“I’m a Ferrari-in-a-bathroom-doing-donuts-kind-of-person,”
– Jack Roche
And that he is. Jack is truly a Renaissance man, constantly involved in multiple projects and businesses, always in pursuit of learning the next thing.
This conversation was a thrill-ride. Jack, as the owner and founder of Old North, has built a business that is both fulfilling and allows him to constantly pursue new curiosities — like sailing from the Caribbean to Maine or living in the jungles of the Amazon.
Here’s What You’ll Learn:
Old North’s origin story as a retail store in Asheville (it opened at the worst possible time)
The importance of pivoting early and often when you’re a new business
The logic of understanding and diversifying your risk as an entrepreneur
Why positive reinforcement is so important in entrepreneurship How critically important resilience is — especially in a seasonal business
Jack’s thoughts on working in the clothing industry, why he loves it and why he hates it
Lessons on buying products for a retail shop (larry vs nick), including the differences between creating your own private label vs. carrying other brands
Jack’s shares some thoughts on his marketing and brand strategy We talk about men’s fashion, women’s fashion and what it means to communicate with your clothes
What to do if you don’t know where to begin with improving your personal style
Jack shares his perspective on the community in Asheville and his favorite restaurants/bars in town
Show Notes
Old North is a boutique clothing store specializing in exceptional quality from American, Japanese, and European manufacturers. Think: timeless tees, casual cargoes, and durable denim made for the effortless stylists. You can connect with them on their website and on Instagram
Books and concepts mentioned during this episode: During the episode, we talked about a couple of concepts from noteworthy books. One was the idea of building a muse business as referenced in the 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss. The other was accessing a state of “flow” as discussed in depth in the book Flow: The Psychology of the Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.
Jack’s Favorite Restaurants & Bars in Asheville:
Bull & Beggar – “Consistently the best restaurant experience I’ve ever had in my life.”
Crucible – “I don’t drink beer — it smells like farts, so this is my favorite bar.”
Making It in Asheville is a podcast where we go behind the scenes with artists, creatives, and entrepreneurs in Asheville. We learn about what they’re making and how they’re making it in Asheville.
Making It in Asheville is powered by Making It Creative, our boutique marketing and business consulting agency. We help passionate small business owners build and improve their sales and communication strategies. Learn more here.
We appreciate your support!
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, like, review, and/or share. Each review means than you might think as they help this episode get discovered on podcast players.
https://makingitinasheville.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Jack-Roche-Old-North-7-e1568317851153.jpg13332000MIIA Teamhttps://makingitinasheville.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Making-it-in-Asheville-Podcast-Logo-Horizontal-Light-Text-1.pngMIIA Team2019-09-13 14:45:432020-08-29 14:18:35021 – Jack Roche of Old North Unpacks the “Audacity” of Selling $300 Jeans in Asheville
Every Sunday, we hold a 15-minute meeting that has drastically improved our relationship, both in our business and personal life. We call it a “Weekly Stand-Up.”
What is a Weekly Stand-Up?
The name “stand-up” just means that the meeting should be brief enough that everyone can stand through its entirety. It’s common lingo in the corporate world of engineers and developers who meet weekly or daily to sync on all the tasks that need to get done. While we don’t always stand during our own Weekly Stand-Up, we do try to keep the meeting under 20 minutes.
What happens during the meeting is pretty simple. We go through a list of action items and write them in a shared Google document. We bucket the tasks into different categories: personal, our marketing business, and anything related to Making It in Asheville. Together, we record anything and everything that’s on our minds.
For example, under “Personal” we might put “Take the car for an oil change” or “Call health insurance company about XYZ.” Under “Marketing Business,” we go through administrative tasks that are on our mind such as making sure we follow-up with a client about a proposal or scheduling a time to prepare for a meeting with our logo designer.
The point isn’t to think through every tiny detail, but rather to see the big picture of what needs to get done, when, and by who.
Why Does This Work for Us?
Holding weekly stand-up meetings is helpful to us for several reasons:
It ensures that we don’t miss anything. We help remind each other what needs to get done. Sometimes one of us will think of something that the other one forgot or simply didn’t think of.
It provides a time and place to talk about action items. Rather than interrupting each other throughout our work week with surprises like, “Hey honey can you take the car to get an oil change?” or “Hey honey can you help review this proposal before I send it?” we’re able to get it all out during a designated time. We both know that if we are aware ahead of time about something, we’re better prepared to help. We can set aside the time to do the task rather than feel a grudge about it because one of us surprised the other with an unexpected to-do list item mid-way through the week.
It helps us prioritize what needs to get done, when, and by who. By building a list of all these things, we can decide together what’s the most pressing and important and delegate who will do what. And since we keep it in a shared doc, we’re able to look back throughout the week to remind ourselves.
