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Malcolm Lui:
Welcome to the High Value Sales Show of Eversprint.com. I'm Malcolm Lui, the Managing Member of Eversprint. Today we're speaking with Betsy Mikesell, the CEO of Beddy's, the maker of zippered bedding and bedding accessories. Welcome to call Betsy.

Betsy Mikesell:
Hi how are you?

Malcolm Lui:
Doing fine, fantastic.

Malcolm Lui:
Betsy you grew your company's revenue from $250,000 in 2014 to $4.8 million dollars in 2017, a 1,817% increase, and in 2018 you hit $7 million dollars. Before we talk about how you grew your company so fast, can you briefly share what your company does beyond my quick intro and how your company differs from the competition?

Betsy Mikesell:
Yes. So we actually have patented zippered bedding and how it started was I had twins with bunk beds and I was trying to get them to make their bunk beds And they were making their bunk beds so I was getting so frustrated so I got up there and I'm like you guys this is how you do it. That's how you make your bed. So I get up there to show him how easy it is and I realize it's impossible to make a bunk bed because you're actually on the bed you're trying to make. So anyway I was so frustrated that I went downstairs I googled how to make a bunk bed. I'm thinking what's the hack that I'm missing because how many people have bunk beds. And after searching how to make a bunk. But there was nothing. And then I started searching. Well there's got to be bunk bed bedding then what. You know how are people dealing with this. I can't be the only one complaining but there wasn't anything and so my mom happens to so so I took my idea over to her. I'm just like Mom I just need bedding that doesn't have to be tucked around the edges because every time I was trying to get up there on the bunk bed I'm literally getting my knuckles trying to make that bed.

Betsy Mikesell:
So this actually started as an idea just for my kids. I only wanted the bedding for my bed. I wasn't planning on going into business but it turned out that so many other people loved the idea. And they had a bunch of friends like that. I want this for my kids. This is a great idea so I'm I'm talking to my my friend who I go jogging with every morning and I told her I'm like less than so many people are saying they want this. Betty why don't we. Why don't we start this business. So I'm telling you this long story of what our betting is but it started that out of just pure necessity for me. And finding out that so many other people wanted it. So it started out for bunk bed. And then shortly became popular for our B beds. And then we were shown in creative homes on king sized bed. So. So really it started out as a product that I thought was for bunk beds. And it turns out to be for any bed. And if you have a hard to make bed you'll especially love it because it makes life so much easier

Malcolm Lui:
Or if you just don't like making your bed. I think it makes

Betsy Mikesell:
There

Malcolm Lui:
Life easier

Betsy Mikesell:
You go. There you go.

Malcolm Lui:
I mean

Betsy Mikesell:
So

Malcolm Lui:
Literally you hop out of bed you zip it up and you're done. How long as I take 30 seconds maybe

Betsy Mikesell:
Yeah it really is so fast. We joke that you can make your bed in 10 seconds or less. But you know the other nice thing that I don't think people realize too is so I have it on my personal bed with my husband so my husband can be sleeping and I get up early I can get up and zip up my side. So now it's not fighting over who has to make the bed who ever gets out of bed last. But you can make your side when you're up your husband can make their side when they're up and the bedding stays in place. So another thing that we didn't realize it was solving a problem for is even kids who come into parents room in the middle of the night they're coming in there because a lot of times they wake up cold their bedding fallen off the bed. But the way our bedding is designed it stays on the bed. And so you feel like you're sleeping in traditional bedding you don't feel that that because we've designed that so you don't have to sleep that up but it also stays on the bed. So kids are sleeping longer parents were e-mailing us and I can't sleep so much longer with this study and we couldn't figure out why I'm like No this is just normal. But it was when my kids said they slept so much warmer that mom it's so much warmer. And I'm realizing it's because they weren't kicking the bedding off. So anyway kind of random side note on that

Malcolm Lui:
That's very cool and it sounds the way you differ is because of your patented technology your patented design right and you

Betsy Mikesell:
Yes. Yeah but bedding has been the same for how many years there hasn't really been a change to it. So this is really probably the most innovative bedding of all time. There really hasn't been much of a change though. We're changing the way you make your bed

Malcolm Lui:
Yeah. And then as I check out your product I'm thinking okay the way it's assembled is it's not rocket science it's not like you had the weight to you know 2004 2003 for the technology to allow you to do this. I mean this could

Betsy Mikesell:
Right.

Malcolm Lui:
Have been done 20 years ago 30 years ago easily but for some reason no one thought of it

Betsy Mikesell:
But I think I think it was just everyone just dealt with the bunk beds maybe and I was just the biggest complainer. I don't know.

Malcolm Lui:
That's

Betsy Mikesell:
So

Malcolm Lui:
Fantastic.

Betsy Mikesell:
Anyway.

Malcolm Lui:
Yeah I like the story about how you knew you had a winner when your daughter was willing to pay her brothers to let her sleep in their beds. She doesn't have to make the bed in the morning

Betsy Mikesell:
Oh yeah she's paying a dollar and a dollar at that time was kind of like you know probably a thousand dollars to an adult.

