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Businessy Goodness

Past Picture Perfect: how old pictures can freshen up online content & help tell your story

Monday, May 21, 2012

Image credit: Flickr Vintage Photos Pool

Welcome new contributor and PR rockstar Amy Flurry, author of Recipe for Press, for her first OMHG post she is sharing some wonderful ideas for telling your story through pictures of the past!

If I named my organizational style it would be the “pile and tub” system. There are piles of magazines, piles of paperwork and piles of craft projects around me, but I’m comfortable with them because I know what lurks in the layers. If it gets out of hand, I shuffle through them and purge. I like paper, but I also like being able to put my hands on things when I need them. Photographs that I intend to save—until that glorious day when I can archive them beautifully in a handmade scrapbook— are dumped into plastic tubs in my closet. It’s a system that works for me and digital images have really kept those numbers manageable.

During my annual spring clean, I pulled out a tub of photographs with some dating ten, fifteen and even twenty years back. There were pictures from my first internship in the offices of Sassy magazine in New York (Chloe Sevigny filled my spot the next semester) and there were Polaroids from the magazine shoots for Country Living that I had produced in my late twenties. I sat there thinking about how these images really tell my story; they show exactly where I had my editorial start and just how long I’ve been in this game! And now I’m culling through that backlog and planning stories and ideas around some of them for my blog and Facebook posts.

We’re likely all sitting on years of old pictures that could shed light on our story and give context to where we are now. These pictures may also inspire new posts! And today we have a host of social media outlets in which to share them.

Remember, the one thing that differentiates your work and experience from everyone else on the planet is your story. And you have to practice the many different ways of telling it to put you out front. How might you repurpose pictures from the past? Here are a few ideas:

Now and then

Every now and I again I happen upon picture of my old studios and office equipment. There’s my first Apple laptop and the stack of cassette tapes! In one shot I’m talking on a corded phone.

Today I have a banana-yellow, retro handset designed David Turpin that plugs into my iPhone. Then there’s the retro cassette iPhone case popular among my friends. As an editor I might use my pictures, coupled with the crisp new product shots to connect an idea.

Trends on the rebound

If the theory that trends seem to cycle every twenty years is true, then the current 80s-styling color blocking, neons and the moustache will give way to the nostalgia of the 90s. Do you see any influence in your current work to grunge? This plaid pillow from Etsy seller Lesley Robertson is made out of a recycled shirt (the remote has a home in the shirt pocket!) This is a magazine article waiting to happen!

Recycled My Ride

Remember your parents Airstream and the funny family vacations. You begged your dad to get with the program and ditch the funky guzzler. Today, the food truck revolution has ushered in a new era of Airstream cuisine and now we’re seeing a whole new movement of mobile craft studios and shops.

Check out The WonderCraft, a handmade shop and studio on wheels based in Austin, Texas. For more on Stella (the Airstream) and the friends behind this idea, visit their blog and notice how they used old photos to show how they’ve developed a new logo.

Inspired to bust out your old pictures? Have a great example to share? Tell us your ideas & thoughts for using Past Picture Perfect in the comments! And be sure to welcome new contributor (and publicity expert + published author) Amy Flurry to our contributor community!

#OMHG = #OMHGlive: Coming Soon to Visit You!

Saturday, May 19, 2012

I’m not one to sit on a grand idea! I came home from Spark Retreat blazing with the courage to be my most awesomely awesome self so that I could give as much goodness to the world as possible. So I started working on getting crystal clear on what I need to do to get there. Putting the ideas I’ve had semi-floating around for the last year into a map for what I can see our community becoming. This is what happened:

I fired myself from my design biz. I love designing but I need to stop doing client work so that I can focus on what I do best. I’m finishing up a couple of last projects and sending on referrals to all our Businessy Goodness Guide advertisers from now on!
I wrote a new about page for myself. For the first time I am feeling like all my past work has connected with my current work-I know what I want to offer and how. Yes!
I wrote a new about page for OMHG. We have grown beyond a blog for the handmade industry and into being a unique online community centre where creative entrepreneurs can connect. We’re growing up!
I crafted new submission guidelines for OMHG. Bringing our ethics and support of our community into focus and opening up a platform for you to share & be heard. There are now three fun ways to get your story seen by our readers & I am so excited to see what you cook up for us.
I’m coming to see YOU! I’m wrapping up all my knowledge about creative communities + businessy goodness and bringing them to you. I want to come to your community and share the goodness of OMHG, filling your community with creative inspiration & delivering hugs and cupcakes along the way. Come visit the new workshop page where I gave my dancing self a home for awhile (video is coming soon!) and I spill all the details on how #omhg is ready for #OMHGlive.
and I bought ohmyawesome.com…just incase.

