Podcasts by Creative Shop Talk with Wendy Batten

We’re taking a short break, but didn’t want to leave you without some helpful tips this week! from 2023-01-02T13:00

Resources to help you this week:

Business and ...

103. Increase Sales With Your Silent Salesperson: Signage from 2022-04-18T12:00:04

When is the last time you thought about your signage? Your signage can do SO much more than just inform about pricing. Thi...

102. Three Ways to Effortlessly and Easily Increase Sales After Events from 2022-04-11T12:00

There's no easy button or magic wand that we can use to increase our sales during workshops and events. However, if you're doing your job right, if you're making people feel seen, you're prepare...

101. Making Email Marketing Fun with Kate Doster from 2022-04-04T12:00

If you've ever struggled with WHY you should send email or WHAT you should send - this episode is for you!

It's so important to connect, serve and sell in a way that resonates and connect...

100. Why It's Important to Celebrate Your Business Milestones from 2022-03-28T12:00

Hey there, friends, and welcome to our 100th episode of The Creative Shop Talk Podcast!

Do you celebrate your business milestones?

I call them champagne moments! So many of us just...

99. Listener's Question: How Should We Greet Customers? from 2022-03-21T12:00

It's Ask Wendy day today!

One of the questions that I'm asked quite regularly is, "How do I greet customers?"

What should I say? What shouldn't I say? I share the "bad words" that ...

98. My Top Business Books For Retailers, And a Chance For You to Win Them from 2022-03-14T12:00

All of the books mentioned in today's podcast could be yours if you join us for our upcoming free, three-day Spring challenge- The Retailer's Refresh Spring Challenge. Let's get reset for the ne...

97. Five Mistakes to Avoid On Your Website from 2022-03-07T13:00

Why, as retailers, do we need a website?

Not only does it give you credibility and a professional look, but it's a marketing asset you OWN. It is something that is yours and simple goes a...

96. Before You Pay For Ads - Do These 3 Things from 2022-02-28T13:00

We are covering a big topic today: Marketing. What should we know? Where should we spend our marketing money? What should we do? These are questions I get all the time, and in this episode, we a...

95. Tips to Tame the Admin and Stay Ahead of Business Trouble from 2022-02-21T13:00

Admin and paperwork, a necessary evil and time suck for shop owners. The thing that overwhelms us at times and we put off. Then it weighs on us.

But in this episode, I want to help...

94. The Retailer's Ecosystem: Where To Spend Your Time and Focus Within Your Business from 2022-02-14T13:00

When a business owner comes to me for help, there is usually a part of their business that is a little out of balance in one area. As we evolve, so do parts of our business.

Your business...

93. How to Wow and Delight Your Customers to Keep Them Coming Back from 2022-02-07T13:00

Wowing and delighting your customer, what does that actually mean? This is a follow-up, promised episode that is packed full of ideas to help give your customers an amazing experience. It's real...

92. Morning Routines and Why They Work - Even for People Who Hate Morning Routines from 2022-01-31T13:00

If you're like me and you really didn't buy into the whole morning routine thing, this is the episode for you! I just felt like I wasn't really good at it, but I eventually went from being a sup...

91. The CEO Confessions with Retailers Wendy and Malinda from 2022-01-24T13:00

Wendy and Malinda are friends who have been business partners since childhood. From event and wedding coordinators to furniture flipping in the early days, they are now melding the two passions ...

90. Retail Trends in 2022: Customer’s Expectations and Experience from 2022-01-17T13:00

Are we giving our customers an EXPERIENCE? As we move into 2022, our customers are seeking to be seen. They want more ease, more connection, attention, and more relatability. They want to gather...

89. Money Talk&Mindset with Profits First Coach April Stroink from 2022-01-10T13:00

April Stroink is a Profits First expert and money coach who is passionate about helping entrepreneurs fall in love with their finances. She started out 20 years ago as a classically trained fina...

88. Retailer Success Series: Making Pivotal (and scary) CEO Decisions with retailer Melanie Kolb from 2022-01-03T13:00

This series is not just to share the highlight reel of real retailers' success, but also the ups and downs as retailers grow into their confidence, CEO role to see that success. It is a journey....

