Guest Blog: Freshly Picked Takes Us From Blog to Shop

During Alt Summit I had the pleasure of speaking on a panel with Piper from One Sydney Road and Amy from Little Aloutte. Our topic was "From Blog to Shop" and we spoke on running a shop, running a blog, and where the two intersect.

Vision:

The first point was Vision. What is your vision, for your life specifically. Here’s the secret, there is no ‘right way’ to run a blog or shop. There are many many people out there that do either one or both successfully and they’ve found a formula that works for their life. What is it that you want out of your business? What’s the end goal? Imagine the life you want and work backwards from there, THAT is your vision.

Daily Lives:

Second we spoke on our Daily Lives. As anyone who runs a blog or shop knows, your day is filled with more than just writing or shop keeping. The day in your life is the niche that makes your experience different. What is it about your interest and daily life that you love? Work this angle with your blog. People want to believe in and support someone, make your readers and your customers part of the process.

Community:

Which leads to Community. This is your support system and fan section, even if the only person standing there is your mom, you have to carve out a space for your community. I love more than anything when I can watch a shop keeper or blogger really go for it and follow their dreams. I know that I am not alone in this feeling. Recognize who your community is and celebrate them. The journey is 100 times better when you have someone to share it with.

-Susan Peterson, Freshly-Picked.com

Thanks to Susan, we were able to give away two Stores For Life at the end of the From Blog to Shop panel. Taking a cue from the book of Oprah, we hid two Big Cartel stickers under chairs before the panel, and the unsuspecting occupants of said chairs were the winners of a Store For Life!

We also want to thank Susan for being our Alt Summit tour-guide and for writing these guest blogs. We hope all of our store owners can take a little something away from the Alt experience via these posts. Thanks for doing what you do and making Big Cartel look so good.