Six Easy Ways to Increase Your Craft Sales

Six Easy Ways to Increase Your Craft Sales
By: Louise Longworth

Whether you sell your crafts at craft fairs, home parties or another face-to-face outlet, these six easy ways to increase sales will come in useful. I’m definitely not a born sales person, so these tips will help those of you who, like me, don't like to be 'pushy', but still want to maximise your sales.

1. No false modesty

When customers compliment you on your creations, thank them, rather than getting embarrassed and mumbling that actually it’s not that great, anyone could do it, etc. Be proud of your crafts and don’t be afraid to tell people about the high quality and unique features.


2. Honest benefits

Let people know about the benefits of your crafts, especially if they’re applicable to that customer. And if something looks really good on a guest, tell them so! Give them a good reason to buy something for themselves.

As long as you keep it honest, you’re helping your customers, so they won’t mind. The same goes for pointing out matching items or special offers.


3. Touchy feely

Increase your craft sales by letting your customers touch, smell or try on your items if it's appropriate. If I see someone looking at a piece of my jewellery I always encourage them to try it on - they think I'm doing them a favour by letting them wear it, and it's one of the easiest ways to make the sale.

Similarly, if your craft is wearable always wear some samples yourself - it always looks better on a real life model.


4. Make the most of special occasions

If Mother’s or Father’s Day is coming up, remind your customers! Point out which items would make good gifts for these occasions. Make sure you’ve got plenty of Christmas themed crafts on display from October onwards.


5. Good range of prices

Have a good variety of prices, from inexpensive stocking fillers to your top of the range craft item. It’s always a good idea to have a few inexpensive items near you that people can add on at the last minute. If someone is spending £9, they’ll usually be more than happy to add a £1 item on to round it up to £10. Key-rings, bookmarks or greeting cards are some ideas for these, or try fridge magnets with mini versions of your crafts. You’ll find these small amounts add up quickly and make a big difference to your overall sales.

But equally, you should always have a few of your more expensive crafts available. Sometimes a guest is looking for a very special gift for someone and wants to spend a bit on it, and you don't want to miss out on that sale! Having higher priced items also gives an impression of overall quality - you don't want to be confused with cheap imports!


6. Be friendly

This is one of the best ways to increase sales. Just as in any selling outlet, smiling and being friendly is probably the most important thing you can do. If customers like you they’ll be happy to support you, but if you’re hiding in a corner, grumpy and monosyllabic they’ll take their business elsewhere. Wouldn’t you?

Article by:

Louise Longworth works from home selling her handmade jewelry at home parties, and has published a website to help other crafters do the same. Craft-Selling-Parties.com

Primitive TImes Magazine June 2008 Issue

Primitive Times Magazine June 2008 Edition Click to
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We have TOTALLY Redesigned our Magazine!
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Inside our June Edition

There are TWO Great E-Patterns

A 10 Page Home Tour with wonderful photos

Pages Filled Yummy Recipes

WAHM and Primitive Crafter Business
Advice

Featured Crafter- Kristie Norman

 

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And Sooo much more!

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Tax Tips for Work At Home Moms

As we start our tax filing and getting our receipts and forms ready to file it got me thinking on how as Work At Home Mom’s we can make next years tax filing a little easier and more organized. If you are like me I was waiting until the last moments to gather all my paper work and receipts and I even had to search for a couple of my receipts.

As a work at home mom with a business generating income it is very important and almost crucial that you have some sort of financial software to help you keep track of your book keeping such as Quick Books or Quicken. The financial software will help you keep track of all your expenditures and income coming into your accounts from your online business. Which will make your tax time a snap next year?

Here are some tips to help you save a little money on your taxes for next year!

1-Purchase your high priced items that you may need to replace equipment this year by Dec 31st so that you can use this as a tax write off on your next years taxes. Another words if it is December and you know you need to purchase a new computer next year, buy it this year to help increase your expenses and thus lowering your taxes. Same goes with your household expenses if you work from home, pay all your bills in December instead of waiting for January just to add more deductions on your 2008 taxes for example your mortgage payment, insurance payments taxes and more.

2-Donations- Donate your old equipment or kids clothing or household items this year and keep a running total of everything you donated so that you can use it next year on your tax returns. Thus helping to increase your deductions.

3-Try to keep a separate checking account or paypal account for your business use, so at the end of the year it makes your book keeping much easier. Although I have paid for items out of my personal accounts I make sure if I paid for something out of my personal account that I keep my receipts and mark my receipt accordingly to show the purchases were for my business use.

4-Don’t overlook deductions that apply to you! One of the most overlooked deductions for Work At Home Moms is your mileage! YES you work from home but you can deduct your mileage attending workshops, running to the office supply store, the post office if you send out lots of packages and more! If you plan on deducting your mileage keep a mileage book in your car so that is within reach when you are driving for business purposes and can keep an accurate record of your mileage to and from your business stops.

5-Start Up Expenses if you were a new business in 2008 you can deduct up to $5000 in start up expenses the key is the deductions can only be made before you made your first dollar! These expenses can be advertising, attorney costs, accountant, supplies and equipment.

6-Home Office Expense- Don’t forget if you work from home remember you can deduct your area of home that use for your business. It use to be a HUGE red flag for the IRS but over the last five years this is not true as more people are starting to work home and this can be a huge deduction because you can deduct a portion of your utilities and mortgage payments and tax and insurance payments

7-Keep your tax books current and up to date you should try to site down once a month and make sure you have added all your expenses and income coming in so that at the end of the year you are not back tracking

8- Pay your taxes quarterly so that you are not having to owe a large sum of money at the end of year! The best way to do this is to figure out approximately what your income will be and pay in your taxes that way.

February Issue of Primitive Times Magazine

February Issue Click Here to Download

Inside this edition you will see our

Meet the Editors,

A Fibre Arts Book Review,
A Farm Story,

A Primitive Lamb Sampler,

A Lam b E pattern,

Using Beeswax on
your Paintings,

Valentines Paper Crafts,

Bonny Bunny Pattern and Instructions,
Tons of great recipes,

Analyzing Website Traffic Article,

Goal Setting for the
new year,

Good Versus Bad Web Design,

and Are you afraid of pattern making
amongest Many other great articles!

