I am a member of The Club and in our weekly mentoring session today Nicole gave us two prompts. I wrote them down in my newly designated Business Journal because I just started business journalling last week. Except I think I was doing it wrong. I was treating it like my “Mental” journal which reads like a Judy Blume novel in that it contains all the woe and tear stains of a life fully lived. I wasn’t using prompts, which I instantly decided were the way to go, and started googling for.
The prompts Nicole gave us related to an email marketing workshop we’d had a week or so before with Liz Wilcox - who I was already a big fan of.
Photo by Chandan Chaurasia on Unsplash
“If I believed that emailing my list could help or inspire them, what would I say?”
This was a zinger. Because I realize I go into the process of emailing my list thinking “How can I create a newsletter that is interesting but as unobjectionable as possible?” because I don’t want them all to unsubscribe. But as Liz said, these people signed up because they wanted to hear from you. I realized I would encourage them and tell them they were awesome. I’d tell them that not all points need to match (quilters) and that it’s not a competition. I’d also be honest that I’ve lost the joy of making. I hardly make anything now except class samples. It sucks. I have an ongoing hand sewing project but that feels formulaic and I categorize it as busy work for my hands while I’m watching TV. I desperately want to change this and I read people like Jennifer Perkins in awe of all the things she does and wondering why I can’t seem to be like this - like I used to be.
“What kind of email would I want to get from someone like me?”
This is tough because I am not my target audience for quilting. But let’s say I was writing for an audience of people like me or people weirdly interested in me. For a start I would want it to have a lot of polka dots in it. I’d want to read about the authentic ups and downs, the discoveries, the experiments that worked and didn’t. There would be swearing and recommendations and then I’d just be obvious about selling things rather than trying to be subtle about it. I’d ask questions and ask for advice and then want to hear from people reading about what they’d suggest.
Photos by me, in a Yayoi Kusama installation.
So here I am, saying that stuff.
I taught a UV Resin class at Half Moon Bay Library yesterday. Went really well - it’s a surefire crowd pleaser - and marks the start of my summer of library teaching. I was fascinated to see that at this Library, next to the 3D printer, was a Nintendo Switch to borrow plus numerous games for different platforms. There is an irony that it’s the libraries in the rich towns that have this kind of thing, along with the kids most likely to already have one of their own.
Also, I need to take better and more event photos.
Here are some random recommendations:
Subscribe to either Jennifer Perkins and Liz Wilcox depending on your current needs. Links above.
You can write an email to your future self here. I’m kind of scared to.
Download the Finch app and feel a sense of achievement for merely remembering to click on it daily. Plus it does other self help stuff. I am on a 119 day streak - the only other thing I’ve done consistently for 119 days before in my whole life is breathe.
If you’re a quilter, or know a quilter, go to quiltnlearn.com to register for the Tour de Fabric.
And here are things I need advice about:
I work 70 hour weeks and am still not making bank. I know I need to change my strategy. Resources for how to approach this?
Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash
And finally…
Buy, or give me feedback on these I love sewing postcards.
It’s my birthday in less than a month. Buy me a present!