29 Comments
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Hina's avatar

Wow thank you so much for this incredible post! It’s so helpful! I recently started a skincare business- Heirloom Beauty and every single one of these recommendations is so unbelievably helpful! Thank you!

Also I’m a huge bala girlie and am obsessed with everything you create! Up next a weighted vest please 🙏🏼 thank you again

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Natalie Holloway's avatar

Thank you for reading! And amazing, ill check it out. LMK if you ever need more insight/advice :) xx

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Cailey Wesolowsky's avatar

No wonder you absolutely crushed it in this space! Been following along on your journey, and just found this forum. So incredible what you've managed to accomplish. Appreciate you taking the time to post this as well. I'm an aspiring entrepreneur and this insight is beyond helpful, thank you! -Cailey W

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Natalie Holloway's avatar

Thank you so much for the kind words! Feel free to always lmk what you want to hear more of :) xo

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Cailey Wesolowsky's avatar

Ofc! Curious, I know Bala is sold through a lot of distributions like :amazon, workout boutiques, revolve, etc... Is it better for business when people buy directly from your site? Or do you find all business is good business?

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Natalie Holloway's avatar

It’s definitely way better when people buy through our site because then we have all of the customer data and can re-target them. But our POV is all exposure is good exposure so that’s why we work with retailers because a customer could find us through a retailer that would never actually visit our site. So I like a mixed channel strategy for that reason!

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Cailey Wesolowsky's avatar

Yess I feel like its such a balancing act! I have a side note lol. I finally convinced my boss that people constantly repurchase Bala bangals/products more than once(speaking from experience). He was the founder of AdoreMe and they build out memberships for DTC brands. I noticed you guys have a membership, but I was a bit confused by it as a consumer. I'm so curious to hear how it's performing for you. Can I send you an email about it?

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Natalie Holloway's avatar

just seeing this! Yes sure thing please do natalie@balabangles.com

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Cailey Wesolowsky's avatar

Amazing! Sent an email over, hoping it's helpful :)

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Abigail Andrews's avatar

Amazing post and resources! Excited to try a few of them out at my bag company (@gioiabags) and report back! Love Bala and I'm a long-time admirer of your work! You did a Zoom web seminar at Female Founder World, and I've been following you ever since! SO impressed and inspired!

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Natalie Holloway's avatar

So kind! LMK if you need more suggestions ever and I will check out your brand... congrats <3

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Emma Grace Moon's avatar

Loveee this post!! Curious what affiliate platforms Bala’s using for Affiliate PR?

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Natalie Holloway's avatar

and yay thank you! <3

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Natalie Holloway's avatar

Right now Impact Radius but looking for a better solution!

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Notes From Tricia's avatar

Hi Natalie! I’m Tricia, co-founder of Sky & Sol (@skyandsolco on IG), where we create skincare made from edible ingredients. I spent my spring break in 2022 at SXSW and had the pleasure of seeing you speak with Mark Cuban and Tinx. I was still in college at the time. That talk was so pivotal for me—it sparked my passion for content creation and entrepreneurship. My boyfriend and I started Sky & Sol last year, and I’d love to send you some of our products if you’re interested! Just followed you on our account :) Thank you for sharing your journey and wisdom—it's so inspiring!

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Natalie Holloway's avatar

omg this is so amazing to hear! And yes would love to try. I will dm you today! xx congrats on going for it, sounds like a great idea

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Audrey's avatar

Hi Natalie!! Loved reading this. Regarding inventory software, my start-up Zimi might be able to help streamline inventory planning + all of your back-end operations (support, returns, 3pl comms) on one platform. Let me know if you'd like to learn more! Happy to demo our product on a quick 15 min call

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Ashley Biernier's avatar

This is amazing. I work with mid-sized businesses but it's always nice to see what larger businesses are using and where there is overlap in the tech stack. Also, so lovely to see the agency support ❤️

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Kate Whalen's avatar

Sooo insightful! Thank you for peeling back the curtain

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Suzanne's avatar

Thank you so much for sharing your recs here. Saved this post for future reference! Happy new year to you!

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Natalie Holloway's avatar

Happy New Year!! <3

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Erika Veurink's avatar

I love this so much.

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Zillennial Traveler's avatar

This is an incredible post! I've been working on starting a candle business with my boyfriend and having all of these amazing recs in one place is soooo helpful. I'm a huge bala fan- my office literally has a reformer pilates machine with all bala equipment. safe to say the girlies are obsessed.

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Natalie Holloway's avatar

AH love to hear it! Would love to see the candle company :) and good luck lmk if you ever need more tips etc xxxx

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Zillennial Traveler's avatar

that would be amazing TYSM! We’re working on getting the site live now (still need product pics) but we’re close!! Would love to get your thoughts, I’ll dm you when it’s ready❤️

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Zillennial Traveler's avatar

The site is shopcotiere.com the password is TOAST- we still need our own product pics so we used some from byredo as placeholders! Would love your quick thoughts ❤️

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Zillennial Traveler's avatar

hi Natalie!! We went live today on shopcotiere.com. Let us know what you think whenever you have a chance :) open to any and all feedback!❤️

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Natalie Holloway's avatar

Looks really beautiful!!! I would try to get wholesale up and running and try to get into independent retailers to spread the word. You can check out Faire marketplace for this to start or go to a trade show.

Ecom looks nice and clean. 2 quick notes that stood out: 1. SHOP button gets a little lost maybe you can explore diff placement on the right or left and SHOP NOW or something. 2. I didn't get an email pop up. Make sure you have a 15% or 10% off message that entices people to give their emails to get the discount for retargeting. That is critical!

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Zillennial Traveler's avatar

thank you so much!! Super helpful, really appreciate your thoughts

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