By columnist Deanne aka: DeannePace
Photo courtesy of WookieHeadGifts

Who hasn’t imagined one of your very own original designs gracing the pages, or even the cover, of a magazine? Well, it could happen to you and it’s not as intimidating as you might think. With new DIY magazines popping up all the time, there is sure to be one dedicated to your art or craft.

The first step is to find the perfect magazine to showcase your work. Interweave or Kalmbach Publishing are a couple of good places to start. All You Can Read also has a long list. Or, just search the internet for magazines about your craft. You may already have a favorite!

The next step is to obtain the submission guidelines for the magazine you choose. Magazines often post their “submission guidelines” on their website, if they accept submissions. Here is an example of submission guidelines from Create and Decorate.

The submission guidelines vary, but most require you to first submit photos of your completed design and a brief description of the process and materials for consideration. Once your design submission has been accepted, you will be asked for detailed step-by-step instructions and materials list. You will probably also be asked to mail in the finished item for photographing by the magazine. (Don’t worry, it will be returned!) It may take several weeks to hear from the magazine. Don’t be discouraged! There is plenty to do while you await their response.
If you haven’t already written your detailed, step-by-step instructions, now is the time to start. In my opinion, this is actually the trickiest part – remembering to write down each step without leaving out anything important. A great way to test your instructions is to have someone else try to follow them. If your design is for beginners, try to get someone that is unfamiliar with your craft to be your guinea pig. You will know right away if you left out a step!

Once you are satisfied that your instructions are complete, you can begin photographing the steps, if that is a requirement. If you are not sure that the quality of your photographs is ready for publication, send a sample to the editor for approval before photographing your whole process. Take a photo of each step of your instructions. Photographing next to a window is generally all the light you need. You can have someone photograph photograph the steps as you do them, but it’s entirely possible to photograph them yourself if your camera has a timer. Either way, use a tripod for super clear photographs. This is one instance where out-of-focus isn’t the desired effect. Edit your photographs for each step before taking photos of the next step. This will save you lots of headaches, not to mention time and materials.

Submit a good, clear photo of each step. The magazine may not use all the photos, but that’s the editor’s decision.

Once accepted, you may not see your article in print for six months to a year and the pay is probably not enough for you to retire. But, it’s fabulous advertising and you’re getting paid for it! Plus, you have just added another facet to your business. The magazine will generally post a short bio along with your photo and website or contact info so you will have a brand-new audience, not only for your finished artwork, but also for your tutorials should you decide to sell them online. There are many possibilities! You might find you love writing tutorials and become a regular contributor. This, in turn, could lead to writing your own book or collaborating with others on a book about your favorite craft. Or teaching!

Not ready to jump head-first into a tutorial? Or give up your trade secrets? Instead, you might want to submit a photo of your completed design for the reader’s gallery of your favorite magazine. Many magazines also post a reader’s galleries in their online version. It’s a great way to see your work in print and get some free publicity at a fraction of the effort of a complete tutorial!

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Photo courtesy of Proofreader

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By columnist Pam of ElectricPenguin
Photo courtesy of Gigglebot

Are you one of the world’s worst typists? Do you type words that your spell checker thinks are legit, but you don’t? Have you copied a listing description multiple times only to find that there was a very obvious typo, and now you have to edit 10 items to fix it? I plead guilty to all of the above. In fact, I recently discovered that my shop title had the word “jewelry” misspelled in it!!!! How embarrassing!

Even professional print shops can miss things. I once saw an announcement card for a doctor’s office that was relocating. It was being sent to all of their patients, suppliers, and referrals. The word “Batter” in the title had three t’s!! It had gone through multiple reviews too, so it was kind of surprising that no one saw it until after it was printed. That was a very expensive typo to miss!

Photo courtesy of DinkyDaisy

So I’m here to stress proofreading your descriptions, titles, tags, profiles, announcements, etc. Appearance is everything in the on-line world, and your photos, titles, and descriptions are what draws people into your shop and keeps them there. Let’s also realize that mistyped words may mess up Google Analytics.

The first step is to spell check – if you have access to a program that does that. Unfortunately, it can’t catch things like “tot he” for “to the” and “from” instead of “form” (my most common typos!). Oh, but I wish it could!!! Next, you should SLOWLY reread everything to be sure. Does it make sense to you? Is the grammar correct? Do you read it and wonder if maybe you typed it in your sleep because it’s so bad? If you have the Google toolbar, there is a spell check there. It comes in handy when you are writing while on-line.

