Weekly-ish notes on navigating big change

Searching for "index.php/contact"

Creating an effective blog

How to make a blog that actually improves your business
(without being spammy) 

You’ve heard that you “should” have a blog for your crafty business.
You’ve even given it a shot, but you’re not sure it’s helping you make sales or reach the right people.
If you’re frustrated, bored, or just unconvinced about a blog for your business, yes, that’s ok.

Blogging is a delicate balance  – between what you need (to make your business a success) and what your readers want.  It’s a personal medium, and that personal-ness helps people connect with you and your business. But even so, you have to find ways to make your business interesting and relevant day after day, without resorting to bland “I just listed this” posts.

This workbook helps you find that balance.

 

The worksheets were GREAT!

Most ecourses I've come across are for beginners, but this is for more intermediate, for people who have got started but want to take their biz to the next level. This isn't about following a formula, it's about taking the time to analyze your situation and create a solution that works for you. Practical, hands-on, and with the support of two amazing teachers.

-Kate

 

 

Busting the Blog Myth  is a downloadable workbook that will examine YOUR business and YOUR blogging and YOUR ideal readers (buyers, strangers, even the press), and help you see not only whether a blog makes sense for you, but if it does, how you can create a blog that’s a more effective tool in sharing your thing.

What we cover:

In Lesson 1, we’ll find our what specific marketing results you want your blog to achieve, whether you’re an artisan seeking customers, a writer seeking a book deal, or a designer seeking freelance clients (or something else entirely).

In Lesson 2, we’ll come up with the overall themes you want to be communicating to the world and the ways you  are best suited to do it.

In Lesson 3, we’ll look at your audience (real or imagined!), and find out who they are and how to make them fall in love with you.

In Lesson 4, we’ll work out an editorial calendar for your business blog. You’ll decide what kinds of blog content will do the best job of communicating what you need to say, to the people you want to reach.

You’ll finish the workbook with a blogging plan you can put to work right away.

What you get, for $29:

  • 4 lessons on creating a blog that works for you, your goals and your people.
  • 5 worksheets that ensure you really do find the balance for YOUR business.
  • 2 bonus lessons on getting more traffic and testing out what's working
I found the focus I needed to decide how to handle my blog and where and why it will work within the mission of my business goals.
-Gabrielle Krake, Bee Wise Goods

” Through the information, worksheets, and feedback, this blogging class really leads you from wherever you are — whether it's a new blogger or someone looking to improve what you've got — and helps point you where you want to be. Diane & Tara are full of insights, and even better, they are awesome at helping you find your own insights where you'd mislaid them when you weren't looking.”

–Amy

 

“It was a lot of fun. The material really guides you look deep into what you are trying to not only communicate with your blog, but take a deeper look into who your customers are, why you are communicating with them and provide clarity into what your business is all about.”

–Kirsytn

 

“This class has provided me with the tools I needed to focus my blog, suddenly blogging doesn't seem so difficult or pointless.”

Is this workbook for me?

  • Have you heard that you “should” have a blog for your small business, but aren’t sure how it’s supposed to help you?
  • Have you tried blogging, but haven’t found it to be a very effective marketing tool?
  • Do you struggle to find something to say?

If you’re nodding along (or grumbling along), then yep, this workbook is for you.
If you’re looking for technical information (or turning your existing blog into a business), we can suggest other resources, just ask!

 

Who are the instructors?


Tara Swiger is a writer, a maker, and a Starship Captain. She's the author of Market Yourself:  a system for smart + creative businesses, and she leads explorations into your particular business.

 

 

Diane Gilleland is a craft writer and teacher who produces CraftyPod.com, a blog and podcast that are central to her business. She’s written three ebooks on craft-business blogging and teaches live classes in social media for creative business-owners.

 

 

Still got question?

Don't hesitate to ask!

Posted in |

Crafting an Effective Blog

How to make a blog that actually works for your business

(without being spammy) 

Your crafty business came with a pile of shoulds.

