At our recent Creative Arts Business Summit, we asked the attendees for a testimonial that we could use to market the event in the future. Testimonials are a terrific way to help market your quilt or creative arts business. It’s word-of-mouth advertising, only you get to decide who hears it and what is heard. While you may get unsolicited testimonials, it’s a good idea for you to actually ask for a response. In some cases you might want to offer a thank you gift for the comment. Here are some ideas to try:

We Love Color: 16 Iconic Quilt Designers Create with Kona Solids
Susanne Woods, Compiler
C&T Publishing; $23.95

Who doesn’t love color? We Love Color is a collection of 16 quilts made by some
of today’s leading designers in the modern quilt movement. They all use solid Kona
cottons from Robert Kaufman Company. Some of the quilts look quite traditional,
some abstract. You’ll find structured pieced quilts and free-form landscapes. I
was particularly taken by Orbit by Jennifer Sampou made with improvisational circles
and strips. The book also includes an interview with Denyse Schmidt about her Paper
Bag Piecing technique, which she uses to help student choose and combine colors
to create their own one-of-a-kind quilts. A resource guide showcasing all the Kona
cottons used in the book is included.

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

I do some of my best thinking in yoga class. I think it’s because I have fewer distractions.
Last week our instructor, Heather, was talking about how different people are able
to hold specific poses for quite some time. She also noted how some of us have more
difficulty finding the right pose, and, of course, it’s different for all of us.

It’s easy to look around the room and see how someone is so able to hold a balance
pose for what seems like forever when I start to waver. Then I can see how my revolved
triangle pose is very open and I’m aware that not everyone is as open through the
upper body as I am. As we went through the class, several people commented on the
progress one woman had made with her pigeon pose since she’d been coming to yoga.

So what does this have to do with your creative arts business? Here are the lessons
I took from the class.

1. We all have different skills and abilities. Focus on what you can do at the present
   time and build on that.
2. Don’t compare yourself to others. It’s not about being as good as, or better
   than, someone else. In the end, your only real competition is yourself.
3. You can only start in one place, where you are now, and grow from there.

So, what’s stopping you from starting?

Please share your thoughts below.

Yes, it’s tax time again. As a self-employed business owner, it’s important for me to have a handle on my business and know what is deductible and what isn’t. Invariably when I talk about taxes with creative entrepreneurs, someone will tell me they have an accountant. “Terrific,” I say. “But what does she know about your business in particular?” You go to an accountant because she knows taxes. She can be very knowledgeable about small businesses, but she cannot know the nuances of every type of small business. She works with what you give her. That’s why it’s important for you to do your own research, understand tax strategies and keep track of deductions to which you are entitled. Here are some tips for maximizing those deductions.

1. Keep better track of your mileage. I’ve read that when you estimate, you actually underestimate. I use the Quilt Engagement Calendar in conjunction with the trip meter in my car. I set the meter to zero at the start of my trip and then enter the mileage in the calendar at the end, along with a notation as to the purpose of the trip. The IRS doesn’t care how you track your mileage, just that you have written logs. You can also track your public transportation costs in the same log.

2. Group your errands. The IRS allows business owners to deduct business mileage. For 2012, the rate was 55.5 cents per mile. (For 2013, the rate is 56.5 cents.) If you have personal errands, do them at the same time as your business errands.

3. Use the per diem rates for meals. The IRS has established per diem, or by the day, allowances for meals that self-employed individuals can use. At your option you can use either the per diem or actual costs, depending on which gives you the greater deduction. I find that in most cases, the per diem is better. Remember, that you can only deduct 50% of the per diem or actual meal costs. For per diem rates, refer to IRS Publication 1542, Per Diem Rates.

4. If you operate as a sole proprietorship, consider hiring your children aged 18 and under. You can get a deduction for their wages (up to $5,950 in 2012), and in most cases your children do not have to pay taxes on the wages. Details: IRS Publication 15, “Circular E, Employer’s Tax Guide.

5. It may not be too late to set up a retirement plan for yourself to shelter some of your income. Talk to your accountant about your options.

6. Don’t forget about professional publications and dues. All the quilt and many other magazines that you buy are deducible if you use them in your business. Your IAPQ dues are also deductible, as is your trip to the Creative Arts Business Summit.

7. And, if your books weren’t up-to-date or you are a shoebox records filer, vow to be better in 2013.

For more information, you can refer to IRS Publication 334, Tax Guide for Small Business. Also recommended is 475 Tax Deductions for Businesses and Self-Employed Individuals by Bernard Kamaroff, CPA.

Please share your favorite tax tip by leaving a reply below.

Curves Without Piecing
Annette Ornelas
American Quilters Society; $12.95

American Quilter’s Society recently published a series of 24 books in its new Love to Quilt series. The books, 32 pages in length, feature excerpts and patterns from earlier books. Some of the titles include Marble Your Own Quilt Fabrics by Kathy Fawcett & Carol Shoaf; Circular Quilting Designs by Helen Squire; and Curves Without Piecing by Annette Ornelas. A complete list of books is at www.lovetoquiltcreations.com. A great way to try a technique at a lower price point.