It keeps us accountable. If we get to the end of the week and things have gotten done that we said we’d do, we’re able to clearly see what’s still outstanding. This constructive pressure means that we’re more likely to get it done than if it was just floating somewhere in our minds.
It catches new ideas as they come up. Although this isn’t meant to be a brainstorming session, it often brings up new ideas! If one of us thinks of something brilliant (or semi-brilliant), we can write it down and store it away for later so we don’t forget.
In short, setting aside just 15-20 minutes per week helps us be more productive all week long.
How to Host a Weekly Stand-Up
There is no right or wrong way to host a weekly stand-up meeting (except for maybe letting it run too long), but what we can do is tell you what works for us and how we ourselves do it.
Schedule 15-20 minutes the same day and time every week. Put it on the calendar and make sure all attendees are aware of the meeting and know they need to show up.
Delegate one person as the note taker and one person as the meeting leader. They might be the same person or they could be different, but we often find that whoever is taking notes is able to lead the meeting because they have the tasks in front of them.
Use a shared document or make sure that you share the notes from the meeting with everyone involved right after the meeting. We like using a shared Google document that we both have access to sot hat we can refer to it throughout the week and cross items off our list or make notes as we do them.
Create buckets or categories to make tasks more manageable. For us, we bucket by areas of our life (personal vs. business) because it’s easier for us to think of things that way. But you could also bucket by the person who is responsible for carrying out the task.
Go through each category and task items as quickly as you can. The goal is to decide: what is the action, who needs to do it, and when it needs to get done. Use verbs, not nouns, where possible. For example, “Blog post” is more nebulous than ”Create an outline for Thursday’s blog post.” If deciding those details seems like too much to do in this quick little meeting, then the action item is to schedule a separate meeting to discuss it in more detail.
End the meeting with a brief recap. Everyone can go around and say what they will work on this week and when they will get it done. For example, “I’ll take the car to get an oil change before Friday and I’ll schedule a call with XYZ on Tuesday.”
After the meeting, we usually like to take 5 or 10 minutes to schedule any items on our calendar while it’s all still fresh in our minds.
It’s a simple activity, but it has truly helped us stay in open communication with one another. Even though we live together and are together all the time, we don’t always communicate about everything that’s going on in our lives. By setting aside just a few minutes every week, we’re able to capture our action items in one place which makes for a lot more productive week and life.
And you? Do you hold weekly meetings with your partner or colleagues? How do you get the most out of them? Let us know by sending us a message on Instagram or our contact page.
https://makingitinasheville.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/makingit-88-e1568286662333.jpg13352000MIIA Teamhttps://makingitinasheville.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Making-it-in-Asheville-Podcast-Logo-Horizontal-Light-Text-1.pngMIIA Team2019-09-12 11:03:512020-08-21 16:07:14Weekly Stand-Up Meeting: What Is It, How to Host One, and Why it Works for Productivity
“I think trusting that your customer can handle the truth and treating them like a human you might see in the street really goes a long way.”
– Connie Matisse
Here’s What You’ll Learn:
The behind-the-scenes story of how East Fork got its start
Connie explains how East Fork grew from a small pottery company to a national brand and shares some of the growing pains they experienced along the way
Advice for deciding whether or not you should go into business with your friends and loved ones and how to maintain a balanced relationship once you do
The unique customer service and care approach that East Fork follows
East Fork’s strategy for creating engaging Instagram and newsletter content in order to nurture and gently guide their customers
How to know if you should turn your craft into a business
The three East Fork products Connie recommends for first-time buyers
Connie’s perspective on the city of Asheville and how it’s changed over the years
Connie’s favorite spots in Asheville
Exciting initiatives coming up in the future for East Fork
Show Notes
About East Fork East Fork Pottery makes beautiful ceramic dinnerware and pottery using materials from the local Blue Ridge Mountains. Founded in 2009 by Alex Matisse, Connie Matisse, and John Vigeland, the company has grown quickly from a small group of friends and artists who had a good “hunch” and creative sense of style to a full-blown, nationally-recognized ceramic business with multiple product lines, an ever-growing need for warehouse and factory space, and an executive team. Despite its growth, East Fork has strived to remain true to its mission: create beautiful, durable, and timeless ceramics in the U.S. following sustainable and ethical practices.
Making It in Asheville is a podcast where we go behind the scenes with artists, creatives, and entrepreneurs in Asheville. We learn about what they’re making and how they’re making it in Asheville.
Making It in Asheville is powered by Making It Creative, our boutique marketing and business consulting agency. We help passionate small business owners build and improve their sales and communication strategies. Learn more here.
We appreciate your support!
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, like, review, and/or share. Each review means than you might think as they help this episode get discovered on podcast players.
Since starting our podcast we’ve heard a lot of variations of: “I’d love to listen to podcasts, but I just don’t have time!”
We feel you.
