1. Email Marketing Software and Outsourcing, and Optimizing Influencer Marketing Efforts In this session, we talk about email subscribers receiving multiple autoresponders at once, Flodesk for ecommerce and how to affordably outsource email marketing. Then we talk about how to optimize on your influencer outreach, what tweaks to make for better results and the exact call to action to use in an email pitch to an influencer. We also chat about keeping packaging costs low while creating a magical unboxing experience that's on brand. 1:57:08
  2. Dealing with Anxiety and Being Decisive in Business, Email and SMS Marketing In this call, the theme of anxiety and stress come up a lot, which we'll see is often rooted in the fear of making a decision that we're unsure will be successful or not. We also talk about lowering prices as a strategy, how to use live events to make more sales online, email and SMS marketing. 2:03:28
  3. Email Marketing, Facebook Ads and What To Do In Economic Downturns Should you still use email marketing when you sell a high end, luxury product? How do you increase email open rates? How much do you spend on ads and how long do you run them to get them profitable? We talk about all of this and more in this call. 2:18:54
  4. Slow Sales, GoImagine and Social Media Marketing In today's call, led by Peter Chang, owner of Custom Family Gifts, we talk about how to troubleshoot your business if sales are slow or you've hit a plateau. Where to focus your energy on if not on social media, and more! 1:15:31
  5. Media Outreach, Partnering with an Accountability Buddy and Mindset This session is centered heavily around many thoughts and questions around media outreach - best workflows, contracts, busting through your comfort zone, working with an accountability buddy through the Rejection Challenge and more! 2:01:00
  6. Pivoting in Business, How To Get Out Of Your Own Way, When NOT To Outsource and The Accelerator In this more spiritual and intimate call, we dig deep into how our own fear stops us from achieving success and how to start addressing that. How to spot when your perfectionism is getting in your way, social media pressures make us think we have to run our business a certain way, and so much more! 1:58:26
  7. When To Start Paid Ads, The Keys to a Successful POD Shop, Converting Traffic Into Sales, Does Your Product Have Potential? In this session, we chat about all the things! From knowing when you should start paid ads, to troubleshooting conversion rates, and mockup photos for jewelry, this call touches on a little bit of everything! 2:04:10
  8. Selling Wholesale, Using Hotjar to Increase Sales, Hiring Help In this session, we chat about different platforms to sell wholesale, how Hotjar can be used to increase sales, how to get clear on brand positioning, how to pick a focus, influencer marketing, hiring help and print art pricing . 3:57:37
  9. JustUno vs MailerLite, The Made-To-Order Model, Subscription Box Strategy and Black Friday Prep In this session, we talk about the functionality of JustUno and MailerLite, how to use the made-to-order model, how to find customers on Instagram using the Coattail Technique, subscription box strategies to appeal to more people, how Mei preps for her Ladder Discount Sale for Black Friday, inventory systems, pitching follow ups and when to know you're ready to start using Facebook ads. 4:20:42
  10. Email Marketing, Hiring Help, Email Pitching, Optimizing the Customer Journey In this session, we talk about everything business from pricing when you have multiple vendors, branding colors, POD companies, how to convert more of your traffic into sales, email marketing, collecting sales tax, email pitching, photographing glass products and how to pay and train a customer service rep for your shop! 3:32:19
  11. Strategic Timing in Your Business, Fourth Quarter Planning, Instagram Growth In this call, we deep dive on a few students' businesses and how they can spend their money strategically, and how to prioritize future investments or opportunities. We talk about subject lines and due dates for holiday media pitching, and Mei's fourth quarter plans for her business. We then go into Instagram growth using hashtags and interactions with ideal customers, and more! 3:58:45
  12. Email Marketing Content and Tech, Picking a Niche and How to Find Great Product Ideas In this session, we dive deep into email marketing content - what you should say in your emails and how to decide what to include and where, what software you might want to use to collect email addresses effectively, how to set up abandoned cart emails and Mei showed her behind-the-scenes look at her Klaviyo and JustUno accounts. We also cover Mei's process for discovering great products to sell, tips on how to ship heavy products, pricing your OOAK products for wholesale and more! 2:59:57
  13. Launching Imperfectly, Tiny Hands' Onsite SEO, Selling Higher Ticket Products, Developing your USP & more! This session is jam packed with a ton of great questions like how to launch imperfectly, how to do onsite SEO, how to scale ads, how to develop a USP in a competitive niche, when to start media outreach, what types of email broadcasts to send, how to build brand awareness, how to do a giveaway when your social media following is small, and more! 3:54:30
  14. Cause Marketing, How To Get and Use UGC, Selling Custom Products, & Social Media In this session, we talk about how to integrate cause marketing into your business, how to improve traffic and pitching to influencers. How to collect User Generated Content and where to use it in your marketing, how to make your products stand out, how to avoid being ghosted by custom order customers after you tell them your pricing, and so much more! 2:56:33
