Indie Business 2.0 - Online Class Details

What is Indie Business?

Indie Business is a 6 week Online Class for women and men wanting to build an online or local creative business. We'll focus on Starting, Surviving and Succeeding in small business and cover everything in between! The class is taught by Leigh-Ann, Jill and Elsie and is hosted in a members only blog with 26 sessions, 7 diy projects and 3 live chats to give you all the tools you need to establish yourself and achieve success with your Small Business! The course also includes a printable workbook with original illustrations by Elsie and room for all your homework, notes and ideas!



Meet your Teachers

Leigh-Ann of FreckledNest.com
Leigh-Ann started her small business as a hobby in 2005, but as demand & popularity increased, Freckled Nest quickly became a strong second income and LA worked towards making it her career. She originally began with a focus on small items like tiny albums and handstitched items, but now focuses on custom blog and website design (and her personal blog), custom albums, teaching and fun etsy items :) In 2008, Leigh-Ann quit her normal job, became her own boss, and now supports herself solely from creative abilities and passion for handmade and innovation.

Jill of LuneVintage.com
Jill Munro opened a cute cottage hobby shop in 2004 and over time, has built Lune Vintage, a successful Studio/Shop in the hub of Winnipeg's prominent artists' scene. Marrying her local charm and talent with online networking skills, Jill has accomplished many of her Small Business goals and happily remains at her part time job as a Teachers Assistant, plus she's a wife and mother. Jill's an outstanding example and inspiration for 'making it all happen' and is sure to inspire you with her experiences, talents and dedication to making dreams come true!

Elsie of RedVelvetArt.com
Elsie Flannigan has been supporting herself as an independent artist for the past 7 years. She started out in the Scrapbooking industry, contributing to countless magazines, authoring two popular craft books, and designing a hugely successful & lovely scrapbook product line. In 2009, Elsie opened Red Velvet Art, an online boutique that supports & promotes Independent Art & Fashion. In the past 2 years, Elsie has independently sold over 15,000 independently produced and handmade items and her craft blog attracts an average of 20,000 hits each day!! Elsie is the best person to teach on Indie Business growth and success; in my opinion, she's the poster child!


Details

* Indie Business runs for 6 weeks from March 7th to April 16th (plus our Indie Business Stories and 1 Project in February). You can work at your own pace & the class blog will stay up for 1 year so that you can reference everything and continue to be inspired.

* Supplies needed: Computer, Internet, and a few very affordable supplies for the DIY Projects (ex. binder, fabric, needle & thread, paper, etc).

* Most sessions will have 'Homework' to enrich you and your company through out the class but you are not obligated to do the assignments and challenges.

* We want to get to know you! We hope this will be an interactive experience where we can inspire and encourage you and your dreams, helping you see them becoming reality! Through out the sessions and projects, we would love to hear your ideas, development and experiences in the comments of each session. Plus, you will probably enjoy getting to know other members of the class, encouraging one another and maybe even finding like-minded friends and future networking opportunities and support :)

* We have planned 3 live text chats where you can ask all three of us advice & questions, bounce ideas, share your ideas and chat with your classmates!

* Indie Workbook PDF ready for download on February 28th.

* Private blog access will be sent within 36 hours of registration/purchase.



Teachers: Jill - LA - Elsie

Course Duration: February 22 - March 1

View the full course list here!

Registration Details

Class cost: $75us

* We will begin class registrations this Wednesday, Feb 10th.

* Payment Methods: Paypal & RedVelvetArt shop.

* Private blog access will be sent within 36 hours of registration/purchase.


Questions
If you have any questions, please email us at indieworldwide@gmail.com


A few Quotes from 2009 Indie Business Students

"...it's fresh and working knowledge of the business and is given in bite sized and digestible pieces. The tone is cheerful and the sessions are displayed in a colorful manner as they break the steps to starting an indie business into doable steps. I highly recommend this class to beginners as well as those who have owned their business for quite some time now." --Jacquelyn

"I can see clearly now..." --Donna

"Indie Business will continue to be a great tool for me to come back to as I build my Indie business. Jill and LA create a genuine atmosphere for learning by teaching from their own lived experience and welcoming the students into a trusting and open community of artists and crafters." --Gillian

"Indie Business was way more than I had thought it could have been, I have been left so inspired not only by Leigh-Ann and Jill, but also by everyone else who took the class. If your even thinking about taking the class... go for it! You will NOT be dissapointed!!!!!" --Adelle

Vintage Shops: an interview with Vintage Butterfly 94

There is a lot of amazing vintage on etsy these days. While shopping around, I couldn't help but notice a cute, well stocked, inspiring shop called Vintage Butterfly 94. Owner Vanessa was so sweet, and did a little interview for the Lune blog about her shop, dealing vintage, and running an online business. Check it out!

The Shop: Vintage Butterfly 94
ETSY SHOP

BLOG

Q. The Vintage Butterfly 94 stocks a full and inspiring array of
vintage housewares. Although there is a great deal of variety,
together they work as a collection. What key elements are you looking
for when choosing items for your etsy shop?



A. I'll answer with the questions I ask myself about the things I stock....
Has it aged gracefully?
Was it well-made in the first place?
Is it practical?
Is it pretty?
Does it make me smile?
I've tried selling things that don't fit that criteria, and it's way too much like work. I've got to really appreciate an item myself to put it out there for somebody else.


