The Create & Thrive Podcast

Today, I’m chatting with Mona from River Timber Designs, who has built her business up by doing just that!

After starting on the local artisan market circuit, she has focussed on getting her work into the big (and profitable!) markets around Australia – and today she talks about why it’s a great fit for her business, and how you, too, can get your work into these markets!

See her work here: River Timber Designs

Take my Markets 101 workshop inside the Thriver Circle.

You can listen to the podcast below, or on your fave podcast app – or you can watch it on YouTube!

You can make a secure donation (of the amount of your choice) via the Paypal button below.

Each donation helps cover the cost of hosting, show-note writing, research, interviewing, recording, editing, etc. etc.

In short – it helps to cover the time and financial costs of putting together a free weekly show to help you grow your handmade business.

You can also:

‘…When I do shows, I’m very intentional…I’m pricing myself. It’s my time, cost of the product, the materials. And where I find my customers is at these trade shows, at these markets, where people understand it’s handmade. {Mona} 

‘Understanding yourself is a really important part of being a successful business owner, understanding what sort of structure of business will suit you and help you maintain that long term.’ {Jess}

In this video and podcast episode, I’ll guide you through 8 steps to follow in order to get your handmade creations stocked in brick & mortar retail shops and boutiques!

If you need more help, and you’re ready to dive into the world of wholesale, don’t miss our Wholesale Know-How course!

AND, if you just want to dip your toe in the water to check if you’re ready to sell via wholesale, download the FREE mini-guide ’10 Steps to Wholesale Readiness’ right here. 

You can listen to the podcast below, or on your fave podcast app – or you can watch it on YouTube!

You can make a secure donation (of the amount of your choice) via the Paypal button below.

Each donation helps cover the cost of hosting, show-note writing, research, interviewing, recording, editing, etc. etc.

In short – it helps to cover the time and financial costs of putting together a free weekly show to help you grow your handmade business.

You can also:

I love this quote to live by shared by our guest on the show today – Laurel Taylor.

Laurel and I have a wide-ranging discussion in this episode, where she shares her journey from learning to knit as an aid to focus, to starting and growing her business – Alabaster Purl – through many twists and turns – including moving from Alaska to Oregon to Texas!

Laurel specializes in handmade knitwear and selling at in person shows, and she also has published a handful of knitting patterns.

She has a lot of wisdom to share on how to maintain a handmade business long-term, and we have a lot of fun in this episode, too!

I hope you enjoy it.

You can listen to the podcast below, or on your fave podcast app – or you can watch it on YouTube!

You can make a secure donation (of the amount of your choice) via the Paypal button below.

Each donation helps cover the cost of hosting, show-note writing, research, interviewing, recording, editing, etc. etc.

In short – it helps to cover the time and financial costs of putting together a free weekly show to help you grow your handmade business.

You can also:

‘…Things have never really taken off for me on Etsy for my finished items, but they do super well at in person shows. That’s my passion now, selling at markets.’ {Laurel}

‘…Define success for your family, for you, for your business, before you even get started. Because if you jump into it and define success for you as you’re going, you could let yourself down and think that you’re failing when you’re not. You might have defined success incorrectly for yourself.’ {Laurel}

 I’ve seen so many people closing up their shops – even people who’ve been in business for well over a decade.

With the economic crisis; the rise of platforms like Shein, Temu, Amazon; the increased cost of postage and materials; and the downfall of Etsy – is it game over for handmade business – especially online?

You can listen to the podcast below, or on your fave podcast app – or you can watch it on YouTube!

You can make a secure donation (of the amount of your choice) via the Paypal button below.

Each donation helps cover the cost of hosting, show-note writing, research, interviewing, recording, editing, etc. etc.

In short – it helps to cover the time and financial costs of putting together a free weekly show to help you grow your handmade business.

You can also:

You’ve been thinking about opening a second shop, but aren’t sure if it’s a good idea.

In this video/podcast, I’m going to outline the pros and cons of having more than one Etsy shop so you can go into it with your eyes wide open and make the decision that’s right for you! 

You can listen to the podcast below, or on your fave podcast app – or you can watch it on YouTube!

You can make a secure donation (of the amount of your choice) via the Paypal button below.

Each donation helps cover the cost of hosting, show-note writing, research, interviewing, recording, editing, etc. etc.

In short – it helps to cover the time and financial costs of putting together a free weekly show to help you grow your handmade business.

You can also:

Truly, the path is long, and can be hard, and has so very many steps.

However, I’ve been in the handmade business for a long time now, and over the last decade+ I’ve built up my businesses to the point where they support our family.

But here we are. I am lucky enough to be making a living making beautiful things – doing something I love.

I don’t say this to brag or toot my own horn, I say it to give you hope.

Not a false hope. Not a hollow – you will succeed if you just do what you love.

No.

But if you’ve dreamed of doing what I do – making a living from selling your craft, I’m here to tell you that it IS possible.

No, it’s not easy.

No, it’s not a quick process.

No, there’s no ACTUAL ‘secret formula’ to success (those what I’m going to share will REALLY help).

