MAGPIE

How do you get the word out about new feature releases? 📣 You build an awesome new product or feature that you expect will drive all sorts of new customers and then, NOTHING. Everyone has been there. The old adage of build it, and they will come has never been more challenging. At MAGPIE, we are experimenting with a few different things given that our customer and our user aren’t always the same person. 📲 Targeted text outreach- For customers we’ve talked to, we know their pains and what they need, so we text directly to see if we can get them to test the new feature. It’s a great way to build a relationship and get first hand feedback. 👩🏫 Webinars- With a technical product sometimes it helps to explain how it works and the value proposition, so we have done a few webinars to explain our product to new users. We like to partner with others to expand our audience and then we have great content for future use. 🤝 Events- With an SMB audience, building trust first hand is often the most important and the best way to do that is in person. Showing a demo and how it could directly benefit the customer is a huge win. Speaking of new features, our tool for pricing sealed boxes with partner WaxStat is available for early access this week. Join our webinar on Thursday, February 8th at 2:30pm EST to learn more or DM me for access. #thehobby #whodoyoucollect #sportscards #topps #paniniamerica #panini #basketballcards #tradingcards #baseballcards #nba #footballcards #psa #rookiecard #mlb #nfl #cardcollector #rookie #baseball #autograph #upperdeck #cards #basketball #football #sports #sportscardsforsale #cardcollection #collect #nbacards #sportscardscollector #rookiecards #HobbyShop #HobbyTrends #HobbyBusiness #SmallBusiness #RetailTrends #RetailBusiness  #alternativeassets #fanatics  #sportstech  #nhl #mls #collectibles #collecttech #cardshow #innovation #pokemon  #magicthegathering #ecommerce #retailtech #pos #square #shopify #clover #ecommerce #marketing #business #digitalmarketing #ecommercebusiness #entrepreneur #onlineshopping #website #seo #webdesign #b #marketingdigital #socialmedia #onlinebusiness #fashion #branding #shopify #smallbusiness #socialmediamarketing #webdevelopment #online #amazon #shopping #onlinestore #onlineshop #design #instagram #ecommercewebsite #wordpress #dropshipping

Our monthly update is here! The collaborative is over a 100 strong and we're in awe of the growth that is happening. The grind never stops. 💬 Community Chats: Knock out your fundraise with these tips from OpStart. 🏃 Collaborative on the Move: Flora to be on Shark Tank ABC, MAGPIE enhances solution with a Freemium offering, Giffft launches! 🎙️ Founders Series: Volume 3 is out with Zack Babin co-founder of ModernLTV. ⛽️ Accelerant: How to add process as your north star from Gloria Folaron, founder of Leantime (Techstars '23). Hit the link to read more. Can't wait to see what February has in store for us.

Did you catch this week's The New York Times article about Fanatics and the collectible space? For those of us in the industry, we've been watching this incredible transformation play out on a daily basis, it is interesting to show how the NYTimes has framed the story to broader public for the first time. Overall, I think they did a good job of getting the high level pieces with great perspective from some of the most knowledgeable people I know like Michael Osacky and Rob Veres the CardFather. Still though, I think they missed a few things that are really important to understand how this industry is going to evolve. I put together a few thoughts on what the NYTimes missed in my video 📹 below. Check it out and share your thoughts in the comments below ⬇ PS. I'm experimenting with video content on LinkedIn, so let me know what you think!

