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What’s in store for all listeners of the Business of Making Podcast As our last episode for the year we reminisce about how the Business of Making started. By now, most of you probably know that the podcast will be going on hiatus for a while and we know you have a lot of questions. What can our listeners expect while the podcast is in hiatus?Will the in-person workshop plans resume in 2022? When will the podcast be back? So in this episode we will answer all of that and more! Find out what’s in store for all of you makers by listening to this episode below or you can listen to it on your favourite podcast app. Also, for those who want to listen to the full episodes of the special Patron-only content, now is the best time to do so for just $1 a month. Don’t miss this once in  a lifetime chance to get all the back catalogue of our exclusive episodes. Join our Patreon community now! Enjoy! ~ Mikaela, Deb & Jess   listen now shownotes As this is our last episode this year and for a while, we will talk about what’s in store for our listeners of the Business of Making Podcast. What we cover in this episode: The initial reasons why we started The Business of Making Podcast and how it turned into a passion project; What we’ll be doing during the hiatus; When the podcast will be coming back; The ebb and flow of running a handmade business; Why you shouldn’t give up on your passion project; What finite and infinite thinking means and how it will help you develop a better perspective in life; What will happen to our Patreon community; How you can listen to all exclusive podcast episodes for just a $1 a month;    What Mikaela’s research for the handmade community is about.   Mentions and resources: Daring to Lead Podcast byBrene Brown: Developing an Infinite Mindset by Simon Sinek   Listen exclusive content for as little as $1 a month by joining our Patreon community The Business of Making Community – Facebook Group Blinkist Challenge Accepted! by Celeste Barber How We Love: Note on a Life by Clementine Ford Dave Grohl – The Storytelling Best place to reach Jess is through her website at the Create & Thrive Thriver Circle – Jess’ membership site The Create and Thrive Podcast Jess Van Den Youtube channel Best place to reach Deb is through her website at Tizzit Tizzit HQ – Deb’s membership site Deborah Engelmajer Youtube channel Best place to reach Mikaela is through her website at the Makers Research The Makers Collective – Mikaela’s membership site don't miss an episode! Subscribe to get notified when a new episode comes out. You'll also get access to free guides and resources to help you grow your shop. Success! First Name Email Subscribe The post 130: Until next time… appeared first on The Business of Making | Podcast.

It’s time to audit your handmade business It’s that time of the year again when you might be thinking of giving your handmade shop a refresh for 2022.  Before the year ends most of us usually plan for the next year. Some of those plans may include changes in some aspects of your handmade business. In this episode, we give you some high level things you need to think about to start the year with better SEO. But not everyone has the time to make big changes. So we will also share with you some tips that don’t take much work but make a big difference in your conversion rate.  This is the episode you shouldn’t miss if you want actionable steps for better conversion and better sales. Enjoy! ~ Mikaela, Deb & Jess PS. To all our Patrons! Live Ask Us Anything is happening on December 15th at 10:30 AEDT (Sydney time). We’re excited to see you all but to our Patrons who can’t make it, you can send your questions in through the pinned post we sent here on Patreon. If you’re not yet a Patron, there’s still time to join us by signing up to our Patreon community.   listen now shownotes Does your shop need a refresh? In this episode we talk about how to audit your handmade business to get better conversion. What we cover in this episode: Figuring out what the main bottleneck is in your shop by asking if you have a traffic problem; What a good conversion rate means and when is the right time to check it; Which data to look at when checking your conversion rate analytics; Don’t get too obsessed about the conversion rate; Warm traffic VS. cold traffic and why you should focus on the former; What to avoid doing on social media that ruins your conversion rate data and Etsy algorithm; Why changing strategies in a short period of time may not give you the best result; Learning too much and not implementing enough; Set goals and set an action plan; Manifest your goals by taking action; Rather than making something new why not improve on what you already have; Improving your SEO on your existing products; Don’t mess with the stuff that’s working; Tips on how to improve your current product photos; Getting someone to go through every web page in your shop to look for errors and that everything looks good; Why it’s checking what the competition is doing and what’s happening in your niche; Set a time and schedule when you will do the audit.   Mentions and resources: Episode 90: Why you need to pay attention to conversion rates Patreon Join the handmade community discussion at The Business of Making Community – Facebook Group don't miss an episode! Subscribe to get notified when a new episode comes out. You'll also get access to free guides and resources to help you grow your shop. Success! First Name Email Subscribe The post 128: Will your handmade shop benefit from a refresh in 2022? appeared first on The Business of Making | Podcast.

