Whether you’re a full-face glam type or a natural face girlie, you probably already know one of the most important (and hard to perfect) steps of the makeup routine: 

Your foundation. 

I was struggling with this myself this past year. My usual go-to—the Fenty Sheer Glow foundation—just never really agreed with my skin, no matter what I tried. It looks so bomb on other people, but on me, it just sat kind of cakey and dry. My skin never drank it up like I wanted it to. 

Enter my new fav: the Dior Forever Skin Glow foundation. I gave this one another try, and voila: melty, glassy perfection! 

But of course, you know me—it’s never just about makeup. 

My recent discovery got me thinking about the parallels between the foundation we put on our faces and the foundation of our product-based brands.  (Stick with me here!)

Your base sets the tone for your final look. 

It either pulls everything together, or it sets you up for failure. 

It can either make you feel like a glowy goddess, or it makes you feel self-conscious and out of place. 

It’s also a tricky balance that takes some people years to really nail. But once you do, there is no turning back!

Trust me—finding that right foundation (whether for your face or your brand) makes you feel like you’re on Cloud 9. 

And if you need a little help finding the right match, be sure to tune in to this week’s podcast episode, where we dive into the things you need for the best brand foundation possible, including: 

💄Raving about specific features and benefits of your product

💄Showing the moment of choice to back up your premium pricing

💄Adding character, depth, and personality with your positioning 

And more! 

You deserve a foundation that flatters you—let’s figure out what that looks like for your brand!

✨ FREE TRAINING:

Ready to identify the One Growth Strategy You Need to Focus on First to Increase Sales Now? Watch the most recent training: Uncap Your Growth & Bring in More Product Sales without Changing Your Branding or Packaging

✨ WORK WITH MAUREEN:

Ready to revolutionize your brand by mapping and mastering the brand growth levers your brand needs to get increased visibility, sales certainty and cash confidence? Schedule a strategy call. 

✨ CONNECT WITH MAUREEN:

🖥  Website: Startward Consulting

📷  Instagram: Follow Me On Instagram

📷 Youtube: Subscribe To Youtube Channel

Picture this: 

You’ve poured hundreds (if not THOUSANDS) of hours into designing the perfect product. 

You know it works. You went through dozens of prototypes to iron out every single kink. It addresses a particular problem and makes things 10X easier. Heck, you use it yourself!

People should love this. 

And yet…it’s not flying off the shelves. 

Lots of you are probably in this predicament yourself. And if you are, I want to tell you something super important: 

You have a great product—but that’s not enough. 

Your blood, sweat, and marketing budget is a phenomenal start, but you can’t outmarket your sales strategy. 

That’s where I’m here to help!

In this week's podcast episode, we get into the nitty-gritty of how to make your product sell like hotcakes the way that it DESERVES, including: 

✨ How to frame your messaging to be irresistible 

✨ Tapping into what your People constantly talk about

✨ Conveying your convictions (aka your “Why”)

And most importantly, how to tie it all together in one pretty, punchy package!

We already know your product is life-changing. Now, it’s time to make that translate into some life-changing sales! 

Tune in today, and in just 30 short minutes, let’s make those shelves nice and empty—the way they should be!

✨ FREE TRAINING:

Ready to identify the One Growth Strategy You Need to Focus on First to Increase Sales Now? Watch the most recent training: Uncap Your Growth & Bring in More Product Sales without Changing Your Branding or Packaging

✨ WORK WITH MAUREEN:

Ready to revolutionize your brand by mapping and mastering the brand growth levers your brand needs to get increased visibility, sales certainty and cash confidence? Schedule a strategy call. 

✨ CONNECT WITH MAUREEN:

🖥  Website: Startward Consulting

📷  Instagram: Follow Me On Instagram

📷 Youtube: Subscribe To Youtube Channel

So many entrepreneurs get scared of looking at their numbers. It’s frustrating,  it’s disheartening, and it can even be paralyzing. 

If this sounds like you, then I have to ask you: . 

What if you could get excited to look at your numbers every month—BEFORE those major sales start to come in?

What if looking at your numbers could feel you with hope, energy, and excitement? 

What if everything just stopped feeling like a slog and more like the start of something new?

And now, you don’t have to do it alone!

In this week’s podcast episode, we revisit session #3 of our Big Brand Academy to dive into how to use your numbers to reach those goals for your brand, including: 

⭐The 4 Numbers you need to track so you can stop relying on push tactics (i.e. inflated marketing budgets, adding more influencers, etc)

⭐Demystifying the data dashboard (so you know what to look for) 

⭐Walkthrough a simulation to help you see in real time how to maximize revenue, drive new growth, and defend against competition 

Crunching your numbers sounds painful. It can feel painful at first. But with practice—and a little guidance from yours truly—your numbers can empower you to make strategic decisions. Those decisions give the control back to you—where it belongs!

✨FREE MASTERCLASS: THE SECRET PSYCHOLOGY OF YOUR  SHOPPER

Learn How to Use The Secret Psychology of Shoppers to Get More Sales!  Three Easy Ways to Get Customers to Start Picking Your Product instead of the Other Brand! www.startwardconsulting.com/webinar

✨ FREE TRAINING:

Ready to identify the One Growth Strategy You Need to Focus on First to Increase Sales Now? Watch the most recent training: Uncap Your Growth & Bring in More Product Sales without Changing Your Branding or Packaging

✨ WORK WITH MAUREEN:

Ready to revolutionize your brand by mapping and mastering the brand growth levers your brand needs to get increased visibility, sales certainty and cash confidence? Schedule a strategy call. 

✨ CONNECT WITH MAUREEN:

🖥  Website: Startward Consulting

📷  Instagram: Follow Me On Instagram

📷 Youtube: Subscribe To Youtube Channel

Have you ever tried to make friends as an adult?

It kind of sucks!

Things just seemed so much easier as a fourth grader. You shared your juice box, told each other your favorite animal (unicorns, duh) and then BAM, you were bonded for life. 

When did things get so complicated?

It’s hard enough to make connections in your personal life, but the stakes are ramped up even more when your business is on the line. 

Now, you don’t want to make friends with just anyone. 

You wanna talk to your ideal client.

The one who is right in the middle of the problem your product solves. The one that eats, sleeps, and breathes the lifestyle your product enables. The one who will rave to anyone who will listen about how everyone needs to try your product—because their life has been transformed overnight. 

Finding your ideal client is one thing. Speaking to them is a whole other ball game. 

So once you find them…how do you start the conversation?

In this week’s podcast episode, we’re diving into:

👉How to see the world through your ideal client’s eyes

👉Crafting content that draws in the RIGHT audience

👉How to use social proof to back up your branding

And more!

One thing that becomes easier in adulthood is making the RIGHT kind of friends. 

Because YOU get to choose!

So tune in to see how you can form some new and exciting connections for your brand—unicorns and all. 

✨ FREE MASTERCLASS: THE SECRET PSYCHOLOGY OF SHOPPER 

Learn How to Use The Secret Psychology of Shoppers to Get More Sales!  Three Easy Ways to Get Customers to Start Picking Your Product instead of the Other Brand! www.startwardconsulting.com/webinar

✨ WORK WITH MAUREEN:

Ready to revolutionize your brand by mapping and mastering the brand growth levers your brand needs to get increased visibility, sales certainty and cash confidence? Schedule a strategy call. 

✨ CONNECT WITH MAUREEN:

🖥  Website: Startward Consulting

📷  Instagram: Follow Me On Instagram

📷 Youtube: Subscribe To Youtube Channel

What would it take for a mother of three and registered nurse to transition into full-time entrepreneurship? 

Just ask my friend Maame!

Maame is the founder of Glow Village, a beauty brand for the wellness-conscious. 

She’s also a teacher, mother to three wonderful kiddos, and an RN to boot. 

When we met her, her brand was ten years in the making. And yet, she hadn’t gotten nearly as far as she had hoped. 

Over the past decade, she had started over and over again. 

She always threw herself in 100%. She had a passion for this that refused to quit. But no matter how much of a research rabbit hole she went down, or how much she invested into her products and marketing, the needle refused to move. 

