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02.12.20

Giving yourself some grace

  • Posted By : Jenn Chen/
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  • Under : Business, Marketing, Personal

I’ve been grappling with the idea of “grace” lately. And not the religious or spiritual kind. As you might know, I moved to a new place three weeks ago. Since moving here, I’ve already gone on two trips. But to me, it feels like I’ve been here forever and why haven’t I already organized everything and put decor on the walls? If it was any other person, I’d tell them to take their time but since it’s me, I feel like I’m lacking that same patience and grace. 

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01.29.20

Read the digital room, kthxbai

  • Posted By : Jenn Chen/
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  • Under : Business, Marketing

“Read the room” is a common phrase when talking about analyzing an audience while you’re the speaker. In case you’re unfamiliar with the phrase, you take into account nonverbal and verbal cues from the people you’re around and adjust your words accordingly. A good example of this would be that if you’re at a posh dinner party, avoiding sharing intimate details about your life (unless, of course, that’s the topic- and that’s where you’d “read the room” to adjust your words).

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12.23.19

Harnessing jealousy to your advantage, Part 2

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  • Under : Business, Marketing

In Part 1, I wrote about how to use your internal jealousy to pinpoint where you want your goals to be and determine what you want to do in life and business. For this post, I want to examine it from a marketing perspective where you use jealousy to subtly encourage sales and drive FOMO (fear of missing out) among your customers.

Unless you’re a marketer, you’ve probably not thought about marketing psychology tactics. Many times, in social media, you are not advertising once and converting that customer on a sale. In general marketing principles, the average consumer needs to see an ad seven times before committing to a purchase. And this number jumps even more if you have luxury goods. It is important to note that the stat was established before social media came about. So it’s very possible that your ad could be shown an average of three times before conversion.

Ways that businesses harness jealousy among consumers include: limited edition products (a special color or style), flash sales, and creating an in-group of influencers. We often want the lifestyle that someone else has, even if we are aware that it’s a facade. I highly doubt that any influencer out there lives the life that is shown on their Instagram feed. We all have to run errands and deal with friendship crises. But the unglamorous parts of life is not what sells. The best kind of influencer is the one that makes you think that you, too, could live their life if only you had the products. It doesn’t matter if you actually can, it only matters if you could.

So, to execute some of what I mentioned, here are some ideas for you try out for your coffee company. Each of these are doable throughout the year. Many of these ideas also hinge on the hope that customers will post about them on social media and brag in a way that will cause other potential customers to be jealous.

Limited edition products

Even if you’re not a manufacturer, swag is included here as a limited edition product. You can take an existing swag product that you already offer and release a new design on it by working with an illustrator. Turn it into a series with different illustrators and it becomes a collectible item. Or, change up colors and release them in limited quantities. 

Flash sales

Everyone loves a sale and a flash one really drives up the need to buy right now. Mark the discount or sale as even higher than you normally would for a sale and then limit the sale. This can be limited in two ways: number of uses or time.

Number of uses

  • Online sales: “First five customers to enter this code online receive this free gift.”
  • In-person sales: “First 10 people to mention this sale get a free drink.”
  • DM gifts: “First five people to DM will receive this gift!”

Time: Many of these depend on your reach. So if your social media presence is small and/or your audience isn’t very engaged, then you may need to extend the flash deal time.

  • Online sales: “This coupon expires in two hours.”
  • In-person sales: “Buy a drink, get a cookie for the next two hours.”
  • DMs: “Send us a DM while this story is up with your favorite drink and receive a free drink coupon.”

In-group of influencers

This now gets into more influencer marketing territory. To execute this, you need to cultivate a group of influencers that you can send products to ahead of a launch. They then post about it and you have people driving buzz before the product is available. This creates a sense of jealousy among your customers. 

Alternatively, you can time their posts with the same day as your product launch so your digital share of voice is high that day. To make the product even more desirable, turn it into a limited edition item.


I hope some of these ideas help create new marketing campaigns for you! The holidays are a great time to test some of these out.


12.03.19

Harnessing jealousy to your advantage, Part 1

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  • Under : Business

We’re told at a young age that jealousy is a Bad Feeling. You shouldn’t feel it and if you do, you need to get rid of it fast. But, what if we take a moment to sit with it? Could we learn something from this feeling? My thought is yes. This being said, I’m not talking about the toxicity that results from sitting so far into your jealousy. I’m talking about examining jealousy with a critical, logical lens. 

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11.21.19

Guide to setting up business boundaries

  • Posted By : Jenn Chen/
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  • Under : Business

As we head into the holiday season, boundaries – personal or business – are more important than ever. While this is written more for the business marketing end, I’m sure you can find ways to take the tips into other aspects of your life. I’m also still learning my own boundaries so please don’t take this as the end-all-be-all type of guide.

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10.16.19

Q&A with Morgan Eckroth, barista & TikTok creative

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  • Under : Business, Social Media

Morgan Eckroth is a full-time college student who works part-time as a barista during the school year. She’s also a barista competitor and photographer who has garnered 615.4k followers on TikTok (@morgandrinkscoffee) in just a few months. In exploring a new social media platform, I thought they’d be a perfect candidate to do a Q&A with.

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top-down look at espresso against tiled countertop
08.21.19

Coffee marketing failures and their lessons: David Yake

  • Posted By : Jenn Chen/
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  • Under : Business, Coffee, Marketing, Social Media

Failure is a part of doing business. After a certain amount of time operating, you’re bound to fail and that’s okay. Failure can also be used as a learning experience. Earlier this year, I asked my followers if any would be interested in talking to me about their coffee marketing failures – big or small. I was curious to know if people jumped on marketing trends or invested too heavily in a new product. This Q&A series is titled “Coffee marketing failures and their lessons.” 

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07.25.19

Social media sound bites are necessary for consumer education

  • Posted By : Jenn Chen/
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  • Under : Business, Marketing, Social Media

I went to an event at Red Bay Coffee recently. It was titled “The Impact of Coffee Crisis on Communities & the Border Crisis.” It was targeted to consumers and ultimately, both illuminating and thought provoking to me. Attendance was 50/50 in consumers and industry professionals.

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white hands are pouring milk into a hot chocolate
06.26.19

I’m in marketing & believe you should prioritize employees

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  • Under : Business

It’s a cycle, really. Happy employees mean happy customers mean more profits. While I am not advocating for a total lack of a marketing budget, I am saying that your employees make your business what it is.

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05.29.19

7 marketing lessons in 7 years of freelancing

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  • Under : Business, Marketing

Seven years is a long time to do any one thing. Yet here I am, seven years later, still self-employed and still focused on specialty coffee. My services have naturally evolved through the years and it’s been an interesting journey through it all.

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About Jenn Chen

I'm a San Francisco-based writer & photographer. On the side, I munch on donuts & hang out with my dog Zoey.

You can reach me here or on Bluesky.

Life goal:
eat / drink coffee / write / travel
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Jenn is a San Francisco-based writer & photographer. On the side, she munches on fun flavored chips & hangs out with her dog Zoey. You can reach her via the contact page or on social media @thejennchen.

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