#131: How To Figure Out What To Sell

Today, Jillian Leslie, from The Blogger Genius Podcast, is interviewing Kaycee Geeding from Roost and Restore about how to figure out what to sell.

Kaycee never thought she’d build a successful business using her wood saw, but that’s what her audience wanted from her—her scrap wood products—and that’s what she starting sell them.

Listen to Kaycee share about her lightbulb moment when she figured this out, how she uses her Facebook page to connect with her audience, how she’s managed burnout by reducing the number of products she sells, and what she learned in and her biggest takeaways from our Six-Week Coaching Group.

Kaycee demonstrates that by staying open and flexible, and committed to your audience, you can build a successful business you might never have been able to imagine at the beginning of your journey.

Show Notes:

• MiloTree
• MiloTree Coaching Group
• MiloTree Phone Consultation
• Roost and Restore
• The Blogger Genius Podcast
• MiloTree Mastermind Facebook Group

Subscribe to The Blogger Genius Podcast:

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Host 0:04
Welcome to the Blogger Genius Podcast brought to you by MiloTree. Here’s your host, Jillian Leslie.

Join our Coaching Group Starting August 4th and Turn Your Blog into a Full Time Business

Jillian Leslie 0:11
Hello, everyone. Welcome back to the show. I’m so glad you’re here. Before I start, I want to announce that our new Coaching Group is starting August 4th. So this is for entrepreneurs, bloggers, people just getting started people who have been at it for a while.

And David and I spent six weeks rolling up our sleeves and working closely with you in real time to grow your business. At the beginning, we give homework assignments, we hold you accountable. It’s a great group of people.

If this sounds interesting to you, please head to MiloTree.com/group to hear about it. To read about it. But also, I would love to get on a call with you just to hear about your business and talk about how the group might help you.

And if you want to schedule a call with me, please head to MiloTree.com/meet and we can get to know each other. For today’s episode, I have my friend Kaycee Geeding on the show. She is the blogger and shop owner behind Roost and Restore.

Kaycee was also in our last coaching group when we talked about that so she can give you insight on what her big takeaways were.

Also, we dig in on the very cool business that Kaycee is growing, where not only does she blog about homesteading and homemaking, but she sells scrap wood to people to help them create beautiful crafts decorations for their homes.

There’s a real rustic quality to it, I think you are going to really like Kaycee and find this episode interesting, because it’s amazing how you can build a successful business on the internet. Without further delay. Here is my interview with Kaycee Geeding. Kaycee, welcome to the show.

Kaycee Geeding 2:24
Hi, it’s so good to be here.

Jillian Leslie 2:26
I am very excited to have you on the show. So we just finished our six-week coaching group and you of course, were a big part of that. And I wanted you on the show because as I was just saying before we press record, how impressed I am with how you’ve grown your business and how you stumbled.

I’m not going to say stumbled how you’ve made some really good choices, figuring out what your audience wants, and then serving it up to them.

So okay, so I don’t even really know your origin story. So would you share how you started your blog, how you started your business, when it was and where you are now.

Starting a Business with Just a Facebook Page

Kaycee Geeding 3:07
Thank you for just seeing the growth and noticing it and asking me to be here. This is really the first time I’ve shared my origin story. And it’s just interesting how it all got started. But I was a stay at home mom for several years.

And I was at home all the time. So decorating my home was just what I did. I lived upcycling and doing things like that just making my home pretty with the little bit of money we had because resources were limited.

We had the one income and people started noticing my photos and things that I was sharing on Facebook. And I decided, well, maybe this could turn into something and it had gone as far as having people asked me to come to their homes and look at their decor.

And I consulted with a couple people. It didn’t really turn into much but I thought there’s something there I just don’t know what. So, I decided to start a Facebook page.

I got in a business coaching group because I knew I wanted to try and make some money on the side being a stay at home mom. The Facebook group started to grow. And I just did all the way today.

Jillian Leslie 4:25
Did you have a blog at this time or just a Facebook page?

Kaycee Geeding 4:28
I did not just a Facebook page. The end goal or not the end goal, but the goal was to have a blog. I knew enough that I felt like I could possibly make a little bit of money with the blog and maybe consulting with people face to face in their homes.

I didn’t really know where it was going. But I knew that I wanted to blog and I thought well, I’m always making things around the house anyway, why not put it in a tutorial and share that so that was always in the back of my mind. The blog part but I had no idea how to even begin.

Jillian Leslie 5:06
Okay. So, how are you growing this Facebook page? Are you just posting the pretty things that you’re making? Are you going live? Because ultimately your Facebook page is an important part of your business right now. Right?

Kaycee Geeding 5:19
Yes. And it really evolves a lot to since the beginning because it started more as me showing the pretty things and showing how I decorated a space in my home and what I used and then I started building this relationship with people just by being real and being myself the whole time.

