When you submit an article to these sites, you are giving permission for others to post it on their site, for free. As a “thank you,” these site owners will include your author bio and your link. You’d be surprised by how much traffic can come to your site from these articles!

Let’s say that you submit 10 articles and they each get published three times, and that 25 people view each page they’re published on.  That comes out to 750 new people reading your article and possibly clicking on the link to your website. Now, let’s say each of your articles are published 10 times and that 100 people see each page it’s published on…. Well, that’s 10,000 views and possible clicks.

To be effective, keep your articles related to subjects that match your website. Since the person reading the article is already interested in the article’s subject, they’ll be more likely to visit your website if your website’s topic is on key with the article topic.

For example, if you make handmade soap, you could write an article on why organic ingredients are better for your skin or an article on the toxins found in grocery store brand soaps. At the end of the article, your bio will be displayed and the person reading it will see that you make natural soaps and will be so intrigued by your article, they will want to click that link!

Some of my favorites reprint directories include Ezine Articles and Lady Pens.

• Craft Shows - We are heading into a very busy season for craft shows. It’s best to start this process early. Some shows ask potential vendors to apply and there is a selection process that follows. If you area shows do not have a selection process, I still recommend calling and getting all relevant info in advance. You don’t want to wait until the last minute and find out that all the tables are gone! To find upcoming shows, look in your local paper, on community bulletin boards and http://www.indiecraftshows.com/
• Shopping Parties – Take a cue from direct sales and hold your own shopping party! Invite your friends, family, co-workers, neighbors, etc. Have your products set out on the table (hint – create a nice display!), have a few appetizers if you want to, and let everyone mingle, shop, and have fun! If you choose, you can ask them to hold a party for you, where they invite their friends, and you give the hostess a certain amount of your product for free…
• Shopping Sites - There are lots of great shopping sites and blogs out there, and getting listed on them can offer you great exposure! Contact the site owner / blogger and ask send them a letter, explaining why you think their audience would be interested in your product. If you have a press release, go ahead and send that, as well as the link to your electronic press kit (if you have one). Some of these people may ask for a sample. Know upfront that you may not get that sample back, so do not send anything you cannot afford to lose!
• Get Social – Get active on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.  Build relationships and establish trust. These people may become your customers – or they may refer you to some!
• Partner Up – Partner up with other business owners and help promote each other! There are many ways to do this, and you are only limited by your creativity. You could mention each other on your blogs, write a review of their product or service and have them review one of your products or services, enclose each other’s business card or other promotional items in your orders, etc.

You can find more holiday tips in Part 2 of this post, which is found on my personal website, by clicking here!

** Don’t forget about getting listed in the Indie Biz Chicks Holiday Gift Guide! Your ad will include a 125×125 graphic and a 50 word description, all for only $35. The guide is filled with articles, recipes, and more! It will be distributed to over 12,000 people through email, and also distributed virally via Facebook and Twitter. Click Here to purchase your listing now.

Well, I’m here to tell you that social networking is an awesome way to promote your business! If you’re not using it, sign up today and get it going! My biggest sources of web traffic are Facebook, Twitter, and Google. That’s all FREE traffic, I might add!

Here’s how to get started:

Facebook – http://www.facebook.com

Start by creating an account, if you haven’t done so already. I suggest you create a personal account for yourself, and then create a fan page for your business.  A fan page looks exactly like a regular profile, and it allows other Facebook users to become fans of your business. There’s no right way or wrong way to do things, but this is how I promote my business on Facebook:

• Update my status with business news on occasion
• Add links to my wall of blog posts, articles, etc
• I do have a fan page and I send an update to my fans every other week or so
• I have a link on my website that goes directly to my Fan page
• I use Twitter to get the word out about , my fan page, as well as including a link in some of my  email newsletters

Twitter – http://www.twitter.com

Again, start by creating an account. You will need to choose a username, which will act as your Twitter Handle or nickname. For example, I chose IndieBizChicks, so if you look at my Twitter page, http://www.twitter.com/indiebizchicks you will see that it displays my username on the right, and that it is also becomes part of your Twitter URL. Here’s how I use Twitter:

• I tweet the links to my latest blog posts and articles (tweet means to post something on Twitter)
• I tweet about specials, sales, new products, etc
• I tweet about industry news and provide links that I think my readers would find helpful.
• I’ve met some great people through Twitter – including some that I have partnered with on projects
• I also tweet about random stuff from my life, as it helps to build relationships with my customers and collaborators

Twitter also offers this Twitter 101 Guide to help people just starting out on the site

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!

You can p;promote your business very inexpensively by partnering with other biz owners on Swag give-a-ways.

Here is a fictitious example of how this might work:

Sarah makes organic bath products; Sally sells jewelry; and Kate makes hand knitted items. They all partner together and send each other their Swag. When Sarah processes an order, she will include a piece of Sally and Kate’s Swag as a freebie (and Sally and Kate will send out Swag in their orders, too).

Everyone loves freebies and their customers will enjoy the Swag items they receive. And by partnering with complementary businesses, these biz owners will be introducing their business to people who may never have come across it otherwise.

It’s a win-win situation all around!

Need some ideas for Swag items? Read this post on my blog for some great ideas!

Speaking of the conference, did you catch the session about podcasting on Wednesday? It was led by Sparkplugging’s General Editor, Kelly McCausey. She gave some great tips on how to use a podcast for your marketing.