2021 is about to end. Are you sure you’re handmade business is ready for the next one?    We know that for most handmade businesses December is a busy month. You’re probably busy creating products, running promotions, shipping orders and so on. With everything that’s going on, how do you ensure that you are ready for the next one? In this episode we share what we do during the holiday season and how we prepare for the coming year. Here’s some things you can expect from this week’s episode: What finishing the year strong means; Why you  may wan to temporarily shut down operations during the holiday; How to plan content for our handmade business; And more! N.B. This is a Patreon-exclusive episode, you can start listening to the episode below, and learn more about becoming a Patreon for access to extra content and perks right here.   Enjoy! ~Jess, Deb & Mikaela Are you a platinum patron and want to listen to this episode on your favourite podcast app? Here’s how to find and subscribe to TBOMs episodes using your custom audio RSS link. listen now don't miss an episode! Subscribe to get notified when a new episode comes out. You'll also get access to free guides and resources to help you grow your shop. Success! First Name Email Subscribe https://www.thebusinessofmaking.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Episode115-PATREON-SEGUE-How-to-chose-what-holiday-promos-to-run.mp3 The post 127: How we finish the year strong, ready for the next one appeared first on The Business of Making | Podcast.

Change is the only constant… There are massive changes happening to the Business of Making podcast this 2022. But before that we want to share the good news to our community. Someone’s expecting a baby! Can you guess who?  Listen to this week’s episode to find out who and what this good news means for the podcast, our listeners, and our Patreon community. PS: And to all our Patrons, our live “Ask Us Anything” session is happening soon. You can send your questions as early as now. See you soon!   Enjoy! ~ Mikaela, Deb & Jess listen now shownotes Change is the only thing that’s permanent. In this episode we are announcing 2 big changes that are happening in 2022. What we cover in this episode: Baby announcement, update on business, and plans for the future; Challenges of running a business when expecting a baby; Things to prepare before taking a long period of time off running a business; The realities of having children and owning a business; Balancing work and raising a newly born baby; Why the Business of Making podcast is taking a break for a couple of months; Live episode for our Patrons on the 15th of December; How to get access to exclusive Patron-only content; Catch-up with episodes you missed until our mid-year update in 2022.   Mentions and resources: To get extra special content and perks, you can support us at Patreon Join the handmade community discussion at The Business of Making Community – Facebook Group don't miss an episode! Subscribe to get notified when a new episode comes out. You'll also get access to free guides and resources to help you grow your shop. Success! First Name Email Subscribe The post 126: 2x big 2022 announcements appeared first on The Business of Making | Podcast.

Wondering why others’ marketing strategies are working so well and yours isn’t? Let us help you figure out the reason why. Many marketing gurus will tell you that the strategies or marketing platforms they are using will work for any business. But that’s not true. Not everyone enjoys marketing on social media platforms. Not everyone likes writing captions or newsletters. Not everyone likes creating graphics or recording videos or going Live. And of course, not everyone enjoys looking at analytics. That’s because each of you/us are different. So in this week’s episode we are sharing a wonderful test you can take to identify your marketing DNA. You can take the test if you want like what Deb did. Or you can do a little self-assessment like what Jess and Mikaela did in this episode. follow along as you listen. Click the play button to listen to this podcast now!   Enjoy! ~ Mikaela, Deb & Jess listen now shownotes In this week’s episode we talk about which marketing strategies will work best based on your personality. What we cover in this episode: Who Perry Marshall is and what is the Marketing DNA Test; The 4 components of the test and why Deb found her result very accurate; Definitions of the 4 components of the test – Alchemist VS Producer, Words VS Images, Recorded VS Live, and Analytics VS Empathy; Jess’ and Mikaela’s self-assessments based on each definition of the components; What you may be naturally good at may not always be what you want to do; The final result you get can either make you a Chameleon or an Eccentric; Strengths and weaknesses of identifying as a Chameleon or Eccentric; How knowing your strengths and weaknesses can help you identify which you can improve and/or focus on; What we think about personality tests in general; Which marketing platform will work best for you based on the marketing DNA test results; The reason why your current marketing strategy is draining your energy and keeping you unnecessarily “busy”;   Mentions and resources: To get extra special content and perks, you can support us at Patreon Join the handmade community discussion at The Business of Making Community – Facebook Group Perry Marshall’s Marketing DNA test don't miss an episode! Subscribe to get notified when a new episode comes out. You'll also get access to free guides and resources to help you grow your shop. Success! First Name Email Subscribe The post 125: What’s your marketing DNA? appeared first on The Business of Making | Podcast.

