30 | Fast Finger Friday

This week, we explore the exciting concept of Fast Finger Friday, a dynamic method to boost sales while enhancing customer engagement. By turning inventory turnover into a thrilling competition, we highlight the importance of diversifying selling strategies and provide actionable tips for hosting your own event.

• Fast Finger Friday creates urgency and excitement among buyers 
• It allows sellers to clear inventory quickly while engaging their audience 
• Diversifying sales methods attracts different types of customers 
• Professional preparation, effective communication, and promotion are essential for success 
• Following up with buyers fosters loyalty and builds community 

Grab your free Fast Finger Friday checklist at www.sunkissedva.com/30 and start planning your event today!

Get all of the links and podcast in one place, by visiting the show notes.
Follow me on Facebook page, right here.
Do you prefer consuming video content, subscribe to my YouTube channel.

Chapters

• 0:00 Leveraging Fast Finger Friday for Sales
• 10:29 Preparing for Successful Fast Finger Friday
• 17:31 Planning and Executing Fast Finger Friday

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Hey everyone, welcome back to the Turn Down the Hustle podcast. Today we are going to talk about something that's not only fun and exciting, but it is also a super effective way for you to sell your products and clear out your inventory pretty quickly. Ideally, it's good for any handmade products that you have really any products you have on hand and we're going to leverage online to sell them. We're talking about Fast Finger.

Speaker 2: 0:32

Friday, you're listening to Turn Down the Hustle, the podcast dedicated to transforming how you run your creative online t-shirt business by working smarter, not harder, so you can spend more time with your why, people and passions that matter most in your life. So throw on your favorite graphic tee and turn up the heat press, because it's time to turn down the hustle. Here's your host digital marketer, cold brew lover, t-shirt maker, freckled hype girl and owner of Sunkist Virtual Assistant, amy.

Speaker 1: 1:01

So some of you may have stared at your unused inventory and thought what am I going to do with these designs? I can't get them to sell on my website. What am I going to do with some of these mystery items or inventory that just has not moved? Like you thought? It was going to be a hot seller and your audience had different plans. Fast Finger Friday is a creative way to get these things sold quickly and with a lot of energy and excitement for your audience. But bear in mind, though, this is not just about sales, because Fast Finger Friday is a great way to bring your audience together with something exciting, also increasing engagement in your group. And then also, we can use this opportunity to actually, in turn, show our customers the value of paying full price for custom items. And stick around to the end of this episode, because I have something special for you. It is a free Fast Finger Friday. You say that three times fast. A free Fast Finger Friday checklist to help you plan and execute and then crush your events. So stick around, but without further ado, let's get started.

Speaker 1: 2:19

Okay, so let's lay down the foundation and talk about the basics. What exactly is Fast Finger Friday? Think of it like a flash sale, right? So normally we're used to Flash Sale Friday, except for this one has a twist. This is how it's going to work. So you're going to post a bunch of designs, each with a starting price let's say they're going to be $20. And these designs do not have, and these designs are not yet pressed onto a shirt, because then it takes away the ability for you to choose a color, or they have to get stuck with the size. So we're doing designs. Only the first person that comments gets it at your starting price. Again, let's say it's 20, but then this is where it gets fun. Let's say that you have three designs or three in stock of that design the same design. The first person gets it for 20. The second person to comment, the price increases by a dollar, so they pay $21 for the same item, and the third person gets it for $22. And then you're sold out Some things you might only have one of, so they have to just claim it and that's it. But either way, this will keep going until that design sells out.

Speaker 1: 3:39

The reason why, one of the reasons why Fast Finger Friday works so well, is because it creates that sense of urgency and excitement, and people love competition, right, and this is a way to tap into that natural human instinct of I want to win. It's fast paced, it's engaging and your customers will love the thrill of stagging that deal. It's also a great way. I think probably the best part of all of this is it's a fantastic way to clear out your inventory that might be taking up space and once it's sold, you can write it off as cost of goods sold. And while you're offering your Fast Finger Friday items, I highly recommend that it's going to be on a mystery tea color so they can pick out their size. But you're going to pick out the color? Why? Because they're not paying full price. So by showing them, hey, whenever you do pay full price, the benefit you're getting is you're getting the product exactly how you would want to design it, right. But if you're paying a lower rate, the trade-off is I'm going to pick the color that it comes on. So then that also helps you move any shirt inventory or blank shirts you might have sitting around.

Speaker 1: 4:59

So why do different ways to sell matter? Like you might already have something going on that's working for you right and you might be thinking why switch it up? One of the biggest mistakes I see t-shirt business owners make is getting stuck in one way of selling. Maybe you're only using your website, or you're relying solely on just static social media posts. Or, if you're in the product job organizer club, you're only doing the weekly drops and calling it good. While these methods are great don't get me wrong they can get stale for you and your audience. Let's be real, right, but Fast Finger Friday can help you bring in some of that energy. Switching up how you sell things keeps things interesting and engages different types of buyers.

