Friends, I know I’ve been neglectful of this blog the past couple of weeks. I miss all of your sweet comments and notes on what was the near-daily posts. But I’ve been hard at work on my newest project. Since quitting my full-time job in April, I’ve been trying to figure out what it is exactly that I want to do. I’ve been doing a bit of consulting here and there, but I’ve wanted to start something that’s more tangible. A consulting business is great, but I want to be able to have a product, something that I can hold in my hands and say “whoa! I’ve brought this all together.” I’m a very visual person like that.

[source: work is not a job via ashappyaskings]

This blog started as a journey to figure out what it is that I love, what motivates me, and where my passions lie. It’s been such a great year of growth, and I feel so blessed that you all have joined me on my journey. I never expected the blog to take off like it has, but am so thankful for your dedication.

Over the last month and lots of brainstorming sessions, I’ve finally figured it out. Horray! I’ve found that I love curation and discovering handmade products, and would do it all day if I could (who wouldn’t?). I love the stories that artisans can share with consumers that the Big Box sellers just can’t match. It’s so much more enjoyable to buy something when you feel connected to the person who made it.

My new project brings together the best from the handmade community. Called Umba Box (umba is Swahili for “to create”), it is a monthly subscription that delivers products from amazing artisans to your door. Right now, it’s focusing on non-size specific women’s items such as accessories, jewelry, home goods, stationary, and bath products. As this grows, I would love to add men’s and children’s lines too! When you subscribe to Umba Box, each month you will receive a pretty little surprise package in the mail all wrapped up and ready to be enjoyed by you or a loved one. You can get a subscription for yourself or a friend, but it would be great if you did both.

I have already partnered up with some artists and designers who have some seriously rockin’ products ready to go. Some of our producers are even going to make special editions that you won’t be able to find anywhere else. How cool is that? This is why I love handmade.

I’m still pulling levers and pushing buttons on the Umba Box web site, so I expect it to go live in the next week or so. In the mean time, I would be honored if you would give us your email so we can let you know when we are officially open! If you need a little more incentive to fork over your email address, I will be sending out a coupon to our subscribers for their first purchase.

(I promise I will never spam you! That’s so uncool.)

Thanks for all of your encouragement, friends. Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions about this! I will still be blogging here on a (hopefully) regular basis), so don’t go anywhere! <3

What an exciting morning: a blog post that I was interviewed for was posted to Poppytalk, a handmade design blog that I’ve long loved. Rena Tom, retail strategist extraordinaire, contacted me several weeks ago to see if I would be interested in sharing my business smarts with the readers, and I of course jumped at the chance.

Here’s a small excerpt from the interview:

Q: What are some financial challenges particular to a handmade business?

A: One of the biggest financial challenges that handmade producers face is that of scale.  As a small business owner, you don’t have access to some things that the larger companies have access to: funding and credit. While it’s not impossible to obtain, it’s definitely challenging. Most handmade businesses are forced to bootstrap their operations. However, crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter can help small producers fund their work before production, which allows them to raise enough cash to produce a new line of products.

Check out the full post at the Poppytalk blog!

This short illustrated exerpt from the book ”Anything You Want” by Derek Sivers was a great reminder about why we shouldn’t hold back with sharing our ideas with the world. Take a look:

Have you ever done this? As a Creative, do you constantly censor your ideas, designs, and potential products in fear that you are the only one that will enjoy them or find them amazing? As I’ve grown Stamp 48, I’ve often faced this. I think of something, but then quickly think “Oh that’s been done, I don’t need to add to the noise of the internet”. Or, “well, I don’t know about that project/post/idea (whatever), I’m sure it won’t resonate with anyone else.”

But guess what. I’ve learned to ignore those thoughts. If I share an idea with others, chances are that it’s going to strike someone else as amazing. Even if it doesn’t seem like it to you, it’s an original idea to other people because it’s not their idea. It’s a simple thought, but one that has helped me to keep chugging along and developing new ideas and thoughts.

Are you holding back on your ideas for fear that no one else will think they’re amazing? Take a risk. Put your ideas out there and give them a chance.

Stamp 48 is now accepting sponsors!

This blog takes a lot of work, and I LOVE it. As more and more readers find Stamp 48, I want to provide more and more quality posts, which can be accomplished through both my readers and Creative businesses sponsoring the blog. For more details about partnering with me, click here.

Because of your sponsorships, all my readers will look this happy when they read Stamp 48.

source: AnnieBee

On Sunday, I attended the DIY Business Association’s first conference in Brooklyn, NY. The aim of the conference was to “bring together the independent music industry, freelance communicators, innovators of art and craft, Internet and tech gurus, and business and service providers for a day of inspiration, information, empowerment, and networking.” I would say the organizers managed to do all of that, despite it being an incredibly tall order.

