Speaker 1Apoche Production Hello, I'm Naomi Simpson and Handpicked Season 5 is here. And the entrepreneurs this time are not going easy on me. Those questions just keep coming. Whether it's about building a brand in a taboo subject or what about sales? Oh yeah, sales, sales, sales. We're all trying to find more customers. And what about changing customer demands or balancing high tech with high touch? These entrepreneurs and business owners are really, really asking the questions. That'll help every business owner and their team just get more ideas on how to cope with everything they're tackling in the day. Now, new episodes drop every Monday and remember to subscribe so that you hear the next latest episode. Anyway, join me on Handpicked on Mondays. Welcome to Handpicked. I'm super excited to have this guest with us. Somebody I met in a social setting, Jas Fullenfor from The Print Bar. And maybe to start off, you tell us a little bit about your entrepreneurial journey.
Speaker 2Yeah, sure. So I got into The Print Bar completely by accident. I was an actor and I failed at that. But Print Bar kind of grew out of those ashes. It was originally like a way so I could pay my rent and allow me to go to auditions. And then through that journey, I discovered that there was no one really doing custom t-shirt printing in Australia well or quickly back in 2011. And it had such a big impact on our customers. So I really kind of discovered that that was a passion for me, was helping them fulfill their creative dreams. And that's kind of how I took off. Wow. Sounds so easy.
Speaker 1Oh, I decided and then it all happened. But I know it's been a really big and challenging journey and you've got operations in Brisbane and in Melbourne. But also it's not just that it's custom printing. You have this incredible network of people. And when I think about the greatest challenges for brands in producing merch, as it were, it's often the warehousing. So you've really solved for that because you can print one-offs or two-offs or as people place an order. That's the real benefit, isn't it?
Speaker 2Yeah, we've really tried to. And also it's better for the environment too. We've tried to really solve the issue that you don't have to buy a whole heap of things in bulk if you want to sell it. You can sell it on demand. There's zero waste and it's all cash flow positive for you. And then we can do it just as quickly as if you had it in stock in your own warehouse. That's kind of like the, yeah.
Speaker 1That's the secret sauce. Yeah. So what have you got for me today? What's your first question?
Speaker 2All right. So we've been running the same website for almost a decade. And it's like an off-the-shelf product made for printers. And we've kind of had to like revolve all our processes around it and it's been really hard. So three years ago we decided we'd embark on making our own website from scratch. Wow. We co-designed it with customers and our staff and it's done. And we're about to launch. Which is really exciting. We've been beta testing for a while. But this is the first time that we've done anything like this. And I think I'd really love some advice around what kind of things we should be like tracking or yeah, what crucial things should we like keep in mind when launching?
Speaker 1I've done, well, the team really. It's not me personally. We've done a number of re-platforms, which is effectively what this is. And the first re-platform we did, everything went up and it was so exciting. The next re-platform we did, because we're talking about many years, everything went down and we wondered what had happened. So it's a bit late to tell you this now, but often if you're re-platforming, unless you can do a like for like test, you don't know what's happened. So as you add new features, which is what you want from getting an uplift, if you've added all of the features, it's very hard to know if something isn't working as well as it was. What was it? So first of all, you've got to have a rollback strategy. So if everything goes pear-shaped, you go back to the other one and find out what was really under the hood. And I'm not saying that it's like that. Clearly you're already in beta testing. Secondly is what are the most used parts of the website? In other words, the BAU versus the bells and whistles. And can you kind of separate them in some way so that when you launch, you go with the BAU? And then you start adding features. Thirdly, and I think the most important thing, is about your SEO footprint. And in one of our transformations, we just got it so wrong. And we didn't do the work to warm up effectively mainly Google in terms of letting it know that there is redirects. And we took a real slump in terms of traffic and it took us a long time to recover. And there's people that can really support you on that journey. It is a really technical piece of work, but materially important. I know how important your affiliate network is to you as well and making sure that they can still place orders, all of those URLs that they've got embedded in their own websites are still doing the tracking that they need to do because that's like the bread and butter stuff of what you do. So, yeah, I might be a little bit late to the party, but. Probably when we publish this, it might even be live. So people might be looking at the new website. So, yeah, I would just say keep an eye on rollback position. Don't add too many features to start with. Add the features one by one and do A/B testing if possible, which is testing different audiences and what works and what doesn't as you roll out a feature.
