A new ecommerce option is opening up for artists and craftspeople.

Wicked Plum (wickedplum.com) is a shopping cart system that users can add to their own sites. This makes it a closer model to Big Cartel or Zen Cart than to Etsy or Artfire (it is not a handmade market place). The benefits of this are that shop owners can build their own individual stores with their own rules, ethos and style. The downside of this type of ecommerce option is that store owners do not benefit from being part of a larger handmade marketplace.

The people behind Wicked Plum are experienced crafters who have experienced first hand the challenges of some ecommerce options. They have decided to build on their experience to create an ecommerce solution specifically geared towards micro businesses.

Wicked Plum has the aim of making ecommerce simple and straight forward so that artists and craftspeople can concentrate on the making and selling of their products, rather than worrying about the back end of the ecommerce side of their business. Wicked Plum will offer a range of design templates, for instance, the store owners can pick from.

Wicked Plum, currently in private beta testing, is offering a special deal to the next group of beta testers that join. More information can be found on the pricing page of the Wicked Plum website.

­Many people who make and sell handmade cards and other paper items like to incorporate rubber stamped designs in their work. Before selling handmade craft projects that use rubber stamps it is important to check out the terms and conditions of the rubber stamp designer. This is often referred to as an Angel Policy.

How Does an Angel Policy Concern a Craft Business?

An Angel Policy clearly states whether items that are made using a company's products can be used to make items for sale. Therefore an Angel Policy may state that rubber stamps cannot be used to make items for sale or it may specify certain restrictions. These restrictions may include saying how many items can be made, stating where the items can be sold and specifying that copyright information needs to be included. Most Angel Policies will state that the items need to be hand stamped by the person selling the item and not mechanically reproduced or used as part of a production process­.

Finding Out More

­Each rubber stamp company will have details of their Angel Policy available. These are often shown on their website. More information about Angel Policies can be found here - About Angel Policies and a list of rubber stamp company Angel Policies can be found here - Rubber Stamp Company Angel Policies.­

Do you have a comment about this? Do you use rubber stamps in your creative process? If so, do you have any tips to share?

Craft Count is a recently launched website from the Etsy by Numbers blog, which will be of interest to sellers on Etsy or people thinking about selling on Etsy. Using the number of units sold over the complete lifetime of the store, Craft Count lists the top selling Etsy stores. The site tracks the top 100 sellers with over 1000 sales in each category.

This information can be viewed in three ways:

• Summary - as a summary of top selling Etsy stores overall, within handmade, supplies and vintage.
• Country - top selling Etsy stores broken down by country.
• Category - top selling Etsy stores broken down by Etsy category.

Interesting Insight

This provides an interesting insight into the volume of items that have been sold and the top sellers of all time on Etsy - however it is important to note that this is number of transactions and not value of transactions. It is also important to note that the total figures presented are over the lifetime of a store. Therefore there may be more recently launched stores with fast selling lines that do not show in these lists.

The information presented in Craft Count can be used in a number of ways. It is an easy way to get a snapshot of successful Etsy sellers and their top selling lines. Some useful tips can be obtained by looking at successful sellers and seeing how they present their work, what their store policies are, how they write descriptions etc.

Craft Count Beta

Craft Count is a brand new service and just launched. It is currently in beta. Information can be found on the Craft Count information page about how Etsy sellers can go about changing their information, for instance changing the category that they are listed in. Sellers can also ask for their stores to be excluded from the figures.

What research tools do you use for business. Do you use tools such as Craft Count or do you have other methods for researching the market?

There are lots of quick and easy ways to carry out market research for your craft business. One quick way to find out what's going on in your area of interest is to look at eBay Pulse.

This might not sound like the most obvious way to find information and ideas that will be useful to a craft business specializing in handmade arts and crafts, however this can give a useful insight into what people are searching eBay for - now! 

eBay Pulse gives a snapshop of the most popular daily searches in each category. One of the best ways to use this tool is to look at the category that your products would normally belong to. This will show you the most popular searches.

eBay Pulse is also available internationally, with each country that eBay operates in having its own version. This gives a useful insight into international trends as well as those in your own country.

eBay Pulse and the Craft Business

While as someone who specializes in handmade arts and crafts you won't want to base your marketing plan and product range on what is being searched for on eBay, it can certainly help to give you ideas to research further. eBay Pulse is a free, handy tool which makes a useful addition to your market research armory.

