Promote Your Business

[Brenda]

After looking at EL's harps and George's guitars, I thought there should be a specific place for everyone to put what they are working on to bring in their moola to be financially free. So maybe post a link and what your selling/doing.

[Brenda]

loasolutions.com

Here is what we have been working on. Since we went into foreclosure a couple years back we are trying to help people with this and empower them to know that they have choices.

[Meredith]

www.quilted.net

Actually, I'd be interested in hearing what folks have done/are doing to promote themselves and their businesses. That's my and George's biggest stumbling block. He did okay as a cabinet maker and sawyer just through word of mouth - and that seems to be his best means of "advertising" for his guitars, too, so far.

[Brenda]

Great idea. I will make another thread for that topic. Because we have a hard time with this as well.

[EL]

Meredith, I'm in a similar, though not the same, boat as George. Mine is a highly niche market. I make something of interest and demand so small and specialized that China and Pakistan have not seen any profit in flooding the market with cheap knock-offs.

Guitars themselves have much more consumer acceptance, but then again, the world is awash in cheap knockoffs.

Nine out of ten of the instruments I sell are to people who already have one (or five or ten).

I run an ad in the quarterly magazines, since the circulation is modest, so is the price. Then I find every discussion list where people might be interested in my wares (SCA buffs, Ren, Celto-philes, medievalists, modal music aficionados, etc,) and I comment periodically with the footer of my messages bearing the motto and link to the web site. Also there are a bazillion music (and in your case, guitar) comprehensive list of links that are glad to add your link to their list.

Word of mouth is still the most profitable, but word of keyboard puts you in touch with a wider market.

What hasn't worked well are the shops that will display the instruments but want between 35% and 50% of the sale price as their cut.

Here's an idea that is a variation of one I'm using: Since George's guitars are made of recycled materials, get with some skilled sewing person or persons and come up with a case or gig bag made of recycled materials. My variation is a case made like a quilt of scrap material.

[Barbara Mullins]

www.mozafamily.com
Yep It's a shameful plug but you said to promote so here I am! :)
I sell books online, I have a wide variety but the majority are Children s and Romance books with some Sci Fi, Mystery and non-fiction thrown in. Basically whatever I can find to sell so I can buy groceries and pay for gas to get to "play dates", oh I mean educational Field Trips :)

[Amy]

www.terranovahealing.com

This is my main site, for my intuitive counseling and energy healing business. I do phone sessions for people where I can tune in and give them very specific information about what's happening below the surface emotionally and spiritually in any situation. I also help people shift where they are energetically so that they can manifest differently. I have helped people with everything from dealing with affairs, hiring at work, issues with their kids, sick pets etc.
I also teach energy-reading.

www.evolutionarypaths.com

This is my affiliate site for PATHS, which is a cutting edge technology that helps you evolve your limiting beliefs in different areas of your life. They have 85+ modules that can help with specific health issues like fibromyalgia or back pain, or help you get more organized or be more grateful! I chose to become an affiliate after I experienced noticeable results, and felt it would be compatible with the work I do. Sometimes I can have a session where I can see how a person needs to shift to attain their goals, and do as much work as I can in that session, but they would need to do something consistently to keep the shift going in the desired direction. PATHS can do this - and it is quite affordable ($35/month) once you pay the initial set-up fee. The other advantage of it is that it takes very little time to watch the modules (2 min watching per module, 3x a week), and you can switch up your modules every month.

Although an intuitive energy healing session will take you farther in one sitting, PATHS is a good tool for working with your subconscious beliefs over the long-term. I feel like it internally supports me to have empowering thoughts, even when the people around me don't support or buy into those kind of thoughts. It's helped me with sleep (every single mother's challenge and the very first result that I saw), being more heart-centred (unconditional love module), being more relaxed, healing trauma and a number of other things. There's even a parenting module now, that helps you be more patient with your kids and see things from their perspective.

www.toning.terranovahealing.com

This is a site that I started for people to download vocal sound healing recordings that I did on different topics. This was before I discovered PATHS. There are about 4 recordings you can download and they are free but donations accepted and appreciated. This idea came from realizing that many of my clients felt healing results anytime they listened back to a session recording...I listened back to some and realized I was getting healing from it too. This is partly because the work I do is a form of channelling so I'm not in that zone when I'm just being my regular self - which is most of the time. I keep meaning to add some new ones soon, maybe I'll do that in the next few weeks!

Amy

[Shannon Rose]

www.shannonroselive.com

This is my site and I travel the country teaching raw food/ vegan cooking classes along with several other sustainable living courses. The goal is to help people feel better, beat their illnesses ( I beat cancer this way) and my favorite is helping people cure their own diabetes since the docs always say there is no cure. :) I love my life!

[Regina]

www.NaturalBohemian.com
Currently, I'm really struggling to get by. I just started my company and am slowly working on getting it together. I'm also hoping to find some flea markets and festivals to be able to start selling at. I want to also add handcrafted soap to my "line".

I'm also going to school for photography, and hoping to make some money with that. It's something I adore doing.

[Brenda]

Regina, your products look/sound wonderful!! I hope it takes off for you!

Regina said:

www.NaturalBohemian.com
Currently, I'm really struggling to get by. I just started my company and am slowly working on getting it together. I'm also hoping to find some flea markets and festivals to be able to start selling at. I want to also add handcrafted soap to my "line".

I'm also going to school for photography, and hoping to make some money with that. It's something I adore doing.

[Karen S Gault]

Hello,

I am very interested in being part of this group. I am writing a book on a work-for-hire basis on growing your own fruits and berries. It has been a very valuable learning experience for me and I have grown as a writer, and the credit as an author of a published book will be good for me, but it has taken over my family life and I want to find ways of making a living as an artist and writer on a freelance basis that aren't so invasive of my home-schooling my daughter. Part of the success of unschooling/home-schooling is the attention we give our children. I know that I have a better connection with her than I would if she attended formal schooling..but I am weary of having to put the writing first. I can't wait to take a "vacation" to play with her before I start my summer work. Thanks for being there and having this group!

[Roblynn Neumann]

Hola. My husband and I own and operate a study abroad massage here in Costa Rica. Actually the bookwork is done online and the students come to Costa Rica for their last six weeks for the hands on portion of the program. We have them stay with homestay families in the neighborhood. We have had a slow start, been working on it for two years. We have 7 graduates practicing massage all over the world. www.crmassageschool.com

[Rainbow Rivers]

http://www.associatedcontent.com/user/216089/rainbow_rivers.html


That is the link where I write most of my articles, the more page views the more I get paid along with my upfront payments. I write mostly on unschooling subjects but also put up recipes from my kitchen, unjobbing and animal articles.