Smile About Your Success

Do you sell your products at local fairs and markets? If so, it’s not just your customers you want to connect with while you are there. For example, meet our members: Angela Carillo, Roslyne Yates-Johnson and Anne Marie Esposito at the Women’s EXPO Long Island yesterday. Roslyne called Anne Maria and Angela her “Indie Sisters.”…

Details

apollos hester

Motivation from Apollos Hester: If You Fall Down, Just Get Up [Video]

If you haven’t seen this video, you are living under a rock. If you have seen it, maybe today, you should watch it again — because who can’t use extra motivation for the day?! Check out this local reporter’s interview of Apollos Hester, an Austin, Texas, high school football player, right after they won a…

Details

Episode 3: Carrie and Darren Seibert: Soap Commander [Podcast]

Welcome to Season 1 of the Indie Business Podcast! In this third episode, I introduce you to Darren and Carrie Seibert of Soap Commander in Cherokee, Alabama, and we discuss how they manage their business while raising and home schooling seven (yes, 7) children. Being married to an unexpected entrepreneur is not always easy. You…

Details

Introducing the September 2014 My Maker Box Supporters!

In case you missed the video, the September My Maker Box was filled with goodies to celebrate the start of the Fall season. From organic herbal tea and an autographed copy of an awesome business book, to a handmade tea wallet (the first I’d ever seen anywhere), so many handmade goodies for our Maker friends…

Details

10 Reasons Why Every Maker Should Be Blogging

Don’t throw anything at me. I know you may want to, but please resist the urge, and listen up. I have been blogging since 2000. Back then, it was called “journaling.” I “journaled” quarterly for a few years, until my website designer (who I was paying to update my journals) told me that I might…

Details

Roasted Vegetables (with melted creamed honey)

One of the things that says “Fall” to me is a plate filled with roasted vegetables. This dish is colorful, hearty and healthy (even with the creamed honey), and easy to prepare. This is actually one of the few ways my son will actually eat vegetables, so I make this dish quite often during the…

Details

Social Media Roundup: Sept. 20 ~ Sept. 26 (American Made Goodness!)

We scoured the Web this week to bring you some American Made Goodness from our members nationwide. Bursts of color, a bit of bling, some honey sweetness, a billionaire celebrity and more — all in the mix. It gives me such great pleasure to tell you about the love and beauty IBN members are adding…

Details

Our Subscription Box: September 2014 [Video]

I made this little video to show you all the goodies contained in our subscription box for the month of September. (If you missed the August My Maker Box video, you can see it here.) Oh, the handmade goodness! Take a look. The September My Maker Box was filled with all kinds of autumnal yummies…

Details

August 2014 My Maker Box: Unboxing Video

In August, we shipped the premier My Maker Box, the subscription box for makers by makers. Each box contains at least $150 in handmade products and Business Success Resources you can use to grow your creative business. Watch this video to see what was in our first My Maker Box! What is better for a…

Details

Episode 2: Alana Rivera: Etta and Billie: Indie Business Podcast

Once you know you make a good handmade product, how do you know what to do next? According to Alana Rivera, you hone your skills before “jumping over the edge.” Alana started her handmade bath + body company, Etta and Billie in San Francisco, while she still had a traditional job. Today, not only has…

Details

The Big Picture of Small Business [ Video]

I found this video while hanging out on Vimeo the other day. I noticed it because one of our members is featured. It’s a very inspiring looking at what Jen Serena, a Burbank, California-based photographer, is doing to encourage and highlight local independent business owners in her area. Can you spot the IBN member? If…

Details

Creamy Pumpkin Soup

There is a slight chill in the air. My tomatoes are not growing like they were last week when I made Roasted Plum Tomatoes. Fall is coming, and with it, comfort food time. And what says comfort food during the fall better than pumpkin and soup? Put the two together with a little bit of…

Details

7 Easy Ways to Supercharge Your Online Marketing Efforts and Boost Sales

Today I had the privilege of speaking about social media at “Farm to Market: 21st Century Practices For The Modern Herbal Entrepreneur,” an event co-sponsored by the North Carolina Natural Products Association (where I am a board member) and the American Herbalists Guild. My topic was “7 Easy Ways to Supercharge Your Online Marketing Efforts…

Details