2021 September

RECRUITING STAFF THIS HOLIDAY SEASON

Explore why investing in people is good for your business and company culture

SPIRITUALITY FOR A BUSINESS MIND

Learn how small acts of gratitude & mindset can improve your life

Retailing

Discover why the right level of ʻstressʼ at work is not always a bad thing

From the Editor

The true meaning of…

Gratitude is a significant force in our lives and the lives of everyone we’re surrounded by. If you stop to consider, you’ll likely realize your path to get to where you are today wasn’t solely built by you. Instead, it probably benefitted from the support of ‘helping hands’ like family and staff members, or other individuals that have crossed your path, mentoring you on the way.

You can only truly comprehend how gratitude really feels when your appreciation exceeds your own interests and accomplishments in life.

If you think about it, life can be described as a unique journey filled with experiences and moments well-lived (with some hardships along the way), making us ordinary people with extraordinary souls. We might share similar ideas and interests, but appreciation is what sets us apart.

In a world where more is more, and individuality is the ‘new black’ – let’s let gratitude echo within us so we continue to… appreciate more and complain less. Accept more and judge less. Support more and expect reward less. Meditate more and doubt less.

It’s time to cherish OUR community, OUR people, OUR businesses, OUR selves every day. From our family to yours — we appreciate you!

Have an insightful reading,

Roberta G.

Roberta Gazzarolle Editor-in-Chief

Editorial

Retailing Insight Magazine is a bimonthly trade magazine specializing in the conscious living retail market. The magazine is published exclusively for qualified retailers and small independent businesses in the United States. Our mission is to share one on business advice, product reviews, advertisement from top sellers and makers in the industry, and exclusive topics to help business continue to thrive.

Editor-in-Chief

Roberta Gazzarolle

Copyeditor

Sean Ruck

Designer Marina Avila

Digital Media & Sales

Karen Johnson

Contributing Writers

Melinda Carver

Leena Iyar

Megy Karydes

Royce A. Morales

Jacki Smith

Karen Stuth

Sean Ruck

©2021 New Way Publishing, LLC.  All rights reserved. ISSN 2372-7977. Volume 35/ Issue 5/ Year 2021. The magazine is published bimonthly/ six times a year (January, March, May, July, September, November) by New Way Publishing, LLC. 4117 Park Road, 12252, Charlotte, NC 28220. Periodicals postage paid at Charlotte, NC and additional mailing offices.

POSTMASTER send address changes to Retailing Insight Magazine, P.O. Box 12252, Charlotte, NC 28220.

WWW.RETAILINGINSIGHT.COM

Retailing Insight Magazine is published by New Way Publishing, LLC. 101 S Tryon Street, 27th Floor Charlotte, NC 28280 800-730-1147 I circ@retailinginsight.com

Contents GRATITUDE

Llewellyn’s Publisher Bill Krause shares some history and insight based on the company’s nearly 120 years of being in the

"the best time for new beginnings is now "

FEATURES

Stress MANAGEMENT

AS A BUSINESS OWNER, stress is probably the one constant you can count on 24/7. With your endless list of responsibilities, your time in high demand, topped off by the challenges of a global pandemic, it’s easy to understand how your stress levels can go through the roof. So, what can you do to overcome the emotional and physical tension you’re experiencing these days? Let’s explore how it all begins…

TH E RIGH T AMOUNT

Stress is “simply” triggered fears run amok. This primitive danger alarm has kept humanity surviving by generating a fight/flight/freeze reaction to anything that appears threatening.

While brief moments of stress aren’t harmful, being in a constantly elevated state can

lead to a wide range of problems. When you experience stress, certain hormones are unleashed and they can disrupt almost all your body’s processes, putting you at risk for various issues including digestive problems, headaches, muscle tension and pain, heart disease, stroke, weight gain, sleep troubles, depression, memory and concentration impairment, and the list goes on.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: ROYCE AMY MORALES is the founder of Perfect Life Awakening. Morales is also a transpersonal development speaker and author of Know: A spiritual wake-up call. Royce was an independent retailer for two decades in Redondo Beach, CA. To know more about the author, visit her page at www.perfectlifeawakening.com.

However, stress is not always negative — a certain amount can motivate, excite, inspire, or awaken you, depending on how you choose to perceive it. You can see stress as a trigger to encourage you to set new goals, focus on what’s important, or perhaps stimulate you to make necessary changes. It can be a message to slow down, take a break and perhaps get support of some kind. Or you can identify it as a

powerful inner tool driving you to look deep inside to discover what it’s really about.

Rather than living at a constant breaking point, risking taking it out on those close to you, learning healthy ways to cope with business and life stressors is a much better choice. The best way to do this is through productive, meaningful action, both externally and internally. Here are 12 tried and true suggestions to use when you feel stressed-out:

1. What’s Going Right?

When stressed, you are in a constant, vigilant state, fearfully focused on all that could, will or did go wrong — and undoubtedly how you’ll have to fix everything. Without being overly Pollyannaish, shift your focus, even for a minute, and acknowledge what is working. What tactics have helped your business? Where are you most organized? How far have you come? How are customers responding? Where are you making a difference, even in a small way? By simply breaking this stress-loop, you’ll be in a more positive, present, empowered mindset.

