Coffee Break Chats with Wendy: Wins, Insights, Lessons, and Struggles | Episode 138

Coffee Break Chats with Wendy: Wins, Insights, Lessons, and Struggles | Episode 138

Show Notes:

It’s our final episode of the Creative Shop Talk Podcast for 2022!
At the beginning of my mastermind group sessions, members share quick wins, insights, lessons and struggles. It really makes us take the time to acknowledge what’s truly going on in our businesses.

Wins – what are you currently celebrating?
Insights – what have you observed lately?
Lessons – what have you learned?
Struggles – what areas within your business need the most help?

So, in today’s episode of Creative Shop Talk, I’m getting personal and sharing my wins, insights, lessons, and struggles:

Wins

  1. I’m excited to say that I’ve gone back into coaching with my coaches. I invested heavily in hiring coaching with real determination of what I want. 
  2. All of your wins are my wins as well. Hearing from so many of you this past year and all of the success you’ve had is a big win for me as well as working with all of my amazing retailer clients.
  3. The Creative Shop Talk Podcast downloads are going up substantially every week.
  4. I got out of my comfort zone and attended a conference for Canadian exporters.
  5. My husband and I bought an RV and took a month-long trip to Newfoundland, Canada.
  6. I have been very attentive to my health.
  7. I faced another fear and invited Jo Packham to be a guest on the podcast which in turn, provided many other opportunities to work with Jo. In 2023, I will be writing a business column inside her magazine, What Women Create
  8. Lastly, I have a crystal clear vision and plan for 2023.

Insights –

  1. We don’t have to be cookie cutter. We all need business foundations, but how we create those systems and foundations is going to be different than anyone else. There are many ways to run your business.
  2. We need to be intentional about who we surround ourselves with. Be super selective and find your true allies.
  3. Don’t play small. There’s zero growth in our comfort zone.

Lessons – 

  1. Investing in coaching, teams, business growth, and myself has been huge for me and I see it for others as well this past year. 
  2. Raise the bar when it comes to things like tech skills and what I can do.
  3. I am more comfortable with moving to the next level.
  4. I need to remind myself that I am capable and a strong decision maker.
  5. My wildly most important goals – I have my 3 big focus goals set.

Struggles over the past year –

  1. I have too many ideas. I need to corral all of my ideas and make strong decisions on what I can execute.
  2. Imposter Syndrome. It was in my head this year that everyone else had it together and was bigger and better. I need to remind myself that I am not for everybody and that’s ok.
  3. Impatience. I am impatient with my website updates, learning, making my team really cohesive, etc.

I am so excited for what’s coming in retail in 2023 – my clients, the podcast, and the ripple effect it all creates!

My Retail Made Simple course is OPEN and if you decide to purchase through December, you’ll get an amazing BONUS offer. A personal shop audit from me!
Jump in and say YES to a successful 2023!

 

Listen on:  Apple PodcastsSpotify | Radio Republic | YouTube | PlayerFM | Stitcher | iHeartRadio

 

 

A Quick Glance:

[0:12] Intro

[1:41] Retail Made Simple is OPEN with a special bonus!

[8:41] WINS

[17:03] INSIGHTS

[21:43] LESSONS

[25:19] STRUGGLES

[29:50] What I am excited for?

[33:16] Closing remarks

 


Don’t forget to leave a review on Apple podcasts!

 

Resources Mentioned:

Business and Planning Guide
Retail Made Simple
Level Up Mastermind
Foot Traffic Made Simple
Retailer’s Inner Circle
The Greg McKeown Podcast & Books

 

Related podcasts we think you’ll like:

Episode 133 – Community, Culture, and CEO Mindset with Amy Cseh
Episode 115 – How To Tame All of Those Great Ideas
Episode 106 – Multi-Passionate Jo Packham and the Creative Business Journey
Episode 100 – Why It’s Important to Celebrate Your Business Milestones
Episode 94 – Where to Spend Your Time and Focus Within Your Business
Episode 79 – Your Competitive Advantage Over Amazon
Episode 68 – Special Guest Marian Parsons On Growing and Doing Business Your Own Way

Creative Shop Talk | Wendy Batten | Wins, Insights, Lessons, and Struggles
  • Pinterest
  • Facebook


For more support from Wendy:

Retail Made Simple – Wendy’s on demand course for shop owners wanting more from their business

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

Wendy’s FREE Resources for shop owners 

Hang out with Wendy on IG 

More ways to connect with Wendy 

Creative shop Talk Podcast with Wendy Batten
  • Pinterest
  • Facebook

Top Sales Playlist

These are a few of my listeners favourite Creative Shop Talk Podcast episodes.