You should blog. 
You should blog more, for more traffic. 
You should, should, should…

And it's exhausting.
Following the plan (if you can even narrow down the various advice and shoulds into a plan) just isn't working for you. It's not getting you more sales, it's not building relationships, it's just…work.

What you need is a way that works for you. That works for your people, your product, your life.
It has to be doable, and it has to be effective.

This workbook will help you make your own plan for an effective blog. 

click here to buy

 

cross_stitches

Most ecourses I've come across are for beginners, but this is for more intermediate, for people who have got started but want to take their biz to the next level. This isn't about following a formula, it's about taking the time to analyze your situation and create a solution that works for you. Practical, hands-on, and with the support of two amazing teachers.

-Kate

cross_stitches

 

Crafting an Effective Blog is a downloadable workbook that will examine YOUR business and YOUR blogging and YOUR ideal readers (buyers, strangers, even the press), and help you see not only whether a blog makes sense for you, but if it does, how you can create a blog that’s a more effective tool in sharing your thing.

What we cover:

In Lesson 1, we’ll find our what specific marketing results you want your blog to achieve, whether you’re an artisan seeking customers, a writer seeking a book deal, or a designer seeking freelance clients (or something else entirely).

In Lesson 2, we’ll come up with the overall themes you want to be communicating to the world and the waysyou  are best suited to do it.

In Lesson 3, we’ll look at your audience (real or imagined!), and find out who they are and how to make themfall in love with you.

In Lesson 4, we’ll work out an editorial calendar for your business blog. You’ll decide what kinds of blog content will do the best job of communicating what you need to say, to the people you want to reach.

You’ll finish the workbook with a blogging plan you can put to work right away.

What you get, for $24:

  • 4 lessons on creating a blog that works for you, your goals and your people.
  • 5 worksheets that ensure you really do find the balance for YOUR business.
  • 2 bonus lessons on getting more traffic and testing out what’s working

 

cross_stitches

“I found the focus I needed to decide how to handle my blog and where and why it will work within the mission of my business goals.”

-Gabrielle

cross_stitches

 

” Through the information, worksheets, and feedback, this blogging class really leads you from wherever you are — whether it's a new blogger or someone looking to improve what you've got — and helps point you where you want to be. Diane & Tara are full of insights, and even better, they are awesome at helping you find your own insights where you'd mislaid them when you weren't looking.”

–Amy

 

How it works:

Click the buy button, and your workbook will be emailed to you immediately. (It'll be sent to your Paypal email address, so check it!)

 

cross_stitches

“It was a lot of fun. The material really guides you look deep into what you are trying to not only communicate with your blog, but take a deeper look into who your customers are, why you are communicating with them and provide clarity into what your business is all about.”

–Kirsytn
cross_stitches

Is this workbook for me?

  • Have you heard that you “should” have a blog for your small business, but aren’t sure how it’s supposed to help you?
  • Have you tried blogging, but haven’t found it to be a very effective marketing tool?
  • Do you struggle to find something to say?

If you’re nodding along (or grumbling along), then yep, this class is for you.

If you’re looking for technical information (or turning your existing blog into a business), we can suggest other resources, just ask!

 

 

Who are the instructors?

Tara Swiger is a writer, a maker, and a Starship Captain. She's the author of Market Yourself:  a system for smart + creative businesses, and she leads explorations into your just-right business.

 

 

Diane Gilleland is a craft writer and teacher who produces CraftyPod.com, a blog and podcast that are central to her business. She’s written three ebooks on craft-business blogging and teaches live classes in social media for creative business-owners.

 Still got question?

Don't hesitate to ask!

 

Want to hear our stories of effective blogging? Watch our hour long conversation with craftybiz smarties*:

*Our special panel of craftybiz smarties include: 

Posted in |

What’s unclear?

I'm deep in BOOK-mode, pouring all my focus into making sure I answer your questions.
I'm going back through my email folder of questions I've received (and answered!) over the past 3 years, to make sure the BOOK answers as many of those as makes sense.

But what else?

When you think of selling your thing, when you think of sharing it with others, when you look at your craftybiz and where you want it to go…what's still unclear?

