. . You get more sales when you get more of the right people seeing your product.. . All righty. Good morning, everyone.. . We're here our Thursday live with knit it.. . Now we have a very, very special guest, Lucy Kelly from.. . And, Lucy, you're going to have to correct me on how to pronounce your business name.. . It's Belmontilli Manili. So it's.. . So this is, you know, lesson one in marketing.. . Pick a name that people will remember and can say, yeah.. . Bloom by Bell Mineeli.. . Bell Mineeli is my jewelry business name. Okay.. . And Lucy is an artist and a jewelry maker,. . and she also helps us that are try to make knitting with.. . Make money with our crafts.. . It's gonna be a Thursday.. . I can see I'm tripping over my words already.. . And she has a lot to share with us,. . and she calls it the Bloom friend framework, which is a framework. . for helping you start a business with your crafts, whatever that may be.. . For us, it's machine knitting.. . There's a lot of interest in this.. . We do have our chat going.. . If you're new here,. . please try and introduce yourself on the chat, and I will be monitoring the chat.. . And if you have questions for Lucy,. . I'll also try and present them to her, and we'll go from here.. . So, Lucy, I'm going to go ahead and turn this over to you.. . Think I will bow out here with my video, and you will be live.. . Okay. Thank you.. . Thank you so much for having me, and thank you for that beautiful introduction.. . I'm very happy to be here in your group and be here speaking to all of you.. . So I'm going to share my screen, and you can just.. . I won't be able to see the chat most. . of the time, but if you could just tell me in the zoom chat, if you can see where it. . says the bloom friend framework, then I'll be good to go.. . It's a background picture when I was in. . Palm Springs, so it's very sunny and bright.. . Well, tell me. Sorry.. . In the chat and zoom, because I can't see any chat anywhere else.. . Or, sue, you can just tell me.. . Can you see it?. . The chat in the chat? Not the chat in the zoom.. . We'll have the chat on our site. No.. . Can you tell me if you can see my screen?. . I can see your screen.. . I can see those beautiful, colorful building there.. . Okay, great. So thank you.. . So I'm here to talk to you about the Bloom. . friend framework, and this is a framework that I have created,. . that I use in my own business, and then I teach to my students. . for connecting with more of the people who are going to love and buy your stuff.. . Because when you have a handmade business,. . you want people to love and buy your stuff.. . So I'm going to show you how my proven framework for how to connect these people. . who are ultimately going to be your biggest, biggest, biggest business super. . fans without having to be on all the social media platforms.. . Because that is one of the biggest barriers that I see that people, you know,. . I don't want to be doing TikTok dances and I don't want to be doing reels.. . So here's what we're going to do.. . I'm going to introduce myself to you,. . talk to you about the secret to getting more sales.. . I will outline the friend framework.. . I'm going to share with you a couple. . programs that I have and then if we have time at the end, we'll do a q and a.. . So let's get started.. . I talk kind of fast and I try to slow. . down, but when I get real jazzed up, I talk about it.. . So. Hi, my name is Lucy Kelly.. . I am the artist and owner here at Bloom by Bill Manili.. . As Sue mentioned at the beginning,. . I have a jewelry making business that I started in and here I am today.. . So I'm going to tell you a little bit about myself first.. . So I live in Pittsburgh,. . Pennsylvania with my husband Eric and our seven year old daughter Evelyn.. . And this was where my business started back in .. . And like many of us,. . like most makers actually, I started making jewelry as a hobby.. . It was something to keep my hands busy and it was fun.. . And as we know, hobbies that are creative, hobbies like ours can get very expensive.. . As my machine knitters know.. . I know those machines are cheap and yarns not cheap.. . And same here.. . So this was where my business started and this is where my business is today.. . So the difference between those two pictures years practice refining,. . learning who my customers are, learning where to show up so that they. . are, I'm in their world and they're in my world.. . So there are three things that I consider kind of areas of expertise for me.. . One of those is marketing.. . So I am a marketing coach for makers.. . I also operate as a fractional CMO, which is a chief marketing officer.. . So I help businesses create and implement marketing plans in their business.. . I work with them for that.. . I also coach email marketing and Facebook ads in Salome Shine and succeed Group.. . And I went to school for marketing.. . So I have a somewhat old degree in marketing.. . My second area of qualification is communicating.. . So as I just mentioned, I went to school for marketing,. . but when I came out of school, I sold copiers and that sucked.. . Went back to graduate school and I got. . my master's degree in speech and language pathology.. . So I am also an expert in early childhood language development.. . I was the speech teacher at an elementary. . school for many years and now I do evaluations only and I consult with our. . local county and handmade business ownership.. . So I had my own handmade business.. . Since , I have been featured in magazines. . and online and in all kinds of different places.. . It shows.. . I have a book called Beaded Jewelry Made Easy and that's me.. . So that is why I'm here talking to you,. . because I have this very unique intersection of business know how,. . marketing know how, handmade business know how.. . So I can absolutely show you the path. . to making money, selling the things that you make and love.. . Now you will sell so much more of your. . things, whatever it is you want to sell when you quit focusing on selling.. . And this, I think as makers, is the thing that we get so stuck in.. . We think, oh, I have to be a good salesperson and I need. . to be, you know, always pushing my products and I need. . to make sure that I'm talking about the color and the length and the size.. . Instead of focusing on selling,. . you're going to focus on your customers, which is the core of my friend framework.. . So I'm going to give you a little. . background on it and then we're going to go into the framework.. . When you treat your audience members as. . friends, when I say audience members, I mean people at craft shows,. . people on social media, people on your email list,. . people on your website, anybody who is looking at what you're. . doing in one place or another is an audience.. . And when you stop thinking,. . how can I put their money in my pocket and start thinking,. . how can I serve them really, really well when I see them as a friend,. . then you get more engagement, which means they like you.. . They want to like and share and comment on your posts.. . They want to tell their friends about you.. . You build trust.. . So they, when you're treating someone as. . a friend, that person is going to feel that they'll reciprocate,. . that they will trust you, and that's how you make more money.. . So when we quit focusing on the money part, it comes naturally.. . That's just the flow of the universe.. . When we stop focusing on how to get. . and focus on how