Chocolate on the keyboard: September 2010

Sep 26, 2010

Sigh....oh I still BILLieve

But I just don't handle all the near misses & mistakes the Bills make, very well. The Buffalo Bills haven't had a winning season in YEARS....but I remain a loyal fan. Today they played pretty good for the most part (I watched the game here in Florida via my computer). Playing in New England has always been our toughest games, even when we had Jim Kelly and crew on board...its a difficult place to win in. I wanted to at least be entertained, and today I was until the last few minutes anyway. So on to next week...Go Bills!!
"We can't dwell on the past but we can learn from it; we must learn from it if we want a brighter future. We can't wait to live until things are perfect; we have to make the best use of the present." Thena Smith

Sep 23, 2010

I am a craft show-aholic although I haven't been to any since I moved to Florida. Through my friendships made on community forums like pcCrafter - I have found several gals that are the actual creators of beautiful hand made crafted items that I covet and enjoy buying or just wishing I could buy it all. These talented ladies (and some men too) often share their craft booth photos, tell of their successes and misses in what they craft and sell and it gives me and others the feelings of what goes on "inside" and "behind" the booth at a craft show.

And though I may not be a "crafter" myself - I do like researching and finding information about the business of crafting.
So I am copying and pasting all the links and info I had posted in a thread over at pcCrafter.com's messageboard to share here on my blog. (**just in case pccrafter.com should ever cease to be online with their community forums, I have begun saving a few of my threads that I have posted over the years over there)

Some links are "archived" links..as the original webpages have either been moved or "re"moved from the websites they originally were on:
in no particular order to any of these - Happy Linking Around

I wish all of my crafty friends, many sales ahead during this Fall and Christmas season of Craft Shows

About.com's Arts and Crafts Business resources

http://artsandcrafts.about.com/

Getting Started

http://festivalnet.com/other/news_letters/Artists/getting_started_craft_shows_05_08.html

Crafty Business Goal Setting
http://www.craftcritique.com/2010/03/tuesdays-with-toolulu-crafty-business.html

Tips For A Successful Craft Show
http://thinkcrafts.com/blog/2009/07/24/tips-for-a-successful-craft-show/

Laura Bray’s Blog
http://www.katydiddys.blogspot.com/

Arts and Crafts – Business or Hobby
http://katydiddys.blogspot.com/2010/03/arts-and-crafts-business-or-hobby.html

other articles of interest
From Crafting an MBA
excerpt quoted from website
crafting an MBA asks, what would business school look like if it was geared towards crafters, designers, and makers?
http://craftmba.com/

copyright, trademarks, and patents
http://craftmba.com/2010/03/09/copyright-trademarks-and-patents/

Etsy and the culture of cheap
http://craftmba.com/2010/01/19/etsy-and-the-culture-of-cheap/

Visit too
http://www.professionalcrafters.com/articles.html

Excerpt quoted from website
MyMommyBiz Craft Business Central contains useful advice and resources for professional crafters as well as hobbyists looking to expand. Whether you are selling in crafts fairs, consignment shops, auctions, or online, you will find great information to help grow and expand your business.
http://www.mymommybiz.com/crafts/index.html

GetCreativeshow.com
http://www.getcreativeshow.com/Craft_Sew_Business/craft_sewing_business.htm
excerpt quoted from website
Learn from the experts how to run your craft or sewing business or SOHO in the most efficient and profitable manner possible!

Visit
http://artsandcrafts.about.com
Starting a Craft Business
Excerpts quoted from individual archived web pages:
Starting a Craft Business 101
Part 1: First Steps
Having a plan is important! Decide exactly what you want to do and how you are going to do it before starting. Here are some basic things crafters should know when planning a strategy
Read complete details/article
http://web.archive.org/web/20070104181301/artsandcrafts.about.com/bl101.htm
Starting a Craft Business 101
Part 2: Marketing a Craft Business
Marketing is the key ingredient to any successful business! You must have ways to get the word out about your products. Whether you will be attending craft shows, placing mail order ads, or selling your crafts online.
Read complete article:
http://web.archive.org/web/20070102155221/artsandcrafts.about.com/bl101b.htm
Starting a Craft Business 101
Part 3: Finding Craft Suppliers
Running a craft business requires finding reliable suppliers with reasonable prices.
Read complete article:
http://web.archive.org/web/20070110002138/artsandcrafts.about.com/bl101c.htm
Getting Started Selling your Crafts
http://web.archive.org/web/20060208100636/artsandcrafts.about.com/od/gettingstarted/a/08022004.htm