87. Retail Success Series: The Journey to CEO Level Confidence with Stacey Allgood from 2021-12-27T13:00

This series is not just to share the highlight reel of real retailers' success, but also the ups and downs as retailers grow into their confidence, CEO role to see that success. It is a journey....

86. Avoid Biz Burnout - Take Control and See the Full Potential of Your Business from 2021-11-29T13:00

Is your business running you or are you running your business?
Do you know there is more potential for success but you don't know how to get there?
Headed to burnout trying to figure...

85. Four Ways to Wow and Delight Your Holiday Shoppers So That They Keep Coming Back from 2021-11-22T13:00

You have lots of customers coming in the door this season - how are you making sure you wow and delight them so that they can't help but smile when they leave and become superfans? Listen

84. Six Tips to Help You Amplify Your Team’s Performance This Holiday from 2021-11-15T13:00

Are you investing in your staff, or as I like to say, your team?

Paying attention to your team RIGHT NOW is as important as having the right inventory and pricing, both major pieces of yo...

83. What Does Success Look Like For You In 2022? from 2021-11-08T13:00

Success. What does that even mean?

Are we talking about particular goals you may have? To me, it's more about how you FEEL about your business.

Success can mean - more time off, ma...

82. Five Steps to Simplify Your Content Planning from 2021-11-01T12:00

Our overall motto going into 2022, friends, is “how can we make things light and easy?” Believe it or not, content planning CAN be EASY!

I know content can be overwhelming.

Are you...

81. Optimize Your Google My Business Profile with Expert Chris Hickle from 2021-10-25T12:00

Google My Business may not be the sexy popular platform we think of - mainly because you have to fit your business into their parameters, but it is essential. And FREE! Many businesses stop at j...

80. Managing Your Energy and Expectations - Don't Hit a Wall from 2021-10-18T12:00

The holidays are coming. For some of you, this season is treating you well and it's amazing. But for others, the feeling of tiredness has really set in. Today I a...

79. Your Competitive Advantage Over Amazon from 2021-10-11T12:00

Let's talk about Amazon. First - you are not Amazon. And boy that's awesome, isn't it?

In today's episode, I am going to give you some strategies and ideas that will give you a competitiv...

78. Retail Success Stories - Learning to Level Up with Amy Hart from 2021-10-04T12:00

Amy Hart was an elementary school teacher first, then started teaching painting classes at a friend's local store in 2016. In that same store, Amy and her friend started a line of paint by numbe...

77. The 1% Difference - Easily Increase Your Average Order Value Today from 2021-09-27T12:00

Let's discuss the 1% difference. What if we just increase everything by 1%? What if we focus on small, tiny tasks and put them into action within our business? Sometimes that's hard to implement...

76. Stop DIY’ing Your Business from 2021-09-20T12:00

Are you keeping yourself small?
Are you DIY'ing your entire business?
I was.

Entrepreneurs have that mindset that we can figure it out ourselves. That's just the way we are wi...

75. Adding Ecommerce to Your Brick and Mortar: With Special Guest Susan Bradley from 2021-09-13T12:00

Today we are sharing strategy on adding Shopify or ecommerce to your brick and mortar with my friend and Shopify expert Susan Bradley of The Social Sal...

74. Maximize Your Business With The Right Size Audience from 2021-09-06T12:00

Here's two questions I get asked all the time:

1. How big does my audience need to be to see profits in my shop?
2. What should I be posting on social media to get the most peopl...
   Listen

73. Encore Series: Three Simple Sales Metrics Retailers Need to Measure for Better Sales from 2021-08-30T12:00

A replay from Episode #58 for our Encore Series this month! We are featuring some of our most popular and most downloaded podcasts for this round and you won't want to miss them! They are extrem...

72. Encore Series: Five Simple Things You Can Do To Get Ready For What's Coming In Retail from 2021-08-23T12:00

A replay from Episode #50 for our Encore Series this month! We are featuring some of our most popular and most downloaded podcasts for this round and you won't want to miss them! They are extrem...

71. Encore Series: The 3 Biggest Time Wasters for Retailers and How to Avoid Them from 2021-08-16T12:00

A replay from Episode #48 for our Encore Series this month! We are featuring some of our most popular and most downloaded podcasts for this round and you won't want to miss them! They are extrem...