What are you doing to get 2024 off to a good start for your business? 📈 As we emerge from the haze of the holiday season, it is easy to overdo the focus on New Year’s resolutions. Tales of people abandoning their gym memberships by February are often told, but it’s too easy to forget this also happens in our work lives. In January, every business focuses on putting all the annual planning into motion and executing on OKRs. Today, I wanted to share three themes that I’m embracing to help maintain momentum and growth for MAGPIE in 2024. 👫Community- Make sure you are surrounded by the right people to help you grow your business and achieve your goals. Your direct team of employees and contractors is the most obvious component to this, but success also depends on great customers, partners, and supporters. Who do you count in your community and how do you plan to connect with them this year? ⚡️Energy- Much like an individual, companies have different levels of energy at different times. This year I am working on being more intentional around how we deploy our energy to engage with customers, partners and teammates, so that we can maximize our efforts. January is a slow period for retail following the holiday rush. This month we help customers clean up operations and embark on new initiatives for 2024. What kinds of energy do you seen in your business and do think about how to manage that? 🔄 Consistency- Every business knows that showing up day in and day out for your customers and your team is critical to maintaining trust and growth. When you are a small business, that is often challenging given the variety of tasks and complications that inevitably arise. Automating repeated activities, scheduling touchpoints and calendaring communications can go a long way to making consistency far easier and reducing decisions and burdens for any leader. How do you build consistency into your business? Do you have other themes you are focused on for 2024? Share them below in the comments. ⬇️ #thehobby #whodoyoucollect #sportscards #topps #paniniamerica #panini #basketballcards #tradingcards #baseballcards #nba #footballcards #psa #rookiecard #mlb #nfl #cardcollector #rookie #baseball #autograph #upperdeck #cards #basketball #football #sports #sportscardsforsale #cardcollection #collect #nbacards #sportscardscollector #rookiecards #HobbyShop #HobbyTrends #HobbyBusiness #SmallBusiness #RetailTrends #RetailBusiness  #alternativeassets #fanatics  #sportstech  #nhl #mls #collectibles #collecttech #cardshow #innovation #pokemon  #magicthegathering #ecommerce #retailtech #pos #square #shopify #clover #ecommerce #marketing #business #digitalmarketing #ecommercebusiness #entrepreneur #onlineshopping #website #seo #webdesign #b #marketingdigital #socialmedia #onlinebusiness #fashion #branding #shopify #smallbusiness #socialmediamarketing #webdevelopment #online #amazon #shopping #onlinestore #onlineshop #design #instagram #ecommercewebsite #femalefounder

What can you do in the final two weeks of the year to set up your business for success in 2024? 🎁 It is so tempting during this last full business week of the year to check out and get ready for family time and the holidays. If you have the opportunity to do so, enjoy it!  For those in retail and sales roles, though, the next ten days are critical for finishing up the year strong and setting up a successful 2024. Here are three things that MAGPIE recommends to its customers to ensure they not only crush the holiday season, but also prepare for the new year. 🧾 DATA- Make sure you are tracking inventory, sales and customer data this holiday season. With this data, you can start 2024 by focusing on new customers, great products and sales channels that are most successful for your business and brand. Clean sales data will also reduce the time and money you spend on your accountant during Q1. 👩💻 Website- Ensure that your website is user-friendly and mobile-responsive. Highlight holiday deals and exclusive items prominently on the homepage to capture the attention of visitors especially if you have any post- holiday sales or promotions. Also, make sure that you have a plan to remove holiday content and update your website with new inventory or special events for January. This is one of the biggest mistakes we see small businesses make. 📣 Email marketing– During these last few days of the holiday season, offer exclusive deals and promotions to incentivize purchases especially for last minute shoppers. You can also promote in-store events for kids and their harried parents who may be looking for alternatives to video games or simply to get them out of the house. Email marketing will also set up a great way to communicate with customers in the new year and ensure your customers look to you for interesting activities and events. What are you doing this December to set yourself up for a successful 2024?? Share in the comments below. ⬇️ #thehobby #whodoyoucollect #sportscards #topps #paniniamerica #panini #basketballcards #tradingcards #baseballcards #nba #footballcards #psa #rookiecard #mlb #nfl #cardcollector #rookie #baseball #autograph #upperdeck #cards #basketball #football #sports #sportscardsforsale #cardcollection #collect #nbacards #sportscardscollector #rookiecards #HobbyShop #HobbyTrends #HobbyBusiness #SmallBusiness #RetailTrends #RetailBusiness  #alternativeassets #fanatics  #sportstech  #nhl #mls #collectibles #collecttech #cardshow #innovation #pokemon  #magicthegathering #ecommerce #retailtech #pos #square #shopify #clover #ecommerce #marketing #business #digitalmarketing #ecommercebusiness #entrepreneur #onlineshopping #website #seo #webdesign #b #marketingdigital #socialmedia #onlinebusiness #fashion #branding #shopify #smallbusiness #socialmediamarketing #webdevelopment #online #amazon #shopping #onlinestore #onlineshop #design #instagram #ecommercewebsite #wordpress #dropshipping

