tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-565458346305845310Sun, 29 Jun 2008 10:55:53 +0000http://www.pretty-somethings.co.uk/noreply@blogger.com (Suggy)Blogger53125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-565458346305845310.post-5241546628171976826Sun, 29 Jun 2008 10:34:00 +00002008-06-29T11:55:53.993+01:00hand-making competitionHand-making Heroes New Gift Competition winners Felicity Gail jewellery have received their £500 prize money and a £1500 first order. I have photographic proof - see (Well, just about - it's a shame we didn't have time to produce one of those comedy giant cheques!). The prize money was presented at a buying meeting on June 20th, where Becca (the chief gift buyer at pressies4princesses) http://www.pretty-somethings.co.uk/2008/06/handmakers-get-paid.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Suggy)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-565458346305845310.post-4093883795991908313Wed, 04 Jun 2008 16:56:00 +00002008-06-04T23:10:37.134+01:00selling handmade productspublic relationsPRSo, hopefully you read "Designer/ makers - how to use PR effectively part 1" and have had a fair stab at conceiving an editorial-worthy idea for a press release. If not, go back and fix your story. There's no point continuing without something worth writing about! If you did come up with a great PR angle/ idea, then now you need to know how to present it. Writing press releases is well covered http://www.pretty-somethings.co.uk/2008/06/how-designer-makers-should-use-pr-part.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Suggy)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-565458346305845310.post-5244354445162648834Mon, 26 May 2008 07:10:00 +00002008-05-26T08:32:04.952+01:00hand-making businesssuccessful businessIf you're 18-30 years old and unemployed or working less than 16 hours a week, you could get help starting your hand-making business from the Prince's Trust. I've just finished the training to become a Prince's Trust Business Mentor. I'll be supporting people starting businesses within the Trust's Business Programme. One-to-one mentorship is just one of the benefits of this scheme, which also http://www.pretty-somethings.co.uk/2008/05/help-starting-your-hand-making-business.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Suggy)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-565458346305845310.post-5459330022063657758Sat, 10 May 2008 22:31:00 +00002008-05-10T23:55:00.242+01:00hand-making competitionhandmade gift This Silver, Onyx and Jade Handcrafted Necklace by Felicity Gail is winner of this year's Hand-making Heroes Handmade Gift Competition. After being short-listed by the judging panel in February, this UK handmade necklace went on to win the online vote, beating 7 other finalists. Voting took place through March and April. In excess of 2000 valid votes were cast by visitors to competition sponsorhttp://www.pretty-somethings.co.uk/2008/05/hand-making-heroes-competition-winner.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Suggy)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-565458346305845310.post-205692711726730290Mon, 05 May 2008 10:28:00 +00002008-05-06T09:59:37.661+01:00promotionselling handmade productspublic relationsPRMake your Press Release editorial-worthy Put simply, you have to be or do something worth writing about. What's written falls broadly into two categories: news and editorial. News is not, "We launched this great product"; that's advertising (or advertorial, if you prefer) and you have to pay for that. So, what's news? That's hard to define. Beneath the major events that are the real news, http://www.pretty-somethings.co.uk/2008/05/designer-makers-how-to-use-pr.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Suggy)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-565458346305845310.post-4656375961676325678Thu, 01 May 2008 08:24:00 +00002008-05-01T09:56:04.866+01:00hand-making competitionVoting in Hand-making Heroes - our new handmade gift competition - closed midnight last night. On the face of it, it seems two finalists have run away with the vote, the Felicity Gail handcrafted necklace and Steph Littlechild's personalised collage portraits. The winner will not be announced, however, until all votes cast have been audited to ensure no cheating has taken place! The response http://www.pretty-somethings.co.uk/2008/04/hand-making-heroes-voting-closes.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Suggy)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-565458346305845310.post-2767900790718648388Mon, 28 Apr 2008 10:38:00 +00002008-04-28T11:58:30.080+01:00promotionselling handmade productsbloggingThis month I've been writing about how to promote your handmaking business. Blogging is one area that's been covered in more detail. In this article, Hand-makers: how to blog your way to more sales, more PR and higher web visibility, I mentioned the up-and-coming new blog at pressies4princesses as an example of "What's In It For Me?" (WIIFM) blogging. Check the original article for more about http://www.pretty-somethings.co.uk/2008/04/whats-in-it-for-me-blogging.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Suggy)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-565458346305845310.post-1977115040482227127Sat, 26 Apr 2008 12:18:00 +00002008-04-26T13:55:38.977+01:00PR - free publicity? Well not exactly. Nothing's free. It's going to cost you a little effort, though nothing more. With free stuff the temptation is to take a punt. Not spend too much time on it. After all, it's cost nothing. That's absolutely the best way to ensure it achieves nothing too. If you'd spent £500 on advertising, you'd spend a little time on getting that advert just right. Don't dohttp://www.pretty-somethings.co.uk/2008/04/pr-free-publicity-for-crafters.