Building Confidence as an Entrepreneur: Skills for Success with Susan Negen Part 2

Listen to Part 1

In Part 2 of Spark & Ignite Your Marketing with retail expert Susan Negen, co-founder of WhizBang Retail Training, we explore the surprising strategies that fuel sustainable growth. From launching a ‘Retail-a-thon’ livestream long before live video was popular to navigating the power of AI in everyday marketing, Susan shares lessons on balancing bold tactics with real self-care. Discover why she believes in ‘excellence over perfection’ and hear her insights on the importance of rest for every entrepreneur.

Key Topics:

1. Embracing Innovation in Marketing: Susan shares the story of her 2008 ‘Retail-a-thon,’ an all-day livestream that attracted thousands of viewers before livestreaming was popular, underscoring the power of jumping on new trends early.
2. The Role of AI in Streamlining Business Operations: Susan and Beverly discuss how AI tools are transforming marketing, helping with data analysis, customer targeting, and time-saving tactics that allow small business owners to work smarter, not harder.
3. The Importance of Rest and Avoiding Perfectionism: Susan emphasizes the need for rest and explains why perfection can hinder progress, advocating for an “excellence over perfection” mindset that supports both growth and well-being.

Follow Susan:
Retail Training and Solutions for Independent Retail Stores
Brilliance

Recommended Resources:
A Better You, Every day · Mindvalley
ZingTrain | Business Training & Leadership Development

P.S. Ready to spark your unique opportunities and ignite your marketing? Here are three ways to work with us.

1. 📞 Schedule a Complimentary 15-minute Call and let’s delve into your goals and answer any questions you may have.
2. 📘 Read Beverly’s book Marketing for Entrepreneurs a quick guide filled with actionable steps to help make your brand and business shine even brighter. 🎙️ Listen to Beverly’s Marketing Podcast where she interviews entrepreneurs to get inspired and gain new business and marketing insights.
3. 🎓 Learn more about marketing and Enroll in Our Marketing Courses designed to bring clarity to your business efforts. They’re easy-to-understand and self-paced, perfect for busy entrepreneurs like you.

Transcript

0:10

Hey there, we're about to jump into part two of this episode, but wait, did you catch part one? If you missed it, no worries. The link is down below in the description. Trust me, you'll want to start there. So go ahead, hit that link, and when you're ready, come back for part two. We'll be right here, waiting to light up your marketing together.

Beverly: 0:29

What is one, I'm going to say unconventional marketing tactic or campaign that you guys have tried and have been surprised by its success?

Susan: 0:41

Oh, and have been surprised by its success. Let's see. Gosh, so many different things. I'm going to go way back to the very beginning of the retail mastery system, which is the flagship product that we have. And we did something, this was in 2008. But I think it, it speaks to the kind of like the general idea of trying things that are just way outside the box. We, when we first launched that. That product, the retail mastery system. We decided we were going to do a full day long live stream show called a retail a thon. Like it was so long ago that people even still remember the Jerry Lewis telethon. That's how long ago it was. But this, the idea of live streaming was non existent. Nobody did that. Back in 2008 was, it was very, very difficult to do. And, but we're like, we're just going to try it. We're going to do this thing and we're going to call it a retail a thon. And we're going to go all day. We're going to go 12 hours. Bob and I are going to be in front of the camera for 12 hours. And we're going to talk about retail to all of our retail friends. We're gonna let them ask us questions. We're going to give away all of our knowledge for 12 hours. And honestly, we. Before this retail a thon, we called every single one of our friends and family members that we knew and we're like, please log on you don't have to watch us