  15. Social Media, Conversion Rate Optimization, Hiring Help and SEO In this session, we talk about whether you should do all the social media or focus on one at a time. We cover how to use OPC, how to get more engagement and how to have a cohesive branded look with your feed. Use Google Optimize for testing changes on your site to increase conversion rates, how to hire production help, finding long tail keywords for SEO and more! 2:40:32
  16. Diversifying Income Streams, Switching to Shopify and Media Outreach In this session, we talk about managing your energy with media outreach efforts, how to get out of the red with your business by diversifying income streams or scaling up, how to transition over to Shopify, and how to become more consistent with your content creation (email marketing and social media posts). We talk about Instagram hashtags, international shipping and different market tastes! 3:27:03
  17. Email Marketing, List Building Strategies, How To Build Fast Momentum with Etsy This call is packed with a ton of strategies on email marketing and list building that actually converts into sales! Mei introduces our two new amazing Creative Hive coaches, we help Jason get the ball rolling faster with his Etsy shop, how to build your network of suppliers, how to go from artist to business owner and alternatives to POD. 3:06:51
  18. Raising Prices, How to Promote a DIY/Craft Product,, My Thoughts about TikTok and IG Stories We kick the new year off with some great pricing questions, raising prices, and whether you should keep your prices the same across all platforms you sell on. We talk about how to pick hashtags for IG and SEO keywords, and the nuanced strategy behind selling a higher end DIY/crafty product. The Coattail technique, dealing with overwhelm and fear, inventory systems, outreach systems, scaling Facebook ads and my perspective on TikTok, IG reels and stories... these are just some of the great topics we discuss in this call! 3:33:21
  19. 2020 Review: Income Report, What Worked, What Didn't and 2021 Plans In this final call to close out 2020, Mei talks about how much money she and her husband made in their businesses respectively, what helped them get to those new income levels, what didn't work, points of frustration for Mei (negligent DMCA copyright claim filed against us), and future 2021 plans. 2:00:55
  20. Facebook Ads Budget, Do You Need A Rebrand? VAT Taxes, Holiday Prep, Coattail List Demonstration In this group coaching session, we talk about editing product photos for a truly white background, how to schedule OPC on social, Facebook ads strategy, how to know if you need to rebrand, how to pay for VAT taxes, holiday sales promos, how to do the Coattail Technique and more! 2:53:16
  21. Virtual Shows, Facebook Ads, Media Outreach and Shipping In this call, we talk about virtual shows (Diane shares her experience doing a few of them), getting reviews for your Amazon shop, how to get the most out of Facebook ads if you're just starting out (what lookalike audiences you can make), media outreach, packaging and product feedback for Laura, and shipping strategy. 2:51:34
  22. Validating Your Product Idea with our 9 Point Checklist, Media Outreach Expectations and Selling on Marketplace Sites In this call, we talk about what to expect when you work with an influencer, when to pay for features, if it's a good strategy to sell on marketplace sites and what prices to charge on there (should they be higher or lower than on your site?), and we help Adriana validate product ideas with our 9 point checklist, how to do marketing when your customer are children but the buyers are the adults, and so much more! 3:07:21
  23. The Power of Accountability Partners, Mindset Challenges and Email Marketing This call really dives deep into how masterminds and accountability partners can help push you forward in your business, how to find a partner, what makes a good partner and so on. We also talk about product pricing vs shipping costs and how the two can go hand in hand. We chat more about our perfectionism, how to overcome that, and how to come back to your business after taking a few months' break, or when life throws you lemons. 3:01:17
  24. Finding Your Niche, Facebook Ads, Content Marketing, Pitching Products, and more! This call is power packed with lots of great conversations about different students finding their niche, whether they're in the right market or not, how to best communicate their product to strangers, the strategy behind Facebook ads and how to tie ads with content marketing. We also talk about the benefit of moving from different platforms over to Shopify, details about the made to order model and how to keep your business running lean. Also, what does it mean when you get an increase in traffic from a media mention, but no sales? We navigate all of this and more in this call. 4:22:13
  25. Media Outreach, The Artist's Ego, Hiring Help Strategies, Comparisonitis and more! In this session, we talked about media outreach software, print on demand challenges, the artisttic ego and how that can negatively impact your business, how to hire virtual assistants, coders and the differences between hiring an agency vs a freelancer. We also talked about MVP, what to do when a celebrity talks about your product, why you shouldn't invest in branding in the beginning, what to do if you're not in the US but want to target a US base of customers, dealing with comparisonitis and why spending all your time on Instagram won't really help your business. 3:05:45
