Excited about my new magnetic necklace!

Just listed this necklace today and I am so excited! I think this will be a big hit come Christmas. I have done magnetic necklaces in smaller sets, but this one is so much better than anything I have put together before. I have the best time making new stuff and keeping the shop fresh. Visit http://www.stucktogethermagnets.com to check it all out.

Happy 4th of July Everyone!

Save 15% this weekend!

And the winner is....

The winner of the owl magnet giveaway is Brittney Minor! Congrats! Incredible thanks to everyone who entered. I will be doing another giveaway soon, so stay tuned.

Wendy

Giveaway! Win These Adorable Owl Magnets!

It's that time again! I am giving away this adorable set of owl magnets to one lucky winner on Saturday, May 21. This set contains 8 one-inch circle magnets. They are colorful, fun and super strong!

* Open to residents of US and Canada only.

* Enter up to 11 times using the methods described below.

* Each entry needs to be a separate comment to this post (so I can keep track).

* Winner will be generated randomly on 5/21/2011.

* Winner will be contacted via email (or other method of your choice), so please remember to include contact info in your comments.

How to Enter:
Each of the following will grant you entry into the drawing for these owl magnets:

1. One entry - visit my Etsy shop and comment to this post with your favorite item.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/StuckTogether

2. One entry - Follow this blog and comment on this post letting me know you did.

2. One entry - Become a Fan of Stuck Together Magnets on Facebook and comment on this post letting me know you did. http://www.facebook.com/StuckTogether

3. Two entries - Post a status about this giveaway on your own Facebook page and comment on this post letting me know you did.

4. Two entries - Tweet about this giveaway and post the link to the tweet.

5. Two entries - Blog about this giveaway and post a comment letting me know you did.

6. Three entries - Sign up for the Stuck Together mailing list via that little window that drops in on my blog or by emailing me at stuck.together@hotmail.com.

So you can enter 11 times if you do all these things! Please remember to provide some kind of contact info so I can let you know you won. Good luck!

Peace, love and magnets!

Wendy

The Importance of Goals

Most people in the creative business have goals of some kind. You want to have a successful shop, daily sales, make a profit and build a customer base. These are all awesome goals and each very valuable in developing a successful creative business. Goals provide guidance and accountability and help our businesses grow when they are met. What does it take to win this game and get everything that we want?

Here are a few easy steps to help you use goals to maximize your creative business potential everyday:

1. Don't Overdo It
One of the most common mistakes when setting goals is to set too many for yourself. An impossible and unattainable number. I have seen many people make daily "to do" lists that are a mile long. How can anyone complete that many tasks in one day? The first step in maximizing your goals is to decide which are priority and which will get your the most return for your time and effort. There is a lot of discussion about how many daily goals are the "right" number of daily goals. I think that all depends on your schedule and work ethic. Let's say that somewhere between 4 and 7 daily goals would be attainable and reasonable.

2. Write Them Down
This seems silly sometimes, but writing your daily goals on paper is a very powerful thing. A written list creates a tangible accountability for what you have planned. It is concrete and you can't stuff it in the back of your mind like we often do with daily planned tasks that go unfinished. Your subconscious will thank you!

3. Scale Your Goals to Fit Your Stage
Make a point to set goals for yourself that are attainable within the current progression of your creative business. These daily goals should be task driven and correspond to your stage of business. Setting lofty long term goals is great, but writing them on a to do list everyday can become defeating. Keep it relative so you can be successful.

4. Answer All of the Questions
Setting a goals answers the "what" question. A goal is a statement of WHAT you want to do. Do not forget to answer the "how" "when" and "why" questions. These are just as important and you will find that asking these additional questions will make the goal itself much easier to achieve. If you are honest with your answers, and only goals you will be focusing on are ones that are going to bring you progress in a reasonable amount of time.

Good luck!!

Building Your Brand

I don't think branding crossed my mind once until I opened Stuck Together. When you are out and about in the world, I think it is just something you take for granted. But, every retailer has a brand. They have a team of people who work on creating, building, maintaining and progressing that brand. While you may not have a team of people working on your creative business or craft, it is a good idea and a smart business move to spend some time developing a brand for your product.

Brand is defined as:
"A brand is the identity of a specific product, service, or business. A brand can take many forms, including a name, sign, symbol, color combination or slogan. The word brand has continued to evolve to encompass identity - it affects the personality of a product, company or service."

Here are some helpful steps to help you start in the journey of creating a brand for your shop!

1. LOGO! Create a logo that is only yours and use that logo on EVERYTHING you make, advertise, create and promote. People will begin to recognize your logo and associate it with your products and business. This is a good thing! You want people to know who you are and a logo is the first step.

2. Be cohesive! It is important that you follow a cohesive style with your products. This can be accomplished through using consistent materials, colors or procedures. They should also be photographed in a cohesive way with the same backgrounds and lighting. You can see this in many of the successful shops on Etsy and other creative marketplaces.

3. Create a line! One of a kind items have their place, but you will find that successful brands have a "line" of products that can be recreated again and again. This saves you time and money. You can buy supplies in bulk or wholesale when you are planning to recreate an item. Time is saved when you only have to make one sample to photograph rather than many OOAK items that each need to be photographed. This is smart business!

4. Progress! You can progress your brand by adding new items which support and evolve your current lines. These new items should still be recognizable as yours, through the cohesion and logo placement, but they are NEW. People love new! But do not sacrifice all the the branding work you have done. It should all "go" together. Just imagine your products like a family. Different things that all look like they come from the same place.

Best of luck to you on your branding journey!

Don't Forget to Keep Going

My mom asked me the other day why I keep making and adding new stuff to my shop. Isn't 200 items enough? Oh, silly momma! I gave her a thesis statement on the importance of progress and momentum.

I am always looking for new designs and brainstorming new ideas to keep this baby going. Repeat customers want to see new product. They aren't going to buy the same thing twice in most cases. MOMENTUM is the key. Like a snowball down a steep hill. Be the snowball... beeeee the snowball.

The minute you stop moving, it stops moving. Consider your shop a shadow. It is going to follow you where you take it. If you stop in the middle of a field, all confused like, it will stop with you. If you sprint across the field and dance in the sunlight of success (cue awesome metaphor), it will come with you there as well.

Always ask yourself questions!
Where have I been?
Did it work?
Where am I going?
What do I want?
How do I get there?

Just don't stop.... don't ever, ever stop.

PS - I love that friggin' Panda.