Franklin Taggart's Unconventional Life Blog

  Hello and welcome to FranklinTaggart.com! In 2020 I've been going through a significant career transition in addition to my first pandemic. For those who don't know, I've mostly retired from the music profession including stepping down from my music leadership role at Unity of Fort Collins and not actively booking solo performances. I've had a growing desire over the past few years to have only one job, and many of you know that coaching and consulting have been a big part of my expression of gifts and talents for a long time. I'm ready to make that my full-time career. With that there will be several visible changes including a new, upgraded website, new programs for one-person creative businesses, along with a vibrant membership community. I'm so excited by all that will be coming soon and I can't wait to share these exciting developments with you. For the time being I won't be posting much here or on my other community channels except one. I would ...

Episode 2 in my series on easy online business opportunities: Start an Online Print On Demand Merchandise Shop. I started my shop on CafePress over ten years ago when my music career was interrupted by illness and severe tendinitis. It was an easy way to generate income by licensing my merchandise designs to be printed on a large variety of day to day items - from t-shirts to baby clothes to underwear to shot glasses and hundreds more. This video will introduce you to how POD works, six of the many hosting platforms available now, step-by-step directions on getting started, and some helpful advice from my experience. This is an opportunity that anyone can take advantage of! Here is a great book on getting started quickly in POD online shops. (Amazon Associates link)

  I've hosted the Artist 2 Artist concert series for over seven years now. The idea for this series happened when I participated in the former Arts Incubator of the Rockies Evolve program. It wasn't the project I ended up doing for the program, but after the program ended it was the project that actually survived. For the first several years the series was held in various galleries, cafes and creative spaces around Northern Colorado. Despite my best efforts the series never quite achieved the goal I had set for it of expanding the audience for both art and music by presenting both in a setting and manner where each enhanced the other. The few people who did attend really got it. We had some great experiences but I was starting to think that it had run its course. In 2018 that all changed when Elizabeth Morisette from Museum of Art Fort Collins reached out and asked me if I would consider hosting the series at the museum. While I was skeptical that it would be successful I still...

I'm working on a series of short videos on making money online. I've been asked by a lot of people during the stay at home period about how they can find alternate ways to generate income. Making and Selling Digital Info Products is the first of these videos. Digital product sales is one of the easiest online businesses to start. You may already have digital files on your computer that would be valuable to others. Each of us has expertise in some area of life that we can learn how to package and share with people who are willing to pay for it. If you can demonstrate, tell, describe, teach, present, or translate your knowledge into a digital format, you can make money. In this video you'll learn how to choose a topic, create a product, set up a delivery channel, and market and sell your first digital product. Watch and see how easy it can be.

One of the most asked questions from clients the past two weeks has been "How do I start teaching courses online?" Since we're all trying to figure out how we can move our businesses to online venues, Nick Armstrong of WTF Marketing and Fort Collins Startup Week is producing a series of webinars to help people get started in the online realm. Yesterday I sat down and had an hour long conversation with Nick about getting started with online teaching. There is a PDF download that goes with this webinar that you can download here . This webinar covers questions like: Equipment Choosing Course Topics Production Planning Choosing a Course Platform Pricing Your Course Simple Marketing Strategy You can watch the Online Teaching webinar below. To see the other webinars in the series please check out the Fort Collins Startup Week video page . Finally, if you are interested in getting started with online teaching but you are confused about getting started, ple...

On this episode of the Reset with Franklin Taggart my guest is a fantastic coach, consultant and speaker, Amanda Fewell. Her story takes us from early career highlights working with Rachael Jayne Groover’s Art of Feminine Presence program, up to her current passion which is helping people to become more effective and confident presenters in her Powerful Presentations programs. Stops along the way include founding and facilitating a business networking group for small business owners who had a spiritual motivation and focus in their work, and taking some time away from career to become a parent when she and her husband adopted a ten year old daughter. I hope you’ll enjoy this conversation as much as I did! More information about Amanda can be found at AmandaFewell.com If you are in Northern Colorado, there will be a program of presentations from participants in Amanda’s most recent She Speaks! program on February 8, 2020 at Unity of Fort Collins, 1401 W. Vine Dr. Tickets are avai...