Like many of my other clients, Maame really saw herself in my content, but wasn’t sure if she could make that leap yet. 

But after seeing her mindset shift from just listening to the podcast, she knew she had to give this a real shot: and the rest is history!

In this week’s podcast episode, we talk about Maame’s brand journey, including:

• Owning her “small but mighty” business status and adopting imposter-syndrome-proof outlook

• Not just acting, but feeling like a CEO—to the point where she confidently turns down offers that don’t fit her business

• How echoing her brand messaging from the roots to the rafters helped her feel better in her own brand skin 

And more!

Today, Maame glows with pride when she talks about her brand. 

In the past year, she estimates her growth at 300% (or more!)

Not only that, but she even turned down a retailer’s offer—something she never would have imagined before she started with me—because she knew her business had way more to offer. 

Now, Maame doesn’t just have the passion—she has the means to do something about it. 

If what we share reasonates, give this episode a share and like, don't forget to leave us a review! 

✨ FREE TRAINING:

Ready to identify the One Growth Strategy You Need to Focus on First to Increase Sales Now? Watch the most recent training: Uncap Your Growth & Bring in More Product Sales without Changing Your Branding or Packaging

✨ WORK WITH MAUREEN:

Ready to revolutionize your brand by mapping and mastering the brand growth levers your brand needs to get increased visibility, sales certainty and cash confidence? Schedule a strategy call. 

✨ CONNECT WITH MAUREEN:

🖥  Website: Startward Consulting

📷  Instagram: Follow Me On Instagram

📷 Youtube: Subscribe To Youtube Channel

The content that you make can help get your customers unstuck from wherever they are in “The Funnel.” 

Whether it’s the person who just scrolled across your ad online to someone who finally hits that “add to cart”, you can hold their hand through the journey—without being pushy or annoying. 

You can design your content calendar to address key points about your offer, all carefully timed to nudge your customer in the right direction. 

Imagine: 

• No gaps or writer’s block when it comes to your content calendar. 

• Data-driven strategies that draw in new customers. 

• Increased conversions, steady sales, and the financial freedom that comes with it to pursue your business full-time. 

What could this conversion content unlock for you? 

If you want to find out, then be sure to check out this week’s podcast episode to learn about the content you can make RIGHT NOW to harness the power of your Funnel. 

✨ FREE TRAINING:

Ready to identify the One Growth Strategy You Need to Focus on First to Increase Sales Now? Watch the most recent training: Uncap Your Growth & Bring in More Product Sales without Changing Your Branding or Packaging

✨ WORK WITH MAUREEN:

Ready to revolutionize your brand by mapping and mastering the brand growth levers your brand needs to get increased visibility, sales certainty and cash confidence? Schedule a strategy call. 

✨ CONNECT WITH MAUREEN:

🖥  Website: Startward Consulting

📷  Instagram: Follow Me On Instagram

📷 Youtube: Subscribe To Youtube Channel

Many of us lean heavily on organic marketing strategies to grow our business. 

This can be a world-changing way to bring your business to new heights—as long as you leverage it the right way. 

Getting attention for your product is great.

Getting sales is even better. In fact, that’s the thing that really moves the needle. 

So what DO you need to do to create content that ACTUALLY converts?

In this week's podcast episode, we’re going to talk about the three things you need to know to make content that gets conversion for your eCommerce brand. 

We’ll talk about how to:

👉Know your ideal customer inside and out: what problems are they going through right now? What is on their radar the most?

👉Understand the alternative solutions: if they’re not buying your product, then what is your audience considering in its place? Can you point out the (unfortunate) repercussions of using their product instead of yours? 

👉Master the emotional benefits: what kind of stress is your customer slogging through now? Are they struggling with confidence, energy, or lack of connection? Your product leads to a transformation—what impact will that transformation have on these other stressors in their lives? 

These three things are the framework you need to make content that doesn’t just look good—it WORKS.

✨ FREE TRAINING:

Ready to identify the One Growth Strategy You Need to Focus on First to Increase Sales Now? Watch the most recent training:  Uncap Your Growth & Bring in More Product Sales without Changing Your Branding or Packaging

✨ WORK WITH MAUREEN:

Ready to revolutionize your brand by mapping and mastering the brand growth levers your brand needs to get increased visibility, sales certainty and cash confidence? Schedule a strategy call. 

✨ CONNECT WITH MAUREEN:

🖥  Website: Startward Consulting

📷  Instagram: Follow Me On Instagram

📷 Youtube: Subscribe To Youtube Channel

As an entrepreneur, you face constant stress, decision fatigue, and cashflow concerns. In this episode, Maureen shares the top reasons that people don't achieve their eCommerce business goals.  Her #1 tip? Plan for your priorities and goals!  

You'll learn how to...

✨ Prioritize profit to bring lifeblood to your business, support growth, and pay yourself

✨ Prioritize product and product mix to maintain consistent sales

✨ Prioritize production to prevent surplus product or shortages

Ultimately, without a strategy to prioritize profit, it will be impossible for you to hit your annual goals. If you're ready to nail your annual plan and get customers like clockwork in 2024, it's time to save your seat at Maureen's upcoming workshop on either December 2nd or 9th, 11 AM EST - 2 PM EST. You'll learn 3 Strategies to Increase Your Visibility and Exceed Your Sales Goals in 2024! In this LIVE Annual E-Commerce Planning Workshop, entrepreneurs will discover how to get customers with scientific precision for their business.

Save your seat at either workshop here: https://www.startwardconsulting.com/gcc24

✨ WORK WITH MAUREEN:

Ready to revolutionize your brand by mapping and mastering the brand growth levers your brand needs to get increased visibility, sales certainty and cash confidence? Schedule a strategy call. 

✨ CONNECT WITH MAUREEN:

🖥  Website: Startward Consulting

📷  Instagram: Follow Me On Instagram

📷 Youtube: Subscribe To Youtube Channel

Learn 3 Strategies to Increase Your Visibility and Exceed Your Sales Goals in 2024

✨ GET CUSTOMERS LIKE CLOCKWORK IN 2024 LIVE WORKSHOP

Join our LIVE Annual E-Commerce Planning Workshop and discover the 3 Strategies to Increase Your Visibility and Exceed Your Sales Goals in 2024: SAVE YOUR SEAT HERE

✨ WORK WITH MAUREEN:

Ready to revolutionize your brand by mapping and mastering the brand growth levers your brand needs to get increased visibility, sales certainty and cash confidence? Schedule a strategy call. 

✨ CONNECT WITH MAUREEN:

🖥  Website: Startward Consulting

📷  Instagram: Follow Me On Instagram

📷 Youtube: Subscribe To Youtube Channel

Collette Small is the CEO and Founder of Superstar Naturals hair products. In this episode, she shares how Maureen coached her into growing an extremely profitable product business through branding, marketing, and sales systems. Listen to see how you can implement the same strategies and 3x your profits!

________________________________________________________________________________

✨ FREE TRAINING:

Ready to identify the One Growth Strategy You Need to Focus on First to Increase Sales Now? Watch the most recent training: Uncap Your Growth & Bring in More Product Sales without Changing Your Branding or Packaging

✨ WORK WITH MAUREEN:

Ready to revolutionize your brand by mapping and mastering the brand growth levers your brand needs to get increased visibility, sales certainty and cash confidence? Schedule a strategy call. 

✨ CONNECT WITH MAUREEN:

🖥  Website: Startward Consulting

📷  Instagram: Follow Me On Instagram

📷 Youtube: Subscribe To Youtube Channel

I often get asked, Maureen, why do I feel like I will never get there? Why does this feel so hard?

My answer tends to be: 

Most product based business owners struggle to succeed because they start with a bloated product assortment and a confusing brand message. 

This then creates a lot of complexity in the initial stages making it impossible to quickly take off at the rate the CEO desires. 

It is important to recognize that while there are several strategies to scale your brand, you need to identify what works in the current stage of your business. 

✨ Before marketing, you need to focus on branding. 

✨ Before pricing, you need to solidify your positioning.

✨ Before paid activity, you need to grow organically. 

✨ Before delegation, you need to focus on mastery. 