How do you use video 🎥 content to build your business? At MAGPIE, we love to connect with our customers and our community through video content, and over the last few years we have run a number of successful video based campaigns. Today, I’m going to share the core types of content that we have found to be valuable for building our business. In future posts, I can share more about our experience on platforms and formats. 👯 Relationship– The collector community is a tight-knit group and so we love to feature different hobby leaders and participants to get their perspective on what is happening in the community and to better understand their priorities. This has been great for building our own relationships within the industry and to find common ground problems that we can solve together. One of my favorite series was our 2022 Christmas interviews. I spoke with over 20 different collectibles dealers and learned not only their perspective on the industry, but also got to know them better personally. It was fun to ask question like their favorite gift as kid, favorite holiday movies and what is on their wish list today! 🧑🏫 Educational- I first started making educational videos when I was getting back into collecting and trying to learn everything I could about the business from grading to Ebay strategies to different parallels and more. Recently, MAGPIE has started hosting webinars with partners and customers to learn about how they tackle some of their biggest challenges from inventory management to sourcing new products to social media advertising to website and marketing campaigns. We’ll be releasing a webinar with our partner Hobbzi and their customer Badger Breaks later this month with recent insights on how to crush Christmas. Stay tuned for that. 📣 Testimonial– We want to share the wins that our customers have when working with MAGPIE, so we’ve created interviews and video walk throughs of stores and customer collections to help the larger market understand what our product is and the benefits it delivers to users. It's great to hear first hand how we are helping to grow the industry we love. What types of content resonates most with your audience? Share in the comments below. ⬇️ #thehobby #whodoyoucollect #sportscards #topps #paniniamerica #panini #basketballcards #tradingcards #baseballcards #nba #footballcards #psa #rookiecard #mlb #nfl #cardcollector #rookie #baseball #autograph #cardcollection #collect #nbacards #sportscardscollector #rookiecards #HobbyShop #HobbyTrends #HobbyBusiness #SmallBusiness #RetailTrends #RetailBusiness  #alternativeassets #fanatics  #sportstech  #nhl #mls #collectibles #collecttech #cardshow #innovation #pokemon  #magicthegathering #ecommerce #retailtech #pos #square #shopify #clover #ecommerce #marketing #business #digitalmarketing #webdesign #b #marketingdigital #socialmedia #onlinebusiness #fashion #branding #shopify #smallbusiness #socialmediamarketing

