SPI 811: Cleaning up in a Surprising Niche with Becky Rapinchuk

SPI 811: Cleaning up in a Surprising Niche with Becky Rapinchuk

Becky Rapinchuk: My best advice is to test and in small quantities, because if you are going all in on something, you’re like, I know this is going to be huge. For me, it’s always been the things that I didn’t expect to be big that end up being the big products and the things that I’m like, this is going to sell out in an hour that doesn’t sell out an hour.

Pat Flynn: I love hosting these podcast episodes, especially when I get to interview a business owner. Like today’s guest, because I know nothing about this niche. And as a result, I get to ask questions without bias, without any understanding. So we can get deep into the why and the how, how did this even work? What is this about?

And today I’m excited because this business owner actually came as a recommendation from not just a few of you, even my own team members and assistant. Clean Mama, Becky from CleanMama.com. She’s a business owner who’s been at this for a while and we get deep into how she runs her business. She even has created her own physical products to sell.

Ones that actually people subscribe to, physical products because they deplete and then they have to get refilled and all this kind of stuff and it’s just fascinating because Becky’s very open with us about how all this works. And I even ask her questions because there are some competitors or some other people in the clean or cleanliness organization space like Marie Kondo and we do discuss what that’s like and get her insights on how that helped or not helped her business, as well as the pandemic, which her business grew while everybody was at home.

So Clean Mama, Becky from CleanMama.com Let’s chat shop. Let’s talk about it. Here we go.

Announcer: You’re listening to the Smart Passive Income Podcast, a proud member of the Entrepreneur Podcast Network, a show that’s all about working hard now, so you can sit back and reap the benefits later. And now your host, he orders sausage or chicken when he’s with his family at a crab house at Flynn.

Pat Flynn: Becky, welcome to the podcast. Thank you so much for joining me today.

Becky Rapinchuk: Thanks for having me.

Pat Flynn: So you are known as Clean Mama, and you started your business online around the same time that I did, around 2008 2009. What do you remember about starting a business around that time? Because starting a business has definitely changed. What were the challenges for you back then?

Becky Rapinchuk: Yeah, the biggest challenge was more, like, how to figure things out. Like, how to create a blog and how to use blogger. I mean, you know, trying to figure that out. When I started, there were a lot of I can’t even think of what they’re called, but where you would like put a blog post on someone else’s blog post and then it would link like a blog,

Pat Flynn: Like a carnival, right. I think that was that’s what they were called or something like that.

Becky Rapinchuk: So trying to figure out things like that, how to. Use Facebook when Facebook came out. I mean, it was just like more from a technical side that to me seemed like the hardest thing to try to figure out is just how do I do this?

And then now you can, you can put in like something very specific and you’ll get an answer on how to do something. It wasn’t like that, that you were kind of figuring out or asking people in your little group or, you know, whatever, how to do something. And that was, so it was just kind of different that way.

Pat Flynn: Yeah, those were the good old days where, you know, it was kind of a fun puzzle that we were all piecing together, but it became very clear, I think, for you and your brand, what you were about. Can you tell the audience who’s listening where this all started? What inspired you to create Clean Mama in the first place?

Becky Rapinchuk: Yeah, I wanted to share my cleaning routine. So I had a cleaning routine that I was doing in my own home. Some of my friends were doing it. I was talking about it and I wanted to have a public place to actually be sharing that. So I started creating documents in Word and learned how to convert them into a PDF, which was, that’s another thing.

How do you do this? So how to convert it into a PDF. And then I started sharing those online and selling them on Etsy in 2010. So it was kind of like, how can I share my routine and how I’m cleaning my home? Because I knew that it helped Me and I knew that from helping in my own experience in my home and trying to figure out how to keep the house clean all the time, instead of just on the weekends when I didn’t want to waste my time cleaning on the weekends.

And so just figuring that out and then learning how to share that publicly, that’s kind of where it all started for me. And I found that because it was kind of, you know, the wild, wild west of the blog world. No one was really sharing about cleaning. And so I started and then other people started and it just kind of, now it’s a thing and it’s fun because it’s like a normal everyday sort of a thing that’s been elevated to something more interesting than it really is.

