Let's share photos with Instagram!
xoxo
♥ Colourful ♥ Kitschy ♥ Funky ♥ Fun...
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Friday, 10 February 2012
Tomorrow: Live Instagrams from Reetsweet
Tomorrow I will be live Instagramming from Reetsweet Shopping Fair at the Corn Exchange in Leeds. My Instagram name is KitschenSink and all Instagrams will be #tagged #Reetsweet
Let's share photos with Instagram!
xoxo
♥ Colourful ♥ Kitschy ♥ Funky ♥ Fun...
Add me on Twitter
Add me on Facebook
Let's share photos with Instagram!
xoxo
♥ Colourful ♥ Kitschy ♥ Funky ♥ Fun...
Add me on Twitter
Add me on Facebook
Wednesday, 8 February 2012
FAQS: What do you do when your work gets copied?
Finding your designs and ideas appearing on other websites and fanpages uncredited, or worse, passed off as someone else's idea is an infuriating, upsetting and often bewildering experience. But what do you do when it happens? What can you do? This post gives my guide on what to do when you believe you have been copied.
♥ Take a break
It's tempting to want to go wild online when you've found a copy cat, but it's important to address them in a cool and professional manner. Shut down the computer, make a tea, sleep on it if you have to. Re-adress when you have had time to cool off.
♥ Don't get into a public fisticuff
You're going to be angry but airing dirty laundry will do nothing for your online persona. Don't be a keyboard warrior and don't be aggressive. Humiliating them isn't going to help resolve the situation. Take this up privately, perhaps by email.
♥ Get the opinions of others from your creative area
If the copy isn't a 100% replica it can be a good idea to post the offending item in a forum of trusted contacts. Their objective thoughts can put your mind at rest that you're not claiming all rights to the style or medium you work with but that they have take your design ideas too. It's important you ask trusted contacts rather than friends, as friends can often say what you want to hear just to be nice, or may not understand that some techniques aren't 100% original to you.
♥ Making contact:
Write a firm but friendly email that states clearly the following:
♥ How you found out about it (might stop them doing it again if they know it's easy to get caught!)
♥ When you came up with the idea, how long you have been selling it, how many have sold (will reinforce you were there first, and if it's your identifying/classic design they'll know it needs dropping, pronto)
♥ Unique identifiers of your work - this is so important. By listing every identifying aspect of the piece of work and pointing out that each aspect has been reproduced, it really does explicitly point out that you work has been copied, and not just 'inspired'.
♥ Why you don't want to be copied - I know this is obvious, however, I think it is important to point out to someone that you have developed an original idea so that you can gain top gallery exposure, high end stockists etc, and by others copying your work it waters down its originality. That, and you're working hard for someone else to just... steal!
♥ You won't take this any further if they play ball - wish them well with their creative venture and state that if they remove the offending pieces that you will draw a line under it.
♥ What can I do to stop copying?
Not a great deal. There is such thing as Design Registration, I have taken it out on some my designs. But really, it gives a tiny bit of protection if you had the financial means to take someone to court over copying.
♥ Can't I get my designs patented?
No. A patent is a type of registration that covers how things work - mainly science and technology. Like a Dyson!
♥ What now?
If the copier doesn't stop when you ask politely, it might be time to play dirty. I have never been copied by a high street giant but have read cases of those who have. Hidden Eloise started an awesome social media campaign against Paperchase which gripped the nation and had the company trending nationally. Paperchase eventually stopped selling the design.
I hope these tips address concerns in regards to copying. As always, these are my own suggestions from my own experiences - I'd love to hear your thoughts!
Got a question? Why not Tweet me and I'll put your tweet directly into the blog post - you might get some new followers! Alternatively you can email me, if you'd prefer :)
xoxo
♥ Colourful ♥ Kitschy ♥ Funky ♥ Fun...
Add me on Twitter
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♥ Take a break
It's tempting to want to go wild online when you've found a copy cat, but it's important to address them in a cool and professional manner. Shut down the computer, make a tea, sleep on it if you have to. Re-adress when you have had time to cool off.
♥ Don't get into a public fisticuff
You're going to be angry but airing dirty laundry will do nothing for your online persona. Don't be a keyboard warrior and don't be aggressive. Humiliating them isn't going to help resolve the situation. Take this up privately, perhaps by email.