Speaker 2Yeah, that's great advice. And I think like with the SEO redirects and stuff like that, I think that's also something that's super important. And if we don't get that right, yeah, we kind of want to, like, make sure that our sales are consistent. We're not really hoping for an uplift. We just want to have stability through the launch period.
Speaker 1And often these investments are just in terms of upgrading. One is for efficiency because if you're running on an old stack, it becomes increasingly difficult to find resources to keep it up to date. Also, you do want to be able to have all the best features for cybersecurity and all of those sorts of things. So, yes, unfortunately, if I could, I'd still be running the first website. I thought it was fabulous, but apparently not.
Speaker 2I kind of cringe at the design of the current one of mine.
Speaker 1Yeah, because we've all learned so much, you know, and it so much represents us. So it is a really important investment you've made. It sounds like you've been very considered, but that considered approach will continue for at least six months post-launch.
Speaker 2So what else have you got for me? Well, this is kind of related to that one, too. But during this launch, what sort of metrics or feedback loops should we be tracking? So we ensure, like, that standards don't slip, yeah, as we grow or, yeah, anything like that.
Speaker 1So what analytical tools are you using? So are you using Google Analytics? There's a whole bunch of different ones.
Speaker 2Which ones? Yeah, we mainly use Analytics at the moment.
Speaker 1Yeah. Analytics made a massive change, I think, about two years ago from three to four. And as long as you fix that all up and you've got your channels and you're really clear about where your current traffic is coming from and that you really work hard on those redirects, Google Analytics will remain a great tool. I also think that in terms of understanding a few things, such as your domain authority, I know you have a long tail. In terms of the literally thousands of affiliates that you have but also the products that you sell. So are they all still remaining and being listed? And thirdly and increasingly is AI availability and making sure, you know, we used to try and keep the bots out. Now we want the bots in. And it's no longer just about eyeballs. It's now about bots and how many bots we're seeing every day. So there's a tool called Slack. There's a tool called SEMrush, which we've used for years and years, which will help view your domain authority and what is it that you need to do to keep your website healthy. And it is a health thing. How long people are staying on site is particularly important. And there's so much I could talk about with this one. But those are two particular tools that I think would be really great. But in terms of what to look at, channel mix is really, really important. And I've seen a massive change over the years in terms of channel mix and where customers are coming from. I always love branded search. So in other words, that is that you have developed your brand or your content or your top of funnel marketing so that people do want to actually find you directly. So you can avoid actually paying for that traffic, which I think you do really well. So looking at the mix of traffic and making sure it's not changing too much I think will hold you in good stead. There's this notion of owned media versus paid media. And it is all about getting as much owned media as you possibly can and then creating lookalike audiences. But now I kind of go off piste. Have a look at SEMrush. There's a whole bunch of AI tools now. that will help look at the effectiveness and the user journeys and where people are dropping off. So time on site is really important.
Speaker 2Yeah, that's great. Thank you. I've got one more question for you. How do you decide where to invest your time, money and talent when scaling your different revenue models? Because like we've obviously put lots of our time and money at the moment to our affiliates, like the dropshipping program we have, and not much into like the traditional print services that we offer. Yeah, what's the best way to scale without jeopardizing the stability of existing sort of revenue streams? Because we obviously can't throw money at everything and try and grow everything at once.
