Tag Archives: Jennifer Davis

Episode 17: The Flexibility and Price of Being a Business Owner | Jennifer Davis from Scrapbook Expo

Being a business owner has its perks but it also has its drawbacks. Jennifer talks about the flexibility her job has given her, but also discusses the amount of effort and time she’s spent building her business. In this episode you’ll also learn valuable tips on how to build a following on Facebook.

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Scrapbook Expo - Business Owner Jennifer Davis

Scrapbook Expo

Recap:

Jennifer Davis is the owner of Scrapbook Expo, the premier scrapbook show; Weekly Scrapper, a blog for every day scrappers; and, Party Solutions, a party supply rental company.  She’s also extremly knowledgeable when it comes to Facebook as she has been able to amass a following of close to 110,000 likes on her Scrapbook Expo Facebook page.

Jennifer’s scrapbooking business started out as a hobby and it gave her an opportunity to get out of her job which she hated.  She started out as a vendor at a Scrapbook show she attended and saw what the owner of the conventions were able to do and she thought she could do it so she started her own Scrapbook Expo.

She was one of the first scrapbooking businesses to start a new show.  She put on her first show in San Diego and now she puts on shows in 17 locations.  In the late 1990’s it was real easy for Jennifer to get support for her Scrapbooking shows because they would choose a location and word of mouth was really the only marketing they needed.

Weekly Scrapper

Weekly Scrapper

When the economy started to go down hill it became a lot more difficult to attract customers and she resorted tto learning how to market for her business.  She started doing print advertising, email marketing and she finally turned to social media marketing and does almost all of her marketing online.

At a Scrapbook Expo scrapbookers would have access to 100 different booths related to scrapbooking to shop at.  They hold workshops all day to learn different techniques to scrapbooking.  There is also scrapbooking crops which are held at the show where scrapbookers get together to scrap all weekend long.  Ladies get an opportunity to get together, share ideas and have a great experience.  Different groups like different activities.  A lot of the people who attend the shows are groups of four or five women who make a weekend getaway of the Scrapbook Expo.  They rent a hotel room, they shop together, they sign up for workshops and they participate in one of the crops.

There are also make and takes which are very popular which is where they can visit a booth and take part in a project where they create a finished product within 5 to 10 minutes.

Jennifer was very instrumental in my success as she’s been able to help me in a variety of different ways.  We first came in contact when she put out an ad for a tutor and I helped to tutor her son, Nick.  After which, she became my first client for my Internet marketing business as I helped to build the online Twitter presence for @ScrapbookExpo.  My sister and I have been working for Scrapbook Expo ever since from social media marketing to email marketing to search engine optimization (SEO) to website design.

Jennifer also mentored me and made being an entrepreneur accessible to me.  I had never met an entrepreneur before Jennifer and her help and guidance helped encourage me to this path for which I will forever be greatful.

Jennifer doesn’t use Facebook personally and it took her a long time to figure out how to use it for her business.  She knew that Facebook fit in well for hobbies.  And she learned how Facebook was used to market her business and has found it to be very successful.  Scrapbook Expo now has almost 110,000 Facebook Likes and is growing daily.  Jennifer has really mastered the art of Facebook and has learned that Facebook should rarely be used as a sales tool, but mostly to build an online community.

Because Scrapbook Expo has such a high user engagement Scrapbook Expo uses Facebook to get access to users email addresses.  Last month they gave away 100 prize packages, but had to give them their email addresses to get an opportunity to win those prizes.  Because they were so respected through their Facebook presence it was easy for their fans to give their email addresses and during their giveaway campaign they gathered over 10,000 email addresses.  They then can use those email addresses to sell services or products to customers.

Word of mouth is a huge benefit to using social media to promote Scrapbook Expo.  Every customer who attends the show has the potential to reach dozens, and even hundreds of more people. If you can get one person to endorse you on social media you have the ability to reach more people.

Jennifer recommends not using social media to sell.  Businesses who are failing in their use of social media is that they are not asking themselves what the customer wants.  Businesses need to find out what the customer wants and they also need to be consistent.

Party Solutions

Party Solutions

Jennifer also owns a party rental company, Party Solutions, and Scrapbook Expo started buying their own decor for the Scrapbook Expo and because they weren’t using their equipment throughout the whole year they figured they could rent out the equipment they had when it was not in use.

One of Jennifer’s mistakes in business was that she was not a good sales person.  She was great at marketing and promotion but lacked in her ability to sale.  At first, sales came easy, but after the recession hit she needed to learn how to sale or how to hire others who could sale.  Now, Jennifer has hired sales people who are helping to grow her business and have more of an impact.

Currently, Jennifer has more than 100,000 emails of people who are interested in Scrapbooking and she’s currently marketing that list to advertisers.

Jennifer is very thankful for the flexibility that her business allows her.  She says she works twice as hard as her wage working friends, but the results more than make up for it.  As a single mother, being a business owner gave Jennifer the opportunity to take time off when she needed to in order to spend time with her son.

Discussion Questions:

  • What are you thankful for?
  • What is important to you?

