Explore YOUR Business Archives - Page 6 of 29

Explore YOUR Business

Be a professional

Last week I read several great posts about professionalism in our craft world. Abby wrote about the changes to the professional organization CHA to include bloggers and in reply Kim wrote about the importance of being a professional in this industry. It might seem unrelated, but I found Diane's post answering if it's “worth it” to write a craft book and Abby's post about what fabric designers earn really seem to me to be even more proof of the importance of treating this, your career as a craftsperson, as a professional. Let's discuss what this means for you.

First, there's an important distinction in this conversation about bloggers and the trade organizations, between Professional Bloggers and Professionals Who Blog.

Professional Bloggers make their money from their blog, they sell the eyeballs (views) of their blog to advertisers.
Professionals who Blog make their money from either a service or product that they sell, and their blog is one part of the Customer Path for their buyers – it helps them connect in a deeper way with the people who buy what they sell.

I work exclusively with people who sell something (whether they blog or not!); my people sell their writing to magazines, their dresses to buyers, their yarn to knitters.

Now, these people (you!) don't always think of themselves as “professionals.” In fact, many of you came to your business first as a hobby and then started selling some stuff and that's where you are now. Some people don't care to go beyond this, and it's a fun hobby and gives them some extra spending money. That's perfectly fine. I work with people who very much want to go beyond this – makers who want to build their craft into a sustainable business that supports their creativity. In other words, they want to have a career in this field. They want to become a professional.

I've found, by working with people as they make this transition from hobby to career, that there is a moment where it happens. But it's not where you might expect it. The moment is not when they make their first or fiftieth sale. It's not when they make a certain dollar amount. It's not when their work is featured in a magazine.

This moment happens the instant their thinking changes. When they go from “I make some stuff” to “I'm building a business.” From “I hope this works” to “I'm going to make this work.” From “I‘d like to be as awesome as XX {Insert current rock star in their craft}” to “I specifically want to make $XX and spend X amount of time and focus my energy on X project.”

The moment you flip from hobbyist to Professional is the moment that you decide to. The moment you commit to doing the work, to making the plan, to learning what you don't yet know.

If you've made this flip, you know it. It might be the first time you made a map, or held an experiment, or just committed: “I'm actually going to do this.”
If you feel fuzzy and you're one of the hundred of people who email me asking “Could this be a business?! Can I do this?!“, that's OK! Spend some time thinking about your life and what you want from it and go with your gut (not with what looks awesome).

Once you've made this flip, it changes your decision-making process. Instead of wanting to write books or design fabric because it seems professional, you'll need to research what that will actually mean for you and your goals. (That's why I love posts like Abby's and Diane's that draw back the curtain.) Instead of saying yes to every opportunity, a Professional gets clear on what she really wants and then pursues a path that will get her there.

I'm absolutely fascinated by what happens after the flip. The systems you build, the decisions you make, the work you have to do. That's why I make tools and classes for the post-flip journey (which lasts the rest of your life). I'm working on a new thing to support those immediately post-flip, who are ready to go from “I have a shop” to “I have a business.” I'm opening it first to email subscribers on Nov 20th (and everyone who joins early will get a free Holiday Sanity class!) and then to the whole world on December 2nd. It will begin January 1. If it sounds interesting, sign up here to be the first to find out (and have lots of pre-holiday time to think about it).

How to make Social Media easier (aka, how I schedule things)

(Psst… Make sure you read all the way to the bottom – I've got a FREE gift for you that's going to take the stress out of scheduling social media posts!)

One of the basic tenets of any marketing strategy is consistency. You need to show up wherever you connect with potential customers with consistency, both in time and in content. But many (MANY!) clients find it hard to be consistent with their social media messages while also being consistent in making, listing, shipping, and writing content. The solution? Systems. The more systematic you make things (ie, you don't have to think about them each time you do them), the easier it is to be consistent. I'm still learning this lesson in a lot of ways, but when I shared by current system with the Starship, they really loved it. So I wanted to share it with you, if it'll help.