2. Feel it, Name it

Half the battle of dealing with stress is determining what it’s about. Step back and get a wider/wiser perspective on whatever is happening. Listen to the messages from your body. Ask what fear this stress symbolizes to you. Mindfully identifying it in that way helps alleviate some of its oomph and gives you ways to speak to it. Rather than intellectualizing emotions, give yourself permission to express them using simple language so they don’t stay stuck. For example you could ask, “how would a child describe this feeling?” Journaling and meditating can also be a good way to help identify what’s going on in the inside

REMEMBER:

It’s not about the stressors, it’s how you perceive and respond to fear.

3. Plan Ahead

A structured plan or routine gives a sense of control and helps you anticipate what might happen. Develop systems and a time schedule so you don’t have to constantly reinvent the wheel or burn your candle at both ends. Tackling the most difficult item first on your to-do list will help you avoid dreading it the entire day — you’ll feel empowered to conquer whatever else lands in your lap. For example, stay current on community issues and any local pandemic restrictions.

4. Organize

Straightening up your desk, reorganizing the ‘back room’ or tidying up a messy display can be de-stressing and therapeutic. Obey the Marie Kondo philosophy by getting rid of whatever doesn’t spark joy – and put those slow selling items on sale! Make a list of your top 10 stressors, and ask yourself: What’s the root cause of this stress and what is one action I can take to begin addressing it?

5. Self-Care

It’s easy to get caught up in your endless running-a-business tasks, but it’s crucial to take care of you. Perpetually being on the clock is dangerous. Having ‘me-time’ is healing and is also an investment in generating more creativity and efficiency. Encourage your inner child with a self-care reward — a massage or movie night, or a decadent desert — important treats for work well done.

6. Just Say ‘No’

Putting more on your plate is a fast way to fall into a stress trap. Saying ‘no’ and setting boundaries can be challenging to your entrepreneurial spirit, but remember your value as well as your shop’s overall purpose. Before answering ‘yes’ to any request, ask yourself, “Will this help my business mission or am I just being polite, aiming to people-please, craving approval?” Saying ‘yes’ when you’re not feeling it causes resentment and thinking you are being taken advantage of — perfect stress-inducers.

7. Assert Courageously

Asking for what you want and delegating is easier said than done as a business owner. But you can’t, nor should you, do it all yourself, since you can’t be good at doing everything — especially if your heart isn’t in

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it. Instead, determine what you love doing, identify your strengths, and hand over whatever is left for others to handle where possible. Keep in mind, hiring experts is a wise investment, so don’t hesitate.

8. Make Things Easier

Websites, apps, POS systems, etc. are meant to make your job easier; struggling with them only adds more stress. Find reliable technology that helps with tasks rather than frustrates. Unplug during off-time (including emailing) to help replenish your energy levels, not just physically, but mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

9. Nurture Joy

Allow yourself time off to do what brings you joy, what helps restore you. Whether it’s a Sunday devoted to reading, a weekend communing with nature, or

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BUSINESS & MARKETING

EMAIL BLAST:

How to Create a Compelling Marketing

Email to Boost Sales

EMAIL IS FAR FROM DEAD, according to Rebekah Miel, founder and creative director of Miel Design Studio, a North Carolina-based full-service marketing and design agency. In fact, she says it’s one of the only digital places where you can still own your list and have control of the content. Unlike social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook and TikTok which can shut down your account and effectively cut access to your audience, an email newsletter allows independent retailers and wholesalers to connect with their customers on their terms.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: MEGY KARYDES is a marketing and communications professional. Find her at www.megykarydes.com.

“I

know people feel overwhelmed by email, but if you are offering a benefit to the reader, something that they want to learn about and not just selling them a product, then [email] has proven to be really successful,” Miel says.

1.Feeding the Content Beast

As in social media, sharing content that is of value to your customers is key to a successful email marketing campaign. That doesn’t mean it needs to be all new all the time. In fact, content can and should be repurposed. If you’re going to invest the time and energy to shoot a video for YouTube, for example, can you take a small slice of that video and post it to Instagram or Facebook? Create a thumbnail to include on your email newsletter directing readers to the full video on YouTube. This way you’re repurposing content that is of value to your audience while providing them with different ways to access it.

Unlike social media where you’re constantly trying to figure out what the algorithm is asking for at that point and you’re spinning your wheels trying to figure out what is going to be promoted, email is simple.

“Create content that people want to read and it’ll get opened,” Miel says.

2.Finding Content That Engages

If creating an email is easy, finding content that engages with your audience is slightly harder since you need to be attuned to their needs, not yours. Once you crack the code, though, Miel says her clients are shocked at not only how quickly their list grows, but that they’re actually engaging with their customers.

The key is to test and remember email marketing is a long-term strategy. Instead of sending one email to your entire list, split your list in two, create a different subject line for each and see which subject line performs better. Miel has created a series of blog posts and pays attention to which ones users

engage with as another approach. Surprisingly, she adds, people love to fill out surveys so use those to get feedback. To get an even better response, she recommends pairing the survey with either a discount or a product for completing the survey. This is a great way for customers to feel like you value their feedback and thoughts while giving you more information about the type of content they want to see more of.

Miel also uses other channels to get information about what content people want in the newsletter. She does AMAs (Ask Me Anything) on Instagram stories for one of her clients. Her client’s customers get information they’re seeking while Miel can spot patterns and trends she can then use to develop content specifically of interest to customers right now.

