Jenny Weeden on LinkedIn: My anxiety and depression can tear me apart. 😫 But in that fight, I'm the… | 12 comments (2024)

8 marketing lessons from my rummage sale 🛍️It’s garage sale season, y’all :) If you’ve ever had a sale before, congrats! You’ve been a marketer!While working at my rummage sale last weekend, I found myself analyzing it from a marketing perspective. Here what I observed:1️⃣ “If you build it, they will come” isn’t a strategy; use a multi-channel approach.If I had only put my items out & hoped people saw them, I would have made less than half of my final profit. I used signs & online sites to draw people in.💡 Some companies put up a website & hope for the best—when the real strategy includes *promoting* it.2️⃣ Timing is everything.Early morning passers-by became traffic later. I got more traffic by starting my sale early & advertising it so my audience would see it.💡 We have to be smart about when we promote our businesses. Know your buyer’s seasonal ebbs & flows & adjust accordingly.3️⃣ Building awareness (& tracking it) is key.1 day before my sale I posted on FB Marketplace & Craigslist. My FB stats showed 40+ clicks & 6 post saves, which I can confirm drew at least 2 buyers.💡 We can’t wave a magic wand & assume leads will fall in our laps. Driving awareness traffic is a key part of the marketing cycle, & will bring leads & $$ with time.4️⃣ Consult with experts.Abby is a pro at garage sales & she had just had one right before I did, which gave me insight into how to drive more traffic.💡 Be great at what you are great at & when you need help with something like marketing, lean on your network, colleagues, or an agency (like Accelity 😉).5️⃣ Know your audience & price right.Rummage sale prices typically are affordable & buyers may haggle; understanding standard prices will help you move more products.💡 Know your buyers, know what motivates them, & research market pricing.6️⃣ Your display matters.If you’ve ever been to a retail store, you know everything is placed there with intention & helps buyers navigate easily. I put like items by like items to drive easy sales for people interested in similar products.💡 Think about your virtual storefront—your website. Are people able to easily navigate it & find their solution quickly? Ask a prospect for their opinion on your site.7️⃣ The right branding matters.My rummage sign font was bad - very thin & hard to read. An hour into the sale I asked my fiance to run out & make the sign bolder. We noticed a difference right away. 💡 Is your brand communicating what you want it to? Do you feel like it represents your biz & solutions? Is it outdated? Get an outside professional opinion if needed.8️⃣ Collaborate with others.2 years ago I was part of a neighborhood sale that drew in about 2x the amount of traffic compared to my recent sale. Sometimes it pays to collaborate.💡 Who in your industry could you partner with? How could you cross-promote? Increasing awareness through collaboration is a fairly low-cost marketing strategy!Happy rummage sale season!

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Do you believe in trusting your gut? I do.I trust my gut on just about everything:👯♀️ Understanding who to weed out from my circle.🫗 Determining if I need to pour more into my self-care glass before I run dry.📅 Making plans versus investing in doing “nothing”.📊 Identifying where I want to go professionally.➕And so much moreWhen I am mentally doing well and look to answers within, my gut has 100% accuracy in telling me who and what I should invest in. When I follow that inner voice, I’m happy.In today’s world, I don’t think enough people trust their gut, intuition or instincts. I see many people doing things because they feel obligated to, or to be polite—they make themselves uncomfortable so that someone else doesn’t have to feel discomfort.We get no trophies or medals for lowering our desires or expectations.And I’ve found following my gut builds trust with a very important person in my life—ME! :)At the end of the day, our longest-standing relationship is with ourselves. It’s time we listen in. 👂 I’d love to hear from you—when have you followed your instincts (or gone against them)? What happened? What did you learn?