In this post, we’re going to share five free and easy podcast-listening tips to help you get more from those earbuds in less time.
But first, a little bit more information on what inspired this post. When we moved from New York to Asheville, we found that we started to have a lot less time to listen to podcasts. It sounds counterintuitive, we know, but the fact was that we did much of our podcast listening and reading on subway rides during our 30-minute commute between Brooklyn and Manhattan. This gave us one WHOLE hour every day of pure podcast pleasure!
Now that we live in Asheville and work from home, we don’t have that daily downtime like before. We’re grateful that we don’t have to commute anymore, but we also miss that 30-minute window to get in an episode (or two!).
We still love listening to podcasts (we have our own podcast channel and are always on the lookout for inspiration)! So rather than just give up listening to them all together, we’ve discovered quicker, more time-efficient ways to consume the content.
And thus, we’re here to share with you today our favorite tips for listening to podcasts faster and smarter!
5 Tips for Listening to Podcasts More Effectively
1. Listen to a podcast at 1.5x or 2x speed.
Did you know that you can change the playback speed on podcasts? This is a great way to condense an hour-long podcast into a 30-minute snippet. And while you might be wondering if it changes everyone’s voices into Alvin-and-the-Chipmunk-sounding ones, the answer is typically no. The audio will play faster, but it should maintain the speaker’s voice at a normal pitch and tone.
Here’s how it’s done.
Open up the Apple Podcast app. (Note: This process is more or less the same for Spotify.)
Click “Play” on the podcast you want to listen to.
At the bottom of the screen, tap the podcast player to make the controls full screen.
4. In the bottom left corner, you’ll see “1x”. Tap it and adjust to the speed you prefer.
That’s it! We personally prefer 1.5x speed but you can go up to 2x.
2. Listen while doing tasks that don’t require your full focus.
Put on a podcast while you drive, go for a walk, stand in a long line, or wait for an appointment. Other great podcast-listening tasks include cleaning your apartment, painting, or enjoying a glass of wine. And, instead of watching another episode of Game of Thrones or The Office, put on a podcast! If it’s late at night, this is especially beneficial. Rather than looking at a screen (which is proven to mess with our ability to fall asleep), all you have to do is listen while still getting to enjoy some entertainment before bed.
3. Make a playlist and save it for later.
Every time you see a podcast that seems appealing, download it ahead of time while on WiFi and save it to a playlist. Then, the next time you go on a long road trip or have a long plane ride, you’ll have something to keep those earbuds happy.
4. Read the show notes, then skim and skip as needed.
If you’re not sure if you’re going to like a podcast episode, start by skimming the show notes. If it still seems interesting, start listening. Skip ahead if some parts aren’t catching your attention until you get to a section that you’re enjoying. This works particularly well for conversational podcasts that don’t have a defined storyline.
5. Listen with a third-party podcast player.
There are some absolutely fantastic third-party (meaning not Google Podcasts or Apple Podcasts) podcast apps. We both listen on Spotify regularly for well-produced NPR quality podcasts. But Tony swears by the Overcast App for long-form interviews. Overcast gives you incredible control over the exact speed you choose to listen (sometimes 1.5x speed is a little slow and 2x speed is too fast). It also has the ability to shorten just the longer pauses between speech.
Bonus Idea: Stop listening to it if it’s not interesting!
Let’s be real — just because you enjoyed the episode before or just because everyone is listening to a podcast, doesn’t mean it’s for you. Give a podcast 5 to 10 minutes, and if it doesn’t have you hooked, STOP. Maybe you’ll come back to it later when you’re in the right mood, maybe you won’t. That’s okay. There’s no point in torturing yourself through the entire episode if you’re not enjoying it.
So that’s our top five tips for making the most of a podcast. What did you think? Do you have any other tips or tricks? Let us know on Instagram.
https://makingitinasheville.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Listening-to-Podcasts-12-e1567112208235.jpg13332000MIIA Teamhttps://makingitinasheville.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Making-it-in-Asheville-Podcast-Logo-Horizontal-Light-Text-1.pngMIIA Team2019-09-04 10:56:072020-08-21 16:07:145 Tips & Tricks to Get More from Podcasts in Less Time
Making It In Asheville – Mission Statement Our Mission is to build a community of Asheville Entrepreneurs, Artists, and Creatives — which we call makers — by sharing honest stories and revealing meaningful insights. We work to provide this community with practical resources for both personal and business development.
Making It in Asheville is a podcast where we go behind the scenes with artists, creatives, and entrepreneurs in Asheville. We learn about what they’re making and how they’re making it in Asheville.
Making It in Asheville is powered by Making It Creative, our boutique marketing and business consulting agency. We help passionate small business owners build and improve their sales and communication strategies. Learn more here.
We appreciate your support!