✨Before automation, you need to ensure the process is converting. 

The best way to build brand obsession is to become OBSESSED with your customers and apply what big brands do.

But what do big brands really do?

Listen to this episode.

________________________________________________________________________________

✨ FREE TRAINING:

Ready to identify the One Growth Strategy You Need to Focus on First to Increase Sales Now? Watch the most recent training: Uncap Your Growth & Bring in More Product Sales without Changing Your Branding or Packaging

✨ WORK WITH MAUREEN:

Ready to revolutionize your brand by mapping and mastering the brand growth levers your brand needs to get increased visibility, sales certainty and cash confidence? Schedule a strategy call. 

✨ CONNECT WITH MAUREEN:

🖥  Website: Startward Consulting

📷  Instagram: Follow Me On Instagram

📷 Youtube: Subscribe To Youtube Channel

Are you stuck in a strategy slump that doesn’t seem to be paying off? 

I’m not even talking about a FAILING strategy. At least then we can see what’s working and what’s not. 

The worst thing that can happen is if nothing happens. Because then, we’re not even getting any feedback after putting in all this effort. 

Plateaus SUCK. And unfortunately, they’re also inevitable. 

Maybe you’re not seeing the changes you were hoping to see, and you’re starting to wonder if you need to change gears before it’s too late. 

But what we tend to forget (myself included) is that every fruit still needs a growing season. 

It’s natural: as humans, if we put in the work, we want to see some sort of difference. Even if it makes things worse!

So if you’re thinking “it’s not working now, I need a new strategy”, check out this week’s podcast episode to help you determine whether or not to jump ship.

✨ FREE TRAINING:

Ready to identify the One Growth Strategy You Need to Focus on First to Increase Sales Now? Watch the most recent training: Uncap Your Growth & Bring in More Product Sales without Changing Your Branding or Packaging

✨ WORK WITH MAUREEN:

Ready to revolutionize your brand by mapping and mastering the brand growth levers your brand needs to get increased visibility, sales certainty and cash confidence? Schedule a strategy call. 

✨ CONNECT WITH MAUREEN:

🖥  Website: Startward Consulting

📷  Instagram: Follow Me On Instagram

📷 Youtube: Subscribe To Youtube Channel

Could you use more money? 

Maybe the answer to that is obvious. As entrepreneurs, we’re always asking ourselves where we can get funding. 

Funding gives us the chance to pour ourselves into our business. It gives us opportunities to grow our product lines, our inventories, and our marketing outreach. It gives us peace of mind as we use our time for our families, our projects, and our brand. 

Funding gives us freedom. 

We talk a lot about how to increase our sales, but there’s another source of funding out there: investors. 

Getting funding on the front end can be a huge boost in our brand, but it’s also a whole different animal. 

That’s where Kat Weaver comes in!

In this week’s special podcast episode, we sit down with Power to Pitch founder, Kat Weaver, to dig into the common pitfalls that come with pitching your brand, and what you can do to succeed. 

And Kat would know—as a self-proclaimed “two-time accidental founder”, she realized early on that lots of amazing founders weren’t able to clearly and concisely talk about who they were and what they needed. 

Today, she helps founders get funded faster while also introducing them to investors in their industry. The result? She’s helped founders raise over $15 million in grants and ventures—and counting. 

Tune in TODAY to see how she does it, and how you can pitch your own brand story with confidence, no matter who is in the room with you.

✨ FREE TRAINING:

Ready to identify the One Growth Strategy You Need to Focus on First to Increase Sales Now? Watch the most recent training: Uncap Your Growth & Bring in More Product Sales without Changing Your Branding or Packaging

✨ WORK WITH MAUREEN:

Ready to revolutionize your brand by mapping and mastering the brand growth levers your brand needs to get increased visibility, sales certainty and cash confidence? Schedule a strategy call. 

✨ CONNECT WITH MAUREEN:

🖥  Website: Startward Consulting

📷  Instagram: Follow Me On Instagram

📷 Youtube: Subscribe To Youtube Channel

We don’t always think about ourselves in the marketing equation. However, the products we pick have an impact on us. 

The question typically is - what’s the reason why you swiped your credit card to purchase? 

Is there anything you can glean from your own purchasing behavior?

For a fun peek at my own newly minted skincare routine (and my thoughts on how I would market those same products, based on my experience), be sure to check out my newest podcast and Youtube episode on Getting Ready WIth Maureen - aka Learn With Maureen. 

You may walk away with a new product in your cart, or a new idea in your mind. 

Either way, you’re gonna feel good. 💅

__________________________________________________________________________________

✨ EOHEALING BRAND: 

High Performance Skincare for Problematic Skin. 

Website: https://eohealing.com/

✨ FREE TRAINING:

Ready to identify the One Growth Strategy You Need to Focus on First to Increase Sales Now? Watch the most recent training: Uncap Your Growth & Bring in More Product Sales without Changing Your Branding or Packaging

✨ WORK WITH MAUREEN:

Ready to revolutionize your brand by mapping and mastering the brand growth levers your brand needs to get increased visibility, sales certainty and cash confidence? Schedule a strategy call. 

✨ CONNECT WITH MAUREEN:

🖥  Website: Startward Consulting

📷  Instagram: Follow Me On Instagram

📷 Youtube: Subscribe To Youtube Channel

In this episode, discover how Johnna's membership in The Product Brand Accelerator equipped her to move from being a creative product maker on welfare to a 6 figure boss. We talk about her journey, the steps she took, and how you can do the same.

Doors are OPEN for The Product Brand Accelerator Program!

This program is for product-based business owners like you, who want to learn the obsession-brand positioning tool that’s a must-have for accelerating sales and becoming the #1 product choice in a saturated market.

Created like no-other program out there, The Product Brand Accelerator Program will help you:

✨ Diagnose the real reason your sales are lagging and fixing it altogether - no more second-guessing!

✨ Figure out why you don’t get many word-of-mouth referrals, repeat customers, and reorders - and start making changes to your marketing strategy to see a change
✨ Identify the leaky holes in your bucket (aka why you’re losing customers) and FINALLY patch things up to start getting more repeat customers
✨ Write your irresistible brand story in a way that makes you the only option in your category for your ideal customer
✨ Define your competitive advantage, PLUS how to actually use your secret sauce to dominate the market
✨ Map out the brand growth strategies you're actually ready for, so you can generate more sales now
✨ Scale your revenues to 5K-10K per month, so you can get out of the income roller coaster that has you stuck at “small brand status” - time for a breakthrough!

Ready to finally understand your brand’s value in the marketplace and generate ramp up your sales? Use the link below to book your free call to learn more about everything you'll get inside the program!

https://startwardconsulting.as.me/accelerator

The top 4 mistakes I see eCommerce brands making (and how to fix them).

If you: 

✨think you have to run a promotion because everyone else is doing it.

✨don’t have a clear goal for the holiday sale you’ve planned.

✨aren’t in tune with matters most to your customers RIGHT NOW.

✨Know you need to shift the trajectory of your sales, but you don’t know how.

This episode is for you. Let’s fix those today! 

✨ JOIN OUR HOLIDAY PLANNING BUSINESS RETREAT

 Let’s create your Holiday Planning Blueprint together! On September 23d, 11 AM - 2 PM EST, I’ll teach you 3 Steps to Building an Ultra-Simple, Successful Holiday Campaign to Maximize Your Product Sales This Holiday Season. SAVE YOUR SEAT HERE (https://www.startwardconsulting.com/holiday-planning-blueprint)

_______________________________________________________________________________

✨ FREE TRAINING:

Ready to identify the One Growth Strategy You Need to Focus on First to Increase Sales Now? Watch the most recent training: Uncap Your Growth & Bring in More Product Sales without Changing Your Branding or Packaging

✨ WORK WITH MAUREEN:

Ready to revolutionize your brand by mapping and mastering the brand growth levers your brand needs to get increased visibility, sales certainty and cash confidence? Schedule a strategy call. 

