Carina tested dozens of strategies and hacks and explored hundreds of approaches to try and find the “secret” to business growth. Join her in this episode as she shares her expertise to take your business to the next level. Follow the magical blueprint, and you will make your first 30k in online sales! Stay tuned!
Here are the things to expect in the episode:
Connect with Carina Hatton!
Website: https://www.knittedbelle.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/growyourboutique
5 Day ECom Bootcamp: https://onlineboutiquecoaching.com/
ECom Academy: https://onlineboutiquecoaching.com/ecom
Free 10 Step Checklist To START, GROW & SCALE Your DREAM eCom Store™:
https://pages.onlineboutiquecoaching.com/checklist-8293
(00:04):
Ever feel like you were meant for more? I did. 10 years ago, I was the owner of five, seven figure businesses. And I lost all but one. After I processed what I considered to be the biggest failure in my life, I realized I was meant for more. I started my online e-com store and took it to seven figures in sales. Now I teach other women to do the same. In She Crushes ECom, we'll talk about business, fashion, fun and financial freedom. I'm your host, Carina Hatton. And this is the She Crushes ECom podcast.
(00:42):
Okay. Can you guys see my screen, the three secrets to your first 30K? We actually had someone just hit 30K like last week since she launched. So it's super exciting. And so I wanted to kind of take the three secrets that she's been using and everyone in the Academy has access to and just kind of go over them with you guys, because I just find it super interesting to, to see that the blueprint works, and it works for other people when they actually follow it. So I love, love, love, seeing stuff like that. Her boutique's been open eight or nine months, I think, nine months. And so it has been, it was kind of a little, a little bit of a slower process getting the ball rolling, but once she got momentum, it just has kind of snowballed. So that's what I'm talking about.
(01:40):
When I say that it's an ATM machine, literally, because once you follow the steps and you hit your momentum, it's off to the races and you'll be like, what in the heck happened? You know, just like everything clicks. So let's see, Jen, this is going to be, if you registered for this webinar, you'll have access to watch a replay for a certain amount of time, but it's not going to be given out to anybody only you guys that came we'll get to see it. So Hey, you guys ready to go type yes. Type Yes. In the comments. Who else has coffee? Does anyone else have coffee?
(02:55):
And so that's the stuff that we're going to talk about. So yes, you're in the right place. Okay. What you'll learn in this masterclass is the three secrets. The first secret when done properly can be like a literal ATM machine for your business. The second secret, this is going to promote trustworthiness with your customers. So when you start an online store, there are several things that you have to kind of keep in motion at the same time. Right? So, it's basically, you're going to try this, see if it works. Okay. You're going to try this. See if it works, you're going to try this. See if it works because different things work for different people, right. Would you guys agree with that? Like have you ever heard someone say, oh, this works really well for, you know, this, this lady started a boutique down the street and she's just making so much money doing this one thing.
(03:50):
Have you guys had that heard about that? You know, have you heard about that? I know I did. And I would think, okay, I'm going to do that. And then sometimes it doesn't work for you, right. Sometimes you'll hear, oh, this works really well and you'll try it and it doesn't work. So yeah, it's crazy. Right. And then you think, well, oh, does that work? Okay. So, what it is basically is there are three things that you're going to try and see if they work. Yeah. Is Kelly, it's exactly like a diet. It really is like everyone's small business is a little bit different and there are certain things that work better for certain businesses. Just like a diet. Right. Actually, that's a great analogy. Okay. In case you didn't know me, I know we have a ton of new people. Some of you have known me for a while.
(04:42):
Some of you haven't, you know, you've known me for a couple days, right. Because we have a constant inflow of ladies joining the group and some men even. So I started my boutique in 2013 and I took it to seven figures in sales online very quickly. There's a snapshot, actually. Not very quickly. Once I got my momentum, it was very quick, but it literally took me about a year and a half to get to, to figure out what was actually going to work for me. Now, keep in mind, I didn't have anyone helping me. So I was like trying this, trying this, trying, okay. You know, just kind of like a fish out of water. Right. I didn't have a blueprint. I didn't have a plan. So it did take me 18 months. June 1st was like June of 2015 was my first really great month when my momentum actually hit.
(05:43):
And you can see that in that next year and a half, I did over 1.2 million in sales. So I learned what worked and I put gas on it. Right. And so that's what I'm teaching you guys to do the, the ladies in my program. And so I've been teaching this since I believe my first student was April, 2019. So almost three years now that I've been teaching this, so what we're going to start with is all about you, right? Because this, this training today is about you and where you're at. So I want you to talk about goals with me for a minute. So if your store is up and running or if it's not, I want you to think about what do you want your monthly goal to be for your online business? So say it out loud first. Okay. Think of a number, say it out loud.
