Coaching Handmade -Class Tonight!

Tonight I'm teaching the 1st interactive class on Coaching Handmade: “Using Mailing Lists & Newsletters for Effective Promotions”

This classes will be held tonight at 7pm Eastern time.

Coaching Handmade members can login just prior to 7pm to participate.

If you are not yet a member of Coaching Handmade and you are a handmade seller, there is still time to join: Coaching Handmade

Why Brand Your Business?

Having a concise, clear image that you project to your clients and customers is important in today’s market. More and more people are leaving the job market and creating their own business, whether by choice or necessity, so the competition continues to expand. Therefore it is increasingly important to stand out among your competition. You want your business to be memorable!

Customers remember images and feelings that are evoked more than just a name on a business card. What type of feeling do you want your business to evoke in your customers / clients? How do you want to be remembered? Do you want to be the first one your customer thinks about over your competition? Of course you do. But what do you want to be remembered for?

• Your excellent customer service?
• Your winning smile?
• Your product?
• Your prices?
• Your logo?

How are you different from your competition? What makes your business special? Ask yourself these questions and then look at the answers. Maybe you are already projecting a particular image. It is cohesive, or is it sloppy? Do you even have an image? Do you have a brand name? Do you have any sort of identity?

What about your services? Does each one have a different look, feel and image, or does it tie into the image of your business? Can you look at your services and see the brand name, image or theme running through each description? Choosing to use the same logo on all your materials, sticking with a consistent color theme and playing off a specific theme is part of branding.

What about your company? Does your image reflect your product? Do your customers recognize you by your business name or a product name? Are you consistent with your marketing message? These are ALL important questions whether you are starting a business or looking to expand your existing business. So, ask the questions, listen to the answers and create a plan for branding your business!

Wordless Wednesday

Tree of Life Bookmark by Studio 618

Sister Anita Wordsmith The “Queen of the Tiles”….
such a lovely person, but plays a “mean” game of “Scrabble”!

so fitting! LOL! by Nun of a Kind

"Billy Jean" by Elizabeth M. Designs

Follow Friday...

Check out these fabulous artisans:

left: House of Six Cats
top right: Jen Kiaba Photography
middle right: Jewels by Jules
lower right: Wilde Jewels

SEO Consulting for Handmade

What is SEO?

It stands for Search Engine Optimizing.

It is the process of coding your personal websites well in order for search engines to find you more quickly.

Do you have a website for your handmade business? Something other than online venues such as Etsy, 1000 Markets, Artfire, etc? if so, does it get the traffic you would like it to receive? The odds are that it doesn't. Working to optimize a website for the search engines, to not only find it, but to bring it up on the first few pages of the search is an artform in itself.

I have been working with business web clients for the past 5 years doing SEO consulting. If you would like to have your business website search engine optimized, contact me for details and to schedule a consultation.

coachinghandmade@gmail.com

I'm a part-time juggler...

That is the conclusion I've come to recently. With all the various projects I have going I realize that I really have another part time job - one as a juggler! LOL



I made a list of everything that I juggle on a daily basis:

• coaching clients & appts
  
• responding to emails
• returning phone calls
  
• twitter & facebook
• Coaching Handmade
• checking etsy, artfire, etc.
  
• filling, packing & shipping orders
• creating pendants
• going to the post office
• bookkeeping
• time with my boyfriend
  
• housework, cooking, etc
• and I'm sure there's more...
  

I guess it's just as well that I do not have children, then I'd have to grow another set of arms! I'd look like Shakti -

Today, I added another trip downtown and then to the post office, stopped for an iced mocha and finally headed back home. 5 minutes at the computer to check in turns into 2 hours because I'm blogging, which I have been neglecting too much lately, and responding to more wholesale requests.

Are you a juggler too?

What do you juggle everyday?

I want to hear your list. Take a moment, blog about your list, and then challenge your readers to blog their lists as well. it will be cool to see how similar or dissimilar we all are..

cool!

On a roll!

It's fabulous to feel like you're making achievements. I have felt quite empowered the last few days with all this new membership software I'm dealing with at Coaching Handmade. It's been a great learning curve and I now have a new set of web skills added to my repertoire. Cool!

It's amazing how pumped up I can get by accomplishing something new that I set out to do!

I'm thinking that I may go visit my little nephew tomorrow as a reward to myself. I've been so caught up at the computer that I haven't been out much. He's so adorable & such a hoot! He's going to be 2 yrs old in November and he is just so hysterical. His latest adventures include a light saber & discovering his big brother's lacrosse helmet that he can lift up and put on his head then run around and bang into things thinking how funny it is. Don't I wish life was a simple as when I was 2. LOL!

Some questions answered..

