The Ecommerce Roadmap

A few weeks ago, I was in one of the small groups of clients I'm working with right now, and something happened that stopped me in my tracks. As I was listening to these smart, successful store owners tell me what's going on in their business now, and what they'd like to accomplish this year, a lightbulb went off, and I thought, "oh my gosh, I remember doing this".  When it happened, I knew I had...

Is keeping up with Social Media a constant source of stress for you? Do you feel like you should have a plan, but don't even know what that even looks like? Are you wondering if all your effort is even worth it?    What if you had a plan that allowed you to have one meeting a month (with yourself or an assistant) where you decide what you're featuring each week, and you could walk away with 4 week...

Are you leaving money on the table? In this episode Susan chats with our Inner Circle Ecommerce Coach, and email marketing expert, Claudia Howard about Abandoned Cart emails.  As a Coach and service provider in the Inner Circle, Claudia knows that most store owners are leaving money on the table by not taking the time to "supersize" their abandoned cart email flows.  In this episode, Claudia share...

This little Mistake is a Conversion Killer If you're a store owner using Shopify, this is for you. Recently I was talking with our Inner Circle Ecommerce Coach and Email Marketing expert, Claudia Howard. Claudia was sharing some abandoned cart strategies to make more money, and she said something that stopped me in my tracks. Listen in to hear about this sneaky little conversion killer, and then g...

Are you ready for GA4?  Next month Universal Analytics will stop collecting data, and like it or not, we'll all have to learn how to gather and analyze our data from GA4. I asked our Google Coach, Leona Griffin to join me on the podcast today and give you some tips on what to expect when you start working with GA4. Listen in as Leona shares the top 6 things you need to know about GA4.  Grab a pen....

In this Episode, Kelli Meyer, the owner of Parisian Pure Skin Care, works with Susan to identify her priorities. Kelli has a "to do" list as long as her arm. She's feeling like all the tasks on her list are important, and she's completely overwhelmed when she tries to decide where to invest her time. Susan walks Kelli through her process to identify priorities and feel confident that she's on the...

Are you carrying around a big list of tasks you need to complete, and feeling like you are always behind? In this episode I'm sharing a process for slashing the items on your "To Do List" without creating even more stress about all the things you're not doing.  Listen in and learn: Why a big "TO DO LIST" is the Kiss of death for people like us. The 3 step process to figure out what your Business n...

In this episode, Susan shares a pricing strategy that most store owners don't use. Once you understand how it works, and start implementing it in your store, you'll have the potential to be much more profitable. Most importantly, you'll have a better understanding of how to pay yourself, hire help, and make your business profitable for the long term.   You'll learn: Why you can't afford to sell an...

Recently I recorded a podcast episode about cash flow, and how Ecommerce store owners often don't understand why they are chronically short of cash in their businesses. After the episode was released several store owners reached out to me to share their struggles with cash flow. Some were looking for advice, but many just wanted to express their thanks for normalizing a topic that is embarrassing...

Almost every one of us thinks about how to grow our sales every day. In fact, most Store owners have a sales goal in mind that will make them feel like they are successful. But did you know that it's possible to reach your "successful" sales goal and actually have even less cash on hand than when your big goal was just a dream? Today on the podcast, I'm sharing why I think you should create a plan...

It's the embarrassing little secret that ecommerce store owners don't like to talk about. Why do we always feel broke? It is so frustrating, embarrassing , and it causes us so much stress.  It's important that we talk about it, because for most of us, when we get into a cash flow crunch it makes us feel like we're failing, Like we're doing something wrong. It's embarrassing, and it affects how we...

Today I'm chatting with Sylvie Roy the founder of Eclair Lips. Sylvie is sharing the story of how she used a templated event that she pulled from the "Get Sales Now" unit inside of the Inner Circle Classroom. Last month Sylvie used the "Mystery Box" event (formerly called "ninja event). Her goal was to make some sales and get rid of some labels for products that she had discontinued. You'll love h...