✨ CONNECT WITH MAUREEN:

🖥  Website: Startward Consulting

📷  Instagram: Follow Me On Instagram

📷 Youtube: Subscribe To Youtube Channel

If you want to get as much as you give this holiday season, check out this week’s podcast episode to learn more about: 

• What to avoid in Q4 when trying to increase conversions, 

• How to stay relevant with your audience during this time

• How to strategically plan discounts and make them profitable

• How to drive excitement with your audience by tapping into relevant cultural moments, 

…and more.

✨ JOIN OUR HOLIDAY PLANNING BUSINESS RETREAT

Let’s create your Holiday Planning Blueprint together! On September 23d, 11 AM - 2 PM EST, I’ll teach you 3 Steps to Building an Ultra-Simple, Successful Holiday Campaign to Maximize Your Product Sales This Holiday Season. SAVE YOUR SEAT HERE 

✨ FREE TRAINING:

Ready to identify the One Growth Strategy You Need to Focus on First to Increase Sales Now? Watch the most recent training: Uncap Your Growth & Bring in More Product Sales without Changing Your Branding or Packaging

✨ WORK WITH MAUREEN:

Ready to revolutionize your brand by mapping and mastering the brand growth levers your brand needs to get increased visibility, sales certainty and cash confidence? Schedule a strategy call. 

✨ CONNECT WITH MAUREEN:

🖥  Website: Startward Consulting

📷  Instagram: Follow Me On Instagram

📷 Youtube: Subscribe To Youtube Channel

Sales are a touchy subject any time of year, but around the holiday season, they take on a life of their own! Is your holiday sales season an exciting or frustrating time for you? 

If you said the latter, you’re not alone; many brands struggle to balance having an enticing discount that doesn’t cripple them in the long run.  

In this episode, we talk about the dreaded question that every brand asks themselves around the holiday season: what kind of seasonal promotion should I do this year? Am I stuck giving a steep holiday discount in order to attract customers?

Here’s the good news: the best kind of holiday promo makes you AND your customer happy, and it IS possible! 

__________________________________________________________________________

✨ JOIN OUR HOLIDAY PLANNING BUSINESS RETREAT

 Let’s create your Holiday Planning Blueprint together! On September 23d, 11 AM - 2 PM EST, I’ll teach you 3 Steps to Building an Ultra-Simple, Successful Holiday Campaign to Maximize Your Product Sales This Holiday Season. SAVE YOUR SEAT HERE 

✨ FREE TRAINING:

Ready to identify the One Growth Strategy You Need to Focus on First to Increase Sales Now? Watch the most recent training:  Uncap Your Growth & Bring in More Product Sales without Changing Your Branding or Packaging

✨ WORK WITH MAUREEN:

Ready to revolutionize your brand by mapping and mastering the brand growth levers your brand needs to get increased visibility, sales certainty and cash confidence? Schedule a strategy call. 

✨ CONNECT WITH MAUREEN:

🖥  Website: Startward Consulting

📷  Instagram: Follow Me On Instagram

📷 Youtube: Subscribe To Youtube Channel

One thing I have personally learnt in this journey is that making money is the easiest part of business. However, the hardest part is maintaining that money. 

You may ask me why? It’s because when you move to new levels of growth, you have to shift your identity to adapt to the things you want.  So what do you need to do in order to break past your fears and accept the success you’re stepping into?

In this week’s podcast, we’re diving into the Mindset and Strategy required to get from $500k to $1M in your product business, including: 

📊How to create a 3-5 year growth plan.

🧑‍💻How to hire people who can execute in areas outside your zone of genius.

💌When to start doubling down on your email marketing.

And more!

✨ FREE TRAINING:

Ready to identify the One Growth Strategy You Need to Focus on First to Increase Sales Now? Watch the most recent training: Uncap Your Growth & Bring in More Product Sales without Changing Your Branding or Packaging

✨ WORK WITH MAUREEN:

Ready to revolutionize your brand by mapping and mastering the brand growth levers your brand needs to get increased visibility, sales certainty and cash confidence? Schedule a strategy call. 

✨ CONNECT WITH MAUREEN:

🖥  Website: Startward Consulting

📷  Instagram: Follow Me On Instagram

📷 Youtube: Subscribe To Youtube Channel

Most entrepreneurs seek to shift into hypergrowth once they begin to see results. I have personally done this, and nearly tanked my business and my mental health. Instead, I want to share what you can do to successfully scale your business

In this episode, learn the shifts you can implement in order to get to your first $500k in your business. 

Looking for support? Let’s chat about how I can support you as a fractional member of your marketing team to create an adoring customer base that generates repeat sales. https://startwardconsulting.as.me/growth-strategy-call

 FREE TRAINING:

Ready to identify the One Growth Strategy You Need to Focus on First to Increase Sales Now? Watch the most recent training: Uncap Your Growth & Bring in More Product Sales without Changing Your Branding or Packaging

 WORK WITH MAUREEN:

Ready to revolutionize your brand by mapping and mastering the brand growth levers your brand needs to get increased visibility, sales certainty and cash confidence? Schedule a strategy call.

 CONNECT WITH MAUREEN:

 Website: https://www.startwardconsulting.com/

 Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/maureenmwangiofficial/

We are in the second episode of our growth series this week! (If you missed Zero to Launch, you can find it in Episode 78!) Today, I want to ask you one simple question: Are you ready to dominate in your market?

I understand the unique challenges that your competitors bring to your business, from cheaper international dupes to local businesses undercutting your pricing. So how do you create a product that stands out from the rest and supercedes the price war to finally dominate in your market? 

Getting your product to sell like hot cakes relies on having a strong brand with raving fans. So here is how you are going to maximize your product-based business the big brand way:

✅ Define your product’s value proposition. Ask yourself, “Why did I create my product?” Then, “What gap am I trying to fill?”

✅ Who is your ideal customer? Focus on that ONE person - they will be your content North Star. You create marketing and messaging to speak to them. You want to identify just ONE though, not three different ideal customers. It will dilute and fragment your messaging.

✅ Choose your product suite. Define what your customer is looking for as a starting point, and then what products will take them through the end of their journey to solve a problem. But you will focus on the starting point product to build an unforgettable message for your customers.  

✅ Unforgettable messaging = EMOTION. What is the desire that is wrapped up in your product? Here is an exercise to consider. What do you think Louis Vuitton or Tesla sell? It isn’t a product, it’s an experience. And this experience is what makes your product unforgettable. 

Ready to build a sustainable business with strategies that will get you to your first $100k and beyond? I would like to invite you to my Product Brand Accelerator. We will work together to reach your first $100k while establishing foundations for growth. Use the link below to schedule a free strategy call and learn more!

FREE TRAINING:

Ready to identify the One Growth Strategy You Need to Focus on First to Increase Sales Now? Watch the most recent training: Uncap Your Growth & Bring in More Product Sales without Changing Your Branding or Packaging

WORK WITH MAUREEN:

Ready to revolutionize your brand by mapping and mastering the brand growth levers your brand needs to get increased visibility, sales certainty and cash confidence? Schedule a strategy call.

CONNECT WITH MAUREEN:

Website: https://www.startwardconsulting.com/

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/maureenmwangiofficial/

Sometimes, the hardest part of the whole “starting your own business” thing is the STARTING part of it. 

Well, believe it or not, most entrepreneurs didn’t go to school for this stuff. Many are relying on pure passion and wit, and finding themselves in short supply some days. 

So how do you get from the fresh, shiny idea in your head to a real flesh-and-blood business? 

You don’t need to be the next Zuckerberg to do this! All you need is a plan, an 8-step manual to getting from the scary step A to the still-slightly-scary (but also super exciting) step B in your product-based business. 

Well lucky for you, that manual exists! Join us for the beginning of our new Growth in eCommerce Space series, “Zero To Launch”, where we talk about how to get your product-based business off on the right foot and begin to grow your revenue with science-based precision. 

✨ FREE TRAINING:

Ready to identify the One Growth Strategy You Need to Focus on First to Increase Sales Now? Watch the most recent training: Uncap Your Growth & Bring in More Product Sales without Changing Your Branding or Packaging

✨ WORK WITH MAUREEN:

Ready to revolutionize your brand by mapping and mastering the brand growth levers your brand needs to get increased visibility, sales certainty and cash confidence? Schedule a strategy call. 