Q. I was impressed by the consistent, clean and attractive product photography you share with your shoppers. What tips can you share on how to photograph successfully for an etsy shop?


A. I'm SO glad you noticed! As I answer this, I have about half my store around me to re-shoot photos that I'm no longer satisfied with. I have done all kinds of crazy things over the years to get photos to work for me...from putting a magnifying glass in front of my old camera to get higher resolution, to making my husband take clothing shots of me modeling wool in 90 degree weather. I think the most important thing I can say is USE NATURAL LIGHT! I've tried light-boxes and they just don't compare to the soft, natural look of side light from a window. I compulsively check the weather for good days to take my photos and plan around that. Harsh flashes or blurry images with a cluttered back drop are just not going to sell your item.

I've just gotten to this point, but I am now only taking photos in two spots in my new house. In my old house, I would just try to get a photo wherever there was light, and my pictures were ok, but it kept the store from looking cohesive. I think that having a consistent look helps to cement my brand.



Q. Does Vintage Butterfly 94 sell vintage exclusively online, or have you offered your collection locally? If not, do you have plans of doing so in the future? Which venue do you prefer (online/local).


A. So far, I have only been selling my vintage items online and that has worked very well for me while my kids are small. I think the market is better online for many of my goods because tastes are so different in different parts of the world ...for example things that people like in Vancouver are much different from things that people like in Arkansas. For now, online is my preference.

Plans for the future? I have no definite plans, but I do dream about opening a local shop if I could get my parents to move closer to me. I grew up in a family business and I loved the face to face interaction with customers. That's the number one thing I miss while online selling. Both my parents are creative and skilled and I think a mixture of vintage and hand-crafted work would do very well in my area. And I'd love to give my own kids the experience I had.

Q. What item(s) have you sold in the past that you regret not kept for yourself?


A. It still stings..... I started going to garage sales with a friend when I was in high school. One of the first really old things I ever bought was a green and gold pendant watch for a dime. I can still picture the house I bought it from. It didn't work, but I wore it on a chain as a preppy accessory through high school, college, and three cross-country moves. Anxious to earn the money we needed to buy a house in Arkansas a few years ago, I sold anything and everything on ebay to make extra cash. I sold it in a mixed lot of crafting items. When I went to my jewelry box with the thought to wear it one day, I realized that I had done a bad thing. I'd had it for so long and I always just liked it....it was silly to part with it after having it for so long. I thought I had a photo, but even that is gone. It makes me sad.



Q. What advice do you have for someone just starting out in the vintage business?


There's an old adage "Well begun is half done." I did not begin well. When I started on Etsy, I just used the same user name I had on Ebay. Trouble was, I never had a store on Ebay, just weekly auctions. So I never really built a brand before. "Vintage" makes sense. "Butterfly" is what my name, Vanessa, means. There were already other vintage butterflies, so I tacked on 94 in homage to the year I met my husband. Trouble was, I counted on my fingers and missed it by a year....it should be 93. What a train wreck! My point...if you are going to start, go all in. Don't put your toe in the water and timidly think, "I'll just try this and see if anybody likes me." If I had started my shop with the thought in mind, "I'm going to build a really funky little online shop with a memorable name" that would have been a lot better, don't you think? But I was too scared to believe it would amount to much and I handicapped myself for the future by thinking way too small.




Q. What do you see in the future for Vintage Butterfly 94?

A. That's easy! I'm going to get all the photos updated and then I'm going to try pre-packing all of my items so that I ship things out as swiftly as humanly possible. Next, I want to develop better customer service techniques. I have a secondary shop of vintage supplies that I am going to consolidate into the main shop so I can stay more focused. And I want to expand my own line of handmade items made from vintage items. But my biggest goal for this year is to improve my store enough to be a featured seller on Etsy's main page. It may not happen, but I'm done thinking small! I am hoping that it's possible to improve a shop into being successful.



THE GIRL BEHIND THE SHOP:

Vanessa lives in northwest Arkansas. She's been married to her college sweetheart for 13 years and besides their day jobs, they pastor a church which they started from scratch 4 years ago. Vanessa and her husband have 3 kids (who are gifted, talented and hilarious respectively) and 2 mutts (Sidney and Peggy). Vanessa collects antique photographs of people in front of their houses and hammered aluminum trays. She likes people, but also loves to be alone with a cup of coffee by a sunny window.

Thank you for sharing your wonderful vintage world with us Vanessa!

clog crush

I've come across these in the past, and picked them up for the local shop a few times. Usually they have sweet traditional painted details on them - irresistible. Dutch clogs are still in use across the ocean for trugging around the muddy garden. Much cuter than crocks, lined up in a row.



Tiff over at Dottie Angel embraced even the blandest pair of clogs by spray painting, drilling a little hole at the heel, and stringing them up like little wall pockets for her needles. When i spotted these red souvenir clogs with a bland paint job for $2.99, I snapped em up with a glossy white re-paint in mind. Thanks for the cute idea Tiff!



Have a great weekend everyone!
XO Jill

PS. Indie Business 2.0 - Starting, Surviving, & Succeeding is getting ready to launch this coming Monday! Check back for full details then!