to give, it is a formula for success every single time.. . So this also proves to algorithm proof your social media.. . And this is relevant to the friend framework.. . But I want to give you this background. . of why this is important and why it's different than what many other,. . like business coaches or sales coaches will say.. . So engagement begets engagement. And engagement,. . just so we're all on the same page on social media. . is defined as a video view, a comment, a follow, a share, or a save.. . So engagement is literally any kind. . of interaction that someone has with your content.. . When your engagement increases, so does your reach.. . So reach on social media is the total number of people who see your content.. . So whether they engage with it or not is one thing.. . More people will see your content than will engage in it.. . But the more people you reach, the higher your engagement should be.. . When your content reaches more people and the people engage with the content,. . this spirals outwards, this builds on itself.. . So if you've been thinking about running. . ads, and you might not be, but I'm putting this seed out there,. . an ad is only going to get you more of the result you're already getting.. . So if you have been tinkering with the idea of starting a business,. . or if you have a business or you have social media and you've been thinking, oh,. . I'm not really getting much engagement, or I'm not really getting anything out. . there, I'm going to start running some ads because I heard that that gets people. . on my site, an ads only going to get you more of the result you're already getting.. . So if you're getting crickets on your. . social media, an ad is going to get you more expensive crickets.. . If you have a website and you're not. . getting sales, an ad to run traffic to that website, if they're not the right. . people, is going to get you more expensive.. . No sales.. . So when you've got this solid base of good organic engagement and reach,. . then you can run very low cost ads to amplify those results.. . So that's the core of what I do and what I teach.. . And I have a little visual here to show. . you this engagement spiral and why it works.. . And this, like I said, this is the core of the friend framework here.. . So the center, the spiral, is your engaging content.. . So this is the things that you're posting. . on social media that are going to get people to engage with you.. . Now, if you are someone who, like, if you want to be running an online. . business and you don't do fairs, markets, craft shows, whatever you call them. . online, is going to be your only place to reach people.. . If you're someone who does in person events, you do have a little bit. . of an advantage because your communicating with people in person,. . so you don't have to worry about this being your only avenue.. . But online, we're building these friendships through these social channels.. . That's why it's called social media.. . So your content that you share has to be. . something that is going to grab someone's attention and get them to want to engage,. . to want to like it, comment on it, share it, which means you can't only post. . pictures of the things that you have for sale.. . That's not engaging, that's not exciting to anybody.. . Nobody wants to be looking at someone's. . Instagram feed, and all they see is, buy my thing, buy my thing, buy my thing,. . because that's what it feels like when we're only posting our products.. . So at the center of this spiral is your engaging content, the things that you're. . going to share, the things that you would talk about with a friend,. . the things that you wonder, the things that you think,. . the things that you want to share are your engaging content.. . The first step of that is a friend,. . an audience member on your social media, whichever channel.. . This doesn't matter. Facebook, Instagram, TikTok,. . whatever you're using, someone sees it and they engage with it.. . So that increases your reach.. . The algorithm says, oh, my goodness, look at this.. . Someone saw this and they engaged.. . That must mean people like this.. . We're going to show it to more people.. . Then their friends see their engagement.. . Your reach increases again.. . So now, okay, wow.. . Now, a few people have seen this.. . Now, the algorithms like, all right, we might show this to more people.. . We're going to reach this out further. . because there's something out here that people are wanting to see.. . And I'm going to give you an example of what this looks like in real life.. . Now, this example is from Facebook because that's what I use as my primary social. . media channel, and that's because that's where my purchasers are.. . So this first picture here, this is my friend Mary.. . This is my personal Facebook feed.. . Mary and I are personal friends.. . This came through my newsfeed that Mary likes painted tree boutiques.. . Now, Mary is my friend,. . and painted tree boutiques is a business that I didn't follow yet.. . So why did I see that post?. . I saw that post because Mary and I engage.. . Mary and I talk back and forth, and the algorithm had determined. . that based on our behaviors and our similar interests,. . that if she likes painted tree boutiques, maybe I might, too.. . So it came up in my newsfeed.. . Now, if that so her painted tree boutiques.. . Reach increased because Mary and I have personal relationships. . and Mary has a business relationship with them.. . So when that reach increases,. . so that content grabbed my attention and it got more engagement.. . That's an example of how that works.. . Again, engagement and reach increases.. . Then your job is to go back and engage with comments and posts.. . Because social media is a two way street.. . You can't just post and ghost.. . You can't just post your pictures and wonder why nothing is happening.. . You actually have to go out there,. . onto other people's posts, in other people's pages and comment to add value.. . Then your engagement and the engagement and reach increases.. . People, reply to your comments and now, now that we have engagement from your. . audience, comments from you, comments, back to your comments.. . Now we've got conversation.. . And that is red hot.. . We want conversation.. . That is what meta wants.. . That is what TikTok wants.. . We want back and forth conversation, engagement and reach increases.. . So you can see here that at the center of this, if you're creating that kind. . of content, those social posts, those emails, whatever your content is,. . that grabs the attention of your audience and gets them involved in a conversation,. . this continues to spiral outward and those spirals build on each other.. . So this was a spiral for one post.. . When you layer these engagement spirals,. . then you're priming the pump for more of your audience to see your content.. . Because your posts on social media,. . if you're lucky, 1% of your audience sees them.. . So if you've got people in your audience, it's likely that whenever you. . first post something, only one person is seeing it.. . More people will see it when you have more engagement and more reach,. . because these news feeds are so busy, if no one's engaging with your content,. . if you're not sharing anything that is sparking the people who have identified as. . your followers and fans to engage, it's not going to get shown to anybody. . else because even the people who liked your page didn't comment on it.. . That's how