This contributor post was written by Tiffany Moore and is a follow-up to her earlier post, The First Rule of Pricing.

This week, I want to talk about rule #2 when it comes to pricing for your creative business: it has to be sustainable.

I know that sustainability is a word that gets thrown around a lot these days, but the bottom line is this: if you are working towards a creative business that you can make a living from, you have to be sure that you set things up so that you can earn a living wage. You have to be able to pay yourself. Or else it’s not going to work.

It’s scary. It’s a big thing to consider, especially when you’re starting out.

The truth is that when you get started, you likely aren’t going to be earning a living wage from your creative business. Most of us have side projects or second jobs that sustain us while we get started, BUT you have to have a vision of sustainability in mind before you jump in.

Too often, as creatives, we focus on the passion, on the heart. On the craft of it all. And that all still can count for a LOT but bringing a sense of business in, even from the beginning, can often make the difference between making a living and having a hobby.

The point is for what you love to be what you do, right? Getting real about the business side of things sooner rather than later will help solidify that as a reality.

What is the best business decision you made early on? On the flip side, what is the one business decision you WISH you’d made early on? How were you able to find your sweet spot?

*image via WilloToons: Stitching it all Together

Tiffany Moore, co-founder of Teahouse Studio is an artist, life coach, change agent and magic maker. She helps creatives live their happiest, most sparkly lives (starting NOW) and thinks that everyone in the world is beautiful, including you.

When I started writing this post, it was all about tips for the best business cards and what to think about when you are designing your own. But then I realized the cards kind of speak for themselves. So I’ll just tell you a few stories about the amazing people I met and share a handful of the best business cards that I received at Alt…

Letterpress. (above) One of my favorite cards from all of Alt was this one above. It’s a double-sided letterpress card (husband and wife team). One side shows Mike with his website and the other shows Alma and her website. I had dinner with them the first night. I didn’t really get a chance to talk to them (there were 12 other people at that dinner), but they seemed very nice.

Perfectly minimal. Piper from One Sydney Road (bottom left of image above) is really good friends with someone else I met at Alt, Lillian (who I’ll mention later) and we had lunch together the first panel day and hung out throughout the rest of the time in Salt Lake City. Love her. She was also speaking on a panel one of the days and I heard it went really well. Go Piper!

And right next to the One Sydney Road card is Studio Sweet Studio. This card is proof that you don’t need tons of info – the only info you really have to have is your url. People will find the rest on their own after some investigating.

More Perfectly Minimal. Bow Tie and Bustle is Jenn’s event planning business and blog. I met her at the Seattle airport before jumping on the plane to SLC. Isn’t that logo sweet?

Oh, and you can see Ghostly Ferns in this image too. Meg is awesome! She has tons of projects going on (like Studio Sweet Studio) and plenty of business cards to go around.

Pushing Packaging. This one came in a sealed envelope and held not one but two cards inside (a team of two fab ladies with an event planning business). Below is what was inside the envelope. They were at dinner the first night too. And they were having a good time. Definitely the life of the party.

More cards…

Unique Materials. Heather from Joy of all Crafts is someone I met through Danni. Cute card! Each one had a piece of vintage fabric sewn to the back.

More Unique Materials.  This card from Katie of Salt + Pine is amazing and as it turns out, I almost had my cards printed on the very same wood from the very same Etsy shop. But then I chickened out (didn’t think I could get them in time). And as luck would have it, the first person I met for Alt (before even getting on the plane) had the exact cards that I had originally planned on getting (or course the design was different). This card is beautifully designed + it’s letterpress + it’s printed on balsa wood. So amazing.

I met Katie at the airport on the way to Salt Lake City (she lives just outside of Seattle). We talked for hours, sat next to each other on the plane (along with Jenn) and then met up with Brianne later that night. Slumber party!

Represent! Jenean is another woman that I met at dinner the first night. Once she passed out her cards and I saw her last name, I realized we already knew each other. We had worked together via papernstitch a while back and she is such a lovely person.

