How much time do you spend...

[caroleallen]

That sounds idyllic Mel.

I'd agree with George. I don't do any social networking at all. I know everyone says it's vital and maybe it would enhance my business but I'm busy enough as it is.

I'd say that really good craft shows are important. I hate doing them with a vengeance as it means travelling and staying away from home but it's how I've grown my business.

Having a good website with good images is also important. I have to admit that I have mine done for me. It is expensive but has paid off for me.

[Tabby66]

Mel, sounds like you've got it sorted!!!!!!

Thanks Carole & George, I'm just dipping my toe into the real world of business, thank you for your answers, I'm currently having my website built (I don't have a secret helper....at least not one with any website abilities!!) and I've just (with much trepidation) started looking at fairs......building a customer base would be my dream....

[Melanie De Castro Pugh]

I have a very understanding husband and pretty self reliant nearly nine year old who makes a wicked cup of tea! He commissions me to make little bits of jewellery for his girlfriend (seriously, over two years now!). The downside is that my house is a mess, and I never have any spare cash cos it all gets recycled into more silver, stones and tools! Still, building up a stock now so I can do bike rallies, craft fairs etc. I've only been making for eighteen months, and obviously it takes a while to build up enough to sell on a real live stall, due to time and money constraints. I need to spend some time putting more pictures into my website and linking those to my eBay shop.

Social networking has certainly helped my sales, it's much easier with a smartphone as I can keep up when I'm waiting for my son after Cubs, swimming, coming back from his dad's etc. Apps like Hootsuite mean you can send an update to your Twitter and Facebook feeds with just one click; you can also set a blog to post new entries to both automatically. So one little posting gets broadcast widely for relatively little effort! I'll confess to keeping up with a lot of social media in the bathroom...


Melanie

http://www.spinysharklythings.com

[Petal]

That sounds idyllic Mel.

I'd agree with George. I don't do any social networking at all. I know everyone says it's vital and maybe it would enhance my business but I'm busy enough as it is.

I'd say that really good craft shows are important. I hate doing them with a vengeance as it means travelling and staying away from home but it's how I've grown my business.

Having a good website with good images is also important. I have to admit that I have mine done for me. It is expensive but has paid off for me.

Many thanks for those further tips Carole and George, especially about the craft shows and not spending time networking. Doing shows is something I'd also like to do in future. Choosing one is much more difficult though!

[art925]

I used to make jewellery on the weekends as a hobby. I always said it was my therapy after a busy week, travelling the UK for 3 or 4 nights away each week. For the past 2 years I have worked full time on my business, now I need therapy at the end of a busy week! I do tweet, in English and Dutch, my facebook is only in English, but my website is also in 2 languages. It is the 'ancillary tasks' that I find most boring, accounts, purchasing, it is amazing how much research time goes into a new business. I consider being on this forum research time for the business, my husband calls it negating the inevitable...