How do you know when to quit or change tack when it comes to your handmade business? Are you making the right decision at the right time? Let’s find out.   But first, do listen to the previous episode to know the businesses we’ve run for a bit of context. In it we shared a little backstory of how we ended up with our current business and career.   We do acknowledge that everyone has different situations. So there really is no clear cut blueprint as to what exactly you need to do. This episode is more of a guideline in hopes of helping you make the right decisions for your business. So what can you look forward to in this week’s podcast? Important questions you need to ask yourself before making a decision; Aspects of your business that you need to look at objectively; Where and where to seek advice and the people who can help you decide what to do; And more! Have you found yourself in a similar situation in the past? We’d love to know your story. Head on over to The Business of Making Community – Facebook Group to join the discussion.Or maybe you are in a similar situation at the moment? Click the Play button now to listen to this week’s episode. N.B. This is a Patreon-exclusive episode, you can start listening to the episode below, and learn more about becoming a Patreon for access to extra content and perks right here.   Enjoy! ~Jess, Deb & Mikaela Are you a platinum patron and want to listen to this episode on your favourite podcast app? Here’s how to find and subscribe to TBOMs episodes using your custom audio RSS link. listen now don't miss an episode! Subscribe to get notified when a new episode comes out. You'll also get access to free guides and resources to help you grow your shop. Success! First Name Email Subscribe https://www.thebusinessofmaking.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Episode115-PATREON-SEGUE-How-to-chose-what-holiday-promos-to-run.mp3 The post 124: How to know when to quit or change tack? appeared first on The Business of Making | Podcast.

Is your first business a success or not? Be honest. Your first business may not run as smoothly as you may have imagined. And we’re here to tell you that it’s perfectly okay. We can say this because we’ve been there. Our current business isn’t the first one we’ve started. As a matter of fact we’ve had several businesses that we had to close down before finally finding the right business that works for us. In this week’s episode, we talk about the businesses we’ve run and the lessons that we learned along the way. We wanted to share this with all makers and businesses owners because the truth is not everyone gets it on the first try. You may have to change, pivot, and even restart several times in order to find that one business that will work for you.  Enjoy! ~ Mikaela, Deb & Jess   listen now shownotes In this week’s episode we talk about how we started our entrepreneurial careers and the lessons we learned along the way. What we cover in this episode: Our first ever attempts at making money as young entrepreneurs; Several jobs, freelancing works, and side hustles we did before becoming business owners; Common problems we’ve encountered when we first started our handmade business and what we’ve learnt; Why we’ve stopped working on several businesses we’ve started; Successful doesn’t mean profitable; Quitting your business is not a failure; What we’ve discovered about ourselves throughout the businesses we’ve run; How we finally found the right business that’s aligned with our values and personality; Spotting when to chase or ignore shiny objects.   Mentions and resources: To get extra special content and perks, you can support us at Patreon Join the handmade community discussion at The Business of Making Community – Facebook Group don't miss an episode! Subscribe to get notified when a new episode comes out. You'll also get access to free guides and resources to help you grow your shop. Success! First Name Email Subscribe The post 123: The businesses we’ve run appeared first on The Business of Making | Podcast.

