I first found Amy D. through one of her ads in Bust, back in November 2007. I thought it was a great ad and I liked her website, so I asked her to be a guest on my podcast. We hit it off and became friends, talking and emailing regularly. And the funny thing is, this will be the first time we’ll meet face to face!  I actually met Olivia briefly at The Renegade Craft Fair in Chicago last year.

If you’ve never gone to a big craft show or convention, I definitely encourage you to go.  It is so fun to meet people that you know from Twitter, Facebook or some other online avenue. And if there are some crafters or bloggers that you have become friends with that don’t live too far away, go on a road trip and meet up with them!

Trust me, when you get together with people who have similar interests, you’ll end up talking about your businesses somewhat. You’ll be so inspired and motivated. You won’t be sorry!OK

Here are some things that you might not know how to do yet… but if you learn them, they will really help your business! I am going to make this a continuation post – I will put the ideas here, and then I will take each one and write a tutorial on it in a future post. If there are things you would like to learn, leave a comment and I’ll work up a tutorial on your idea, too!

And if there is something you can teach CraftBoom readers, leave a comment. I may just ask you to write a guest post!

Okay – here are my first 10 ideas:

1. Learn how to be an Awesome Blogger!

2. Learn how to use social networking sites to promote your biz

3. Learn to write a press release

4. Create a great media list

5. Learn how to diversify your income!

6. Learn how to attract web traffic naturally, so that you aren’t always paying for advertising

7. Learn how to start your own crafty podcast /show

8. Learn to manage your time

9. Learn how to partner up with other businesses to help you market your biz, leverage your time, & create new products

10. Learn how to STRETCH out of your comfort zone!

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!

Customer service is crucial in any line of work. But I’d also add that customer appreciation is a key ingredient in providing the first. Today I am going to share just a few, simple ideas of what you can do show appreciation towards those who give you business as well as why showing appreciation to those who work with you is also of great value.

And to help guide us through, I’m going to give a simple acronym that will mean a lot more by the end of reading this post. When it comes to customer appreciation, I say, “GO & DO!”

G- GENUINE APPRECIATION: One fact of life is that everyone appreciates being appreciated. And when that appreciation is genuine and sincere, then it can move mountains. Not trying to be overly dramatic, but I say this because it can’t be over-emphasized too much.  Being very specific in your comments helps the other person to know that you really noticed something special and you wanted to share that with them. Chances are that because of what you have shared, the customer, co-worker, or employee will be that much more likely to continue doing great things because they know that YOU know them.

O- ORGANIZE A SYSTEM: You want to organize a system in your business which puts customer service and appreciation your #1 priority. You can have the best marketing system in the world in place, the greatest products, etc…and yet, if customer service fails, you will fail. Gaining a reputation in your industry of superb customer relations will leap you to the forefront. So do whatever is necessary to make sure that you can manage a great system of service with a smile.

and now…. DO!

D- Deal Effectively: The dictionary tells us that the word effective means “adequate to accomplish a purpose; producing the intended or expected result.”  Another meaning includes, “producing a deep or vivid impression; striking.” I like what both of these definitions say when it comes to customer service.  No matter the circumstance, it is always important to put yourself in “someone else’s shoes.” When dealing with an issue that comes up with a customer, always take a deep breath and think for a moment, “What would I do if I were in their position? How would I feel?” Then find out what may have gone wrong and do everything you can quickly and effeciently to help resolve the issue.

It reminds me of a time when a customer was very upset and wrote to YouCanMakeThis.com about a problem she was having with a download. The email sent was, let’s just say, “less than nice” in every way. Kim, the owner of YCMT, rather than being on the defensive side, decided that a phone call to the customer could be an effective way of helping her. Sometimes email can be very ineffective because of the time lapse and misunderstandings through writing. At the beginning of the conversation, this customer was extremely upset. Kim listened. She asked further questions. She helped her resolve what was occurring and even offered her a free product for the hassle it had caused her. I sat back and just admired the way Kim handled the entire situation….and I learned a lot from it. By the end of their phone conversation, they were both laughing about “mom stuff” and an hour later, the customer was sending photographs to Kim of her new babies! Talk about effective.

