Since I’ve had to inspire myself to keep going in the midst of many sucky situations lately, I thought I’d share some of the strategies I’ve used to get through my recent sucky situations. There have been many, and I’ll tell you about them later, but for now, if your life is feeling The Suck…
As we wind down to the end of the first month of a new year, you may have already set some specific goals that will level up your business over the next 12 months. But just in case you haven’t, or even if you have and you may have missed something important, this list is…
Recently, the pastor of Elevation Church, Steven Furtick, interviewed Bishop TD Jakes, pastor of The Potter’s House in Dallas, Texas, during a special church service. The interview touched upon many critical areas of entrepreneurship, and I wanted to share it with you. I know you may not have time to watch the entire interview, so…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Have I ever mentioned that IBN’s private Facebook group is not just a business community? It is heavily focused on business (as it is designed to be), but we also have fun in a really unique and amazing environment. For example, last week, I posed this simple question in our community: When it comes to…
I am thrilled to be participating this week in the first virtual Makers Biz Summit hosted by Deborah Engelmajer of Tizzit Design Company. Deb’s business is located in “the land of plenty” in beautiful Australia. I hope to visit someday, but for now, I have to settle for this appearance as a part of an…
The first time I went house hunting, a friend cautioned me not to get sucked into buying a house I could not afford. More specifically, he warned me not to buy so much house that I didn’t have money left over to furnish it. In other words, he advised me not to be “house poor.”…
Each week, I receive countless emails and phone calls from people who want to launch a business selling the products they make. I received an email recently from Jill in Tennessee who told me that: “I am really having a hard time finding what makes me unique. Therefore, I am having a hard time defining…
As I shared last month, I spoke at the United States Lavender Conference (USLGA) in Phoenix, Arizona, this weekend. Not only did I get the chance to help hundreds of small business owners embrace a less stressful and more effective approach to social media, but I also got to hang out a bit with some…
If you have been in business for even a day, you know that your products are probably not the best ones on the market. You may also know that there are lots of people who are serving in the same niche as you, and maybe even doing a better job than you. You know all…
Our member, Cynthia Johnston of Moonmaid Botanicals in Cosby, Tennessee, traveled hundreds of miles across the country to visit several of her wholesale stockists, and the results were fabulous. Read on to enjoy the story behind this epic trip, and get some tips to plan one of your own. As Cynthia neared her 20th year…
I want to take a moment to make sure you know about a podcast appearance I made recently. Our Indie Business Network member and Head Coach, Christine Laureano, interviewed me on her Creative Entrepreneurs Online Podcast. She asked me to share from my experience about one of my favorite topics: the entrepreneurial mastermind. As you…
I am sure you are familiar with the acronym, DIY, standing for “do-it-yourself.” But you are probably not familiar with the new acronym I just created, DYI, standing for “do-yourself-in.” One of the biggest mistakes you can make in business is to rely on the Internet to teach you everything you need to know to…
Now that you know how a branded Facebook group can help your business grow, it’s time to learn how to lead a successful Facebook group, so it produces the results you want. Leading a successful Facebook group is not complicated, but it requires a good bit of thought. If you’ve ever been a part of…
Did you know that managing branded Facebook groups can help you grow your business? You may have heard a lot about Facebook groups recently, especially since Facebook has forced business page managers to pay a fee to display more than a few of their posts to their fans. As a result of this “pay to…
One of the characteristics of a successful entrepreneur is that she is a relentless multiplier. The same can be said of any successful person really, but the ability to bring about multiple beneficial business outcomes as a result of a single action is a requirement for everyone who expects to lead a profitable and sustainable…
Wondering why you are not getting the results you think you deserve? By focusing on other people, you may be sabotaging your own success. It starts when you are young. Your brother gets a fancy birthday party, so you want a better fancy birthday party. Your sister got an expensive makeover for Christmas, and now…