13/10/14
This week there are some ideas from http://creativeincomeblog.com/ on craft selling for the many people like me who try to make a few $ from something they enjoy.
1. Handmade Selling: 5 Tips for Staying Positive During the Slow Times
As handmade business
owners we often get consumed by worry about a lack of orders during slow
times. This can prevent us from growing and expanding, as well as
creating an environment of negativity. But there is a better way!
The following tips will help you maximize your potential (and profits) for your
crafty company.
(1) Don’t Obsess
It can be easy to get
yourself down during a slow week on your website, Etsy or with wholesale
orders. This can be made even more irritating if you constantly check
your (low) shop stats or compare your number of sales with other handmade
artists. Don’t obsess- all small businesses have peaks and valleys.
It can be related to the time of year, holidays distracting people from
shopping, and other external factors you can’t control. Just remember- when you
become super-busy with lots of sales, another person is experiencing the same
frustration that you previously felt.
2. Do your Best Work
The higher the quality
and beauty of your handmade work, the more customers will return and tell
others! This will eventually increase your business and reputation as a
great seller. Focusing on the orders you DO have pays off in the
end. When you really wow a customer or retail shop, they will come back
for more!
(3) Encourage Re-orders
If business is very
slow and you have the time, follow up with people you have met along with
repeat customers. Don’t solicit or spam past buyers or someone who once
purchased from you at a craft show, but do reach out to those you meant to get
in touch with in the future. Pull out that stack of business cards you’ve
set aside and get emailing!
(4) Be Thankful
Think of those first
few months (or years!) when you had very few orders to fill. One way to
cheer yourself up is to go back and read through some positive feedback and
messages you’ve received. Reviewing these can help boost your creative
confidence and mood, allowing you to do your best work.
(5) Expand your Product Line
Use the less busy
times to work on expanding your product line- you will thank yourself
later! I’ve found that I come to appreciate the new items I’ve made
during the slower times once things get hectic again (especially around the
winter holidays).
2. Year-Round Craft Show Best Sellers
I
recently conducted a very unscientific survey. That is, I went to a few craft
shows in my area and made a special point to notice what was selling. I wasn’t
vending, just wandering around seeing if anything struck my fancy with a mind
to report back here with some observations.
Keep
in mind that there is no reason to change what you are doing. The items that
sell in your area may be different. You may have ZERO interest in making some
of the items I noticed.
Jewelry
- Jewelry always seems
to sell no matter how many vendors at the show are selling similar things. It
seems that folks are buying early for the holidays as I heard a couple of
remarks about pieces being purchased for gifts. Jewelry with initials, words or
phrases seem to be particularly popular. Everything from a necklace with a
single typewriter key or metal initial to spoons stamped with words like
“lucky” or “dream” and bracelets with lines of poetry stamped in them.
Food
- especially artisan,
gourmet or organic food items seem to be selling well. If you are a honey farm,
organic herb grower, maker of fine jams or jellies you might find that sales
are good this summer. Keep food safety in mind during hot weather and if you
can set aside some product for customers to sample. Attractive gift baskets
seem to be pretty popular too. Maybe you can get together with a couple of other
food artisans you know and create baskets for the foodies at the craft shows.
Sewn
items – sewn items made
with vintage fabrics or quilts seem to be really popular right now. Small
pillows, dolls, tote bags, aprons and the like made with faded, much loved
fabrics and trims seem to make people feel nostalgic and comforted at the same
time.
Personalized
items – if it has your
best friends’ new baby name on it and it doesn’t cost a small fortune it makes
a perfect baby gift. Everything from jewelry to dog bowls to wall art. The good
thing about this is that lots of things creative business owners make can be
made to include some form of personalization. Names, wedding dates and birth
dates are just a few of the ways to personalize items. If you can offer personalization
be sure to place a few signs in your booth stating the fact.
Have you attended many craft shows so far
this summer? What did you notice was selling?
Craft Fair Checklist: Guides & Displays for Your Best Sales Ever!