But it can be done. I, and many other artisans, are living proof.

Today, I thought I would dig deep into those years (and YEARS) of trial and error to share with you 10 things that I believe are absolutely crucial to the success or failure of your online handmade business.

You can listen to the podcast below, or on your fave podcast app – or you can watch it on YouTube!

You can make a secure donation (of the amount of your choice) via the Paypal button below.

Each donation helps cover the cost of hosting, show-note writing, research, interviewing, recording, editing, etc. etc.

In short – it helps to cover the time and financial costs of putting together a free weekly show to help you grow your handmade business.

You can also:

Today I’m going to help you answer this question: should you use Etsy, Shopify… or both?

I’ll take you through the pros and cons of each platform, before comparing them to see which one is better across a range of criteria.

You can listen to the podcast below, or on your fave podcast app – or you can watch it on YouTube!

You can make a secure donation (of the amount of your choice) via the Paypal button below.

Each donation helps cover the cost of hosting, show-note writing, research, interviewing, recording, editing, etc. etc.

In short – it helps to cover the time and financial costs of putting together a free weekly show to help you grow your handmade business.

You can also:

Ready to tap into one of the fastest-growing marketing platforms on the internet instead?

I’m talking Pinterest – and I believe it is one of THE best potential drivers of traffic to your handmade business.

Those of you who’ve been in the Thriver Circle for over a year may remember the Pinterest Challenge from previous years.

The Pinterest Challenge helped many of you grow your Pinterest accounts – and therefore, your website traffic.

Pinterest is one of the top drivers of traffic to my own businesses, and if you’re not already using it – or not using it to its full potential – this challenge aims to help you up your Pinterest game, and drive more people to your online store.

🔥This challenge will run for 2 weeks, from June 3rd, 2024!

If you find Pinterest overwhelming; you don’t know where to start; or you’ve fallen off the wagon (i.e. out of the habit of using Pinterest regularly) then this challenge will help you!

🔥What is the Pinterest Challenge?

Basically – it’s a chance to grow your Pinterest account (and therefore traffic to your website!) via a two-week-long challenge in a group setting.

The basic gist is that you will spend a minimum of 10 minutes every day working on your Pinterest account.

And – bonus! – I will also be sharing one Pinterest tip or hack with you each day inside the Thriver Circle forum on Facebook.

I’ve got lots of juicy Pinterest suggestions for you!

🔥Ready? Sign up here.

If you’re not sure how Pinterest will help you grow your business, check out this week’s podcast, where I share 8 reasons why it might be the right choice for you!

You can listen to the podcast below, or on your fave podcast app – or you can watch it on YouTube!

You can make a secure donation (of the amount of your choice) via the Paypal button below.

Each donation helps cover the cost of hosting, show-note writing, research, interviewing, recording, editing, etc. etc.

In short – it helps to cover the time and financial costs of putting together a free weekly show to help you grow your handmade business.

You can also:

Michelle Danielson is a veteran creative who is an expert on selling handmade goods at markets.

She opened her handmade product business Grandma Skills® in 2013. After many years of continued success and growth she knew she had something worth sharing.

In 2021 she started the education side of her business Make Your Mark Labs which focuses on teaching handmade business owners how to successfully sell at in person markets.

Today Michelle shares the progress of her business since 2013 – and how it has evolved and remains a successful business alongside her part-time healthcare job and raising her son – especially in the face of some serious health challenges that led her to re-structure and learn how to delegate aspects of her business.

She also shares her top tips for selling in person at markets and shows, including some pitfalls to avoid and clever hacks to make it easier to engage potential customers!

You can listen to the podcast below, or on your fave podcast app – or you can watch it on YouTube!

Ever thought about selling your work at markets and shows, but don’t know how to get started?

In this workshop I’ll take you through the basics you need to think about – things like choosing a market, taking payments, making stock, creating a stall design, and how to sell on the day!

Thriver Circle members can attend live (May 30, 2024) or watch the workshop recording on demand.

You can make a secure donation (of the amount of your choice) via the Paypal button below.

Each donation helps cover the cost of hosting, show-note writing, research, interviewing, recording, editing, etc. etc.

In short – it helps to cover the time and financial costs of putting together a free weekly show to help you grow your handmade business.

You can also:

‘…I would keep working on the things that made me, me, were profitable, and the things that were uniquely my skill.’ {Michelle}

‘It think it’s nice to have that flexibility, and I think it’s important too for wherever you’re at in the season of life, to honour that season, and be realistic in the time that you have and the goals that you have.’ {Michelle}

‘This also comes down to branding and how you are showing your business to the world… It takes time to develop a brand and a following, and I find that part of that can be where you sell’ {Jess}

Encouraged by her creative parents – a painter mom and a custom home designer and builder dad, Laurie spent her childhood enthusiastically exploring different mediums, primarily painting and drawing.

Laurie received her Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Studio Art with an emphasis in ceramics in 2014.

Her artwork is exhibited and collected nationally and internationally.

