An Interview with Craft Business Owner "Cathy of California"

I just came across this wonderful interview with Cathy Callahan, owner of the craft business, Cathy of California. She makes some really wonderful, vintage-style crafts and has her own successful craft business web site (and the design is super cool).

The interview is short, but there are links to her website and blog, and you can get a ton of good, quality information by just visiting her sites and seeing how she works.

Happy Crafting!

Chuck Smith
www.MyCraftBusiness.com

Technorati Tags: craft business, crafts, sell my crafts, small business, work at home, craft fair, craft show, craft project, craft plan

Successful Crafters Need Business Sense

I found this short craft business article on the Asbury Park Press website. In the article, a couple of crafters discuss the need for some business skills if you are going to be successful on the craft fair circuit. There's also some encouraging words about the amount of business done at many of these craft fairs, and how successful others have been.

Take a couple minutes to check out the article.

Happy Crafting!

Chuck

Technorati Tags: craft business, crafts, sell my crafts, small business, work at home, craft fair, craft show, craft project, craft plan

Taking Your Craft Business to the Retail World

I found this very interesting article in The Courier News (a Chicago area paper) about a woman who is offering custom-made body and bath products - shampoos, lotions, shower gels, etc. - out of a retail outlet in St. Charles.

The interesting thing is that the owner, Dina Marie Tenuto, started out selling her handcrafted products from a cart at craft fairs and shows. Customer demand soon outstripped her ability to handle customers with just the cart, and she opened the retail store. To open the shop, she quit her finance job and is now a full-time craft marketer.

Here is an example of someone who took their craft business to an entirely new level.

Happy Crafting!

Chuck

Technorati Tags: craft business, crafts, sell my crafts, small business, work at home, craft fair, craft show, craft project, craft plan

Grants for Local Cumbrian Crafters

This is a very specific post, but as I have a number of readers in the UK, I thought it would be worth mentioning...

The Distinctly Cumbrian programme offer rural Cumbrian businesses the ability to receive a grant for a new or existing business. You can find out more at the Cumbrian Rural Enterprise Agency website.

There's also a story in the Times & Star that discusses this program.

Again, if you're in the Cumbria region, you should check it out. It may be a way to start your own craft business, or expand your existing craft business.

Happy Crafting!

Chuck

Technorati Tags: craft business, crafts, sell my crafts, small business, work at home, craft fair, craft show, craft project, craft plan

Why So Many Emails, Chuck?

I've received a number of complaints about the amount of email I have been sending to my pre-launch list and to my regular craft business email list over the past week about my new product, "How to Start Your Own Craft Business." So I'm going to explain the logic behind the flurry of emails, and I hope you'll understand...

As someone who has been selling information products on the Internet for over four years
now, I have seen a lot of changes in the way that email has been treated. When I started out, email was received as a novelty, and everyone looked forward to receiving emails.

But with all of the dirtbag spammers who have come out of the woodwork over the past few
years, emails are now very difficult to get through to the intended audience. Filters and a general dislike for email have reduced emails effectiveness so that emails have trouble getting delivered, let alone getting read. Basically, most email is viewed as "junk mail."

So, in order to get my message through, I tend to send out a lot of email around events like
the launch of my new product. With people being busy, emails getting filtered or just plain lost, and a general disregard for junk email, I try to keep my message in front of the readers who are interested in starting and running their own craft business.

I know I can be a bit long-winded, but I truly believe in my products and I know they can help people in achieving their dreams of being their own boss in a business they love.

So, if you don't like all the emails, you have a couple of options:

1. Just delete the emails - this is the easiest thing you can do (like throwing out your junk mail, except you're not filling up our landfills).
2. Unsubscribe from the list - it's not going to hurt my feelings, and if you don't think the information can help, then you should just click the unsubscribe link.

I hope this clears things up about my email plans. I am going to be sending out more emails this week leading up to the end of the launch promotion - midnight EST on Friday. So don't be surprised if you see 4 or 5 more emails about the launch - I'm that passionate about the new product, and I want as many people as possible to take advantage of this special promotion.

Thanks,

Chuck

P.S. You can check out the info page for "How to Start Your Own Craft Business" at www.mycraftbusiness.com/cbsales.htm

Technorati Tags: craft business, crafts, sell my crafts, small business, work at home, craft fair, craft show, craft project, craft plan

I'm Experiencing Technical Difficulties

Well, the worst case scenario has happened for me. I've run into some technical issues in
recording an audio and creating some online videos for the launch of:

"How to Start Your Own Craft Business"

I've been working non-stop for the past couple of weeks to polish up the craft business guide I've been developing. It's 95% there (maybe 97%!), but I've run into a couple of snags.

I don't think it will take too long to have a couple of my friends help me through this, but it does mean I am going to have to delay the launch.

Initially, I was going to announce the availability to this pre-launch list on Thursday evening. I've been struggling with when to announce, and I've decided that the official launch date will be:

Monday, November 6th at 7:00 am EST

I thought about a Friday launch, but a lot of you will likely have plans. Same goes for Saturday and Sunday. So, I came up with first thing on Monday morning (at least for me).

As members of this pre-launch list, you will be the first to know. I'll send out an email at 7:00 am EST on Monday to let you know where you can find the info page for the new guide.

Later that day (probably around noon), I'll be releasing an email to the entire Craft Business list (it will be over 6,000 by then), as well as to some other list owners who have 1,000s of people on their lists.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

If you want to take advantage of the special bonuses available to the first 100 buyers and during the first 24 hours (until Tuesday at 7:00 am EST), then you need to check out the
info page as quickly as possible.

Here's the bonuses again:

• First 24 Hours - You can send me 2 questions you have about starting, running, and marketing your own successful craft business. I will take all of the questions submitted, and record my answers in MP3 format so you can listen to them on your computer or on an MP3 player (like an iPod), or burn the file to a CD.
• First 100 Purchasers - I am recording a special downloadable video that shows you how you can create your own FREE craft business website. The solution I'll outline is as easy as filling out some forms online. And, best of all, the search engines love these sites and your customers will be able to interact with you easily.

These two special bonuses are my way of saying "Thank You" to the very first buyers of what
I think of as my best product ever.

So watch your email on Monday morning for an email from me titled:

"Hurry! The craft business guide is ready!"

Have a great weekend and...

Happy Crafting!

Chuck Smith

Technorati Tags: craft business, crafts, sell my crafts, small business, work at home, craft fair, craft show, craft project, craft plan