Trying to build a good habit or break a bad one? This may help… We all want to improve something in our lives. It may be personal or business related. No matter your goals may be, consistency is the key to to achieving what you want. Once you have been doing one thing consistently it then becomes a habit. It’s important that you keep building good ones and start breaking the bad habits. So that’s why in this week’s book club episode we discuss the bestselling book by the author James Clear titled Atomic Habits. In this episode we talk about what concepts we like about the book and why we think it may help guide you in achieving your own goals too.   Enjoy! ~ Mikaela, Deb & Jess   listen now shownotes In this book club episode week we discuss the bestselling book by James Clear titled Atomic Habits. Will this book really help you break bad habits and build good ones? Listen to this episode to learn about what we think of the book. What we cover in this episode: General concept of what the book is and what we think of it; A quick summary of the laws of habit change and inversions to break bad ones; Why we like the concept of identity based habits VS the outcome based habits that are both mentioned in the book; How we adapted the laws of habit change to improve the current habits we are building; “To get a habit to stick you need to feel immediately successful even if it is small”; Why habit tracker works; Our past and present experiences when we realized that we applied the tips mentioned in the book; Why we like the cue system and how it applies to our lives and to running a business; Redefining what success is and how it can change your perspective about success as a handmade business owner; You have to be consistent to make stuff happen;   Mentions and resources: To get extra special content and perks, you can support us at Patreon Join the handmade community discussion at The Business of Making Community – Facebook Group don't miss an episode! Subscribe to get notified when a new episode comes out. You'll also get access to free guides and resources to help you grow your shop. Success! First Name Email Subscribe The post 122: Bookclub: Atomic Habits by James Clear appeared first on The Business of Making | Podcast.

Repurposing content is nothing new but how do you exactly do it? In this episode we talk about how you can repurpose content in one platform and use it in another one.  We will be focusing on how you can repurpose content from a blog post to different platforms such as Pinterest, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, etc. It doesn’t matter where your original content is though and you will find out why in this episode. So what else can you look forward to in this week’s podcast? Different ways to create a blog post that will benefit your handmade business; Why you shouldn’t worry about using the same content on different platforms; What are the things you can pull out from a blog post so you can repurpose that content to different platforms; And more! If you want to save time creating content then this is the episode you shouldn’t miss! N.B. This is a Patreon-exclusive episode, you can start listening to the episode below, and learn more about becoming a Patreon for access to extra content and perks right here.   Enjoy! ~Jess, Deb & Mikaela Are you a platinum patron and want to listen to this episode on your favourite podcast app? Here’s how to find and subscribe to TBOMs episodes using your custom audio RSS link. listen now don't miss an episode! Subscribe to get notified when a new episode comes out. You'll also get access to free guides and resources to help you grow your shop. Success! First Name Email Subscribe https://www.thebusinessofmaking.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Episode115-PATREON-SEGUE-How-to-chose-what-holiday-promos-to-run.mp3 The post 121: The Content Cycle – How to Save Time by Repurposing Content appeared first on The Business of Making | Podcast.

Is influencer marketing good for your handmade business? In recent years, influencer marketing has become quite a big industry on it’s own. It used to be only dominated by celebrities and big brands or businesses. But, that’s no longer the case. Anyone can now become an influencer. Even small businesses can work together or collaborate with them too. There are benefits to this kind of marketing but there are also risks to it. So in this episode we talk about the good, bad, and ugly side of influencer marketing. Are you thinking of working with an influencer and are not sure how this industry works? Look no further because this episode is for you. Know what things to look for and avoid when working with an influencer to make the most of your time and money. Enjoy! ~ Mikaela, Deb & Jess PS. Here’s the link to the photos using filters listen now shownotes Influencer marketing is one of the ways that big brands and businesses use to promote their products. Can makers also leverage the power of influencer marketing to reach potential customers? What we cover in this episode: What influencers are, what they do and how influencer marketing works; How to find the right influencer for your handmade business; Benefits of marketing your handmade products through influencer marketing; Why you should not look at follower numbers when choosing an influencer to work with; A list of things to ask a potential influencer before working with them; Difference between brand ambassador and a micro influencer; Be clear on your goal and your expectation when working with influencers; What to look out for to avoid working with the wrong influencers; Feeling conflicted about being called influencers and the negative perception of influencer marketing; Authenticity, transparency and alignment of values are important factors when choosing an influencer.   Mentions and resources: To get extra special content and perks, you can support us at Patreon Join the handmade community discussion at The Business of Making Community – Facebook Group don't miss an episode! Subscribe to get notified when a new episode comes out. You'll also get access to free guides and resources to help you grow your shop. Success! First Name Email Subscribe The post 120: The Good, Bad, and Ugly of Influencer Marketing appeared first on The Business of Making | Podcast.