I feel like I’ve come home to myself in the biggest way possible. All my work with communities merging with my love for creativity + collaboration into one bright shiny package of goodness I can give to you, in person. I am filled up with gratitude, from my big feet to the tips of my 3 days of non-stop working hair, all for you dearest friends. Thank you x infinity for being with me on this adventure through our busy lives of businessy goodness and for building this community together. I’ve always felt this place is ours, not mine, and my hope is that by hitting the road and coming to you we’ll be able to take this incredible support from online to offline, from <3 to real hugs, and :) to rooms of smiling, laughing, creative brilliance.

Let me know what you think of all this new news. Want to see me in your town sharing the love? Have an event that I need to speak at? Just want to tell me I’m out of my mind? Please share your ideas in the comments-I’ll meet you there (and I can’t wait to see you!).

PS: Be sure to get the ultimate jolt of community magic by reading the transcript of Thursday’s #OMHG chat. It was the best of our community ideals distilled into pure inspiration and I would love if one or more of you talented friends would play with making us a poster from the lovely tweets shared. Any volunteers?

A Neat Freaks Illustrated Guide to Less Clutter

Friday, May 18, 2012

Organization is my special sauce.

I separate my closet hangers with a 2 finger distance apart from each other for my visual delight. I arrange my perfumes in alphabetical order, well, cuz I can’t help myself. I accommodate my book library by theme bundles + arrange it by size for kicks + spins. I color coordinate my supply closet because I think it looks oh so pretty. I keep my party props inside a vintage Pepsi box that’s precious to me because I secretly believe they (and by “they” I mean the party props of course) feel very very important inside. Hence, the neat freak title. I think it suits me well actually.

Now, I don’t intend to convert you to OCDism (Obsessive Compulsive Disorderism, this word doesn’t exist right?). What I would like to do is bring more harmony into your life. Would you like that? To have less noise + less chaos + less clutter + less fuzz + less additives + less preservatives. Would you like to have more space + more clarity + more wiggle room to, well, be YOU + your world domination contribution? I thought so too.

That’s why I whipped up this Neat Freaks Illustrated Guide to Less Clutter, which I’m sure is the world’s shortest (and cutest) shortcut to organizing your life + reclaiming your space, cuz seriously though, who has time for the Almanac version?

So here you go, the Speedy Gonzalez organizational manual:

By “eliminate” I not only mean getting rid of the trash, although that’s part of it, of course. Eliminating is about removing anything + everything that no longer serves you in order to make room for your splendid life + your brilliant ideas too. Throw away supplies you haven’t used for 5 years + return borrowed items + toss expired artifacts + recycle whenever possible + discard all that causes you discomfort + give away what you have to spare.

Taxonomies are the lifeblood of an organized system. Knowing at a glance what you’re dealing with gives you great understanding. With understanding comes power. In your kitchen, for example, you might chose to group all your spices alphabetically in the same cabinet for easy access. Your studio desk is no different. You can choose to sort your supplies into categories like height + type or color to streamline your workflow + save you time.

Organizing your categorized items so that your finished projects look oh so beautiful is the ultimate mission. An organized life will make you more productive + save time + give you back your space. With the congestion gone you can use your work surface to do just that, work. An organized life will increase your productivity. As clutter disappears you’ll find that you can think more clearly. Clutter has a type of noise to it, doesn’t it? And when that noise is silenced you are free to devote your energies to what you need to accomplish + what you were put on this world to achieve. An organized life will save money + resources + the trees of the world will be grateful. It’s a win-win-win for all.

1. 2. 3. Boom everything’s neat + you’re not a freak.

