Plenty of you know I think wholesaling your handmade work is a great way to expand your business. I’ve even developed products specifically to help others get started with wholesale right away.

This is not a new story to me but I wanted to share it with anyone who may have missed the incredible success of a little known designer who wholesaled her work, got it picked up in a movie and became an overnight selling sensation.

Angie Bowlds, a 27 year old seamstress from Seattle, had wholesaled some of her company’s bag designs to a local boutique called Velouria. Fast forward and her bag is then purchased and used throughout the movie Twilight as Bella’s bag.

Angie capitalized on the exciting press by adding it to Etsy and marketing it as “The Bella Bag“. She literally became an overnight sensation and is still receiving daily orders (with close to a month wait) for the bag.

You can read more about the amazing story here.

From reading through various articles on this case study, I realize there were several interesting things that happened to get her to this place.

1 – She wholesaled her work to a trendy boutique
–> the key here is she took the wholesale chance AND got in a store that movie prop people and celebrities visit
2 – The bag was featured in the Twilight movie
3 – She marketed the tote as “The Bella Bag”
–> if she had not done anything about the press, noone would have known) and put it on Etsy
4 - She received a blog mention and word spreads
–> a blog reported the Bella Bag and from there, the news posted on a Twilight fan site
5 – She becomes an overnight selling sensation

So a combination of guts, luck, marketing and social media helped make her press opportunity golden.

What do you think of this amazing success story?

Tara Gentile, my friend and fellow blogger, is releasing a new interactive workbook & e-book called Storytelling For Creative Biz Success.

By using this guide, you will be able to create engaging content for your websites, blogs and shops – including an about page, product descriptions, blog posts, and more – from personal stories, useful information, and keywords in your niche.

Besides that, this product will also help you improve your web copy without hiring a professional copywriter!

If you pre-order a copy from now until May 25th, not only do you get a $14 discount, you also get instant access to the Introduction & the Creating an Effective About Page chapter!

I decided to put my money where my mouth is and implement some of Tara’s teachings for my own about page for Justine Smith Media.

Tara has a special (and very powerful) formula for creating your about page. Here’s how my about page shaped up after implementing Tara’s teachings:

Hi, I’m Justine Smith, creator of Handmade Marketer, the blog that helps creative people grow their craft businesses. I’m growing a business too, care to join me?

After my daughter Azura was born in 2008, I vowed never to go back to my dead end job again. I dabbled in anything creative, from sewing to handmade cards to jewelry design. By some stroke of luck (or was it marketing genius!?) I found success marketing my handmade jewelry to retail stores. Within a few months of launching the business, I was in 12 stores and growing. While the experience was incredible, my interests and ideas led me to blogging and by January 2010, I was successfully making a full time living with my accidental freelance business. Besides running Handmade Marketer, I blog for Outright & Meylah as well as consult for stresslimitdesign.

Here at Justine Smith Media, I can help you grow too – I offer video editing services for your tutorials and vlogs, social media consulting for your brand & business and SEO tweaking for your website and blog. I also share tons of free information about growing a creative freelancing career on my blog.

When you’re ready to take your business to the next level, I’ll be there to guide you along the way – from one freelancer to another.

Tara’s new interactive workbook/e-book Storytelling for Creative Biz Success comes out on June 10th but if you pre-order it now (until May 25th), you get an entire chapter to dissect and implement, plus a $14 discount!!!

I was just reading Tara’s latest post on Scoutie Girl. She always pours herself into every post she does and it always inspires me.

Fear is something I’ve always felt. More so than depression or sadness or even loneliness. Fear of not being as good as others. Fear that I’m not worthy of success. Fear that nobody likes me (I know there are people out there who don’t like me and that’s cool, but I worry that one day I will wake up and NOBODY likes me, you know!?).

And you know what, being fearful sucks. It truly takes your passion, time and livelihood and rips it to pieces

The days when I forget about fear and just live are the days when I’m most productive, energized and profitable. They are the days when I can call it a day and fell good about what I’ve done.

Today is going to be one of those good days. Here are 6 ways I’m letting go of fear and you can too:

1. Just do it.

Yes, I’m quoting Nike here. The best way I can let go of fear is to stop the negative cycle and JUST do something. Create a graphic, write a new blog post, research a market, outline a new product. Stop putting yourself down and start doing something to affect your situation in a positive way.

2. Nix Comparing

Yes, I’m big on analyzing competitors in order to see what they do right and wrong but COMPARING myself to others is extremely detrimental. When you sit down to look at someone else’s business in order to improve your own, that’s great, but when you then start saying “hey, I wish I had 10,000 followers”, that’s bad. Analyze, don’t compare.