♥ Get the opinions of others from your creative area
If the copy isn't a 100% replica it can be a good idea to post the offending item in a forum of trusted contacts. Their objective thoughts can put your mind at rest that you're not claiming all rights to the style or medium you work with but that they have take your design ideas too. It's important you ask trusted contacts rather than friends, as friends can often say what you want to hear just to be nice, or may not understand that some techniques aren't 100% original to you.
♥ Making contact:
Write a firm but friendly email that states clearly the following:
♥ How you found out about it (might stop them doing it again if they know it's easy to get caught!)
♥ When you came up with the idea, how long you have been selling it, how many have sold (will reinforce you were there first, and if it's your identifying/classic design they'll know it needs dropping, pronto)
♥ Unique identifiers of your work - this is so important. By listing every identifying aspect of the piece of work and pointing out that each aspect has been reproduced, it really does explicitly point out that you work has been copied, and not just 'inspired'.
♥ Why you don't want to be copied - I know this is obvious, however, I think it is important to point out to someone that you have developed an original idea so that you can gain top gallery exposure, high end stockists etc, and by others copying your work it waters down its originality. That, and you're working hard for someone else to just... steal!
♥ You won't take this any further if they play ball - wish them well with their creative venture and state that if they remove the offending pieces that you will draw a line under it.
♥ What can I do to stop copying?
Not a great deal. There is such thing as Design Registration, I have taken it out on some my designs. But really, it gives a tiny bit of protection if you had the financial means to take someone to court over copying.
♥ Can't I get my designs patented?
No. A patent is a type of registration that covers how things work - mainly science and technology. Like a Dyson!
♥ What now?
If the copier doesn't stop when you ask politely, it might be time to play dirty. I have never been copied by a high street giant but have read cases of those who have. Hidden Eloise started an awesome social media campaign against Paperchase which gripped the nation and had the company trending nationally. Paperchase eventually stopped selling the design.
I hope these tips address concerns in regards to copying. As always, these are my own suggestions from my own experiences - I'd love to hear your thoughts!
Got a question? Why not Tweet me and I'll put your tweet directly into the blog post - you might get some new followers! Alternatively you can email me, if you'd prefer :)
xoxo
♥ Colourful ♥ Kitschy ♥ Funky ♥ Fun...
Add me on Twitter
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Sunday, 5 February 2012
Sweet Saturdays and Sublime Sundays
The weekend started with the first snowfall of the winter, but it didn't stop me venturing out!
"It may be winter outside, but in my heart it's spring", forget wooly hats, I went for an updo for Saturday's advetnures!
I went for an excellent lunch with a friend at The Terrace in Saltaire. This is their homemade chicken burger with guacamole and mozzarella. Excellent value!
We had a mooch around the new Rose and Brown vintage furniture shop where I fell in love with this chair. It'd be perfect for my boudoir!
I had a quick catch up with David Hockey in Salt's Mill. He's done some iPad paintings that are very good.
It's against the local law to go into Salt's Mill and not have a nibble in the Diner... so I indulged in a hot chocolate brownie with coffee ice cream in the late afternoon!
Saturday night TV sucks. I'd bought some gorgeous vintage diamante stud earrings during the day, so I watched Breakfast at Tiffany's. It just made sense.
On Sunday I pottered then took a walk along a rather frozen canal to Saltaire, to the Mill, again!
... I heard a lot of quacking outside to find all the ducks of the canal waddling along to find unfrozen water!
The final part of the weekend will be waiting for best friend Andrew with milk and biscuits. I should also note that sadly I lost one of the earrings that I bought on Saturday already! Big Sad Face.
How do you like to spend your weekend?
xoxo
♥ Colourful ♥ Kitschy ♥ Funky ♥ Fun...
Add me on Twitter
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"It may be winter outside, but in my heart it's spring", forget wooly hats, I went for an updo for Saturday's advetnures!
I went for an excellent lunch with a friend at The Terrace in Saltaire. This is their homemade chicken burger with guacamole and mozzarella. Excellent value!
I had a quick catch up with David Hockey in Salt's Mill. He's done some iPad paintings that are very good.
It's against the local law to go into Salt's Mill and not have a nibble in the Diner... so I indulged in a hot chocolate brownie with coffee ice cream in the late afternoon!