that algorithm works.. . So when that content in the center of your content spiral eventually includes your. . product posts, these people already know you, like you, and trust you because you. . have done the work to create engaging content, to have real conversations. . with them, not to just try to sell them something that you make.. . So this is a map of kind of what that would look like.. . So when we look at, okay, what should I post on social media?. . How should I engage with people?. . How can I start these conversations. . that are going to eventually get them to be in my audience of purchasers we have. . engaging post one, engaging post two, engaging post three.. . And the things that I'm referring to here are content pillars.. . A content pillar is essentially like. . a topic or a subject matter that you want to be known for.. . And at the end of this workshop, I'm going to be sharing with you.. . I have a couple different programs, but one of my programs is called clearcut. . content, and it is a mini course that walks you through how to develop. . content, how to find your perfect customer and all that.. . Excuse me.. . So your content pillars are pin things. . that you want to be known for that are not necessarily just your product.. . So for me, for my jewelry business,. . my content pillars include anything vintage nineties memes. . and memorabilia, like, you know, nineties theme kind of.. . What am I thinking?. . Pop culture, anything, obviously, like jewelry related, bead related.. . I do flea market shopping.. . I buy, I upcycle vintage costume jewelry.. . So, you know, flea market finds home goods and decorations.. . So these content pillars are things that I. . talk about with my audience, that they talk about with me that are not. . necessarily directly related to my product,. . but they're related to the lifestyle of the person who is buying from me.. . So when they're coming to my, when they're coming across me on social. . media, yes, they're seeing my product, but they're also seeing these other pieces. . of me that make me human, make me an individual brand that connect. . them to me beyond just, oh, this is a girl that I buy jewelry from,. . but this is a girl that I buy jewelry from.. . And we have the same taste in tv shows,. . and we both love gardening, and she shared great recipes at Thanksgiving.. . Like, this is how we build these relationships with these people.. . And then when it does come time for me to say, hey, by the way,. . I'm working on something new, hey, by the way, I've got a show coming up.. . I've got a new product launch.. . They're all over it.. . Because I haven't just been constantly barraging them with ways that they can buy. . from me, I've been treating them like I would treat a friend.. . So here's an example of how this works on social media.. . So I just showed you how those engagement spirals layer.. . And then when it comes time to post. . a product, that product post will naturally reach more people.. . So here is a post that again,. . came through my Facebook newsfeed that this my friend from Rusty and Jewel.. . She is a student and she is a friend.. . She created an item, a product listing on Shopify.. . And when you have a Shopify website and it is linked to your meta account,. . your new product listings will show up as a post in a Shopify newsfeed.. . So this showed up on my newsfeed.. . This is not a paid ad.. . This is a post that was created from her creating a product listing.. . Now, this showed up in my newsfeed because. . I know her personally and I follow her business page, which is Rusty and jewel.. . I had recently engaged with other posts of hers.. . She had posted a couple of, you know, behind the scenes pictures.. . I think she posted a walking tour of the Mackenzie child mansion.. . Like, she had posted a few other things. . that I had engaged with before this post came up.. . So my algorithm had said, ooh, Lucy likes to hear from Rusty and Jules.. . So the next time Rusty and Jewel comes up. . with something, we're going to show it to her in her feed.. . I was active on Facebook at the time. She was listening.. . So this is a matter of knowing your audience and knowing their behaviors.. . So she was listing, let's say,. . at in the afternoon, which was a time that I was on.. . So it came through my feed live.. . And then her product listing came through my feed as a post.. . So why I'm telling you all of this is because this right here is why I heavily. . stress sharing non product related, engaging content on your socials. . to these people in your audience that you should be considering friends.. . Because by drumming up engagement with her audience with non product posts,. . with that engaging content post, building those engagement spirals. . with those posts that aren't necessarily just her product, she gave herself a great. . organic boost, meaning she reached more people without having to pay for an ad.. . By showing her products to people who have self identified as being interested.. . They self identify as being interested. . by being a follower and by engaging in your content.. . People don't buy products.. . They buy what the product can do for them.. . And as knitters, you know darn well you're not competing with Walmart.. . You're not competing with Target. Like, you're just not.. . You can't.. . Nobody with a handmade business, and yes, it totally is a handmade business.. . Nobody can compete with that.. . You're just forget that because you never will.. . I sell costume jewelry, like big statement, gaudy costume jewelry.. . They sell that at Claire's, at Walmart, at Target.. . I'm not even worried about that because nobody comes to me saying, you know what?. . I need an enormous colorful necklace.. . Like, no one comes to me for that.. . No one comes to you because they're like, you know what I need?. . I need a really beautiful heirloom quality knit blanket.. . No, there's always another thing.. . They're buying the support of a local community member.. . They're buying the memory. . of a grandmother, a beloved grandmother who knit that herself.. . Like, there's all kinds of other things that people are using as reasons to buy. . from you, but they're not buying the product.. . They're buying what the product does for them.. . We buy from who we know, we buy from who we like, and we buy from who we trust.. . So by building your foundation and creating this warm, nurturing,. . safe space for people to get to know you as a friend before you ever try to sell. . them anything, you become the person that they know, they like and they trust.. . This is the core of my bloom friend framework.. . So the friend framework stands for find,. . research, invite, engage, nurture and delight.. . These are the pieces of the friend. . framework for how you can identify and connect with those people that are. . going to be the most valuable people in your business.. . So the first piece of this is fine.. . You need to find out who these people are.. . Who are the people who want to buy your product?. . Who would be most likely to buy your product?. . Who are those people?. . Find out where they hang out.. . So, on social media, what platform or platforms are they using?. . Are they scrolling Facebook?. . Are they watching Instagram stories?. . Are they watching TikTok? What are they doing?. . Where are they engaging?. . That's where you need to be.. . You need to find out what they like.. . So when you're using social media and you're sharing that engaging