Ask your question in the comments or privately through this form and I'll answer you right now AND in the BOOK. 

And nope, it doesn't matter if your business is real or a dream. It doesn't matter if it's brand-new or 10 years old.
What do you need to know to take you where you want to go?

 

Thanks for helping me make the BOOK exactly what the community needs!

 

On quitting the dayjob, making everything creative, and starships: A Podcast

I am so honored to be today's guest on one of my most favorite podcasts, Creative Living with Jamie.

We talk about

  • quitting my dayjob (the steps I took to make that happen)
  • making everything an exercise in creativity
  • why I hang out in a Starship

It was SO fun to do the interview and I'm happy to share it with you!

You can  listen or subscribe to the podcast here.

(I recommend subscribing! I'm subscribed and I listen to it weekly while I wash the dishes…talk about making a boring job more creative!)

PS. Wanna interview me for your podcast, website or newsletter? Just shoot me a note with a link to your thing!

Bake Sale Jitters: I don’t want to be annoying!

Bake Sale Jitters is a regularish look at the stuff that keep our business from being as much fun as a bake sale. If you have something that's giving YOU the jitters, let me know.

Along with fear of rejection (we'll get to that tomorrow!), the biggest thing y'all tell me about Sharing Your Thing is that you don't want to be annoying.

And of course you don't! Who does?
(Other than 10 year old boys. They seem to thrive on annoying. If you doubt it, lemme send you one of my little brothers.)

First, acknowledgment.

Being annoying is one of the least pleasant things ever.

(I was a very talkative 12 year old. I know this feeling-annoying-thing intimately.)

And being surrounded, as we are, by annoying marketing, it's sometimes hard to see how we can share our thing without grossing people out.

Even after all this time, I still have little moments of Oh no! What if that's totally annoying?

(Top Secret: I just had that feeling, right before sending my tweet about how Tuesday is the last day to sign up for my Bake Sale Fun class.  That's when I decided I should write this.)

It doesn't have to be annoying

First, remember this: Sharing a message isn't, on its own, annoying.
It's the way you share it.

Just think of the friend who calls to tell you that gas is $.20 cheaper down the street. She shared a message. Was it annoying?

Now, if that same message was tweeted 20 times in an hour by the gas station, you'd be annoyed.

But sometimes it is

Let's figure out what annoys YOU about marketing*, especially as we see it on Twitter, Facebook and via email.

*Marketing (in this context) = the sharing of a message that the sender hopes will lead to action (sale, info, etc) .

This is what annoys me:

  • Unwanted
  • Interrupts the conversation
  • Repetitive

Your list of Annoying Things may be totally different. It'll help if you make up a little list right now and keep it in mind.

Go on, make your list, I'll wait.

Ok, now. This? The above list? Is NOT the only way to share your message.

Be unannoying

One of the easiest ways is to pretend that it's Opposite Day.

If you were one of the slimy people sending a message on Opposite Day, what would your message look like?

Mine would be:

  • Wanted
  • Timely
  • Interesting
  • Connect-y (meaning it deepens our already existing connection)

Notice that the first thing on the list is Wanted.

This is HUGE.

If people WANT the thing you're selling, than they will be THRILLED to hear about it. They are waiting to hear about it. They are on the edge of their seats excited.

So if you only ever talk to those people, in a way that respects them and your own human-ness (don't act like a robot or sales-machine), you won't even come close to annoying.

Take your own list and flip it.

What would your Opposite Day super-awesome messages look like?

I know! We so totally just scratched the surface here. We'll talk more about the specifics (where and how) to share your thing in a non-annoying way in the new course. Registration closes tomorrow.


When your Thing is a Bake Sale

(you know, your thing, the thing you make and want to sell)

It's easy to talk about.
It's FUN to talk about.

You can't help but give out tasty samples.
You can't  help but snack on the goodness yourself.

You are SO proud of what you've made.

You tell everyone + don't worry that you might be annoying.
You don't even think about rejection, connection, buzzwords; you're just in the flow of being excited about your thing.