70. Encore Series: You're Not Just a Shopkeeper, You're a Creative CEO from 2021-08-09T12:00

A replay from Episode #2 for our Encore Series this month! We are featuring some of our most popular and most downloaded podcasts for this round and you won't want to miss them! They are extreme...

69. Becoming A Destination Shop from 2021-08-02T12:00

Isn't it flattering and exciting when customers make a day around visiting your shop!? Doesn't it make you a little teary when people make visiting your shop a special event!? Today we're talkin...

68. Special Guest Marian Parsons On Growing and Doing Business Your Own Way from 2021-07-26T12:00

My most requested guest - Marian Parsons is on the podcast today!

Business owner, artist, blogger, creative, author, painter, booth and market seller, podcast host, product developer, pai...

67. How To Pause and Let New Opportunities In: Retail Success Series with Inner Circle Member Jane Bellante from 2021-07-19T12:00

Get inspired by another member of the Retailer's Inner Circle whom we are talking to today, Jane Bellante of Morning Dew Creations! It's always so helpful to hear how others manage and run their...

66. Find Revenue Streams That Light You Up: Retail Success Series with Inner Circle Member Virginia Warner from 2021-07-12T12:00

In this series, I want to introduce you to some of my coaching clients inside the Retailer's Inner Circle and hear how their retail journeys evolve and how they are seeing success. We learn so m...

65. Staying Positive While Building Community and Profits: Retail Success Series with Inner Circle Member Lee Hawn from 2021-07-05T12:00

In this series, I want to introduce you to some of my coaching clients inside the Retailer’s Inner Circle and hear how their retail journeys evolve. We learn so m...

64. How To Use Other Retailer’s Success To Fuel You from 2021-06-28T12:00

In my Retailer's Inner Circle, we share our WINS every Friday. There are so many reasons for this! Wins will inspire others and...

63. Making Bookkeeping Simple With Guest Expert, Kelly Christian from 2021-06-21T12:00

Bookkeeping. I tend to see fear come from my retailers when I mention bookkeeping because they either don't want to hand off the job to someone else, don't want to spend the money, or they have ...

62. Three Pitfalls to Watch Out For So You Don’t Lose Your Business from 2021-06-14T12:00

We are all busy, driven, passion-filled retailers. We have big visions, big dreams, and we're constantly working to achieve those goals and succeed. But, there are three things that I see happen...

61. The Foundations You Need to Make Radical Decisions in Your Business with Inner Circle member retailer Ann Schneider from 2021-06-07T12:00

It is such a privilege to be chatting with my friend retailer and Inner Circle member Ann Schneider of The Front Porch, a home decor, silk floral & boutique store! We found each other via social...

60. How Focused Learning Increases Can Grow Your Business from 2021-05-31T12:00

We are in the business of self-improvement all the time as shop owners, there’s just no end. It’s part of the gig. <...

59. How To Do A Mid Year Review: Set Yourself Up for the Best of the Rest of 2021! from 2021-05-24T12:00

This year has proven to be a very interesting season for retailers with COVID, quarantines, shutdowns, and reopenings. So I want you to give yourself grace and compassion as you plan and move fo...

58. Three Simple Sales Metrics Retailers Need to Measure for Better Sales from 2021-05-17T12:00

I know... nobody wants to talk retail math and numbers. I get it. There are so many numbers we feel like we should be looking at within our business like profit and loss, balance sheets, etc, et...

57. Prepare to Sell, Franchise, or Expand: Four Areas That Need to be Under Control from 2021-05-10T12:00

What do you need to have in place to have a solid business? What would you need to have in place should you decide to sell your business?

"But I'll never sell! This is my passion!"

56. How to Add Additional Revenue Streams to your retail business from 2021-05-03T12:00

Shop owners are all hoping to create a bit of security within our business, but this year has certainly shown us that we are not always in control.

Having multiple streams of revenue with...

55. Unscalable Conversations - a free, simple and powerful marketing tool to use from 2021-04-26T12:00

We know that marketing is important, right? We know that social media is a big part of our marketing plan, along with local marketing, collaborations, and paid advertising. These are all measura...

