Recently, I served as a speaker at Melinda Emerson's Reinvention Weekend. The photo here was taken at the cocktail reception the night before the start of the conference. My topic as a speaker was How to Launch and Grow a Product-Based Business. At Reinvention Weekend, Melinda, also known as Small Biz Lady, delivered a great keynote presentation, which doubled as the public unveiling of the … [Read more...]
Customer Service Matters
Have you ever received stellar customer service? Have you ever delivered it? If you have provided awesome service to any of your customers, you know what a huge difference it makes in terms of how they view you and your brand. Not only that, it makes a difference in terms of how they view their wallet vis-à-vis your brand. This article is about the kind of service that makes your customers … [Read more...]
5 Questions to Ask When Sales Are Consistently Low
Every business has slow periods. In the world of consumer lifestyle products like those made by most members of the Indie Business Network, the slowest periods are typically the summer months. Things pick up, sometimes to a frenzy, during holidays when people are celebrating and purchasing gifts for loved ones. In the meantime, things can be pretty slow. This is normal, and these predictably slow … [Read more...]
What Amazon’s Purchase of Whole Foods Means For Makers and Handmade Entrepreneurs
A bomb dropped in the retail space this morning. With Amazon's $13.7 Billion purchase of Whole Foods, a slowly expanding gulf between niche and mass market has finally become a gragantuan divide. The news just dropped a few hours ago, and I'm still developing my thoughts. Completion of the sale is subject to approval by Whole Foods' shareholders, regulatory approvals, etc., but in the … [Read more...]
Road Trip of a Lifetime, Part 1
When our member, Christina Wennstrom of Soap Seas in Redondo Beach, California, reached out to me a few weeks ago to ask if I would like to blog her and fellow IBN member Kristina Nanninga's upcoming "road trip of a lifetime," I immediately jumped at the chance because I knew it would be fun and I knew you would love it. Here are the Indie road trippers. That's Christina on the left, and Kristina … [Read more...]