After you’ve double checked it, have someone else give it a once over. You’d be amazed what other people see that you might skip over! I’m notorious for skimming over words like “not.” Sometimes that can be vital to the sentence! One seller I talked to had her 10 year old son proofread. He was really good at it too! If you’re a member of a team, you could ask them to take a look. They also might see important things that are missing, such as size or color of an item.

Hopefully this gave you a few tips to help improve your shop!

P.S I had 5 typos in this!!

Slide photo courtesy of sbartist
Edited by Barbra aka All About The Buttons

By Columnist Nina aka: mamaslittletreasures
Image courtesy of free-slideshow

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.” We’ve all heard it before, and we all understand that if you ever want to get anywhere, you have to get started by taking that first step. But sometimes we feel so overwhelmed by all of the information, options, opportunities, and possibilities that bombard us everywhere we look, that it is common to feel completely confused. And when we get confused and overwhelmed, we just don’t do anything at all. Too many choices. Have you ever gone into a store and even though you really wanted to buy something, there were just so many choices that in frustration you just walked out without buying anything at all? That’s one of those times when you really need a list!

Perhaps you have also heard these words of wisdom: “The way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time.” That’s the image you need to keep in mind at all times when you are trying to reach your goal . . . whatever YOUR goal might be. Probably YOUR goal is not to eat an elephant – but whatever you see out there in front of you might seem just as huge, just as overwhelming, and just as impossible as eating an elephant.

So HOW do you reach your goals in life, when everywhere you look you see obstacles that seem insurmountable? One thing that has kept me focused at times when life felt confusing and uncertain is this one little thought: “Just do the next thing.” I know that seems rather simplistic, but when you can’t see beyond the next thing, right in front of you, THAT is one thing that you can do.

What does that look like in reality? Here are a few things that have helped me sort through the explosion of information that sometimes makes me feel as if I’m drowning in words:

1. Make a list. How obvious is that? But don’t just make a list, break down your goals in measureable increments.

* For instance, say you want to start a business making bean bags. Here is how your list might start out:

A. Design five different bean bags

B. List all necessary supplies to purchase.

C. Schedule a specific time to shop for supplies.

D. Schedule a specific time to create 20 bean bags (4 ea. of 5 different designs)

2. Create inventory. Set aside one afternoon to make as many beanbags as you can to get started. Then schedule another specific block of time to make another batch.

3. Set up online shop to list and sell inventory (Etsy, Zibbet, Bonanzle, eBay, etc.)

A. Create personalized banner / brand

B. Stock your shop with inventory you have created

4. Establish online connections to promote your product:

A. Facebook fan page

B. Twitter account

C. IndieSmiles where you can participate in Happy Made Tweets at www.happymadetweets.com

D. LinkedIn account

E. Other social marketing / networking websites

5. Continue creating more inventory, stock your shop consistently, post your sales, promos, discounts, etc. regularly on your FB page, Twitter, and IndieSmiles.

6. Anywhere along the line in this list of “next steps” that you don’t know HOW to do something, simply ask for help! There are lots of people here at IndieSmiles who can either help you with a task or we know someone who can. Just let us know!

Now this is obviously a very simplified version of what it takes to reach your goals . . . . but if you simply don’t know WHERE to start, this is a great way to get going. Why? Because all of the projects on the list are SPECIFIC. That’s what it takes if you want to “just do the next thing.” You have to know what the “next thing” is! When you make your list, it might be different than this one, but here are the requirements for putting together a list that will work for you:

* Everything on your list must be SPECIFIC – don’t put down “make stuff someday,” but instead put down “make 20 beanbags on Thursday.”

* Everything on your list must be MEASUREABLE – again, don’t just put down “set up online shop someday,” but instead put down “set up Etsy shop Tuesday night.”

* Everything on your list must be “CHECKABLE” – what that means is that you need to be able to KNOW when something is finished / completed, so that you can check it off of your list. Why is this important? Because then you will see your progress!

So, list-making is not easy for all of us, but I promise you if you can learn how to be a successful “list-maker” you can reach any goal, simply by “just doing the next thing” on the list. And since I’m such a great “list-maker,” I would be happy to help you with your specific list-making project. Just shoot me an email and I’ll see what I can do to help you get that list started and get you on your way to reaching your own goals.