  26. Coronavirus - What to Do, Should You Still Launch, Selling Virus Related Products and More With the coronavirus crisis happening, everyone is on edge. We're confused, conflicted and don't want to do anything insensitive. We look at other businesses that are providing great solutions and products to the community during this time, whether or not you should launch your product or business now, whether you should stop promoting all together and more. 1:51:40
  27. Pitching Strategies, Facebook Ads, SEO and the Coattail Technique in Action In this call, we talk about many pitching strategies and questions, SEO fundamentals like ALT tags, naming photo file conventions and how to get ranked higher in search. How much money do you need to spend on Facebook ads? Mei gives an example on how to use the Coattail Technique, and talks about how to protect yourself if you sell a children's product, how to do giveaways, flash sales and more! 3:07:09
  28. Changing Domain Names, HotJar and How To Pick Just One Product Idea In this call, we talk about the correct way to change domain names so you don't lose all your previous traffic from link building and SEO, what is HotJar and why you want to install it on your site (it's free!), and how to pick just one business idea to focus on, even if you're equally passionate about both. 47:22
  29. Mei's 2019 Business Review and Student Q&A In this session, Mei breaks down major pivotal points in her businesses in 2019. She mentions several crushing experiences and what her plan is for 2020. Our student questions include how to deal with burnout, feeling like quitting, how to pitch your products and the right mindset to have when doing so, conversion rate optimization, Facebook advertising and more! 2:55:10
  30. Customer Reviews, Holiday Social Strategy and Business Life In this call, we talk about managing customer reviews, troubleshooting PR and why it doesn't work sometimes, social media holiday strategies for a new business owner, rebranding vs starting from scratch, the life of a small business owner and more! 2:37:28
  31. The Current State of Instagram (November 2019) I report on the current state of Instagram, my new Shopify store and the strategies I'm taking to market a new online shop. 50:14
  32. How to Personalize Automated Emails, Boost Posts vs Facebook Ads, How To Find Focus, Copycats, Updates on Pinterest Module and Instagram Bots In this call, we talk about how to use variables to insert first names into an automated email via MailerLite and Consistent Cart, Facebook advertising and why you want to avoid doing boost posts, how to be more productive and organized with your business to-do lists, retargeting Facebook ads and how to set them up easily with a Shopify app, why worrying too much about copycats will slow you down and much more! 2:27:00
  33. Selling Wholesale with an MVP Collection, The Technical Side of Rebranding, When Your Focus is Narrow Enough and QR Code Marketing How you can sell your MVP product line wholesale to stores, without having stocked up inventory, to help you generate cash to kickstart production of new designs. We also talk about how to tackle the technical side of rebranding, the sweet spot for narrowing the focus of your products, how to get in front of your ideal customers, and whether or not using QR codes to encourage customer interaction is a good idea! 1:27:36
  34. All Things Shipping: Shipping Internationally, Packaging, Software and more! In this call, we talk about all things shipping, from shipping internationally, what to do when tracking shows your package is stuck at a location for months, how to make financially strategic decisions about packaging supplies, free shipping on Etsy, PirateShip and more. 1:29:16
  35. Finding Your USP, Finished Product VS DIY Product and How to Protect Yourself Selling Children's Products In today's calls, we dive deep into what a USP is, what makes a good USP and how to uncover your USP. We talk about when it's a good idea to sell the DIY version of your finished product in your shop, and when that's not a good idea. Finally, we chat about what you need to do to protect yourself from liability specifically when selling a children's product. 1:26:10
  36. PR Pitching, Blogging & Repeatable Designs In this call, we compare PR pitching with other forms of marketing, what media outlets to focus on when pitching and the differences between them, when blogging is a great strategy for you and when it's not, and why having repeatable designs is important even if you love making one of a kind designs. 1:22:05
  37. Q&A With Mei: April 20 In this call, Mei breaks down what happened with the virus attack on the Creative Hive website, whether or not influencer matchmaking services are worth it or not, how to find PR assistants to help you do the grunt work for pitching, the differences between Upwork and Fiverr and when to use one of the other for outsourcing, how to manage costs when sending free samples for PR purposes and troubleshooting Instagram outreach bot FollowLiker. 1:14:54
  38. Q&A with Mei: March 16 In this call, we chat about Facebook ads, craft shows and how to decide if you should keep doing them, whether you should use Paypal on your website, and when is a good idea to have separate domain names for your brand. 2:08:08
  39. Q&A with Mei: February 16 In this call, we talk about how to set up an easy wholesale ordering system for one of a kind product sellers using Shopify, whether or not you should split your product lines into two separate shops, how to find a common theme between your different collections, social media software, pricing prints where most of your time is spent in the upfront designing process, and more! 1:56:12