More Information

Here are the web addresses of eBay Pulse in the US, UK, Canada and Australia. For other countries simply change the end of the url accordingly.

• http://pulse.ebay.com/
• http://pulse.ebay.co.uk/
• http://pulse.ebay.ca/
• http://pulse.ebay.com.au/

There is often quite a lot of confusion in the craft world about what the rules are when it comes to selling items made from other people's patterns or copyright designs. ­

Not for Commercial Use

This obviously relates to g­arments and accessories made from knitting, crochet and sewing patterns. However it also relates to other items such as cross stitch and embroidery patterns and rubber stamps. Many patterns and designs are sold 'not for commercial use'. This means that people can make the item for their own personal use and for gifts, but the finished items are not to be sold. Rubber stamps and some scrapbook products use the term Angel Policy to state whether their products can be used commercially. For more info see this blog post - Angel Policy.

Charity and Good Causes?

People sometimes wonder if this includes items that are sold for charity and the answer here is often the same – if the pattern or design says 'not for commercial use' then this could also mean that the finished item is not to be sold for charity.

Finding Out More

The challenge for the craft person is finding out what they can and cannot do with a pattern or design. Many online patterns, projects or designs will state somewhere what the usage terms are and whether they can be used commercially to make items to sell. Magazines and books often present this information clearly in the front pages. However sometimes it can be difficult to find the information required. Just because the information isn't clearly stated doesn't mean that it can be assumed that it is safe to sell items made from a particular pattern or design.

Tips for Using Copyright Designs

The onus is on you the craftsperson to establish whether you can use someone else's design to make items to sell. Here are some tips for establishing whether you can sell things made from other people's patterns, projects or designs:

• If it says 'not for commercial use' then, no, you can't make and sell items from this pattern or design. There is no reason, however, why you cannot contact the designer and ask if they would consider offering you a commercial license. The designer may charge for this license and this could range from a few dollars to much more. The price that they charge will need to be factored into your end cost, so this is something else to consider. Many designers are delighted that someone wants to sell items made from their designs and are happy to come to an arrangement with crafts people regarding a commercial license to make and sell work from their designs.
• Keep copies of emails and other records if you try to contact someone but don't get a response. Sometimes, with old patterns or patterns where contact information is not supplied it can be difficult to track down the copyright holder. If you proceed and use a pattern or project without getting permission you may need to prove at a later date that you used your best endeavors to track down the copyright holder.
• Some copyright holders, for instance some rubber stamp designers, request that the copyright details are shown on the finished project. It is important to check this before proceeding.
• Even if a website or publication does allow the sale of items from its patterns or designs, it is worth keeping a print out of their terms and conditions and make sure this is dated. You will find that many companies retain the right to amend their terms at any time, and therefore you could be acting in good faith only to find that their terms have changed sometime down the road.

Don't let blogs and social networking blur the lines between your personal and professional life.

With blogs, Twitter, Facebook and other social networking sites it is ever easier for our personal lives and professional lives to get blurred. Don't forget that customers and potential customers may also follow you on other sites. You may not want them to know some of the more personal aspects of your life and you are certainly not going to want them to read a rant about unreasonable customer expectations!

The best rule of thumb to follow is that if you wouldn't say it to someone's face then don't write it on a social networking site!

Etsy and Cool Mom Picks are jointly running a competition for Valentine's Day card competition designs. The full competition rules can be found at Cool Mom Picks' site, but in brief the requirement is for outlined designs that will be suitable for a child to color in and give.

The winning designs will be featured on nine printable cards that will be offered for sale through Etsy, with all the proceeds from the sales going to charity. 

Here at Make For Business, we decided to join in the fun with a couple of designs inspired by our sister site Make For Baby.

Each month offers you and your craft business a new set of opportunities and challenges. These range from the large international events, such as the winter holiday season which encompasses festivals from many cultures the world over, to more local events. Key celebrations, such as Mother's Day and Father's Day are celebrated at different times in different countries. Therefore if you make Mother's Day items, in addition to selling them in your home country, you may want to consider some international marketing to coincide with key dates in other countries.

Even if your business is completely unaffected by the seasons or key occasions, you are likely to find that there is still an impact (for instance your business may not be geared towards holiday sales, however you may find that supplier's turn around times are slower or that deliveries are slower).