✨ CONNECT WITH MAUREEN:

🖥  Website: https://www.startwardconsulting.com/

📷  Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/maureenmwangiofficial/

“Maureen, you talk pretty big about the power of my brand message, but how do I know if it’ll actually work for me?”

If you’ve ever asked yourself that question—or anything similar along those lines—then this week's episode is a must-hear for you!

Because this week, we’re not just talking in hypotheticals. This week, we talk to the wonderful Veerpal,  the founder of EO Healing and a true believer of the brand message magic!

• How Veerpal went from medical professional to brand builder extraordinaire

• How she unlocked the key to better sales hiding her catalog

• How she connected with the audience that MATTERED

And more! 

You don’t have to take my word for it anymore! See how these concepts shaped a pro brand builder in the flesh—and how those same concepts could do the same for you!

✨ FREE TRAINING:

Ready to identify the One Growth Strategy You Need to Focus on First to Increase Sales Now? Watch the most recent training: Uncap Your Growth & Bring in More Product Sales without Changing Your Branding or Packaging

✨ WORK WITH MAUREEN:

Ready to revolutionize your brand by mapping and mastering the brand growth levers your brand needs to get increased visibility, sales certainty and cash confidence? Schedule a strategy call. 

✨ CONNECT WITH MAUREEN:

🖥  Website: Startward Consulting

📷  Instagram: Follow Me On Instagram

📷 Youtube: Subscribe To Youtube Channel

If you’re looking back on the last three months of 2024 and still feeling lost, then today’s message is for you!

A long, long time ago (aka December 2023), I found myself wistfully thinking ahead to what 2024 might have in store. (Not to toot my own horn, but I’m pretty good at nailing down trends!)

Now, I’ve gotten to see some of those trends in action, and I’m bringing my results straight to you!

Think of where you’re at now that we’re into the thick of 2024. 

Maybe the things you had focused on in the beginning now don’t seem to be paying off. 

Maybe you’re trying to reorganize, or just need some reassurance that you’re going in the right direction. 

No matter where you’re at, now is a good time to check in and see what’s working. And—maybe even more importantly—what’s not. 

In this week’s podcast episode, we’re talking about what’s OFFICIALLY in for your brand this year—and what you can finally kick to the curb. 

✨ How to be “product-forward”

✨ Building a movement around your brand

✨ Tapping into cultural nuance as your superpower

And more!

You still have 75% of 2024 left: let’s use that time to pivot your brand towards what it needs to be relevant, make money, and bring you joy. 

✨ FREE TRAINING:

Ready to identify the One Growth Strategy You Need to Focus on First to Increase Sales Now? Watch the most recent training: Uncap Your Growth & Bring in More Product Sales without Changing Your Branding or Packaging

✨ WORK WITH MAUREEN:

Ready to revolutionize your brand by mapping and mastering the brand growth levers your brand needs to get increased visibility, sales certainty and cash confidence? Schedule a strategy call. 

✨ CONNECT WITH MAUREEN:

🖥  Website: Startward Consulting

📷  Instagram: Follow Me On Instagram

📷 Youtube: Subscribe To Youtube Channel

Whether you want your business to be a small passion project on the side or your full–time dream job, your success is ultimately going to come down to cash confidence. 

The good news? You DON’T need an overblown marketing budget, huge product assortment, warehouses of inventory, or even a huge audience to get cash confidence. 

All you need to do is 3 simple things: 

✅ Get awareness

✅ Get considered

✅ Get selected

That’s it!

How do these three things look in real life, and how can you apply them to your brand today? Tune in to today’s episode, and see how cash confidence is right at your fingertips!

P.S. I want to help YOU (yes, you, specifically!) reach cash confidence in your business. Learn how to get your product brand to stand out, get in front of the right customers, scale up sales, and generate word of mouth exposure at our Product Brand Marketing Live Intensive! 

Ready to revolutionize your brand by mapping and mastering the brand growth levers your brand needs to get increased visibility, sales certainty and cash confidence? Schedule a strategy call. Schedule Your  Consultation  

✨ CONNECT WITH MAUREEN:

🖥  Website: https://www.startwardconsulting.com/

📷  Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/maureenmwangiofficial/

You don’t need the biggest sales to get you through the dry spells. You need a continuous stream of sales—even small ones!—that eliminate those dry spells all together. 

A lot of product-based businesses  are just grinding along. They’re running out of fuel and patience, all while pouring in the last of their energy and funding. 

In this week’s episode, we talk about how to boost that conversion mechanism in your favor. 

P.S. I want to help YOU (yes, you, specifically!) reach cash confidence in your business. Learn how to get your product brand to stand out, get in front of the right customers, scale up sales, and generate word of mouth exposure at our Product Brand Marketing Live Intensive! Register here: https://www.startwardconsulting.com/marketingintensive

Ready to revolutionize your brand by mapping and mastering the brand growth levers your brand needs to get increased visibility, sales certainty and cash confidence? Schedule a strategy call.  Schedule Your  Consultation: https://startwardconsulting.as.me/growth-strategy-call

✨ CONNECT WITH MAUREEN:

🖥  Website: https://www.startwardconsulting.com/

📷  Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/maureenmwangiofficial/

In this week’s podcast, we’re giving you the game plan to battle that fear of quitting your corporate job and pursuing your business full time, including:

✨How to show up for your business with the same effort as your day job

✨Breaking the ruminating cycle to get unstuck

✨Creating safety within yourself (NOT your paycheck!)

Leaving behind that steady 9 to 5 can mean leaving behind a sense of security. But it also means embracing something much more important—yourself!

Product Brand Marketing Live Intensive.

Learn how to get your product brand to stand out, get in front of the right customers, scale up sales, and generate word of mouth exposure. Discover how to become the top choice, despite market saturation: Sign Up here: 

Ready to revolutionize your brand by mapping and mastering the brand growth levers your brand needs to get increased visibility, sales certainty and cash confidence? Schedule a strategy call. Schedule Your  Consultation  

✨ CONNECT WITH MAUREEN:

🖥  Website: https://www.startwardconsulting.com/

📷  Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/maureenmwangiofficial/

I’ve learned that even when the world seems to be turning upside down, there's one thing that remains constant - the love of God and the peace it brings. And guess what? It's the most valuable currency.

 If you're feeling isolated about something, remember it's a season for appointment. 

 It's a season for learning.

✨ SIGN UP FOR OUR 3-HR LIVE EVENT

 Learn how to get your product brand to stand out, get in front of the right customers, scale up sales, and generate word of mouth exposure. Discover how to become the top choice, despite market saturation: https://www.startwardconsulting.com/marketingintensive

✨ CONNECT WITH MAUREEN:

🖥  Website: https://www.startwardconsulting.com/

📷  Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/maureenmwangiofficial/

Algorithms change. Should you? 

Social media algorithms are the invisible enemy that haunts nearly every online business. If you want to be successful, you need to be seen. That means giving the algorithm what it wants to get us to the top of the feed, or at least, not get buried in the meantime. And yet, the second we think we have the equation figured out, it stops working. Sometimes, it changes altogether! 

In this week’s podcast, we’re diving into how to break free from the chains of the algorithm.

Sign up for the upcoming workshop: Screw The Algorithm Masterclass

You don’t need to be a social media wiz to make your marketing strategy a winner on any platform. You just need a solid strategy—and a dash of inspiration!

“I’m 68. If I can do it, everybody can do it. I’m not the computer queen, but I learned. I’m still learning. But that’s the point. Continue to learn, continue to build, continue to birth.” —Vanessa, new entrepreneur on her way to becoming a millionaire

Ready to revolutionize your brand by mapping and mastering the brand growth levers your brand needs to get increased visibility, sales certainty and cash confidence? Schedule a strategy call. Schedule Your  Consultation  

✨ CONNECT WITH MAUREEN:

🖥  Website: https://www.startwardconsulting.com/

📷  Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/maureenmwangiofficial/

SIGN UP FOR BRAND VISIBILITY WORKSHOP USING THIS LINK: https://www.startwardconsulting.com/brandvisibilityworkshop

In this week’s podcast episode, we talk about the simple yet effective marketing strategy pulled straight from my little black book: MSPR! We talk about everything you need to incorporate this time-tested strategy into your own marketing repertoire. 

