From the Studio of Justina Blakeney
Issue #35
Mind your own business: Stuff to keep your biz juices flowing
By Justina Blakeney
Published: March 1st, 2008 | 3:02pm
Beauty and the bureau
Creative people often have a hard time staying organized. If you are a messy left-brainer like me and want to keep your desk looking cute and tidy, check out Three by Three Seattle. Their hooks, magnetic strips, and mail holders will transform your workspace from crappy to kitschy in no time. (threebythree.com)
Writers cramp? Get a stamp!
Be it for your logo, your contact info, or any of your biz necessities, getting a personalized stamp saves time and looks professional on letters, envelopes, and invoices. Sweet Papery will take care of the crafting for you with personalized wooden-handled or self-inking stamps for your DIY biz. (sweetpaperie.etsy.com)
Save some time for design
Sometimes the most important thing about running your own business is knowing that you can’t always do it all yourself. Your corporate identity is one of the most important things that your company will need to develop to help you stand out and be remembered. If you decide to seek professional assistance for the development of your corporate identity, consider Plaid Valentine. With affordable packages for logo development, avatars, business-card and address-label design, and packing list and invoice templates, Plaid Valentine will help turn your indie idea into an indie biz. ($125 for Total Business Identity package, plaidvalentine.etsy.com)
If You don’t want to sink, read Craft Inc.
If you are moving to China, you get a travel guide. If you are cooking a traditional Sicilian feast, you get a cookbook. If you are starting a craft biz, you buy Craft Inc. Crafters can’t only be crafty, they also have to be business-minded — and this 160-page book teaches the vocab. Do you have a registered trademark? Should you register as an S corporation or a sole proprietorship? With helpful interviews, priceless knowledge and an approachable voice, Meg Matteo Ilasco’s Craft Inc. is the new bible for serious craftypreneurs. If taxes, receipts, invoices, lawyers, and acronyms like COD, LLC, EIN, IRS, and COBRA scare you — than let Ilasco demystify the process for you. ($16.95, Chronicle Books)
Keep your dates straight
If your agenda, pocket calendar, and notebooks are cute enough to wear as the latest accessory, you might actually use them. Let Hable Construction help keep you organized with these retro-modern paper accessories. (from $16 hableconstruction.com)
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AT YOUR SERVICE
SCORE free business advice
Do you want to make a business plan, but those online tutorials just aren’t cutting it? Do you wish you had a mentor who could walk you through the business aspects of your creative projects? SCORE “Counselors to America’s Small Business” has 389 chapter offices and more than 10,500 volunteers that do just that. Have a working exec or a retired business owner be your personal business counselor. Oh, and it’s free. (score.org)
Dare to share
A big part of making art is sharing it. As a DIYer, getting your work “out there” is fundamental to your success. You may not be able to sell every photo that you take or every song that you write. Would you rather have your unsold song chill on your hard drive or have it play on a Web site that garners 20,000 hits a day? Creative Commons is an organization that facilitates licensing of creative works so that the strict “all rights reserved” copyright is transformed into a more permissive “some rights reserved” — thereby giving rights to others to use your work. (creativecommons.org)
Show off
Craft Fairs are an exceptional way to find clients, both wholesale and retail. Craft fairs vary in size, scope, price, and competitiveness. For some fairs, participating can cost as little as $20 to as much as $500 for a booth, and applications are often due months in advance. To stay updated on craft fairs in your area and beyond, visit indiecraftshows.com.
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HINT HINT
Laying down the law
Before you start selling your goods, make sure you have clearly answered the following questions and made the answers clear to your clients: Do you have minimum order requirements for wholesale orders? What is your payment policy? How many days do your clients have before they pay you for your goods? What is your return policy? Good communication with your clients before, during and after each transaction is imperative.
Keeping capital
According to a study conducted by the American Hobby Industry, “heavy” craft users in the U.S. spend an average of $1,500 on crafts per year. Their findings suggest that 15% of American crafters make items to sell (craftandhobby.org). Aim to reduce your craft spending and instead to incorporate recycled or used items in your projects in order to save the extra cash for a rainy day.
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