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So let’s say you are selling crochet doilies. Should you be marketing to young urban men? Um, let’s go with NO. A hugely important part of running a successful creative business is understanding your target market. So, we’re going to talk about who your target market is and how to find them, as well as doing a shop critique of one reader’s shop! But before we get into figuring out all of that … why is it so important to know your target market? In the questions you asked me in the opening post, a lot of people asked “how … Read more

So let’s say you are selling crochet doilies. Should you be marketing to young urban men? Um, let’s go with NO. A hugely important part of running a successful creative business is understanding your target market. So, we’re going to talk about who your target market is and how to find them, as well as doing a shop critique of one reader’s shop! But before we get into figuring out all of that … why is it so important to know your target market? In the questions you asked me in the opening post, a lot of people asked “how … Read more

I’ve been making some changes to The Flourishing Abode, to make it easier for you to use, and to help keep it running! I’m pretty excited about some of these changes, and so I wanted to share them with you. There’s a ton of great stuff I want to tell you about ranging from free classic vintage clothes, to a DIY gallery, to a exclusive deal for my readers, to milkweed kisses. Um, I guess you’ll have to read on to understand that last one. ‣‣‣ First (and this is just a small change, but might make it easier to … Read more

So let’s say you are selling crochet doilies. Should you be marketing to young urban men? Um, let’s go with NO. A hugely important part of running a successful creative business is understanding your target market. So, we’re going to talk about who your target market is and how to find them, as well as doing a shop critique of one reader’s shop! But before we get into figuring out all of that … why is it so important to know your target market? In the questions you asked me in the opening post, a lot of people asked “how … Read more

It’s week 3 of the hack challenge! And I must admit, it was a close call this week to get a project done. But, ta da, here it is! I wasn’t quite sure how I was going to get any project finished for this week’s post done while we are out of town … I had a back up plan in mind, but I’m glad I didn’t have to use it because I wasn’t terribly thrilled about. Fortunately, my sister in law up here in New England was having a craft night at her house this week, and I realized … Read more

I never would have thought of today’s hack-a-week project without my husband, Tim. He currently works in the auto glass industry, and brought home this lovely piece of dark glass. It was his idea to turn it into a tray! Handles were posing somewhat of a problem, though, and so I suggested feet instead. And voilà, here is today’s project! Now, you might be thinking, “Great, I don’t work at an auto glass place. How on earth am I supposed to get my hands on something like that?” Well, here’s the deal. Apparently on certain kinds of trucks with divided … Read more

Here we go! Thanks to all of you who voted for what would be the next challenge – and this week it begins: The “Hack” Challenge, where each week we come up with a new DIY project, upcycling an item from it’s original purpose into something new, usually some kind of home decor or furniture type project. And so onto week 1… Solar Powered DIY Paper Lamps! Generally when I come up with an idea for something I would like to turn into a lamp or use in lighting, I run into the same problem: it is not an object … Read more

Well, this past week was week one of my Adventure a Week Challenge, and I think we are off to a great start!  I made an illustrated free printable, and its available at the end of the post, for anyone else who would like to do this scavenger hunt adventure, so be sure not to miss it: Pin It When I first mentioned to my four year old daughter that we were going to have an adventure a week, she was thrilled. I told her we might do a nature scavenger hunt, and she said, “Ooooh, how about a pirate … Read more

Well, we’ve reached the end of the 6 weeks for the Creative Business challenge! And for the finale, we’ll be covering the single most asked-about topic from your handmade biz questions: marketing. I left it for last because one of the reasons marketing can be so difficult is because there are other things about your business that have to be in place first to be able to market more easily, and so I wanted to cover those in the first in the series. I hope you found those posts helpful. If you missed them, they lay out groundwork for how … Read more

I’m very excited about a project I’m involved in this year – Art House Co-op’s 2012 Sketchbook Tour! Basically, it’s like a music tour, but with art instead of music. Many artists are sending in sketchbooks to the project, and then all of our sketchbooks are going on tour around the country, visiting various major cities where anyone can come and browse through them and enjoy the artwork. My little sketchbook will be going along for the ride! I was able to choose from a variety of offered “themes” for my sketchbook … I went with the theme “Fill me … Read more