Handmade children's products community for retailers, parents

A Little Bit Better: Improving Your Business a Bit at a Time

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

by Arianne Foulks of Aeolidia

I have a strategy that I use throughout my home that I call, “A Little Bit Better.” I’ve noticed that if I live my day to day life, each room in the house gets a bit worse as I go through it – a dirty dish ends up on the counter, an empty toilet paper roll sits on the bathroom window ledge, a shirt is tossed on the bedroom floor. Instead, I try to make things a little bit better as I go through each room. So, on my way to the sink for a glass of water, I’ll put away the dish or toss a paper towel in the trash.

Rather than spending a day cleaning everything up, I try for frequent little maintenance tasks and adjustments each day. Less arduous, and easier to find time for.

With a successful business, it can be hard to find time to improve your own operations, as it’s often at the expense of doing client work, packaging orders, adding content to the website, and doing your day to day business tasks. Instead of setting aside a full day (or week!) to work on improving your workflow, instead you can apply “A Little Bit Better” as you work each day, making small improvements that will add up over time. Here are some examples of how I do this:

Answering common questions

My absolute #1 best way to save time each day is to make sure I’m not answering the same questions for clients over and over. If I ever find myself answering the same question twice, that’s when I tell myself I need a form letter – because someone is going to ask me again.

When the second client comes to me with that same question, I dig up my response to the first person, adjust it to work for everyone, and save it as a form letter. That way, any time I’m asked in the future, I just use the form letter instead of writing it all out again in new words.

Most email programs will allow some kind of form response, template system, or way to insert snippets of text into your emails from a list. When I used Thunderbird, I had a “signature” add-on that let me choose which signature to add to my message – I used this to make form letters and “form blurbs”. Gmail has a “canned responses” feature, and you should be able to find some way to make your email program do something similar.

Do this every time you see the same question, and you’ll find yourself with much more time on your hands – especially if you answer as much email as I do!

Preventing common questions

I know I said “answering common questions” was my #1 best way to save time, but even better is “preventing common questions.” Alas, these questions are not 100% preventable, so I still stand by my #1.

At any rate, if you get the same questions repeatedly, that points to there being a problem with the information you provide to customers. If they’re asking, that means they couldn’t find the info on your website (or didn’t try).

Head these people off at the pass by making sure the information is readily available and easy to find on your website. If it already seems to be, you may need to take it a step further, by putting this most vital info right on your contact page, or linking to it right next to your contact form. It’s great to have a link to your FAQ page here – in my case, I have links to “pricing” and “time line” right over my contact form, because some people seem to hop right there and ask me about pricing without looking on our services/pricing page or our FAQ.

Rather than fielding these questions every day, make them go away, and use the extra time for something more fun!

Clearing up confusion

Related to the previous topic, any time someone emails me and they’re obviously confused by information on my website, or they’ve gotten the wrong impression of what something means, I instantly go to my site and clarify or correct. I assume if one person emailed me thinking the wrong thing, then twenty other people probably looked at it, thought the wrong thing, and didn’t let me know.

Similarly, if someone points out a typo or mistake on your website (or you notice it yourself), fix it right then as you’re going past, rather than saving it for a big update.

Production-line tasks

Some things are better to do all at once than to do a bit at a time as they come up. For instance, my husband (and partner at Aeolidia!) pre-stamps our envelopes and sticks our return address labels on them. He then stuffs them all back in the envelope box and whenever we have a contract or payment to send out, it takes only a few seconds to get everything ready for the mail.

See if there are any little bitty tasks like this that slow you down each day (trying to find the stamps, discovering you need to print new address labels), and get everything all ready so next time it will be a breeze.

Automating tasks

Perhaps there are things you do over and over again that are time consuming, and are always done in the same way. If there is any way to automate these tasks, take the time to do it once, and save yourself hours of work in the future.

For instance, any paperwork that you routinely send out should be a template that you can just pop the client/customer’s name and info into. You may find you need multiple templates. I have three different contract templates I start from (one for web development, one for logo design, and one for illustration), so I don’t have to take the time to adjust one template for different situations.

Maybe you need a standard form to send off to wholesale clients, or an invoice or packing slip template to fill in for each customer. Maybe your website could generate this for you automatically.

Some of our clients create custom stationery/invitations for clients, and we’ve found a way to save them time in the proofing process, by creating a tool for them to use to upload, share, and get a response to their proof from their customer.