content,. . yes, of course your content should be things that you want to talk about.. . But most importantly, it needs to be what your audience wants to talk about.. . Now, if you as a handmade business,. . because it's usually going to be just you, you might have a couple people helping you. . out, but you are essentially the core of your business.. . Your own personal likes, dislikes,. . interests, quirks, those are the things that will connect other people to you.. . So you want to be very clear and put your stake in the ground on those particular. . topics because other people will identify with that they'll see right away.. . Oh, yes, we share things in common.. . I'm going to like and follow this account,. . and I'm going to engage every time they share a post.. . Likewise,. . you want people who are not going to be your ideal audience,. . who are not going to be your ideal customer to look at that and say, oh,. . you know what, this isn't something that jives with me.. . I'm just going to move along.. . That's just as good and just as valuable because you don't want an audience full. . of people who have no interest in what you're doing or you're selling.. . This is why we don't go for volume.. . This is why we go for quality.. . You also want to find out how they make their buying decisions.. . So are they buying because, what are they buying based on price?. . Are they buying based on material content?. . Are they buying based on esthetics?. . Are they buying because they first status?. . Do they want to be the person that gives the greatest gift?. . Do they want to be the person that supports every local business?. . Do they want to be the person who has. . a sustainable lifestyle and doesn't use fast fashion?. . Whatever the reason is,. . you want to know everything you can about this person because that's what you're. . going to use when you're creating content and in your marketing.. . So let me give you an example.. . And how you do this is you.. . You have to do some research and that's. . the next step, the reason you want to know these things.. . So let's say you are a machine knitter. . and you are using, you know, all organic alpaca wool.. . I'm not a knitter, so I don't know if that's a thing,. . but it sounds like a thing that my knitter friends have said.. . And that is what you talk about.. . You talk all the time about the quality of your natural,. . organic alpaca wool and you are like, that's what you're talking about.. . That's what you are putting content out about.. . That's why you think people are buying your products.. . But in reality, maybe your people are. . buying from you because you are using all natural dyes for this. . alpaca wool, or because you are creating like each thing is one of a kind.. . So they know it is a limited run and they. . value the uniqueness of the product and that nobody else will have it.. . If you are talking about the quality of the wool, but they are buying because. . of the colors, you are missing the mark in your marketing.. . Both things are true.. . This is what you're talking about.. . But this is why they're buying.. . We want to talk about why they're buying in addition to these other things because. . that's going to be the thing that tickles their little buying brain and goes, oh,. . okay, I do value really unique hand dyed wool in really unique color combinations.. . And she says she has that.. . I'm going to look more.. . Hopefully that makes sense.. . And if there's any questions about this as. . I go, feel free to pop them in and ask sue and she'll relay them to me.. . Okay, so that was the f part of the friend. . framework are research, because finding all of those things out is important.. . And the way you find those out is doing research.. . This is a manual process.. . This is not something that you can automate.. . You need to spend time digging. . into the information you already have, looking at the customer list that you have. . had, looking at the sales that you have had.. . If you do shows, listening to people, watching them as they move through your. . booth, are they picking up, you know, are they picking up a blanket?. . Are they trying something on?. . Are they holding it up in front of them?. . Are they opening their phone to take a picture and sending it to someone?. . What are they doing?. . How are they acting?. . Look in other businesses in your niche and see what are they doing?. . What are they talking about?. . What questions are their audience members asking?. . What's on their website now, we're not doing this to copy them.. . We're doing this to find out what's. . working in the industry and to identify where there are gaps.. . What are they not talking about?. . What are people not asking? What are they?. . What do you think they're missing that you could fill in?. . And the best way to find this out is to ask. . people if you have any kind of social media presence.. . You can create a post and ask people why they purchase handmade knit items.. . What was the reason they bought their last afghan?. . Why would they do like ask people any question that you have in your mind?. . Because people love giving their opinions.. . So it's good, engaging content.. . But we all think we know why people do things.. . I can guarantee you you will get answers from people that will blow your mind.. . You'll have no, you'll be completely shocked.. . And it's great information to have.. . And the next people part of the friend framework is I invite.. . So now we know we found our people.. . We've done research to figure out who they. . are, why they make their buying decisions, where they're spending their time.. . Now.. . Your job is to invite them into your world.. . This is what we call a CTA or a call to action.. . You are asking them to make an action.. . Sometimes the action is click.. . So that's why you see click here, buy now.. . Join here.. . Those are all calls to action.. . They're little micro directions that tell. . someone to either do something or not do something.. . You want to invite them to respond.. . So on a social post that would look. . something like, comment below and let me know.. . Click here if you like that.. . Those are your calls to action on social.. . Invite them to follow you.. . So follow us on Instagram, follow us on TikTok subscribe on YouTube.. . There's a reason why people who do videos and who do content consistently. . and constantly ask you to follow, because that is how that engagement increases.. . You think that people naturally know,. . so they will do it, but they need to be reminded.. . And that little instruction, that little call to action, always yields results.. . Invite them to share.. . Share a post on social media.. . Share your content with a friend.. . Forward the email to someone they know.. . You're always inviting them into your world.. . You're inviting them to take the next step.. . You're inviting them to kind of move on up. . that ladder, because every call to action is an invitation for them to step further. . into your world, which is going to connect you with them more and more.. . So we're building that trust.. . We're building that familiarity.. . Now, if you want to know one thing. . that you could do today that is going to lead to sales all year long,. . like all year long, invite people to join your email list.. . Your email list is the absolute core lifeblood of your business.. . And if you don't have one, today is a great day to start.. . You don't necessarily have to know what to do with it