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.

By guest contributor Kelly Rand

I’m not a big fan of end of the year nostalgia. I’m always waiting on pins and needles to see what’s next, what’s coming around the bend; anxious to see what the new year brings. But as we come into 2010 (a whole new year AND decade), it is a good time to take stock. Literally.

Obviously you should go through this process more than once a year and keep tabs on everything, but a new year is just as good as any to get the ball rolling. So grab a piece of paper, or start a handy dandy spread sheet for those electronically inclined, and start going through the stock that is associated with your craft business.

Start with the easy stuff.

Pair of Ceramic Birds - Peking Turquoise Blue Crackle Glaze by mudpuppy

What finished products do you have on hand? Which are listed and which are waiting to be listed for sale. Next, move onto your unfinished projects. You could even mark down when you think they’ll be finished. Which are prototypes and which are not?

Once you have a good grasp of what you have on hand you can then start assessing your products. You’ll have a quick visual of what’s selling, what’s not and what you need help promoting going into the new year.

You can ask yourself: Is it time to drop a product? Have a sale on a certain item? Introduce a new piece to your line?

Next up, tackling your supplies.

Sew in Fabric Party Flag Label String from nothingelegant

This can be a little scary. What do you have in that closet/craft room/bottom drawer? This is the most challenging because more than likely, if you’re like me, you know what you have for your most used items, but have no idea what you shoved to the back of that one drawer.

This inventory will also give you a good visual of what supplies you have on hand, what you need to restock up on and you might even find those special ribbons that were on sale that you thought went missing. You might even find that you never use that acrylic yarn and it’s time to destash by selling or donating the items to a school or charity.

By doing a thorough inventory of your crafts and supplies you’ll be more organized and ready to tackle the oncoming year. It will help clear your head and give you a good visual of where you are and hopefully a head start on where you want to go with your craft business in the new year.

Do you have any tips on taking stock? How do you keep your stock organized? Please share in the comments!

About the contributor: Kelly Rand is staff writer for DCist.com, lead writer for Crafting a Green World, and is co-founder of Hello Craft, a non-profit trade association dedicated to the advancement of indie crafters and the handmade movement. Kelly is a compulsive knitter and avid maker who believes that handmade will save the world.

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.

Join regular Special Topics in Calamity Business contributor Corinna Buchholz in the Etsy Virtual Labs for a workshop on the Top Ten Tips to Bring in Last-Minute Holiday Sales. Corinna shared some tips in this post already, but she will be elaborating on some specific points as well as answering your questions.

Topics to be covered include:

• Small changes that make a huge difference
• Research on holiday buying trends for 2009
• Great places to find last-minute packaging supplies
• What to do if and when those sales start pouring in

WHEN: Thursday, December 3rd at 4 p.m EST

WHAT:  Top Ten Tips to Bring in Last-Minute Holiday Sales - Etsy Virtual Labs

For more info on Corinna and her shop Piddix check out this Etsy Quit Your Day Job interview.

Corinna Buchholz of  the top selling Etsy Shop piddix is back with some more tips on running a successful indie bizness for Special Topics in Calamity Business.  As one of the top 10 handmade sellers on Etsy, Corinna has plenty of tips to share and will be contributing a regular monthly column for the next few months.

By guest contributor Corinna Buchholz

24 Advent Calendar Pouches from nuvonova

1. Call your sale a sale. If 2008 was the year of holiday cutbacks, 2009 is the year of holiday bargain hunting. More than two-thirds of shoppers plan to look for bargains, and google has found that phrases such as “discounts” and “holiday free shipping” are trending heavily. In addition to offering sales in your shop, include terms for which budget-conscious shoppers may be searching such as “coupon” and “sale” in the beginning of your item descriptions and shop announcements so that the search engines can find you more easily.

2. Don’t make them ask. With so many options available online and Christmas fast approaching, most shoppers will not take the time to ask questions and wait for your response. Tell a potential customer everything they may want to know about your item including shipping dates, customization options, sizing, and turn-around time. Think of the most common questions you receive and include them in your item descriptions or in an FAQ that is prominently featured in your shop.

