designing an mba

Who pays for shipping?

By on April 18, 2013

Yesterday, this email landed in my inbox:

When it comes to wholesale, who pays the shipping costs? You or the buyer?

The short answer is simple, the buyer.

But the reality is much more nuanced. Which leads me to a misconception worth addressing. One that I’ve been perpetuating myself for the last several years.

When calculating retail price, the simplest formula out there is wholesale price times two. It’s quick, it’s easy, and for many years, it’s what I used.

But last year, I changed the markup on my own website to wholesale times 2.2. Why?

Because it was more inline with what buyers have to mark up my products in order to make a profit. I found that many of my stores were using a 2.2 markup, and some were going as high as 2.5. (I still have some stores at double, which is why I tried to split the difference.)

When first getting into wholesale, it’s easy to feel like stores take 50% of your profits and make out like bandits. But retail stores have a lot of overhead. Rent, staffing, insurance, display, marketing, and of course, the shipping costs to get all those lovely items into the store.

All those expenses quickly eat into a store’s (to be honest, pretty slim) profit margin.

And if shipping costs are high, stores will need to mark up 2.2 or higher just to offset those costs.

So by all means, continue to charge your stores for shipping. It’s the norm. But keep in mind that it’s just one more costs stores need to factor in when setting a final retail price.

Setting your MSRP (that’s manufacturers suggested retail price) at least 2.2 times above wholesale cost will make life easier for your stores, help keep pricing more consistent, and give you a bigger margin when you do sell at retail. That’s a win-win for everyone.

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Have more wholesale questions? Want personalized feedback on every aspect of your wholesale business? Thinking about a trade show but not sure where to start? Registration is open for the next session of Wholesale Academy, which starts Monday, May 13. Since this class is all about individual feedback, space is limited! Head over to designinganmba.com/wholesale to learn more and claim your spot!

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when it comes to price, context is everything

By on February 28, 2013

The other day at the grocery store, I hesitated when spending almost a dollar on a packet of my favorite French vanilla cocoa mix. But while I was there, I couldn’t help thinking that at Starbucks, I don’t bat an eye at spending over $5 for my soy vanilla spice latte.

In the grocery store, where the place is designed to make me super aware of price and “bargains”, I hesitate. At Starbucks, where the atmosphere is designed to make me feel comfortable and a little indulgent, I happily hand over my card every single time.

As someone who makes artisan products, I want my brand to resonate on the Starbucks side. Yet I see so many makers whose supporting materials (display, fixtures, sales presentation, etc.) are more like the maker equivalent of the grocery store.

Creating more freedom in your business comes from being able to charge more. And being able to charge more comes from your brand.

Everything in my trade show booth is meant to tell you that I am not a bargain brand. The walls, the paint color, the custom display fixtures, the way I display the work itself, what I wear, and how I style myself. Before someone even walks into my booth, they know that I’m not cheap.

When I tell someone to raise their prices, I often hear that “people won’t pay” or that “the market won’t support that.” But the truth is that’s it’s likely that their brand won’t support higher prices. Building the brand takes work, and it’s definitely easier to blame outside forces for price resistance.

It’s the whole package (your brand), not just your products, that tell people how much to value your work. And if your package screams “cheap and easy,” people won’t value your work very much.

I work in very inexpensive materials, especially for the jewelry industry. But that doesn’t mean I can’t style my brand to appear higher end. In the context of the whole package I’ve built, even my materials seem richer.

It’s not a coincidence that the clearer I’ve gotten with my brand, the less price resistance I’ve gotten. When it comes to price, context is everything.

Building a brand takes work. It takes a clear aesthetic vision, strong messaging, and well considered details repeated over and over again. But the payoff is huge. The stronger your brand, the more you can charge for the work you make. And the more you can charge, the more free you are to create more of your best work.

Having a strong brand is the difference between slinging cans at the grocery store or artfully crafting lattes for your customers. Which would you rather do?

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Registration is now open for my new mentoring program, the Freedom Driven Studio. (And today is the last day to sign-up at the early bird price.) This program will help you create more (freedom, time, money, whatever it is you desire) in your business by targeting exactly the areas that YOU need work in. Over the last few years, I’ve built a business that supports a life I LOVE, and now I want to help you do the same! Head over to freedomdrivenstudio.com/join to learn more.

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What’s causing your lack of motivation?

