I bought The Handmade Marketplace a while back, skimmed through it here and there, and never really sat down and read it. This morning, I was doing some catching-up on my blog reading, and I saw Moorea's post from earlier this week about her own Indie Business experience. I checked out the Indie Business 3.0 website, and it sounds really awesome....but a little expensive for a grad student. So I finally sat down and read The Handmade Marketplace, and it got me thinking... I recently posted about taking "the next step" with Crack the Sky.... I've started advertising on other blogs, created a new product line for my shop, and have been actively promoting my blog and shop with Twitter, Facebook, and also the Etsy Blog Team.
This is Crack the Sky in a nutshell.....
With all of that said, I still feel unsure about how to proceed... I feel like there are bits and pieces that I'm missing.... but I don't know exactly what they are! I feel like I'm at a pivotal point in my life.... I just graduated from college, and have started grad school. My field has absolutely nothing to do with art, but creating has always been a huge part of my life - and I don't plan on that ever changing. I know that, right now, I'm ready and able to take my business to the next level. I just need to figure out the missing pieces - how can I better brand myself and my business? I feel like I'm really starting to figure out my 'identity' - the look and feel of my brand - and I want to better communicate that. I also want to expand my product line - I want to carry a wide range of items, but still have a cohesive feel to everything. That's the tricky part, for me!
So...all of this rambling leads me to this: have any of you taken the Indie Business class? It sounds like an amazing opportunity...it sounds like it will answer many of the questions I've had about my own business. But $90 is a little steep for poor, destitutde grad-student me. That's an entire week's babysitting pay! So.... what are your thoughts on the class? Have you taken it? Know someone who has? Do you think it would be worth it, or do you know of any other resources that would offer similar information (like a book)?
The Handmade Marketplace talks about a lot of the same subjects.... but there aren't any step-by-step guidelines, helpful pictures or tutorials, or real people to answer my questions!
(Does it sound like I'm answering my own questions and convincing myself to just shell out the $90??)
What do you think??