Are you sure you are spending your time efficiently on social media? Social media is designed to get your attention and keep you glued to it. If you’re not careful with your time, you may end up spending your precious time in it without even being aware of it. That’s why in this episode we address the following questions to help you determine if you’re spending too much time on social media: Are you spending your time consuming or creating? If you’re creating more than consuming content, are you sure you are spending your time efficiently? How can you determine if the time you spent on social media is worth it for your handmade business? If you want to get some tips on how to evaluate if the time you spend on social media is worthwhile for your business you can listen to this week’s episode. It’s now up on our website or you can listen to it on your favourite podcast app.⁠ Enjoy! ~ Mikaela, Deb & Jess PS. Here’s the link to the photos using filters listen now shownotes If you are spending your social media time for business, it also doesn’t automatically mean you’re not spending way too much on it.⁠ If you want to get some tips on how to evaluate if the time you spend on social media is worthwhile for your business then listen to this week’s episode. What we cover in this episode: The difference between Instagram features such as reels, stories, etc. in Instagram; Pros and cons of Instagrams reels; How to assess if the time you spent on social media is worthwhile;  Possible reasons why you are wasting your time on social media; Why you need to plan and batch when creating social media content for your handmade business; Strategies that we use to save time when we’re creating content; Looking at your data/analytics to see where your traffic comes from will help you figure out the return on investment for time spent in social media; Tips for taking advice from social media coaches and what to avoid when you’re looking for gurus to teach you social media strategies for your handmade business; Why tracking time or setting up reminders can help you become more efficient with your time; Why you may still be wasting time even when you are creating content;  Make sure the content you’re creating is generating sales; Be strategic when creating content.   Mentions and resources: To get extra special content and perks, you can support us at Patreon Join the handmade community discussion at The Business of Making Community – Facebook Group Simple Time Tracker app don't miss an episode! Subscribe to get notified when a new episode comes out. You'll also get access to free guides and resources to help you grow your shop. Success! First Name Email Subscribe The post 119: Are you spending too much time on social media? appeared first on The Business of Making | Podcast.

The simple answer is NO. You do not need social media to succeed in your handmade business. Having said that, you still need some sort of plan for marketing your handmade products. So, in this week’s episode we talk about alternative marketing tools you can use to promote your products. In this episode you will learn: Other platforms and marketing strategies you can use to substitute social media to promote your business What results you can expect when using social media VS other platforms as a marketing strategy How you can still have social media presence without being active all the time and more… N.B. This is a Patreon-exclusive episode, you can start listening to the episode below, and learn more about becoming a Patreon for access to extra content and perks right here.   Enjoy! ~Jess, Deb & Mikaela Are you a platinum patron and want to listen to this episode on your favourite podcast app? Here’s how to find and subscribe to TBOMs episodes using your custom audio RSS link. listen now don't miss an episode! Subscribe to get notified when a new episode comes out. You'll also get access to free guides and resources to help you grow your shop. Success! First Name Email Subscribe https://www.thebusinessofmaking.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Episode115-PATREON-SEGUE-How-to-chose-what-holiday-promos-to-run.mp3 The post 118: Do you need social media to succeed? appeared first on The Business of Making | Podcast.