By on January 18, 2013

It’s a week until New York Gift, and I should be down in the studio, blasting out work. But I’m not. My motivation has slowed to a crawl. And the reality is, I can’t really do much about it.

I’m not a winter person, and so when I’m cold, my brain and body shut down. (And when I say cold, I mean it’s hard for me to function when it’s colder than 70 in my house. True story.)

Now, I could get mad at myself for this lack of motivation, and think of myself as someone who is just too much of a wuss to make it work when she’s cold. Or, I could acknowledge that I find it hard to get into the studio over the winter, and build that into my plan for the year.

So often, when our motivation wanes, we blame ourselves. And while that may sometimes be the case, it’s also possible that something beyond us is the real culprit. It could be environmental, it could be related to your physical or emotional health, or it could be because your subconscious is telling you that the tasks you’re putting off aren’t the right work for you.

While it is possible that your lack of motivation is caused by fear, it’s equally likely that your lack of motivation at a given moment or for a certain task is caused by something deeper that needs to be considered.

If you feel your motivation flagging, the first step is to figure out what’s really the culprit.

Is your workspace not set up to encourage productivity? Have you not been taking care of your health, and it’s making it tough to work? Are you burnt out from overwork and just need a break? Are you trying to do things that really aren’t your right work? Is it the weather? The time of day? The season?

Once you know the culprit, you have two choices. Change it or roll with it.

And either one is valid, depending on the situation.

If you’re lacking motivation because your work isn’t a good fit for you, your workspace needs an overhaul, or you’ve been neglecting your physical or emotional health, then it’s time to make a change. But if it’s an outside factor beyond your control that’s hurting your mojo, why not recognize that and make peace with it.

I’m writing this blog post (and not freaking out about what I should be doing for New York Gift) because I understand that winter is not my most productive studio time. And I plan accordingly. I don’t put any pressure on myself to design a new collection for the winter trade shows, because I know it wouldn’t be good (or fun). Instead, I block out lots of studio time when the weather heats up, and head into the summer shows with new work.

Part of having a a freedom driven studio means matching your business work flow to your creative work flow. We aren’t robots, and it’s unrealistic to put in the exact same amount of work day in and day out, year after year.

Truly productive creative businesses learn to work in a way that supports their unique skills and tendencies, rather than fighting against them. They strike when the iron is hot, and take time off when it’s not.

So the next time you feel yourself unmotivated, instead of playing the shame game, take a minute to ask yourself, why? If it’s something within your control, go ahead and fix it. But if not, learn to roll with it. Structure your process for the times or months when your motivation is at it’s peak, and stop fighting the times when it’s not.

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Part of the Freedom Driven Studio program is learning to match your workflow to the times that you’re most engaged, productive, and motivated. Head over to freedomdrivenstudio.com to learn more about the program, and sign up to be notified when registration opens.

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amazing things around the web

By on January 16, 2013

I can’t believe that the New York Gift Fair is a little over a week a way. I’m feeling a little crunched, and while I have tons of posts in the works here for DMBA, I’m finding it hard to focus long enough to finish any of them. Since I’m about to head into serious show prep isolation mode, (as opposed to write lots of blog posts and record lots of video mode) I thought I’d share a few amazing things I’ve found around the web instead:

{Image by David Sackville, via Abby Kerr on Pinterest}

I love it when someone else rights a post that exactly expresses my feelings in a way that makes them so clear, and that’s what Brigitte did yesterday with this post on “What about copycats?” This post is a must read for any designer, maker, artist, or creative person who wrestles with the fear of putting their ideas out there because someone might steal them. (Brigitte’s also got a new program launching this week called Your Media Map, which will help you plan your media strategy for the year. It’s going to be fantastic!)

I’ve been a fan of Abby Kerr’s work for a while now (I remember when she had a store called the Blissful in Ohio and I interviewed her as part of Wholesale Academy) but I am loving the work she’s been doing for her newest project, The Voice Bureau, around the 16 Voice Values. By helping you discover your own voice values, Abby’s goal is to help align the way you communicate online with your true powers. The idea is amazing enough on it’s own, but what I really love is Abby’s use of Pinterest to really illustrate these concepts. Confession, I haven’t actually taken the self-assessment (which you can find on Abby’s site for free) yet, but I already know that I float between Audacity, Enthusiasm, and Power, just based on the images that resonate most with me through Abby’s Pinterest stream. I love that Abby isn’t just looking at the Voice Values through verbal communication, but that she’s using Pinterest to really highlight the non-verbal triggers for each of the Voice Values. One of the best possible uses of Pinterest I’ve seen yet! (And so many thanks to Abby for recognizing the importance of non-verbal communication in branding and social media and showcasing it in such a smart way!)