Her cards had tiny holes punched in them all the way around. Fun and colorful – just like her.

More Representin’. Love the signature on Miya’s card. And the gold. This is actually the back of the card, but it’s my favorite part. Miya is one of the founding partners at You + Me.

Freebies. Unstitched is Lillian’s blog, who I met thanks to Danni. And she is absolutely adorable. Her card came in a glassine envelope with a wooden bookmark, which I love, but forgot to take a picture of that part. Woops.

More Freebies. And finally we get to Danni (above and below)! Danni’s blog is Oh Hello Friend. I hung out with her quite a bit in SLC (though it seemed like not enough). Of course, her business cards are awesome. Perfectly packaged with extra goodies – a little dala horse paper clip and an inspirational decal, along with her card. So lovely! Just like her.

Final Advice: In terms of business cards, I’ll tell you one thing…

The final design that you choose can help you make a great first impression. BUT if you don’t stick around and talk to a person long enough for them to remember you, your amazing business cards aren’t going to make a lick of difference.

You want people to remember YOU – your amazing personality, kick ass shoes, and beautiful smile. Not just your card, right?

The more they remember (and like) about you, the more likely they’ll be to do business with you in the future.

Your website is the face of your business and it’s often the first impression a customer has. I’ll be the first to tell you that much of running your own business is pretending you know what you’re doing and making stuff up as you go along, but if the first thing a customer sees instills them with the sense that you have no clue, they are not going to part with their hard earned cash.

So what can you do?

Here are 5 of the biggest mistakes I see and how you can easily solve them.

1. Giving Away Control

You know those websites that have “get your own domain” ads all over them, not professional. I understand needing to keep things cheap, but if your business can’t afford hosting, you’re not a serious business. There are a number of options for around $10/month, Bluehost and Dreamhost are just two of the hundreds of options out there. Your website needs to be entirely yours to control.

2. Bad Photos

If I can’t get a clear picture of what you’re selling, I certainly don’t want to buy it online. Dark, blurry photos, distracting backgrounds and over stylized or Photoshopped images are the biggest offenders. There are tons of tutorials out there on taking good product photos on the cheap. If you invest the time to learn, it will certainly pay off in time.

3. No Personality

We buy things for the feeling or experience it gives us. If I know nothing about who you are, why you do what you do, or even why your product is the best, I’m going to move on. We want to know the lifestyle or image we are perpetuating by purchasing. We want it to give us status, belonging, or a story to share. Be engaging, show your personality.

4. No Social Media Presence

Again it’s about engaging, giving your customers a chance to connect. At a bare minimum you should have a blog or Facebook page, but I would also recommend a regular newsletter and a Twitter account. This may sound daunting, but customers want to be able to choose how they interact with you. The more choices you give them, the better chance that they’ll like, follow or read what you have to say.

5. Hard to Find Information

Customers come to a website looking for information. This needs to be easy to find and easy to read. Your about and contact information should be on clearly marked pages with no searching required. Fonts also need to be basic and easy to read, your type is not the place to get fancy.

To have a serious business that people want to buy from you yourself need to take it seriously, that means investing time and (I’m afraid) money into crafting a polished, professional appearance that alludes to the amazing business you are working toward becoming.

image credit: personalized number poster by eva juliet

Genevieve Robertson writes about creative marketing strategies over at Lightbox SF. She helps makers, artists, and crafters brand their businesses by telling their stories and embracing what makes them unique.

This contributor post was written by Tiffany Moore.

Let’s talk about money…yay!

Pricing is no fun. Trying to put a dollar amount on your creative product is never easy. But in terms of business, pricing is critical. (If you’re trying to sell things as a creative hobby, it might be a different story, but please, out of respect for those of us who are trying to do this as a business, know that how you price your “hobby” affects the people whose work is their livelihood.)

