Creative Shop Talk Podcast Episode 163: Simple Sales Strategy Series: Where to Start

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With Retail Coach Wendy Batten

Listen on:  Apple Podcasts |Spotify | Radio Republic | YouTube | PlayerFM | Stitcher | iHeartRadio

Show Notes:

Get ready for my new four part series on the Creative Shop Talk Podcast: The Simple Sales Strategy Series starts TODAY!

What this series is NOT about: chasing sales and hustling harder. What this series IS about: (1) Building that beautiful business within the communities you love and want to support and (2) Being intentional with your marketing and time so your business can thrive. I want you to have time to live the life you intended to when you opened your shop!

As you listen in on this four part series, continually ask yourself the following questions:

1. Why is this business important to me?
2. Where do I want it to take me?
3. How am I going to get where I want to be? (HINT: It’s not about chasing sales!  It’s about serving your customers and community and growing your audience so you have more eyeballs on your beautiful business.)

“We have to have heart … but we really need to pay attention to making sure that we are being profitable, getting paychecks, and keeping that joy bucket filled as we grow.” – Wendy Batten

Week 1 Topic: Your Attract Strategy – Understanding Audience Building

There are SO many ways to build your audience, but first understand that you need to put in the effort to make sure you are building your audience.  Here are so questions to ask yourself to get you started:

1. What are you doing to build your audience?
2. How are you ensuring that your community knows about your shop?
3. How are you engaging with your audience?
4. What are you doing this week to get more people to know about your shop?
5. Is your brand messaging clear?
6. Are you searchable outside of social media?
7. Who needs to know about your business?

Next week on the podcast we are talking foot traffic and how to convert browsers into buyers.  See you then!

If you need more support or are ready to take the next step in your business, I would LOVE for you to join the retailers inside the Retailer’s Inner Circle.  As a member, you will have full access to all of my masterclasses, once-a-month group coaching, and a monthly Roundtable discussion with other members of the group.  Plus, our Facebook community is vibrant with heart-centered business owners. It’s an incredible group of people who are always sharing ideas and helping out.  I’d be honored to have you.

Related podcasts we think you’d like:

Episode 158: Best of Series: Becoming a Destination Shop
Episode 144: How to Create a Customer Journey Map
Episode 31: 7 Strategies to Attract Foot Traffic to your Brick + Mortar

About Your Host, Wendy Batten:

In case we haven’t met yet, I’m Wendy, a small business coach and founder of The Retailer’s Inner Circle, where I help other independent shop owners learn how to gain the right business skillsets to see more profits, paychecks, and joy as they navigate running their retail business. 

Through online classes, business coaching programs, speaking, and a top-ranked podcast, I’ve helped hundreds of retailers around the globe reclaim their dream and see the success they want from their beautiful shops. My signature private coaching community, The Retailer’s Inner Circle, has helped retailers around the world build their retail business skill sets and confidence. 

I am proud to have been featured in several major publications, including my own business column in What Women Create magazine. I have been privileged to be a guest on top-ranked podcasts and sought-after as a guest speaker and teacher for several brands, associations, and communities that are passionate about the success of independent retailers.

When I’m not coaching, you will find me either DIYing and renovating my very imperfect old crooked cottage by the sea in the UNESCO World Heritage town of Lunenburg, NS, or blogging about our travel and RVing adventures and the weird fun things we get up to in our coastal village. I’d love to invite you to check out one of my free resources for real retailers at https://wendybatten.com/free-resources/

For more support from Wendy:

Retailer’s Inner Circle – Join Wendy inside the best retailer’s community

Wendy’s FREE Resources for shop owners 

Hang out and connect with Wendy on IG 

All of Wendy’s programs and services for shop owners can be found HERE.

Subscribe and Review in iTunes:

Are you subscribed to my podcast? If you’re not, I’d love you to consider it. Subscribing means you won’t miss an episode! Click here to subscribe to iTunes!

If you want to be more of a rock star, I’d love it if you could leave a review over on iTunes as well.  Those reviews help other retailers find my podcast and they’re also fun for me to go in and read. Just click here to review, select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review” and let me know what your favorite part of the podcast is. So grateful for you! Thank you!

Creative Shop Talk Podcast Episode 161: Takeaways from my Recent Mastermind Retreat

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With Retail Coach Wendy Batten

Listen on:  Apple Podcasts |Spotify | Radio Republic | YouTube | PlayerFM | Stitcher | iHeartRadio

Show Notes:

I recently hosted 12 of my Level Up Mastermind members at a 2-day retreat in Orlando, FL.  Members came from all over the US, Canada, and even one from New Zealand!  The experience was profound on so many levels that I felt compelled to share some lessons and takeaways with you here on the podcast.

First of all, there is a lot to be said about meeting in person! Only a few members (me included) had met prior to this gathering.  We meet on Zoom once a month and have weekly drop-in calls but the camaraderie and community seems to become magical when you meet up with such a strong group of like-minded people in person. It’s so important to remember that we are not alone in running our retail businesses! Be on the lookout for an upcoming episode of the podcast where my Level Up Mastermind members share their best tips. It’s going to be so good!

Secondly, my retailers are all at different stages of business, but most are in the “refinement” and “growth” stages as identified below.

Three Seasons of Business:

1. Building: Becoming known in your community, building your brand
2. Refinement: Finding your groove, the “messy middle,” understanding your numbers
3. Growth: Role as CEO is expanding, adding revenue streams, the “sweet spot”

But you came for the meat and potatoes of the retreat.  Here they are!