As a craft business owner, you can use your craft ideas as the center of your podcast / video cast. For example, check out Handmade Detroit and their Craftervids.

If you ever wanted to have your own show on HGTV or the DIY Network, grab a video camera and tape yourself making a project. Anothr idea is to simply take pictures of your project at various stages of completion. Take the pictures and form them into a 30 second video that shows the creation of your project from start to finish!

in addion to posting the vidoes on your own site  and blog, you can submit these videos to iTunes, YouTube, and Vimeo. It’s a great way to introduce your business to new people!

And so, without further ado, here are a few of my favorite things:

My Computer: When it comes to marketing my business, it all starts with my computer. My computer allows me to connect with people, write press releases, find reporters who are looking for leads, create graphics and promos,  and so much more. My computer is my marketing life line.

The Internet: The Internet changed everything. And when I say “everything,” I mean everything, as in the whole world. Part of that is marketing. For the first time in history, it doesn’t matter what your advertising budget is. Small, home based businesses can compete with large, national companies. Put your marketing message on the Internet and you can be doing business with people all around the globe. It’s amazing what the Internet can do!

Blog / Website: Of course, in order to get business from people all across the globe, you gotta show ‘em what you can do, and that is where having a blog and/or website comes into play. Even if you have an Etsy shop or if you stick to local craft fairs for sales (why do you do that, by the way??), you STILL need a website / blog.  It will help you build relationships with your customers, keep them informed about your business, and it will help you find new customers. Do you see why this is so important? (to learn more about blogging, check out my resource How To Give Good Blog)

Twitter: There are lots of social networks out there, but this little dynamo is by far and away my favorite. When I write a new blog post, I send the link out on Twitter and within a few moments, I have feedback. How awesome is that? It’s a great tool for meeting people — including potential customers, potential partners, and the media. It is awesome and I love it.

My Friends: Friends are awesome, and they are especially awesome when they blog about you, re-tweet your posts on Twitter, post your links on Facebook, and do whatever else they can to promote you online.

If you aren’t friendly with any other business owners, use the aforementioned Internet to browse some social networks and find some! You can find people via Twitter, Facebook, the Etsy Forums, and a zillion other places. If this sounds complicated, don’t worry. One of my next posts will cover how to do this…..

Tenacity: Marketing a craft business online isn’t as easy as turning the computer on and pushing a couple of buttons. It is hard work and it does take time and effort. There will be days when everything seems to be going great – you’ll find yourself featured on a blog or maybe a reporter will ask to interview you. There will also be days when you’ll feel like you’re making zero progress. That’s normal.

When you have one of those days, hold onto your goals, dig your heels in a bit deeper and keep working. The only way to move ahead is to keep it up, even on the days you want to quit.

Remember, you CAN do this.

Now, go out there, put your best marketing face on, and show the world what you’re made of.

No singing or dancing required.

I have chosen to go with Vertical Response to handle my email newsletter campaigns because the founder Janine seems like a nice and helpful lady, the pricing is competitive and the site (so far) is approachable, informative and not too hard to get to grips with (I am after all a newsletter dummy).

So now I am putting the finishing touches to my first newsletter (created with the help of their simple to use wizard) and I have a cool (and rather bright) join-up widget at the top my U-Handbag blog. Hopefully folks will sign-up

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Here are some suggestions for writing newsletters that folks will be happy to get in their Inbox:

• Include members only discounts or freebies.
• Include sneak peaks at product launches (with maybe special discounts for early bird buyers).
• How about some simple tutorials?
• Spotlights on your customers. Do you have pics of customers wearing/using your crafty goodness?
• Members only competitions.
• Members only discounts for other shops (that you have links with).
• Provide upcoming dates of shows, sales, competitions, etc.

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Do any of you use newsletters to keep in touch with your customers? How are they working out for you?

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This is the current issue of Sewing World (a Traplet publication) showing my bag design for the month of Sep.

I already write for this group; I design and write a bag tutorial write every month for one of their magazines; Sewing World, but Traplett also publish other craft titles that cover Patchwork and Quilting, Craft Stamper, and Beads and Beyond. So if you have any crafty goodness that you would like to share and see in the spotlight get in touch with them.  What have you got to lose?!  Find out more info on the Traplet Site.

Why is the Business Name so important?

Well, it’s one of the first things that the public will notice about your company, that and your logo, and then your strap-line (if you have one – and you should). Those three things combine together to make up your brand identity. Thus making your company easy to identify and to understand (both of which are very important in any business).

Take a minute to think of Martha Stewart, and Amy Butler, and Purl Soho. As well as knowing what products they sell we also know what their logos, and their fonts, and their company colours look like (and this didn’t happen by magic!)

I don’t have background in web or graphic design so I can’t help you with that knock-out logo. It’s definitely worth getting a professional in to do that job if you can’t do it yourself, but I can help with getting choosing a craft business name.

