Creative Entrepreneurship Archives - themerriweather council blog

November 6, 2018

Holiday Season Motivation for Makers

During the holiday season it's important to always stayed motivated as a maker. I hope my motivation for makers helps you through the season. TRUST ME everyone has downs and ups. Everyone. | The Merriweather Council Blog

Holiday Season Motivation for Makers

Dear maker,

This time of year it can totally feel like everyone else is having success after success and I know 100000% how much it totally blows to feel like you’re the only one not doing well.

If you feel like seemingly everyone else is killing it this weekend – like everyone else has stacks of packages to ship out, orders out their ears, and everything is going just swell for everyone but you – please know that EVERYONE is on their own track. Everyone has to stay in their lane at their pace and experience their own ups and downs whenever they come. And TRUST ME everyone has downs and ups. Everyone.

Stay your course and don’t get discouraged comparing yourself to everyone else who SEEMS to be killing it. We all have different goals, different products, different resources, different amounts of time… No one is perfect and no one is failing. Unless you give up completely you’re doing well.

Focus on yourself and bettering the parts of your biz that need it and trust the process- it’s all possible but we will all arrive at “success” at different times in different ways.

Happy holidays + thank you for being here,

Danielle

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October 30, 2018

10 Times People Want to Hear From You

10 Time People Want to Hear From You | The Merriweather Council Blog

10 times people want to hear from you

UH-OH, party foul! Or should we say business foul? Either way, here are 10 of them that you might be committing. Yes, that’s right, I’m saying that you keeping quiet is a no-no.

When people go out shopping for things they need, it doesn’t need to be an experience. It doesn’t matter either way if the stroll down the paper towel aisle is entertaining or educational or informative or otherwise memorable. People need paper towels, they go on auto pilot to buy them.

But products like yours – handmade products – are not necessities, they are luxuries, or gifts, or just for fun. People buy these things for fun! So make it fun for them to shop with you! Or at least make it more enjoyable than the quiet, lonely stroll down the plastic baggy aisle.

Here are 10 times people wanted to hear from you – have a more unique / different experience shopping – but didn’t.

When you started that email list but never sent any emails.
When you second guessed yourself about posting about your product on Instagram.
When they couldn’t find your email address.
When your product description was seriously lacking.
When you were a vendor at a show but sat quietly in your booth the whole time until someone wanted to pay.
When you didn’t post to your Facebook page for six months.
When you thought about creating a new product but were afraid no one would like it or that it’s all been done before.
When you never posted an introduction or about page.
When you didn’t run a sale because you didn’t want to annoy people.
When someone left a negative review so you went silent for a while.

Don’t hide your voice, personality, or other traits that help you stand apart! They cannot help you if no one knows about them!

Happy selling!

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October 24, 2018

3 No-Lose Ways to Attract Your Target Customer

3 No-Lose Ways to Attract Your Target Customer | The Merriweather Council Blog

How to attract your target customer

If there is one thing I know for sure it’s that many makers in business have struggled – and may even continue to struggle – to identify their ideal customer or target market. You’ve probably read, watched, and otherwise heard a lot about finding this elusive group of people who will love your product. Most of the time we are working to identify them, but for now I want to talk about attracting them to us. This is a little less involved than identifying them outright. Let them come to you, and meet them, then you’ll find out who they are, or you’ll be much closer to knowing.

Here are 3 no-lose ways to attract your ideal customers to you and your business!

SOLVE THEIR PROBLEMS.

No matter what product you sell, it solves someone’s “problem.” And remember, to them, it is a problem (regardless of your personal definition of the word problem) and having a solution to this problem will give them better quality of life. People are always willing to shell out for solutions, but they need to know how your product will solve their problem in order to feel good about spending that money.

PRICE IT FOR THEM

Your prices will also attract your target audience and repel others. That is a good thing. If someone normally shops at Walmart, Nordstrom probably doesn’t want to attract them because it’s not their ideal customer. That customer has different values that might not align with Nordstrom’s. It is not a good fit so it’s better Nordstrom attracts like-minded buyers and one strategy for that is pricing.

KEEP SHOWING UP TO ATTRACT YOUR TARGET CUSTOMER

You aren’t going to attract anybody to anything by hiding away in a proverbial corner of the Internet. You need to keep showing up. Keep posting, keep evaluating what your best approach is, keep putting your work out there.

My favorite of these is pricing – an often overlooked “gatekeeper” of sorts. Which is your favorite way to attract your target customer?