book: "Performance Partnerships"

Today’s show brings me to Berkeley, California to chat with Lisa Jackson of Good on Paper. As a stationery and print goods designer, Lisa creates both ready-made collections for companies like Tiny Prints and Wedding Paper Divas and does a ton of custom work for freelance clients. What you might not know about Lisa, however, is that she has a full-time job with an environmental consulting firm and she’s a self-taught designer. In the interview we chat about why Lisa has kept her full-time gig even though she has nearly a full-time workload with Good on Paper, how sharing bits of her personal story on her site and social media accounts has resulted in some interesting collaborations and what it’s been like to grow a family and career in Berkeley. Find the full episode + show notes at creatingyourownpath.com.

Episode 14 brings our Hollywood Housewife Laura back to the show and we have a deluxe edition of Sorta Awesome for you this week! We are talking all about friendship: the good, the bad, and the Facebook. Laura shares the two ways she was able to overcome loneliness as a newcomer to LA, and we talk about the key ingredient to building strong friendships as grown-ups. We would love to hear your advice on the topic of friendships! Find us on Twitter @SortaAwesomeMeg or in the Facebook Group: Sorta Awesome Hangout   SHOW NOTES 1) Hollywood Housewife : Creating community after the lonely years 2) Hollywood Housewife: How to start a book club 3) Tiny Prints & example of Mommy Card at Tiny Prints Find Laura on her blog, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter! As always, thanks to Progger for allowing us to use the song Strut! Find more from Progger at Proggermusic.comFeedback on today’s show? Sign up for the show’s mailing list at tinyletter.com/SortaAwesome or leave a comment below (click the date link). And don’t forget to find us in the Sorta Awesome Hangout on Facebook! You can find me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram!

Today I’m happy to have my friend Ed Han on the show today. Ed is the co-founder of Tiny Prints, a stationery company that he bootstrapped and later sold for over 100 million dollars. Ed is probably one of the most successful entrepreneurs that I know personally and I’m extremely ecstatic to have him on my podcast. The business model for Tiny Prints was ingenious and Ed’s story is truly an inspiration to us all. What You’ll Learn How Ed got the idea for Tiny Prints How to bootstrap your business early on and leverage your relationships to gather business […] The post 015: How Ed Han Bootstrapped His Way To A 100 Million Dollar Company Selling Stationery Online appeared first on MyWifeQuitHerJob.com.