You deserve a treat, don’t you? Of course, you do. We all do. It’s been a rough year and a half with this recession and all. I’m going to hazard a guess that Oprah and Bill Gates aren’t reading this blog, so probably all you have been impacted in some way by our current economic situation. Then, there’s the daily headache that comes from paying attention to the goings on in Washington. No matter what our individual politics may be, nothing really seems to be getting done for anyone.

I was thinking about all this and about all the generous folks who took part in my Haiti Fundraiser and I was thinking what I could do to treat you all to something special. I came up with a contest, of course. I wish I could treat every single one of you—that’s just not possible at this point–but I can treat 2 of you to a prize of goodies donated from some of my favorite crafter makers. You can see the prizes and donaters below.

Since, I can’t treat all of you (or myself, for that matter) with this contest, I want you to decide to treat yourself and share your plans. It can be something small & cheap or something big & expensive…whatever you are able to do. The goal though is for you to do something for yourself or take some time for yourself. You really deserve it. So whether you plan on doing someone like taking a long overdue bubble bath, treating yourself to a frothy coffee confection, getting some books from the library and luxuriously reading them all weekend, buying a bottle of some fancy perfume or planning a fabulous vacation, it really doesn’t matter.  The important thing is to treat yourself!

So, how to win the giveaway? Leave a comment below with your plans for treating yourself. You can leave multiple comments to increase your chances, but each comment must include a different way you plan on treating yourself! You can also include your prize preference. I will choose 2 random commenters to win the prizes. This giveaway will end February 14th at 11:59 pm EST.

Prize #1 - Valued at $175

1. Glass Vial necklace (value up to $50) from Plum and Sage
2. 2 winner’s choice posters from Field Trip
3. Plum Ruffle Bum Panties (size 6) from Flapper Girl
4. Vice Gift Set (perfume, soap and scrub) from Haus of Gloi
5. Antique Shell Necklace from Dig Under Rocks

Prize #2 - Valued at $168

1. Winner’s choice of Mini Pouch (under $22) from Oktak
2. Earrings from The Broken Plate Pendant Company
3. Edith Tote from Queen Bee Creations
4. ‘I Love You This Much’ Print from Stephanie Fizer

Congratulations to the following winners in the latest Indie Fixx contests.

1. Benjamin from Oakland, CA won the Planning for your indie biz  Craft Inc. Business Planner.
2. Marla, Aimee & Jenya won a copy each of the Scoutie Girl 52 Weeks of Blogging Your Passion e-book.
3. Jenny won the #indielbs weight loss challenge prize.
4. Finally, Alicia won the Flourish e-course by Stephanie Fizer.

Artist Stephanie Fizer is sharing 10 Things to Consider Before Starting Your Indie Biz today on the Guest Blog for Special Topics in Calamity Business. Stephanie has a new e-course she is offering called Flourish. It’s a 5-week course about turning your creativity into a full-time business and she is also offering one free registration in the course to one lucky Indie Fixx reader!

To win: Just leave a comment on this post about how you plan on your indie biz flourishing this year. Those who already registered are welcomed to enter as well with their registration being refunded if they win. This giveaway will end Monday, January 18th at 11:59 pm EST.

By guest contributor Stephanie Fizer

So you’re day job is less than satisfying and by night you dream of turning your creative passion into your full-time occupation. Before you take the first steps to make your dream a reality, here are some things to consider when starting your own indie business:

1. Love what you do. This should be an easy one, because if you’re thinking of doing something fulltime, you probably already love it.
2. Be prepared for long hours. Very long hours. With a day job, you work 8-to-5 and then you go home to relax. With your indie business, it’s hard to just leave work at work, especially when work is right down the hall and there is always something to do. But of course, it doesn’t feel so much like work when you’re doing something you’re passionate about.
3. Be honest about your budget. Unfortunately, the numbers don’t lie, so before ditching your consistent paycheck, make sure you know how much money you need to pull in each month to cover both living expenses and business expenses.
4. Know that you will probably spend a lot more time doing business-related things than you want to. Preparing shipment, answering emails, doing paperwork and running errands can take up a surprising amount of your time.
5. If you’re not good with numbers and the thought of bookkeeping and taxes just scares you silly, consult with an accountant to make sure you are on the right track.
6. Just because you make it, doesn’t mean that someone will buy it. Make a great product and then market it well.
7. Be persistent. Success in your creative business may not happen overnight, so be patient and willing to work hard.
8. Don’t be shy. Talk about your work constantly both online and off; your confidence in your work will be your best marketing tool.
9. Be yourself. Don’t waste time trying to imitate the work of others. Remain true to yourself and your creativity and you will be your own greatest asset.
10. And finally, don’t be afraid to ask questions. There are so many things to consider and figure out when you are starting up a creative business, so when you run into a wall, don’t be afraid to ask for help.

About the contributor: Stephanie Fizer is a self-taught illustrator working primarily in digital media although she often adds handmade elements to her works.  Pattern, texture and lively color provide a strong foundation for her work which is appropriate for both the young and the young-at-heart. After years of being unfulfilled in an office job, Stephanie was able to focus full-time on her illustrating career and is now making time to help others achieve their dreams of turning their creativity into a business.  Stephanie is currently offering an e-course on this topic called Flourish.  You can also view her work at her Etsy shop or read more about her on her blog.

I’m going to finally announce the winners of the 12 days of Indie Holiday Shopping. I know it’s long overdue, but for some reason this year it took a very long time to hear back from all the winners. Then it was vacation time for me, but I’m all ready now.

Anyway, congratulations to all the winners and a big thank you to all the participating shops for some really amazing prices!

