Amy T Schubert – Lemon and Raspberry – Tips and inspiration for crafty girls and handmade businesses

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Valentine’s Day is in *just* a few weeks! Do you have big plans?

Andrew and I are going to a concert together that Friday after Valentine’s Day – I took the whole day off work and everything!

But since we will be moving in the next few weeks, my craft supplies are being packed up so I will just live vicariously through these fantastic Valentine’s DIY projects I’ve found …..

(click the image to go to the original post and instructions)

Fill in the blank dry erase board from Lemon and Raspberry

A Kiss in your pocket flip book from Color Me Katie

Handmade heart garland from Pugly Pixel

Peach prize ball valentine's from The Sweetest Occasion

Stitched heart bookmarks from Thrity Handmade Days

Printable vintage valentine cards from Ruffled

Candy poppers from Everything Fab

What are you making for Valentine’s Day?

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We are currently in escrow to buy our first home! In fact, we’re having the inspection tomorrow morning (scary!)…

Wish me luck because, really …. this place is a WRECK.

And every time we go see it we find something else wrong. Last time Andrew went the backyard was flooded for some inexplicable reason. So we are fully prepared to do a lot of work on the house, but fingers crossed there’s not something invisible wrong with the foundation or huge mold infestations or something.

But I have wanted my own house for so long. SO so long. …. And this particular house is such a good deal, and I’ve been picturing us living in it since the first time we walked inside (which happened to be our wedding anniversary).

There’s a long (long) list of reasons I am super excited to own my own home and move into a new space.

But one of the top reasons is so I have a place to WORK.

Right now, I spend a lot of me “free” time (read: not at my day job and not doing chores) working on L&R and related projects.

We have been living in tiny tiny tiny apartments for years. Always temporary. Always small. The current apartment is the biggest one and it’s just a 1 bedroom with a large living area.

Which means most of the time I’m just sitting on my corner of the couch with my computer on my knees…. OR if I really need to focus and Andrew wants to watch a movie, my only option is to go into the bedroom with my computer on my knees.

I hate that. I hate that the place where I sit to answer emails and pay bills and write ebooks is the same place where I’m supposed to be able to relax with my husband and watch a movie.

Those 2 places really need to be separate…..

In the new house I will be able to actually set up a WORKSPACE. Get a real ergonomic desk. Set up physical boundaries so I don’t feel like work invades every part of my life. Even invest in a desk top computer now that I will have somewhere to put it.

The space you work in matters. That’s why I have an office-pinterest board. That’s why I have already started planning what I want my space to feel like.

You don’t have to have an entire floor of your house dedicated to your work. But you should pay attention to your designated workspace.

Is it near the cat litter box? Is it too close to your child’s bedroom that you’re distracted by their music? Is it where you go to have private, dramatic, painful phone calls?

Most of all, I think we can train ourselves to associate certain places with certain outcomes. There’s a reason they built those cathedrals. Pick your place, on purpose. (from Seth Godin)

Guard your workspace carefully.

If you’re going to do GREAT WORK and constructive work there, you will need to craft the space. Return to that space whenever you are going to work and soon you’ll be able to associate your creative inspiration with the space itself. Truly.

Try it.

Where are YOU working? Have you crafted that place specially to work in or just wherever you happen to be?

I talk a little bit more about our relationship with places and locations in my ebook Tell Its Story …. Grab your copy today and check out a photo of my childhood home!

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Alt Summit was last week …. I spent a bit of time wishing I was there, of course. And then I spent as much time as I could Thursday and Friday (in between work and house-buying meetings) following the #altsummit tweets ….

And discovered some new bloggers, just by finding their tweets!

Which could have been really awesome!

Except for the couple I stumbled across that seemed the most interesting based on their tweets didn’t tell me who they are once I got to the blog …. Which I really don’t understand.

The home page of the blogs was of course just the most recent posts (mostly about how they will be at Alt Summit), or “What I Wore Wednesday” or “InstaFriday” or some other such fluff – none of which really tells me what the person or the blog is about….

So next I look for an About page. Something that succinctly sums up the purpose and direction of the blog so I can decide if I would be interested in future posts.

If you don’t lose readers at the home page (which you can avoid by compelling headlines and killer content to browse around), the second most common place to lose them is at your About page (From ProBlogger)

And, honestly, the About pages (if they were there) were NO HELP at all!

One blogger in particular had a completely vague blog title and no descriptive blog subtitle in addition to having no About page.

Seriously confused at how she expects to attract and keep new readers ….

