How to make the most of the holiday season

I’ll let you in on a secret. Every December, I write a business preparation checklist on an A4 piece of paper and stick it into my brand new diary. I tape it in around the October section so I can remember the lessons I learnt this season to be as prepared as possible for the next holiday season. Future Christina is always thankful that I take the time to do this. As a jeweller, the last three months of the year are my busiest, and account for the largest percentage of my earnings. Most small businesses see a rise in sales in the lead-up to Christmas. Being disorganised at this time of year leads to missed opportunities, negative word of mouth and worst still, loss of sales. Managing your time, cash flow, stock and production for the holiday season really begins in January. But fear not! Here's what you can do right now to make the most of the holiday season and be better prepared for next year. Your future self will thank you!

Holiday season business prep checklist

Stocktake consumables: Make a list of the items and packaging you will need between now and the new year. Include everything, then overestimate how much you will need of each item and start stocking up as cash flow allows. For my business, this includes mailers, packaging, business cards, stickers, ribbon, metal, drills, emery, flux and wrapping paper. Most supply businesses shut down before Christmas and open again mid-January. Rushing to order branded gift boxes or ribbon at the last minute is not only stressful, but is time better spent working on revenue earning tasks. Buying in bulk will also save you money with lower prices and postage costs.

Restock your shop: Stock up on all the product offerings you will continue to sell in the new year. For me, this means ordering metal, gemstones and castings, then turning these into products to fill my safe. It can be hard to know which products will be the best sellers during the holidays, but keep in mind that price points between twenty and ninety dollars do well. In my business, earrings sell well as they don’t require resizing like rings do. Review your best sellers for the year and make predictions based on these numbers. Stock up on any items you will be promoting.

Organise a photo shoot: While you are stocking up on products and consumables, stock up on images as well. If you are producing high-quality items, you need high-quality visuals to represent your brand. Consumers are bombarded by images and have higher expectations than they used to. Take the time to plan a Christmas-themed photo shoot with images that will stop your clients mid-scroll. What will your theme be? What will be the focus of your Christmas marketing promotion? Create a Pinterest board of inspiration, gather your props, secure a model or friend, get out your camera or hire a photographer and set aside a few hours to style and shoot your products. If you can aim for thirty images, you will have a library to use across all your platforms in the lead up to Christmas. Use free online editing software like Canva to create Facebook, blog, newsletter and shop headers and save them to a file for Christmas branding. Then these will all be ready to go on December 1st, or whenever you choose to start your Christmas promotions.

Organise a holiday-themed photo shoot for your products

Schedule social media: Once you have the images ready, draft blog posts and newsletters and use scheduling apps to plan your social media. When things get busy, social media is often the first thing we stop paying attention to, but is a huge revenue earner at this time of year. I use Dropbox and Mosaico for this. I can then upload every edited image from the shoot, write a caption, create a list of tags and post to a twice-daily schedule on Instagram.

Review your online presence: Check that your product descriptions are up to date, re-read your policies, check for continuity in your branding. Are you using the same profile image across all social media? Send a dummy email from your contact page to confirm there are no broken links. You don’t want to miss customer inquiries, or confuse customers across platforms with mixed branding.

Promote yourself: Start planning and promoting. How will you reach out to prior customers? How will you engage with new customers? What offers will you use to entice customers to purchase now, rather than putting it off? For my business, I print postcards using an image from my Christmas shoot, hand-write a thank-you note and send it on the 1st of December to every customer I had that year, offering them a ten percent discount online. This is the only discounting I do, as I feel discounting is the death of small business, and value adding (for example, offering a free polishing cloth with an order) is a more sustainable practice. I also create limited numbers of lower-price pieces that include postage and offer them exclusively for sale on Instagram. The limited number, price point and time sensitivity mean they sell quickly. I also offer free upgrades to express shipping as my mailing cut-off approaches.