And finally…

O- Opportunities All Around You! Indeed, there are opportunities all around you to show your appreciation! Take advantage of every one of them! Offer discounts or other special offers to repeat customers. Write a personal email to thank them. With those who work for you, perhaps make an “out-of-the-blue” phone call to let them know what a great job they are doing and ask them for their input with how the business is going and what ideas they might have to help. Send a thank-you note in the mail along with a giftcard to ice cream for their family at the local ice creamery. What a fun surprise! No need to wait for a birthday or other special occasion…just do it and the smile will last for days for both you and the person on the receiving end!

So what do you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts as well as other ideas you might have for showing your appreciation!

The scrapbook I made yesterday

Yesterday, I traveled a couple hours south to Toledo, Ohio with my friend Deni to attend a scrapbook party. I picked up a few interesting lessons and thought I’d share them:

Get Out Of Your Comfort Zone: It’s very common to get stuck in a pattern and sometimes, you gotta break it up a bit and try something new! If  you’ve heard me teach an online class or have seen me speaking at an in-person event, you may not believe that I can be kind of shy. But it’s true. Especially when I’m in a small group of people that I’m meeting for the first time.

Just like yesterday’s scrapbook party! That’s right. I didn’t know anyone who was attending. The people at the party were all co-workers of my friend. They all work for the same company, based in different areas in Michigan and Ohio. But I went and I had fun and I met a bunch of new people. And by the way – the friend that I went with is a relatively new friend, as well. I met her last summer when I went to a party thrown by another friend.

So get out of your routine. shake it up, and see what happens!

Don’t Second Guess Yourself: One of the people who attended the party had never scrapbooked before and was not feeling very confident about her pages. She was second guessing herself, but the truth is, she was making some very cute designs! Believe in yourself! If you don’t, know one else will.

Getting Started Is The Hardest Part: When we arrived at the party, the first thing we did was set up the food table (can you blame us?). And then we all sat there, looking at our supplies…  Starting a new project is always the hardest part. Whether you are starting a new business altogether or are just thinking about doing something new within your business (like creating a press page), getting started can be the hardest part!

As for the crop last night, once we started playing with the papers, stamps, and other tools, we were on a roll. Everyone was coming up with new ideas. And that’s exactly what it will be like with your business. So just get started with something and see where inspiration takes you.

Don’t Spend Too Much Time On Facebook: Near the end of the party, the hostess’ laptop got brought out and the person who rode with my friend and I got on Facebook…. Well, we didn’t end up leaving Toledo until 11:30 pm and that meant we didn’t get home till around 2 am.

It’s important to use social networking tools like Facebook and Twitter in your business, but definitely watch how much time you are spending on them. Don’t let it get in the way of the other parts of your business!

Now it’s your turn! What are some of your favorite crafty business lessons???

Some of the speakers include Amy Schroeder, the founder of Venus Zine; Jenny Hart of Sublime Stitching; the ladies of Handmade Detroit; Gwen Bell, Kirtsy partner, and voted one of the 50 most influential women in social media!; as well as Sparkplugging’s General Editor, Kelly McCausey – and that is just to name a few! For a complete list, visit: http://indiebizchicksconference.com/speakers/

Our topics are going to be awesome! We’ll be talking about how to network like a rock star, use social media to grow your biz, how interns can help you run your business, how to throw an online event, as well as a rockin’ craft fair, how to protect your work with copyrights, how to start a podcast, how to give good blog… and well, that’s just the tip of the iceberg! For a complete schedule, visit: http://indiebizchicksconference.com/schedule/

If you haven’t registered for the conference yet, you can do so for free by clicking here

It is going to be AWESOME!!

So, for all of you craft business newbies (and not so newbies) it is November; 2 months on into your new business. How are you all getting along? My guess is that amongst other things it’s all still very new, you’re still learning on the job and there are lots of new routines to get to grips with. This is all very normal and as long as you care deeply about your business, there is always something new to learn no matter how long you’ve been a business owner.