New ways of telling people come easily.
Maybe it's not easy to do the work, but the idea, the energy the whole process flows.

Your thing is darn tasty and you can not keep it to yourself.
You know the people who want a taste of it and you're ready to share it with them.

That's when your thing and your business is a bake sale.

Joy.
Ease.
Flow

The truth is, your business, your thing isn't always a bake sale.
Sometimes you feel stuck or stuttery or shy.
You lose the fun, the joy, the ohmygoodness, youmusttasteTHIS immediacy of sharing it.

I'm actually in that shy+stuck place now and have been for the last few weeks.

So I'm going back to the basics.
The foundation of making my thing easy to talk about (by me and my fans).
The system of making sure the word is spreading even when I'm not spreading it (fancypants call this a marketing plan).
Reconnecting to the fun, to the bake-sale-joy of sharing my handmade goodness.

I'm doing it personally and I'm sharing my system in the new class:

Because this share-your-thing thing isn't just for newbies.
Yeah, figuring this stuff out is ultra-important when you first get started.
But it's ALSO helpful once you've been going and feel stuck or tired or suddenly shy.

I'll be talking about the in-the-soft stuff (the be-ok-with-doing-it stuff) here on the blog and the in-the-hard stuff (do-this-next steps to actually DO it) in the class.

No matter what part of the journey you join me for, I'd love to know what your stuff-that-keeps-you-from-DOING-it, questions and fears are. Please share your concerns or ask your questions privately here or by leaving a comment below.

A letter in the morning cold

I woke up at 6:30 am (about 2 hours earlier than usual!) with the following email burning inside me. I couldn't sleep, I just kept thinking I need to write this!

I sent it to my SparklePointerettes on Tuesday and only waited to share it here until I was all moved (I'm still a little wary of sharing where I am or what I'm doing in real time on the web, since the break-in).

Morning snow 12/26/2010

——-

Today's my last day in this house and I'm sitting just a few feet from my busted up back door.
As you may have read, my house was broken into.

Jay and I have felt unsafe, anxious and never-quite-comfortable since it happned.
What was once a beautiful, comfy farmhouse has become a source of tension.

We knew we wanted to get out of here fast, but we didn't want to make a decision on a new place fast. We want to take our time, pick just the right place, create a new home.

To give ourselves space and peace, we made an unusual decision.
Today we're packing almost everything we own into a storage space and we're moving, temporarily, onto a friend's farm.
This will give us the time and space and security to look for a new place while living without fear.

I've been hesitant to share this with anybody. The break-in left me feeling raw and vulnerable, like a turtle without its shell.
But I woke up very early this morning, with this email burning in me.

Why?

Because this is a success story.

Lots of “online business gurus” show pictures of their fancy car, big house, or island vacation and claim success.
I'm doing the opposite.

I'm saying, even when things are rough…
Even when things are not going as planned…
Even when what I really wanted (to feel safe, to stay in my home) isn't working out…

My business is giving me what I need.

My yarn-making has given me exactly what this situation calls for:

Flexibility (to live and work wherever I want (or need) to).
Peace of mind (to take the time I need off work).
Support (both financial and through the community of my Right People).

Working for myself, and specifically working within the amazingly supportive crafty community, has given me more security than any dayjob.
I'm not tied to a location.
I'm not tied to a specific schedule.
I can get up at 6 am to write a blazingly honest email.

First, I just want to say thank you.
For your emails, your tweets, and as always, for your support.

But also, I want to encourage you that you can have this too.
No matter what 2010 has looked like.
No matter what 2011 may bring.
You deserve to have security, community and peace of mind.

This kind of business – one that supports you in the hard times, one that gives you space and flexibility and freedom – this is the kind of business that we create in the CraftyBiz Kitchen.

Your stories (and my own!) of illness, of job loss, of hard times have encouraged me to include even more practility and pragmatism. Even more concrete, do-this-next-steps. Even more personalization, so that stuff you learn can be applied to what you'red doing.

If you need a little more stability or flexibility or freedom, I hope you find it in 2011.

No, I hope you craft it for yourself.

