Following Trends Are Important In Business

As promised in my previous post, Easy Success Tips In Starting A Craft Business, I want to share with you where the best places on trends can be found...both on the Internet and in person. It is crucial to have an intimate knowledge of fashion and where to look for knowledgeable resources in this area no matter what craft you are making for your business. I can't reiterate this enough!

1. Fashion Fame: This is a site encompassing the who's who of clothing fashion. If you love celebrities, you'll love this site. I find the site a bit overstimulating on the wealth of information, IMO. But perhaps that's just me.
2. Fashion Trendsetter: I found this site much more "user friendly" and cohesive. It was more organized and easier to navigate too. No surprise, the trending color for 2013 is emerald green. My little sister will love that!
3. E-fashion trends:  I didn't gain a whole lot of information from this site....that interested me anyway. But, if you wish to know what hairstyle or wedding dress is in style, this may be the site for you! Don't count on me cutting off all of my hair though!
4. House Beautiful: If you make handmade home decor like I sometimes do, this site may help some. While not completely informative, I found the information spot on with accuracy. I have seen many local and online shops featuring these posted trends.
5. MSN Living: MSN has 10 designer picks for 2013....and brass seems to be one of them. While I may be "stuck" in the 80's with my fashion, I'm not sure I want to incorporate brass in my home! It seems so.....70's?
6. Houzz: I liked this site so much that I highlighted it! It was very informative and easy to navigate through the site. It had great pictures to illustrate what they were talking about. After all, without the pictures, I would never ever know what the heck "Suzani prints" and "Hollywood 40s Noir style" were!
7. Top 5 Home Decorating Trends:   According to this list, rustic, wood furnishings will be very popular in 2013. I'm glad because this is how I like to decorate my house! As a "tree hugger", I enjoy rummaging through antique stores in search of a great find and then bringing it home for some TLC and sprucing up.
8. Good Housekeeping:This well trusted site shares with us 11 savory trends for 2013. Not surprisingly, emerald green again takes the #1 spot!
9. Marie Claire: If you don't follow fashion trends in Europe, you're shooting yourself and the success of your business. Europe is where all great fashion (home, clothing,etc) starts! This slideshow is very informative of what is predicted to be the best, most fresh 2013 trends.
10. Vogue: I couldn't leave this heavy hitter out of the list. I saw many of these designs at the Oscar Awards recently. A definite site to check out!

I've also seen a lot of cut out sleeves that seem to be so popular that it's even meandering around to my hillbilly neck of the woods! I plan to "upfashion" some of old, tired, too big blouses into creative cut outs as soon as I get my new sewing machine.

Happy creating!

Easy Success Tips To Starting A Craft Business

There are soooo many articles out there on how to make crafts, what is trending, and the enticing lures to make easy cash on your handmade wares. But, if you are like me, you are likely overwhelmed and overloaded by this wealth of information.

I have owned an online business for almost 2 years and have done many craft shows. I have also rubbed elbows with those who have been in this line of business for a lot longer than I have. Here are some of the things I have done and those more experienced than me suggest to do to have a successful craft business.

• Join Craft and Hobby Association. It has a sliding scale of fees in relation to how much income your business brings in. It has a wealth of resources and inside trade secrets not accessible to anyone else on the web. You can access insurance, discounts on rental cars, craft supplies, and shipping discounts. Check them out!
• Give to charity. As they say, you can't get what you don't give. By being a part of your community, you learn a lot about your community and those who live in it, but you learn about it's economy. You see what is needed, what others have, and be more appreciative to what you have been blessed with.Maybe a business in town or other business owners will take notice of your work and business opportunities open up!
• Take a detailed inventory of everything you have in starting your business. Do you have office machinery? (I do!) Do you have a lot of fabric (I have too much)? What about a business degree (wish I had gotten one)? Assess exactly how much money and inventory and value of your supplies that you have. This will help you know what you can make now and need to save money for later when profit allows you to spend more on your business.
• Go to craft shows and make a detailed list of who will be making contact with...get to know all about that craft fair and who exactly will be there. Plan how you will execute your public relations, marketing, and walk that floor at least twice!
• Never, ever, ever miss a deadline. Build trust with your customers. Without trust in any relationship, there can't be success.
• This leads to asking for help. If you are suddenly having a lot of business (congrats!), ask for help to fill those orders and rebuild inventory. Asking for help isn't a sign of weakness. Not meeting deadlines is a sign of imminent failure and loss of future business.
• Always be professional and treat your craft business like any other job, even if it is from your home and you wear pajamas behind that computer screen (you know who you are). If you don't see this is a serious business, your customers won't see you as a serious business owner either.
• Constantly read up on trends, color, fabric, fashion, etc. Watch the Oscars. Watch fashion shows. Read everything you can about your craft. Glean info from like businesses and see what they are doing. Don't copy others work.Be original! But, inspiration can come from anywhere. I get a lot of inspiration from my very preppy, yuppie sister-in-law who has a lot of class and fashionable style. Would I wear the stuff she wears? No. But I can see myself making a lot of her outfits and home decor and making good money from it!

I will be sharing more information on following trendsand knowing where to find them before it's too late to capitalize on them in my next blog post.

Happy creating!