Pat Flynn: Yeah, no, it’s great. And I do have questions about certain movements in this space that you’re in that has happened. I know Marie Kondo came by soon after, and I’m curious to know how that affected your business. But even before we get to that, like as somebody who is posting online and you’re sharing these things to help people. How do you help a person, I mean, I’m imagining that most of your audience are women who are at home and are just trying to keep the house in order. I think a lot of us similar to going to the gym, it’s like, okay, like, yes, I need to get fit. I know I need to go to the gym and that’s the answer, but how do you get in front of those people and say, you know, it’s not quite that easy.

And here are some things that can help you along the way. How did you nail your messaging early on? Cause on your website now, I mean, clean mama. It’s so, I mean, it’s very clean pun intended, but. Your word choices, your marketing is there, and you’ve been doing this for a very long time. So, so you got it down.

How long did it take you to understand the messaging and the positioning and to really make a connection with your audience that was finding you?

Becky Rapinchuk: Yeah, I, I mean, to be like totally honest, it’s just how I would want to be talked to.

Pat Flynn: Love that answer.

Becky Rapinchuk: It’s what resonated with me. And, and I am my own case study essentially, because I was desperate for a way to keep our house clean and trying to figure that out with different jobs.

I mean, I was a stay at home mom for probably two years. And the rest of the time I was either teaching in a classroom, working multiple jobs, I worked overnight at said Target. I was an admissions counselor that traveled. And then I started the blog and the business in between that. So I like feel like I really was able to, I’m, I’m, I’m my case study, like, does it work, you know, and I mean, I do have the benefit that I enjoy cleaning. I don’t mind it, but I also, I like a clean house more than I like to clean. So trying to figure out that has always just been like, the secret sauce for me, per se, the marketing is. I mean, I’ve gone back and forth with copywriters and looked for help in different things, but it always really comes back to when something’s actually working, it’s what I’ve actually written.

Pat Flynn: Yeah, I feel that.

Becky Rapinchuk: And not what the paid copywriter wrote. And so, I mean, it’s probably not what copywriters want to hear, but it usually is just like speaking to someone that’s in a similar situation as me.

Pat Flynn: Yeah, and that’s a great answer. And I think a lot of us online are creating resources for an earlier version of ourselves.

And so just kind of listen to your gut and read things back. And, and that’s amazing. When you started to promote and sell products, I’m curious, that’s often a huge leap for a lot of people. Was that a big leap for you to go from content creator to somebody who is selling things? And what was that transition like?

And what were perhaps the hurdles that you had to overcome to get to where you’re at today.

Becky Rapinchuk: Yeah. So I started my Etsy shop in 2010 and because I was selling PDFs at a time when no one else was selling PDFs, it was more of like getting over like the, yeah, you can buy something, but I’m not going to send it to you.

Pat Flynn: Were you getting a lot of people asking you like, when does it come in the mail?

Becky Rapinchuk: Yeah, right, right. So it’s, I mean, it was like that digital good kind of like starting point, it was even like I would take the email, copy the email, put it into my email, attach the document and then manually send it. I mean, I was doing that hundreds of times a day.

Pat Flynn: Oh, wow. That’s amazing.

Becky Rapinchuk: I mean, cause that’s how, but then they started having apps that would sink into Etsy and then Etsy. Actually created their own thing. So then you could upload the doc and then it would automatically send from there. But that’s not how it started. I mean, I was making the printables myself.

I was, did not have a designer, so it was just like my time. And so it was great from a profitability standpoint, except a lot of time, you know, and then I’ve written four books. And so my first book came out in 2013 and that really kind of launched me into the product space. I was using a lot of affiliate marketing and linking to Amazon and different working with different companies. And nothing was, I mean, there were things I liked, but I didn’t love them, so I wasn’t able, and I couldn’t like stand behind it. Like, this is such a great product, I, you know, you need to buy it because it’s gonna work. I know it’ll work for, I mean, I couldn’t like give it my 110% . So then in 2015 I decided I could kind of see where there was a lot of other PDFs that were being sold a lot of a digital marketplace I felt was kind of flooded at that point. So I started selling hard goods. So I had like spray bottles and cleaning cloths and just a small assortment of products that were like my favorites shipped him out of my house.

Pat Flynn: Was that through Etsy as well?

Like the physical products were using Etsy for that too?

Becky Rapinchuk: No, I didn’t. So that I went right to Shopify on that. Yeah. So that was like December of 2015, but I launched the shop and that was great. But the products I was selling Lasted a really long time. So I wasn’t getting like that repeat. All right. You know, like a glass.