Finally, things are starting to come together with my new program, the Freedom Driven Studio. I’ve mentioned that I’ve got something new up my sleeve, and it’s finally time to share a little more about this program I’m incredibly excited about. Head over here to learn more about what it means to have a Freedom Driven Studio. And while you’re there, be sure to enter your email address to be the first to know when the program launches. I’ve also got some exclusive free trainings that I’m working on just for the Freedom Driven Studio, but you’ll need to be on that list to get them.

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5 Guidelines for Selling your Art

By on January 8, 2013

Over the last few months, I started painting again. A lot.

Even though I once considered myself a painter (way back in high school), it had been more than a decade since I had last taken brush to canvas.

As such, I’m feeling like a beginner. Not necessarily in the sense of my painting skills. (I have noooo idea how I would classify those.) But as someone who is in the beginning stages of a creative business.

When I started painting again, it was simply something for me. A hobby that, thanks to the way I structured my business, I could devote a fair amount of time to. But then a few things started to happen. First, the paintings started to accumulate. Second, friends, family, and a few others started asking me the question that drives many people from hobby to creative business, “Are you going to sell those?” And third, I started to harbor secret fantasies about my second career as a painter. (While still running my jewelry biz, of course.)

Suddenly, I’m faced with the questions and fears I know some of you carry around with you.

How long should I wait before I start selling my art?

Is my work even good enough to sell?

If I do decide to sell, how do I price in a way that reflects the fact that I still feel like a beginner, without undermining those trying to make a living with their paintings? (Ok, that pricing question might be something only I obsess about. But it’s a question I hope you’ll ask yourself in the future.)

And then, there’s the questions that come up because I’m already running a creative business.

How much time can and should I devote to this new creative activity?

Is it ok to devote so much time to painting when I should be working on my “real” business?

And if I do decide to sell my paintings, how do I merge my new work with my existing brand?

Most of us who make things started doing so because we love it. But at some point (especially thanks to the rise of easy e-commerce solutions) that love leads to an inevitable question – “Are you going to sell that?”

But how do you know if it’s the right time to start selling your art or craft?

Since I know many people struggle with this question, and since I’m feeling that tension myself, I came up with a few simple guidelines.

I’ll be following these as I navigate the murky waters of moving my paintings from something for me to something more, and I hope you’ll find the useful as well. Watch the video below to see my five guidelines for starting to sell your art:

The Five Guidelines

1. Don’t rush. (Give yourself time to develop you skill and voice.)

2. Share before you sell.

3. Love your work first.

4. Price with respect. (Regardless of your goals.)

5. Adopt a free or full price strategy.

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selling with video

By on January 5, 2013

Sometimes I feel like a broken record when I talk about just how powerful of a tool video can be when it comes to selling your products.

That might be because so many makers are under utilizing (or not utilizing at all) this tool.

One of the reasons I think many makers are scared of using video is that they think it has to be complicated. When we think video, we think commercial or mega YouTube sensation. But when it comes to selling, a simple video can be incredibly effective.

Take Lulu Lemon as an example. I’m a little obsessed with their products, and last night, while browsing their bags, I came across this video:

It’s such a simple thing. Girl gets out of car, opens trunk, puts shoes in bag, grabs bag and heads off to workout. And yet, by the end of the video, I wanted not only the bag, but the scarf, the shirt, the lifestyle. This video creates a seemingly accessible fantasy, and I was buying in completely.

The secret to selling is to help the customer imagine themselves with your product or imagine the product in their life.

And video has the power to do that in spades.

One of the most powerful triggers we have at our disposal when trying to sell are mirror neurons. These are neurons that fire in the brain when we see someone else performing an action that allow us to react as if we were performing that action. When I see someone putting on a necklace, mirror neurons in my brain fire as if I putting on that necklace.

Creating a video that helps your customer envision your product in their life doesn’t require a big budget or fancy production team. Creating videos showing people engaging with your products through simple actions are all it takes to get your potential customer’s mirror neurons firing. Once a customer has envisioned themselves interacting with your product, they’re more likely to want to make that fantasy a reality.

Once the customer has imagined what having your product is like, you’ve overcome a huge barrier to making the purchase.

