Top Free Tools for Running Your Handmade Business

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tychay makes it rain with the money he saved from free styling, yo. 

Running a handmade business can be tough, especially when trying to keep your business profitable while maintaining competitive pricing. There is an old saying  that “you have to spend money to make money” but it is almost impossible to dedicate that extra $10 a month to start an email newsletter, let alone a few thousand on the latest version of Photoshop. Luckily there are a few tools out there to help the bootstrapping small business owner, and best of all: they are FREE!

Gimp
This open source alternative to Photoshop is much more powerful than the more budget friendly Adobe Lightbox or Photoshop Elements. Edit and adjust your product photographs, create marketing material and more.

OpenOffice
Open office, or even Google’s Drive products (drive.google.com) offer a great, free alternative to the world dominated by Window’s Office. Spreadsheets, presentations, databases and more are all at your fingertips for free. Plus both products have a wide option of templates available for creating with them, just like Windows.

Cloud Storage
Cloud storage is a must for any important office documents and files. There are many options available, and with a little research, you can find one that best fits your workflow and needs. A good article on the options can be found here. 

Google Keywords
Keyword research is not only a good way to determine how to word your titles and tags, but is critical when deciding if there is even a need out there for the product you are considering to sell. Google keyword tool can give you great insight into what people are searching the internet for and with what terms they are using in their search (is it a baby hat or a bonnet?)

Mailchimp
Most email newsletter service providers have a 30 day free trial, but Mailchimp alone has a free trial...forever! Well, as long as your list is smaller than 2000 subscribers anyway. Free or not, their customer service is top notch and their new drag and drop layout tool is awesome! Plus they are connect to tons of other applications out there courtesy of their api-loving tech crew. And it’s the chimp. And he is based out of Atlanta (swoon). What’s not to love?

Bloggity Blog Blog
Hosting, domain names, DNS setup, FTP, security...oh my. If the idea of a self served blog leaves your head spinning or your pocketbook burning, then a free blog on a host server may be your answer. The battle of the blogs: Wordpress.com versus Blogger.com? With all the restrictions Wordpress.com puts on editing the limited number of themes of their free service, one is almost tempted to say “Go with blogger”. But then, what’s this? Out of nowhere comes...Tumblr! Tumblr is a great option for free blog services, because not only can you edit their themes, but the built in sharing functionality of their community means that your blog works for you instead of just being another piece of your company that you have to market to get people to.

HootSuite
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Foursquare, Google+. Linkedin. Tumblr, YouTube, Flickr, Mixi, MailChimp, SocialFlow, InboxQ, Constant Contact...um, why are you sitting there? You have social networks and they all need updating...RIGHT NOW! GO!!! Luckily Hootsuite makes it easy to update your networks all from one central location, saving hours a month on logging in and logging out of every. single. one.

Bliss Control
While we are on the subject of social networks, you still have hours of work ahead of you if you want to update your profile avatars or cover/header images to feature your weekly special, or to add your new blog url to your profiles, or to change that typo in your boilerplate. Yeah. That would have sucked until Bliss Control came along and made THAT possible from one central location as well, too.

So there you have it, a few of the must know about web apps to help you save some money on running your business so that you can spend it on more important things...like a much needed trip to the tea shop.  

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Craft Cafe would like to send out a big THANK YOU to Shell Bufton for this amazing guest blogger post!!

Craft Cafe Artisan Chat - Purveyor of Geekery

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Meet Shell Bufton from Purveyor of Geekery

♥ Please tell us about yourself:
Compulsive adventurer, gardener, Purveyor of Geekery, seeker of swoon.
Before starting PoG I had a corporate addiction: creating marketing and UX engagement strategies for clients on the Fortune and Inc. lists. I’ve had an ecommerce project highlight among the likes of Flickr, Instructables, Wikipedia and more on PGMag’s Top 100 Website list and created strategies for a nonprofit foundation whose javascript code is found on over %54 of the top 10,000 websites in the world. I love geekery.
I slowed it down when our family was expecting an addition. As we all know: sleep deprivation + stress = no good things. I had to cut out one or the other, and sleep deprivation wasn’t going anywhere for a while. So I cut out the corporate clients and returned to my roots. I loved working with small businesses owners. I loved their passion and curiosity, their creativity and problem solving.

♥ How long have you been in business?
I started Purveyor of Geekery in January 2012 when I was pregnant with my son, so one year now. Where does the time go? Lol. I’ve been a marketing consultant and designer for over 13 years. Cringe. Did I just reveal my age?

♥ Please describe your business:
Ostentatious Business Finery. Our best sellers are our shop sets, logos, web ads, product labels and business card designs but we provide a full range of marketing, design, and advertising services to small businesses.

♥ Tell us what inspires you:
Business owners! Whether they are just starting out or have been in the business for a while, I love working with business owners. I love teaching and answering questions almost as much as I love seeing clients succeed.
One was recently featured in HGTV magazine, one was named to the top 5 Crafty Moms via Babble.com, and we helped another two open brick and mortars. And that is just four! Last year, even with maternity leave we had over 370 clients from 12 countries!

♥ Please share with others, your best marketing techniques:
I’d love to, but they’ll have to contact me. :) My best advice: make friends wherever you go. Never ever ever underestimate the power of your network but remember it’s a karma bank: in order to take anything out, you have to put it in.

♥ What do you love most about your business?
Freedom, but that is really love or hate, depending if I am sleeping or working at midnight on any given day.

♥ Please tell us why have chosen Craft Café as a venue for your business?
They have amazing customer service and a positive and supportive community. It’s refreshing.

♥ What advice can you give for crafters/artisans just starting out?
Don’t get so caught up in the idea of becoming an “entrepreneur” that you forget the real reason that you are in business. The journey isn’t about you but what you can bring to the world. Your gift brings happiness to others so when you make it about that and not about yourself, the doubt and self criticism goes away and you have the freedom just to do.

♥ Where do you see your business in 5 years?
I’m at a point where I don’t need or want the business to grow, but I feel obligated to. There are growing pains. I’ve been resisting the need to grow.
With the economy the way it is, every business that I can play even a small part in helping to succeed is one step closer to healing the financial needs of a family somewhere. That level of sustainability is what our communities need right now and should be an obligation to everyone. But growing at this point would require bringing on more help. Job creation is also really good right now, but I have to admit that idea scares me a bit.

♥ Lastly, would you like to offer our readers a special or coupon code for your Craft Cafe shop?
Free stuff rocks! Let’s do a giveaway! You can enter right here!
Ends Midnight on 2.7.13, winner announced 2.8.13 :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway
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We would like to send out a big THANK YOU to Shell for all her love and support.

Be sure to visit Purveyor of Geekery soon ♥ ♥ Craft Cafe Shop / Facebook / Pinterest / Website

Gift Certificate Giveaway - Purveyor of Geekery

Purveyor of Geekery
$24.98 Gift Certificate Giveaway

Facebook / Craft Cafe Shop
*Be sure to read the giveaway rules before entering..Thank You!

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