Over the next week, I will be writing summary posts about what I learned, and hopefully giving you enough inspiration + umph to carry it out in your Creative business.

In the first panel of the day, Marcos Salazar, co-founder of BeSocialChange.com, and Jessica H. Lawrence, managing director at New York Tech Meetup, presented on “Creating a New Way of Work: How to Embrace, Empower, and Maximize Your Creativity.” Throughout their talk, they discussed the history of work through the Industrial Revolution and how technology is now allowing for radical shifts in the way people can work (for themselves! from home! with their personal computer! not tied to a factory/cube farm) and ways of fostering creativity (putting yourself in novel situations).

The biggest thing I got from this panel is how to find your dream job. Most everyone has some sort of idea or direction of what they’re dream job is, even if it’s fuzzy at this point. It might even be a couple of completely different fields. Even better! It’s just a greater opportunity to cultivate your ideal career as a freelancer in the Creative industry.

Here’s the secret to finding your dream job (similar diagram shown in the panel discussion):

What do you love to do?

What is it that makes your heart pitter-patter? Is it taking photographs? Working with your hands? Listening to your friends over a steamy cup of coffee? What are the things you love? Write them down. Don’t think about if you can make a job out of it. Just write.

What are you great at?

Everyone has skills that they excel at. I’m not just talking about things you’re good at; you need to find the things you’re great at, amazing, even. I’m good at cooking, but I’m certainly not about to be on Top Chef any time soon. Think about the things that your friends and family consistently say “Wow, you’re a natural at that!” Now write these things down. The items on this list may very well differ from the things on your “What I love to do” list. Again, this is okay. It’s all about the brain dump.

What can you actually get paid to do?

Not everything on the list of what you love and what you’re awesome at doing will intersect. Even less than that (most likely), will be the intersection with things that you can actually get paid to do. I love to take naps on rainy days. Frankly, I’m awesome at taking naps. But I can’t get paid to take naps. (If you can think of a way, please email me. Now.) There will be some things that overlap though, but you might have to get creative.

For instance, say you absolutely love to create beautiful felted throw pillows and love sharing a cup of coffee with friends. You’re also awesome at teaching people new things and helping to mentor them. You could start a business that teaches people how to create these pillows in a fun and relaxed atmosphere, such as a community coffee shop.

As your friends and family for ideas if you’re stuck. Tell them what you love to do and what you think you’re awesome at. They will likely agree if you are being honest with yourself. Then ask them how you can combine these things in a money-making venture. Ask them how you can create a dream job. They might surprise you with their awesome ideas! Even if they don’t come up with a winner, their ideas will likely spur more of yours.

At the intersection of what you love to do, what you’re awesome at, and what you can actually get paid to do, you will find your dream job. Or at least something close to it.

Don’t be afraid to pivot

After you’ve found this intersection, go for your dream. Give it all you’ve got. It will be hard work and lots of effort. You might get to a place where you find yourself thinking to yourself “why am I doing this again?” If that becomes a chronic thought, you have  a couple of options. You can figure out if it’s just one part of your business that you don’t like, or if it’s the entirety. If it’s just one part, you can begin to outsource that section to other people who love it (more on that in a later post).

If it’s the entirety of the business, don’t be afraid to pivot to something else. Many now-popular companies have pivoted their business model before becoming the company that we know them as today: Flickr used to be a gaming site and LivingSocial (daily deal site) used to be a Facebook application that allowed you to create virtual bookshelves for your Friends to see. Look where they are now.

Keep pivoting and trying new things until something sticks. You’ll know when it feels right and you’ve found your dream job.

Oh friends, today was filled with such inspiration and goodness at the DIY Business Association Brooklyn Conference. I hopped on a bus to attend my first business conference as a freelancer and meet some industry friends offline. It gave me just the dose of motivation that I’ve been needing, and I was able to meet some rad designers, entrepreneurs, crafters, and generally awesome people. I took home some key points helpful for any creative business that I’ll be sharing with you in the coming days- you betcha’!

While I work on brain dumping into blog posts, I wanted to share a few fun DIYs that I’ve been meaning to try lately. Do you have the toughest time keeping papers stuck to your fridge with your current magnets? Ours are all promo magnets from take out eateries or friends’ wedding save the dates. While it’s lovely to gaze upon our friends’ smiling faces, the magnets are generally worthless to hold anything thicker than a Kleenex. I don’t know about you, but I haven’t had a desire to stick tissues on the fridge lately.

I’m thinking about tackling these fun projects that would allow me to use extra-super-humongo-heavy-duty-magnets with these. Then my papers will stay up. Right…?

J.Crew recently posted a video showing a behind-the-scenes look into how their shoes are designed and manufactured from idea to tangible product.

I’ve long loved J.Crew shoes, especially their cheery ballet flats. They’re a little pricey for what I would typically pay, but the quality and craftsmanship is evident.