When I was working retail, I got a piece of advice from my manager that has been one of the biggest business lessons I’ve ever learned: “Don’t make assumptions about what other people can afford based on where you are in your own life.” It seems so simple, yet, I remind myself of this all the time.  I cannot put my own judgements on what other people can afford.

To take that to the next level: I cannot set my prices based on what I, my family, or my friends can afford.

As an artist, a designer, or crafter, it is not your job to determine what people can afford to pay. It is not your job to make sure that your best friend can afford one of your prints. It is not your job to make sure that you don’t make someone feel bad because they don’t have the money to purchase something you’re selling.

It is your job to make high-quality work. It is your job to get paid well for your time and your materials. It is your job to earn a living from your craft.

If you consistently hear, “I’d love that, but I can’t afford it right now,” that doesn’t mean that your prices are too high. It means that you’re marketing to the wrong people. But that’s material for another post?

Your turn: how have you learned to get out of your own way in terms of pricing? What boundaries have you had to push past to ask for what you’re really worth in your business?

*image via Fresh Words Market: My Worth Will Not Be Dictated by a Number

Tiffany Moore, co-founder of Teahouse Studio is an artist, life coach, change agent and magic maker. She helps creatives live their happiest, most sparkly lives (starting NOW) and thinks that everyone in the world is beautiful, including you.

This contributor post was written by Tiffany Moore.

In my last post, I offered 3 quick ways to set yourself up for success in 2012. Warning: in this post, I’m going to completely contradict myself.

Here’s my question to you as we step into the new year: how can figure out a way to do less, to take things off your to-do list to actually create some space for new things and blessings in 2012?

We are all so task-oriented. I often work with clients on building their businesses and they all start off wanting the same thing: a checklist. A list of all of the magical elements of business-building, a tried and true, “do this and you will succeed” index of tasks.

I can’t offer them that. Sure, there are certain things that are really helpful in business building. There are definitely people who have proven their own success that can be our role models as we grow our own businesses. However so much of growth has to do with the “being” and not the “doing” and that is the easiest thing to forget.

There’s a feng-shui principle of the empty drawer. It’s said that you need an empty drawer or empty shelf or empty something in your home to make space for new things to come in. I think that we all need that in our lives too, but that’s counter-intuitive to our tendencies to fill up our time/lives/heads with everything else.

So here’s my challenge to you as you kick off your 2012: what can you do to create some space in your life? What can you let go of to create some emptiness for the sake of flow and new things?

PS. This isn’t easy stuff. If the idea of downtime makes you feel panicked, know that you aren’t alone, but starting small is the first step to finding success with this. Trust me, I won’t let you down!

*image via Georgianna Lane Photography: Paris Dawn

Tiffany Moore, co-founder of Teahouse Studio is an artist, life coach, change agent and magic maker. She helps creatives live their happiest, most sparkly lives (starting NOW) and thinks that everyone in the world is beautiful, including you.

As December draws to a close many of us have the natural inclination to reflect on the year gone by and create big hopes for one quickly approaching. I’m not much of a fan of resolutions because of the “succeed or fail dichotomy” they set up, but I am a fan of big planning and dreaming. So I want to challenge you with an exercise I have many of my clients do in the early stages of our working together.

Give yourself an hour or two where you know you can write undisturbed. Set up your favorite writing tools, blank paper and pencil, your favorite lined notebook and fountain pen or your computer, maybe with a program like Omm Writer.

I want you to write out the details of your ideal day. Start from the moment you wake up until you fall asleep. This isn’t a getaway vacation day, but an ideal day in your everyday life. What work would you be doing? Where would you be doing it? Who else would you interact with? How many other things you enjoy would fit into your day?

Don’t let yourself get hung up on your current reality. If you have a toddler at home, but are secretly yearning for the day when he goes to school so you have your afternoons to yourself, write out that day. Dream bigger than you possibly dare.