Malcolm Lui:
Yeah

Betsy Mikesell:
That's a big deal.

Malcolm Lui:
Yeah.

Betsy Mikesell:
So

Malcolm Lui:
You know you got a winner and people are willing to pay up for it.

Betsy Mikesell:
That's right.

Malcolm Lui:
Now can you share. What were the three biggest drivers of your success if your company success over the past few years

Betsy Mikesell:
So I think there were the number one the biggest driver for us was social media. So I don't know if I mentioned this earlier but I was a hairdresser and they did hair full time before I started even thinking about bedding but I joked that when I was a hairdresser I would tell all of my clients what vacuum they should buy what washcloth they should use. You know it was just a fun thing that I would tell them and oh my gosh did you see this. Did you see this. So I wanted to translate that when I started doing bedding I'm like I've got to find all the hairdressers in the world to tell about Betty's because somebody had to explain it's not just a product that can sit on the shelf and that's when social media is starting to become big. So we started working with social media influencers and so not only could we still tell the story on our own channels but it was nice that we could reach out to these influencers who had big followings for them to share the message because you know traditional products could be sold you can go on Google and and pay for Google ads but I couldn't pay for Google ads because people weren't searching for the pathetic. So how do I compete when nobody's searching for it right. So I needed people to sell and tell my story so that that was something that could even be Google

Malcolm Lui:
Right. Definitely

Betsy Mikesell:
So social social media was a huge one for us and social media influencers were big for us. And that goes along with even YouTube YouTube's been really big because again our product is something that needs to be explained and shown. It's not something that can just sit in the bag on a shelf at the store. But the second thing I think that that helps us is honestly our story because I think a lot of moms relate. You know when you say Are you sick of trying to make a bunk bed. Everyone will agree that they can't stand making a bunk bed or a loft better David or any of these hard to make beds. And the other thing is I think the third driver is probably that it's so useful for so many areas. So here we'd started out for bunk beds and then we were like Oh no no it's great for a lot of kids that. And then it became a popular option for adult beds with these platform beds and and most recently it's been our RV's and we had a few RV YouTube's posts about us. And I can't tell you how many people tie us with Airstream. So it's kind of become if you own an Airstream you also own bodies. It's kind of a fun thing

Malcolm Lui:
Will. So. So just to recap make sure I have my notes re the three driving factors or social media your story and solution. People just hating

Betsy Mikesell:
Yep

Malcolm Lui:
Making beds

Betsy Mikesell:
Yep yep

Malcolm Lui:
And then the second

Betsy Mikesell:
Yep.

Malcolm Lui:
One is that you use new verticals are coming through for your product right. Adults. Platform beds are these are those the three drivers

Betsy Mikesell:
Yeah. And I would still and I would say and this is kind of a driver on the third one is now we can pay for Google ads because what it took getting around on social media and people understanding the product and going on different TV shows and showing it. So then people go back and can Google it and now we can pay for Google ads and have it show up because people are searching but so it's kind of a trickle down effect I guess.

Malcolm Lui:
Yeah. I could see how Google ads and network beginning if no one's ever searching for zippered bedding. It did

Betsy Mikesell:
Right.

Malcolm Lui:
Not exist

Betsy Mikesell:
Right.

Malcolm Lui:
But

Betsy Mikesell:
Yeah.

Malcolm Lui:
Now it's a little bit different. So very cool. Can you talk a little bit more on each of the three categories. So you talk about social media to a big part of your marketing at this time

Betsy Mikesell:
Yes. I would say. It's the by far the best. So we have a really really strong social media presence especially on Instagram. We have all of our stuff on Instagram is organic. So we have almost 200000 followers on Instagram and we have great engagement and that's just where people are constantly tagging us and and other moms are on Instagram and they're like oh you should check out that he said that's what we are on Instagram and and so they're sharing that way. On the other YouTube is still super important and then more recently we've actually started paying up for Facebook ads and that's one that's been great for us as a small business and growing because we could put one hundred dollars into ads and watch the return. And so once we're like oh there's a return on that OK but two hundred dollars and we put we found that our sweet spot for us is about ten thousand dollars a month in ad ad spend. When we got up to fifteen thousand dollars we didn't see as high of a return like our ratios went down so ten thousand dollars a month is kind of our sweet spot for how much we like to spend and still see you know 15 times returns on that

Malcolm Lui:
Right. So when you think thousand your time out 10k on Facebook and 15 can Facebook reach him on other channels as well.

Betsy Mikesell:
Sorry. No we those are all on Facebook. So we

Malcolm Lui:
Mike

Betsy Mikesell:
Didn't. I mean we've worked with YouTube earth and we will do affiliate links. That's been another thing that's been recent. So a lot of these social media influencers YouTube are they we will send them product and then we'll give them an affiliate link. So when they talk about it then they get paid for what they're what they're sharing. But it's it's also been good because then it encourages them to want to keep sharing and it's great for us because it brings us a new audience.