Set cut-offs: I like to sell up to the last possible moment, but knowing when your cut-off dates are is crucial to ensure you can deliver on your promises. Look at your calendar and write down the last possible dates you can mail products to clients overseas, interstate and with Express Post (keeping in mind that even next-day delivery takes two days in many places in Australia). If you sell your goods wholesale, you will also need to advise your retailers of your wholesale order cut-off date. If they place an order mid-December, will you realistically be able to fill it and keep up with your online sales? I tend to make my wholesale cut-off mid-November, but stay as flexible as I can to serve my retailers right up until Christmas. If you create custom work, you will need another cut-off date. In my industry, client work can involve several different processes, from casting to engraving, handmaking to gem setting, and each of these suppliers are likely stretched to capacity. Jobs that can usually be done in one day take a week at this time of year. Start educating your clients about these cut-offs so you get a manageable flow of orders rather than a flood at the last minute. Keep reminding customers of your cut off dates: include them in your newsletters, on your website and again on social media.

Relax: Schedule time for family, friends and social activities this holiday season. By following the checklist above, you will have more time to spend enjoying the season, not just working through it.

Christina Lowry is a designer and jeweller who creates fine jewellery for creatives. Her work is featured in several Australian galleries, as well as in her online store. Christina fell in love with jewellery making while studying a Bachelor of Fine Art/Visual Art. Each piece is lovingly made by hand in her Brisbane workshop, incorporating precious metals and gemstones and using traditional metalworking techniques. To see more of her work, visit her website, Facebook page, and follow her on Instagram (@christinalowrydesigns).

Photography by Trudi Le Brese Photography for Christina Lowry Designs           

How to future-proof your business

Anticipating what will happen in the future is difficult, however, it is something you may want to consider doing to protect and grow your creative business. By considering what future possibilities lie ahead, you might be able to minimise the effects. It may seem like an overwhelming thing to tackle when you’re in the throes of running a creative business, but a little thought and planning can go a long way toward keeping your business running and possibly helping it grow.

Plan Having a business plan is a great place to start, but it isn’t something to “set and forget.” Your plan may need to change as your business grows, markets move, and audience evolve. In your business plan, set goals and don’t forget to track your progress.

Review Don’t get complacent; always keep an eye on what you are offering. Can it be improved upon? What is the market doing? Where are trends going? What and where are opportunities for improvement? You may be onto a good thing now—and hopefully still will be in the future—but markets, trends, and audiences can change, so make sure what you are offering remains relevant and meets the demands of your customers and the market.

Ask your customers regularly what they think. You may think what you are offering is great, but does your audience still think so? Listen to them and watch their behaviour. Is there anything you can do better? Is there something they’d like that you are not currently offering? Ask them face to face, put a survey on your website, do follow-up calls, and so on, to get this information. You’ll gain great insights and can then apply those learnings to your business.

There may be situations when your customers cannot tell you what they want, especially if you are in the innovation space. Think about the iPhone. We didn’t know we needed a device we could use to make a phone call, take photos, play games, and do our banking, but now we need to do all of these things on our phone. Innovating a product that your customers don’t yet know they need is a great way to grow your business and open new market spaces. As Henry Ford famously said, “If I asked people what they wanted, they’d tell me a faster horse.”

Rethink your acquisition strategy regularly. Ways in which you’ve gained new customers in the past may not work for you in the future. Review this often so you can keep adapting.

Watch Observe competitors and your marketplace, watching what is happening around you. Do this by following competitors’ social media feeds (both locally and internationally), reading blogs and industry publications, setting up Google alerts, and so on. If you already have your eye on your own competitive space, start looking at other industries, too, as learning from one industry can be adapted to another. Having an understanding of what is happening around you will keep you and your business on its toes.

Depending on what business you are in (but especially for creative industries), following trends can also be important—even more so if you are riding on them. Watch trend forecasts, keep in touch, and, if needed, adapt your offerings to keep riding that wave.

Experience What can you do when others are offering something similar? How do you stand out from the crowd? Don’t just sell a product or service, make sure to give your audience an experience to remember. It doesn’t have to be elaborate; perhaps it’s the packaging for your product, or how you call the client after delivery to see if everything was okay. Customers are more likely come back if they had a good experience, and repeat business is always good.

Diversify Don’t depend on one section of your business to account for all of your revenue and growth. Find ways to diversify your product folio. If you manage to diversify your offerings, the additional revenue streams can help support your business.