3.Meet them Where They’re At

When trying to build your email list, it’s important to remember to meet your customers where they are instead of wasting your time in places they’re not hanging out. Also, don’t overlook daily opportunities.

“I think there are moments of missed opportunity,” Miel says. Think of things like orders and you send an email receipt. You’re already communicating with them using a platform they’re comfortable with, so why not use that opportunity to engage and ask them to subscribe to your newsletter?

You can use the opportunity to recommend other products your customer might be interested in based on their buying habits.

Your social media platforms should include a link to subscribe to your e-newsletter. Print receipts from your shop could include a reminder that you offer a newsletter. Those subtle hints are a great way to connect with customers that feel more natural and authentic and not like a sales ploy.

As the holiday season approaches, take these next couple of months to consider the type of content you want to offer your customers and jot those ideas down. In the next issue, we’ll discuss email newsletter services, what to consider when designing a newsletter and how to make stronger connections with your customers to help increase sales. •

FEATURES

Spirituality for a Business Mind

AS THE HOLIDAY SEASON rushes toward us, retailers, publishers, distributors, and others are already sharing a collective sigh at the increased volume of work and activity that the season occasions, including decisions about inventory, marketing, pricing, staffing, holiday events, and more. Many are already starting to think about their holiday business plans while enjoying the summer warmth. Yet, it is less than five months until Christmas. While holiday sales are often the financial backbone of many bookstores, gift shops, and other retail, its dynamics leave its owners feeling beleaguered on all levels.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: KAREN STUTH is the founder and owner of Satiama Publishing, a service mark of Satiama, LLC. She is also the author of The Wisdom of Tula Card Deck, a co-author and co-developer of the highly awarded board game Quintangled, and an author-contributor to Life Wisdom Word Search: Yoga for the Brain. To know more, visit www.satiamapublishing.com

You are already successful and valuable simply because you are YOU. Learn to respect and embrace yourself.

Most of us begin our business days with tactical goals while attempting to implement strategic initiatives, all the while juggling our lists of to-do items. By the end of the day, we are feeling anxious that we weren’t able to do everything that needed doing. Often, this leads to falling into ‘fire-fighting mode,’ where we point ourselves at the most significant flare-up in our business day. Some may feel inadequate for their seeming lack of bandwidth, and maybe they feel ashamed at merely being human. Yet, it’s not possible to do it all every day. And we really shouldn’t try.

| Embracing YOU

If that description feels familiar at least part of the time, I invite you to remember one very core idea. YOU. ARE. ENOUGH. I invite you to keep that in mind every single day. You are not your list, your financial status, your age, your looks, your health, or your occupation. Whether you are, whoever you are, whatever you are doing or not doing, you are enough, exactly as you are.

Accepting this straightforward concept opens internal doors to embrace what we previously considered as failures. It creates space around us and helps us flow through our business days and personal lives, knowing that we are already perfect. No matter if our goal is to pursue a new skill, eat better, sleep more, or live our lives with a more grateful heart! Or even if we never achieve any of them, we are still perfect exactly the way we are, worthy of love, kindness, and acceptance. You are already successful and valuable simply because you are YOU. Learn to respect and embrace yourself. Those goals demonstrate self-love and self-care.

| Modern Times

In modern society, people believe that super achievements are the path to success, and the culture frequently implies that we should measure our value

in subtle and overt ways. But the true measurement tools of success and value seldom start when we find happiness, serenity, and balance within. If we always remember that we are enough, we stop allowing our ego to beat us up. We can smile through the hard times and offer more compassion and acceptance to others. Combined with a couple of deep breaths, we can open mental doors to more creative thinking, help reduce stress, and realign expectations, which we also inadvertently impose upon others. Those three simple words – I am enough -- provide us tools to navigate difficulties and places those problems into perspective. It helps to remember that doing it all perfectly, every single day, is neither realistic nor expected. Perhaps we created (or are constantly creating) unrealistic goals, and now we find ourselves unhappy with our failure to realize them fully.

Deciding to adopt and accept the core value of what we as individuals offer means another wonderful event can happen – we create an opportunity to develop a generosity of spirit toward others and remember they, too, are enough.

So often, we project our issues on others entirely without realizing we’re doing it.

A circle of caring and connection can be opened, relieving the need to judge. After all, if we’re both enough, what is left to judge? This can change our relationship with our business partners and employees, customers, suppliers, and the world.

As the holiday season approaches, I invite you to take a minute each day to stop and remember that no matter what is happening, no matter what list of tasks you are working to accomplish, your success is already established simply by being who you are. No matter what we believe are our defects or failures — you have everything you need due to the simple fact that you are you. Remember that energy is always following our thoughts.

Celebrate that with your mantra of self-appreciation and acts of gratitude and watch your life and your business expand in response. •

FEATURES

Why a One-Stop App is a Must-Have Tool for Small Retailers

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: LEENA IYAR is the Chief Brand Officer at Moxtra, a digital platform that helps brands modernize client engagement through a branded, private digital portal. She is responsible for all aspects of Moxtra’s marketing efforts, including strategy, brand awareness, growth marketing, public relations and customer communications. She is a graduate of King’s College London and resides in Silicon Valley, California. To know more, visit www.moxtra.com

IN THE NOT-SO-DISTANT PAST, a small retailer may have been able to survive solely on sales from foot traffic. But today’s customers want more than convenient shopping opportunities. They expect a quality high-touch anytime, anywhere mobile experience — regardless of the size of the operation.

