Tip-Top Pitch Kit by Jena Coray

I have great respect and admiration for Jena Coray of Modish as a blogger and entrepreneur(she is incredibly sweet to boot), so when I heard she was putting together an e-book, the Tip-Top Pitch Kit, I was so excited to see what she had in store!

So, I was honored to take part with 26 other bloggers surveyed to be a part of the results of this e-book. We were asked questions of what we look for in a pitch from a business from a bloggers perspective. What we love and what makes us cringe. 

I read this e-book from front to back and I can honestly say, it is an easy read loaded with helpful information that can help you successfully land media and blog attention for your product.

You can read more about it, and download the book here. 

Style File: Velina Lookbook + Surprise Giveaway

Let me introduce you to this fantastic new line on the block...

I have known Tina and Erica (two lovely sisters) for a while, and was completely intrigued when I heard they were joining creative forces to start their own line of jewelry, VELINA. Together they carry just about every talent you need to run a successful business. It did not surprise me that when they came out with their first lookbook, that it was compelling and completely breathtaking.

ABOUT THE DESIGNERS:

Tina is a young graphic designer; Erica, a young journalist. Together, with contagious spirits and strong sense of style, Tina and Erica knew they needed to find an outlet where their passion for design and enduring ambition could collide. This collision is what spearheaded the creation of VELINA. 

{all images from the Fall/Winter Lookbook}

BEHIND THE NAME:

The name VELINA was chosen because it was their Italian mother's nickname as a young girl. Tina & Erica believed this name was a perfect fit for their line, as it represents something special: both their family and where they come from. 

Through each original piece, VELINA hopes to bring stylish designs -- created with stones and charms from all over the world -  celebrating the beauty behind diversity and the confidence found in self-expression.

You will want to keep up with this dynamic sister duet as they have just launched a men's line and are about to launch their spring line as well!

FIND VELINA HERE:

Website | Facebook | Twitter

WIN A VELINA BRACELET OF CHOICE:

IHOD and VELINA have teamed up to bring you a surprise giveaway today exclusively for IHOD facebook fans! Head on over and see how you can easily win one of these beaded beauties for yourself!

Small business guide: Tips 2 Take with You featuring Allisa Jacobs

*edit: This post was deleted when blogger crashed and erased all previous comments, so if you no longer see yours there that is why:( Sorry for the inconvenience!

Oh how I love online shopping. It means that in the wee hours of the morning, before the house awakes,  I can browse, wish, and purchase. I can shop in my slippers & eat cereal from my mug. It also means I don't need to cart around the little one, braving the rain and crazy parking lots.  I'm actually not really a big shopper to begin with, I'd rather make or do....but this week I've done lots of browsing for gifts, baby showers items, and supplies.  What I found gave me lots of inspiration...but also taught me a lot about my own shop in terms of thinking like a buyer. 

Here's a few lessons learned while buying:

• Welcome Me:  I love shopping on sites where I feel welcomed- maybe it's the phrases, the story, the images, the extra services.... something to make me feel like I'm not just sitting at home in my kitty pajamas at 4:30 in the morning, but the little bits to make me want to stick around and browse. 
• Spell it out:  All those details are important...and I need to find them fast & quick. Please don't make me search & hunt around to find shipping costs, measurements, and ingredients. Think about your specific items and what shoppers would most likely ask about (e.g. do you sell delicious jelly candies? Please tell me the ingredients, a bit about the kitchen they are made in, and how they ship...)
• Short & Sweet: I love clever descriptions and catchy lines to rope me in... buuuuttt...please avoid going on & on and telling the story before even getting to the good stuff- the product! 
• Explain Yourself:  I ran across a few items that seemed to have mysteries attached...one had crazy high shipping - which I am ok with, IF you tell me why (priority rates, large sturdy box, heavy weight). 
• Show off the Goods: Many items I perused were marketed as gifts...however, only a a few showed the packaging. This makes a big difference- I'm more likely to purchase something that arrives all cute with a tag and tied in ribbon than just a tossed in a mailer.  

I really hope to take some time and apply these lessons to my own shop soon.  

Have something to add to this list? Do tell! 

Thank you so much Allisa for sharing your fantastic advice!!

You can find a wealth of information on Allisa's blog about running a successful business. She is even coming out with an e-book soon on this topic! YAY! Take a moment to visit!

