http://patternobserver.com/about/Michelle Fifis

SHARING YOUR WORKNOVEMBER 17, 2014

http://patternobserver.com/courses/sharing-your-work/

QUESTIONS AFTER TODAY’S WEBINAR?

@PATTERNOBSERVER#MARKETINGPATTERNS

Marketing:

•Doesn’t have to feel uncomfortable;

•Doesn’t have to be the sole focus of your business;

•And, doesn’t have to take forty hours a week. In fact, it shouldn’t! You need to have time to work on all the other aspects of your business.

Marketing is just one piece of a business puzzle. A creative business needs:

Piece #1:Foundation

Piece #2:Systems

Piece #3:Marketing

Cycle

Piece #4:Reflection,Innovation,Expansion

Your foundation includes:

•A business structure that is right for you and your business. For example, should you be a sole-proprietorship or an LLC?

Piece #1:Foundation

A STRONG FOUNDATION

•Sound bookkeeping and accounting practices to prepare your business for future growth.

•A vision for how you want to work and what business practices make the most sense based upon your artistic style and future business goals.

Examples include:

•Digital sales strategy

Piece #2:Systems

SYSTEMS TO MAKE YOUR LIFE LESS COMPLICATED

•A system for invoicing buyers and clients

•Systems and templates for preparing artwork files for clients

•File delivery methods that are a breeze for your clients

Piece #3:Marketing

Cycle

A MARKETING CYCLE THAT GROWS YOUR BUSINESS WITH EASE

WHAT IS A MARKETING CYCLE?

“Especially for a small or start-up business, marketing is a nonstop cycle designed to win and keep customers. To build a strong business, every successful marketing program follows the same marketing cycle

that begins with customer knowledge and goes around to customer service before it begins all over again.”

-Barbara Findlay Schenck

WHAT IS A MARKETING CYCLE?

It’s important to create a marketing cycle that is right for YOUR personality and business.

Knowing Your Customer

Being Visible

Staying Connected

Expanding Your Reach

Listening, Innovating, Inspiring

MARKETING CYCLE COMPONENTS

Remember that no one can execute all of these ideas unless we spend all our time marketing. Please choose the ideas that resonate with your

personality and business values.

Knowing Your Customer

Being Visible

Staying Connected

Expanding Your Reach

Listening, Innovating, Inspiring

COMPONENT #1:

In order to have a successful marketing cycle it is important to know who you are trying to market to. If you want to market your work to companies who license artwork from designers then your marketing efforts are going to be slightly different than a designer who sells their own line of fabrics to craft sewers. That is why the first step in the cycle is to know your customer and the market that you are targeting.

Knowing Your Customer

Being Visible

Staying Connected

Expanding Your Reach

Listening, Innovating, Inspiring

COMPONENT #2:

Simply launching a website isn’t enough...as business owners we have to work to make our website easy to find on the internet and welcoming to new visitors.

My favorite strategy? Blogging! Here’s why:

•In our 2013 Pattern Industry Survey, 61% of the buyers surveyed said that they find new designers through blogs. This percentage was higher than any other platform such as print shows or Google searches.  

•Having a blog attached to your website also greatly improves your SEO (or search engine optimization.)

Knowing Your Customer

Being Visible

Staying Connected

Expanding Your Reach

Listening, Innovating, Inspiring

COMPONENT #3:

It is essential to offer your visitors a way to stay in touch with you if you want them to become loyal customers or fans.

My favorite strategy? Newsletters! Here’s why:

•Buyers and potential clients are BUSY!

•Social Media, like Facebook, is unreliable

Knowing Your Customer

Being Visible

Staying Connected

Expanding Your Reach

Listening, Innovating, Inspiring

COMPONENT #4:

You are staying in touch with your existing community and that is fantastic. Now it becomes important to take small steps to expand your reach.

Some ways that this can be done include:

1. Reaching out to the media for press coverage;

2. Purchasing advertising space;

3. Attending offline events;

4. And, staying active on networking sites such as LinkedIn

Knowing Your Customer

Being Visible

Staying Connected

Expanding Your Reach

Listening, Innovating, Inspiring

COMPONENT #5:

Aside from growing and marketing your business, you also need to listen to your customers, assess your sales data, and your heart.

Listening is important, but taking action is, too!  When you get the feedback and realize what your customers want from you, pursue it.

As you go through this process be easy on yourself and don’t forget to breathe! No one gets it right the first time. The important aspect is making sure that you improve each time you do.