Grab your earbuds and listen in with me!

Coffee Break Chats with Wendy: The Line of Fine | Episode 137

Coffee Break Chats with Wendy: The Line of Fine | Episode 137

Show Notes:

Cheers to another coffee break, friends!

I’ve had this particular phrase in my head for a little while now…
The Line of Fine.

Dr. Meghan Walker talks about it a lot on her podcast in conjunction with the healthcare system. For instance, let’s say you have sleep problems. You go into the doctor, they give you a few steps to help you sleep … and now you’re fine. But what caused the sleep issues in the first place?

Isn’t that something we should know?

There’s no investigation into the why, just the focus on treatment and moving on. I see this in business as well. Why are we not digging deeper and taking a forensic look at the root cause of what the problem is within our business?

We just keep working on “getting more customers” or “more social media”…but the root cause is deeper. 

No systems, poor foot traffic, team culture, poor inventory management…whatever may be going wrong, ask yourself these questions:

What is the root cause?
How did we get here?
What do we need to do?
What do we have to learn?
Who can help us through this?

The line of fine is not fine. Don’t settle for fine in your life or business.
You need to be more than fine so you can thrive!

 

Listen on:  Apple PodcastsSpotify | Radio Republic | YouTube | PlayerFM | Stitcher | iHeartRadio

 

 

A Quick Glance:

[0:12] Intro

[2:25] The Line of Fine

[7:36] Investigate

[9:47] Closing remarks

 


Don’t forget to leave a review on Apple podcasts!

 

Resources Mentioned:

The Greg McKeown Podcast & Books
Business and Planning Guide
Retail Made Simple
Level Up Mastermind
Foot Traffic Made Simple
Retailer’s Inner Circle

 

Related podcasts we think you’ll like:

Episode 135 – Set You & Your Customers Up For Success This Holiday Season
Episode 131 – Is Your Business Ready For What’s Coming in 2023?
Episode 127 – Invest In Yourself
Episode 126 – 10 Simple Ways to Level Up Your Shop
Episode 110 – Permission to Pause, Reflect & Make Change Now
Episode 80 – Managing Your Energy and Expectations
Episode 76 – Stop DIY’ing Your Business
Episode 54 – Stop “Shoulding” All Over Yourself

Creative Shop Talk Podcast | Wendy Batten | Don't Settle for the Line of Fine
  • Pinterest
  • Facebook


For more support from Wendy:

Retail Made Simple – Wendy’s on demand course for shop owners wanting more from their business

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

Wendy’s FREE Resources for shop owners 

Hang out with Wendy on IG 

More ways to connect with Wendy 

Creative shop Talk Podcast with Wendy Batten
  • Pinterest
  • Facebook

Top Sales Playlist

These are a few of my listeners favourite Creative Shop Talk Podcast episodes.

Grab your earbuds and listen in with me!

Coffee Break Chats with Wendy: Annual Planning That Fills Your Life Buckets | Episode 136

Coffee Break Chats with Wendy: Annual Planning That Fills Your Life Buckets | Episode 136

Show Notes:

Ready for another coffee break, friends? I sure am!

My husband John and I have been self employed for 27 years now. For the last few years, we’ve been intentional about doing an annual weekend excursion to plan goals and intentions for our life and businesses. I was asked to share what we do in these goal planning sessions when I shared this with my Inner Circle group. 

I share a lot about paying attention to your revenue buckets, how we’re making money, but today I’m focusing on the life buckets. 

During our annual planning sessions, we bring some “pre work” questions about what we’re thinking, how we’re feeling, etc. We also individually look back over the highlights from the past year. The good and the bad. It’s a lot of fun, and so good to take the time to reflect. 