23/9/14
'Learn Yoga for Pain online'
This is great for everyone who suffers chronic pain. The first is Free but then there is a cost for future sessions. Visit the site and have a look.
Next Science in the Pub gathering:
| When: | Friday, 3 October, 6 - 7:30 p.m. | |
| (Arrive at 5:30pm for free nibbles and to ensure you get a seat!) | ||
| Where: | The Brunswick Hotel | |
| 207 Gilbert Street, Adelaide, SA 5000 | ||
| Cost: | FREE |
Oct. 3 - Something to sneeze at: A conversation about allergies29/6/14
Some of this is for Sth Australia only, other is national and even more is international.
Events in July
· 1-31 July 2014 Dry July
· 7-13 July 2014 NAIDOC Week
· 13-19 July 2014 National Diabetes Week
· 18 July 2014 Creating Australia Adelaide forum
· 21 July 2014 Think.Eat.Save at Uni of Adelaide
· 25 July 2014 School Trees Day
· 27 July 2014 National Tree Day
· 27 July - 2 August 2014 National Missing Persons Week
28 July 2014 World Hepatitis Day
I find it rather interesting that July is known as 'Dry July' and at the end of the month we have World Hepatitis Day.
23/6/14
Have found a great site which has a STAIN BUSTER GUIDE to it. It is great. The guide is on a site called 'all about you' and has everything on it. Well worth bookmarking or adding to favourites. http://www.allaboutyou.com/
1/6/14
I found this the other day. All relevant to South Australia and may be important to the local viewers of this site.
Tweets from @SAcommunity
 We keep information flowing by sharing daily via Twitter on topics of interest to the community - you can help by following and retweeting! Mindshare online mental health community - art, poetry, photos, music, stories Black Cockatoo Arthouse - pop up arthouse cinema & music (McLaren Vale) Semaphore Bowling Club - night owls and social bowls Community Visitors Scheme - befriend an older person Henley & Grange Arts Society - painting, ceramics, glass Adelaide Rep Theatre August: Osage County 19-28 June Toyota Landcruiser Club of SA - recreational four wheel driving Passa Tempo Programs - for older frail people of Italian background Want to volunteer? Over 1000 volunteer positions available here! Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander events from @MATSITI Maltese Guild of SA - social support for aged members, Bingo, cards |
Events in June
· 1-30 June 2014 Bowel Cancer Awareness Month
 · 5 June 2014 World Environment Day
· 7 June 2014 National Whale Day
· 8 June 2014 World Oceans Day
· 9-15 June 2014 International Men's Health Week
· 14 June 2014 World Blood Donor Day
· 15 June 2014 World Elder Abuse Awareness Day
· 15-21 June 2014 Refugee Week
· 20 June 2014 World Refugee Day
And LASTLY The Chronic Pain Website:
NPW14 - 'Pain is Ageless' - 21-27 July The theme for National Pain Week this year is 'Pain is Ageless'. Chronic pain affects people across the lifespan, but there may be differences in the pain experience at different times in our lives. The updated National Pain Week website will be live very soon. We invite you to be involved in some of the planned NPW14 activities: |
12/5/14
Top 5 Ways Crafty Business
People Get Social Media Wrong
Did you know you could
be using social media incorrectly? Yes, it’s true. If you are trying to brand
yourself or run a business, there are ways you could be running your social
media poorly.
For the most part,
these mistakes are common and minor and easily fixed, but they can be crucial
to getting you more fans, follows, and clicks back to your online shop! I’ve
talked about how important
social media is before
on Creative Income, but I think what I failed to mention is that the focus
shouldn’t lie on if you do or do not do social media, but in how well you do
it. There are lots of empty Facebook fan pages and Twitter accounts out there.
The benefit comes from building a fan base that is willing to follow you and
come back to your shop every time you talk about a new item listed or a new
product design. Realistically, it’s very difficult for users to find your shop
among the thousands of shops online. Having a strong social media following
allows you to consistently have an audience to promote your products
to without paying any advertising fees! It’s an incredibly valuable tool for
small businesses, if you use it correctly.