Maybe you spend a lot of time processing orders, and your web developer could find a way to automate some of the tasks – for instance, connecting your site with a program to automatically generate shipping labels. Now you’ve saved hours of tedious data entry, and instead you can make new products.

Services to improve workflow

A step beyond automating your recurring tasks is to start using software to manage these things for you.

I have three programs that I pay for and use every day, and they save me so much time that they’re worth every penny. I use Basecamp to manage every aspect of each of our projects, from to-dos and scheduling, to discussing things with clients and uploading files. I use Tick to keep track of my hours, keep myself on target with the amount of work planned for each project, and chart how much work I get done each week. I use Blinksale to send out client invoices, make sure everyone has paid, and send reminders.

Prior to signing up for these services, I had a text document where I listed all the work I needed to get done with rough timelines (huh?), I had no real method to be sure my work wasn’t going over budget on projects (what?!), and I was sending out PayPal invoices one at a time, with no way to follow up and see if I’d been paid (crazy!). I don’t know how I got anything done!

For businesses that sell products, not services, some other software programs may help. There are programs to manage your finances, speed up your shipping process, send newsletters, create wholesale catalogs, and help with your customer support.

Double check

Do a quick double check from time to time. Take a few minutes to run through your site like a customer would, and see if there are any errors or problems that have cropped up, or if there is anything that may be confusing about your checkout process. Instead of finding out from a customer a month from now that you no longer offer PayPal payments, you’ll nip any problems in the bud by doing a quick sweep through your site.

At Aeolidia, we try to go beyond just creating a website for our clients, and we work on making their shop easy to use, easy to run, and we add little things that help with their entire process. We are experts at eliminating the inconvenient!

I’d love to hear from shop owners about tricks you have to make things go smoothly. Alternately, what task do you find yourself doing over and over that you wish you could speed up or eliminate entirely? There is almost always a solution or an improvement to be made.

A Whale of a Window

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

by Jessika Hepburn, O Happy Day Handmade

My dream job has always been to be the person who creates fantastic window displays and transforms mundane spaces into magical ones. In March of this year April MacKinnon of Nurtured gave me the chance to do just that. Her store front has a generous amount of windows that weren’t being used to their full potential and she bravely gave my imagination free reign.

So far I have done a Nest/Spring themed display, a birthday party display for Nurtured’s first birthday at the current location and last month was a Down in the Garden theme. This month I wanted to feature all of Nurtured’s new summer related products and to celebrate the beautiful weather we have been having with a “Day at the Beach” display.

I love to make things BIG and window displays are the perfect venue for showing that off. I made a nearly three foot long white wool whale (dubbed Moby by the Nurtured ladies and mistaken by some customers for the latest and greatest in breastfeeding pillow design!) and a flock of fifteen flying fish. A roll of heavy brown paper sheathing usually used for underneath flooring was painted with tempera paints and cut to make the waves and a large hanging sun.

I finished it off with a borrowed ships wheel, a refinished wooden toy boat rescued from the thrift, and a message in a bottle (blue glass, of course).

I am really happy with how it turned out and I wish I could take photos from outside to do it justice but I think the only time I might be able to do it without the images being ruined by glare is at dawn, which I haven’t had the heart for yet. Are there any photographers out there with some tips for photographing window displays? Until then these will have to do. Next up for the Nurtured window? A fall forest of child sized wool trees and a felted christmas village!

InkSpot Workshop Giveaway Winner

Monday, July 26, 2010

Editors Note: Sorry OMHG readers- I had set this to publish automatically yesterday but I must have done something wrong! Today’s scheduled post by me will be published tomorrow instead. Oops : (

The winner of a set of 20 fabulous popsicle notecards InkSpot Workshop is entry number 39 submitted by Penny~ Congratulations!

Thank you to everyone for entering-good luck next time!

How To Win Your Designer’s Eternal Love

Friday, July 23, 2010

photo via http://www.kopozky.net/not-bad-at-all

by Sarah Semark of Triggers & Sparks

Bad clients are notorious among designers. We complain about them constantly, we’ve devoted a hilarious, yet-heartbreaking website to them, and we swap horror stories like badges of honour, rolling our eyes in empathy and disgust.

We spend so much time complaining about the bad clients that it’s sometimes easy to overlook the good clients. Lately, I’ve been working with a few really great clients, and I’ve been so happy because of it. Where a bad client can make you feel as though you’re losing your soul, a good client reminds you of why you fell in love with design in the first place and makes you feel as though you’re doing a good job. It’s the sort of warm-fuzzy feeling I associate with boys who bring me flowers and strangers complimenting me on my shoes.