Consider risks Identify and manage risks, both for now and in the future. You can’t predict all future problems, but consider potential risks and map a way to manage them if they do happen. Not sure how? Start with a simple “SWOT” analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) and go from there.

Your day-to-day creative business may keep you incredibly busy, but take some time to think about the future so you’re equally busy—if not more so—down the track.

Jes Egan is a “practical creative” and very busy lady, doing the business in a digital agency, being an artist and a university lecturer. Follow Jes on Instagram (@paper_chap).

Creative women at work: Rachel Devine, visual storyteller

Rachel Devine is an award-winning photoblogger and professional children’s and lifestyle photographer. Her blog, SesameEllis.com, and Instagram feed attract fans from around the world with candid, compelling images of family life. She has authored and co-authored three books on photography, and last year, her project Within the Keep, featuring portraits of tween girls paired with words each girl chose to define herself, won both an Olympus Vision grant and a 2016 Bupa Blog Award. A native of Los Angeles, Rachel moved to Melbourne nine years ago and calls Australia home.

 Can you tell us about your background and how you fell in love with photography?

I started when I was a teenager—self-taught, on film. I couldn’t draw well, so photography was my creative outlet. In 1995, I opened my business in Los Angeles, photographing kid modeling portfolios and headshots. My claim to fame was photographing Miley Cyrus! After moving to Melbourne, I met a woman named Simone Ryan, who represents kids’ clothing brands. That was my entry into the kids’ clothing world in Melbourne.

How would you describe your work and creative inspiration?

I take pride in the fact that you can look back at images I shot twenty years ago, even on film, and it’s hard to date them. With the clean lighting, true colours, and classic style, you would think I shot them yesterday. I love that.

Light inspires me. I am such a fan of light—and dark. When the light comes into my bedroom in the afternoon—especially fall light, the stripes of light through the blinds on the white wall—it’s just so pretty. I can see a photo just by looking at the light. That’s how I’m constantly looking at the world.

Do you have any simple advice about taking better photos, whether for social media or to sell products?

Learn how to photograph in balanced, flat light without it being dull, and also avoid “hot spots,” which are overly bright areas (as opposed to dark areas). You can find flat, filtered light in a doorway, just underneath a porch, or by placing your items next to a window with a sheer white curtain. Or, coat your windows with yogurt! If you use a roller to paint your windows with sugar-free low-fat yogurt (not no-fat, which is too milky), it becomes sort of a frosted window. You get light through it but you can’t see out. It’s amazing. When you don’t want the yogurt on there anymore, spray the window with water and wipe it down.

If you want to show something simply and beautifully on Instagram, there’s that slightly unsaturated look with lots of white—white backgrounds with one simple object in the photo—that works well. Just keep everything simple and have a clean, consistent look, whether it’s slightly unsaturated or neon coloured.

Which social media channel has been the most effective for you, and why?

Instagram. For me, it has been about interacting with people. It’s not just putting my stuff up there and hoping they’ll show up. I find hashtags that I like and then click on them and “like” pictures that appeal to me. I just like what I like and engage as if nobody was looking. If you think of it as a community and not an audience, you build respect by actually interacting as a human being with other people in the community.

Do you have help running your business?

I don’t have physical assistants, but I have upgraded to systems. I pay for a program called Studio Ninja that I highly recommend. It’s a Melbourne-based customer management back-end service that does quotes and invoices, job tracking, all that. It makes my life so much easier. I also use CoSchedule for my blogging stuff.

Like many of us, you are juggling a creative business and a family. What is your favourite tip for “making it work”?

The best decision I made was saying that I work from 10–2, drawing the line at school hours. I’m lucky in that I can do the school run and be here in the evenings. I don’t feel that I’m working all the time when the kids are around.

Have you ever taken a risk or tried a strategy that didn’t turn out as you’d hoped? If so, what did you learn from the experience?

There are tons. Everything has a learning curve. What I try to remember is that every bad thing will pass—and the good stuff will as well. When something goes wrong, I take those moments in just as I do when something’s going awesome; I know it won’t last and I want to get everything I can from it. As painful as some of it might be, I can still learn from it and absorb life lessons.

You’re American but have lived in Australia for nine years. Has being an ex-pat shaped your art?

