Happy Australia Day to my fellow Aussies, and happy Hottest 100 day to my fellow Triple J listeners. I’ll be spending the day hanging out with friends listening to the best music from 2013 – what are you up to today?
Here are our fave reads of the week:
From Megan E:
- 27 Lessons I’ve Learned From (Almost) Five Years of Biz – VioletMinded Media (It’s really heartening to read some of the things Amanda has learned over the past five years. Some seem so very simple and yet we have such a hard time accepting them.) (This site/resource is no longer available)
- The Seven Emails That Nobody Wants to Receive – and How to Answer Each One, with Love – Alexandra Franzen (Ooh, this is a good one! I constantly get around 4 of these emails every week and I avoid them like the plague. But no more!)
- Craft Business – How to Get Your Handmade Products Noticed Online – Crafty Mag (This site/resource is no longer available)
- 6 Tips for Staying Creative without Colleagues – Biz Ladies (Let’s face it, most of us spend our days alone once we begin working for ourselves.)
From Jess:
- 14 Secrets to Expanding Time – Kevin Kruze (Short and sweet ways to look at the time you have, and consider if you’re using it efficiently.)
- The Family Who Doesn’t Understand – Art of Non-Conformity (What do you you do when your family just don’t understand what you are trying to do with your life?)
- 8 Free Tools to Create Sharable +Viral Images for Pinterest – the technica (Learn how to make awesome text + image combos.) (This site/resource is no longer available)
- For the Love of Money – New York Times (Fascinating read from a former Wall St broker about his addiction to wealth, and when he realised he had a problem.)
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Want More Success and Happiness? 14 Things You Must Do Less – Prolific Living (Are you spending too much of your time doing these things, instead of what you know would really make you happier?)
- Dramatically Improve your Facebook Page – Peg Fitzpatrick (Some really, really helpful ideas to help you grow your Facebook Page.)
- Four Ideas to Help You Sell Your Handmade Products – *bespoke* (Four fab tips – mostly about photography – to help you make your products more sale-able.) (This site/resource is no longer available)
- 6 Tips from Top Bloggers for Writing a Great About Page – clickWP (I am going to work through this post and give my About page a brush-up – awesome stuff.)
- How to Reduce Stress and Focus on What Really Matters – tiny buddha (This is why I’m a HUGE proponent of taking time off – especially digital sabbaticals. I also live in a 2-room shed, because really, that’s all we need. More is not always more. #SimpleLiving)
I’ve got 2 images for you this week:
If you ever wanted a clear rationale as to why you take a course rather than figuring it all out yourself, this is it. Anyone can find any information – it’s having the experience to connect it all together in the right way that makes all the difference. By @gapingvoid.
And this one, which gives buyers an object lesson on the value of what they’re buying:
Finally, remember that registration for the February class of Set Up Shop is open now – there are already over 60 amazing people on board to creating an awesome online handmade shop in 30 days – want to join us?
Want to start or overhaul an Etsy shop?
Download this FREE 2-page checklist now - it's part of my Handmade Business Toolkit for Makers.
Don't make those common Etsy mistakes: make sure your Etsy shop is the best it can be!
(P.S. It’s also packed full of links to additional resources on all aspects of Etsy shop setup.)