You don’t need one every month because they last, you know, you don’t need microfiber cleaning class because they can be washed thousands of times. You know, there’s that kind of, you know, interesting mix there. So then. Like 2019 ish, I started selling actual consumable products. So I added laundry detergent, oxygen whitener, which is like a safe bleach alternative I had already been selling.

Well, dryer balls, but I, I’ve always worked in small quantities and just. Slowly kind of added new products as people like them. I’ve, I had paper goods in there too, which was an easy product to sell because that is consumable, but in a different way than laundry detergent is. So 2019, that was really kind of working well.

And then the pandemic hit.

Pat Flynn: I bet that was good for you.

Becky Rapinchuk: It was good for me because it was everyone’s at home. Everyone needs to know how to clean and let me show you what I have.

Pat Flynn: Lo and behold, you had the perfect products for this and I’m looking at your webpage now. It’s so beautiful, by the way, the colors, everything, everybody should check it out, but you have laundry detergent spray soaps and other things.

And that’s where I have a lot of questions about the consumables and the stuff that kind of, you know, It’s used up and then has to kind of come back. But going back to 2015, when you first started selling physical products, I’m curious, where did you find these physical products and what is the biggest challenge?

If you could speak to somebody who’s like, Ooh, like I have an audience, I’d love to sell physical products. What would be your number one piece of advice for somebody? Who’s ready to do that? Cause having sold a physical product myself, it is a completely different thing than a digital product. What would be your best advice for somebody going down that route?

Becky Rapinchuk: I would, my best advice is to test and in small quantities, because if you are going all in on something, you’re like, I know this is going to be huge, for me, it’s always been the things that I didn’t expect to be big that end up being the big products and the things that I’m like, this is going to sell out in an hour that doesn’t sell out an hour.

Pat Flynn: What’s an example of each of those?

Becky Rapinchuk: So an example of something that’s going to be like a crazy bestseller would be my laundry detergent spray, which is always been in my top three, but that will sell out like fast. Once it replenishes, I expect it to be a big product because laundry is a large product space, but people love it.

And I love that product. Something that, that I thought would be like crazy would be, I did a daily planner in quarters, so it was like four for a year. And I thought that would be like gangbusters and it wasn’t. So, I mean, and both of those were products that I like asked questions about. Interviewed people, you know, like, is this something that you would like?

I can’t wait to share this. You know, what do you think.

Pat Flynn: That sort of, you weren’t just like a randomly trying these things. You, you did some research and it still didn’t hit.

Becky Rapinchuk: Yeah. Yeah. And you can also like, I could relaunch a product in five years and it might be the right time for it. Maybe that wasn’t the right time for it, but when you go in, when I do like a paper good, I have to purchase a large amount to, to make it worth bringing that into my shop. So that has to be a pretty well calculated investment, but I’ve like, I try to, my another thing that I’ve always tried to do is like source as much in the United States as I can, because then I’m going to save on how much it’s going to cost to ship that product in whenever I’m looking at products, I’m looking at like the whole, like, sure that might be cheap.

Like I can get that for a dollar a piece, but it’s going to cost me 2 a piece to ship.

Pat Flynn: Yeah. On a container and it’ll take weeks and all this stuff. Right.

Becky Rapinchuk: It’s a balancing act. Another thing that I think is helpful is to, I wanted to have like, Like I want everything that you could use to clean your home and to be able to have all those products, but it’s me.

I’m not funded by anyone. I don’t have like a backer or anything like that. So I can’t come in with all the products that some other companies can come in with. So that’s hard. I’ve just tried to be at my own pace too. Like it’s not a race to get to 30 products or whatever you’re, you want your products to be at.

I added a lot of products like in 2020, 2021, 2022, but I’m starting to phase some of them out because they didn’t do as well as I anticipated them to do. So I’m, you know, I’m kind of now going like starting to shrink my product lines a little bit and go a little bit more in on the consumable goods, it was in less with the non consumables.

So it’s just kind of interesting.

Pat Flynn: Yeah, that, I mean, this is, this is amazing. I’m, I’m curious, managing inventory, shipping, packaging, all the stuff that comes with physical products, how did you learn how to figure it out when, when you first started, did you have any help or, or were there any resources that you went to to learn how to do this. And, and are you still working out of your own home and kind of managing inventory from that space? How has it grown since then?

Becky Rapinchuk: Yeah. So I worked out of my own home for probably six months. I realized this was not going to work.

Pat Flynn: Okay. You’re like, I can’t stay clean here.