This article on Handmadeology describes the
5 most common mistakes that
small business owners make when starting social media accounts. I think it
covers the issues pretty well along with tips on how to do it better. You can read the article here,
but here’s my breakdown:
1.
Unfinished or half filled out profiles. – You are presenting yourself as a business and
want to act professionally. Would you give out handouts or
business cards that didn’t have all your important information on them? Of
course not! Make sure they your Facebook fan page and Twitter profile have
links back to your blog or shop. Don’t expect that people are going to know
where to find your shop, how to contact you, or what you’re about.
2.
Don’t spread yourself too thin. – Yes, there are thousands of social media networks. You
do not have to be on them all. In fact, it’s better if you’re not. You are
already busy making products and filling orders. Focus on 2 or 3 that send the
most traffic back to your shop or blog and work on making those the most
engaging. (See our article on Google Analytics to see how to track who is
visiting your blog)
3.
Spread the love! – Social media is meant to be just that – social. Don’t
forget that there are other stories going on in the world and because you focus
on this on a regular basis, you can become a source of knitting news or jewelry
making news to your followers. Sell jewelry? Talk about fashion and
accessorizing sometimes, I’m sure your readers will love it!
4.
Lack of consistency. – There is too much information flowing onto the internet
every second. If you are out of sight, you are out of mind. This does not mean
bombarding your followers and fans with posts every hour, but at the very least
once a day.
5.
There is a cost to social media – Social media is not absolutely free, it does cost time.
So why waste your very precious time putting effort into something that isn’t
giving back. Make social media work for you buy working it more effectively.
Which social media network is your favorite
and which works best for your business?
Even More Mistakes To Avoid
In Your Creative Business
February 2, 2014 by CreativeIncome 1 Comment
Know Your Strengths and
Weaknesses
I tend to disagree
with the business advice that tells us if we aren’t good at certain things,
that we don’t stand a chance with our business or working from home. Hogwash!
The way I see it, we all have our own particular strengths and we need to play
them up. We also need to be brutally honest about our weaknesses and find ways
to help our business succeed even though we aren’t up every morning at 5 a.m.
running on the treadmill or are able to carve 10 hours a day out to work on our
creative business.
Use your strengths,
find a workaround for your weaknesses and keep moving forward.
Plan ahead
This is one thing I
still struggle with but it’s important. Think about it- magazines plan ahead
and so do big retailers. Why do we think we can just “wing it”? Planning ahead
ensures we at least have a frame to hang our winter holiday marketing on, a few
blog posts in the queue for when we get sick or plenty of stock on hand for a
last minute craft show. Planning ahead, working ahead and thinking ahead will
save lots of heartache in the event of illness or surprise opportunities.
Know When to Stop
You’ve heard the
saying “when the going gets tough, the tough get going” and
sometimes we keep going and pushing when what we really need to do is STOP. Stop
and take a break. Stop and re-evaluate. Stop and throw in the towel. Sometimes
pushing through can cause more damage in the long run. My husband and I are
still paying off debt for a business we lost at the beginning of the recession
because we wanted to push our way through. We threw a last chunk of money at
the failing business and when that didn’t help we stopped and shut everything
down. It hurt but we survived to go on and start new businesses. That’s just
how it is sometimes.
What mistakes have you made in your business
and what have those mistakes taught you?
Starting a Business? Don’t
Make These Rookie Mistakes
April 20, 2014 by CreativeIncome Leave a Comment
Want to start a craft
business? Congratulations – that’s great news! As you probably know, a lot of
time, effort and money go into building a brand and turning your dream into a
reality. Unfortunately certain things that seem like no-brainers can slip by
and ultimately hurt your business. Make sure you get off to a successful start
and avoid rookie mistakes that will ultimately handicap your growth.
In her post for Katie Wagner Social Media, Monique and Manour
provides tips time (and money) saving tips for brand new business owners. The
three mistakes she lays out may seem pretty basic, but they are often made by
everyone, even seasoned professionals. For instance, a poor online presence can
lead to poor sales and no new customers. Even if you own a brick and mortar
store and have no plans to start an online shop, you need to build up a
following online. Every business owner should have a solid social media plan
and website, which should be updated often. Invest in help if you need it –
don’t be afraid to spend a little extra to make sure your site looks good and
sounds even better. After all, if your site has a ton of typos or broken links,
people won’t trust you to deliver quality products.
