Marketing can do pretty amazing stuff for your business. But the one part of it that's not that cool is customer profiles. And that's especially true if you're starting a brand new blog from scratch.

What's a customer profile anyways?

Customer profiles are semi-fictional representations of the people you want to reach. These profiles, also known as buyer personas, include details such as:

• Who you want to reach
• What they do for a living
• How old they are
• Problems that they face daily that might impact their decision to buy things.

Okay, boss lady. You’ve got a killer website, an awesome team, amazing clients, and a brand that is flourishing beautifully. Things are popping right now for your business. Take a look at your schedule for next week. I’m sure your endless list of to-dos looks a little something like this:

• Monday: Meetings, meetings and more meetings.
• Tuesday: Skype call with your business bestie.
• Wednesday: You’ve got an awesome webinar packed with helpful information.
• Thursday: A speaking engagement. Oh, and you have to pack for that conference next week.
• Friday: Happy hour with your boo.

But, wait..hello??? What are you going to wear, girl?!

As entrepreneurs, our schedules and lives can get a little hectic. Okay, a lot hectic. Nonetheless, that’s no excuse not to look your best. Crafting a cohesive, consistent, and curated wardrobe that aligns with the aesthetic of your brand will not only do wonders for your business, but it will greatly impact your self-confidence, which will in turn make you more successful.

Do I have your attention yet? No? Okay, well what if I told you that you could make more money from your business by cultivating and elevating your style and your wardrobe?

Do you dream of having your own shop? Do you have visions of customers oohing and aahing over your latest creations while sipping a cup of tea or free-trade coffee? There are several options for showcasing your product-based business, from a rented committed storefront, to fairs and festivals, to a booth in a co-op or antique mall.

As a bookshop owner who has pivoted through a few of these business models, let me share some pros and cons and lessons learned along the way.  

In terms of content sharing, specifically blog post sharing, Pinterest is Queen. It’s hands down the best platform to get your content in front of the most people organically (they don’t need to be following you to see your content), so spending time here as an online business owner is a no-brainer.

We’ve gone over our daily Pinterest formula and strategies to harness the power of Pinterest before, but today we’re letting you know about a secret weapon that makes it all happen….faster.

One of the most exciting milestones for any solopreneur is getting to the point where they’re ready to quit your 9 to 5 job… and work as a full-time home-based business owner. The mistake that many solopreneurs make? Quitting their 9 to 5 jobs without a strategic plan in place for doing it in the most effective way possible.

Here’s the thing: if you give your two weeks’ notice and start working from home full-time without a strategic plan in place, you’re going to run into problems.

It’s Trade Show season!! Trade Shows are one of my FAVORITE ways to build wholesale business, grow brand recognition and connect with retail stores. There’s a special magic that happens when you get to spend a few days with similar small businesses, in a booth that was once only a concept on a piece of paper.  You make tons of new friends (even though yes, they are technically the competition) and get to connect with some of the BEST buyers and retailers throughout the country. It’s as exciting as it is exhausting!

Trade Shows can cost your business thousands of dollars, so when you decide to take the leap you want to be as prepared as possible. Whether it’s your first show or fiftieth, the key to a successful show is plenty of preparation. These are my top 21 tips to make sure you rock your next trade show and make the most of your investment!

There comes a point in every entrepreneur’s life when they realize they need a little bit of help. Or a lot a bit of help (yes, “a lot a bit” is a thing, thank you). Most of the time when someone finally admits this to themselves or out loud on social media, they don’t know where to start — they just know they’re overwhelmed. Now, I’ll say this and leave it here — there are many different types of virtual assistants and it can get cray-cray sorting through them all, but by knowing your business, you’ll be able to wade through the different types easier. But today we’re focusing on what to do before you decide to hire someone.

We all know that it can be difficult to work for yourself and that stress and burnout are real concerns. As an entrepreneur, you often have to deal with unusual working hours, time pressures, risk of failure constantly looming, irregular money coming in, and limited social interaction.

The number of new small business owners and entrepreneurs is rising every day, and prioritizing your self care is an integral part of success. Self care is any activity that you do voluntarily which helps you maintain your physical, mental or emotional health. It can help you feel healthy, relaxed and ready to take on your work and responsibilities. Sounds like something we all need, right? But I wonder how many of you are engaging in enough self care to balance out the incredible stress that comes from running your own business.

If you own a business, especially if a portion of your prospecting is done online, you have undoubtedly been asked, “What do you do exactly?”. We’ve struggled with this question ourselves in the past, and used to find ourselves stumbling over our words, feeling like we needed to adjust our elevator pitches based on who we were talking to at the time. It’s easy to become a little frustrated, although you can’t show it, because even though you understand your business and your business model, not everybody else does. Plain and simple, people are not in your head. They don’t read everything you write. And they definitely have no idea what you’ve already said to other people.

When selling a product or service, you are automatically categorized. You might be the local boutique or the big-box name brand, but these are just categories. And once you’re in a category, people compare you to others in the same category. Instead of making yourself or your business what you “think” you are supposed to be like, make it more about YOU.