Becky Rapinchuk: So I, I actually utilized a 3PL and that was okay.

But then another, like one of the larger 3PLs reached out to me. And that worked okay, but then it didn’t, you know, it’s just so I’m on my in the process of moving warehouses again, and it will be my 5th warehouse spot. I mean, it is just trial and error and looking at your pricing and knowing the right questions to ask.

I think that that’s really important too, is just because, I mean, your shipping is going to be probably of your profit right there. It goes to shipping. And so trying to find that balance between what your free shipping margin is going to be. Are you going to offer free shipping?

How are you shipping things? Are you using, you know, USPS or UPS or FedEx or DHL? Like, like we’re, and then seeing how much it costs at the end, end of the month is like, oh my goodness. Then you have your warehousing fees and you know, like there’s, there’s a lot involved in that. It’s all been just trial and error, clearly.

Pat Flynn: Yeah. Are you getting any guidance from any, anywhere? Are you like learning from anybody in particular in terms of, you know, what to do next or just let’s just figure this out as we go? Just

Becky Rapinchuk: Figure it out as I go.

Pat Flynn: I love it.

Becky Rapinchuk: Asking lots of questions and now I know what questions to ask. And I’m actually going back to my first 3PL who didn’t have anyone else and now they have five other people.

It’s all, it’s all. Or five other companies and so it’s a better fit for me now. So that’s what I’m in the process of right now, like next week. So yeah, it’s definitely, I was an art teacher for 10 years and that was like, this has like nothing. Nothing like being an art teacher other than I know how to clean up a mess really well.

Pat Flynn: Yes. Yes. Um, but we know you’re helping a ton of people doing it. I mean, your products are selling well, your, your brand is growing. It’s very well known. What’s a question that you should have asked earlier that you didn’t.

Becky Rapinchuk: Oh, that’s a good question. Probably. Having more of a long game, I think, is important.

I feel like when you’re an entrepreneur, you’re so in the weeds on the day to day that it’s hard to like see the forest through the trees almost. And so, I mean, I have long term goals, but they’re more like benchmarks and they’re more around followers. income, you know, it’s like not like more of the business side of things.

And I kind of feel like if it had been more business goals rather than like the growth sorts of goals. And I think that that’s, if you started in 2009, 2010, it was all about that, like obvious like follower count, readers, viewers, like all of that mattered so much more than I think it does now and I started my email list early on, so I’m really grateful for that because that was huge because that’s the only thing you really own is that list.

Pat Flynn: Mm hmm. Amen. Preach. How big is your list today?

Becky Rapinchuk: Well, I send to about a hundred and fifty thousand. My list is over four hundred and fifty thousand.

Pat Flynn: Incredible.

Becky Rapinchuk: I don’t send to every, you know, not everyone gets an email because they don’t always open them and I send it to who wants them. So that’s just kind of how I do it.

I do some pretty good list management so that I’m not paying for extra subs or just dead emails.

Pat Flynn: That’s wonderful. Wow.

Tell me a little bit about your traffic today. Back in the day for for all of us who were doing it back then it was it was Google, right? It was Google and SEO. Is that still important and bringing in traffic or what are your I would say top three modes of getting in front of people besides the email, obviously you have that email and you can benefit from getting in front of them kind of at command.

But in terms of new traffic and getting out there, what are the top three sources today for you?

Becky Rapinchuk: Yeah, organic has always been my number one, which is interesting. That’s always number one. And I think it’s just because people are always looking for how to clean X, how did it organize this? You know, that’s kind of a common keyword and I come up at the top.

So that’s Has always helped me. My blog would be my second source income. Like my number one page is my free printables page. People are always gravitating towards that. And that’s how I’ve grown my list. I mean, I can definitely say that having that early on was important. And when I started my free printables page, people complained that I asked for the email address and now I’m like, I’m so glad I asked for the email address because people used to want everything, like that’s not free, which I, it’s not, you’re, you’re exchanging an email for something and they wanted it all for free. And I fought back and said, Nope, I’m sorry. This is how you want them. This is how you can get them. But people, I originally was sharing like from a Google link, and then I quickly learned that that wasn’t the smartest way to do it.

Pat Flynn: Good for you.

Becky Rapinchuk: Put them all behind a paywall or not even a paywall, a gate, I don’t know, whatever.

