Bizarre and Mayhem Craft Fairs, Workshops

Mafia Mayhem Craft Fair: Indie craft fair sponsored by the Anchorage Craft Mafia. Located in Anchorage, Alaska. May 5, 2007, 12-6 pm.

Odd Ones Bizarre: Alternative arts and craft show sponsored by The Mantis Collective. Located in Harrisburg, PA. May 5, 2007, 11-7 pm.

HOW SHE DOES IT: How And Why Women Owned Businesses Are So Successful: Inspiring workshop on why women’s businesses are successful and tips on how they continue to become successful. Sponsored by the WITI. Located in San Diego, CA. May 2, 2007, 12:45-4:30 pm.

Immedium: Inspiring a Word of Imagination

Founded in San Francisco, California in 2004, Immedium is an independent publisher of wonderfully illustrated children’s books, and titles on Asian American topics and contemporary arts and culture. Currently, Immedium has less than 10 employees, who range from graphic designers, artists, editors, and administrative staff. Meet Oliver Chin, publisher of Immedium and accomplished author whose works include children’s books The Year of the Dog and The Adventures of Wonderbaby.

Preparation for Immedium
“As a cartoonist in college, I wanted to continue work in publishing and help spread ideas worth sharing. Then my work career became marketing and selling products from media companies, both large and small. I learned how products are created to satisfy a demand, target audiences, and build customer loyalty. But then I took the opportunity to write two books. This experience inspired me to return to my roots and build a publishing company based upon imaginative ideas that are well executed.”

Not Just For Children

“Though most of our books are categorized for young children (ages 4-8), Immedium also aims to please parents and gift-givers who appreciate being entertained when they read to kids.”

“However, we occasionally publish specialty titles, such Desert to Dream: A Decade of Burning Man Photography, which certainly attracted adults with an alternative/artistic attitude.”

Motivation

“[B]ecoming parents motivated us to start Immedium. Once we started searching for good books to read to our children, we realized there was still room (and, more importantly from a parental perspective, need) to create stories that had stellar art, contemporary relevance, and timeless themes. [We are motivated to make] great books for kids and parents – ones that resonate with humor, understanding, and engaging art.”

Landing a Wholesale Account

“Immedium landed its first wholesale account before we actually incorporated. Trade distribution was essential to the business’ viability, so we submitted proposals, got multiple offers, and chose one. Once we inked that, we were off and running.”

Selling Books

“We sell through our web site (http://www.immedium.com/) as well as others like Amazon, which get books from distribution, or a few that work directly from us through consignment. We have done limited consignment, experimenting locally as well as with stores far away which have a compatible clientele.”

“[Aside from selling] through bookstores (traditional and online), [we] are actively building a network of specialty retailers and community associations.”

Marketing/Advertising

“[We market our products] through our distributors catalogs [and by contacting] specialty retailers directly to get orders.”

“[We also] contact news outlets and send press releases. [In addition,] we actively try to get out books reviewed (print and online) and set up author events. We are experimenting in keyword/search engine advertising.”

Challenges with Building a Company

“Beyond raising and committing the capital, every step is challenging: from coming up with a marketable concept and finding talented artists, to printing the books and convincing retailers and consumers to buy them. We can make the best titles ever, but if people don’t see them on store shelves, they may never know what they’re missing.”

“Being a small company, we lack the marketing, distribution, and sales of larger companies. We have to compensate by constantly building our own network of customers who value our products and help generate awareness.”

Recommended Business Resources

“The Small Business Administration is a good place to start. Generally, you need to read the trade media particular to your market, and keep abreast of social trends from your local newspaper and national periodicals.”

Artistic Inspiration

“[I am inspired by ] artists whom I work with. I enjoy befriending creators who really produce dazzling art and push me forward to share it with others.”

Words of Advice-Be Your Own Best Sales Person

“Beyond coming up with a salable concept, you can’t be afraid to contact people. If you think your product is worth buying, it is worth calling a stranger about or saying hello to someone in a store. You have to be your own best sales person, because you know your creation best.”

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Contact:
Publicity Department
Immedium
P.O. Box 31846

San Francisco, CA 94131

IE Tip 6: Upcoming: Be Informed

Upcoming is a great website to learn about upcoming scheduled events all around the country. Search for craft/shopping shows, entrepreneur and networking events, and keep yourself informed. My favorite feature is the ability to export the details of your events to your own Yahoo!, Outlook, or Google calendar.

IE Tip 5: PaperbackSwap.com: Get FREE Paperback books

Looking for entrepreneur. business, and other resource books? Head over to PaperbackSwap.com, and dive into a slew of books on entrepreneurship, leadership, business law, marketing and sales for almost nothing (the sender pays for shipping).

IE Tip 4: IShip.com: Comparison Shipping

Shipping packages and want the best deal? Comparison-shop through IShip.com and find the best rates and services among carriers like DHL, Fedex, UPS, and USPS. After that, you can ship, track, and manage shipments online.

Business Challenge, Trainings, Workshops

Women 2.0 Napkin Business Challenge: Join the finalists of the Women 2.0 Business Challenge as they present their business ideas to a judging panel. Great chance to meet fellow entrepreneurs, meet judges, and network! Sponsored by Women 2.0. Located in San Francisco,CA. April 25, 2007, 6 pm.

Training for Success: Build a Fulfilling Art Business: Workshop on entrepreneurship for artists. Focus will be on building your portfolio and developing a marketing plan. Sponsored by the Empowered Women International. Located in Silver Springs, MD. April 25, 6-9 pm.