3. Use Affirmations

I love me some affirmations. I may sound like a crazy lady but I swear I feel an insane buzzing in my body (is that happiness!?? what IS that?) when I tell myself something that makes me feel good. Things like “You are worthy” or “You deserve this” truly jolts your body into action and that fear just melts away.

4. Outline Ahead

There’s that old debate again, to plan or not to plan. I say make a freakin’ outline and forget the plan. Plans can make you feel constricted if things change in the slightest while outlines show you where you are headed without locking you in. Try making a weekly outline to keep yourself in check, without the guilt trip.

5. Rest.

This is Kelly Diel’s tip and it’s a great one. For me, when I rest, I make a conscience choice to 100% unplug from my business and just try to enjoy myself. I like reading and watching TV (True Blood is almost here!). Tara likes bike riding. Whatever you like that’s not business related, get into it and rest your business self for a little while.

6. Laugh

Laughing is a great way to let go of fear. Watch or read something funny (I personally recommend Parks & Recreation and websites like Lamebook and People of Walmart. I dare you not to laugh once). Meet up with some old friends and reminisce about ridiculous things you use to do when you didn’t have as much fear.

I encourage and empower you to let go of fear because besides holding your business down, it holds you back and your business needs YOU to grow.

How do you let go of fear?

Here are a ton of FREE places that Etsy sellers can promote their shops!

Feel free to add any other sites you know of in the comments as well!

Communities & Forums

Handmade Action Community

Indie Public

We Love Etsy

Mixx Made

Cafe Handmade Community

Do you Etsy

Craft Buddy

Etsy Forums

Kaboodle

Craftster Forum

Handmade Artists Forum

Get Crafty Forum

Craftzine Forum

Deviant Art

DIY Scene Forum

The Switchboards

Creative Stem

Art Bistro

iVillage Crafters Community

Photo/Article/Shop Submission Sites

Craft Juice

Indie Spotting

Craft Gawker

Craft Shock

Try Handmade Gallery

Ready Made Photos

Paper N Stitch

Indie Fixx

Crafty Pod

Scoutie Girl

Handmade Spark

Cool Mom Picks

On the Dot Creations

Paper Cakes Finds

Etsy Stalker

Found Handmade

Plain Craft

Whip Up

Totally Tutorials

Squidoo

Ezine Articles

Google Product Search

Bing

Social Networking Sites

Twitter

–> Make a Twitter List

Facebook

–> Start a group

–> Make a fan page

–> Find groups to network with

Stumble Upon

Linked In

My Space

–> Find Groups

Flick’r (ONLY put your shop link in profile, do not overly promote or you will be removed)

–> Find Groups

Cafe Mom

Mommy the Marketer

I hate worrying, don’t you?

Every now and again I run across people in the handmade blogging/consulting arena who make me anxious. Even if our audiences are different and I have no reason to really worry, I often feel nervous and think things like:

I wish I had a better layout on my blog

Why is their traffic so much higher than mine

I wish people were buzzing about my website too

Now, the only way to overcome these feelings is to sit down and take a hard look at their business.

The reasons you want to analyze your competitors is to see:

- What they are doing right.

- Things they are doing wrong.

- The items selling best for them.

- Where they’ve been featured and for what.

- What people are buzzing most about.

Then you can come up with serious ways to CRUSH IT and create your own handmade fame.

4 Simple Ways to Crush Your Handmade Competitors

Tip #1 – Make yourself unique.

What makes you and/or your products different from your competitors? If you don’t know, you need to come up with something to set yourself apart. To me, making yourself unique really boils down to one question:

Who Wants to Buy Your Products?

If you are selling to everyone, narrow that down NOW. Three Examples:

• You and your competitors sell handmade soap which is for ‘everyone’. You decide to make yourself different by only making soap for men. You would change your fragrance list and color scheme then start marketing your new brand accordingly. Not only will you be ‘different’ from your competitors, you will start being remembered as the ‘handmade soap company just for men’. Stuff like that spreads fast.

Now one thing to consider is that “men” is a big category. You can take this down another few notches and create a niche for yourself that is easy to market and create a buzz for. Most men are very different. Some like like sports, some that hate them. Men who like cars, men who are eco it up on the streetcar. Young men, old men.  Gaming men and Working Men.

• Say you sell handmade cards. If you only want to sell online but that means trying to sell cards among a lot of crafty people. So you decide to change things up and create a bunch of ‘card making kits’. These kits are aimed at crafty kids so now all the crafty people are snapping them up. Now you are the Crafty Kids Card Kit Company and you are an instant hit.

