Posts Tagged ‘business’

After years of encouragement from my online family, I am so proud to be in a position to offer this! 

Career Coaching with Bunny Cates

Career Coaching with Bunny Cates: A 1 hour, 1-on-1 Conversation with store owner and designer Bunny Cates (me!).

What’s this all about?

Well, when I started out in this business I would have given ANYTHING to have had someone to just sit down and talk to about the behind the scenes aspects of running "the business side" of digiscrap. No fluff, just honest answers to some pretty serious questions I had floating around in my head. "Do I need a business license?" "Do I charge taxes?" "How much do I charge for this!?" I didn’t have anyone, but using my management background as a guide, I’ve been figuring it out on my own for the last 5+ years. I get asked questions all the time about how to handle certain things, or the best way to deal with this-n-that and I know that the information I have to share can be motivational, informative, and useful. When I started my digital scrapbooking business, I didn’t have someone to talk to about the business, it was hard figuring it out on my own. I want to be that "someone" for you.

So many people get into this business thinking its going to be a quick buck, and then they have no one to talk to or help them thru it once they’re in it.  I want to change that for people!  Imagine how awesome the entire DigiScrap/Crafting’/Cottage Arts niche would be if designers actually "felt" like and DID know what they were doing.  Had a "guide" to push them in the right direction.  I can totally fill that void for people.

So, what I am offering here is pretty simple. Your questions, my answers, about the "business side" of Digital Scrapbooking. Anything you want to talk about. Whether you are a store owner or a digital designer, I am confident this session will benefit your business.

Coaching sessions are prepaid by appointment only, and held via Skype (World Wide) or Telephone (USA ONLY).

How to get scheduled:

Simple! Check Out with this item in your cart. Once payment is received, you will receive an email with a few questions for YOU to answer and you can also tell me what time is best for you. Once I get that back, we’ll have you scheduled, and on the day of your session we’ll either meet up on Skype or phone. Which ever works best for YOU.

Once you have your date set, I highly recommend sitting down and making notes of what you hope to talk about during our coaching session. These sessions aren’t me telling you what I think you should know, its me telling you what you WANT to know. So make notes to yourself, and have them handy during our Coaching session! If you don’t have any questions, it’s going to be a long hour!

Remember: You can ask me anything business related.

Please note this is not a "creative" seminar. I will not be teaching you how to design. This is a "BUSINESS" conversation. So you can ask things about: administration, taxes,workflow, customer service, etc etc

click here to schedule your Coaching Session with Bunny Cates

Hi friends.  I’ve gotten some pretty interesting emails over the last few days, so I thought maybe I would just post this.  I used to sell an ebook called SO YOU THINK YOU SHOULD SELL.  It was written for people thinking about getting into designing.  There is a lot of stuff that goes on ‘in the business’ that most people don’t realize or even think about.  And now, hearing yet AGAIN, there is a store not paying their designers… well…  Im posting this info.  Edited to update it, since I wrote this a few years ago.  If you are thinking about getting into the business of digiscrap designing or know someone who is, I hope you take a second to read over this info.

Please note:  This info is based on my experiences in this business.  I am only one person, and I am sure that EVERY designers “getting started” advice will be different. 

Thank you,
Bunny Cates, Owner
www.digital-scrapbooking.org / www.digiscrapobsession.com
www.digiscrapvault.com
www.bunnycates.com

So your wanting to sell yours designs

So, you’ve been thinking about it, your friends and/or mates have been telling you that you SHOULD.  What now?

CHECK YOURSELF

Do you feel like your designs are good enough to sell?  Ask yourself.  "IF I PAID MONEY FOR THIS, WOULD I BE DISAPPOINTED" That’s my main judge on if you are ready or not.  I can not tell you if what you are making will sell. NO ONE CAN.  {no matter if they THINK they know it all or not!}  For every item you can make, I’m SURE that there is someone out there willing to pay for it.  But, that doesn’t mean they will ever see it.  So my advice is just make the BEST product you can and go with that. 

