How exciting is this? Last week, our member, Roberta Perry of Scrubz Body Scrub in Bethpage, New York, was recently a guest on the Dr. Oz. Show! According to their website, the Dr. Oz Show is broadcast in 118 countries and has over 4 Million daily viewers. On this show clip, Roberta educates Dr. Oz…
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While Emma’s Friends has closed, I invite you to be inspired by the amazing story of how Lynn built her business to honor her very special daughter. Welcome to Season 1 of the Indie Business Podcast! In this seventh episode, I introduce you to Lynn Elko of Emma’s Friends Soaps and Lotions in Tamaqua, Pennsylvania.…
End of the year festivities are fast approaching, and that means a lot of wonderful things for Makers and Handmade Entrepreneurs, among them, opportunities to donate some of the fruits of your labor to worthy charitable causes. According to a study released earlier this year by Good.Must.Grow., a socially responsible marketing consultancy, 30 percent of…
October is my favorite month of the year. The fireplaces light up and thoughts turn to warm coffee, toasty blankets and a good book by the hearth. We’ve got all that and more in store for you with this month’s My Maker Box. Did you miss out? Not to worry, I’ll tell you how not…
I joined Facebook on November 7, 2007, about a year after Facebook opened the platform to everyone with an email address. Since that time, I have been tempted, off and on, to close my Facebook account. Who hasn’t, right? You know the drill: Facebook changes something, or some feature I like is not working properly…
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Welcome to Season 1 of the Indie Business Podcast! In this sixth episode, I introduce you to Samantha Irwin of Standard Wax in Chandler, Arizona. Samantha and her business partner, Andrew King, met each other “by accident” at work, they did their first craft show “by accident,” they got their first wholesale customer “by accident,”…
The idea of starting a business to do what you love all day long is romantic and appealing. The trouble with it is that it’s not realistic, especially in today’s world where everyone has a business and the Internet is filled with people who are trying to get your customers’ attention. When you start your…
In a brand new video, Carol’s Daughter founder, Lisa Price, announced today that L’Oréal USA has signed an agreement to acquire her company, which she calls “her first child.” Watch here. (The video that originally appeared in this post has been replaced by a similar video.) Lisa launched Carol’s Daughter in her kitchen 21 years…
Over the past few weeks, I’ve been introducing you to our fabulous speakers for #IndieCruise Mastermind 2015. So far, you’ve met Kismet Andrews and Andrea Hence Evans, Esq. Today, I am pleased to introduce you to Lela Barker, another successful creative entrepreneur whom you will hear from and dine with and snorkel with, on #IndieCruise…
From time to time, I receive inquiries from Indie Business Network members who want to sell their business for one reason or another. I am not always in a position to share the opportunity publicly because not everyone wants their friends and fans to know that their business is for sale. Today, I am able…
Our member, Danielle Vincent, over at Outlaw Soaps is pretty awesome. Well, all of our members are awesome, but Danielle is awesome in unique ways. She is never afraid to step out of the box and try something new. Danielle really does not even know what a box is, and I think that is so…
Wouldn’t it be nice if every time you introduced a new program or product, you could just sell it forever, just like it was the day you launched it, and you never had to change it or do it over? And wouldn’t it be nice if you could learn how to make the most of…
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Welcome to Season 1 of the Indie Business Podcast! In this fifth episode, I introduce you to Samantha Dickey of Dirty Beauty Skincare in Woodstock, Georgia. Here is how Samantha describes her handmade products: “Hand-poured and developed by a farmer’s nerdy lipstick-lovin’ granddaughter.” You should be able to tell from that description that Samantha is…
As the leader of the Indie Business Network, I have the privilege of witnessing the birth of a lot of new businesses. Frequently, new Makers and Handmade Entrepreneurs find IBN because they need product liability insurance. After they join, they discover that the coaching and mentoring included with the membership are even more valuable than…
Last week, I introduced you to Andrea Hence Evans, Esq., one of our speakers for #IndieCruise Mastermind 2015. Today, I am pleased to introduce you to Kismet Andrews, another successful creative entrepreneur whom you will hear from, and dine with, on #IndieCruise Mastermind 2015. Kismet launched Bar Maids in 2001, and joined IBN in 2009.…
Recently, I stumbled across this simple video which sums up many of the feelings I have about living my passion as an entrepreneur. I do wish younger people were included in the video, but once I looked past that, I saw a pretty powerful statement. The line that stands out most to me is this:…
Our members are all over Instagram like hot syrup on a fluffy pancake! Since part of my job is to hang out on Instagram and take in all their wonderfulness (lucky me), I thought I’d share some of their latest handmade goodness so you don’t miss out. A few days ago, I told you that…
I recently cleaned out my inbox. It took 100 years. I deleted about 300 billion emails from guys who promised to show me how to make millions of dollars in my business if I would just give them my email address. I had never opened any of them. I should have unsubscribed, but I’m glad…
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Welcome to Season 1 of the Indie Business Podcast! In this fourth episode, I introduce you to Stacia Guzzo of The Handcrafted Honey Bee and Tehachabee Farm in Tehachapi, California. Stacia and I discuss how she manages her two Maker businesses as a wife and the mother of two young children, and how she became…
Everywhere we look these days, we see stories about the state of American manufacturing. Some say it’s dead. Some say it’s dying. Some say it’s alive and well. None of the stories account for the growth in the number of people making products with their hands and selling them to the public as a business…
Afew weeks ago, I watched with great interest the story of how an Anchorage, Alaska-based television news reporter resigned her position live, on the air. If you missed it, you can watch it below. (Note: Lower the volume at at 1:01 to 1:03 if you want to skip the expletive for younger viewers.) I quit…