Being an ex-pat has had a huge impact on my art. While everyone here speaks English, it’s a different world. It’s similar to home but it’s not home. I’m always looking at things slightly left of center. Also, I have a slight sense of longing all the time, being far from friends. There’s a Japanese word for that bittersweet appreciation of time passing, and I’m constantly aware of that. It seeps into my images.

Probably the biggest issue I struggle with is that I’m not considered an Australian blogger photographer, but I’m not an American one, either. I consider myself more Australian than American—at least politically. I enjoy and celebrate the opportunities people have here.

What are you looking forward to doing in your business this year?

I’d like to take my Within the Keep project to a larger audience. I’m also working on a visual storytelling journal for kids to help them tell their own stories. I love how photography crosses nationalities, language barriers, intellectual barriers—all those things. It’s universal.

Rachel’s Quick Picks:

• Favorite read: the Brain Pickings e-newsletter and the book A Man Called Ove
• Favorite podcast: I have yet to find a podcast I can listen to!
• Favorite Instagram feeds: Recent finds are @EstherHollywood and @Adele_Miranda
• Designers, creatives, or brands: the kids’ clothing brand Minti; illustrator Bianca Cash; the landscapes of photographer Bill Henson
• Favorite place to go for inspiration: the beach
• Most inspiring friend or family member: My father, who passed away in 1999. He was the one who said, “Photograph. I’ll pay for the lab bills”—and look what he’s done. I think about him all the time, every time I pick up a camera.

Photographs by Rachel Devine

For more about Rachel, visit her blog, Facebook feed, or follow her on Instagram at @sesameellis. To join Rachel’s Photographing Happiness group, where she helps members document their daily moments of happiness, visit the group’s Facebook page.

Julie Mazur Tribe is an editor and book publishing consultant who loves working with authors, books, and creative ideas. She can be found at BrooklynBookStudio.com or on Instagram at @brooklynbookstudio.

Studio visit: Anna Walker, picture book author and illustrator

Anna Walker is one of Australia’s most established and beloved picture book creators. She has published twenty-fivebooks in a career spanning twenty years. Her newest book, Florette, has just landed in bookstores and is a beautiful meditation on how to become comfortable with change.

I met Anna in her studio, a converted shirt factory she shares with a printmaker, an interior designer, a tea importer, and a book designer. You know you’re talking to a visual thinker when she says, “I wish I could respond to your questions with a painting instead of with words.” But as you read on, I think you’ll agree that Anna’s words more than suffice!

Starting out

Anna had the good fortune of knowing what she wanted, right from the get go. “I remember looking at the illustrations in a book of fairy tales and thinking, ‘Those are so beautiful; that’s what I want to do when I grow up,’” she said. How did she turn that early inclination into a rewarding career? It was hard, she explains, and there were obstacles, but she would “try to find ways of overcoming them.” Anna is petite but possesses a stubborn determination, to which she largely credits her success.

After studying graphic design at Swinburne University (where “there were no illustration courses,” she said), Anna set up shop straight out of school. Her parents ran their own business, so working for herself felt more like a natural step than a leap of faith. Besides, she says, “I had nothing to lose.” At first, it was all design work. Whenever there wasn’t enough work, she would invent briefs for herself and treat them as real commissions. After a few years, all of her work was illustration-based. Gradually, picture-book illustration became the foundation of her business.

The importance of presentation

For illustrators still building their businesses, Anna stresses the importance of presentation and attention to detail. Small details—like a visual link between your website and your business card—matter. She also suggests finding ways to put your work in front of potential clients, both online and in hard copy. This might mean incorporating an illustrated element into your email signature, or sending out postcards, bespoke holiday cards, or, occasionally, original artworks. “People don’t get that kind of thing very often,” she said, “and they appreciate it.”

Giving work space and time

Anna and her character Mae in Florette have something in common. They like to be immersed in an environment that is beautiful and familiar. While Anna’s studio retains the exposed brick and pipework of its industrial heritage, she has transformed it into a bright, welcoming space. It feels like a loft, though it is actually a basement.

Her desk looks out through an arched window at street level. She enjoys watching the passing foot traffic, including a Greek neighbor who always bends down to wave hello and children who look through her window.