But today, I want to talk a little about the emotionality of running a new business. The thing that a majority of you will have in common is that you have a craft business, you work from home and you are women with families. Firstly, I want to congratulate you on having your own craft business (BIG CHEER, WOOT WOOT!), it isn’t easy and it’s a big decision to make. It’s an even bigger decision to make if you also have children because running a craft business (and most types of businesses) will involve taking some time away from the family to devote to your business – which I’m sure results in guilt pangs.

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There definitely IS more to life than this!

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I’m guessing that this guilt is one of the hardest emotional hurdles to overcome when running your craft business. If it is I just wanted to say some words of encouragement. Stick ‘em on your fridge if you like

• It’s just as essential for women as it is for men (I’d argue more so) to feel fulfilled in an activity/ies outside of the family. It is easy for women in the role of (busy) main caregiver to loose sight of the things that they enjoy. Doing other things for yourself strengthens your sense of identity. See it as a necessity NOT an indulgence.
• Committing time and energy into ‘Me projects” such as running a craft business is such a positive thing for a Mum to do because of the confidence you will gain, it’s fun, it’s challenging and absorbing. Most importantly it has the potential to make you feel great about yourself and if you feel great about yourself it stands to benefit everyone around you (HEAPS!)
• Women often feel more guilty about striving to achieve goals because women just don’t receive as much encouragement as men to Go For It! We know that this a silly nonsense, don’t we?
• The dishes and the ironing aren’t that important (were they ever?), they will still be there after you have finished making your craft items. As soon as they’re old enough why not rope the kids into doing more household chores?  It never did us any harm. I’m sure that why my siblings and I can all cook and iron a great shirt…
• Get your family and your friends behind you to encourage you in your business. Call them when you are feeling anxious and tell them when you are happy. Oh, and if your partner isn’t keen on you taking time away from them for you to do your own thing – your partner is at fault not you!!!!!
• Rather than spending any time feeling guilty, how about using that time to figure out time management strategies to help make it all fit in for you and your family?

Amy of Coco Crafts recently asked me how I went about finding people to help me run my business so in this post I’ll talk a little about some of the issues I considered before hiring people and how I went about looking for them.

Issues that I considered before taking the plunge:

• Trust – it’s very scary when you run your own business to give up some of that tightly held control and admit you need help. Of course it’s scary for a good reason; you care dearly about your business and you need to feel that anyone who works for you will consistently pay attention and care as much as you do. Also you need to feel that you can trust them with your ideas (and everything else…) and that they won’t slope off and start up a business based around what what you do.
• Expense – wages do form a large percentage of expense for any business. In the beginning I tried to put off hiring folks for as long as possible because I felt I couldn’t afford to pay wages (let alone a decent wage). So for quite some time I was doing everything myself. About 5 months before I eventually took on help I was getting seriously tired and ratty (Al says I was even scary at times!) Something had to give, I couldn’t manage everything on my own. When I finally hired folks it took about 3 weeks for us to settle into the new rhythm and it’s given me and my business a new lease of life. I should have done it way earlier than I did. The extra expense has proven to be a worthwhile investment.
• What roles – what did I need help with? Did I want help with packing, sewing, production, design, IT, book keeping, website maintenance etc. etc. etc.?
• Personality – when you have a small business I think it’s even more important for a team to get on well with each other. There are less rooms, less departments and less roles and that equals less privacy from each other! Even if you don’t work in the same building it’s still a huge bonus if you get on well with each other so you can more easily communicate roles, duties, how you like your tea and which donuts you all prefer
• I’m sure there are other issues to consider dependent on the type of business you run. Can you think of any to add?

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How I went about looking for my team:

I think I’m very fortunate with my team. I can honestly say we all get on really well, we are happy, enthusiastic, conscientious and we want this small business to do well And we all make a decent cuppa. I’m thinking that most of you folks would be looking for a crafty person to help with production. Here are a few places you could try looking:

• If you have a blog why not ask folks out there (who are local to you) to see if they are looking for some craft work. I’m a convinced that most all crafters are lovely people and far less likely to be weirdos. This belief has served me well so far.
• Look for help on craft forums.
• Do you have any regular customers that you have struck up a nice relationship with. It doesn’t hurt to ask… Actually, this is exactly what I did for one of my team and she’s absolutely flipping wonderful!
• Ask if you can put up a job notice on kindergarten, school or supermarket boards. There could be mum’s and grandmas out there who would love to knit or sew for a bit of money for a few hours a week.
• Try looking for local sewing, knitting, pottery, jewellery making etc etc. classes /colleges in your area and ask the teachers if you can ask the students if they’d like a crafty job.