BEFORE YOU START SELLING

Please please!  Educate yourself on ©,  I promise you that 99% of the brushes and files you have collected on the Internet over the last few years ARE NOT ok to use commercially!  If where you downloaded from didn’t provide you with a TOU that SPECIFICALLY STATES OK FOR COMMERCIAL USE then don’t use it.  Free on the net does NOT mean Free to use commercially.   

I KNOW, THEY ARE AWESOME, THEY KNOW EVERYTHING!

Not!  There are a few folks out there, which like to flutter their feathers and prance around as all knowing.  And sadly they have their little crew that reinforces that for them. BUT, I am here to tell you that I have yet to meet ANYONE in this business who is the be all, end all authority on Digital Scrapbooking (designing or otherwise).  Owning a store or scrap site does NOT make them an authority on the subject no matter how much they would like to think it does!  The best thing YOU can do for yourself is soak in as much info FROM AS MANY PEOPLE as you can, mash it all together and come out with what works BEST for YOU!  I do not know everything, and I am the first to admit it!  I have been using my program a very long time though, and I know what works best for ME.  It’s a combination of all the things I have taught myself and things I have picked up from wonderful tutorial writers, classes, and books over the years.  That info may or may NOT work easiest for YOU! 

DIGI SCRAPPERS ARE SMART!

Digital customers are a lot more educated on the use of their programs then they were say three years ago.  They are learning more and more about things like resolution and shadows.  As more and more graphics programs come out on the market, and more and more people find the digital scrapbooking community, you are going to see more and more digi scrappers picking up on small things like jagged edges.  So you better prepare yourself for that.  YOU need to understand that a lot of the digi scrappers of today have been tubing and tagging for probably YEARS.  They know and understand how to work their software.  They are going to be putting your product to the "test" so to speak so it really needs to be high quality!

THE TREND MAKING US PUKE

I say “us”, because I’m speaking not only as a designer, but as a customer.  PLEASE use the commercial use templates and tools with a grain of salt.  BEFORE YOU BUY CU TOOLS: be very aware that there is A LOT of JUNK being sold as cu tools.  By junk I mean, here at DSO/DSV we have a quality check on our products and MOST of what we send back for being jagged or messed up was something that was bought as a commercial use tool.  There are some really bad templates out there and some actions too!  Use this stuff as little as possible, and REALLY REALLY go over your finished item with a fine tooth comb if it was made with a "tool".    I really wish I could make a list of stuff that should NOT be on the market, but legally I can’t.  And it would be very rude to do so in my opinion.  I hate the drama, so I will just say.  BE VERY PICKY about what CU stuff you use in your products!

Along the same line, taking a bow template, coloring it red and popping it in a kit is NOT designing.  Who ever made that bow template designed it for you, you just re-colored it.  Don’t get lazy.  CU tools are nice, but if you overload a kit with them, BLUCH!  I’ve seen entire kits made out of CU TOOLS.  ENTIRE KITS.  And the tools were all used AS IS.. Just re-colored!  I would never pay for that.  Instead I would go by the tools and do it all myself.  Don’t think the customers know its CU TOOLS?  WRONG O!  They are in the scrap stores shopping JUST LIKE YOU, and have seen that cu pack not only for sale, but in 50 other kits!  So keep that in mind!!!  Take that tool, and take the time to really work with it, and make it something original!  DONT BE LAZY, DONT BE LAZY, DONT BE LAZY!!!

HOW MUCH MONEY WILL I MAKE?

Now, how can I tell you that?  I promise you that you will not make a full time income on what you sell.  DONT quit your day job. LOL…   Most designers start out making very little if ANYTHING for the first few months.  You can give freebies away all day long, and you can get a billion wonderful comments on your blog, but that doesn’t mean that those people leaving comments are willing to spend a penny on what you are trying to sell.  And that’s ok, don’t get disappointed!  Keep on plugging and eventually you will have a few "fans".  And you will start selling and life will be happy.  Realistically, prepare yourself for NO SALES.  Then anything you make is a bonus. 