Malcolm Lui:
Right now what you think was the explanation. The reasoning behind your ad campaigns on Facebook dropping off on the returns. When you went from 10 K to 15 K that's not a story to Facebook wants people to know about

Betsy Mikesell:
I know I know because I just spoke with another company and they spend sixty thousand dollars a day. So I'm like Where did they go. How are you finding this audience. So I don't know if it's just for us. And the way we spend money and the campaigns we drive but we just found that if we spent ten thousand dollars we would get one hundred and fifty thousand dollar return. And if we spent fifteen thousand dollars we might see one hundred and sixty one hundred seventy thousand dollar returns and we just it was just a sweet spot right there that ten thousand dollar range.

Malcolm Lui:
Yeah. Look

Betsy Mikesell:
It was it

Malcolm Lui:
At

Betsy Mikesell:
Was trial and error I guess

Malcolm Lui:
Yeah well it could very well be a function of the audience size right. I mean your

Betsy Mikesell:
Yeah.

Malcolm Lui:
Zipper bedding is still kind of a new concept. I mean I didn't really know about into you and I connected about doing the interview. So it's

Betsy Mikesell:
Yeah

Malcolm Lui:
I still

Betsy Mikesell:
Yeah

Malcolm Lui:
Think is a large large market out there waiting for anyone who has a bed right could be interested.

Betsy Mikesell:
Yep

Malcolm Lui:
It's

Betsy Mikesell:
Yep.

Malcolm Lui:
Interesting now where you do all your Facebook ads in-house so that you outsource it to someone

Betsy Mikesell:
So we outsource that to someone and he works with just a few companies. And so I feel like he gives us a lot of attention we've tried other companies and didn't have as good of luck. So we started with him. Then we tried to go to a bigger company and didn't do as well so we went back to him.

Malcolm Lui:
Yeah.

Betsy Mikesell:
So

Malcolm Lui:
So it was it certainly wasn't the case of not knowing what to do because you had an expert helping you with your Facebook ads and

Betsy Mikesell:
Right. Right

Malcolm Lui:
The nature of your market right now. Interesting.

Betsy Mikesell:
Huh.

Malcolm Lui:
So yeah you don't hear that in the Facebook advertisements for Facebook ads don't talk about our eyes dropping off. You know that's such a small level right Dave will do.

Betsy Mikesell:
I know right.

Malcolm Lui:
Yeah I mean they would want you to say yeah. What's the worst 10K you scared up to 100k. Right. So

Betsy Mikesell:
I know I know and it was heartbreak because I know a lot of people and a lot of companies they'll spend one hundred thousand and only get one hundred and ten thousand dollars in return but it's worth it for them to keep advocating. But we are. I just don't feel like we're big enough to do that kind of spend when we can see working with influencers or money. We have a much better return. So

Malcolm Lui:
Me

Betsy Mikesell:
For us we would rather take more risk on influencers and instead of the Facebook ads. So

Malcolm Lui:
Juror can

Betsy Mikesell:
We'll

Malcolm Lui:
You

Betsy Mikesell:
Stick

Malcolm Lui:
Share.

Betsy Mikesell:
At that sweet spot

Malcolm Lui:
What kind of returns you get with your influencer marketing

Betsy Mikesell:
So yeah. So the funny thing is is the longer the influencer talks about us the bigger the returns. So one of our first influencers the first year she didn't sell a ton for us. And then by year 2 she sold a decent amount and then this last year. If you compare all of our coupon codes to her coupon code she beat every single one of our own coupon code. So that's pretty awesome.

Malcolm Lui:
That is awesome

Betsy Mikesell:
She. Yes. So influencers if this thing and I think people have to see it. I've heard seven times they have to see the product. So I think influencers a lot of times they're hurting themselves when they only talk about Betty's one where if they talk about it five and six times then all of a sudden their audience is going and buying it. So it benefits the influencer just like as it benefits us to you know the first time they talk about us but their audience might come follow us on Instagram and it takes six months for them to buy. That's the other thing too that's hard with with Betty. And betting is you know it's not like a T-shirt you're like oh that's a cute shirt. Go ahead buy it. It's betting and so a lot of times people are waiting till they move to their new house or they're waiting until they redecorate the room or they're waiting till their child is into a twin is that from a toddler or they're waiting. You know there's so many different variables and we know this because talking with our customers on social media they will say oh I've been following you for a year and we're finally moving and I got your bedding for the new house or we've been following you and we finally decided to redecorate and now we're buying your bedding. So I mean there's some people that are obviously going to just buy right away but for the majority I say our audience takes you know a month to six months to purchase.

Malcolm Lui:
Right now. Do you find that people or you know how many sets of fatties betting do people typically buy

Betsy Mikesell:
So that's funny. So aren't our return return rate our customers. I kind of think of the word where customers are coming back to buy again. I think is it is like 38 or 40 percent. So most of our customers I feel like buy one to try it out and then they always end up coming back to buy more. So it's very common especially here in Utah where so many families have three to five to eight kids to buy one for each each child. So I would say the average person probably buys two and a half that you know that's that's the average purchase

Malcolm Lui:
Right. Do you know how many beds they're buying it for

Betsy Mikesell:
No. Most people just buy one her bed. So but there are several customers that say I have an extra set. So when we do laundry day or if my kid has an accident in the middle then I like to have one just ready to go. So

Malcolm Lui:
Yeah. Yeah

Betsy Mikesell:
But

Malcolm Lui:
I would. I would

Betsy Mikesell:
I

Malcolm Lui:
Do

Betsy Mikesell:
Would

Malcolm Lui:
That

Betsy Mikesell:
Say

Malcolm Lui:
Too.

