A Crafty Book Proposal: Your Opportunity for Free Exposure

This isn't so much a "Tip for the Team" as it is an opportunity for team members. In short, I’m putting together a book of kid-themed craft tutorials, which I’m currently accepting for submission from crafters such as yourself. In total DIY fashion, I will compile, edit and self publish this book, and then market it both online and in venues that cater to the handmade community. Revenue from sales will go to publishing costs and if any profit is made it will go to the purchase of baby formula for infants in need. I currently use a portion of all my proceeds to purchase baby formula which I donate regularly to the Foothill Unity Center, a food bank located in my community of Pasadena, California.

Though featured crafters won’t receive financial compensation for their participation in this project, they will have the opportunity to have their work show-cased as well as their name mentioned along with a small bio, picture and contact info in the book, so that all who participate get due credit.

My goal here is to simply contribute to the handmade community by promoting a handful of talented crafters and sharing what they do best with the public.

Interested crafters should send the following to me at info@anisemouette.com
- tutorial
- pictures
- web site
- contact info

Please write CRAFTY BOOK PROPOSAL in the subject line and allow several weeks for response as I anticipate numerous submissions and want to give each one thorough consideration. Thank you for your participation. I look forward to hearing from all of you!

XOXO
anisemouette.etsy.com

Being a Girl Scout Is Finally Paying Off – Some Thirty Years Later!

I think everyone will agree that sales have been slower than slow these past few months, no matter how much interest we are able to generate. Relisting, twittering, chatterboxing, whatever… Nothing seems to be working with any consistency. So, what am I doing, you ask? Doing my best to prevent this economic bust from getting me down by challenging myself to work with new mediums. And in doing so, learning a new skill, or rather, in my case, relearning a new skill, has kept me busy as well as rekindled my love for handmade.

While I must admit that I was hardly the model Girl Scout (I hated camping then and I hate it now), my competitive nature motivated me to work towards earning as many badges as I could before dropping out (I think I lasted a year). One badge, specifically, required I learn to embroider. To fulfill this requirement, we had the option of taking a class from one of the scout’s mothers who was a whiz with a needle and thread. And she showed us how to do a number of stitches which I remember practicing, over and over, until I had them all down pat.

So, did I ever utilize those embroidery skills that I worked so hard to perfect some thirty years ago? The answer is, no, at least not until a couple of weeks ago when I decided to buy some felt after stumbling upon some really cute felt work on Etsy. At first, those skills I learned in that one embroidery lesson did not come to me with ease. In fact, it wasn’t until my third or fourth attempt that I even remembered earning that Girl Scout badge. But when I did, everything started to click and my ability to embroider started to improve. I can’t tell you the names of the stitches I’ve been using to make some new items for my shop. But who cares? The point is that I have generated new interest in my wares, from people who might have not checked out my shop otherwise, simply because I am working with a new medium, or rather, a medium I hadn’t worked with in over three decades.

So, my tip for you is to try something new, something totally different, and see what happens. If you’re lucky you’ll not only generate new business but have a lot of fun in the process and perhaps even find a new passion.

Good luck!

To see my new felt items, feel free to browse my shop: http://anisemouette.etsy.com

Boost Your Sales by Selling Your Wares at Brick & Mortar Shops

Often, it takes more than just your Etsy shop to get your handmade wares noticed and, ultimately, sold. In addition to selling online, you can do quite well by consigning your items at select brick and mortar shops that cater to crafters. I found a list of such shops on the “links” page of Handmade Galleries, a shop in Los Angeles where I rent a booth to showcase and sell my wares. The list was originally compiled by Oak of Boston. Be sure to check out their website (http://www.oakboston.com/catalog/) and Etsy shop (http://www. oakboston.etsy.com) as they deserve due credit for taking the time to search out all of these shops. To note, after stumbling upon this list, I was successful in making immediate contact with a handful of shops that are now carrying my retro-inspired tees and totes. Good luck!