Saturday night TV sucks. I'd bought some gorgeous vintage diamante stud earrings during the day, so I watched Breakfast at Tiffany's. It just made sense.
On Sunday I pottered then took a walk along a rather frozen canal to Saltaire, to the Mill, again!
 |
| Quintessentially English. |
Platonic husband is on his way to catch up at The Penthouse and the weekend is about to finish similar to how it started...
The final part of the weekend will be waiting for best friend Andrew with milk and biscuits. I should also note that sadly I lost one of the earrings that I bought on Saturday already! Big Sad Face.
How do you like to spend your weekend?
xoxo
♥ Colourful ♥ Kitschy ♥ Funky ♥ Fun...
Add me on Twitter
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Saturday, 4 February 2012
How it went: our Social Media Bootcamp 2 Feb 2011
On Thursday just gone, Abi of SewYou and I led a workshop on the use of Twitter to promote small businesses. The workshop was fully booked, held in Abi's studio in Saltaire, and we had in depth discussion with participants on the importance of your profile and how to build it, tips and tricks for increasing customer interaction and the nitty gritty of all the tools in Twitter. Each participant went away with fresh ideas on how to apply it to their own business and made a few Twitter friends too!
♥ What they said:
♥What we said:
Missed it? We're going to run more, register your interest now by emailing Rowan (hello@kitschensink.com) or Abi (hello@sewyouhandmade.co.uk)
xoxo
♥ Colourful ♥ Kitschy ♥ Funky ♥ Fun...
Add me on Twitter
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♥ What they said:
@SewYou @KitschenSink Interesting and informative,friendly and focused #SocMedBootcamp.Thanks!
— Karen Peterken (@KPilatesUK) February 2, 2012
@JayneJRead i'd recommend going if they do another (and they should) - made everything click into place! #socmedbootcamp
— Chloe (@peskychloe) February 3, 2012
Bed time, will put all the stuff I learnt at #SocMedBootcamp to good use tomorrow TY @KitschenSink @SewYou Good Job :)) Recommended!
— Cheese and Chutney (@CheeseandChutny) February 2, 2012
Interested to know how social media can help you & your business? I've just been to #SocMediaBootcamp and it rocked!! @KitschenSink @SewYou
— Jonathan Raynor (@The_GLA) February 2, 2012
♥What we said:
We've had a really successful twitter workshop tonight with some awesome tweeps! Can't wait for the next #socmedbootcamp
— Rowan | KitschenSink (@KitschenSink) February 2, 2012
Absolutely brilliant to work with @KitschenSink tonight - we ARE the new Cagney & Lacey of Facilitation. Fact.
— Abi (@SewYou) February 2, 2012
Missed it? We're going to run more, register your interest now by emailing Rowan (hello@kitschensink.com) or Abi (hello@sewyouhandmade.co.uk)
xoxo
♥ Colourful ♥ Kitschy ♥ Funky ♥ Fun...
Add me on Twitter
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Thursday, 2 February 2012
FAQS: Getting your price right, and why you need to!
Getting your prices right is important. Not only could you be ripping yourself off; if you want to develop your business, getting your retail price wrong could be a deal-breaker when it comes to stockist enquiries. And low-pricing could be why you're getting the evil eye at trading events... in this blog post I'll give my perspective on:
♥ the difference between wholesale and retail pricing
♥ ways you can price up your products
♥ how correct pricing will benefit your little enterprise
♥ how ignoring advice might impact it
♥ What's a wholesale price and what's a retail price?
The retail price is the price a customer pays - on your website, in a shop, etc. The wholesale price is what the shopkeeper (or 'buyer' if you're dealing with a big business) buys it for. They will want to sell your work on to their customers at the same price you do on your website/stall, but make a profit for themselves too (fair's fair!).
♥ Start with the wholesale price and end with the retail price:
Don't make the mistake of guessing how much someone would pay for your work and go with it. Start by formulating a wholesale price you are comfortable with and use that to calculate your retail price.
♥ How to calculate your wholesale price:
The calculation isn't 'one size fits all', but you need to take into account the following:
♥ What would you like your hourly rate to be?
♥ How many of these pieces can you comfortably make in that time?
♥ How much did you spend on supplies for each item?
♥ Did you use any equipment to make it, such as a sewing machine, that might need to be replaced at some point?
