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What did Mimi Goodwin Grew Sew it! Academy that offers a membership course

Jul 20, 2022

Mimi Goodwin started sewing when she was 12 years old.

Growing up, she'd spend the summer in Puerto Rico, where her aunt was an avid seamstress. "I'd spend the entire summer at her sewing studio, admiring her sewing amazing items," Goodwin shares with .

Soon, Goodwin "caught the sewing bug." When her dad noticed that she was making the majority of her Barbie clothes, he gave her her first sewing machine. "I enjoyed it immensely," she says. "I would take apart all of my clothes and draw shapes around them, and after that put them back in a new order. I wasn't sure exactly what I was doing at the time, but evidently, I was learning patterns and building ."

at the age of 15, Goodwin left home as a domestic and sexual abuse survivors. It took until her mid-twenties and in a more stable environment where she began to take up sewing again as self-therapy. "It was something I did to calm myself," she says.

Remembering how much she loved the craft, Goodwin began sewing more and more. Motivated by her lost passion She began looking for fashion sewing blogs. However that she didn't come across any. "Most of the sewing blogs were pictorials of crafts, home decor kids' clothing, home decor, and quilts," she recounts. "But I was more interested in fashion sewing. I just wanted to sew things that I could wear. ."

Jump ahead:

In order to meet this demand, she started her own fashion sewing blog as a creative outlet in the year 2012. Instead of presenting pictures instead, she made use of videos tutorials from YouTube. The blog quickly gained popularity; she increased her audience to nearly a million in her first year. In the following year, she began to make money from it, and began launching Sew It! Academy -- an online course, a member-only program that helps people of all shapes and sizes to sew. "If you're able to sew then the most efficient way to make money is to teach others how to do it," she says.

"I'm a high school dropout and I don't have any higher training. My story can inspire people regardless of the situation they might find themselves the ability to do great, amazing events in their lives. They realize that everything is possible ."

The blog's earnings are monetized

According to Goodwin that her successes stemmed due to her experience teaching fashion sewing at an era when the market wasn't too crowded. "This room was not crowded and I took advantage of it,"" she says. "I created sewing tutorials more often than any other person, and I did it in a manner that felt authentic to myself. People I know bonded to the ."

Her blog began to be monetized quickly; in 2014 she signed her first licensing agreement in 2014 with Simplicity Patterns. "At that time, many people were doing the traditional way of monetizing their blog through Google AdSense and working with sponsors, but I wanted most of my income to come directly from my products," she says. "I thought, If I'm going to put something up there on my site, what's the reason don't I put my own products and services ?"

Her designs to Simplicity Patterns -- over 44 designs were a big hit. The collaboration also put her in front of a wide audience, since her designs were distributed in popular big box stores including Walmart.

"Up up to this point, there wasn't anyone with a similar appearance to me in the industry. There wasn't anyone designing clothes that were shaped as me. ."

Then, she developed community-based online networks of many thousands of males and women on Instagram as well as Facebook who were sewing and creating their own clothing, yet weren't represented in the sewing patterns, fabric stores or the sewing publications. "I were the initial person to do that," says Goodwin. "So when people saw me, they also saw themselves. The loyalty and support I received from my fans was huge for me in helping me to grow. ."

The creation of a platform for membership

While Goodwin had a lot to offer in her YouTube tutorials but she was keen to be able to give people more foundational sewing knowledge. "A majority of my instructional videos focused on creating one specific idea," she says. "But in the event that you did not know the basics before that project and had never worked a sewing machine It would be difficult to follow the ."

In the following years, she came up with as her goal to establish an online, subscribing fashion and design academy which would teach people all they need to be aware of sewing. This dream was realized into the Sew It! Academy. The aim is to dissect sewing into smaller and bite-sized lessons for easy learning.

"Learning any new thing at the beginning is often difficult and frustrating. This is why I decided to break down the process ."

Prioritizing accessibility

In the present, Goodwin has a womenswear, menswear, and womens & menswear memberships, and a sewing course designed to teach children between the ages of 8-14 on sewing.

Menswear and womenswear memberships each cost $11.97 each month. The menswear-womenswear combo membership is $17.97 per month, and the course for children is only $39.99. The members have access to 60 classes, and each month they are offered a different program. The site also offers the possibility for a free trial.

