You pour your heart and soul into designing and creating products that you love, but you're frustrated by your lack of sales.  You know that marketing is important to your business, but you aren't really sure what that means, how to do it, or where to find the time to do it.

Perhaps you’ve tried other marketing advice in the past.  But most marketing books are too general to meet your needs as a designer and maker.  And the standard marketing advice you read around the web like “re-list on Etsy” or “use Twitter” hasn’t actually helped you.

You want to grow your business, but you aren’t sure what the marketing steps you should take to help you get there.

That's where I can help. I've taken all the content from my popular Marketing for Makers course and turned it into a home study program so that you can learn to market your business on your own time and at your own pace.

Marketing for Makers was created to show you the best methods to market your business to increase your traffic and your sales.  Not only that, but this course is designed specifically to help makers, designers, and crafters like you choose the right marketing strategies and develop a marketing plan you can actually stick to.

And I'm making all the content available for a limited time to help you maximize your marketing before you head into the busy holiday season.

I'm Megan Auman, designer, metalsmith, educator, and entrepreneur.  My products have been featured in national magazines like Cooking Light and Delta Sky, on major blogs like Design*Sponge, Decor8, and TreeHugger, and sold in stores across the US including boutiques, galleries, and major museum stores.  Since December of 2009, I've been sharing advice and ideas for growing your creative business on Crafting an MBA.  And now I'm combining my real life experience with my ability to pick out the most relevant and up-to-date business information to bring you a comprehensive resource on marketing your creations.

The Marketing for Makers program is for you if...

• You want to increase traffic (and sales) in your online shop. (Regardless of whether that shop is through Etsy, Big Cartel, your own e-commerce site, or some other solution.)
• You'd like to see your products featured in more blogs and magazines. (And perhaps a few newspapers and TV news broadcasts as well.)
• You want to get your products in more stores and galleries.
• You want to maximize your reach through blogs and social media.
• And you want to build a strong and consistent brand identity that pulls it all together.

With Marketing for Makers you'll learn how to...

• Understand your target market and develop a core story that drives all your marketing efforts.
• Get your online shop traffic ready so that when people drop by they're more likely to make a purchase.
• Build your email list and write emails that people actually want to open.
• Use your blog and social media to drive traffic.
• Build a database of press contacts and gain the confidence to pitch the press.
• Contact stores and galleries about carrying your work.
• And so much more!

And you'll create an action plan that ties all your marketing efforts together and still leaves you time to design and create your products!

These are strategies that I've personally used in my own business to bring in tens of thousands of dollars, generate press, get my work into stores, and even hire an assistant. These are strategies that are proven effective!

Ready to get started?

With the Marketing for Makers home study, you'll get all 12 lessons from the original e-course. Each lesson includes tips and tricks for marketing your business, worksheets to help you take action on what you're learning, and an MP3 recording of the lesson so you can listen while you work in the studio. And you'll get all 12 lessons immediately, so you can start marketing today.

Or, opt for the basic verion, which includes five key lesson from course in both text and audio versions, plus all the worksheets to go along with them!

Marketing for Makers lessons:

Week 1: What is marketing? Setting your goals and determining your budget.
Week 2: Your brand, your target market, and your USP
Week 3: Getting ready for traffic: about pages, product descriptions, and conversion
Week 4: Email marketing: building your list and creating compelling campaigns
Week 5: Inbound Marketing Part 1: blogging and SEO
Week 6: Inbound Marketing Part 2: video and social media
Week 7: Pitching the Press
Week 8: Approaching stores and galleries
Week 9: Advertising
Week 10: More Marketing Ideas
Week 11: Creating sticky marketing campaigns
Week 12: Creating your marketing plan and tracking your progress

What people are saying about Marketing for Makers:

"Megan is a wonderful teacher and has provided me with so much marketing knowledge-I have more confidence in planning my marketing strategies thanks to this class. You will not be disappointed!"

-Rachel Troutman, Staunch Studio

"Megan's Marketing for Makers e-course was just what I needed to get serious about my future and about marketing my creative business. Megan went above and beyond my expectations in assisting me to get the most out of her course. Taking this course was by far the best decision I have made since deciding to go into business for myself."

-Dannielle Cresp, danniellecresp.com

The Marketing for Makers home study will only be available for a limited time. I want to make sure that you get all the information you need to start marketing your business before the busy holiday season starts. Which is why I'm only making this program available until August 31st. After that, the content won't be available again until I run the next e-course in January.

So don't wait!

Frequently Asks Questions:

How does this differ from the e-course? The Marketing for Makers home study includes all the content from the orginal e-course. You'll get each lesson as both a text-based PDF and an MP3 audio recording, plus the worksheets to accompany each lesson.

You won't have access to online forums or conference calls, which are online available during the e-course. The home study program is self-paced, so that you can tackle the information on your own time.

What if I want to take the e-course in the future? Will I have to pay full price? No, if you decide that you want to take the course in January to get the group interaction and accountability, you'll be able to apply the cost of the home study towards the price of the course.

I'm not sure I can afford Marketing for Makers right now? Is there a payment plan? At this time, there is no payment plan available. But I am offering the course in two versions, a basic version at $129 and the full version at $249. While it might seem like a big investment, the strategies in the program can bring in thousands of dollars for your business if you take action on them. They did for me.

Why is this only available for a limited time? First, I want to make sure you get and implement the information in the course in time to put it in action before the holiday season starts. I want you to see results! Second, I want to make sure the content stays fresh and current. Taking the home study version down at the end of August means I have time to revamp and refresh the content before the next course offering in January.

How does it all work? After paying for program via PayPal, you'll be sent a link to download all the content immediately. You'll get all the lessons, worksheet, and audio files so you can start marketing right away.

How is payment processed? Payments are processed through PayPal and can be made with your PayPal account or a major credit card. Payments are 100% secure.

What if I have other questions? You can email me at megan(at)craftMBA.com.

Don't wait. This is the perfect opportunity to kick start your marketing and finish 2011 on a good note!