Sparkplugging is starting a new tradition called ‘Spark an Idea Thursday’. Each week we’ll be sharing some great ideas for a topic of interest to our readers. We invite you to grab our image and carry the tradition through to your own blog! If you do, please link back to this post so we know where you were inspired!

Ahhh… Finishing what you start. To be honest, this isn’t always my strong point. I’m an idea person. I get a lot of ideas and there really is no way that I could complete all of them.

It can be easy to think of something new, get excited, and start working on it right away. Then you realize how much time that project will really take, and of course realize you have to finish something else first or you get excited about a different project and put everything else down to work on the new thing.

It is a vicious cycle! And seeing all of those un-finished prjoects piled up can make you sick to your stomach, fill you with anxiety and make you avoid working all together. Who wants that?

If you have that problem as well, I suggest really thinking about an idea before you put any work into it. Keep an idea notebook handy to write down all of your bright ideas. That way, when inspiration strikes you can jot down your initial idea and then go back to it when you have time to devote to it.

Sometimes, when you go back through your notebook, you will come across an idea that makes perfect sense. And other times, you will look at an idea and wonder “What was I thinking? That idea isn’t going to work!”

That step will save you LOTS of time in the future. Sometimes, what looks like a great idea in the moment can look a lot different a week later. You’ll no longer get carried away with excitement and waste a day working on a project you end up putting aside and never touching again.

Just think about how much time you’ll have for the projects you really want to finish!

Imagine having a dream team of savvy business women, crafty business women, I should add, by your side.  Do you think that listening to their stories and following their lead could help your business? Imagine that you could ask them any questions you had. How much do you think you could learn from them?

Well, you don’t have to imagine that happening, and you don’t have to wonder about how much you can learn from them. You can just start learning!

Every Tuesday night at 9pm Eastern you can join me and some of my favorite business women for The Summer Biz Sessions! And if you can’t make a live session, don’t worry. I’m recording the calls and you will be able to listen online, as well as download the Mp3 of each of call.

Some of our guest speakers include:

• Jenny Hart, founder of Sublime Stitching
• Jennifer Perkins, founder of Naughty Secretary Club and host of Craft Lab and co-host of Stylelicious
• Sue Daly, co-founder of Renegade Craft Fair
• Claudine Hellmuth, founder of Collage Artist
• Amy Schroeder, founder of Venus Zine
• Casie Metcalf, owner of IndiePublic.com

You can learn more and register by clicking here!

When you think about promoting your products, or creating new ones, do you ever think about kids? If not, you might want to give it a try! Kid marketing makes sense!

Fact: Moms spend a lot of money. Putting a kid-spin on your marketing will attract their attention. And it could cause them to buy your products!

Here are some ideas:

Kid Classes - Kids love to craft! Set up a day where you teach a few kid-friendly projects. If you have the space, you can do it at your home. If not, call some local craft stores and see if they have space you can use. If that’s not an option, you could set up shop in the meeting room of a restaurant… or whatever business that has space you can use : )

Make sure you bring samples of your work and put them on display. This will give the moms something to look at… and buy! So you will be selling product and you will be getting paid for teaching a class. Double profits are nice!

Market To Daycare Owners - Lots of kids go to daycare facilities every day. The people that own these daycares are always looking for something new and fun to do with the children. Create a little project that children will find entertaining and ask some daycare owners if you can come in and teach the project to the kids. The daycare owners will appreciate the activity, the kids will have fun, and you can use this opportunity to introduce your business to all of their parents! Make sure you put a little card on the projects with your contact info!! The parents will enjoy knowing who helped their child create the project. They will naturally want to go to your site and check it out. And who knows? They may end up purchasing something!

What are your ideas for kid-friendly marketing?

I think we are all familiar with the term ’summer school.’ Now, that may have struck fear in your heart as a child, but I have found a way to make summer school fun and the cool place to be!

I’m talking about Indie Biz Chicks Summer School! I’ve put together all kinds of classes and seminars on some very cool topics! Here are some of the things you can learn

• How To Start Your Own Podcast
• How To Define Your Target Market
• How To Give Good Blog
• How To Get Great Press
• How To Use Social Media To Market Your Biz
• How To Market A Craft Biz Online - Without Going Broke
• How To Create Your Own Online Event
• And More!

The classes start at $9.95 and include a workbook. The seminars are only $1. If you can’t make a live session, you can still register. I will email you the Mp3 recording and you can listen when it’s convenient for you! You can view the full of list of classes & seminars and register for them by clicking here

Sparkplugging’s General Manager, Kelly McCausey, is offering her own summer learning with the Hot Summer Seminar Series! Your season pass is only $10 and each Wednesday night, Kelly will introduce you to a new guest speaker. You’ll be learning about 8 different work at home careers! If you have been wanting to earn some extra money, but just haven’t been sure where to start, start here! To learn more and to sign up, click here.

The summer is a great time to learn new things that will help you kick your biz into high gear for the busy fall & winter season!

To say that “going green” is popular would be a huge understatement. If I were a fashionista, I would tell you that green was the new black. Going green is the “it” thing right now.

As a crafter, you are probably more green than you realize! I am willing to bet that you are constantly re-using items or putting found objects into your projects! Maybe you were at a thrift store and found an old tablecloth made out of a great fabric but noticed there was a stain on it. What did you do? You took that fabric and made something else out of it! Now that, my friend, is reducing, re-using, and recycling. Totally Green!!!

Your potential customers may not realize that buying handmade can be good for the environment. So let them know! Weave that message into your marketing! This will make your customers feel better about their purchases - and could actually help some “fence sitters” become buyers!

Sparkplugging is starting a new tradition called ‘Spark an Idea Thursday’. Each week we’ll be sharing some great ideas for a topic of interest to our readers. We invite you to grab our image and carry the tradition through to your own blog! If you do, please link back to this post so we know where you were inspired!

Goal Setting! For some, this is an easy practice that is practically second nature. For others, this is a tedious task that may as well be a punishment!

If you fall into the second category, don’t despair. You are definitely NOT alone! In fact, I would venture to say that you are in the majority.

One thing that helps me with goal setting is to look at the big picture and then start working backwards. I figure out what I want to accomplish and then I break it down into small pieces. If I were only looking at the big picture, it would be easy to get overwhelmed. And being overwhelmed is no fun!

On the other hand, when you do things how I am doing it, I have the big goal that serves as the ‘master plan,’ and then I have lots of little bit sized goals to lead me along the way.

Here’s an example of how this might play out in real life:

Big Goal: You are participating in a craft fair on August 8 and want to make 50 pairs of your most popular earrings.

Breaking it down: Today is June 11. You have about 7 and 1/2 weeks until the show. You would like to be done with production about  two weeks before the show. If you divide 50 pieces by 5 weeks, you will know that in order to meet your goal, you will need to produce and package 10 new pairs of earrings each week for the next 5 weeks.

Working backwards and putting a big goal into bite size is what works for me. I hope it helps you, too!