J.Crew does a great job by engaging their customers by showing an in-depth look into the process. This brings both potentially new and existing customers. When customers have a chance to see the product lifestyle, they become involved with the producer and the story of the product which makes them more likely to buy. The more the connect, the greater your potential sales are.

How do you engage customers with your handmade product? Do you offer glimpses into your studio? Try posting a video of the process! (That is, assuming it’s not a trade-secret process.) Potential customers will love to see how you create a product from raw materials to the item that will eventually end up in their hands. It might take a little more time, but it shows that you care about a quality process of production. Customers appreciate quality. Before they’re actual customers and can hold your product, it’s it to you to communicate the level of quality.

Take a look at some behind-the-scenes shots of how J.Crew shoes are designed and made, and check out the video here.

[via J.Crew]

Wow. So it’s been a week since I’ve posted a blog. Life has gotten cray-zee. I know you know the feeling, so I won’t make too many apologies.

But let me explain.

I just submitted my resignation notice to my full-time job effective early April. Yes, I know. You’re thinking, “What?! But what are you going to do?!”

[via flickr commons]

I’ve always wanted to start my own business since the founding of Sweeties Cookie Co. in my elementary school days. It turns out that having a full time job, planning a wedding, and spending time with my fiancé and friends is incredibly difficult. And draining. There are certainly many people who can pull it off. But why do it if I don’t have to. Justin has been incredibly supportive and encouraged me to give my dreams a go. So I’m doing it!

I still haven’t answered your questions.

What I’m doing

I will be ramping up my clients for Stamp 48. Pretty soon, you will see new and fun ways that I’m going to use my crazy mad skillz (I have to hype it up a little, right?) to help Y-O-U. But it’s not quite ready for the big unveil. If you click on the services link, you won’t find much, so don’t bother looking. Seriously. Blank page. But not for long. (I’m going to look on Google Analytics to see how many of you didn’t listen to me. Tsk tsk, lovely readers!) I’ll let you know when things get really rolling!

But before the big unveil, I would LOVE your input on services that you would like to see me offer. Making tepees for your nephew? Creating handmade glittered pine cones? Writing stories for your cat? The possibilities are endless. But those probably aren’t on the top of your list. If they are, contact me. We should be friends.Would you be so kind as to fill out this little survey telling me what you’re most interested in?

Lauren

I follow a lot of indie designers on twitter who use it as an outlet to jam their products into my face. I like most of their products, and have bought from some of them. But when every. single. tweet. is telling me about their newly listed product, it makes me not want to engage with them.

The Fiancé deals with social media on a daily basis for his career, and he has become quite an expert on how to use social media effectively (Yes, I’m biased, but it’s still true). He recently posted a blog that is worth sharing with creative business owners and indie designers.

“Social media is just another tool, like the knife I use in the kitchen to chop jalapeños. Social media breaks down the wall and allows me to have that relationship with my users on a mass scale. It helps me to have that relationship with them in a more effective manner.  I can’t go knock on 100k doors tonight but I can reach 100k people on Twitter pretty easily and then listen to what they have to say.”

It’s about using social media as a tool to listen to your customers, communicate with them, and engage in a relationship. Yes, it can be used to increase your sales. While I haven’t done an official scientific study on the numbers, I suspect that those who see an increase in sales from using social media do so because they use it properly- as a tool to build relationships, NOT as a loud horn to announce each new product that is put online.

Read more at Drinking Oatmeal Stout. What are your experiences for effective customer engagement on twitter?

via Image Spark

How yummy is this packaging? Frankly, I’m not even sure what it contains right now. I haven’t been able to move past the outter shell. It’s just lovely. I just stare…

and stare…

and, you guessed it… stare. [but I've always been a little odd.]

This simple packaging has somehow managed to become the inspiration behind our May-wedding color palette [ok, I promise this will not turn into a wedding blog. but maybe I will start a separate one.]. Colors 2-5 in the above picture have made their way into our theme. Don’t they just look so lovely together?

Packaging is the first thing that a customer sees. Shouldn’t it blow them away? I would argue yes. True, elaborate packaging can become an added expense, but it can be done brilliantly while still being cost-effective. Take the little lovelies above, for example. A simple colorful bag that has been folded down and secured with a logo-ed clothes pin. But look what it has evoked in me! It’s shaped one of, if not the, largest events of my life.

So how can you pump up your packaging design so that it’s not merely a barrier between a customer and your product, but rather a gateway to your product that the customer can also enjoy? What does your current packaging convey? If it’s difficult to open, it will communicate that your product is either difficult to use or not well thought out. If it’s run-of-the-mill, the customer might not think that your product is not much different from the competition, which might offer a cheaper alternative, and thus is not worth investing in.

I challenge you to evaluate your current packaging and improve it in 2011. Even if you think that your packaging stands out in the crowd, ask your 5 best customers how they think you can improve how your items are packaged.