For two more tips for
avoiding rookie mistakes, check out Small Business Branding
Mistakes to Avoid.
16/3/14
Do you know or live with someone who is a procrastinator? Frustrating isn't it? The articles from this web site are wonderful and easy to follow.
When Procrastination Is a Problem, and How to Fix It
Procrastination is a long word for this quick idea: later. It's telling yourself you'll do things "tomorrow" or "when I feel more like it."
When is putting things off a problem?
Everyone delays or puts things off sometimes, and that's fine, says Timothy Pychyl, PhD, an associate professor of psychology at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. You might postpone a meeting because of a schedule conflict, or to give yourself time to prepare. Procrastinating becomes a problem only when it hinders your relationships or getting your work done.
For about one in five adults, procrastination is a real, long-lasting problem.
Why we delay
The things people put off tend to be boring, hard, time-consuming, or maybe they lack meaning to us. Or we worry that the results won't be perfect. When you avoid doing what seems less than pleasant, you get a little mood boost. But this bump doesn't last. The avoided thing still hangs over you, causing guilt and stress.
The real reasons we procrastinate lie deep within human behavior. We tend to view things in the future as less real or concrete. The later risks of not doing something (or the rewards of getting it done) seem less real, too.
Putting things off is a habit. We're wired to do what's easy -- in this case, delaying doing something we don’t find pleasant. And habits are hard to break.
How to get a move on
- Be concrete. Don't say, "I'll start the report in the morning." Say, "I'll outline just the three main points of the report while I drink my morning coffee, before I look at mail."
- Be realistic about your time. We tend to be optimists about the future and think we'll get more done than we do. Try jotting down all the things you have to do into your datebook. Include tasks like shopping for food, doing laundry, working out. That way when you make a plan to do something, you can get a true sense of what time you'll have.
- "Pre-empt that which tempts," Pychyl says. Shut off all the things that are a click away from distracting you. Social media and texting require little effort, give you a lot of mood reward, and suck time. Make them a reward after you finish.
- Know and accept that when the time comes to do the task, you won't want to -- and get past that. Just starting, even in the smallest way, creates progress. Then a sense of progress fuels well-being. "It's an upward spiral," Pychyl says.
- Start with the hardest tasks. Willpower is a muscle. You'll better resist things that distract when you first get started.
- "Time travel" in your mind's eye to when the task at hand is done. Think about how good you'll feel.
- Pace yourself. Set aside time to make a little progress every day. College students who had to complete small amounts of work before they could go to the next level did better on tests than those who were given all the study material at once, a 2011 University of Kansas study found.
- Be kind to yourself. Praise yourself for taking the first steps. Assure yourself that a "good enough" effort is great, and better than putting things off.
9/3/14
Brain Foods That Help You Concentrate - There is a Slide show of Foods you can have to assist you with concentration. I really enjoy WebMD. It has some great information for all of us and ideas to apply to everyday life.
Go to: WebMD 
24/2/14
Have fun! Laugh and play! Not sure how, since you've been working too much and have lost touch with your inner funny? This can be as simple as renting a stand-up comedy routine or playing a silly game with your child.
Can you say these tricky phrases 10 times, really fast, without messing up?- Mass at the Mosque
- Toy Boat
- The skunk said the stump stunk.
- She sells seashells at the seashore.
What other tongue twisters do you know? Can you make some up?
You will all be laughing so much that you will have forgotten what was making you angry earlier and think of all the muscles that have just had an extra workout.
16/2/2014
Mental
Illness Can Shorten Lives, Studies Show
Research into bipolar
illness, psychotic symptoms point to higher risk for early death
WebMD
News from HealthDay By Robert Preidt
HealthDay Reporter
While mental
illness can bring
great anguish to those who suffer from it, two new studies show it can also
take a toll on life span.