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

Saturday was Worldwide Quilting Day. Of course, quilters knew all along it was bigger than a national celebration, so it was nice to share with the rest of the world. The celebration got me thinking about my own quilt beginnings and why I ended up creating a business from what I love. I could actually write a lot about this, but I’ll try to be brief. After all, you’re running a business and need to focus on that!

I did not come from a tradition of quilting, and only after I began quilting did a couple of quilts find their way into my home. I did come from a tradition of sewing and art. My great-great grandmothers were professional seamstresses, and family lore has me threading their needles at the age of three. My mother was a professional watercolorist and taught the subject. So I can see my background was filled with thread and color.

After starting with sewing (and selling) Barbie clothes as a youngster, progressing through my own personal sewing and multitude of arts and crafts (knitting, crochet, embroidery, painting), I happened on a quilt show in the fall of 1976 at Queens College in Charlotte, NC. That was all it took for me to ask about classes. As I often share, I had the sewing machine and all those scraps so it couldn’t be a costly hobby.

Fast forward just a couple of years and I wanted to share my new found love of quilting and I began teaching at the local adult ed program. At that point, my accountant suggested I form a business and I did. As I look back over the past 30 plus – yikes – years, I went from teaching to creating patterns to selling my work at arts and craft shows to working in a cooperative to taking commissions. They were all ways for me to express my own creativity and share it with others.

Back in 1994, my business took a turn and I began to work with more creative entrepreneurs who wanted to know how they, too, could create a business from their passion at quilting. That was the beginning of my tenure as editor and publisher of The Professional Quilter. That led eventually to the International Association of Professional Quilters. As I look back, it’s always been about providing information for growth as creative entrepreneurs.

So why do you quilt? I quilt because I love thread and color and creating. It’s fills a deep need in me. Why do you have a quilt business? I have one because I want to empower women (OK, and cool men) who have a passion for creating and sharing that with others to craft a profitable business for themselves from that passion. It’s also about creating a legacy so that Worldwide Quilting Day continues well past the time we all celebrated it.

Please share your thoughts on your “why” below.

Quiltings, Frolicks, and Bees: 100 Years of Signature Quilts
by Sue Reich
Schiffer Publishing; $29.95

Is there a quilter around who hasn’t added her name to a signature quilt? I know I’ve signed several over the years, and I created a basket quilt for my grandmother’s 90th birthday with blocks signed by her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. What I like best about the process is that it involves non-quilters. Sue Reich takes a look at 100 years of signature quilts from the late 18th through early 19th centuries. Much of the text comes from actual newspaper articles documenting gatherings of quilters to quilt, or “frolick.” The book includes numerous photos of quilts with family, patriotic, community, charitable and religious themes. I enjoyed the newspaper accounts, e.g., the “clever scheme for raising money to pay for a scholarship for a heathen girl.” Of course, once completed, “the question arose as to the method of disposing of the coverlet.” In this case it went to the first to be married, with rumors of weddings and the announcement that “several members had set the fateful day.” A valuable addition to quilt scholarship.

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

I had a conversation with a friend last week about growing our respective businesses. It was about how big we wanted to get. The conversation centered not on making lots and lots more money, not to say that making a good income should be ignored. It centered on how many people we could impact, whether that was the initial person we worked with, or the people that person influenced, or further down the line. You know, the ripple effect.

So, I ask you, are you thinking beyond the person you are helping right now? Are you thinking about how big of an impact you have beyond that?

If not, go back and look at those goals you wrote. They are written, right? Look at how you can reach more people and create more value. And when you do this, you change the lives of those people and the people in their lives.

I start each day with a list of questions for myself, and, yes, some are revenue based. Beyond that is, “What is your stretch goal for today?”

Funny thing, once I started thinking about my impact in a broader sense, my business was more challenging, more fun and more rewarding.

Here are a couple of favorite quotes about human potential:

Listen to Your Quilt: Select the Perfect Quilting Every Time – 4 Simple Steps
by Barbara Persing
C&T Publishing; $17.95

I sometimes think the most dreaded words a quilter hears are, “Quilt as Desired.” What does that mean for someone who is a novice at quilting? Or even for someone who is just overwhelmed at the choices she can use? If this is a challenge for you or your students, Barbara Persing’s book will help. She looks at four steps to help you choose a quilting design: the category of the quilt, what its intended use is, what quilting will enhance the quilt and what thread color to use. Barbara showcases more than 20 different quilts and explains how she used her system. The quilts are shown in full size and in a detail. I wish the full size quilts were clearer, as the quilting doesn’t show to its full advantage. She also offers more than 20 different quilting designs that you can use. A good resource to get you started.

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