3. It’s all about the shipping. The number one question a potential client will have, especially when buying from an independent retailer, is: will my gift make it in time for Christmas? Research guaranteed shipping services, such as USPS flat-rate priority mail, and come up with the last day someone can comfortably order an item from you and still receive it by Christmas. Be sure to account for the time you’ll need to get the package ready. Then make these purchase deadlines the first thing people see when entering your shop, specifying different dates for international and in-country buyers. As Christmas draws closer consider offering “free express shipping” on all of your products by rolling the additional expenses into your item’s price.

Handcrafted Christmas Card by Studio Flower Power

4. Know what’s hot. While most shoppers plan to spend less money this year on gifts in general, there are a couple of categories that are bucking that trend. Greeting cards, candy and food remain popular, in large part because they have a personal element to them but are also budget-conscious. Gift cards are also on the increase, so adding a gift certificate option to your shop may work well. Also think about items that you can describe as “family-time-friendly” such as DIY craft kits. Other descriptors to use that play on current themes include “the perfect stocking stuffer” or “a great hostess gift.” Buyers are also looking for more practical items this year, with clothing topping many lists of giving trends.

5. Be in it for the long haul. If you find yourself swamped with orders, it may be tempting to cut corners to get items out the door. Ideally, though, every new customer you make during the busy holiday season will become a satisfied repeat customer. Consider hiring holiday help (or bribing family members) to make sure that each package you send out reflects your high quality and standards. Or if extra help is not an option, set realistic goals that you can manage yourself so you don’t end up with dissatisfied customers and negative feedback that could be hard to overcome.

Candy Cane Heart Fine Art Print by Zuppa Artista

6. Organization is key. You do not want to receive an email from a customer on December 24^th—or worse yet December 26^th—wondering where their package is. If you don’t already have a good system for tracking orders, now is the time to start. You can download a free worksheet or create a simple one yourself in excel or even on a lined note pad to keep track of details such as when an order was received, any special notes the buyer included, and what date it was shipped. Trust me. Don’t rely on scribbled-napkin-notes and the hope you’ll remember everything. The five minutes it takes to set up a simple system will more than pay off down the road.

7. Communicate. Buyers will be extra-nervous about receiving their purchases quickly during the holidays. Send an email within 24 hours outlining exactly what your customer should expect as far as packaging and shipping times, along with any tracking details you may have. Most of the email can be set up as a template beforehand to save time.

Japanese Washi Tape by Pretty Tape

8. Keep track of packing supplies. Envelopes, shipping tape, and other supplies are much more affordable if you purchase them ahead of time or in bulk. Shipping supplier Uline, for example, has a delivery estimator, with most products received within 3-4 days. If you prefer to use recycled supplies such as packing peanuts, allow extra time to stock up as much as possible before any rush may hit.

9. It’s not too late to advertise and promote. The busiest online shopping day is not cyber Monday, as some may think, but actually two weeks later in mid-December. Buyers wait for the absolute last minute, hoping to grab the best deals. If you sell on etsy, check out their December promotional calendar and nominate your goods to be featured. By now you’re past most editorial deadlines, but it is possible your favorite blog (like Indie Fixx) may have a December advertising opening, or look into Project Wonderful, google ads, craftgawker, or other online resources that can offer almost immediate response.

Homemade French Vanilla Hot Chocolate Mix by Teton Cocoa Company

10. Don’t promise the moon. I know too many stories of a great shop that was hit all at once with a ton of sales—whether it be from a blog feature or holiday rush—and then they couldn’t handle it, resulting in incredibly grumpy customers and negative feedback. Better to under-promise and over-deliver than vice versa. Keep your “last day for shipping” reasonable for your (and your family and friends’) sanity. If at all possible only sell items you already have made and in-stock. If you start to get overwhelmed consider closing down your shop for a couple of days to catch up. And get comfortable saying no when necessary—especially to time-consuming customizations. Above all remember that the holidays aren’t all about selling and shipping. With a bit of prep work, some promotions, and by setting realistic goals, hopefully you’ll have some time to enjoy yourself as well.