Things to consider when choosing a company name:

• Check for the website domain- whatever you choose check to see if the website domain name is available for you to buy. Even if you are not ready for your own website now you may well be in the near future.
• Be descriptive – I think my own business name ‘U-Handbag’ is somewhat descriptive of what I do. I sell things to make handbags – hence the word ‘Handbag’ , and it is you making the handbag, and the bag is yours, and the bag is unique – hence the letter ‘U’.
• Keep it simple – a good name will be short, catchy, and trip off the tongue. A long name is a pain in the butt to write, looks bad on business stationary, and it makes for a hard to remember website name.
• How does it look – this might sound funny, but try writing down your business name choices and collaborate with your logo designer to see how your name looks on paper and importantly how it looks when incorporated with your logo.
• How does it sound – as well as looking good on paper your name should be pleasant to say and appealing to hear. This one is hard to define, but you know how some babies names just sound a bit off and some babies names sound lovely? Well it’s kind of the same for business names…
• How memorable is it - ask yourself and ask others how memorable is your business name. Does it strike a chord with people? Ask people what they feel/what images are conjured up/what judgments are they making when presented with your chosen business name choices. The more folks you can ask the better. This all might sound like a bit of a pain or it even might sound like overkill, but really if you are willing to make your beautiful craft into the early hours then a bit of time spent on doing this research isn’t going to hurt and it’s worth it.
• Careful with the comedy – when used appropriately comedy is great for sales and giving a positive image of a company, but used inappropriately it can make your company look unprofessional. Also things spelt like ‘bagz’ jelwz, etc. etc. etc. can look a bit tacky (IMHO).
• Using your own name – Some folks such as Amy Butler & Martha Stewart use their own names to name their company to great effect, but us mere mortals can’t do that because we don’t (yet) possess the strong brand identity that these 2 women names have. So if you name your business ‘Cathy’s Pottery’ (for example) the business name won’t necessarily be very memorable…
• Look around you - what town do yo work in, do you work on a converted factory, workshop, etc., what famous landmarks are nearby, is there a loved on in your family history that has a nice sounding name, is there a name of a craft technique or craft material that you use that you like the sound of? These are just a few things that might inspire a business name; just remember to keep things relevant.

See also: How to name your craft items in your craft business.

• How to take and edit professional looking photos of your craft products tutorial
• Ways to create buzz about your craft products on the big Craft Websites
• Crafting Heroes interview with Alicia Paulson of Posie gets cozy
• 10 things you’ll need to start selling your crafts online
• Crafting Heroes interview with Amanda Soule of Soule Mama
• Starting up your craft business – Feel the fear and do it anyway
• What to do when people say your handcraft is too expensive
• Ways to market yourself & your craft (on the cheap)
• Hellooo I’m Here!!!! Ways to market yourself and your craft (for free)
• Copyright – ways to protect your content from being stolen
• Crafting Heroes interview with Amy Butler
• Crafting Heroes interview with Amy Karol of Angry Chicken
• Fabulous links and books for your craft business

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I couldn’t think of suitable pic to go with this post so I thought this one would do as a close 2nd . Yummy

When you consider how much it costs to get ad in the magazine for a lineage/a credit card sized, a quarter/half/whole page (a whole page runs into 100s upon 100s) getting yourself a half page/two page/even three pages in a magazine for nothing or even a payment is absolutely amazing!

This all might sound like really daunting stuff, but believe me there’s nothing to be scared off. Craft magazines are always on the hunt for interesting craft tid-bits to fill their pages. I know for a fact that loads of craft magazines would LOVE to hear from the likes of you crafty people (many of which are far more talented in their field than I am). When people like you and me approach magazines with well written articles we are actually making their lives easier. I should know; I’ve been writing every month for a UK craft magazine for almost 2 years. It honestly isn’t that difficult and if the editor says “no”, it’s not the end of the world is it? Just try somewhere else, refine your article/s and try again or perhaps cut your teeth on a more local level magazine.

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I write for Sewing World Magazine – see the bag on the bottom right-hand corner? That’s my bag!

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Tips on how to submit articles

1. Be well versed with the magazine that you want to submit to. Read a good few issues so you understand the flavour of the magazine. What sort of articles do they already feature? What appears to be the target age range of the magazine? Could you submit an article that is in keeping with their other articles or can you provide something fitting, but different?
2. Find out what the submission guidelines are for articles. These are often found within the magazine itself or on the magazine website.
3. Bear in mind magazines typically work months in advance. My deadline for article submission for Sep 08 was 2nd June 08 for example. In line with this, magazines typically like to be seasonal i.e Valentines issues, Easter, Xmas etc. etc. So it’s important to find out what the deadline dates are for submitting your articles.
4. Write a friendly, polite, and to-the-point email to the magazine submissions editor with your article suggestion/proposal. Be succinct, but give enough information about your article idea to give the subs editor a clear picture (they are busy folks!)

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Suggestions for articles

1. Tutorials - this is my specialty. I offered to write one bag making tutorial for a UK sewing magazine for free. I was able to show them past examples of bag tutorials on my blog. The tutorial was popular, my mum was really proud, and now I am the resident bag lady of the magazine How about making a tutorial (of any kind) for something pretty and simple (magazines tend to prefer simple) and posting it on your blog? That way you can show the subs editor the link.
2. Product reviews - do you have an item that sells well? How about offering one or two of those items to the magazine to give away as freebies to their readers in return for a a little magazine piece about your shop?
3. Craft events – do you run craft fairs, charity events, community projects? If so let the magazines/local newspapers know about it!
4. Tips, advice, stories, - if you think about it we are are all walking wells of knowledge and experience. Are you expert in something that would fit in a craft magazine? Could your experience and skill be useful to others? You bet it could!

