At the end of 2019, Jamie Young made a long-term investment that immediately paid off.

The founder of Battle Ground, WA-based Uptown Screen Printing (asi/184812) hired a speaking coach. Instead of rambling during panels and presentations, she wanted to speak confidently about her business and the power of promotional products. That confidence ended up being her biggest asset during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Be visible. Be seen. Be top of mind.” – Jamie Young, Uptown Screen Printing

In this episode of Promo Insiders, Senior Writer John Corrigan talks with Young about the unique approach she took to staying in front of clients and how it led to her best month of sales ever.

Podcast Chapters
0:46: Launching her own company
2:06: What led to her biggest month of sales ever
6:29: Relying on Facebook Live
9:05: How clients discovered her
9:58: Building a social media presence
11:12: Hiring a speaking coach
12:08: Most popular products
13:45: Goals for 2021
15:15: Advice for Q1 2021

In January, at the urging of her speaking coach, Young went on Facebook Live for the first time. She simply talked about the impact of promotional products, offering some ideas and marketing strategies along the way. Two days later, she picked up her biggest client ever. “I had a desire to better explain what I do and now someone wanted to hire me for my knowledge,” Young says.

In March, her business (along with the rest of the industry) came to a screeching halt due to the coronavirus. With no sales coming in and manufacturing on pause, Young hopped back on social media to preach about lumpy mail campaigns and the benefits of gift marketing. After two months of putting herself out there, she told her husband she had six weeks to make a sale or she’d have to shut down her company.

By the end of June, the phone started ringing. And it never stopped.

“July was my biggest month ever,” Young says. “I had a major breakthrough with T-shirt orders from clients who saw me online and from referrals. For the last six months of the pandemic, I doubled my business from the same time period in 2019.”

Watch on YouTube