Setting up a creative business from your kitchen table

Did you know that, in the USA, women who stay at home and look after the kids are called SAHMs? (stay at home mums) and that women who work from home are called WAHMs? Personally, I can't see the difference - whether its child rearing or paid employment, they are both "work" in my opinion. 
Whether you are a SAHM or a DAHM (more dads are staying home to look after the kids these days) or neither, you might be considering starting a creative business from home.  I have always been inspired by Laura Ashley, who started her famous homewares business making screen printed tea towels from her kitchen table.  But there's so much more to setting up a creative business from your kitchen table than just making lovely things. You will need to have (or learn) a multitude of skills - most of which you will already have - even if you didn't know it. 


But, before you start sending out press releases for the launch of your new cottage industry, take a few minutes to consider if you have what it takes to run a small business. What do you want from your creative business?
a)  You enjoy making and want to earn enough money to pay for a few treats 
b)  You need to make some money in the short term until you start a job
c)  You want to work for yourself and you want to make a success of selling your creative products.


Follow this Link to find out If You Have What It Takes (but don't forget to come back to read the rest of this post).  


So, what are these additional skills that you need to acquire to start your business from the kitchen table?
Manufacturer - you are making your product therefore you are a manufacturer.
Accountant - you already manage your domestic finances. It's basically the same thing, money goes out and, hopefully, more money comes in.
Trader - you have to sell your product to your customer.
Marketer - you know how great your product is - how do you tell others?
Designer - you need to develop your product in order to attract more sales. 


Your Start Up Business Tool Kit
Here is a list of the basics you will need at the start of your new enterprise.
1.  Office equipment - two vital bits of office equipment that you will need are: a computer and a phone. You probably already own both but spend wisely on equipment - do you really need that photocopying and laminating machine? Anything else is a luxury - only to be purchased when you are making a profit.


2.  Keeping accounts - start as you mean to go on by setting up a simple spreadsheet and logging all money going out and all money coming in. You don't need a separate bank account but you do need evidence of your business finances.


3.  Stationery - letterheaded paper will not only make your business look professional but many companies will not pay an invoice that isn't on letter headed paper.  Business cards tell everyone who you are and enables them to contact you at a later date.


4.  Website/blog/Facebook page - having just one of these will help you to market your product. Rather than spend all your money on a super slick website, blogging is free and you can design your blog to have all the features of a reasonable website. Facebook is also free and you don't have to make "friends" to attract people to your FB page. 


5.  Training - invest in your business by getting yourself onto some basic business workshops such as: book keeping, taxation and national insurance, marketing, costing and cashflow, legal framework for the self employed.  Look around for workshops that are directed at creatives.


Recommended reading for the creative entrepeneur - Business as Unusual by Anita Roddick
Finally, do you have something to say? why not write for Artists in Business? We will post your stories, experiences and advice about your art business in Artists in Business.  Just send us an email HERE. 

Where have we been???

Artists in Business is back in business. 
We have been so busy with our day jobs we haven't had a chance to keep up with the blog! Well, we made a New Year resolution to try harder and publish helpful and informative business posts for artists in business. 


Look out for the following coming soon:
Working as a Community Artist - one artist shares her experiences
Setting up a creative business from your kitchen table - or anywhere else in the house (but possibly not the bathroom)?
pop up galleries and empty shop studios

We will also be giving away a free gift each month to one of our newsletter subscribers. If you would like to subscribe to our newsletter please use the contact box on the top right hand side of the page. 


Finally, do you have something to say? why not write for Artists in Business? We will post your stories, experiences and advice about your art business in Artists in Business.  Just send us an email  HERE

Selling Art/Selling a lifestyle

One of the most effective ways of viral marketing is the blog and I have talked about how to be an active blogger in a previous post.

An advantage of using Blogger is that you can "follow" blogs that interest you and also be visible on the blog you are following as long as they are using the FOLLOW widget (and they don't have hundreds of followers - or you become a face in the crowd). But the most popular blogs tend to fall into three categories:
resource blogs
funny blogs
lifestyle blogs.
resource blogs are the kind you follow to keep up to date with the latest art trends, markets and business (like AIB). Here are some more:
The Graphics Fairy



Art News

Funny blogs have a cult following. Who can predict that they are going to be successful? Here's my favourite:
F U Penguin



and life style blogs are very popular with women. I believe this is because we would like to subscribe to the life that's being portrayed. More women buy lifestyle magazines than men - particularly interior design and gardening. Look at the popularity of Martha Stewart and designer Kath Kidston. I have been looking through my favourite blogs list and I really enjoy reading about people who have orchards, grow vegetables, own french ateliers and live in rural places that I may never visit. Here's some of my favourites:
Blueberry Park
Pamel Angus
Patchwork Butterfly



So how can you use this type of viral marketing to sell your art? By combining the three popular blog categories into one blog you are satisfying a wider audience than you would if you concentrated on one style of blog. You may already have a website selling your art and your blog can complement this by showing your more "human" side as an artist. You can also blog about the area where you live, the things that inspire you and your daily life. Selling the "life style" is more about the types of images you show such as your garden, your home, your pets (if they are cute) and, by combining this with stories about making art you have a great piece of viral markting.

