Welcome to YarnAndThreadDesigners.com!

While this is called YarnAndThreadDesigners.com, it is actually aimed at Designers AND Wholesalers
in NW And Quilting.

If you sell Wholesale to Shops and you Market, but do not sell, to Consumers, the purpose of this site is to help YOU harness
the full potential of the World Wide Web!

We will be discussing ways to market to consumers with sales directed to Retailers in these industries.

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT - We are now using a Yahoo Group instead of the Forum for networking and discussion. Membership in the Yahoo Group is restricted to current members of the site!

Click on the Center Button directly below,
to hear a Personal Invitation from Tink
(Be sure your audio and speakers are turned on!)
 

YarnAndThreadDesigners.com is the place to:

   Keep up-to-date with the newest marketing opportunities online AND offline... AND in plain English!

   Discover an effective, efficient way to improve your web site ratings, build online interest, AND be able to implement it YOURSELF, without help from your webmaster!

    Learn why you MUST have a USP (Unique Selling Position) for your online business and the many free and cheap ways there are to promote it!

    Harness the innate advantages that exist in the Needlework and Quilting retail niches

    Not yet Online? Strategize the best way to bring your business online, in a step by step, methodical manner

YarnAndThreadDesigners.com has:

   Information, tips, and techniques

   Invaluable information which will allow you to utilize the internet successfully for your Business.

   Up-to-date information and the latest tools, enabling you to conquer the online universe!

There is ONE membership level: GOLD.

GOLD Membership: GOLD Membership pricing is $14.95 per month.

Members will LOCK-IN their payment rate for as long as they maintain continuous membership!

GOLD Membership has access to detailed information of a variety of topics (with topics being added continuously), step by step tutorials, time-saving services, as well as discounts on workshops, ebooks, videos, and other resources!

GOLD Members also qualify for *Tink Thinks* Email Consulting. This is available to a limited number of YarnAndThreadDesigners.com GOLD Members

The GOLD Membership monthly payment option is set-up with automatic monthly payments and is easily cancelled at any time.

YarnAndThreadDesigners.com Forum
The YarnAndThreadDesigners.com Forum is a discussion forum here at YarnAndThreadDesigners.com and is available ONLY to Registered Members!

As many of you may know, the Forum format is an ever-expanding and ever-evolving one. I have started us out with a few topics and will be adding more as requests are made and as discussions happen!

Topics currently include:

    Blog Marketing

   Web Sites - Hows and Whys: including Search Engine Optimization

   How to Wow - Discuss the 7 factors of How to Wow, as well as discuss strategies for employing them

    Building Your Magic List - discuss the techniques and strategies of List Building, as well as utilizing the aWeber and Get Response Auto-Responder services.

    18 Month Marketing Calendar - to brainstorm and plan your Company's long term Promotions Calendar.

    Color Outta the Zone! - discuss ways to break out of your Marketing Comfort Zone...

   Gold OFF-Topic Chat

   As things progress and as members request... additional topics and Forum areas are being planned

Marketing Edge for Yarn and Thread Blog
The purpose of this blog  is to offer information and resources to independent Needlework and Quilt Retailers, Designers, and Wholesalers.

PRIORITIZING THE ISSUES
One of the goals of YarnAndThreadDesigners.com is to help retailers evaluate and prioritize the ever changing issues they face online. With that in mind, I've created a rating system...

  The Three Mouse icon indicates a vital issue that absolutely MUST be addressed.

The Two Mouse icon indicates an important issue that probably should be dealt with.

The One Mouse icon is reserved for issues that are less important but worth looking into!

These first issues were chosen as a result of input from the great students in my *How to Wow* classes at TNNA-Indianapolis this summer.

As YarnAndThreadDesigners.com debuts, information is available on the following subjects:

  Blogging for Designers and Wholesalers

WHY you need to do it and HOW to do it effectively!

   Impact Web Audio - Basic Edition

Right now, I am classifying this issue as a Two Mouse topic... I expect that within a year it will be a Three Mouser! This software is available at a Special MEMBERS ONLY price!

The Basic version of Impact Web Audio and the Pro upgrade give you a leg up on the competition and allows you to experiment with adding Audio to your site with a very short and gentle learning curve.

In addition, with Impact Web Audio, it is easy to put more than one Audio message on a page. Many of the current, more expensive and sophisticated solutions that are currently available won't support this option!