• What if you are a jewelry designer? You want to appeal to brides because that’s where the big money is but you are consistently being beaten in sales by competitor shops. You decide to do something crazy and start targeting “Eco-Brides”. You start sourcing all of your material locally and incorporate recycled pieces as well. You even create a line featuring live grass that has to be watered. Now you’re unique AND in the money!

Tip #2 – Improve your photos.

After being unique, your photos are the biggest factor in success. When you sell online, noone can physically touch or examine your pieces so you need to show them exactly how they look by snapping photos that will give buyers a real sense of what they are about to purchase.

This is going to sound harsh. You KNOW if your photos stink. I don’t care how old you are or how inexperienced you are. If you want to take awful shots and then talk about them as being ‘not bad’ then just forget online selling. Not bad won’t get you sales regardless of how damn unique you are. There are endless resources out there to help you improve your photos but let’s start with the most simple factors:

• Buy a new camera

If you are using a camera you got 5 years ago, it’s time for an upgrade. If you aren’t sure about investing in a new camera you could borrow a few from different friends and family to see which one produces the best results. I spent a month researching the best camera for my business.

• Practice makes perfect

I hate saying this but it’s true. I snapped a minimum of 30 shots PER item until I found 5 quality photos to use on Etsy. Some days I couldn’t even 5 good ones and had to snap another 30 per item. As time went on, I just took 5 shots per product and all of them were perfect.

• Use common sense

Would you want to buy a brand new book from Amazon that is snapped on top of someone’s bed. That’s just weird. What if it was on top of a wood floor. Not professional. It doesn’t matter if this is your home business, you need to go for a clean look for all of your photos.

• Do your homework

Back to the endless resources available. Read up on tips and actually TAKE ACTION on them.

Tip #3 – Offer something they don’t.

You know your business well so you will examine competitors and easily identify things you consider ‘flaws’. Use your competitors weak points to enhance your own business. For instance, say they only offer made to order items. You will start busting your butt to create a selection of ready made items, shipped out within 1 business day. Or what if they charge $5 for gift wrapping. Now you will start offering complimentary gift wrapping (which you can factor into your prices to ensure you aren’t losing a dime).

Where do you look for these flaws?

• Their website

• In their shop photos and listing descriptions

• In their blogs & social sites

• In their advertising

Tip #4 – Be Everywhere and then some.

The best part about social media is there are so many people still unwilling to try. That means some of your competitors may not be on Twitter or Facebook yet. Get on there are start spreading the word about what YOU offer before they do. By the time they get on there, you will already be 10 steps ahead.

It’s still very likely that the other half of your competitors are already using social sites. No biggie. Use the same ‘examining technique’ to determine their social media weaknesses. There’s a damn good chance they are just tweeting their own links so since you just read up on how not to be annoying on Twitter, you know how to use Twitter more effectively which makes your brand more likable and your success more favorable.

One last thought: Once you have worked on tips 1, 2 & 3 you will need to actively and aggressively promote yourself because noone will know about your great UNIQUE brand but you.

The bottom line is there are endless ways to stand out from the crowd but these 4 tips are the easiest and most successful ways to really kick things up a notch. If you found this post helpful be sure to leave a comment and tweet this post by clicking on the ‘retweet’ button at the top of the post!

Soda Can Pic courtesy of John Linwood

… Or why I’m going to stop.

Twitter is my favorite social media tool by far. Better than blogging. Better than Facebook. Better than forums.

It’s so easy to use and anyone in the know uses it to network. When I use to sell jewelry and tweeted as Plume Adore, man was I doing it wrong. I would just write things like:

Taking Azura to the park

What color bracelet should I make today?

New listing added to Etsy (link)

What a maroon! It was ALL about me. Now that I tweet from a different perspective I am here to tell you that being a selfish tweeter is not going to get you ahead and may even SET YOU BACK.

With Twitter there is an 80/20 rule. You give 80 percent of the time and take only 20 percent of the time. By give I mean things like replying to other tweets, retweeting messages, asking questions (not related to your own company), providing help to other user’s questions and in general, just being SOCIAL. By take I mean sharing your own links or talking about yourself.

I constantly see people complaining that Twitter is not effective or it’s a ‘waste of time’. You don’t even need to spend more than a few minutes a day on it for it to not only drive traffic to your shop but more importantly, get noticed by people who normally would not notice you. For instance, you may never get a response from someone you pitched yourself to but if you start replying to their tweets with relevant comments/feedback, they may just remember you the next time you submit your work for consideration!

Things that will annoy people:

• Tweeting your own links constantly

–> This pisses people off and it doesn’t matter how many followers you have. I really prefer the tweets of people who are linking to funny, interesting or OMG articles and when they throw in their own posts/items, I’m happy to take a look.