But then my third would be social media. And that kind of varies. Pinterest has always been pretty high. But Facebook and Instagram, I mean, they kind of compete for that number three spot, you know, those as sources Instagram used to be Instagram and Facebook used to be much higher. I mean, they’re just not nearly as high.

I don’t run paid ads at this point. And it’s mostly because it hasn’t really worked for me. And so I just don’t, and, um, I always will revisit it and kind of go back and forth with it. If you know that number three with social media, that’s people are just finding it organically there as well.

Pat Flynn: Nice.

This is such a great insight into, into the business. And, you know, it sounds like you did micro experiment with ads and it just didn’t work and, you know, again, you have this free traffic coming in. You have the email list. This is, I mean. Great to take advantage of that, obviously. A few more questions here.

This is great. The first one about the consumables. I mean, that is a world that is sort of like the holy grail of, of product business, right? Because those consumables go away and then they got to replenish. And especially if it’s good, they’re going to continue to come back. How did you weave your way through cause I know there’s, there’s like health related things, especially with food and you’re not, I don’t know if you’re offering any food, but yeah, you know, these chemicals and like, how are you making sure that these products are safe and all these kinds of things that go along with, with things like this.

I have some friends who have created, you know, protein for working out and it’s just like. Wow, that’s that’s kind of crazy. All the regulations and whatnot. Is there a lot of that in things like cleaning products in your world? And kind of how do you manage that?

Becky Rapinchuk: Yeah, so I use manufacturers that are in the U. S. that already have like the safety data sheets on the products.

Pat Flynn: Okay.

Becky Rapinchuk: We have come up with my own formulas for different things. And then they are leaping bunny certified and USDA bio based certified. I could go and get like the EWG certification. I could go and look for like organic, you know, those sorts of things, but that costs a lot of money.

And I have not said that that’s what I want to spend the money on. It’s basically like, here’s the ingredients. You can search each and every ingredient. And on the website and see where they’re rated and then make your own decision, or you can trust me, you know, like, it’s kind of that’s how that works.

I’ve never I mean, everything is like, there’s no formaldehyde. There is no. allergens. So like, no, like not in any of the, in any of the ingredients, avocado and some ingredients. I don’t use anything that would be an like an allergen or a possible allergen. Everything is certified that it rinses clean or clear.

So there’s no residue in any of the laundry products. And I don’t use any artificial fragrances, any of the bad ingredients. I mean, everything is just top notch ingredients and they work awesome, but they’re non toxic.

Pat Flynn: Yeah.

Becky Rapinchuk: I can’t say you can drink this, but I can say these are non toxic products because they are.

Pat Flynn: So, so there’s, there are companies, manufacturers that make these sorts of things and you can work with them to tweak and move things around and they’ll obviously have scientists and other, other people involved that kind of can help guide you. But are, are you like going into the chemistry lab with them and you have like a pipette and you’re like, let’s see what happens if we do this, like what, what, what’s that meeting like with them?

And, and is that just a call on zoom? I’m just so curious to know what that process is like.

Becky Rapinchuk: Yeah. So I have not gone in person to any of my laboratories. I there’s two, well, three that I use mostly on the U S but they will meet over like a zoom call or a phone call. And we’ll talk about ingredients. We’ll talk about scents.

I have my scents formulated from a different manufacturer. So they’re like, it’s like a custom scent. So they use that formula to scent anything that any of my products. And then I’ve been like, can we try this ingredient? Like there’s a lot of enzymes in natural cleaning products because enzymes will remove dirt and odors really easily and safely.

So usually what we’re tweaking are enzymes. And so they’ll send me like samples, like here’s 10 samples, test these out. There, we usually start with just the formulas and then we work through those and tweak those. And then we add, once I find a formula that I am good with, then we add the scent and then we test it again and kind of go from there.

Pat Flynn: Amazing. Thank you for that insight. That’s, that’s a new world that is so interesting, but how cool is that? I mean, you’re making your own products. People are consuming them. They’re re upping I’m sure on their subscription to that. How much of your business is subscription based. I’m curious, like how many people are continually getting these things delivered to them?

You don’t have to share specific numbers.

Becky Rapinchuk: But no, it’s a hundred. It varies from month to month, but it’s a different, like you’ve got to offer the discount for that because you have to have a reason to subscribe. And I think that that’s usually the best reason I can sometimes see if I do do a sale, then I’ll see people will pause their subscriptions because they’ll get it.