yet,. . but you want to make sure that you're inviting people to join your email list.. . Because with an email list,. . you can have more contact points with these potential customers.. . So they say it takes an average of seven. . to ten touches with the business before someone will purchase.. . And this is because of the know like and trust factor.. . We want to make sure that these are legitimate businesses.. . We want to make sure that we can trust them with our money.. . We want to look around for social proof and see how other people bought from them.. . Did they have a good result?. . So with an email list on social media, it's really hit or miss.. . You don't own those platforms, you don't own those audiences.. . And like I said earlier,. . maybe 1% of your audience is seeing your content when it goes out on an email list.. . However, those people, you know,. . you can have , , plus percent people of your list seeing. . your content because those are the people that open the emails.. . With an email list, you keep that audience engaged and nurtured.. . So you are emailing them information that is going to be helpful to them.. . You're inviting them to new product launches.. . You are inviting them to shows or events that are in your area.. . You're sharing knowledge with them that they are interested in learning.. . With an email list,. . if you're someone who does shows, this is also going to let you gage how. . many of your customers are going to be at a show.. . So the reason this is important to you,. . if you are, and especially at this time of year, a lot of makers that I see rely. . % on shows or markets or craft fairs to give them their place to make their money.. . And there is no more dangerous thing I can think of than putting your ability to make. . money, like putting that in someone else's hands.. . Like, you cannot rely on a show promoter. . for sales because there are a lot of people who go to events.. . And if the event has not been marketed, if it does not get traffic,. . if it's outside and it's raining or cold, if there's, you know,. . if Covid happens and it gets shut down, any number of things can happen.. . But if you're relying solely on markets and fares and you're relying on that event. . promoter to bring people to you to sell, that is an almost guaranteed. . way to be frustrated and to not end up making a lot of money.. . Now, the caveat to that is if you're going. . to a bigger event, that usually has a higher fee,. . and those higher fees are typically for better venues and because they are. . paying for marketing, if you're going to, you know, a dollar event that's at your. . local high school, you need to do your own marketing and get people there.. . Yeah, people will come, but you need your people there.. . How you can gage that with your email list is when you send out.. . So let's say I have a show that I'm doing next week.. . I have an email that is going out tomorrow that will go to my full list that will. . say, hey, I'm going to be at I made it market in Pittsburgh next weekend.. . Here's link to RSVP to their event on Facebook.. . Hit reply and let me know if you're going to be there.. . When I look at my replies, which I will get, I will be able to say,. . okay, I know I've got at least of my people coming to this show,. . which means I'm now no longer wondering, am I going to sell?. . I know darn well I'm going to sell.. . My customers are coming now.. . Of course, I will sell to other people, too.. . This is a very well attended event that I. . have done for years in its past, but I have slowly and steadily increased. . my ability to predict my income because I'm bringing my customers there,. . which benefits me, obviously, because they buy from me.. . It benefits my customer because they love coming to these community events.. . They love shopping from the other makers that are there,. . and it also benefits the other makers for the same obvious reason,. . because I have this beautiful list of people who come love supporting local. . businesses and they're shopping for me and everybody else.. . So that's why this email list is very, very important.. . And you also never have to worry about. . what happens if your social media goes away, because you could get kicked off. . of Instagram, banned from TikTok, locked out of meta.. . You can get shut down at any time for any. . reason with absolutely no repercussions because you don't own those platforms.. . The only thing that you own is your email list.. . So that was my little side note.. . Email is important.. . Back to the friend framework.. . The e part of it is engage.. . Now, this is where the fun stuff is.. . Share content that elicits a response.. . So when you're creating your content for social media or for email,. . you are creating content with the idea of, what are my audience members?. . What is my perfect customer?. . What do they want to see?. . What's going to make them smile?. . What's going to make them laugh?. . What's going to make them have to answer?. . What's going to make them share?. . That's the thing that you post sometimes if you just want to drum up engagement,. . like I said, you can just share this or that.. . Hey, here's something that I'm working on today.. . Do you like the red wool or the blue wool?. . For me, I'll do.. . Do you like this class or that class?. . Tell people what it is you want them to say.. . Do you like this? Yes or no?. . Anything that is very simple and very easy to answer will get higher engagement.. . You don't want to ask people to write a book.. . You don't want to ask them to give you. . their thoughts on the origins of the universe.. . Nobody's going to do that.. . Simple, easy, fun, quick things that they can like, comment, share, respond to,. . and then the most important piece of this is you need to respond to their comments.. . So if you are out there on social media. . and you want to build an audience and you want those people to trust you enough. . to give you money, you better be answering their comments.. . Because if you can't be trusted to answer. . a comment on a social post, the underlying thing in our brain. . that we're not thinking about on the surface, but we're thinking about. . underneath is, geez, she couldn't even answer my comment on an Instagram post.. . How is she gonna, you know, she gonna send me my package if I order it.. . Now that's an extreme comparison, but the opposite is true.. . When you are engaging on those comments. . on posts, people notice they notice that you responded, they feel more valued,. . they feel important, and they feel like a member of your community.. . So it is worth your while.. . Now, if you have been getting crickets. . on social media, or if this is all starting to make sense. . and you're like, oh, geez, I've only been posting pictures of my work.. . What can I do to get some excitement going here?. . You could do this today.. . If you want to know how to get your social. . media audience revved up, just go on there and introduce yourself.. . Post a picture of yourself.. . Or if you don't like to post a picture. . of yourself, of your dog or your workspace or whatever, and introduce yourself. . and ask them to introduce themselves or share a fun fact about themselves,. . I can guarantee you there will be no more engaging content than putting your face. . out there, introducing yourself and asking people to do the same,. . because it builds that sense of trust and it invites them into your community.. . Okay, n is for nurture.. . So