–> There is an Etsy seller on Twitter who has over 30,000 followers and she just pipes out her own damn product links. Now I did a test and replied to the first question I saw her ask in weeks. I ended my answer with a question to see if she would respond but big surprise, she NEVER did. That’s not someone I’d ever want to follow again and the worse part that she probably doesn’t get, I would never ever purchase from her or recommend her products. She is ’selfish’ in my eyes and that’s not a good look you want for your own business, ya know?

• Asking people to retweet all your tweets

–> You can surely ask for a retweet when it’s important to you but if you ask for one every single time, it’s going to dilute your influence and brand.

• Never replying, retweeting or helping others

–> I use to always wonder (while tweeting as Plume Adore) why I never got retweets or replies but it was simple, I NEVER did replied or retweeted. The funny thing, I felt shy, like not wanting to ‘bother’ people with responses but that’s what Twitter is ALL about.

For more tips on Twitter, go sign up for Handmade Marketer ACTION tips here.

A long time ago, back when I was a few weeks into my Wholesale Journey, I started a thread on Etsy that became quite popular. People loved how easy I made wholesaling sound and even Etsy highlighted it in their “Success Newsletter”.

Then not long ago, this really awful seller decided to start trouble within the thread and alleged a lot of things. A few were true:

- I had a few other Etsy accounts that I never ‘deactivated’. I had no idea that was against the rules but I happily closed them down (one was when I use to sell handmade cards, the other when I sold scrapbooking supplies).

- I went against the rules and promoted a contest in the Business Topics section. At the time I really thought that since the giveaway included all prizes to improve an Etsy shop (banners, accounting spreadsheets etc) it would be relevant but I knew better and shouldn’t have done it.

- I had my shop in vacation mode but directed it to another site (my blog). Apparently that’s also against the rules but because Etsy doesn’t allow you to deactivate your seller account (and just keep a buyer account/profile) I had to stay on vacation otherwise I might get a sale (ha!).

The many other things she said were a cross between ridiculous and outrageous. One thing that completely pissed me off was when she said she never believed I actually got my work into stores and thought I just said this so I could get blog followers. Maybe this troll needs a timeline check:

End of April 2009 – Started selling handmade jewelry on Etsy

June 2009 – Started canvassing for wholesale accounts and got 5 orders in 3 weeks

End of June 2009 – Wrote the Wholesale Thread in question

September 2009 – Took a break from Etsy so I could try my hand at just wholesaling

November 2009 – Started my first blog (the former Etsy Business Blog)

January 2010 – Stopped wholesaling officially

So that would have been a seriously diabolical plan right!? HAHA

The FUNNY part is that she actually broke the very rules she supposedly was trying to uphold. Now I promised not to look at that thread again because it’s easy to feel discouraged by negative comments. But yesterday for some strange reason I decided to stop in and saw more nasty things (including new ones from that awful lady).

But one comment was a mix between snarky and nice. So I wanted to take some time to address the straight shooter’s questions and also give you more insight into why I changed my business model.

acageybee says:

So I’m guessing it’s more profitable to be a consultant & sell line sheets, e-books etc. on wholesaling than to actually make & sell jewelry?

Not more profitable if you factor in my time. With wholesaling, it was sending off my line sheet, waiting to hear from people, getting an order, filling it and getting paid. With consulting and products based around teaching, there is LOT more involved. For one, most of my work week revolves around stuff I don’t get paid for like:

- The Handmade ACTION Newsletter which is delivered to over 1100 subscribers. I have to prepare an action tip twice a week with a corresponding blog post taking the tips deeper.

- I write for a handful of blogs/websites where I help other artists get exposure or showcase handmade fashion finds. This is both strategic and personal. I get exposure but I also help people which feels damn good. Today my friend Grace got a boat load of exposure thanks to an article I pitched t0 Etsy so it’s things like this that really excite me.

- Networking. There is a LOT of networking which I actually thoroughly enjoy.

That being said, I did see an opportunity to give others the tools they needed to get their stuff into stores. I always say “Wholesale isn’t for everyone” because it wasn’t for me. There was a lot of factors, for one, I realized that I didn’t want to make jewelry forever. It was sad actually because I was so SURE you know. I am 24 so I think that my age and background allows me to try new things. One thing has ALWAYS been the same and that’s that I want to stay involved with the handmade community because that’s my passion. Another big issue with wholesaling that I hated had to do with my products. I will be detailing this in another LONG winded post.