♥ Are you going to spend time photographing the piece? Make sure you charge for that!
♥ Is there any special packaging/printing that comes with the piece?
♥ Overheads including things like stall fees, your website hosting fees etc
The price you end up with should be a price you feel comfortable with selling at without any 'But! I won't make any money if I sell at that price!' feelings.
♥How to calculate a retail price
Different shops and galleries mark up at different rates. If you want to gain some wholesale orders (if you're not sure of the different between wholesale and consignment, please read my previous FAQ), you stockists will love it if they can make a great profit. Begin by tripling your wholesale price.
Don't stop there.
♥ Increase your "perceived value"
Once you have your retail price, it's time to consider if it reflects you and your brand. Increasing the price more could increase confidence in your product, boost feelings of exclusivity and its owner will cherish it, and not simply wear it once and toss it aside. Think about the difference between your feelings on a bracelet you bought from Primark compared to if you bought a bracelet from, say, Thomas Sabo. If your product is well made, limited edition and pretty unique, don't be afraid of upping the price.
♥ Don't compete with the high street on price
An easy mistake to make is to think that if someone can buy a product off the high street at once price, your alternative should be the same price. It won't work and we don't have the buying power or sweat shops they use. Of course, we are in competition with them, so compete on service and quality of product instead.
♥ So what if my prices are low? More people will buy my work!
♥ Loss-leaders can be a fantastic way to do one-off promotions and get your name known, but that's what it must be, a short term promotion with your name pretty much plastered all over it so your customers remember you and come back to something you can actually make a profit from.
♥ Shop and gallery owners may assume a super low wholesale price until they realise you haven't priced properly and you have to start again from scratch, and they will in turn lose confidence in you.
♥ A good fair/market organiser will recognise inappropriate pricing and decline you from events because they know their good, regular traders will get pissed off if you are effectively competing with them on price.
♥ If you slip through the net and are accepted, you won't be making many friends with other traders at the event (it's my major pet peeve!).
♥ Still think your retail price is too much even with the minimum wholesale price?
Then it might be time to rethink your product. Source your materials from somewhere cheaper, find a quicker way of working or design something new that will make a better return.
Hope this has helped! Remember, if you have a biz-related question that you think I might be able to help with, just ask, and I'll see what I can do...
Anything I missed off? What tips do you have to share for pricing work?
xoxo
♥ Colourful ♥ Kitschy ♥ Funky ♥ Fun...
Add me on Twitter
Add me on Facebook
♥ the difference between wholesale and retail pricing
♥ ways you can price up your products
♥ how correct pricing will benefit your little enterprise
♥ how ignoring advice might impact it
 |
| Tatty Devine Price Ticket Pin |
♥ What's a wholesale price and what's a retail price?
The retail price is the price a customer pays - on your website, in a shop, etc. The wholesale price is what the shopkeeper (or 'buyer' if you're dealing with a big business) buys it for. They will want to sell your work on to their customers at the same price you do on your website/stall, but make a profit for themselves too (fair's fair!).
♥ Start with the wholesale price and end with the retail price:
Don't make the mistake of guessing how much someone would pay for your work and go with it. Start by formulating a wholesale price you are comfortable with and use that to calculate your retail price.
♥ How to calculate your wholesale price:
The calculation isn't 'one size fits all', but you need to take into account the following:
♥ What would you like your hourly rate to be?
♥ How many of these pieces can you comfortably make in that time?
♥ How much did you spend on supplies for each item?
♥ Did you use any equipment to make it, such as a sewing machine, that might need to be replaced at some point?
♥ Are you going to spend time photographing the piece? Make sure you charge for that!
♥ Is there any special packaging/printing that comes with the piece?
♥ Overheads including things like stall fees, your website hosting fees etc
The price you end up with should be a price you feel comfortable with selling at without any 'But! I won't make any money if I sell at that price!' feelings.
♥How to calculate a retail price
Different shops and galleries mark up at different rates. If you want to gain some wholesale orders (if you're not sure of the different between wholesale and consignment, please read my previous FAQ), you stockists will love it if they can make a great profit. Begin by tripling your wholesale price.
Don't stop there.