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, like, review, and/or share. Each review means than you might think as they help this episode get discovered on podcast players.
https://makingitinasheville.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/makingit-78-e1562067825351.jpg17092560MIIA Teamhttps://makingitinasheville.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Making-it-in-Asheville-Podcast-Logo-Horizontal-Light-Text-1.pngMIIA Team2019-09-03 02:14:152020-08-29 14:12:09019 – Welcome to Season 2 + What to Expect This Season
If there’s one theme we can highlight from our first 10 interviews with Asheville locals, it’s this: just start.
Although we’re publishing this podcast episode at the end of the season, this is actually a fantastic introductory episode if you’re new to the Making It in Asheville podcast! You’ll get to hear a little bit from each of our interviewees this season, and, if you like what you hear, we encourage you to go back and listen to the full episode with them.
Here’s What You’ll Learn
Get an overview of who we interviewed this season and what they’re all about.
Discover the many different ways our interviewees have gotten started —and grown —in their industry and career.
Why driving a car in the fog is a good metaphor for starting a business.
Hear some actionable advice based on the experiences of our guests.
Learn why getting started now is better than getting started later.
We hope this episode inspires you to start working on your next big project as much as it did for us!
Show Notes
We shared sound bites from the following podcast interviews:
Making It in Asheville is a podcast where we go behind the scenes with artists, creatives, and entrepreneurs in Asheville. We learn about what they’re making and how they’re making it in Asheville.
Making It in Asheville is powered by Making It Creative, our boutique marketing and business consulting agency. We help passionate small business owners build and improve their sales and communication strategies. Learn more here.
We appreciate your support!
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, like, review, and/or share. Each review means than you might think as they help this episode get discovered on podcast players.
https://makingitinasheville.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/makingit-82-e1566846931732.jpg13352000MIIA Teamhttps://makingitinasheville.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Making-it-in-Asheville-Podcast-Logo-Horizontal-Light-Text-1.pngMIIA Team2019-08-27 00:24:522020-08-29 14:09:45018 – Just Start + Highlights from Our Season One Interviews
No matter if you’re a small business owner, an aspiring artist, or the CEO of a massive company, our advice to you today is simple: show your work.
It’s what we’d say to anyone who wants to start or grow a business, develop a brand or scale an idea. It sounds simple enough, but we’re the first to admit that showing your work is not always easy to put into practice.
In this post, we’re going to describe why, how, and when to show your work and share with you the benefits of doing so. But first, here is some food for thought if you’re the type who is already counter-rationalizing why not to show your work.
Why You Might Be Against Showing Your Work
Well, if you’re not showing your work, you’re probably thinking something like:
“But I have no idea who to share it with? Who would care?”
If this is the case, send it to us! We’d love to take a look at what you’re working on and (if you’d like) help you find the right audience.
“What if someone steals my idea?”
First —and please let us be crystal clear —no one will steal your idea. People are entirely too much in their own heads and “busy” to steal your idea. You could hand your idea to your number one “competitor” or the biggest player in the market and they’ll all but certainly say, “Dang that’s cool but we just don’t have the bandwidth to act on that right now.”
Now, let’s just say someone comes out with the same thing you were thinking of doing. This happens all the time! There are two things to remember:
1) Someone else in the market is a good thing. It validates that there are customers and that people are interested in your idea. It also allows you to specialize and differentiate yourself from the guys who are already doing it.
2) There’s something that could never be stolen from you and that is, well, YOU. Your fingerprint will be on your work and that will give it its own unique flavor and appeal.
There dozens of breweries in Asheville and likely hundreds of brewers. How many of those brewers do you think have “stolen” each other’s Pilsner recipes? And yet, every brewery is different and has its own unique spin.
“I wouldn’t even know how to share my work.”
This reminds us of a powerful amorphism: When the why is strong enough the how is irrelevant. If you want to share your work but don’t know how, keep reading.
“I’m a perfectionist. I can’t share it until it’s ready.”
Pablo Picasso created 50,000 paintings, but only about a hundred of them were considered true masterpieces.
Perfectionism is not cute, it’s a form of resistance (you’ll read more about that below). If you can’t share until it’s perfect, you’re missing the point. It’s about connection building. Read on to see what we mean.
Why Show Your Work
So why should you show your work? What’s the point?
1. You can build a real relationship with your audience.
Think about it: if you keep your projects all hidden away until it’s time to sell, who do you expect to show up buy it? Sharing what you’re working on creates an open dialog and gives color to the kind of person that you are, the effort that goes into your work, and helps customers and future customers understand why they should buy from you. When you share the process, you start building a relationship with a growing audience so that when you are ready to sell, you have people to sell to.
2. You can assess product-market fit before it’s too late.
If you’re looking to sell the thing that you create, showing your work is a great way to test your product or service while the risk is low. Tony likes to say, “If you build your creation in the dark, you’ll always be surprised in the light of day.” You could invest hours upon hours working on a product before sharing it, only to realize that nobody wants it. By sharing it early on, even when it’s not “perfect” you’ll get helpful feedback that can help shape your creation into something that people actually want.