Add in all the details you can. Think of how your entire life will be at this moment, not just your work experience. Are you in better shape and effortlessly fitting in exercise? Have you found the supportive, loving partner you’ve been searching for? Write out how he fits in. How do you feel during this day? What specific tasks are you doing? What is your larger role? This vision can be next year, 3 years or 10 years from now.

Imagining your perfect day allows you to see a new reality of what could be, it gives you something tangible to work toward. Use this vision you’ve created as a guide for what you want to accomplish in the coming year. Post your perfect day somewhere where you can see it. Use it as motivation when you have those “frustrating, just want to quit” days. If you can imagine it, it is possible.

What can you do right now to get one step closer to this reality?

painting by Lisa Coutts

Genevieve Robertson writes about creative marketing strategies over at Lightbox SF. She helps makers, artists, and crafters brand their businesses by telling their stories and embracing what makes them unique.

This contributor post was written by Tiffany Moore.

Even though you’re likely stuck in the midst of holiday craziness, the time is here to start thinking about 2012 and how to set yourself up for success in the coming year. Today I’m offering three steps that will focus your efforts and to help ensure that 2012 is the best, most successful year to date in your creative business:

1. Set your intention for 2012

Spend some time figuring out what you want 2012 to look like for you. Not just your creative business, but your entire life. Who do you want to be? How do you want to spend your time? What goals (both personal and professional) would you like to accomplish? See What’s your Vison to help clarify if you need some tips.

2. Calendar out your big goals

Take a calendar and write out your goals for the year. Do you have a stationery business, but can’t seem to stay ahead of the holidays? Take a look at the year as a whole and determine now when you’ll need to get started on those mother’s day cards to get them to your wholesale accounts on time.

This is a great tool for helping you establish deadlines and processes as well as to help you figure out what jobs you’re able to say yes to as the year commences. The key is to stay deliberate and in control of your business, instead of having to approach it from a reactive standpoint.

3. Reflect & Repair

Now is the time to sit down and look at what worked and what didn’t work in 2012. Once you recognize what didn’t work, take some time to come up with a game plan for the new year.

For example, if you have no clear way of tracking the financial components of your various income streams (full disclosure: I’m totally guilty of this myself), now is the time to devise a system for 2012 so that you don’t find yourself scrambling in February to backtrack and set something up on the fly.

The key is to start with systems in place on January 1 so that the year will run as smoothly as possible. It can be done, I assure you!

Resource Roundup:

Jessica Swift’s printable 2012 Goal & Intentions Kit
Jennifer Lee’s Right Brain Business Plan
Craft Inc. Business Planner
Outright for small business accounting (Note: I have heard amazing things about this system and will be checking it out shortly. I’ll definitely report back to let you know what I think!)
Ali Edwards’ One Little Word 2012

What are YOU doing to set yourself up for success next year? Do you have any helpful resources to share?

I’d love to hear about them in the comments!

*image via stefanie renee photography: pink royal typewriter

Tiffany Moore, co-founder of Teahouse Studio is an artist, life coach, change agent and magic maker. She helps creatives live their happiest, most sparkly lives (starting NOW) and thinks that everyone in the world is beautiful, including you.

As a retailer, you should prepare months in advance for the Holiday season, but this doesn’t mean you can’t increase sales if you’re late to the game.

These 5 Quick and easy Action Steps will help you make more Holiday Sales this season:

1. “Hey, did I mention it’s the Holiday season?”

Do This: Sprinkle reminders you so happen to have a holiday sale and some holiday stock that would be perfect for gift-giving in your blog and social media posts.

2. Create a Holiday Sale for your online shop.

Do This: Get creative and make a fun holiday sale for your shoppers to enjoy, then promote it on your blog and social media sites.

3. Ask to Host Holiday Giveaways

Do This: Ask blogger friends if they’d be willing to host a Holiday giveaway for you, maybe you can do an exchange, too.

4. Make Gift Guides

Do This: Divide your shop into fun gift guides: for him, for her, for the kids, for tech-lovers, etc.

