Creating Celebration Quilts
Cyndi Souder
Schiffer Publishing; $19.99

I think we’ve all made celebration quilts, whether that’s to celebrate a new baby or to celebrate someone’s life after it ends. Cyndi Souder has taken the concept of a celebration quilt and provided you with a blueprint to create your own individual quilt. I love the idea of the worksheet she starts with. So often we know we are making a quilt to celebrate something, only we don’t spend the time to really evaluate its purpose, the mechanics and the design. She gives you 10 broad questions plus other questions based on the answer you choose. By writing them down on the worksheet, you are getting clear on your project and setting yourself up for success. To get started, she walks you through the process of making five of her celebration quilts. Reading how she made her decisions was fascinating and will be valuable as you approach your celebration quilt. Actually, it is valuable for any quilts that you make. All quilters need knowledge and techniques in their toolbox as they work. Cyndi devotes one section of the book to this, including topics such as taming difficult fabrics and using photographs. I particularly liked her discussion on what she terms QuiltWriting, a technique of stitching words on the quilt with free-form machine quilting. The book also includes a gallery of 34 quilts.

Look for the book at your favorite book retailer. Here’s a link to www.Amazon.com if you would like to learn more about the book.

First, I think you do have to spend money on advertising. And, yes, your website is your biggest ad. So if you don’t have a website that should be at the top of your list. And, it needs to be more than your business card.

How much to spend will vary by each individual. I can give you a range that I have seen for marketing for small fiber-arts related businesses, and that’s 3% to 10% of your gross revenue. That’s for marketing, so it includes more than advertising. Marketing is your overall plan for promoting, pricing, and placement of your product, and advertising is part of the promotional strategy. The U.S. Small Business Administration suggests that businesses that generate less than $5 million in revenue allocate between 7 and 8 percent of revenues for marketing. They base these on gross margins in the 10 to 12 percent range. The National Federation of Independent Business suggests that small businesses allocate between 2 and 5 percent of sales specifically for advertising. They don’t consider the whole marketing budget. You could take both guidelines and end up with 5% for advertising and another 2% for other marketing. Of course, the larger your business, the more funds you have to allocate. If you expect to spend 5% for advertising in your business that will gross $100,000 this year, be sure you’ve set aside or have access to $5,000 for ads.

Regardless of the amount you spend, be sure that your advertising includes a “call to action” or CTA. It is a waste of money if you don’t tell people what you want them to do as a result of reading your ad. It could be as simple asking them to go to your website to sign up for your newsletter and get your free irresistible offer. It could be letting them know about a sale you are having. The idea is that they will take action from seeing your ad.

Look for places to advertise where large numbers of your ideal clients, not just interested parties, hang out. For example, companies advertise in The Professional Quilter or at the Creative Arts Business Summit because they know that our members are professionals and have more influence with a larger audience of quilters. They are “connectors” and the advertiser gets more from the expenditure.

When crafting your ad, remember that people tend to read in a “Z,” starting at the top left, across the top, down to the bottom left and then across the bottom. Focus on benefits and put that at the top of your ad. You want your customer to realize that you are the solution to their problem. Once you have them looking at your ad, realizing that you are the answer, they will follow the “Z” to see your name and contact info at the bottom.

Last, track your results. You need to figure out which ads are working for you and which are not. Then make adjustments to your marketing and advertising strategy.

Please share your experiences on advertising spending below.

ScrapTherapy® Scraps Plus One!
Joan Ford
The Taunton Press; $24.95

In this follow-up to her best-selling book ScrapTherapy™ Cut the Scraps!, Joan Ford once again sets out to help you tackle your never-ending stash of leftover fabric. Her approach in this book is to take your scraps and add one inspiration, whether that is one color, a focus fabric or a bright and bold stripe. If you are unfamiliar with Joan’s ScrapTherapy® technique, she offers a review. Now that you are up to speed on the system, Joan shares more than 20 projects to take on that stash of scraps. Her instructions are clear and well-illustrated, and I loved reading about the inspiration for each quilt and seeing her personality come through.

A couple of weeks ago in this ezine/blog, I challenged you to spend time working on your business. How did you make out? It is definitely an ongoing process. One of the areas I like to look at is the advertising part of the marketing plan for my business.

Advertising is used to persuade an audience (your potential or current customers/clients) to take action with respect to your product or service. And if that action is purchasing your product, it can take some time. I’ve read numerous studies that it can take anywhere from 13-17 times for someone to see your ad before they purchase. Much of the initial viewing of your ad puts your name in the mind of the buyer. They begin to recognize your name or brand. Once your name becomes familiar, the prospect moves along a continuum to become a customer and hopefully a long-term client.

I think some form of advertising belongs in your marketing plan. When I think about advertising I often go back to the basic questions I learned in journalism school: Who, What, Where, When, Why and How. Here are my thoughts on how they relate to advertising:

If you spend time considering these questions, you will be well on your way to an effective advertising plan.

Please share your thoughts and experiences with advertising on the blog.

