The Makers Summit: 3rd Annual Kick in the Butt

Earlier this month I attended a 2-day conference for creatives called The Makers Summit, put on my Indie Craft Parade. This was the 3rd annual gathering, and I wouldn’t miss it for anything. People from all over the country come to Greenville, SC, to be a part of this event. There's workshops to attend, the chance to meet one-on-one with industry experts, hear keynote speakers share their story, and get to know other makers.

Each year, I’ve gotten something completely different out of the conference. It’s true the workshops and speakers change every time so the experience is never going to be the same, but I think a big reason why my personal takeaway is vastly different year to year is because my business is in a completely different place each time. A lot can happen in between one Makers Summit and the next!

The first year (2013), I was really wanting to improve my Etsy shop, so I signed up for one-on-one sessions with experts related to that, and made big changes in the following weeks to my tags, descriptions, and photos. At the time, I was also toying with creating a personal website where my jewelry, fiber art, interior design, and writing could come together (THIS website, the one you’re reading right now!). Lastly, I was inspired to pitch to a magazine for the first time after hearing Amy Flurry, author of Recipe for Press, speak at the conference. Backstory on my first magazine pitch & feature can be found here:  

Last year (2014), I was focused on re-branding and giving my business a better overall appearance, so by the summertime I was finally ready to take the plunge and get serious about this major overhaul. It was a huge thing to check off my Makers Summit to-do list, and now I can finally say I’ve never been happier with my logo and branding. Backstory on my re-branding can be found here:

This year (2015), I found myself tuning in to advice related specifically to wholesale. I already do a fair amount of wholesale business as it is, but I really need to step it up a notch (several notches, actually). Most of my big goals for this year are for growing my wholesale reach even further, and making that side of my business significantly more professional.

Post Makers Summit To-Do List:

• Create a printed catalogue to showcase my linesheet

• Develop SKU’s for all wholesale inventory

• Launch my own e-commerce website with wholesale section

• Simplify custom ordering process: color chart, setting options, designs, etc.

• Exhibit at one tradeshow in the next 12 months (which is way different than a craft show)

So there it is, my official list. Now that it’s posted here, I really have to be accountable! 

The conference was, as it always is, a kick in the butt to take the next major steps of this entrepreneurial journey. My brain is still processing everything I heard. I’m still buzzing with inspiration, even several weeks later.

After the Makers Summit was #thebestcraftpartyever - which is exactly what is sounds like. Click through the album below for a peek at how crafty people get crafty just for fun, when they’re not making things because it’s their job. 

New Generation of Makers

Recently I've been corresponding with a very talented 11 year old girl in London, Ellie, who's just getting into the crafting world. She's off to an amazing start with her Etsy shop called Befuzzled. I was glad to share some words of wisdom with her on her blog about making a living with your hands, inspiration, and lots of other stuff too: http://befuzzledlondon.tumblr.com/

I ordered one of her cute little plushy toys a few weeks ago. The s'more with the curious face is on it's way to me! Can't wait to put it in my studio so it can smile at me while I craft away. I'm so glad to see a new generation of makers at work, younger than ever, and I look forward to watching how Ellie's creations and brand progress in the future. Be sure to visit her shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/befuzzled

Photo credit: Befuzzled

The Little Business That Could

Six years ago, on January 8th 2009, I opened an Etsy shop and called it Once Again Sam. I listed a few upcycled leather earrings, plus some other jewelry I'd made, then obsessively refreshed my shop stats. By the end of day one, I had a grand total of 11 pageviews. It was something, at least. Little victories was how it all started.

My first sale came from my ever supportive and always-thoughtful cousin, Vivian. My second sale didn’t come for months after that (from my mother-in-law), right around the time I was about to give up and close the shop. Those first few months were incredibly disheartening, but I figured it really didn’t cost me much to keep going a little longer, aside from my pride. I reminded myself of why I opened the shop in the first place: to have a creative outlet to earn money for more craft supplies, but mostly to have fun. That was it. That was my whole business plan.

By the end of my first year operating as Once Again Sam, I was surprised to have 100 Etsy sales under my belt. 100 people bought something I made, and 98 of them weren’t related to me. Exciting stuff! I stopped worrying about numbers after that, and more about what I was working on and what I wanted to learn. Sales were going to happen or not happen all on their own, and it wasn’t worth stressing over. Besides, what’s the point of having a creative outlet when it’s causing stress?      