And then I got to listening and they were telling me they wanted to see more of the behind the scenes stuff. So, I would show them mess as well as the pretty things and just tell them how I achieved the look and it started out more like that and it has evolved. It’s unique actually.

It started more as me being the teacher and now it’s more of my people teach me I think more than I teach them, honestly. And they come to me with this advice, I feel like they see me as their daughter or something.

Because my demographic is women, and they’re probably in their mid to late ages of life. And they come to me and talk to me like I’m their granddaughter or their daughter-in-law and it gives me advice.

Since I started the page a little over a year ago, the Facebook page, we’ve moved and we’ve started a homestead. So the DIY lifestyle has always been in my blood and my husband’s. His goal was to have a homestead and things like that.

So I’ve just taken them on the journey with me from the beginning. It was like, Hey, I’m just a girl who loves decor and oh, by the way, I’m moving now. So you’re coming with me, you’re going to see new things and they have been all for it.

The Importance of Taking Your Audience on the Journey with You

My people want to help me along the way because I’m brutally honest. I’m like, Hey, I don’t know what I’m talking about. Or I don’t know how to catch a green bean, but I’m getting ready to learn and I want you guys to help me.

So, the Facebook page itself is more about the DIY lifestyle that we’re living. We’re in it every day getting our feet dirty out in the garden and work with the chickens. There’s this old-fashioned American feel to it if that makes sense.

Jillian Leslie 7:46
And I feel like especially at this time you’re digging your feet in the in the earth probably, I find that very comforting right now and especially because we are staying home There’s something about making our homes pretty and making them comfortable and making them feel good.

And it’s less about jetting off. It’s more about like carthon home. So okay, are you going live? You go live on your Facebook page, how often are you going live?

Kaycee Geeding 8:20
I need to be more consistent, but I try to go live at least three to five times a week. Even if I’m not showing a craft, I just pop on and I’ll show them my workshop or just chat about the thrift store hall that I just brought home and they eat that stuff up. They love it.

They want to see what I’m doing so in going live to me is just the most authentic way to do that. It’s unscripted. It’s just, hey, here it is. And my kiddos might run into the camera or my dog might be barking but they get it they see that it’s real and they know that I’m going through this right now.

And I feel connection with them that way. And I think they prefer the live over something pre-recorded.

Jillian Leslie 9:11
Do you think it’s your lives that really helped grow your page?

Kaycee Geeding 9:16
Yes, I do. And that was a benefit from having coaching early on was with knowing that you get more reach with video, and live video, especially you get more interaction, too. And that has grown as well. It was so scary going live. And for the first time.

Jillian Leslie 9:37
Were there crickets in the beginning, or were people showing up?

Kaycee Geeding 9:40
Not totally, I don’t even know why, to be honest. There were people there and I had to get out of my own head and out of my way to go live for that first time. But after that first one or two lives, that was all she wrote, and I don’t even worry about how I look anymore.

That’s just part of the authenticity. I’ll make sure I look presentable but at first it was like oh was my hair and my makeup good. Now I try to be more relatable on their level and realize it’s not always beautiful when you’re working at home and have a homestead and have all these things to do.

I feel like I connect to other women my age in that way. Then the other women that are on the page, almost have this nostalgic. They’re always sharing memories of their past and they’re telling me about how they used to do this with their mom and dad.

Or they watch their grandmother do the things that I’m sharing on the page and they just have this like, I don’t know, I just want to hug them. They feel like that like they’re my mom.

I don’t know how to explain it, but just the relationship I feel like I’ve made so many friends and mentors too. And that just feeds back into them teaching me more than I’m teaching them at this point.

Jillian Leslie 11:16
We were talking about this at the beginning, which I believe that the answer to growing a business and to putting yourself out there as somebody. Let’s say, who people gravitate to is making it not the Kaycee show but making it I’m this facilitator.

Even though it is about your life, it’s really not about you, it’s about the connection to the audience. And the more we set ourselves up as some sort of expert or influencer, I think the more distinct we become.

It is about showing up with no makeup on and having your kids run through. And showing your chickens and the kind of messiness, I think makes you very relatable and that people then will buy from you. So let’s talk about now, you start your blog and you start selling stuff.

We’re going to get to the fact that you now sell products that people want to buy from you, and they’re very unique products. How did you start that? So you get your Facebook page going with juice, you’re showing up, and then you roll it into a blog.

And do you put a shop on the blog right away? What are you doing?

Kaycee Geeding 12:27
I’m trying to remember honestly, because it’s all blurred it happened so fast. We launched the blog a year ago in May. And I want to say, I started a Shopify store simultaneously because I thought that was what I was supposed to do.