Notable Dates for 2010

This list presents key and notable dates for each month of the year, along with birth and flower symbols. These can be good for marketing themes and also ideal for making special gift for babies that are born during this month. A little history behind the name of the month is provided which may also provide some marketing ideas.

JANUARY

• 5th Dia de los Rayes
• 18th Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (third Monday of January)
• 25th Burns Night - the time to celebrate all things Scottish!
• 26th Australia Day

• Birthstone – Garnet
• Flower (UK) - Carnation (which symbolizes love, pride, beauty, distinction, and fascination)
• Flower (US) - Snowdrop

• 14th Valentine's Day
• 14th Chinese New Year
• 15th Family Day (Canada) third Monday of the February
• 15th President's Day (US) third Monday of the February
• 16th Mardi Gras, Beginning of Lent, Shrove Tuesday
• 29th Leap Day

• Birthstone – Amethyst
• Flower (UK) - Its birth flower is the iris (which symbolizes faith, wisdom and hope)
• Flower (US) Primrose

• 1st St David's Day - the patron Saint of Wales
• 14th UK Mothering Sunday
• 17th St Patrick's Day

• Birthstone - Aquamarine
• Flower – Daffodil (which symbolizes rebirth, respect, regard and unrequited love)

• 1st April Fools Day
• 4th Easter Sunday
• 23rd St George's Day (England)
• 25th Anzac Day (Australia and New Zealand)

• 1st May Day / International Workers Day (or Labour Day in many countries, US Labor Day is Sept 5th)
• 4th National Teachers' Day (US)
• 5th Cinco de Mayo (Mexico)
• 9th Mother Day (US) Second Sunday of May

• Birthstone – Emerald
• Flower (UK) - Lily (which symbolizes humility, chastity, purity, and sweetness)
• Flower (US) – Hawthorn

The month May has been named for the Greek goddess Maia, who was identified with the Roman era goddess of fertility.

JUNE

• 20th Father's Day (Canada, UK, US)

June Symbols 

• Birthstone – Moonstone/Pearl
• Flower – Rose (which symbolizes love and appreciation)

June is named after the Roman goddess Juno, wife of Jupiter

JULY

• 4th Independence Day (US)
• 11th FIFA World Cup Final (Soccer) now is the time for soccer themed gifts!

July Symbols

• Birthstone – Ruby
• Flower – Larkspur (which symbolizes levity and lightness)

July was named in honor of Julius Caesar, who was born in that month

AUGUST

• 13th International Left Handers Day

August Symbols

• Birthstone – Peridot
• Flower – Gladiolis (which symbolizes remembrance)
• August is named after Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus

SEPTEMBER

• 5th Father's Day (Australia)
• 6th Labor Day (US)
• 12th Grandparents Day (first Sunday after Labor Day)

September Symbols

• Birthstone – Sapphire
• Flower (UK) – Forget-me-not, aster (which symbolizes patience and daintiness)
• Flower (US) – Morning glory

In Latin, septem means "seven" and septimus means "seventh"; September was the seventh month of the Roman calendar until January and February were added later.

OCTOBER

• 5th World Teacher Day
• 11th Columbus Day (second Monday in October)
• 11th Thanksgiving (Canada) second Monday in October
• 31st Halloween

• Birthstone - Opal/Tourmaline
• Flower (UK) – Calendula (which symbolizes winning grace)

October takes its name from the Latin word octo which means eight.

NOVEMBER

• 5th Guy Fawkes Night (UK)
• 11th Veterans Day / Remembrance Day
• 25th Thanksgiving Day (US) third Sunday in November

November Symbols

• Birthstone – Topaz/Citrine
• Flower - Chrysanthemum (which symbolizes compassion, friendship and secret love)

November takes its name from the Latin word novem which means nine

DECEMBER

• 1st Hanukkah (from sunset on the 1st to sunset on the 9th)
• 25th Christmas
• 26th Kwanzaa
• 31st Hogmany / New Year's Eve

December Symbols

• Birthstone – Turquoise
• Flower (UK) – Paperwhite (which symbolizes the sweetness of whoever receives it)
• Flower (US) – Holly

December comes from the Latin word decem, which means ten

Do you know of any dates we've missed? Contact us and we'll add them!