Meet the Blogger: Melanie Blodgett of You Are My Fave

Your favorite aspect of blogging?

The friends I've made online. That kind of sounds like I went to a chat room and met some sketchy dude and now we're getting married! But tell me, when you meet someone for the first time, what's the topic of conversation? Your similarities and interests. Relating to someone's blog and getting to know them online is just the initial step of becoming a friend. 

I went to a conference a couple weeks ago and met several bloggers that I've read for a couple years now. I even roomed with one that I had never met in person - and you know what? When we met we instantly embraced and felt like old friends. My mouth hurt from talking and laughing so much. I came home wanting all of them to become my next door neighbors. 

(Pinwheel Party - more here)

IHOD Spring 2011 Line Premier

So its time to officially announce the launch of the new IHOD Spring line!! A long work in progress that is finally ready! I created a look guide using some of the pieces and color inspirations of the line. With all this snow and cold weather across the nation, I had to bring a little color into the blogosphere:)

The entire collection will be in my shop in the next few weeks! The majority of the above are already available. I have some amazing fashion bloggers lined up to model the accessories and will be posting those soon as well. This is a milestone for my business as it is my first complete line of seasonal accessories! I started from scratch with a design and color inspiration board that was a helpful guide in staying on board! From there it was the actual design process, supply purchasing in L.A., production, photography, photo editing, and look book! I think all of you fellow small business owners can relate to the amount of work involved! Tell me how you design your items. I would love to hear!

So please tell me which are your favorites, what colors stand out to you, and what type of accessories you would wear most! It will be of so much help to me in moving forward! Your feedback means so much!  Happy weekend friends!

Tips 2 Take With You: Product Pricing with Ashley Pahl

Ashley has a fantastic blog- Indie Pretty Projects dedicated to Indie Businesses and has a very helpful series with many more topics you may find helpful! I am so grateful for her being here today to share her tips with us!

When I first started selling my work online, I was drastically under-pricing my work. I was trying to be competitive with my pricing, thinking that people would be more likely to spring for a good deal; however, it didn't take long for me to realize that handmade shoppers will pay more for a nice, unique handmade product. A crafter's time is valuable, and they should pay themselves what they are worth.

 For handmade business owners, there seems to be a little bit of a struggle with pricing. They want to make their craft affordable to shoppers, but they want to pay themselves for their time. First, let's look at the top reasons for buying handmade: Handmade is quality, Handmade is unique, Buying handmade is important for supporting independent businesses. People shopping handmade usually aren't doing so because they think they can score a deal. Some handmade businesses will offer bargains, but that is the exception, not the rule.

(via yorktownroad)

Handmade business owners are trying to turn a profit, and they must price their products accordingly. Indie businesses must consider the following factors when pricing a product:

• cost of materials
• website fees
• time it takes to make that item and an hourly wage
• packaging
• any other unique costs

Sometimes handmade business owners do not pay themselves for their time because they want to keep prices affordable for shoppers. Crafters fear that if they charge too much, no one will buy their creations. The truth is, handmade items will sell if:

• there is a market for it
• no one else is making it
• it is the best product among the competition
• if the products are effectively marketed to the target audience
• if people trust the artist or business
• if the indie business has a great reputation

Many of those examples go hand-in-hand and cannot exist without another.

(via flapperdoodle)

Indie businesses who have a product that people want, and who have found their niche market, should never need to sell their products at a discounted rate. A simple way to make sure all of your bases are covered is to create a pricing formula unique to your own business.

1. determine the hourly rate you want to pay yourself
2. determine the cost of materials to make one item

A basic formula for pricing items is as follows:

• (hourly rate x time to make the item + cost of materials ) x 2 = wholesale price
• Retail price = wholesale price x 2

Multiplying by two to get the wholesale price is necessary to make sure all overhead, packaging, and website fees are covered. Wholesale is almost always half of retail price.
For example, let's say you want to pay yourself $18 an hour, you can make one necklace in 15 minutes and it costs $4 to make one necklace. Your pricing formula would look like:

($18 x .25 + $4) x 2 = $17 wholesale price

$17 x 2 = $34 retail price

*Remember: different crafters might require different formulas. This is a basic guideline, and it may need to be tweaked to your own specifications.