Click on the link above or the magazine
cover to download your issue today!

Easy Fall Decorating Ideas

Easy Fall Decorating Ideas

Welcome Prim Talk Listeners to another great week of wonderful crafting tips and creations! Today I wanted to share some fun and easy tips for decorating your home for the Fall Season! These are super easy and fun crafting ideas that you can do in your spare time or on a lazy weekend.

Fall Candle Decorating

A Treenware Bowl or Prim Bowl
Votive Candles in Fall Scents like Pumpkin or Ginger
Popcorn Kernels in assorted colors
Small mixed nuts and berries
Pine cones and Pine Needles
Essential Oil in a Fall Scent
For a Halloween Decoration you can Use Candy Corn

Simply fill a deep bowl with an assortment of nuts, berries, popcorn kernels, pine cones, pine needles or even fall dried flowers. Next add an assortment of Fall Scented Candles into your bowl. You can use clear glass candle holders if choose or leave your candles floating in your Fall Mixture. Next add a few drops of your favorite essential oils in the fall mixture to add wonderful aroma and scent throughout your house. This is super simple decorating idea and you can even change your fall mixture to a candy corn mixture to adapt your candle decoration to blend into the Halloween season.

With Apple Picking Season Fast upon us I thought I would share some easy Apple Craft Recipes I shared the Apple Wreath last year and I will touch base on this again. Apples are not only a wonderful edition to your Fall Menu planning but they can add a wonderful and beautiful touch to your home décor also.

Simple Apple Potpourri
Lemon Juice
Apple Slices
Cinnamon Ground
Cinnamon Sticks

Cut 8-10 Medium Apples into slices leaving the seeds in tack. Next pour Lemon Juice over your apples in a bowl, allow them to soak in the Lemon Juice for about 5-10 minutes and then layout on paper towls to dry. Next in a bowl coat well with ground cinnamon and you can even use a little sugar to give your apples a wonderful aroma then place them onto a cookie sheet and place in your oven at 200 degrees for 5 minutes to speed up the drying process. Next just add your apples slices to a Treenware or Primitive bowl and you can add cinnamon sticks for decorations and even dried flowers to add a little contrasting color.

Apple Wreath
Lemon Juice
Apple Slices
Heavy Gauge Wire
Pliers
Cinnamon Ground
Gingham Fabric

Prepare your apple slices are you did above slicing them and baking them in the oven. Now just add your slices to your Heavy Gauge Wire and fill up your wire to the desired length you are looking for. Then using your pliers fasten the ends of your wire together and you can share and bend your wire into either a circle or heart shape. Next using your gingham fabric you can either fill in gaps with bows or add a hanger for your wreath by using gingham ribbon on the top of your wreath! Now you have beautiful and fun and easy to make wreath that will leave a wonderful aroma of Apples and Cinnamon throughout the Fall Season.

Another easy adaption to the apple wreath that my daughters and I did last year was to simply make apple garland by stringing your apple slices onto the wire then adding gingham bows through the wire. We also added cinnamon sticks for a decorative flair and then I hung this from my fireplace. It made a beautiful garland and was so inexpensive to make and my kids had a blast helping me create these. Remember not only are apples yummy and wonderful in apple pies but by using a little creativity and items you have around your home they can become a wonderful craft projects also!

Improve Your Craft Sales Results

Want to improve your craft sales results?
You have to change the process to change the results.

It's estimated (and I can well believe it) that of every ten sales people, only three will actually ask for the business. Of those three, only one will be successful in closing the deal. Are you the one who makes the sale, or are you part of the nine who don't?

If you're in business for yourself, it's because you have something to sell. Are your results what you expect or would like them to be? Do you think (or know) that you could do better?

Improve Your Craft Sales Results - Can You Sell?


It's a common scenario - for example: You make something that everybody loves, so you decide to start selling your products in the hopes that you'll build your little business into something big enough to sustain a full time income, but you're just not selling enough to be able to quit your job and work for yourself.

It may be that you've never been trained in sales - this is not unusual, you're an artist or crafter for a reason, if sales is what you were born to do, that's what you would be doing. It may be that you're not very comfortable with or confident at selling - also not unusual if you've never been taught sales skills and techniques, because it takes time to develop the confidence to sell when you first start out.

Improve Your Craft Sales Results - Develop Your Skills


Whatever the reason, the good news is that it's really easy to turn the situation around so that you start closing one deal after the next, resulting in a much improved cash flow!

Yes, it does take confidence, and you will build that confidence up sale by sale, because it also takes skill and technique - once you've learned how to sell, and you apply your new skills, you'll be so thrilled with the results that your confidence will grow in leaps and bounds, and so will your sales!

I'd like to share a personal anecdote on this topic, because what I'm writing about here is what I've experienced myself.

Improve Your Craft Sales Results - A True Story


At one of my previous jobs where I worked in a customer service role, my employer thought I showed promise to do more, and offered me a position in sales. I accepted, wanting to improve my earnings and climb up a notch. However, I didn't do very well at all. My employer hadn't offered me any sales training, and all the other sales consultants came from experienced sales backgrounds, so they didn't need to be trained (or so he thought).

I didn't want to lose this opportunity or fail at it, so I made some enquiries and I found a one day seminar that offered sales training for beginners. I asked my employer if he would pay for it and allow me to go - he wasn't very keen at first, but he could see how enthusiastic I was, and he was impressed that I'd been proactive instead of just giving up.

Well, that one day practically changed my life! I didn't realize it at first, of course, because the techniques seemed like such a "hard sell", and I didn't think I was confident enough to go through with it all. But little by little I started trying a few things out - a different rebuttal if a customer was giving me a reason s/he didn't want to buy; or a different introduction to the beginning of my sales pitch - and I could see that these things were having an effect on my customers, an effect that was positive for me.

Improve Your Craft Sales Results - Take Action!