Remember what I said last week – you need to keep your goals front and center. My goals for social media are to be helpful and spread love and silliness to my people. That's it. I want them to like clicking my links, so they trust me to provide good stuff. That's it. (In other words, I don't worry about time, reweets and I kinda hate favorites (they don't do anything to spread the post at all!)). Because my goal is to be helpful and loving, I don't measure my success by outward signs (followers, retweets), but by the conversations it sparks and the number of new people who join my world because of it.

With that in mind, let's look at the specifics:

I do three kinds of sharing on social media:

My own content published elsewhere (my blog and podcasts, and interviews, guest posts, etc)
Useful links + ideas (from other people) that I know my readers will love
Snippets of my own life (a kind of “behind the scenes”)

This balance changes all the time, but my #1 goal is to Be Me, no matter where I am or what I'm sharing.

Here's how that works:

1. Sharing my Content

I installed CoSchedule recently and now, after a post is all finished and scheduled, we scroll down a bit and set up social messages.

Here's my checklist for each blog post:*

Schedule tweet for when it goes live (The title, edited to sound like a real sentence or question)
Schedule tweet (with picture) for 7-8 hours later (For podcast say: New on the podcast: {title})
and again for 2 -5 days later
again 2 months later – give or take – (on a Monday morning)
(Make sure each tweet is different every time – I don't want to “say” the same thing over and over!)
Schedule post to Facebook page as a “text post” (without the link). Quote the entire blog post (or the best part!) for the day it goes live
Schedule another post to Facebook as “image post” with link back to post, for 9 days later (so Tues posts would be scheduled for Thurs, and Wed for Friday (ie, days I don't have fresh content))

*And that's another system: Checklists! I have checklists for: blog posts, emails, launching a new class, Starship Boarding, Starship Welcoming…just about anything that happens more than once, so that every piece of content gets the same love and every student gets the same experience. (I try to keep an eye on what can be automated, like the Starship Orientation, and automate it after I experiment with what is working). This helps tremendously when I'm sick, or doing a big project like the CreativeLive class – it makes sure I do everything something needs, and I do the bare minimum (because the checklist just has to be marked off, not thought of anew, each time!).

2. Scheduling Useful and Interesting Stuff

Lately I've been so busy with students and projects (1:1s, writing, recording, etc) that I haven't been taking the time to find good things to share on social media (Twitter + Facebook mostly). This is a huge reason why people follow me (at least, it's what they say!), and I don't want to post just my own stuff (see above!)…and I've found when I just “look for stuff to post,” I just click around reading what I want to read, and don't share anything.
So now, I have a system for it!

On Mondays, I set a timer for 25 minutes.
Open up my 10 fave sites for small businesses (rotating list)
Scan 'em
If I see something that I think would interest YOU (everything I ever write/post is with YOU, my readers and students, in mind), I read the whole thing and if I still like it, I use the Hootsuite* bookmark to grab it. I write a recommendation (or pull a quote), schedule it, and then post it. I keep my CoSchedule calendar open, so I'm sure not to overlap (I aim to have at least one thing in between my morning and afternoon self-tweets each day).
I schedule at least one thing per weekday (or stop when I get to 25 min). If I find other things throughout the week (which always happens!), I schedule it for the afternoon (after my last self-tweet).*Several students use and love Buffer.

I have noticed that scheduled posts (both my own and shared links) get far less engagement (on both Twitter + FB) than when I just say random stuff, spur of the moment. That said, I need to spend most of my time NOT being spur of the moment (keeping my head in the game of producing good work), so I'm OK with that.

3. Snippets of life

These are unscheduled and spur of the moment – usually pictures on Instagram that also go to Twitter and Facebook.There's no schedule or plan here, although I try to take a photo a day, just because I want photos of my everyday life! (I scrapbook, remember.)

