Craft Your Commerce Spring 2021 Workshop Series

Jump into the Craft Your Commerce Spring Workshop Series: The Craft of Selling.
This spring, Mountain BizWorks Craft Your Commerce workshops are focusing on The Craft of Selling. We have all learned that 2020 threw us a curveball that no one saw coming and those creative and craft based businesses that had diverse revenue streams are the ones who were able to pivot, grow their sales, and meet their customers’ needs most easily. 

This series of workshops will explore a variety of skill development that will help you gain an understanding of how to create sales strategies, develop diverse revenue streams, and sell without having to feel “salesy.” Join us for this series of workshops where we are bringing in guest presenters who are subject matter experts in their field, exposing you to new ideas, and helping you find innovation and comfort in selling your products.

We are offering these workshops at  Pay What You Wish (PWYW) prices, so get your tickets today before seats sell out! Craftyourcommerce.com.
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DATES:

March 17 from 2 – 4 pm - Selling With Intention: Creating Long Term Customer Relations With Digital Strategy 

This workshop features presenter Casey Nifong, who has multiple years of experience in industries that focus on organic products, sustainability, and investing in the future of our world. It is an introduction to creating long term relationships with your customers through building an intentional digital strategy. This session will dive into how to approach building beautiful relationships (ideally turning customers into friends) through your digital channels like market research, brand messaging, and online engagement that then leads to brand loyalty. The workshop will be held over Zoom.

March 24 from 2 - 4 pm- Beyond Sales Funnels: How to Automate Customer Relations to Drive Sales

This class will feature presenter Julio Chavez, Strategic Executive at Copy Identity and nationally ranked corporate sales manager. In this presentation we’ll be taking those ideas and skills taught in Casey’s Digital Strategies workshop and covering how to easily create long lasting customer relationships by building a sales funnel that nurtures and makes sales on autopilot. Come learn the basics of all sales funnels, and then learn how to automate them so you spend LESS time cultivating your customers, but have more sales! This is sure to be a fun and interactive workshop helping you grow your sales without being “salesy.” This course will be held over Zoom.

March 31 from 2 – 4 pm- The Power of Being Niche: Creating Growth While Narrowing Your Customer Base

This class will feature moderator Sarah Benoit, co-founder and lead instructor of the JB Media Institute, a digital marketing school, and President of Creative Original, Inc., a small business web design and consulting firm. Ever hear the saying “if you are marketing to everyone, you’re marketing to no one?” This is because most seasoned sales and marketing people know money is made when real relationships are strong. One of the ways you can build loyalty, repeat business, referrals, trust, and cash flow is to focus on a niche market. Niches don’t limit your business, they help you establish credibility in the marketplace. Over time you can expand to new niches that are the right fit for your products and services, and create long lasting growth. Want to learn more? Join us for this expert panel and learn from successful businesses that operate in a niche market. Come find out how to build your next growth strategy. This class will be held over Zoom.

April 2 from 2 – 4 pm- Partner Marketing Made Easy: Low Tech Ways to Sell Online

This workshop will feature presenter Derrick Duplessy, Founder of the Duplessy Foundation. He will demonstrate how to sell products online person to person – without complicated technology. Professionals from Acceleration Partners (AP) will work directly with each attendee on how to implement these low tech sales strategies. AP works with companies like Warby Parker, Reebok, and adidas to implement these strategies. Presenter Derrick Duplessy is the founder of the Duplessy Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to teaching the sales process to women, immigrants, and minority business owners. The workshop will be held over Zoom. 

April 7th from 2 - 4 pm- Creating Your Brand Story: How Your Brand Story Can Sell for You

This workshop features presenter Alyssa Phillips, owner of Amp’d Designs. The workshop is an introduction to branding and how it can help your business grow. Together we’ll review different aspects that make up a brand, why these aspects are important, how to build your own brand story, and how to use it to market and sell your products or services. A worksheet and discussion will accompany the presentation. This event will be held over Zoom.

March 15 - April 12, 6 - 8 pm (meets every Monday for 5 weeks)- Crafting Commerce Cohert (C3) Labs

Facilitated by Gwynne Rukenbrod Smith, Craft Your Commerce Project Manager. This 5-week cohort experience will aid existing makers and creative entrepreneurs in integrating learnings and skills from the workshops series into their business practices. Join a group of your cohorts and analyze all aspects of your business, identify where you could improve your business, and implement the ideas shared in each workshop.

These Live Labs are held throughout the workshop series. They are intended to answer any questions that you have after the workshops, help you implement any skills and ideas you learned, and get feedback from both the facilitator and your cohorts. Finally in this class you will develop 3 goals you want to achieve in your business and create an implementation plan to achieve those goals. The labs are held over Zoom. 

Craft Your Commerce is led by Mountain BizWorks in partnership with Center for Craft and UNC Asheville and with funding by the Windgate Charitable Foundation to support professional crafters, makers and creative businesses in Asheville and Western North Carolina.

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