Marketing is just one piece of a business puzzle. A creative business needs:

Piece #1:Foundation

Piece #2:Systems

Piece #3:Marketing

Cycle

Piece #4:Reflection,Innovation,Expansion

Piece #4:Reflection,Innovation,Expansion

REFLECTION, INNOVATION, AND EXPANSION

This is done by:   •Listening to your client’s wants and needs.

•Investing time in improving your product and business.

•Giving yourself time to expand your idea of what is possible and explore new opportunities to stay competitive.

A creative business needs:

Piece #1:Foundation

Piece #2:Systems

Piece #3:Marketing

Cycle

Piece #4:Reflection,Innovation,Expansion

http://patternobserver.com/courses/sharing-your-work/

THE SHARING YOUR WORK PR0CESSDuring this four week workshop we‘ll walk you step by step through the process of developing professional marketing tools which will allow you to confidently grow your business. The workshop culminates with the opportunity to have your artwork reviewed by three buyers from companies such as Pink Light Studios, Pendleton, Keeco, Ten-Sixty Sherman, Creative Capital Design, Modern Yardage and more. In addition to your review, these buyers have the potential to become vital industry contacts

Prior To The Workshop: Establishing Your Business

1. Learn how to decide which business structure is right for you and your business.2. Establish sound bookkeeping and accounting practices to prepare your business for future growth.3. Decide the best way to sell your work based upon your artistic style and future business goals.

Week One: Selling Your Artwork in The Digital Age

1. Explore digital sales options and how to protect your work online.2. Learn how to prepare your artwork files for sale and deliver them in a professional manner.3. Learn how to best accept payments and invoice clients based upon your business.

Piece #1:Foundation

Piece #2:Systems

THE SHARING YOUR WORK PR0CESSDuring this four week workshop we‘ll walk you step by step through the process of developing professional marketing tools which will allow you to confidently grow your business. The workshop culminates with the opportunity to have your artwork reviewed by three buyers from companies such as Pink Light Studios, Pendleton, Keeco, Ten-Sixty Sherman, Creative Capital Design, Modern Yardage and more. In addition to your review, these buyers have the potential to become vital industry contacts

Week Two: Building Your Marketing Plan

1. Learn why newsletters are essential to online marketing and what to say to your subscribers.2. Establish a blog that markets your work on a consistent basis.3. Create a marketing cycle that allows you to stay in contact with your network in an authentic way.

 

 Week Three: Reaching Out

1. Learn how to create a Linkedin profile that allows you to stay in touch with clients, both new and old.2. Set up professional social media marketing tools that assist you in growing your business in an effortless way.3. Learn how to reach out to your network with ease.

Week Four: Expanding Your Network

1. Expand your network through outside blogs and social media.2. Learn how to reach out to new clients and buyers.3. Develop the next steps for your business and career.

Piece #3:Marketing

Cycle

Piece #4:Reflection,Innovation,Expansion

THE SHARING YOUR WORK PR0CESSDuring this four week workshop we‘ll walk you step by step through the process of developing professional marketing tools which will allow you to confidently grow your business. The workshop culminates with the opportunity to have your artwork reviewed by three buyers from companies such as Pink Light Studios, Pendleton, Keeco, Ten-Sixty Sherman, Creative Capital Design, Modern Yardage and more. In addition to your review, these buyers have the potential to become vital industry contacts

After The Workshop: Meeting Participating Buyers

After the fourth week of the workshop wraps up, designers are given three weeks to work at their own pace and finalize their artwork and marketing materials.

The week of January 5th, 2015 designers reach out to their three assigned buyers through email and give the buyers access to their public and private online portfolio website.

Each assigned buyer then completes a detailed critique of the designer’s work, website functionality and marketing materials. Designers are also encouraged to connect with each buyer through Linkedin, thus creating lifelong contacts and expanding their network.

WORKSHOP COMPONENTSWhat you get with the course

Sharing Your Work includes…

• The opportunity to present your work to three buyers from the apparel, home and craft fabric marketplaces. Buyers will also provide feedback and advice based on your work.

• Three pdf and video lessons per week which will share how to market your work in the textile design and surface pattern design industries

• Three bonus lessons to prepare your business for the workshop. These lessons are available immediately after registration is finalized

• Four group chat sessions, where work is reviewed and questions are answered

• Access to a private forum where you can post work and ask questions

http://patternobserver.com/courses/sharing-your-work/