And finally, just a personal gripe of mine. I don't like blogs that regurgitate the latest images from home style magazines or crafts magazines just to group them into "themes". This is lazy and unoriginal blogging (but that's just my opinion). Enjoy!

How much effort will you put into on-line promoting? This week Anna, the person behind Widget the Sock Bunny, shares some of her tips for successful viral marketing. It's well worth the read!

"Viruses are big in the news at the moment and spreading his own online version is Widget Sockbunny – a fuzzy bunny-shaped infection travelling with growing speed around the world.




"You will have heard the term ‘Viral Marketing’, it sounds technical but really the concept is a simple one. Viruses spread rapidly from one person to the next, the more people who ‘catch it’, the more people it will spread to. To sell online you need to put out little feelers wherever you can, forever spreading, trying to ‘infect’ as many people as possible, trying to be remembered and talked about, or, if you prefer, catching a vibe of something being passed around.The easiest way to illustrate it is to tell you how I sell my sock bunnies online – using a bunny named Widget.
"Widget did not exist until I discovered a 365 project on Flickr.com. One object, one picture a day for one whole year. I was already selling the sock bunnies online and building up recognition in the craft forums such as Folksy, so I grabbed this marketing opportunity and chose a bunny. I named him Widget and began to take pictures. When I post the days’ images in the photo pool people see them. If they like what they see they can see all my other pictures too. In my profile are links to everything I do including diary blog for these Widget photos – Widget’s Year - and another blog for the other bunnies living at The Warren. I created an environmental concept for them, a warren, nestling in a sunny corner of my original company Half an Acre. Luckily it all seemed to fit! People liked reading about this little world and kept coming back to ‘check in’ on what was going on. Global Bunny travels around the world with her little suitcase sending back news and images, Geocache Bunny comes out on walks with me and my family (geocaching.com). All these pictures are posted into the appropriate Flickr group pools for more and more people to see. Widget even collects ‘sea glass’ so I can add pictures of him with his collection to the Sea glass Lovers group pool! All this is blogged about too. When blogging it is vital to post as often as you can, at least 3 times a week, to generate a ‘happening’ feel.





"When anyone buys a bunny they receive a printed card inviting them to send in stories and pictures to this blog. This makes the blog interesting and tempts the readers to want have their own bunny. Flickr is vital. I get on average around 120 views of my photostream each day. Being ‘seen’ is essential too. I looked for all the groups dealing with socks, bunnies, sewing, rainbows (for Rainbow Bun!), anything vaguely applicable, and joined them. Spreading pictures of Widget and his friends anywhere and everywhere. It is important not to spam. It has to be relevant or you will annoy the very people you want to draw to your shop.
"I gave Widget his own Facebook profile and, ignoring the fact that you need to be a ‘real’ person to register, I then set about ‘friending’ people! I already knew a load from promoting Half an Acre and I sent friend invitations to ‘friends of friends’. I found out that people give pets their own pages and that meant bunnies! I also sent requests to any other ‘sock toys’ out there. To date Widget has just over 300 friends – generated in around 5 months. Every time I post it shows up in the news feeds of all those 300. I made a ‘Send-a-Bunny’ application using pictures of Widget and his pals and send them out to all my new ‘friends’. The whole of Facebook can use that application and therefore see from where it originates. Widget has joined Postcrossing.com. He has his own postcards, with a cute picture on the front and subtle blog link on the back. Next on the list is The Toy Society where I’ll be leaving bunnies in bags around the place with a big label saying ‘Take me home’. Reaching more people and drawing them in to the whole concept. Everything leads back to one central point - my shop on Folksy.





"Give people inspiration, a new idea, something to talk about, smile about and eventually news will spread, the virus feeding itself as it travels. It takes lots of time and dedication but it does work. The bunnies are spreading like ….. bunnies!"

Social Networking For Artists

There is a plethora of social selling sites available for artists to showcase their work and most, unlike eBay, target a specific audience. If you are not familiar with social selling sites, and I'll hazard a guess that this is the minority, then take a look at Etsy, Folksy, Dawanda, Misi, Coriandr and Artfire. (Please add any that I have missed to the comments).

But, if you choose to sell on these types of sites you are not going to make many sales unless you are willing to invest some time in building up relationships - that's the "social" side of these sites. I recently delivered a seminar on internet selling and listed the different ways you can draw people to your on-line shop - Facebook, Twitter, Squidoo, My Space, Flickr, Indiepublic, blogging.... did I miss any? I looked at the faces of my audience and about 20% were looking at me as if to say, Wha'....? Exactly. If you are not prepared to invest some time in promoting your on-line business then social selling is not for you, and there's no shame in that.







