Yarn Market News Publishes Its Last Issue
This week Yarn Market News, the trade magazine for the yarn industry, announced that the January 2020 issue will be its last.
Swatched is a New Documentary Series Showcasing the Diversity of the Knitting Industry
Swatched is a new documentary series featuring knitwear and crochet designers. The pilot features designer Andrea Tong. The project’s goal is to showcase the diversity of stories within the industry.
Row By Row Becomes Quilter Trek, A Color-Guided Shopping Adventure
Row By Row Experience has been relaunched as Quilters Trek, an inclusive shop hop that encourages quilters to visit brick-and-mortar quilt shops all summer long.
Building Community for Your Business with a Facebook Group
Creating a Facebook group for your business can be a great way to build community, giving your customers and fans a way to interact with each other and to learn from you. Here’s what you need to know to set one up successfully.
How I Got Featured in the Press 250 Times
Laura Zander, founder of Jimmy Beans Wool, has been incredibly successful at getting press for her business. She says the most important thing is to understand what your story is really about and to reach out and tell it.
How to Make Text Messaging Part of Your Marketing Strategy
Text messaging, or SMS, can be used as a powerful marketing tool. Text messages have a 98% open rate. Find out how to use SMS to reach your customers directly.
How Applying for a Business Award Can Lead to New Opportunities (Whether You Win or Not)
With the recent launch of the Etsy Design Awards (AKA the Etsies) and with applications to the Spoonflower Small Business Grant open through August 15, 2019, we wanted to explore why craft businesses participate in awards competitions, and what’s to be gained.
6 Expert Tips to Calm Your Nerves So You Can Give a Stellar Presentation
No matter how long you’ve been doing public presentations you likely still get that sick feeling in your stomach just before walking on stage. Public speaking anxiety is incredibly common. Although most of us struggle with it at least to some degree, there are tried and true techniques you can teach yourself that can make a big difference in your level of ease on stage.
Save Time and Connect with Customers Using Instagram Quick Replies
Using a canned response can help reduce your time answering common questions from customers or prospective clients. It’s as simple as cut+paste, then customizing the message as you see fit.
How to Deal with Customer Complaints After You’ve Made the Sale
In a perfect world, business would run smoothly. Customers would never leave negative feedback or attack a merchant for a perceived injustice. Unfortunately, this isn’t a perfect world. Sometimes you must take the good with the bad and adapt as situations arise. So how do you handle difficult and stressful situations? Are there ways to prevent misunderstandings and future problems?
Tips for Dealing with Difficult Customers
Customers are like snowflakes; no two are alike. Some are wonderful people that reinforce your belief in humanity while others make you question why you ever got out of bed. Thankfully, most customers fall somewhere in the middle and are pleasant, happy people. It’s important to recognize the potential high maintenance customers before you accept their orders and to be aware of potential business challenges you may face. So how do you spot different personalities?
How to Integrate Shopify with MailChimp After the Breakup
Last week MailChimp threw the ecommerce world into a panic by announcing that they would no longer integrate with Shopify. The two companies were apparently unable to resolve a disagreement overcome to an agreement over a data privacy issue. Here’s how we recommend you proceed.
Get Your Emails into More Inboxes with These Deliverability Best Practices
Email is the most cost-efficient form of advertising, and it’s one of the few places to spend marketing budget where you can actually see return on investment (ROI). The money that you spend on email marketing can be directly tied to actual sales generated from email campaigns.
We Need More Words for Craft
The word craft is used for everything from the work of highly regarded makers, such as Faith Ringold and Beatrice Wood, to hobbyists who sew, knit, make pots, turn wood, and hammer iron, to the awful foam stickers that appear for birthday party ‘crafts.’ While none of these are less valid for what they are, there is a big difference.
And with that comes the devaluing of the sublime, and the minimizing of what we hold dear. So, why don’t we have different words?
Recorded Webinar: Making the Most of MailChimp
A MailChimp beta tester since 2009, Maeri Howard is here to help you get excited about using Mailchimp to Market your business smarter!
How to Get Your Products Mentioned in Magazines and Blogs
While social media and advertising are important, don’t overlook the value of getting exposure in magazines, newspapers, and blogs.
Email Etiquette: How to Say Please, No Thank You, and I’m Sorry
My secret to polite email etiquette is having a cordial hook that sets the tone for myself. With this, the rest of the email can fall into place.
Recorded Webinar: How to Negotiate (Even If You Hate Conflict) With Katie Lane
Katie Lane is an attorney who specializes in negotiation for artists. In this webinar you will learn to negotiate successfully, avoid caving in to high-pressure demands, and most importantly, be calm, confident, and ready for action when opportunities present themselves.
Recorded Webinar: Overcoming Customer Service Challenges in Your Business
When a customer walks into a brick-and-mortar, a shop owner smiles, says hi and gently inquires if the customer needs any help. But in today’s digitally-driven world, the perfect welcome-procedure isn’t so obvious. Between checking facebook messages, replying to tweets and battling your email inbox, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by customers service demands with no time left for doing what you love… working on your product! In this webinar Stacey Trock gives you tips for communicating with customers in ways that are more positive and more efficient.
Expressing Political Views as a Craft Business Owner
It can be difficult for craft business owners to draw a line between their personal/political and business lives when work and hobbies intersect.