See also: How to appear in the big Craft Websites.

1. Running your own business (especially in a home situation) can be a very lonely endeavor. Sharing with others what you do is an important socializing opportunity, it’s great fun, and it’s good for your emotional health!
2. It’s a fab opportunity to make like-minded friends. I have!
3. You can share and create business ideas with like-minded people who are just as enthusiastic about craft as you are.
4. There’s nothing like a fresh perspective from a new pair of eyes to point out things than can be modified or improved in your business.
5. There’s strength in numbers; you can explore ways that you can help each other in your business such as material/equipment swaps, employees, suppliers tips, or even forming partnerships.

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Meeting Virtually (Social Media)

Ways to socialize virtually involve joining social media sites. Love or hate them, I think that signing up to some of them is an important way of getting yourself out there; just don’t abuse them. You don’t have to spend ages on them (which is kinda easy to do) rather spend a bit of time posting some quality content, making a few meaningful relationships (as opposed to going for sheer numbers) and your virtual social life is sure to blossom. I don’t even need to suggest ways to get involved with Social Media because Bloggirrl has written A very long list on ways to get blog traffic which is jammed packed with social media ideas and sites.

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Meeting face to face

How about ways to meet folks face to face? Unless you live out in the sticks (which I admit I often wish I did) why not arrange to meet folks for a coffee and a crafty chat? You could try:

1. Asking regular commenters on your blog whom you know live reasonably close if they would fancy meeting up for a Crafternoon, like I did recently
2. Looking for websites such as Meet Up where individuals can set up groups for anything and everything to meet up get together.
3. Check out what craft fairs or exhibitions are happening in your area and arrange to meet new folks there and maybe share a stall. Craftster has excellent international notice boards for such happenings.

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You can meet like minded crafters make new friends, eat yummy cakes together, talk about craft and share ideas and tips, and did I mention you can also eat yummy cakes. What’s not to like?

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PS I finally did it! I have succumbed and joined Twitter. I still don’t quite know what is it yet but so many folks have recommended it to me so please follow me here. I’d love meet you and say hi

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So what are trends?

According to Wiki “A trend is something that is popular within mainstream society over a long period of time. It is the direction of a sequence of events that has some momentum and durability.” So it makes sense that if you catch whiff of a trend close to it’s inception and you start a business based on the upcoming trend you have a great chance of being pretty successful! There are trend forecasts for most everything out there from colour trends to automobile trends.

What creates/influences trends?

Well, have a look in the news, read newsstand and trade magazines (in hard copy and on the internet), check out newsgroups on the internet, and you’ll see the very things that influence and create trends. Two of the most obvious current issues are the war on terrorism and the current credit crunch (see how even those two events have their own media-rised titles that we all recognize (urk! I don’t like that), but anyway I digress).

How do trends influence and affect us?

Events such as the war on terrorism and the current credit crunch have encouraged most of us (me too; I’m no different) to look to our homes for comfort and security because going out and spending money on fine dining (for example) seems too frivolous and now we can’t afford it anyway. Also our growing awareness of the ills of globalisation and the need to tighten our belts are causing more and more of us to turn our backs on the faceless pile-it-high-sell-it-cheap high st shops that line our shopping parades/malls (and choke our independent shops) in favor of DIY & MIY (make it yourself). The instinct to nest in our homes and turn our attentions to buying and making handmade has had a HUGE POSITIVE IMPACT on the craft industry. This is largely because buying and making craft is the antitheses of ‘production line throwaway consumerism’ – it just feels nutritious to give and receive hand craft.

Now you can see why the trend in knitting exploded in recent years. Knitting is warm, slower, cosy, giving, tactile, and reminiscent of knitting afternoons with Mum & Grandma etc. etc. etc. Reliable sources (including two rather large book publishers and a well known author) tell me that sewing is the next big thing…

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The good stuff always make a reappearance in trends (except for the 80s perhaps).

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How can we (as craft business owners) act upon trend forecast information?

Whilst us crafters are a independent and free thinking bunch, I still think it’s very important to pay attention to trends. I know it’s tempting to think “well, I’m just a small business, so such things don’t affect me”, but how about thinking instead “I’m a small business so knowing stuff like this can help give me an edge”. Of course trend forecast information is just a guideline and it is open to interpretation, but that’s great because it gives us freedom to interpret the trend our way to create what we love, but to be ‘on trend’ at the same time. This way we won’t go and make 50 pcs of an item that only we like (because pumpkin yellow is our fave colour!). So, if we take the example that sewing is going to be the next big craft trend than perhaps it would make sense to prepare for that upcoming trend by selling items such as: sewing project carry totes, sewing equipment holder/organisers, sewing aprons, designing sewing patterns, designing sewing inspired jewelry (charms bracelets, rings etc) and so on.

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Further Reading

• Fashion Trendsetter – Fashion forecasting
• Infomat - Trend analysis
• CraftZine – you should know about this one
• Whip Up – you should know about this one
• Not Martha – you should know about this one
• CraftsReport – Craft trade mag
• Marie Claire Idees – yummy French craft mag
• Selvedge - beautiful mag for all things sewing
• Martha Stewart - whether you’re a fan or not…lots of folks love her!
• Drapers Record – all about the dressmaking industry
• Quilts.com - info on shows and a peek at the shows
• Quilters Buzz - Whats new and hot in quilting, sewing, and fabrics
• Art Jewelry – art mag
• Ceramics Monthly – you guessed it!

