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Thrive By Design: Business and Marketing Strategy for Fashion, Jewelry and Creative Brands

I’m your host, Tracy Matthews, Chief Visionary Officer of Flourish & Thrive Academy. After 20+ years in the jewelry industry, I believe you deserve to make money doing what you love, without spending every waking minute doing it. I’ve built two jewelry businesses: one that totally flopped after years of stress and burnout, and then one that I built around MY desired lifestyle, which is still thriving to this day. Both were fueled by equal passion and dedication. The only difference is that I realized your business should be built around your lifestyle, not the other way around. I founded Flourish & Thrive Academy because it’s my mission to help independent jewelry designers and handmade product makers like you build a business that THRIVES in today’s market and aligns with what YOU want. Every week, I’m dedicated to demystifying the secrets of the jewelry industry and teaching you tips and strategies that are working now, so you don’t have to learn the hard way, like I did. My Desired Brand Effect Methodology has helped thousands of jewelry designers and makers build and scale businesses that create financial freedom in their lives. Building a business is a marathon, not a sprint, and you don’t have to do it alone. I’m so happy to be on this journey with you. You can subscribe to the show here and watch every episode on YouTube here. Follow us on Instagram @flourish_thrive or slide into my DMs @tracymatthewsny. Visit flourishthriveacademy.com to learn more about our mission and our high-level coaching programs for dedicated business owners, Laying The Foundation and Momentum. And if you want to learn more about The Desired Brand Effect, I wrote a whole book about it! Read the first chapter for free here. Welcome to the #ThriveTribe, m’dear. I’m always dropping new resources, masterclasses, and opportunities for independent makers, so stay tuned!
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Thrive By Design: Business and Marketing Strategy for Fashion, Jewelry and Creative Brands
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Now displaying: December, 2018
Dec 25, 2018

Every year around this time, I reflect back on how I did…

This year was no different…

Always – ALWAYS – my reflection starts with my WINS! Girl, you crushed it!

Then I have to check myself re: the goals that I didn’t achieve.

AND GET BRUTALLY HONEST WITH MYSELF…

Was I playing it too safe?

Was I pulling all the stops?

Did I really want “it” that bad?

Was it aligned with my vision?

Or were my beliefs about myself holding me from reaching my highest potential?

My practice helped me clear the energy of what I want to create in the coming year and the same is true for you too.

When I started planning my 2019, I created a little practice for myself that included 5 words to live by…

And I recorded a podcast about it to help YOU manifest your biggest hairy goals next year with these 5 words.

2019 is right around the corner and it’s time for you to make a decision for yourself…

Will this be the #bestyearever?

If it’s a HECK YES! Dive into today’s episode with into those 5 words now…

Dec 18, 2018

Content is King (yes, even for a jewelry brand).

And when your content is marketed the right way, you can easily connect with those perfect customers…you know the ones who keep coming back for more?

The ones who buy everything you make!

The ones who tell the world about how much they LOVE your jewelry!

Yeah, those ones!

Have you heard of the 1000 True Fans philosophy?

It states that you don’t need millions (of dollars, customers, products), you just need 1000 true fans who buy everything you make.

When you get 1000 true fans, you’ll never be a starving jewelry artist…you’ll have an awesome business that supports you forever!
One piece of the “1000 true fans philosophy” is that you need to create a relationship with your fans…that starts with them loving your jewelry and your story…you keep ‘em hooked by curating content (social, email, blog, downloads, etc) that adds value to your brand experience.

Today on the show, I’m sharing How to Align Your Content With Your 2019 Sales Plan so you’ve got double duty working for you and fans in tow…

Dec 11, 2018

A recent NY Times Article announced that Conde Nast is selling off 3 of its publications due to a shrinking pool of advertisers and changes in the way content is consumed…

…which in recent times isn’t so much on the printed page.

So what’s a jewelry brand to do to get exposure for their designs?

It’s true, the landscape of the jewelry industry and PR is changing – rapidly.

One of the big changes is the shift from Print to Digital and experiential consumption.

And those who discover how to navigate the new landscape will rise and prosper…

PR IS NOT DEAD…IT’S JUST DIFFERENT.

Branded experiences create brand evangelists who leverage the digital landscape to create exposure for you.

Today on the show, I have my friend Janine “JJ” Just with me to talk about all things brand collaborations and PR experiences to get awesome exposure for your brand.

Listen to episode #179 of Thrive by Design to get your all-access pass to How to Create Branded Collaborations and PR Experiences with Janine Just.

Dec 4, 2018

I’m often asked: what does it really take for an emerging jewelry brand | designer | maker to successfully sell jewelry online?

It requires 4 things:

• Strategy
• Resourcefulness
• Creativity
• A Can Do Attitude

Here’s why: There’s a lot of strategy “conversion nuance” involved in getting customers to actually buy from your jewelry website or online channels.

Because of that, you’ve gotta be creative in your approach to selling online, take action to implement your ideas, and resourceful, especially when, things don’t go your way!.

Typically, designers try something once and think: ‘that doesn’t work for me!”

Instead, they should be thinking: “how can I tweak my strategy to make this work for me?”

So, when I hear people out there saying, “I sell jewelry online” –

I’m ready to show them how it’s done…

and proof that with the right strategy and actions, you can sell WAY more than your dinky holiday shows….

(I’m not dissing shows…they’re good too! 😂)

Enter Jeana and Jared Rushton of the TheFoxandStone.com.

The millenial power couple 💃🏻🕺 (giggles) just absolutely crushed their Black Friday Weekend promotion for the first time and they’re here to tell us how.

But first, let me set the stage.

In previous years, Jared and Jeana banked on Etsy sales and live events for a large portion of their Holiday Jewelry Sales.

When a fluke occurrence happened early in 2017 and they got a flood of orders from Etsy, they knew they needed to do “something” to fill in the income gaps between months (sometimes upwards of $10K).

At the time, they were members of the Diamond Insiders Mentorship program and Jared quit his full-time job to support Jeana in the business.

Knowing they could use some outside eyes on their biz, they joined our SOS coaching program and leaned on several of our coaches to help them fill in those gaps this year.

In previous years, they rarely paid attention to Black Friday, BUT they were dropped from their “Best Show” in Seattle so they had to find another way to fill that income gap.

They worked with many of our coaches, including our planning master, Inta, to map out this kick-butt strategy…

And, M’Dear, I hope you’re inspired to put some of these ideas into action!

Listen to Episode #178: The Epic Online Promotion Strategy that Brought in $8200 in 4 Days

….and get resourceful yourself…

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