I've been collecting some really excellent articles and links to share with you. Each one of these pieces is relevant to creative entrepreneurs and those of us who run online businesses. I hope you find something here that interests you!
1.Work Habits: First up are some articles by James Clear. James is a weightlifter and travel photographer, two things totally unrelated to blogging about sewing, but he's also an excellent writer. He's interested in art-making and how we as makers can get in our own way. I find his writing to be clear and insightful, without all the jargon and get-rich-quick promises of so many social media blogs.
James wrote a terrific article for Entrepreneur.com about the importance of just getting started. "An imperfect start can always be improved, but obsessing over a perfect plan will never take you anywhere on its own.
I also recommend this piece from James' blog about why you need to just sit down and work every day. "Professionals set a schedule and stick to it. Amateurs wait until they feel inspired or motivated."
2. Photography: Next are a few really useful articles about how to take photos for your sewing blog. To me what stands out is that you don't need anything fancy (a gorgeous house, expensive props) to get a great photo. It's possible to take beautiful, eye-catching photos wherever you live using simple tools and cropping (lots of cropping).
I enjoyed the two-part photography series from Rochelle over at Lucky Lucille. Rochelle's blog is a visual delight and here she shows you how she achieves the fantastic photos you see. Check out part 1 and part 2.
I learned a tremendous amount from this behind the scenes look at how Brittni of Paper & Stitch styles and shoots beautiful photos for her tutorials.
3. Facebook: If you have a Facebook page for your business and are frustrated with the way that Facebook operates, check out this video about why many of the people who like your Facebook page may never engage with you and may, in fact, be fake.
4. Advice Overload: And finally, Meg Freeman of Elsie Marley reflects on the changing nature of blogging and the deluge of often contradictory blogging advice. Meg, along with Dorie Schwarz, are the women behind the incredibly popular phenomenon that is Kids Clothes Week and will be guests on my podcast on Monday. I hope you'll tune in.
++++
And I have a question for you. You know when you're standing in line at cutting counter at your local fabric store. Then fInally it's your turn and you place six bolts on the cutting table. The lady who's working behind the counter looks at what you've got, then looks at you, and asks, "What are you making?"
I'm curious how this question makes you feel?
Hehehe OK I have to answer the question, because *sometimes* I have an answer (a bag, prototyping, a dog blanket, etc.) but SOMETIMES I’m totally just adding to my stash and I never know if I should admit that and just say “oh, it was pretty and I had to have it” or “I don’t know yet, I make purses” or if I should lie and just make up a project because they never seem satisfied if you don’t! 😀 I usually do hand them my business card, typically because I’m holding a purse or wallet that I made so it’s easy to just show them. I wouldn’t judge if you walked around with a stuffed animal in your purse!
You’ve prompted me to check my FB stats, and thankfully it looks legit and where my customers are from. My page doesn’t even have 2500 likes but my engagement lately has gone sky high. I’ll get 80 likes and at least a dozen comments in a couple of hours, so that’s about on par with IG and worth the extra posting time. We seem to have the most fun with the customers on FB and on IG, so I put up with both of their quirks. While I can’t loan you Bob, I can share some of my secrets:
Get all of your friends to (genuinely) like your page. I’ve become FB friends with lots of my sewing friends, and many of them share blog or sewing stuff on their personal pages. Don’t. Ask your sewing friends but also your cousins, aunts, hair stylist, whoever else cares to support you to like your page and interact with it. I have friends who always like and comment on my page posts within a few minutes, even if they don’t sew! And that feeds into the algorithm that the guy on the video was talking about. Reply and keep them commenting as well. When I post something, I’m prepared for it to be a time suck for an hour, so I try to do it when I sit down with lunch at my computer or something like that. Try different times of day, too. If you post something that gets a great response on IG, go post it over on FB as well. The handful of people who see it twice won’t care, and you’ll get a 2nd audience.
Once in a while, post something that is just text, and generally something people will comment on, again to push that algorithm. Photos and links drag it down. Ask a question about something you’re working on. Ask your customers what they are sewing this weekend. Tell a funny story they just had to hear. Tell them to watch your page for an announcement. Complain about the weather and ask how it is where they live. Anything. Again, it has to be genuine. I honestly have a blast with these posts because they never stay on topic.
