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Sippin’ Sunday: The Little Details Matter

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Grab your coffee. This week’s reminder is a short one. ☕️ At my market yesterday, I had a few comments from customers that really stuck with me. One person stopped and said: “Wow! These are the best Blind Date With a Book displays and products I’ve ever seen.” Another told me: “I love your Blind Date With a Book display!” And then there was the customer who looked at everything and said: “My daughter loves to read, and this is a perfect gift for her.” Now, I’m not sharing those just to pat myself on the back. 😂 What struck me was what they noticed. They weren’t only noticing the product. They noticed the display. The presentation. The idea behind it. And ultimately, they could picture giving it to someone they cared about. And it reminded me that all those little details really do matter. It’s Not About Perfection There have been plenty of late nights when I’ve changed a clue card, rewrapped a book, moved something around on my display, redesigned a sign or thought: May...
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Sippin’ Sunday: Sometimes You’re Making More Than a Product

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Grab your coffee—although this morning, mine happens to be in Guadalajara. ☕️🇲🇽 I’m heading home later today after a wonderful few days here for a family wedding, and somewhere between the celebrations, food, laughter and probably a little too much wine, I had a small-business moment that made me smile. Before our trip, I decided to make custom tote bags for the ladies traveling together. Nothing complicated. Just something fun that said Guadalajara Gals — October 2026 , with each one made in a different color. At the time, it was simply a cute idea for our trip. But then I saw everyone carrying them here. We took pictures with them. We used them while we were out. People chose their colors. We laughed. And suddenly those little canvas bags weren’t just something I made with my heat press before vacation. They became part of the trip. And it reminded me of something I sometimes forget when I’m busy thinking about inventory, markets, pricing, packaging and sales. Sometimes W...
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Sippin’ Sunday: Not Every Win Is in the Sales Total

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Grab your coffee, because yesterday’s market gave me a little reminder I probably needed. ☕️ It wasn’t my biggest sales day. And if you’ve ever done markets, you know how easy it is to pack everything back into the car at the end of the day and immediately start doing the math. Was it worth it? We look at the booth fee. The sales. The hours we spent there. The time it took to pack, load, unload, set up, break down and load everything again. And listen— sales matter. We’re running businesses. I’m not going to pretend they don’t. 😂 But yesterday reminded me that sales aren’t always the only way to measure whether a market was successful. Sometimes the Win Is the Conversation Yesterday I spent quite a bit of time actually talking with customers. Not just:  Hi! Let me know if you have any questions! I mean real conversations. We talked about people they were shopping for. I shared some of the custom gifts I can create. We talked about different ideas, price points and ways...
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Sippin’ Sunday: When Something Looks Eerily Like Your Product…

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You know that moment when you’re scrolling through social media or walking through a market and suddenly you stop. Wait a minute. That looks…familiar. 👀😂 Well, I had that moment recently. Twice. At another market, I saw someone selling Blind Dates with a Book. No big deal—lots of people sell them. But the card they were using to describe the book looked very similar to the cards I created for mine. Then I came across another shop online with merchandise curated and presented in a way that also felt awfully familiar. And I’m not going to pretend my first reaction was: What a wonderful compliment! 😂 There was a little frustration. Because when you run a creative business, you know how much time goes into the things customers never see. You experiment. You change packaging. You move things around. You create something, decide you hate it, and start over. You listen to customers. You figure out what works at markets. You tweak the little details until something finally feel...
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