  40. Outsourcing and Hiring Help 101 for Makers In this call, we talk about the best places to hire help and what places to avoid (Mei shares some nightmare experiences hiring from certain places you'll definitely want to avoid!), what criteria you should set when looking for help and how to tell if they'll be a good candidate, hiring in person, production help and more! 1:07:50
  41. How to Rock Etsy: Photos, Keywords and Influencer Marketing In this call, you'll learn the photo strategy you should have for your Etsy shop, how to decide whether or not to use white background or colored backgrounds for your photos, lightbox vs natural lighting, and how the algorithm works now and what you must do to do effective keyword research, plus why influencer marketing and PR is a waste for Etsy shops. 35:52
  42. Q&A with Mei: November 16 In this call, we cover Facebook marketing from organic Facebook marketing with personal profiles, pages and groups to paid ads, how to increase engagement, how to direct traffic to your shop with Facebook and more! 1:06:01
  43. The 3 Strategies to Selling High End Products with Jewelry Designer, Julia Chagall Selling more expensive products can be a whole different ballpark than selling affordable items. In this call, Julia shares the exact strategies she implemented to get traffic to her shop and make sales! 1:11:08
  44. Q&A with Mei: October 12 In this call, we talk about holiday craft shows and how to figure out which ones are worth signing up for. Mei talks through her process for figuring out how much inventory you need to bring to a show and how to drum up your online sales through local shows. 1:04:16
  45. How M.K. Zeppa Built A Successful Pet Product Business With Her Paintings In this chat, MK talks about the importance of having a niche and a USP. She shares the exact steps she took to create a wildly successful launch for a new product line where she sold over 600 tea towels over a couple short months. She talks about what marketing worked and what didn't, and how to best approach wholesale buyers in this information packed call. 1:00:57
  46. Q&A with Mei: September 14 In this call, we talk about email marketing, which email marketing service to sign up for, how to keep open rates up and how to grow your email list. We also chat about how to make using bots for Instagram authentic, and why it's really important to consider using bots for IG. 1:04:54
  47. Quitting Your Day Job For Your Passion with Kimberly Taylor-Pestell Artist and stationery designer, Kimberly Taylor-Pestell, shares her step-by-step plan for how she made the leap from 8-5 job to pursuing her business full time. She talks about how she found her passion for art, the fears she felt (and still feels) about her art, and work/life balance (or lack thereof!) She shares how she grew her wholesale business so quickly, the importance of masterminds, and how changing her mental language changed her perception of her business journey. 1:19:23
  48. Q&A with Mei: August 17 In this chat, we talk about all things holiday prep for your business, from planning your Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales, to figuring out how much inventory you need and how to set up cut-off shipping dates. 1:05:14
  49. Explode Your Instagram with Followers and Sales with Roota Mittal's Instagram Story Ads Strategy In this call, digital marketer Roota Mittal shares with us how she quickly grew her (and her clients') Instagram accounts by the thousands in a few short weeks. She talks about the strategy behind how to create Instagram story ads that get you new followers at $0.20 per person, and how to nurture the relationship with your new followers to convert them into sales later on. 53:08
  50. Q&A with Mei: July 13 In this call, we talk about the overall Pinterest strategy and fundamentals of Pinterest, how to drive engagement on Facebook without spending money on boosted posts, the two strategies for making social media translate to traffic and sales and how to get started with video marketing. 53:51
  51. The Keys to Succeed on the New Etsy with Ijeoma Eleazu from Etsy Conversations Podcast In this insightful call with podcast host, Ijeoma Eleazu, we learn about how Etsy has changed and what the landscape looks like now. Ijeoma shares smart Etsy marketing tips like "think like a buyer" and how to use Etsy's search bar to do keyword research. We learn about how passion is the common thread tying all the successful Etsy shop owners she's interviewed, and how Etsy monitors buyer behavior and interactions with their search engine. Learn how to focus on one social platform and how there's value in having other sellers critique your listings! 1:25:10
  52. Q&A with Mei: June 22 We chat about raising prices, licensing, working with wholesale buyers, how to get more direct traffic to your website, marketing to 40-65 women on Instagram or Facebook, how to do market research interviews and how to partner with other business owners, Facebook ads, how to find influencers and blogs to pitch your products to and GDPR. 1:29:51
  53. How to Provide Amazing Customer Service with Stacey Trock Stacey shares her overall philosophies for when dealing with customer service emails. She talks about how to handle difficult people, scams, unhappy customers as well as how to make the most of a raving and happy customer. 1:12:27
  54. Q&A with Mei: May 11 In this call, we talk about Instagram likes, comments and follows conversion ratios and what to expect for a reasonable %. We also talk about buying followers for social proof, using Instagram story ads to gain followers and using bots vs manually interacting with prospects. We talk about what's a healthy profit margin for growing or larger volume shops and how to increase profit margins. 0:53:00