So, all of that to say …. if you have ANY kind of grow-my-audience strategies in place (sponsoring other blogs, guest posting, being part of communities, etc) …. You REALLY need to make sure a new reader to your blog knows what is up.

Add a descriptive tagline to your blog title.

Flesh out your About page.

Get rid of the fluffy blog posts that don’t contribute anything to the conversation.

There are so many ways you can show your personality and demonstrate the heart of your blog ….. If you’re not sure how to start check out 5 tips for sprucing up your About page – a guest post I wrote for Campfire Chic. These are 5 really easy ways to just get something useful up. Just publish your first version now and tweak later

P.S. The other thing I noticed watching #altsummit tweets? *Some* of the participants being amazed/surprised about the push for original content. All of you who have gone through the Better Blog Content Workbook already know that and just saved yourself hundreds of dollars for not going all the way to Salt Lake City for the conference.

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Origami cat bookmark via How About Orange (click for original post)

Joy the Baker – make a time capsule
Craftaholics Anonymous – snowflake serving tray
How About Orange – origami cat bookmark
Family Chic – wire embroidery
Quilting in the Rain – heirloom quilt
papernstitch – valentine chalkboard hearts
Craftaholics Anonymous – wooden snowmen
oh happy day – stamped party favors
Family Chic – conversational embroidery
bloesem kids – toy chests
fellowfellow – houses by night
Instructables – flannel infinity scarf
alisaburke – rolling pin stamps
minimoz – love map
Family Chic – hot pad
Houzz – vintage book frames
How About Orange – sewing tutorials round-up
Strumpet’s Crumpets – Valentine heart paper chain
Family Chic – jar of love

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The font primer: Titling Edition
Graphic Design Pet Peeves
wordmark – preview words with fonts installed on your computer
Thinking with Type
What’s your Type?: A Beginner’s Guide to Choosing Fonts
6 Must-have Books about Typography
4 Reasons to Use Graphics in your Blog

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So, you just listed your new product line for 2012 : hand-bound journals made from found paper and ephemera.

And, of course you post a photo on your blog: New and recently listed in my etsy shop

And then then cross your fingers and hope it catches the eye of one of your readers.

…..

And then ….. nothing happens.

…..

….

You’re not really surprised, are you?

When you’re creating your etsy listing of your hand-bound journal – what do you put in the details? As a business person, it’s your job to get your potential customers excited about your products. Just posting a photo, price and available colors is clearly not going to do it.

There are so many reasons someone may buy your product – aside from the fact that it’s pretty (I’m sure your product is pretty; I’m not super worried about that part).

That small spot of product description is your chance to connect to what you customers are looking for. Your chance to get them excited about what you have to offer. Your chance to tell them WHY they should buy.

Think of this in terms of features versus benefits

Features are the details of your product – Benefits are WHY anyone should care. Features are helpful to know – Benefits are essential if your customer is going to spend money on it. The features may lead to the benefits, but not always.

Features of your hand-bound journal would be:

measurements
colors
patterns
sizes
amount of pages
type of paper

Benefits of buying your hand-bound journal would be:

a place to record your creative brainstorming and secure your best ideas
your daughter’s first secret place
unique cover design helps your journal stand out and really displays your personality
durable, hardbound cover keeps up with your outdoor lifestyle and is perfect for your camping or hiking trips
the unlined paper really gives you a wideopen space for your doodling, sketching and art journaling

*keep in mind all these ideas are just brainstorming for my non-existant etsy shop

To get customers excited about your product, you’ve got to spell out for them the WHY they want it. Give them the benefits they’ll reap by owning your product. Spell out to them what they will get beyond the physical object – emotionally, experientially, and more.

Here’s another example:

If I am selling an ecourse on creativity the features might be a 90 page workbook, 2 hours of audio recordings and a pinterest tutorial…. But who is going to buy it if I describe it like that?

Instead, I might highlight the benefits…. By working your way through my creativity ecourse you will find yourself reenergized and rededicated to your art. You will never have writer’s block again. You will be the envy of everyone you know.

…. And on and on. Clearly exaggerating the benefits here, but you get the idea.

Here’s your homework for the weekend:

Revisit just one of your product or service listings. Find a way to insert at least one awesome benefit of buying your product/service.

Once you know what you’re looking for (the WHY anyone would care), it gets easier and easier to frame your product descriptions in terms of benefits.

Give it a shot! Leave a link or question in the comments if you try it ….

In a few weeks I’ll be releasing a little mini-product on sales pages. If you are struggling with your product listings or your copywriting, this will be a great beginner’s tool for you….. Keep your ears open and your eyes peeled! Or sign up for the L&R Newsletter for details soon …