When a shopper is comparing two products, they look at the pictures, the description, the price, and the cost of shipping. They might look at feedback, too. An item that is priced much lower than the other might be perceived as being made with lower quality materials, or put together hastily. When someone is looking for a quality, unique gift, there's a good chance they could go with the higher priced item, based on the perceived value. If you take a look at some of the top sellers on Etsy, you will see that their items are not low-priced; they are charging what those items are really worth to make.


Here's the snag: if you know you are already paying yourself for your time and your items are priced fairly, this idea might not be for you. Shoppers can also recognize when an item is overpriced. If you are a crafter or artisan, do you use a formula to price your items? How do you balance paying yourself and making your items affordable to shoppers? What are your thoughts on raising prices when sales are stagnant?

Small Business Guide: Product Photography Tips

Hi friends! Ready for the new series here on IHOD? I am working with some experienced entrepreneurs I admire to bring you some fantastic Tips 2 Take With You! I know starting out my business venture, I would have LOVED to have a guru tell me all the ins and outs and ups and downs. I had some help from the blogosphere, and some I had to figure out all on my own.  So, my thought is, if I can help some you starting entrepreneurs in a small way, this will be worth it for me! I have been asked many questions about starting a business, and hope to address some of those questions. If you think of anything you would like to learn more about, leave a comment or shoot me an email! 

To start, here is a topic I believe every etsy artist, retailer, and shop owner has researched at least a few times. HOW TO GET OUSTANDING PHOTOS for your products! I recently asked Megan of Lilac Saloon how she got her gorgeous wallflowers so picture perfect and she so kindly typed out the info step by step for me! She is a sweetheart! I knew I had to have her as the first guest to share her wisdom with us!

White Backgrounds Made Simple - Instructions for Photoshop

Layer, New Adjustment Layer, Brightness/Contrast

(check box: use previous layer to create clipping mask)

  -Crank the brightness up all the way to make your background completely white

  - If NEEDED: With the Adjustment Layer selected, paint with black over the product using the soft edged brush (preserve a bit of the shadow below the product).

  - Paint brush with white over areas that may have too much shadow, to erase it. Click on the "Background" layer and add another adjustment Layer for Brightness/ Contrast

  -Bring up the contrast a bit if necessary to give the product a bit more saturation (works great for making the black look more rich and the white look more white).

White Backgrounds Made Simple - Instructions for Lightroom 3

-In the Develop Module, change the background to white by right clicking in the blank space that surrounds the photo and select White.  With the background white, it will help us see that the white space we're correcting in the photo is in fact pure white.

- Choose the Adjustment Brush (paintbrush) and choose Brightness as the Effect.  Slide the brightness up all the way to the right and slide Saturation all the way to the left (this will give us grey shadows).  

- Increase the size of your brush so that it's very large because you're going to quickly paint over the entire image with the brush - so, the bigger the better.  Paint over the whole image which will whiten that background but also make your image completely greyscale.  

- Now, choose the "Erase" brush while you are still in the toolbar for the Brightness Adjustment Brush.  Slide the Feather up all the way to the right and reduce the size of your brush so that it's small enough to color over your product in pretty good detail and around your edges.  With Feather, it gives the brush a very soft edge and so you will not need to be perfect or worry about sharp contrast from the background to the product.  

- Zoom in on your product and begin 'erasing' over your product.  It will look like you are coloring in with color, over your product.  Erase over your entire product!  

- Lastly, you can bring the brightness down just a touch if you need to reveal the shadows a bit more but just watch the white of the background so it doesn't start to get grey.

This is only ONE way of creating this effect, but it works for me!  Experiment with it and fine tune it so that it works for your products and your photos.  I hope it helps give your photos a boost!  ~ Megan

If you would like to download these steps in a Word Document you can do so here:

Product Photography Tips Download

Meet the Blogger: Rachel of Lovely Clusters

*I am so happy to introduce you to Rachel- one of my very first favorite blogs. She is bursting with talent and inspiration:) If you are a small business owner take note! :) 

Which has been the best aspect of blogging for you?

Being able to meet new people from all around the world that have similar interests to me. I feel like I am part of a great supportive community and I love how everyone is so nice and generous. 

What inspired the Lovely Clusters Gallery/Shop?