Well, I have to say it was an interesting few days launching Coaching Handmade! LOL... technical difficulties with the autoresponder and a huge learning curve with the software, but it is up & running smoothly now! WOOHOO!

I have been hearing from several handmade sellers over the past two weeks, many expressing great interest in being involved with Coaching Handmade, yet hesitant to make a commitment due to concerns that the site will not be dynamic or have content.

As I have said to everyone who has expressed these concerns, I am quite committed to doing things in a very active and dynamic way with ALL the focus being given to people who are paying for this special access to information & services.

I have been coaching people for over 20 years and in all those years I know many things about working with individuals and THE MOST IMPORTANT things that we all want is to feel we are being:

• Wanted
• Respected
• Needed
• Productive
• Valuable
• and most importantly -- SUCCESSFUL

It is vital to me to feel that I am receiving the most for my dollars, especially in this economy. That said, I intend to deliver a dynamic resource, a central hub so to speak, of information and networking to assist handmade sellers in expanding their visibility, their customer base & therefore their sales.

There are so many ways to deliver our products into the eyes of potential buyers and we need to focus on these steps.

I have already collected several teachers who will be offering live classes on a wide variety of subjects on the site. I am also asking anyone who has articles that would like to be added to the resource library to contact me. There is a forum within the site for you to network together with other sellers as well. Mentoring Groups will be forming soon.

There is a wonderful group of handmade sellers already enjoying the benefits of membership and classes will begin in the next week or two. If you have any questions, or would like more detailed information, please contact me. You can email me at coachinghandmade@gmail.com or can convo me at http://jessejanes.etsy.com

I look forward to your participation & excitement. I have worked hard to put together a site that will cover many subjects, be interactive and lively.

Come check it out: www.CoachingHandmade.com

Coaching Handmade launches!

Tonight's the night!

Coaching Handmade membership site launches at 8pm EST.


Come join the fun!

www.CoachingHandmade.com

Coming Soon!!!!

Did you Know?

Only 30% of the workforce are fortunate enough to make up the creative sector of the US economy, and yet is estimated that over 47% of all wealth generated in the US is the direct result of human creativity.

This is an import figure to know. According to Richard Florida, best selling author of The Rise of the Creative Class, the 'creative class' as he has coined the term, comes down to a "passionate quest for experience."

As artisans and crafters, and even more so as Handmade Sellers, we thrive on the experience of utilizing our creativity to make money. Creativity is something essential that we all have, and that must be nourished, renewed and maintained - or else it slips away from us.

For a long time, I stepped away from my creativity and I felt a nagging emptiness. In the past year, I not only stepped back into my creativity, but I have opened shops on both Etsy and Artfire. With all the experience I have gained over a lifetime of creating and selling, I immediately put my knowledge to work to increase my sales.

I have 2 shops on Etsy.com, 'Jesse Janes' and 'Fuzzy Bunny Knits' and a shop on Artfire.com. In my first year on etsy, Jesse Janes has had over 2800 sales and is on the Top Sellers list.

In my 'day job' I am a Life Coach. I have been working with clients around the world for over 20 years, assisting them to create balance in their overly hectic lives and to regain their creativity and passion.

In the past year, my passion for coaching and my passion for creating have coincided. As a result, I am making more money and I have found myself helping other Handmade Sellers to do the same. It's fun, exciting & extremely profitable for the sellers!

I have the freedom to work when I want and to combine my passions - what more could anyone want? Etsy has changed the way I do business. YOU can have that passion too! I can help you by bringing you a wealth of knowledge and experience, along with a network of other Handmade Sellers, all working together to increase our customer base & sales!

I've created Coaching Handmade to be THE Resource for increased knowledge and sales for anyone who sells handmade or wants to! Coaching Handmade is a Membership site and will be launching within the next few days. Membership will be available to everyone for a low fee. The benefits will be awesome!

Join with other Handmade Sellers around the globe to increase sales, enhance the handmade buying experience for customers and learn how to use the latest technologies to work for you!

Remember, you need to work SMARTER, Not Harder!!

Do you suffer from PFS?

Promotion Fatigue Syndrome

We all do... promotion is time consuming, but working smarter instead of harder is the real answer! Joining together, we can all work smarter.... NOT harder and receive even better results!

BENEFITS of Membership:

	Classes
	Mentoring Network with other Handmade Sellers
	Handmade Marketing Resources
	Learn to Use Technology to Gain Sales
	Learn Ins & Outs of Wholesale
	Joint Marketing Opportunities
	and MORE... Visit Coaching Handmade to keep posted.. I will let you know as soon as Membership is open. In the meantime, become a fan at Jesse Jane's on Facebook. The latest news is always posted there first!