http://bohemiatucson.com/
http://www.handmadegalleriesla.com
http://www.andelimited.com/
http://www.fancytiger.com
http://www.rainydaypaperback.com/
http://beehiveco-op.com/
http://www.uniquefreaque.com/
http://www.aurora-il.org/publicarts/museumshop.php
http://tangokdesign.com
http://www.renegadehandmade.com
http://www.sageanddaisy.com/
http://www.ilovethemakery.com/
http://lunaboutique.net/
http://www.deescrafts.com/
http://www.myspace.com/cherrybomblouisville
http://www.edithandedna.com/
http://www.oakboston.com
http://boutiquefabulous.com/
http://lushbeads.com/
http://magpie-store.com/
http://www.corazononline.com
http://www.coolplanetgoods.com
http://www.designcollectivempls.com
http://www.justplaincountrystore.com/
http://cricketsnest.com/
http://raredevice.net/
http://sodafine.com/
http://www.artezn.com/
http://www.handmadenyc.com
http://www.handmadenyc.com
http://www.whollycraft.net/
http://vixemporium.wordpress.com/
http://www.mewgallery.org
http://artstarphilly.com
http://www.mymy.us/store/
http://www.texasartspot.com
http://www.umedesigns.com/
http://theredthreadstudio.com
http://www.justplaincountrystore.com/
http://www.ashowofhands.biz/Site/Home.html
http://www.torpedofactory.org/
http://www.thesewingloungeburbank.com/

Be sure to check out my Etsy store if you haven't already: anisemouette.etsy.com
Also, look for new "Kitschy Craft" how-to tutorials on my blog: anisemouette.blogspot.com

Twy a Twibe on Twitter

What is a Twibe, you ask? Twibes are groups of people on Twitter with a common interest. Instead of wading through all those posts on your home page, you can simply go to a specific Twibe page to read Tweets about a specific topic. Several Twibes are already in effect, and you can search through a list on Twitter to find ones of interest to you: http://www.twibes.com/twitter-groups. You can also start your own Twibe, as I did for all of you interested in making retro-inspired handmade wares. Just go to http://www.twibes.com/group/RetroHandmade to join.

The benefits are really worth the effort, which is only a click of your mouse: you can begin to network with more individuals who share a common interest; you are able to see Tweets relevant to a specific group without having to track them down individually; and, the group itself acts as a marketing tool as it can provide a wealth of information for a larger audience interested in specific content.

If you do indeed decide to join the Retro Handmade Twibe, be sure to include “retro,” “handmade,” or “etsy” in you tags so that they show up on the Twibe’s member page.

I'll be checking in regularly to check out your new posts!


anise mouette
http://anisemouette.etsy.com
http://twitter.com/anisemouette

Help Yourself By Helping Others: Promotional Ideas that Don’t Cost a Dime

Offering others my help has been my most successful networking tool. When conceptualizing ideas to market myself, I try to think of ways I can offer support. Don’t get me wrong. My underlying objective is to market myself. Mother Theresa I am not. However, when I take others’ interests to heart, I seem to benefit more than when I put my interests first. Included here are a few things I’ve started to do on a regular basis, all of which have increased interest in my handmade wares.

- donate a portion of all my proceeds to a local charity
- post how-to craft tutorials on my blog and other networking sites like Craftster
- post networking tips on my blog and other networking sites like byhand.me
- provide feedback and tips in forums on Etsy, among others, on a regular basis
- offer my wares or time for charitable donation
- promote fellow crafters via networking sites like Facebook & Twitter

To note, my most recent blog post, “50 Free Promotional Sites for Crafters,” has been my biggest networking success to date. In return for the list, readers of my blog were urged to follow me on Twitter. And sure enough, within 48 hours of posting, I noted some 200 plus new followers (and the number continues to increase). In turn, this exposure has lead to more than triple the daily views I was receiving in my Etsy shop. No Etsy showcase, banner ad, or even press clip about my shop has awarded me near the same amount of exposure. And it didn’t cost a dime.

http://anisemouette.etsy.com
http://anisemouette.blogspot.com

Tips from the Team: Searching for your Treasuries

Are you getting tired of searching for the "gold stars" to see if your shop is being featured in new Treasury lists? Your treasury hunting days are over... because of these two websites.

Craftopolis: They have 'treasury hunt' and 'gift guide search' to see if your shop is being featured in any of them. Pretty neat, huh?

CraftCult's Heart-o-matic: It's not just about shop hearts, item hearts, single item hearts, and item views. They just added a new tab called Featured, which it would let you find out if you have been featured on the Front Page today and if any of your items are currently in a Gift Guide.

In a meantime, I hope you have fun hunting for your treasuries!