By guest contributor Meredith Keller

1. DO NOT make customers log in or create an account
I can’t stress this one enough. I see this obnoxious shopping cart behavior all over the internet and it’s a #1 peeve with online shoppers. They have enough logins on enough sites, do not make them create one for your site. There is every chance they’ll get annoyed and go elsewhere.

2. DO NOT include unnecessary fields in your checkout process
No one enjoys filling out online forms. Make your customer provide the bare minimum of information required for their transaction. If you want their birthday for a special birthday club or you want to know how they found your site ask them after they’ve paid. The more information you try to collect before the customer pays, the more inconvenient you’re making it for them to pay you.

Caching Vintage Cash Register by NanLawson on Etsy

3. DO make yourself look as reputable as possible
Customers want to know you’re not a shady, fly-by-night website that will take their money and fail to ship their product. They want to know their data will be handled securely and not sold on the black market. They want to know that if they aren’t happy with their purchase that you accept returns. To this end, I highly recommend you provide the following information all over your website:
- contact information (preferably a phone number* and email address)
- return policy
- privacy policy
- security assurances (SSL logos, credit card logos, security certificates, etc.)

If you want to see an example of the above in action, feel free to check out my website. I’ve got the information above on our view cart page, product pages and check out page, providing assurances to customers in every step of the shopping process.

4. DO check your shopping cart/check out for road blocks
You may think your site is super user-friendly and that shopping with you is a breeze. The best way to be sure? Dear old mom. That’s right, give your website what I call the “mom test”. Ask your mom to load your website and buy something. If mom can’t figure out how to complete the purchase you have a problem. If mom has questions about how to find your sizing chart or where the check out button is, you’re in trouble. Every time mom asks “How do I…” be sure to ask her “What could I change on this site that would make it easier for you to find that information?” Try a few moms if possible, or aunts, or grandmas. The point is, you need to assume your customers are as clueless about technology as your middle aged relatives and design your site accordingly.

Three Carts by gandolphoto

5. DO make connecting with your business easy
Just because someone isn’t buying today doesn’t mean they’re a lost cause. Give site visitors several “single click” opportunities to connect with your brand. This means putting a “become a fan” button on your website if you have Facebook. (No opening a new window to Facebook and having them hunt down the “become a fan” link, too much effort.) This means putting an “enter your email address for special deals and discounts” box on every page of your site. (See how we’ve done this on the left navigation of the Ex-Boyfriend website?). No more sending them to a “join our mailing list” page. No demanding name and mailing address and other insignificant details. You want to make connecting as low effort as possible. Once you’ve captured the person as a fan or follower or subscriber it’ll be easier to market to them over the coming months.

6. DO give customers an extra push
It’s a jungle out there and you’ve got to pull out all the stops to compete. What this means is you should point out to customers why they should buy from you. Do you offer free shipping? Do you donate a portion of your profits to orphans in Zimbabwe? Do you accept returns for an extended period? Whatever you’ve going going on that makes your business special should be right up front for customers.

On my website I have a “Why choose us” box on every product page. It points out our privacy and return policies, it points out our security measures and it points out that we donate to charity. We’re telling customers throughout our site that we’re a conscientious trustworthy brand that’s addressing all concerns they may have about shopping with us. Make sure all the reasons customers should choose you are easily found on every page of your website to give your site visitors an extra nudge towards you instead of your competitors.

1 Dollar Store Print by janicej

(*Note: you can get a free phone number from Google Voice. If you don’t have a business number yet and don’t want to give our your direct number, this is an excellent resource. There are also loads of inexpensive call forwarding/voice mail services that only cost a few dollars per month. The small investment is well worthwhile to give your customers peace of mind about trying to contact you.)

About the contributor: Meredith Keller is the brand manager for Ex-Boyfriend, an indie t-shirt company. She also maintains the photoblog Indie Parade and maintains  co-op advertising websites for indie business owners. Indie biz owners can find her tips here on Indie Fixx and via her monthly Creative Entrepreneurs newsletter.