With the summer holidays fast approaching I thought you may be interested in my top ten inspiring creative, craft & handmade business books that I've personally found to be extremely useful reading in my entrepreneurial journey.
I'm currently reading The Fortune Cookie Principle by Bernadette Jiwa - I'll let you know how I got on with it and give you a review when I've finished !
Here are my all time favourite creative entrepreneurial reads to date (I've linked them to Amazon for further information but they're also available via other bookstores) ..
Happy holiday reading!
Colour preference is an emotive response resulting from physical & measurable body reactions when certain colours are encountered.
As with all senses, particular colours stimulate the brain’s hypothalamus and pituitary glands in different manners which then trigger thyroid glands into producing hormones which can affect our mood, emotions and behaviour.
Consider your own purchases – how much does the colour of a product or service affect your choice as to whether to purchase or not? Is the colour (in your opinion) trustworthy, reliable or effective or does the colour convey quality, luxury, action, thought?
With this in mind, it makes sense to use colours that are in alignment with your desired brand
image and which will enable your products and services to be perceived in the way in which you wish them to be.
Apparently, from initial encounter it takes just 90 seconds* to form an opinion regarding a product or service and the choice of colour forms a part of the ‘to purchase or not to purchase’ equation.
According to this Kissmetrics report by Jeremy Smith** which has some great graphic branding examples ‘women don’t like gray, orange, and brown. They like blue, purple, and green.
In a survey on color and gender, 35% of women said blue was their favorite color, followed by purple (23%) and green (14%). 33% of women confessed that orange was their
least favorite color, followed by brown (33%) and gray (17%)’
‘Men don’t like purple, orange, and brown. Men like blue, green and black. If you’re marketing to men, these are the colors to stay away from: purple, orange, and brown. Instead, use blue, green, and black’
Psychological colour associations***:
- Blue - trustworthiness, serenity, tranquillity, calm, security, loyalty, intelligence
- Yellow – warning, bright, energy, creativity, happiness
- Green - eco-friendly, nature, environment, growth, fertility, fresh
- Orange – fun, impulse, courage, confidence, success
- Black – luxury, value, dramatic, classy, formal
- White - freedom, space, innocence, purity, fresh, clean
- Red – love, energy, power, strength, passion
- Brown – earthy, conservative, outdoorsy
- Pink – playful, happy, feminine, friendly
- Purple – royalty, luxury, ambition, success, spiritual
- Grey – security, reliability, solid
- Silver – glamorous, sleek, hi tech, grace
- Gold – wealth, prosperity, tradition, money
What does your colour choice say about you and your business?
References
* Satyendra Singh
** Jeremy Smith - http://blog.kissmetrics.com/psychology-of-color-and-conversions/
*** One Lily creative agency/ColorMatters.com - http://gb.pinterest.com/pin/323837029428203318
It's estimated there are around 300 million blogs now online including abandoned blogs that serve as reference materials and highly interactive blogs with hundreds of thousands of visitors.
Blogging started in the late 1990's and gave rise to a new era of social interaction which is now firmly embedded as a social media platform enabling millions of individuals to flex their creative writing muscles and publish content that is informative, inspiring, educational & entertaining to appeal to a select audience. In return, readers engage with the content and the blog authors enabling insight into the minds and hearts of many readers and potential customers a business would not previously had such direct access to.
So, how can blogging benefit your creative, craft or handmade business?
1. Blogs are the most popular online method of enabling you to raise awareness that your business exists and to provide a regular showcase of your work, talent, creativity and knowledge to build, inspire and educate an audience of appreciative readers and potential customers. They can also help your audience understand both yourself & your products and services better.
2. Using your blog you can communicate en masse your expertise, inspiration, knowledge, passion and skills through teaching, demonstrating, provoking thought & supporting your readers on their own creative journey.
3. A blog assists in establishing you as a voice, a leader, an expert or as the 'go to' resource in your industry which assists in enhancing your reputation, appeal and popularity in your chosen niche. Your personality will shine through to inspire others.
4. Authentic blog content which is clearly aligned with and resonates with your readers interests & purpose will help you to build interactive relationships which over time can assist in turning them from engaged readers to appreciative buyers.
5. Having a blog that is full of useful, informative & interesting information can help attract media opportunities such as guest posting,personal appearences, featured work, media coverage and contributing to your 'social proof' as others will be effectively endorsing your views to distribute to their audiences
6. Blogs help contribute to your search engine optimization (SEO) which is one measure of how much search engines and the internet view you as a useful resource. As your blog content should naturally be full of relevant keywords associated with your business and for which you wish to be recognised online for then your search engine ranking will improve and you will become more visible in searches performed by your readers. Regularly updating your blog is a necessity as it provides search engines with continual fresh content for them to take a look at and reference.
