In this episode Kara is joined by Leanne Pressly, the CEO of Stitchcraft Marketing. Principal owner and multi-hat wearing fearless CEO of Stitchcraft Marketing. Leanne holds an M.A. in Sociology and a B.A. in English and has 20+ years of experience in sales and marketing. Prior to starting the agency, she owned a website design and hosting business for 10 years. She’s been a knitter since she was 18 and loves to spin yarn, make her own clothes and quilt. She lives in Colorado with her husband, teenage daughter and a menagerie of pets. “The rapid pace of change means you're NEVER going to be in front of your social channels all the time. Half the battle is just having a solid social media plan and following through on the work. Let the rest go.” -Leanne Pressly [Tweet "Soaking up TONS of #marketing advice from Leanne of @Stitchcraftmktg on #PowerPurlsPodcast!"] Episode highlights: Leanne began her career in the fiber crafts when she met Deb Robson while pulling weeds on a farm in Colorado! Listen to the episode to hear about Leanne's whimsical first knitting project. Leanne worked at Interweave while she finished her graduate school program in Colorado. Leanne's "light bulb moment" came when she realized that there was a need for fiber arts businesses to hire someone to mange their newsletters and social media. Stitchcraft's clients own businesses in all areas of the hand crafting world, from fabric to yarn to paper crafts and more. Stitchcraft manages many different areas of a client's business, depending on that client's needs. Stitchcraft's sweet spot is social planning, strategy, and execution but they also offer content planning and marketing, pattern support, and more. Leanne advocates that even a B2B (business to business) company needs to have a social media plan and an active presence on social media channels. Leanne says that the growth in the industry has been mostly positive: "Competition's good for everybody - it raises all ships," she says. Leanne started a podcast so that she could share the common advice she gives several clients with a wider audience. Leanne loves to invite guests to the show who can share their expertise with her listeners. In her daily life, Leanne still knits and spins regularly. She loves a simple project to help her unwind at the end of a long working day. Marketing is in Leanne's blood: her mother was a marketer and her father was an entrepreneur. Life and knitting have taught Leanne that she thrives best when she's focusing on the big picture. On Leanne's team, everyone has "a seat on the bus." So she builds that team according to the individual strengths that people bring to the bus. Leanne's big piece of advice for our viewers: "Don't be afraid to embrace what you're really good at, and really focus your career on that." What contributes to Leanne's day to day success? Zapier! Mentioned in this episode: Deborah Robson's book: The Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook Stitchcraft Marketing - Leanne's company Spin Off Magazine Interweave Leanne's podcast, Business of Craft Episode 2: Leanne's interview with Staci Perry of VeryPinkKnits Smart Passive Income - Pat Flynn's podcast Tim Ferriss's podcast Zapier Learn more about Leanne and Stitchcraft Marketing: Website: stitchcraftmarketing.com Business of Craft Podcast: stitchcraftmarketing.com/podcast Facebook: facebook.com/stitchcraftmarketing Instagram: instagram.com/stitchcraftmarketing/ LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company-beta/10152753/ Pinterest: pinterest.com/stitchcraftm/ Twitter: twitter.com/stitchcraftmktg MOVE THE NEEDLE ON YOUR KNIT BIZ! Click here to sign up for a free 30-minute creative business strategy session with Kara!
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