Betsy Mikesell:
Them. Yes the majority I would say though just buy one set for about.

Malcolm Lui:
Ok. Interesting that they would do that because for me every time I do a few times I wash bedding. I just threw a pain in your hands. That's not always easy I almost would want to have two sets right. So one is. One is always ready to use the other one to be sitting in the hamper for how long it takes before I get around to doing a load of laundry

Betsy Mikesell:
Yeah yeah I guess you're right. We need to tell people that

Malcolm Lui:
Yeah.

Betsy Mikesell:
They buy more

Malcolm Lui:
Yeah. Okay. Awesome. Yeah. I'm thinking you guys you're talking about the numbers in my article on average by 2 in assets. Even then on your Facebook ads I mean it sounds like if you were to spend fifteen thousand dollars in an hour and get a drop off in sales it's still kind of makes sense because you know oftentimes people are buying from you again. Right. You know 40 percent

Betsy Mikesell:
Right.

Malcolm Lui:
Of the time they're buying it again and then when you buy again you don't have to pay anything to acquire them again.

Betsy Mikesell:
Yeah

Malcolm Lui:
So the

Betsy Mikesell:
That's

Malcolm Lui:
Numbers

Betsy Mikesell:
True. That's true.

Malcolm Lui:
Then them up.

Betsy Mikesell:
And

Malcolm Lui:
So yep

Betsy Mikesell:
I think that they do. So our cookies say that so. So if someone does buy from Facebook then we it keeps track of that customer if they come back a month later and it still gives it the credit to the Facebook at

Malcolm Lui:
Right

Betsy Mikesell:
I believe so. So. So that's a hard one to because if they buy six months later than it's different than it's not attributed to that campaign. But if it's I think within three months it's still attributed to that campaign anyway.

Malcolm Lui:
Right. Yep. Tony understand. So when you say you influencer it gives a much better. Are I now are you or are they simply selling through your affiliate link and that's how they make their money or are you paying them a fee to promote your product.

Betsy Mikesell:
No we haven't paid an affiliate to promote the product. So normally our payment is essentially giving them the product and then they get paid according to how many sales they get. So that is a driver for them. But I look at working with influencers in a couple different ways. So for us doing a photo shoot is very expensive to create a whole new bedroom with all the decorations. Where are these influencers are doing that for you. And they create a really cute room and then they send us the pictures. So I use influencers for a few things so no one to tell our story. Number two to help sell the product. But one of the biggest is to create new content for us to share. So we again are so active on social media we're always needing new bedding to share and new rooms. And so that's why we love working with influencers. So we get new content to share and it's also great too because we are a bigger account so we can tag this influencer so the influence or get the exposure from us we get exposure from the influencer. It's just an all around great great thing for us where a Facebook and it is selling product but it's not giving me new content. It's not giving me connections with these other people you know. So working with social influencers kind of adds a little bit more of a well-rounded option. I don't know how to how else to explain what I'm trying to

Malcolm Lui:
No. Well rounded

Betsy Mikesell:
So.

Malcolm Lui:
It

Betsy Mikesell:
Yeah. Like

Malcolm Lui:
Covers

Betsy Mikesell:
I'm covering

Malcolm Lui:
More bases.

Betsy Mikesell:
More. Yeah. And I'm getting a lot more. So if an influencer talks about our product and doesn't want to use an affiliate link we can't track that. But we can also see you know we're getting new content from them. We're having. And the other thing is too is I love when they post about it on a blog and tell about how it works and how great it is and how their kids are sleeping much better or how they personally love it. And and because I've found as a as a business owner I can tell you my betting is the best betting all day long. And it's not as believable because of course I'm selling it. So I'm benefiting from it where if someone else tells my story it's more believable because you're like well they can say they don't love it but they're saying that they love it and it's just more believable coming from someone else that

Malcolm Lui:
Oh yeah definitely. So influencers are sharing your product but they're not using an affiliate link. That's kind of odd.

Betsy Mikesell:
Yeah. Yeah yeah. There are a lot that don't ask for an affiliate link. So

Malcolm Lui:
Wow.

Betsy Mikesell:
We we've we started to encourage it more because when we tell them hey let's use this affiliate link then they're more willing to share it. So when we send out credit we require you know they have to share on a social media. They have to share on their Instagram Stories and they have to post it on their blog. And they have to send the images. So those are our requirements so that's. So in order to get our product they have to do that. But if they want to make money on it also then that's when they. We give them an affiliate link and then they can share with their audience and their audience is more likely to buy to

Malcolm Lui:
Yep. Really interesting about how some influencers influencers like your product so much you even care about the link. You guys want to share with the world.

Betsy Mikesell:
Yeah yeah. And we've had people that have just bought it and shared. We're like wait a second you have a great big audience. And we'd be happy to send you an affiliate link if that you know. So it's it's really cool. It's been a good thing for us.

