In this post, I'm going to share with you the entire timeline of my very first handmade jewelry business, Tiny Hands Jewelry, where I've made over $1,000,000 in sales cumulatively over the last 14 years that I've been running this business. You’ll want to read to the very end where I’ll share with you the top 3 takeaways from all of this. Hi, my name is Mei, and I help makers, artists and designers make a consistent living from selling their handmade products online.

The Beginning

I had never done anything truly creative or made anything with my hands until I turned 15 years old.  I was born and raised in Malaysia, where doing anything artistic or creative is not valued as much as other fields like science, math, or economics.  What really started all of this, was when my mom and I decided to sign up for a jewelry making class for the first time together. You're probably familiar with the story, where we got so into making jewelry that we ended up making so many pieces that we didn't know what to do with it so we decided to sell them online! It goes without saying, that the things that we were making at the time, weren't made with the intention to sell and we weren’t thinking about our customers. We made them because we just enjoyed the process of shopping for supplies and, honestly, we didn’t know any better. Our first few products were definitely what I like to call a “garage sale” product line.  I'll share with you a few pictures that I could find from my old deviantART account, which is a site where I liked to share pictures of the products that I made.

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If you want to start selling craft patterns, read this post first because I’ll be talking about the challenges you need to look out for, how to stand out and position yourself to make the most sales, production, pricing, distribution and a whole lot more!

Hi, my name is Mei and I help makers, artists and designers make a consistent income from selling their handmade products online.

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If you’re a handmade business looking to level up your Instagram marketing, start growing your followers, and actually make sales, read this post. I’m going to share with you why just posting photos after photos is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Instagram, and the secret strategies you should be using instead.

Hi, my name is Mei and I help makers, artists and designers make a consistent income from selling their handmade products online.

Instagram is a really popular platform for marketing your handmade business. It’s visually-driven, which is great for us handmade business owners because everything we do is visual.

52% of Instagram users are female and the largest age category are 18-24 year olds. 3 out of every 4 people aged 18-24 use Instagram and roughly 1 out of every 2 people ages 25-49 use it too.

It’s not really true that only teenagers use the platform. I’ve worked with a lot of small business owners, and chances are your ideal customer is within this demographic. If your customer is there, it would be a good idea for you to be there too.

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Most small businesses fail for a variety of reasons that you can control and avoid. Are you effectively using your time to make sure your business doesn’t become a failure?

In this post, I’m going to share with you my top six productivity book recommendations that you should read, so you can actually start taking action on what really matters in your business.

Hi, my name is Mei and I help makers, artists and designers make a consistent living from selling their handmade products online.

I’ve been self-employed and running my own businesses for over 14 years now and I know it’s a huge struggle to have self-initiative and motivation to actually do a lot of the work that isn’t fun for creatives to move your business forward, especially since we don’t have the same kind of accountability that a corporate employee would have.

If you stop showing up for your business when you’re just getting started, nothing’s really going to happen. You don’t feel the pinch. But if you stop showing up to work, you can bet your boss is going to fire you. 

I put together a few book recommendations that I hope you'll really love and help your business grow.

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If you’re thinking about starting a printables business, stay here to read this post because I’m going to share with you how to start it, what you need to know and basically give you your printables business blueprint.

Hi! My name is Mei and I help makers, artists and designers make a consistent income from selling their products online. 

What is a “Printables” Business?

When I say a ‘printables business’, I mean any business where you’re selling a digital item that the customer then has to print themselves at home to use it. The list of what you can make is endless.

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