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Sometimes a friend will make a post to our social feed, and we feel compelled to share it in a broader way.  So today, I bring you a recipe from our friend, Julie.  You can find her on instagram @juliesprettiesandposh.  Check her out! 

Julie's Valentine Delight Mix

Ingredients:

Cinnamon Toast Cereal

Chex Dark & White Chocolate Cereal

Honey Roasted Peanuts

Valentine's M&Ms

Tiny Pretzels

Mini Marshmallows

Directions: 

Mix ingredients in amounts that suit you. 

If you lean salty, go heavy on pretzels. Sweet?  I think everything else has you covered. 

You could also add chocolate chips, Red Hot candies, sprinkles or tiny caramels.  All would make this an even more delicious treat! 

Give it a try!  Let us know what you think! 

Quick moment of introduction, just so the title of this blog makes sense. 

Yes, Outshine Co is based in Minnesota.  Home of the NFL MN Vikings.  Now that is out of the way.....

For those of you that may not know us personally, Outshine is a small group of powerful women.  Kara is our owner, founder & all-around force of nature. 

Mina is our glue.  She keeps the customers happy, is a heck of a stylist & when she isn't working with Outshine, she is a boss in her own right.  Check out her business, the Sweet Collective.  

Jessica helps us manage it all in China.  She is still celebrating the New Year right now, although I think celebrating is a bit of a stretch, given the coronavirus scare happening right now. 

I'm Keri, and I handle marketing and new channel development.  I also lived in Kansas City for about 10 years, so you can imagine how excited I was when the Arrowhead gang made it to the Super Bowl.  And then won.  And now you understand the title of this blog. 

One of our little side businesses here at Outshine is a print-on-demand tee shirt business.  We don't advertise it much, and truth be told, we really don't focus on it quite the way we should.  But Super Bowl + Chiefs..... I had to do something. 

Check out these cute shirts I worked up to celebrate!  Pick one up if you are as excited about the win as I am. 

Grab your celebratory tee here!

 Grab this one here

Grab this one here

Grab this one here

And finally, grab this one here.   All are $19.99. 

And keep your eyes here.  We just might have a few celebratory tee shirts coming soon, as well!  

From China to Your Door

Your product is designed, manufactured, and inspected, so what happens next? The next big step in the process is getting your product from your overseas manufacturer to the U.S and in the hands of a warehouse or Amazon distribution center.

Even after navigating all of the steps leading up to this, it is still a huge undertaking to get your product from China to the U.S. You want to make sure that your product arrives undamaged, but still meets the needs of your budget and the time frame you are working with.

Shipping & Warehouses

There are a variety of options available for getting manufactured goods from one location to another and they vary in charges and transit times. These options include air and sea shipping, but sea freight containers are the most common for products outsourced from China.

Another factor to take into consideration is whether you want to ship your products to an Amazon FBA warehouse, to a third-party warehouse, or to yourself. If your products are shipped directly to an FBA warehouse you will need to make sure that your manufacturer is willing to prepare your product completely to meet FBA specifications.

The photo above shows products packed by our manufacturing partner prepared to go to an FBA warehouse.  We do use a third-party warehouse as well since storage costs at Amazon can be high.  These products will first go the port in China, though, then get on a sea vessel headed to the U.S. west coast. 

Once it arrives in the U.S., it needs to pass through customs, travel to our third-party partner and be inspected by them to ensure that the shipment that has arrived is what we expected.  Only then do our products get shipped to Amazon, and ultimately, to you.

From Amazon to You

Whether you are getting a last-minute gift for someone or stocking up on essentials, it won’t typically take long for Amazon to get your package to you. However, there are still a lot of preparations for making that happen.

When you search online for a product, there are a lot of steps that take place behind the scenes. For example, Outshine has a seller account on Amazon where we manage our products. We list our products including the title, description, and price. It is also here that we set up the shipping options that will be made available to our customers.

Even when selling on Amazon, a seller has the option to ship products on their own, but most sellers have Amazon store, package, and ship to their customers. By having Amazon fulfill shipments, products are also able to be shipped using free shipping and Prime shipping. Returns are also free.

After the shipping options are set up, it’s time to start selling the products. Of course, as a seller you want to attract as many customers as possible, and it helps to have great product listings that include vivid pictures. At Outshine, we have professional photo shoots for our products to ensure that you can see exactly what you will be getting when you purchase from us.

