Great client and customer experiences start way before a person arrives at your website or begin working with you. Long before people get exposed to your brand on a personal level, they’ve followed a series of customer journey touch points that empowered them to get to know your brand more. In this article, I’ll show you how customer journey touch points help shape an unforgettable customer experience that makes it easy for folks to say Yes to getting involved in what your business offers. We’ll also take a look at the different types of customer journey touch points, from those focused on the pre-purchase period to those focused on the post-purchase period.

Personalized marketing has many benefits, from helping you to better understand and connect with your desired audience to tailoring your marketing to create unforgettable experiences. It comes as no surprise that personalized marketing can help increase the quality of leads that come into your business as well as help you build stronger brand loyalty. Yet, if done wrong, the data and insights you gain about your audience could quickly cause you to exploit the very people you want to serve and help. Within this article, I will be discussing what personalized marketing is and how we can practice it without exploiting our audiences in the process.

Building a tech stack for your small business will not only help you better manage your organization, it will also help you streamline your processes and keep your business functioning in a balanced and sustainable way. Your tech stack can also help you manage team members as well as clients, supporting you in creating a stellar experience for those who are involved in your business. There are countless tech options out there for small business owners to choose from, which can be overwhelming. Small business owners can wind up choosing the wrong tech for the type of business they are running, choose tech that they don’t even need, or choose tech that is too complicated for them to actually use consistently. Within this article, I am going to share with you my top recommendations for technology to use to manage your small business. As well, I will share with you some of the best options out there and ways you can choose the right technology for your business. Let’s dive in!

Making content to publish online is the easy part. Creating content that stands out in an overly crowded online space is another story. If you want to create great value for your brand that organically attracts your target audience to your business, this article is for you. There are core content practices that can be commonly experienced on each and every online platform. There is a reason that causes certain pieces of digital content to go viral, even if the person who created a viral piece doesn’t know why or how it got the attention it did! In many ways, our brands reputation is built largely due to the content it shares. When we work to create content in meaningful ways, we can support our brands in creating a memorable experience for people, ultimately helping our businesses become associated with that praise. Within this article, I am going to share my top tips for creating stand out visual marketing content in hopes of helping you enhance your online brand presence in a way that drives business growth.

In the world of business, success metrics are often referenced as Key Performance Indicators (or KPI’S). There are standard indicators that most business considered to be the go to metrics to track in order to determine whether a business is performing in the direction one wants it to go. Yet, most of the metrics we often track to indicate whether a business is performing up to a level of success standard typically relate to profit. There are many other indicators that a business can (and probably should) track to help them gauge whether a business is successful. Other indicators can not only help a business owner feel more satisfaction regarding the performance of their business, but also gain a deeper sensation of pride, fulfillment and accomplishment. When we only gauge the success of a business in response to monetary indicators, this can cause business owners to center all of their beliefs about success around money. There are many indicators that can point to the successfulness of a business, and within this article I am going to share with you what they are. My hope is that this article can help you determine what the best metrics are for you to track in order to determine the success of your business.

How have you been taught to set your pricing as an indie biz owner? Or maybe you haven’t been taught and you just wing it?

Pricing establishment as well as pricing strategy are two things that each and every business owner should take incredibly seriously. In the current era of small business, unethical pricing practices are becoming standard in most industries. If we wish to do business in a way that is most beneficial for people as well as the planet, then taking into consideration how we implement ethical pricing into our organization is essential. Within this article I unpack signs that point to unethical pricing, including examples. As well, I walk you through ways to begin implementing ethical standards for your pricing practices so that you can walk away understanding what is needed in order to ensure your pricing is morally sound.

If you are trying to grow your online presence, then developing both your business and your brand can help you get there. Developing a business and developing a brand go hand in hand. Your brand will support your business and your business will support your brand, yet developing each requires taking a slightly different approach. I find that it is helpful for indie biz owners and growing founders to clearly understand the difference between their brand and their business because this helps you identify as well as better strategize how you will grow your online presence in an ethical, sustainable and authentic way. Within this article, I break down the differences between a business and a brand, providing readers with tangible takeaways that you can apply right away to help you distinguish yourself online.

Editorial planning is a daily process that connects your short-term content to your long-term strategy. The editorial calendar helps you prioritize your content by aligning it with your audience's needs and your business goals. This is an incredibly important practice for any online business owner for it will not only help you see better results from your content efforts, but it will also help you establish sustainable strategies to support your business in growing both now and into the future. What I appreciate the most about using an editorial calendar system is that it helps me provide my content with a direction as well as a purpose while also giving me room to be flexible with my plan in response to the ever-changing nature of online marketing. Within this article I share what an editorial calendar is, how it differs from a content plan, and ways you can set up an editorial calendar for your business.