Being a business owner, you feel like you’re supposed to sell things and I didn’t really know what to sell. It just made sense for me to sell home decor because that’s what I was talking about in the blog, and what I was showing on the Facebook page.

So that’s what I started out with. I was selling little shelf hitters and candles and things like that. People liked it. It wasn’t amazing, but it was there. So, this is kind of where the shift come in.

Jillian Leslie 13:16
Where were you sourcing that stuff?

Why You Need to Discover What Your Audience Wants from You

Kaycee Geeding 13:19
Wholesale.

Jillian Leslie 13:19
Did you find a warehouse? So, you were buying stuff like candles, putting it in your house and then shipping it out?

Kaycee Geeding 13:26
Correct.

Jillian Leslie 13:27
Okay.

Kaycee Geeding 13:27
That’s what I was doing. And I was working out of a little tiny office at the time. So the office also held the decor and held all my craft and supplies. It was a mess, but that’s where we were at the time and that’s how it worked.

But the shift came, I was doing a craft. Actually, let me back up. And I’ve told you a little bit about this before but my family and I had gone on a vacation to Louisville. We were going to Thunder Over Louisville, and we were going to go see the Louisville Slugger museum. They’re down town.

And so, you get through the tour of the Louisville Slugger Museum, and they give you this little piece of wood. And I laugh so much when I think about it because I was looking at this little piece of wood and they call them nubs.

And it’s just like the end that they lop off the end of the baseball bat when it’s finished, and it’s about to be painted and shipped out. Okay, so it’s like, this piece of wood stays on this bat until like the very end and they cut it off, because that’s what it’s carried through.

Anyway, they give you this nub as like a little token after your tour is over. And I’m looking at this nub. I had the diaper bag and I looked at my husband and I said, “Babe, I need these. These are awesome.” And he thought I was crazy. I said, “No, I need like a bunch of these. And they’re free.”

So we started stuffing some in the diaper bag. We weren’t stealing I don’t want you to think that but I was, like, they said, we could have whatever we wanted.” So I’m going to get several. And so I got some and then I’m like, you know what I don’t know, I want more of these.

And at the time, I had been invited to present a craft at a live event for like 80 plus women. So my light bulb went off. I’m like, you know what, I need a ton of these nubs because we’re going to make a tray. And this was all happening. It was within like a two-minute time frame in my head.

All these ideas are just firing off. And I’m like, I have to ask them if I can get 300 of these. And Josh was like, “Babe, really?” Like, “Are you serious right now?” He’s like, “You’re going to have to go ask I’m not asking for you.” And I was so embarrassed.

I went up to this [inaudible 15:52] and he looked at me like I had three eyes. He was like, what are you asking me like you want 300 of these it’s just trash at this point, like, yes. So he directed me to someone else because he didn’t really know how to answer my question.

And this sweet little old man that worked there. I think he might have been a janitor was like, “Oh yeah, I’ll go to the back and get you some boxes of these things.” And I promise this story is leading to something. So he went and box them up.

I kicked the kids out of the stroller because like I said, we were walking downtown, and local. And I had these slugger boxes full of nubs in my stroller. And we had to make a special trip back to the car to put the boxes away.

I brought those nubs home and this was a three hour trip for us. So I brought those nubs home. And I did this tray I made a tray had a little circle, and I use these nubs that I got from the museum which had this really cool story with it, and I did it live on my Facebook page.

And everybody went bananas. They’re like, oh my gosh, I need some of these nubs and at first, I was well, I just thought it was a cool story I wanted to share this with you. And then I got to thinking, what if I can get my hands on some more and I can start sending these to people?

Jillian Leslie 17:27
Did you think I can sell these or what?

Kaycee Geeding 17:31
It really wasn’t my thought. It was just more of me serving my people at the time. I was like, “Oh, yeah, I’ll send you something you can use it’s unique. Sure. Just let me get my head around it.” So I called the museum and I just gauged interest based on the comments on the video, the live video.

And then comments as well on the blog post, because I did a blog post showing the project. And I called up to the museum and asked for I think it was somewhere between 10 and 15 boxes of these nubs. And once again, they thought I was crazy because no one had ever asked that question before.

And so my husband made a special trip, we coordinated with the museum, he made a special trip to get these nubs and it was like a whole ordeal on the page at the time. I’m like, oh my gosh, I’m getting nubs for you guys. You asked and it’s happening.

And so, I sold them basically for the cost of shipping. I didn’t really make money because it didn’t connect with me I could make money that wasn’t really what I was thinking. I was just wanting to get this to my people because it was just a unique thing.

And so they sold quicker, it was thousands of nubs and remember I said I was keeping this in a tiny little office. So, I had boxes stacked up around me and we ship the nubs and they were a hit. And the next question was, well now we need the circles for the tray.

