I’m trying something new here on CMBA this week. I’ve had so many ideas for posts on growth – specifically growing your business – that I thought it would be great to bundle them together and do a little theme week. So welcome to growth week!
To add to the fun, I asked Tara over at Scoutie Girl if she wanted to bring the theme into her blog, and she agreed. So while I blog about growing your business here, Tara and her wonderful contributors will be filling Scoutie Girl with their own stories of growth in it’s many forms. It should be an amazing and inspiring week on both blogs!
I’ll be back a little later today to tackle some of the issues that creative business owners face in our quest to grow, but until then I thought I’d ask you:
How would you like to grow your business and what do you need to help you get there?
Great topic! Right now I am starting to try to move beyond the online world and get my headbands into brick and motor stores. Its a whole line of income I’m missing out on. To get there I need to start my research and just do it. Wish me luck:)
The number one thing I need to grow my business is time. Time to create, time to promote, time to develop new product, etc. Because my venture is in it’s infancy, I still have a “real job” that is full time which often feels like it is getting in the way of what I truly want to do!
I can’t quit because I need the income – so, I need to find time in other ways. Waking up a couple of hours before having to go to “real job”… trying to retain focus and ignore my husband when he comes home from work, so that I can… turning down plans with friends. I am not great at any of these yet, but I know if I want to be successful I am going to have to be disciplined and make it happen.
(I LOVE craftMBA btw – thank you so much for what you do!)
Really interested in improving our conversion rates. Traffic to our online store and Etsy isn’t bad but % that become sales isn’t very good. Also would love to connect with others to improve web site inbound links.
I’m sure I’ll be able to learn plenty here!
Thanks for the business support.
Sharon
Financially, I’ve got a plan in place to grow my sales every month to a point where I will be able to live solely off that income by the end of the year. It’s a gradual process and it’s been tough, but it’s working slowly but surely!
Aside from that I have a lot of plans/ideas to grow the business in several other ways. I want to expand to more jewelry lines with different styles, materials & price points; I also have plans in place to expand the places that I sell. Finally I have a bunch of promotional/marketing ideas.
So really…I’m looking at expanding upwards & outwards in many different but complimentary directions. It’s a lot of work, but I think it’s important to devote time to all of them because they are all an integral part of expanding and growing for me!
First of all; GREAT topic! I have three burning questions that haunt me every day about growing my business;
1) How do I get my pieces featured in magazines?
I have read conflicting opinions on the matter; do I send a sample pair of earrings to the fashions editor or will it just get thrown out? I would also like to know how I present my literature and facts to the editors in a quick, concise and professional matter and what info do I include. I have read that magazine editors want to see that you have been in other publications, and not having been, would you suggest that I try to get on well known blogs for references, any other suggestions?
2)Blog more, but not always about my business, what other topics will keep my readers interested and coming back for more?
I want to drive more people to my website or my etsy page, and I know a great way to do this is to blog and or send out newsletters to my clients and wholesale clients. But here is my issue; what to talk about? I feel like if I talk about my business each and every time will get daunting to my followers, so any suggestions on other topics to cover, that keeps my readers coming back.
3) and Finally; Branding?
I feel as though I have branded my self with a look, if I am at a wholesale show, I have one consistent look through my booth and my literature, and the same theme is on my website, blog , Etsy page and newsletter. Any other avenues to take my branding that I have not thought of?
Thanks for everything, you are the best and I look forward to your posts everyday!
I got really lucky in that a new magazine actually found me in the Yellow pages and contacted me. It’s a teen fashion magazine that is just getting started. You might try and find a new magazine that is just starting, contact them and ask if they will be needing something for their next fashion shoot. This magazine is called East Texas Teen. It is a really small and new idea that wants to give local teen girls a chance to shine for all their accomplishments. It’s about them and their fashion. She said that she is doing one for Utah also. You could start by looking at the local colleges and find the student photographers, models, and fashion designers because they know where the local magazine shoots are. They are starving artists just getting started, often working for free to get their name out there. It’s all about networking with the right people.
Just like Summer, I’d like to get featured in magazines. I’m an illustrator so the process might be a bit different from promoting a product. Last Christmas I sent out calendar postcards to friends, family, clients, art galleries and magazine art directors. I didn’t get a response from magazines but I’m going to try again (and repeat quarterly).
I’m wondering if I ought to sent email newsletters too? I read that magazine art directors prefer postcards but I have no idea if they actually get them in the mail! I don’t want to harass them but a response or indication that they looked at my art would be awesome.
Thank you!
Megan, have you been living in my brain?! This is so exactly what I need right now. Let me be selfish and give you my personal situation.
I have been selling on etsy for the past year and a half and have had a pretty decent response to my work. I have done no publicity/marketing or extra stuff to promote my work besides re-listing on etsy and keeping a blog. I feel like the business has been at a bit of a plateau as I haven’t had time to invest in product development (working at another job) and have been a bit skittish about investing money in producing new products. Recently, circumstances in my life have given me an opportunity to work on my biz full-time beginning this summer. I feel like moving my business from the realm of “hobby” into the “real” world is going to be challenging and I am trying to figure out where to start.
Business Plans. Do you love them? Hate them? I am the latter. Have any tips on how to write a business/financial plan that doesn’t suck all the creative juices out of my soul?
Wholesale is going to be a big part of my business, I imagine. Any tips on how to enter into the world and look/sound professional would be great.
Pricing. How to figure out how much, and at what price, you’ll need to sell in order to make a profit / reach a monthly/yearly financial goal.
Ok, I’m going to stop there. Thanks so much for taking the time to read this comment and I hope I haven’t been to presumptuous. Any and all advice will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks for your awesome blog 🙂
x Bess
I echo that sentiment about getting into magazines, while simultaneously wondering if that’s old school thinking. Who buys magazines any more? I am more of a web reader these days. I do press pushes to magazines and major blogs a few times a year but am still waiting for that one big break because I hear stories about how it really helps people increase their audiences by huge amounts.
I’m very excited for Growth week…the recent topic was a great way to start =)
I run a small studio that assembles handcrafted jewelry for jewelry designers. They send us a sample, directions, materials and we fill the order. What I’d like to know is, how do I advertise this and in what? I have the website. I’d love to blog about our work and the great team I have here with me but I’m a little worried that some of the designers may not want their designs and ideas out there for people to read about. Everyone is thrilled with our work and they all offer themselves as references for new designers that want to check our work that we do for others. How and where can I put an ad? To reach the designers that are in the throes of expansion and need this kind of help? That’s how I would like to grow, getting the word out about us, to keep this sort of work in the USA and not go overseas. Can you help me find an outlet for this?
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