A lot of people think you have to be a "born salesperson", but I can testify that isn't true. When you learn the right sales skills and techniques, and you apply them, you can become a successful salesperson. And if you want to run your own successful craft business, you have to become a successful salesperson - your business depends on it.

There are a number of ways you can go about learning the sales skills and techniques you need:

* Search the internet
* Find out what courses are offered in your area
* Browse your local library or book store, etc.

Generally speaking, not everything of value that you find is going to necessarily be free or inexpensive, but very often "you get what you pay for".

Article by:

For more free craft business info and resources, visit Craft Business Home.com - the free guide on how to turn your craft into a profitable home business!

Create Your Own Crafting Space

If you are at the place where your crafting is becoming more than a passive hobby, it may be time to consider having your own space in which to craft. This space can come in many forms but the important thing is that you need a space of your own.

Many crafters start out working at their dining room table or kitchen. However, most of them eventually find they long to have separate space. Crafting at the dining room or kitchen table can work for small projects that are completed fairly quickly. As you get into projects that require more time to complete, you will find that the clutter left in those rooms can quickly become overwhelming. Plus your family members may not appreciate the clutter of your crafts in a room that is utilized by everyone. It may be time to seek out a solution and create your own crafting space.

A lot of crafters may be limited to they type of space available to them. Perhaps they don’t have a spare bedroom they could use. In cases like this you have to get creative.

Let us explore some of the creative spaces you might consider.

1. Attic
An attic can be an ideal space if it’s easily accessible, like a walk up attic. Be sure your attic is cool enough in the summer. Also, make sure there enough head room for you to stand up. Attics can be delightful spaces in which to craft especially if they are large enough and have windows for natural lighting.

2. Large Walk In Closet
Some homes have very large walk in closets that can be easily turned into an ideal crafting space. Be sure there is access to electrical outlets and that you have enough space to place a work desk and storage.

3. Large Outdoor Shed
If you don’t have any ideal options for a crafting space inside your home, consider an outdoor shed, preferably one that is insulated and made from wood. Sheds can be purchased in various sizes ranging from 8 x 8 feet all the way up to 10 x 15 feet on average. If you do not already have a shed in your backyard, purchasing one may be an alternative. If you or your husband is handy in carpentry, you could also build your own. It’s important that your shed is wired for electric and meets all the safety standards. Check with your local county for more information. A outdoor shed can be as simple or elaborate as you want and can be delightful crafting spaces.

4. Basements
If you have a finished basement that is comfortable and has access to a lot of natural light, this may be an ideal option. Basements that are dark, cold and uninviting are usually not good options. You don’t want to feel like you are descending into a dungeon each time you go down to craft. Remember that your craft space should be a pleasant place to work.

5. In Plain Sight
Perhaps you live in a apartment, loft or small home where additional space poses quite a challenge. In cases like this you may need to consider creating your crafting space in plain sight, sort of. Consider using room dividers to create a separate space in a existing room. The dividers will not only separate your crafting space from living space but they will also serve to hide any craft related clutter.

Regardless of the location you choose for your crafting space, it’s important to remember to make it a inspiring place in which to create. Once you have determined the location, consider the following.

1. Natural light or the ability to create enough artificial light is a must.
2. Be sure there is adequate space to allow for storage of your supplies.
3. Consider wall colors that will create a light and pleasant crafting space.
4. Decorate your space to surround yourself with things that inspire you.
5. Think about if you want access to a radio, TV or phone in your space.

Even if you may not have the ideal crafting space, you can create a wonderful work place with a little imagination.

Article by:

© 2007 Kelle Arvay is the owner of Pattern Mart with offers customers access to thousands of craft patterns that they can purchase and download instantly. Additionally, she is the owner of eCraft Classes which is dedicated to online craft classes. She has been a crafter and pattern designer for many years. www.PatternMart.com www.eCraftClasses.com

*Free* Angel 'Earn Your Wings' Outline

Click on image to view full size & save to your hard drive

©Neenee KKL Kreations

All rights reserved 2007

This will print off on a 9x11 sheet of paper. You may not sell or offer outline for download but you may sell whatever you make with outline. You are permitted to resize outline.

Have fun!

Posted by: Neenee

KKL Primitives

The Crafter's Lounge online crafter's community/forum

The Krazy Kraft Lady Blog

KKL Graphics Blog

KKL Kreations Blog

Menopausal Monster Blog

contributing editor for:

Primitive Times Magazine a free downloadable magazine for crafters

Primitive Times Magazine Blog

WHAT'S NEW On Our Editors Pages

Our editors are always adding NEW content to their pages of our Primitive Times Magazine website. Since we wouldn't want you to miss anything NEW we decided that we'd tell you about the NEW content that is added to our editors pages each month on our Primitive Times Magazine Blog. That way you'll always know what's NEW.

This month we have quite a few NEW articles on the editors pages of our Primitive Times Magazine website that we thought you might like to know about.

Here's what's new:


Neenee's Nook
Basically, Neenee's whole page is brand new and she has already added 2 great crafting articles that prim lovers are sure to enjoy. Plus, Neenee is a terrific graphics artist and she has added some of her wonderful FREE graphics including dolls, bears, fairies, mammies, sheep, angels and more.

Free Stick Horse Pattern by Neenee
Handmade Potpourri
FREE Graphics From Neenee
Boiling Ham and Cabbage Recipe
FREE Doll, Bear, & Fairy Graphics From Neenee - NEW
Making a Candle Jar - NEW


From The Crow's Nest by Debbie

Debbie has two great articles for prim crafters.

Tea Staining Fabric NEW
Rusting Items NEW


Dear Linda
If you like learning the history of certain items be sure to checkout Linda's latest article on the history of faceless dolls. If you like dolls and history you'll love reading this article and the other articles on Linda's "Dear Linda" page.

The History of Faceless Dolls-NEW



Prim Business Articles by Angie

Angie added another great business article on website how-to's.

Website How-To's - NEW


There's a ton of information on all our editors pages. We have everything from Free Graphics, Free Patterns, Recipes, Craft Projects, Business Tips, Craft Tips, Historical Articles, Advice for WAHM's, How-To's, Prim Crafting Tips, and so much more.

