Three Ways To Double Your Sales In 2010
Focused, proactive, consistent steps are the keys to small business success.
Is Hoarding Killing Your Small Business?
How hiring a virtual assistant can save your business and your sanity.
New Johnson Family House Rules
My eight year old daughter is far more organized than I was at her age. She likes to make lists. In fact, on Friday nights, she often makes a list of all the things everyone in the house needs to do on the following Saturday. Much of the time, the lists focus on toys she…
How To Increase Your Product Sales And Visibility Through Site Parties
I hosted IBN’s first Site Party on Cyber Monday and had a great time doing it! The best news is that our featured Indie, Charlene Sevier, sold 11 pieces of her beautiful handmade jewelry in under 60 minutes! As you may recall from this post announcing the party, Charlene makes combines a passion for beads…
Happy Thanksgiving!
It’s been three years since we moved from our hometown of Washington, DC to Charlotte, North Carolina. While we love a lot of things about Charlotte, we miss home, especially our family. After traveling all day, we finally arrived here late yesterday afternoon. Being here is such a treat. This photo was taken a few…
Indies On Assignment: Assignment No. 1: Beef Up Your Brand!
In the 1980’s, a popular commercial for a chain of fast food restaurants featured two elderly ladies praising the “bigness” and “fluffiness” of a hamburger bun. A third lady looks more closely and hollers, “Where’s the beef?” The circus-like music in the background reminds of us how ridiculous it is to praise a flashy hot…
Radio Show and Book Review: My Interview With Michael McLaughlin
This week’s Indie Business Radio, show features Michael McLaughlin, author of Winning the Professional Services Sale: Unconventional Strategies to Reach More Clients, Land Profitable Work, and Maintain Your Sanity. Michael is a management consultant and speaker with more than twenty years in the professional services industry. He is the founder and a principle of MindShare…
Why You Don't Have To Be Smart To Be Successful
In his new book, What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures, Malcolm Gladwell says that psychologist Daniel Willingham conducted a set of experiments designed to test how quickly people become efficient at a task. For the experiment, he told people in Group A in what specific sequence a pattern of x’s would appear on a…
Announcing Products Liability Insurance For Your Sweets and Confectionery Products
When I launched IBN in 2000, there was a small but growing number of people making soaps, cosmetics and other consumer products in very small quantities. With the explosion of the Internet and the availability to everyone of multiple e-commerce opportunities, micro-manufacturing in many markets has grown tremendously. Up until 2005, Illinois-based RLI Corp. provided…
Announcing The Beauty-Fall Bath & Body Recipe Contest!
As you may know, I am the founder and CEO of the Indie Beauty Network, a trade organization representing small and independent manufacturers of cosmetics, candles, aromatherapy products, soaps, jewelry, confectionery products and other health, beauty and lifestyle accessories. My members manufacture products on a micro-scale, often by hand from scratch. In addition to manufacturers,…
4 Words To Transform Your Business In 2010
A recent segment of 60 Minutes was devoted to the life and work of Don Hewitt, the new magazine’s creator, who passed away in August 2009. As you may know, 60 Minutes is the longest-running prime-time television broadcast in the country. I enjoyed learning about Hewitt’s perspective on the show’s phenomenal success, which he says…
It's Your Lawn. Mow It.
Small business owners often say they don’t want to be bothered with social media because the learning curve is too steep. Here’s what I have to say about that. Get over it. When isn’t the learning curve steep? Here’s an analogy. If you are a homeowner, you can’t let your front lawn grow wild. Not only…
10 Actions To Increase Your Twitter Influence
As more people turn to Twitter to learn what people are saying about things that matter to them, small and independent business owners using Twitter must hyper-focus our ideas and how we share them. The fact that more people are using Twitter means that there are more potential customers for us. But reaching out to…
Radio Show and Book Review: My Interview With Marc Warnke
This week’s Indie Business Radio, show features Marc Warnke, author of ONO, Options Not Obligations: Enrich Your Personal Life by Rethinking Your Financial Life Marc is a husband and father of two who, along with his wife, became a millionaire while working as spokespersons for kitchen gadgets. While I did not have time to nail…
Join Me for Dinner in Portland, Oregon!
Iam pleased to announce the final Indie Business Revolution event of the year! It will take place at the lovely Bay 13 Restaurant in Portland’s hip Pearl District on November 14 from 6:00 to 9:00. Portland is one of my favorite cities, in part because two of my favorite woman business owners live there. They’ll…
Radio Show and Book Review: My Interview With Christy Strauch
This week’s Indie Business Radio, show featured guest Christy Strauch, author of Passion, Plan, Profit: 12 Simple Steps to Turn Your Passion into a Solid Business Christy is president of Clarity To Business and has worked with hundreds of small business owners, from artists to real estate agents, helping them do what they are passionate…
3 Steps To "Yes!"
A salesman once told me that he had to get through an average of 11 “no” responses before he got to one “yes.” He defined “no” responses as more than just the word. Also included, he said, are things like body language (excessive fidgeting, arms folded across chest, furled brows, etc.) and being easily distracted…
Indie Business Movie Takes 2nd Place in WE Magazine Video Competition!
We won! I am delighted to announce that the Indie Business Movie won 2nd place in the WE Magazine For Women Video Competition, in the “Inspirational/Human Interest” category! When I say “we won,” I mean my husband business partner and the four fabulous small and independent business owners featured in the movie: Lisa Rodgers of…
Announcing the iPhone App Winners!
Last week, I announced a contest for two people to win a free download of IBN member Bramble Berry’s new soapmaking iPhone app. All that was necessary was to share a favorite business tip. Out of the entries two names were drawn: Charlene and Renee! Congratulations to both of you ladies!! Even though there could…
Blog Action Day: No Child Left Inside
Yesterday, Mike Collins, a local talk show host, interviewed a representative of No Child Left Inside, a division of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection. No Child Left Behind is devoted to ensuring that no child is deprived of the blessing of enjoying the great outdoors. I was not able to listen to the interview,…
How To Bore Yourself To Profitability
A 1983 television commercial depicts “Fred, the Dunkin Donuts Guy,” who arose at 3:30AM daily, and headed to his Dunkin Donuts franchise to make donuts. As he rose from bed, he mumbled, “Time to make the donuts.” He also moaned, “I bet the guys who make super market donuts are still in bed.” I was reminded…