Increasingly, small retailers are under pressure to provide digital offerings comparable to those of major brands. That means offering just-in-time service, human interaction and completing business with the customer in a single seamless mobile experience.

An app can help you better serve your customers and grow your business, while still maintaining the personal experience your customers expect. However building an app from scratch is time-consuming and expensive. But now there’s a way for small businesses to easily create applications that rival large competitors — and it doesn’t require technical expertise or a massive financial investment.

When Adapting to Digital, Preserve Your Personalized Touch

The Small Business Digital Resilience report published by Moxtra found that two-thirds of small business customers say that COVID-19 has motivated them to consciously shop more from small businesses moving forward.

Since small businesses offer customers a more individualized and attentive experience, than larger retailers, they need to ensure the personalization their clients love them for isn’t lost in digital translation.

Even the most digitally savvy customers still tend to prefer human interaction at certain stages of the buyer journey, especially in the case of luxury retail

that requires multiple customer touch points. For example, getting married is an exciting and stressful experience. Clients want high-touch service, which requires constant communication coming from the businesses they’re working with. In the case of commissioning a personally designed wedding gown, the bride-to-be wants updates on the design, the fit and when it will be ready. In the past, this would require phone calls, emails and in-person meetings that potentially stretch out the process longer than what’s necessary and could result in an overall less-than-convenient experience.

Fortunately, the human interactivity and personal connection of SMB services doesn’t have to be lost over digital channels. In fact, it can streamline communication to make the client management process easier than if conducted solely in person. In the wedding dress example, by providing digital capabilities for persistent relationships like instant messaging, video consultations, virtual fittings, and collaborative annotated notes, clients can get the bespoke experience of a boutique while the local dressfitter can expand their client base indefinitely. By deploying a digital strategy that humanizes the customer experience, small brands can reach customers where they’re at and grow their business beyond what would have been possible in the age of brick-and-mortar foot traffic.

Disparate Digital Tools Make Business More Complicated

Establishing a digital offering is easier said than done. With limited resources, many SMBs struggle to identify (let alone manage) the necessary technology needed to serve their customers and enable digital operations.

One common problem small businesses encounter when trying to digitally transform is the adoption of a patchwork of disparate technologies. These free or low-cost solutions may seem like a way to stretch your dollar, but because they’re not in synch with each other they often create inefficiencies for your staff. Worse, they frustrate customers and create an uncontrolled and unmanaged environment.

A digital client engagement and management offering should make it easier to do business, not more difficult. To avoid overcomplicating operations and disappointing customers, SMBs should keep their technology toolkits simple with a one-stop mobile solution that contains the entire digital experience for a given brand in one place.

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Rather than small businesses developing their own app, which is time consuming, cost prohibitive and requires expensive evolution maintenance, a no-code development platform (NCDP) offers a viable pathway for small retailers to build their own apps. A one-stop app or platform consolidates all business interactions — such as voice, text, and video messaging, document sharing and collaboration, scheduling, digital signature, cloud storage and task management — into one virtual workspace hub. Best of all, certain NCDPs offer easy drag-and-drop interfaces that enable organizations to design, brand and continuously adapt their one-stop app. LETTING GO OF NOTHING Relax Your Mind and Discover the Wonder of Your True Nature

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Features You Need When Building an App

Digital channels will only become more important to customers and clients in our virtual era. Given the number of options shoppers have, it’s important to invest in a high-quality digital solution that can support your business as it evolves.

In order for an app to function as a fluid extension of your business, it needs the following capabilities:

Custom Branding: Your small brand’s unique identity is an important signifier to your clients. To help cultivate customer loyalty, SMBs need to digitally translate their services without losing the personal touch that customers

expect. That means designing seamless digital experiences that also reflect the look and feel of your brick-and-mortar brand.

The most basic NCDPs ask you to simply plug in your information — the resulting output is a barebones app that looks like it could belong to anyone. Instead, insist on an NCDP that will help you maintain your brand identity through customizable design, text, colors and graphics. Your returning customers should know it’s your brand, and new customers should get the same brandimmersive experience as they would in-store.

Collaboration Capabilities: Today’s customers want ongoing communication with brands without having to revisit old email threads or text messages. To best serve your customers, you’ll want your app to provide a variety of communication options (voice, text and video call) located in a single, continuous thread. Consider the Canadian menswear brand, Just White Shirts. Their app’s centralized communication hub enables the premium tailor to service clients who aren’t able to visit in person. Designers and customers share their vision with one another by swapping images and even conduct video fittings. The app allows Just White Shirts to continue providing its signature high-touch, white-glove service to clients even from afar.

All-in-One and Secure: With data breaches regularly making headlines, customers are understandably cautious about who they trust with their personal data. If you want customers to complete transactions on the app — which you do — it’s important they feel safe sharing their payment information. To promote an enhanced sense of security, you’ll want a solution with the highest security encryption that contains everything in-app without third-party intermediaries or redirects. By integrating features like a payment system and electronic signing, customers can be confident their information is secure.