There are so many sabotage patterns and poor choices that can cap your growth. It’s not that you don’t WANT to do the right thing. You just don’t know any different. Today I wanted to share the way real CEO’s make decisions about growth.

✨Connect With Kara: https://www.instagram.com/karagaisiecoaching/

✨WORK WITH US

Let’s prime your brand for explosive growth and scale: Schedule Your Growth Consultation

✨ CONNECT WITH MAUREEN:

🖥  Website: https://www.startwardconsulting.com/

📷  Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/maureenmwangiofficial/

In this week’s episode, we talk about how to shake off our obsession with strategy and replace it with something much more energizing and fulfilling. This includes:

• Avoiding the “prevent defense” mechanism 

• The role a strategist should play in your business (aka a support, NOT pulling the cart before the horse!)

• How to incorporate emotional resilience into how we think about our business

And more!

There is some good advice out there, but if trying new things is what’s needed for your brand’s momentum, then being TOO strategic is actually slowing you down! Don’t let “playing it safe” become your norm. If you can get out of your own way, then you can actually give your audience a chance to experience your brand’s “secret sauce”—every entrepreneur’s dream!

✨WORK WITH US

Let’s prime your brand for explosive growth and scale: Schedule Your Growth Consultation

✨ CONNECT WITH MAUREEN:

🖥  Website: https://www.startwardconsulting.com/

📷  Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/maureenmwangiofficial/

Tune in to this week’s podcast episode to learn how mastering the 3Ps leads to falling in love with marketing—aka, the key to getting your brand the revival it deserves!

In this week’s episode, we talk about how to fall in love with marketing again by following the 3 P’s, including:

• Tapping into your desired narrative

• Why you NEED to be the face of your brand 

• How to drop the guilt and fear around selling your product 

• Identifying the micro moments

✨ LEARN MORE FROM US

Watch Latest Youtube Video

✨ WORK WITH US

Let’s prime your brand for explosive growth and scale: Schedule Your Growth Consultation

✨  CONNECT WITH MAUREEN:

🖥  Website: https://www.startwardconsulting.com/

📷  Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/maureenmwangiofficial/

As we head into Q2, you may be pouring over the bills on the table with a heavy heart. 

It probably feels like there’s not enough to work with—too little in the bank, too many expenses popping up, and no room to breathe in between. 

You may have even seen your sales plateau, despite doing EVERYTHING right. You’re showing up, you’re putting in the work, and yet, your sales aren’t matching your energy. 

If this hits close to home for you right now, then I’m here to share one of the most important things you’ll ever read when it comes to your brand: 

You do not need a lot of money to build a really successful brand. 

Let me repeat that: you do not need a lot of money to build a successful brand. 

You ALSO don’t need a lot of money to break out of that sales plateau and get your growth back on track. 

So that leaves the question: what do you need? 

That’s the key question we’re diving into in this week’s podcast episode! This week, we’re digging into real, tangible ways to break out of your capped growth and get your brand momentum back, including: 

✨ How being brave in your business can open doors you never thought possible

✨ How marketing is a skill that ANYONE can master—no bubbly personality required!

✨ How to break through in even the most saturated markets 

And more!

There is a light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to your brand’s progress this year. If you’re tired of crunching the numbers in a panic, then be sure to tune in and see how your brand growth strategy can make that dreaded sales plateau a thing of the past!

✨ FREE TRAINING:

Ready to identify the One Growth Strategy You Need to Focus on First to Increase Sales Now? Watch the most recent training: Uncap Your Growth & Bring in More Product Sales without Changing Your Branding or Packaging

✨ WORK WITH MAUREEN:

Ready to revolutionize your brand by mapping and mastering the brand growth levers your brand needs to get increased visibility, sales certainty and cash confidence? Schedule a strategy call. 

✨ CONNECT WITH MAUREEN:

🖥  Website: Startward Consulting

📷  Instagram: Follow Me On Instagram

📷 Youtube: Subscribe To Youtube Channel

It’s time to hit the gas pedal for your launch, but before we pick up speed, we need to know we’re going in the right direction. In this week’s episode, we dig into the foundation you need for your most explosive launch yet, including:

• Shaping who you ARE during your launch period, not just what you do

• How to introspect on the thought patterns holding you back (like indecisiveness, imposter syndrome, and fear of judgement)

• How protecting yourself from failure is also protecting yourself from success

• Embracing vulnerability as your greatest asset

• The difference between embracing failure and taking the action to fail—and why it matters

And more!

Product launches are as much about the failures as they are about the successes, and you have to plan on—and even count on—having both. 

SUBCRIBE TO YOUTUBE CHANNEL:

Watch Latest Youtube Video

WORK WITH US

Ready to take your product-based business to $5K-$10K/month in revenues? Join Product Brand Accelerator and learn The Obsession-Brand Positioning Tool You Absolutely Must Have to Accelerate Sales & Become the #1 Product Choice in a Saturated Market

Most entrepreneurs don’t have a full grasp of their market — or who their buyers are — before they hit the ground running with their marketing strategy. They go to market way too early, expecting results that only a meticulously planned brand can do. A lot of product-based entrepreneurs are fighting the wrong battle.

They think it’s their mindset or their marketing when really…it’s their brand strategy.

That’s where the Product Brand Accelerator course comes in. 

Apply here: www.startwardconsulting.com/accelerator

Great brands are built on data.

Growth comes from knowing your customer inside and out - especially their buying psychology - that you then use to build brand strategies that help them pick you over your competitors.

A lot of product-based entrepreneurs are fighting the wrong battle. They think it’s their mindset or their marketing, when really it’s their brand strategy.

And I’m going to be teaching you the difference between the two - and how to incorporate your shopper’s psychology into your brand in my masterclass that’s going down next week: The Secret Psychology of Shoppers: Three Brand Strategies to Get Customers to Start Picking Your Product instead of Your Competitors

In this week’s episode, we sit down with our guest expert Gabrielle Smith, a licensed business coach and our head mindset coach at the Product Profit Lab, to talk about the right way to set fulfilling goals, along with the steps you need to take in order to succeed! 

We get into the nitty-gritty of how to combine strategy with the right mindset, including: 

• How to build yourself up from the inside out, shaking off the fear of failure and recognizing your worth outside of your goals (whether you succeed or not!)
• Recognizing when things behind the scenes need a refresh: are you just checking the boxes on your to-do list each day, or are you still excited about your work (even the less-fun behind-the-scenes stuff?) 
• Falling in love with your offer again: would you buy from yourself? Do you truly believe that your product makes an impact in your customers’ lives?
• The five steps of completing your goal, including:
• Set your goal, and anticipate your brain’s initial freakout 
• Determine your why (something that will convict you even in the lowest moments)
• Identify your obstacles
• Calendar your tasks 
• Stick to the plan! 

And more!

Save Your Seat For Our Upcoming Masterclass: www.startwardconsulting.com/shoppingsecrets

Ready to get the clarity to pull together a growth and marketing strategy that takes you from growth to scale?  Book a VIP Growth Intensive and trade guesswork for strategic insights, and sales certainty.

Ready to take your product-based business to $5K-$10K/month in revenues? Join Product Brand Accelerator and learn The Obsession-Brand Positioning Tool You Absolutely Must Have to Accelerate Sales & Become the #1 Product Choice in a Saturated Market

Ready to scale to multiple 6 & 7-figures in revenue and consistent profits? Join Product Profit Lab Mastermind and master how to use the data you already have  to grow & scale your business with scientific precision

New year, new energy. 2023 is the year to tackle your business with fresh vigor!

So how can you make the most of this fresh new year? In this week’s podcast episode, I’m talking about how to gear up for 2023 — and the 3 areas to focus on to increase revenue.

In this episode, we talk about: 

• Relationship building with your customer (and your community) to make your interactions personal, surprising, and above all, repeatable
• How to build your omni-channel presence with in person events and brand-building exposure
• The key to better retailer partnerships 

Find Out More!

