Video: Be Your Own Background Music: Outlaw Soaps Shows You How

We could not resist sharing this video with you. Oh yes, it’s one of our members’s Kickstarter campaigns, but that’s not why we wanted you to see it. We wanted you to see it because it will make you smile. Danielle Vincent over at Outlaw Soaps in Oakland, California has not only co-invented one of…

Details

Vault Episode #235: Scott Berkun [Podcast]

The Vault is an archive of my first podcasts so there is a record for you to enjoy. Welcome to the Vault Episode 235 featuring my interview with Scott Berkun.  Stream Vault Episode 235 Click the play arrow to play the podcast. (You may have to click it twice.) On a laptop or desktop, use your…

Details

Throwback Thursday: Indie Business Network Launches, January 16, 2000

If you missed last week’s Throwback Thursday, sharing some of the life changing experiences that compelled me to leave the “safety” of a “secure” job to start the Indie Business Network, you can get it here. This week, I take you through the first steps I took launching the business, and share some of the…

Details

Video: How to Search for People and Information in a Facebook Group

As you know, we maintain a private Facebook group for our Indie Business Network members. As the group grows and time passes, people may want to find out if specific topics have been discussed previously in the group. Members also want to find out if any of their friends or colleagues are a part of…

Details

An Accident, Waiting To Happen

How exciting to share the latest news from our member, Brent Leonesio over at Smell Bent in Los Angeles, California. The Institute for Art and Olfaction has teamed up with artist and provocateur Austin Young for a collaboration unleashing Brent’s olfactory prowess in a new edition of perfume called, Accident. The unveiling, along with the…

Details

Video: How Long Should It Take Your Business To Become Profitable?

Here’s a taste of the types of things we’re discussing in our private Indie Business Member Facebook group. While we discuss issues like product making and ingredient sourcing, most of the sharing is around business issues. Our members especially love topics concerning business and success mindset, increasing profits, as well as specific marketing and business…

Details

More Fun Than a Barrel of … Grapeseeds?

Check out the very cool, customized wine barrels our member, Kristin Fraser Cotte of The Grapeseed Company, is using to showcase her products in retail stores. As you might guess, Kristen’s products all contain grapeseed extracts. How perfect, considering Kristin lives in Santa Barbara where there is no shortage and grapes, seeds and other fun…

Details

Throwback Thursdays: It Began With a Calling

For the next several months, on Thursdays, as founder and CEO of the Indie Business Network, I will guide you on a walk down memory lane to celebrate our nearly fourteen years of service to handmade and creative beauty entrepreneurs worldwide. We start our journey with a look back nearly 20 years when I was…

Details

Join Me at The Soapmasters In New York City in September!

We’re so excited to tell you about The Soapmasters, a new learning and empowerment event from longtime Indie Business Network member, La Shonda Tyree of Handmade Soap Coach in Paterson, New Jersey, and I have a coupon code for you to attend at a $50 discount!! Scroll to the bottom to get the details. I…

Details

Coffee Time With Michael Neustrom of Prairie Lavender Farm

Recently, our member Michael Neustrom of Prairie Lavender Farm in Bennigton, Kansas, was interviewed on Coffee Time with Roger Nelson on KNCK Radio in Concordia, Kansas. Roger interviewed Michael about the benefits of lavender, including that you “Eat it, drink it and it just makes you smells good.” Here’s a picture of English lavender in…

Details

Bubs and Scrubs Uses Minority and Woman Business Certifications to Grow Her Business

Our member, Brenda Foster of Bubs and Scrubs in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, has earned two minority woman business certifications: National Women’s Business Enterprise Certification and National Minority Supplier Development Council! But before I get to that, I want to share a video Brenda made showing the love and care she puts into her products. In this…

Details

Lela Barker Delivers Aid and Encouragement to Ugandan Orphans

Our member, Lela Barker of Bella Luccè and Lucky Break Consulting in Columbia, South Carolina, recently returned from a weeks-long trip to Uganda. She took her 15-year old daughter, Chloe, along for the ride. The purpose of the trip was to personally deliver financial aid, reading books and encouragement to children in an orphanage in…

Details