Selling to the UK/EU? Think again… This year the United Kingdom and the European Union made changes to their customs and import regulations that are causing confusion to makers who are based outside of this region but are selling to it. As a small business owner, which most handmade businesses are, the new tax imposed is just not practical and quite honestly frustrating. In this week’s episode we discuss what this new tax law is about and how it affects your handmade business. If you are already selling to these markets, you will learn about our “band-aid” solution to this problem to make things easier for you without breaking the law. And if you’re not yet selling to the EU and UK, we have some suggestions to help you decide if it’s still worth it. Enjoy! ~ Mik, Deb, Jess listen now shownotes The world is more connected than ever and you’d think selling would get easier but that’s not the case. In this episode, we talk about the new customs tax imposed on products delivered to the UK or EU and it’s proving to be quite a nightmare for makers. What we cover in this episode: Previous tax regulations and the difference with the current taxes imposed. How this changes affects your customers and you as a seller; Collecting and remitting current tax duties if you sell using your own website VS using a venue/platform like Etsy; Possible reasons why the UK/EU has implemented this new tax law and why we think it puts small handmade business owners at a disadvantage; New rules you need to follow before shipping your products to these countries to avoid getting returns;  The best option we have figured out if you are selling or want to sell your products the EU/UK; Some more issues that remain unsolved we have yet to figure out; Don’t stress if you can’t sell to the whole world. Other countries you may want to consider selling to instead of the EU/UK.   Mentions and resources: To get extra special content and perks, you can support us at Patreon Join the handmade community discussion at The Business of Making Community – Facebook Group Episode 116: Selling to different languages Not mentioned but a GREAT resource to dive deeper into the practicalities don't miss an episode! Subscribe to get notified when a new episode comes out. You'll also get access to free guides and resources to help you grow your shop. Success! First Name Email Subscribe The post 117: The UK/EU Tax Nightmare appeared first on The Business of Making | Podcast.

Selling your handmade products anywhere is possible The world is big and it’s even more accessible now which means you can sell to pretty much anywhere. Selling to different markets, however, also means that you have to deal with different challenges. Of the first challenges you will encounter is the language barrier and here are some questions most handmade business owner like you need an anwer to: How do you organize your marketing strategy when the country you want to sell to has a different language than yours? Do you need different websites to cater to different languages? How do you communicate with people who speak a different language? We answer all of these questions and more in this week’s episode. Enjoy! ~ Mik, Deb, Jess listen now shownotes There are some important considerations to think about when selling in different languages. In this episode we discuss the dilemma that makers must overcome when selling in different languages. What we cover in this episode: Why it’s confusing to use more than 2 languages in your website or in one platform; Taking advantage of Etsy’s auto translation to market to multiple languages; What to do when marketing in one country with multiple languages; Translating your marketing materials to different languages takes time; Important questions you should ask yourself before selling to a market with a different language Possible problems you will encounter when marketing to multiple languages; The pros and cons of using Google Translate and plug-ins to auto translate your website; What we often recommend to makers when it comes to website and email marketing strategies in different languages; How to reply to a customer who communicates with you in a different language and what not to write to avoid confusion.   Mentions: To get extra special content and perks, you can support us at Patreon Join the handmade community discussion at The Business of Making Community – Facebook Group don't miss an episode! Subscribe to get notified when a new episode comes out. You'll also get access to free guides and resources to help you grow your shop. Success! First Name Email Subscribe The post 116: Selling in different languages appeared first on The Business of Making | Podcast.

With so many holidays in the second half of the year, many big businesses set up promotions or discounts to attract more customers to buy. As handmade business owners you may be tempted to do the same because it’s when people buy the most statistically and if it works for other businesses why can’t it for you? It would seem like that’s the best strategy to do to increase your sales but you may want to take a second before running promos every time there’s a holiday. There are many reasons why giving discounts may not be right for your handmade business. And that’s what we discuss in this week’s episode. In this episode you will learn: what you can do during the holidays to promote your products without giving discounts or creating holiday specific products how much time you need to prepare when you’re planning to run promos choosing the best holiday for your handmade business to run promotions or give discounts minimum preparations that you need to do for the holiday season that doesn’t involve reducing the price of your handmade products and more… N.B. This is a Patreon-exclusive episode, you can start listening to the episode below, and learn more about becoming a Patreon for access to extra content and perks right here. Enjoy! ~Jess, Deb & Mikaela Are you a platinum patron and want to listen to this episode on your favourite podcast app? Here’s how to find and subscribe to TBOMs episodes using your custom audio RSS link. listen now don't miss an episode! Subscribe to get notified when a new episode comes out. You'll also get access to free guides and resources to help you grow your shop. Success! First Name Email Subscribe https://www.thebusinessofmaking.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Episode115-PATREON-SEGUE-How-to-chose-what-holiday-promos-to-run.mp3 The post 115: How to choose what holiday promos to run? appeared first on The Business of Making | Podcast.