(06:32):
I sell blank per month in my online business, because I don't know if you know this, but if you say something out loud, it, it kind of cements in your brain, in your subconscious a little bit more than if you just think something, it means more to your, your brain. If you say it out loud. So I want you to say out loud and then type it in the chat, how that made you feel. So, I'm going to go jump in the chat real quick. Cause I want to see what your, your goals are. So Sheila's at 12,000 now. Yeah. And Sheila's goal not six months ago was a thousand dollars a month.
(07:14):
So want you to think about your goal, type it in the chat. And then the next thing I want you to type in there is how does that make you feel? How does it make you feel? Let's say you're doing that because you very quickly could get to that goal. Excited, secure, grateful. Yeah. And that was my thing too. I wanted to make enough money, but I wanted to stay home with my kids. Right. I didn't want to go work for someone else. So happy. Yeah. That's awesome. Oh, you guys realistic? Anxious. Excited. Yeah. I'll show you a screenshot here, like down the road in this, this these slides and you'll, you'll really get excited then. Cause I took a screenshot of our $30,000 girl. And I'll tell you who that is at the end. So if you stick around, I'll tell you who I'm talking about.
(08:16):
Okay. So write that down cause you know, if you write it means more. So I sell blank per month in my online business, write it down. So everyone that put their, their amount in there, I want you to write it down. And then under that, write how it made you feel because that's your why. Right? We'll talk about that. Okay. So obstacles that get in the way. So the first thing I've talked to thousands of women about this, the, the, there are three main ones that I see. The first one is money. So a lot of people think it takes money to make money. Money helps you. But being resourceful is actually very helpful also because I will show you this next slide. I started with $200, $200.
(09:11):
So this is proof right there that you don't have to have $20,000 to start a successful boutique. So who tell me yes. If you thought that money was something that was holding you back, tell me yes. In the comments. Cause I honestly, I thought that it might hold me back, but I didn't care
(10:14):
We've had several ladies that have been unemployed that have joined the academy and they have found money in all kinds of different ways to join because they want to do this. Right. So I think if you want to do it, you find a way. I know that's how I am. I'm assuming that you guys are too, or you wouldn't be here. Okay. The next one is time. So time's the biggest challenge of it. All right. So who say yes. If time has been maybe holding you back a little bit, like maybe you work a full-time job, you have lots of kids, you know, even stay. I feel like I'm busier. Like I have more to do now that I work from home than I did when I had an office job.
(11:00):
Mm-Hmm
(11:58):
We're just kind of working through right. Working through. Okay. We've figured out time. We can fix that. We've figured out money. We can fix that. Okay. Yeah. That shocked me over $6,000 in one day. She about beat me for my best event on that day. Yeah. Nuts. Huh? And July is supposedly a really bad month for retail. So does that blow your mind? Even more that everyone says Stacy's secrets are in the academy. Sabrina. Yeah. Stacey's secrets are in the academy that you'll get invited to at the end of this, but yeah. She's she does. She started, she said I have a fulltime job. I used to cut hair. I don’t know technology… don't have a clue what I'm doing. She went through my program. She literally did this in one day. Crazy. Huh? Yeah.
(13:05):
Okay. The next thing is fear. So who's got fear. Say yes. If you've got fear. I know I saw some of that earlier in here. Right? Fear. I know that a lot of people, if you talk to an entrepreneur, a lot of you think not a lot of you, but a lot of people I talk to and I tell them things I've done. They think I'm crazy. Have you guys ever had that? If you're like an entrepreneur, you know, you tell someone about a business idea or I'm going to do this or that, or I'm going to quit my job and, and start this business or anything like that. Right. And they think you're crazy. So when I bought my first business, everybody told me not to do it back in 2003 and I still have that business and it still pays me six figures a year. So 18 years later. So what if I listen to everyone, but see, in a way entrepreneurs are just, they're just different in their thinking, right? So you have to decide is the fear worth it? And that's where you come back to your why, right? What motivates you to do this? And we talked about that a little bit earlier, you know, it's scary to go out of your comfort zone. Right.