Usable and Innovative: One of the biggest benefits of an NCDP is you don’t need a technical background to build your own app. If you choose to go this route, look for a solution that is easy to use and offers robust support, like tutorials and customer support. The provider should also work to innovate on your behalf in response to new technology and best practices. This ensures your app will stay up-to-date as customer expectations change and technology evolves.

While digital channels were once exclusive to large businesses, they have become a must-have for retailers of all sizes. Customers and clients increasingly expect digital offerings from the brands they do business with, and the small businesses that can meet their expectations will win their loyalty. By deploying a branded one-stop client app using a no-code development platform, stores can digitally extend their businesses, reach more clients and customers and provide hightouch experiences that grow their brands. •

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The Magic of the Written Word

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: SEAN RUCK is an editor and writer. He lives in Vermont with his wife and three children. When he finds spare time, he typically digs into environmental concerns and causes.

BILL KRAUSE is the publisher of the legendary publishing house, Llewellyn Worldwide. Llewellyn has been in the publishing business since 1901, making it the oldest independent publisher of books for mind, body and spirit. While Bill hasn’t been around for the company’s nearly 120 years, he has been the publisher since coming on board in 2006, which is still an impressive run. We spoke with Bill to learn more about him and the company.

Retailing Insight: You became publisher in 2006 – what was your experience before that?

BK: I’ve been in the publishing business since 1984, so I’ve been at it for a little while I guess.

RI: Being in publishing that long, you’ve had a chance to see incredible changes — probably the most substantial since around the time the printing press was introduced.

BK: I would say from Guttenberg to about 1998 it was all pretty standard. You could count on seasons for publishing — the fall season being the biggest. And you could count on how customers reacted, how lead times reacted and those types of things. It all became different in the late ‘90s, early 2000s.

RI: Prior to coming to Llewellyn, were you publishing in the same sector?

BK: No, prior to Llewellyn, I worked at Krause — same spelling as my name, but pronounced different and no relation. They were a craft and collectibles

publisher. They had crafting, sewing, coin collecting, stamps, and comic books. You name it, if you could collect it, we had a book or magazine about it.

RI: The clientele you serve, is the audience more prone to seeking out print publications as opposed to digital offerings?

BK: You are correct. We do a very good business in eBooks. Everything we create is also produced as an eBook, we have a significant amount of audio versions as well, but the printed page still rules here. They like their books. We work in direct relationship with more than 1,500 metaphysical stores. We ship direct to them all the time, talk to them all the time. Some order one or two times a year, others order literally every day. They like their books, the customers like their books. The books support the products in the store, the products support the books.

If you buy a crystal, we have a book on how to use it. If you buy a book on crystals, it’ll tell you which one to go get at the store, so it works that way.

RI: How many employees do you have?

BK: We have about 70 employees.

RI: Do you have any instances of publishing something only as an eBook?

BK: We tried that probably 10 years ago. They did OK, but they were never barn burners.

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BK: Wow. I’ve never been asked that question. Over the 120 years of our company? I don’t know, that’s a challenge, but I’m going to take that up and figure it out because the owners I think would be really interested in knowing that number too. I can tell you we publish about 135 new titles a year give or take — that includes our calendars and almanacs.

RI: Going back to eBooks for a moment, how much has your digital publishing footprint increased over the past decade? Has it grown substantially as a percentage of eBooks versus print or has it remained steady?

BK: It’s remained pretty steady. You might recall when the Kindle came out, there were predictions by Time Magazine or The New York Times that print was dead, but it never really impacted us. For a while, maybe fi ve years ago, eBook sales even dipped a little while print stayed strong.

But with the pandemic, eBook sales jumped again because people weren’t going anywhere and they could get an eBook right away versus mail order.

So it ticked up a little bit, but it’s been within a few percentage points. Our eBook sales are between 5 and 10% but probably closer to 5%.

RI: Do you know the best-selling book of all time that Llewellyn’s published?

BK: The best-selling book of all time? It’s going to be between one of two titles, but I’m pretty sure it’s Wicca by Scott Cunningham. A very close second would be The Complete Book of Witchcraft by Raymond Buckland.

RI: What kind of sales numbers does that translate to?

BK: They’re right around a million copies sold. A close third if I can, would be Journey of Souls by Michael Newton. His numbers are up there too. They all continue to sell in multiple languages.

RI: How do you find authors? Do they find you? What’s the process?

BK: It’s a little bit of both. We are obviously known in a lot of these circles being around as long as we have. But we also have a lot of our acquiring editors as members of the greater community. They know a lot of people, they go to conferences, events, other gatherings. They know who the speakers and influencers are. If someone doesn’t present a book idea to us, we might go to them to ask if they’ve thought about turning

it into a book — one of their presentation topics, could it be a book? That’s actually the birth of The Complete Book of Witchcraft. Raymond Buckland had a series of lectures in the late ‘60s that Carl Weschcke — then president, publisher, owner and everything of Llewellyn — saw and thought, “Hey, this could be a book.” He put them together in a book and it’s been around since the early ‘70s.

RI: Going into that book and others you offer, would it be accurate to say the public perception on many of your topics has shifted over the years? That Wicca, for example, is more mainstream acceptable as a way to practice personal beliefs? Was that an issue the company had historically faced maybe up to the ‘70s or even more recently?