Next time: Winner Announcement for the Artful Blogging Journal – good luck!

Fore-warned is fore-armed. Do your research and you’ll stay one step ahead.

Here are some excellent web resources for your Craft Business. Bookmark, read, and enjoy:

• Rohm - some of the nicest and well-priced custom garment labels I’ve seen anywhere (thanks for the tip Heidi).
• Vertical Response – Your Marketing Checklist for 2008. Vertical Response provides email marketing services and their site and blog is full of excellent marketing info.
• Entrepreneur.com – a search on ‘Craft’ throws up squillions of pages on the brilliant business info site…
• Design News – make yourself comfortable and have a look at this MEGA post on how-to Social Networking, and Photoblogging. This is a wondrous post which must have taken flipping ages to write. Equally wonderful and useful is 120+ Self Promotion Ideas for designers & Freelancers. Definitely one to save and refer to.
• Lifehack – Increasing your credibility in 30 days: How to brag without bragging. increasing your credibility also means increasing your visibility
• Freelance Switch – 101 ideas to get more Freelance work and Generate more client leads – use these great transferable tips to help you approach new customers, market yourself and get more custom orders.
• UK Craft Fairs - Guide to running a craft business.
• Craft Business – website of the magazine which is full of useful articles.
• eMoms – 94 ways to Keep Kids busy for the work at home parent (I’d say every parent with kids at home NEEDS this post!); Top Ten Working from home mistakes, (yep, we’re all guilty of some of these, you’re not alone).
• The Craft Report Magazine – website of the magazine which is full of useful articles and listings.

Here are some useful Craft Business, & Working from Home books (all have good reviews) :

• Craft, Inc.: Turn Your Creative Hobby into a Business
• Handmade for Profit!: Hundreds of Secrets to Success in Selling Arts and Crafts
• The Crafts Business Answer Book: Starting, Managing, and Marketing a Homebased Arts, Crafts, or Design Business
• The Basic Guide to Selling Crafts on the Internet
• Country Living Crafting a Business: Make Money Doing What You Love
• The Home Office Solution : How to Balance Your Professional and Personal Lives While Working at Home
• I Love My Life: A Mom’s Guide to Working from Home
• Working at Home While the Kids Are There, Too
• Working from Home
• A View from the Tub: An Inspiring and Practical Guide to Working from Home
• Small Business Taxes Made Easy: How to Increase Your Deductions, Reduce What You Owe, and Boost Your Profits

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If you have any more resources that you think should be added to this list please put them in your comments and I will add them to the list with a linked credit to you

A new year brings the promise of a whole host of wonderful craft business opportunities all of which with a few tweaks and time management tricks are within everyone’s grasp. I do feel that that the best way to proceed with something new is to continually set new achievable goals. The more ticks we can put on our achievable goal list, the more we are likely to make new ones and the more confident our goals will become. Here is a list of my general craft business goals for 2008. Anyone can achieve these, and I guarantee that if you can tick off most or all these goals your Craft business life will improve!

1. If you haven’t already get yourself blog – initially (for most blog providers) this won’t cost you anything but a couple of hours of fiddling about with getting used to the blog editor. Hordes of craft business bloggers will tell you blogging is essential in getting your business out there. How much time you decide to invest in keeping your blog up to date is up to you, the more you put in the more you will get out of it. I have written more about setting up a blog here.
2. I will set aside a regular time to tidy up my office and clear my desk – if you don’t yet have a designated work area for crafting and paperwork do try and get yourself one. When my business began I was using the corner of our the dining table which wasn’t practical and it drove us both bonkers! If you can at least get yourself your own well lit table, put up some shelves above your table, and book case too perhaps for your supplies and your paperwork you’ll be amazed at how much more productive and professional you’ll be (and feel) when you have your own clutter free work space.
3. You will convert all of that energy that you use to make up reasons why you won’t succeed into looking honestly at your strengths and building upon them – I like to think I regularly have good ideas, but most of them don’t ever come to light because of ME! I tell myself that it’s too time consuming, expensive, I’m not skilled enough blah blah. The truth is they aren’t reasons for failure, they are in fact steps in a process which can be overcome. It’s so true, it all starts with believing you have something special to bring to the table and then acting upon it.
4. I will share and get involved with the crafting community because amongst other crafty things it’s good for business - here’s a groovy post that will help you get started.
5. I will have fun and enjoy this Craft Business it’s something that (with a little help) I set up and I have the right to have this thing to enjoy for me – Whatever level you decide to take your craft business to, be that selling the fruits of regular evenings spent sewing or running a website with a warehouse and the full works (one must dream) I think it’s important to love what you do. There is something special about craft and that something is that craft is created by the hands of individuals. Handmade is wonderfully stubborn in that by it’s very nature there can be no mass production. Handcraft is an expression of what we as individuals think feel and see, I think that that should be enjoyed and celebrated to it’s fullest. Love what you do and I promise the financial rewards will be well on the way to taking care of themselves.
6. Find a way to delineate time for you, time for your family, and time for your craft business – I’m no time management guru, but I do know that if you do this and you do it to it’s fullest you will be happier, more productive, and (more or less) guilt free!
7. Ask for help and ask for opinions - you shouldn’t go it alone. There is plenty of business help out there on the web, in you local bank, your fellow crafters (either virtually or face to face). Don’t be shy about asking those around you for advice and opinions, of course not everyone will have something helpful to say, but lots of people will. Get the support of those around you, swap services, get chatty about what you want to do/are doing. Folk will be happy for you and you will feel motivated to get going/keep going, and of course if you are nice to them they will be they will be there when you are having crap days
8. Always be proud of who you are and of your talents – and be proud enough to strive for just a bit more!