Can your handmade business finish strong this 2021? Most businesses want to end the year better and stronger. Who doesn’t, right? But that can only happen when you plan early on and in alignment with specific goals that you have. That’s why it’s important for us to do a mid-year check-in to evaluate the progress on the plans that we made in the previous months. We think you can benefit from making this a habit as well whenever you’re making plans for your handmade business. So join us in this week’s episode as we chat about the important aspects you need to consider when planning for the next couple of months to help your handmade business finish strong this 2021! Enjoy! ~ Mik, Deb, Jess listen now shownotes In this episode we are talking about the progress that we’ve accomplished and failed to do with the plans we made for the first half of 2021. And now we’re sharing with you our process on how to plan for your handmade business for the rest of the year. What we cover in this episode: How far along we plan for our handmade business; Why the financial year is different here in Australia and in different parts of the world; Checking back on your plans and the progress you’ve made as well as evaluating your goals can greatly help you adjust your future plans; Making space from your current tasks to make way for new projects; The challenges we faced when executing our plans in the first half of the year; What usually happens in June when planning for our handmade business which you can probably relate to; Timeline for content planning and the problems that we usually encounter; Different types of work may need more lead time to prepare for that’s why you have to plan months ahead; Why it’s important to add lead-up time when planning for your handmade business; Planning for Christmas and everything around this time should be done right now.   Mentions: Episode 8 – Planning for 2019 Part 1 – Clarify your vision for the year Episode 9 – Planning for 2019 Part 2 – How to make your vision happen Episode 12 – Planning your marketing around special events and holidays Episode 41 – Countdown to Christmas – It’s time to plan! Episode 47 – How to create a planning system? The Business of Making Community – Facebook Group Patreon don't miss an episode! Subscribe to get notified when a new episode comes out. You'll also get access to free guides and resources to help you grow your shop. Success! First Name Email Subscribe The post 114: Mid-year check-in appeared first on The Business of Making | Podcast.

it’s inevitable to face new challenges when you’re in the game… the game of running your own business. So if everyday seems like you’re running across obstacles, what do you do then? In this week’s episode we are talking about the book by Abby Wambach called Wolfpack and we are sharing with you the key points we like about it. This book challenges the way we think about competition, failure, gratitude, inequality and much more. Already read the book? We want to know what you think about it. Join the discussion in our Facebook Group and see what other makers think about it too! Enjoy! ~ Mik, Deb, Jess listen now shownotes In this week’s episode we are talking about the book Wolfpack and how it can help you in your business journey. What we cover in this episode: What we like about the book, Wolfpack; Why this book is relevant to running a handmade business; Supporting while also competing with each other; Creating your own path; Being grateful and why that contributes to gender inequality and how it gets in the way of ambition; Asking for what you want and demanding what you’re worth; New rule of failure and why it’s a good thing; You fail 100% when you don’t try; What’s missing in the hero’s journey story today and how online marketers ruined it; The most important thing you should do after failing; Running a handmade business is a constant experiment.   Mentions: Episode 99: Why do women dominate the handmade industry Episode 3: Treat marketing as an experiment Next book club book: Atomic Habits by James Clear The Business of Making Community – Facebook Group Patreon don't miss an episode! Subscribe to get notified when a new episode comes out. You'll also get access to free guides and resources to help you grow your shop. Success! First Name Email Subscribe The post 113: Book Club: Wolfpack by Abby Wambach appeared first on The Business of Making | Podcast.

First of all, we would like to thank all of our Patrons who sent their product photos for us to critique!  A couple of weeks ago we asked our Patrons to send us their product photos for us to review. So in this week’s episode we are sharing our thoughts and some tips on how to improve the product photos that our Patrons have bravely submitted for us to critique. Check out the product photos sent to us by our lovely Patrons here.  N.B. This is a Patreon-exclusive episode, you can start listening to the episode below, and learn more about becoming a Patreon for access to extra content and perks right here. Enjoy! ~Jess, Deb & Mikaela Are you a platinum patron and want to listen to this episode on your favourite podcast app? Here’s how to find and subscribe to TBOMs episodes using your custom audio RSS link. listen now don't miss an episode! Subscribe to get notified when a new episode comes out. You'll also get access to free guides and resources to help you grow your shop. Success! First Name Email Subscribe The post 112: Critiquing Product Photos from our Patrons appeared first on The Business of Making | Podcast.