We have the nubs but now we need these little wooden circles. And that’s where I was like, okay there’s something here. I can start making this stuff and selling this stuff. And when I say I, I used the term I it was more my husband. He was the one out there. I didn’t know how to use a saw.

I barely knew how to use a drill. So he was out there cutting these circles by hand and we sold hundreds of these hand cut circles and baseball nubs and I was like wow. They don’t want decor; they want to make their own decor.

Jillian Leslie 20:04
Okay, so we have to pause there for a second. I always talk about as a business owner, you’re a miner with a pickaxe, and you go up into the hills and you start mining for gold. So you thought, okay, people want my decor.

I’m going to buy some candles and sell them. I’m going to buy some cute stuff for their shelves. And you just had this light bulb moment of like, I think these things are cool. I’m not thinking about it for my business, but these wood things look really neat.

And you offered them to your audience, and then all of a sudden, they responded like crazy, probably much more say than the candles. In hindsight now.

It’s like you went mining and guess what, you struck some gold, then you’re listening and your audience is telling you, hey, we don’t just want these. We want the circles now.

And then you go wait a second. I was thinking my business is going to be over here in DIY stuff and finish stuff that people can decorate. And really, you’re realizing no, no, no, the gold in the hills is my people want to make stuff like with wood. And how do I then serve them?

Add the MiloTree Pop-Up App to Your Site to Grow Your Social Media Followers and Email List

Jillian Leslie 21:09
Imagine growing your Instagram followers with no work highly engaged followers. Now imagine it with Pinterest, Facebook, YouTube. How about new email subscribers? Seriously, no work. This is all possible if you install the MiloTree pop-up on your blog.

David, my husband and I started our blog Catch My Party in 2009. We’ve since grown it into the largest party idea site on the web with millions of pageviews per month. We did it with hard work and our secret weapon our MiloTree pop-up which David built for us.

We’ve grown our Pinterest followers to over 1.3 million and our Instagram followers to over 164,000 and right now 8000 other bloggers just like you are using MiloTree to grow their businesses with MiloTree you can focus on growing one platform or switch between several.

But here is the important thing. If you aren’t converting your visitors into followers, subscribers and customers, you’re honestly wasting your own traffic. Make this asset your visitors work for you. Since we’re bloggers, we get bloggers, so we’ve optimized MiloTree like crazy.

It’s a snap to install. It won’t slow your site down. It’s Google friendly on mobile, and it’s so darn cute. You can even add animated sparkles to your pop-up if you like. Sign up now and get your first 30 days for free.

Please, pause this episode and head to Milotree.com to sign up. I know you will thank me. As bonus once you sign up, I’m going to send you weekly, actionable business tips to help you grow your business. I’ve been at this a long time and I have a lot to share.

Remember, your scarcest resource is not money, it’s time. So let MiloTree free up time for you so you can focus on the other important parts of your business. So, what are you waiting for? Hit pause, head to MiloTree and sign up today.

Can You Pivot Your Business to What Your Audience Needs?

Jillian Leslie 23:11
I start my podcast because I want it to support MiloTree. I want to attract people who have blogs and I can help them grow their blogs, their businesses, and then they can buy MiloTree and put MiloTree on their blogs.

And all of a sudden, I noticed people who hadn’t started blogs, were listening to the podcast, and I’m going, oh, no, this is the wrong audience. I need people because you can’t use MiloTree unless you have a blog that you own, that’s yours.

And I’m thinking, wait a second. oh, no, this is my wrong audience. And then I thought to myself, wait a second. Maybe we could come out with a product where we help people set up blogs. Again, I’m thinking we’re going one direction.

And I’m a little upset like, wait, no, no, you’re the wrong audience. No, no, I’m attracting the wrong people. And then I thought, No, no, no. What these people have is a need. They’re listening to my podcasts.

They’re wanting to build businesses, but they haven’t yet been able to get their blog set up, hey, I can help you get your blog set up. And that’s how we launched our Blog Start Program. But again, it was the mindset shift of going no, no, no I thought it was this.

And not that we don’t then ultimately, we set up your blog helped you grow your blog, and then you get MiloTree on your blog. So it all kind of fits. However, we saw this need that I never thought existed. Why are you listening to my podcast if you don’t already have a blog?

So it’s like you going, “Wait, I thought you guys wanted the full DIY like the decor.” And then to go no, no, no, what you really want. What you’re really excited about is making the decor with wood, okay, so keep telling tell the story.

So I love this that you went, Oh, no, here’s the shift I need to make. I’m going to go continue now to mine on the hill where the gold is. So tell me about the gold. Finding more gold.

Kaycee Geeding 25:17
Well, it is kind of what I was saying before we hit record is it was kind of an accident in a way. I don’t know I was a little resistant to the idea. I’m like, really you want the woods? And I’m up here thinking well, darn I don’t even know how to use the saw. I’m just going to have to rely on my husband.

