Desperate Headlines

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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Episode 4: Stacia Guzzo: The Handcrafted Honey Bee [Podcast]

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…

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Handmade is the New American Manufacturing

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…

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How (Not) To Quit Your Job [Video]

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…

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Savory Fusilli Pasta With Tomatoes, Basil and Garlic

My family loves pasta. I’ve cut back a bit on it, so when I prepare it, I try to make it count by including ingredients that I don’t use on a regular basis. For example, anchovies. This recipe is adapted from one I found in the back of the seat pocket in front of me…

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3 Steps to Using Social Media For Business: From Follower to Family

It always makes me sad when creative entrepreneurs shrink from social media. At the top of every entrepreneur’s daily task list is the requirement that they make the cash register ring. Social media is one way to make that happen, yet many creatives do not embrace it — even when it’s clear that if they…

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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.”…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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