BK: Oh absolutely. If Carl was still with us, he would tell you about that for sure. In the ‘70s like you said, it was the occult and that was considered scary and dark, and I’m sure he took his share of sticks and stones over the years. When I got here, I was very aware that those things had gone on, but it was much more widely accepted by then. I can’t pinpoint a cause for that, but it has shifted.

RI: You mentioned that you offer audiobooks. Do you have the authors stepping forward, or do you hire voice talent?

BK: It’s a mix. We have some authors who really want to be

the voice and we’ve made it work out, but it doesn’t happen terribly often.

Doing an audiobook requires a certain discipline and it takes a lot more time than people realize.

When you go back, you don’t think about the fact that you might have cleared your throat in the middle of a sentence, but if you did, that means you have to go back and edit, or record again. Mostly, we use studios who have professional voice talent, whether we sublicense that or do it ourselves, but typically they have professional voice talent that reads for a living.

RI: With many authors being found via conferences and

lectures and such, did the pandemic amount to fewer discoveries of authors and topics?

BK: There wasn’t a decline or dip. Many of the conferences were virtual. There were other types of opportunities as well, with all types of dialogue going on through social media and things like that. So, there wasn’t any negative impact. In fact, many authors who usually are out on speaking engagements found themselves at home with time to write.

RI: I saw that Llewellyn used to have a mystery fiction arm of the company that was around for years, before wrapping up in 2019. Do you have any plans for

expanding into other genres again?

BK: At the moment, nothing on the boards. That started before I got here. Mystery fiction was something near and dear to Carl’s heart and he always wanted to have something like that, so we gave it a go. Carl pushed the boundaries of everything we did all the time. It was a great experience for quite a while and we got some great authors and won some awards, but the core of the business was going so well, that we wanted to pay more attention to it.

RI: Along the same lines, are there any books that you used to offer that have gone out of print and for whatever reason, interest increased to where you brought them back?

BK: We’ve done it. I can’t think of titles off the top of my head. In some cases, they’ve come back unchanged, in other cases, it might have been an updated edition because the author was ready willing and able. It doesn’t happen a lot, but it does happen.

RI: Are there any topics you publish on that are particularly hot right now?

BK: I would tell you that Tarot is very popular. It’s been a staple of Llewellyn for a very long time and it’s very popular right now. We distribute for other publishers as well. We work with Lo Scarabeo in Italy and Blue Angel in Australia and

they both make Tarot and oracles and they go very well together with our books. Also, the spellbooks and things like that are very popular at the moment. Obviously witches and witchcraft are another staple and going strongly as well.

RI: So you have the books and eBooks. You mentioned the calendars. Do you have other products you offer?

BK: We do have some sidelines that include some pendulums, things like that.

RI: What portion of your business is to brick and mortar stores, direct to consumers, etc.?

BK: Direct to consumers online is close to 10%. The vast majority of our business is either direct to online resellers or bookstores — whether they be dedicated metaphysical bookstores, or the general trade — those are pretty even. Just below that we have wholesalers who serve those markets in turn.

RI: So metaphysical stores are part of your bread and butter. Where do independent brick and mortar stores sit?

BK: They rank below Barnes & Noble,

Books-A-Million, but they all have their niches. They might get astrology from us, but they don’t want witchcraft or vice versa. We supply that shelf for them. A lot of them tend to order in the second half of the year when the general trade gets busier, but the online dealers we’re servicing all year long.

RI: How much of a problem did the pandemic cause with you being able to supply customers and get the work needed done?

BK: Nothing terribly significant. We were all scattered very suddenly to work remotely, but we have great staff and great IT support so we didn’t really miss a beat as far as day-to-day operations go.

Occasionally, we get stymied by shortages in containers or trucking, that’s an issue more than anything else. It’s never been something we couldn’t work around, but that’s probably been the biggest challenge.

Our warehouse was never closed, we never had an outbreak or anything like that.

RI: With the experience of having staff working remotely, do you think that’s something that you’ll move toward in the future?

BK: It’s being discussed. We do have people who live further away and they’re able to work remotely,

so I think there’ll be a hybrid model going forward.

RI: The big question – what do you want Llewellyn to be known for?

BK: We talk about the fact that the books and information we provide make a difference to people. That’s the most important thing — that our books make a difference and help people, whether they’re trying to learn something new or trying to expand their practice or spirituality, we just want to make a good product that helps them get to where they want to be. •

T H E Z E N S T O N E G A R D E N

Kelly Barker Newport, OR 541-961-1285 kelly@kellybarker.com

Artist # 22255 www.IndieMe.com

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FEATURES

Recruiting Staff this

HOLIDAY SEAS ON

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: JACKI SMITH is the founder, witch and enchantress at Coventry Creations. Jacki’s bestselling Blessed Herbal Candles started the intentional candle industry almost 30 years ago. Check out her brand of magic in Coventry Magic with Herbs, Oils and Candles, or visit her website www.coventrycreations.com.

THE BIG QUESTION filling the airwaves is how can the small, independent retailers compete for qualified staff when the larger companies are raising hourly rates? With the rising costs of everything from supplies to products, keeping a competitive price on your products is harder than ever.

