Creative Shop Talk Podcast Episode 296 | Building a Retail Business Through Live Social Selling with Mastermind Member Amy Cseh of Schoolhouse Salvage
With Retail Coach Wendy Batten
Listen on: Apple Podcasts |Spotify | Radio Republic | YouTube | PlayerFM | Stitcher | iHeartRadio
Episode Overview:
In this episode, I’m talking with Level Up Mastermind & Inner Circle member Amy Cseh about how live social selling utterly transformed her retail business at her shop, Schoolhouse Salvage in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. Amy shares how live selling began as a way to use slow in-store hours more effectively and gradually evolved into the primary way customers shopped with Schoolhouse Salvage.
Amy talks us through how her business shifted over 13 years, including the move from storage unit to physical retail space to being mostly online with limited open hours. She explains how responding to customer engagement during live sales helped shape decisions about inventory, space, and how the business operates today.
Listeners will gain clarity on how social selling can grow organically, how it can serve an existing customer base, and how it can support long-term sustainability without forcing a specific retail model. This is the motivating conversation every retailer needs right now.
Our Key Topics:
- How Amy flipped the script from slow retail hours on a Wednesday night to a team of 15 by taking the first step of turning on her camera
- The encouragement all retailers need to hear to turn their cameras on NOW
- How to use Facebook live sales to sell inventory – no matter what business you are in
- How customers responded to live selling early on and how it has evolved over the past 7 years
- Transitioning from brick and mortar to mostly online sales by doubling down on what was working for Amy
- Serving community through online engagement with a happy heart – this goes for your team and your customers/clients
Key Takeaways for Retailers about Social Selling
1. Social selling can begin as a small experiment.
Just turn the camera on! Bring your shop to your customers. Get out of your own way. Build a system that works for you. Don’t want to ship? Start without shipping.
2. Live selling can supplement and even drive in-store traffic.
Live social selling isn’t just for those without regular retail hours, but be sure you are wanting to do the work necessary of adding another revenue stream to your business.
3. Online community can become the primary sales driver.
Be consistent and engage in the comments. Pour into your customers. Commit to it. Loyalty will follow.
4. Retail models can shift gradually over time.
Amy shares the story of how her business started by collecting salvaged pieces from tear-downs that were otherwise going to be discarded. Her business has evolved tremendously over the past 13 years in a way that is truly inspiring.
Follow along with Amy and her team on Facebook and watch them work.
Amy has also documented the systems and resources used by Schoolhouse Salvage that support the success of their business. Her methods are tried and true – there is no fluff. If social selling interests you (and it should!), you can check out her Live Social Selling courses here and follow along with Amy’s Social Selling instagram (@live.socialselling).
“Double down on what works. There is so much business right in front of you that you are not tapping into.” -Amy Cseh
Resources Mentioned and Related Episodes:
Live Social Selling Courses with Schoolhouse Salvage – Steal their systems!
Follow along with Amy and Schoolhouse Salvage on: Facebook | Schoolhouse Salvage Instagram | Live Social Selling Instagram | Schoolhouse Salvage Website
Episode 253: Mastering Social Selling: How Retailers Can Boost Sales and Build Loyal Customers
Episode 133: Retailer Success Series: Community, Culture, and CEO Mindset with Amy Cseh
About Your Host, Wendy Batten:
In case we haven’t met…I’m Wendy Batten. I’ve been a small business owner, coach, and mentor for over 25 years. I help thoughtful, established entrepreneurs step into their role as CEO and build businesses that are profitable, meaningful, and supportive of the lives they want to live. My work blends real-world strategy with a life-first philosophy, shaped by lived experience, not theory. I’ve been there! Through honest conversations and practical insight, I invite you into bigger thinking about leadership, possibility, and how to build both business and life on purpose.
For more support from Wendy:
Hang out and connect with Wendy on IG
All of Wendy’s current programs and services for shop owners can be found HERE.
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