this is where now you have these people. . in your audience and you've learned about them and you've created content to engage. . with them, now you need to build that trust by nurturing them.. . This means being consistent.. . This means sharing content regularly.. . Now, that doesn't mean you have to post . times a day, but it does mean that you have to do it more than once a week.. . That's just part of the deal.. . When you run a business, you have to be consistent.. . Because again, if you can't show up. . consistently on something as minor as social media, then how can you reliable?. . Like, are you going to be able to show up consistently in your business?. . And that's what people are looking for.. . And again, it's not a conscious thought, but it is a subconscious thought where. . people recognize and can see, okay, this is someone who has been active.. . Think about any time you've gone. . and looked up a business, or someone asked you to comment. . on something or you've shared something, and you went and look at that person's. . account, either on Instagram or on Facebook, and the last time they posted. . was three weeks ago, you think like, well, geez, what's going on there?. . Reliability. So when you're nurturing this audience,. . you are establishing yourself as being reliable.. . You are doing that underlying foundational work to establish yourself as a reliable. . friend, as a reliable business owner, as a reliable business brand.. . That's the point of nurturing people.. . So this also includes reaching out, responding, showing up.. . So if someone purchases from you, you want to make sure that you have a post. . purchased email sequence that a couple days after their product arrives,. . emails them and says, hey, how did that work out for you?. . Then a couple days after that,. . reaches out to them and says, hey, why don't you share this on social media?. . Let us know what you think.. . If they reply to you.. . Replying to those emails,. . making sure that you are letting your customer and your audience know that they. . are important to you and that they are worth you showing up and engaging with.. . When you're thinking about nurturing your audience and you're thinking about. . the importance of consistency and showing up, I want you to think,. . what do you want people to say about your business when you leave the room?. . Do you want, how do you want them to feel?. . Do you want them to feel secure, safe, happy, trusted, valued?. . That's what you're putting out there when you're nurturing your audience.. . Okay? And the last piece of this is to delight.. . This is the sprinkles on the frosting. . on the cupcake that just pulls it all together.. . You want to create an experience that your audience loves.. . Now, on social media or on your website is one kind of online experience.. . At your booth and shows is another kind of experience.. . So you want to make sure that your. . audience has the same delightful experience in all of those places.. . And this comes down to your branding. . and your marketing and understanding who you and your customer are.. . You want to create a space where they feel valued.. . Now, on our social media,. . we create that space by creating engaging content and replying to their comments. . and then going and engaging with other businesses in email.. . We make sure that we're delivering them. . emails on a regular basis, that we're following up on our orders. . and making sure that they're happy with their purchases.. . That maybe we're sharing invitations. . to fun and exciting things around the community.. . In your booth, you're making sure that your area is. . shoppable, that it is well lit, that they get a warm welcome when they come in.. . That you are making sure that they feel good in your space.. . On your website, same thing.. . You want to make sure that your website is easy for them to manage,. . that they are safe shopping with you because you're using a secure website,. . because you're clear in your instructions on your product.. . You want to create a buying experience that is top notch.. . So you want to make sure that from beginning to end,. . everything goes as beautifully and perfectly as it can.. . So you're answering all questions.. . You're giving responses before the questions even asked.. . With faqs, you are thanking them when they make purchases.. . You are engaging with them on social media. . and thanking them whenever they take you up on the invitation to join an email list. . and you want to be creating follow up that keeps them coming back.. . It is infinitely easier to retain a customer than it is to get a new one.. . Once someone has given you money for anything at all, it is going to be.. . I know there are statistics out there. . about it and I don't know exactly what the numbers are.. . Just probably times easier to get them to buy from you again.. . Because if they purchase from you and they. . have a good experience, product is quality.. . The packaging was beautiful.. . The experience with you was great.. . You were responsive, you were caring.. . You followed up to make sure that they liked their product.. . They are going to come back again.. . They know exactly what to expect from you. . now and they liked that experience and they will have it again.. . And because you are going to have your system down,. . you are going to have your nurturing plan down.. . They're going to have that same experience. . again and again because we're creating consistency that keeps them coming back.. . So that framework again is find, research, invite, engage, nurture and delight.. . That is the bloom friend framework.. . And if you walk away from this with nothing else today, just remember,. . everybody wants to feel safe and everybody wants to be okay.. . So if you do your job and making your audience feel safe and comfortable. . with you, it is going to really take the pressure off of you trying to sell. . and it is going to really increase your enjoyment of your business and your. . audience's enjoyment of your engaging with your brand and ultimately their. . confidence in purchasing from you and becoming a customer.. . So this is all great.. . But I wonder, but you're wondering like. . how that leads to more money in your business banking account.. . Of course you get more sales when you get. . more of the right people seeing your product.. . So we're going to do all this work on the front end to make sure that we are. . building up these audiences of the right people seeing your product.. . Now, just for clarity, I'm not saying there are wrong people,. . but there are people who will not be your customer.. . And that's good.. . So you do this by knowing who that perfect. . customer is, establishing trust, consistently offering value and delivering. . that Rockstar product and customer experience.. . Now more than ever, artists and crafters are selling more. . of their work with better marketing and deeper relationships.. . By doing this and engaging this framework in your business,. . you are removing yourself from the race with big box stores.. . That's a race you will lose every single time.. . And you are moving into your own lane.. . You now don't have to worry about. . competition, because your only competition is yourself.. . There are more businesses than ever out. . there and that means that something is working.. . So if you are thinking about starting. . a business, but you have been holding back because you think the market is saturated,. . or you