Design, Sell, & Shop Fabric, Wallpaper, & Gift Wrap
Kick off a new week with a little workspace organization. We've rounded up five of our favorite DIYs to help you create a clean and tidy place for crossing off all the tasks on your to do list!
DIY Copper Desk Organizer | Burkaton
DIY Wood Shopping List Pad | The Merrythought
Free Office Printable | Inkstruck Studio
Get Your Day Organized | Create & Thrive
Today we’re serving up advice and tips from creative business owners to aid in your own creative entrepreneurial journey. To get started, we’ve collected a handful of articles on topics from important business practices to creating a brand that reflects your personality. Start your week with fresh ideas and perspectives on how to get your crafty business up and running!
The Most Important Practice for a Creative Business Owner | Handmade Success
Your Blog Post Promotion Checklist | Handmadeology
How to Choose the Right Tool | Tara Swiger
Creating a Brand That Feels Like You | Braid Creative
10 Tips to Help Established Handmade Sellers Save Time and Improve Business | Create & Thrive
Amy Flurry's DIY PR Workshop in the Greenhouse was a hit! This past Thursday night, designers, artists, and entrepreneurs from North Carolina's Triangle and beyond came out for expert advice about netting great press for creative businesses! Imparting the wisdom gained through her extensive career as an editor and contributor to some of the biggest publications in print and online, Amy's DIY PR Workshop was a great jumping off point for folks interested in spreading the word about their passion, products, and ideas.
Did you know that Amy Flurry started her career in the offices of Sassy magazine?! Since those days, she's gone on to contribute to some of the biggest publications in print and online– InStyle, Conde Nast Traveler, Country Living, and Design Sponge– and she served as a contributing editor for Lucky magazine for six years. Along the road to establishing her editorial career, Amy also co-created the Paper-Cut-Project, a creative venture that creates elaborate wigs and silhouettes from plain paper. Her paper creations have been commissioned for window displays and ad campaigns from some of the world's top fashion houses, including Hermes, Kate Spade, Valentino and Cartier. Drawing on her experiences from her editorial career and as a creative entrepreneur with an amazing idea to share, Amy Flurry has written Recipe for Press, an essential guide for folks looking to net their own great press and, therfore, grow their creative businesses. Thursday night's DIY PR Workshop was a great way to folks to hear Amy's tips first hand, and, of course, it gave us all the much coveted chance to "pick the brain" of an editor!
[Read more…] about Amy Flurry leads her DIY PR Workshop in the Greenhouse!
Registration opens today at 6pm for Pricing Your Handmade Creations, a class perfect for creative individuals interested in selling their goods! Join us in the Greenhouse, our classroom and community space here at our Durham, NC headquarters, on Thursday, October 3, from 6-8pm, as instructor and entrepreneur Julie Mullin of Fiberactive Organics shares the wisdom of over 20 years experience in selling her own fiber products. This class is free and open to the public, so head over to our Meetup page for full class information and to reserve your spot today!
We're so excited to have artist, author and publicity expert Amy Flurry in the Spoonflower Greenhouse in Durham, North Carolina, to present her DIY PR Workshop on September 19! We're giving one lucky winner a free spot in Amy's workshop and a signed copy of her comprehensive DIY publicity guide, Recipe for Press! Read on for details about the workshop and your chance to win!
If you have a great idea, story, or product to share with the world, this workshop is for you! Please join us in the Spoonflower Greenhouse at our Durham, NC headquarters as Amy Flurry shares her insider tips for getting great press in her DIY PR Workshop on Thursday, September 19, from 6-8pm.
As an editor and contributor to publications like Lucky, InStyle, and Better Homes & Gardens, Amy knows exactly what media professionals are looking for in a great story. Drawing on her own experiences having co-founded her own art company, the Paper-Cut-Project,
Amy's literally written the book on getting quality media attention and creating relationships with journalists and bloggers. Amy's workshops and lectures offer entrepreneurs tips and tools for refining their message, and she can tell you exactly what you need (and what you do not need!) for engaging an audience and maintaining relationships with folks who can help spread the word about your work and your passion.
Head over to Amy's website to register for our DIY PR Workshop in the Greenhouse. For one lucky winner, we'll cover registration and include a signed copy of Recipe for Press! Enter between now and Monday, September 2, at 5pm EST for your chance to win!