Have a wonderful New Year everybody What are you going to do differently in 2008?

A lot of this info will apply to most any business or blog on the web all you’ll need is few hours a week and a digi camera.The main thing to remember is when using these sites for marketing purposes is to play nice; that means it’s not a good idea (and it is frowned upon) when users just plain advertise themselves without making any contribution. For instance on my own blog I don’t make any attempt to hide the fact that I use it for marketing purposes, but I hope that by writing tutorials, personal content, highlighting the work of others, and holding some draws on my blog, the marketing for my shop isn’t offensive to my readers. With sites like Flickr it’s the same; it’s good practice to give your readers a bone and make it worth their while to read your content especially if it contains marketing…

**UPDATE** Carrie has very helpfully reiminded me of this important Flickr guideline:
“Don’t use Flickr for commercial purposes. Flickr is for personal use only. If we find you selling products, services, or yourself through your photostream, we will terminate your account. Any other commercial use of Flickr, Flickr technologies (including APIs, FlickrMail, etc), or Flickr accounts must be approved by Flickr. For more information on leveraging Flickr APIs, please see our Services page…”

Today I will look at my favourite social site – Flickr. It is very powerful, slick and it has so much to offer in terms of communicating and marketing. Flickr is much more than storage site for your photos. Here are some groovy marketing things that you can do with Flickr:

• Upload relevant images - and put your web link in the description box like I have with this image. The link is for a tutorial on my other blog that I have written on how to use purse twist locks in the hope that it will encourage readers to give them a try on their bags. In the blog tutorial there are links to my shop where the twist locks can be purchased if they so wish.  In this way the link on my photo doesn’t lead to a product in my shop, so I am not flouting the rules!

My purse twist lock photo in Flickr.

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• Join and create Groups - If you look at the right hand side of my photo you will see that the photo also belongs to different Pools. Pools are photo groups which have been set up by Flickr users to group photos in a manner of their choosing. I have set up 2 pools of my own; the U-Handbag Handmade Bag Pool (which is a pool for anyone to put their handmade bag pics where we can comment on each other’s handy work), and the Amy Butler Bags Pool (which is a pool that I use for the Amy Butler contest that I run every month, and I use the pool to show my customers what other folks have made using Amy’s patterns). If you can’t find pools that are relevant to you, just set up your own, it’s easy! If you click on any of these pools in my twist lock image you will see that my twist lock photo is included in other Pools (groups of photos). This means that my image is potentially being viewed by thousands of folks all around the world (and it doesn’t’ cost me anything)! If your photo and title is useful, relevant, or just offering something nice it has a greater chance of being clicked on and viewed by more folks.

• Comment on other people’s images – Do you see the ‘Add your comment’ box at the bottom of my image? You can also put your own link in that box too. Of course it’s a good idea to stay relevant and be respectful if you are going to do this. For example someone could comment on my twist lock photo by saying “I’ve made a purse with a twist lock too, I’ve blogged about it here http://…………” – which could link to their blog which could then link to a bag shop etc. Therefore, anyone who views my twist lock photo will also view the comments on the photo too.

• Add your links in your personal Flickr profile - like I have in my profile.

• AND WHEN - When you’ve done some or all of the stuff above take the Flickr links to your photos and your groups and place them on your site/your blog and link back because those search engines like them Flickr Urls – YAY! Spend a few hours each on Flickr each week and see your traffic increase, have fun!

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Do you use Flickr? Have you tried any of the above tools, do you you know of anymore Flickr tricks?

Personally I think those names are pretty cool, but the quick answer to Myam’s question is that it really depends on the flavour of her shop. The bag names are cute, girly, and charming, so if Myam’s products are whimsical and charming, as is her website than, yes the names are quite suitable. That’s the quick answer, but there are a few other things worth considering when naming our craft products and that’s I’m going to look at in this post. Getting your product names right is actually quite important for increasing your sales, especially on the web (more about that later). Before I start have a look at one of my bags and then have a quick look at the home page of my shop (note how it looks, and note the names of a few of the other products).