Multimedia is coming fast and the technology can be overwhelming. I have been researching and working on this for the last year... Impact Web Audio is a brand NEW software solution that offer the chance to play in the wading pool before diving in the deep end! I have added a page of Tips and Tricks and would be happy to create a Tutorial, if there is enough interest.

 Favicons - Small but Mighty!


 Email Issues for Designers/Wholesalers - Part 1

*Email Issues for Wholesalers, Online and Offline* is a multi-part series, and is an important one to anyone using email as a Marketing device, in ANY way!

In this series, the 2 Mail Categories of Wholesaler Email are described and explained.

The first Category to be addressed in this series is *Informative/Marketing emails sent by a Designer/Wholesaler*.

I will be adding Information and Resources continuously! Here is a taste of what is coming:

Some of the GENERAL TOPICS AND ARTICLES that will be covered:
   Putting Your Business Online
    Understanding the Search Engines
   How to Write for the Web
   Katrina-Proof your Online Business
    Using Multimedia
    Building YOUR Company Brand Online
    Creating your Company's Unique Selling Proposition and WHY it is MUST for Online businesses!

Some of the RESOURCES that will be provided:
    Free Software
    Other Software
    Online Services for Marketing and More
    Email Consulting Services

Some of the TUTORIALS that will be available:
    Search Engine Optimization
    Preparing Graphics for the Web
    How to use Software
    How to create Google Site Maps
   How to use Google Local

Some of the SERVICES that are offered:
   Blog Set-Up
   FavIcon Graphic Creation

I have been spending a LOT of time trying to figure out the best way to help all of you use the resources of this membership site and to guide you into taking action...

We sometimes let ourselves feel a sense of 'doing something' because we "bought the book", signed up for the class, the e-course for that matter, or  joined the membership site *smile*.

There are a couple of things that get glossed over or over-looked completely all too often though when people talk about 'taking action'.

One thing is people think it takes massive action.

Hey, it helps, but all those old sayings about taking things step by step can't be all wrong.

What it takes is consistent action.

Period.

Action that moves you towards your goal, even a tiny bit, is helping you.

Name your task, make it one you know you can do, then do it. Don't try to get it all in one shot. Just focus on getting one part of it done.

It was the challenge of *taking action* that I was puzzling over... and as I did so, I realized some very significant things. ;-)

   One of the greatest challenges that keeps most people from reaching success is their inability/reluctance/failure to *Take Action*

   I decided that what I actually need to do is to provide a framework which will enable y'all to efficiently utilize the resources (and the future resources) that are provided here.

   At this point, the actions to be taken fall under four major topics:
(and yes, there will be some overlap between topics! *smile)

1) Creating a Web Site (for those of you who don't yet have one)

2) Promoting Your Site

3) Site Traffic Issues (including Email Issues)

4) Improving Your Site

It may be that as we advance, it will make sense to add to this list, but for right now, four is more than enough! *VeryBigGrin*!

I have also decided that the best place to implement this strategy is within the Yahoo Group. Please ask you questions in our Private Yahoo Group.

My hope is that this Coaching structure will enable you to work on the topic you choose in an efficient manner, without spinning your wheels or being overwhelmed. It also provides me with the structure to give guidance on matters that are not yet part of the Membership site archives. If necessary, I can just tell you what to do and you'll get a more detailed explanation later on! LOL

So.... please look over the list and make a commitment. If you have questions or need clarification, please post to the forum. If you need more information, it is more than likely someone else will also!

Once you have decided, please make your confirmation post and we'll get started... taking it one step at a time and *Sharing the Road to Success!*

Tink

NOTE - This Coaching Program is different and separate from the Tink Thinks Email Consulting Service!

About Tink Boord-Dill
Tink has been online since 1999. A popular teacher at Needlework and Quilt Trade Shows, she covers practical and useful ways for Independent Retailers to promote their businesses on the Web and off!

She writes *Tech Support*, a regular column in the American Quilt Retailer.

Tink is the Group Owner of Needlework Biz, a Yahoo Group of 480+ Needlework Professionals. She is also the Group Owner of CyberQuiltMarket, a Yahoo Group for Quilt Retailers, Designers and Manufacturers.

Now, with increasing challenges facing Independent Retailers, her goal is to provide the Tools, Strategies, and Resources needed to help them to Conquer the Web!