And it only takes a simple video to make this happen.

These kinds of videos may not become the next web sensation. But they can help build a connection between your product and your potential customer. And that’s what really helps you sell.

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Want to learn to make better videos for your business? You’ll find my favorite video strategies and techniques in Marketing for Makers, which is 70% off until Sunday night!

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to goal or not to goal?

By on January 3, 2013

On New Year’s Day, I was feeling pretty good because I’d come up with four big goals for 2013, when I read this post from Brigitte, where she talks about how you shouldn’t set goals for the new year.

Brigitte and I agree on a lot (like the importance of getting off the Internet), but this is one area where we diverge. Sort of.

After reading Brigitte’s post, I started thinking about how I felt before and after setting those big goals, and the truth is, having those goals makes me feel good. It makes me feel focused. It makes me happy. (And, it gives me permission to spend time on the things I really want to spend time on.)

In 2012, I really didn’t have goals. I drifted. And while I very likely needed that time and space to drift, for most of the year, I didn’t feel like me. Because, it turns out, I am a Goal Oriented Person.

There’s a lot of pressure to set goals or resolutions or just targets for self, life, or business improvement at the start of the year. And many people are keen to share their strategies and systems. But I’m not going to do that.

Instead, I’m going to challenge you to think about your personality and motivations and find the goal setting (or non-goal setting) plan that works for you. Look at the different ways that people are setting themselves up for the new year, and ask yourself how those align with your personality

For example, when it comes to the new year, you see lots of people starting 365 projects. “I will do X every day for the whole year.” How would that kind of project make you feel? Do you need that kind of structure to get things done? For me, having to do something every single day (or even every single week) gives me hives. It’s why I work for myself. So you won’t see me starting a 365 project anytime soon. But you may thrive on that kind of structure.

You can apply this same kind of thinking to every other way you see people planning the new year. Goal setting. Having a word for the year. Making resolutions. Going with the flow. Or whatever other systems and plans are out there. Give yourself permission to think through all of these, to mentally try them on for a few minutes or a few hours or even a few days, and see how they feel.

The secret to success means matching your actions with your own motivations and personality. Until you find that, things will always feel out of sync. Ultimately, any plan needs to feel good to you. (And this is where I agree with Brigitte. Feelings and desires do matter.)

There is no one size fits all solution. It’s about finding what feels right for you. So I’ll be keeping my big goals. And Brigitte will follow her feelings. And hopefully you’ll find something that works for you too. Because when you align your goals (or non-goals) with who you really are, that’s where you’ll find success.

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start the New Year right!

By on January 2, 2013

This is the first January since I started DMBA (not counting the one where this site was just a newborn) that I haven’t had an e-course going. 2012 was so crazy for me that I needed a little break to recharge and get ready for the new program I’ll be launching soon!

But I also know that January is the time of year where most of us (myself included) are ready to take action on our businesses. January is always so full of hope and potential that it’s the perfect time to tackle something new.

So I decided to run a special New Year’s sale on my two self-study courses, Marketing for Makers and Business by Design. From now until Sunday, January 6th, you can grab either course (or both!) for 70% off.

I’ve also made one change to both courses. Now, when you sign up, you’ll receive one lesson EVERY DAY until you’ve got them all. (In the previous system, you got one lesson every three to four days.) I know that when you sign up for something, you want to GO! And this change ensures that you’ll have every lesson in short order. (And no worries if you fall behind, the content never expires, so you can access it anytime.)

Marketing for Makers and Business by Design are both aimed at helping you grow your business, and I can’t think of a better way to start the New Year than to make them available to you at this special price!

But don’t wait, because the sale ends Sunday, January 6th at Midnight!

Click here to learn more about Business by Design.

Click here to learn more about Marketing for Makers.

(And both pages give you the option to register for both courses together as well!)

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the 3 best things my business did for me in 2012

By on January 1, 2013

Last year, I shared the three best things I did for my business in 2011. But this year, I can’t say that I’ve got three best things I did. Because this year was the first year where it felt like my business worked for me and not the other way around.

20130101-094919.jpg

In my fifth full year of running my business, I finally feel like momentum is on my side and that the rewards of running my business outweighed the effort. It’s not that I didn’t work this year, but I felt like the business supported my life, instead of the other way around. While I wasn’t always able to work on the business, the business was working for me.