(14:26):
But guess what? You're going to mess up. You're going to mess up. I mess up multiple times. Right. But all you're doing is learning what doesn't work and think about Einstein is that Einstein Edison. It was Edison. Think about how many times Edison failed before he invented the light bulb. I think it was over 10,000 times that he failed. And he said, no, I didn't fail. I just found 10,000 ways that didn't work. So when you go into your own business, you are literally going to mess up. You will, but you have to give yourself grace. So you can't be held back by the fear of messing up because just, just put it out there right now that you will mess up. But you're smart. If you go in with a blueprint that works, right. So if you have a plan, a proven plan, it should be less fearful for you because you have a plan that works.
(15:21):
It's not like you're just doing things, just, you know, brand spaghetti at the wall. Right? So what's your why? So tell me what your, why is we talked about that a little bit earlier, but tell me what your, why is in the comments to be secure. So your why provide for your family? Your why has to be bigger than your fear? That's how you deal with the fear.
(16:16):
So kids are watching. So what's your, why is it bigger than the fear? Right? So say yes. If you can honestly say that your why is bigger than the fear. That's where you have to be. Cause you'll fail, but it's okay. You know, it's better to try and fail than to not try at all. I think because then you're going to show your kids that you get back up. Right. And they'll see, Hey mom did this. It really messed up. But Hey, mom also got back up and went right back to it the next day. So that that's the why.
(17:09):
Okay. So any of you that said fear, I want you to declare right now that you are not going to let fear, keep you from trying. So type that in chat. You're not going to let fear keep you from trying type that in. I will not let fear keep me from trying now. Doesn't that feel good? It's kind of like, it doesn't matter anymore. Right? I love it. Kyle, here's an example. I'm going to show you throughout this presentation. Just examples of some of the emails and the, the messages I get, because it is just insane. So Bethany said she launched at midnight last night and woke up to four sales. So not only was Bethany happy, but I was super happy when I saw this email because the, it works. Right. So what, what I'm teaching works. And so that is awesome.
(18:18):
Hmm. Okay. Here's Sheila's Sheila. This is okay. Maybe you're wise that you can travel more. Right? Sheila went out of town for several days. Took inventory with her made sales online. Her husband shipped while she was out of town and she sold 10 pieces while she was on vacation. So can you see how this is just a dream?
(19:20):
And his family thought he was nuts. And we actually went on eight vacations that next year, because, and the family was like, they were thinking we were crazy, but we were like, we're free. You know, we have had a week's vacation for years and now it's like, we can go on vacation whenever we want
(20:11):
Do you see the gross profit down there? And now she did. She did not record her costs on a little tiny bit of this. So what do you think of this gross profit for over $14,000? So did you guys know that you could make that kind of money? If you price your products properly, if you buy at the right price and you sell at the right price, isn't that crazy? So let's say you average, I did the numbers cause I'm a numbers person. Okay. If you averaged 9,000 a month in sales and this person went through my program, so they're pricing their stuff properly. They're buying properly. Now you can, as long as, no matter what you're selling, as long as you're buying and pricing properly, you can hit these numbers. So the average is approximately 5,000 a month in profit. So how would $5,000 change your life? Tell me in the comments, cause I was dying to ask this question. So what would you do? Cause I know when I first started, this would've seemed like so much to me, you know, starting with $200. So what would that extra five grand a month change for you? And this person started not knowing how to do this. So five grand a month pay off debt, quit your job. Yeah. Isn't that crazy? I mean, this is possible. This is someone that has been launched less than a year.
(21:46):
So no worry, worry. Yeah. Yeah. More freedom, travel money for college. You have five kids. I'm the oldest of six kids. So
(22:36):
She started with 1500, 1,015 hundred inventory. Mm-Hmm
(23:43):
What are your thoughts on social media being at one of the secrets? Did you think that it would be that important?
(24:54):
Why isn't it working for me? Oh, it doesn't work. No, there, there are actually three pieces to the puzzle and you have to do all three of them consistently. They all build upon each other. And once you figure out what works for you, you still have to do the other pieces of the puzzle, but you just focus a little bit more on what's actually working. So social media works because it's interactive because it lets people get to know you. And that's super important when you're in the online business. Right. Who agrees with that? Because you guys kind of feel like, you know me, right. Because we spend time together. You see me on video, right. Sheila actually, Sheila and I actually met for dinner the other night. And it literally, I, I think Sheila had been working with me for a year. It literally felt like we knew each other already.
(25:43):
Like we
(26:46):
It lets you gain trust with your fans. I guess you call them and it's interactive. Like you can have conversations, right? So this is just a what, what she use, what we recommend is a business page. That's what you'll do your business on is your business page. Initially you can use your personal profile to kind of build it up, but eventually you want to convert to only using your business page. Okay. So Sheila bought for me for years before she joined my program. So I'm guessing that Sheila had good experiences, right? And that's why she trusted me to join my program. So social media, that is the gist of why you want to use it. And, and yes, it does take time. In the academy we have promo calendars and social media calendars and canvas templates and all that stuff, cause it is a little time consuming, but it is super important.