DONT BANK ON IT!  Being a store owner, I see a lot of pay checks.  I’m friends with a LOT of other designers as well.  I have seen folks make $600 one month and $3.50 the next.  This business is not a "steady" income business.  And if you are looking to feed your kids, then you need to look somewhere else.  An average designer (MOST) Make between $50-$500 a month.  It takes really about a year to start seeing that kind of money though!  I say that like I just wrote a million.  But really, $500 a month is GOOD MONEY for a digi-designer, because all of our products are so under priced!  

Other things to take into the pay scale consideration.  There are pay pal fees on each transaction AND pay transfer.  .32 PLUS a % of the transaction!  Each store is going to keep a portion of you sales to help cover costs of the site!   So pay pal has taken your 1.00 sale down to .65 and your store owner is going to keep their % of that… we’ll say 20% So off that $1 sale you just made a whopping .52 and then pay pal will hit it AGAIN when the store owner sends it to YOU… so now off that dollar you have made about .30 Are you following me here?  Now this is just an example.  Every store is run different with different commissions and such.  Here, at DSO/DSV, we have actually been eating the pay pal crap for my girls.  Because I love them! (No, really it’s just because the math is a LOT easier if I just eat the pay pal loss!)  My point is.  Really READ the designer agreement before you sign on anywhere.  How they figure pay really affects what you GET PAID!

Picking the store right for you!

This may sound weird, but don’t just automatically jump onto a big store that you think has big name designers!  Every site is run different, and every person is different.  One sites “operations” method may not suit YOU.  Here is a list of some things I think you should consider when looking for someplace to “call home”.  Talk to the current designers to try to find out.  Better yet, try to find some designers that have left and find out why they left!  *Be cautious of the info they give though.  Is it facts or based on emotion.  “I got paid late” or “I think they were skimming sales” is NOT the same as “The site owner is a hag!” I am including a Store Inquiry Form, to help you organize your inquiries into a something tangible.  This will help you see the pros and cons of the sites you are interested in and hopefully help you make the best pick for YOU!

·    Are the team members active, and friendly or do they do what I call a “pop and go”?  Meaning do they pop up their product and go about their business OR do they hang out with their “team” are they friends or competition?  You can usually pick up on this by reading the forums and blogs of the designers.  As a new designer, I think it’s very important that you find somewhere you will feel comfortable.  Somewhere that is “nurturing” and where the staff is willing to help out if you need it.  There are some stuck up snobby hags in this business, after all, they aren’t getting paid to teach you how to outsell them.  Right?  I seriously don’t see how you can grow to your full potential surrounded by THAT.  They should be thinking if you aren’t selling high quality stuff they will lose sells if someone buys it.  ONE BAD DESIGNER reflects on the site as a whole.  They should want to HELP you be the best you can be; it will only look good on THEM.  If someone buys junk, they won’t be back to that site.  No matter WHO they bought it from.  That’s how I see it.  I make money if my girls make money, so I do everything I can to help them be the best THEY can be. 

·    How does that site owner handle the site?  Are they around, or do they have “people” do their job for them?  This to me is a biggy.  I had one friend selling at a site, and she didn’t even know for sure, WHO OWNED IT!  Her only means of contacting “the owner” was via the DESIGNER area on the forums! 

·    Who handles pay? How often? How much?  Proof? Emergency backup?  Yea, when it comes to money, Bunny is anal.  I would want to know my money is being handled properly.  And sadly, there is no way to know for sure what’s going on until you KNOW.  You know?   First commission.  Find out what front what cuts are going to be taken from your sells.  Don’t let em dance around the bush either.  Ask direct questions and expect nothing LESS then a direct answer.  There are sites out there with “hidden” cuts on sales, sites with crazy high commissions, site owners that skim, owners that spend the money in their account and try to stick it back in at pay time to pay their team, owners that rely solely on cart reports to do payroll.  All of these things are the reasons I can’t make myself to sell ANYWHERE ELSE.  You should find out if a site lets you see the sells as they happen or do you just get your pay at the end of the month.  How do they compile their info for payroll?  Do they just use the report from the cart on payday?  What if the site crashes?  Who handles pay?  Who has access to the stores pay pal account?  You may think I’m blowing it out of proportion here, but when you’re talking about my margarita money I want some facts and security!