This is a bag that I made last year; it got sold real quick

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Before I tell you the name of the bag, I’ll list some DOs and DON’TS that I applied when naming my bag:

DO:

1. make part the title of your product somewhat descriptive of your item – this can be the function, the shape, or the material used etc. in the item. For instance: ……….clutch bag, …………candelabra, …………….choker necklace, ………………shawl, Mohair…………, etc. This helps the customer to quickly identify what the product is best suited for. As humans we usually feel happier and more positive towards something when we have an understanding of it; we are more likely to move on to the next thing if we don’t.
2. make part of the title of your product suit the flavour of your shop – this can be the era in which your items take inspiration from (vintage, punk, 70’s disco etc.), or the craft trend/process (zakka, felting, paper craft). For instance: Debbie’s disco baby……, Aunt Emma’s…….., Fluffy felted……. Naming your items in this way will make them more distinctive to your own shop and will make your items easier to understand.
3. bear in mind the age of the customer that you want to attract. I know it’s very tempting to want to try and please everyone, but as any business studies text will tell you this just isn’t possible (whole books have been written on the subject of segmenting your market, I’ll try and cover this in another post because it’s important). So for instance if you think that the main bulk of your customers are cash strapped students you would price your items according to their budgets and the same goes for your product names, you would make them appeal to the cash strapped students!
4. use a touch of humor, but only if it suits and best not to over do it. I used a bit of humor in the name of this craft item because the part of description had some humor in it too. If you can make your customer chuckle (with you!) it’s a good thing because they are more likely to have positive feelings toward your products.
5. use other moods/feelings such as charm, solemnity, fun, dreamyness, etc. if it suits the flavour of your products and shop. For instance if you sold ceramics inspired by nature, or burlesque inspired accessories, or vintage textiles have a little fun and make that clear in your product names. It will add add cohesiveness to your collection of items, it will help customers understand your products, and it will make your shop ‘look tidy’.
6. **UPDATE** Laura kindly sent in this important tip : “If you’re going to use names of characters from literature, you need to make sure that the stories are old enough that they’re no longer copyrighted. You wouldn’t want to end up getting sued by a writer or writer’s estate. (I am not a lawyer; obviously check with one if you’ve got a specific concern.)”
7. be consistent with all of your names. Whichever rules you use with your product names try to apply those rules to all of your products.

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Don’t

1. make your product names non-descriptive. I don’t think names like “Hannah Bag”, “Black and White Mountain Print”, or “Wool Scarf” are very helpful to customers. Names like these don’t really grab you, they don’t help the customer understand the product, and they evoke no emotion either (ideally you want you customer to experience positive feelings to your products). Yes, the customer could just read more about your product in the product description, but remember when searching for items on the web you don’t always get to see product descriptions. In a web search what you are presented with its the title of the item, so if the title doesn’t grab you, you aren’t likely to click on the search… So do you see that if a customer was searching for “Shoulder bag” on Etsy, or Google, the name “Hannah Bag” becomes pretty helpful. What are the chances that someone would be looking for a “Hannah Bag” in a search unless they knew about you because you are a famous bag designer already (your day will come, along with mine hopefully!)
2. make your titles too long. Whilst being descriptive, they should still be punchy and to the point.

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and now back to my bag… I called it “Old Romantic Shoulder/Clutch” because:

• The fabric was romantic looking vintage inspired fabric, the fabric looks both old and romantic. “Old Romantic” is a play on words. I was hoping that customers would like the play on words and that the title would evoke feelings of gentle romance, summer strolls, and girly clothes…
• I put ‘Shoulder/clutch’ in the title because that is intended use of the bag, and straight away you get a sense of how large the bag is without having to read the measurements (anything that helps a customer to quickly understand a item is a good thing).

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Further Reading:

• Using keywords in your copy
• 7 philosophies for building great brand experiences – has info on how to evoke positive emotions in your customers
• Market Segmentation
• Writing Smart copy for your E-Commerce Product Pages
• Effective Content for catalogs & The Web

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Do you name your craft items using any of these methods? How do you name your craft items?

So, why if you are already selling in Etsy or Ebay (check out Megan’s blog for some very sound advice on Ebay selling) would you ALSO want to sell elsewhere? The answer is because it’s fabulous marketing. Most of you will already be aware that making gorgeous craft is only half the story in craft business, the other just as important half is marketing yourself and your craft. Selling your craft in more than one shop means that you, your craft, and your blog (hopefully you do have one), is being seen by more potential customers. Well run shopping mall sites rank high in the search engines which means that your crafty goodness is going to get viewed by more folks. You may in the future decide that you don’t want to run more than one shop at a time, but why not try running more than one shop for now, just to get your name out there?

In each shop that you run, be a smarty pants and include these links in your seller profile:

1. your email address (for custom orders),
2. your other shops,
3. your blog

Check out some of these other craft shopping mall sites (there are quite a few others too; do a google):

• Etsy
• DaWanda
• Ebay
• RedBubble
• ArtFlock
• Handmade Catalog

Other ways to sell your craft products:

• Your own website – I think this is the best option for professionalism and exclusivity (whereas on shopping mall sites you are competing with lots of other sellers). This is the option I decided upon when I first set up my business. I scrimped and saved enough money to pay for professional design and some programming. The only thing is with your own website you REALLY gotta work at marketing yourself.
  
• Party selling – I have few regular readers of my other blog who sell their bags through parties and it really works for them. Party selling is a brilliant option if you have access to lots of work colleagues, you are part of a sports team/institute/group/you attend church/ any sizeable group or network that you or your friends are involved with. Get the guys and gals round, bring some wine, some nice nibbles and host a party where people can see the artist and see and feel your crafty goods.
• Sell from your own blog – tell your readers about the crafting process, share your disasters (for a giggle) and share your successes (with a tutorial perhaps). Then why not sell the craft item that you have been blogging about. Wouldn’t it be helpful to your readers to be able to buy the craft item that you have been blogging about straight from your blog? This way the immediacy and the excitement about your craft item is far less likely to be lost and your craft item will not be competing with others on a shopping mall site (if that’s where you also sell). Try it for FREE for 3 months.
• Craft Markets - this is what I used to do and it’s where my crafting journey began. Christmas was by far my busiest time. I think markets are a great place to meet other crafters, learn about customer behaviour, and learn about craft business in general. If you haven’t done a craft market or fair before it’s pretty hard work, but it can be very rewarding and great fun. How about sharing a table (and the costs) with a friend if you haven’t done it before?