3. You can make the right connections before you need them.
You know what they say: it’s not about what you know, but who you know. You never know who you’ll meet and how they might be able to help you. By sharing early and building an audience, you might just get in front of someone that can change the trajectory of your business.
You see this all the time with musicians who serendipitously get discovered. Ed Sheeran started out playing in small venues throughout London and putting out his own EPs. One night, he attended a poetry night in Los Angeles. Jamie Foxx saw his performance and was so impressed that he invited him back to his home and let him crash on his couch for six weeks. Foxx brought Sheeran to his recording studio and an open mic night. While there are many factors that have contributed to Sheeran’s rise to fame, there’s no doubt that meeting Jamie Foxx helped him grow his fan base greatly.
“Put yourself, and your work, out there every day, and you’ll start meeting some amazing people.” —Bobby Solomon
4. You’ll get over your fear of sharing.
So many people are afraid of sharing their work because they fear criticism. It’s only natural to worry about what other people think. You have to train yourself to be ready to “take a punch” as Austin Kleon says. We’ll bet that you’re going to get people that love what you’re doing. You’re also going to get people who criticize it, who say mean things. Fact. There will be less of the latter kind of people, we promise. What you’ll encounter the most is people who simply don’t care. But learning about these types of people is all part of the process. The more you share, the more you’ll realize that those criticisms can’t hurt you. And the more you share the more those people who were indifferent might become fans.
The more you share, the more you’ll realize that those criticisms can’t hurt you. And the more you share the more those people who were indifferent might become fans.
Think about all those artists working in open studios in the River Arts District. Do you think they care what other people think when they see their half-finished paintings? No. They’re there to share their process, to show off how it’s done! Which makes for a rather interesting story, and a fine supporting argument for their premium prices, don’t you think?
How to Show Your Work
So how should you go about it? There are many ways to share your work and it will be different for everyone. Here are a few ideas:
1. Start small.
If you’re writing, publish one chapter at a time. And if that seems too much, publish one blog post at a time. If you’re a photographer, share one photo at a time. If you’re a painter, share one day’s work at a time. It doesn’t have to be finished. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Just share it and see what comes back. You’d be surprised at what type of feedback you can get early on this way!
2. Use social media.
Social media is one of the greatest sharing tools that we have! The important thing here is to know which social media platform to use. Instagram is fantastic for visuals as is Pinterest. Twitter is great for short inspirational words. Facebook lends itself well to written works and articles. YouTube is the place to be for musicians. Use the ones that fit best for the type of work you’re creating.
3. Turn it into a class.
Chances are there are other people out there that want to learn about what you know. Turning your art or skill set into a small class is a great way to connect with likeminded people and hone your own skills.
4. Give it away for free.
Let someone try it out for free. If you’re working on a book, have someone read it. If you’re a candlemaker, give away a few of your candles. Your lucky recipients will be so happy to have gotten something for free and you’ll get to test your product without spending much.
When to Show Your Work
Now. Today. Don’t hesitate, just do it.
If you’re having trouble with this, we encourage you to take a moment to think about The 5-Second Rule by Mel Robbins. Mel Robbins is a popular author and motivational speaker. Her 5-Second Rule says to countdown “5…4…3…2…1” and then do the action.
It sounds silly, we know, but when you do this, a couple of things happen. For one, your brain stops worrying and instead focuses on counting down. You stop thinking about all the “what ifs” and instead concentrate on the numbers. Secondly, there’s actually a physiological reaction happening in your brain. The countdown signals your brain to get ready for action. When you get to “1,” the only thing that’s left is to take action. So, just 5..4…3..2…1. SHARE!
Still not convinced?
Get inspired by these reads:
“The War of Art” by Stephen Pressfield If you feel the resistance of creating something, of sharing, of putting the first word on the damn page, then this book is for you. Pressfield inspires us to break through our creative barriers and reminds us that most of us just have to suck it up and put in the work every day.
“Show Your Work” by Austin Kleon Kleon’s books are more like collages of inspirational quotes and images. What he says is simple and yet, so hard to do. Still, this book is definitely one to keep on the shelf when you need a nice reminder to start sharing.
“The 5 Second Rule” by Mel Robbins An easy, fast read that will convince to start taking action on the things you’ve been putting off or just don’t feel like doing.
“Poke the Box” by Seth Godin A motivational read that will challenge you to try new things, or “poke the box,” and see what happens.
So, how will you show your work today?
