Proof to Product

According to Experian, Black Friday 2025 spending in the US is predicted to reach over $12 billion in online sales alone, and global spending is forecasted to be between $80 and $82 billion. That's a lot of money. Despite consumer caution and economic pressures here in the United States, this represents an 8 to 10% increase over last year. 2024's Black Friday buying season totaled almost $11 billi...

I'm going to give a little tough love: some of you are new to selling wholesale, and it shows. I am seeing a lot of people using direct-to-consumer strategies when they're launching their wholesale program and then feeling frustrated when the orders don't come in. Here's the thing: it's not your products that aren't a great fit for them, and you're not doing anything wrong. It's that wholesale and...

I don't know about you, but I do a lot of my best thinking in the shower, in the car as I'm driving kids around, or doing pickups and drop-offs. I've got these little breaks between taking kids to different places, and that's actually where I do a lot of my coaching with my Advisory Board clients. We're talking back and forth on Voxer, they're dropping questions in my phone, and I'm responding bac...

If you are anything like my clients in LABS , you may be wondering, how do I plan for the future when the world feels upside down? More importantly, what should I be focusing on next? Today, I'm sharing a short clip from one of our recent coaching calls inside of our LABS Community . LABS is the space where product-based business owners come together to get clarity, build connections, and practica...

I am recording this episode the same week that we are running week three of Paper Camp , which is our marketing week. Marketing week is where we talk to buyers about their buying preferences, how they like to be pitched, how much follow-up is too much, etc. I often see a lot of our students, and even non-students, struggling with this concept of "I'm putting myself out there and I'm not hearing an...

Do you struggle with the idea of selling your products? I am hearing from a lot of creative entrepreneurs who are telling me that they feel uncomfortable with in-person sales. They're worried about how they'll be perceived. They don't want to be seen as pushy or overbearing by their customers. I'm hearing this with online sales too, but it's particularly heightened right now with in-person sales b...

Hey, friend. I'm pulling an amazing episode from the archives with over 400 episodes here on the Proof to Product podcast. There is a gold mine of information for you to help you grow your business, and, frankly, it can be hard to take it all in. Today's episode is a look back at an interview I did with Paper Camp alum Ashley Sutton of Hustle and Hope on the topic of grants. A lot of grants for sm...

Hey, friend. I'm pulling an amazing episode from the archives with over 400 episodes here on the Proof to Product podcast. There is a gold mine of information for you to help you grow your business, and, frankly, it can be hard to take it all in. Today's episode is a look back at one of our most downloaded episodes, discussing how to utilize abandoned cart email automations to drive more sales. Th...

Hey, friend. I'm pulling an amazing episode from the archives with over 400 episodes here on the Proof to Product podcast. There is a gold mine of information for you to help you grow your business, and, frankly, it can be hard to take it all in. Today's episode is a look back at guest Sally Diguette, a home and lifestyle buyer with Anthropologie . Pitching large retailers is a completely differen...

Have you been thinking about joining us for Paper Camp , but aren't sure if this program is a good fit for you? Or maybe you're a new listener of the podcast, and you're thinking, what the heck is this Paper Camp program that I keep talking about? This episode is for you. I'm answering the top questions that we get asked about our wholesale program to help you decide if it's the right fit for you....

I'm back again today to share interviews from our Paper Camp alumni who exhibited at Shoppe Object. On Tuesday, I shared my conversations with our alumni who are exhibiting in NY Now. Today, we're focusing on the exhibitors that were at Shoppe Object. This is a wholesale trade show that was happening in New York City this past week, and I spoke with: Stephanie Clarke from Dahlia Press Nancy Yusko...

I am back from a whirlwind trip to New York City where over 40 of our Paper Camp alumni were exhibiting at Shoppe Object and NY Now. These were two independent wholesale trade shows that happened to be taking place in New York over the same days. I was able to navigate between both shows and meet with a lot of our different alumni. It was such a treat to visit with everyone and to see all their go...