will your handmade product photos attract customers? They say a picture is worth a thousand words. That couldn’t be more true than in your product photos. Often, your product photos is the first thing that catches the customers’ eyes. They then click/tap on the photo before reading the description or the caption. That’s why it’s important that your product photos look amazing. Unfortunately, we’ve seen so many makers make the same product photo mistakes. So in this episode we’re talking about what those common mistakes are. And of course we’re also sharing tips on how to avoid them.  Get your anti-product-photo-mistake tips to not just improve your product photography but also your sales. Enjoy! ~ Mik, Deb, Jess listen now shownotes In this week’s episode we’re listing down some product photo mistakes we often see makers do. Listen to this week’s episode to avoid these mistakes and take your product photography skills to the next level. What we cover in this episode: What causes blurry photos; Tips to prevent blurry photos using a tripod and freehand; Why we like taking photos using our hand rather than a tripod; How to use your phone to get a shallow depth of field; Apps you can use to adjust the shallow depth of field and how to use other settings; The most important thing to remember to avoid blurry photos as well as other settings to check before taking the shot; What white balance actually refers to and the difference between brightness or exposure; Adjusting white background in post production and why you shouldn’t do it; Taking pictures with artificial light; What kelvin numbers mean in light bulbs and why you need to take note of it in order to take good product protos; Why you need to avoid adding filters to your product photos; Tips on what kind of background to use to highlight your products better; Common mistakes makers make when using a background for your photos; Keeping your styling for studio shot or your main product photos simple; How to use colored backgrounds; Choosing between direct or indirect lights/diffused lights, as well as natural light VS studio lights; The problems you may encounter when shooting photos on cloudy days or in the shade; Reasons why you need to set up a light box to take photos of your products; Tips to take photos in a good angle; Why you need to edit your photos before posting; How to use the rule of thirds to improve your product photo composition; Different examples of editing that are not a good look for your product photos; Keeping your post editing simple; Why you should learn basic camera settings and reasons to avoid using the auto setting; What happens when you don’t set the right ISO on your camera before taking photos; The four main camera settings you really need to learn to get good shots; Why you don’t need to spend a lot of money on a camera to get good photos; A list of some types of photos to take and why you also need to take a video of your products.   Mentions: Focos App Snapseed App 87: Where can you use video to market your handmade biz? 88: Patreon – How to plan, create and repurpose videos for your handmade shop don't miss an episode! Subscribe to get notified when a new episode comes out. You'll also get access to free guides and resources to help you grow your shop. Success! First Name Email Subscribe The post 111: Don’t make these 9 product photo mistakes appeared first on The Business of Making | Podcast.

Running out of creative juices? Here’s some ideas to get the flow going Many makers like you and us have probably encountered some problems involving creativity. It could be the feeling of running out ideas or perhaps having too many ideas and not enough time. Creativity means a lot of different things. That’s why in the first part of this episode we clearly define what we mean by creativity and why it’s different from inspiration. And of course we’re sharing with you some tips to overcome that feeling of getting stuck. Enjoy! ~ Mik, Deb, Jess listen now shownotes Do you feel like you’re running out of ideas? In this episode we talk all about creativity, the kind of problems we encountered about it and what you need to do about it. What we cover in this episode: Some problems we encounter with creativity; Creativity means a lot of different things. Creativity VS Inspiration; What problem solving has to do with creativity;  Why it’s alright not to have a lot of ideas;  The difference between art VS design; Why identifying what the problem is is more helpful when you’re feeling stuck; Some examples of how you may be stopping the flow of creativity; Bad ideas can spark good ideas; Why getting someone else’s opinion can help you get a different perspective and make your idea better; Creativity doesn’t start from a blank space. Curate your own experience of that creative process and add constraints; Why development process is constantly changing and evolving; Creating a brief can help you arrive at a solution in a more organized way;  Some insights on our own creative process; Asking yourself if you really need a new idea or can you improve on an idea that you already have; Don’t feel like you need to create new designs.   Mentions: The Business of Making Community – Facebook Group Patreon don't miss an episode! Subscribe to get notified when a new episode comes out. You'll also get access to free guides and resources to help you grow your shop. Success! First Name Email Subscribe The post 110: What to do when you run out of creativity appeared first on The Business of Making | Podcast.