We challenge you to share something today. Send us a message to let us know what you’re working on!
https://makingitinasheville.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/IMG_5373-e1566492295622.jpg13332000MIIA Teamhttps://makingitinasheville.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Making-it-in-Asheville-Podcast-Logo-Horizontal-Light-Text-1.pngMIIA Team2019-08-22 16:49:412020-08-21 16:07:14Show Your Work
Creating a loyal relationship with your audience is no easy task. It takes time, nurturing, and a lot of effort. Still, we believe the long-term benefits are worthwhile and will eventually lead to increased authority and revenue for your business.
We’ve talked a lot about The Trusted Advisor Theory here at Making It in Asheville. It’s a theme that has come up a lot throughout the Season 1 podcast interviews with local Asheville makers. We figured it was about time to explicitly talk about it on the podcast! So that’s what this episode is all about.
What the “Trusted Advisor Theory” is and why we believe it’s crucial to a business’s long-term success
Why today’s sales should not be your end goal
How you can practice being a trusted advisor without paying a cent
The seven ways you can build trust with your customers or potential customers (we call them “The Seven Truths of Trust Building” and how each one is available for you to test today
We hope you enjoy this episode!
Show Notes
This podcast is an audio complement of a blog post we shared a few weeks ago. You can read the full post here: The Trusted Advisor Theory.
During the episode, we referenced Episode 004 with Gillie Roberts, owner of Ware, when talking about why sales aren’t always the end goal.
We also talk about Michelle Baker, a friend of ours who has built a deeply loyal following on Instagram because she consistently shares what she loves.
Making It in Asheville is a podcast where we go behind the scenes with artists, creatives, and entrepreneurs in Asheville. We learn about what they’re making and how they’re making it in Asheville.
Making It in Asheville is powered by Making It Creative, our boutique marketing and business consulting agency. We help passionate small business owners build and improve their sales and communication strategies. Learn more here.
We appreciate your support!
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, like, review, and/or share. Each review means than you might think as they help this episode get discovered on podcast players.
https://makingitinasheville.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/makingit-47-1-e1566225371628.jpg16342556MIIA Teamhttps://makingitinasheville.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Making-it-in-Asheville-Podcast-Logo-Horizontal-Light-Text-1.pngMIIA Team2019-08-19 21:30:242020-08-29 14:05:49017 – Seven Ways to Build Trust with Your Customers (A Proven Method to “Win” in the Long Run)
In each of our podcast interviews, we asked our guests the same question: “Where do you take friends when they visit you in Asheville?”
In this episode, we share the most recommended places, plus why we (and our podcast interviewees) love them and our tips for visiting.
Here’s What You’ll Learn
The best places to get food in town (and our ordering recommendations)
The best places to grab a drink — based on what you’re into
Where to hike and what to consider before you leave
And why two corny, tourist traps are actually worth it in Asheville
Show Notes
The Making It in Asheville Google Map
Access our custom Google Map! We’ve marked all of the places that have been recommended guests on our podcast (and more!).
On each marked place, we include the run down and an insider tip for visiting. We’ll be updating this map as we record more interviews and get more recommendations from our podcast guests.
The cool thing about this map is that you can share it with friends visiting town and not have to worry about putting together a list of recommendations.
During this episode, we talked about the most recommended eats, breweries & bars, hikes, and activities in Asheville. Below is a list of all the places we mentioned, plus why we love ’em and tips for visiting.
This is THE NUMBER ONE (!) most recommended place from our podcast guests in all of the history of the Making It in Asheville podcast.
Why We Love It: For its small, yet highly curated menu, rustic and cool vibes, and off-the-beaten-path location
Tips for Visiting: 1. Try their burger night on Mondays! Their burger is our favorite in town so far both for its quality of meat and kick-ass condiments and their fries are truly addictive. Mondays are the only night you can get ’em. 2. Two of our podcast guests recommended getting a group of friends together and ordering their seafood tower. 3. No matter when you go, make a reservation. This place is always packed.
Why We Love It: Their tacos are authentic, simply delicious, and so reasonably priced. We love going to their Food Truck at Zillicoah
Tip for Visiting: Be adventurous and try their beef tongue and beef cheek tacos. They’re our favorite! Also, they have a vegetarian mushroom taco option that’s not on the menu.
Why We Love It: It has an awesome outdoor space with picnic tables, a huge field of grass, and a view overlooking the French Broad.
Tip for Visiting: 1. Bring your own blankets and chairs as sometimes the lawn seating fills up. Also, bring a ball or a frisbee as there is a TON of space for activities. 2. Order the tacos from Taqueria Muñoz food truck. 3. Check out their farmer’s market schedule (select Fridays).
Why We Love It: It has that small, classic, and charming old-timey bar atmosphere and their cocktails are truly top-notch.
Tip for Visiting: Order off the late-night menu if you can. Their burger and patatas bravas are exceptional! Also, they’ve recently opened up for breakfast giving us all a perfect excuse to spend our entire day there.