Winning your designer’s love, regardless of any other factors, will mean that you will receive a level of service and quality that surpasses that most Troublesome Clients receive. When I love a client and feel that my client respects me as a professional, I invest more of my mental energy into their project. A good client makes you want to do an amazing job, whereas a bad client experience will often just make you want to finish as fast as possible and get the heck out.

So, how do you go about making sure you’re the greatest client ever, and ensuring your designer feels as passionate about your project as you do? Here, a few tips culled directly from my Dream Clients:

1. PAY YOUR BILLS AS FAST AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE

Nothing says “you’re not worth much to me” like a leisurely bill payment. Freelance designers suffer so much stress about unpaid bills and cash flow, it’s hard when you don’t have a regular stream of income, that late-paid bills are a major problem.

I have one client in particular who sends me a full payment, via electronic means, within 24 hours of receiving an invoice. Every time it happens, I am utterly delighted. The rapid work-reward cycle means that I feel more compelled to finish work rapidly, knowing that I’ll be rewarded immediately upon completion. If, on the other hand, it takes more than a month to put a cheque in the mail (there is a due date on there, you know!), I’m going to feel much less inclined to speed through the project.

Freelance designers are not the power company—if you don’t pay us, we can’t eat (or buy pretty shoes)! Pay your bills promptly, please.

2. KNOW WHAT YOU WANT

It’s your designer’s job to gently guide you and to help you figure out what you want, then create a visual representation of your needs. If you approach a project without knowing what you want, the whole process goes to hell. Essentially, if you don’t know what you want (you don’t need to have every detail planned out, but you do need a rough idea) I can’t figure out how to build it for you. It’s like if you were to hire an architect to design you a house; you’d want to figure out how many bathrooms you want before asking for blueprints.

Beware the phrase “you’re the designer”, as in “Well, you’re the designer, you figure it out!”. While this is usually used with good intentions it will make the vast majority of designers cringe. To us, it sounds like you’re saying “you’re the magician!” (see also: “Can’t you just Photoshop that?” Design is not magic; Photoshop is not a magic button. It’s mostly work, training, and lots of patience).

3. UNDERSTAND THAT YOUR DESIGNER KNOWS WHAT THEY ARE DOING (and that’s why you hired them, right?)

This directly contrasts the “well, you’re the designer!” mindset, and clients usually tend towards one extreme or another, where a balance is really preferable. A micromanaging client, however, will almost always be less popular than a hands-off client. This is an almost guaranteed way to make your designer want to throw himself off the nearest bridge, skyscraper, or touristy landmark.

Of course, there’s a fine line between giving feedback and micro-managing. How to tell the difference? If you’re into the sixth round of revisions, and all the revisions read something like so: “Make the logo 40% bigger, and move it 3 inches to the right. Make the text all white, and the background purple. Headings should be right-aligned and in 4pt red Comic Sans. Can we add a few animated gifs throughout the page in order to make it ‘pop’?” (Please note: often these sorts of phrases are then followed by “Well, you’re the designer! Can’t you just make it look better?”).

Remember: you hired your designer (I hope!) because you think they do great work and know what they’re doing. They’ve probably been building websites longer than you. While ultimately the final judgement call is yours, realize that a good designer will work with you to give you a final product that both suits you and your business and also looks good. Remember that we have your best interests in mind and give us enough freedom to create something beautiful for you.

4. COMMUNICATE EFFECTIVELY

The client-designer relationship is much like any other relationship: emotions are involved, everyone’s a little nervous to begin with, you need to make sure everyone’s happy and nobody’s being taken for granted, etc. This is why, of course, good designer-client relationships generate brilliant work, and bad ones leave all parties unhappy. So, like with any other relationship, good communication is vital. Make sure you’re being clear about how you feel and what you want, and treat your designer with respect and consideration (this means no phone calls at 2am, no matter how dire you think the emergency is. In theory, I am sleeping then.) Your designer needs your feedback in order to know that they’re on the right track—make sure that you can give useful, constructive feedback in a timely manner.

And when all else fails, sending presents works, too. I once had a client who mailed me a box of chocolate brownies when my computer died in order to “aid the recovery process”, and another client who made me a heart-shaped chocolate cake. Chocolate generally engenders love and loyalty, but really, all that’s required is a polite thank you for a wonderful job, and I’ll move mountains for you.