Beverly: 2:21

just having the background

Susan: 2:23

log on. So it doesn't look like there's only three people watching us. Just like we thought maybe there'd be 20 people watching us. As it turns out we got picked up by a couple of online influencers, like what's this retail a thon thing that's going on. And we had thousands of people watching on this very first it was so brand new that nobody really like action, like video was a thing. This was right around, video was a thing, but live streaming, watching somebody in, like television, like live television, not very many people. We're doing that. So that was something that was really and of course, nowadays we're all like, Oh, everybody, you got to go live. You got to do the do this thing. But that was, that was a long time ago. Getting on the front side of these trends, I think could be so powerful. When social media was first popping on the people who were on the front side of those trends and now AI is coming and we had some phenomenal sessions at our retail success summit conference. About AI and all the different tools that are out there. And, way beyond chat GPT. And just these large language models, how many different ways we are all going to be using AI in our businesses. And we are already using it in so many ways that we don't even see behind the scenes. But and the more, more and more creative ways to leverage that technology that's coming online. People need to be. Excited about jumping on these things. Like we did let, those, that long time ago and just try something, it may not work out just going back to our early conversation. It may work out. It may not work out, to try something new and really different. And there are so many cool things that are happening with AI. So I think that's going to be a fun. A fun thing for us all. What do you think about AI?

Beverly: 4:16

AI is almost every step of our process now in some way shape or form. The amount of analytics that it can analyze and the data and the trends and all the things to be as laser pointed as possible. I was even on a call today with a placer dot AI and how they're doing like Yeah. Geofencing and there's just the way video can be chopped up and chunked out and there's just so many applications you still, I equate it to a calculator. You need to understand the math. to put to input the proper formula into the calculator for it to give you the right output that you need. Like you didn't understand that percentages is point, whatever, like you or the percentage stack. You didn't understand how that all works, but it makes your life so much easier once you understand it. So you have to understand business to be able to put it in properly or marketing to be able to put it in properly, but it's, It is it will be the tool we use like calculators. We don't live without those anymore. Like whether it's embedded in an Excel sheet, AI is all embedded in Canva and all the

Susan: 5:24

division by hand. Nobody's doing that anymore.

Beverly: 5:26

Yeah. My husband took an accounting class and I remember I did like the counting on the paper and if I made one mistake, I had to rip it up and start over. And it was like a form of torture because I'm a creative soul, not a numbers person. And I remember like just hating it, right? But then Excel came out and revolutionized everything, but you still have to understand how to set it up and double check it, be able to audit it, like all kinds of things that make it. And then what does the story tell? You have to also decipher the story that's being told. So there's still some. You could not be alone living. You could, but it wouldn't be great stuff that comes out. It would be okay, probably. But you need the person who understands whatever the industry is to audit and translate it. Manipulate it in a way that I think is helpful for whatever business you're working. But yeah, AI a year ago, Susan, maybe a little more than a year ago changed everything for us. Oh yeah,

Susan: 6:23

for sure.

Beverly: 6:24

So what's one marketing mistake you've made and what did you learn from it?

Susan: 6:28

Oh my gosh, we, two marketing mistakes that we, I don't know, we make them over and over again. I don't know why we don't learn. We do learn, but we keep thinking that we can do it, but we can't. So the two marketing mistakes that we have made over and over again, not that many times, we have repeated our number one, trying to sell more than one thing at a time. For us, it doesn't work. Like we always, even with our retailers, we have to be clear. Yes. Say one thing, sell one thing. And if we're trying to sell you can have this, or then you could upgrade to that and then, or you could downgrade to that, or you could, like here are four different options, never works. Never works. We've tried it several times, just doesn't work for us. So I could give you exact examples if you want, but that's one thing that we have done. The other mistake that we make in our marketing and we see it, our retailers make it too. And if ever we have something that doesn't work as well as we want it to, this is oftentimes the reason why. We. Have failed to put some scarcity into the marketing, either something goes away or a price goes up or you sell out or human beings need a reason to take action. I think we were we like homostasis a little bit, like we like our status quo now we're so comfy, like in, in order to take action. Even when people want something like. I've been looking at a new pair of linen pants to buy and I want them and I've wanted them for a month. And I still haven't bought them, but I guarantee you that once they say, Oh, summer's gone. This is the last year. I can be able to get those pants anymore. I'm going to be pushing the button to buy the pants. So if we don't activate scarcity in some regard, that has been a mistake that we make.

Beverly: 8:28

Great advice, Susan. I have a lightning round where it's a little less to bet, to chat back and forth, but it's

8:35

okay.

Beverly: 8:35

It's intended to get inside some of your entrepreneurial. Mindset. So I'm curious as to your answers. So when is the first one is how have you created and maintained lasting connections? I think anybody who's a business owner has to be able to be really good at relationship building and nurturing those relationships. What is some of their tricks or tips that you have regarding that?