The sale was better than the subscription. Then, you know, they’ll, You know, there’s, there’s that kind of part of it too. But I mean, I have hundreds and hundreds of people that are subscribing every month and looking forward to that box of clean mama goods. And I definitely like when I add new products, it’s always really fun because then they can let me know what they think.

Honestly, people love my products. They feel like I don’t get returns. I don’t get complaints. I mean, if it’s anything, it’ll be like, well, I prefer this scent to that scent, but that’s normal. Like everyone has their favorites, but I think just keeping things as simple as possible and sharing what works for me, I’m pretty picky.

So when I do put a product out, it’s, it’s been probably tested for years before it actually goes live. We’ve been working on some all purpose cleaning soap and it’s probably been two years that we’ve been working on that. So I’ve got a peak on my website now, but it has taken a long time and that’s a simple formula because there’s so many components to something to actually get it launched, you know, you’ve got to have the right package. You have to have the right labels, like everything. And then you’re tweaking, like testing, how long is it shelf safe? So they have to leave it on the shelf for a certain amount of time. They have to like run that through like that safety part of the testing too.

I mean, it’s not just like a fill and sell kind of a thing. There’s a lot that goes into it.

Pat Flynn: I mean, these are the. The downsides of a, of a physical thing, digital product, you can make it, tweak it, it’s out there immediately. Has it been worth it, all the extra stuff to go along with the physical products to add to your brand?

Becky Rapinchuk: Yeah, I, I definitely would say it’s worth it. It has not been without hassle or heartache or headache. It’s, you know, definitely, but it’s been a little bit more challenging times. I’m usually. I like to be very involved in the business. And so that also has its own issues because if I could give it to someone else to take and run with it, that would be a lot easier, but I’m not at that stage yet.

So this is, it’s all like right here.

Pat Flynn: I’m curious when you started. You know, for me, a big challenge when I began my business was balancing wanting to start the business and go all in on it, but I’m also a new parent and I had to, you know, balance those things. How did you manage those choices and the sort of where, where your attention went and still showing up as an amazing mom, but also as a business owner, can you speak to that a little bit?

Becky Rapinchuk: Yeah, I think for me. I was much, I’ve realized that I was much more productive when my kids were younger and I had smaller amounts of time. So now that they’re in school all day, like I might get as much done in six hours, but I could get that done in a like 45 minute nap. Yeah.

Pat Flynn: You had like a force function kind of.

Becky Rapinchuk: Yeah. It was.

Pat Flynn: Honing in your laser like thing.

Becky Rapinchuk: Yeah. And there was less online distractions too. I feel like there’s a lot of things that distract me online because there’s just a lot of noise. You open up Instagram and it’s just like, like, what am I doing wrong now? Like, tell me like, you know, like, Oh, have you tried this?

Oh, have you tried, you know, and I only follow like 200 and some people by design because I don’t want all the stuff, but then I’ll be fed an ad. I mean, it’s just, Like, I did not have those types of distractions. And so I think that that’s, I don’t know, like, that’s like a really big shift for me, but I find that I did get a lot more done when my kids were younger.

And I think it was just more of that laser focus that I was, I had to get it done in that amount of time. And now it’s kind of more open ended. I mean, I was vlogging three days a week and like no matter what I had three blog posts every week, but the pictures didn’t have to be perfect. You know, like it wasn’t, I mean, there’s just like, it’s so different.

Like nothing was, you know, perfection. I, I could just post a link to my blog, on my Facebook page, everyone saw it, you know, very different. Now you have to have like a real and a, like, I mean, it’s just, it’s different.

Pat Flynn: It’s definitely different for sure. I’m curious to finish up here. You know, I know in 2010, Marie Kondo came out with her book.

What was the name of that book again?

Becky Rapinchuk: Life changing habit of tidying up or something like that, right?

Pat Flynn: Yeah, that’s right. Life changing magic of tidying up. And that kind of created this craze of cleanliness and cleaning. And it was around that time that I recognized that there were a lot of cleaning influencers, I guess, that kind of came into the scene to start blogging, creating videos about this.

How have you been able to stay not just relevant, but even at the forefront of this industry in your way. And how have you been able to play that long game here as opposed to just like, Oh, here’s this trend and I’m going to go kind of smash it and see what happens. You’ve been in this for a very long time.

You still remain, you know, at the top of it and are helping so many more people. How have you been able to do that? What have you been focusing on that has allowed that to happen?