One study found that bipolar disorder
boosted a person's odds of premature death, and the other found that teens with
psychotic symptoms were at higher risk ofsuicide.
In the first study, researchers analyzed
data from more than 6.5 million Swedish adults. The survey included more than
6,600 people with bipolar disorder, a chronic mental illness that is a leading
cause of disability worldwide.
http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/news/20130717/mental-illness-can-shorten-lives-studies-show?ecd=wnl_emw_012914&ctr=wnl-emw-012914_promo_1&mb9/2/2014
Saving Green and Being
Green: Reasons to Use Upcycled Materials in Your Craft Business
Let’s face it, the
internet has cut down the costs and
efforts of starting your own business significantly, but this doesn’t mean that
it’s free or cheap even. Materials are expensive and they will drive up the
costs of your finished products. Just because you know how much the materials
cost does not mean your consumer will, and higher prices might mean fewer sales.
This is where a little ingenuity and thriftiness come into play. By no means do
you want to down-grade the quality of your product, but if you can and you’re
smart about the materials you’re using you can save some money and keep costs down by re-purposing things
you use every day!
Do you make jewelry?
There are probably hundreds of items in your home right now that can be
upcycled to create gorgeous beads and baubles. Beach glass is literally just
broken bottles that have been worn down. If you have a tumbler you can create
your own! Plastic, metal, and glass containers also can make great backings for
mixed media pieces.
If you sew, make sure
you’re using all your scraps! Given enough tiny pieces of fabric, you can make
some beautiful quilted pieces. Thrift stores are also a great source of
salvageable fabric, buttons, and zippers.
There are lots of ways
to still get quality items from repurposed materials. It just takes a little
creativity, which we’ve all got!
If I haven’t convinced
you yet, I found this great
article with the top
10 reasons that you should be using upcycled items in your handmade business.
Here are the highlights:
1.
It’s greener than recycling. - Great point. No energy wasted in taking the
items through the recycling process or transporting them through the landfills.
2.
Upcycling stirs up your creative spirit. – Like I said, you
have to be creative!
3.
You throw away less stuff.
4.
It decreases your bottom line. - Being green saves green.
5.
Upcycling allows you to practice your skills with new materials. – Challenging
yourself is always good!
6.
You can add a new personal touch to your products.
7.
You celebrate history in each of your creations.
8.
You’ll attract a new customer base. - This is never a bad thing.
9.
You can get attention by sharing what you’ve done.
10.
You can feel good about yourself.
If you don’t normally
reuse materials, it can be a little challenging to get into that mindset. Here
are some great green crafting blogs with tons of tutorials and inspiration to
get you started!
http://creativeincomeblog.com/saving-being-green-reasons-use-upcycled-materials-in-craft-business/http://creativeincomeblog.com
27/1/2014
Treat your Feet:
Grab a large basin (if you do not
have a foot spa), line it with a fluffy hand towel and place marbles in it to
roll your feet over them. If able, scrub your feet with a pumice stone,
amd soak your feet for about 20 mins. Dry thoroughly, cut and clean
toe nails and rub a mint foot lotion into feet. If desired,
paint your toe nails.
OR - Treat some one else's feet:
Make a beautiful feet basket. Grab a basket, line it with a fluffy hand towel and
place in it items for a pedicure: a pumice stone, foot soak, mint foot lotion,
a pedicure foot brush, a few shades of nail polish, and a bottle of clear
polish too.
20/1/2014
Your Daily Coffee Just Might Jolt Your Memory
New study suggests caffeine not only wakes you up, but also may aid your recall,
By Mary Brophy Marcus HealthDay ReporterFor all the information on why you should may be NOT give up your morning coffee go to:
http://www.webmd.com/brain/news/20140112/your-daily-coffee-just-might-jolt-your-memory?ecd=wnl_emw_011514&ctr=wnl-emw-011514_ld-stry_2&mb=TUCU8VtX1uR65uaYQZf%2fdOHnVev1imbCoclTH6HuKBE%3d
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