Malcolm Lui:
Yeah. Now you mentioned before as a second driver about this problem that you have. But you know in the core of it sounds like it's us moms who hate making beds especially bunk beds. Now what other categories are you seeing as being a buyer's that the moms out there who make you dislike making bunk beds in an RV. Dads and you know what other sort of people who are your buyer avatars Who are your ideal customers.

Betsy Mikesell:
So so our ideal customers are the moms. I would say that they're number one. But like I said earlier once we have those RV YouTube posts about it we sold out of every color and queen size and we're still trying to keep up on that demand because so many people have been buying it for our viewers. So if you've ever tried to make an RV bed you're literally usually tucked up next to Cabinet the wall. And then the feelings not super high. So this is another anyone who has it in there. There are bees and I've actually had a few friends there that we sold our RV and the people who bought it. One of the berries included. So I know I need to get another set for a new

Malcolm Lui:
Money

Betsy Mikesell:
Rv. So yeah it's a lot of people are saying that if people want that as part of the purchase.

Malcolm Lui:
Who are the RV buyers are they also the uh the the female side of the

Betsy Mikesell:
No

Malcolm Lui:
Of the RV

Betsy Mikesell:
No

Malcolm Lui:
Or is

Betsy Mikesell:
Not

Malcolm Lui:
It

Betsy Mikesell:
Nice. No there are a lot of men and it's funny because I've had a lot of men who are in the military and they just like a really clean made bed that who love berries because it looks so clean tucked in there's not bedding hanging and crumpled or you know you don't have the sheets that are balled up at the bottom of the bed it's just nice it's a nice clean made bed. So men who are a lot of times in the military I guess because they have to make their bed a certain way in the military so they all appreciate that.

Malcolm Lui:
Right. I can see that. How about for the other applications that you find that people are already liking that that ease even before our platform Babs form beds

Betsy Mikesell:
Yes. Yes. And that's what has been shown so much in all of these creative homes and model homes. And so that's when we thought so many adults realizing it's great. It's a great option for adults. Now one thing that I don't know if I explained with our Betty Ford is the betting so a lot of times when people envision it they think that's like a sleeping bag that's attached to your mattress and it is to a point. But what's great about it is when you unzip it. We have this panel. We call it a comfort panel that flips out and it extends out. So it gives you full coverage. So when you have two people sleeping in a bed you're not pulling the covers from each other because you each have full coverage because of those panels that extend out. So you feel like you're sleeping in traditional bedding but you're eliminating that tucking around so that's why for these platform beds loved him people want to show the base of the bed and so they want the bedding to be tucked in bed trying to tuck in bedding on a giant heavy king size mattress every morning as a joke. So that's another reason why it's become so popular for these. And a lot of these contemporary looks to where they want that really sleek tucked in clean look.

Malcolm Lui:
Right. So would you say people are generally buying it because they find it making the bed is a pain. Is that the town that gets a primary pain point that you're the

Betsy Mikesell:
And they like the look of it. So another thing is if people have pets or kids that are jumping on the bed or you know kids for some reason they can't they can't not stand on the bed and the bedding doesn't shift around. So kids are jumping on the bed with our bedding it still looks nice it doesn't get all mangled and and ugly. So it keeps it looking nice. Yeah. The main the main thing is it's easier to make your bed your bed looks clean and it's it really is just a comfortable product

Malcolm Lui:
Right. And is it ease of cleaning a factor is it easier to clean your product as opposed to the normal bedsheets comforters

Betsy Mikesell:
I would say it's as easy or easier. The putting it on. You're still if you hate putting on a fitted sheet it's still like putting on a sheet you know I think it's a little easier than a fitted sheet because it's got deeper pockets so you're not like sometimes the struggle with fit achieve this. By the time you hit it on one corner it pops off the

Malcolm Lui:
He

Betsy Mikesell:
Other corner

Malcolm Lui:
Has

Betsy Mikesell:
So that's not an issue. But the initial putting it on a like a bunk bed is still it's it's not it's not magic. You still have to put it on but it's the everyday remaking your bed that's so much easier. And I do think that washing it's easier. We recommend you just take the top off. Watch it wash it and then take the bottom to wash it and then get your two two loads of laundry and it's done. So it really is easy if I'm going to wash my bedding I usually start it in the morning and by the afternoon it's ready to put back on the bed

Malcolm Lui:
Yep that's on your on your website. You had a like it maybe a new vertical you're targeting college kids other ones

Betsy Mikesell:
Yes.

Malcolm Lui:
Who. Yes.

Betsy Mikesell:
And that's another thing too because I think it's not a million pieces to bring home you're literally just pull it off your bed in one piece and bring it home to wash over the weekend when you come back to visit or whatever. But yeah it's been a big big thing for colleges. We have some YouTube ers that designed bedding in it and did a collaboration with us there in Brooklyn and Bailey and they designed the bedding for college so it's just plain why it's like a good clean look. You can add your sports themes to it or you could just do cute girly decorative pillows with it but it's just a good solid plain color for the college age kids to

Malcolm Lui:
Yeah. I mean there's a lot of variables there that you can play. I mean very beginning you might have a functional product but now as you're developing the market you can customize it right. Different

Betsy Mikesell:
Yeah. Yeah.