We hope you get a chance to stop by our Primitive Times Magazine website and read the latest from our editor's pages.


Copyright © 2007 - All Rights Reserved - Written Linda Walsh of Linda Walsh Originals, Linda Walsh Originals E-Patterns,Linda Walsh Originals DOLLS NEW Handmade Dolls & Crafts Website, Linda Walsh Originals Dolls and Linda's Blog. Linda is a doll maker and doll pattern designer. http://lindawalshoriginals.com

The Easy Way To Drive That Pesky Traffic Away From Your Website 101

The Easy Way to Drive That Pesky Traffic Away From Your Website

By Angie Wenke

Over the last two years I have written a lot of articles on how to drive traffic to your sites, and even how to promote your site for FREE to drive traffic to your site. But then I got to thinking that maybe an article on big "No No's" that will drive people from your site in droves might be a good idea also.

Let's face it we have all been on a site that drove us nuts, the menu was not easy to navigate, the graphics were so bright or loud or distracting or disorganized, the text was too large to read, or the site just simply looked like a huge mess. You do not want your site to fall into one of the above categories. So here are some fun tips of what NOT to do on your website. This article is meant to be a funny satire to sites that are not put together well.

1-DO NOT MAKE IT CLEAR WHAT YOU SELL OR OFFER:

This is the best way to drive traffic from your site kicking and screaming. Make what you sell a big mystery or clue finding mission. Make them search and read through the lines so they can try and figure out what what the heck are you offering. Make sure your spelling is awful, your text is set to font size "48" so even blind people are running from your site because they can't even read what you are saying.

2-MAKE YOUR SITE GRAPHIC BOLD AND MISMATCHED AND PLACED IN FUNNY SPOTS

Nothing is better than going to a site where there are country graphics mixed in with Gothic graphics, or how about those ever fluorescent colored sites where the text is brown on black background making you have to squint until you feel like your eyes are going to explode to try and see what the heck the text is saying.

3-HAVE A SEA OF BANNERS AND GRAPHICS FLOATING ALL OVER THE PLACE

Make sure you have banners advertising everything from preparation H to hemorrhoids all over your site, and don't forget your adult channels. Make sure the ads have NOTHING to do with your site, and your graphics do not make sense so you visitors are left clueless.

4-HAVE A COMPLICATED CHECKING OUT SYSTEM

Make sure your customers have to run around in circles like a hamster in a wheel to try and pay you for your products. You want to make sure your customers really want what you are selling so making a checkout system that is easy to use and understand will only deter you making really great sales! You want your customer to spend 30 minutes looking for the Pay pal button and credit card logos, and how about few errors pages thrown in the mix to really throw them off!

5-HAVE AS MANY BROKEN LINKS AS POSSIBLE

You do not want your customers to actually navigate all the pages on your site with ease so throw them a curve ball by throwing in a OLD OUTDATED page every once in awhile.

6-PUT OUTDATED OR INCORRECT CONTACT INFORMATION

For Heaven's sake DO NOT I repeat DO NOT put your correct email or phone number in your contact area! This is crucial you DO NOT want under any circumstances for the customer to actually be able to contact you!

This is a humorous look at bad sites that are floating around and things you DO NOT want your customers to encounter while shopping on your site. So take the time to make sure your site looks the best it can and the sales will come!

Copyright © 2007 - All Rights Reserved - Written By Angela Wenke of Prim Talk Radio, Heartland Marketplace, Primitive Times Magazine, Heartland Graphics

Top Sites - Is There Really a Benefit?

Top sites - Is there really a benefit?

By Angela Wenke

If you have had online business for long then you have noticed on sites the cute little logos saying "Vote For Us" , but what really are top sites and will they really help your business be noticed? Top sites are everywhere you look, seems like everyone who owns a business also has a top sites account, therefore how do you know which ones should you join?

Top sites in my opinion are a wonderful "FREE" Resource of targeted traffic to your website. What I mean by targeted traffic is each top site has a theme such as country and primitive. The people browsing those top sites are looking for country and primitives and therefore would be interested in visiting your site if you banner and description are catchy enough. Traffic to your site is key, if you want your site to be seen and noticed and to eventually grow in the Search Engine Rankings and Top sites are wonderful FREE way to achieve this. Top sites allow customers to visit your site, join your top sites if you offer one, and even vote for your site to help boost you higher on that particular top site.

The key to making top sites work towards advertising your business is join ONLY top sites that are geared towards what you sell. For instance if you sell crafts and primitives then you would to join Primitive, Country and Crafts Top sites not top sites that cater to auto parts. When deciding what category your site fits do your research and ONLY join top sites that are in your category and also that are ranked high in GOOGLE.

Go to GOOGLE and type in what kind of top sites you are looking for, for example "primitive top sites. country top sites, craft top sites, candle top sites, graphics top sites, bath n body top sites" then join the top ten in each category that fits your business needs. Now when customers go to search for a particular product you might sell such as "candles" their search results should also include your candle top sites you just joined.

Voting for your top sites is also a nice way to make sure your site is seen an noticed, by just voting for your sites once a day or every other day it helps to boost your site to the number one position in the top sites voting system. Also make sure you offer a page for your customers to visit your top sites and hopefully give you a vote in the process. You will be surprised how many votes you will receive from customers some of them interested in searching top sites or maybe just joining that top sites. Either way works for you as you are getting the votes you need to keep your site seen and noticed.

Copyright © 2007 - All Rights Reserved - Written By Angela
Wenke of Prim Talk Radio, Heartland Marketplace, Primitive
Times Magazine, Heartland Graphics

May 2007 Issue of Primitive Times Magazine

The May 2007 FREE Primitive Times Magazine E-Issue was just released and it is a "MUST READ!" It is filled to the brim with FREE craft articles for Mothers Day!. You definitely don't want to miss it.

You can now read your copy of the FREE May 2007 issue of Primitive Times Magazine two ways. It is available as either a
FREE .pdf e-zine issuefor you to download and or you can order a copy by mail!.

