Business of Craft Leanne Pressly, CEO Stitchcraft Marketing

Welcome to Business of Craft, a show designed to help entrepreneurs with fabric or fiber businesses become more successful. Our guests share best practices and teach effective marketing skills, that help crafty business owners learn to grow and scale. Let's start crafting a better business together!
Today we welcome you to our kickoff for season six of Business of Craft. Leanne and Anneliese present our findings from the 2023 Craft Retailer Research project. The 2023 Craft Retailer Survey organized by Audience Audit and Stitchcraft Marketing included 923 respondents from April to May 2023. Respondents included manufacturers, distributors and retailers of craft products. The research has a margin of error of +/- 3.2 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. Four distinct attitudinal segments emerged among respondents; these are groups of craft business owners who share a set of attitudes. The data that came out of this study is going to inform a lot of the shows we have planned for this season.

Today my guest is Lori Highby. Lori Highby is an accomplished entrepreneur and a marketing expert with over 20 years of experience in the industry. As the founder and CEO of Keystone Click, a digital marketing agency based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Lori has been helping businesses of all sizes to improve their online presence and grow their brands since 2008. Her passion for helping businesses succeed in the digital age is a driving force behind her continued success.
Lori’s knowledge and passion for helping businesses succeed in the digital age is a driving force behind her continued success. Today we’re going deep into the newest technological advancements, artificial intelligence and what it means for your business.

My guest today Jennifer Keltner has been a maker of things from a very early age. Her first truly independent crafting involved melting crayons in an Easy-Bake Oven. She’s passionate about all things fabric, quilting, embroidering, and sewing—always trying to squeeze a little “making” into every day.  As President and Chief Visionary Officer for Martingale, Jennifer leads an employee-owned company with 45 years of book publishing history, now producing 36+ new titles per year. 
 

Our guest today, Meg Goodman, is an award-winning podcast host and producer, and the founder and CEO of Flint Rock LLC an audio production company. Early in her career, she entered the world of advertising agencies managing notable Fortune 100 accounts. After 25+ years in advertising, including a stint running an agency, she returned to her native Chicago roots to create Pure Audio for her clients.



When not writing, hosting, producing, or running Flint Rock she serves as an Elder in her church and
volunteers for several philanthropic and civic boards. She been skydiving, has a black Belt in Hapkido, and enjoys scuba diving and riding motorcycles with her family. 

DeAnna McIntosh is a business strategist and retail consultant at Retailing Evolved specializing in helping retailers drive sales and increase conversions in their business. In 2020 she founded Diversify Retail Inc to bring more attention to the issue of diversity in retailing. She joins our podcast today to give our craft retail listeners some special insights into future-proofing your  business and how to be a disruptive retailer.

My guest today is my colleague Michelle Walker. She’s a Financial Strategist and an Account Manager here at Stitchcraft Marketing who began her artistic endeavor at a young age with painting and sewing. She’s a small business owner of Weaverwalker, an Eco-conscious macrame-focused DIY kit & supplies business on a mission to deliver the meditative experience of macrame to everyone's home.  In May, Michelle is launching a new mastermind for Stitchcraft Marketing called Good Math, Smart Business to help crafty business owners really get a handle on their financial numbers. So, today we’re going to talk about math monsters and her philosophy which we loosely call profit first-ish.