Malcolm Lui:
Colors materials

Betsy Mikesell:
Yeah. And so often these dorm rooms are loft beds where they have you know essentially the top part of a bunk bed they've got a desk underneath or they've got storage underneath. So that's why so many college people have loved this

Malcolm Lui:
Yeah

Betsy Mikesell:
Is because just for the function to

Malcolm Lui:
Yeah. And college kids are anything anytime of anything that saves them time and keeps them from doing

Betsy Mikesell:
Write

Malcolm Lui:
Something. They're they're all game for that. So

Betsy Mikesell:
Right.

Malcolm Lui:
Now you see that other new verticals of new new trends you're seeing of new applications that are just starting to take off young what we talked about.

Betsy Mikesell:
Yes. The one thing that I didn't and I don't think we can advertise this but we've had so many moms with kids with sensory processing disorder. And I'd actually never heard of it but it's common with autism where they just want to feel secure. So when the interior of our our bedding we use this manky fabric and it's this cozy soft fabric and they love the feel of that and then the other thing is that they actually love the feel of zipping it. So we I've said you know it's great. You don't have to zip in but a lot of these kids are loving the feel of zipping it in. And that just they feel secure. And so you know here we thought it was better than we thought it was for RV beds and college kids but this is it. You know it was I felt like I was wanting it for vain reasons because I wanted the room to look nice. But when one mom emailed us and she said for seven years I've had to go and hold my son tightly before he would fall asleep. And she said this is the first time in seven years where I've been able to put him to sleep without having to hold him tightly and she goes I zipped him up and he felt secure in his betting that he could fall asleep. So that was a really cool thing because it here it's like being. But it was almost like a life changing for her really

Malcolm Lui:
Yeah definitely. I mean now that you brought that up I can think of any many other applications or I mean anyone that has any sort of dexterity issues for example would appreciate the bed. Right. So I think

Betsy Mikesell:
Yeah.

Malcolm Lui:
That's another

Betsy Mikesell:
Yeah

Malcolm Lui:
Option. Have

Betsy Mikesell:
Well

Malcolm Lui:
You ever thought about

Betsy Mikesell:
I'm Sorry. My my grandma. She actually passed away a year ago. But she my mom loved it for her because she had arthritis. She was getting old and it was hard for her to make the bed. But this way she could easily make the bed and my mom's that because she lived with my mom and my mom said you know when she gets up to go to the bathroom at night I don't worry about her tripping over bedding that's fallen on the floor because it doesn't fall off the bed. So there's that. You know that it's great for senior citizens and we have a guy who is he is the cutest man he's come in probably five or six times to buy bedding for he and his wife. And he's just like I just love this new color. But I will be I will do a testimonial for you because both my wife and I have arthritis and this is the only way we can make our bed where it's still comfortable. So

Malcolm Lui:
Nice.

Betsy Mikesell:
You know there's that to

Malcolm Lui:
Yeah. Now have you thought about testing this in a hotel chain. Just because I could see the time savings they can clean up the room so much faster. Not having to make their beds or when they make their beds. It's like military style. I mean the sheets are tight

Betsy Mikesell:
Yes.

Malcolm Lui:
And everything is got take time but

Betsy Mikesell:
Yes.

Malcolm Lui:
With this concept work in Ota would they like it or would they find it just too unconventional

Betsy Mikesell:
I worry that it would be too unconventional and here's the reason when they wash your bedding at the hotel they don't wash of the bedding they are only washing the sheets. So what's great about that is is when you wash it you're washing everything you know that. I mean if I were to go stay somewhere and see that they had beds on their beds I would feel completely comfortable laying on top of the bed and inside the bed. But when I go to a hotel LA Times I don't want to lay on the bed because I'm worried about who's been here and how long it's been since it's been washed where the sheets are what they're constantly washing right and sheets are thinner. And we've talked about different versions of our bedding but at this point we haven't we haven't gone any further into the hotel options.

Malcolm Lui:
Yeah mean I just you know without studying it in depth just in its conversations for some I thought about it. I mean if they can turn a room around and save 10 minutes per room. Right. That saves them on the

Betsy Mikesell:
Totally.

Malcolm Lui:
Staffing cost. And if it and if the laundry the laundering costs are lower as well. I mean it can really make sense. Maybe the six star hotels might not want it right. They want their fluffy down comforters. But you know maybe the middle and low end ones where where you know every every dime really makes a difference. Could find it interesting.

Betsy Mikesell:
Yeah. Yeah and we've stayed at hotels because I've got kids and so they'll have like the adult bedroom and then the kids bedroom has bunk beds and I thought like oh my gosh they would love this here. People having to make these beds would love Betty's

Malcolm Lui:
Oh I'm just thinking if it just saves them time. They can reduce their staffing costs by maybe 20 percent right. Possibly.

Betsy Mikesell:
Yeah.

Malcolm Lui:
Right.