54. Stop "Shoulding" All Over Yourself from 2021-04-19T12:00

I should be doing this. I should be doing that. I should be doing all the things!

So many of my retailers, along with myself, have been seriously feeling this constant sense of overwhelm ...

53. Branding Yourself vs. Branding Your Product from 2021-04-12T12:00

What happens when most of your revenue comes from one product line? What happens when something goes awry or there's a mass disruption with that particular product and your business ceases to ex...

52. Why a Culture of Accountability is Critical in Your Retail Business from 2021-03-29T12:00

Who has not gotten to this situation at work: "Oh, I thought Wendy was going to do it", "Wait, I thought Susan had already taken care of it", and so on. Miscommunication causes big problems in o...

51. How Brands Work With Retailers to Make a Win-Win Situation with Suzanne Fulford from 2021-03-22T12:00

Today we are starting a new series to bring in brand owners to chat. Today’s guest Suzanne Fulford, founder and the CEO of Listen

50. Five Simple Things You Can Do To Get Ready For What’s Coming In Retail from 2021-03-15T12:00

One question I received from a coaching client is "what's coming for retail, and how can I be ready?"

The answer is simple: Get ready! Don't be complacent, take action on the momentum you...

49. Helping Lisa Get Better Known and More Customers in the Door from 2021-03-08T13:00

Many retailers are so busy running their brick-and-mortar stores and creating beautiful things, sometimes we just need a little help with marketing. Having strong...

48. The 3 Biggest Time Wasters for Retailers and How to Avoid Them from 2021-03-02T13:00

Are you constantly asking yourself, where did the day go? Or, why time runs so fast? Believe it or not, we are bombarded by so many time wasters in our day-to-day...

47. The Secret to Getting Your Customers to Choose You Over Your Competition from 2021-02-22T16:02:45

Comprehending what sets us apart may seem too obvious, but many creative retailers spend time focusing on the day-to-day of their business that they forget about ...

46. Season 2 and Retailer Success Story - Melanie Curley from 2021-02-15T13:00

Hey there friends and welcome to Season 2 of the Creative Shop Talk Podcast Listen

45. How To Fall Back In Love With Your Business from 2021-01-11T13:00

Do you ever feel like you resent your business? What do we do to continue to stay in love with our business? How do we get back to the honeymoon phase?  Listen

44. The Four Must-have Ingredients For a Successful Business from 2021-01-05T13:00

Welcome to 2021! I'm very excited about this year. How are you feeling? I hope you are feeling optimistic and confident abo...

43. Plan Your Best Retail Year Ever (Part 4) from 2020-12-28T13:00

Are you excited about planning your best retail year ever? Listen to this my friends: we need to celebrate the wins and acknowledge that we've been working hard t...

42. Plan Your Best Retail Year Ever (Part 3) from 2020-12-21T13:00

Previously, we discussed five prompts for year planning in Part 1 of my “Plan Your Best Retail Year Ever” series. These helped us to look back before we can move ...

41. Plan Your Best Retail Year Ever (Part 2) from 2020-12-14T13:00

We can’t predict if we will have any more bumps in the road in 2021. 2020 has been a big mountain and detour for all of us, but at least we know where we're heade...

40. Plan Your Best Retail Year Ever (Part 1) from 2020-12-07T13:00

How do we plan for 2021 knowing that we don't want a repeat of everything that happened in 2020? With vaccines and political changes and all the things that have ...

39. Retailer Success Series: How Jill Went from Hobbyist to Creative CEO from 2020-11-30T12:29:30

Bedsprings and Burlap in Topeka, KS will celebrate 8 years in business this November. 

Jill Beam had always loved ma...

38. The One Big Thing Retailers Must Do This Holiday Season from 2020-11-23T13:00

Hey friend, are you feeling frustrated by your low Facebook engagement or wondering how to showcase that amazing new stock when foot traffic is slow?

37. Expert Sharvette Mitchell Shares Customer-Focused Branding Tips for Retailers from 2020-11-09T13:00

Sharvette began her journey as a branding expert at a friend’s table about twelve years ago.

What started with web d...