“I’ve always shared a studio,” she said. “I go a bit crazy working by myself at home.” Having others around provides moral support and an exchange of ideas, both vital to a happy work life. And from a business perspective, having to meet an overhead (rent) pushes you to find work.

Just as important as environment is time. Anna devotes a year to each book, a pace that allows her to let the work develop fully, take on select commissions to subsidize her picture-book work, and be present for her three teenage children.

Personal style

Anna uses a variety of techniques in her work, including collage, woodblock printing, etching, watercolour, and ink. She’ll sometimes redo an illustration twelve times before she feels it’s right. Regardless of the method, her illustrations always seem to strike the perfect harmony between detail and simplicity.

Anna suggests not worrying too much about developing a personal style.  “It was years before people started saying, ‘I recognize your work,’” she said. “You can’t have a style until you’ve got a volume of work behind you. Just do the work.”

The power of knitting

Like many creatives, Anna references self-doubt as one of her biggest challenges. She tempers those unhelpful thoughts by running three times a week, sharing a studio, keeping in touch with other illustrators, and…knitting. Anna knows she’s bringing too much work anxiety home when her husband says, “Now, where’s your knitting?”

I asked Anna what she does with her ideas-in-waiting: ideas she’s had but hasn’t had the chance to use. Her response was golden. She thinks of ideas as little scraps of fabric. A book is like a sewing project: you assemble the bits you need, make a start, and keep going until it’s finished. “You don’t need to feel badly [about the ideas that] haven’t been used yet,” she said. “They’re just waiting there, ready to make the next thing.”

Meeting business challenges

For many illustrators, the biggest challenge is making a living. “Getting your folio out there and meeting with publishers is important,” she said. “When things are quiet, you worry about when the next job will come in. But that’s when it comes back to sending out postcards, freshening up your website, reminding people you’re here. If your focus is book illustration, joining the Australian Society of Authors is a must.”

Certain things, like cold calling and quoting, never get easier. Anna doesn’t have to do the former as much these days, but her motto when something’s difficult is: do it anyway. She suggests viewing cold calling, networking, or whatever “thing” you find difficult as just one part of your business.

If you’re not sure how much to charge for a job, Anna suggests talking to other illustrators. Take into consideration how the artwork is going to be used. Is it for one product, or multiple products? Will it be used locally, or globally? Also consider the duration of the usage license. Is it for one month? One year? In perpetuity?  “I don’t part with copyright for anybody,” she said. There’s a way to give the client what they need and protect yourself. As she explains, “An exclusive license has just as much weight as copyright.” Don’t be afraid to request amendments to your contract.

What’s next?

“I’m working on a book with Janie [Godwin, a long-time collaborator],” Anna explained, “and I’m also working on my own story about a walrus.” Anna often starts a project by crafting her character in toy form. She showed me a loosely stitched walrus plushy. “So far, that’s what I’ve got,” she laughed. Recently, the final step on her projects has become creating a book trailer using stop-motion animation.

“I’ve always believed in the picture book as an art form,” she said. “It’s important to me that every aspect is crafted to be the best it can be.”

For more about Anna Walker, visit annawalker.com.au.

Jo Watson is a Melbourne-based screenwriter and artist. Visit her on Instagram (@diaryofapicturebookmaker).

Photos by Jo Watson

Dealing with a creative slump: 9 ways to overcome a creative block

The moment I start thinking about designing a new jewellery collection, a part of my brain panics.“Nope!” it says. “You can't do that.” And Creative Block comes to visit.

I stare at a blank page in my sketchbook. I over-think. “What if I really can’t design anything?” “How can I be original?” “What materials should I work with?” I find myself wanting to see the whole finished collection in my mind before I even put pen to paper. Eventually, something distracts me and I shut my book with a mental note to come back to designing later. But how long “later” takes depends upon how I deal with this creative slump.

While there are plenty of ways to find inspiration—Pinterest, a trip to an art gallery, a new magazine—inspiration is not action. Feeling inspired is not always enough to break through a creative slump. You need to take action to deal with a creative slump. Different things work at different times, and I have created a list of actions that have worked for me.