Good luck in your search!

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Are you at the stage where you are looking for extra help? Or how did you go about employing your team; share your experiences with us

• 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

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 do you do when folk says your handcraft is too expensive? For starters don’t go and slash the price of everything you sell, pick a fight, or throw your hands in the air and give everything up. Take heart there are things that we can do…

How to react emotionally:

People will ALWAYS say ‘ohh that’s too expensive, I could make that myself for less… etc etc.” I used to constantly get this on my market stall. Of course they are entitled to their own opinion (it’s just not very nice when they say it loud enough for your to hear…). It used to hurt a bit at first, but after some months trading I came to the conclusion that a majority of these folks were never likely to sew a stitch and as bargain hunters they were more likely to be driven by cheap prices. And that’s fine, but as you and I already know you cannot begin to compare an item which has been made in a sweat shop (by an exploited worker) with an item that has been painstakingly and lovingly made by hand at home.

When I used to catch a passer-by muttering “too expensive” I used to think “well, it’s not my place to educate you about cut-throat capitalism; if you knew what work was involved in hand making my products perhaps you would think my prices were actually quite reasonable….” So in short, it’s not nice when people grumble about our prices being too expensive, but let them do it; we are not going to market our products them anyway otherwise we woud end up under selling ourselves and going out of business. Instead we should aim to market our products to folks who have an appreciation of items which are unique, high quality, handmade, and therefore a bit more special…

It looks like the price is right for this lady…

How to react practically

• Are your prices (reasonably) in line with other traders? – I’ve always believed that it’s very important to keep an eye on what your counterparts (or in other words, your competition) are doing NOT so you can copy them, but so you can do things differently. However, if for instance you discover your competitors are selling similar sized tote bags (as an example) to you and their bags are markedly cheaper than yours it is important to ensure that your tote bags have that extra something to justify the extra cost. If they don’t then it’s worth considering finding ways to bring your prices in line.
• Find ways to lower the cost of producing your items – buy your materials in bulk wherever you can, get more efficient with your time by producing your items in batches e.g have fabric cutting days, inserting zipper days, bracelet days etc., see if you can source materials for free, you’ll be surprised what you can obtain if you just ask for it – I used to get some of my silk offcuts free from a local curtain maker.
• Be selective with your product range - it’s widely believed (see Further Reading below for studies) that too much choice is not a good thing for sales. I know that we all have a natural tendency to want to please everyone so we try to provide lots of choice, but you can’t please everyone and selling lots of different unrelated items will make your shop look untidy and confused. Par your range down and concentrate on becoming expert at making the items you sell. This will result in you making items faster and better and therefore saving you money in the long run. This is exactly what Carrie has done with great success. Her range is not huge; the shapes stay the same, but the fabrics change and they do all of the talking – and it works a treat!
• Get strategic with your pricing formula - when pricing a craft item it is normal to take both the cost of the materials and your time into consideration, but if you price everything this way and do both commission work as well as a stock standard range you’ll find your commission items will cost loads and this will obviously put your commission customers off (unless you are famous and you can charge accordingly!). It’s worth being prepared to take a smaller profit on more intricate or commission items to stimulate sales. Consider slightly increasing the price on items which sell well to make up for the short fall. In this way you attract more custom and you do not loose out financially. This is what supermarkets do; for instance they will take a smaller profit (or even a loss) on some items to entice customers to the store, but the supermarket will make up for loss elsewhere on another product so everything evens itself out profit-wise.
• Get strategic with what you sell - I think that custom work/and or more intricate work is worth selling in your craft business because this kind of work can really show off your talents to your customers and this shows customers that you are capable of making items to a high standard. However, the bummer of more intricate or custom work is that it is more time consuming and therefore (arguably) less profitable. To make up for this I think it’s a wise idea to sell a number of stock standard items that you are expert at making. I know it can be dull making the same/similar things over and over again, but if you can make them well, make them quickly, and they are popular with customers these standard items can form an important part of your craft business (and your earnings!).