Just because these are unplanned doesn't mean they are entirely unthoughtful – I often rewrite a tweet or Instagram caption in my head several times, to get the wording and tone just right. No matter what I'm sharing, my goal is to be either helpful or encouraging, so you won't find many angry, disappointed, or snarky social media messages from me. It's not that I don't feel these things (and rewrite them over and over and in my head), it's that posting them doesn't serve my goals for these tools. (Trust me, I have plenty of tools for dealing with the un-fun, not-nice side of life.)
And that's it!

You'll note as you read that there are really multiple systems at work here:

Blogging
Podcast recording system
Finding links and sharing them

If you're just beginning to share your work, do NOT let all these systems overwhelm you – they develop naturally over time as you become more and more effective at doing what you do. The goal isn't perfection (My system changes every few months!), it's improvement. Just start with one system and continue to improve it as you learn more about what works for you.

The goal with social media isn't perfection – it's improvement.

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This is the system that works for me, but it is in no way “optimized” to be the perfect, most traffic-generating thing ever. Keep your eye on your own goal, and find a system that works best for you!

To help you do that, I've created a FREE checklist you can use to schedule your own social media! This easy format will remind you of all the steps, until pretty soon it'll be an automated process for you and it won't take much of your time at all to make sure you get the word out about your new posts + products. Enter your e-mail below and you'll get it right away!

The Secret Power of Craft Shows

Craft shows changed my life.

(I didn't know it until I started writing this post, but as I started to trace the roots of what I do today, I realized that's where it all started.)

Last weekend I sold my yarn for the first time in over a year (I put my yarn business on hold when I could no longer get packages out on time, thanks to traveling to teach. This weekend I was back in the game with a few skeins of my yarn (and my mom's sheep's fiber). Preparing for the show and helping my pal Misty think through the process brought it all back in a rush.

Even though I help Starshippers get prepared for their first shows (and 50th shows) every month, I had forgotten what it was like to be in it.
To be worried you don't have enough.
To do late night, last-minute labeling.
To get nervous about people seeing your work.

So, to calm my nerves, I searched my own site for advice (the major benefit of having a blog!). And sure enough I found it.

In 2008 (that's 6 years ago!), I wrote about my first craft show here, in 5 1/2 Shocking Facts about Craft Shows.

“You don’t have to (and probably can’t) fake enthusiasm.”

A month later, I wrote about my next show, with even more lessons:

“Be prepared to answer the “Can you make this in ***” question. Know how long it would take you and how you’ll handle payment for a custom order. If you don’t want to do custom, come up with a nice way of saying no, so you’re not taken by surprise in the moment.”

One year later, I wrote about the Pain of Craft Shows:

” I do craft shows because it’s the one place, the one situation in which being a full-time yarnie feels good, normal, accepted. The people get me. They get my yarn. It’s a place to be me: handknit clothes, stripey knee-socks, pink-haired, yarn-making me.”

Two years after that first post and my first show, I wrote this: “That feeling hasn’t faded in the last 2 years of doing shows; in fact, it’s only grown stronger.”

It occurred to me, in reading through these posts that this where I really got clear on the power of following my enthusiasm. This is where I learned that it is OK to be weird, pink-haired, wonky me. Those first shows, while I still worked in a boring office in black slacks, were the first taste I had (maybe ever?) of being myself out loud and connecting with people as that true self. Once you get a taste of that, you can start to imagine the possibility of being yourself, expressing yourself, like … all the time.

Once you get a taste of it, you can start to imagine the possibility of being yourself, expressing yourself…all of the time.

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And this taste, this experience totally transformed my life. (Very, very slowly.)
For me this meant making more yarn, doing more shows, and connecting with people in the maker community. That led to me spending my days writing, talking, and helping other makers bring more of themselves into their businesses, to craft a life they really want.