The Ancient Art of Appliqué
Collaborators: Tentmakers of Cairo, Jenny Bowker, Bonnie Browning
American Quilter’s Society; $19.95

If you’ve not had occasion to see the work of the Tentmakers of Cairo, this will provide you with a good background and give you a glimpse into how the men work. Tentmaker work, called screens or hangings, originally was the walls of the tents. The actual tentmakers, largely men, pass the skills generation to generation. Sadly their work is little valued in Egypt, and only 55 tentmakers stitch their appliquéd designs today. Slowly their work is receiving more attention, starting with Jenny Bowker arranging for the work to be shown in Australia followed by exhibits in France and Spain. In addition to the background on tentmakers, the book includes photos of 17 tentmakers along with designs and patterns for 18 of their designs as 14″ by 14″ pillow tops. The narrative was very informative, and I realized when studying the work that my sister brought me a tentmaker’s pillow top from a trip to Egypt. This has given me a whole new level of appreciation.

Fabulous Feathers & Fillers
Sue Nickels
American Quilter’s Society
$24.95

Award-winning quilter Sue Nickels is known for her outstanding domestic machine quilting and has been teaching machine techniques for more than 22 years. Her goal in Feathers & Fillers is to teach you her technique for creating a shaded wholecloth feather-type motif in any size, shape or style that suits you. She shares all the supplies you need along with her experiences using them. I appreciated her discussion of the sewing room along with pictures of herself quilting, so I could see how she manages the quilt. The conversational tone of the book was great and you felt like you were with her in her studio as she explained how to accomplish what she had. The overwhelming majority of the book focuses on technique so you can really learn. This is followed with nine projects of wholecloth feather designs to use your new found skills. If feathers are your thing, or you want to learn feathers, this is a great resource.

Before the fall starts, show season is in full force and you start thinking about the holidays, try to set aside some time in the next week or two to work “on” your business. I think the business retreat is a great way to do this.

All of us find it really easy to work in our businesses but do you work “on” our businesses? I’d always heard about this concept, but didn’t really understand it as much in the early days of my business. Well, that was because I was spending all my time working “in” my business. Much of what I learned about this concept came from the E-Myth people, particularly Michael Gerber’s book The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It. The premise is that we can’t grow our business if we spend all our time doing the work in the business; i.e., being the technicians or doers. We have to learn and utilize management and entrepreneurial skills to build the business. Your goal should be to have your business work for you, not you working for it.

So, is all your time spent “doing” the business?

Here are four ways to strive toward working on your business:

1. Develop a clear vision about the path your company will take. This clarity is critical for you and for any people that you hire, whether full-time or on a project basis.
2. Take time to work on your business. I’ve heard from numerous quilters in business – longarm quilters to commission art quilters – that you need to spend two-to three hours marketing your business for every hour you spend fabricating your art. The best approach here is to set aside the time that works for you to do this. It could be three hours every morning or it could be every Monday and Tuesday. Sometimes you need to try working on your business in a different surrounding. I have a friend who goes to the local café each week to work on her business. The goal is set a time consistently to do this.
3. Look for ways to create systems in your business. This could be anything from a system to contact potential buyers to a system to process orders. Systems make a difference in how much time you don’t spend as a technician or doer. I’m continually looking at what I do to see if a system could be initiated.
4. Work on yourself. In addition to spending time working on your business, you need to work on yourself. The late Jim Rohn said, “Work harder on yourself than you do on your job. The major value in life is not what you get. The major value in life is what you become.” And, who you become as a person spills over into your business.

I’ve blocked a couple days for this and am thinking about going somewhere outside my home. It’s easier to do this without distractions. Good luck with your retreat and the plans you come up with.

Please share your best business lesson on the blog.

Leisure Arts – Just Your Style
Gudrun Erla
Leisure Arts; $19.95

I’ve always liked Gudrun Erla’s design sense and make a point of seeing what she has in her booth at Quilt Market, particularly how she handles the display. In her newest book for Leisure Arts, she shares seven patterns done both in traditional and modern styles. I particularly liked the modern Jelly Bean quilt with its raw-edge appliqué ovals and the Simply Rectangles. I also enjoyed seeing the two versions side-by-side and comparing the differences.

Look for the book at your favorite book retailer. Here’s a link to www.Amazon.com if you would like to learn more about the book.

In the current issue of The Professional Quilter, Robin Talbott profiled the Swirly Girls, aka Susan Emory and Christine Van Buskirk, as she went behind the scenes of this “young, fun and memorable” business.

The Swirly Girls run a successful pattern and design business today and they are savvy business owners. Getting where they are today required shifts in their business focus. The article focuses on the development of the business and the lessons that they learned along the way. Here are four takeaways from the article:

1. Don’t be afraid to give yourself permission to move away from one aspect of your business. It doesn’t weaken your potential. It opens you up to explore new ventures.
2. Realize that while others may have more complete business experience than you do, no one has done what you are doing in your own way. You are writing your own textbook.
3. Don’t be afraid to abandon what is not working. It’s just business to be clear on what’s working and what’s not.
4. Once you decide to make a change, embrace it and go for it.

The complete profile can be found in the Summer 2013 issue of The Professional Quilter and is one of the IAPQ member benefits. You can learn more about membership and receive your own issue here.

Please share your best business lesson below.