Slide show photo courtesy of PreciousKnitsShop
Edited by Barbra aka: All About The Buttons

Article by columnist Barbra aka: All About The Buttons
Photo courtesy of Card Maven

The great grand-daughter of the etiquette queen, Emily Post, said recently that with the new technology of this century many of the old rules still apply in communication and yet, many new questions and situations arise. When is a ‘thank you’ called for? Why is it important? What is an acceptable amount of time to respond to an e-mail? Let’s tackle these questions and maybe others in the future.
Many people on-line share and write about other artists for no compensation. They do it because they love it, as with the columnists here at Indie Smiles. Sadly, many have encountered silence with their e-mail communications on both sides. People are just not answering legitimate communication. Longer than 24 hours to respond is rarely excusable. How can you run an internet business if this area is ignored? On the other side, when articles, interviews, treasuries, blog posts, etc. are published, gratitude is not apparent. Someone attempted to spotlight you and your creations in the hopes that more business will be driven to your shop….isn’t this what you want? And for free!!! The other day I received an e-mail from a spotlighted artist thanking me for the traffic that evidently was tracked from one of our articles to her. I felt great. She felt great. Win-win! And on the same day I received permission for a photo 5 days after I first communicated…too late!
In the world of handmade and internet selling, communication is huge. Do you want to be so busy that you can’t say “Thank You!”? If an e-mail goes unanswered, you may have lost not just one customer but all the ones that trickle down. If you don’t say “thank you” when appropriate, again, another potential loss. I’ve seen on the Etsy forums that some people have a “Do not buy from” list…do you want to be on it?
We all work hard and are over the moon when a sale comes through and hopefully express gratitude to our customer. The impact of good manners runs deep and we all need to recognize how deep the absence of it can go. So answer those e-mails, thank your customers, comment on blogs, appreciate treasury makers and move on to greater selling.
It will make someone’s day!
P.S.~ Six days ago I contacted 4 active (shops open) artists for photo permission. I received 2 responses…ugh! Sincere thanks to those who responded.♥

Slide show photo courtesy of IzzysPlace

By Publisher Sue aka Alongcomesmary
If you haven’t found Twitter you are missing out! Because now there is a new website brought to you by Indiesmiles.com, a twitter app of sorts that provides tweets from only handmade and vintage shops! Happy Made Tweets finds those who post on twitter about Etsy, Folksy, Artifre and Zibbet!

If you haven’t had a relationship with Happy Made Tweets then you haven’t found the handmade and vintage FUN! When visiting Indiesmiles sister website this morning, some tweets stood our and caught attention! The following Tweets provide some insight as to which tweets can be eye catchers and helpful when promoting your business!

It’s amazing to watch Happy Made Tweets, because it shows that most people that are promoting on Twitter seem to be Tweeting about Etsy shops. Where are all the sellers from the various other venues? If you sell on another website, such as Zibbet, your tweets will show up on Happy Made Tweets as well, so use Twitter to your advantage and promote away!

The following Tweets are a great example of what you can do to not only get your shop and your items noticed, but how you can be a thoughtful Tweeter!

“JACKSKNITS 10% off all items in my folksy shop until 25/6/10 …..please message me first http://www.folksy.com/shop/jacksknits ”
What a great way to get the word out about her sale!

Jacky from Folksy indicated that custom orders are always welcomed!

“AnnabelBurton I have been busy! >http://www.folksy.com/shops/cherrytree”

“I love combining sewing, knitting and crochet altogether and this bag combines all three. I like the fact that the strap unties so can be adjusted and is plenty long enough to wear across the body.

Sometimes general Tweets also can grab people’s attention!

“monikadesign @demure4you TY so much! RT So Cute! RT @monikadesign: NEW! Ladybug Coasters set of 4 by MonikaDesign on #Etsy http://ow.ly/1Xsyx #handmade”

Monikadesign is a lucky gal, there were many Etsy tweets, but this one is an eye catcher!
Seems that Indiesmiles it not the only place where MonikaDesign’s is featured, seems that she was interviewed by
“Woman’s First” magazine in 2009! Congrats Monikadesign’s!

RT help others, it’s always a nice way to PIF on Twitter!

“sisterjewelry SJ’’s Pink Lemonade Watch http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=Shop&op=listing&product_id=1336031 ”

“I feel very honored.I’d love to be in your article.Please send me a link, and Ill make sure it gets around to others….”
Giving your item a catchy name often makes people curious!

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Article by columnist Pam of Electric Penguin
Photo courtesy of KishPhotography

It’s just about summer. And with that, for many, comes vacation time!!! While I can’t wait to get away, there’s still the worry about what will happen in my shop while I’m gone…Will I get a sale? How will they know it won’t be shipped right away? What if I don’t answer convo questions quickly? and more…Oh no!!

We all want happy customers. What works best for me, and many other shop owners, is NOT putting my shop in vacation mode. Although many use this feature, buyers can’t browse your products, and may never come back once you reopen. Google seems to have issues with reactivating your listings in their search as well.

