Why goal-setting doesn’t work for makers (and what to do instead)
If you've ever sat down in January, written out a big list of everything you want to achieve, felt really motivated for about two weeks, and then watched the whole thing collapse ... you'd be forgiven for thinking that maybe goal-setting just isn't for you.
But I don't think that's quite right.
I think goal-setting can work really well for makers. The problem is that we're usually trying to do it against a massive headwind, and that headwind makes everything harder than it needs to be.
Writing Terms and Conditions for your Stockists.
There are so many challenges involved in running a handmade business and for many of them, we can’t really see them coming or know what kind of impact they’ll have on our business. Banking crises, Global Financial Meltdown, Brexit, Inflation, Consumer Confidence....
If you’re waiting to be discovered, try this in the meantime.
I’m willing to bet that, whether you’ve been selling what you make for years or for just a very short period of time, at one point you landed a magazine feature, or you bought some advertising, or you got accepted into a gallery, or your product got tweeted or...
What to do when everything sucks!
In business we have good months and bad months, good years and bad years. It usually, but not always, comes down to sales and whether we are selling as much work as we’d like to, or not. When we’re first getting started (and even after a few years’ experience),...
How Multitasking is Costing You Time and Money
As one person businesses (for the most part), we makers have to ensure that we are making the most of the time we have available for our businesses. Whether you’re working on your business a few hours a week or full time, your time is the most valuable resource you...
Should you do Sale or Return?
Start a conversation about Sale or Return (or Consignment as it is know elsewhere in the world) amongst a group of makers and you’re likely to get some pretty strongly worded responses. Sale or Return definitely gets a bad rap and there’s no question that it’s not...
Three Ways You’re Wasting Your Time on Facebook
You’re probably wasting a lot of time on Facebook. And, no, I don’t mean by watching cute animal videos and scrolling through your frenemies’ photostream. Who really does that anyway? *ahem* If you’re doing any of these three things you’re wasting time with your...
Why you ABSOLUTELY must have a mailing list
I bang on about this all the time but, seriously, having a mailing list is the single best thing you can do for your business, right now, TODAY. Sometimes creating a business around the things that you make can seem completely overwhelming. It can seem really...
Are you suffering from Psych-Yourself-Out-itis?
I am a longtime sufferer of Psych-Yourself-Out-Itis. What is Psych-Yourself-Out-itis? I’m so glad you asked. Picture the scene. It’s January. You’re full of fire and excitement about all of your new goals for the year. This is the year it’s all going to happen....
How to handle customer complaints with grace
How you communicate with your customers is a vital part of your branding strategy and it’s so important that you get it right. When people reach out to you with a problem (or even a complaint), it’s an opportunity for you to improve your processes and make your...
Why Quality Photos are essential and how to improve yours
Nine times out of ten, when someone is frustrated that they aren’t selling as much as they’d like, product photography is the culprit. Online, product photography is absolutely essential. It’s all your customer has got to go on. And it’s not enough to simply SHOW...