If you have any questions or you'd like some help in deciding if the CraftyBiz Kitchen is right for you, just ask (and I'll get back to you as soon as I get moved in!).

Thanks again for making today possible,
Tara

PS. A BUNCH of really smart businessy friends (along with a few people already in it!) told me that the CraftyBiz Kitchen wasn't expensive enough, that it should be over $80. I raised the price (to $54) for a few days, but it just didn't feel right. The price I started with, $47 (even though the experts say it's not the kind of number that will psychologically seduce you to buy), just feels perfect, so I've corrected the page.
https://taraswiger.com/index.php/help/personal/test-kitchen/

PPS. Oh, it just occurred to me that I never mentioned: even though I'll be in a new place, classes and Ideastorming and yarn-making will go on as normal. None of my plans for the CraftyBiz Kitchen are changing. In fact, they're just getting more fabulous. That's the joy of a flexible business!

PacNW 2010

I'm coming to Seattle + Portland!

Here's where I'll be

Seattle

12/4 + 12/5:

Urban Craft Uprising
10-5pm
Come by to snag some yarn or say hello!
12/9
I will be exploring + adventuring all day. If you want to meet-up for a coffee, let me know!

Portland

12/6, 5:30-8p
Twisted PDX
A yarny trunk show! My first!
Come by and say hello, whether you're a knitter or not.
I'll be sitting there, knitting + spinning and very much in the mood to talk!

How you can help

You can tell EVERYONE you know about Urban Craft Uprising and the trunk show. I am coming very far because I love the people of the PacNW. Help me out by making sure I meet as many of them as I can!

If you're in the Seattle area and really want to earn my undying love, I'd really appreciate if you'd pick up a few things I need for my booth.  To avoid excess shipping (or lugging it all on the plane), I'm looking for someone in Seattle to pick up the items in the top row here.If you buy it, I'll pay you back and buy you a coffee on 12/3. After the show, I'll give you it back, since I don't want to carry it home with me.
If you just have something useful lying around, I'd love to borrow it (I'll still buy you a coffee).
Extra incentive: Anyone who lends me anything will get a free skein of yarn.
MAKE SURE you let me know if you want to help in this way (so we don't all buy the same thing!), right here.

Posted in |

One step forward

Last week I sent this as an email to my SparklePointer people. I got so many responses saying “This was exactly what I needed to hear! Thank you!“, that I've decided to share it here. I hope you find it encouraging!

——————————————————

While we've been talking about holiday planning, I've gotten several messages from you saying you're not there yet….but you really hope to make 2011 the year you start your business, or grow it into income-generating support.

I love these messages because it tells me that you are right on the cusp of the Doing.

Wait, let's back up.
In my experience with crafty businesses (or, really, any business), there's often a looong period of time where you consider selling what you make. In this stage you may even take some “steps” like signing up for etsy, listing a few things with hastily taken photos, or starting a blog (or maybe a whole string of un-updated blogs).
You think. You dream.

This is an important stage. But this is not a business.

The next stage is Plotting.
It's different for different people. For me, it involved a crazy amount of research (mostly business books) and writing down every idea I had. For others, it involves sending emails to people who might help (like me!). Or reading the Etsy forums. Or finding some blogs.
The difference between this stage and the first?

Intention.

At this point, you know, that you WILL do this sell-what-you-make thing. You will.
You may not know how. Or when. But something has shifted.
It's real.
But it's still not a business.

This plotting may eventually lead to Doing.
This is the stage where you make it happen.

If you hang out in the plotting stage too long, doubt will creep in.
Is it real?
Is it possible?

Stay in this doubt too long and you slip back into the Thinking stage.
Everything seems too hard. Too confusing. Too out-of-your-range.

So how do you move from Plotting to Doing?
By making one decision.
A decision to commit.
When you turn that Surety in your heart into something tangible.

The decision can be anything.
But it must involve investing in your business (investing = risking time or money or your comfort on something that will yield returns).
It can be signing up for a class.
It can be DOING what you learned from a blog post, a class, a friend.
It can be getting one-on-one help + gentle accountability.