So, instead of taking on that mindset and just totally push it off on him, I decided I was going to learn the skill set. So I could experiment with this a little bit. So I started making these very basic wood cuts, okay. And you can search on Pinterest rockwood projects all day long.

And you’ll see what I’m talking about. Just very basic, little blocks of wood that are all decorated, cute. And you can set them as part of the vignette or on your shelf. That sort of thing. So I started making and selling these very basic pieces of wood.

And it blew my mind how much people actually loved it because maybe these people didn’t have access to a saw. Maybe they love what they saw on Pinterest, but they didn’t really have the means to take it from Pinterest, and make it in real life.

And so my idea was, I want to help these women take these ideas that they have, and actually have them come to life. I wanted to do the work for them. There’s no sense in them going out and buying a bunch of tools buying a bunch of wood, when they really just want this cute little sign.

So, I took the burden of learning that myself and buying the tools. I did that and learn this skill set. I’m still learning everything I know is very basic at this point. I decided, you know what, I’m going to learn this and I’m going to ship it to you.

So if you are at home and you can’t afford to go get a whole slab of wood and cut it on your own saw or you don’t have the means or the time, then you can buy it from me, I will do that legwork and send it to you. And I realized that’s not very scalable, keeping myself in the thick of it all the time.

So as we grew I was starting to get burnt out, honestly. I was like, oh my gosh, I am a slave to the saw. And I don’t even love being on the saw that much. I want to just decorate and make things pretty.

Jillian Leslie 27:47
Now was this when we met?

Kaycee Geeding 27:49
Yes, that’s what I was about to say.

Jillian Leslie 27:51
Okay. Go ahead.

Kaycee Geeding 27:52
That’s when we met and I’ll never forget when we got on our one on one call before I started your six week coaching group. And you were like, “What are you doing?” You were like, “Why are you resisting this? You’ve struck gold.”

I remember you saying that. And I’m like, “I don’t know. I don’t love it.” I was ready to hang it up. I really was. And even after that call, and after I had gotten in the group, I think it was a couple weeks in I posted my tools for sale. I was done. I was getting rid of it. I’m like, nope, done. I’m done.

I’m tired of being a slave to this. And that’s how I felt. I felt guilty for even feeling that way because I knew what my people wanted. But I was like, this isn’t what I really want. And I had that selfish moment. Like no, this is going to be what I want. This weird transformation.

I don’t remember which week it was, but you were just giving us a pep talk in the group and you said, what did you say? Just how it’s going to suck sometimes. You just have to get through the bad days. And I was just having a really bad day.

How to Deal with Burnout in Your Business

Decided I was done. And you encouraged me that day. You said, “No, if you hit that gold, you just have to just keep pushing through it. Something’s going to come of it. And even if you’re over here and something’s working, you can pivot just a little bit and not totally change course, but change it in a way that is good for you too.”

And so what I did because at the time, you could just go on my Shopify store, you could buy this, this this, it was like going to the grocery store, you can just pick up whatever you want put in your cart.

That had me literally running all over the place from different kinds of tools and stuff in my shop making these pieces to ship. And I decided, I need to take a little more control of this instead of it controlling me.

I pulled all that stuff off the side. And I decided to bundle it into a subscription form. And so we launched subscription boxes last week, I think I don’t remember what day it was July 1st. And so now if people are wanting these pre-cut shapes, wood blocks.

And when I say wood blocks, you can get these cute little wood block houses, trays, or just pieces of wood that I bought. I will eventually show you what to do with that sort of thing. And people would send me Pinterest Pins. Hey, I want to make this. Can you send me this wood?

So these boxes are pre-packaged with three to five, little, not little, they’re nice pieces. But pre-cut wood it’s unfinished. And now you can actually purchase that in a kit not a kit, let me rephrase that it’s just a package because it’s not a complete kit that you’re getting.

And I found out that most people don’t want a complete kit, they don’t want the ribbon, they don’t want everything that goes with it. They just want the wood because they’ve already got the idea in their head.

And if they don’t, they’re going to watch me do it on a video and then they can go and be inspired and do it themselves. Because I experimented with that, too, in conjunction with the boxes, also wants the complete kit.

And I think I sold five of the complete kits and 100 boxes, it was just black and white. We’re like, okay, they don’t want this, throw that in the garbage and they want this. So now the subscribers can get these and they’re mystery boxes so they don’t know what they’re getting in their box.

That’s the fun part, but they trust me enough because they’ve seen enough of the projects to know that what I’m sending is going to be good. So we send these subscription boxes.

Jillian Leslie 32:18
How much do you charge for a subscription box?