Becky Rapinchuk: Yeah, I think I struggled for a long time thinking, like, Maybe I’m not doing it right. Or maybe that’s a different, you know, like, am I saying the right things?

Am I doing the right things? But when I came right down to it, it’s consistency. And that’s what I show in my routine. And that’s what I also show in just how I do things. I’m still showing up. I’m still posting on my blog. I’m still sharing emails. I still have a shot. I’m talking about the same thing, but now I’m reaching different people too.

So like. I mean, I have a very different, like my age range is like 25 to 55, but I know I have some followers that are like in their seventies that are struggling with clutter, like asking for help. So it definitely ebbs and flows, but I’m still reaching the person that needs my approach. It’s different.

It’s not the same. There’s room for real life with the routine. Whereas I think there’s, Like, even Marie Kondo has said, like, after she had kids, she didn’t agree with everything she said before. I mean, I think she said that probably like last year’s, I mean, it was like a, like everyone was talking about like her revolutionary statement, but I was like, well, of course, like, everyone knew that when she said it, I mean, I think everyone said, well, she doesn’t have kids, so that’s how she can do this.

I mean, it’s just. I can only keep sharing my thing, my stuff, what I’ve been working on and hope that it reaches the right people and that people, whoever it resonates with is who it’s supposed to resonate with. And I know that It’s a different approach, you know, in a sea of people that are all trying to do the same thing.

I always hope that mine stands out because it’s me.

Pat Flynn: Amazing, Becky. This has been an incredible conversation and thank you so much for opening up the doors a little bit to how your business runs and what it’s doing. CleanMama.com. Any final words of advice for anybody out there who is building a brand? Who wants to expand it, but also still remain sane while doing so. What might you say to finish off this episode for us?

Becky Rapinchuk: Yeah, I would say as much as you want to go fast, I would say go slow and don’t look around. Just just go in your own lane. And yeah, I mean, it’s okay to look around and see what other people are doing.

But if it’s distracting you, just put your blinders on and do your thing.

Pat Flynn: Amazing. Any other places other than CleanMama.com you would love for people to go and connect with you at.

Becky Rapinchuk: Yeah, you can see me on Instagram at at Clean Mama. My Pinterest account is there too. I’m on Facebook at Clean Mama. I kind of play around on TikTok, but it’s.

I think it’s The Clean Mama there because someone else took clean mama.

Pat Flynn: So, yeah, I will see how long TikTok lasts now.

Becky Rapinchuk: That. I wasn’t going to fight that battle.

Pat Flynn: No, well, we appreciate you, Becky. Thank you so much for this insight and we’ll have all the links and stuff on our show notes. But I, again, I appreciate you so much and congratulations on everything and looking forward to seeing where you go from here.

Becky Rapinchuk: Sounds great. Thanks so much for having me.

Pat Flynn: All right. I hope you enjoyed that conversation with Becky from CleanMama.com. Really, really love how she opened up and shared a lot of the insights, especially when it came to the development of her products and what that might take. Because I’ve always thought about what it would be like to start a physical business that involves things like consumables or things that, you know, go on a person’s skin. I mean, there’s a lot that goes along with that. Obviously, I’ve created a physical product, but it was an invention called the Switch Pod, which is a little bit different, but also the same in that, you know, you have a target audience and you’re selling them something.

And I’m a little bit jealous that she can continue to sell to the same people over and over and over again because she’s created this product that just works so well and her blog and her mission as well as her loyal audience is just, It’s just so cool to see and so inspiring. So Becky, thank you so much.

CleanMama.com is where you’d want to go to check out all that she has to offer. Thank you, Becky. And thank you for listening all the way through. I appreciate it. And again, like I said in the very beginning, I love these conversations because these are businesses that, you know, we didn’t even know existed.

Maybe you did, but I didn’t. And it just shows that there’s always more opportunity. There’s always people out there that you can help in your own special way. And just love how Becky did it. Great job, Becky.

And thank you for listening.

I appreciate you. Make sure you hit that subscribe button if you haven’t already, because we’ve got a lot more interviews coming your way.

Can’t wait to share them with you. Cheers. And wishing you all the best.

Thank you so much for listening to the Smart Passive Income podcast at SmartPassiveIncome.com. I’m your host, Pat Flynn. Sound editing by Duncan Brown. Our senior producer is David Grabowski, and our executive producer is Matt Gartland. The Smart Passive Income Podcast is a production of SPI Media, and a proud member of the Entrepreneur Podcast Network. Catch you next week!