  55. Engaging Storytelling on Social Media with Ashley Dammeyer Ashley shares her 10 step process for how to create more engaging posts on social media. We talk about how to start with a strategy and plan for your social media posts, being real and personal and how to overcome resistances like the fear that no one will be interested in what we have to say, not having anything interesting to share, being a private person and how to still show up on social media in a meaningful way. 1:05:17
  56. Q&A with Mei: April 13 In this call, we talk about Instagram software, what marketing platforms are the best bang for your buck, how to diversify your Facebook ads campaigns and whether to target the buyer or end user for your ads, what to do with packaging that has your old logo, blogging for business, and we reviewed @mandibk and @cocoandleelee's Instagram profiles. 1:38:58
  57. Getting Wholesale Ready with Adrienne Wiley Adrienne shares practical and straight forward advice for new makers just getting started with wholesale. What do you need to get straightened out before you pursue wholesale? What should you consider when designing or producing your products for wholesale? Adrienne shares her production and hiring secrets, her GENIUS way for how to find stores to pitch to, what to say (and what not to say!) in your pitch and the system for keeping your pitches and follow ups organized. We also talk about when you know you're ready to take on trade shows, when they start to pay off and sales reps. 1:21:14
  58. Q&A with Mei: March 9 In this call, we chat about the different marketing platforms, why it's important to focus on 1-2 ways of promotion, influencer marketing - the different types of features, how to find influencers using keywords and on YouTube, why having a wide range in age for your ideal customer complicates your marketing and Instagram algorithms. 1:20:05
  59. Legal Matters for Creatives with Kiffanie Stahle Kiffanie shares a wealth of knowledge on the topics of business licenses, what you should legally take care of when you're just starting out, the differences between copyright, trademark, patents and trade secrets, how to protect your artwork online, how to deal with piracy with digital products, and a whole lot more! 1:14:09
  60. Q&A with Mei: February 9 In this call, we talk about PR, pitching and influencer marketing. What kind of mindset to have, who to pitch to and how to make sure influencers follow through on their end of the bargain! We also talk about pricing and how to make smart design decisions! 1:43:37
  61. Conquering Resistance, Improving Confidence and the Six Pillars for a CEO Mindset with Kate Crocco Get practical, actionable advice from a trained psychotherapist! Kate shares with us the biggest roadblock creative business owners face, how we can change our mindset and how to improve our self-esteem. We talk about self-sabotage and the six pillars for being a successful business owner. 1:08:11
  62. Q&A with Mei: January 12 In this call, we chat about PR and publicity, what to focus on if you've got multiple passions, whether or not you should carry inventory and my philosophy of getting your product in as many people's hands as possible! 1:06:01
  63. Q&A with Mei: December 29 In this call, we talk about how to pivot in your business and when you should, whether or not different social media platforms should have different content, product packaging, how to get started with wholesale and how to find sales reps, how to figure out what needs to be done first on your to-do list and more! 1:46:01
  64. Project and Time Management and Productivity Secrets with Stephanie Dyke Stephanie shares some of her best tips and tricks for how to plan projects to ensure they get done and on time! She talks about how work life balance is a fallacy and how to really juggle everything at once. We talk about creating systems that work for you, how to deal with procrastination and lack of inspiration and how to be more proactive and less reactive in your business. 1:04:03
  65. Running a Full Time Business with 15 Hours a Week with Mollie Chen In this extensive Q&A with Mollie Chen of Mu Yin Jewelry, Mollie shares her practical systems for scaling back on time spent on her business while still making $60-140k per year. She talks about doing cost and time analysis and being strategic with prices and designs. Mollie's business model relies heavily on marketplace sites like Etsy and Amazon. She talks about her scheduling system, how and what she outsources and what she works on to grow her business. 2:14:40
  66. Q&A with Mei: November 10 In this group Q&A, we talk about how it's important to plug leaky holes in production but how you can't let that constant need of improving your site and products keep you from putting yourself out there to do marketing. We help Denise come up with a subscription product and Lucy with whether or not marketplace sites are worth spending time on. Then we chat with Dianne about building a cohesive product line while not letting past experiences define your future. We also cover recent Instagram growth strategies, how to pitch outside the box, how much products to send to influencers, and how Shelly can improve on her Facebook growth. 1:12:21
  67. Mastering Productivity and Focus with Abby Glassenberg Abby Glassenberg talks about how she balances family life and her business while staying productive with projects. She shares her favorite apps, her system for keeping her organized and her daily schedule. A recurring theme in this interview is how your love for what you do plays a huge role in keeping you focused and motivated. 1:10:56