Further Reading

• Too many choices?
• Why too much choice is bad for us.
  
• Pricing you bags or other crafts to sell.

Coming Next: A yummy giveaway. Don’t miss it!

You’ll find it true of everyone who runs any business (I’m no different), all of us at one point or another have messed up, made the wrong decision, and have been affected by circumstances out of our control. The fact is that setbacks are all part and parcel of running your own business and they really don’t have to put the fear of God into you and they certainly do not have to be a measure of your abilities and success.

In my own business I encounter set-backs all of the time and yes in the beginning (2 years ago) they really used to freak me out. I would get very disheartened when: the shop was very quiet, competition increased, or suppliers let me down etc. Challenges like these still don’t get me clapping and singing, but I have learned to calm down a bit and stand back so I can try to figure out what I can do to turn a negative into a positive. For example; when times are harder in my shop; I offer promotions, I blog like mad (because this is good marketing), I scour the net for new and different items to sell (that my competitors don’t stock) and I sometimes turn my back on the shop (when I think no more can be done) and I sew something nice to help calm me down.

I don’t think of myself as some business guru, but I do think I am stubborn, passionate, and (if I’m honest) a tad competitive. These are attitudinal traits that cannot be picked up from any business school. I think having an attitude like this has helped survive hairy situations and driven me to educate myself in the many things I have still to learn about running a business.

That’s another fine mess I’ve gotten myself into!  Before you ask, this is NOT my office. 

So for the sake of authenticity (to show you that I mess up too!) Here are a few howlers I have committed (and survived from) in my shop:

• I tried to sell yarn – it was gorgeous yarn too, but it had to be shipped in from the USA which made it way too expensive so my profit margin too small to be worth the trouble… And more importantly there are lots of yarn shops in the internet and in the end it didn’t make sense to try to compete with them. I should have stuck to what I’m a specialist in – bag making supplies (and not yarn).
• Knitting Patterns – I sold the yarn because these particular patterns utilised the yarn. The patterns were so delightful, but they took a long time to sell. In hindsight I think the patterns used too much yarn which made the end result rather too pricey to make.
• I spent way too much on advertising in the beginning – I knew from the start that marketing is very important so I thought it would help if I paid for Google adwords. In hindsight I set my daily budget way too high (without very much benefit). I should have started a blog from the word go, because blogging is so much cheaper, much more enjoyable, and far more effective.
• I have spent too time and money on making certain bag designs only to find that people don’t want to pay the asking price. When you make craft to sell this is going to happen ALL of the time – this issue deserves a post all of it’s own and I will write about it next time.

So, in short a setback is not the end of the world. You can not only survive a setback; you can tackle it head-on and if you do this enough times you are made stronger and wiser for future set-backs. I know you are all sensible and thoughtful people; it’s not like you are going to do stuff like sell the house and the kids to finance your craft business. With that in mind go forth and make some mistakes, it really is OK, we all do it and we’ll all keep on doing it too. It really is about attitude and how you choose see things: is the set-back ‘game over’ or is it a challenge to be over-come? If I thought the yarn fiasco was ‘game over’ (and believe me it was a flipping expensive mistake to make!) I wouldn’t be here sharing my mess-ups with you today…

Next time: What to do when people say your handcraft is too expensive…

Just before I started up U-Handbag 2 years ago I was in a bad place financially and mentally. I wasn’t able to contribute fairly to our pot, I felt over-educated (I’ve taken all sorts of cool courses, but none of them particularly relate to each other) and I was under stimulated. I was entering my 30’s having not gotten a foothold in a career I could grow with, but I just didn’t know what to do with myself! You could say that I was having a 30’s life crisis. I was pretty down on myself to say the least. As you may already know I started selling handmade items in a craft market to supplement my income because craft was the only thing that took my mind off my worries. As soon as I switched on the light in my messy work room I felt happy and excited. The buzz I got from selling an item I had made was (and still is) incredible to me. I had never experienced joy to this intensity in any other work I had ever done and these feelings came to be instrumental in leading me to where I am now.