She chose to price her membership affordably. "Design school can be expensive and those who come from similar communities as mine cannot pay for the cost," she says.

In actual fact, Goodwin is a firm belief in the importance of the affordability of online classes. "The more I contribute and the more I earn from the course," she says.

"I consider myself to be a social-driven entrepreneurial. I know that if you give to charity because I am motivated to give and educate and offer resources, cash always returns ."

Keeping content creation simple

When it comes to creating content, she makes the process as simple as possible; her assistant helps her with prepwork and scheduling, while her husband is the one who handles her filming and editing. "We shoot one day, my husband edits the film, then we release. That's it," she says.

Goodwin's audience ranges between ages 28-39, but she also has students that are starting from as young as 12 years old, as well as up to 80 years old.

Use it strategically Instagram

When it comes to social media, she's got one of her own Sew It! Academy Instagram account that is geared specifically to her students. She highlights a variety of their successes. "I observe a lot of my students go off and make their own brand or work in the fashion industry. It's amazing," she says.

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She also has her own Instagram page, which connects everything she's doing in her career. The page is where she posts additional personal details, and she thinks it's essential to include this information in order to connect with her fans. "People need to be aware that I'm a human, trying to look after my family," she adds.

Creating brand loyalty through student engagement

Goodwin believes that one key to her success is being easily accessible. "People are drawn to the person, not so much the product," she says.

She handles herself on social media, and regularly checks in with her Facebook community. her students are encouraged to join via an automated email they get after they sign in. "If you get a reply to me, it's mine," she says.

"The the only way you'll ever get an admin response is if I'm away from the office. However, for the majority of time I'm active and answer many inquiries that ."

Goodwin recommends that, like her, the course's creators interact with students as often as is possible. "It's crucial that students get to know you because you're the person behind this company is trying to expand," she explains. "And it creates a sense of loyalty between you and your followers that is crucial to the success of your business ."

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Her philosophy is: Sell without the sale

Goodwin is a pioneer in her method of selling. "Sell with no selling" she says. "That's my philosophy ."

In response to a question about how to deconstruct the'selling without selling' concept, she said she relies heavily on YouTube's content for the bulk of the lifting for her. "The most effective method I use to make the sales I need is to use YouTube," she says. "That's my funnel ."

Additionally, she states that her fans help her promote her membership by sharing information about Sew It! Academy . "My followers are amazing as they keep talking about and sharing the great quality of my classes," she says. "I consistently see an excellent return there ."

She suggests that course designers approach sales in a way that feels most aligned to the consumer. "I hate whenever I come across something online and have to go through a huge sale page," she states. "It is a source of irritation to me to the end. I attempt to conduct myself in ways that don't irritate me as a customer. ."

"If you're not the kind of person to post tons of material when all of suddenly you're sharing many things, you'll appear as if you're driven by revenue," she continues. "Talk about it and blog about the subject However, you must do this with a tone that's real and true to your ."

The reason why hard work never wins

Her best suggestion for web-based course creators is to create a course because you genuinely enjoy it -- not because you're looking to make quick cash. "If you're looking to get rich tomorrow you're in luck" she says. "It's only a tiny percentage of those who achieve that. At the time all it takes is an enormous amount of courage and commitment to your teaching ."

Indeed, a lot of believe that creating courses is easy and that being successful in it- is simple. "That's completely wrong," she says. "It takes a lot of effort, time and commitment. That's why I think some people are misinformed about what they think in the economy of the creator. ."

Her recipe for success? Get excited about the work you're creating.

"If you are truly passionate about educating individuals and are happy with your work, you're probably off to a more positive start than most people," she says. "I can talk about Sew It! Academy all day and it will seem genuine 100% of the times, since it's. If I were to sell you a course that I didn't feel authentic as it was merely a means to generate revenue You would be able to feel that ."

In addition, she advises creators brush off negative feedback and keep their eyes on the vision. "For anyone who thinks the course is unsatisfactory you, there are five people who say it's great," she adds. "You must develop a strong skin to be able to put yourself out there, but as long as you remain focused and listen to your inner guidance and you'll succeed, ."