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LFTN Launches Webinars to Help You Grow!

Starting January 29, LFTN will offer webinars to help you grow!

No matter how beautiful your website and content, no matter how much you invest in quality, no matter how clever you are – unless people see what you are doing, the effort is worthless. Join us in a three webinar series focused on driving eyes to your site and using empirical information to decide what is working best for your business. We are honored to partner with Sue Zoldak of The Zoldak Agency to offer the following sessions:

  • January 29: 7-8pm ET: How Do People Find Me on the Web? (Register)
  • February 26: 7-8pm ET: How Do I Know Which Digital Platforms Will Best Market My Business (Register)
  • March 18: 7-8pm ET: Learn Facebook Ad Campaigns in 60 Minutes (Register)

Cost is $50 per webinar – or FREE with LFTN membership. (See membership levels for details).

Course Descriptions:

How do people find me on the web?
Learn basic tips on how to get found on search engines, how to write content that gets read, and how to see who is visiting your website. This digital seminar is for those who run or wish to run their own website and want to learn how to use Google Analytics, a free to, to measure site traffic.

How do I know which digital platforms are best to market my business?
Do you use multiple digital tactics such as Facebook, Instagram, and email to drive people to your website? Learn how a simple step (UTM link tagging) can help you know for sure which activity is driving the most business. We will also discuss the basics of A/B testing (i.e. comparing two different email subject lines) and take your understanding of Google Analytics to the next level by understanding Goals.

Learn how to set up a Facebook Ad Campaign in 60 Minutes
Be heard above the noise! Learn strategies and tactics for setting up an effective Facebook ad campaign.

As the year expands, we will add webinar opportunities on both business and practical homesteading topics.

Make it a great week!

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Knitters, Unite!

From the mistress of cabling, a healthy start

Early one morning, four knitters constituted the bulk of chatters on Living Free in Tennessee MeWe, and we kind of took over the conversation. You know how it goes: non-knitters ribbed us needly people (pun intended, although awful), which got us thinking about yarn moldering in some closet, and we wondered:

What if we joined forces from around the LFTN world to knit a warm blanket?

Mamasauce starts a cable rib strip

So here it is. Let’s build a blanket from strips people knit. Mamasauce will assemble it, and if we have anything even a sofa throw’s worth, we’ll toss it on the barter blanket at the LFTN Spring Workshop 2020.

If you want to make a strip, hop right in.

Specifications, such as they are

US 8 needles
Worsted weight washable yarn

Cast on 36 stitches and work until the strip is about 5 feet (60″) long. This is about a “regular-sized” skein of yarn.

Bind off and get in touch with Mamasauce for an address to send your strip to. Don’t wait to bring it to the Spring Workshop, because the blanket must be assembled and blocked before we give it away.

Use any stitch, stitches, or design. Any color or combinations of color. Any sort of yarn, so long as it can be washed and dried in automatic machines.

Try this direct download for some stitch ideas.

This should be fun!

Update

Cable rib, finished

The Mistress of Cabling and Mama Sauce each have a strip or two ready to go. Ms International began a blanket strip during some weeks of severe pain, then unraveled the work and began again during a happier time. Mr New Hampshire, presently the only male known to be engaged in knitting part of this community blanket, has a good start.

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Episode 257: 5 Preps For Having The Flu When You Live Alone on A Homestead

Elderberry Syrup

After a long five days of being in the throes of the flu, I thought I would review five things that you want to have in place if you live alone on a homestead – or anywhere, really – to be ready to be sick or gone. And I would love to hear your ideas about how to make unplanned away or sick times go smoother.

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Episode 256: CBD, Coffee and Trade Show Sherpa with Brian Norton

Today, I have Brian Norton in from Food Forest Farms to talk about his various endeavors: CBD, Coffee and a new business he is calling Trade Show Sherpa.

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Episode 255: 2020 Aquaponics & Hydroponics Plans

Today, we will go over the 2020 aquaponics and hydroponics plans for 2020. I h ope this will spur some ideas from you and that you can learn from my lessons learned over the past two seasons with this system!

#HollerHatWednesday: Where is she and who is she with?

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Episode 253: TOTW on Clutter and Budget

It occurred to me as I went over my January budget that clutter has a negative impact on your budget – so I wanted to talk a bit about that today in the Thought of the Walk episode.

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Episode 252: Grow Winter Lettuce In Mason Jars

Today, I will walk you through the overview of what I plan to do in order to grow lettuce indoors in mason jars! I will also cover the supplies needed and goals of the project.

#HollerHatWednesday: Where is she and who is she with?

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Episode 251: Just Be Selfish

Today I wanted to delve a little deeper into this concept of selfishness. I had a great day of being pretty selfish yesterday and it made me a bit sad to think of people who never make time to care for their personal self interests. So today, I will push back on the idea that always focusing on the “Greater Good” is better than handling your personal house.

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Episode 250: GROW with Mark Alexander

Last year was filled with adversity, heartbreak, moments of insane work schedule, worry, great friends, fun adventures and so much more. And as I reflected on my next step in life, I realized that I need to grow as a person, must grow my businesses in order to grow my independence, and want to grow my food because it brings me happiness and stability.

Today, we will have a great interview with a fellow who is growing food for fun and has recently launched his business. But he is more than that: Mark Alexander is one of the angels in our network who is there to encourage, make jokes with and ask us hard questions. 

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Episode 249: Strength and Love

Today, I thought what better thing to discuss than why building resilience into your life matters, no matter where you are, a review of how 2019 went, what 2020 will bring and the big reveal: my word for 2020.

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