  68. Q&A with Mei: October 13 In this group coaching call, we talk about Facebook ads, how to juggle between launching your shop and an upcoming craft show, which marketing platform to focus on and how blogging ought to be used to attract ideal customers and traffic. 1:09:56
  69. Selling Wholesale Intensive with Justine Vannucci In this call, Justine shares how she started her business and her foray into the wholesale market. She talks about the logistics of her wholesale program, from packaging and shipping to linesheets, Etsy Wholesale and IndieMe. We talk about how to set yourself apart from other makers selling wholesale. Then Justine gets deep into sharing her experiences with trade shows and working with sales reps, how to find them and run a cost efficient booth. Lastly, we hear how product level stacking and price anchoring can help with sales and strategies for getting reorders coming in. 1:17:11
  70. Q&A with Mei: September 15 In this group coaching call, we talk with a few members on how to narrow down on their ideal customer and pick a niche. Mei reviews a couple of websites and diagnoses the problem with lack of sales. 2:15:22
  71. Instagram Success with Ria Chan from Craftsposure In this masterclass, Ria shares with us several strategies for growing your Instagram account for if you're just getting started and after you've reached your first couple thousands followers. She talks about hashtags and how to several ninja ways to find relevant hashtags that you have never heard of before! We talk about how to foster engagement and how Instagram is realy more a lead generation platform than it is a direct sales one. Learn how to get on the Top Posts or Explore feed. 1:01:34
  72. Q&A with Mei: August 18 In this Q&A session, we talk about finding focus with your design style, getting clear on your ideal customer before tackling any marketing, pitching to Instagram influencers, how to deal with comparisonitis, whether or not to do trade shows, figuring out what to post on Instagram and more! 2:18:26
  73. Growing a Multiple Six Figure Handmade Business with Cheri Tracy of Orglamix In this chat with Cheri, we talk about the importance of listening to your customers and going to where they're already at. Cheri shares how she got her big break and 1000's of features later, believes PR outreach has made the biggest impact on her business. This call is filled with amazing nuggets of advice, from how to find influencers, dealing with bloggers who ask for payment, to Cheri's favorite Shopify apps, her email marketing secrets and how she manages everything while raising two young girls. 1:16:13
  74. Q&A with Mei: July 13 In this chat, we talk about Shopify plans and gift cards, Instagram hashtags, giveaways, Instagram automation tools (should you use it or not?), Pinterest marketing - creating more specific boards of existing general boards (i.e. weaving board vs tapestry weaving board), how to increase repins on your own pins, and a few other Shopify logistic questions like designing the personalized shopping experience for custom products using variations and drop down menus! 1:51:56
  75. Q&A with Mei: June 27 In this session, we chat about how to reach out to artists for collaborations, how to pinpoint what you want to be known for, how to increase repeat sales through recurring orders, loyalty programs, and email marketing, Pinterest vs Facebook ads, how to display a large number of collections in a Shopify site's navigation. 1:29:59
  76. Email Marketing Best Practices with Ilma from MailerLite Our special guest expert from MailerLite shares with us how to grow your email list, the importance of having an automated welcome email, strategies to increase open rate, tips for what to write in your emails, double vs single opt in, common mistakes, how to link to your sign up form in Instagram and how to change ESP's. 57:25
  77. Perfecting Pinterest with Miranda Nahmias Miranda manages Pinterest for many of her clients and she's gotten a system down for getting it to work for your business. In this masterclass, Miranda shares the common mistakes people make with Pinterest, how to optimize your profile, the differences between Tailwind and BoardBooster, the strategy for growing your following, traffic and email list with group boards and some extra ninja tricks! 1:07:18
  78. Q&A with Mei: May 18 In this call, we talk about Instagram and getting automated likes and followers, how to do a successful giveaway, how easy it is to change themes in Shopify and how much code do you need to know to get it working right, setting up a wholesale section on your Shopify store, raising retail prices to afford selling wholesale and how to raise perceived value of your products. 1:16:56
  79. Selling on Handmade on Amazon and FBA with Molly Chen Molly shares her positive experience selling on Amazon. She helps you decide if Amazon is right for you, breaks down costs and compares with Etsy and talks about her marketing strategies with Amazon that have helped her make more sales on there than on her Etsy shop! 1:40:52
  80. Q&A with Mei: April 13 In this call, we talk about pricing a product where the materials are more or less free, pitching to influencers, bloggers and magazines and how to get more traffic and growth via Instagram. 1:00:30
  81. Running a Successful Art Business with Yao Cheng Yao Cheng talks about how she found focus in her business, how she got to her first tipping point and she shares her production and printing processes for her art prints and home decor items. We also talk about how to deal with weird commission requests, pricing products, customer service, hiring help and more! 1:42:04
