Welcome to your weekly dose of i3: inspiration, industry news, and insight. Give this email 8 minutes, and we guarantee you'll feel better about being a Boutique Owner, or your money back! (JK, you're not paying for this; it's free). This week is brought to you by ZSTASH, the one and only place to buy and sell leftover inventory with other boutiques.
The Days of International Call Centers are over. Welcome to the new Generation of Virtual Assistants
If you have not considered finding yourself a virtual assistant, you may be missing out. The virtual assistant industry has come a long way since the call-in customer service horror story days. In a recent conversation with the owner of COLDEST, the viral water bottle company from TikTok, they said "we have 40 people working for us in the Philippines." Alright, so they may have a lot more in the U.S., right? Come to find out, they only have another 30 people in the U.S.! Well, what companies have learned is that customer service is not the right application these VAs. It's marketing.
All of my influencer marketing runs because of my Philippines team.
How to hire a Virtual Assistant:
Go to Upwork.com and search for Virtual Assistants in the search bar.
Click on "I'm a Client looking for Talent"
Start adding skills. It can be Marketing, Influencer Research, Customer Acquisition, etc.
Select your scope of time
What your hourly budget is. We usually stick between $5-$10 per hour.
Boom! You get a list of virtual assistants available for hire!
Food for thought: Are you a Brand or an Influencer?
So many of our fellow boutique owners are unable to take even a day off from lives without it hurting sales. Let's face it, owners know how to sell and show passion for their products. As you grow, you should consider your strategy to build less around you and more around your boutique's brand.
Answer these Questions
Are majority of sales dependent on you?
How easy is it for you to take a day off?
Do people know your name more than your boutique's?
Do you feel scared losing staff in case customers are close to them?
Lululemon vs. Fabletics Case Study
When most people hear Fabletics, they think of Kate Hudson. However, the same cannot be said with Lululemon for other celebrities. That's because Lululemon focused on the "why" of their customers. Instead of A-listers as their heroes, they made their customers their heroes. Yoga is a lifestyle for them, a personality of some sort. Fabletics is using star power: Kate Hudson, Demi Lovato, Kevin Hart, etc. In my opinion Fabletics is focused on selling, whereas Fabletics is focused on branding. What does that equate to in sales?
2021 Fabletics Revenue: $500 Million2021 Lululemon Revenue: $6.2 Billion
Selling is like dating; no commitment needed. Branding is like marriage. This takes work and intention.
The takeaways:
Focus on building a brand around your boutique.
Make your customers the hero of your brand, and your team should be the guide.
Figure out your brand voice. Go all in on that, even if there's a temporary loss in business. Build something bigger for the future.
Is this MAGIC or Coachella?
MAGIC is really bringing out the big guns to get buyers out to their show this time. Reply to this email telling us if you're going to MAGIC. The first 10 to do so will get a $20 gift card to ZSTASH!