·    Monthly requirements.  This is another biggy, and to me the biggest killer of “new designer” careers in this business.  DO NOT, and I can’t stress this enough, DO NOT think you have to sell at 55 places to get your name out there.  YOU DON’T.  In fact, I think this could even hurt your “getting your name out” more then it helps.  Every site has some kind of requirements for their designers.  It may be just being active in the forum, or posting comments on the gallery, but they have SOMETHING.  Most sites also require you participate in their site mega kit.  This is a kit compiled of all the sites designers and sold to help cover the costs of running and maintaining the site.  Basically you are donating pieces of scraps to the store owner.  So they can try to keep their site afloat.  Now if site a has a mega, and you are required 10 papers and 10 elements.  Then site b has a mega and you are required 10 papers and 10 elements.  Then site c, you see where I’m going with this?  You find you are so busy fulfilling your requirements you just don’t have time to make the stuff YOU want to make because you’re making stuff for everyone else.  It gets old FAST.  Selling at multiple sites means you are working your tale off and chances are you aren’t rolling in the money for all your efforts.  This is very discouraging!

·    Do you trust this owner enough to give them your social security number?  WHAT?!  That’s right!  If you have any luck at selling at all, you are going to have to claim it on your taxes.  You can bet that store owner is, or they better be.  Chances are (if you are in the states) you are going to have to do a 1099 so they can get THEIR taxes in order.  Just like if you worked at McDonalds.

Digi Designing and Uncle Sam?

So, you’ve decided you going to do it!  I’m so proud of you! But before you leap there is a little more you need to think about.  And prepping NOW will save you a headache later.  TRUST ME! 

·    Find yourself a CPA, preferably one that is familiar with internet businesses.  Don’t cringe.  CPA’s are NOT expensive.  IN FACT, mine was about HALF the cost of H and R block, AND we still did rapid refund!  So find one, before you start selling.  They will do a consult for free.  And you can use this consult to decide whether they are the ones you want doing your taxes!  It is a very common misconception that you don’t have to turn in your designing income unless you make more the $600.  That number is based on HOUSEHOLD INCOME.  So if you have a day job, or your hubby is working, then guess what?  You GOT TO TURN IT IN! 

·    Set yourself up some kind of file system.  There are so many things that you can claim as deductions for your design business!  Keep receipts on EVERYTHING!  Magazine subscription, internet cost, hardware, website fees, these things are ALL DEDUCTIBLE! 

So, Your goods are good, you’ve picked a site, you’re right with Uncle Sam.  Now what?

Advertise.  LOL…  Seriously.  There is more “marketing” that happens with ANY internet business then a lot of people are aware of!  You need to promote yourself where the people are.  This means, find some yahoo groups to advertise in, get to posting on some forums, post often on your blog.  Mind your attitude whilest posting out in public too.  A bad attitude will kill your sales quicker then bad design will trust me!  If you’re a HAG, you WILL lose potential customers!   I’m not saying be all Ms. Fakey Fakey, I’m just saying mind your tongue and use the manners your momma tried to teach ya.   

Believe it or not all of these things fall into advertising!  The goal is to get your name out there.  A GOOD NAME and self promotion is how you’re going to do it!  If you can win over the people you will also be winning over free “word of mouth” advertising, so mind yourself!  You want happy “fans” they will help sell you.  But, believe it when I tell you, if you get a bad attitude they will tell that even MORE…

Mind your business, by minding your manners.  THAT is a good rule to live by!

Dealing with Creative Slumps

It’s ok!  Writers get writers block, painters have “black” periods.   Don’t fret.  Designing is a lot of work, and it gets to the best of us!  Take a few days off!  Do some challenges, do some layouts, do the things that you liked about scrapping to begin with!