think you can't compete with a big box store, or you think it's just too. . difficult, just know there are more businesses than ever.. . Every day there are hundreds if not thousands of new businesses starting.. . You can absolutely do it. Now.. . Most makers aren't marketers, though.. . That's why I have this really unique combination.. . Most makers we want to make.. . And heck yeah, it's great to make money from our stuff.. . And that's why we love going to craft shows.. . But oh boy, when you get to start to talk. . about all this other stuff, it gets a little bit stressful.. . And you also probably don't have a lot. . of people in your social circle that understands the business side of craft.. . I can't tell you how many people that I have had in my life.. . And it's very loving.. . And there is no malintention here. . that have asked me like how my little jewelry business is doing.. . Well, my little jewelry has grown.. . My little jewelry business over the . years I've been in business has grossed almost a million dollars.. . So I'd say it's doing well.. . People don't understand that these are legitimate businesses and it's nice to be. . in communities with other makers and other artists who understand the business side. . of craft and makers who do know how to market to the right.. . People aren't running that race anymore. . against big box stores because you're just not.. . It's a different person, it's a different product.. . It's not it.. . So now, wouldn't it be fantastic if. . there is someone who could teach you exactly how to do this, and that's me.. . So you are officially in the right place.. . So I thank you, sue, for having me here to talk with your audience.. . And I have, if it's okay,. . two programs that I want to share with you, and then we'll do a q and A.. . So, as sue mentioned at the beginning and in her content,. . I am the founder of a program called the Marketing School for Makers.. . And the marketing School for Makers is. . a program that opens for enrollment three times a year.. . It will open again in January.. . For enrollment, I'm going to be doing a Black Friday cyber Monday offer. . that if you join my email list that you'll get a, you'll get an invitation to.. . But the marketing school for makers. . teaches all the foundations of branding, content creation, email marketing,. . social media and then on how to do your to build your shopify website.. . But I know that a lot of us here are in a place where we are kind of just. . starting to think about starting a business.. . Maybe we're not totally there yet, but we are thinking about starting a business.. . So there were two programs that I have. . that might be a little bit more helpful for you.. . So I'm going to share my screen again and we're going to look here.. . Okay.. . So I have got the first one that I'm going to share. . with you is the marketing the business school for makers.. . So the business School for Makers is a mini program that I have that will teach. . you kind of the foundations, ins and outs of actually getting. . the business started because a lot of us get our businesses started because we go. . and we sell a local craft show, we make some money and come home and that's great.. . And then we think, I want to do more of that.. . The minute you make money, the minute you make sales,. . you've got a business and there's some stuff that you have to set up.. . So this is called the business school for Makers.. . If you want to get your business set up right and you have been holding back. . because you're like, I just don't know what I have to do and I. . don't know what business structure I should choose.. . And I don't even want to think about taxes.. . I don't want to deal with all of that.. . This helps take all of the frustration out of it.. . So this is called the business School for Makers.. . And I'm going to show you over here what. . it looks like on the inside of business school.. . So what this is, it is like a resource bank kind of.. . There's a welcome module and then. . there are individual modules and lessons for each piece.. . So teaching you how to claim your business. . name, because you can't just call your business whatever you want.. . Other people might have trademarked that name already.. . So we start with claiming your name,. . choosing a legal business structure, all the stuff about money because you have. . to deal with money, taxes because taxes are not optional.. . Business insurance, product development,. . sourcing supplies, how to select shows and then what comes next.. . So I'm going to click in here and let's go. . into the money stuff and I'll show you what this looks like.. . So this is all self paced.. . This is a resource that you have that you can work through whenever you need it.. . So there is a lesson in here on pricing your product.. . There is a lesson here on business. . banking, how to select and open a business bank account, business bookkeeping,. . how to create and use a business bookkeeping system.. . How to accept payments when you're at craft shows.. . These are all questions that I get all. . the time and that most of us have, but don't exactly know where to find. . the answer because sometimes the answer is different for a handmade business than it. . is for a traditional product based business.. . Let's look over here at selecting shows.. . So here there are lessons on how to find. . shows, how to create an application bank for yourself, how to assess a show,. . because we all know it's easy to find shows.. . But is that show any good?. . How to make the most of your shows.. . So how to get more out of it than just the sales of the event.. . How to do a post show debrief.. . So this is all in the business school for makers.. . The business school for makers is dollar .. . It is a one time investment.. . You get lifetime access to it.. . It is a resource guide that you work through and it's all self paced.. . The other thing that I wanted to share. . with you is a program that I have called clear cut content.. . So clear cut content walks you through identifying that perfect customer.. . So when I just taught you in the friend. . framework, this is the hand holding through that.. . So we walk you through finding your. . perfect customer, knowing how to create content that engages with them,. . finding where they are on social media, and then how to create that content. . to move them down that funnel to be a purchaser.. . So I'm going to show you on the back end. . here what it looks like inside of clearcut content.. . So inside of clearcut content, there's a welcome module.. . Here's where you get started.. . And then there are different video lessons so you can learn how to create. . that engaging content, how to take what you already have and use. . it as content, how to find those buyers, how to create those content pillars.. . So the things that you want to be known. . for, the things that you want to talk about.. . So this really walks you through all of that.. . So if your questions have been I don't. . know how to find customers, I don't know what I'm supposed to post. . on social media, I don't know what to say to people.. . This con, the clear cut content is a great place for you to start.. . Both of these programs, both of these things are great for you if. . you are just getting started, because it will lay the foundation. . for the pieces of your business that are going to make the most impact.. . And they'll make you primed and ready. . to be a marketing school for