Wink, Women Inkorporated - A Great Business Networking Group for Women

Relationships are the catalyst for success.
People do business with those they like and trust.
Serve as a resource, help others succeed. 

Wink, Women Inkorporated - Women's Networking Organization

While I've been more than happy to stay holed up in my little studio, wearing comfy sweats, and making jewelry all day, I realize the importance of meeting new people in order to grow my business in new ways. I've done a decent job growing my business by learning about Etsy, taking good pictures, and word of mouth. But there's a whole big world out there and I want them to know about me!

Networking is about making connections and building enduring, mutually beneficial relationships. Plus it's fun, especially after a few long days only conversing with my dog!

Networking is inexpensive. It’s full of like-minded individuals that you can work with or learn from in some way. Also, face-to-face networking events create lasting impressions in the minds of people you meet.

Last summer I joined Wink, Women Inkorporated, a women's business networking group based out of San Diego.

Here is the Wink Mission:
'Wink, Women Inkorporated^® is a faith-based business women’s networking organization. We have a vision for making business women’s networking better, more effective and of high integrity for all women in business. Wink events offer business insights and ideas, workshops, relatable topics, collaboration with like-minded women and lots of connecting with women ready to grow professionally and personally. Wink business women’s networking is open to all female professionals, entrepreneurs, business owners or independent contractors. We offer a fun, welcoming, professional environment of high integrity.Wink, Women Inkorporated is the Link to Business Women’s Networking.'

The good news is that they are going national and chapters will be opening up all over the U.S. Not only am I meeting other women business owners, I am learning so much because they have fantastic guest speakers at each meeting. Examples of some of the speaking events I've attended are:

• Facebook Ads and Boosted Posts
• The 30-60-90 Day Plan for Your 2014 Sales
• The Entrepreneur Mindset Panel 
• Leverage: The Secret Weapon of Successful Solopreneur's

Since joining Wink, I have seen my jewelry sales double - yes, double! It isn't because I'm selling loads of jewelry at the meetings, it's because my mindset was completely changed from hobbyist to serious business owner. I have learned so much about running my business and have gained more confidence in myself.

This summer, I became the Chapter Leader for the Carmel Mountain Ranch group. I have met so many fantastic business women. Women that are in all different stages of running their own business, some part-time, some full-time. It has been truly inspiring being around such motivated people.

I found Wink at Meetup.com. Meetup is a great site where you can find a wide range of groups for every interest imaginable. While there are many business networking groups in every city, it's just a matter of finding the one that suits you. For me, Wink was the perfect match.

Here is their website for more information on Wink:
http://womeninkorporated.com/
If you are interested in starting a chapter in your city, please e-mail me for more information.

The Carmel Mountain Wink meetings are held the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of the month at the Claim Jumper at 12384 Carmel Mountain Rd, San Diego. Meetings run from 11:45 to 1:15. You can find more information at the meetup site: Wink, Women's Inkorporated.

Day 11 - January Goal Check up and Final Facebook Ad Results

Instead of thinking outside the box, get rid of the box.

-Deepak Chopra

There are a little less than 2 weeks left in January, so I thought it would be a good idea to review my goals for this month and see if I'm on target and what I need to work on for the next week. January is really about setting up the foundation for success in my business this year. Developing good work habits and scheduling consistent marketing/sales tasks were the main focuses for me this month. While I was working full-time along with running my jewelry business, I didn't set strict measurable goals for myself because it was always easy to fall back on the 'real' job. I made goals in my head, but didn't write them down - if they went by the wayside, no one knew (except me and I wasn't telling anyone!).

The goals I set for January were:

• Sales goal of 50% more than last January.
• Right now I'm on target with my sales goals. I'm seeing a definite increase from last year!
• Design and list 15 new products.
• I've listed 10 new products this month so far. I'm well on track to meeting this goal.
• Start an Instagram account by mid-month and start posting pictures.
• My account is created and a few pictures have been posted. I'm not posting every day, but with Instagram, less is better than too often. I'm going to go easy on myself with this social media venue.
• Post 4-5 pins on Pinterest each day (only 1 per day for jewelry).
• Except for the weekends, I've been fairly consistent with this one. I enjoy Pinterest and I'm definitely starting to see an increase in followers and re-pins. I'm also seeing traffic from Pinterest to my Etsy site.
• Create YouTube channel and have 2 videos up by end of month.
• My channel is created. I expect to create my first video this week.
• Update my website with new pictures and new font. Update list of stores carrying my products.
• Still on the list.  :-)
• Meet with someone new every week. The idea is to facilitate new business contacts and generate business either in the short term or long term.
• In the first 2 weeks, I met with two people. One resulted in a great wholesale order. The other was a meeting with a fellow Wink member about showcasing my jewelry at some of her events. 
• I still need to mark my calendar this month with 2 more meetings.
• Post to my Facebook page every day and run 2 ads by the end of the month.
• I haven't been posting on weekends, so I need to step it up on this goal.
• I've decided not to run 2 ads this month. The first ad did well for the first week and then dropped down to almost nothing the last 3 days. 
• I ended up with 58 new likes (53 in the first 7 days).
• I had a budget of $20.00 and spent $14.80.
• Since the number of likes dwindled down in the last week, that tells me that there is no need to run ads frequently at this point. In February I plan on trying the 'Boost Post' feature to see how that goes. 
• To see my post about the facebook ad I ran: Day 7 - Facebook Ads