Whichever way you decide to read it Primitive Times Magazine May 2007 issue is filled to the brim with 33 pages of terrific information for crafters, small business, and website owners.

Just look at what's included:

FREE Stitchery Patterns

Spring Cleaning Life's A Bleach by Neenee

A Love of Art Brings Peace by
Linda Walsh

How to Design a Print Pattern and E-Pattern by Linda Walsh

Fathers Day by Neenee

Website Spring Cleaning from a Consumers Point of View by Nancie

Increasing Your Sales with Craft Fairs by Brenda

Making Lye Soap with Milk by Wanda

Covering Lamp Shades by Wanda

14 Ways to Show Kids You Love them by Joan Brochu

Bananas Home Remedies by Joan Brochu

Recipe Corner

Practical Aromatheraphy by Lauren Sorgaard

Uses for Corn Starch by Joan Brochu

Do you have a Disaster Plan for your Business by Lisa Lowell

Business Success with Niki Jackson

An Empty Thread and Bath Time Fun by Lisa Lowell

Making A Prim Candle Mat by Dianne

Web Directory Ads

E-Pattern Showcase Ads

Ode to Mothers by Renae

Recipe Corner #2

Featured Crafter for May

Holly Tree Primitives

Mulled Spice Bags by Angie Wenke

Cute Button Candles by Angie Wenke

Product Reviews

So grab your FREE May 2007 issue of Primitive Times Magazine.
CLICK to Download the FREE .pdf e-zine issue .




Copyright © 2007 - All Rights Reserved - Written By Angela Wenke of Prim Talk Radio, Heartland Marketplace, Primitive
Times Magazine, Heartland Graphics

*Free* Stick Horse Pattern

To make this prim stick horse, download the pattern below by clicking on the link. This size stick horse is for using with dolls or can be used as large ornies.

click here to save Pattern

Materials needed:
muslin fabric
*Coffee Stain
jute string
2 rusty bells
black embroidery floss
thin tree branch - approx. 8" long ( can substitute dowel rod )
paint brush
sewing needle
*Coffee Stain Mixture
1 cup hot water
4 T. instant coffee
2 T. vanilla
1/4 cup ground cinnamon

Stir well and let this set while you cut and sew your pattern. You want the cinnamon to settle at the bottom of your bowl.

Directions:
Trace pattern onto muslin. The outline is the sewing line so be sure to leave at least an inch around the horse when cutting out to sew. Sew only to the small x's on the bottom of the pattern, leaving the bottom open for stuffing. You will not be sewing this closed. Trim to within a 1/4 inch of the seam and clip where needed.

Stuff horse with polyester fiberfill til firm. Stuff only to broken line indicated on pattern.

Stitch the eye with 6 strands of black floss.

Wrap jute string around muzzle and neck several times to thickness desired for the harness.

Attach two rusty bells as shown in pattern.

Place horse head over your stick/branch and with the jute string, wrap firmly beginning at the dotted line. Wrap about 10 times and tie off.

With your paint brush, brush the coffee mixture over the horses head and jute strings.

Place in warm oven ( not higher than 200) until the head is dry. Turn over every few minutes.

Thread your needle with 6 strands of black floss. Beginning in front of horse's ear, attach the 'hair' for the mane. Clip to desired length. Continue down the back of the horse's neck to the wound jute.

With your paint brush, again paint the horse with the coffee mixture, this time wiping the bottom of the bowl with the brush to pick up some cinnamon. This will give you the 'dirty' or grungy look to your horse, brush over the mane too. When completely dried, the mane will be stiff.

Place horse stick back in oven and dry. Turn over every few minutes.

Terms Of Use
You may not offer this pattern for download, instead, you may link to it. Do not sell this pattern. The copyright belongs to me and I'm offering it for free, it should stay that way.
You may sell your completed project in craft shows only. If you sell, please give credit to me as the designer. (©KKL Primitives) Thank you.

technorati tags: blogging , webblogs , online shopping , primitives , prim decor , country crafts , crafts , hobbies , Shopping , decor , Creativity , Internet , Advertising , Christmas, Holiday, gifts, presents,

Posted by: Neenee
KKL Primitives
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Primitive Times Magazine a free downloadable magazine for crafters
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Congratulations on your new store, now where are the sales? by Angie Wenke

Congratulations on your new store, now where are the sales? by Angie Wenke

So you just spent a fortune opening your website and designing it, then countless hours adding your products and tweaking the site to make sure it is user friendly. Now the big question where are the sales? How many times have I been asked this question over the years?



This when I have to lay the unfortunate reality check on them. A good online business with a reputable reputation may take 2-5 years to develop a good customer base. This may be harsh reality for a lot of people, but it is better to be upfront and honest and realize even though your website may be awesome, and you may offer wonderful unique products. In a sea of Primitive and Country Craft websites yours may just be flopping out there hidden amongst them until your site is recognized.



Designing your website, picking out your domain name and adding your products are simply the beginning. You will need to look at your online business as a baby. A baby yes you heard me correctly. Over the next few months you will need to nurture and care for your website in order to see it grow. Meaning lots of hard work and advertising to obtain a good customer base. Let’s take the reality in that with a lot of love, hard work and determination your business will be huge success, just don’t expect it to take off overnight or you business will surely fail.

Let’s start with the basics to help you advertise your site effectively without breaking your start up budget.

1. Submitting your site to Search Engines:

Nothing is more important than having your site indexed by Search Engines. If you site is not properly indexed you will be lost out in cyberspace and no one will be able to find you.

Most people are familiar with search engines and use them on a daily basis. Search engines like Yahoo, Google, MSN and AOL are your target search engines to reach as these will bring you the most customers on the long run.

If you cannot afford to hire someone to do this for you you can find many FREE search engine submission sites out there. The key is to have your keywords set and ready and your Meta tags and then submit your site often to the major search engines. A site I recommend for FREE search engine submission is http://www.submitexpress.com and http://www.addpro.com.