Betsy Mikesell:
Yeah

Malcolm Lui:
And

Betsy Mikesell:
Yeah.

Malcolm Lui:
The cleaner room that much faster. So

Betsy Mikesell:
Yeah.

Malcolm Lui:
Interesting.

Betsy Mikesell:
Totally.

Malcolm Lui:
Can you share a bit more or some details on your 2019 plans

Betsy Mikesell:
We hope to just get more places and there are still so many people like you didn't know about us until this this interview that I want to know about our product. So this year we're gonna do be doing a lot of media tours. We're going back to New York actually next week and we have a bunch of desk at site desk side tours with different magazines and newspapers and different different media outlets while we're while we're in New York and then we also have a at an event with Good Housekeeping and Good Housekeeping in the Hearst Building and so they have all the magazines from from that or are within their corporation that can come. So we'll set up essentially like a trade show but only for Betty's and then that way all the editors can come see the betting fill the betting and see how how it works and then sample it for themselves. And then if that's something that they want to write about then that gives them some content and it gets us. More people to hear about the products. So that's what we're hoping for this year is just to really we've never really traveled much to do shows or newspapers. So that's our big goal is just to get everyone to know about Betty. This year

Malcolm Lui:
And how do you foresee that would translate into the top line. You hit. You went from four point eight million in 2017 to around seven million in 2018. How do you how do you anticipate your media tour bumping that figure up in 2019.

Betsy Mikesell:
We'll just watching how our growth is going. I. I. The more people to know about it it just it spreads because it's such a different type of betting. One thing that we had hoped to is we wanted to go on QVC. I think QVC is a great opportunity to show how the product works. You have people who are there engaged in wanting to purchase. And so I think that's another great option for us. I think of course I have but I want to do like my goal is to double our growth this year

Malcolm Lui:
Yeah even and even if you only do 70 percent growth it's still a chunky growth.

Betsy Mikesell:
Yeah yeah. But I have high hopes

Malcolm Lui:
Well I think it's entirely doable right. The percentage of beds that are using bed eases is a very small number out there

Betsy Mikesell:
Right.

Malcolm Lui:
So

Betsy Mikesell:
Hey.

Malcolm Lui:
A big opportunity there. In terms of challenges what you see as your biggest challenge

Betsy Mikesell:
Our biggest challenge is honestly getting I'm always wanting to get new designs but I think it's it takes us about a year or so. So we start working on next year designs right now and then we last year at this time we are working on this year's design. So it's a year process to get our designs but I think always having something new and current current is important but that's also hard because there's so many things that go along with that. We have all of our minimums and so that's why I'm hoping that if we grow faster we can go through these minimum faster and we can get all these new colors. So that's that's our biggest challenge I feel like right now

Malcolm Lui:
So you said

Betsy Mikesell:
And

Malcolm Lui:
The at minimums

Betsy Mikesell:
Still funding at all. Yeah yeah yeah yeah. So we have minimums every color we have to do a minimum of eight hundred beds so you know we can bring out a new bed and nobody likes it and so we're sitting on product for a year you know till it sells or you know some of our oldest designs are still our top designs in fact actually are we did Kickstarter back in 2014 and the four designs from our Kickstarter are still are in our top 10. So we bring out new designs every year and just test to see what people like and what what sticks and then Try to find find the popular kind of tweak it a little bit but then also bring out something brand new because people want to see new beds. But they they still tend to buy those original colors

Malcolm Lui:
Yep. Have you thought about pre selling designs to your market

Betsy Mikesell:
We

Malcolm Lui:
In that way

Betsy Mikesell:
Ok we

Malcolm Lui:
If

Betsy Mikesell:
Have.

Malcolm Lui:
They people Dupri

Betsy Mikesell:
Yes.

Malcolm Lui:
Spy. Then you go ahead with it.

Betsy Mikesell:
Yes. OK. So we've thought about that and the hard thing is is with with doing that is it. It's a hard technical site on our end. So what happens if someone provides one product and then they buy a product that's in stock. But the way our system works is that well there's two things. So then we have to either ship them separately which shipping is expensive for us to ship one bed. The average cost is 28 dollars a bed so shipping actually is probably our biggest challenge. I should I should take that back. Shipping is so expensive for us and people are used to free shipping because of Amazon. So they they can't understand why you know we charge eight ninety nine but we pay 28 dollars so it has to come from somewhere. Right.

Malcolm Lui:
You say shipping cause us actual shipping costs to my handling as well not 28

Betsy Mikesell:
No

Malcolm Lui:
Dollar figure

Betsy Mikesell:
Shipping costs

Malcolm Lui:
Wow.

Betsy Mikesell:
Because

Malcolm Lui:
Okay.

Betsy Mikesell:
It's such a big heavy product. So that's just just us shipping I mean within the state of Utah I think it's 17 dollars but it's still expensive. So. So our average is twenty eight dollars to to ship and most of our stuff that our biggest market is the furthest away from us too. So there's just so many things to consider. We've talked about even opening another warehouse you know in Texas or somewhere where it's a little bit more towards the middle but There's a lot of things to consider when you start thinking that.