Once you click the Place Your Order button on Amazon, the process to get your order to you begins. The process starts in an Amazon fulfillment center where the products you order are placed on a conveyor belt to start making their way to you. From the belt, it is packaged, labeled, scanned, and sent to a trailer to wait for shipment. Amazon trucks carry over 2,000 packages at a time and take items from the fulfillment center to a sortation center where the packages are then distributed according to location and the shipping speed requested. From there, they are sent to UPS, FedEx, USPS for delivery.  Amazon might also deliver to you directly using their own service! 

Wrapping It Up

If you’ve read all three blogs in this series, you now know exactly what it takes to design, manufacture, ship, and sell a product. It doesn’t just magically appear at Amazon and then get dropped off in a smiling little box by the UPS man. There’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes. But we can’t thank all of you enough for being part of our process and our story.

Happy Heart Month! 

The start of a new month means it is time for a new wallpaper or calendar. We’ve got you covered! Choose your favorite format below & download it. Calendars in laptop or mobile versions, with both Sunday & Monday start. And of course, there is just the pretty wallpaper if you don’t need the calendar backdrop. Click on the version (or versions) you like below to download!  

Go here to grab your desktop or laptop versions. 

Go here to grab your mobile versions. 

Back in early December, Kara was working on A+ content for our Amazon shop.  She was in the throes of getting info together for our new Vintage Cookie Jar, and she asked me a question: 

"How many containers of Oreo cookies do you think fit in that thing?"

I wasn't sure the answer.  We did a photoshoot back in August where we measured the capacity of our first cookie jar in this same method, and it fit 3 packs of standard Oreos, without any issue.  I suspected the Vintage Cookie Jar was a bit larger, but there was only one way to know for certain. I offered to make a quick trip to our nearby CVS store to grab a few packages so we could test. 

3 family-sized packs of Oreos later, we determined that the capacity is just a bit larger on the Vintage Cookie Jar as compared to its predecessor. 

What we didn't yet know was how long those cookies would keep their freshness inside that cookie jar.  While the seal on the container is a strong one, air does enter the container each time we open it.  And we do that every day. 

So here we are, a little over a month later.  I am happy to report that the cookie jar is still well-over half full (there are only 3 of us in the office) AND that they are all still as crunchy and fresh as the day we put them in the jar. 

So, if you are looking for a great-looking cookie jar that will keep your cookies as fresh as the day you make or buy them, please consider this one.  We are pretty proud of it. 

It's a new year.  A new DECADE, even.  2020 could be the year that you finally make the big move, start the business, lose the weight or get your nutrition on track.  

It's tough, though, if you are all the way off the wagon by January 15.  

Outshine to the rescue.  Here are a few tips to help you stay on track and crush those goals in the first year of the (new) Roaring '20's. 

1. Start Whenever it Feels Right

I realize this sounds.... counterintuitive since this is a New Year's post. 

Still, you shouldn't feel tied to the first day of a new year on the calendar as a hard start date.

Allow yourself the time to properly prepare. Set a smart, actionable goal that can be measured, and put the measures in place to track to the goal. That includes considering any possible pitfalls- like lack of motivation or temptations.  If your plan is to work out each day after work, for example, plan ahead for co-worker requests for happy hour and dinner. Maybe you can fit in a quick work out and meet them after, instead of skipping it altogether.  The more prepared you are to address these possible temptations, the better you are setting yourself up to succeed

2. Maintain that Motivation

Let's face it, feelings of fatigue and anxiety can zap motivation, and stop you in your tracks.  To combat that, try listing your reasons for adhering to your resolution while still feeling inspired, to be read on days when motivation is lacking.  In this way, you'll be using your logic to help you overcome the emotional reasons that are pulling you away. And if that doesn't work, you can barter with yourself and take in that episode of "Riverdale"- but only if you are on the treadmill. 

3. Make it a Habit

Do your best to make the resolution automatic.  For example, if your goal is to eat a healthier diet, plan out your meals in advance, and pre-pack & portion them so you can easily grab & run to the office. Do your best to relieve as many of the pain points as you can- make it as easy as possible to stick to your goal.  After a few weeks, it will feel like you've always done it that way. 

4. Get Back Up When You Fall Down

None of us is perfect.  It is very likely that you will slip up.  It's how you return from the slip up that matters.  Remember, progress is sometimes two steps forward and one step back.  Instead of being hard on yourself, grant yourself a little grace & come back stronger.  

So, friends, how will you work to achieve all those goals in the new decade ahead?