The blog dedicated to all things crafty business!
Promoting your online store and your craft product line is just as important as making the craft projects you sell. There are a few key elements to promotion, marketing, and merchandising any product that can help you. Adapt the principles of advertising to your crafts to see sales increase. My original business card that I […]
That’s the nature of life, and that’s the nature of business. And it seems that as I navigate my way further into the trenches of running an online business, I learn a little bit more every day from each obstacle that I stumble through. It’s hard. It’s exciting. It’s exhausting. It’s rewarding. It’s yours. A […]
Preparing to attend a trade show can get overwhelming. You have travel arrangements, making sure everything at home and work can survive with your absence, and what the heck to do first once you arrive. I’ve prepared a few check lists to help make attending a trade show a little less frantic and a little […]
You have arrived at your trade show destination! Now what? Trade shows generally have an education day which is usually the day before the trade show opens so you hopefully found some classes or presentations you wanted to attend. It’s time to put all that pre-show planning and scheduling into practice. You have a set […]
Have you ever heard of the saying “Less is more”? The more you have to do, the more stressed you are. Learn to do less and love more. Craft and keep yourself busy. Using reusable items in your home makes things a lot easier as well. You don’t have to go out and buy materials […]
An open house is one of the ways that you can earn money to offset your craft habit or earn some extra income for your household. Many crafters would like to sell items they make, but don’t want to make a commitment of “becoming” a business. An annual or seasonal open house is the perfect […]
I remember the old days of photographing one’s work. You’d shoot a whole roll of film, rush it to the developer, pray for at least one good shot, and end up having to start all over when you overexposed, underexposed, or forgot to take the lens cap off. Today we have digital photography and photographing […]
I’m not sure why I decided I wanted to use video in my blogs. It’s not a new concept. Not new at all! I heard about v-logs through social media around the same time I heard about blogging. I learned more about vlogs by participating on YouTube, too. It’s not hard to create vlogs. Basically, you make […]
You’ve fallen in love with a pattern and everyone’s telling you that you “should make those and sell them — you’d make a lot of money.” But there’s some question in your mind about that — the pattern says “for personal use only” or maybe “for pocket money”. Maria explains what these terms mean. You see a […]
Being in the blogging community can be wonderful for the growth and rhythm of your personal blog. Learning from what more established bloggers are doing is the perfect way to gain experience and inspiration to make your own blog successful. Watching the posts that get the biggest response from readers on your favorite blogs is the perfect […]
I’d like to share some tips and tidbits that I’ve learned while working in the craft industry for over 25 years. It’s a great industry filled with exciting opportunities and avenues to earn a living doing what you love to do. Craft! Design! Write! Demonstrate! Creativity and purpose will help you succeed. Understand there is such […]
The Craft and Hobby Association (CHA) is a trade only organization that has several categories of members including retailer, manufacturer, sales rep, distributor, Publisher, Designer, Teacher, Professional Crafter, and Media. Trade organizations are important because of the networking and exchange of professional/business information. If you are serious about working in the craft industry you should […]
