Economic Gardening

I just love the term "Economic Gardening." To me, it means not only trying to nurture and grow your audience but also working with other members in your community. Healthy and growing businesses can contribute to other healthy, growing businesses.

This morning I went to a free economic gardening workshop put on by the city of Tacoma. They do 3 -4 of these per year with different topics. This is probably the 5th one I have been to in the last 3 years. Let me just say, this is a fabulous service. A lot of small businesses could benefit and either just don't know about, can't take the time, or think it doesn't refer to them.

This morning's session was Marketing Your Business in Less than 2 Hours Per Week. I wasn't the only artist there. Also in attendance were owners and managers of a pizza chain, a security service, a massage therapist, a farmer's market, a new distillery opening in downtown Tacoma, a landscaper, a tea wholesaler, and a ton of others. I am pretty confident everyone left the room with some ideas on how to get the word out on their businesses.

The main idea I took away is that I need to focus on one area to really see progress.

I made an astounding decision. (Sometimes, I amaze myself.) I am too scattered. I have decided to focus on my reclaimed tin jewelry and sculpture. Starting by reworking my Etsy site into focusing solely on reclaimed art/jewelry/housewares and taking off all of the paintings and prints that weren't selling anyways I hope to give Raven Meets Crow a more focused brand.

I also need to make an action plan so that I can have something to measure my results against. All of these little exercises made thinking about marketing more interesting and challenging and I am excited to see what I can do with it all!

Once I have decided upon an action plan, I will share it with you and then we can see whether this turns into folly or success!