Susan: 9:00

My first answer that comes to mind is we always try to give more than we get. We all, whether it's with a customer or a vendor or whatever, we always try to give more than we get. And You find that it's really hard to do. Like the more you give, the more you get in return. And so if you keep giving, you get more and more in return. So like

Beverly: 9:21

a lot of reciprocity is it's really,

Susan: 9:23

it really works. It is a psychosocial rule. So that's one of the ways that we, one of the ways that we try to maintain great relationships.

Beverly: 10:19

If your business, if Whiz Bang had a voice. I even like the fact that Brilliance has the owl, right? If your business had a voice, what word or emotion would resonate from its core? I

Susan: 10:31

think for whiz bang training the emotion would be this one of our core values, which is caring. Like generosity and caring is that's fun. Yes. I fun for sure. Caring like we do what we do because we care really deeply about our clients. We've been there. We have lived the life of an independent retailer. We know how hard it is and we know how important it is. And so it's that, that genuine caring. Compassion for

Beverly: 11:09

their experience. Yeah. I feel the same. I feel the same way. Like I built a business. I know it's hard. It's very hard to be all alone and to struggle. It's just, it's a very hard place. We call it business. Lonely. Yeah. Yeah. It's a very lonely entrepreneur's level. Lonely. Like my husband knows I do marketing, but he doesn't know exactly what I do. If I told him it had branding and digital marketing set websites and there's so much more to it than just websites. Yeah. For the world and even for my team loves what we do. But as the person who runs the business is leading the business, it's a very different place to be. And you need champions in your corner, helping root you on all along the way. And sometimes it's just a, you got this, like that's all you need. For years, my husband always said you're not just a marketer. And I said, no, he's you're like a coach. And I said yeah, I don't really know if I'm a coach, but I, as a marketer, you learn they're like most profitable. You learn, the revenue there, you get really into their business. So now I say I'm more like a marketing therapist. I look at where you've been, where you want to go, what you need to get over. To get there. If you need resources or tactics or an approach to help you, that's what we do. But I had, I took a long time to and I don't think it's just I don't think you, what you and Bob do is just the Retail Mastery or just the Retail Summit. You guys are like huge cheerleaders for them on Facebook, on Even when Bob does his little videos in the woods, when he's like giving a pep talk. And we need a Bob on your shoulder everywhere we go. Please, I'm not a retailer, but I certainly have found value in that. So I feel like. It's so important for entrepreneurs to find their community of where they fit, where they can get, some help along the way. And I love that you guys do that and you guys do it really well. Yeah. Thank you. So dive into the library of wisdom, podcasts or even another entrepreneur that has left like An indelible mark on your business,

Susan: 13:06

right? I gave you two already, right? Lifebook with John Missy Butcher, mind Valley and Zing Train Ari Weinzweig. Fabulous. There's so many great people to listen to, I would definitely say Dan Sullivan from strategic coach would be another great voice to listen to. If you're also, if you're trying to sell products online or digitally our friend Jeff Walker, who wrote the product launch formula and develop that whole process, he's a great person to listen to. These are people that I know personally, who I know have that same, like you just, you said earlier, this attitude of service, the service mindset and are truly, they truly care about the people that they're serving. Those are some. Those are some of my favorite resources. So I will also just shout out the, that class that I took that kind of blew up our world. And, really, brought us brilliance. It's a website called section. It used to be called section four and now it's just called section. And this guy brings together all these amazing teachers from all different areas in the business space. Some of them are university professors, some of them are business CEOs and he, and this, they do really great courses they're not really, they're more like, yeah, they're a little bit like a course, but they're

Beverly: 14:39

no,

Susan: 14:41

it's like a little, it's like a, I guess I'll just say courses. It's a little bit like that. So that's a fun resource to get. They think they're really more intended for like corporate workers, corporate managers things like that. People are trying to develop like within a corporate structure, but there's a lot of good stuff for, all different kinds of people, including entrepreneurs.

Beverly: 15:03

If whiz bang product. Animal kingdom or was in the animal kingdom and you had to give it an animal. What creature wouldn't embody and why?

Susan: 15:13

I think it would be a lion. That's so funny that's just what popped into my mind.

15:17

Yeah.

