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In this issue:
Food For Thought
Marketing Your Craft Business
Business Books
Should Your Business Be Online?


Food For Thought:
excerpts from "The Treasury of Quotes", by Jim Rohn

If you wish to find, you must search.
Rarely does a good idea interrupt you.

We must learn to apply all that we know so that
we can attract all that we want.

If someone is going down the wrong road, he
doesn't need motivation to speed him up. What he
needs is education to turn him around.

Some people read so little they have rickets of the mind.

The book you don't read won't help.

If you don't like where you are, change it! You're
not a tree.

Marketing Ideas:

This will be the first in a series of articles on Small Business Marketing Strategies. Ideas for marketing your business on a shoestring budget. Thanks to Debbie Kaput for her GREAT marketing marketing ideas for those in the craft business. Please note, many of these ideas can be adapted to other industries as well, so keep an open mind while your read through her article!

Craft Show Alternative

This is a subject dear to my heart. When I started painting in 1982, I had my second child and I really needed a creative outlet. I also needed to generate some extra income so I could be a stay at home mom. Doing craft shows seemed to be the perfect solution. When I started doing craft shows they were not as popular as they are today. Today's craft shows are much more professional and very competitive, but there is an alternative.

If you a disciplined enough there is a huge market for customer orders. The first thing I sold were personalized baby gift items. It is that personal touch that specialty stores love. You could take a sample to a local specialty shop and ask the owner if she would be interested in putting it on consignment. Some other specialty shops ideas are garden shops, gourmet shops or bridal shops.

Many girls have success with taking their projects with them to their bowling leagues. Their friends get their own private showing and love it. Our school lets teachers set up a little display for orders in the Teacher's Lounge. Teachers don't get much time to shop and this is a real advantage for them.

My favorite alternative to craft shows are home parties. If you are inclined to open your home, organize with a few other crafters and have an open house. In general these are very successful. My tip would be to hire someone to clean your house and make the show by invitation only. Invitation recipients may bring a friend. One friend has an open house for three weeks. She passes out flyers stating the days and times her home is open to drop-in shopping. She does not take special orders. Another of my painter friends is very successful in booking home parties at other people's homes. She is booked a year ahead of times. She takes orders and also has projects you can buy that night. But be careful how many parties you book, you can get overwhelmed doing customer orders!

Make sure you keep the names and addresses of all your customers and when you do do a show send them a little reminder.

If you have a unique way of earning money from crafts, we would love to hear from you.

Meet the Artist

Debbie first fell in love with Decorative Painting in 1982 when she saw a Milly Smith partridge painted on top of a picnic basket. She immediately signed up for classes and has been painting ever since. Since that day Debbie has traveled all over the United States to attend classes from nationally known teachers. Her desire to learn has never stopped, even today you may see her sitting in a class.

In 1992 Debbie designed her first pattern packet. She draws from traditional Decorative Painting techniques to write instructions that are both easy to understand and fun to paint. Debbie's designs are easy enough for beginners and challenging enough for the more advanced painter.

Debbie has also become well known as a traveling teacher. (Example of a seminar project, right). If you would like more information about where Debbie is teaching, you can e-mail or write to her at:

That's Kaput
850 Shorewood Dr.
Medina, Ohio 44256
kaput@ohio.net

Also visit Debbie's website at: http://www.tolenet.com/kaput/ You'll find great painting tips, patterns and more!

Visit the NEW Small Business Bookstore - You'll find great information for starting your home-based business, plus marketing tips, motivational and self-improvement books and information on how to write effective sales letters. Check out the some of the tools available to help you succeed!

Go To: Should Your Company Be Online?

Next Issue: More Small Business Marketing Strategies On Shoestring Budgets!! Plus writing ads that pull.

The truth is that all of us
attain the greatest success
and happiness possible in this
life whenever we use our
native capacities to
their greatest extent.

Dr. Smiley Blanton

Far better it is
to dare mighty things,
to win glorious triumphs even
though checkered by failure,
than to rank with those poor
spirits who neither enjoy
nor suffer much
because they live in the gray
twilight that knows neither
victory nor defeat.

Theodore Roosevelt

Writing Ads That PULL!

If you're like me, you have spent tons of money, time and effort in writing and placing ads that didn't produce anything. Well, we're not alone. Writing good ad copy is one of the hardest things to do. And with money tight after the Holiday's along with all the time we've taken off, we need some ads that really will PULL!

Well, after I got on the Internet and started exploring some of the wonderful resources that were available, I was able to turn my ad writing "dog days" around. I would like to share with you some information that I have found on the Internet that has been helpful to me. Again, if you know of others, please share!! We can all learn from each other.