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Suggy)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-565458346305845310.post-3655210646277144938Wed, 16 Apr 2008 11:45:00 +00002008-04-16T17:11:54.712+01:00squidoopromotionselling handmade productsHand-making business advice is now available as Squidoo lenses. Taking a dash of my own advice, I am now translating key posts into permanent Squidoo lenses (web pages) for reference. What's a lens? A single page about anything. Why use them? Because they are easy to produce and can contain 'Web 2.0' rich content like video, blog feeds, news feeds, social bookmarking, etc. Apart from http://www.pretty-somethings.co.uk/2008/04/handmaking-business-advice-on-squidoo.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Suggy)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-565458346305845310.post-4170413851856996467Sat, 05 Apr 2008 22:16:00 +00002008-04-13T17:08:12.077+01:00promotionbloggingWhy every hand-maker should publish a blog hopefully gave you good reason to want a blog. But now the question is what to do? What should I use my blog for? Well, not to produce an online brochure easily and expeditiously with limited web skills, although that is one option. Blogging software does put push-button web publishing at your finger tips. And, with WYSIWYG previews and little html to http://www.pretty-somethings.co.uk/2008/04/hand-makers-how-to-blog-your-way-to.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Suggy)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-565458346305845310.post-7880865007912038447Sat, 05 Apr 2008 18:57:00 +00002008-04-13T17:10:26.106+01:00promotionhand-making businessbloggingI discovered blogs only 12 months ago but I am hooked already on the power of blogging. I believe blogging can drive great strides in hand-makers' visibility and appeal on the web. In this post, I will tell you why and how. Why should you listen to me? Well, I started speciality gift retailer pressies4princesses as a static website from my spare room 6 years ago. Now it receives over a million http://www.pretty-somethings.co.uk/2008/04/why-every-hand-maker-should-publish.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Suggy)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-565458346305845310.post-2759737819707837847Mon, 31 Mar 2008 07:08:00 +00002008-04-05T23:11:41.163+01:00promotionhand-making businessCraft shows - are they worth your time? What's your experience? Handmakers tell me they have to drop their prices and stand around all day to sell a couple of pieces. Mostly they don't make back the cost of the stall and petrol getting there. Say you don't go to that next craft fair. That's going to free up 8 hours or so of productive time? What could you do instead, that might actually be more http://www.pretty-somethings.co.uk/2008/03/10-free-ways-to-promote-your-handmaking.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Suggy)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-565458346305845310.post-6758500239588929927Tue, 25 Mar 2008 10:35:00 +00002008-03-25T10:53:31.492Zhandmade jewellery businessWe're introducing a new free advertising opportunity for jewellery hand-makers over at www.pressies4princesses.co.uk (pressies) - the UK gift retailer I manage. Your banner advert could appear on high traffic, relevant pages, such as this... Handmade British jewellery ... for FREE! It's part of pressies programme to provide quid pro quo support for handmakers. Over 25% of pressies' gift http://www.pretty-somethings.co.uk/2008/03/promote-your-handmade-jewellery-for.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Suggy)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-565458346305845310.post-3288471321403476635Mon, 24 Mar 2008 13:46:00 +00002008-03-24T14:42:13.216Zhandmaking competitionThe shortlist of Hand-making Heroes Competition Finalists was finally agreed last week and the voting is live over at gift retailer pressies4princesses.co.uk. Each finalist has their own page, with (largely) their own words pitching their product on it. Also, in the sidebar, there's a brief explanation of why the judges shortlisted this particular handmaker. Frustratingly, badly thought http://www.pretty-somethings.co.uk/2008/03/hand-making-competition-shortlist.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Suggy)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-565458346305845310.post-1628824040095664450Fri, 14 Mar 2008 17:09:00 +00002008-03-14T18:04:57.789Zcraft shows Whether you are new to hand-making or an old hand, you can learn and awful lot by visiting a major trade show like the British Craft Trade Fair, at Harrogate. Obviously, I am not condoning copying fellow hand-makers designs. That's just plain wrong. But, seeing how others present themselves and what they are presenting can be inspiring and highly informative. One thing that strikes me when I gohttp://www.pretty-somethings.co.uk/2008/03/british-craft-trade-fair-2008.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Suggy)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-565458346305845310.post-402269590798429306Sun, 09 Mar 2008 07:55:00 +00002008-03-09T08:00:21.967Zhandmaking competitionI just received a question about what was going on with Hand-making Heroes. Well, we have all the entries. The competition is now closed for new entries and the judges have to draw up a shortlist to put the the public vote. We'll be doing that over the next two weeks and arranging the IT for the vote. As soon as our decisions our made and the IT is live we'll notify shortlisted candidates, so youhttp://www.pretty-somethings.co.uk/2008/03/hand-making-heroes-competition-update.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Suggy)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-565458346305845310.post-6579450991811973078Wed, 20 Feb 2008 19:45:00 +00002008-02-20T20:04:46.479Zhand-making competitionHurry, Hand-making Heroes - our handmade gift competition with a £1500 prize - closes to new entries on February 29. You absolutely must get your entry in by then. The competition is open to all UK handmakers / UK hand-made gift items and jewellery. We have had fewer entries than hoped for so far, though the quality makes up for the quantity. But, it's certainly no lottery at the moment. So, if http://www.pretty-somethings.co.uk/2008/02/hand-making-competition-deadline-looms.