Many Ecommerce store owners are surprised when they learn that they need a massive audience to keep growing and reach their long term sales goals.  It's not uncommon for higher volume stores to reach millions of people every month.  They're highly visible. Even when you're a new-ish Ecommerce store owner, you'll need to make yourself visible to 100,000 - 200,000 people every month in order to crea...

Have you heard of an SEO Funnel? We talk about the Sales Funnel all the time, but we haven't talked about how you can create an SEO Funnel. Until now. Investing time into SEO can be beneficial for any ecommerce business, and you can use a content-based funnel strategy to grow traffic and sales without advertising. Most of us understand the sales funnel where we've got our cold, warm, and hot traff...

This episode is full of  "aha" moments. One of the most powerful things you can do for your business is to become what I call a "Marketing First" Store Owner. It sounds fancy, but really it means that you prioritize marketing over all the other "things" that take up your work hours. Today we're talking about what a Marketing First store owner does - and how to stay on track I invited one of my fav...

What can I work on that will really move the needle in my business.  What's the work that will get me closer to my goals, keep me on track, and lead to long term success? This is the question that swirls around in almost every store owner's head - all the time. For years we've been giving our Inner Circle Members the exact work they must do in order to get sales.  More often than not, their progre...

Today I'm talking with my good friend Ciara Stockeland about how store owners like us can get control of our cash, understand our financials, and finally stop sweating about our cash flow. I am a big fan of Ciara's because she's a long time Retailer turned Profit First Expert. That's important, because she understands inventory based businesses, and how common it is for us to struggle with cash fl...

Did you know that your Returning Customer rate is like a thermometer for your business? It helps you evaluate the health of your business, and when you understand this, you'll use it to determine what your business needs right now. Last week, I shared how I've noticed that store owners often are unclear about two metrics that kind of sound like the same thing, but they're not   Returning Visitors...

This week I'm sharing a little tip that will help you see what you have to do at a glance. There's some confusion for many store owners around these two metrics. We were talking about how to make a solid plan to grow your business, and I've realized that I need to clear it up. This is helpful for every store owner - if you're just starting, or if you've been growing your business for a while. Here...

You'll want to listen to today's episode because it could have a big impact on your sales - so come join me and find out if you're doing this thing that I think is the kiss of death. I'm talking about asking people to make decisions and email marketing, and how you can get more people clicking through your emails and actually landing on your site. For the last few weeks, I've been knee deep in cal...

I want you to meet Claudia Howard. Claudia is a Shopify and a Klaviyo Expert, and her 1:1 Coaching calls in the Inner Circle are in high demand. Last month Claudia joined us at my Mastermind Retreat in Mexico. She was there to support our Mastermind members, and she taught us a few trick to make even more money with our emails. When she shared this money making tip, I knew that we had to do a whol...

When I work with a client 1:1, there's one question that's almost always on my client's list of problems to solve. "Can you help me figure out  what I need to focus on?" As business owners, we've all felt the stress of having enough time to get everything done. We can't make more time, and so every one of us is hyper aware of the fact that we need to spend our time on the right work. Work that mov...

Meet Ann Chikahisa: Chikahisa Studio Ann is such a great example of what's possible when you get focused and become a "Marketing First" store owner. She is a jewelry designer and sells her high end pieces to customers all over the country. When we met, Ann's sales came exclusively from wholesale and in person shows. A few years later, Ann has grown high volume sales on her website, and created a c...

Last week I had the luxury of escaping winter and going on a 3 day retreat with some incredibly talented, successful store owners. They're all members of my Mastermind Accelerator program. It's a very small group of 6 and 7 figure store owners. These women are already successful - There are 15 store owners in the Group, and the combined annual revenue of the members is close to $10Million. Even th...

Today I sat down with long time Inner Circle Member Crystal Lovelle. Crystal is the Founder of https://www.littleblackboxbakedgoods.com/ Besides having an amazing website, Crystal is super smart and a strategic thinker, so when she posts in our group, I listen. A few weeks ago, I asked our Members to share their wins, and Crystal reported that her online sales are up 82% this year. Given that it's...