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Small Budget And Big Jump – Tips To Turn Your Craft Hobby Into A Freelancing Success

January 9, 2017 by

You love crafting and now you feel ready to make an earning out of it? That’s great! But you need to know that craft business is a difficult activity, and that those who are not well prepared for it will fail horribly. So, before you start printing out flyers about your independent crafting, it is still time to sit down and consider your first steps. Remember, preparation is the key to success, and that is valid for talented crafters too!Make Your Hobby your Business

Get Started With All The Little Administrative Steps
Going professional with your crafting hobby requires a solid setup, as discussed on a previous article of this blog, https://lookwhatmomfound.com/2016/12/lets-go-pro-make-money-crafting-hobbies.html. As you decide to take the freelancing route, you need to make it clear, especially for yourself, that this is a business that requires a professional attitude. This means that you need to develop a professional persona for your business, and remember to reply to your clients rapidly and helpfully. Make sure to remain available over the phone and via emails during your official working hours, and to get a business phone number if you can. This will help you separate private life from work. As you are ready to go public and attract clients, it is helpful to have your own website, which you can build easily with professional platforms.

Keep A Business Mindset: Make Room In Your Life
There is a misconception that going professional means having to invest in a vast office. This is wrong: All you need is to make room for your business activities. This could be with a room in your home, for example. Starting in an home office position will require the use of smart crafting tools that won’t invade your living space. Using small tools that works, such as a mini sewing machine for sew crafters,http://sewingmachinejudge.com/kenmore-ultra-mini-sewing-machine/ for example, can be a great support as you begin as a freelancer. You will also need to be careful to explain to your friends and family that working from home doesn’t mean that you are available during your working hours. Last, but not least, you should keep your crafting equipment away from children, who could damage it or get hurt. As a crafter, you will need to be creative at all times, so do make sure to always take a notebook with you: You never know when an interesting idea could come!

Build Up A Network
Successful businesses, even craft ones, need a good marketing plan to survive. While you may not have the budget to hire a marketing team of experts, you can certainly rely on the best marketing tools around you. Remember that when it comes down to craft, the best publicity is to see the actual end result. Therefore you will need to take pictures of your creations and to share them with your audience. Fortunately, modern social media platforms, such as Instagram.com are great for showing visuals to a large public. You can even build a group of followers! But this is not all. It is not uncommon for craft centers to promote their local crafters and invite them for a talk or an exhibition from time to time. This is an opportunity that you cannot miss, so get in touch with your local craft services as soon as you can!




Say Bye-Bye

April 5, 2011 by

Have you notices all the empty shopping centers and store fronts lately. Here’s a list of retailers going out business, closing SOME stores or re-inventing themselves to survive in this changing market.

B. Dalton Bookstores-the mall bookstore as I like to call it. I’ve purchased things from here but now where near as often as the big names shops Borders and Barnes and Noble.
Liz Claiborne– I’ve never even seen a standalone Liz store. I mean I’ve seen the name in department stores and discount joints like TJ Maxx.
Movie Gallery– With all the Redbox and Blockbuster kiosks around and the obscene amount of free codes floating around I doubt we’d ever set foot in another movie rental store.
AJ Wright-I’ve heard commercials for this store and figured it was something like a TJMaxx. It’s a place I would enjoy shopping in but never had the pleasure.
PH8– the Bebe offspring that died before it even had a chance to breathe.
Borders-What a powerhouse bookseller. I wonder where they went wrong? About 1/3 of their stores will close.
Blockbuster-Again, the emergence of the convenient NetFlix and the inexpensive kiosks that rent DVDs, Blue-rays and games have killed this movie rental giant.
Quiznos– Eh…I’ve never really been a fan. The commercials make the sandwiches so good but in real life they weren’t so good. If I want a hoagie I’ll go a couple local places that do them right
Nine West-Growing up I’ve always thought of them as fancy shoes. They were go-tos when I worked but today I sport a mean flip-flop.
F.Y.E.-I don’t know the last time I bought a CD. DVDs and Blu-rays we do buy but the prices are better at Target, Best Buy and Walmart.

 

 

I Disclose




Share and Save those Memories

March 17, 2011 by

Do you remember that funny story your kid told last Tuesday about the whale that was eating a popsicle? No? Did you record it? Did you write it down? It’s about time you recorded all those jokes, exaggerations and reflections on life where you, your friends and family can see.

MyMomMemories is the place to share, save and never forget those tidbits of funny, loving and shocking things that happen each day. Moms and Dads are always sharing stories about what goes on as a family but what happens when a month from now you want to share it with the grandparents. Most of the time we forget those things. We log stats in baby books, mark up door jams and hang pictures to capture moments in time but what about the things the kids day and do.

MyMomMemories was created by a father-daughter team who knew that they more time that passed the more memories they were going to forget. Facebook was working well but MyMomMemories is different because each memory shared is archived for easy retrieval later; no scrolling “older posts” over and over. In fact you can set up your MyMomMemories account to share to your Facebook account for your friends to see.

What the kids say today can be read tomorrow to continue the smiles, laughs and tears. Follow on Twitter to stay updated on MyMomMemories.com






I Disclose




When Sponsors Go Bad

May 13, 2010 by

A couple months back I signed up with a program where businesses who are looking to get the word out about their products or services reach out to bloggers. The bloggers are compensated with product, money or even credits to shop. I figured this would be another avenue to find cool stuff to review or write about. I accepted a campaign to write for a business that specializes in hand crafted glass accessories. I accepted because the owner/designer wasn’t just looking to promote his business but also a very cool opportunity he had worked on with Olympic athletes.
The Olympics were in full swing and I love everything about hand made products and the talent behind those products. These products were beautiful and the story behind it was great. The post was written, published and it got traffic. The owner/designer was pleased. In exchange for the post I was to receive a $25 merchandise credit. I was excited; I had picked out a couple items for Sabreena knowing she would also appreciate the products. I received info to redeem my credit but the code never worked, my emails were ignored but I held up my end of the bargain. I wasn’t so pissed off that I’m demanding a formal apology, more free stuff, financial compensation or even for the program to intervene. I know things happen and stuff is forgotten but I did communicate 4 times about this issue and never heard a word. I’m not saying this was done intentionally to cheat me out of $25 worth of product but it’s frustrating. I work hard to keep a schedule and communicate with sponsors and advertisers; I’m not always perfect but I try my hardest to maintain my integrity and most of all my work. Instances like this make me feel like bloggers work isn’t appreciated or taken seriously.
In the end a representative from the program made nice with me and said they would investigate. Not sure what if anything transpired; I don’t actually care. Just a word to companies, PR Reps, bloggers and everyone in between, keep your word, do what you say you will, and have a sense of honor when running your business.
This is a sponsored post but the opinions and descriptions presented belong solely to LookWhatMomFound…and Dad too! Your experiences and reactions may differ from ours.