Links to Great Stuff:

Success Quotes:

  • “Success would be finding something that you enjoy and being able to turn a profit to support yourself.”
  • “If you make yourself an expert and you market yourself there’s a lot of opportunities and I see a lot of people who lack taking that first step.”
  • “The beauty of social media is it’s viral and word of mouth . . . is the best form of advertising.”
  • “The majority of what we post is useful posts that interest them as far as learning how to scrapbook.”
  • “On Facebook, if you have a hobby related business . . . it’s very easy to find and connect with other people who have that same interest.”
  • “You don’t go into business you grow into business.”

Special Requests:

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Episode 1 – An Introduction to the Defining Success Podcast by Zeb Welborn

Welcome to the Defining Success Podcast with Zeb Welborn. The Defining Success Podcast will be an interview style podcast, but for this episode, learn about Zeb Welborn, the man behind the podcast.

Recap:

This is the introductory episode for The Defining Success Podcast with Zeb Welborn.  My goal with the introductory podcast was to introduce myself to future listeners. . . (aka YOU!)

In 2007, I thought I had become a success.  I achieved everything I wanted to when I was younger, I found a career, got married and bought my first house.  Just two years later I found myself divorced, jobless and living at my parents.

After some time, I found a job tutoring one student in Norco, CA.  I found tutoring to be so fulfilling that I decided to make a business out of it, while at the same time my sister, Lacey was learning to design websites.  She helped design the website for The Tutoring Solution and we never looked back.

Tutoring to me became very fulfilling as I was charged with helping to motivate students who seemed to lack motivation.  In the process of helping students achieve their goals, I became much more aware of my own belief systems and began changing my habits which helped me become more and more successful.

A year after starting the tutoring business, Lacey and I started a new business venture, Welborn Social Media.  An interesting fact, the mother of Nick, the first parent who hired me for tutoring was also the owner of Scrapbook Expo who became our first client.

Lacey and I loved working with business owners, because business owners were some of the most passionate people I have come across . . . and even more so with successful business owners.

It has become my mission to help business owners become successful because I’ve found that business owners are, more often than not, passionate individuals.  They are passionate because they feel they are providing a valuable service to others.  This passion and service to others has made them happier as a result.

As a student, I performed adequately in school.  Mostly A’s and B’s with a few C’s thrown in for good measure, but I mostly just floated through life with no clear direction or purpose.  Becoming a business owner has helped me develop a clearly defined purpose and I am happier as a result.

I want to share that happiness with others.  I want to encourage people who are passionate about something to pursue their dreams.  The road will not be easy, but if it is something you truly desire than nothing can stop you but yourself.

Thank you for listening to the Defining Success Podcast with Zeb Welborn.  If you are passionate, and excited about what you do, please let me know how I can help you.

Engaging Discussion Questions:

  • Define Success . . . Are You Successful?  Why or Why Not?
  • How Are You Sabotaging Your Success?

Links to Great Stuff:

  • The Tutoring Solution – A Fond Farewell from Zeb Welborn – Zeb Welborn passes the reigns of The Tutoring Solution into the very capable hands of Cynthia De La Torre
  • Welborn Media – The Story of Welborn Social Media – The first blog post of Welborn Social Media
  • Scrapbook Expo – Welcome Scrapbookers! – Because of our strong relationship with Scrapbook Expo we’ve been able to work with numerous local and national scrapbooking companies.
  • Mike Jiminez – If you’d like more information on podcasting or podcasting equipment, Mike Jiminez is an excellent resource.  You can email him at slightreturn@gmail.com

Quote of the Episode:

“Looking forward to better things to come.”

Special Requests:

  • Please download, review and subscribe to the Defining Success Podcast on iTunes.
  • Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
  • If you are a business owner who wants to unleash the power of the Internet please visit the Welborn Media website.
  • Sign Up for the Defining Success Podcast Newsletter to keep you updated on new episodes, upcoming guests and exciting opportunities.

Special Thank You’s:

  • Mike Jiminez – Thank you for conducting our podcasts and for getting us started.  We’re excited to be working with you for the duration of the podcast.
  • Richard McKinnon – Thank you for adding the intro music to our podcasts.  Thanks for using our services at Welborn Media for your acoustic ceiling removal business, System 1.  And thanks for being a great friend.
  • Brian Roberts – Thank you for the amazing introductory skills you’ve lended to the Defining Success Podcast if anyone out there needs voice work for anything I encourage you to contact Brain.  Brian is also the owner of In-Store Radio which creates a customized radio station for any retail shopping environment.  Please visit In-Store Radio for more information about Brian Roberts.
  • Jennifer Davis – Thank you for hiring me to tutor you son and for hiring my sister and I to jump start our businesses.  Thank you for your guidance and support.  And thank you for being a great friend.
  • Nick Cianflocco – Thank you for the work you put into becoming a better person.  Thank you for giving me the opportunity to work with you.  And thank you for teaching me as much, or more than I taught you.
  • Cindy De La Torre – Thank you for being the most amazing woman a guy could ask for.
  • Lacey Welborn – Thank you for being awesome!
  • Rocky Welborn – Thank you for being a good brother.
  • Annie & Larry Welborn (aka Mom & Dad) – Thank you for being there for your oldest son when he needed you most.
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