Ready to get the clarity to pull together a growth and marketing strategy to fast track your results? Book a VIP Growth Intensive and trade guesswork for strategic insights, and sales certainty.

Ready to take your product-based business to $5K-$10K/month in revenues?  Join Product Brand Accelerator and learn the obsession-brand positioning tool you absolutely must have to accelerate sales & become the #1 product choice in a saturated market.

Ready to scale to multiple 6 & 7-figures in revenue and consistent profits? Join Product Profit Lab Mastermind and master how to use the data you already have  to grow & scale your business with scientific precision

Connect with Maureen on instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/maureenmwangiofficial/

Are you ready to throw in the towel for 2022? We may only have a few weeks left, but this last stretch can be your most productive and fruitful yet—IF you use it right!

Now is the perfect time to reflect on your goals. A lot of us focus on the big New Year resolution-type goals right about now, which is not a BAD thing, but it can make us forget about the goals we can still complete right now in the last little bit of 2022.

In this episode, we talk about:

• The job of a goal (not just to excite, but to set up a plan of action)
• How meeting smaller goals consistently set up the right kind of momentum and track record you need to succeed
• How to set “Goldilocks goals” (not too big or overwhelming, but ambitious enough to make a difference)
• How to recalibrate goals on-the-go to keep you moving in the right direction

Make the right kind of goals this year, and you’ll be ready for when 2023 finally hits; no more abandoned resolutions!

Remember, this is your LAST WEEK to enroll into the Founding Member Enrollment!

Click the link here to enroll, or send an email to team@startwardconsulting.com.

We’re looking forward to hearing from you!

What do you need to do FIRST for your product brand? Surprisingly, it’s not crafting the perfect marketing strategy, getting dynamite product photos, or even setting up your socials. 

Nope: before all of that, you need to tackle brand positioning to unlock your business’s true potential! Otherwise, all those other pieces are only going to be hurdles, not helpers.

In this episode, we talk about: 

• Positioning influences you need to consider
• Common pitfalls when designing and positioning your brand
• How to master the 6 pillars of sales to strengthen your position in your industry

And more!

Brand positioning is one of the most powerful tools in your arsenal. Use it well, and you’ll be well on your way to selling your product at scale!

Want to learn more?

NOW is the time to become a founding member! I’m opening up 10 spots to enroll in my future ($4K) course at a 50% discount in exchange for less than five minutes of your time once per week over the next 6 weeks. **(2 Spots Already Taken!!)**

Email The Team To Be A Founding Member: team@startwardconsulting.com

Join the Waitlist to be a Founding Member: Join The Product Brand Accelerator Program: Sign Up Here

Did you have a goal that you didn’t accomplish this year? Is this period starting to feel like it was a blow? If you’re frustrated with low sales this holiday season, it’s time to recharge your approach; it’s easier than you may think!

In this episode, we talk about:

• How to acknowledge your emotions in a way that’s fruitful, not frustrating
• Realizing that not reaching a goal is NEUTRAL, not negative
• Recognizing what message your sales are ACTUALLY trying to tell you (hint: it’s not “you’re a failure!”)
• Default thinking vs intentional thinking: how to use both to your advantage (when to be deliberate vs going with your instinct)
• Holding ambitious goals in a healthy, productive way

And more!

Join the Waitlist For Our Product Brand Accelerator Program: The Product Brands Accelerator: Learn The #1 Positioning Tool That You Need To Accelerate Your Sales & Stand Out In A Saturated Market. Get on the waitlist now to be the first to apply — spots WILL be limited! Join The Product Brand Accelerator Program: Sign Up Here

Connect with Maureen on instagram: Maureenmwangiofficial

Subscribe and rate our podcast on iTunes here.

Android users can subscribe and rate our podcast on Spotify.

Subscribe and rate our podcast on iTunes here.

In this episode, we dive into: 

• The psychology of a buyer, specifically the type of buyer you want to attract. (There is a difference!) That means you need to understand how your customer makes a buying decision, and how they weigh the pros and cons of a purchase. 
• How to motivate your customer to (literally) buy what you’re selling; it’s rarely going to be solely about your product features! You need to get down to the “why behind the why”, aka what changes your product will actually make on their quality of life, and when they would use your product in their routine. (Hint: you want to highlight this exact moment in your content!)
• The difference between product acceptors, rejectors, and reducers (and which customer subset you want to target) 
• How to properly convey the value of your product by not dumbing down your genius; let your expertise speak for itself!

Want to learn more?

Join the Waitlist For Our Product Brand Accelerator Program: The Product Brands Accelerator: Learn The #1 Positioning Tool That You Need To Accelerate Your Sales & Stand Out In A Saturated Market. Get on the waitlist now to be the first to apply — spots WILL be limited!

Connect with Maureen on instagram: Maureenmwangiofficial

Subscribe and rate our podcast on iTunes here.

Android users can subscribe and rate our podcast on Spotify.

Subscribe and rate our podcast on iTunes here.

If the words “Black Friday” send a shiver down your spine, you’re not alone! Brands all over the world enter this holiday season with the same, unnerving question:

To discount, or not to discount? 

Everyone’s hunting for a good deal this time of year, but on the other side of things, your business still needs to stay sustainable. So how can you do that while doling out seasonal promos and discounts that eat into your profit margin? Are you stuck giving discounts away to stay relevant this Black Friday? 

Here’s the good news: you can still honor the spirit of the season WITHOUT sacrificing your profit margin! In fact, this year, your seasonal promos can work for you AND your customers. 

In this episode, we talk about how to make this dream a reality, including: 

• The hard (but necessary) questions to ask yourself about your promo plans
• How to pick the right brand promotional strategy
• How deep of a discount is too deep
• How to incentivize purchases that will have a lasting impact even when the holidays are over

And more!

Want to learn more?

Download Your Product Growth Guide: Discover the three phases of a product brand’s life cycle and identify where YOU are

Work With Us: Schedule A Growth Strategy Call

Connect with Maureen on instagram: Maureenmwangiofficial

Subscribe and rate our podcast on iTunes here.

Android users can subscribe and rate our podcast on Spotify.

Picture this: 

You’re doing all the right things. Your content is getting clicks, your sales are trickling in. Things are finally starting to move in the right direction. 

In fact, things are almost going too well. As the CEO, you are the one responsible for everything. The planning, the marketing, the writing, the accounting. Everything. 

And you are tired. 

So what do you do? The marketing gurus online seem to all point to one thing: hiring a team. 

That should make things easier, but now you’re faced with another crucial decision:

Who in the world do you hire?

Do you need an assistant? A coach? A marketing agency? 

I’m here to tell you a secret: who you hire makes all the difference. 

Even the most qualified candidate can be more of a boon than a catalyst to your brand if they’re in the wrong role. 

That’s why, in this week’s podcast episode, we’re diving into the real question behind it all: 

Who should you invest in? 

To help answer that question, we’ll dive into the nitty-gritty of it all, including: 

✨What you shouldn’t hire someone to do (i.e. avoiding tasks you’d rather not do)

✨When you need a task taker vs. a decision maker

✨Who your first hire should be if you make less than $10K a month

And more! 

Many hands make light work. The right hands build something new. Something that will stand the test of time for years to come! 

Tune in to see how your next hire can give you clarity AND keep your brand’s momentum—exactly as it should be!

✨ FREE TRAINING:

Ready to identify the One Growth Strategy You Need to Focus on First to Increase Sales Now? Watch the most recent training: Uncap Your Growth & Bring in More Product Sales without Changing Your Branding or Packaging

✨ WORK WITH MAUREEN:

Ready to revolutionize your brand by mapping and mastering the brand growth levers your brand needs to get increased visibility, sales certainty and cash confidence? Schedule a strategy call. 

✨ CONNECT WITH MAUREEN:

🖥  Website: Startward Consulting

📷  Instagram: Follow Me On Instagram

📷 Youtube: Subscribe To Youtube Channel

One of the most common things I see in this industry is some people treating their product-based brand as a service-based brand, or even vice versa: aka, people start a product and try to add being a coach or other service on top of it. 

