Here are 45 reasons why you need to click this link to register for The Maker City Summit on September 23.
1-40. Yes, that’s right. There are 40 business, marketing and sales professionals in fields ranging from accounting to website creation ready to work with you in one-on-one Ask the Expert sessions. Registering for the summit means you may register for a complimentary consultation with one of those experts. Check out the complete list of them here.
The sessions are 15 minutes long (except for photography, but we’ll get to that in a minute). Anne Templeton, who chairs the Ask the Experts committee, encourages makers to “come with whatever you’re struggling with, whether it’s how to move your business to the next level or pricing questions or how to expand into wholesale.”
Anne says about half of the time slots have already been spoken for, so you don’t want to wait to sign up for yours.
41. There are even more experts available this year than there was at last year’s summit. Ten more. Ten more professionals to bounce your ideas off of.
42. This year we’ve added photography sessions to the mix. Not just consultations but a chance to work with a photographer to shoot your products and learn how to take better pictures yourself. These sessions are 20 minutes in length. Anne says to bring a few small elements that you make, along with whatever camera you use to take product shots. Yes, including your iPhone.
43. For the first time, a representative from Weebly will be on hand to discuss e-commerce website creation. With Weebly you can build a website that’s easy to shop and helps your business grow.
44. Let’s let experience weigh in. Konane Rickards met one-on-one with Lindsay Miller at last year’s summit about relaunching her clothing line, Konane Wildcraft, and reopening her Etsy shop, Konane. Konane makes custom “festival fashion,” sparkly, playful garments for people of all shapes and sizes. She says Lindsay had great recommendations about looking at the approach of other brands. “She was able to steer me down the best path for me as I was debating how to proceed. I’m loving selling on Etsy more than ever. This one-on-one time was the most valuable info from the whole summit for me last year and is the main reason I want to attend again this year.”
45. “Ask the Experts is the time that each participant can create a tangible to-do list specific to their needs to grow their business,” Anne said. “That’s what’s great.”