2. Finding your Keywords:

Keywords are simply in basic terms any and all words that describe your business and products you are offering. The best advice I can give you is sit down and take a notebook and paper and write down all the words that describe your products and business, and then organize them by what is important on your site. Make your keywords a true reflection of your site. For example if you are selling candles some of your keywords may be:

Grubby, votives, candles, candle supplies, candle making, candle care tips, jar candles, bakery candles and so on and so forth. Don’t forget when making your list of keywords that you put the city and state you are located in as keywords, and the name of your site. A great site to help you with your keywords is Goggle’s Ad Words tool at https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

3. Fine tuning your site for search engines:

Once you have done everything above there are few more tips to help boost or optimize your site. When adding the title of your site in your HTML coding also add a few keywords. For example: Title of my faux shop is “Angie’s Prim Candles” so my title of my site would be “Angie’s Prim Candles-Best Primitive Handmade Candles around” this just highlighted three major keywords to my site, Primitive, Handmade and Candles. You can adjust this saying to pertain to each page of your site.

For example on your jar candles page maybe put “Angie’s Prim Candles-Handmade Jar Candles” Also I cannot stress enough to make sure you have your keywords added to each and every page of your site, just because one of your page is just a contact you page does not mean it doesn’t need keywords added.

4. Forums and Directories:

These are a wonderful avenue for your advertising, visit forums that interest you like a Work at Home Mom’s forum or a Country craft forum and meet other people and advertise your site in each message by adding your site’s URL to your profile page. So every time you make posts you are leaving your URL also. Now I must stress that your post are important too! No one likes someone who only goes into a forum to advertise and then leaves; add content to each forum or directory so customers can get to know you.

5. Link Exchanges:

Google is one of the Major search engines around and how their system works is comparing your site to other sites and basing where to rank you by how many sites link to your site. Therefore exchanging links with other customers is both beneficial for parties exchanging and now a days crucial to getting your site seen. With that being said, it is also crucial you are exchanging links with reputable sites that are similar to yours. Meaning you will not want to exchange links with an auto parts store if you are selling candles, but rather another country or primitive site.

The bottom line is with a lot of work your business will be a huge success, just put in lots of love and hard work and watch your baby grow. And when things get discouraging just remember tomorrow is a new day and things can only get better.



Author:

Angie Wenke is the owner-designer of Heartland Graphics and Heartland Marketplace.

"I started in the craft community by offering crafts of my own I started selling gift baskets and some handmade unique crafts of my own. That is how I met such wonderful crafters, then I started my first site Heartland Marketplace which has been a huge success! Then I started created graphics which has been my true passion and I started Heartland Graphics!"

http://www.heartlandgraphics.org

To find more great articles like these please visit
Primitive World Magazine

You Can Read Our FREE Primitive Times Magazine Online NOW!

We are always thinking of our readers and just have the BEST NEWS to tell you.

You can read our FREE Primitive Times Magazine ONLINE NOW!

That's right! We have an online version.

Just CLICK HERE or CLICK on the picture of the March 2007 Issue Cover above to see it!

Isn't that WONDERFUL?

With the online version that means you can get our FREE Primitive Times Magazine for March 2007 three ways:

1) Our FREE .PDF Primitive Times Magazine March 2007 E-Zine

2) Our FREE Primitive Times Magazine March 2007 Online Magazine

3) Order the PRINT Version and have it mailed to your house. CLICK for more details on ordering our PRINT Version.

Three ways to get a FABULOUS magazine. Isn't that terrific?

We hope you like our brand new online version and would love to know what you think about it. Please let us know.



Copyright © 2007 - All Rights Reserved - Written By Linda Walsh of Linda Walsh Originals, Linda Walsh Originals E-Patterns, and Linda's Blog. Linda is a doll maker and doll pattern designer. http://lindawalshoriginals.com/

Our March 2007 E-Zine Has Just Been Released and It's FABULOUS!

The March 2007 FREE Primitive Times Magazine E-Issue was just released and we have to tell you that it's our BIGGEST and BEST issue ever. In fact, it's downright FABULOUS.

There's a TON of GOODIES inside! And we do mean a TON! And, they are all FABULOUS! We know you're waiting on one foot to hear what's inside so we won't keep you in suspense any longer.


The FREE March 2007 issue of Primitive Times Magazine (i.e. e-zine) is "Hot Off The Presses!" and ready for for you to download and you're going to love it.

It's jam packed with 33 pages of terrific information for crafters, small business, and website owners.

Just look at what's included:

FREE Patterns

Chickie E-Stitchery by Paula of Rusty Pins and Old Lace

Primitive Standing Rabbit E-Pattern by Paula

Cats In The Barn - LIL Black Cat E-Pattern

Love Can't Fall Out E-Stitchery by Vintage Artists

Cracked Egg E-Stitchery by Heartland Graphics

A Touch Of The Blarney, Easter Egg, and Easter Bunny E-Stitcheries by Olde-Time Stitchins

FREE Crafting Tips

Wax Seal by Renae of Prim Clipper

Rusting Items by Debbie

It's Bunny Time by Brenda

Salt Dough Recipes by Angie Wenke

FREE Crafting Ideas and Projects

Prim Sheep by Renae

Pomander Balls by Renae

Easter Decoupage Eggs by Wanda

Easy Mason Jar Electric Light by Denise Bailey (aka NeeNee)

Getting Creative With Your Kids for Easter - Dyeing Easter Eggs by Lisa Lowell

How To Make Prim Grungy Tags by Angie Wenke

St. Patrick's Day Shamrocks by Debbie

Great Jar Mixes by Angie Wenke

FREE Articles

A Pupil, A Teacher, and The Crafting Community by Linda Walsh

Trademarking: What it Is and Should You Consider It? by Lisa Lowell

How To Design a Print Pattern and E-Pattern - Part 2 by Linda Walsh

Tips On Opening a Brick and Mortar Store by Nancie

Tips On Being A Vendor In a Craft Show by Angie

Website Content and Search Engines: Wording Is Key by Lisa Lowell

Meet Our Special Sponsor - Talena Bacon by Angie Wenke

St. Patrick's Day Dinner by Kassy

FREE Graphics and Printables

E-Graphics from Paula of Rusty Pins and Old Lace

FREE Recipes

Making Bread The Easy Way by Paula

No Knead Breadsticks by Joan Bruchu

Hawaiian Bread

Super Duper Cake

Product Review

Prim Silicone Bulb Shoppe - Reviewed by Angie Wenke

Featured Crafter

Sheila of The Candle Buzz, Gramma Fran's Attic, Gramma Fran's Fixins, and The Rusty Rooster

Front Page Picture Donor

Homespun Country

Primitive Times Magazine Articles

Do You Have A Prim Home? We Want You! by Angie Wenke

Sign-Up For CO-OP Ad In Create & Decorate

How You Can Be In Primitive Times Magazine! by Angie Wenke

It's filled to the brim with wonderful how-to's, ideas and articles. You definitely don't want to miss our BIGGEST issue ever!

