The Six C's of Branding for Crafters

May 12, 2009

First of all, let’s talk about branding for a second.  What is it?  A lot of people confuse branding with advertising, or think that branding is just for companies looking to cover up an unsavory reputation with slick graphics, but branding really boils down to one thing: customer/client experience.  Branding involves not only your letterhead [...]

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Crafty Business Questions: Etiquette

April 10, 2009

I’m just starting out, and I have lots of questions I’d like to ask successful business crafters.  What’s okay and not okay to ask about?
In general, it’s okay to ask about process, not product, and it’s always best to ask for help from businesses that don’t compete with yours.  For example, if you sell plush [...]

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Recession-Friendly Business Tactics

March 8, 2009

Most businesses these days are seeing a dramatic decrease in sales due to the recession.  Most businesses I’ve been reading about are reporting approximately 30% decreases in this year’s sales over last, but one industry is actually growing: crafting.  According to the New York Times, this past holiday season sales of handcrafted goods and craft [...]

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Overexposure: When to Donate Freebies, and When to Say No

January 24, 2009

When I was first starting out, I gave away a lot of stuff in the name of “exposure”, because I kept hearing from other business owners how important it is to “get your stuff out there.” What they really meant, though, was “get your stuff out to your target market.”
Two days ago a random Etsy [...]

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Current Status of the CPSIA, or "Lead Law" for Children's Products

January 17, 2009

Crafty businesses are pissed about the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act.  Really pissed.   On the surface it sounds good, and it certainly has good intentions behind it, but it carries a lot of new requirements that could put a lot of crafters out of business during a time when it’s already hard enough to get [...]

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Interview with DameStar Baby

November 20, 2008

Please tell us a little bit about yourself and your business.
DamestarBaby is the work of two stay-at-home moms. Amy does the painting and designing, Jaime does the paperwork and puts the word out, propaganda-style. We both sew amid the bustle of our homes, which are filled with the high-pitched squeals of [...]

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Crafty Business Questions: Pricing

November 19, 2008

What’s the best way to calculate pricing for handmade items?
Pricing is a delicate process, and one that you should continually analyze and refine, because your sales can be hurt just as much by pricing items too low as by pricing them too high.  It’s a common misconception that lower prices equal higher sales.  In reality, [...]

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Crafty Business Questions: Sales Tax

November 11, 2008

What are the rules about collecting/paying sales tax?

If you sell tangible goods within the state of California, you must have a seller’s permit so that you can collect sales tax.  This applies even if you only sell things at craft fairs.
You have the pay the sales tax rate for the particular county in which you [...]

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A really excellent indie shopping guide

October 29, 2008

It is time to gear up for the holiday season. I know a lot of us are going to take the handmade pledge again this year and Amy M. Cools designer of AC Clothing and Bags at afterglow design studio has a great indie shopping guide organized to be useful to shoppers, designers and shop [...]

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