Taking Crafting From Hobby to Business

 Hand Made Jewelry for Fun and Profit is a new E book published by Marie Starr, a long time seller of beaded jewelry and jewelry patterns, and owner of Bead Patterns Boutique.  We at Bead Patterns  Boutique (shoppers and designers alike) call her "our fearless leader" with a big smile.  She has many years of experience in the business of crafting and marketing and eagerly shares much of her knowledge with us in the users forum as well as the designers forum.

In her latest E book you will find detailed information on how to:
Build your stock & Decide what to carry
Prepare to sell your work
Price what you have made
Find and approach your potential buyers
Close that deal
This information can be applied to any  hand made craft and is sure to help you get started in turning your hobby into a business, or if you're already running a business it can help you find customers and close the deal and increase profits.

On the same topic, I was doing some research for a friend who was wanting some information on bead programs.  As usual, I got sidetracked on something else.  At least this time it was related.

I found this free Jewelry Pricing Calculator Software. Yes, I said free! This calculator is free to download and will walk you through, step by step,
Working out the EXACT hourly rate you should be charging.
Calculating your overhead costs.
Totaling ALL material costs for your pieces.
Instantly calculating your Wholesale and Retail price.

If you're considering taking your hobby to the next level and turning fun into profit I hope these two items will help you get started and enjoy a profitable business.