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Why Your Competitors Are Your Secret Weapon To Success

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Why Your Competitors Are Your Secret Weapon To Success

“Your enemy can be your best teacher”- Dali Lama

It’s natural that as an artist or maker, every single item you create has a little bit of you in it.

It was your creative vision that made it, and your nimble hands that painted the brush strokes, cut that pattern with a scalpel or turned that stone into a pendant.

It was your time you sacrificed away from your friends or family, or mostly in my case Netflix and gym visits, to make that beautiful piece of art.

So when we think about successful people in our niches, we can get a bit….well…..defensive and our self confidence takes a nosedive.

We start to do what we do best, beat ourselves up!

In my Facebook group recently I asked my creative friends what thoughts spring to mind when thinking about their online competition.  

The people who are making a full time income from their creative talents and are further along the journey than them.

Here is what they said.

“Looking at online shops that are doing better than me makes me feel totally and utterly worthless”

“I’m not sure who my competition is, there are so many of us doing the same thing which feels pretty much like rubbish if I’m honest.”

“When I think about my competitors, especially those at the top of the tree, I just think ‘Gosh, they are untouchable' and then I wonder how the hell they got there and I’m still here.”

[Read more…]

How To Find What Makes Your Brand Unique + Why Handmade and Made In The USA is No Longer Enough

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How To Find What Makes Your Brand Unique + Why Handmade and Made In The USA is No Longer Enough

So you're a handmade business owner.

Turning your passion into a business and creating an income from your sales is admirable!

But are you feeling stuck?

You're not getting many sales and it feels really hard to turn one time customers into repeat sales.

But just like going to the clinic to get some answers for what's causing that intense migraine,  there can be numerous causes for the problem you're having in your business.

Your prices might be wrong.

Your photos might be bad.

Your product line might not be cohesive.

Sometimes you really need to go back to the basics.

However, the problem that plagues most small business owners is not being clear on what makes you unique.

What is your unique selling proposition (USP)?

What is your shop known for?

Without a clear and concise USP, you'll struggle to build a consistent income.

In this article, I'll show you how you can find out your USP and finally start moving in the right direction!

[Read more…]

How to respond to “I could make that” in your handmade business

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You're busting your butt doing a craft show on a hot and humid Saturday.

Your booth catches the eyes of two women and they walk over.

They look interested!

They flip your product over and look for a price tag.

Oh uh, sticker shock.

They don't quite notice you standing there in your booth.

One of them whispers too loudly to their friend, “I could make this myself” and walks away.

Kind of stings, doesn't it?

This is definitely one of those roll-your-eyes moments.

Or imagine for a second what it's like in my handmade jewelry business, where my primary medium is polymer clay.

You can buy 2 ounce blocks of polymer clay in any color you desire at virtually any craft store in the US for under $3 each.

The price of my material cost is a known fact to many polymer clay hobbyists.

And hobbyists know that I'm only using a small fraction of a 2 ounce block of clay to make one $28 necklace.

People balk at my high end prices all the time.

They also think they could make the jewelry that I make for a living.

This is an important discussion to have, especially with the recent viral video where an art curator explains why you couldn't really make that art.

I bet at some point in your creative business, you've had someone say this to you too.

“I could make that.”

I asked a few creatives in my private Facebook mastermind group how they would respond to this

Here are a few brilliant answers (that I think are better than the response from the video linked above):

[Read more…]

How to: model photography for your products

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How to: model photography for your products

Are you looking to do more with your shop's product photography?

You know you can convert more customers into sales if your shop is optimized.

Your product photography is no exception.

I've talked about how to take product photos on white backgrounds and how you can edit those photos using a free software.

Today, we'll take this to another level and talk about how you can take photos of your product on models!

[Read more…]

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I'm Mei ('may') from Minneapolis. I want to help you build a sustainable, profitable handmade business that makes you consistent income and sales. I only ever teach or recommend marketing, social media, pricing, production and branding tips that I've personally used in my own handmade business and that I know work.
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