With a lot of hard work, the business grew. It didn't happen overnight, not even close. It was a slow but steady thing. More slow than steady, if I'm honest. I improved my skills, learned the ins and outs of using Etsy, and experimented with new products to see what worked and what didn’t. It was well beyond just a little side hobby by the end of year two. By year three, I was making more through my creative outlet than I was at my full time job. How did that happen? I didn’t plan it that way. I went to school to be an interior designer and enjoyed the work, but I certainly was enjoying working with my hands too. By year four, I was able to go full time with Once Again Sam and cutback to doing interior design on the side, flip-flopping my career with my hobby, because I really do enjoy design work and didn’t want to give it up completely. Having the opportunity to do that was a huge blessing, one that still hasn't sunk in all the way, even now.  

Having never planned on being a small business owner / working artist, I had to learn as I went. I fumbled, I failed. I still fumble and fail. There’s nothing easy about running a handmade business, especially if you’re the one responsible for design, research, stocking supplies, customer service, marketing, shipping, and oh yeah … you have to actually make every single item with your own two hands. Oh, the pressure! I’ve never worked as hard as I do now, but it’s incredibly gratifying. I may be an accidental entrepreneur, and I still have pretty much everything to learn, but here I am. I make a living making things. It can be done!

Although I have in no way “made it” (whatever that means), I’m in the process of making it every day. I’ve learned an awful lot in six short years, but there’s so much more ahead. Any success I’ve had so far is all thanks to God’s provision, my husband’s support and encouragement (and for telling me about Etsy in the first place!), and a whole lot of trial and error. For anyone thinking about using their creativity as more than just an outlet, I want to encourage you to give it a shot and see what happens. You might be surprised at where you are in six years.

Get 20% off your entire purchase in my Etsy shop with this coupon code!

Top ten things I wish I knew six years ago:

10-Numbers aren’t everything. They’re fun to track and can be very informative, but they can also become a problem if you obsess over them. Shop stats, profit margins, Facebook likes, etc., they don’t determine your worth or your talent. They only give a snap shot of any given day.  

9-Charging too little for your work when you first start out will at some point catch up with you. Be realistic but fair about your prices early on, and don’t give in to the temptation to undercharge just to get a sale. It devalues you, your work, your future work, and other people’s work too. I’m scolding myself on this one, believe me. There was a time when I was pretty much giving things away.

8-Being organized goes a long way. Keep good records, track your progress in metrics, find a system that works for you, and learn from past mistakes.

7-People may eventually try to copy your work. It’s not fair. And it SUCKS. Get mad (or sue, if you have the energy), and then come up with something even better. Make it hard for those copycats to keep up with you. Copycats are inherently lacking in creativity, so use that to your advantage and let them eat your dust.  

6-Find other working creatives and ask them a heck of a lot of questions. Share what you know, find out what they know, and you’ll all be better off for it.

5-Know that some people aren’t going to like your work. It’s inevitable, and it’s perfectly okay. I’ve even had a few people claim my work is offensive (the felted bunny heads, no less, but I won’t get into that here). Don’t take it personally and don’t change what you’re doing just to please a few folks. It’s art, for goodness sake!

4-Celebrate milestones, even the smallest ones, and don’t beat yourself up too much when you screw up. 

3-It’s hard to explain this kind of creative job to the average person. They’ll ask, “But what do you really do?” as if you couldn’t possibly sell handmade items to pay your mortgage. Try not to get bent out of shape or overly defensive - they most likely don’t mean to offend you. If they’re open to having a conversation about it, kindly share that creating with your hands is a real job for some. The alternative is to get really good at faking a smile. Your choice.

2-Have fun. Okay, that sounds dumb, but it’s true. Sometimes, when I’ve made 30 of the same thing in one day, I start to feel like I’m turning into a factory so I take time to make something silly, something I doubt anyone will ever buy, because I want to make it purely for the sake of making it.

1-Create things you love and always be inspired. If you ever lose that, do whatever you have to do to get it back, even if it means taking a creativity break. Staying passionate is the single most important part of this journey.  

2014 was a record breaking year in every way. Thank you to those who were a part of it! Here's a little geeky peek at some of my stats from the past year. Looking forward to 2015 and all it brings. 

Recap: Indie Craft Parade

Last weekend was the 5th annual Indie Craft Parade here in Greenville, SC. This is a top notch festival of all things handmade, and is always my best show year after year. With a record number of attendees this year, nearly 7,000 people, it’s no wonder it was a huge success for all involved.

A lot goes into preparing for a major show like this. I worked all summer making inventory and still felt like I didn’t have enough by the time September rolled in. The week of the show, I mainly focused on tweaking my table setup, and finalized some new additions to my display to ensure my booth would look it’s best and function well for the crowd of shoppers. I always do a mock up prior to this show (that’s what the dining room is for!) and that, plus carefully packing up what is essentially a miniature store, is a several day-long endeavor. The checklist is never ending!

The day before the show, I got an unexpected opportunity to appear on Studio 62 with Jamarcus Gaston to talk about the festival and my handmade business. This was my first time on TV and I was shaking like a leaf, but I’m thankful for the chance to plug this amazing event as well as share my work. Here’s the video clip. 