Pricing your crafts
How to Price your Crafts
Deciding how much to charge for your crafts is an important decision. While ultimately you must decide what your products are worth, there are a few steps to follow that can help.
Difficulty Level: average Time Required: 30 minutes to several hours

Here's How: *excerpt quoted from website

From William T Lasley,
Your Guide to Arts / Crafts Business

"Decide how much you (or your employee) will be paid per hour to produce products. Multiply this hourly rate by the number of hours a week that will be spent producing crafts. Write down this figure, this is your weekly cost of labor. (If you need to make $10 per hour, working 40 hours per week the weekly cost of labor would be $400.) Calculate the total cost-of-supplies needed to make one finished product. Determine how many products one person can produce in a week. Multiply the cost of supplies-per-piece by the number of products produced in a week. (If your cost of materials per piece is $1 and you can produce 100 products a week, the figure would be $100.) Add this figure to your weekly labor costs. (In our example here that would be $400 + $100 = $500) Divide this figure by the number of products produced in a week. (So $500 labor/materials divided by 100 finished products a week would be $5.00 per piece.) If you will be wholesaling your products, multiply this number by two. (Which would give you a retail price of $10 per product.) Compare this cost to similar products on the market. If your price is more than similar products, you may need to reduce it by cutting hourly price, finding less expensive supplies or by increasing your production time. If your price is significantly less than similar products, you may want to consider raising your price. Tips:
Usually one piece will not use an entire supply unit. For instance an 8-ounce bottle of glue may make a hundred pieces. In this case, calculate how many pieces can be produced from a supply and divide by the cost of the supply. This equation does not take into account any expenses other than labor and materials. You can figure in weekly costs of any other business expenses that you may have and add it to the weekly labor and material cost. "

From William T Lasley,
Your Guide to Arts / Crafts Business.

Related Articles
Price Your Crafts
and read this article
Adjusting Prices of your products

http://handmadeforprofit.com/2009/02/barbs-quiktip-5-pricing/
Also:
The Crafts Report
http://www.craftsreport.com/
Industry FAQs
http://web.archive.org/web/20080327092305/http://www.craftsreport.com/commonfiles/faq-industry.html
Overcome Doubts and Fears about running your own craft business
http://www.craftsreport.com/beginning-business/168-overcome-doubts-about-running-your-own-craft-business.html

More articles
http://www.craftsreport.com/articles.html

6 Important Things To Know About Setting Up Your Craft Business
http://www.sunshineglassworks.com/articles/settingupbiz.shtml

THE 12 SECRETS TO STARTING A HOME-BASED CRAFT BUSINESS
http://www.getcreativeshow.com/Craft_Sew_Business/Business_Seminars/craftbusiness4.htm

Home Based Craft Business Survival Tips
http://www.craftmarketer.com/home_based_craft_business.htm

Selling your crafts
http://www.craftmarketer.com/sellyourcrafts/

How to Sell at Craft Fairs and Shows
Interested in turning your artistic hobby into a business? Find out how you can make money by selling your handicrafts at art shows and craft fairs.
http://www.entrepreneur.com/startingabusiness/businessideas/article76936.html

Do You Want to Make Money or Create
http://smallerbox.net/blog/growing-your-business/do-you-want-to-make-money-or-create/

Creativity Counts
Discover how to take your crafting hobby from downtime to big time.
http://www.entrepreneur.com/magazine/entrepreneursstartupsmagazine/2008/may/193422.html

Making it yourself *PDF file 19 pages
In this book, craft refers to any handmade item that can be given as a gift or sold
http://www.entrepreneur.com/downloads/guides/1304_Crafts_Business_ch1.pdf

Barbara Brabek’s Homemade for Profit
http://handmadeforprofit.com/2009/01/home-business-family-issues/

See too:
Creative Printing and Computer Crafts
http://desktoppub.about.com/od/crafts/Creative_Printing_and_Computer_Crafts.htm

Computer Craft Project links
http://www.allcrafts.net/computer.htm

Video:
How to Blog
http://www.becomeablogger.com/