If you do, start a blog. It's easy to navigate for the beginner and a great marketing tool for the experienced. It is also FREE! If you don't want to use the free domain assigned by the blog, you can purchase a domain name and redirect it to your site. Let's say I owned the domain name www.craftyliving.com and I wanted to use that site name for this blog. I can! I would go to whomever I bought the domain name from and ask them how to have it redirected to go to my free blog site on Blogger or Wordpress. This is a very cheap way to get started because a domain shouldn't cost more than $10 a year. What a deal!

Templates are available online for transforming your blog into a store!

In addition, if you use Blogger, you can import your Etsy items onto the front page of your blog. What a cool tool!!! Unfortunately, Wordpress doesn't offer this feature but Wordpress offers more templates to choose from.

You can easily import your craft photos onto your blog using Flickr. I've done this and absolutely think it is one of the easiest ways to do photos. I'm photo challenged and I don't like taking the time to upload and upload. This process is very tedious for me. By using Flickr I've learned that it doesn't have to take so much time because the tools are all built right in. It's an absolute time-saver.

Now that you have your own website, how are you going to drive traffic to it? Hmmm, this is a challege for everyone but there are some great tools out there and some are FREE! Maybe you can barter advertising space from another online business or join an online group for online businesses similar to your own. To advertise online, you first need a banner.

If you need help with a banner, there are several do-it-yourself banner sites out there you can use for FREE! Some of these ask for a small donation to keep the site up but it would be well worth it. One such site is www.BannerSketch.com. They have great-looking templates in a variety of themes.

Good luck with new online crafting business!

We hear so much these days about layoffs and closures that it is somewhat frightening to listen to everything we hear. As most of us know, we are facing huge changes here in the United States with unemployment rising almost daily.

What better time to be creative than now?

I've been trying to focus on what people need rather than what people want. What are you willing to pay for in times like these...mostly necessities, I suppose. Maybe a little treat tucked in every now and again but not too often. I know that for me, as a mom, it gets tough to say no to my kids all of the time. Everything sparks their imagination and also their "I want that" button.

If you make craft items geared toward children,
here is a word of warning--

Have you heard about the new CPSIA law? Be extra careful when crafting and labeling your crafts. This new law was passed as a cry to safeguard our children against excess lead in toys imported from China. Remember that big scare Christmas before last with the Mattel toys? You can read more about this law on different forums and blogs. Here's one link: http://www.allcrafters.com/forums/index.php?board=38.0

Children's items are required to undergo stringent lead testing procedures or the manufacturer (crafter in our case) can face hefty fines. This testing can be expensive I hear. I've read posts about many moms shutting their crafty doors due to this new law.

I wish I had answers for you, but at this time, everyone is still researching and begging for reform. We will just have to keep our eyes and ears open for updates.

Don't give up hope though. I haven't.

I am brainstorming and coming up with new ideas daily. Time changes everything. Nothing stays the same forever and we tend to have problems adjusting and accepting change easily. That doesn't mean we can't do it though. We can and we will.

Chin up and smile wide!