36. Retail Success Series: How Planning Kept Emily Kerley Thriving Through Pandemic from 2020-11-02T13:00

Emily of Milkmaid Creations and Antiques is a farmer's wife and mom to three little girls. 

She started her retail b...

35. Five Tips for Finding Success as a Creative Retailer from 2020-10-26T12:00

Have you thought about what business success means to you?

You started your business because you had passion and a u...

34. Knowing Your Business Stage is Key to Reaching Retail Success from 2020-10-19T12:00

“The map is not the territory.” Meaning, the path is not reflected realistically on paper.

There are twists, turns, ...

33. This Non-Negotiable Habit is Key to Creative CEO Success from 2020-10-12T12:00

Are you taking the time to regularly assess your retail business as the Creative CEO, my friend?

As creatives and sm...

32. Retailer Success Series: Susanne Dropped a Huge Revenue Stream and Made More Profit from 2020-10-05T12:00

Take a hard look at how you’re spending time and energy in your creative retail business. Is there something you’re doing out of habit or obligation, even though ...

31. Seven Tactics to Attract Foot Traffic to Your Brick and Mortar from 2020-09-28T11:59:04

As a store owner, booth space owner or studio owner, I know you want more sales and more customers. 

The answer is t...

30. What to Stop Doing in Your Retail Business from 2020-09-21T12:00

“Sorry I no longer do custom work.”

It’s totally okay to make changes in your retail business. (Especially now with ...

29. Reducing the Stress with Procrastination Coach Dr. Christine Li from 2020-09-14T12:00

I’m thrilled to bring the Procrastination Coach Dr Christine Li to the show today so she can help us all reduce stress going into Q4. Dr. Li is a licensed clinica...

28. How to Rethink Your Holiday Retail Events for 2020 from 2020-09-07T12:00

It’s that time of year, when retailers are planning out their Q4 sales and marketing plans to capitalize on the holiday spending season. Only this year, things ar...

27. Closing the Sale in your Creative Store with Sales Maven Nikki Rausch from 2020-08-31T12:00

Sales Expert Nikki Rausch teaches authentic selling to creative retailers. With a background in neuro-linguistic programming and 25 years of experience selling, N...

26. What Is The Story You’re Telling Yourself? from 2020-08-24T12:00

The stories you tell yourself aren’t always true. These stories are called limiting beliefs. They are FALSE!

When I ...

25. Three Reasons Your Marketing Might Not be Working Well from 2020-08-19T10:34:06

Want more foot traffic and visibility? Posting on all of the social media platforms is NOT the answer.

I hear it ove...

24. Four Focus Strategies to Harness the Momentum of the Small Business Boom During COVID from 2020-08-11T13:48:13

I’ve got really good news for small independent creative retailers during this pandemic time.

There is a boom happen...

23. The Nonnegotiable Paycheck and How to Start Paying Yourself from 2020-08-04T12:00

As a retailer and business owner, you work really hard. I see you. I’ve been there. But like I did for years and I see so many retailers doing this, you cannot fo...

22. 10 Things to Consider Before You Open a Retail Business from 2020-07-27T12:00

Even during pandemic shutdowns I hear from many folks that they love the idea of owning a store.

So you wanna open y...

21. Introduction to Subscription Boxes with Sarah Williams from 2020-07-21T12:00

For the past 3 years Sarah Williams has built an incredible fan base with her store Framed by Sarah in Wichita Falls, Texas. She also added a monthly monogrammed ...

20. 5 Goals to Set for Your Retail Business in Q3 and Q4 from 2020-07-08T12:00

It starts with a plan, my retailer friends. 

Just last week, our Retailer’s Inner Circle sat down for a 3-hour strat...

19. What’s Possible: She Had Her Best Month EVER in Sales during the Pandemic Shutdowns (A Retailer Case Study) from 2020-06-24T12:00

In today’s very special What’s Possible episode, I am chatting with retailer: Amy Cseh. She is the owner of Schoolhouse Salvage -- an architectural salvage and vi...

18. What’s Possible: The Accidental Shopkeeper with a Thriving Store (A Retailer Case Study) from 2020-06-23T12:00

In today’s very special What’s Possible episode, I am chatting with retailer Jeff Lee. He is the owner of The Vintage Nest Home & Gifts in the historic downtown o...

