When it comes to business "success", measuring, ranking, and benchmarking accomplishments are straightforward and also elusive. These practices are straightforward when the unit of measure is constant, which it no longer is.

In search for a point of reference, we often look for grounding by asking operational business questions like:

A compelling story makes us think and feel. It can speak to us in a way that webinar presentation slides and data can't. What makes storytelling powerful is its ability to connect people and help us make sense of our personal experiences in this world.

For businesses - including yours - a good story communicates your values and your beliefs to those to need to know them most.

So many businesses are pivoting left and right. They accepted the challenge to mobilize early and are thinking creatively, collaborating differently, and accumulating small successes. And yet...

There are so many businesses managing multiple survival strategies:

So what happens to those small business owners, makers, and creative entrepreneurs whose pivot is not happening as fast?

Raise your hand if you're working on your marketing strategy! Anyone that's ever developed and executed a marketing effort - of any size and any scope - will tell you it's risky business.

Whether you're a planner-at-heart like a Chief Marketing Officer or an entrepreneurial maverick who flys by the seat of her pants, if you need help with the mindset of putting yourself out there, you'll want to click play on this week's episode.

Did you know that the #1 thing you need to do before the economy bounces back is build deeper relationships? And that now is a great time to upgrade your marketing strategy?

Building a community of loyal customers plays a huge part in profitable selling.

Listen, if you want to stay nimble in an ever-changing environment, then stop scrolling and pay attention right now.

What I’m about to tell you could help you transform fizzled business plans into future business success. (I’m banking on it to help me with mine.)

Did you know that the best way to get what you want is to ask for what you want? And that the most effective way to do this for your business is with a call to action?

Asking customers to do what you want them to do plays a huge part in what you should and shouldn’t say on video.

Raise your hand if:

You and I have these challenges in common. In fact, every “non-essential” inventory-based business finds themselves in this boat.

The questions from merchants like you are coming in hot and fast so I hosted a live Q&A session created specifically for small retailers and makers.

There are as many work from home (WFH) styles as there are people. Our adult work styles are shaped over time, most commonly by:

Whether you WFM full-time or have been asked to WFH, the circumstances have changed and so should the way we craft our new WFH life.

Are you looking ahead and playing the long game? I think you are so it’s best to nurture your star players now, or you might not have the team to get you where you want to go and who you want to go with.

The business rules we typically play by are changing. Everything — EVERYTHING — is up for reinterpreting, reimagining, replanning, and refocusing, including business partnerships.

Attn: Retailers and Makers! Did you know there’s no better time to use livestream video for your inventory-based business than right now? Your customers are watching live videos and engagement only continues to grow.

According to Nielsen, U.S. adults spend about 6 hours a day watching video. And according to Forrester, users watch live video 10 to 20 times longer than on-demand content. They also found that consumers are 39% more likely to share content if it’s delivered through video.

Look, video can enable you to streamline your customer support practices and ultimately boost shopper satisfaction and loyalty, according to Ecommerce Guide.

Are you ready to discover what to do and how to do it so that you can  inspire customer loyalty and improve your customer retention rate?
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The conversations about how to grow sales and increase profit are taking a turn for the better as small and creative business owners search to understand the financial and non-financial implications of attracting new buyers.

​When it comes to improving your small business profit, there is an almost unlimited number of resources available for retailers, small-batch manufacturers, and makers. Type a question into your search box and answer-after-answer awaits.

But do you want to know all the information about running a profitable inventory-based business that exists online?

Of course not! It’s humanly impossible.

​The speed of retail is relentless.

If you’re juggling seasonal assortments, each on their unique journey within the merchandise lifecycle, it’s easy to keep charging ahead. To move on to the next season, to design the next collection, and to assort the next product line.

You’re a merchant who’s ready to go up but I hope you’re also ready to look back.

Managing different product lines across multiple seasons is enough to throw any new merchant off their game. That’s why a typical onboarding timeline in our industry is one whole year!