Craftstravaganza: Indoor market featuring works of 90 artists, crafters, and designers. Also has live music by local bands and hands-on craft workshops. Located in St. Paul, MN. April 28, 2007, 9 am-4 pm.

Learn-A-Palooza: Unique community-organized event in which businesses, homes, and community centers in certain D.C. areas open their doors to hold short workshops on diverse topics ranging from “Yoga Basics,” “How to Use Quickbooks,” and “Be AYouTube Star.” Located in Washington, DC. April 28, 2007, 10 am-6 pm.

Jennifer Casady is the jewelry designer behind Jewelry By Jennifer Casady , an online boutique featuring handmade gemstone, sterling silver, wire-wrapped, lampwork and chain maille jewelry. Her fascination with jewelry began as a little girl who attended jewelry shows with her parents and grandparents. Fast-forward to 2007, and she is definitely the main designer now!

Keeping Jewels in the Family
“As I grew older I [enjoyed going] through my Mom's jewelry and listened to her tell me stories of where and when she received each piece. My father used to travel around the world with his jobs and would buy strands of gemstone beads to bring home. He taught himself how to make knotted jewelry and made my grandmother, mom and I beautiful necklaces and bracelets. Several members of my extensive family make their own jewelry, some of them for many years.”

Trying her Hand at Jewelry Making
“ I wanted to try my hand at making jewelry for years but never truly had the opportunity to start. In December 2005 I finally had the chance to visit one of the local bead stores in my area where one of the staff members kindly took the time to show me how to use various beading tools and suggested several needed items that an individual would need to create jewelry. I had a ball picking out strands of gemstones, findings and tools. I ran over to a book store to pick up some instructional books, went home, studied pictures, made my first necklace, and fell in love. I officially started my business in January 2006.”

Background Training for a Future Entrepreneur
“My ten years as a legal secretary has given me an entirely new appreciation for paperwork, taught me how to write coherently and multi-task. Of course, as any parent knows, one of the benefits of raising children is learning by necessity how to multi-task. I have learned how important it is to keep your business organized.”

Typical Customer
“[My typical customer includes] anyone who loves hand crafted jewelry! Most of my customers are females in the 25-60 age range who have an appreciation for custom, handmade elegant jewelry. These women know quality work when they see it and are more than willing to invest in special pieces that will be worn frequently and cherished.”

"Besides word of mouth, my main outlet for selling my jewelry is online on my website which is where I concentrate the majority of my marketing energy. At this time I also have one display case in a store and am working on branching out to additional boutiques and galleries. "

Overcoming Challenges
“Everything about starting my own business was a challenge. I did not even know how to build a website. One of the first things I did after making my decision to start a jewelry business was to call one of my aunts who has a very successful online business that she has built with her husband and get her advice as to where to even start. We’ve all heard it before, but, knowledge truly is key. Once I started finding out what I needed to do and what my objective was, I armed myself with knowledge and plowed ahead, teaching myself what I needed to know and just doing it.”

Marketing Techniques
“I have just started researching different marketing techniques and am very new to the entire subject of marketing. I am currently taking online SEO and marketing courses to help me learn how to better optimize my website. I frequent the Switchboard forum to glean any bits of marketing information I can and have started to take advantage of the various advertising opportunities that are posted there (such as submitting products for review, etc.) I have a lot to learn, especially about press releases, how to contact magazines, etc., and I am delving into that with a passion this year.”

The Best Advertisement
“ My favorite way is the most basic way to market one’s product -- wearing my jewelry and handing out business cards. My friends and family are also fantastic marketers of my pieces. Jewelry is what I call a “sense inspired” purchase, therefore it is very difficult to sell online. Most women need to be able to see and touch a piece in person before they actively fall in love with it. Women want to see how the light reflects off the gemstones (very difficult to achieve this affect through photography), they want to look in a mirror with earrings held up to their ears to see how they frame the face, they prefer to drape the necklace around their neck to gauge the fit against a favorite blouse.”

“Jewelry is an impulse purchase and can be very hard to sell online, especially when many women prefer to handle the jewelry themselves before they make that decision to buy. If the business you are consigning with is not totally focused on selling jewelry and on marketing your product to the best of their ability, then one needs to make the decision if that is the best place to have one’s product.”

Inspired by Different Sources
“My inspiration to create jewelry comes from various sources - the beauty of nature created by God, a conversation with a close friend, a certain color, the sound of music in the background, or simply the gemstone beads themselves. Each stone is unique and I want to express that individuality and beauty in my designs. My inspiration for running my business comes from watching my husband in his career. He is an amazing, hard-working man, husband and father, and I am constantly praising the Lord for the wonderful gift of my husband.”

Online Mentors
“I don’t think there has been any one person whom I could say has specifically been there to guide and tutor me continually along this journey I am on. But there have certainly been a plethora of women whom I have met since I started creating jewelry who have given me direction, inspiration, knowledge -- little bits of themselves to help round out my experience. Many of these women are on my favorite online forum, Reasonable Insanity.”

Words of Advice-Step Back and Have Fun!
“Have fun. Always….have fun. If it starts to be too stressful, take a step or two back and relax until its fun again.”

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Contact:
Jennifer Casady

Jewelry By Jennifer Casady

1135 Artic Quill Road
Herndon, Virginia 20170
(703) 862-9854

info@jennifercasady.com