eBay tips #1

Over the next few weeks I will have some tips on selling successfully on eBay. I know that eBay is a starting point for many work-at-home businesses. There is no reason why you can't sell on there too. My first tip is not to copy everyone else on eBay. Don't sell something that can be made or designed by someone else easily. Go for the unique. After all eBay is where everyone goes to find something that they can't find anywhere else.

Promoting your sewing business

Greeting cards are a great way to promote your business. Normally we think of greeting cards at Christmas time but they can be used much more effectively for birthdays. At Christmas time you probably get at least 3-10 cards from various businesses that you have had contacts with during the prior 12 months. Most of the Christmas cards I get are thrown away or used for decoration. The companies that send them are forgotten in the crowd.

How many birthday cards do you receive from businesses on your birthday? I get about 2 and those 2 often come with coupons or promotions that I get free stuff from. It is the birthday cards that have added coupons or offers that get my attention. If you have a business that relies on repeat customers then buy your birthday cards in bulk and use them to promote your business. Here is a link to a company that sells birthday card packs at a discount. Nowadays if you slip a coupon for free shipping in the card you will probably generated a few sales. Be creative and see what kinds of offers you can give your customers without breaking the bank at your end.

Another free project

It has been some time since I posted a free how-to project. This one is just a little different from what I normally think of for sewing. This project is a vintage window. The complete instructions with photos can be found here.

Costume design

It is never too early to be thinking about Halloween costumes, in fact the earlier you start thinking about them the faster you can design them. I am betting that with the just released movie Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skulls there will be a demand for costumes from the movie. Of course there will be a demand for costumes other than Halloween such as the offerings at Leg Avenue, a strictly adult fare.

Now if you plan on designing, sewing and selling your line of costumes keep in mind the prices that the above links are selling costumes for. Your costumes would either have to be unique or custom sized for the individual to be worth while selling them for a profit. The Halloween website I have listed links to does have a great selection for you to get some ideas from.

Plan your sewing business for the summer months

Do you plan your sewing business around just the winter holidays? If you do then you are missing the majority of the income that you could generate with the summer months. The summer boasts weddings (a BIG money maker), graduations, parades and club get togethers.

Big festivals that happen during the summer months are reenactment types of festivals. Renaissance, Dark-ages and Civil War (USA) are some of the ones that come to mind. Also many TV and movie fans hold conventions that would require costumes.

These are all opportunities that would require something sewn or designed with fabric. Don't let an opportunity like the summer pass your sewing business down.

A sewing success story

I love to hear about people that have made a success for themselves in the sewing business. One family of 3 sisters started a company designing and making the dreaded hospital gown. They have a success story anyone would be proud to share. They saw a need and filled it. They have some marvelous designs and looking at them I now wonder if the original plain hospital gown was designed by a man.

Their personal story of triumph over cancer and starting the company called "Healing Threads" is one of inspiration. These 3 woman had the hospital experience to draw from in designing these new hospital gowns. They had designed a few different types of gowns and right now they are just available in solid colors, but I don't doubt that in the short future that patterned fabrics will soon be available.

I too have had more than my fair share of hospital experiences with family members and I can see that they have filled a need with their line of clothing. Openings for tubes and other medical equipment in the gowns could also be a possibility for more designs.

I wish the best of luck to the three sisters at "Healing Threads" and their continued success with their sewing business.

Looking for ideas

The best ideas for a new product comes from everyday frustration. Yes, I said frustration. When ever you think that there must better a better way to do something or a better design then there usually is. Take for example houses, most of them are designed by men. If a woman designed a house then the laundry area would not be far from the bedrooms. There is nothing worse than hauling dirty laundry through most of the house to either the garage or the tiny room next to the garage and back again when the laundry is done.

Next time you look at a sewn item think of how you can make it better or different. Think like that and you'll come up with some great ideas in no time.