Speaker 1: 5:50

Not everyone shops the same way. Some people love browsing your website at their own pace. I know I love going through before I make a purchase. I'm probably going to every page on your website to see everything you have and get a sense of your business before I check out. But again, not everyone shops the same. Others thrive on the energy of a live event or the urgency of a flash sale like Fast Finger Friday. By diversifying your sales methods, you are making your business accessible to more people. Have you ever thought of it like that In creating more opportunities for sales? Because you are diversifying all of your different options.

Speaker 1: 6:33

So, yes, we're talking about Fast Finger Friday. But here are a few other ideas while we're at it. So the first one being live sales. Live sales are great because it creates that personal connection and allows you to showcase your products in real time. If someone has a question about a size, or they want to know if something fits in the bag that you're offering, or can you hold up the shirt so I can get an idea of how it looks like on you, and so forth, you can do that real time customer service at its peak. Also, themed events so you can tie your events to like holidays, seasons or anything like that to add an extra sense of interest. For example, like if you wanted to add a theme to Fast Finger Friday, you could do Valentine's Day Spoiler alert. Those in my product drop organizer club. We are doing a Valentine's Day theme, fast Finger Friday. One last ditch effort to get rid of our Valentine's Day items before we probably get stuck with them or we can no longer beat turnaround time. So a shipping to get it to them in time. So we're planning our sale earlier. That way we can try to sell these items close to full price as possible and then, if we can't sell them, that's where we're going to focus our efforts and de-stashing it. Just try to get rid of those designs, to get them off our inventory.

Speaker 1: 8:05

And going back to live sales, real quick, could you turn your Fast Finger Friday into a live sale now that you think about it like that? Or hey, I'm going to hold up this item. The first one to get it needs to claim it or use a certain word. So the person that I see that doing this best is Mona with oh so Crafty Wholesale. I'll leave information about her business in the show notes. Her live selling method is amazing. While it's not called Fast Finger Friday, it sure does emulate some of the same components, because it is fast paced, it's fun, it's engaging and we get to know her more through those personal connections. So, again, if you want some examples of live selling, I highly recommend you check out Mona with oh so Crafty Wholesale. So, switching up these different sales methods again, you're not only reaching a broader audience because you're plugging into different places you might not have found them before, but you're also keeping your existing customers engaged and, trust me, when your audience feels engaged, they're way more likely to buy.

Speaker 1: 9:15

Okay, so how do we host a Fast Finger Friday in your Facebook group anyhow. So let's talk about how to host this event. So the first thing you want to do inside of your Facebook group, anyhow. So let's talk about how to host this event. So the first thing you want to do inside of your Facebook group. You could do it on a page as well, but these directions are going to be covering how to do it in a private Facebook group. I want you to create a Facebook event. Start by setting up this event, just so you can alert your audience to what is to come. They can also mark attending, so then you can ensure a higher likelihood of reaching them whenever you make posts into this event. Talk about all of the details, talk about when is it happening, talk about how it works, and then you can give them a sneak peek into what it's going to include to encourage them to come back. Or you can keep some of those details private. Or you can keep some of those details private, or you can drip some of those details leading up to the event to keep up that excitement. The good thing about Facebook events is it will send automatic reminders to everyone who RSVPs. So definitely encourage people to mark attending. Encourage them to do that. That way it helps you get that better turnout spending. Encourage them to do that. That way it helps you get that better turnout.

Speaker 1: 10:29

Okay, next I want you to prepare your inventory. So do not wait until the last minute to figure out what you're selling. Organize your designs ahead of time, write down your starting prices and have everything ready to go. You can also use this as an opportunity to either take a clear picture of the design blank you can find a mock-up of it like a digital mock-up to post, however you want to do that or you can take a picture of it like on a flat lay of a previous design that you've already made on a shirt. So a completed shirt look. But make sure you are preparing your inventory, make sure you have all of your items ready to go, because when this event kicks off, it's going to be rapid fire posting and when you're trying to post that's not a good time for you to try to figure out what you want to post. Or taking pictures.

Speaker 1: 11:11

Okay, next, set clear shipping details. So you want to be a front about how much shipping will cost. You have a few options. You can charge a flat rate, so say, like $8 for all. So that's just under what it would probably cost priority. So, assuming they're going to go over that pound, you can set that flat rate. Or you can say like free shipping over a certain amount so it encourages them to spend more. You can also say that shipping will be calculated by weight. So once you get these items in if you have shopify really any platform should be able to do this, but I'm super familiar with shopify you want to add the weight of that item unpackaged.