Not hating at all! It’s still super helpful information & you obviously have to do what’s best for you & your family, but I’d love to hear a current perspective.

Did you get a lot of wholesale accounts & then realize that making so many pieces as an assembly line wasn’t very fulfilling? I’ve heard other people say that they used to do wholesale & eventually decided it wasn’t for them for exactly that reason.

That was definitely part of it! I outline a few things to consider before wholesaling here but my take is:

- JUST wholesaling isn’t a great plan unless you want to eventually hire workers to create most of your line for you. Looking back, I could have done this because it would have given me more time to stay on top of ordering supplies and landing more accounts. I also was juggling this while staying home full time with my toddler so that added chaos.

- The pieces I created weren’t time consuming. I could fill a 300 piece order in under 2 hours but it was definitely tedious. If you truly LOVE creating for a living, you will probably be okay with the ‘assembly line’ process at first, but again you may have to start thinking about outsourcing part of that later. I realized jewelry making was more of a hobby.

- I like varied types of work. I have found great success in all my latest endeavors but the exciting thing was being able to keep my workload different every day. This helps me enjoy what I do because I get bored easily. I don’t think it’s a flaw but some would see it as “flaky”.  Thankfully being flaky has allowed much fulfillment in my life and I am excited about all the new things that will come my way in time.

Do you still sell jewelry? The business blog & consulting must take up a lot of time. Is that the direction you plan to go full time?

I can see how emailing a PDF would be a better business model. Takes time to write up the initial info, but then you can sell it over & over again. And no post office trips!

Thanks for all the info & best of luck in whatever path you choose!

The post office was indeed the least favorite part of my day! I took my last wholesale order in December 2009 but actually got two emails from retailers interested in picking up my line for this Spring. I just don’t have the urge to do it anymore and yes everything involved with the blog, newsletter and consulting is time consuming.

As for my PDF reports, they are custom to each seller so I cannot sell them again and again (wouldn’t that be lovely!). They require individual research because some days I’m working with a jewelry company in Canada and another day it’s a card company in Dallas. I will be launching new products over time to allow more passive income but I really enjoy researching different markets because it helps me keep up to date on the retail market. A healthy challenge!

Thanks for allowing me to write this post, it’s been a long time coming

Bead pics courtesy of (Dimora) on Flick’r

I got word recently that a new online website launching very soon is looking for jewelry designers who are interested in wholesaling their work.

The new site is catered to plus sized women so if you make jewelry and can accommodate larger sized pieces for this website, leave a comment here (make sure your shop URL is in the website box).

I will keep you posted on all the details closer to the launch date!

scoutie girl

Just a quick note to say I’m the newest contributor of Scoutie Girl, a blog with a penchant for the passionately handmade!

I will be writing a weekly pop culture inspired post filled with tons handmade goodies! I was telling Tara, Scoutie Girl’s editor, that the biggest reason I desperately wanted to contribute was because I needed a ‘getaway’ from posting about business related topics.  I am super excited and hope that you will stop by often and check out all the happenings at Scoutie Girl.

Later today my first official post will be up, My Handmade Oscar Party!

Should you wholesale your work (and do you really want to!)?

I landed 5 wholesale accounts in under a month of trying without a sales rep, fancy trade show or help of an expert. That being said, there are a few things you should ask yourself.

1- Do you really want to craft full time?

If you find certain parts of crafting tedious or not something your body could handle in the long run, you might be better off doing this as a hobby. With wholesale, you will be making items furiously and for longer hours so if you truly don’t love it, don’t wholesale.

2- Can you afford buying supplies in bulk?

When you sell online it’s easy to order supplies in small batches to make a few specific products but when you wholesale, you will need to have enough supplies on hand to make an army of items. Chances are high you get most of your supplies from online sellers so you will have to spend a decent amount ahead of time to ensure you have all materials and components needed for your entire collection. I always tried to have enough supplies in stock to make four of every item in my collection.

3 – Are you ready to feel stressed?

Wholesaling is completely different than selling to a single customer. What you do can make or break your business. Take it from someone who has screwed  up almost as much as I got things right, you will feel stressed, scared and you may even cry. It’s normal and guess what, the good WILL outweigh the bad on your road to wholesale success.

4 – Are you willing to raise your prices?

I was lucky enough to be allowed a 30% discount for my first wholesale order but this is NOT the norm. If you want to wholesale beyond a few accounts, you will need to raise prices enough to offer 50% off your prices. You have two options, make a new collection to wholesale where you can offer the half off discount OR raise the prices on your current items (the latter being much easier).

Don’t get me wrong, I want you to wholesale but just remember it’s a long term commitment so  just make sure you are willing to do what it takes!