Erin Dollar is back as the Craft Industry Alliance resident librarian, offering her picks for 2018’s best art books, creative business titles, and self-help books. For artists and creatives, summer vacation often means a tote bag filled with craft books, and she’s found some excellent additions to your summer reading list.
Along the journey of my daily art creation, I did a lot of things right, many of them by accident, but together these tools helped me start and maintain a daily practice.
Mindful crafting can help crafty entrepreneurs refresh and rejuvenate. Take some at least once a week to make something just for yourself.
When it comes to choosing bookkeeping software for your craft business, you have at least half a dozen options, all with pros and cons and champions. Here’s a rundown.
Social media fatigue is hitting hard in 2018 as makers spend more time trying to “beat the algorithm” to connect with our community. Between our desire to reach our customers online, and the dopamine hit our brains receive each time we check social media, many of us are grappling with bad habits around screen time. Erin Dollar gives us some tips for carving out time to let our minds wander.
In this fast-paced digital world, it’s no wonder people are slowing down in an analog way by gravitating to journals in all their myriad, wonderful forms.
Throughout 2018 we’ll be bringing you curated lists of books for craft business owners. Erin Dollar, founder of Cotton & Flax, a home decor products company based in California, is an avid reader with a library of books to share. She’ll be choosing a selection each season and describing what each book has to offer. Erin is here today sharing her spring book picks!
As creative business owners, we have to keep on top of many things at once. Sometimes it can feel like we spend more time tied to the computer than crafting, and that’s not a great feeling! Fiona Pullen is the owner of The Sewing Directory and the author of Craft a Creative Business. She uses a series of apps to stay productive and organized and work more efficiently. Learn to use a few of these apps and you’ll free up the time to focus on what you really enjoy.
Non-disclosure agreements are a valuable and important tool to protect your business information so it doesn’t fall into a competitor’s hands.
A business retreat is an opportunity to surround yourself with a group of like-minded solopreneurs to take a critical look at your business with you.
Do you find yourself writing the same types of emails over and over again for your business? Programs Like Gmail’s Canned Responses and Text Expander can help you streamline your approach to answering emails, and free up more time for marketing, shipping orders, or anything else that might need attention your business. I use canned responses to speed up replies to wholesale requests, client questions, customer support, job applicants, and more.
Mood boards are a wonderful tool to get un-stuck, organized, or inspired. Use a mood board to tighten your vision for a project and refine the aesthetic.
Throughout 2018 we’ll be bringing you curated lists of books for craft business owners. Erin Dollar, founder of Cotton & Flax, a home decor products company based in California, is an avid reader with a library of books to share. She’ll be choosing a selection each season and describing what each book has to offer. To kick things off here is Erin with our winter book picks!
Carrie Sundra created the SkeinMinder, an accessory to the small motorized tabletop winders many small dyers use to create their sellable hanks.
Slumps don’t last forever. There are concrete actions you can take to make the connection again. It comes down to taking a break or making a change.
Evernote is one of the best organizational apps out there. Hanna Lisa shares her experience and expert tips on how to use Evernote to bring structure to your creative business.
Rethink your creative practice and business with these three inspiring books.
As soon as we start consuming we compare and that is the worst thing for your creativity. Creativity is allowing yourself to be you. Make that happen.
Running a business online can feel overwhelming. There are so many apps available it’s hard to know what to choose. Fiona Pullen recommends 10 free apps that make it easier to manage your business day-to-day.
Owning your own business is a dream many people share. But it also means taking on risk and giving up on positive things that a day job brings to your life. Here’s why it might be a good idea to hang onto your day job, at least for a little while longer.