Kaycee Geeding 32:21
$39.99.

Jillian Leslie 32:24
And then they pay shipping on top of that?

Kaycee Geeding 32:27
We carry shipping costs.

Jillian Leslie 32:28
Okay. I got it.

Kaycee Geeding 32:31
The thing is that I offer the product without it being a subscription as well and it comes at a higher price you will pay $49.99 if you just want to purchase it one time, but if you subscribe, you’re getting the discount and that’s just part of the incentive to be a subscriber.

And I haven’t totally worked out the kinks on all that yet. This is brand new for me. There are two different elements to the Shopify store now.

And there’s the scrap wood in the boxes, and then we have designed and launched a new type of sign, a wooden sign that’s customizable, they can build it. It’s interchangeable. And that too is in the very beginning stages, but people are eating it up because once again, they are making it themselves.

They’re not getting a complete kit, they are deciding what size frame they want, what kind of background they want, what kind of words and just what they want their signs to look like. Sure, I could sell them a sign kit, but that’s not what they want.

They want to be able to pick and choose and basically build their sign. And I say build like they’re just getting the nuts and bolts in the mail and then they get to build it and they get to do it themselves.

Jillian Leslie 34:00
So you provide the raw materials, really?

Kaycee Geeding 34:03
Correct.

Jillian Leslie 34:03
Because we’re talking about this and you go, when I first started and I thought I’m just providing scrap wood and I said to you I go, “I wouldn’t know where to get scrap wood.” To you it’s nothing, but to me it’s a big deal. I would not know; do I go to Home Depot?

I wouldn’t know how to use a saw. You are providing so much value, but to you it’s like you live on a farm where you’re like, hey, wood is no big deal.

Kaycee Geeding 34:30
It is literally just laying around. That’s where a lot of the crafters I’ve noticed in the crafting the Facebook world and things like that, is they do all these really cute scrap wood projects. But I’m sitting here thinking but I don’t have a piece of wood that looks like that.

And I just wanted those people that even if they’re not watching me, do the craft. If they see somebody else do something amazing, because there’s lots of really cute scrap wood projects out there. That they can get their hands-on wood.

It’s not impossible and they don’t have to learn a new skill set to cut the piece of wood or hire somebody to come build something for them. That’s not where a lot of these women are.

A lot of these women like I said, they just they don’t have the skill set or they don’t care to learn. They just want the cute stuff.

Jillian Leslie 35:22
How did you get past that feeling of burnout or you past it? My feeling is when you’re in a situation where things are working and you’re finding gold and you’re feeling burnout? Is there a way you can hire somebody?

And I said that like, could you hire somebody to make the wood? How can you adjust it so that you can fulfill this need? I remember you go I just want to be a blogger. And I was looking at your site and you have this really nice lemonade recipe to make this like home.

And I go okay, so I said hmm, you can be selling wood, or people could make your lemonade recipe which is more special, where could you build a business? It just was like, oh, wait a second. No, no, no, don’t abandon this. Is there a way to align yourself with it? So what have you done?

Kaycee Geeding 36:21
That’s the cool part I think about my Facebook page. And it’s hard to explain but the same people that want to and some might disagree with this, I don’t know but I feel like my people because I know them. They are the type that want to make their own signs, but they also want to make lemonade.

They also want to know what kind of herbs to put in their nesting boxes for their chickens, it’s just like that homey, just adding value to their homes any way possible is what these women love and they also like to get their hands dirty.

Jillian Leslie 37:07
How did you deal with the burnout? What have you done? I know you went to subscription boxes so that you were no longer getting an order and having to go like make a bespoke home. Like the personalized piece of wood. Has that helped?

Kaycee Geeding 37:25
We’ve switched to the subscription boxes. Because that was such an important part of the business people were like no, we want this wood so to make it more reasonable for me and to keep myself from burning out and because right now it is literally just me on the saw.

I do have an assistant at the moment and she helped me with a little bit of everything. But I know exactly how many pieces of wood I need to cut for the month to send when it comes to the scrap wood. So the subscription box solves that problem and that was super helpful.

And I’m still giving my people what they want, they have the option to buy it in two different ways. They can buy it once, or they can subscribe. So that’s up to them, there’s no pressure. I think they love that there’s been lots of positive feedback there.

And then the other thing was hiring help. And that was so scary for me to actually commit to that because before it failed, it was on me, and now I have an employee that relies on the success of it. She has taken a big weight off my shoulders.

She’s does a little bit of everything right now and we’re still working out the kilns because she’s also very creative and we can work side by side with planning for new product launches and things like that.

I think she is going to become more of my personal assistant and she will be doing less of the housework and things. We’re currently looking to hire a second person to have on our team.