Susan: 15:17

I think it would be a lion just try just roaring You know knowledge. I like this idea just roaring knowledge and protecting. I don't know roaring and protecting that. I don't know. It's that's just we don't have an animal. We have an exclamation point for whiz bang trading, but lion is just what came into my mind.

Beverly: 15:39

I always challenge people that if you have an animal that comes to mind, how can you use it in your marketing in some way, shape or form, whether it's even just the words, of protection. And so maybe it's not an actual animal in some way, but it's actually like what it represents that you can somehow use in your brand.

Susan: 15:55

So

Beverly: 15:56

mine's unicorn.

Susan: 15:57

I love it. That's so cool. Why unicorn?

Beverly: 16:01

First of all, when I was like seven, I loved them. They're magical, right? They leave the world a better place. They protect as well. They are soothing. They, all the things that kind of create like a simpler, better life. And that's really, Mermaids, unicorns, that's all like being unique, like the purple cow in the sea of black and white cows. How do you be a unicorn in a sea of horses? Like you have to, in marketing, embrace who you are and only you are you, and as a business, only you are you, and that is your unique opportunity. Period. So fully embracing that and being that I think is a big part of like how we handle our clients as well. Yeah, I love that.

Susan: 16:41

That's such an interesting question, Beverly. Good job on that question.

Beverly: 16:44

Good. I'm glad. I think it's, it is you learn a lot about, I think, a business in that. There's something really, people connect with that. You've given a couple of really good bits of wisdom, but if you could go back to the 18 year old working at the first boutique, women's boutique that you worked at, what is one pivotal piece of advice that you would give young Susan that may have spared you from headaches, money, time, resources? What is one advice you would have told that young girl that could have helped her along her journey?

Susan: 17:16

Yep. So I will fully admit to being too much of a perfectionist, which tends to make me procrastinate. So I, and this is a thing that, Bob has taught me and that we, that I've tried to, I've trying still, to incorporate into, And we do this in our work all the time. It's don't let perfection get in the way of progress. Take action. Don't worry if it's not perfect. We talk a lot about the 80 percent rule here in the office. Is it 80 percent good enough for you? If it's 80 percent good enough for you, it's probably 95 percent good enough for everybody else in the world. And if you still, if you still have to go back, even after that, whatever that idea or that display or that purchase order or that marketing piece, you still need to go back. You can take that 20 percent that's left, do 80 percent of that. Like we don't have to get to a hundred percent. Because if we're always waiting to get to 100%, if we're always waiting for perfection, if we're always waiting for it to be just exactly right the world is missing out on the brilliance inside of us.

Beverly: 18:35

I think it's you guys that I heard or recommended the book Gap The Gain. Yes, and

Susan: 18:42

Sullivan, who I mentioned earlier, yes,

Beverly: 18:44

and if you read that book, it all talks about focusing on your gains, not what you're gapping, that was a very powerful. For me to read because I needed to let go of some of that for sure.

Susan: 18:57

100 percent like, the idea that's inside you, that's never in the world that doesn't help anybody. So that's probably what I would have coached my younger self on is and also, gosh, holding yourself to that level. Of expectation is exhausting and it's tiring and it's unnecessary. And it's, we've mentioned our, our company core values a couple of times during this talk, and one of ours is excellence, but not perfection. So we've even codified this idea into our our core values in our company. We always want to strive for excellence. We are not about putting. Bad stuff or, halfhearted efforts or anything out into the world. But we're not going to wait until everything is exactly perfect. To move forward and take action.

Beverly: 19:52

You could have given that advice to me too. That would have been very good advice for young Beverly. No question. The joy isn't actually like producing the things, whatever that looks like. So focusing on that. And that's the really important stuff that you, like I said, you need to share it. You've been put on this earth for a reason. And if you're not sharing it because you're so worried about the wrong, saying the wrong thing, doing the wrong thing. There's a great example, Susan, when I reached out to you to be on Your retail live. I was petrified. But I it's like I knew it wasn't gonna be perfect, but I just needed to start doing it because if I didn't just start doing it, I was holding myself back. And now look, like that was October, November. And in February I launched a podcast so much can happen if you just take that step forward and not hold yourself. And I think the joy is in the moments where you, it's super scary, but it, like, when you do it and you say, I've done it oh, Yes, that's like good. That's the good stuff for sure. Yeah. Yes. So like those moments are really powerful. Just take the next step. Just do it.