We then look at our Wheel of Life and figure out what life buckets are important to us. Health, environment, hobbies, etc. We also look at our Thrive List. What do we need to thrive? Then we can focus on our business goals because we looked at our life buckets first. Designing a business to fit around our life.

When annual planning, don’t just focus on the 20-30% revenue increase you’d like to see in your business. Your life buckets have to be part of the equation.

 

Listen on:  Apple PodcastsSpotify | Radio Republic | YouTube | PlayerFM | Stitcher | iHeartRadio

 

 

A Quick Glance:

[0:05] Intro

[1:36] Business planning weekend

[3:20] Our yearly planning session system

[7:07] Be intentional

[8:04] Plan

[11:43] Build a life by design

[12:31] Closing remarks

 


Don’t forget to leave a review on Apple podcasts!

 

Resources Mentioned:

The 6 emails every retailer should send – Email Templates
Business and Planning Guide
Retail Made Simple
Level Up Mastermind
Foot Traffic Made Simple
Retailer’s Inner Circle

 

Related podcasts we think you’ll like:

Episode 127 – Level Up Mastermind Q & A: Invest In Yourself
Episode 124 – Confident Decision Making Made Easy with Business & Life Coach Andrea Liebross
Episode 121 – 5 Tips to Help You See More Profits & Ease During the Holidays
Episode 94 – Where To Spend Your Time and Focus Within Your Business
Episode 80 – Managing Your Energy and Expectations. Don’t Hit a Wall.
Episode 38 – The One Big Thing Retailers Must Do This Holiday Season

Creative Shop Talk Podcast | Wendy Batten | Annual Planning That Fills Your Life Buckets
  • Pinterest
  • Facebook


For more support from Wendy:

Retail Made Simple – Wendy’s on demand course for shop owners wanting more from their business

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

Wendy’s FREE Resources for shop owners 

Hang out with Wendy on IG 

More ways to connect with Wendy 

Creative shop Talk Podcast with Wendy Batten
  • Pinterest
  • Facebook

Top Sales Playlist

These are a few of my listeners favourite Creative Shop Talk Podcast episodes.

Grab your earbuds and listen in with me!

Coffee Break Chats with Wendy: Set You & Your Customers Up For Success This Holiday Season | Episode 135

Coffee Break Chats with Wendy: Set You & Your Customers Up For Success This Holiday Season | Episode 135

Show Notes:

Let’s have a quick coffee break together. 

It’s Game on!
‘Tis the season to be all about the customer. They need your service, they want and need your products, and they need your expertise. 

At this stage of the game, it’s not about attracting new customers and putting marketing strategies in place. It’s all about nurturing the people you already know, love and trust. Remind them that you exist and that you can help them. Focus on your nurture marketing.

Here are two things you can do that will help you and your customers this holiday season:

Humanize Your Business via Social MediaStop. Showing. Products. Instead, focus on videos showing your shop, your wonderful staff, and your holiday favorites. Be genuine. Be real. Don’t focus on perfection.

Contact Your Email List – Whether you have 20, 2,000, or 20,000 people on your email list, send them updates and info throughout the holiday season that are intentional, nurturing and helpful.

To make your holiday email sending a bit easier, I’ve created six done-for-you email templates that you can copy, paste and schedule now. Grab them here while they are available. 

Let’s help our customers through the homestretch!

 

Listen on:  Apple PodcastsSpotify | Radio Republic | YouTube | PlayerFM | Stitcher | iHeartRadio

 

 

A Quick Glance:

[0:07] Game on!

[1:06] Nurture marketing

[4:31] Humanize your business

[8:32] Email list

[12:24] Email templates + closing remarks

 


Don’t forget to leave a review on Apple podcasts!