See? Anytime you’re confronted by dusty villains + chaotic gremlins just whip out these 3 step guide + you’ll be equipped to combat the messiest of monsters (wink).

xo,

Mayi Carles

Clarify Your Values To Help Your Business Grow

Monday, May 14, 2012

When I started my business I wanted to show that marketing could be done differently. That it could be authentic, relationship centred, based on engagement and interaction. I wanted to be transparent and for the business to be full of who I was.

Those are my values, an internal barometer to which I measure all business decisions. When I was deciding whether to delete my Pinterest boards, I went back to my values. Diversifying into teaching online classes? I went back to my values to create a course that I knew in my heart was the right thing, instead of what was expected of me. Whatever the business decision, I want it to be in line with what I personally believe to be right for me at that time.

Knowing what my values are have meant that I’m not swayed by what my competitors are doing. I can use my own voice and put my heart into my business without feeling pressure to be or do something different.

Customers will seek out people that have similar values to them. It’s becoming increasingly common to connect with a business first before making a purchase. The ‘about’ page on a website is one of the most visited pages for a reason. People want to know what you and your business stands for. The words you use and your brand messaging should communicate this consistently and authentically.

Your business values are not something you can copy from someone else or follow from a blueprint. The values must mean something to you personally, deep down, or it will come across as contrived or artificial.

A great example of a business using values to guide them is The Green Gables. Owner, Gabrielle Treanor has strong ethical and green values which she highlights on her website. She says it was natural to build a business on her personal values. It has also helped her to diversify into other products whilst keeping it authentic to her brand.

“Strong values can definitely be a driving force. I don’t just want to make and sell pretty looking stationery, I want to give consumers the option to buy responsibly produced stationery that shows there’s a market for recycling paper and gives them a great looking product without them compromising on quality or price. This ‘mission’ spurs me on and keeps me motivated.” - Gabrielle, The Green Gables.

So how can you identify your brand values?

Start with you.

What personal values do you hold at your core? What is important to you? Use these core values to build the foundation of your brand.

What is your personal mission for your business?

Why do you want to do what you do? Who are you trying to help and why?

How do you want your audience to perceive your business?

What are the most important parts of your story that you want to share with them? Show them that you fit into their lives and that you have a similar value system.

Wherever you decide to grow your business, these values should stay at the center of everything you do.

Do you have values that guide your business? How do you communicate them to your customers?

Announcing Ink Yourself: Using Story to Make a Bold Impression e-course

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Special guest post & giveaway from Genevieve Brazelton of Lightbox SF

In our first two years of working with clients on strategies to better market their business, we noticed that no matter how long they’d been in business we always tended to start in the same place – clarifying our client’s brand story and defining their target market.

All of the businesses we worked with struggled to put into words how they were different from the competition and what benefits they were really providing for their customers. And when it came to target market few of them could describe much about their ideal customer beyond, gender, age and general income. It’s hard to really engage customers if you don’t know what makes you different or why your customers would care.

Ink Yourself: Using Story to Make a Bold Impression is a guided e-course designed to get you thinking about all the details that make up your unique brand story and help you define your ideal customer. The course is based on the idea that you already know everything you need to build a strong brand identity and stand out in the marketplace, but you need a guiding hand and outside perspective to dig into the details and shape it into your unique brand story.

“It’s challenging to step back from (our businesses) to gain perspective about what our work says and means. I felt really well supported during this course.”

The lessons in this 5-week e-course build on each other asking you to dive deep in the big vision of your business, realize your strengths, and get intimate with your ideal customer. Then we help you bring it all together into a guiding statement that makes showing off your awesomeness a breeze. You’ll also have unlimited email access to both Shelly and I and a live forum to get feedback and opinions from all the participants. We hope you’ll make friends as well as get clear on your brand message.

Registration is currently open and the course starts May 21^st.

As a bonus we’re giving away one spot in the course to an oh my! handmade goodness reader. All you need to do is tell us your biggest marketing struggle in the comments below and we’ll pick a random winner. We’ll notify you by email on May 16^th if we pick your name. However if you don’t want to leave it to chance you can sign up right now!

This giveaway is closed! Congratulations to:

About Genevieve:

Genevieve Brazelton writes about creative marketing strategies over on the Lightbox SF blog. She also works with creative entrepreneurs to brand their businesses by telling their stories and embracing what makes them unique.