Post something funny that people will like and share. There are tons of these floating around FB, about husbands using the fabric scissors or those someecards. Bob will post goofy stuff and we’ll banter back and forth and our little fan club seems to giggle as much as I do. Bob started posting “You should be sewing” photos and that somehow became my tag line. This takes the pressure off to blog or post something to “sell” because it’s just something fun. And the nice thing is that it’s FB so it’s “gone” in 3 days, so you can post silly stuff you wouldn’t make time to write a blog post for.
^ The key to those last two is that Facebook takes into consideration the pages you interact with the most and puts those in your news feed. I notice that when someone takes the time to comment on a post or two, suddenly they like every post thereafter… because Facebook is showing it to them. Yes, this requires I promote a post once in a while, just like he said in the video, but I stick to $5 and “people who like my page” and only do it once or twice a month. $5-$10 a month for the past 6 months has bumped up my page engagement significantly to the point where I rarely need to promote anything but the very most important posts, like a pattern launch. 🙂
I hope that helps someone!
I don’t blog, but the photography tips were very nice! When I get that question at the store about what I’m making with my fabrics, telling them about my project always gets me excited to get working on it!
It’s weird but because I’m so new to sewing I feel like a fake or a fraud. I turn into a mumbling idiot because I’m not confident.
I don’t really know what I’m doing. I’m figuring it out but if someone wanted to see what I’m working on right now I’d be too embarrassed to show them.
I’m hoping that getting some experience under my belt will remedy this.
I don’t mind the ‘what are you making’ question. I know in certain places it’s required for the employees to ask that. I guess it would depend how it’s asked. If the person is asking the question and is genuinely interested or if they’re just asking because they have to and they don’t care either way what you say. So far, I haven’t experienced that.
Personally, I love talking about my projects. My husband doesn’t really “get it” as to why fabric and sewing makes me so excited and I don’t really have any friends that share this hobby of mine so sometimes it’s nice to just ….’talk shop’. lol
Erin,
You’ve shared some incredibly valuable tips for organically increasing Facebook interaction. I hear so much moaning and groaning, but it’s rare to have someone share a real strategy for real engagement. I think I need to up my Facebook activity level. Thank you so much for this.
And I need to start handing out business cards more.
Aren’t those great photo tip posts? I learned so much.
I ask about how it makes you feel when they ask at the cutting table what you’re making because I think almost everyone feels as you do, Kristi (myself included). There’s something thrilling about being asked. I’m working to analyze what that is exactly.
I have felt that way so many times, Michelle! Once I was buying two yards of linen. I took it up to have it cut and the man at the table said, “Oh, you’re making pants?” It was super weird to reply that I was actually making birds.
I wonder if Jo-Ann Fabrics requires employees to ask this question. My guess is no, but I actually think they should require it. Customers generally do want to share what they’re working on, I think, and my bet is that employees could sell more products if they found out what questions were lingering in the customer’s mind. Maybe some interfacing? Or specialty thread?
oh my gosh!!! I’m so excited for this wealth of info I can’t wait to take my time and read it over the weekend 🙂
I always get excited when the person at the counter asks me what I’m making, sometimes I have a purpose and sometimes I’m just in love with the fabric but there’s always so much possibility in those yards are fabric just waiting to be transformed 🙂
Great information, I have just recently downloaded your book ‘insiders guide to starting and online sewing pattern business’ and its great. The question I have is can you tell me what size you make your photo’s for the web?
Love your blog and all the great information you share.
Thank you for your roundup of information! Lots to read and think about.
As for the fabric counter, I don’t mind the question, but I don’t always know how to answer it. If I’m making something straightforward like a dress for my daughter or a quilt, it’s easy. But more often than not, I’m working on a non-sewing project, my idea isn’t fully formed yet, or I’m “collecting,” and I have a hard time coming up with a response that seems to satisfy them.
(p.s. The link to the entrepreneur.com article is wonky.)
I love it when someone in a shop asks what I’m making – I too get very excited over new projects and don’t have many people I can share that excitment with. Plus I make some pretty weird things at times, so it’s fun to see the look of surprise on the assistant’s face when I tell them. In fact there are a couple of shopkeepers locally who make a point of asking what my latest project is – I’ve even been asked to bring in photos!
I recently stumbled upon your blog and am now enjoying your wealth of information. Seems though that I am having a hard time juggling blogging, Facebook, pattern designing, listing, creating, “wifehood” and motherhood. Blogging and FB tend to take a backseat. Thanks for the above info. Maybe James’ article on “systems” will fire me up. Right now I’m just feeling overwhelmed!
Ack! I’ve fixed the broken link. Thank you!