It’s takes the operational repetition of four major retail seasons — winter, spring, summer, and fall — to get the hang of what it’s like to manage the lifecycle of products.

My most downloaded resource for 2018 and 2019 has been a 14-point checklist on how to sell slow-moving inventory at full retail price. (If you don't have it, it's linked below.)

Inventory, styles, trends, and products come and go. Some faster than others.

Confession time: I’m a planner through and through. How about you?

Whether you like to plan like I do, prefer to keep your schedule loose and flexible, or anywhere in between, I’m sure you’ve also felt the driving need to work “on” your business more so you can take it further, faster.

Enter the practice of time blocking, which organizes your day into time slots.

This works really, really well until it doesn’t.

I'm listening! I hear that you have more work to do but not enough time to do it. I see that you work hard but feel like you don't have the results to show.

I suspect that the culprit is the expectations you set to be 100% productive 100% of the time.

You see, productivity loves your work products — any kind of work product. BUT it can’t distinguish between work that contributes to your profit and work that distracts you from achieving your goals. It just likes to see you busy.

It’s no wonder that any work-related “free” time you have gets eaten up quickly.

​During a time when every merchant and business owner I know is setting big goals for the new retail season, I'm doing something else.

I’m focusing on habits and think you should be too.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not knocking the value of goal setting. I do it myself. I even teach merchants how to do it more effectively.

But I do think you’ll have an easier time reaching your goals if you focus on the mundane, repetitive, perhaps boring habits that make achieving your goals a foregone conclusion.

​Look, if you want to sell more this holiday season, then stop scrolling and pay attention.

What I’m about to teach can help you transform an uncontrollable, busy, and blur of a holiday selling season into 13 weeks of profits.

Listen, everyone knows that when you have an uptick in customer traffic you have the potential to sell more, and when you sell more you make more.

​But what most small businesses don’t know is that you don't have to wait for the holidays to make the most out of the Golden Quarter.

​I’m curious… as you shape the future of your business, what does your big picture include?

To be honest, you could hire an employee or manager to help you get unstuck from being in the daily work weeds. Or you could set up work boundaries and enforce them to protect your calendar from getting overrun with distractions.

But that’s not going to give you the blueprint you need to move forward with confidence while maintaining the creative control you crave.

Enter strategic thinking for retailers and makers.

If you could go back in time, what advice would you give yourself?

Spoiler alert: (Even) I hate this question!
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Hindsight is 20/20. It gives us a less tender opportunity to learn from past mistakes, oversights, and failures. As someone who’s fascinated but learning from her own history, I know there’s more to get out of hindsight — like learning how to fail up.

A common thread that connects business owners and CEOs across all organizations, in all industries — regardless of business size — is a desire for both confidence and clarity.

The leadership role can feel isolating. It takes a lot of work to hold down the fort, to have or find answers to your challenging business questions, and to take big leaps toward growth.

The reality is that many things out of your control. But there’s a lot more you can sway… if you know how.

We’re entering a selling season when the reasons for buying are broader than they are during other times of the year.

Between seasonal holidays like Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, non-holiday seasonality associated with school graduation and sports, and the general energy that comes from experiencing warm weather, customers open their wallets more freely since fourth quarter.

It’s no wonder that pop-up events and outdoor markets are aplenty this time of year.

So how are you event planning for optimal profit?

When I started working in a retail buying office, I found it to be an exciting time in my life. I adored being part of the decision-making that shaped what customers bought. Specifically, I enjoyed learning how to understand my customers so deeply that I could shop of them — thousands and thousands of them.

What you and I have in common is that we excel at translating visual or emotional inspiration into something a customer will pay for. We also have strong presentation skills — from visual communication to store merchandising to selling. Like you, I love this large portion of the job being a merchant!
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During this early part of my career, I could have left the rest of the merchant role behind. Believe me when I tell you, I tried and here’s how it went!