The Secret To Bossing It Online

This little brain of mine has absorbed a lot of helpful information these past 4 years. It was in 2010 that I was laid off from my job and found myself home with a heart full. Not full because of sadness and worry. Full of ambition, passion and drive but not a vehicle in which to burn it.

Flash to now and I'm still full but in a different way. I want to let it out, share insights with you, nuggets of knowledge in hopes you can turn them into pieces of solid gold action. As a blogger and shop owner, I get questions all the time. I used to do that. I used to be the one who emailed someone with a blog I loved, hoping to "get in" on the good stuff in their minds. I used to follow shops and owners who bossed it every day, making killer sales and still were humble enough to answer the measly question of an art geek from New England.

But can I tell you? I still do that. And no question is ever "measly". I still email bloggers I love, trying to connect and learn. I still look up to people who run amazing shops and take notes about how the do things and interact with customers. Why? Because learning never ends. I don't consider myself a professional. Just a girl with a notebook full of dreams that are unfolding for everyone to see.

This is why I want to share with you a huge secret. I call it that not because no one wants you to know. Everyone knows. It's only a secret because not all of us can see it. We are blinded by so many things that the basics get blurred. Let's go back, shall we?

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I recently read a post by fellow artist Gary Bolyer called "How to Sell Art Online: The Secret Sauce." Hold it. Don't close this tab just because you don't sell art. We are talking about bossing it online, whether it be as an artist, blogger, shop keeper or small business owner. What Gary had to say applies to all areas and I love it because it's the truth.

If you look at any successful person online, you will see that they have fantastic relationships. Did you catch that? The secret is relationships!

Gary says: "The Secret Sauce has two ingredients.  Ingredient Number One is: Get the relationship started. And Ingredient Number Two is: Grow the relationship." Boom. Any questions? And Gary knows what he's talking about; he has over 13,000 followers on Twitter.

I was so busy when I first started spamming social media with links to my products, shop and blog. Instead of commenting about what I loved about a post, I pleaded for them to follow me and dropped a link (I'll be talking about this more on a future guest post.) We almost don't want to work for customers but we expect them to just eat up everything we dish out. Fact: people don't like being force fed.

Love my new tote from Faces!

Think of the best restaurants you've been to. It's not just because they have amazing food. That's only part of it. A restaurant can have awesome meals and a killer menu but if the hostess is chomping gum like a cow, the waitress forgets everything and the cook is back there blowing his nose without washing his hands...so what? Exactly. Your favorite place to go eat is not actually about the food...but the connections you make. We love that the owner knows our name, takes time to ask how things are, the waiter is kind and the chef is professional.

So whether you are a seasoned blogger or a newbie shop owner, the secret is the same. Spend more time building relationships and less time worrying about promotion. If you invest in people, they will invest in you.


I wanna hear from you! It's so important to learn from each other and have teachable spirits.  

What's one thing you've learned about blogging or being a shop owner?