I received a unsubscribe to my newsletter list earlier this week. My email providers allows a place for unsubscribers to list why they have unsubscribe. Many folks just get too many emails, no long find my newsletter valuable … and a host of other reasons. But this one really caught my eye. Here is what she wrote:
…not providing her own insight(s)
Since I am always blabbing on and on about what I think, I found this comment a 
bit frustrating ….. but mostly because I don’t feel I have all the answers to every situation, so often quote other ‘experts’ who do have the answers!
I’ve been writing this blog since March of 2009. That is over 5 years now. The first year or two, I wrote NOTHING but my own insights and experiences. I still remember the day — late 2011 — when I was wondering what I was going to write next! I felt I had shared most of what I knew about selling wholesale.
It dawned on me that there are lots of ‘experts’ out there that knew different aspects of the business that I did not know as well. Little by little, I started connecting with them and quoting some of their articles. I especially liked the ‘experts’ who shared things I did not know.
Of course, I am an experiences sales rep, gift shop owner, and gourmet food manufacturer. But most of my experience is in Idaho, with Idaho stores selling Idaho products! There is a big world out there beyond little Idaho!!
So I started rubbing shoulders with some of the following experts:
- Andreea Ayers, who, along with owning her own product business has become an expert in getting national media for her products
- Carolyn Edlund and Wendy Rosen, who work with artists through workshops and trade shows (and Carolyn was also a sales rep at one time)
- Don & Eric Debelak, who are experts in the inventors arena and offer help finding sales reps
- Karen Wakesman, who offers a wonderful course on selling to big box stores
- Tim Adams who has a success Etsy business as well as a bunch of cool tools for promoting your products
- The folks at The Mogul Mom, Crave Handmade, CreateHype, Meylah …. and many more offshoots from these and others!
So …. am I sharing my own insights? Sometimes, but I like to include what others have to say as well. That is the way I like to approach a subject …. hearing from several different sources …. how about you??