7. If your business objectives are to make sales, become profitable, build an audience, keep existing customers loyal then a blog can help you achieve these objectives by exposing your business to a worldwide audience of potential readers and customers that you would have found it harder to access. As an added bonus, as blogs are like small children who need to be nurtured, loved and developed, they are a great tool for showing you are reliable, committed and interested enough in your readers to show up regularly and ask for nothing in return.
8. Perhaps you are an aspiring writer, teacher or leader in your field? A blog offers you an outlet to showcase your work and ideas. Readers who continually see your work, enjoy it and gain value from it will learn both yourself and your advice and views are trustworthy and likeable without ever having to meet you. Blogs have the added bonus of enabling you to hone your writing and communication skills to ensure your points are accurately & succinctly communicated!
9. Blogs are often free to set up if you start off with Blogger or Wordpress and can provide a base for structuring your social media updates. If you regularly post new content to your blog then this same content can inform your social media messages.
10. Blogs are excellent interaction and research tools as they offer the opportunity for your customers to comment and start conversations with you as steps towards building relationships which are critical for business success.
11. Useful, adding value, informative & interesting blog content can set you apart from your competition and position you as an online industry friend with benefits!
Next week I'll be writing about the do's and don'ts for successful blogs but in the meantime, with all the above benefits in mind will you start blogging to boost your business success?
Here's a quick, simple & cute way to adorn a gift, card or decoration - a hand made paper bow
Easy to make, you simply take 2 scraps of different size rectangular shaped paper and then fold each one over until the opposite ends meet and secure with glue.
Layer several on top of each other for a more decadent effect!
Do you have any bow tips & techniques you'd like to share?
When we craft we pour our hearts, souls, aspirations, hopes & dreams into our creations. They are a small part of us sent out into the world with love to be adopted and cared for by appreciative customers.
Sometimes, it seems as though what we're making isn't what others are desiring.
Here's a handy checklist you can bear in mind to ensure there'll be an loving home for your creations to go to...
1. Is your creation on trend, in vogue, up with fashion? Fashion trends change all the time and are heavily influenced by the media, celebrities, television and culture. To stand the best chance of creating products that sell pay heed to predicted hot colours, trends, styles, ethics & beliefs that are resonating with potential customers.
2. Can you market and promote it effectively? Clear, professional photographs, simple & clear descriptions outlining how the product benefits buyers, clear pricing strategies and innovative & timely methods of communicating the products existence are all imperative to get right to attract the right attention. Confused buyers simply do not buy!
3. Is it an original idea or a copy of someone else's work? If original, your creation provides uniqueness and a sense of fulfilling core feelings and desires within your customers. Your creation has an inbuilt passion that only handmade with love can create. If it looks like every other creation in the marketplace, think why would a customer wish to buy it and ensure this is translated in your sales message. Be realistic on your sales projection numbers - you an't be all things to all people all of the time.
4. Does it fit with your existing brand and image? Potential & existing customers view you as a maker ass representing a certain look, image or style. Does your new product fit in their expectations of you and your brand? Think about your audience and what they want from you first.
5. Are you willing to put the time & effort into marketing your new product? Long gone are the days when you could put it on your website, shop front, online store and it would just sell itself. You need to actively, consistently & patiently build your audience for your product, sell it based on how it benefits buyers, tell potential customers how it will solve their problems or address their fears, reassure them how they're likely to feel once they've purchased it and how you're going to reward their loyalty after purchase.
6. Is your creation actually what people want? Knowing your buyers is fundamental to achieving sales. Do you know what they like, where they buy, how they buy, what they buy, what are their interests, what budgets they operate to, their tastes, styles, preferred colours, how they dress, what do they want to achieve when buying? Build the answers to these questions into your creation process and you'll have more chance of a winning product.
7. Can you leverage social proof into persuading others to buy? Any great testimonials from customers who've already purchased the product or similar products from you? Use them! Recommendations are still the #1 method people rely on when selecting who to buy from. If you're unsure of how to get great testimonials read my article on
8. Where are your potential customers in the sales process? Although they may not buy this time, this product, you may be slowly and surely working your magic on them to purchase at a later date. Don't be disheartened if sales are slower than you want them to be, it may just be a case of building your like, know, trust factor more before they're ready to make the purchase.
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