  82. Q&A with Mei: March 9 In this Q&A, we chat about how to sell directly on Instagram, how to build an email list of your ideal customers, we reviewed Denise's tagline and Samara's traffic ad campaign, and we talked about the why Shopify is the best ecommerce platform to go with! 1:36:23
  83. Emily & Etan from Wholesale in a Box on Practical Steps to Selling Wholesale Emily & Etan talk about how to find stores for your products, how to decide if they're a good fit for you or not and how to find the buyer's email address. They talk about what to specifically say in your email pitch, follow up emails and smart goal setting. 1:19:07
  84. Q&A with Mei: February 9 In this chat, we talk about how to get unstuck with your business, targeting FB boost posts, Instagram hashtags, why traffic isn't converting into sales, wholesale linesheets, guest posting and more. 1:51:24
  85. Branding And Finding Your Voice with Aliza Stein Branding and copywriting expert, Aliza Stein, shares some great tips on how you can write more naturally on social, email newsletters or on your blog. She gives practical tips on how you can have the confidence and feel comfortable just being you. We later get into branding copy and how to practice writing better, as well as how to feel less salesy when promoting our products online. 1:01:48
  86. Q&A with Mei: January 12 In the first chat of the new year, we talk about Instagress, how to repost other people's content on Instagram, how to be more productive and organized, making designing decision, how to use the Coattail Technique and debating between Etsy vs Shopify. 1:50:13
  87. Bookkeeping, Accounting and Taxes with Allison Rosen Allison Rosen, a chartered accountant and bookkeeper to crafty business owners shares tons of tips and advice for how handmade business owners can be better about managing their money and books. She goes into specific detail on the differences between bookkeeping and accounting, examples of bookkeeping expense categories you can set up, what we should be prepared for when tax season rolls around and some of the common mistakes she sees creative business owners make. 1:42:38
  88. Q&A with Mei: December 8, 2016 In this call, we talk about how to be more tech savvy, how to get traffic and fine tune your Instagram growth strategy, how to raise your prices, selling dropship products, how to best use a referral program with influencers, how to use yourself as your USP and when is the right time to send an email to your new email list! 1:54:35
  89. Licensing Your Art With Corinna Buchholz Corinna shares amazing step-by-step information on what you need to get started with licensing your art, whether or not you need an agent, how to find one and how you would pitch your art to potential licensing clients if you did not have an agent. Corinna drops tons of truth and wisdom bombs on the mindset and lifestyle you should have as an artist in business for yourself and even shares specific numbers on some contracts she's made to give you a realistic idea for what to expect in this world of licensing. Lastly, we talk about whether or not trade shows are a requirement for you to do and how you licensing 3D products (like jewelry and ceramics) work. 1:03:14
  90. Q&A with Mei: November 8, 2016 In this call, we chat about Instagram engagement, how to know if you're offering too many products, Denise got some validation on her new product idea, and we talked about email list building and how to get more people signing up. 1:31:29
  91. Creative Copywriting with Kateland Kelly Kateland from the Write Assistant LLC share amazing advice on how we, as product business owners, should be writing product descriptions for our listings. She chats about the do's and don'ts as well as some very specific steps for overcoming writer's block when describing our own products, which can be very challenging to do! Kate ends the call with three live critiques. 1:09:23
  92. Q&A with Mei: October 13, 2016 In this live call, we chat about Instagram feature accounts, fine tuning Amy's client onboarding process with her photography business, what emails to send your list when you haven't launched yet, how to find content to post on your Facebook page, how to step outside your comfort zone when working with influencers in your market, the Coattail Techqniue and how it's useful and so much more! 2:38:46
  93. Selling Abstract Art Successfully with Christine Lindstrom Christine shares how she found customers who love her paintings, how she prices her originals using a sliding scale and talks about the challenges with pricing art. She also talks about pricing prints, how she markets your business, her strategies for having a successful Etsy and Shopify store, hiring help, protecting your rights as an artist and how to diversify and license your work. 1:37:31
  94. All About Wholesale with Artist and B&M Store Owner Sara Villari Sara shares with us tons of great tips on wholesale, including: how to know when you're ready to start selling wholesale, what things to avoid when you're pitching your products to a buyer, the #1 best way to get a buyer's attention, working with sales reps, Etsy wholesale and how to nurture a long term relationship with a store so they keep reordering from you! 1:31:13
  95. Q&A with Mei: August 11, 2016 The power of outsourcing production, how to find bloggers to pitch to, writing sales page copy and hiring a copyeditor, how to find your ideal customer using Facebook search and Audience Insights, becoming an authority in your field as a service based business, using content upgrades in your blog to triple email subsribers. 1:11:51
