KISS

. KISS, one of my daughter's favorite words. She used it quite frequently before leaving for school three years ago. She used it so much I had to find out why. She explained to me when she told someone KISS, it meant 'Keep It Simple Stupid'. According to her that most of time we spend our time making everything more complicated than what it need be. I was thinking about this the other day and I think I figured out why I'm always so tired, in trying to stock my shop, I'm not keeping it simple. I have so many varied interest that I can't decide which one I really want to dedicate myself to. I love to knit, sew and crochet, not to mention jewelry. Being a creative person missed the point of keeping my shop simple. As online shop owners we should strive to keep our categories and product line straight forward so our customers know who we are. Making sure our potential customers understand exactly what we do. Get know for being the best in what it is we do. I work hard at being the best at whatever I do. I look at my shop and see beautiful items but no cohesion. I think that now is the time to narrow my view to pick something and make it my focus. I've that my inspiration lately has been the newest member of my family, my granddaughter. Lately it has been shoes/booties but there is so much more to do. It's coming upon the fall of the year, yes I know summer just kicked in but there will be a need for fall/winter items before we know it. If we're into handmade, it's gonna take time to produce and this is a good time to start. School just ended and know is the time to start the new school year shopping. After thinking school think of the year's end holidays that are also upon us. So this month I will start taking a long look at my shop and see what it is I can take away and what I should keep. Decide on the sizes I want to make and handle and definite color decisions. Sometimes less is more and more can always be added later. But sometimes a few simple items are the only things necessary for sales. To anyone who reads this and has visited my shop I apologize for the confusion. I promise by the end of the year I will be able to look at my shop and smile and not just look at a finished product, photograph it and place it in the shop.

Making Money Doing What You Love

Niche II

If you have worked through the previous questions of finding your niche, you should have yourfoundation for creating your business. Let me say this now, this will not be the only time you willhave to think about your niche. This process can change even after you’ve started your business. I’m still working on mine.

Knitting and crocheting is such a broad category, there are so many different items one can make, some time consuming, some quick. I think about all the items I’ve made and try to figure out which ones I derive the most enjoyment from (one that I can do over and over again). I’ve found that I have done more shrugs than anything else, so this is truly my niche anything else I do is secondary. I can also see that shrugs can easily turn into midriff sweaters and possibly cardigans in the future. With all this said this is one way of adding to your niche. But remember, one item at a time as to not be overwhelmed.

Keep a notebook with your projects in mind and add to it as often as needed. Take a look at what it is that you enjoy, note it. Next think in terms of adding to it slowly, over a period of time and figure out what are the other possibilities over time. Nothing happens over night. There is nothing wrong with working at a slow and steady pace to get your business where you want it to be. The key is not to give up or get discouraged. For insight feel free to ask family and friends for input or insight, food for thought and outside you can be good for business. Even if you don’t like some of the things you hear, try and keep the answers in prospective, they may come in handy later.

SCORE is also another good place to start for help and objective input.

SCORE: Counselors to America’s Small Business

http://www.score.org

SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives) is a nonprofit organization with about 400 chapters in the United States. They have volunteers who provide training and one-on-one business consultation at no charge.

We are in this to make a living doing what we love.

Making Money Doing What You Love

This is the beginning of a series of writings I will be doing for a while I hope you will find beneficial and fun.

NICHE’

I had spent a couple of years struggling with this word when I first started New Day Crochet.

It always confused me, it sometimes saddened me. It became a horrid

word. It seemed it was always given in terms of finding a box to fit into. After years of dealing

with this I found a better definition for me when used in personal terms, a situation or

activity specially suited to your interests, abilities, or nature.

Find a particular interest or ability for making or doing something.


Here are some key questions to help find your niche:

1. What do you enjoy making? Your craft should be based on what you like making,

touching, and being surrounded by. Is it candles, ceramics, jewelry, etc?

What medium do like, clay, fiber, wood?

Or maybe your niche is teaching or holding seminars on what you love as opposed to sells.

(My enjoyment is crocheting, knitting and I also love to sew.)

Choose a craft that you’ll love making over and over again. Make it challenging but easy enough

to produce in a reasonable amount of time. For me a reasonable amount of time would be two

weeks.

2. Do you know how to make it well? The one thing you cannot compromise on is quality of

craftsmanship. Find the time to learn more and new techniques about your craft, via classes,

books or the internet. The more you do a thing the better you become.

Last but not least….

3. What will your first product be? Yes, one product. This keeps one from becoming

overwhelmed, too many things to make, having your energy and focus going in to many

directions. As time passes you can always add to your line.


Your see finding your niche can be as simple as choosing your college major. Do what you love,

that’s it, that’s all.

I must revisit these 3 questions. It never hurts to start over, it hurts not to start.

What are your answers to the above questions? I would love to hear them.