Friday September 12th was the day of set up. All the vendors showed up at assigned times to unload, and the anticipation was there from the get go, long before the VIP Gala kicked off that evening. I did a series of live posts throughout the day Friday to give a behind the scenes look at what all goes on before the doors are open. Click here for photos.

To say the show was a success would be a huge understatement. I’m not just talking record sales or attendance. Everything about the event was extremely well organized, widely publicized, and I felt energized even though I was utterly exhausted by the end of it. Below are some of my stats from the weekend, but I’ll just point out, this show is a complete anomaly - I DO NOT sell almost 800 items at every craft show I do!

Not only did I sell a lot, but I bought a lot too. That’s half the fun, right?  

Here’s a peek at my Indie Craft Parade loot from some of the most talented regional artists. I could have bought something from just about every vendor. I had a hard time narrowing it down to these awesome items!

1. Ring from January Jewelry

2. Print from Chris Koelle

3. Felted Flowers from Muncle Fred Art 

4. Brass Earrings from Olivia de Soria Jewelry

5. Bone Pendant from Exterra88

6. Turned Walnut Bowl from Turning South

7. Trivet and Feather Ornament from Crave Studio

8. Owl Print from Joe Engel

9. Turned Muddlers from Slab

10. & 11. Paintings from Candy Pegram

12. Bowl from Bean & Bailey

13. Tiny Vases from April Swhingle

14. Porcupine Pendant from Spectrum Handcrafted

15. 2015 Calendar from Paperform

Thanks to everyone who made this event so special!

Indie Craft Parade: The Milestone That Changed Everything

Indie Craft Parade is a festival of handmade goods held every September in Greenville, SC, that features top makers from all over the southeast. So ... it's just a craft show, right? Well, no. Not really. It's a whole lot more than that. This show changed everything for me.

Once upon a time, in the summer of 2011, I applied to a craft show for the very first time. My Etsy shop Once Again Sam was still fairly new, and trying an event seemed like a reasonable goal for growth. With zero experience, I submitted my application for the “To Wear” category, and hoped my handmade leather jewelry would make the cut. As an after thought, I decided to also apply for the “Fiber Art” category. I had just learned needle felting a few months earlier and thought showing the judges a range of work might help me stand out.

My expectations of being accepted were low. A few hundred people applying for 75 spots = not great odds. The day the jury notifications went out I was bummed my jewelry had been declined, but not shocked. Then, I read the email again and realized my fiber art had been accepted. I believe my exact words were, “What the crap?” I had just learned how to felt, and the photos I used for my fiber art application were some of the only pieces I had ever made. 

That summer, all I did was felt felt felt. Looking back, I can see that having to improve my skills quickly and develop a substantial amount of inventory in only a matter of weeks was a pivotal point for me, a crash course in this obscure craft that helped elevate my techniques in a very short time period. I felted every day for as many hours as I could manage, till it hurt. 

The show went very well, much better than I expected (because I didn’t really know what to expect). I later realized just how well organized the whole thing was, and what a great group of people are behind it all. After that first show, everything changed for Once Again Sam. Countless doors were opened. I began selling in local shops and saw a dramatic increase in my repeat customers. I started taking my handmade work more seriously, as a real business, not just a hobby.  As terrified as I was to stand behind my table and talk to total strangers that first time back in 2011 (hardcore introverts can relate, I'm sure), I got through it somehow, and it paid off in every possible way. The positive response was incredible, I felt overwhelmingly encouraged, and realized I could actually make a good living this way.

Since then, I've been lucky enough to participate in Indie Craft Parade each year, and not just with my Felted Curiosities, but also with my new & improved handmade jewelry (starting in 2012). This show has become one of the major highlights of my year. I use it as a launching pad for new collections, a deadline for improving my booth set up, and a chance to meet other creatives and connect with local customers. I love preparing for this show, I love being there, and I actually feel sad when it's over. There's a sort of a magical, inspirational atmosphere to it all, as funny as that may sound. 

Here's a look back at my last 4 years of Indie Craft Parade application photos. I can definitely see improvement, my earlier work isn't my best now, but it was my best at the time. I still have a lot to learn, a thousand new things I want to try, and I’m sure I’ll cringe years from now at the work I’m most proud of today. It’s the curse of every artist, right? 

This year, my husband’s shop Tree & Laser, will be right next to Once Again Sam at the 5th annual Indie Craft Parade in downtown Greenville, SC. There will be an amazing range of hip hand-crafted goods from regional makers, and you won’t want to miss out. Everything from screen printed t-shirts, to pottery and fine art, and of course, handmade jewelry & felted curiosities brought to you by yours truly. If you’re in the Upstate of SC, come on by!