6 Lessons and Takeaways from my Mastermind

1. 
   

   Find your momentum (or relocate it).

Feeling drained, uninspired, or unmotivated are common and usually come from not having a clear direction. But remember!  Goals love action. Step into the role of CEO and ask yourself: What do I need to regain that momentum? What needs to change? Do I need to talk to a like-minded biz buddy? Join a group? Take a vacation? 

We can’t live in our comfort zone.  We have to do the work we don’t like or don’t want to do. 

“The best we can do is to keep asking for help and accepting it when we can. And if you keep on doing that, you’ll always be moving towards better.” -Higgins, Ted Lasso

2. 
   

   Revisit the goals you set for your business and lifestyle.

Ask yourself: What do I want from my business now?  Five years from now? Am I building a brand that is an asset that is sellable or an empire that serves you for many years? The bonus around being business owners is that we get to choose who we serve.

You need to know what YOU need from your business. Ask yourself: Am I getting the paycheck I need? Am I building an asset? Do I have time freedom? Remember: This looks different for everyone.

3. 
   

   Understand where your money is going.

Stop chasing sales if you haven’t figured out your margins, expenses, payroll, your paycheck, profits. You must dig into your numbers and understand the basics of where all of your money is going. 

If you need more help with this topic, you need to be in the Inner Circle over the next two months as we deep dive into this ahead of our Holiday Boot Camp.

“The person who doesn’t know where his next dollar is coming from usually doesn’t know where his last dollar went.” 

4. Your brand message/image/personality is crucial.

We had a special guest at the retreat, Mr. Adam Blackwell.  Mr. Blackwell owns an advertising agency and runs many other successful small businesses alongside Mrs. Millie Blackwell. Mrs. Blackwell attended as a member of my Level Up Mastermind.  Even across multiple seemingly different businesses, their branding is unique and unified. 

A great tip Mr. Blackwell gave us was to think of your brand as a person. Give them a personality and even a name. Ensure that across all platforms your brand is cohesive. 

Check out their businesses on instagram: @blackwellandsons and @thevillagebookshop

5. 
   

   Stop wasting time on tactics and vanity metrics and get real and curious about strategy and metrics.

Doing so will get you more predictable sales.  We worked on understanding how to implement SIMPLE REAL SALES and MARKETING strategies. 

Focus on the following:

• Understanding your audience and who needs to know us and HOW we can get better known and our brand out there
• How to pull those people from lurkers to shoppers and then raving fans
• Knowing how to measure so that you can have more predictable sales, paychecks, time off.

If you need more help with this topic, you need to be in the Inner Circle over the next two months as we deep dive into this ahead of our Holiday Boot Camp.

6. 
   

   Brainstorming with a community of like-minded retail shop owners is magical.

Hey! I built a container just for this! Why reinvent the wheel? There are countless years of experience within my Retailers’ Inner Circle. As a member you’ll have access to really cool shop owners and their shops, tons of masterclasses you can access on your own time, and the ability to brainstorm and bounce ideas off of YOUR people. Not to mention, we have two scheduled opportunities every month for live coaching calls and Roundtables. 

I hope this was helpful to you and remember, you can always reach out to me via my website or on social.  I would LOVE to see you in my Inner Circle this month!

Related podcasts we think you’d like:

Episode 149: Retailer Success Series: How Two Friends Turned a Creative Hobby into a Successful Retail Business
Episode 133: Retailer Success Series: Community, Culture, and CEO Mindset with Amy Cseh
Episode 132: Retailer Success Series: Community Marketing Strategies with Millie Blackwell
Episode 122: Retail Success Series: CEO Mindset and Community with Sylvia Davis from Louisville Mercantile

About Your Host, Wendy Batten:

In case we haven’t met yet, I’m Wendy, a small business coach and founder of The Retailer’s Inner Circle, where I help other independent shop owners learn how to gain the right business skillsets to see more profits, paychecks, and joy as they navigate running their retail business. 

Through online classes, business coaching programs, speaking, and a top-ranked podcast, I’ve helped hundreds of retailers around the globe reclaim their dream and see the success they want from their beautiful shops. My signature private coaching community, The Retailer’s Inner Circle, has helped retailers around the world build their retail business skill sets and confidence. 

I am proud to have been featured in several major publications, including my own business column in What Women Create magazine. I have been privileged to be a guest on top-ranked podcasts and sought-after as a guest speaker and teacher for several brands, associations, and communities that are passionate about the success of independent retailers.

When I’m not coaching, you will find me either DIYing and renovating my very imperfect old crooked cottage by the sea in the UNESCO World Heritage town of Lunenburg, NS, or blogging about our travel and RVing adventures and the weird fun things we get up to in our coastal village. I’d love to invite you to check out one of my free resources for real retailers at https://wendybatten.com/free-resources/

For more support from Wendy:

Retailer’s Inner Circle – Join Wendy inside the best retailer’s community

Wendy’s FREE Resources for shop owners 

Hang out and connect with Wendy on IG 

All of Wendy’s programs and services for shop owners can be found HERE.

Subscribe and Review in iTunes:

Are you subscribed to my podcast? If you’re not, I’d love you to consider it. Subscribing means you won’t miss an episode! Click here to subscribe to iTunes!

If you want to be more of a rock star, I’d love it if you could leave a review over on iTunes as well.  Those reviews help other retailers find my podcast and they’re also fun for me to go in and read. Just click here to review, select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review” and let me know what your favorite part of the podcast is. So grateful for you! Thank you!