So it’ll be me, my personal assistant who currently does a little bit of everything, but I see her potential so I really want her working closer to me. And then a third person that will help as well. So that is where we’re at with that.

And, in conjunction with the subscriptions, I know I’m backtracking a little bit. I’ve mentioned before we launched the signs, okay, and I’m calling them nesting boxes, the Roost and Restore nesting box, and basically you have the frame.

You build the frame once and then you get the insert and the add on okay, so these things can be outsourced. And so, I plan on outsourcing the frames and things like that not totally because I still want to have that homemade, touched by me feel.

I do want my hands on these things to make sure that it’s exactly the way I want it. But outsourcing is something we’re moving toward as well, because with the launch of the signs and the launch of the mystery boxes, it’s been overwhelming.

And so, I’m having to rethink how I’m going to get the products to people. Because it’s so successful a problem.

Jillian Leslie 40:43
I was just going to say these are problems and it’s not like they’re not problems. But these are good problems to have, even though they might keep you up at night and they might stress you out and they might make you go, oh my God, how am I going to manage all this?

This is the kind of problem you want to have versus the problem of nobody’s buying my stuff, what do I do? I got bills to pay. So again, these are the growing pains, I always say start with stuff you can’t scale. And then over time figure out how to scale it if that’s your problem.

Kaycee Geeding 41:12
That’s exactly where we’re at.

How the MiloTree Entrepreneur Coaching Group Can Help You Grow Your Blog

Jillian Leslie 41:15
I want to talk just briefly about your experience being in our six-week group and what that was like for you just to give. Because we’re going to open it up again. And I just wanted to talk about what you got out of it.

So initially, you found me and I said, Let’s get on a call to talk to see if it was a good fit. And I gave you some ideas for your blog, like, hey, you could change your nap here or hey, you could do this.

Kaycee Geeding 41:41
It worked.

Jillian Leslie 41:42
Okay, and then you decided to join the group. And what was that like for you?

Kaycee Geeding 41:49
Well, that call in itself really pushed me over the edge because just seeing that you and David both were so willing just to help. You had this genuine like, hey do this and you tell me exactly what to do and I implemented the changes and guess what it worked.

And I’m like, okay, there’s some value to what they’re telling me here and it was just a no brainer for me to just go ahead and enroll in the group.

Like I said, I was on the fence before and that personal touch of you looking at me specifically and saying this is what you need to do for your business right now is really what the game changer was for me.

And I said this before like you guys had the ability to speak in generalizations but then you could also look at each person in the group and say, Okay, this is what you need to do. You’ve got the gold here, and you saw the gold I think before even I did.

So that point of view from you guys. And the fact that you’ve been in the trenches and you’ve done the work yourself too. You know exactly what we’re feeling, what we’re going through, and exactly what we need to hear. And you give us those actionable steps.

It’s not just like this cheer session, like go you, you’ve got this. It was more of like, no, go do this, this and this, and I can guarantee that this is the outcome, you just have to do the work. And so it made sense to me to have those actionable steps and things for us to do each week was super helpful.

Jillian Leslie 43:28
Yeah, I gave homework, I gave homework.

Kaycee Geeding 43:30
Yeah, homework.

Jillian Leslie 43:32
But again, I get to see you growing your business in the course of this and then go, Kaycee you wrote this blog post, this great blog post of scrapped projects, and I could see I’m like, wait a minute, you’ve got to sell your scrap wood for these projects.

And you’re like, “Oh, I hadn’t thought of that.”

Kaycee Geeding 43:54
Oh, yeah, of course.

Jillian Leslie 43:55
Made it like an aside like, hey, if you want to, and I’m like, no, no, you need the wood and then you can do magic.

Kaycee Geeding 44:00
It’s something so simple like that has been so helpful. It’s simple. And it makes so much sense after you said it. But having you look at it and say, “No, this is what you need to do.” It’s like, oh, of course.

Sometimes you don’t see your own mistakes, it’s rather funny, it should be so plain. That was really a good moment you said that.

Jillian Leslie 44:26
Well, again, I think too, I’m blind to things in my own business. It’s like, you can’t quite see your own fault sometimes, whereas you can see them in other people. And I’m not saying that that was a fault at all. But it’s like, you can go oh, wait a minute, because you have fresh eyes.

So you see your business all the time. Like I see my business, I thought the wrong audience was showing up for my business. And it took me a little while to go, Oh, no, that’s not the wrong audience. It’s just a different audience.

And so, it’s like you need people to point that out to you sometimes. So that you can go have that aha moment because I have this very specific way of seeing how things should work. And trying to squish it so that it does work that way.

And then someone comes in with fresh eyes and it’s like, oh my God, duh. Like, how many duh moments have I had. Looking back going why didn’t I see this?

Kaycee Geeding 45:18
It’s kind of like the lemonade.