The mini success I experienced in the craft market led to the birth of U-Handbag. On paper it looks like that was a decision based on business opportunity (of course that had a big part to play), BUT it wasn’t as simple as that. At the time is was a huge decision to make, because I had lost a lot of confidence in myself – it felt like universe was a stake! What if I mess up, what if I get bored, what if people don’t like my products, what if people get bored of making bags, is bag making bits too specialist, how will I advertise, what about competition, how long will it take to break even…ahhhhhh!!! In the end though, the one question that freaked me out the most was ‘what if you don’t try it and see how far you can take it?’ I’ll spend my later years wondering why the hell had I turned my back on work that actually made me feel joyful! I’m so glad that I followed my heart because now I am a far more confident person and the passion I had for craft and what I do has not subsided one bit in the last 2 years, if anything it’s grown.

So the point of this preamble is: I really understand how fearful you may be of taking the plunge in starting your craft business or taking your business to the next stage. Do your research, ask for help, start small, test the waters, carry on with the day job for the time being, do this as a hobby, or whatever, BUT if you love it do it without apology and do it with passion. Listen to your heart as well as your head, that’s what it’s there for. You’ll thank yourself so much in time to come.

Fight (or work with) the fears which hold you back and give yourself a chance to fly…

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We know that there are quite a few excellent craft sites out there that cover craft in general, and there are a few sites (like this one) that focus on craft business too, BUT as craft business owners we need (me included) an inclusive site where we can meet, share, and support each other (lots of you are experts in you own right and we can learn lots from you). Such a place (at least like the one that Wendy and I have in mind) doesn’t yet exist. I am beside myself with excitement because judging from the emails I get from you, there is a big need to provide such a site for you, and it’s gonna happen!!!!!

So tell us what are your biggest challenges in running your Craft Business?

This one-stop-shop Craft Business meeting place is being created for you and we want to serve you as best as we can. We need to know what sort of things you would like in such a site. Whether you have a blog, or Esty, eBay, or your own e-comm shop or you are planning one please tell us (in some  detail):

1. What would you like help with: promotion & marketing, driving traffic, starting up, sales advice, setting up e-comm, or anything else, etc etc etc.

2. What kind of features would you like your craft business meeting place/forum to have (i.e) photo sharing, craft businessy tutorials, classifieds or any other features etc etc etc.

Answer the 2 questions above and you could win 2 yummy Amy Butler Home Dec patterns!!

Contest Official-ness

• ONLY open to legal residents of the United States 18 years of age and older. No purchase required. One entry per person. Void where prohibited by law. Important contest rules and details.
• I will send both patterns to 1 lucky winner after the random draw on 1st Feb. I’ll announce the winner on this blog the following day-ish. Good luck!
• Sorry, I can’t notify winners so please keep an eye for the winner announcement. This is made easier for you is you subscribe to this blog (although it’s always great to have you drop in for a read ).
• Sorry I can’t reply to contest comments, but I do love reading every single one.

“Arrghhh!!! I don’t live in the US!” I know that a lot of my readers are from outside the US and I’d love your feedback (and for you to feel not to feel left out) so for folks outside of the US I have set up the same contest just for you on my UK based U-Handblog.

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Article dated: Jan 18th, 08: In the UK internet sales were up (54%) on last December’s figures. Sales figures for bricks & mortar shops were virtually unchanged in the same period. The growth in internet sales is said to be at the expense of bricks & mortar shops… “There is no growth anywhere else. Internet has become the dynamo of retail”. To see a larger version of this cheery article click here. I have stuck this newspaper snippet on my office wall!