Editors Note: I work with Sarah and her company Triggers & Sparks as a marketing consultant and I thought that this post was a perfect complement to Jacqui Miyabayashi’s post earlier this month about working with a designer and wanted to share with you all!

Handmade Home: Inspirational Workspaces

Thursday, July 22, 2010

by Jessika Hepburn, O Happy Day Handmade

Today’s post was inspired by my kitchen table. Mainly because I spent the whole day working at it, since my studio is lost in mess so deep I would need a map and compass to locate the table, and a pitchfork to unearth it. Really, it’s that bad. I made a valiant attempt to organize some of it but gave up and headed downstairs. Needing inspiration I decided to do two things at once, write this post and get myself energized for some midnight cleaning.

It was hard choosing just four of my favorite workspaces but these ones made me want to pin up my hair and get to work making my own space pretty (and functional) again. So if your workroom deserves a sign that says, “Here there be dragons” hopefully these beautiful rooms inspire you to make a change!

1. Blessed Little Nest’s studio space is by far my favourite. It is so full of colour, whimsy and cheer that it makes me want to invite myself over for tea and crafting! I love the general nest theme and I actually planned an entire window display at Nurtured around those bird cards from eeBoo. It’s hard to believe she only paid around $6 at a Goodwill for that beautiful old Singer!

2. I have come across Spring Chick’s creative and modern workspace before via Apartment Therapy, Modish & Ikea Hacker and wanted to share it with you. The big work table was made by bolting together 4 ikea kitchen cabinets. If I had a room big enough to fit it in, while still having room to get in the door, I would be so making this- or “helping” Chris make it, same thing.

3. Red is Best by Kathy Stinson is one of my daughter’s favourite books and this scrapbook room from Two Peas In A Bucket proves that red is best for so many things. I am really excited about the spice rack button organizer idea.

4. A tribute to inspiring spaces wouldn’t be complete without SouleMama’s light-filled and vibrant workspace. This room is simply perfect-it balances clutter and cleanliness in a way I wish I could replicate in my own home. I can just imagine closing the door and letting “art wash from the soul the dust of the everyday (Picasso)”.

Happy Crafting!

Giveaway: InkSpot Workshop Popsicle Notecards

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

by Stacy Altiery, InkSpot Workshop

This week Stacy Altiery from InkSpot Workshop and Fire Hydrant Press has offered a set of 20 popsicle notecards for either a boy or a girl. Celebrate summer in style with these adorable personalized cards with matching lined envelopes.

ENTERING IS AS EASY AS 1-2-3

1. Go to InkSpot Workshop’s website and come back here and post your favorite item

2. Become a fan of InkSpot Workshop on Facebook by clicking here. Then come back and leave a comment letting us know if you are a new fan or current fan.

3. Click here to follow InkSpot Workshop on Twitter. Then come back and leave a comment letting us know you are following

4. Get extra entries by subscribing to OMHG, becoming a fan on Facebook or following OMHG on Twitter and posting separate comments here.

This is a global giveaway-residents from anywhere are welcome to enter. Giveaway winner will be selected using random.org at midnight (EST) Saturday, July 24. Entries received after midnight are void! By entering this contest you are agreeing to the OMHG giveaway policies.

Free Download: Birthday Party Memory Game

Monday, July 19, 2010

Meg Bartholomy from the ever brilliant olliegraphic has offered Oh My! Handmade readers this fantastic birthday themed memory game.

Click the link to download the Birthday Party Memory Game. Print out as many copies as you want, cut along the marked lines and play away! This is a great addition to birthday goodie bags or as a party activity. Have fun!

Handmade Finds: Colour Your World

Sunday, July 18, 2010

by Jessika Hepburn, O Happy Day Handmade

This collection of handmade finds and craft ideas was inspired by the stunning rainbow cake that I found on the blog of author and director of Handmade Nation, Faythe Levine. I couldn’t do a post on colour without adding a few activities as well-enjoy!

1. This sweet “Bonjour” 8 x 10 print from Toronto based BellyBabies is truly adorable.

2. Photo via bookjournal’s Flicker photostream and this post by Faythe Levine. I love the idea of eating the rainbow. I think a great party idea is to have the birthday child get a map to a pot of “gold” (chocolate coins or other golden goodie) with their piece.

3. I love this bright and creative upper and lower case felt alphabet set from michimaland and the super cute drawstring bag makes for easy storage.