12 days of Indie Holiday Shopping Winners

1. Drika.B - Jenna from North Liberty, IA.
2. Ink + Wit - Jenni from Nashville, TN.
3. Phydeaux Designs - Katie from Kansas City, KS.
4. Broken Plate Pendant Co. - Mary from Greensboro, NC.
5. One Canoe Two - Gwen from Los Osos, CA.
6. Elisa Shere Jewelry - Allison from Louisville KY.
7. Slaughterhead - Crystal from Port Royal, PA.
8. Mireio Designs - Kate from Elkridge, Md.
9. Yorktown Road - Kristen from Chicago, IL.
10. Supermaggie - Kathleen from Western Springs, IL.
11. gogovivi - Jen from Victoria BC
12. Favor Jewelry - Christina from Wauconda, IL.

Staying on the theme of the new year and your indie biz, I have another giveaway for you. This one is for a copy of the Craft Inc. Business Planner by Meg Mateo Ilasco & published by Chronicle Books. You may remember Meg’s 2007 book, Craft, Inc. Turn Your Creative Hobby Into a Business, well this is follow-up to that and is designed to help you take control of your business and plan your growth.

What better time to do that than the start of the new year, right?

To win your copy, leave a comment on this post with one of your indie biz goals for the new year. I will choose one random commenter to win a copy of the Craft Inc. Business Planner. This giveaway will end January 3rd at 11:59 pm EST.

I’m taking some more time off for the holidays…lots of family visiting still going on and I need a week off as well. Some of my peeps have very generously offered to help me out though, so don’t worry there will be posts every day this week on the Guest Blog. Today, Tara Gentile is sharing 3 New Years Resolutions for Blogging Your Indie Biz. As editor of scoutie girl & the author of the new e-book called 52 Weeks of Blogging Your Passion, Tara knows maybe a thing or two about blogging.

Tara has also very generously offered 3 copies of 52 Weeks of Blogging Your Passion as a prize for 3 Indie Fixx Readers.  52 Weeks is all about how to boost traffic, beat blogger’s block, communicate your creativity & more. If this sounds like something you are interested in, leave a comment on this post with your new year’s resolution for your indie biz. I will choose 3 random commenter’s to win a copy. This giveaway ends January 2nd, 2010 at 11:59 pm EST.

by guest contributor Tara Gentile

{image credit: mundilfari via flickr}

3 New Years Resolutions for Blogging Your Indie Biz!

Let’s face it, there is always something to we’d like to improve about our blogs - whether we have 10, 1000, or 1,000,000 readers! Since my blog is my indie biz, it’s really important for me to take a step back at the end of the year, consider what I’ve done right and what I could have done better - and then resolve to improve those things after my lovely little holiday vacation!

1. Comments. We all get ‘em, we love ‘em, we want more of ‘em! I need to get better at rewarding my commenters. Whether it’s with a comment back at the end of the post, a quick email note thanking them for visiting, or the occasional shout-out in a later post for a really exceptional comment, treating your comments as a conversation is key to keeping your readers engaged! I am very guilty of making a haphazard attempt at this key blogging principle.In the New Year, I resolve to make my blog comments a 2-way conversation, a place readers can go to start give their opinion, more information, a link - or just say “awesome!” - and know that I’m reading. How can you resolve to make comments work better for your business? Can you use these techniques to generate more comments for your blog?

2.Editorial Direction. In the 5 months of I’ve been at the helm of Scoutie Girl, I’ve tried to stick with the good things that were already there: strong weekly columns, emphasis on discovering new makers, and a focus on discovering the passion that drives us to create. And it works - really well. But I’ve also started to discover my own voice as the girl behind Scoutie Girl. Making my writing more personal, incorporating “handmade” into each post organically - and it works, too! If anything, it’s an even greater challenge my previous editorial benchmark: is this handmade and is it ridiculously cool? So, I need a system and that system should also help my blog stand out from others.In the New Year, I resolve to create an editorial calendar with weekly themes - the lead off post for that day will be a riff on that theme and I’ll recap the week’s posts every Friday at the same time. How do you plan for blogging? How do your editorial decisions differentiate your blog and your business from others?

3. Blogroll and Blog Reading. This might be the hardest of them all. In November, I made the move from Typepad to Wordpress. I wasn’t unhappy with Typepad or the set-up of the old site, I just have a deep, unavailing passion for Wordpress. I also completely redesigned SG into a minimalist set-up with an emphasis on the huge images in the main content. Well, when I did that, I kinda didn’t move the blogroll over… I still don’t know what I want to do about it. The old blogroll was Jan’s and it was really, really long. Full of great stuff, but not reflective of the blogs I read on a daily basis. I need to incorporate a blogroll back into the site and I need to do it before the New Year. I also need to add all those blogs to my blog reader and make an attempt to read them daily. It’s important to keep an eye on what others are writing about, being inspired by, and doing so that I can keep SG as current & relevant as possible.In the New Year, I resolve to keep a blogroll and read the blogs on it daily, as an important time investment in keeping myself on the cutting edge of handmade, art, and design trends!

So there you have it, my three blog resolutions for the New Year. I’ve said it out loud - and you’ve read it - so keep me accountable! Now… I want to know, what are your New Year’s blog resolutions?

About the contributor: Tara Gentile is the editor of scoutie girl - the blog with a penchant for the passionately handmade - and the editor & founder of handmade in pa. subscribe to *the weekly dig* - an e-newsletter featuring deals, events, & news from the world of indie brought to you by scoutie girl. She also just released an e-book called 52 Weeks of Blogging Your Passion :: boost traffic, beat blogger’s block, and communicate your creativity.