Fairs are a great way to meet other crafters!

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How do you sell your craft items? Do you have more than one shop?

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“Do you only sell things that are already made and finished or do you also sell to order? I sell on ebay etsy and my website and sell what I have made but I wonder if people are looking for something that I haven’t had time to re-stock and if I have then lost a customer because the item wasn’t there? Hhmmm now there’s a long question!!” (as asked by Paper & String).

Good question! How do you decide what percentage of your craft items should be ready made, and what percentage should be commissions? In this post I’ll look at some factors that should help you to decide whether you should go down the commissions route or the ready made route, or both!

Ready Mades

Advantages of Ready Made:

• Once you get into the swing of the production process for your craft item you can make your items in a shorter amount of time, and you can become expert in the various making processes. For example, in bag making you can cut all of the fabric pieces (bleuurghhh! not my favourite part) on one day, sew the bags the next day, and add any finishing touches the day after that. The faster you can make your craft items the faster you can make more, and the less you will need to charge for your time.
• It much easier to plan for ready mades. You know what materials you will need for your craft items so you can buy in bulk and save money, you will also have a better idea as to how long it will take to produce your craft items.
• You have total freedom to make your items out of whatever materials you choose. For instance, if you happen upon a bargain box of yummy vintage buttons (I’ll be a bit jealous) you can use them as lovely trims, or make cute jewelry etc. and you’ll have saved some money in the process. You are not restricted in the same way as a commission in that you can make what you want out of whatever you want.
• You’ll have inventory to sell at markets, or on your site. In my experience, most customers are not looking to spend much time or effort in making a decision on what to buy. If there is something that is available now, pretty, and reasonably priced there is a good chance that it will sell much faster than a commission.

Disadvantages of Ready Mades:

• You need to be pretty savvy when it comes to deciding what to make. You should do regular research to get a feel of what is hot in the craft world. I always, always say make what you love, with love, and in your own style, but be aware of what your competition is doing. This way you can offer something different, something cheaper, something more exclusive, you can make more/make fewer of an item, etc. etc etc. By doing this you’ll avoid making lots of inventory that will hang around glaring at from your store cupboards (yep, we’ve all been there!).
• We’re all creative souls (you and I) and more likely than not we don’t like having to make the same thing again and again….yawn (even if it sells like hot cakes!)
• Ready mades can be time consuming in their way own too. Even though it take less time to produce ready mades; you are making more of them and this eats time (time that could be spent on commission work).

Ready Mades : “Hey ho! Only another 50 of these bloody hearts to sew…”

Commissions

Advantages of Commissions:

• You get to work closely with your customer and you will be able to tailor your craft item to their needs, this way you are making the VERY thing that your customer is looking for.
• You can arrange for a deposit to be paid in advance which can help toward the cost of materials.
• Because you get to work more closely with the customer you get a chance to form a nice relationship which will hopefully result in further commissions from word of mouth recommendation.
• Commission work can be more flamboyant and intricate, and hopefully more fun to make. These one-off designs will also be a better show-case for your skills. Therefore it’s a good idea to take a few good shots (with your customer’s permission) of these commission items to put on your website/portfolio to show other customers just what you can do!
• Depending on your customers needs, the craft item can be made from more exclusive materials, which again can be more fun to use and will result in a more exclusive craft item that would look great on your website/portfolio.

Disadvantages of Commissions:

• Because commissions are sometimes more complex designs, or they may use materials you are unfamiliar with, or techniques you haven’t used before they can be more time consuming to produce. This can be difficult if you are charging for time, (or time is in short supply…err…what the heck am I talking about? Time is always in short supply?!!??).
• Because commissions are often more time consuming, you may prefer not to charge for time (unless you are pretty well known). This means that you may make less from some commission items.

Conclusion:

So which is better; Commissions or Ready Mades? Personally, I think that both of them are important to your craft business. Commissions are great for making super duper fancy craft pieces, these pieces should be recorded and put on your site or portfolio. Commissions are a great way to go to town, and show others the full extent of your talents. Despite the fact that commissions are time hungry (and you may make less from commissions) they are often a good source of further work. I have made the all of purses for bridesmaids for quite a few weddings (which is REALLY stressful, but great for business because if your yummy purse is seen at a wedding by another slightly jealous lady…yep, you guessed it, more work for you!).

Ready Mades can be more your bread and butter items. If you don’t have inventory to sell then you don’t have a craft business (unless you are fortunate enough to be able to rely solely on a steady stream of commissions…which lets face it most of us aren’t). Ready Mades are more economical to produce in terms of time and cost of materials. Therefore, you can sell them for less, which means they will attract more customers. That said, you have to be a bit smart about what to make by spending some time in researching the craft world, don’t just go off and produce loads of a craft item just because you love it…

I’d love to know what works for you. Share the link to your shop/site and tell us what is your split between Commissions and Ready Made