It's Quarter 1 of 2024, usually a quiet time in the life of a retailer.

A typical year sees the 4th Quarter pushing me to the limit packing and shipping orders. I run a lot of sales in the period: early Black Friday, Black Friday, last minute gifts, after-Christmas, etc, etc. Usually that works like a charm. Last year was an exception, unfortunately.

While my doll hospital business was way up, more than I could handle honestly, my sales were flat and disappointing. It's not that I don't appreciate my doll hospital customers; I do! I love bringing someone's doll back to life and hearing about the happiness they feel when they watch their mom or daughter open it as a holiday gift. However, doll repair is really labor-intensive and I can only do so much, so I am limited in the amount of money I can make.

And I REALLY needed a great 4th Quarter of 2023 because of all our unexpected expenses (son's broken wrists, furnace and A/C and water heater replacement, daughter's college tuition, etc). It didn't happen, despite me working as hard as I've ever worked. I just marketed myself to the bone, but it wasn't enough. Or maybe it was too much of the wrong thing...


Because over the past month and a half I worked with some new mentors and took some new classes and as of today my sales are up more than 200%! I'm not running any discount offers and this is usually a dead time of year but I'm doing a lot better. I made a short (less than 60 seconds!) video and tagged my teachers. None of these are affiliate links or sponsored links; just great people I recommend. Click the button to watch: