Book Review: Craft Inc.

Welcome to the first ever book review for the Handmade Business Blog. I'm a bit of a book addict so this is fun. I know I said there would be a guest post this week but it's not ready so it may run instead of the usual Friday or Monday post instead.

I recently bought a copy of Craft Inc. Turn Your Creative Hobby Into a Business by Meg Mateo Ilasco. This is a very well written book, the author has an approachable conversational style of writing which I enjoy.

This book has a breakdown of various issues a person starting up a handmade business needs to consider. I think the strongest chapter is called "Your Business Mind" which covers things like registering your business, accounting, writing a business plan, etc. These are topics that no one really enjoys and so there's a tendency to want to ignore this area.

Pros:

• Good interviews with entrepreneurs
• Covers a variety of important topics like pricing, marketing, craft shows, selling online, etc.
• Emphasizes the nuts and bolts of running a business without being boring.
• Discusses how to stay moptivated and having realistic expectations.
• Delves into how to handle growth and when you should consider delegating some of the work.

Cons:

• Not as in depth in some areas as I would like, such as the press kit section.
• Doesn't give references to check out for further information. For example: when talkign about trademarking a link to the US Patent and Trademark Office would have been useful.
• I think some visual examples would have illustrated some of her points better than just describing them.

Overall I think the book is worth buying as a primer for getting your business started. Now you can find a lot of the information elsewhere but having all the information gathered together is worth the $12 just for time saved.

Handmade Business Squidoo Lenses I've Written

I've been writing on Squidoo for about 2 years now, I have over 140 pages (called lenses) on various topics. This blog was actually a way to take what I had been doing with some of my Squidoo lenses and make it more focused. So here's a rundown of the lenses I've written, I hope you find them useful.

❦Make your Handmade Products Stand Out - Using Creative Packaging
❦Preparing for an Art or Craft Festival
❦Tools for Etsy Sellers
❦Running a Handmade Business
❦How To Make Your Own Business Cards
❦Selling Handmade Jewelry Online
❦Using Twitter to Promote your Handmade Business
❦Etsy Sellers: What is your favorite way to promote?
❦Using Squidoo to Promote Your Handmade Business
❦Branding Your Handmade Products

Promo Packs

So I recently read this post on Etsy Marketing about Promo Packs but also this thread about them on the Etsy forums. People definitely seem divided on whether they're a good idea. With this controversy over promo packs you should really think about whether or not it fits your business. Also keep in mind that if your shipping very light or thin items a promo pack may increase your shipping costs some depending on the type of shipping your using.

Personally I like the idea, it's a simple little extra to include in your orders, cheap marketing, and I like getting free stuff. However keep in mind that your packs should have balance, I don't think anyone likes just getting a bunch of business cards in a zip bag. So If you decide to do a promo pack swap make sure you are getting not just business cards but also samples or other freebies like stickers, bookmarks, etc.

I've said it before and I'm going to keep repeating it: packaging matters. Make your promo packs look like a gift. One idea would be to get some little cello bags or colored cellophane (the crisp kind for gifts not the soft stuff for saving leftovers) and tie it off with a little ribbon and a tag.

Pretty DIY Earring Cards

A number of jewelry supply companies sell these great adhesive earring card adapters. You can design your own hanging earring cards for display at craft shows.

These are the ones I made. I used Zazzle to design and print the cards but you could get more handmade with art paper and pens or rubber stamps. When I designed the cards I added dots so I'd know where to punch the holes and they would all be uniform. To punch the holes I just used a safety pin and one of those cheap foam sponges from the dollar store underneath the card (a towel or pillow works as well).


I bought my earring card adapters from a seller on Etsy who was clearing out extras. A few stores that sell them are:

• Rings & Things
• Rio Grande
• JewelrySupply.com

If you would like to have your cards printed on business cards like mine here's a template you can use that is at 300 dpi which is what most printers prefer, just click to view and save the full size version. You'll want to cover up the gray border and text but keep the hole markers for printing.

Quick Tip #2 - Mini Cards

Several custom printing services such as Zazzle and Moo now offer mini cards, these are 1"x3" cards similar to business cards but much narrower. These are a perfect side for custom tags! Just make sure to design them with space at the end to punch a hole and use ribbon or string to attach them to your products.

My Thoughts on Business Cards

If you read my site review of Zazzle you know how happy I am with my new business cards. Why have a business card though? My business is online you say, I do lots of marketing online. That's true but I don't want to limit myself to just marketing online. For example I often wear my jewelry designs when I go out and if someone compliments them I want to be able to hand them a card. So what do I need in a business card? Contact information of course, it needs to communicate what I do well, and it needs to be memorable.

So lets break down my card:

Business Name - Not surprisingly I put Noadi's Art in the biggest font size on this card. I used the same font for this as I do on my website for the title, partly because I love the font and also to have consistency in my designs. I also picked a gray-blue color instead of black to soften the look a little and pick up on the background of the photo.
Description - I wanted to keep the description simple and too the point so I listed what I sell with the cuttlefish jewelry first because it's my most popular item but also kind of funny. I used the italic version of the font I used for the contact information.
Contact information - Since I sell primarily online I listed my web address and email prominently under my name and put my address and phone number at the bottom.
Image - I wanted to pick a photo that was beautiful and illustrated my work well. I didn't take the cup full of cuttlefish photo specifically for the card but it really turned out to be the most perfect for that spot.
Back of card - This photo I did take specifically for the card, I wanted to show a wide variety of things that I make and my sorceress sculpture made a nice centerpiece for it.

Here's the business card template I used. I loaded it into the GIMP (a free open source image editor) as the background layer and built everything on top of it to make sure the positioning worked well and then hid it with a solid white layer. I kept the original file with all the layers in case the next time I have cards printed I need to change anything, then I exported it as a .jpg at the highest quality setting so it would be nice and crisp then uploaded to zazzle to make my card.

Links to articles on designing cards:
Business Card Design in Photoshop Video Series
10 Step Guide to Designing Awesome Business Cards
Leave a Creative Calling Card
10 Steps to a Stupendous Business Card

Here are a few ideas for using your business cards:

• Include you business card in all orders
• Fill a basket or card holder for people to take one at art/craft shows
• Post them up on public bulletin boards and other places that let you leave your card (or a small stack of them)
• Include your card with everything you mail out. I've even heard of people including them with their bills!
• Get your friends and family involved, have them post your card where they work or have a few to hand out. My mom is a teacher and since my jewelry often appeals to science teachers she has some cards to hand out at conferences.
• To sum it up, don't be stingy! Hand out your cards all the time, if someone asks for extras give them extras. You want as many people as possible to know about your business.