All in all, I feel good about my progress. Most of my goals for this month are the type that won't show results in the short term but are designed to create a stronger brand presence for me in the long term.

Day 10 - New Wholesale Opportunity

What a wonderful thought it is that some of the best days of our lives haven't happened yet.

Today I met with a wonderful woman that found my Etsy shop on-line and we now have a wholesale partnership. She has her own business as an Esthetician in the Hillcrest area of San Diego. Along with providing services, she also sells local handmade artisan items. My jewelry is now part of her selection!

The reason I bring this up in my blog is that it really got me thinking about how many times I have allowed wholesale opportunities to slip away in the past. Barbara found me via Etsy and contacted me. While I immediately responded to her e-mail, if she had not replied back and pursued a meeting with me, that would have been the end of it.

I am contacted periodically regarding wholesale and many times they don't lead anywhere. I always assume that perhaps my wholesale prices weren't in line with what the person was looking for or they were contacting a number of jewelry designers and I didn't make the final cut. Whatever the reason, if I don't hear back, it's never occurred to me to send a follow-up e-mail.

Well, as of now, that changes! There is no reason to not send a quick, polite follow-up e-mail if I don't hear back from someone with a wholesale inquiry. In the past, I've been so quick to dismiss these opportunities based on what could be incorrect assumptions. Who knows - maybe the timing was just wrong at the initial contact and my follow-up is just the reminder they need to make an order. We're all busy and I can think of many times that I've had items in my on-line cart at many businesses and never ordered just because I got busy doing something else and didn't get around to it. We can all attest to that, can't we?

So, in order to grow my business, I need to be more pro-active with people who contact me regarding orders. No more just responding then assuming they changed their mind when I don't hear back. I have to realize that it's not pushy to send a second or even third response. As long as it's done politely and I wait a reasonable amount of time, it's just good business!

Can you think of times when you've dropped the ball just because you didn't hear back from someone who inquired about your business?

Day 5 - Joining a Networking Group

Relationships are the catalyst for success.
People do business with those they like and trust.
Serve as a resource, help others succeed. 

 

While I've been more than happy to stay holed up in my little studio, wearing comfy sweats, and making jewelry all day, I realize the importance of meeting new people in order to grow my business in new ways. I've done a decent job growing my business by learning about Etsy, taking good pictures, and word of mouth. But there's a whole big world out there and I want them to know about me!

Networking is about making connections and building enduring, mutually beneficial relationships. Plus it's fun, especially after a few long days only conversing with my dog!

Networking is inexpensive. It’s full of like-minded individuals that you can work with or learn from in some way. Also, face-to-face networking events create lasting impressions in the minds of people you meet.

Today, I officially joined Wink, Women Inkorporated, a women's business networking group based out of San Diego. The good news is that they are going national and chapters will be opening up all over the U.S. Not only am I meeting other women business owners, I am learning so much because they have fantastic guest speakers at each meeting. Examples of some of the speaking events I've attended are:

• Facebook Ads and Boosted Posts
• The 30-60-90 Day Plan for Your 2014 Sales
• The Entrepreneur Mindset Panel 
• Leverage: The Secret Weapon of Successful Solopreneur's

I found Wink at Meetup.com. Meetup is a great site where you can find a wide range of groups for every interest imaginable. While there are many business networking groups in every city, it's just a matter of finding the one that suits you. For me, Wink was the perfect match.

Here is their website for more information on Wink:
http://womeninkorporated.com/
If you are interested in starting a chapter in your city, please e-mail me for more information.

I look forward to sharing the information that I learn from attending these meetings. In fact, I've already made one contact that is offering me a new type of opportunity I would never have thought to pursue on my own. More about that on Thursday!