But for you, the path will be different. It will lead you in different directions. You can start to express yourself more in how you dress, how you tell the truth and how you embrace all your weird bits.

I totally haven't figured it out yet, and I'm certainly not comfortable being myself all the time, but it's a process. You can kick-start the process by choosing to do things you're enthusiastic about, by doing more of what makes you feel like yourself, and by letting those experiences transform you.

Whether it's craft shows, or making your art, or just starting to take your enthusiasm more seriously — it could change your life.

PS. I made a class sharing everything I knew about craft shows 4 years ago. Currently it's only available in the Starship, but I hope to refresh it and offer it again in 2015. Sign up here to get notified when it's ready.

Adventures in Business with Fiber Artist Ana Campos

Today I'm sharing an adventure with Starship Captain and full time fiber artist, Ana Campos. Ana grew up in Brazil, surrounded by beautiful colors and a ridiculous amount of books. She now combines hues and stories in her bookishly inspired hand-dyed yarn and knitting patterns. You can find more of her work here.

People have this fantasy of what it's like to be a full-time artist. But what's a normal day for you really like?

In some ways, the best part of being a full-time maker is that there isn't necessarily a normal day. The flexibility in schedule is great, so I can choose to do something completely out of the ordinary without giving anyone notice (as long as it doesn't conflict with my deadlines). On the other hand, the workload fluctuates a lot, so it can often mean working late into the night and on weekends. My time is taken up by a lot of things: dyeing yarn, working on knitting designs, book keeping, trunk shows, teaching classes, going to meetings, marketing, social media, product photography, customer service, and other odds and ends. The specifics of each day vary based on upcoming deadlines and priorities.

There are so many ways to make a living as a maker – how are you doing it? What have you combined and how has that changed through the years?

When I started my business, I was selling hand-knit goods. Since then, the focus has shifted to my line of hand-dyed yarn and knitting patterns. This means my customer base has shifted a lot – from people who buy finished knits, to people who are knitters themselves. What started as a strictly retail business is now a combination of wholesale and retail, and teaching is a big component of my business, too.

What new thing are you exploring now?

My business is constantly evolving. For the last two years, vending at craft shows was a very significant part of my income, but the physical and emotional toll of the fall and holiday season was tough. I spent more than one Christmas morning nursing a bad cold, curled up on the couch with a thick blanket and a massive box of tissues. This year, I am exploring a different diversification of income streams to see if I can lessen my involvement in craft shows. My family will definitely appreciate having me be healthier and more present for the holidays.

What's your definition of success in your business?

My definition of success is being able to pay my bills and have a bit left over to maybe go to the movies and have dinner out a couple of times a month. I definitely won't be buying yachts anytime soon! Success is something that a lot of us in the handmade business struggle with – if we make enough to be able to take a vacation, there is this perception that we are “making too much.” But people working “regular jobs” are expected to be able to take time off and perhaps travel a bit. I don't understand why there is an overall expectation that makers shouldn't be able to have the same luxuries that other professions have, but that is something I hope to combat as I move forward.

‘Success is something that a lot of us in the handmade business struggle with.' – Ana Campos

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What's the next destination you're working towards?

My new big thing is hosting my very first knitting retreat in May 2015. Community has become such an important of my life, both in business and personally. A year ago, I never would have imagined going in this direction, but I'm so excited!

If you'd like to read more about Ana's story of quitting her full-time job (it happened aboard the Starship!) and those of her fellow Captains, sign up for the Starship Early Boarding Pass! I'll send you some more success stories of Starship members, along with notifications when the Starship opens – and closes – to new members.

The Adventures

Every day is an adventure. I share the view, the gratitude and the news on Fridays – you’re invited to join in. You can find all my adventures here, or follow along via email here.

The view

I am so grateful for…

Getting to play a small part in the successes of Starship Captains (and getting to share their celebrations!)
Hours spent reading + my new reading project.
New obsessions.