9 actions to deal with a creative slump

1. Don’t start with a blank page. Break the ice with a doodle. Sketch your coffee cup, draw the design of you balcony railing, try to draw a perfect circle. It’s easier to keep making marks once a mark has been made.
2. Take away the expectation. Stop thinking big (“I need to design a whole collection that will sell”) and start thinking smaller: “If I were going to make myself a pair of earrings, what might they look like?”
3. Make it a habit. You will have more success by picking up your sketchbook for a short period several times each week than for one long session per week. Keep pushing ideas that you have been previously drawing. Play with scale. Introduce texture. Bring in a new shape to complement or contrast the shapes in play.
4. Take a shower. If you are trying to solve a problem or make a decision, have a shower. Something about running water and a few quiet moments often results in a string of ideas.
5. Look back through old sketchbooks. Flip through your portfolio of finished work. Little kernels of ideas are most likely still waiting there for you. Looking at them now, you will bring new experiences to them and never know where they could end up.
6. Make something different. Try a class in basket-making, pottery, macrame, watercolours, life drawing. Rip out pictures that speak to you in magazines and create a collage. Introduce a new material to your practice. Make something you don’t have to sell and it will help you design something you can sell.
7. Fill your well.Listen to podcasts. Watch films. Read widely. It is all sun and rain for the seeds you are germinating.
8. Step away.Know when to give yourself space from your work and relieve the pressure. There will be flows—creative highs and lows—and you are either on the way up or on the way down. Both are necessary for creation.
9. You are not your work.I struggle with this, as designing and creating is so personal. If my work is no good I feel like I am no good. If my sales drop, I often wonder what I have done. Regardless of your work's reception, good or bad, you are not your work. Make that distinction and smash the creative block that comes from that fear!

Christina Lowry is a designer and jeweller who creates fine jewellery for creatives. Her work is featured in several Australian galleries, as well as in her online store. Christina fell in love with jewellery making while studying a Bachelor of Fine Art/Visual Art. Each piece is lovingly made by hand in her Brisbane workshop, incorporating precious metals and gemstones, and using traditional metalworking techniques. Christina can be found at christinalowrydesigns.com, and on Facebook and Instagram (@christinalowrydesigns).

All images photographed by Trudi Le Brese Photography for Christina Lowry Designs

Branding basics: Building your brand

By Mirella Marie

Building a brand is one of the most important parts of business, yet also one of the most overlooked. For a brand to be sustainable, it must evolve with a business’s life cycle and meet the changing needs of its audience.

Here are five things to consider to when building your brand:

1. Vision

A strong brand starts with a vision. If you’re unsure what yours is, ask yourself the following:

• Who do you want to serve?
• What are your brand’s values?
• What is your “why”? (Meaning, why do you do what you do?)

Once you identify these points and present them in a clear way people can understand, you’ll start attracting an audience that shares those values and relates to your “why.”

2. Credibility

It’s natural that people will wonder if you can really deliver what you say you can, so having a quality designed brand identity and website is the first step to instilling trust in your audience. Testimonials, case studies (where applicable), and high-quality photos of your work will also help alleviate doubt, convey professionalism, and establish your expertise. Credibility by association is another way to positively shape people’s perceptions of your brand, so make an effort to align your business with leaders in your industry (and others) and people who are smarter than you.

3. Authenticity

There is no shortage of pretenders on the Internet, which is why being authentic is so important. While many businesses might have a tightly curated Instagram feed, people want to see what goes on behind the scenes because it’s more relatable. For example, showing sketches of your latest design will give people a look into your creative process instead of just the final product. Being true to yourself, knowing your brand, and injecting your personality into it will help you stand out in your competitive industry and attract people who resonate with you.

4. Visibility

Your brand needs to be visible in order for people to recognise it. Positioning your brand in front of the right people in the right places at the right times will keep your brand front of mind and help it become memorable. For example, if there’s an event your audience will be attending, find a way to promote your brand to them through that event. The more it is seen, the more likely people are to remember you when they need the products or services you offer. Never give people time to forget about you.

5. Consistency

As with anything, consistency is key to achieving results, and your brand is no different. Being consistent shows that you’re reliable; in turn, people will know what to expect when dealing with you. For example, having the same imagery across all your communications will encourage trust and brand recognition. If you’re consistent with when and how you communicate, your brand will grow sustainably.