maker student in the future, if you're interested.. . So this clear cut content program is $.. . It is also self paced.. . You will get, you can have this link and scroll through this on your own.. . I'm not going to read through the page. . for you because you can all do that on your own,. . but you get lifetime access to it and that will be available to you.. . So again, this one is clear cut content.. . The other one is the business school for makers.. . And you'll get both of those pages to see, you know, check them out and you can ask. . me any questions that you have about those.. . All right, so we're doing good for time. Okay.. . So sue, were there any questions that came up while I was going through that?. . I tried to talk slow and then I caught myself talking fast again.. . I got very excited talking about.. . I can tell that you're excited about what you do.. . Thank you so much. I really appreciate this.. . Even if someone who's watching is not. . going to be starting a business, I think you've given us all a good. . overview of how this all works, and I think we will all look at social. . media and the companies that we follow a little differently now.. . Really, you've given us a lot of really. . good food for thought, and you also made it relevant to us as. . machine knitters because we can, we can do things quickly, right?. . We can make things fast. Why not?. . But there's a lot to it.. . Well, that's the thing.. . It is like, there is a lot of space for you all as machine knitters.. . One of your content pillars,. . if you do have any interest in having a business, should be educating on your. . process, because no one out there is going out and buying a knitting machine.. . So you can share as much of your process as you want.. . Nobody's going to copy you. I can tell you that.. . One of the things that I get really into is watching those clay rolling. . videos, people who make like polymer clay jewelry.. . I'm fascinated with those.. . There's not a chance I'm going to go out and buy off, but I like seeing it.. . I like engaging in it.. . Absolutely.. . And the other thing I was thinking is, I think you've opened our eyes as well.. . So many of us have been doing this. . for a really long time and immediately say, okay, I'm going to sell my things.. . And you talk about going to craft fairs.. . Well, there's a lot more to it than that.. . So I really, one of the reasons I wanted. . to invite you here is because I don't think there's a machine knitter out there. . who has at one time thought about selling their, their items.. . I think we've all said, well, this is pretty quick, we can do this.. . I can make a scarf.. . I have half a dozen scarves in a day and I could build up my inventory and I can sell. . this stuff, but not knowing what's behind the scenes.. . So I really appreciate it.. . And in an updated way, not just taking your stuff out to a craft. . fair, you doing it in an updated way to promote yourself.. . Simone says, thanks for this overview.. . Is the course business school for makers?. . Is it us related when it comes to example, the topic of taxes?. . Us focused.. . Yes, there are resources for international taxes, but I am not going to be the person. . to give you any kind of good advice on international taxes.. . Frankie's asking what the cost for business school for makers?. . Dollar. $.. . and you get lifetime access. Yes.. . Yeah. For the business.. . Yeah. The business school for makers is $. and it's that, you know, those kind of basics of setting up business stuff.. . You have business school for makers and then marketing school for makers.. . So the marketing school for makers is my big program.. . That's my big comprehensive program.. . So that one is .. . That one will come available in September.. . No,. . January in my brain, because I always worked in schools,. . the beginning of the year is really September, not January.. . I'll say the beginning of the year in September.. . So yes, in January enrollment will come open for that, that program.. . The difference is there, it's much bigger.. . We get into it comes with live support.. . There is a lot of like we do digging. . and we create a whole brand package and we work together.. . The clear cut content program is inside. . of the marketing school for makers, except there we work together.. . We do, you know, back and forth where we help you create your content pillars,. . we help you drill down and refine that perfect customer because that seems. . to be the piece that we need the most work on.. . We do an intensive email marketing session where we choose an email service provider,. . we set it up, we create those automations, we send all those things out.. . And then social media is the last piece. . because social media is kind of the icing on top of the marketing plane.. . It's the place where we're creating that content to get people into our world.. . Everything that we just went through in the friend framework.. . And it's important that we have the branding and the contents. . and the email pieces all set up before we go out and start doing all of that.. . So that's, so the marketing school. . for makers is a more in depth, focused program that works on building. . and scaling the marketing piece of your business.. . Just there was one other question here about replay.. . Yes, there will be a replay of this.. . Lucy did go through everything really quickly.. . And the link to download her little workbook also is there that you can walk. . through this and follow through the whole framework.. . Lucy, if people want to get in touch with you, could you give us one more time. . and I will put all these links in our show notes.. . And the show notes will be right. . in the same place where you're watching this video.. . Where can they contact you?. . So I'll email you too, sue those two links to those pages.. . So I am on all social medias at bloombybellmaniley.. . You can go to bloombybellmanilly.. . com and you'll visit my website where I've. . got lots of resources, links to the courses.. . I do have a free community,. . so there's about , makers in my Facebook community,. . and it is solely dedicated to the business side of handmade business ownership.. . So we don't share crafts or crafting. . techniques or making techniques, but we do.. . It's a great resource for connecting with other people who are either starting. . businesses, have businesses, have had businesses.. . It's a great handmade business community because like I said earlier,. . sometimes people just think like, oh, isn't that nice?. . You have a little hobby and it's like, well, you're a little business.. . Well, I know that you have another. . engagement here in a few minutes, so we need to let you go.. . I want to thank everyone here for joining us.. . And thank you, Lucy,. . for sharing your wisdom and your knowledge with us and maybe encouraging a few makers. . here to start their own businesses and do it right.. . Yes. Yes.. . Thank you so much. And if anybody has any questions about any. . of these things, please feel free to reach out to me.. . I am a pretty open book.. . I don't keep the knowledge. Alrighty.. . We appreciate it. Thank you so much.. . Thank you for having me. All right.. . And knitters, thank you.. . We'll see you again next month, topic to be determined.. . Let me know what you think and get back to me if you have any questions.. . And I will relay them to Lucy as well.. . We'll put all the links up in the show notes.. . See you next time. Bye..