Why We Love It: It’s a short, relatively easy hike but you get a 360-degree view of the mountains!
Tip for Visiting: 1. Wear pants to protect your legs as there is a lot of overgrowth and brush on some of the paths. 2. Bring a jacket as it can get quite chilly at the top. 3. Wear sunscreen as there is zero coverage!
2. Craggy Gardens
Why We Love It: The views are incredible and it’s only about a 20-minute drive from downtown.
Tip for Visiting: Check the weather forecast for clouds and rain and bring extra layers and/or a blanket as the temperature drops once you get to the top.
3. Anywhere in the Pisgah National Forest + The Hub
Why We Love It: There are so many great hikes and waterfalls to explore in this forest.
Tip for Visiting: No matter what hike you choose, visit The Hub on you’re way out to refuel. It’s an outdoor gear store with a beer bar. There’s also a coffee truck and a food truck parked outside at all times.
Why We Love It: It’s the largest home in American with 16 chimneys, 65 fireplaces, 45 bathrooms, 33 guest rooms, over 250 total rooms – all on 8,000 acres of land. The place is bonkers.
Tip for Visiting: Always ask questions, like “What’s the coolest thing about this room?” to the Biltmore guides within the home. They are extremely knowledgable and you can get a ton of interesting factoids out of them without paying for a full-blown tour.
Why We Love It: Not only will you laugh your pants off on their bus tours, but you’ll also learn a ton about Asheville’s history.
Tip for Visiting: If you’re going on a bus tour, buy a few beers to bring on the bus. They have a bar at the pick-up point where you can pick up a few brewskies. If you’re going to a stand-up comedy show, we suggest picking up some burritos at Mamacita’s across the street and then pair it with a drink from LaZoom. It’s probably our favorite “dinner and a show” activity in Asheville!
Making It in Asheville is a podcast where we go behind the scenes with artists, creatives, and entrepreneurs in Asheville. We learn about what they’re making and how they’re making it in Asheville.
Making It in Asheville is powered by Making It Creative, our boutique marketing and business consulting agency. We help passionate small business owners build and improve their sales and communication strategies. Learn more here.
We appreciate your support!
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, like, review, and/or share. Each review means than you might think as they help this episode get discovered on podcast players.
https://makingitinasheville.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/IMG_5389-e1565658113719.jpg13332000MIIA Teamhttps://makingitinasheville.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Making-it-in-Asheville-Podcast-Logo-Horizontal-Light-Text-1.pngMIIA Team2019-08-13 01:09:142020-08-29 14:02:34016 – The Best Places to Visit in Asheville (as Recommended by Our Podcast Guests) + New Google Map
“If the goal is sales, that can be good in the short term but long-term success is very much based on trust.”
Our most engaging post on Instagram—by a landslide— is a picture of a 5” by 2” piece of paper. In sharing that picture, we started to unpack what we consider the single best marketing strategy that any business can undertake. It costs nothing and yet it pays dividends over time.
We call it “The Trusted Advisor Theory.”
But First, More On That Piece of Paper
This small piece of paper we shared contains a curated list East Fork Pottery’s favorite restaurants, bars, breweries, and activities in Asheville. It even includes other favorite potters in the city. We picked it up at their shop on North Lexington.
To be clear, this isn’t just any list. As many of you know, East Fork is an Asheville institution—a well-known pottery brand now famous throughout the country. As far as brands go, they’re about as big as it gets in Asheville. They’ve been featured in Bon Appétit, Fast Company, the New York Times, and many other publications.
While they make their goods in Asheville, they’re not just making it in Asheville. They’re making it everywhere.
So then, why bother to give out a list of their favorite coffee shops, and even more shockingly, other pottery makers in town? Why send people away from their shop to other stores in town to their competition?
Why It’s Not Always About the Sale
“I’m not a very good salesperson. I often send people away to other companies,” says Gillie Roberts, owner of Ware, a sustainable lifestyle shop called in Downtown Asheville. “I’ll say to them ‘Here’s the exact thing you need, I don’t carry it for XYZ but this is what you need.’”
She continued, “If the goal is sales, that can be good in the short term but long-term success is very much based on trust.”
There’s a valuable business lesson in Gillie’s words. We’ll bet that you’ve experienced a pushy salesperson who attempts to pressure you into buying something. How did you feel after that exchange? Pushy salespeople make us feel less trusting of that person and what they’re selling.
On the other hand, there’s no better way to build trust when someone makes an honest recommendation.
When we were brand new to town (not that we aren’t still—but this story was from our first weekend in Asheville), we stopped in Old North and got to speak with Jack, the owner, and Kylie, the manager. We didn’t buy anything that day and they didn’t pressure us to even look around. Instead with left with a list of their favorite restaurants and bars, written on the back of receipt paper. Every recommendation they gave has been amazing. When it’s time to buy a new pair of jeans, guess where Tony is going?