 

Resources Mentioned:

The 6 emails every retailer should send – Email Templates
Business and Planning Guide
Retail Made Simple
Level Up Mastermind
Foot Traffic Made Simple
Retailer’s Inner Circle

 

Related podcasts we think you’ll like:

Episode 132 – Community Marketing Strategies with Millie Blackwell
Episode 101 – Making Email Marketing Fun with Kate Doster
Episode 55 – Unscalable Conversations – A Free, Simple and Powerful Marketing Tool to Use
Episode 25 – 3 Reasons Your Marketing Might Not be Working Well
Episode 3 – How an Unusual Marketing Strategy Helped Grow a Creative Shop Owner’s Empire with Neely Powell

Coffee Break Chats with Retail Coach Wendy Batten | Set You & Your Customers Up For Success This Holiday Season
  • Pinterest
  • Facebook


For more support from Wendy:

Retail Made Simple – Wendy’s on demand course for shop owners wanting more from their business

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

Wendy’s FREE Resources for shop owners 

Hang out with Wendy on IG 

More ways to connect with Wendy 

Creative shop Talk Podcast with Wendy Batten
  • Pinterest
  • Facebook

Top Sales Playlist

These are a few of my listeners favourite Creative Shop Talk Podcast episodes.

Grab your earbuds and listen in with me!

Easier Content & Copywriting with Guest Expert Lacy Boggs | Episode 134

Easier Content & Copywriting with Guest Expert Lacy Boggs | Episode 134

Show Notes:

Copy editor turned food writer turned freelancer turned blogger turned content agency.
Meet Lacy Boggs, content and copywriting expert! I think she can really help retailers in understanding the difference between copywriting, content, and the strategy surrounding the two and how to nail down their OWN brand voice! 

Copywriting
The copy that remains relatively static on your website

  • Your website copy shouldn’t just show the facts. It needs to include your brand voice. 

Content
Words, videos, or audio that you produce in order to engage in a conversation with your clients or potential clients. Which hopefully will result in a sale.

  • Think sideways! What else is your customer interested in besides the products you sell? Use that as content but keep it in your brand voice, all while humanizing your business.

Brand Voice
Lacy talks about outsourcing content, copywriting, and understanding your own brand voice and style for editorial/promotional calendars, content strategy, workflow, blogging, and so much more!

This episode will break down all the ways you can create more content, understand your brand voice more and how to effectively do it or outsource it. 

This is an episode of Creative Shop Talk you’ll want to keep in your back pocket for sure!

“It’s still a really good idea to have a blog because it gets Google looking at your website more often.” – Lacy Boggs

 

Listen on:  Apple PodcastsSpotify | Radio Republic | YouTube | PlayerFM | Stitcher | iHeartRadio

 

 

A Quick Glance:

[0:36] Lacy’s content agency journey

[4:17] Copywriting vs. Content

[8:57] Brand voice

[14:16] When to outsource content creation & how

[25:23] Trust yourself & your hire

[31:55] SEO

[36:21] Rapid fire questions

 

About Lacy:

Lacy Boggs is a content strategist, author of the bestselling Kindle ebook, “Make a Killing With Content”, and the mastermind behind the “Ace Stone, Marketing Detective” podcast. As the director of The Content Direction Agency, she helps small business owners create and implement content marketing strategy that feels like a playground for ideas and results in deceptively powerful nurture content to create massive growth.

FREE GIFT: Brand Voice Style Guide
Use code: FREEBOOK

Website | Podcast | Free Library | Blog | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube

 

Don’t forget to leave a review on Apple podcasts!

 

Resources Mentioned:

Business and Planning Guide
Retail Made Simple
Level Up Mastermind
Foot Traffic Made Simple
Retailer’s Inner Circle

 

Related podcasts we think you’ll like:

Episode 132 – Retailer Success Series: Community Marketing Strategies with Millie Blackwell
Episode 118 – How To Create Loyalty and Amazing Customer Experiences with Shep Hyken
Episode 81 – Optimize Your Google My Business Profile with Chris Hickle
Episode 79 – Your Competitive Advantage Over Amazon

Creative Shop Talk | Wendy Batten | Easier Content & Copywriting with Guest Expert Lacy Boggs
  • Pinterest
  • Facebook


For more support from Wendy:

Retail Made Simple – Wendy’s on demand course for shop owners wanting more from their business

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

Wendy’s FREE Resources for shop owners 

Hang out with Wendy on IG 

More ways to connect with Wendy 

Creative shop Talk Podcast with Wendy Batten
  • Pinterest
  • Facebook

Top Sales Playlist

These are a few of my listeners favourite Creative Shop Talk Podcast episodes.

Grab your earbuds and listen in with me!

Pin It on Pinterest