Having strong brand awareness can help you increase the chances of people noticing, connecting to, and trusting your brand. In turn, your strong brand awareness can help you grow your business and help more people with your products and services. Within this article I break down what brand awareness is and why it matters, providing you with some tangible tips to implement to begin establishing your own unique brand awareness strategy. You will learn about my 4 step brand awareness process that will help you to walk away fully understanding how to begin improving the awareness as well as experience of your brand!

Quarterly business planning can help you to streamline your planning process, focus more effectively on the projects and activities that will drive the most results, and create more direction and structure within your business. Since implementing a quarterly business planning practice, I have noticed that I start and complete projects with much more ease and feel more focused as well as productive when working on tasks. What I love about quarterly planning is that it leaves room for flexibility, creativity and innovation. By looking at each year in 4 quarterly seasons, you can plan in a way that honors your own seasons within your business and life, helping you to create more balance in the process. Within this article I am going to break down my 6-step quarterly business planning strategy that you will be able to take away and begin implementing!

Impact-focused businesses that are prioritizing community connection are beginning to see the importance of instilling a holistic approach to working with other people. Social ecology can help conscious business owners to instill styles of service that expand beyond traditional structures of working in community and with other people. A community based program can help to encourage the development of collaborative relationships between facilitators and participants, creating a more immersive and valuable experience for everyone involved. Within this article we discuss what community based programs are and how we can incorporate them into our service based businesses as a way to make more positive impact on people’s lives.

Our usage of the internet has evolved over time into a highly-interactive multimedia communication and entertainment medium. With our increased usage of the internet as ways to communicate, learn, and share information, it is only to be expected that higher levels of inclusivity have become necessary. One aspect of inclusive design examines ways in which we can design with diversity and gender inclusion and in mind. In the world of design, there are many traditions that unfortunately uphold stereotypical norms that can cause the way you design things to create environments of exclusion as well as lack of accessibility. Within this article, we discuss ways we can begin to incorporate gender inclusion into the design process, as this is a great first step for any business or organization to take to ensure they are creating an accessible and inclusive environment for their clients.

A code of ethics is more than just a set of values; it’s a framework that guides your business decisions, shapes your brand reputation, and builds trust with your community. This guide provides practical steps for creating a meaningful code of ethics, with examples and tips tailored to small businesses. Learn how your code of ethics can support sustainable growth, ensure transparency, and create a positive impact on both people and the planet.

Whether you just started your own business, you're starting a new project thats got you wanting to update your photos, or you just want to experience the joy of conducting a personal photoshoot, the thought of taking photos doesn't always seem appealing let alone financially in the budget for many people. On top of that, taking pictures of your own self can be super intimidating! In this article we are going to discuss how you can DIY your brand photoshoots in a way that is fun, creative and professional.

Sustainability is the bridge to regenerative business. If you are in business for more than just self interests, then chances are you desire to lead and practice socially and environmentally conscious business. Sustainable business is great in concept and is a wonderful starting point to shifting into an approach to business that is centering the wellbeing of the whole world. Yet, if we want to uphold a truly conscious, impact based business, we must grasp the power regenerative business practices have in helping us to create a more equitable, inhabitable and sustainable future.

You know the saying, "Don't put the carriage before the horse"? Well, that statement totally applies to business ... and is an important one to remember! It is common to want to skip steps and get way ahead of ourselves as business owners and entrepreneurs. What i've come to realize, though, is that in doing so that can actually cause growth to slow down or become unsustainable! When we honor the sacred process of developing a business....(you know, without rushing the process or trying to skip steps)... we can building an incredibly secure and STRONG business! If you want to increase the success your business can experience, start by clarifying what phase you are in and then be ALL IN that phase (cue in the removal of shiny penny distractions and comparison!).

In this comprehensive guide, explore the distinctions between community-based business models and traditional approaches. This blog delves into the essence of social enterprises, highlighting their commitment to social impact, community involvement, and sustainability. Learn how adopting a community-centered approach can redefine your business, enhance brand loyalty, and contribute to positive social change. Whether you're considering a shift to a social enterprise model or simply curious about the benefits of community-based business practices, this guide provides valuable insights and practical steps to make a meaningful difference in today's market.

This article is a breakdown for businesses seeking to incorporate social values into their marketing practices. Together we will down ways to incorporate ethics into your launch and marketing strategies.

If you run an online business, there’s a high chance that you use social media to market your brand. If you're creating and sharing content weekly for your business, what happens with each piece of content once you hit publish is out of your control. But you can control your ethics! Ethical Marketing is good for businesses, people and the planet as a whole. Learn more...

Learn what it means to practice sustainable business in 2024. This guide explores sustainability strategies, the Triple Bottom Line, and actionable steps to create lasting impact.