I choose another method. I put an announcement at the top of my shop page, saying something to the effect of “I’ll be away and not shipping any orders out until X date (be specific on the date).” If I’ll have access to the internet, I add that I will still be able to respond to convos/emails. I add in basically the same info in the message that goes to buyers once they’ve completed a sale .

If I get a sale, I make sure I contact the buyer and remind them about the shipping delay. Some shop owners will mention the option to cancel the sale if the buyer can’t wait for them to return. I don’t, but would certainly understand if a cancellation happened for that reason.

Upon returning home I will attend to any sales or convos immediately. We must remember we are in business and want to provide the best customer service we can, even when the sun is shining and we’re heading off for a getaway.

Hopefully these tips help you when you set off on your summer adventures.
Happy vacationing!!!

Slide Photo courtesy of Beach Grass Cottage
Edited by Barbra aka All About The Buttons

Image courtesy of It’s all about the graphics

By Contributing Columnist Amy of MissBaclartdesigns

Craft sales are down, money is tight and advertising costs are high. So how do small craft businesses really survive through these tough economic times? Well, to be honest, if I knew the definitive answer to this question, I would be laughing. My little business would be booming and I would be taking over the world! So what do we do to try to answer this ever-puzzling question?

Marketing, marketing, marketing. This is truly the key as far as I can see. If we take for example my business, Miss Baclart Designs. A small business, run from home, funded by my full time job as a PA. I have many great ideas and a maze of avenues to venture down, but I am limited in what I can do, because of funding. How do we get more funding? Making sales of course! However, as we all know making sales is more difficult than ever. People are struggling to pay their bills, let alone thinking of accessorizing their houses or buying themselves little hand made delights from shops like Folksy. However, I think with a little bit of clever advertising, we can all uplift our spirits and more importantly, uplift our bank balances.

It is all about getting yourself out there. I had a stall in the craft tent at a local agricultural show recently. It cost around £50 to hire the stand for the day, which included a 6 ft table and two chairs. Not a bad price for a craft stand considering some of the other craft events I have looked into. So, I was £50 down for just requesting a stand and with stock on top of that it was nearer £150. In the end, I covered the cost of being there for the day and made a small, yet much appreciated profit. Despite the very small amount of money made from the days events, the networking opportunities that came from the day were of far greater value to my business.

Having good quality business cards and flyer available for people to take away with them is such an important element of marketing. Business stationery speaks volumes for your brand. Good quality business cards, flyers, even promotional pens, give people confidence in your brand. If you can take the time and money to design and print decent business stationery, it shows your customers that you are proud of what you do and that you believe in your brand.

If someone buys something from you, give them bag for their items with your brand on it. This does not have to cost you lots of money; I brought 125 brown handled bags for £6 from a local supplier and made my own tags to hang off the bags. Now, this took a bit of time and a lot of creative energy, but the final product was well worth it. So long as you make sure your brand name and brief description about what you sell is on there, it is a great marketing tool. Not only do people the walk around the rest of the craft fair advertising your brand, think how many bags you re-use. I know that if I get a nice bag from a shop, I keep hold of it for shopping etc. Everyone is keen on saving the environment and this is yet more advertising for your brand, because there is the chance that you may then get your buyer going home and re-using the bag, thus spreading your brand even further; this has cost you minimum amounts, but could potentially give you a maximum effect.

Speak to as many sellers as you can when you are at craft events. Find out what they do, ask if they are having a successful day, see what they are selling and make sure you take their business details, as they are then more likely to take yours. Do some market research and try to find out how other crafters are finding the day. If you find they are making a profit and you are not, stand back and look at their stand to see how they are marketing their products differently to you. You are not stealing their ideas, but just observing what is working for them and finding ways to apply the marketing style to your work.

Make sure your brand is clear and distinguished. You need to make sure that your company name is clearly visible with a snippet of what you sell detailed on it. Think about big brands like Kelloggs or Tescos, they are brands we recognise in an instant because their logos are so distinctive. Obviously those specific companies have had lots of money ploughed into their marketing, but we all have to start somewhere. Too much information can be confusing, but too little information can be misleading. Get it right, or your brand could loose out to your competitors.

Essentially, what I am trying to say here is look around, see what marketing tools work for others and use them to elevate your business to new heights. Think about your product from a consumer’s point of view and be honest with yourself; would you buy what you are selling? If the answer is yes, then that is great. Go for it full pelt and get out there! If it is a no, then I am afraid it is back to the drawing board. Get thinking and get creative. Good Luck!

Image by The Sun Room on Folksy

By contributing columnist Connie of KonnieKapow on Folksy