Searching for the right company to host your website

Selling on the internet will require you to have a website or blog to sell from. The amount of website hosting companies is vast and can be a pain to search through each one to see what they offer. A great alternative is to go to one website to compare the best web hosting choice for your sewing business. Keep in mind the long term fees associated with each hosting company. Some will mention all the costs up front, others will slap on hidden charges once you have signed up. Another thing to look into with a good hosting company is, do they offer to submit your site to the major search engines? If they do how much do they charge and how often do they do it? Making a website is the easy part of selling on the internet, marketing your website will the hardest.

Organize your work area

Learn to utilize your down time in your business by creating a great work area. You are handy at sewing so why not use your talent to spruce up the work area? Here are some suggestions:

• make new curtains or window dressings
  
• bring more natural light into the area by adding mirrors or painting the walls a lighter color
• clear out non business related items in the area
• reduce clutter
• don't use cardboard boxes to store things in, they encourage mice and mold
  

Mend a tear

A simple how to video on mending a torn garment.

Internet marketing and design

Advertising or selling on the Internet is going to take some marketing and design techniques. After all, in order for your website or blog (remember what I told you earlier - you can sell from a blog too)to be found you will need to either find someone to do the SEO (Search Engine Optimization) for you or do it yourself. Your website will also need a sense of your own style. It is no use to have plenty of visitors to your website each day and no sales. The problem with no sales might be your items for sale but more than likely it is your website. Keep in mind you have only about 3-6 seconds to keep a visitor on your site long enough to spark and interest in them to stay to shop. You need to find a way to keep your visitors on your site. That will take effective web design. Again you can either go the do it yourself route or hire someone.

I prefer to go the "do it myself" route. I not only learn more from the experience but I have a tendency to turn around and help other people too. There is a great design blog that has plenty helpful how-to articles on how to develop a website with your own unique brand. After you have designed your website ask people to rate it for you. Find out what they don't like about it and fix it.

Do you have style?

A good sense of style is an absolute must for a career or business in sewing. If you have a knack for taking something ordinary and making it flashy, unique or best yet what everyone wants then you have style. A good rule of thumb for finding out will be the next "hot" style is to listen to teenagers. They are the crowd that most of the market place is geared for. If you visit blogs that are written by teens for teens then you can get a sense of what styles and likes they are into at the moment. At the same time you can find out what colors and styles are no longer "in".

Will your business grow?

Do you have the experience or knowledge to start your own business? There is more to a business than just making and selling things. Sure you can get some experience by selling a few items on eBay but in the long run you will only get ahead on there by selling in volume. Even then, eBay will kill you with fees to pay. Unless you plan on having a full scale manufacturing plant right away you can stay away from eBay as a major source of income for now.

What you need is some honest to goodness education in business and marketing. Now I know that many people reading this will be thinking that I just don’t have the time for college courses or there is no suitable college near me. That would be my case, the nearest college to me is over 1.5 hours away by car and that would be a 3 hour round trip for a one hour class, 4-5 times a week.

The very reason that I started up my own sewing business was the fact that I could work at home and sell via the internet. I live in a remote country area and commuting was out of the question for me. The only time I need to go to town was for shipping out items and grocery shopping. I have the business background for my business and have had to learn more about the marketing angle of it. Because I am never satisfied with the volume of my sales I am seriously looking into Distance Learning to improve my marketing knowledge.

I know I have a few unique and interesting items that I sell to a group of elite customers but I want everyone to know about the items. My advertising budget is small and I will allocate more to it as the sales volume grows. Off hand I don’t know if that makes for good business sense or not so I might have to look into furthering my business knowledge too.

Get ready for Mother's Day with free cross stitch patterns

Are you looking for cross stitch patterns with a Mother's Day theme? Here is an article with lots of links to free patterns for Mother's Day. Remember that Mother's Day is on May 10, 2008 so it doesn't give you much time to put something together.

Free Mother's Day cross stitch patterns