17. What’s Possible: She made a BIG decision based on her numbers (A Retailer Case Study) from 2020-06-22T12:00

In today’s very special bonus episode, I am chatting with retailer: Wendy Johannes. She is the  owner of WeJo in Honesdale, Pennsylvania - a reclaim, reuse and re...

16. How to Prepare your Entrepreneurial Grit from 2020-06-16T12:00

Our main job as retail business owners is to learn and get better and better. There are always going to be storms to weather and we can only strive for being prep...

15. A Powerful Lesson from my Café Days from 2020-06-04T12:00

When we’re in the middle of hard times, no one wants to think about the “lessons” we are learning at the same time. It’s so much easier to look back at those even...

14. Unless You Know, You Really Really Don't Know from 2020-05-28T12:00

This is what I’m hearing from creative retailers from all over the world: I’m exhausted.

During the last 3 months, y...

13. Information Overload - How to Handle all the Retail Customer Communication&Orders from 2020-05-12T12:00

It’s overwhelming enough right now as we adjust our retail businesses to online orders, curbside pickup and appointments, and deliveries. On top of this, us scrap...

12. Are you Attached or Committed to Your Retail Business? from 2020-05-04T12:00

A positive effect of this tragic Pandemic is it’s helping creative retailers who I coach to take a honest look at their business and really ask deep questions, li...

11. “Shifting to Serve Your Community as a Retailer” - Retailer Spotlight with Kim Smith from 2020-04-29T12:00

Today I’m chatting with fellow creative retailer Kim Smith whose paint retail business The Oromocto Galleria in Oromocto, New Brunswick, had to shut down due to t...

10. “Making it Work with No Foot Traffic” - Retailer Spotlight with Lisa Casey from 2020-04-20T12:00

Today I’m chatting with fellow creative retailer Lisa Casey about how she is running her retail business during the pandemic.

Listen

9. After Coronavirus … What will be on the Other Side for Retail Business? from 2020-04-15T12:00

There’s no doubt that life and retail business will be different after this pandemic is over and behind us.

I’ve bee...

8. How to Navigate through the Next 8 Weeks as a Creative Retailer from 2020-03-31T11:30

The next few weeks are going to be tricky for business owners facing this COVID-19 pandemic. Many non-essential retail businesses have been forced to shut down an...

7. Taking Care of Your Retail Business and Yourself During the Coronavirus Shutdowns from 2020-03-23T11:00

These are unprecedented times for small businesses. I am not going to pretend like I have all the answers in the upcoming weeks and months with the coronavirus sp...

6. Promote your Retail Products&Enthusiasm with Free Demos from 2020-03-16T11:00

We are diving into how and why product demonstrations can increase profits and customer satisfaction.

I do get push ...

5. How to Stand Out (and be Remarkable) in Your Brick and Mortar Retail Business from 2020-03-09T11:00

Listen in to this quick episode to learn how to get customers chatting about you.

You don’t JUST need more foot traf...

4. Two Types of Creative Retailers and Where They Get Stuck in Their Retail Business from 2020-03-02T12:00

The Paintpreneur’s Inner Circle is now open through March 5. Listen

3. How an Unusual Marketing Strategy Helped Grow a Creative Shop Owner’s Empire with Neely Powell from 2020-02-13T16:32:12

Who here has spent all day shopping at Market and realized, quite painfully, they wore the wrong shoes?

My guest tod...

2. You’re Not Just a Shopkeeper, You’re a Creative CEO from 2020-02-13T16:30:20

Before you roll your eyes at this episode title. Know that I don’t mean corporate, stuffy, suited CEO….I mean head honcho, the queen bee, the chief creative, the ...

1. Mom, You Need a Hobby Other Than Me from 2020-02-13T16:27:29

I’ve always been the weirdo doing things my own way. I’m a corporate dropout. I owned a coffee shop back when $3 espresso drinks were unheard of. I painted furniture and started a DIY blog befor...

Creative Shop Talk trailer from 2020-01-22T17:06:25

In Creative Shop Talk, creative retail coach and mentor Wendy Batten digs into the problems and solutions facing "accidental shopkeepers" and hobbyists turned retail business owners.

Wend...