My Etsy shop has been on vacation mode for almost a year. Fear and self doubt were the primary reasons for my hiatus, but I am determined to overcome that this year. I am reopening my Etsy shop, but things will be a little different (and hopefully a whole lot better) in 2020.
2019 was NOT my year for Etsy profits. In fact, I made one sale. That’s right folks, one whopping sale, and on the second to last day of the year. Now in my defense, I also wasn’t trying to sell for reasons I will explain in just a moment. But for 2020 I’m shifting my focus and reopening my Etsy shop.
I’ve been thinking a lot about balance recently and how to attain it. As a creative person I find myself vacillating wildly between working with extreme focus or wandering aimlessly from one idea to the next. Although the past few months have been quite productive, I have felt a little like a chicken running around with its head cut off. Actually that’s not even an accurate description. A mutant, crazy eyed fowl jumping from one frying pan to another sounds more like it! But I’ve discovered an approach that is working for me and maybe it will help you too! I must believe and bloom to be able to achieve balance. This may sound like nonsense, but I love alliteration and I do have a point!
Yes, I am that crazy woman who brought a crocheted pig into Disney World and snapped a photo of him! On an average day almost 53,000 individuals enter the gates of Magic Kingdom in Orlando, FL. Gasp. Let that sink in for a sec… That equals over nineteen million visitors each year! It is the most visited amusement park in the world and there are no signs of it slowing down any time soon, even with more competition coming on the scene in recent years.
I’m not French. I don’t speak French. I’ve never been to France. I’ve never even been to Quebec, for goodness sake! But the name of my little crochet business is most definitely French and more than likely I don’t even pronounce it correctly!
When I began thinking about making my little crochet hobby a bit more official I knew it needed a name. I’ve admired other craft bloggers and handmade businesses for years and they usually have a very memorable name. I wanted something that represented my love for crochet but also represented something more than that. I wanted the name to represent why I was crocheting.
I wrote down dozens of cute names that typically had the word “bunny” or “cozy” or “cottage” in them, but none felt quite right. I thought about how I loved making beautiful crocheted things and that I took such care to make sure that no detail was overlooked. Those thoughts led me to my admiration of a little French saint from the late 19th century.
St. Therese of Lisieux, also known as The Little Flower, was a cloistered Carmelite nun. In her autobiography, Story of a Soul, St. Therese wrote about how her position in life limited what she was going to be able to accomplish. In coming to this realization she wrote, “Love proves itself by deeds, so how am I to show my love? Great deeds are forbidden me. The only way I can prove my love is by scattering flowers and these flowers are every little sacrifice, every glance and word, and the doing of the least actions for love.” Her attitude towards life was a great inspiration to the legendary Mother Teresa who is famous for saying, “Do small things with great love.”
That saying perfectly encapsulates my highest goal as a maker. I want to do everything, down to the smallest of details, with great love and care. I know that my place in this world is a small one, but I believe that the small things really are the big things when done in the right spirit. Le Petit Saint Crochet (The Little Saint Crochet) is a tiny homage to St. Therese and a reminder for me to always do the small things with the greatest of love and attention.
I’ll admit it, I’m a podcast junkie. I have loved listening to them for years, but recently discovered a handful of amazing ones specific for those of us with handmade businesses. I listen when I’m driving, when I’m cleaning, and when I’m crocheting. I love that they are informative, entertaining, and FREE!
My favorite podcasts for handmade business people are (cue drumroll……)
The Merriweather Council Podcast This is my hands-down, absolute favorite, handmade business podcast. For starters, Danielle makes me laugh. She has a very natural way of connecting with listeners. She has had an extremely successful Etsy shop for many years and shares her secrets with all of us! I love that many of the podcast episodes are quite short and are packed with useful information! She’s a tell-it-like-it-is host and I appreciate her so much for it!
The BHooked Podcast This is my favorite crochet related podcast and it’s my second favorite business one as well. Brittany has turned her handmade hobby into a successful career and helps us do the same. While she doesn’t sell finished products, she does design and has a YouTube channel. Brittany is the Oprah of the crafting world with her insightful interviews with the top designers of the industry.
The Goal Digger Podcast is the bomb dot com for business gals. Jenna Kutcher’s podcast feels like you’re sitting down with a girlfriend who has all the answers! She is very open about her own struggles but shares with listeners how she has overcome them. The podcast is part inspiration, part kick-in-the-pants. She gives listeners practical, doable steps to take to become successful.
Raw Milk Podcast is a fairly new podcast and has a very different feel from the others listed. Beth Kirby (@local_milk) has a huge following on Instagram (over 700k!) She is an accomplished photographer, who has taken the unbeaten path to find success. Her first episode about taking the anxiety out of Instagram is worth its weight in gold!
Christy Wright’s Business Boutique Christy Wright is one of the Dave Ramsey personalities who specializes in small businesses run by women. I listened to the first two episodes of her podcast before I even knew how to crochet, but what I heard intrigued me. I knew then that I wanted to have my own business someday, I just didn’t know what it would be! Christy is a very serious woman who knows how to go after what she wants and shows other women how to do the same.
The Jennifer Allwood Show is a new podcast to me. I have only been listening for a few weeks but what I’ve heard so far has me coming back for more. Jennifer is a down-to-earth, boss momma. She’s been-there-done-that and isn’t afraid to share her secrets. Two of her recent episodes have been extremely helpful for me, episode 81: How to Fight Discouragement and episode 83: The #1 Thing You Can Do to Boost Your Online Sales.
I hope you all have found this list helpful! Tell me about your favorite handmade business podcasts!
I’ll admit it, I’m a podcast junkie. I have loved listening to them for years, but recently discovered a handful of amazing ones specific for those of us with handmade businesses. I listen when I’m driving, when I’m cleaning, and when I’m crocheting. I love that they are informative, entertaining, and FREE!