Whether they were aware of it or not, whether it’s part of an explicitly communicated strategy or not, East Fork, Old North, and Ware are positioned to be our Trusted Advisors.
We know you’ve experienced this as well.
On a small scale, it happens almost every time you dine out at a restaurant. How do you feel when you go to a restaurant and the server ‘recommends’ the most expensive items on the menu? While it might be true that, yes, the $62 filet mignon is a delicious dish, it also might be true that the waiter is simply trying to raise the bill to get a bigger tip. It’s always much more believable, and endearing when they tell you what not to order and then recommends their true favorite and explains why.
While becoming a Trusted Advisor doesn’t often happen overnight, it is a valuable strategy. And it’s accessible to you and to every business out there, no matter how small or large.
The Path to Becoming a Trusted Advisor
So how can you practice this paradoxical wisdom in your daily life and business?
“[Trust] is not something that happens immediately,” Gillie says. During the episode, she goes on to reference Brené Brown’s wise words: “Trust is built in small moments.”
In other words: it takes time and you can expect to gain trust in baby steps. It’s uncommon to get someone to trust you in one fell swoop. You have to put in the work every day.
But how? We sat down and meditated on this concept and came up with a few beliefs on how to build trust in business. We’re no gurus, these are just hypotheses. In fact, over the next month, we’re going to test these out and see how they work for us. We challenge you to do the same.
Our 7 Truths of Trust Building
1. Share what you love.
If there’s someone you follow on social that you absolutely love, chances are your followers probably will too. Social media, especially Instagram, is a wonderful branding platform. It’s not necessarily designed to drive sales but rather tell your brand story and build relationships with others. So, sharing a post from a fellow like-minded business —even if it’s not directly related to your business or, on the other hand, even if it’s from an account that some might consider competition —is generally appreciated by your fans. And, in the end, it’s about serving your fans.
By the way —this isn’t limited to social media. Sharing an article, newspaper clipping, quote from a book, or photo with a friend by email or a handwritten letter. We’re giving social media as the example because it’s the primary sharing tool we all use these days, but this practice could take many different forms.
2. Identify when you’re not the right fit.
When a customer comes in looking for something that you just don’t have or do, be honest. While there’s a time and a place to expand your offerings to fulfill a client’s needs, chances are you’ll end up feeling icky if you sell them a square peg for their round whole. Most of the time, it’s best to know what you do best and only focus on doing that.
3. Send people away.
Yup. Send them away. If you’re not the right fit, admit it and then attempt to solve their problem by knowing who is. Recommend that they try a different store, product, or company that fulfills their needs. While there is a small chance that they might not ever come back, there’s a higher likelihood that they will or that they will recommend your brand to someone else — someone who needs square pegs.
4. Give away what you know.
Giving away something for free and not asking for anything in return is a great way to build trust. Also, knowledge and information are rapidly becoming free. If you think you’re in business because of what you know, we beg you to reconsider. People can Google/Wikipedia/YouTube search for the info. What they want is someone who knows how to save the day.
So think about it: what do you know that your customers might want to know, too? Knowing that many of their customers visit their Asheville store from out of town, East Fork built a curated list of their favorite things to do in Asheville. It helps their customers and is aligned with their own brand ethos which is to support small, local businesses.
5. Deliver on your promises.
Be accountable. Do what you say you’re going to do and do it on time. It should go without saying, but the truth is if you don’t deliver on your promise, you’ll lose trust. Trust is like a reputation and as they say, “reputation takes a lifetime to build a minute to blow.”
6. Only speak positively.
Applied to a business sense, we mean don’t talk $#*! about your customers, your competitors, or your partners. One of the most cringeworthy mistakes we see here in Asheville is people talking down on businesses or competitors they don’t particularly like. The truth is we all have our favorites and our non-favorites. Share your favorites and keep your non-favorites to yourself!
One of the best Reddit life-hacks we’ve heard is to only speak positively behind people’s backs at work because eventually, everyone will assume you talk positively about them behind their backs as well. That sounds like a great plan to us.
7. Be real.
People can smell imposters a mile away. Speaking of which, avoid hyperboles when talking about your brand. Be yourself and talk about your business openly and honestly. Saying something like “We’re the best ice cream in town!” is a lot less compelling and trustworthy than “While there are many great ice creams in town, ours is different because we use XYZ.” There’s a happy medium between wanting people to be as excited for your product as you are and being real. We think it’s based on finding what makes you or your product unique and why that can matter to the right people.
Over the next month, we’ll be leaning into these themes and testing out our assumptions. We’ll report back in a month or so on the results so, stay tuned, friend.
Now, enough of us blabbering. What do you think? What makes you trust a business? How are you working to be a trusted advisor yourself? Let us know in a message! Email us or send us a DM on Instagram.