Remember, your brand is one of your business’s most valuable assets and building it is an ongoing process that takes time, work, commitment, and passion to be successful.

Mirella Marie is the owner and creative director of Vertigo, a Melbourne-based graphic design studio specialising in brand identity and design. She is also a contributor for Women of Graphic Design, a project examining the work of female designers around the world. Join her on Instagram at @studiovertigo.

The 10 benefits of handmade

By Emma Clark Gratton

In theory, we all know the benefits of handmade. The anti-globalisation catch-cry of ‘Think global, act local’ has definitely hit home, with handmade and craft-based micro businesses popping up everywhere. But the very real, tangible benefits of making, using and buying handmade products have an effect that goes beyond a simple business transaction. We’ve outlined ten ways that the handmade economy is a win-win for everyone.

For the maker…

Keep craft skills alive

Traditional skills such as crochet, macramé and embroidery have had a comeback in the past couple of years, despite few people actually needing these skills in the same way that we did 100 years ago. Keeping these skills alive and active is an important part of our cultural heritage, and worthy of support.

Spread joy

The reason why most people start handmade or creative businesses is because they are passionate about what they do. They love their work, and want to share it with the world. Buy handmade and support the spreading of joy and happiness!

Support the person

When you buy handmade, you are literally supporting a person, not a faceless corporation. The products might be made on the kitchen table in between school pick ups, or by a particularly creative lady who left the corporate world behind to make unique products. And the (small) profit they earn will go directly to them, not to line the pockets of some guy in a suit.

For the buyer…

More unique

You only need to look at the shelves of your local Woolies to see the range of products dwindling in response to cost-cutting measures. With out the ‘make this cheaper at all costs!’ impetus of most mass-produced industries, the handmade economy throws up way more creative, unique and customised outcomes. This diversity is of huge benefit to the consumer – mo’ money, mo’ problems (or something like that).

Better made

Again, without a corporation’s bottom line looming over every detail of a business, handmade products are generally much better made than mass produced goods. Plus, if something does break, the maker is usually more than happy to repair your product.

Fuller experience

A study researching cheeses in America found that consumers prefer buying ‘artisan’ cheese because they feel it provides a fuller ‘sensory experience.’ This is a factor of both intrinsic properties, like better taste, and extrinsic properties, like the joy of finding something you really love. Even just the knowledge that a product was handcrafted contributed to the feeling of a better experience because there is a relatable, knowable back-story.

For everyone…

Much, much greener

This is an obvious one, but buying local handmade products is a trillion times more sustainable. Less transport, less overheads, less waste. Work done by hand takes less energy than a mass production assembly line, which makes it more environmentally sustainable.

Support the economy

Studies have shown that locally owned independent businesses —many of which sell wares produced by hand— return a higher percentage of their revenue to their communities than the bigger chains. This means that by buying local, you are pouring money back into your local community, rather than the money heading off overseas.

Decreasing dependence on multinationals

Frighteningly, there are only ten companies in the world that own almost everything we buy. The same company that owns Pringles also owns Duracell, Hugo Boss and Oral B. Supporting handmade means sidestepping the global corporations, and securing our economy for the future.

Handmade is forever

There is a cheeky thing in the mass-market design world called ‘design obsolescence.’ This means that a product is built to fail after a certain amount of time, so the consumer will need to repurchase the product (I’m looking at you, Apple.) It is a relatively new phenomenon, which is why your nana’s Mixmaster is still going strong after 50+ years, while your new Breville broke after three years. After a few decades, this has created a culture of ‘if it’s broken, don’t fix it – just chuck it out’.

And this is where handmade excels - there’s no need for an upgrade as it is perfect already. And the nature of handmade products means that they will literally last as long as the materials will- so think of it as a good long term investment!

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Emma Clark Gratton is the Head of Content at Creative Women's Circle, a staff writer at ArtsHub and a podcaster who, alongside her husband Lee, runs GRATTON, a timber furniture and architectural joinery company. She blogs occasionally at Worst House Best Street and posts endless photos of her sons on Instagram at @emmamakesthings.