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Anyone else doom scrolling their life away lately? 🤳 If yes, you’re not alone—this past month has had a lot of stressors for me personally, and it’s also an election year which is starting to bring on anxiety in me… and I’ve been using my phone as a way to escape.Last Thursday I said enough was enough and I deleted the 3 apps I use most (and that distract me the most) and saw immediate changes:😴 I fell asleep faster and slept deeper. I feel so refreshed!🔍 I felt more focused and present.✅ I completed 2 projects that I’ve been sitting on for a whileHave you ever taken a tech detox before? What did you do? What did you notice?Let’s chat :)

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A Basketball Tale 🏀: Why We Need to Show Up for Women & Girls All Year...(Not only in March during Women's History Month 🙃)🏀 When I was about 6 years old my parents enrolled me in the Y’s basketball program. I was the only girl playing with the boys, and regularly heard, “Don’t pass to the girl.” One day my dad heard that and let’s just say, it did not go well for the program coordinators or the parents of the young boy who said it. 👀 He showed up for me. After that, I noticed the boys accepting me and passing to me as they would any other kid on the court. 🏀In grade school basketball games, I’d notice more people would show up or stay for the boys than for our games. I didn’t get why at the time, but I remember the way it made me feel 😞.🏀When I cheered and played basketball in 8th grade, I noticed more people showing up to cheer competitions, where we rooted for the boys, than for the girls playing basketball. That type of thing can tell impressionable young girls where society thinks they “belong” without saying a word. 🏀In high school, I noticed that there was a consistent group of students - guys and gals - who would always show up and cheer for our girls varsity basketball team. 👏 It made a difference knowing people were always showing up specifically for *US*.🏀As I watched March Madness and especially the Iowa and LSU women’s game last night, I saw confident women battling it out. On the court (and off of it) these players can be just as competitive, aggressive and contentious as men. And that has been and should be celebrated this season and beyond, not shut down. 💪 The thing is, there were *decades* of incredibly talented women who came before the Caitlyn Clarks and Angel Reeses of the world that weren't noticed. And just because we might not have seen them or shown up for those women over those decades doesn’t mean they didn’t play with the same intensity or fight those young women did last night.🏀I’m heartened, now, to see a huge increase in interest in women’s sports, and I hope that continues to flow into other areas. Because as women we can and will play on all sorts of courts in life without people in the stands...but my God, does it make a hell of a difference to us when our stands are full. 💟

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My dad is my best friend and a model of what resilience looks like.Today is his birthday. 🎉Last week, we were waiting in the hospital for his major, life-changing surgery, wondering if we’d get to celebrate his 65th.While not out of the woods yet, I’m so thankful to say that we can and are.He has taught me forgiveness and how to be “chill” 😎 (he is way cooler than me). He has been an advisor in my life from business topics to which washing machine to buy. I trust him in everything.He has cheered me on through countless basketball games, graduations, and as I got promoted last year at Accelity.He is present in everything. I would not be who I am or where I am without him. I would not have the success I have had without my dad. This is a Bob Weeden appreciation post and he deserves every bit of it!

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Want productive employees? Treat them like humans. It’s interesting, I’ve had 3 coffee chats in the last month where I heard about the scary, ugly side of some businesses. 😱At the end of those conversations, the moral of each story was simple: Treat people like humans.When did that become something we had to ask for at work, and not a given? 🤔 While Jackie and I would probably admit we’ve had our fair share of the trials and errors of learning in this department as we’ve built Accelity, treating people like humans (and I'd also add, like adults) just makes sense.Here are a few things we strive to do:1. Respect individual autonomy.2. Encourage personal responsibility.3. Acknowledge every team member’s maturity in decision-making.4. Foster an environment of mutual respect.5. Empower team members to take ownership of their actions.Have we always been perfect at this? HA… no. 🫠 But that’s part of the point—in treating people like humans, we give ourselves, as leaders, some of that human grace, too.And what have we seen?In a business field where typical marketing agency turnover is around 2 years, our average employee tenure right now is over double that amount.Clients are happy.✨ Employees are happy. When it comes to treating employees like humans (& adults), what would you add to my list? Share in the comments below. 🙂