Build your nest with intention

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

It’s fascinating to watch a bird make a nest. The way they build it, twig by twig, trash by trash. They use their instincts to find the right materials. Finding, placing, molding, tweaking twig after twig, in a way that will fully support the eggs they plan to lay and coddle until new life hatches. They know no other way.

Borrow this process for a minute. Inspect your business’ nest. Is your foundation solid? Did you gather exactly what you need to create the life you want to lead? Or did you mistakenly pick up a few things along the way that don’t really fit with your grand plan.

Focus. Focus. Focus.

We may very well be the only animals on the planet who multi-task. More often than not, it gets in the way of individual and collective progress. It disables us into doing just enough to check something off a very long list of things to do. Mind racing. Fingers frantic. Who’s next? How can I help? What do you need?

Think about your list for a second. What would happen if you just picked up one twig at a time. Start to finish. Next. Start to finish. Next. Start to finish. Granted, this may be impossible with some tasks. May be: you won’t know until you try.

It’s worth trying. The power of attention is that you work with intention. This leads to less frazzle and more dazzle— a solid nest, fully developed and reinforced, ready to hatch new life.

Join Tracey at our #OMHG chat tomorrow, Thursday May 10 from 1-2EST, to talk about our business foundations and how we can strengthen our nests with intention.

May 2012 Wallpaper Suite: Wildflower Week

Friday, May 4, 2012

With May comes sunny weather, warm hues, and wildflower blooms covering the ground. And I don’t know about you, but I love Summer colors and flowers. When I found out that the second week of May is National Wildflower Week, I knew I had to design something to help celebrate.

I grew up in North Alabama and remember how the Governor’s wife pushed heavily for wildflowers to be planted. As a result, I have fond memories of going on trips and being in the backseat, watching all the various colors go by from flowers planted in the median of the interstate. Then, my time in Tennessee was full of yellow-beaming buttercups and the promise of warm-weather. Lately, I’ve been able to enjoy the San Diego region, full of tropical plant life and made it a must to live in an apartment home that came with a view of their best landscaping.

My mom’s side of the family is full of greenthumbs. Though, the gene skipped over me, it doesn’t stop me from enjoying my favorite subject to paint on canvas, cover fabric-bound books with, and use as inspiration for all my bold colors in logo designs.

Designing these monthly wallpapers gives me something to enjoy while stuck indoors working at the desk and offers a quick pick-me-up on rainy days.

What’s been your fondest memory of growing up with wildflowers?

Download your wallpaper suite:

2560×1440, 1600×1200, 1280×1024, 1024×780, iPad Lock/Home, iPhone Lock/Home

Hard Core DIY: Heart of Gold Rocket ship Pinata

Sunday, April 29, 2012

What, did you think I could end our month of businessy goodness without a serious bang? No way! The launch of our Guide to Businessy Goodness deserves no less then an explosion of awesome. This tutorial goes out to everyone who has ever sat around thinking, “You know I could really use a 3 foot rocket ship pinata right about now…” and then Googled it without satisfaction, (nearly everyone I’m sure).

What you need:

1 roll each of Carte Fini 180 gram Metallic Gold & Metallic Silver Italian crepe paper
Top of a large hollow plastic easter egg (I found mine on clearance at Michael’s post-Easter)
Large piece of matt board or cardboard
Heavy duty tape (duct would be more space-like but we’re renovating & I have a ton of this)
Cutting blade & scissors
Glue gun/glue sticks
White Glue
Twine/monofilament
Patience

DIY heart of gold rocket ship pinata tutorial

I would never have had this idea if I didn’t reach out to Carte Fini papers about offering you a couple of tutorials featuring their paper. I’ve used high end crepe paper from a couple of online shops but this is a class of its own. The metallic paper used to make this tutorial is more like a heavy aluminum foil, with the give and resilience of crepe paper, but the feel of heavy fabric. It was so utterly perfect for crafting a ship worthy of our businessy explorations. We started our month off with a beautiful flower tutorial from Omiyage featuring their paper too, be sure to check it out!

Let’s get started!