How can hobby shops optimize their websites to maximize sales during the holiday season? We are now a few weeks into the holiday season, and hobby shops are focused on driving digital sales as well as in store traffic to accelerate their growth during this period of gift giving. MAGPIE supports these shops to update and optimize their websites to reduce manual data entry and review.  Making these adjustments during the holiday season not only improves revenue now, but also sets up for long term success in 2024 and beyond. 👀 Simplify navigation and search- It is critical that potential customers can find what they are looking for and fast. Make sure that the search functionality is displayed prominently; filtering is available; and sort by price, category and type is an option. For hobby shops, there are many related SKUs, so making it simple to find a specific parallel or autograph can make a huge difference. 🧾 Make the checkout process seamless especially for mobile– Removing pop-ups, confusing language and any barriers to purchase is essential given how short attention spans can be as people hunt for great deals. Nearly ⅔ of shoppers will abandon their carts, so providing incentives and reminders to complete their purchases is also critical. 📈 Track key inventory and sales data– It’s really important to track metrics like average order value, top product performance, conversion rates, site traffic and marketing campaign performance. This data can help stores to improve their inventory sourcing, marketing spend and customer targeting for future holiday seasons as well. If you’re starting from scratch, pick 1-2 metrics to focus on and grow from there. How are you optimizing your digital sales this holiday season? Share in the comments below ⬇️ #thehobby #whodoyoucollect #sportscards #topps #paniniamerica #panini #basketballcards #tradingcards #baseballcards #nba #footballcards #psa #rookiecard #mlb #nfl #cardcollector #rookie #baseball #autograph #upperdeck #cards #basketball #football #sports #sportscardsforsale #cardcollection #collect #nbacards #sportscardscollector #rookiecards #HobbyShop #HobbyTrends #HobbyBusiness #SmallBusiness #RetailTrends #RetailBusiness  #alternativeassets #fanatics  #sportstech  #nhl #mls #collectibles #collecttech #cardshow #innovation #pokemon  #magicthegathering #ecommerce #retailtech #pos #square #shopify #clover #ecommerce #marketing #business #digitalmarketing #ecommercebusiness #entrepreneur #onlineshopping #website #seo #webdesign #b #marketingdigital #socialmedia #onlinebusiness #fashion #branding #shopify #smallbusiness #socialmediamarketing #webdevelopment #online #amazon #shopping #onlinestore #onlineshop #design #instagram #ecommercewebsite #wordpress #dropshipping

What are you doing to maximize the holidays for your hobby shop🎁? In most segments of retail, Black Friday and the entire holiday season are the most important period of traffic and sales for store owners and online retailers. In the sports card world, The Topps Company has launched an MVP buyback program for Acuna and Ohtani cards. Check out this awesome interview with Avery Jessup describing the program: https://lnkd.in/evb3E5A9 Building on Topps’ buyback initiative, I wanted to share three things that the MAGPIE team is seeing from hobby shops to take advantage of the holiday season: 💰 Buybacks and collection purchases- Hobby shops are the only place where collectors can easily sell and trade cards on a regular basis. Liquidity is a critical and often under appreciated service offered by hobby shops, especially during the holiday season. With the The Topps Company buyback program and TV ads, we expect collectors will take advantage of these programs at higher velocity than past years. 🚦 Events to drive in store traffic- Many hobby shops are pairing the buyback program with in-person trade nights and holiday parties. With these events, the store becomes even more of a destination. Getting customers onsite allows them to connect with fellow collectors and learn more about new products. These events are an important marketing tool to attract new customers and build deeper relationships with existing collectors. 👏 Charity initiatives- A long time feature of the hobby shop's holiday activities, charity events, donations and giveaways convene collectors to give back to their communities. From toy drives to fundraisers, hobby shops can bring children and families together around common passions like sports, games, comics and the holidays. During this season of cheer, hobby shops offer collectors fun and meaningful ways to give back. Next week, I’ll share our perspective on what else hobby shops can do to maximize the holiday season. Please share your thoughts in the comments below ⬇️ #thehobby #whodoyoucollect #sportscards #topps #paniniamerica #panini #basketballcards #tradingcards #baseballcards #nba #footballcards #psa #rookiecard #mlb #nfl #cardcollector #rookie #baseball #autograph #upperdeck #cards #basketball #football #sports #sportscardsforsale #cardcollection #collect #nbacards #sportscardscollector #rookiecards #HobbyShop #HobbyTrends #HobbyBusiness #SmallBusiness #RetailTrends #RetailBusiness  #alternativeassets #fanatics  #sportstech  #nhl #mls #collectibles #collecttech #cardshow #innovation #pokemon  #magicthegathering #blackfriday #retail #holidayseason #holidayshopping