4. Make mealtimes fun with this colourful bib in the fantastic Juicy Jungle print from paisleybaby.

5. Teach your child about colour with this fun wooden toy set by MamaMayI

Now that I got your imaginations all fired up I wanted to share my favourite new find of the month: Clementine Art supplies. Their art supplies are non-toxic, earth friendly and beautifully packaged. Pictured above from left to right are their modelling dough, natural paints, natural markers, crayon rocks and natural soy crayons (I love the torpedo shape!).

Then put your new art supplies to good use with these great retro colouring pages that I found over at wish & wonder and had to share with you.

Adventures in The Land of Me: Free Trial & Review

Saturday, July 17, 2010

by Jessika Hepburn, O Happy Day Handmade

Shortly after taking over as editor for ohmyhandmade I received an email from Bea Bowdon, Community Manager for Made In Me, a new UK based company that aims “to inspire young children to explore their creativity and imagination by making software and books that are enchanting, wonderful and altogether different”, about their new early learning software: The Land of Me.

I am highly suspicious of all programming and advertising that targets children. I am actually quite extreme, I have a television free house, my nearly six year old has no idea what a Barbie is and I have a very selective lists of websites I allow her to use. So I checked out their website prepared to be disappointed and was instead delighted and really excited to share The Land of Me with my daughter and the OMHG community.

First off, The Land of Me is simply beautiful. The illustrations are whimsical, endearing and full of sweetness. Created in collaboration with Cambridge Professor John Siraj-Blatchford from the The University of Swansea, The Land of Me is like an interactive picture book designed to engage children’s imaginations, rather then simply keeping them entertained.

The game is divided into chapters that can be purchased and downloaded individually so that they can be used without being connected to the internet. I spent a long time exploring The Land of Me before letting my daughter have a chance. As a designer I was completely captivated by the aesthetic of the software and images, and as a parent I fell in love with the gentle and imaginative content. My daughter Ila was totally enchanted and played with the free chapter that was offered to us by Made in Me (scroll down for details on how to try the software for free) for over an hour-far longer then she usually spends on a game and far longer then I typically let her play on the computer.

Afterwards we printed off the masks and finger puppets and spent some time play acting and pretending to be the different characters and imagine ourselves into their world. Even though the website says for “ages 2+” I felt that the game was excellent for my older child and the printable masks and other activities filled up two rainy summer days.

Made in Me has generously offered OMHG readers a free 10 day trial of the Land of Me software. Just head over to their website and add Chapter 1 - Size, Shape and Colour to your basket, then add the unique discount voucher (ohmy!handmade). Follow the next steps and you will arrive at a page with a big green button at the top which you click to install. The download will only take a couple of minutes and you are ready for an adventure in The Land of Me.

The offer is good for 10 days from the date of this post so go check it out! The pricing on the software is great (about $12-13 USD per chapter) and is well worth it. So much computer programming for children is terribly designed and The Land of Me is a beautiful alternative.

Please share your thoughts on the software as comments-I would love to hear your reviews and ideas on this new program. As for our family, I can’t wait to get my hands on a picture book of this!

Finding Balance=Making Time for Fun!

Friday, July 16, 2010

by Jessika Hepburn, O Happy Day Handmade

There are days so beautiful that you just have to get away from it all, play hooky, take a mental health day, and run away to the beach! Yesterday was one of those sweltering East Coast summer days and even though I couldn’t see my desk underneath all the need-to-do’s we packed the kids in the car and headed for the surf.

I have been working late for the last month. I come home from work and work. I wake up and work. I have not been a present or focused parent or partner. That is what comes from starting a new project and we were all prepared for the transition. But May and June came and went without a trip to the beach and I realized half-way through July that our youngest daughter had never been swimming!

Gritty sandwiches, pounding waves, and ladybugs running wild, skinny legs and all, was in order. Ila (my 5 year old) fell into bed last night exhausted and sandy way past her bedtime. Her sleepy, ”Thank you mama for a great day! I love you, you’re the best” was all the proof I needed that sometimes running away from it all is the only work that needs to get done.

When I woke up this morning I was filled with ideas for an upcoming beach themed window display at Nurtured, some new summer items for my store, and posts for OMHG. See, I was working after all; )

So be reckless and irresponsible (responsibly of course) throw your schedule to the wind, turn off the phone, leave the laptop at home and make time for fun. You’ll be glad you did!