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Suggy)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-565458346305845310.post-6066978187382314161Tue, 12 Feb 2008 08:48:00 +00002008-02-12T18:47:44.331ZThat's the point I was trying to get across in the previous two posts. But, it seems that it didn't come across clearly. So, a quick post to clarify this "don't do everything but don't do nothing" approach to running a handmaking business. It's important, because I consider this to be one of the major failings in many a handmaker's business plan. And, the three golden rules are:- £295 Orbital http://www.pretty-somethings.co.uk/2008/02/how-to-achieve-handmaking-business.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Suggy)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-565458346305845310.post-715337393257835747Sun, 27 Jan 2008 23:37:00 +00002008-01-28T10:09:05.108ZhandmakersNo matter how good you are. No matter how good your product. Sit back and wait - or keep beavering away in your studio - and you will not be discovered. You have as much chance of winning the lottery. You have to do stuff to improve your odds. But, guess what? Being the most qualified craftsperson in the world will not help. Time and again people contact me stating their handmaking credentials; http://www.pretty-somethings.co.uk/2008/01/handmakers-you-will-not-be-discovered.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Suggy)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-565458346305845310.post-5293666168096298576Tue, 15 Jan 2008 12:23:00 +00002008-01-27T23:34:28.681Zhandmaking successAre you trying to do everything? And, if so, is it holding you back? This thought occurred to me when talking to one of our handmade jewellery suppliers at pressies4princesses.co.uk. I'd always thought of her main job as designing and making the jewellery. Added to that, a handmaker needs to manage his/her brand and develop sales. It's here where it seems there's enormous room for interpretationhttp://www.pretty-somethings.co.uk/2008/01/handmaking-is-not-all-diy.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Suggy)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-565458346305845310.post-6978169252132707210Wed, 02 Jan 2008 18:56:00 +00002008-01-02T19:31:18.466Zhandmaking careerDid going back to work fill you with dread (again) this year? Then why keep doing it? Why go back year after year, when in your heart you know you know it's not what you want? You know you can do something more fulfilling, but commitments and your lack of confidence hold you back. Don't let them. It's a sad old cliche but life really isn't a rehersal; you are here (in this wonderful world of http://www.pretty-somethings.co.uk/2008/01/new-year-new-career.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Suggy)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-565458346305845310.post-3069349548971600140Fri, 28 Dec 2007 16:17:00 +00002007-12-28T16:56:25.212Zhandmaking livingAre you struggling to make a living out of your handmaking? Well , if you are focusing on making more, faster, then you're probably concentrating on the wrong thing. And, you will most likely never solve your income problem that way. You need to know about a little secret known to the best entrepreneurs... and every traditional jeweller. Let me explain... A while back, I read about a property http://www.pretty-somethings.co.uk/2007/12/cant-make-living-from-handmaking.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Suggy)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-565458346305845310.post-1082632310584670620Tue, 18 Dec 2007 19:44:00 +00002007-12-18T20:03:00.184Zhandmade internetSorry for the lack of posts lately. Lame I know, but I've been absolutely snowed under over at the day job - gift retailer pressies4princesses. The Christmas rush is always a sleepless, work-a-thon nightmare and this year, with sales up 100% again, was no exception. With things finally starting to slow down - literally in the last hour or two - I've time to start feeling a little Christmassy http://www.pretty-somethings.co.uk/2007/12/wanton-neglect.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Suggy)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-565458346305845310.post-9017557258572908688Tue, 13 Nov 2007 22:36:00 +00002007-11-14T08:09:08.356Zenterprise weekEnterprise Week is almost half done, so what have you done that's enterprising? OK, so I'm a little late to the party. But, I only found out yesterday and maybe it's escaped your notice too? I thought I'd give it a 'heads up', just in case. Erm, fortunately, I don't claim to be a news site.... Anyway, Enterprise Week is a whole host of events meant to encourage us Brits to be more enterprisinghttp://www.pretty-somethings.co.uk/2007/11/this-week-is-enterprise-week.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Suggy)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-565458346305845310.post-4451267467566642248Tue, 06 Nov 2007 11:03:00 +00002007-11-07T09:46:31.726Zhand-making competitionJust an excuse to keep this £1500 hand-making competition on the first page and front of mind really. We've had some good entries in already and have attracted some great exposure in the media and in the 'blogosphere'. But, as ever, there's always room for more! If you are sitting on the fence, I strongly urge you to get off it and have ago. Don't come over all modest. Please, please, please, http://www.pretty-somethings.co.uk/2007/11/hand-making-heroes-competition-update.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Suggy)