Indie Retailers : How Can I Help?

Here's the deal. I left indie retail.

I left for a variety of reasons and someday I will probably tell the whole story, but the most important two reasons that I want to share today are 1} I believed {still do!} it was part of the Big Plan for me to exit right at that very moment {not everyone believes in the Big Plan, but I do}, and 2} I believed that I could live a better life, a life truer to my core values, a life closer to my ideal, and be more helpful to other passionate entrepreneurs like myself {including indie retailers} outside of retail than inside. So I closed my store. And it felt good. And every day it feels better as I move deeper into the dream that's unfolding around me.


But indie retailers, this post isn't about me. It's about you. You and the important work you do in your unique stores every day. The work you do for your community, putting yourselves and your livelihoods out there on the line every day, willing your vision to be received and embraced by your right people, your ideal customers. The work you do behind the scenes that nobody sees and almost nobody {or very few} gets or appreciates. Retailing is far from fantasy, right? But you're good at making it look that way. And this, in itself, is what's tough about retail. Life behind the curtain. I get that. {Please tell me where I'm wrong.}

So back to my new thing, Abby Kerr Ink, for just a minute. {Then back to you.}

In a few weeks, I'll be launching my new website and packing it full of juicy, free, helpful content that will support and inspire passionate entrepreneurs like you. Like me. I'm making the kind of site I would want to linger on for hours. And I hope you'll want to do just that once you get to visit! And while I'm making this website and all the content that will go into it to fulfill what I want it to be, I'm really making this website and all my content for you. And not just you indie retailers out there reading, but small business entrepreneurs who love and believe in their niche and want to learn more about working it better {their niche, that is}. Cause my approach is pretty niche-y. I believe in specialization. And I really, really dig stuff that's nichified really, really well.

So lately, when I'm not blogging here or talking with clients or working on projects or on Facebook or Twitter, I'm writing my way into my niche on the web, anticipating the day when I'll launch at AbbyKerrInk.com for all to see. And in the last couple of posts, I've been doing some soft market research to figure out what you'd like to read about. What burning questions do you have? What type of content would nurture you right where you're at? How can I help?

{Enough about me.}


Indie retailers, back to you. If you've been following me lately, you've seen that I recently did a post asking aspiring indie retailers what their burning questions are about getting into the biz. And then I asked artists and designers who want to sell to boutiques to weigh in on their who's, what's, when's, where's, why's, and how's of doing just that.

Today, it's your turn. If you're an indie retailer--brick and mortar OR online--I'd love to hear your answer to this question:

• What's missing for you from the existing conversation on the web about indie retail/among indie retailers? What do you need? What do you want? What has never been done or written for you that would be so, so ideal?
  

You can speak your mind in one of three ways:

1. Leave a comment on this post {please tell me if you don't wish for me to publish it}.
2. E-mail me at abby AT abbykerrink DOT com.
3. Tweet me @abbykerr.

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with me.

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