(27:46):
We actually went through numbers with someone I was working with in a one on one. And when she did not post on Facebook, her sales actually went down and that was just posting, you know, posting to drive back, drive traffic back to her site. So the person that was doing that was out of town or something. And so she didn't post really for a week on Facebook. We literally looked at her analytics and I, I said to her, did you not post on Facebook? And she said, no. So and so was out of town. And I said, okay, well you can see her topic was down and that's just posting. Right? So people didn't see her on social media that week. So she kind of, they, she wasn't top of mind for them. So that's your first secret social media. And it does work. Some people are going to get more sales from social media than others. It is an important piece of the puzzle. If you don't do it, you will not maximize your small business sales. So the next secret is emails and emails are something that can be super overwhelming.
(29:05):
I think that they're one of the hardest things to be consistent at, just because it can be overwhelming to try to figure out what to say all the time. In the academy I teach how to write emails and things to say, and, and all those things, because I have literally sent thousands of emails. And I do write like 90 something percent of the emails that go out for me. So it's something that can be hard initially, but once you do it, I actually like writing emails. Now I literally just act like I'm talking to a friend and just type it on out. And you only want to act like your type, your, when you send an email, you want to talk to one person and you want to make it about them. So you don't want to say, oh, I just love this new topic came in here, go buy it.
(30:24):
So emails, they keep your business top of mind. Like even if someone does not open your email, they are still seeing you show up in their inbox. So who, who has had a company? Let's say target, let's say you weren't thinking about target. They send you an email and you just delete it. Did you still think about target type? Yes. If you got a business that you forgot about and they sent you an email and you maybe deleted that email, but you still thought about them. Right? So in a way it doesn't even matter if they open your email. Right. So I know it can be kind of like, oh no one opened my email, but what if they're still seeing your, your subject line and they're still thinking, oh, I did need to buy a dress for a wedding. I'm going to, you know, maybe I'll maybe they'll send an email tomorrow and I'll go look at it tomorrow.
(31:23):
Right? You still think about it. So don't think because your emails may not be getting opened by a high percentage that, that it's not doing anything for you. The next thing is it lets people get to know you. So again, just like social media, it's letting people kind of see your personality, shine through a little bit and get to know your business, you know like, oh, they have really cute stuff. Okay. I'm not shopping today, but I really like some of the stuff they have. Okay. Delete
(32:13):
Or we have new arrivals or here's a sale or Sheila that went out this morning. She's trying to get to a thousand people on her Facebook group. And so one of the techniques we talked about in our call was send an email and drive them to Facebook from your email list. So it's super important. I know it can be hard to do, but it's, it's really important if you don't like doing it, try batching it, try just picking like a, a time period of a couple hours a week and just sitting down and writing like three emails for each week. And that way you don't have to keep revisiting it and kind of having it nagging you, just get it done. If you're in the e-com academy, there is an email planner that is super cool in. And I believe that that's just got, it'll be released.
(33:11):
It's dripped. So certain things open at certain times. But if you're in the e-commerce academy, you, you will get access to that email planner. Okay. I'll do like a five minute Q and a at the end. So if you guys type in your questions, I'll, I'll jump in there and answer for about five minutes and trying to stay on track. Okay. Lives is the last one who would've thought that lives were that important. Tell me in the comments, did you think that lives were a piece of this puzzle?
(33:52):
Yes. They increased business. Nope. Sheila said she wasn't going to do them. Absolutely. Yeah. And you got you guys. I did at one point too. I did without doing one darn live. Cause I'm actually not a big extrovert.
(34:56):
And it's kind of fun. I think, like to go do them somewhere else, you know, like go pop up in a coffee shop or a hair salon or go do a, a live from a hotel room or like some really cool place in your town. Just like, bring your act, people like that. So you sold five items on your live from your hotel room, Sheila. Yeah. I mean, it's crazy. So let me go to my next slide. Lives and events are your secret ATM machine. So, I'm going to close the chat here so I can show you this. Alyssa from the academy went live and sold 700.