Dealing with Piracy

Digital piracy is a fact of today’s life.  Please take a few moments to familiarize yourself with what piracy IS, exactly.  Pop over to Jen Strange’s blog and read up on what is going on with the fight to stop piracy, and find ways to help protect yourself!  Think now, about how you will handle the situation if you get pirated.  I recommend writing a draft email NOW to use in these cases so you aren’t typing one emotionally charged! 

A final word of advice.

Don’t go a changin’! 

That’s right folks.  Well, you’re a professional designer now.  Umm-hmm, so what?  You went professional because people liked YOU and liked your stuff.  Now that you sell instead of give it all for free should NOT affect WHO you are.  Get over your self!  I can take pictures of my feet and post them on my blog.  That doesn’t make me a photographer, nor does it make me any better then anyone else!  Don’t forget that fact.  It’s so easy to get a little stuck on your self.  And it makes me really sad to see designers with such potential choke on their own feathers so to speak.  So what if today you have stuff for sell.  SO WHAT.  You are still exactly who you were yesterday only now you’re trying to make a little money.  This business is as much personality based as it is quality and you would be misguided to forget it.  People that read your blog, do so because they like you.  They feel like they know you, and THAT my friend is the best kind of CUSTOMER.  They will “word of mouth” you to everyone they know.  But you go flaunting them feathers and forget the people that put you where you are, and you will find yourself sitting alone in a dark room, wondering where your “love” went..

THE END

Well, I sure hope you found this helpful!  I’m including a few pages to help get you going in the right direction, like some useful links, a Tax checklist, and a store inquiry form.  These are all things I know NOW, that I sure wish I would have known THEN.    If you play your cards right you really can have a happy career in this business.  You have to be willing to work for it though.  So the bottom line is, knowing all this stuff I have written here, are you still wanting to give it a go?

Good luck to you!
Please email me anytime if you feel the need!
and  YES.  DSO is hiring!

Hi folks, this is just a quick quick note.

I’m putting together some Business Binders for the DSO Girls, and I thought I would put the offer out there to my Digiscrap Designing friends.

This is NOT a digital download.  Actual binders will be shipped to those who order.

Basically, my business binder is a tool that will help organize your business in every aspect from planning products, creating them, tracking their sales, managing deadlines, planning promotions, tracking income and expenses, tax prep *You’ll be COMPLETELY READY come tax time! Just pop out a section and GO!* , and MORE.   The binder won’t help you DESIGN, but it will help you manage just about every other part of the business. 

The cost of the binder is $45.  This does NOT include shipping.  Shipping will be billed separately and is based on your location.  I will consult with the post office to get the best rate possible for you, which I believe will be MEDIA MAIL for those in the US.  To expedite shipping you can request flat rate which will be $10.80 (USA), but I think that is at least DOUBLE what media mail will cost.

I do not have a photo of a completed binder, I am in the process of putting them together at this time.  They will not be decorated, I’ll leave that up to the new owners.    What they will be is either a 1” 3-ring binder or a 2” 3-ring binder, stuffed with stuff to help you run the business (Over 100 pages of charts, tips, ledgers, and more!).  

I will also provide either in seminar setting or one-on-one in Skype – a “How to use this binder” class.  At NO additional charge to those that purchase the binder.   We’ll go over each section in detail, and discuss how to use each section.

Additionally those who purchase this first batch of binders (Purchases from the month of FEBRUARY 2010 only!)  will receive free supplements thru Nov 2010, of anything I decide to add between now and the 2011 release. 

Please note: This binder is for a single user.  Copying and redistributing (online or otherwise) is STRICTLY PROHIBITED!

If you would like to order a binder, please click the BUY NOW BUTTON.  Please note I am purchasing supplies to make the binders as they are ordered, so please allow 2 weeks for assembly and shipment of your binder.

Here are some quick shots of partially assembled binders, I’ll add more pics when I get them completely assembled.  Who knew hole punching would be such a PAIN!  lol!!!!!

PS:
If you try to order and it says “Sold out” just email me.  I have it set to stop after a certain amount, as each batch of supplies will make X number of binders.  I’ll reset it so you can order, it just means I need to order more supplies.  

PSS:
If you have think you may want one, but are unsure and have questions please don’t hesitate to email me!