Jillian Leslie 45:20
Kind of like the lemonade. And again, I love the lemonade. But it was like you have stuff that’s working, and you’re ready to chuck it for making lemonade, which is great. Like it’s an add on, but not as what you know where your business could really blossom.

And the thing is that being an entrepreneur, as you know, it’s hard. I wouldn’t choose any other path. But there are days you wake up and you hate your business and I’m very upfront about saying this.

Kaycee Geeding 45:52
And you want to put all your tools on Facebook for sale.

Jillian Leslie 45:55
I remember you saying you did that. You really did do that. You really did?

Kaycee Geeding 45:58
I really did do that. No, I really did. I bought a machine one month and I had it less than a month. I’m like, nope, done. And then I just had like a little pity party, I guess I don’t know. And then I got over it.

Jillian Leslie 46:15
What about your business right now are you most excited? So by the way, thank you for all the stuff that you said about the group. And that is totally true. If you think of joining, I want to get on a call with you and give you some pointers and stuff.

We do work very specifically, what’s really nice about it is it’s a group of people who come together and they’re in different verticals. But I think that because of that, you get to look at oh, my God, that business is different than mine, or I could borrow that into my business.

Kaycee Geeding 46:46
In that six weeks you feel like you know these people a little more personally too. I’m following them now and saying like, oh, I can see that little nugget that they’re applying from what they’ve learned from the group but I’m like, oh, I know what they’re doing. They’re doing good.

There’s something I was going to say to that, and I forgot, but yes, it was awesome. I love being a part of that group.

Jillian Leslie 47:13
Oh, great. And now what about your business right now are you most excited?

Kaycee Geeding 47:17
Oh yes, yes. Oh my gosh, just having the good problems. Having the good problems, it’s just starting to click for me and the growth has been crazy, from the time that I started your group until now, we doubled our best day.

Jillian Leslie 47:49
This is probably about two months ago?

Kaycee Geeding 47:51
Yeah. So our best day before when I say best day like sales on physical products. We’ve been doubled our best day, just by me digging in and really figuring out what it is they want. So, I’m just I’m so excited to see where that’s going to go.

And what is in store for the for the physical products and the blog. And I still feel like I’m mining a little bit or maybe I’ve struck gold and I’m just trying to smooth everything out now and make it more scalable and things but I think when all those kilns are worked out.

I don’t know, I’m just so excited to see where it’s going to go. I want to think that it’s going to explode and with the momentum we have right now, I just don’t see how it couldn’t,

Jillian Leslie 48:49
Oh my god. Okay, Kaycee. This is why I wanted you on the show because we’ve been watching you go through this. And I want to say I feel like you came in needing a little bit of like, go this way. And then boom, do it and speaking to where you were.

Like, okay, you’re feeling burnt out let’s talk about this let’s figure out how to pivot away from that so that you can refresh and figure and build. And it’s so satisfying to watch both David and I are like you go Kaycee, because we feel so proud to see you take this and run with it.

So if people want to reach out to you. See what you’re doing buy your products. What is the best way for them to do it?

Kaycee Geeding 49:45
The best way I’m most active on my Facebook page, so it’s Roost and Restored DIY Living. That’s where you can find me on Facebook and of course I’m on Pinterest as well and Instagram. Haven’t moved over to TikTok yet.

I know you’ve been wanting me to but I haven’t. So Facebook and then of course you can always shoot me an email at Kaycee@roostandrestore.com.

Jillian Leslie 50:08
And it’s K-A-Y-C-E-E@roostandrestore.com.

Kaycee Geeding 50:13
Roostandrestore.com. Yes. And there’s a link on the blog where you can get to my shop and buy the wood and yeah, that’s the best way to find me.

Jillian Leslie 50:27
Well, I love that. Well, honestly, Kaycee, I can’t wait to continue and you’re moving, you’re doing our membership. So we get to still be working with you, and watching you grow and being there for you in any way that we can. And I have to say thank you so much for coming on the show.

Kaycee Geeding 50:43
Thanks for having me. I appreciate it. It’s been so much fun.

Jillian Leslie 50:48
I hope you liked Kaycee’s story. I think it is such a great example of building an emergent business letting it emerge while you are listening and watching and seeing what your audience is responding to. This is how David and I teach it best. This sounds interesting to you.

Please come join our next group starting really soon on August 4th. Go to MiloTree.com/group to learn about it, but come jump on a call with me MiloTree.com/meet and we can talk about your business, what you’re struggling with, how you want it to grow, and what the group can do for you.

And I will see you here again next week.

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Let it pop up in front of your visitors and ask them to follow you on Instagram Pinterest, YouTube, Facebook, join your list, check out the exit intent but really get your community growing. And we’d love to help you with MiloTree. And I will see you here again next week.

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