Independent retailers understand that competition is the norm and have already mastered the pain of the uneven playing field of pricing product. Today there is a new pain of competition, hourly wages. The ever-changing pandemic market shifts can be overwhelming for any business owner to keep up with. The sheer number of culture changes, product changes, business model changes, and the ever-present pandemic management changes can wear you down to a place where managing one more thing, like wages increases, sends up the white flag of surrender.

Business and human resources experts suggest creating your own unique playing field when competing for new hires. They

advise incorporating your vision and mastery of competing for your customers into your hiring process to find the right fit for your staff:

1.

Lean into your vision. Your energy and focus are best spent in your own playing field and out of competition with the big boxes of the world.

2.

Review your bottom line and the cost of lost sales.

Lean into Your Vision

When you created your business, you had a vision of what would make your store unique and differentiate you from your competition. As you grew your business, that unique idea grew into a draw, creating the reason why your customers treat you as a destination that meets their needs. This customer draw can also be used as your employee

draw. People are not robots that will only go for the highest wage. Today’s employees are interviewing the employer just as hard as you are interviewing them. Quality of life is as important to many potential employees as wages. In this pandemic era, your potential employees are hyper aware of the health risks of working with the public. This can be seen in the number of remote jobs that are being sought after and the number of public interaction jobs that remain unfilled.

No matter your view on getting vaccinated or wearing a mask, the stories of how the public is currently interacting with retail’s frontline workers are part of the drive for employers like Costco, Target, and Amazon to increase wages. If you look closely at those stories, they occur primarily in the corporate, big box stores and corporate HR knows that in the domain of quality of life, the independent retailer has them beat and that is a bigger threat to them than wages.

Offer day one health care and signing bonuses to entice candidates to apply.

Your unique playing field is primarily made up of your business culture: your values, mission and vision. When you lead with the culture you have created, it not only draws customers, but people (employees) who want to be part of that culture with you as well. The customer that is drawn to Target, Costco and other big box stores on price alone is not your core customer, nor is it your core employment pool. Trying to compete for this employee in the staffing field will not yield the results you are looking for. According to Lisa Minnini from Excellerate Associates, the independent retailer is more concerned with an employee that is the right fit for their culture and less interested in a body filling the role. Leading with your culture and vision in your job posting will attract candidates that are looking for what you offer. When Lisa is helping her business

clients with their employee attraction and retention programs, she has them define what makes their company unique, fun, and a great place to work. She says, “Who you want to attract are the employees that are about more than the buck. You want the employee who feels you are a good fit into their life too.”

In Todd Palmer’s (Extraordinary Advisors) keynote speech Hiring like Nobody’s Business: The Battle for Talent in 2021 and Beyond, he talks about becoming an “Employer of Choice.” Attaining this reputation is a blend of your business’ core values, the “Why?” of your business, and clearly communicating what’s in it for the employee. It is a candidate-controlled market, and they have a lot of employment options to choose from. When they understand how your open position will benefit their life and what they value, more candidates will respond to your ad.

“When you are building your help wanted post, lead with your

incentive and why you are a great place to work.” Lisa Mininni advises the opening line of your job posting is the hook that will attract the right candidate. You can test your opening lines in job postings in different markets and publications to see what the best hook for your ad is. Ask your current employees why they like their job and what would get their attention if they were looking at an ad. If you are looking for seasonal help, put that in the opening line and post a clear job description. Many job postings never specify the details of the job. Being clear will save you and potential candidates time and aggravation. Get creative in where and how you post your job openings. Linkedin, local community colleges, and your business social media are free places to post. Creative help wanted signs can bring people in off the street to apply. Reach out to your local retiree communities, Rotary clubs, Chambers of Commerce and

businesses associations to spread the word of your job opening as these are places where you can find candidates that are not driven by the dollar alone. Think outside of the box and talk to your local veteran’s office for members of the military that are re-entering civilian life. Services to enhance potential, women’s shelters, and workforce reentry programs for non-violent offenders are other out of the box and socially conscious ways to bring in additional workers. Sometimes these workers are subsidized to get them back into the labor force. Keep in mind, you may jump into all these ideas for finding employees that your feel you can afford, but you will

have to address the $15 elephant in the room.

The hiring process can be an expensive one. If you add up the cost of the ad, your time spent, and the cost of training a new hire, it can cost upwards of $2000 per staff member you hire. A bad hire will cost you even more with potential lost sales, your own lost time in dealing with them, and the cost of stress on your current staff. Todd Palmer cautions against hiring out of desperation. Hiring the next person out of panic is more expensive than paying overtime to your current staff. Before you start the hiring process, review your interviewing and onboarding

procedures. Do you have a phone screening process? Do your interview questions reflect your company culture? How fast are you making the offer? Do you have an onboarding process? What is your incentive to retain your staff? Knowing these things beforehand will help your write your job posting in a way that attracts your ideal candidate. Staffing companies can help in a pinch. However, this is an expensive way to get an employee. Before you take that path, consider the sales you’re losing. Is that temp employee going to help you capture that lost revenue to a level that warrants the expense?

