Podcast: Download
Jed Crystal is the founder of Hepper, an online store that sells modern cat furniture. Tune in this week to hear his story on bootstrapping the business, product manufacturing in Asia, and brand building with cat bloggers.
Topics Discussed:
- Should you go direct to the factory or use an agent?
- How to build relationships with bloggers for growth
- Using free monthly giveaways to build your email list
- Balancing margins, inventory, and order forecasting
Mentions in the Episode:
Episode Length: 30:53
Download Options:
- Direct Download: Right-click here and click “Save As” for a direct download
- iTunes: Listen and subscribe on iTunes
- Android: Listen via Stitcher Radio streaming
- Blackberry: Listen via the Blackberry Podcast App
- Zune: Listen via Zune
Comments
Jed, really great to hear more of your story about Hepper Cat.
A question, if you don’t mind:
1) Being a solo entrepreneur, if you were to go back in time and hire/outsource an employee or VA, what position or job would you hire for and at what point in the timeline would you hire/outsource?
Look forward to chatting soon!
@Jeremy – As I’m more of a Creative, I’d hire a bookkeeper on day one. I didn’t and now that I finally have a good bookkeeper, I wish I had. A good strategy is to hire for the most time consuming or least desirable tasks that are possible to outsource.
Great interview, Terry. Jed, I noticed you have lots of “reviews” (cats using your products) on your web site and that you soliciting pictures and comments. Are you doing any form of release to use the pictures on your site?