Measure the circumference of your plastic egg with a sewing measuring tape. Cut a 3 foot long by x(the circumference of your egg + 2 inches) wide piece of cardboard. Curl the cardboard into a tube, make sure it will fit just inside your egg & tape it like crazy-up & down the seam + bands around the length of the tube.
Attach the top of the plastic egg to the tube with tape (repeat the taping like crazy).
Trace the bottom of the tube onto another piece of cardboard & cut out the circle to use as the bottom, set aside.

Cut two 4 inch pieces of silver crepe paper, coat well with craft glue diluted with a little bit of water and smooth one over the top of the rocket where the egg is taped to the base.
Glue the other around the base of the rocket, letting half of the crepe paper stick out beyond the cardboard. Carefully fold & smooth the paper around the inside of the bottom opening.
Let dry while you cut your fringe.

DIY heart of gold rocket ship pinata tutorial

Unroll some of your silver crepe paper, fold it over on itself about 4 inches from the end and then fold over 2x. Cut off the folded piece & repeat until you have 4 or 5 lengths of folded crepe.
Cut all the folded pieces into equal lengths (about 4 inches)
To cut the fringe just cut 3/4 of the way into your folded squares ever 1/4 inch
Carefully unwrap all the fringe and lay flat

Using your glue gun, with the rocket base upright, attach the fringe, starting at the bottom. Glue down 5-6 inches of at a time, gently stretching the paper around to meet or overlap the other end.
Stagger your overlaps as you go up the rocket attaching the fringe.
I used slightly longer fringe along the bottom of the rocket & made it a wee bit shorter as I went up.
Glue the last piece right under the egg.

Make a template & cut out your hearts, you want about 25 large hearts, 40 medium sized ones and 30 small ones depending on the size of your rocket’s nose.

Glue the hearts on by adding a drop of hot glue to the tip of each heart and overlapping them around the nose. I did two rows of large hearts, three of medium, and four small. Bring the points of the hearts together at the very top.

Make the base & fins-using the template trace and cut out two cardboard fins, make smaller (or larger) as needed.
Lay your fins onto the gold crepe paper and trace around them leave one inch of clearance around the fin.
Flip fins over and trace around them exactly.
Cover each cardboard fin with glue and smooth on the larger crepe cut out. Add more glue around the overhanging bits and curl around to make the edges all pretty. Glue the smaller piece on the opposite site. Let dry for a bit then put a heavy book on top to prevent curling. Do the same for the cardboard circle for the base you cut out in step one.
Once dry attach fins to either side with hot glue.

Cut a door on the gold side of the cardboard circle with a sharp blade. Thread one foot of twine (I used this gold twine from Knot & Bow) onto a darning needle and poke through the centre of your door. Thread the twine through & knot the end a few times.
Using hot glue, attach the gold circle to the base.
Fit a drill with a small eye hook, drill into the top of the pinata, attach 1 foot of twine/monofilament

Get small children to cut a bowl full of confetti (they really like this part)
FILL IT UP!

Hang, pull, explode in a shower of sparks & giggles.
Repeat!

Need something to celebrate? Join over 200 creative explorers adventuring into the galaxies of businessy goodness. Check out our Guide to Businessy Goodness, name your price from $2-20+, get your copy & fire at will!

PS: Be sure to let me know if you try your hand at making your very own rocket ship! I can think of lots of parties this would be great for (like my mom’s 50th gold & tiger themed party!). Thank you Oh Happy Day for all the crepe paper inspiration.

A New Community Experience

Saturday, April 28, 2012

{Image: Buy Local print by claudiagpearson}

A few weeks ago I heard about the concept of a cash mob: people gather as a group at a predetermined location, they are given the name of a business and they descend en masse to that business to share some buy local love. The first instance that I watched with a lot of interest was a Cash Mob organized in Halifax that targeted Love, Me Boutique, a shop that sells Canadian handcrafted items and supports the handmade community. The reaction from Chara Kingston, the owner of Love, Me Boutique was not only appreciative, but as a retailer, it is so easy to feel like you’re slogging away behind a counter while the rest of the world goes on with their lives. Only rarely do customers come in and say “you know, I’m SO GLAD YOU’RE HERE” and it is easy to lose sight of the enthusiasm you had when you were getting ready to open your shop doors.

