Having the right community surrounding you is the surest, sanest, and most sustainable way to create the business you want. The right community can support you, encourage, even buy from you! But no one community can do everything for you. We (usually) can't get our need for belonging filled by the same people who meet our financial needs. (Of course it's possible, and … [Read more...] about The Three Communities You Need
Postcard from camp: The freedom to adventure
My brother (SoCal born + raised) texted me: You busy the end of May? Can I come visit? Me: Sure! Him: Tickets bought! Would love to see the Atlantic Ocean. Never been! How far? Me: Five hours to Charleston, SC. Let's go! Two weeks later, I picked him up at the airport at 10 pm and in our drive back to my house we decided to leave the very next morning for the … [Read more...] about Postcard from camp: The freedom to adventure
An Explorer’s Guide to Packing for Adventure
If you're a small business owner, or an artist, maker, or writer, you are an explorer! You explore your internal world with creativity and curiosity. You explore the external world, through sharing your work, chatting with customers, and assessing what works. You explore your own path to success by watching what works (and doing more of it) and learning from what doesn't … [Read more...] about An Explorer’s Guide to Packing for Adventure
The 4 P’s of Marketing or Please stop calling it self-promotion
I’m allergic to the term “self-promotion.” Many crafters refer to sharing-their-work as "self promotion" and I cringe every time. I bet you do to. Self-promotion sounds gross. In fact, just promoting yourself, telling everyone how great you are, is kinda gross. No one wants to be around the girl who can’t stop talking about how hot she is. (You know the girl.) But it's not … [Read more...] about The 4 P’s of Marketing or Please stop calling it self-promotion
What marketing really is (and how to stop avoiding it)
Dear sweet makers, From your comments about marketing, on the blog and in the Twitter chat, it sounds like the biggest thing keeping you from sharing your own handmade goodness with the world is the you are terrified by "marketing." So let's clear this right up! Marketing = all communication with the people who will (and do) love your work. (For another take … [Read more...] about What marketing really is (and how to stop avoiding it)
