Business Mentoring
for Crafty Souls & curious minds

Let's craft your business your way

Hi, I’m May!

I help makers and artists create their dream side-hustles through curation and promotion and community building, as well as providing mentorship to makers who need a little hand holding along the way.

Topics I specialise in:

Promoting your handmade business online!
Getting you started on instagram
Social media strategy
Making your own website and online store
Social Media scheduling
Turning your hobby into a side hustle

When you work with me can expect to receive tailored advice on next steps to help you grow your handmade brand, in terms that you understand.

I am not big on “business speak” and break things down to basics so you can understand not only why you need to take the steps in your plan, but how to take them. I am here to hold your hand through the more boring bits of crafting your own business.

my services

digital marketing & business strategy tailored to you and your unique needs

Traditional marketing advice isn’t made for creative micro-businesses like yours. Especially if you’re a busy brained creative or overthinker!

I combine my art industry understanding with my hands on experience running my Etsy style e-commerce site and bricks and mortar retail gallery in Melbourne in.cube8r that supports more than 100 local makers to market their brands as well as 15 years experience in both charity fundraising & working with many creative small business owners to grow their own businesses through mentoring, workshops, and by creating multi-chanel marketing campaigns promoting arts based businesses.

I believe strongly that there are more ways to promote your business than Instagram & TikTok, and teach strategies that incorporate

Search Engine Optimisation to find new customers looking to spend money
Blogging to improve the customer experience (and for SEO)
Email Marketing to update your biggest fans of new offerings and updates
Public Relations (PR), Experiential Marketing and Activations to get your products & services in front of more people, such as markets, conventions, pop-ups and brand collaborations
Social Media Training and Strategy to SUPPORT your other marketing strategies (rather than as the first priority)
Website Development to help you sell your products & I teach you how it actually works, so you can maintain and update it along the way.

And I teach you how to understand what’s working, what’s not… and what actions to take based on the insights you gain.

Basically, i’m your nerdy big sister here to hold your hand and show you how to do solopreneurship, in a way that works for you and save you time so you can get back to what you love, making!

Work with Me

You know you wanna

1:1 support

Just because you're running a one person show doesn't mean you have to do it alone.

Regular 1:1 mentoring sessions will leave you feeling inspired, supported and empowered to go forth and market your buisness.

DIY Website with me

Spend 10 hours with me as we build your website, together. I'll do the tricky bits and set you up for success, and you'll have the ability to influence the design to your hearts content. Together, we'll make your website - your way, and for a fraction of the price of hiring a web developer.

Group Coaching

Group coaching is mentoring on a budget. Learn marketing skills alongside other makers and small business owners.

Hear other's struggles and get unique insights into marketing for micro-businesses.

Strategy Workshops

Spend a full day with me to work on your business plan, branding and marketing strategy.

Rip the band-aid off the things you've been putting off so you can hit the ground running with your business.

ADHD Coaching

If your mind is as scattered as it is creative you're in the right hands. As an entrepeneur with ADHD myself I know full well that lists aren't all they're cracked up to be!

Let's structure your business, for your brain, empowering you to create the vision I know you have within.

Client feedback

Don’t just take my word for it... I've mentored dosens of creative thinkers just like YOU!

Elle is the much needed bridge between creatives and business. She understands artists and how to impart her knowledge in a way which is engaging, understandable and exciting to implement. Couple that with the wonderful supportive environment offered by other creatives in the same position and you have the perfect foundation from which to build a sustainable creative business.

Workshop participant

Germaine gained confidence to manage her time and consistency better

Thank you so much Elle-May for your recommendations with the workshop, it was so insightful! I've been struggling with time management and consistency for a while (and marketing takes up sooooo much time!). The workshop got me re-thinking how I can manage my marketing efficiently that suits my current lifestyle. I am super pumped to implement changes I've learnt, AND be consistent with it!

handheld website design

Tech luditte Corinne was able to create her own portfolio website with her hand held

Thank you for all of our coaching sessions. You inspired & enabled me to finally get organised, begin taking some decent images & create a website that is a digital portfolio of my work. I couldn't have done it without you!

handheld website design

Nancy has build not one but TWO websites with her hand held

I have really appreciated all the knowledge I've gained from Elle's teaching and mentoring. She has also coached me in developing both my own NancyDeeSculptures website and the website for Creativity Cluster, a group of nine artists that I facilitate. Elle explains processes clearly, and tries to ensure that I can do a range of simple website maintenance and updating tasks myself with Elle-May on call!

workshop participant

Harry got great insights about Instagram in the Optimising Instagram Workshop

The optimising Instagram workshop was a great way to break into the sometimes hard to understand insta world. Elle is great at creating a tailor made experienced that focused time on the areas we needed most, would recommend to anyone wanting to start building an Instagram following

group coaching participant

Sarah got the direction she needed in the "Craft Your Business" group coaching program

Doing this course has helped me to get really clear on the direction I want to take my business and helped build my confidence to actually do it. It's been filled with practical advice, generated a ton of ideas and been a source of great support and inspiration for me. Lots of laughter too.

HANDHELD WEBSITE DESIGN

Natasha loved building her own website with her hand held!

Creating my website with Elle-May was an experience I was nervous about as I am not that tech savvy when it comes to coding etc. I had no reason to be nervous because Elle-May made the experience seamless and an enjoyable time! There is homework to do but that is also part of the continuous support and maintenance ongoing. This part is also an important part as you decide what you want and Elle-May guides you through what goes well etc! My website went live for Christmas and it went off without a hitch!