Creative Entrepreneur

Instagram is a great social media channel for promoting your work but it has one, big drawback – you can’t put live links in your posts. If someone sees your piece and wants to buy it, they have to navigate to your profile page, click to visit your store, then locate the specific piece they say on Instagram. With each click and page load, your chances of losing the customers grows and grows. So why not sell them while you have them, right on that very same Instagram post? The “how” is going to sound kind of hinky and off-putting, but 1,000’s of Instagrammers are using it every day to buy and sell clothing, shoes and books. Why shouldn’t they be using it to buy your handmade goods, too!

When most people go to the hardware store, they see everything they need to repaint a wall, fix a broken table or build a deck for the backyard. When Valerie goes to the hardware store, she sees dangling earrings, exotic bracelets and elegant necklaces. Once in her expert hands, mundane washers and L brackets become works of wearable art. It's time to chat with Valerie William of Wearhardware.

Halloween is 42 days away which is plenty of time if you’re a buyer, but it’s a rapidly shrinking doorway if you’re an ecommerce seller. Not really into the holiday? That’s okay, but know this. . . according to the National Retail Federation more than 157 million Americans celebrated Halloween last year with a total spend of $6.9 billion. It’s also huge in Canada and the UK and other countries are catching the spooky bug as well. The average American planned to spend $74 on decorations, candy and costumes in 2015. Want to bet that number tops $100 this year? If you want a piece of that action, you don’t have to give up your current product line in favor of skulls and witches (Unless you want to!). All you have to do is make a few shifts in color and tone and you’ll be ready for those grownup ghoul lovers.

What other jewelry designers do with clay, wire and crystals, Marissa does with thin strips of paper. Her quilled earrings and necklaces are both intricate and airy. When viewed from a distance, you'd think they were made of more traditional materials but close up you can see the magic. This week, we handed Marissa the mic, so we could learn more about what drives her, what inspires her and why she took up quilling in the first place. Please welcome Marissa Agnew of Sweethearts and Crafts.

I'd like to introduce you to an exciting mobile check-in app called Burbn. Instead of simply clicking a button, you take photos of the bar or restaurant, then share them through the app so all of your friends can live vicariously through you. You have that app on your phone, right? You use it almost every day, right? No? Maybe you know it by its new name - Instagram? That is what's known in the startup world, as a pivot. Of course, not all pivots work out as well as Burbn. Some companies can't stop pivoting and that’s a bad sign for investors. The trick is knowing when a left turn is the right turn versus a turn down a dead end street.

When I asked Cyndee Rasmussen of Lovin Each Stitch to tell me about herself in 2 sentences, she didn't know what to say! So, I'll say it for her. Cyndee designs, makes and sells handmade handbags and accessories. She's a proud Canadian and if you're anywhere near Alberta, you can see her this summer at the St. Albert Farmer's Market. (We love online selling, but it's always nice to see the merchandise in person!) I'll let Cyndee take over from here. . . .

This week, we're headed west to meet up with Dennis and Jill Hendrix of Wyoming Silvers. They pay homage to their part of the US not only with unique, handmade jewelry and housewares, even their store categories are named after towns in Wyoming. If you're a nature lover, you'll love the pieces in their IndieMade store. Here's Jill to tell us more about her business:

Instagram has become an art form all its own. Some people use it to post random photos of themselves and their pets, but some artists are using the channel in unique ways that are totally inspiring. When we're feeling stuck, here are some of the Instagramers that help spark our imaginations. @Idafrosk Ida creates art on a plate using simple foods and simple shapes. There are food artists whose work is more complex, but we love the "hey, I can do that, too" feel of Ida's work.

This week's IndieMade featured artisan is Lisa Boland of Lisa Boland Designs. She's here to talk about how she honed her love of all things sparkly into a business and how she keeps the creative fires burning when there's always so much to do. An IndieMade "veteran" -- here's Lisa Boland.