It’s interesting how we feel uncomfortable when being pinned down to say what we’re making to a stranger. Sometimes it feels great, and sometimes it doesn’t.
I’m sorry you’re feeling overwhelmed, Melanie! It is certainly a lot to try to do all at once. I’ve found that creating a simple calendar-style schedule is helpful. Just knowing you’ll be writing a new blog post on a certain day, updating your Facebook page on these two days, and working on pattern writing on another day, is super helpful. One thing at a time!
That’s awesome, Caroline. As someone who is often making something unusual I totally appreciate that feeling!
I will email you, Sharon. Each platform has different photo size requirements and some will automatically resize for you. Thank you for downloading the ebook!
Thanks for this interesting article. I am now waiting for my new website with an integrated blog in. I am very exited about it. I am updating my Facebook Page regularly, but I am sure going to look at the video. We (me and my husband) buy a lot of the material that we use at one material shop. The lady that is always helping us know what we sew, but because me and my husband both carry the messenger bags we made for ourselves, it is easy to answer the question from other people in the shop on what we sew. We just love talking about our sewing.
This is great, Abby! Watching that FB video was helpful – and Erin’s input is also very helpful. As for the question, the training at any chain store is to engage the customers at the counter – to ask what they’re making so you can then upsell them (at Jo-Ann’s: notions, interfacing, etc). Unfortunately, I find the staff there to not be broadly experienced sewists, so maybe they make quilts or clothes or pillows, but not all; they can’t respond with a helpful suggestion too often. And just last week when I got one woman chatting with me, she cut the yardage wrong because she was so distracted! I don’t ever mind the question, though, especially when another customer overhears and chimes in – that’s often the more valuable connection, and potentially a new customer if you mention you have a business – which reminds me that I, too, need to be better with having business cards on hand : )
Ha! The same thing happens to me, Abby, except my answer is often cloth menstrual pads, and they think I’m totally nuts! 🙂
Great article with such useful information. I had no idea about the FB thing and I’m glad I saw this because someone had advised me to do the promotion thing. I also just *love* to see photography behind the scenes because that’s something that I continue to really struggle with. Thanks so much! 🙂 Lisa
When I am at the cutting table. . . .finally. . . .and the clerk asks, what are you making. . . .I am usually dumbfounded because I don’t know. . .. when I go to the fabric store I am like a kid in a candy store just loving the feel of the fabric, colors on display, and possibilities of “what to make”. . . . .usually, I am just adding to my overwhelming stash. If perchance, I go to specifically get something for a project, I have 5 other bolts of fabric that just “spoke” to me and begged to come home with me.
If I worked in the fabric store at the cutting table, I would try to say, “Oh, what beautiful fabric you have chosen!” Usually, if someone is planning something to do with the fabric they have, they eagerly tell it without being asked. .. . anyway, that is the way it works here in Oklahoma.
Love your blog! Thanks for doing it.
Linda Gillian
Oklahoma
I worked at JoAnns cutting counter for a short while, and yes employees are told to ask customers what they are making. And to make helpful sales suggestions. I am a bag maker and I genuinely was interested in what every one was working on. It was cool to see the different projects and ideas for bags, clothing, crafts, home dec etc. I always wished I could see all the finished projects! It was really inspiring. Be kind to your cutting counter people. They are over worked and under paid. But most all of them really love sewing and crafting just like you 🙂
I don’t actually like my one and only local fabric store for miles around. But I do use it, even though the fabric is cut very wonky . I use very small amounts in what I make, so I am usually wanting to ask what the smallest amount is that I can buy, which I think they find annoying. It still leaves me with oodles of fabric. I’ve never yet been asked what it’s for, as they simply don’t engage with you in the shop, partly because it is just so very busy. I would find the answer incredibly difficult. I mean I don’t even know. Just small stuff, useless but pretty. Maybe to patchwork a backing for an embroidery I have done, or to make little animals or a small bag, bunting or wall hanging or for applique or sometimes (as recently) quite normal things like a top. That was apparent as I purchased patterns at the same time. I think if I was asked I would say ‘I don’t know yet’.
I’m sure that’s very true, Shelly.
I don’t like when I get asked what I’m making at a big box store. Sometimes I feel judged for my choices (honestly, the clerk has said things like “taste is subjective”) and looked at my selection of colors of fleece suspiciously. I like it when we can just complete the transaction efficiently and I can be on my way. At least if I’m only buying quilting cottons I can reply with “just stashing”.