But blogging is, in my opinion (feel free to disagree) the second most effective way to drive traffic to your on-line shop or website. The first is to build relationships in the forums of the selling sites. People like to read insights into the person behind the business and look at colourful images, find out how things are made, share experiences. The only down-side is thinking about what to type - but this comes with practice, the more you talk about the easier it becomes to think up new stuff.


A short guide to Blogging
What is a blog? A blog is a free internet site that gives you the opportunity to publish your own words. Most people will use a blog as an on-line diary but it can also be used to promote, sell, discuss, campaign, moan and publicise. It is used by a whole range of people including journalists, political groups, media groups, social groups, subversive groups, idiots and well dodgy people!

What makes a blog? People out there in cyberspace create blogs for hundreds of reasons. Take a look at these examples I picked at random:

Pamela Angus
Kerala Life and Thoughts
Dolphin & Whale News

Some blogs are so specialist that only a tiny minority will ever read them whereas others are global and have a huge following. But blogs have one advantage over websites – they are free. Although it has its limitations a blog costs nothing but time. You don’t have to pay someone to host it, design or update it and you are not limited to how much you can post on your blog.

Creating a blog. There are several blog businesses out there but I am only familiar with Blogger so I can only help you with this particular site. As Blogger was bought by Google you will need to create a Google account using your own email address. Google accounts, like Yahoo, are free and you can receive and send email with your Google (Gmail) account. First log onto Blogger

and there will be a screen to help you set up the account. Next Blogger will take you through the step by step process of creating your blog. Before you create your blog think about the following practicalities:
Title.
Introduction.
Profile.
Links.
Advertisements?
Slideshows?
Apart from the name of your blog address, which you cannot change, anything else, including the title, can be altered, updated and deleted by you. Don’t like the font? You can change it. Background? Change it. Which colour would you like to choose for your text, background, links, headings, subheadings, borders, side bar titles etc? Blogger can do it.

Does and Don’ts of Posting. Once you have set up your blog you are ready to start posting. Here are some tips about making entries to your blog.
- Do insert at least one image for every post. Blogs about artists for artists are boring without visuals.
- Do check your spelling – typos make poor reading.
- Do avoid writing anything slanderous or libelous. They can get back at you by bombarding you with comments and dissing you on their own blogs.
- Please respect the copyright laws as it is easier for “copiers” and plagiarists to be discovered. People WILL and DO sue!
- When posting images of your work protect your intellectual property rights by adding “The images (or paintings etc) are the sole property of the artist. Please respect the artist’s copyright”.
- Do add links to your posts and also on the side bar too. By swapping links with others you will increase your visibility on the web.
- Do not use profane language or your blog will be blocked from some sites.
- Use the tags for each post wisely because search engines pick up on them therefore tags are a useful tool.
- Decide whether you want viewers to be able to comment on your blog. You can set the comments so that you can check them for suitability before you publish them.

Blogging Extras. Now you have a blog who is going to read it? Well no-one unless you tell them about it. There are a gazillion blogs out there floating in cyberspace but only a fraction are read. You need to find ways to get your blog noticed and, once noticed, to keep a balance of first time viewers and return visitors.
Consider the following: who do you WANT to read your blog? Why do you want them to read it? Where will you find these people?

Working on the basis that publicity is FREE and advertising is what you PAY for I have the following suggestions:
Registering with Search Engines – it can take up to six months for a search engines, such as Google, to pick up your site. There is a site that will add you to all the search engines Dogpile.

Joining Chat Rooms and Social Networking Sites – specialist sites, such as Indiepublic, are useful tools to promote and meet other artists. They are also time consuming.
Blog Group sites – such as Bloggernity and My Zimbio are social networks for bloggers. You will be able to view all sorts of arts and gallery blogs. They will be able to view you too.
Art Listings sites – such as Axisartists and The Saatchi Gallery are useful for free publicity.
Gallery websites and artists’ websites – ask if they will add you as a link if you add them as a link.
Business cards and articles for newspapers and magazines, both on-line and hard copy, will increase your exposure.
Advertising – you can add Google Adsense to your site. It is free but it takes Google some time to pick up what your site is about. Then they will paste ads on your site for galleries or art suppliers. Each time someone clicks on them from your site will increase your exposure. If you get enough clicks and then set up an account, you could get paid too! But there is no such thing as a free lunch – you have to pay a fee for payable Adsense and it can prove costly.
Site Counters – Bravenet will give you a site counter for free. It is a very useful tool to help you measure the number of views you received daily and can also break it down into new and returning visitors. If you just get the basic counter you don’t need to pay for extras.

This article is the sole property of Jo Whitehead. Please respect the author’s intellectual rights. Do not copy or reproduce this article in any format.