5. Make it seen: add buttons to your site

Do This: Add a prominent button on your blog or website to remind shoppers that you have holiday gifts available for sale.

Everyone’s looking for something handmade and special for friends right now, it’s up to you to remind them that you’ve got what they need. Just be natural and have fun. Don’t push too hard, you deserve to do some Holiday celebrating and R&R of your own!

(Just take notes on the experience now and get ahead on making Holiday merchandise with the new year!)

image credit Jolliest of Jollies letterpress print

Vanessa wrote this post. She is a full time copywriter and webmarketer with a passion for art, creativity, and thrift. She writes about thrifting, creating, and saving money every weekday on her blog, Thrift Core.

This contributor post was written by Tiffany Moore.

The holidays are here (whether we’re ready or not!) and, for many of you, now is that time that it all happens at once: holiday gatherings, family, extra shopping. Additionally, if you have a creative business, this is likely you’re busiest season.

Here are my tips for staying sane this holiday season AND for getting the really important things done:

• Say no to social media: I learned this trick from the lovely Erin Loechner — Social media sites like twitter and facebook should be used to connect and promote. That’s it. Having a hard time saying no? Try putting limits on your social media time: start with 15 minutes twice a day, and see how much else you are actually able to get done. Bonus: you might just surprise yourself with how little you miss.
• Do as much as possible as early as possible: Are you already dreading addressing your holiday cards? Make life as easy as possible for yourself by printing address labels NOW. Who cares that your cards aren’t ready? Once you get them picked out and back home, getting them into the mail will be easy peasy!
• Follow the flow of easy: Think you have to cook Thanksgiving dinner for 14 people and entertain the kids and host your family all by yourself? Let people help you! I repeat: LET PEOPLE HELP YOU! There are so many people in this world who are ready to love and support you…all you have to do is ask.
• Learn to distinguish the good from the great: Now is not the time to say yes to every opportunity that comes your way. An invite to a holiday party that sounds fun but that you aren’t feeling 100% about? You’ve got other plans. The chance to cook for the school’s annual bake sale when you’ve got etsy orders piling up? Sorry, but not this year. You can help in February. If you’re willing to commit to only saying yes to those things that really make you giddy, you’ll find that you’ll not only have more time to get your things done, but that you’ll also really love the things you say yes to.

Remember, during the holidays, time is just as valuable a resource as money and it’s up to you to spend it wisely. (Hint: you have a choice. You always have a choice)

*image via shannonblue photography: Christmas Candy Cane

Tiffany Moore, co-founder of Teahouse Studio is an artist, life coach, change agent and magic maker. She helps creatives live their happiest, most sparkly lives (starting NOW) and thinks that everyone in the world is beautiful, including you.

I am a little behind on sharing what I’ve been up to lately. So to square things up, I’ll just tell you about them now…

-Bridgette.de named papernstitch one of the 12 most beautiful Kreativ-Blogs (#5). Thanks so much Brigitte! Certainly an honor to be amongst the other ladies that were part of the top twelve.

-I recently created a holiday project for HGTV.com: how to make a unique floral holiday centerpiece (slide 18 is me).

-I did a mini interview with After Nine to Five, where I share my inspirations and the best piece of advice I’ve ever received.

-I wrote a post for Scoutie Girl about finding your zen. And another one called The Guide to Getting Anything Done in 3 Simple Steps. And oh yeah…One more about unleashing your secrets. Juicy stuff.

-I spill the beans on my strategies for getting things done, along with three other accomplished entrepreneurs, over on Psych Central.

-And I was interviewed by Coral Lee of Creative Women’s Business about defining your target market, doing market research, building a following and the common mistakes new creative business owners make. You can listen to the audio now. Its about 30 minutes. This will (hopefully) tide you over until my next podcast here on the blog. I know its been a while. I’m working on it.

*The insanely beautiful image above is from Myan Soffia (who is exhibiting in the current papernstitch exhibition). Amongst the cold weather and quickly falling leaves, I thought you could use a little more color in your day.