Where I live, in Sackville, New Brunswick, a community of 5,500 people with a VERY strong and vibrant arts culture, we have only four or five independent boutiques and a fifty-percent vacancy rate in our commercial downtown core. Rent is higher than the neighbouring cities and towns and businesses struggle. Our town has one of the few remaining independent bookstores left in the region and has many entrepreneurs who WANT to open businesses but are scared of the high overhead and perceived lack of “buy local” support. I’m one of those entrepreneurs. So, in order to show the downtown that we love them and want their businesses to succeed, I decided to organize a cash mob for our little town. Given the small size of our town, I had hoped to gather ten people. Immediately the word began to spread through social media, friends invited friends, the local media became involved and on our Facebook Event Page over 50 people had committed to coming. I had phone calls from local Town Councillors congratulating me on the initiative, the Town of Sackville, celebrating its 250th anniversary this year, donated commemorative reusable shopping bags to participants, everywhere I went – from the veterinarians office to the school and the grocery store, people told me they were really excited to hear how it goes and to find out which business we would “mob”. The enthusiasm really WAS infectious.

{Gathering and Getting Ready to MOB!}

The weather was cool but sunny and it was a holiday weekend, we had about 30 people turn out. Many were not part of the initial Facebook event but had read about it in the newspaper and wanted to check it out. We gathered at the steps of Old Town Hall and moved as a group to our local independent bookseller who shares space with a gift and toy shop – we mobbed TWO businesses with one group. As our group chatted about the concept, neighbours became re-acquainted, introductions were made, and while we were a compact group, it was still exciting! The stores were comfortably full as we looked over the merchandise, some looking for toys for a relative, or a book, or trying on a new necklace or brooch.

We may get used to seeing established businesses in our communities and take for granted that they will always be there, or we see them so often we don’t see them at all. With the economy in a precarious situation, independent retailers need our support more than ever, and as handcrafters, we need THEIR support if WE are to succeed.

Speaking with a friend in Halifax who attended a second cash mob, we both observed that the people coming out to the cash mobs are not those who you might already expect or know shop local, it is as though people are looking for a new community experience. Over and over I heard people say they hadn’t visited this store in a while, that it was nice to get out and DO something like this, and that it was really quite fun.

I followed up with the business owners following the event, both were pleased at the influx of sales and the happy enthusiasm of the event. Ellen Pickle, owner of targeted business Tidewater Books noted, “in a world of big box stores, it felt good to know that what we are doing here as an independent store matters.”

I parted with the crowd, many of whom caught my sleeve to say “so we’re going to do it again next month?” Yes, I think we will…

Growing My Business Teeny Tiny

Thursday, April 26, 2012

a special guest post by Kim Gosney of Hope Loves Cards on how she is growing her little biz teeny tiny (& you can too!).

So, here I am sitting at the desk in my teeny tiny stationery store. When this shot was taken I was so excited because I am part of a growing new trend in business. I call it Community Retail and this is a little bit about my experience going teeny tiny.

I have been running an online stationery store for about 2 1/2 years. It has been an exciting ride. There have been many successes and many opportunities, but I really love my “FUN” work as my daughter, Kathryn Hope calls it. But, there are many sides to my personality. Here’s a run down of all of my jobs:

Retail Store Manager (42+ hours a week)
Owner of Hope Loves Cards AKA Glittery Stationery Empire
Mom to Kathryn Hope, amazingly adorable seven year old

I am slightly embarrased to admit that I work into the wee hours every night. I send emails at 2 am and rarely, if ever, get enough sleep to wake up feeling refreshed in the morning. Mt. Dew is a staple in my fridge – and my hubby just went to the grocery store, but didn’t bring the Mt. Dew – so now I’m afraid I might fall asleep before finishing this post. But, I TRULY love all the hard work because I am growing my business teeny tiny and that means that means BIG progress is underway.

Here is a brief overview of Community Retail – this is a photograph of one side of Unique Boutiques and Marketplace located in Clayton, North Carolina. What appeals to me about the concept is that I am a vendor – my little booth is one of many – located inside Unique Boutiques and Marketplace.