Currently, Laurie continues to create her narrative-driven, decorative ceramics from her home studio in Asheville, North Carolina alongside her husband, son and dogs.

In this episode we talk about her creative education & journey – and how illustrating on clay happened by accident!

We discuss how she’s grown a successful independent business – and how that’s enabled her to charge what her work is worth, and grow a following of people who love to collect her work.

Laurie is launching her latest collection the day after this goes live, check out her work right here – lauriecaffery.com

You can listen to the podcast below, or on your fave podcast app – or you can watch it on YouTube!

You can make a secure donation (of the amount of your choice) via the Paypal button below.

Each donation helps cover the cost of hosting, show-note writing, research, interviewing, recording, editing, etc. etc.

In short – it helps to cover the time and financial costs of putting together a free weekly show to help you grow your handmade business.

You can also:

● Laurie started working with ceramics in high school, but this was more of a hobby, and illustrating her main creative focus. While at college, ceramics became more of a serious interest and eventually became Laurie’s career choice in 2016.
● Laurie’s mother, Debbie Arnold, is an artist, and her father a bespoke home builder so Laurie grew up in a very artistic environment. Here she naturally excelled in illustrating and painting, and with a shy, introverted personality, it was assumed that she too would choose a career within the creative arts.
● Laurie discussed how she came to switch to ceramics as her medium during a college
wheel-throwing course. She found the media incredibly challenging and was determined to better understand it. Ceramics is an art form based more on muscle memory, skill, and the products you use, than artistic talent and really keeps you engaged.
● Laurie has an added layer to her ceramics which is illustration of her products. This was something she fell into at a time when she was teaching ceramics and a scholarship came up for a course at Arrowmont School of Arts & Crafts in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, one of the best craft schools in the United States. The only course available was illustration of ceramics which Laurie almost declined, but she did go, and the course changed everything.
● During college, there was pressure to create more sculptural and academic works even though Laurie’s interest was in functional ceramics. Therefore, when she began working in ceramics again, she had no particular style and was able to start from scratch.

‘Part of the draw with functional ceramics was that I could figure out how to do it
myself… from creating the piece, to marketing, to selling the piece on my own without
relying on galleries.’ {Laurie}

● Laurie started out selling at craft fairs, and moved to 40% online, 60% consignment, wholesale, etc. When the pandemic happened, craft markets and galleries were shut down so Laurie switched to selling only online, though recently she has taken on some
wholesale work with a gallery.
● Marketing was discussed. Laurie uses Instagram for 95% of her marketing, and DMs (Direct Messages) have made a huge difference in this process.

‘It has been so wonderful to truly build authentic relationships with my customers… we have become friends and they have become my cheerleaders.’ {Laurie}

● While Laurie has a modest follower count, this is not that important; it’s more important to have organic growth and have authentic relationships with her customers.
● Email lists have also proved successful for Laurie’s business as a way to directly reach out to her client base.
● As a ceramicist, Laurie has the benefit of a client base of collectors, and therefore
markets her work differently to someone who relies on single sales. Laurie needs clients who value her work, who know who she is as a person, and who know the quality and time taken to create her work so that they will pay fairly for her products. This is because ceramics are generally deemed to have low value. Laurie originally sold through Etsy and this was a great platform to start off with, however Etsy retains customer email addresses which isn’t ideal if you are wanting to contact customers directly.
● Instagram was discussed as this is a constantly changing platform and requires regular posting of a range of different formats, e.g. Carousels, reels, etc.
● Laurie has four releases per year, and her designs change depending on the season.
She currently doesn’t have capacity to sell all year round due to her studio size.
● Work life balance was raised as Laurie has always struggled with workaholism, but since having her son, she has had to reevaluate how she works to allow time for her family. Laurie’s husband is a huge part of the success of Laurie’s business, helping to construct her studio, taking on childcare duties, etc.
● The creative process was discussed. Laurie has a list of themes that she wishes to explore and whittles this down to the theme of the new release.
● Laurie spoke about a spreadsheet she uses to track sales, income, expenses, and
individual items. The constraints of this spreadsheet and list is important to Laurie as it helps her focus on the creative process and make it more fun.
● The biggest challenge for Laurie has been motherhood; while it has been wonderful it
has also been difficult adjusting the business.
● The biggest highlight has been her online store as this has met exactly with her goals
and grown to be a sustainable business.
● The future for Laurie’s business was discussed. She has achieved what she wanted with her online sales, however would like to have more ease and stability, and take more regular weekends off with her family without worrying about the business.
● Jess noted that it’s good for other makers to see that it’s ok to stay a small business; you don’t need to grow beyond where you feel comfortable and fulfilled.
● Advice from Laurie to other makers is don’t underestimate marketing. There is a fine balance between marketing your products whilst also focusing on good craftsmanship at the same time.
● Quote: Choose discomfort over resentment, Brené Brown. For Laurie, this means saying no to things that you don’t want to do, rather than agreeing and being resentful. This is important to Laurie at this stage in her business as it protects her peace and her time.
You can find Laurie on Instagram, lauriecaffery.clay and on her website,
lauriecaffery.com