Running a Part Time Crafts Business

So, as I last left off, I was describing the amazing event that the Summit of Awesome was and how I hoped to use that experience to keep learning and growing as a crafts business.  Oh, did I mention that I met with a literary agent who. albeit very nicely, kinda shot down all of my book ideas.  But, you know, it was good because I could have continued working on those ideas, using up valuable time and not really getting anywhere (though I still think I'm on to something and will probably start sharing my ideas with you soon through posts to see what kind of reaction I get).  Actually, what she said was very interesting – to get picked up by a literary agent who'd be willing to work with a good book idea, you need to be sharing those ideas and having about 10,000 unique visitors to your blog a week, reacting to those ideas positively!

Now, dear readers, this is where you come in – I really do need you to help me know what you're thinking and feeling about my posts, both good and bad.  Do you like a topic?  Can't stand it and don't want to hear another word about it?  Or, hopefully, can't get enough of it and want to hear more?  Then, please, please, PLEASE, let me know.  Either below through comments, or on my Facebook page, or however you'd like to communicate with me.  I mean, seriously, I will continue to share with you the things that I have found interesting because you can't ask me to provide information about stuff if you don't already know about it, but still, if there is something you want, let me know.  I don't need to hear myself talk, I want to give you the kind of content that is of interest to you, but I can't read your mind :-)  So, as Captain Kirk would say, engage!

Summit of Awesome

So, this past Saturday was the Summit of Awesome, put on by Hello Craft.  And, I must say, it lived up to its name!  First, where else can you just walk in and come upon a table full of fun materials to start creating with?!

There were lots of good presentations on various aspects of running a crafts business:  a woman from MailChimp spoke about the different features available to send out newsletters and other email messages to subscribers; there was a lawyer who talked about the ins and outs of copyright, trademark, and public domain in the arts;  the founder of Spoonflower talked about how he and his partner came up with the idea and how it's been growing over the last 5 years, but not as smoothly as it might appear.  I also really appreciated the presentation from a representative from Outright who explained some of the features of that accounting service (which I already use, but probably not to its full potential).  Actually, after the whole day of presentations, I realized a few key things:

1)     I am operating at a very middling understanding of all the benefits that a number of these online services can provide.

2)     And, to do things right and at the level I would like to do things, I need about 30 hours a day.

3)     And, it's true what they say – a crafts business is probably about 20% crafting and 80% business!

But, you know what, you do what you can do!

I ran into one of my crochet students, and it was great to see her.  I'm impressed by her crochet work and that she has quit her day job and is giving this a try full-time!  Her company is called Penny & Paul, and she is currently making the cutest baby beanies and little shoes.  She's inspiring me in so many ways, and I hope to report soon about some different ways in which we are going to team up :-)

I also ran into a number of other really talented crafters there, and as I said, it was a really inspiring day, though by the end, I had a headache and felt a bit overwhelmed.  I plan, though, to use the experience to really (once again) step back and think about how I use my very limited time.  I'm sure I'll continue to share those struggles with you over many upcoming posts.