Anything that you can look at when doubt seeps in and say “No, this isn't just a dream, I AM doing it.”

(Note: Afraid of moving to Doing too soon? Think you need more Plotting before you commit? Be reassured: you will ALWAYS be plotting.  You never stop Plotting. I've been Doing my yarn biz for 4 years and I'm still Plotting and changing and experimenting. )

While the new year, the year of you moving from Plotting to Doing is still over a month away, I wanted to get you thinking about this. Wanted to remind you that you don't have to stay the Thinking or Plotting stage.

You can move forward.

I want you to move forward in the way that is right for you, whether you use my classes or blog or one-on-one help or not.
Really.

If you do think that what you need to move forward is focus and prioritization, I'm now scheduling personal helpfulness through January. If you'd like more information about how I can help you get some clarity with the next stage (or just help you from slipping back), let me know here (you can tell me a bit about your biz, real or imagined or just send a blank note) and I'll send you the information.

If this isn't what will help you move forward, then I'd like to encourage you to find what will work.

And remember: experimentation is a good thing.
Try one small thing. Try another.
It's only business 🙂

Wishing you a weekend full of thinking, plotting and doing,
Tara

Danielle is crafting a (whitehot) business

This is the fourth in a series of  interviews with smart people who are crafting a business. Part friendly chat, part case-study, all helpfulness!
If you know someone I should interview (even you!) let me know.

Today I’m talking to Danielle of WhiteHotTruth. While her business isn't crafty in the make-a-craft-sense, it is entirely handmade, built from scratch and filled to the brim her brightly shining Daneille-ness.
I was delighted to ask Danielle a few questions after devouring her Fire Starter Sessions book. That book (and the thinking and scribbling it provoked) directly led to this site and my favoritist, love-filled  part of my own business.

You combine the visual + the verbal beautifully in your notecards and in your truisms: how did you develop your sense of design?

It gets down to this: strip it down. I haven't always been a champion of simplicity, but I got there, because I got clear that it's all about the message, baby. And judging from your next question (I peeked ahead) you get that too!

Your eye, your style, the layout of everything from notecards to FireStarter Sessions to your website all reflect and highlight the meaning, the message.
And at the same time, it reinforces your brand. Do you think of it as branding? Or something else?

Whenever someone asks me about ‘how I built my brand' I giggle inside. So, nope, I don't think of it as branding…but it is. Confusing? My quick definition of a brand is a persona. Some personas are manufactured for appeal, some personas are a reflection of someone's authentic self. The latter is more sustainable, and fun.

I've got a message, and I focus on being straightforward about it…usually in Helvetica and black & white.

The exercise I found most powerful in the FireStarter Sessions was figuring out what I wanted to feel and then work on bringing those feelings into my work in whatever way I can. It sparks all sorts of crazy ideas and new directions.
How did you discover this method of decision-making?

So glad that worked for you because it's the focus of my next book. It's been a long journey to finally getting to the heart of it: that everything we do is in order the generate a desired feeling. The short answer about how I got there: take years of faking it to make it, too many new age self help books, a heaping does of passion, meditation, and consistent courage, et voila! Conclusion: the best life strategy is to get clear on exactly how you want to feel and set about creating those feelings in every area of your life. Feels…good.

What do you want to feel more of right now?

I always want to feel more innovative, affluent, connected, and…divinely feminine.

You recently wrote that doing what you say your going to do is the secret to success.
How do you make sure you aren't promising things you can't do? How do you set boundaries to respect your capacity?

I say ‘no, thank you' about 80% of the time. I work with some A+ people, so I can focus on what I do best. I pay attention to when I feel inspired, or heavy – and I try not to let heavy get on my to do list. Inspiration is a very simple, but powerful formula.

Thanks Danielle!

If you enjoyed this interview, let Danielle know! She’s @daniellelaporte on Twitter.
My favorite bits of Danielle-wisdom:
  • “Strip it down.”
  • “Inspiration is a very simple, but powerful formula.”
What could you strip down today?

1 2