Susan: 20:54

That's, that is the outcome of this idea of don't let perfection get in the way of progress.

Beverly: 21:00

I think as I get older, I'm really okay within that being. I want it to be good. I love the idea of excellence but not perfection. I want it to be good. I want to do my best. But that's where I'm at that moment. That's it. That's what I can give. That's what I can do. It's okay. It's perfectly okay. It's all an evolution and re, iteration of what you want to do what you want to create and there's power in that process too, like letting it go, there's power in that process too. I love that. What is one piece of advice? People who listen to the podcast are all entrepreneurs, I'm assuming. People who either have a business or want to start a business. What is one piece of advice that you would give them? Right now, as soon as this podcast ended, tell them this is the thing you need to do right now to push your business forward or your idea forward. What is the one thing?

Susan: 21:48

You're going to, this is going to be maybe a little controversial. Susan. I know. I think the one thing that they should do right now is schedule time to rest. People are like, Oh, like you hear some people like, Oh, you need a hustle culture. You need to be working all the time and you can go on vacation, but you got to take this with you and, you can be doing your work while you're on vacation and all this stuff. And I think that so often as entrepreneurs, we forget to rest and as we forget to rest and we live in this hustle culture, it becomes a habit. Yes. And we start to develop this internal belief that if we're not doing something, we're lazy.

Beverly: 22:41

Oh, that perfectionism thing comes up again there, too. A little bit, yeah.

Susan: 22:45

But it's this idea of hey, you, resting is an activity that's critical for your success. And it's, and especially if you are just starting your business. There's this impetus to keep going and keep going. And yes, speed to market is important and speed is important and all this stuff. But if you don't schedule, and this is an important word, schedule in time to rest you will not succeed as quickly. And, it's like that old. Thing about you got to stop and sharpen your saw a little bit. Like it's that, but I do feel like it's this fear that we have or this belief that we've acquired that if we're not doing something in, especially now that we have the entire world in our pocket, if we're not doing something, we're being lazy and that's just not true.

Beverly: 23:35

I think it's really hard for, I think women, it's harder, a little harder for a season. I love men. Don't get me wrong. The men are listening. Don't, I'm not trying to disparage you in any way, but we're in a very large shift of women's roles and responsibilities on the planet and what we're supposed to be doing and the expectations and society and momming and leading and all the things and being a good wife. And it doesn't seem like the list ever stops. And. We oftentimes treat ourselves as the last thing on the list of to dos and that's unfortunate. And I think, like you said, scheduling that, putting it at the first thing makes everything else work better, if you can. Oh, Susan, before we go these are great nuggets. Please share where our listeners can learn more about. Whiz bang and brilliance. And what's up with your latest project?

Susan: 24:20

Yeah. A whiz bang training. com is where you can find us or you can find us at retail brilliance. com. That is the open training platform where you can either. Put a course on that you think other entrepreneurs need to see and experience, or you can create an account and get learning for yourself and your employees. So that's retail brilliance and was being training is where we have all of the knowledge that we've accumulated for retailers over the last many decades.

Beverly: 24:55

Small little pitch here. I have two courses on there right now working on another one, but there's two, one on finding clarity for your business to help with your marketing. And the other one is about creating a marketing binder that becomes the resource to push your business forward. So both of those are on there right now. And we're working on some more to launch through our partnership with Brilliance, which is. And

Susan: 25:15

I have taken both courses. I have gone through both of those courses and they are. Fantastic. So I think people will really get a lot of value out of both of those courses. So really brilliant ideas.

Beverly: 25:27

Thank you so much, Susan, for spending time with me today. I think that you're, you've really illuminated our listeners paths with some great tips and strategies to enhance their business and digital marketing, which is great. To our listeners. I hope you found this episode as enlightening as I did, and that you remember that you can implement any of these insights that Susan or I shared today into your business. Practice your small business, but never don't ever hesitate to reach out to Susan or myself. If you need anything, have any further questions, we'd be happy to serve you as you need, but stay tuned for more inspiring conversations and actionable tips to ignite your marketing and business journey and future episodes of the Spark and Ignite Your Marketing Podcast. Until next time, keep sparking.