  96. Selling Digital & Subscription Products with Stacey Trock and Wendi Gratz Stacey and Wendi share what it's like to market and promote yourself as an information based business selling digital products. They talk about what they did when they were first starting out, what they do now to diversify their income and make a living with their business and share amazing tips on how to make sales in your subscription business (plus, they share some funny disaster stories so you don't make the same mistakes they did!) 1:22:02
  97. Q&A with Mei: July 14, 2016 Repositioning your brand and launching a new product lines, creating Facebook groups for your information-based business, posting the same or different content on other social media platforms. 45:59
  98. PR, Publicity & Getting TV Placement with Peggy Li Peggy shares with us how you can get your products worn and used on hit TV shows! Learn the step-by-step process you need to take to pitch your products to a show, what you should say in your pitch and how to best leverage your TV placements for more sales! Peggy also shares her favorite resources to help with researching, pitching and securing some TV spotlight. 56:11
  99. Q&A with Mei: June 16, 2016 Email newsletter broadcast and autoresponder ideas, branding and photography resources, running one or three separate Etsy shops to house multiple different product collections, teaching on Skillshare. 1:05:52
  100. Being a Working Artist with Lisa Congdon Lisa goes into details how an artists' career begins, how it makes us feel, and what we can do to make ourselves feel more prepared to run our own business. Lisa gives fantastic advice on blogging, sharing your work, creating a social media presence and being brave with the work you create! 1:13:05
  101. Q&A with Mei: May 12, 2016 Artists setting up for shows; how to be prepared for anything, pricing original pieces of work, how to choose logo design best suited for your brand, describing "unique" or "one of a kind" products. 1:03:43
  102. Mastering Pinterest with Bridgette Salvon-Berndt Bridgette is the owner of earmark social where she creates many different products, mainly paper goods. Here, Bridgette goes in depth about her tips and tricks on Pinterest success. She talks about how to use Pinterest as a main marketing tool for her business by explaining the analytics she uses and why she uses this social media platform. 1:11:34
  103. Q&A with Mei: April 21, 2016 Alternative marketing channels besides social media, PR & publicity, using bookkeeping software vs DIY, feeling redundant with writing marketing messages, how to diversify social media content. 39:43
  104. Successful Shows and the Secrets to Wholesale with Larissa Loden Larissa shares her secrets to growing a handmade jewelry business from just doing craft shows, farmer's markets and music festivals. She talks about how to design a sustainable and profitable product line, how she prices her products and how to get started selling wholesale. We also chat about doing trade shows, knowing when you're ready, how to make the most of your show and booth display set up and configuration. 1:32:22
  105. Q&A with Mei: March 17, 2016 Making sales with Instagram influencers, what to do when sales are slow, different opportunities and angles for working with influencers, finding Facebook groups to join, how to network in Facebook groups, streamlining marketing in Facebook groups, Iconosquare and SimplyMeasured apps for analyzing Instagram stats, setting up an Instagram giveaway, the new Instagram algorithm and how to keep your audience engaged, what to post on Instagram. 1:12:03
  106. Q&A with Mei: February 25, 2016 How to be more productive, how to find a focus that makes money, working with social media influencers, crafty conferences, creating online courses and competing with larger sites like Craftsy and CreativeBug, using YouTube vs Vimeo as a platform to market courses, how to find topics that people are searching for to create content for marketing your information products, Facebook advertising, incentives to entice people to subscribe to your email list, what to write in your email newsletter. 1:32:09
  107. Overcoming Comparisonitis with Lucy Sheridan The comparisonitis coach shares how she found her niche doing comparison coaching, how comparisonitis affects you and makes you feel, how to identify if you're going experiencing it and various practical ways to overcome comparisonitis! 1:10:06
  108. Growing Your Etsy Shop with Melissa Kaiserman Melissa, an Etsy expert with over 13,000 sales, talks about how she grew her Etsy shop by getting featured on popular blogs, outsourced part of production to her husband, Etsy SEO, collecting email subscribers from Etsy and how to balance family and business. 1:07:10
  109. Q&A with Mei: January 14, 2016 Repositioning your brand and launching a new product lines, creating Facebook groups for your information-based business, posting the same or different content on other social media platforms. 1:09:53

Woohoo! You’re one of us!

Pat yourself on the back and start planning your way to finding your customers and getting them to actually buy from you.

 

 

 

Now that you know where you stand in your business, what’s next?

You’ve got to actually know how to implement smart marketing strategies that work and start selling your products!

Check Out Handmade Marketing That Works, The Most Effective Ways To Promote Your Creative Business In Non Sleazy Ways That Actually Work!

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