The Finds:

I’m reading:

Captain Mercedes newest book: Brioche Chic. Love it!
Captain Cate's AWESOME design in the new Knitty.
Elise's take on blogging long-term.
Abby's reflection on crafting her heritage.

I’m eating:

Tempeh Giorodino with homegrown tomatoes and basil, from Isa Does It.
THIS zucchini bread (with chocolate chips, of course)

In case you missed it:

This week it's all about your family and your time. Here's why you gotta set boundaries for your work time, and here's how to get your family on board.
Craftcation registration is now open! I'm super-excited to be teaching there next Spring! Join us!
The Starship reopens MONDAY. Sign up here to get first dibs. (The spaces go faster and faster every quarter.)

What adventures have you had?

Boundaries for Business Health

How do you have enough time to grow your creative business and still eat, sleep, take care of your family, and, ya know, live life?
Every week I talk to Starship Captains with four kids and Captains with full-time jobs and Captains (like me) with only a pet to disturb us…and everything in between. And every single one of us struggles with this having enough time thing (at least occasionally).

Like almost everything we talk about around here, there's not an easy answer. But there is one way to make this a whole lot easier and less hectic:

Set boundaries.

Set boundaries around your working time, and stick with them.
Set boundaries around your not-working time, and stick with them.
What the boundaries are don't matter. (You could work for one hour a day or one day a week or 120 hours a month. You can work in the mornings, evenings, weekends, full moons. Whatever works for you and your family.)

What matters is that you consciously choose boundaries and that you communicate them (more on how to communicate in tomorrow's podcast).

When you don't have a specific time to work, there's a domino effect.

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You don't know when to start, so you struggle to get started. (Oh, I'll just do this first).
If you don't know when you are going to be working, you may feel guilty every moment that you're not working. (I could be working now!)
And when you do work, if you don't know when you're going to stop, the work can just drag on forever. (I don't know when I'll get back to this! I should do it now!)
When they don't know when you're going to stop, your family (anyone around you who wants to spend time with you) is going to be less understanding, because they want to know when they can go back to hassling you. (She's always working!)

(If you feel like I'm describing your life, trust me, you are not alone. This is informed by many other makers who have the same experience).

So you see, knowing when you're going to work and for how long, allows you to know:

When to start (no procrastinating!)
When to stop (no dragging it out!)
When others can engage with you (with no guilt!)
That you're going to get your stuff done at a specific time, so you can stop obsessing about it right now. (In theory. I've yet to meet a maker who can stop obsessing full stop, but this certainly helps.)

Remember: The boundaries can be WHATEVER. They don't have to be a specific time, they could simply be: One hour today, and I quit at the end of the hour. No blogs/social media/phone in that hour.
I've found that most people do best setting up their plan for the upcoming week (instead of waiting to figure out when you're going to work each day), and the more ritualized you make it (I always start writing after my first cup of coffee or I sew for one hour after the kids go to bed), the less of an internal struggle it is.

What are your boundaries?

Do you need to set new ones? Download the FREE worksheet below to help you do just that!

How to make more money (with math)

One of the most-asked about topics in my inbox is money: what to charge, how to make more, how to thrive.

Last week in my free Q+A, Beth asked:

“How do I increase my rate of pay? How do I make more for every hour I work?”

The simple answer is: You change your numbers. Usually, you change your prices. Or it might be that you need to change your expenses. Or you change your efficiency.
You see, there's no easy answer I can give you…but it's very simple to find your own answer.

Do the Math

It's that simple: To make more money, do the pricing math.

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The math will show you how much your item costs, how much you can charge for it, and how many you need to sell in order to be profitable and in order to make what you want to make.

Instead, I talk to many makers who have set their prices randomly. They change their prices willy-nilly. They base it on other people, “the market,” or what a stranger said to them one time. They exclaim, “I couldn't charge a fair price for all this!” They feel frustrated and confused, because they're just guessing.

So stop guessing. Do the math.

