Starting a retail or e-commerce business often unleashes a whole raft of secrets you wish you knew before you went into business. None seems to hit quite as hard as discovering working for yourself can be a very isolating and lonely experience.

As humans we’re hard wired to connect with other people – even if we actually really like our own company. But sometimes that’s easier said than done.

Today I’m throwing some light on one of the dark secrets haunting retailers and getting serious about how you can find business and personal connections that will help you thrive and prosper as an independent retailer.

If you’ve ever worked with me 1:1 you’ll know I love Brand Archetyping AND I love Brooke Lawson!! Which is why I’m super excited to have her on the show with me this week.

Former graphic designer turned branding expert Brooke is now director of Filament Branding, where she helps entrepreneurs not only discover their unique voice but helps them use it to attract customers to their business.

Have you ever considered pitching your brand at the billion dollar wedding industry? Join me as I chat to wedding and events PR expert Meghan Ely.

With more than a decade in the bridal industry Meghan opens up about what makes brides tick, what makes them buy and how you can get a piece of the action. Listen in to catch Meghans inside tips on packaging your products and promoting your brand, even if you’re not selling a front line wedding product.

Five years after opening her bespoke letterpress business, Sara McNally realised things were no longer working out the way she planned. Rather than close her store she made the brave decision to completely pivot and recreate a new version of her business Constellation and Co. Including opening a store front, on a whim!

Kurt Elster is a Senior Ecommerce Consultant who helps Shopify merchants (like Jay Leno’s Garage) uncover hidden profits in their websites. He very kindly took time away from his own show; The Unofficial Shopify Podcast, to chat to me about why “beautiful” design doesn’t always mean profitable design, three strategies you can use in your own business to improve conversion rates and what features will help your e-commerce site stand out from your competition.

Getting away is important for you, your staff AND your business. But what if the idea of taking a holiday fills you with equal parts desire and dread? How do you take a holiday without losing money or momentum? Do you close your store or not?

Start gathering your travel brochures and thinking about your capsule wardrobe. This week on the Bringing Business to Retail Podcast, I’m sharing my top tips to get your business vacation ready.

Copy writer and branding expert Lee Rowley has more than a decade experience writing sales copy and creating brands. But he’s the first to admit, his copy hasn’t always hit the mark!

Following a personal tragedy Lee felt compelled to find an alternative to the churn style copy his counterparts were using. Ignoring the “experts” he started creating copy and brands that made real, deep, connections with the people buying the products he was tasked with selling.

In this episode Chris shares with me the importance of your home page and what you should include on it to ensure you customers buy. We check off the six ares of a website that should be converting for you and three tools you can use to test your conversion rates without breaking the bank. We also talk about my favourite topic; knowing your customer, and why split testing several versions of your key pages is integral to finding out exactly how your customer will interact with your website.