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“We’re a FAMILY.” - Me… a young manager talking about my work team. 👀Ever said this to your team? Usually, it comes from a place of kindness and sincerity, *and* in my experience, it can actually be a little dangerous.While the sentiment can foster a sense of camaraderie and support, it took me a while to realize work teammates are not your family in the traditional sense because it’s HEALTHY to have professional expectations and boundaries at work.****However, you can still forge meaningful relationships with them. 🤗 For example, I’ve been at my colleagues’ weddings, watched them become parents, had co-workers drop by with food and coffee when I was laid up, and even had a co-worker watch my sweet little cat (thanks Nate! 🐈). That's the beauty of a close-knit work environment.The key, in my mind, to building a solid bond with your teammates without overstepping boundaries is:🗣️ CommunicationWhether it's sharing ideas, giving feedback, or even just checking in on how someone's day is going, open communication lays the foundation for a strong team dynamic. I love starting the first 5 (let’s be honest… 15) minutes of a meeting with personal chat.🤝 Trust and respectTrusting your teammates to deliver quality work and respecting their expertise fosters a sense of camaraderie. Remember, teamwork is all about leveraging each other's strengths to achieve collective success—and if you have a team as talented as Team Accelity (yes, I’m biased 😇), that success comes easily!☕ Taking the time to get to know your colleagues personallyWhether it's grabbing a coffee together, joining a team-building activity, or simply engaging in casual conversations, I’ve seen these moments form lasting connections.So, while I learned a long time ago that, no, our teams are not our families—we truly can create fulfilling bonds that last. Here's to building strong relationships with your teammates! 🌟

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What are your 2024 affirmations?I've got a few you may want to borrow 😊 ...When I set my mind to it, I achieve my goals.Little by little is better than nothing at all.I find gratitude in my past experiences and gently allow myself grace as I grow beyond them.Cheers to you & the new year! 🥂 (Share your affirmations below!)

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Was 2023 “your year”… or complete hell? 🔥It was a mixed bag for me—so many incredible things happened. We bought a new home, traveled & went to Italy, and got engaged, and I got promoted and became a partner at Accelity. Even one of those things would be big in a given year, and I count myself blessed every day. 🙏And this year has also been very draining—my close family members, my cat and I all experienced or are experiencing incredibly tough health issues, as well as a sudden loss in our family. So was this year my year, or was it hell? 😂 ha!… it’s never that simple. Life has its ups and downs, and while I’d say that 2023 WAS one of my better years, it was also very hard to stay sane. >> If you feel the same, if you feel defeated, or if you’re looking to level up next year, here are a few things that kept me on track and mentally well this year. <<☮️Pray/meditate/journalI find peace in prayer. Religious or not, finding a quiet space for you to process thoughts and emotions is healing. For me, this looks like journaling, or a walk outside—yes, even in the winter—and other times it’s a silent prayer in my bed at night. Do what works for you and do not skip this. Just like your body needs recovery after a workout, your mind needs recovery from the daily grind. What would it take for you to slow down for yourself?🏃 Participate in joyful movementI used to think the only kind of valuable exercise was high-intensity cardio.🙄 Now, moving my body looks different because I make mental health a priority in the movement. Joyful movement means exercising in a way that brings me happiness, like taking a long hike in nature, or doing yoga with my fiancé and laughing in between (very) loud groans… I’m no pretzel. What movement brings you joy?😔 Say SorryIn times of high stress, we are bound to make mistakes and take things out on others. While I do my best to keep that in check, it happens. We are all human. I’ve learned to give myself grace and get comfortable with genuinely apologizing. Apologies are born from healthy vulnerability and they build community. Apologies bring people together. I’m not above saying sorry and making things right, and it’s why, even on friendship’s rockiest roads, I have lifers by my side.🚫 Say No10 years ago, I said “yes” to way too many things—going out when I didn’t want to, taking on more when I didn’t have the capacity to do so, and supporting others when I was emotionally drowning. When it comes to my happiness, I stay open to possibilities while prioritizing myself and saying “yes” to things that spark joy. My social calendar is lighter, to be sure, and it is usually filled with the things that most enrich my life.❓What else would you add to this list?Cheers to your health and happiness in 2024!(Photo celebrates one of my highlights of the year—our engagement!)

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