The math is not that hard, and I've collected all of it for you in one place: Pricing 101. I've totally refreshed this popular class with 2 recorded audio lessons: the first with 3 equations for finding your right price and the second on how to actually get the price you deserve.

The class is only available in two places: As a bonus to Pay Yourself, and in the Starship Library.
Why? Because knowing the right price isn't enough. You absolutely need to set your price…but then you need to test it in the real world of your business. You need to know your Break-Even point, your production capacity, and your monetary goals. And that's what you'll do in Pay Yourself.

So grab Pricing 101 (2 hour-long audio lessons + transcripts + apply-it-yourself worksheets) with Pay Yourself right here.

The Adventures

Every day is an adventure. I share the view, the gratitude and the news on Fridays – you’re invited to join in. You can find all my adventures here, or follow along via email here.

The view

I am so grateful for…

An easy and engaging class (Pricing 101) at a local community college
Making new friends with awesome students
A fantastic birthday celebration for my love

The Finds:

I’m reading:

Sarah Von's take on how to be a grown-up woman in relationships (hint: it's true of ALL of your relationships!)
5 things I learned from my first month on YouTube, by Bjork of Food Blogger Pro.

I’m eating:

Tacos with red cabbage slaw (no recipe, just saute up some filling, and douse your red cabbage/kale mixture in apple cider vinegar, oil, salt, pepper)
Tempeh Chili con frioles

In case you missed it:

Monday I was interviewed by Michele Schism on her radio show! Listen in here (I join the call at the 30 minute mark)
I updated my Live Workshops page with dates in Spruce Pine, NC and Ventura, CA (Craftcation!)
Today is the LAST day to help me out by voting for my panels at SXSW. Please vote here and here.

What adventures have you had?

Sometimes, being an explorer means asking for help.

Remember when I told you about TNNA and how it inspired me to commit to being OPEN to new opportunities, even if I didn't see how I could possibly do it?

Well, more than halfway through this year, I can assure you that that commitment has definitely challenged me. It challenged me to teach for 18 hours (a good 9x more than the longest class I had ever taught), on video, in a fancy studio, in front of 5,000 (and counting!) students. It challenged me to start a podcast. And then another (knitting!) podcast with a friend. It challenged me to teach to my largest-ever in-person audience (alpaca farmers!).

And now my dedication to being Open is challenging me to do something new: Speak at SXSW. At the insistence of Shannon and Heather, I'm joining them in submitting two workshops.

And I could use your help.

You see, the panels are open to voting, and anyone can vote (whether you attend or not!). Voting makes up 30% of the decision (the other part: 40% by Advisory Board, 30% by SXSW staff). It will help us tremendously if you vote.

Here's what we've planned

1. For SXSWedu (the education conference, for educators of all types), we're going to talk about different platforms (like the Starship!) for adult education + how to choose which one is right for your goals.
2. For SXSWi (“Interactive”, for tech and entrepreneur-types), we'll discuss the power of educational platforms in building your community…and how to actually find the time for it.

Voting is quick and simple:
1. Create an account.
2. Visit both of the class links (above) and hit the little “thumbs up” sign next to it.
3. That's it!

To be honest, it was challenging for me to ask for this. I'd rather be useful and provide help, not ask for it. But my Starship Captains convinced me. So! Deep breath!
If you've enjoyed the podcast, the blog posts, the free weekly lessons, or just hanging out online with me, please vote here and here.

Thanks!

How to find your buyers

This is the single most-asked question I receive:
How do I find buyers? How do I let them find me? WHO THE HECK ARE THEY?!?

(You can hear the panic, can't you?)

Well, here's where you start:

(Click through to watch the video)

You see, instead of thinking about the buyer, you can back into figuring her out by first identifying what it is your (awesome) product does. What does it do for the buyer? And then, what deep need does that fill in your buyer's life?

If you'd like to know what to do after you identify the need, check out the entire class here.

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