(35:39):
You saw that Stacy in the previous slide, she did a popup that's when she sold over $6,000 in one day, Sheila, I couldn't find your thing, but how much, what is your highest live? So far? Sheila did 600 at an event. Yeah. So four hours of your time for 600 in sales. Yeah. It's insane. So, Sheila, what was your top number? Over 1500. Yeah. So, Jen, you're going to get there too. It depends on like the type of events that you do. You can range anywhere from, you know, 500 up to, you know, over $6,000, depending on how big the events are or where you're popping up. So the reason that's important is it gives you a quick boost in sales, right? So if you've got inventory that you're not able to move, or maybe it's coming out of season, or there are all kinds of reasons, right?
(36:40):
This can give you a quick boost in sales and move your inventory. And the, the way I did seven figures is by moving the inventory as fast as possible. That is your goal. You want that inventory out the door. Like you do not want anything sitting longer than 30 days in your inventory. Do what it takes to get it out the door, go live, do a grab bag do a popup. The other thing that lives can do for you and the popup events is it can grow your email list. So, what you're going to do is get their email addresses when they visit your, your space where you're popped up. So you can either type it in when you're checking them out. Or you can put a little clipboard there where they can write in their email address because a lot of times they'll see you, but maybe you don't have what they're looking for or they're with their husband and they don't have time to look. So that is a great way to grow your email list also. But the next, the, the super cool part of it is you can get immediate customer feedback on products. So have any of you ladies that are in the academy type in the chat, have you gotten immediate customer feedback on your products from doing popups for lives and, and has that part two, has that helped you to do better buying?
(38:07):
Yes. Yes, yes. Yes. Isn't that? Yes. It's really super helpful. And it's something that you don't think about initially, but when you're out there talking to the general public, you're getting their immediate feedback and that's really, really helpful when you are online, because you're not in a brick and mortar getting that feedback from people when they come into your storefront. Right? So that's your time to talk to people and Hey, what are you looking for? Do you like this red dress? What type of style? You know, and just kind of get some ideas on, you know, what the people that are, you know, shopping your space, have to say about what you bought. Theresa says she's planning on having a grand opening launch, inviting neighbors. Yeah. Well, obviously you want to sell too. I mean, selling's top of mind, but the feedback is a great byproduct for him.
(39:03):
So here's another screenshot. So if you're thinking about getting started, you're not in the academy or you're not launched yet. This is Bethany's sales in one day, over $1,100 and 17 orders. And this girl, all she did, she turned on her store at midnight, she went to bed. This is literally,
(40:05):
You're not selling at the right price. You will never ever get to the 5k monthly profit, unless you're no, I don't think it's possible. Cause you'll be spending all your money on product or marketing. Step two, set up the marketing pieces properly. So the three secrets, that's your marketing pieces. Those three things have to be set up properly in order for them to works in order to have the ATM machine, right? Each one of those things has blueprints behind them that you need to follow. So step three, consistently following that blueprint. So if you're focusing on social media, you're, you're following that blueprint and you you've maximized everything that you can maximize on that. Then you go to the next thing you maximize that think of our three circles, right? So, you're going to maximize each one of those pieces and that's how you get to, and we're talking 5k monthly.
(41:07):
I mean, that's just the beginning. Once you get to 30 K most likely you've got momentum, right? So you're not going to stay at 30 K very long. You're going to catapult. I mean, at that point, you've got other things to worry about. You've got your, your, your three secrets working. And now at that point,
(42:34):
(43:33):
And so the screen before, this is what happened after she did her live, she brought in more sales. So guys, this is someone that had a thousand dollars goal. And, so think about, it's going to blow your mind because if you follow the steps in the blueprint and you do them the way they're supposed to be done, this will be you. Okay. Here's an email from Ashley. Okay. Skim through today is day three. I've already sold 17 items with only five customers. I know I have a ways to go, but I'm excited for this new adventure. I thought it was interesting that she said she's very independent. So she tries to figure things out for herself. So is anyone else like that? Very independent, trying to figure things out for herself. I'm it took me, it took me a couple years to actually say, huh? I think I could probably do better if I had some help.
(44:39):
Yeah. Yeah. I think, I think maybe even being like the oldest child, you know, I'm always like, oh, I can do this myself. I I've got this, you know? And so yeah, I thought that was pretty cool that she said that and that she's very independent and it's still like, you can still be independent and follow the blueprint and make it work. Right. Because honestly there, the help's there, but whether or not you, you use it. I mean, there are so many things included, but you can literally like, you just want to work on your own. Yeah. Go for it. But there's so much more that you can learn. If you just let other people in to help you to offer you. I hope that you've learned a ton from my three secrets. It took me years to figure out I had an epiphany one day and I was like, oh my gosh, it's this, this, and this.
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