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And in other UK & USA articles I found:

• Christmas shoppers choose web over High St (UK)
• 15% of retail spend was online in 2007 (UK)
• Online surge rescues UK retail sales (UK)
  
• More good news for web retailers (UK)
• Online retail growth robust (USA)
• Online holiday sales peak in afternoon, sales up 19% (USA)
• Online retail sales continue to surge (USA)

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So what might be the reasons that internet sales figures are bucking the trend? As an e-comm business owner I can make some informed guesses;

• Lower cost of goods – setting up and running an e-comm business is sooo much cheaper than a bricks and mortar shop, and those savings can be passed onto customers. This makes the price of e-comm goods cheaper and obviously more attractive to the consumer.
• Convenience to the consumer – e-comm shops are (normally) open 24/7, there’s no stressful queuing at packed tills, there is often better choice and more units per product available, it’s quick and easy, and you don’t have to carry the stuff home (even the post & packaging usually costs less than the bus/train fare, petrol & parking).
• The lack of stress – (this is why I did 90% of my Christmas shopping online last year). I could choose unique gifts, get fun suggestions for presents on various blogs, browse loads of different products in loads of different e-comm shops without moving my bum and all the comfort of my pajamas, slippers, and a mug of hot choccie; how civilized!
• The internet LOVES the indie store keeper - Look at your local shopping street, doesn’t the predominance of High St stores get right on your nerves? It’s true they definitely do have a place and most of us do shop in them, but it’s such a pity the small indie shopper just can’t compete. This means that local, friendly and specialist indie shops are fast disappearing and this means lack of TRUE choice for the consumer. Not so on the internet, the beautiful thing about the web is that it makes the gaming ground even so (with consistent marketing efforts) indie folks like you and me can open up and run our specialist shops.

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Do you prefer to shop online? How do you feel about the reported economic down turn (in terms or running /setting up your own craft business?)

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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?

Neaaaargghh! Head for the hills, that damn postal strike will be the end of me!!!! Luckily my partner bought me some gorgeous flowers, told me to calm down, and he told me that I’m doing everything that I can, and I’m doing well.

Here are 4 things that I did during that quiet week (and other quiet periods) to prevent myself from jacking it all in and running away screaming:

• I started my Fall/Autumn Sale 2 weeks earlier than planned - at first I found the idea of having sales hard because I didn’t have much stock anyway, and the thought of buying more stuff to sell (when I already have stock that wasn’t selling well) was pretty scary! Well, after trading for 2 years I can say that Sales are worth having even if you only break even (or even make a loss on some items). This is because you get to clear your stock, you’ll often find that customers will come back anticipating a future sale, and sometimes they will buy more items with the money saved. These are all things that you and I do when there’s a sale on. I know it’s hard (I’ve been there) but don’t get attached to something because you love it, if it’s not selling (even after marketing it) see if lowering the price will help. One of the main attractions to any shop is not just what it sells; it’s also the new things that it sells. It’s important to keep things fresh because it keeps your customers interested. So, I am having my Sale to make room for new stock!
• I share my concerns and worries with my partner and my friends - running your own business can be lonely at times. It’s scary to think that your business is totally reliant on you and even if you have ace employees the buck still stops with you. Most of the time the responsibility feels more like freedom and it is the main attraction to running your own business, but we all have days when nothing seems to go right and then the crazy voices come out to play… This is normal, it doesn’t matter how hardy you are; you’ll still have rubbish days/weeks/or months and it’s so important to talk to those around you when you feel wobbly, don’t keep it in! Sometimes your loved ones will be able to provide practical help, or they will just give you kind words of encouragement and a nice cup of tea all of which you will need!
• I treated myself - (my friends will laugh when they read this) but if things are quieter you will have a little bit of extra time to step back from your business and be good to yourself. You work hard (and most likely long hours), and even if you enjoy it (as I do) it’s essential to treat yourself every now and again. Because if you feel great, you definitely work great. Yes, you can (and should) catch up on some of the boring business admin, but you’ll feel happier after a nice hair cut, or a pretty something from Etsy. You’ll feel uplifted and raring to go!
• I did some research - one of the most important things you can (continually) do for your business is research. You need to keep researching for what’s going to be popular, what is popular now, and what your competition is doing (so you can do something different). For some this is just part of the web surfing that a crafter would do anyway, for you as a business owner this is way to keep abreast of what’s going on out there. Of course if you have a bit more spare time you can do some marketing for your craft site which is something else that you should do continually. In doing research during your quiet periods you are focusing on ways to improve your business in the future which is of far more benefit to your craft business than fretting and getting depressed over the quiet period.

Do you also drive yourself crazy with worry during a quiet patch? What do you do to keep calm?