It actually started with a sentence that I saw on Rachel Ashwell’s blog. On one of her beautiful photos she wrote “clusters of loveliness”. I just adored how that sounded so I started thinking of a way I could use those words. I decided to create a theme on my blog where I would create a cluster of images whether it be by color, category or mini portfolio of an artist or designers work. During that time I started getting really into Etsy and got lost on it for hours on end. I felt like I was rummaging through a flea market. I thought that by cataloging my favorite items on my blog and by adding them to my favorites on Etsy, it would be a good way to go back and find lovely sellers and items, but the navigation wasn’t quite right. I am a graphic and web designer so I figured that I could design a website where you could easily find favorite sellers and items by color or category. Once I had that idea I mulled it over in my head for 2 months and one day I just decided that I had to do it. It has been so much fun ever since!  I love meeting new sellers from around the world and constantly being inspired by the large amount of creative individuals out there.

(source via Lovely Clusters)

What are your favorite resources for inspiration and creative ideas?

I am an internet junkie so I am constantly looking for beautiful photos from pinterest.com, flickr.com, tumblr.com and of course other blogs on my google reader. Lately I love browsing chic magazine and catalogs online on issuu.com.

(via Lovely Clusters Shops)

For small business owners, what have been the #1 tools for your success?
1. Online Networking with other small businesses and bloggers through twitter, blogging, facebook, and email. I would not be where I am today without it all.
2. I also don't know what I would do without photoshop. My internet browser and photoshop are the two things I open up first thing in the morning.
3. My camera has also been quite handy. I get the best responses when I add my own photos to the blog and its a great way to log my creative path. 

(source via Lovely Clusters)

Just for fun- what are your 5 must haves as a designer? My Inspiration Board , Photoshop, Printer/Scanner, Camera

Lovely Clusters

Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Shop Gallery

Shop feature: One Sydney Road

I was thrilled to hear that Piper from the blog, One Sydney Road, had now opened an online boutique. It pretty much will steal your heart! Have a look for yourself!

Small Business Feature: Design in a Bag

I promised to bring you more small business features/tips so I am excited to introduce the first featured designer:) A new company with a brilliant concept! Welcome Rebekah from Design in a Bag...

About Design In A Bag

Prêt-à-porter for your kitchen and bath projects, Design In A Bag introduces collections of professionally coordinated and proven kitchen and bath design recipes, offering the expertise, access and eye of an interior designer without the price tag. Unlike other prêt interior design services, Design In A Bag allows you to browse online galleries of coordinated kitchen and bath looks – each carefully designed and crafted by Rebekah Zaveloff, an HGTV contributor and the creative force behind Chicago’s preeminent kitchen and bath interior design firm KitchenLab – and delivers selected complete concepts including cabinet, countertop, tile and paint samples, shopping list and hand-drawn renderings direct to your door. Taking the guesswork out of putting together a cohesive look for your kitchen or bath project, consumers can touch, see and experience the materials in their home, bringing the showroom and interior designer directly to you.

What sparked the idea for Design in a Bag?

Carting bags of finish materials around to client’s homes and arranging palettes of different materials on their countertops, encouraging them to live with them for a while before making a decision…and the moment  when clients started carting their own samples around as well, whether to show friends and family or to help in finalizing other materials when visiting showrooms.

What helped get the idea off the ground?

A slow-down in business due to the recession gave us the extra time we needed to really get things going in full force. We had conceived and trademarked the idea years earlier, but hadn’t had time to start designing the website and figuring out the bells and whistles. My sister did the logo and helped us with the first version of the website design. Thankfully she started her full time job and finished grad school AFTER we had finished phase one of the website! Also, when we shared the idea, people’s enthusiasm was so tangible that we knew we had to give it a shot!

Where do you pull the inspiration for the color, textile, and detail choices in the themes?

It’s completely organic and stream of consciousness. I’ve always loved hard surface materials…I started my creative career in sculpture and collage. I love the way materials speak to each other when juxtaposed. I don’t look at any one material and think “that would go nice with yellow”. I literally move materials around until I come up with a combination that pleases me. It’s so much fun to come up with different combinations – I can express different sides of my personality and taste. I can be modern, sophisticated, colorful, vintage, eclectic, neutral…the combinations and moods are endless. It’s all about what works together on a gut instinct level.

Are there plans to develop new themes in the future?

Absolutely! We are planning on introducing seasonal collections, guest designer collections, and custom a la cart options as well.

DESIGN IN A BAG

Website | Facebook | Twitter

Thank you for sharing your company with us and being a guest on IHOD!