We always welcome encouragement and advice from creative business folks to help you get the word out about your creative endeavor. Today freelance writer, editor and stylist Amy Flurry shares a crash course in DIY PR, along with an excerpt from her book, Recipe for Press.
Amy Flurry, freelance writer, editor and stylist
Ten ways to make your pitch stand out! A Crash Course in DIY PR
The truth is, editors and writers are constantly on the hunt for new people and products to feature and you don’t need a publicist in order to get our attention. You do, however, need to know what it looks like to pitch like a pro. DIY publicity works, but only if you play by these oft-unspoken-by-editors rules (there are more in my book, Recipe for Press)! When you do, it makes all the difference in scoring easy press.
Keep it personal
Always address the editor or blogger by name (and make sure you spell it correctly). A different editor compiles each section of the magazine and often that editor’s byline is written on the page. If you don’t bother to find out who you should approach, then the editor won’t feel obligated to read it. Engage the editor quickly Editors receive hundreds of pitches each week so you’ve got about three to five seconds to catch their eye. Grab their attention with a compelling headline and a clean photograph (embedded directly into the email) and keep your pitch tight, preferably two short paragraphs or less.
Work with the editorial calendar
Editors and writers for national magazines work six to seven months out and regional publications pull their pages together three to four months in advance. So if you’re pitching Country Living today, you’d want to connect your product or idea to an early fall theme like Back-to-School. Include one or two great pictures: The very first thing the editor will look for in your pitch is the picture you send with it. Most editors know if they can use your product the second their eye hits the photo. Send crisp, well-lit images against a white backdrop to help your pitch rise to the top of the submission pile. And know that editors don’t open attachments. You want to embed the low-res (72 dpi) image into the email instead of sending large files that slow or clog an inbox. Give your pitch a header or subject like a handrail for your idea, this gives editors—at a glance—the skinny on the story you have in mind. A little teaser for a bright red umbrella like (Cool Wet Weather Gear …….for under $25) helps the editor see that your product could fit in a number of themed roundups or sections. It also signals to the editor that you have done your part to make a good fit for their publication and that you are ready for press.
Think beyond printed publications
One of the smartest ways to get your product in a magazine is by starting with their website. Create a relationship with an online editor, who is also looking for people and products to feature, and she’s likely to pitch your services or product to print editors when the time is right. Make it new The one word an editor wants to see in every pitch is “new.” Why? New material fuels issue after issue. Magazines want to be the first to feature a new product or service or destination. If what you’re pitching is not new, then it is your job to tie the idea or product into a new trend, a holiday or current event. Respond to editors quickly. Plenty of products with passionate people behind them fail to reach their press potential because they are simply slow to respond to editorial requests. Editors operate on very tight deadlines. If we can’t find you, we may have to move on to the company we know will come through for us every time.
Remember the Golden Rule of Publicity
The editor/PR relationship is about mutual respect, just like any other important and lasting relationship. People on either end who treat an editor or blogger as a tool or as an “outlet” are missing the message and won’t find success in pitching. Get to know the publication before you pitch. When polled, editors say that the number one mistake people make in reaching out is not reading the publication before pitching. Print and online publications are formatted similarly every day/week/month, and getting to know their formula will help you identify a great fit. Does your product look like it could be plugged on to the page you’re pitching? If so, then it’s likely a good fit. Similarly, don’t expect an editor to cover services when their pages are all product-driven. Do your homework first before reaching out.
Get to know the publication before you pitch
When polled, editors say that the number one mistake people make in reaching out is not reading the publication before pitching. Print and online publications are formatted similarly every day/week/month, and getting to know their formula will help you identify a great fit. Does your product look like it could be plugged on to the page you’re pitching? If so, then it’s likely a good fit. Similarly, don’t expect an editor to cover services when their pages are all product-driven. Do your homework first before reaching out.
An excerpt from Amy’s book, Recipe for Press: 
Amy Flurry is a contributor to some of the biggest publications on the newsstand and online including InStyle, Conde Nast Traveler, Country Living and Design Sponge. Amy served as a contributing editor to Lucky magazine for six years and is the author of the new DIY publicity book, “Recipe for Press: Pitch your story like the pros and create a buzz!” Her popular DIY PR workshop serves to strengthen relationships between editors and the entrepreneur. In addition to her editorial work, Flurry provides brand consulting for a mix of fashion and lifestyle clients.