Main Vendor Advantages:

Short term lease (6 months) at super low rate = storefront location WITHOUT breaking the bank
Keep your full time job + earn extra income from storefront = MORE MONEY
Deck out your space – make it as simple or extravagant as you like = FUN!!!
Local exposure + meeting and getting to personally talk to your clients = PRICELESS!

Being a vendor instead of an owner opens up a world of possibilities for me that I wouldn’t be able to pursue working full time. I do not have to work inside my teeny tiny store every day – I go in once a week to tidy up, restock, drop off custom orders. I get the experience of owning a store without the fear that I do not have enough money for my lease or product to stock my store with. I get to test the waters and really work on my product line because all of the customers shopping in the store are so willing to give feedback! The local connections that I am making are really helping me shape what new products I am going to be offering. By the end of my first week in Community Retail I had developed relationships with other vendors which is great for support and encouragement too!

A few things to consider if you think going teeny tiny might be right for you!

Make sure you have a business license if needed in your area and that you have completed any business paperwork like forming an LLC. Also, don’t forget sales taxes make sure you have who is paying sales taxes in your lease agreement just to make things super clear!
Will your product offerings translate to “grab and go” items? Can your goodies be purchased easily by your customers and do you need to have a custom order system in place for your merchandise.
Have a call to action inside your store. Have something fun inside your store for your customers to do so you can build your mailing list and fill it up with local customers. For example – note cards (I use my bloopers) that customers can fill out with all of their contact info. I also have a note letting customers know that they can sign my desk to help my customers feel like my store is their store too! Oh and I almost forgot I have a giant orange mailbox for people to drop off special orders in too.

The entire process from signing the lease to opening up shop took about one month. I spent the first week drawing out sketches on graph paper of what the total look and feel of the store would be. I also ordered all of the supplies that I needed to make sure they arrived on time. The second week was spent checking into regulations to see what additional licensing I would need. I also started working on the product line – making some of my items a little more mainstream so that they could be purchased grab and go style. My little kids that would normally be personalized with a name got a more traditional “Thank You” so anyone could purchase them. I also developed a custom order sheet for anyone that wanted personalized stationery. In week two I glittered stationery day and night and came up with some adorable packaging for my stationery too! In week three I visited my booth to check everything over and attended the first vendor meeting. And finally, in week four, I took a vacation from my full time job to paint, hammer, glue, nail and build my teeny tiny dream. I also got to stock my store with the most ridiculously cute stationery EVER!

Other special things to think about before opening your own little mini store:

Does the owner offer no compete as part of your lease meaning if you sell stationery will anyone else be able to sell stationery too?
What should your store design look like? How can you show your personality in a teeny tiny space.
How much space will your product need and how can you create room to grow?
What is your budget for paint, construction of space, and product for grand opening?
What is your marketing strategy? How will you let your customers know you have a real live store?
When will you visit your store? How can you let your customers know when you are going to be dropping by?
How will you create a WOW factor for your customers to keep them coming back time and time again?

As my grand opening approached I was filled with excitement and anticipation. There were several events including a Girl’s Night and a Vendor Shopping Night to make sure that everything was in place before the big Grand Opening Day. Kathryn Hope came to work with me for the first time ever – as the Glittery Princess spokesmodel for her stationery company. She was beaming with excitement when she saw the giant Kathryn Hope on the wall. And guess what – the customers were excited to meet her too. It was wonderful to see the entire store stocked and ready for business when just a month before it was an empty space. There was such a tremendous sense of pride for the owner, Christy Kenyon, when she stepped back to take everything in. And…she’s totally hit the nail on the head with Unique Boutiques and Marketplace – a unique business that has given my teeny tiny dreams great BIG wings!

Oh! My I did also want to say a HUGE thank you to Mayi Carles because she really helped me truly understand that I needed to “Narrowing My Niche, narrow it narrow it!”

About Kim:

I’m a total rockstar when it comes to making cards. If I was a superhero my power would be…ENERGY (that is if energy comes in the form of Mt. Dew & cupcakes!). My biggest fear in life is that I will run out of glitter glue + envelopes. Come connect with me! <<WEBSITE>> <<BLOG>> <<@HOPELOVESCARDS>>