Speaker 1So I think this comes back to what is your superpower and why are you special? And how do you put a moat around that to keep others out of your space? And that's where you need to spend your time. So why are you special? Why are you different? What is the hook? What is the loyalty and really keeping people close? I think that's the most important thing. So what you don't want to do is just become a me too. And you definitely don't want to become a quote and hope shop. You know, somebody's got something for one conference and you quote for it and somebody else charged two cents less because you can never get a return on time. Time is your most precious resource and where you spend it. You can't ever earn more time. You can always earn more money. So understanding what your sandbox is, what is your superpower, and just double down and focus on that. And if you're world famous for that, then maybe you could be world famous and go offshore to new markets also. So doing the same thing over and over creates being an expert, gives you scale, gives you leverage and gives you momentum. Yeah, okay.
Speaker 2That's good advice. So rather than like trying to be the best at everything, just really focus on like what our customers, love us for.
Speaker 1Correct. And you know, for a while there, I don't know if it's still the same, but back in the day when I worked for Apple and I was in the print industry, it really was a commodity business. And your business is not a commodity business, which is what makes it really special. And to keep that is your moat. It will keep you safe. Yeah. The relationships you have as well, this connection that you have with, you know, literally hundreds and hundreds of people who use you every day. I think that's really exciting.
Speaker 2Yeah. It's also exciting, like being part of their journeys and their stories. Yeah. So I'm super excited to see what this new platform will do to make their lives easier.
Speaker 1Absolutely. Any last questions for me before we close this out?
Speaker 2Also, I was wondering if this website seems to go like really well, better than planned, how do we scale up our customer experience just to ensure that our standards don't slip if we're like unexpectedly busier than we want to be?
Speaker 1Yeah. Look, there's a little bit in that. One is, it's about your customer promise. What is your commitment and guarantee to your customers? And a customer promise should align the whole team to that level of quality processes. So if it's, you know, absolutely has to be there, which we all know that customer promise from FedEx, that aligned everybody internally and externally. So I think first of all, it comes from leadership. And if it's, you know, it's a and aligning people to that, and you've probably taken it for granted what your customer commitment is, but really turning it into promise. And as you go into launch, share that with people, let all the team know, we may be entering a challenging time. So let's remember what we stand for, what our commitment is, and we'll align to that. So leadership will be one thing. Secondly, stuff does happen in business and things go pear shaped. And it never hurts just to get on the phone. And that personal touch of like, we've made a mistake on this, or it's not going to be to our expectations. So can I do X for you? You've got to be really careful you don't teach your customers to complain. I know that sounds funny, but I do know a business that used to send champagne out every time they got a customer complaint and people learn to always complain because they got a bottle of champagne. Very nice. So just having that personal, personal touch, because especially as you scale, if you're getting regular feedback at the end of every order, and you're noticing things are beginning to change in your NPS or so forth, pick up the phone, talk to them, say, I just, so it's the middle where you will find the greatest opportunity. And it's the middle where you can move them to advocacy. So never fear actually talking to people. And often because your business is very kind of, automated and low touch, often you don't really even need to speak to customers. But I would say that, and that will help you build the scale in. Maybe a customer advisory board too. You know, you've had them very involved in terms of the beta testing and the co-creation, keep it on, especially when it comes to customer expectation. But start with your customer promise, align with everybody and just make sure you never fear the customer. It's okay to make mistakes, but you've got to really own them.
Speaker 2Thank you, Naomi.
Speaker 1Oh, look, I'm really pleased to have you on the show. It's been such a terrific conversation and one that many business, especially growing business faces, you know, how do I scale? How do I keep myself special? And I need to upgrade my technology. And it's challenging. There is not one business leader. I don't know who uses the word transformation regularly and with trepidation. So it's been such a great conversation. Thank you for coming on the show, Jared. And what we might do is we might do a little bit of a, you know, put the link of your URL into our show notes so that people can actually see what your new website looks like. And I think that would be a great testament and they can become part of the beta program and test you out. That would be fantastic. So thank you so much. That's another episode of Handpicked where I get grilled or it's like a insight into a mentoring session, one or the other. But I've learned so much from you. Also, thanks for coming on the show.
Speaker 2Thanks, Naomi. Thank you.
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