Speaker 1: 11:57

Get that idea for your shirt, so that's typically anywhere between six and eight ounces. Build a listing for that shirt so you can build like a fast finger Friday shirt, something like that. And from there, whenever you go to build the invoice, once you have their address plugged in, it will calculate shipping based on the weight of the products for you. Either way, make sure you know what your customers can expect. Delete. Either way. Make sure your customers know what to expect. The worst thing that can happen is that they make all of these claims that are at their budget limit. They get the invoice and realize shipping is going to be another $12, and then they tell you they need to cancel. It'd be better for them to know up front how much they can expect for shipping.

Speaker 1: 12:46

Okay, moving on, you got to promote, promote, promote. So the more people who know about your event, the better. Use all of the channels available to get you the word out. So, even though you're using a Facebook group, you can still post about it on your Facebook business page. You can use stories, instagram posts, send out a notification to your email list. You can use text reminders. You can go on your website and create a countdown or change the banner, the heading on the top of your website, something like that, to draw attention from your website. Also, take advantage of the Facebook group cover photos. That is also very helpful to keep your group updated with what's coming up. Next, make sure you are available to engage during the event. Next, make sure you are available to engage during the event.

Speaker 1: 13:37

Fast Finger Friday is very fast paced. Depending on how many items you post and how many people show up to the event, the items could go fairly quick. So make sure you stay engaged and active during the event. Comment back. Answer questions. Keep the energy up and your customers will be feeding off your energy. If you need an idea of what exactly is going in this post whenever I post Fast Finger Friday.

Speaker 1: 14:03

Here's an example or an idea that can generate some inspiration. Example post could be Fast Finger Friday starts now. Here's how it works. I'll be posting a lot of designs with a starting price. The first person to comment sold gets the item at that price, but the fun it gets better. Every additional sold comment raises the price by $1. Example so the starting price would be $20. Second person comment sold, they grab it for $21. Third person $22. So forth until the design runs out, however. So here's what to do. Number one watch the group feed closely. New designs will be posted as the sale goes on. Two be quick and comment sold to grab your item before someone else does. Three keep your payment info handy. Invoices will go out shortly after the event and you'll want to secure your goodies ASAP For shipping details. All your items will be combined for one simple shipping fee by weight, making it easy to stock up without worrying about multiple charges. Comment sold to secure your design and let the fun begin. If you weren't able to write all of that down, don't worry, I have something coming at the end of the episode that will help you out. So some pro tips for success.

Speaker 1: 15:23

Before we wrap up, here are a few tips to keep your Fast Finger Friday event smooth and successful as it could possibly be. So the first thing is use high quality photos. Make sure your designs look amazing in the post. Now you don't want to over edit or over filter, because when someone gets the item, they're like what? This is a? Completely. This is a shade of blue in the design. The way you posted it it looked green. Good lighting and clear images can make all the difference, but there is a fine balance of making sure it looks representative to how the item actually looks. Also, make sure you are organized. Keep a spreadsheet or a notebook handy to track who bought what and at what price. This will make invoicing and shipping so much easier for you, make invoicing and shipping so much easier for you. But I do have a spreadsheet prepared for you to keep track of orders. So again, hang tight and I'll make sure you get a hold of that. Then, lastly, make sure you follow up After the event. Send a thank you to everyone who participated or joined, or that small handwritten thank you note in the order. These small gestures can go a long way for a small business when it comes to building a loyal following and customer base For all of my product drop organizer club members.

Speaker 1: 16:49

This month's Fast Finger Friday we are doing Valentine's Day theme. Like I mentioned earlier, it's that perfect way to clear out the inventory before we start butting up against those last minute sales with those shipping deadlines. If you're not in the club yet, you can join us at wwwsunkissedvacom. Forward slash P-D-O. Papa Delta, oscar and I can handle all of the planning for you so you can focus on growing your business and freeing up more time to be creative in other areas. I would love for you to check out the club, so what I've been talking about since the beginning.

Speaker 1: 17:31

If you're ready to try a fast finger Friday, I have a checklist for you to help you plan and execute your event. It covers everything from prepping your inventory to promoting your event and then also tracking orders as they come in. All you need to do is go to wwwsunkissvacom30. That will take you to the show notes so you can grab your checklist and it'll be delivered to you straight to your inbox. With that, thank you for tuning in to another episode. I hope this brought some clarity and some inspiration for you to host your own Fast Finger Friday event and switch up how you sell. Don't forget to grab your free checklist. And if you do host an event, please tag me on social. I'd either love to see it in action or celebrate your results. Until next time, keep turning down the hustle.