And, you can DOWNLOAD IT RIGHT HERE!





Copyright © 2007 - All Rights Reserved - Written By Linda Walsh of Linda Walsh Originals, Linda Walsh Originals E-Patterns, and Linda's Blog. Linda is a doll maker and doll pattern designer. http://lindawalshoriginals.com/

I Finished My "Linda's How-Do-I Series? - FREE Helpful Tips For Crafters" YIPPEE!

I thought you all might like to know that I finished my "Linda's How-Do-I Series?" on my "Tips For Crafters On The Web" blog. YIPPEE!!!

Why did I create this series?

Well, I get asked a lot of the time by other crafters with websites or blogs "How do I do this?" or "What's the html code for that?" so I thought it would be better if I just posted the articles on my "Tips For Crafters On The Web" blog then everyone could then see how to do it. Plus, it will save me a lot of time as I can just reference the articles versus re-inventing the wheel and creating separate emails.

So, a little sharing and a little self preservation. And, I thought I'd post the links here so our Primitive Times Magazine blog, Primitive Times E-Zine, and Primitive Times Magazine website readers could have the FREE tips, too.

I think I have everything but the kitchen sink in there! If not, just let me know and tell me what else you think would be helpful.

In any event, I'm done. YIPPEE!!! Here's all 43 of the articles:

Linda's How-Do-I Series? How Do I Handle Different Size Banners Within A Table?

Linda's How-Do-I Series? How Do I Add Wallpaper Or An Image To The Background Of My Table?

Linda's How-Do-I Series? How Do I Add Clickable Text Links To My Table With Centered, Padded, Spaced, and Bordered Clickable Images?

Linda's How-Do-I Series? How Do I Add Padding, Spacing, and Borders To The Images Within My Table?

Linda's How-Do-I Series? How Do I Center Images Within A Table And Make Those Images Clickable?

Linda's How-Do-I Series? How Do I Add Images To A Simple Table?

Linda's How-Do-I Series? How Do I Build A Simple Table?

Linda's How-Do-I Series? How Do I Create A Simple Name Banner Out Of HTML Code?

Linda's How-Do-I Series? What About Banners? How Do I Know What Size To Get?

Linda's How-Do-I Series? What Are The Names And #'s For The Sixteen CSS Named Colors?

Linda's How-Do-I Series? How Do I Add Color To The Border And Color To The Background Of Two Rows Of Clickable Banners?

Linda's How-Do-I Series? How Do I Add Borders To Two Rows of Clickable Advertising Buttons?

Linda's How-Do-I Series? How Do I Build Two Rows of 3 Clickable Advertising Buttons Each?

Linda's How-Do-I Series? How Do I Add A Background Color To Boxes Surrounding Two Clickable Banners Of Different Sizes?

Linda's How-Do-I Series? How Do I Space Two Banners Of Different Sizes Evenly Within Their Boxes?

Linda's How-Do-I Series? How Do I Change The Background Color Between The Borders Of My Pictures or Banners?

Linda's How-Do-I Series? How Do I Change The Background Of The Area Within My Border?

Linda's How-Do-I Series? How Do I Make My Banners With Colored Borders Clickable?

Linda's How-Do-I Series? How Do I Add A Colored Border Around My Banners?

Linda's How-Do-I Series? How Do I Add Color To My Borders and Text?

Linda's How-Do-I Series? How Do I Create A Clickable E-Product Ad?

Linda's How-Do-I Series? How Do I Draw A Line, Skip A Line, Add A Paragraph, and Underline?

Linda's How-Do-I Series? Why Would I Want To Create Generic Posts?

Linda's How-Do-I Series? What's The Difference Between All Those Picture File Types?

Linda's How-Do-I Series? How Do I Use Margins, Padding, and Borders?

Linda's How-Do-I Series? How Do I Create A Promotion, Copyright or Bio Signature?

Linda's How-Do-I Series? How Do I Add Horizontal Advertising Buttons?

Linda's How-Do-I Series? How Do I Widen My Blog?

Linda's How-Do-I Series? How Do I Add Wallpaper To My Blog?

Linda's How-Do-I Series? How Do I Add Vertical Advertising To My Website?

Linda's How-Do-I Series? How Do I Provide A CLICKABLE Link To Another Section On The page?

Linda's How-Do-I Series? How Do I Create An Email Link?

Linda's How -Do-I Series? How Do I Change My Font Type, Size, and Color?

Linda's How-Do-I Series? How Do I Add A Text Link?

Linda's How-Do-I Series? How Do I Add A Scrolling Banner?

Linda's How-Do-I Series? How Do I Center My Banner, Button, Text or Picture?

Linda's How-Do-I Series? How Do I Make A Clickable Link List?

Linda's How-Do-I Series? How Do I Set-up A FREE .PDF File?

Linda's How-Do-I Series? YIKES! My E-Patterns Files Are Huge!

Linda's How-Do-I Series? Can I Make My Plugboard Bigger?

Linda's How-Do-I Series? How Do I Take A Screenshot Of My Website?

Linda's How-Do-I Series? - How To Set-up Forum Signatures or Siggy's?

Linda's How-Do-I Series? How To Set-Up An Email Signature?

Linda's How-Do-I Series? How Do I Add a Banner Rotation To My Website?