I should also emphasize that, while I’m choosing to frame this post as “what my business did for me,” the reality is that I am the business. So this is really about what I did for me in 2012, all of which was supported by the effort and systems I previously put into place while growing the business. These things didn’t happen by luck or accident. The business worked for me because I worked for it.

But it has been pretty incredible to see just what my business is capable of, and while next year at this time I hope to be sharing three things I did for my business, it’s nice that when I needed my business to support me, it was there.

1. It let me take time off.

2011 was all about putting systems (and an employee) in place so that when I wanted, and needed, to take time off, I was able to. And 2012 was proof of just how possible taking time off really is. And what’s more amazing is that I was able to take time off without a loss in revenue. In fact, my sales 2012 sales were the highest they’ve ever been. 2012 really proved to me that I’ve been building the business in a sustainable way that lets me take time off when I need to and still grow.

2. It let me travel.

I did a lot of traveling in 2012, and it was all supported by the business. Many of the trips were paid for by the business, from my inspiring sojourn to London and Paris to conferences in Salt Lake City and Portland, while a few others, like the SNAG conference and the Artful Business Conference in Australia, were paid for by others because I was a speaker. Traveling is really important to me, both to get my culture fix and to connect with like-minded people, and the business allowed me to do so much of it in 2012.

3. It let me explore other materials and processes.

Hiring my employee in 2011 freed me to work on designing some really exciting new jewelry. But in 2012, I was able to take that studio time even further. I made bowls. (For all you metalsmiths out there, the technical term is raising.) And I returned to painting after a decade away. (And I did also design some new jewelry that I’m really proud of.) Not everything I made in 2012 became things that I’m selling. (So far, very little has.) But having the chance to explore and push my creative process, besides helping me cope with a very tough year, has been one of the most tangible examples of just how much my business worked for me in 2012.

And there’s one last thing my business did for me in 2012:

It inspired me to transform the way you run your business.

If I could describe what my business gave me in 2012 in one word, it would be freedom. It gave me space. It gave me time. It gave me profit. And that all adds up to freedom. And that is what I want for you. Over the last month or so, I’ve been working on a new program designed to help you grow your business in a way that gives you maximum freedom. I’m still working on the details, but when I launch the program a little later in January, you’ll be the first to know. I’m excited to help you make your business work for you, and not the other way around.

In the meantime, I’d love to know:

What was the best thing your business did for you in 2012?

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the value of Instagram

By on December 18, 2012

There’s been a lot of furor online over the last two days about Instagram’s new terms of service. I won’t get into the full details of what the changes mean (plenty of other posts have been written about that) but what’s causing outrage is the idea that Instagram will now be able to sell, and/or use in advertising, users’ images.

I’ve been a happy Instagram user for well over a year now, and, beyond January 16th (the deadline for canceling an account without accepting the new terms of service), I’ll still be an Instagram user.

Why?

Well, first, because I love the way that Instagram lets me communicate, share, and connect with others. It’s become such an incredible tool for me, both personally and professionally. But, mostly, I’m sticking around because I understand that Instagram is a business.

And, to use a favorite quote of mine,

“Businesses exist to make a profit, and are entitled to do so.”

(Rafi Mohammed, The 1% Windfall)

Instagram as it stands now, is not sustainable. It costs money to run. Engineers, developers, servers. At some point, someone needs to figure out how to extract value (ie. money) from the users, since the users have been extracting value from the service. And while I’m not convinced that selling peoples’ images is the right path to profitability, it doesn’t surprise me. It’s one attempt by Instagram (ok, Facebook) to figure out how to get paid for the service they provide.

The Internet, over the last handful of years, has set up the unreasonable expectation that we shouldn’t have to pay for things. Services, content, you name it. And it’s caused us to value things less and less. Like spoiled children, we just expect everything to be handed to us, yet we react in rage when we’re expected to give something back in return.

I understand the potential implications of Instagram selling users’ images, and I’d like to see the service search for another answer when it comes to how to make money. Premium services, paid upgrades, or some yet unthought of solution. But I’m also not naive enough to think that Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Flickr (which uses a freemium model), LinkedIn, and all the other platforms that we use to connect and grow our businesses (or just connect with our friends) are doing this altruistically. They are businesses.

Businesses that provide something of real value for their users.

As a designer maker, and educator, I expect to be paid (well) for the things of value I provide for others. Why shouldn’t Instagram (by which, I mean the people whose work makes the service possible) deserve the same?

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