How many times have you heard something on the order of that? Often we hear very good solid business advice from the experts (people have degrees in business, successful business men and woman and multimillionaires) but what the heck does that mean to someone who is selling a few handmade or vintage items on Etsy? At some times nothing. They are running with the big dogs and can afford to invest in advertising and advisers and their networks are beyond our scope.
With that being said I have found that while those helpful words of advice and the articles in Forbes magazine are not really all that applicable to me there are kernels of information that I really need to pay attention to. The problem is how do we tease out this information and apply it to what we do so that some day we can be running with the big dogs (if that is the goal.) That is where I and hopefully some of our guest bloggers will come in. We speak from the experience of the pup and have an aspiration to be the next big dog so we invest time trying to understand and apply business information designed for big business to the little guy.

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This adorable image came from Pinterest |



Would you go on a road trip to see Mount Rushmore without a map? Well then why would you expect to arrive at your business destination without a business plan? (while I was just typing this I thought to myself yeah Idiot why didn't you update your business plan? so in other words I am just as much a procrastinator as anyone)
Here are some excellent resources to get you started and I hope that you have a chance to build the business you are looking for.
Info:
The Etsy Blog/How to Write a Creative Business Plan In Under an Hour
http://outright.com/blog/how-to-create-a-simple-business-plan-for-your-etsy-shop/
http://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Business-Plan
http://www.forbes.com/business-plan-template-what-to-include/
https://www.stcloudstate.edu
Templates:
http://www.lawdepot.com
http://www.sba.gov/tools/
http://www.entrepreneur.com
Opens an actual Word Document Template from Purdue.Edu **********************************************************************************************************************************
If you have any great networking opportunities you would like me to feature please contact me directly at ButterflyInTheAttic at yahoo dot com or post the information in the comments section. I will add it to next week's post.
So now a little homework; think about some of the tools you really rely on, Please share in the comments. Also if you are willing to be a guest blogger let me know I would love to have your take on networking and your expertise.
My homework: of course, to research some of my barriers for better developing G+, Pinterest, etc. Also I will be investigating and testing some more tools that will help me increase my traffic and sales. And of course sharing this information with my wonderful followers.
Now lets have some Networking Fun!!!
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2 comments:
Colleen,
I think you have made some very interesting points here! I would love nothing better than to have one (or more) of my Etsy businesses make working for someone else unnecessary. Having to take it easy for quite a lot of last year afforded me the time to work really hard on getting more sheets done and listed in my collage sheet shop and consequently, I have seen my sales grow there. Also, I find that I enjoy using Pinterest a lot and since I have converted my personal account to a business one, I think that pinning items from my shops does lead to more views (and hopefully) more sales there. My recent challenge to myself has been to utilize Twitter more and I have seen my views increase each week. At some point soon, I will take the time to take your advice here and work on a business plan. Thank you so much for all the research you have put into your post today!
Betty
Thank you Betty. Pinterest is something I need to work more with. It is a very good platform.
Have a great day
Colleen
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