We are currently in the middle of the biggest wholesale buying season of the year, so naturally, it is both a fun and easy time to share wins from our community and talk about our upcoming wholesale coaching program, Paper Camp . This is where we teach you everything you need to know to successfully sell wholesale and we've got a pretty strong track record with tens of thousands of folks coming th...

I'm curious, have you been thinking about niching down or focusing in on one product type? But maybe you're nervous about making that transition or having all your eggs in one basket? This is exactly what Kate Talcott did and she reaped the benefits and then some. Kate is our guest this week, and I'm excited to share her story. Kate is one of our Paper Camp alumni and her business is called Splatt...

Today I wanted to answer a great question that I received from a student. It's a simple one on the surface, but it opens the door to an important conversation about how we are approaching wholesale as product-based business owners. Here's the question Lindsay asked: I just opened on Faire recently. Am I supposed to be pitching my products? I'm a total newbie. The simple answer here is yes. You sho...

It is that time again. We are now accepting Paper Camp scholarship applications . If you have wanted to attend our wholesale intensive coaching program, but you need a little help with tuition, now is your time to shine. We award one full tuition scholarship for each and every round of Paper Camp . Since 2011, we have awarded more than $345,000 in scholarship funds to students. This has enabled us...

One of the highlights of our Paper Camp program is the weekly coaching calls that we host by me and our guest experts. You not only get to ask questions about that week's curriculum and content from Paper Camp , but you also get to hear firsthand from industry experts. These are wholesale experts: large-scale wholesale manufacturers, retail shop owners, sales experts, trade show exhibitors, all of...

Today on the podcast, I want to talk about your wholesale catalog. Your wholesale catalog is the most important sales tool in your wholesale toolbox. Yet simple mistakes may be costing you a lot of money and a lot of headaches. So this week, I want to talk about five common errors that I see when I'm reviewing catalogs for clients so that you can avoid making these same mistakes. As a quick backgr...

Hey friend. You know how much I love sharing success stories here on the podcast and this week is no exception. I had the pleasure of connecting with Carley Hussain of Parcel Island , which is a gift and stationery business based out of Philadelphia. Carley is one of our talented Paper Camp alumni who started with 20 wholesale accounts and she is now in over 120 stores. Yes, she has grown by more...

Hey friend, it's Brittney Lynn. I know you're likely expecting Katie Hunt and I promise she is featured in this episode. If we haven't met before, I am Katie's publicist and I am also the podcast producer of this very podcast. We wanted to do something special for the 400th episode of the podcast, so we decided to turn the tables and I'm interviewing Katie. We discuss Katie's favorite part of the...

The Proof to Product team is practicing what we preach and we are going on summer break for the next two weeks! We will be back in your ears soon and we are so excited about our upcoming episodes, including our 400th episode! In the meantime, we are gearing up for another round of our Paper Camp program which will start soon. We only run Paper Camp twice a year, so if you are wanting to learn how...

When we have our eyes set on a specific business goal, something like selling wholesale, it is incredibly beneficial to hear from people who are a few steps ahead of us in the process, which is why we close out every round of our Paper Camp program with an alumni panel. I want our students to hear from their peers. In today's podcast episode, we're sharing a portion of our alumni roundtable with a...

It is officially trade show season, so today we are diving into a question that I hear all the time. It's how do I know if I'm ready to exhibit at a wholesale trade show? This is one of the biggest topics that we cover inside of Paper Camp . Paper Camp is our coaching program for product-based business owners who want to see their products on the shelves of independent stores in their neighborhood...

I'm excited for today's episode because we've got Pat Flynn from Smart Passive Income . Pat is a father, a husband, a lifelong learner, and, honestly, one of the most generous teachers out there when it comes to business and entrepreneurship. He has built several successful companies, launched best-selling books, and invented products like the SwitchPod . He's created communities around smart pass...

This week's podcast topic has been highly requested, and so I'm happy to bring it to you today. I invited Skye Watterson who is an ADHD strategist, coach, and the founder of Unconventional Organisation . She helps business owners stay focused, build consistent revenue, and scale without feeling burnt out. Skye was diagnosed with ADHD as an adult, and it completely changed her entire approach to he...