Reviewing Your Bottom Line

The $15 hourly wage is not as expensive as you think it is. At Coventry, we made the jump from $11 to $15 starting wage over a 12-month span. There were two main reasons we pushed this plan forward as fast as we could. Low staffing was costing us sales and we saw the impact in our staff’s lives when their wages increased to $15 an hour — without our staff we cannot be in business. They are a critical resource and can make all the difference in the success of your business, more than any raw material or product for sale. We read the writing on the wall and knew to keep competitive and recruit quality employees this starting wage increase was crucial. Ironically, instead of costing us, it added to our bottom line.

It was a rude awakening to understand that our unfilled positions at Coventry were costing us about 30% in lost revenue. Stockouts, slow order turnaround time, and product loss due to a rushed schedule were our sales leaks.

There was also pending burnout for the staff on hand and that would put us into a deeper revenue loss spiral. It was time to do the math.

I created a profit and loss statement of where we were at the moment, and then did

another with higher wages, more employees and the predicted higher sales. Our percentage of profit took a 1% hit on paper. I was confused at how that was even possible, increasing my weekly payroll looked debilitating on a weekly cash flow basis, but in the big picture, it was doable. It was possible because of the additional revenue the new staff would generate. The prediction I could live with, but the reality was even better.

Spending money on employees through higher wages changes your thought process on who you hire and what you expect from them. Once we increased our starting wage, we became more inquisitive about each candidate and why they wanted to work for us. We created a clear and measurable training program to get them trained within 30 days, up to speed in 60 days, and a valuable team member in 90 days with small incremental wage increases. To be profitable at $15 an hour we must adhere to this training program. We have posted goals and expectations and coach daily on how to be a valuable employee. Not only does this keep the drama to a minimum, but it also weeds out bad hires quickly and supports the good hires. The change in attitude and productivity was unexpected, we were inspired to eliminate waste, ineffective processes and improve our communication 1000%.

Having the right number of staff allowed my managers the space to get their job done. I didn’t need to fill in for my managers anymore and I was able to re-focus on my job of finding opportunities. These new opportunities brought more revenue. My quality of life improved and that was worth every additional dollar we spent on the team that made it possible. It was a counterintuitive move to raise hourly rates, but the results were profound.

You will be challenged in your search for staff this year and next. You can get mad, shake your fists at the changing world, or you can get on board and upgrade your hiring process. But invest in your staff like you do your products. There is a reason why it’s called human resources, as they are a critical resource in your business. If this is an overwhelming process to you, take off the HR hat and hire a firm to navigate it for you. You are not required to be the expert at everything, just be the expert at finding the people who can make it happen. •

“What drains your spirit drains your body.

“What fuels your spirit fuels your body ”

Caroline Myss

Take Five

The Owner’s Guide: The Art of Appreciation

AS ENTREPRENEURS, you frequently educate your customers about the Law of Attraction, including their need of an Attitude of Gratitude to have more success with their manifestation. At your shop, you carry a selection of books, decks, candles, and other products to use as tools to obtain their heart’s desire. But sometimes you get bogged down in daily tasks of inventory control, accounts payable, employee training and customer service. With daily routine and responsibilities, you go through the motions and forget to practice what you teach others about gratitude. There is a fine line to continually practice what you share with others, including your appreciation of their assistance behind the scenes in making your

store a success. Let us look at those standing behind you to assist you and your business on the road to success:

EMPLOYEES

Finding, training, and keeping employees can be difficult for an owner. Your employees need basic knowledge of magical products and their use, while learning new products and providing exceptional customer service. Sometimes owners forget to acknowledge their hard working and well-trained employees. Thank your employees

often and share positive reviews of their customer service with them. Host a selling contest with gift card prizes or a paid day off. Employees that feel valued by you will stay longer in your employment than those that do not.

VENDORS

Your store is jam-packed with products from publishers, manufacturers, jewelry companies, crystal wholesalers, herb and oils companies or co-ops, and multi-product distributors. Your relationships with these companies

CARVER

impact your ability to obtain products in a timely fashion, especially during COVID delays. When you are polite and charming to your sales reps, they will attempt to go above and beyond for you over someone who is always rude or demanding. Work on polishing your vendor relations and thank them when they assist you with issues.

LOCAL ARTISTS

Your local community is filled with artisans that travel to your store to showcase their artwork, sculptures, jewelry, soaps or other handmade items. Most of these products are chosen by you to be sold on consignment. Sometimes, you are the one educating these artists on how to wholesale their products. Be welcoming and develop a buzz as the store with national, international and locally sourced products. The artists chose your store because of your success. Thank your artists and continue to encourage them to create specific items that will sell in your store.

ACCOUNTANT/FINANCIAL ADVISOR

Most store owners utilize the services of accountants or financial advisors to assist them with the payment of monthly sales tax, preparing Federal tax

returns and auditing. Interview and retain a well-respected person or firm to assist you, freeing your time to manage what you are good at — your store. A great way to show appreciation is to refer other local shop owners to your professional advisor.

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE / RETAILER ASSOCIATION

Some localities offer a retailer association and/or a city chamber of commerce. If you are a member, become active

and meet other members. Many of these non-profit organizations have monthly lunches or dinners with guest speakers that provide professional advice. Your fellow members will also refer business and host events that cross-promote each other. Your participation and appreciation of these events promotes city-wide success of local businesses.

By acknowledging your gratefulness to these behind the scenes people, you continue to build healthy and cheerful relationships that add to your success. They will continue to happily assist you to the best of their ability for your store’s longevity. •

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