Malcolm Lui:
Yeah. The logistics side. Lot of moving parts to

Betsy Mikesell:
Yeah

Malcolm Lui:
Do.

Betsy Mikesell:
Yeah.

Malcolm Lui:
Keep in mind. Now how about your marketing and sales challenges. What DC are the key ones that you need to overcome in 2019

Betsy Mikesell:
I think it's just letting people know that zippered bedding exists. And I think that's been our challenge from day one and that's why I feel like doing these media tours is letting people know that it exists. So people might not be in the market when they first hear about us. But then when they go to make their RV better or when they go to try to get their kids to make their bunk beds then they'll remember. Wait a second I thought something about this then they can Google it and find us. So I think it's just letting people know that it exists.

Malcolm Lui:
Right. And in the end you should kind of share your plan for that. You're doing a lot more media tours in 2019

Betsy Mikesell:
Aha.

Malcolm Lui:
More shows

Betsy Mikesell:
Yep

Malcolm Lui:
And

Betsy Mikesell:
Yep

Malcolm Lui:
You're still continuing your influencer marketing and your and the ads and Facebook

Betsy Mikesell:
And we've really pushed this year actually two months ago is when we really started pushing affiliate links. And so I think that you know the people who we've worked with for the last four years are now re pushing the product again because they it's another way of making money so they because they're getting paid on these affiliate link. So I think it's just there's so many areas media tour so letting people know about it continuing to work with influencers working with new influence influencers and getting doing these affiliate links. It's a great way for us to track what what their progress is. It's a great way for them to see what they're what their sales are and then really it's just getting the awareness that betting success

Malcolm Lui:
If you're getting that you're getting the mindshare.

Betsy Mikesell:
Huh. Yeah.

Malcolm Lui:
Now you already talk about this a little bit. I know before I ask you this question let me ask you another one. Does this lady become my favorite one. So say there's a billboard along the freeway in Utah you're cruising around at 70 80 miles per hour and most billboards people see it for six seconds before they drive by. What is your sixth second message on your on that billboard.

Betsy Mikesell:
Make your bed in 10 seconds or less.

Malcolm Lui:
I think it went

Betsy Mikesell:
Or skip the struggle you know skip the struggle that you're bad instead. I don't know.

Malcolm Lui:
Not

Betsy Mikesell:
Because

Malcolm Lui:
To

Betsy Mikesell:
I

Malcolm Lui:
Get

Betsy Mikesell:
Think

Malcolm Lui:
On

Betsy Mikesell:
It's something that people all everyone. I feel like everyone deals with making the bet. If you have a bet you either make it or you don't. You know and I think everyone would agree that they'd rather have it made bad there's something about your room walking in it. And even if there's few things on the floor if the bed's made it look so much better where if there's nothing on the floor in the bed's not made it looks like a mess. You know

Malcolm Lui:
Yeah also making a bed is kind of nice because you've already accomplished your task right. I was like. I remember reading somewhere that was a key reason

Betsy Mikesell:
Yes.

Malcolm Lui:
Why in the military

Betsy Mikesell:
Yes.

Malcolm Lui:
Making your bed is so important because you've already accomplished a task for the day it gets the momentum rolling.

Betsy Mikesell:
It really does it really doesn't. When you go back into your room you just there's a sense of calm when it looks clean

Malcolm Lui:
Oh yeah. And then you know for me when I jump into bed it's kind of irritating gripping the bed and the sheets are messed up and wrinkly and bundled up right here. If spending

Betsy Mikesell:
Totally

Malcolm Lui:
10 minutes

Betsy Mikesell:
Totally

Malcolm Lui:
Fixing it when you're kind of tired already and then it wakes you up and now you're not sleepy anymore.

Betsy Mikesell:
Yes. It's so true

Malcolm Lui:
So that's the questions for you. I know you talked about before but maybe you can recap again who your ideal customers are and the best way for them to check out Betty's and buy your Betty

Betsy Mikesell:
So I deal customers are anyone who has a bed. So I know we focused a lot on moms. We focus a lot on RV owners but really if you have a bed I think you'll love our product because your bedding stays in place. It looks nice and it's easy to make. And the best way to find us is on our Web site. It's Betty's dot com. That's B as in boy E D and dog D and dog y s dot com

Malcolm Lui:
Right. Fantastic can you tell a bit more about how you chose your name for your company

Betsy Mikesell:
Yes. So it's funny because my name is Betsy. So everyone thinks that my name is Betty instead of Betsy but it to me it sounded like a fun play on words making your bed with E. So Betty's. But I mean we spelled it different but it was just a play on it was a play on Betty. So making your bed with these ones at a time

Malcolm Lui:
That's good name it's easy to remember.

Betsy Mikesell:
Oh good good good.

Malcolm Lui:
Thanks so much for joining us today. Betsy, and sharing how you accelerated your company's high value sales.

Betsy Mikesell:
Thank you so much.

Malcolm Lui:
We've been speaking with Betsy Mikesell, the CEO of Beddy's, about her company's rapid growth. For interviews with other fast growing high value sales companies or to learn how we can accelerate your firm's high value sales through automation, visit Eversprint.com.

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