The Create & Thrive Podcast

I see so many Etsy sellers make the same mistakes over and over – which end up sabotaging their potential success. In the 12 years since I started my own Etsy shop, I’ve worked with thousands of other makers, helping them to find success on this platform. Today, I wanted to cover 7 mistakes I see people making that end up killing any hope they have for a thriving, profitable Etsy shop....

How do you sustain a successful jewellery design business over decades – and through 2 major global financial crises? My friend, and guest today – Tracy   Matthews – is a jewellery designer, entrepreneur, mentor to creative visionaries and the host of the top-rated, Thrive By Design Podcast. Her passion is helping people tap into their unique creative brilliance factor to make mo...

Do you ever want to just remove social media from your life? Does it feel like it takes up too much of your time or energy – and do you find yourself getting stressed out by it? Whether it’s for personal or business use, sometimes it can be refreshing (not to mention relaxing!) to take a break from using social media. I’ve done shorter social media sabbaticals before – but...

Naa Ardua Flohic has embraced the use of video as part of her business. She creates videos to help her customers & she runs Facebook live videos – she’s also using YouTube as part of her business strategy! Today she shares how – and why – video has become such a part of her business strategy. We also dive into talking about one of her other business passions – Pin...

Are you using Pinterest to grow your handmade business? If not, (or, if you’ve been slacking off – looking in the mirror here!) then it’s time to revisit why Pinterest is SUCH a great, effective tool to use.  Today, I’m going to outline 5 reasons why you should consider making Pinterest a key part of your handmade biz marketing strategy. Also! This month over in the Thriver...

Putting our creations out into the world always comes with a frisson of tension – especially when we closely connect our self-worth to our work. My guest today – Erica Ando – and I have a frank discussion about this in today’s episode. Erica has a background in sculpture and textile design, and now works with other artists to help them grow their careers. We talk about deve...

How can you sell if you don’t know who you’re selling to? All the marketing and advertising in the world won’t help your handmade business grow if you’re talking to the wrong people. So – who are the right people? They are your ideal customer (or customers…) – and in this episode, I outline exactly what an ideal customer is, and why figuring out yours matt...

Commercial artist, author, creative director, maker, gallery artist… these are just a few of the monikers we can apply to my guest today – Beci Orpin. I was lucky enough to meet Beci at the BrisStyle Create + Connect Conference earlier this year. I loved her story, and her perspective of art and business, so I invited her to come on the show. Beci has worked as a commercial artist for...

I’ve made aaaaalllll the product photography mistakes – and today I’m sharing 5 whoppers you need to avoid in your own handmade product photography. Yep, I did all of these in the beginning – and they are all really good ways to destroy the quality of your photo. Bad photos = no sales. It’s imperitive that you work hard to create stellar photos of your work if you wan...

Today on the podcast we are visited by a maker of extraordinary paper sculptures. Zack started making his paper and wood birds after experimenting with his own Children’s book in which a little boy makes a bird lantern out of old book pages and willow sticks. Each bird takes anything from 30 – 120 hours to create, and Zack takes great pleasure in creating each bird as realistically as...

Stellar product photos are KEY to successfully selling your handmade creations online. There are lots of ways you can work to improve your photos (and if you need help, the C&T Guide to Product Photography will help) but today, I wanted to focus on 7 types of photos you should consider including in each product listing. You can listen to this podcast below, or on your fave podcast app –...

With more people than ever before selling online, you really need to stand out. And the best way to do this? Amazing product photos. My guest today – Amy Eaton – has been helping small businesses learn how to take better photos since 2017. Amy   Eaton  is a product photographer turned educator, teaching makers how to DIY their own awesome product photos for their business.  Amy  has ta...

There is SO much to learn when setting up an online shop for your handmade creations. I mean – I have a whole course on it! But today, I’m focussing in on 5 key aspects of setting up shop online that you can NOT afford to stuff up. This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to selling online – it’s a steep learning curve for those who are not familiar with business a...

As a seller, it’s your job to anticipate – and answer – any objections your customer may have to buying your product.   Another way of putting this – don’t leave any of your customer’s questions unanswered! This sounds obvious, but I’m always amazed at how many online sellers don’t do this properly. Think: inadequite descriptions lacking crucial deta...

What happens when a job turns into a passion – which turns into a full-time handmade business? Szklo Glass happens. My guest today – Lauren Earl – started a job working with glass after high school, not intending to make it a career. In 2016 she started making geometric wall hangings – and started selling them on Etsy. Fast-forward to 2020, and she is running a full-time gl...

Coming up with the perfect name for your handmade business can be tricky. There is a lot to consider – and it’s easy to make a blunder that you’ll regret down the line. I’ve named at least 5 businesses, and I’ve learnt a bit more about the process every time. Today, I wanted to share the 9 steps I recommend you go through when considering a name for your handmade busi...

How has running a handmade business changed over the last few decades? My guest today – Christine  Tenenholtz – is an Albuquerque, New Mexico based ceramic artist who has been crafting her line of colorful stoneware out of her home studio since 1996. Originally from Illinois where she received her degree in fine art photography from the University of Illinois at Chicago,  Christine  mo...

Since this is on everyone’s mind, I wanted to discuss the potential consequences of COVID-19 on our businesses.  Long story short: n o-one really knows what the long-term consequences will be, but there are things we can do to better ride out this period of uncertainty. I also want to talk about ways that we are, in fact, in a great position to deal with this pandemic compared to a lot of people w...

How much thought have you given to your branding, and how it shapes the story of your business? My guest today – Katie Saunders – specialises in helping creatives to clarify their branding. We discuss how much of ‘you’ to put into the business; how your business has a brand whether you’ve consciously crafted it – or not; how to distil your brand down into a few...

So often when we think of branding, we only think of colours, fonts, logo. It’s so much more than that.   You’ve got to start from the foundations of your biz. Ask yourself these 2 questions: What is it all about? Why should anyone care? In this video, I talk about the process of examining (and building) strong foundations for your business, so that you can answer the questions above – and s...

In just 3 years, Jen Duffin from Nova Mercury has built a thriving weaving business, and a thriving Instagram following. I love her bright, colourful, organic style, and when I discovered her on Instagram, I knew immediately that I wanted to chat to her on the show! Jen has over 81k followers on Instagram, as well as a super-successful Etsy shop – she was even nominated in the Etsy Design Aw...

There are endless challenges on the road to building a successful handmade business. But have you ever wondered if the biggest roadblock is actually… you? In this episode I talk about a number of the most common roadblocks to success – things like money, time, and knowledge – and how you might be self-sabotaging yourself via excuses – telling yourself you don’t have e...

Are you scared of making the leap to being self-employed? There are a lot of risks and fears that we need to confront when we consider leaving a stable job to become self-employed – and these fears and risks will vary depending on your age, your location, and your financial situation. But there are a number of hard and soft barriers to making the move that are pretty common across the board...

So many makers let their lack of confidence hold them back from starting their business (or starting something new within their existing business). There are many reasons to feel a lack of confidence – but while confidence breeds success… the inverse is also true. By putting yourself out there, failing a LOT, and sometimes finding success, you’ll grow your knowledge, courage, and...

In this episode I talk to a jeweller with a very similar ‘origin story’ to myself…  Raphaela of Fifth Heaven Designs started her business the way so many of us do – on the side, as a hobby. Fast-forward about a decade, and she has an incredibly successful online jewellery business – and today we discuss exactly how she got from there to here. Much like myself, Raphael...