The result? Your messaging gets muddled, your to-do list multiplies, and all that extra effort still doesn’t translate into an equal rise in sales.

In this episode, you will learn: 

• What the key differences are between product and service-based brands
• How those differences actually look in practice, and
• How to pivot your strategy towards your brand type in meaningful, practical ways

Find out more!

Download Your Product Growth Guide: Discover the three phases of a product brand’s life cycle and identify where YOU are

Work With Us: Schedule A Growth Strategy Call

Connect with Maureen on instagram: Maureenmwangiofficial

Subscribe and rate our podcast on iTunes here.

Android users can subscribe and rate our podcast on Spotify.

It's disheartening to put so much energy into building a business, only to find yourself in a never-ending cash crunch. Spending your limited resources on worthless things or perfection is a key contributor.

That's why we made this episode. You'll get insight into the three profitable stages associated with product brands, figure out where you are in that cycle, and discover how to allocate your resources accordingly and get the most out of each phase.

Episode Highlights 

• [02:04] The three profit stages of beauty brands:
• Stage 1: The emerging stage
• Stage 2: The growth stage
• Stage 3: Scale up stage
• [02:30] Why you should avoid using the term “side hustle” to describe your emerging business
• [04:03] What happens in the Stage 1: The emerging stage
• [07:10] The value of market research
• [08:53] Three things to consider when doing market research:
• Your ideal customer’s psychology. How and what are they thinking about before they buy.
• Their buying habits
• Their preferences
• [10:16] Why value must come before perfection. 
• [13:40] What happens in Stage 2: The growth stage
• [13:50] How to build brand obsession
• [27:50] The value of a board of advisors/consultants
• [33:51] What happens in Stage 3: The scale up stage

Find out more! 

Download Free Guide: The Ultimate Product Brand Growth Guide

Work With Us: Apply to Our Apprenticeship Program: Product Profit Lab 

Connect with Maureen on Instagram: Maureenmwangiofficial 

Join our incredible community - Product Entrepreneurs Who Scale 

Subscribe and rate our podcast on iTunes here. 

Android users can subscribe and rate our podcast on Spotify. 

Subscribe and rate our podcast on iTunes here. 

Running a successful product-based business involves more than just product selling. Business owners must strategically set goals, plan their purchases, and make informed marketing decisions based on customer needs at a given time. Using customer trends to inform decisions regarding what, how and when to sell is a key part of Inventory and Sales planning.

Inventory planning enables product-based businesses to have a more customer-focused approach to the business by buying products based on customer behavior. 

In this episode, Darlene Mitchell offers an in-depth insight into a business owner’s journey to creating an effective inventory and sales management system. Developing a clear road map, understanding seasonality, and using historical data to inform inventory purchase decisions are some of the key steps she emphasizes.

Darlene explores some of the common mistakes made by business owners in sales planning. She discusses:

• Not having a sales plan
• Not having an inventory plan
• Not knowing how to transition with their customers

Darlene Mitchell is a profit strategist with several years’ experience in retail. She drives strategy and helps boutiques and brands develop their businesses.

Episode Highlights 

• [01:35] Darlene’s introduction 
• [03:07] Understanding the difference between Sales Management and Inventory Management

• [04:03] Metrics/numbers you need to know in sales and inventory management

• [08:32] Using customer insights to inform business purchases
• [9:30] Why sales and inventory are important no matter the size of the business
• [11:04] How your business infrastructure needs to look like to float
• [14:40] Why having a clear roadmap is important for business planning
• [16:10] Using seasonality as a technique for inventory planning
• [22:55] How to set up an inventory management system
• [24: 35] How to push your inventory to achieve your sales targets
• [26:55] How to push your inventory to achieve your sales targets
• [28:30] Using promotional strategies in inventory management
• [31:10] Is a sales plan synonymous with a marketing plan?
• [39:00] Adapting customer strategy to customer trends and needs
• [42:05] Actions steps to build a multi-million product-based business

Quotes

“If the customer will not buy it in the next six weeks, don't buy it because your customer’s going to buy it marked down.”

“If a product frequently sells, buy more of it.”

“Figure out when and why your customers are buying.”

“Customers are fickle so always test out new products. Test what is going to replace what you are currently selling.”

“What inventory management allows you to do is look forward. It focuses on what is about to happen to you.”

“Two mistakes made my business owners are not having a sales plan and not having an inventory plan.”

“Every product-based business owner should think to themselves, ‘Who is my customer? What are they doing? What do they need?”

“Your sales are the number you need to hit. The tactics which is your marketing is how you get there.”

Connect with Darlene Y Mitchell

Darlene’s Website

Darlene’s Instagram

Darlene’s LinkedIn

Find out more! 

Free Guide: The Ultimate Product Brand Growth Guide

Work With Us: Apply to Our Apprenticeship Program: Product Profit Lab 

Connect with Maureen on Instagram: Maureenmwangiofficial 

Join our incredible community - Product Entrepreneurs Who Scale 

Subscribe and rate our podcast on iTunes here. 

Android users can subscribe and rate our podcast on Spotify. 

Subscribe and rate our podcast on iTunes here. 

Earnings are a great perk that come as a natural consequence of launching your business. Having a clear rationale for doing what you're doing can help you weather the inevitable storms that will inevitably arise as you build your business. And when your why is so strong that you're prepared to keep going even when everything else in your life suggests that you shouldn't, that's when you know you're on the right track.

This is what it's like building a six-figure business. It begins with understanding why you're setting it up in the first place—and that reason should be more than just the money.

Without a solid impetus, it's easy to find yourself repeatedly beginning and ending projects, resting in the middle of something important, or starting something new when it's not quite ready. Therefore, you don't get the result you want.

In this episode, Maureen explores every entrepreneur's steps to achieve their goals. The key steps she highlights include:

1. Establish what you want, not what you think you can do
2. Rely on your belief, not your ability
3. Be a rule breaker
4. Keep a concrete focus on what you want
5. Move beyond the resistance that constantly shows up

Episode Highlights

• [2:47] Why you need to understand your 'why.'
• [3:35] If one line of business is not successful yet, do not start another
• [6:25] Understanding your different roles in your business
• [12:49] How to identify and establish your goal
• [15:34] Who you need to become to achieve your goal
• [17:55] Why you need to make your business urgent
• [22:00] What thoughts and beliefs are making you stuck?
• [25:20] An exercise in understanding the beliefs you're accepting
• [27:47] Getting started requires inner belief, not confidence
• [33:00] Things that hold people back
• [34:28] Identify rules to break
• [43:50] Why you must concretely focus on what you want
• [49:40] How to move past the resistance that shows up

Quotes

'Wherever you are right now, you are very successful… Many of us usually set some very audacious goals in our businesses, but we never understand what is expected and what is required of us to achieve that goal.'

'It's not about the money. Money is a byproduct of what you'll get when establishing your business.'

'When you have a hard why, you're willing to withstand the storms in your business.'

'Once you untether the identity of your business from you, then you start making decisions out of the company's interest and not your own interests.'

'The key to success is to become the person who has the thoughts and takes the actions to produce results over and over again.'

'Don't copy somebody's actions; copy the thoughts and feelings that person had when taking action.'

'If you don't feel successful right now, making 100K will not make you feel successful.'

'Don't establish a monetary goal based on what you think you can do; establish a monetary goal based on what you really want.'

'We prioritize what we value.'

'The success of your business hinges upon how fast you can bounce back up when you've bounced down.'

'All of us are scared, but we are choosing to move past our fears.'

'For you to create a different outcome and create a different result, you have to break a rule.'

'When you keep a focus of what you want, the universe conspires to bring it to you.'

'Discomfort is the price we pay for the goals that we want.'

'If you're willing to do what is required, everything else reveals itself.'

Find out more!

Download Free Guide: The Ultimate Product Brand Growth Guide

Work With Us: Book A Free Growth Strategy Call

Connect with Maureen on Instagram: Maureenmwangiofficial

Join our incredible community - Product Entrepreneurs Who Scale

Subscribe and rate our podcast on iTunes here.

Android users can subscribe and rate our podcast on Spotify.

Subscribe and rate our podcast on iTunes here.