I hope all of the above is helpful to not only new crafters just setting up websites or blogs, but to some seasoned crafters as well.


Copyright © 2007 - All Rights Reserved - Written By Linda Walsh of Linda Walsh Originals, Linda Walsh Originals E-Patterns, and Linda's Blog. Linda is a doll maker and doll pattern designer. http://lindawalshoriginals.com

What's In Our February 2007 Issue? Lots and Lots of Goodies!

The February 2007 FREE Primitive Times Magazine E-Issue was just released and you might be wondering what's inside. Well, there's a TON of GOODIES inside!


The FREE February 2007 issue of Primitive Times Magazine (i.e. e-zine) is "Hot Off The Presses!" and ready for for you to download and you're going to love it.

It's jam packed with 29 pages of terrific information for crafters, small business, and website owners.

Just look at what's included:

FREE Patterns

FREE Valentine Hugs E-Doodle from Heartland Graphics

FREE Kindred Spirits E-Doodle from Olde-Time-Stitchin

FREE Fluffy Tail Bunny Pattern from Cats In The Barn

FREE Valentine Crow Poke Pattern by Debbie

FREE Flower Vase E-Doodle from Olde-Time-Stitchin

FREE Spring Thyme E-Doodle from Niki Jackson

FREE Sweetheart Pillow by Paula

FREE Ewe Are Special E-Doodle by Heartland Graphics

FREE Crafting Ideas

Make Your Own Mouse Pads by Wanda

Valentines Day Gift Certificates Printable

Valentine's Day Edible Bouquet

Rocks for Your Valentine by Dianne

Smelly Jellies

FREE Articles

When One Door Closes Part 2 by Missy Sue

Winter Tyme Blues By Brenda

Have You Upgraded to IE7 and Wishing You Hadn't by Nancie

How To Design an E-Pattern and a Print Pattern Part 1 by Linda

Happy Valentine's Day From Linda

Cupid By Dianne

Getting Creative With Advertising by Lisa

Reflecting With Nancie

Goal Setting for 2007 by Angie

FREE Graphics and Printables

FREE Valentine's Day Gift Certificates Printable

8 FREE Graphics by Heartland Graphics

FREE Recipes

Valentine Hearts Cookies

Kids-adillas

BLT-quesadilla

Renae's Cherry Chocolate Dump Cake

Aunt Margaret's Sugar Cookies With Paula

Hearthside Coffee

Edible Valentine's Grahams

Love Portion

Heart Shaped Cookies by Brenda

Product Review

Seneca Pond Lamp Reviewed by Brenda

Featured Crafter

Carrie from Prim Market

Front Page Picture Donor

Debbie's Valentine Crow Poke Pattern from Two Old Crows

It's filled to the brim with wonderful how-to's, ideas and articles. You definitely don't want to miss ALL THE GOODIES!

And, you can DOWNLOAD IT RIGHT HERE!





Copyright © 2007 - All Rights Reserved - Written By Linda Walsh of Linda Walsh Originals, Linda Walsh Originals E-Patterns, and Linda's Blog. Linda is a doll maker and doll pattern designer. http://lindawalshoriginals.com

Raising Your Family and Your Home Business

Being a working Mom is a tough job, trying to juggle your home life with your work life can be like juggling at times. When you start to feel like you just do not have enough hours in the day to devote to everyone and everything, what do you do?

With a little organizing and time management, you can have that family time that you are struggling to achieve and still have time to keep your business running smoothly. A great key to running your online business is to involve your family in helping run your business. For example your children could help you package boxes, or help you seal envelopes or help you shop for supplies, this allows them to feel important and also gives you extra quality time with your children.

The most important thing to remember while juggling your home life and business life, is you took your online job or business in order to spend more time with your family. As hard as it may be at times to peel yourself away from that computer, your family also need and deserve your attention.

One of the tricks I have used in my household is while my children are in the showers in the morning and getting ready for school I will check my email, for pending orders or questions from customers. After my children are downstairs my time is theirs until they head off to school to catch up on important things they may be doing in school that day, or things going on in their personal life.

Once they are out the door I divide my time from 8:00 am between working on the computers and still getting in that occasional load of laundry or dishes in the sink. You know us mothers always multi tasking lol Next I will stop for a brief lunch and relax with some TV or reading, then I am back to the computer from 1:00 pm till the kiddos come home from school, from the time my children walk in the door until they head off to bed I try very hard not to get on my computer at all. This is family time, time for me to catch up on things happening in school and their lives, and time to catch up with my husband. This is not to say there are not the occasional nights when I am so behind that I have to work on the computer but I always try to wait until they are in bed, then I can get in another two hours or so of work.

Try to keep things in your home running smoothly with a schedule, such as dinner will be served each night between 6-6:30 pm so the children and family are in a routine. Make sure to schedule time to include your daily chores that need to be done in with your work schedule or before you know it you have 10 piles of laundry waiting for you and dust bunnies over running your home.

By including your children in your new online venture and by also allowing them the time they need, your life at home should be a smooth sailing. The key to working from home and balancing a family is to make sure your family comes first, your email will still be there waiting for you in the morning, and if most of your customers will understand and respect you for putting your family first.

Copyright © 2006 All Rights Reserved - Article Written By Angela
Wenke of Heartland Marketplace
and Heartland Graphics.

Primitive Times Magazine

Are You Providing Good Customer Service? By Angie Wenke

As with any company or business you are trying to run and be successful at, Good Customer Service is the key to your success. As any new small business owner who is starting out on the internet knows, creating your website and search engine submission is a key role in your success, equally important is how you treat your incoming customers. So the question is you giving your customers the best possible Customer Service?

So often I have ordered from sites that offer handmade products had to wait and extremely long time for my order, with little to no communication from the owner on where my order was. With most Primitive and Country sites you offer handmade products such as handmade dolls, or hand poured candles or ornies or Country signs. All of these take time to create and a lot of them are custom made to your customer, be sure on your site you let your customers know an approximate order time.
To finish this article please stop by our Site and download the NEW issue of Primitive Times Magazine FOR FREE

Primitive Times Magazine