♥ Increase your "perceived value"
Once you have your retail price, it's time to consider if it reflects you and your brand. Increasing the price more could increase confidence in your product, boost feelings of exclusivity and its owner will cherish it, and not simply wear it once and toss it aside. Think about the difference between your feelings on a bracelet you bought from Primark compared to if you bought a bracelet from, say, Thomas Sabo. If your product is well made, limited edition and pretty unique, don't be afraid of upping the price.
♥ Don't compete with the high street on price
An easy mistake to make is to think that if someone can buy a product off the high street at once price, your alternative should be the same price. It won't work and we don't have the buying power or sweat shops they use. Of course, we are in competition with them, so compete on service and quality of product instead.
♥ So what if my prices are low? More people will buy my work!
♥ Loss-leaders can be a fantastic way to do one-off promotions and get your name known, but that's what it must be, a short term promotion with your name pretty much plastered all over it so your customers remember you and come back to something you can actually make a profit from.
♥ Shop and gallery owners may assume a super low wholesale price until they realise you haven't priced properly and you have to start again from scratch, and they will in turn lose confidence in you.
♥ A good fair/market organiser will recognise inappropriate pricing and decline you from events because they know their good, regular traders will get pissed off if you are effectively competing with them on price.
♥ If you slip through the net and are accepted, you won't be making many friends with other traders at the event (it's my major pet peeve!).
♥ Still think your retail price is too much even with the minimum wholesale price?
Then it might be time to rethink your product. Source your materials from somewhere cheaper, find a quicker way of working or design something new that will make a better return.
Hope this has helped! Remember, if you have a biz-related question that you think I might be able to help with, just ask, and I'll see what I can do...
Anything I missed off? What tips do you have to share for pricing work?
xoxo
♥ Colourful ♥ Kitschy ♥ Funky ♥ Fun...
Add me on Twitter
Add me on Facebook
Wednesday, 1 February 2012
That was January...
Good grief, it's flown by, but looking back to early January it seems
such a long time ago. Maybe it's because I achieved a lot and had a lot
of fun!
♥ I went to two 30th birthday celebrations. One, a fancy dress party, and the other, a pamper party!
♥ I filed my tax return. It was taxing, the man on the adverti lies to me every year.
♥ I was featured on World of Kitsch blog, gaining me a little celeb order (as a gift for someone else...)
♥ I booked ReetSweet Valentine Shopping Fair
♥ I started to play with resin again!
♥ I organised, with friend Abi of SewYou, a series of social media workshops for small businesses, we have called it 'Social Media Bootcamp', it will run through February, and it is fully booked!
♥ I got accepted to Saltaire Arts Trail (taking place in May). It was judged by an independent panel, so I am really pleased.
♥ I was asked to write a guest blog in the summer for an event that I'm really passionate about!
♥ I went to a baby shower. The baby still hasn't made an appearance!
♥ I wrote a blog post about tips for things to look for when stocking a shop. It sparked mainly lots of positive feedback but also ruffled some feathers. I also had over ten-times more blog visits to the post than my average!
♥ I was invited to sell at a big International Women's Day event in Leeds (taking placein March) so that should be fun!
♥ I led a simple drop in workshop where we made bracelets from beads and laser-cut shapes at Bradford College. It was loads of fun!
xoxo
♥ Colourful ♥ Kitschy ♥ Funky ♥ Fun...
Add me on Twitter
Add me on Facebook
♥ I went to two 30th birthday celebrations. One, a fancy dress party, and the other, a pamper party!
 |
| Keith Lemon and I at a 30th birthday bash |
♥ I filed my tax return. It was taxing, the man on the adverti lies to me every year.
♥ I was featured on World of Kitsch blog, gaining me a little celeb order (as a gift for someone else...)
♥ I booked ReetSweet Valentine Shopping Fair
♥ I started to play with resin again!
♥ I organised, with friend Abi of SewYou, a series of social media workshops for small businesses, we have called it 'Social Media Bootcamp', it will run through February, and it is fully booked!
♥ I got accepted to Saltaire Arts Trail (taking place in May). It was judged by an independent panel, so I am really pleased.
♥ I was asked to write a guest blog in the summer for an event that I'm really passionate about!
♥ I went to a baby shower. The baby still hasn't made an appearance!
 |
| My waters broke! |
♥ I wrote a blog post about tips for things to look for when stocking a shop. It sparked mainly lots of positive feedback but also ruffled some feathers. I also had over ten-times more blog visits to the post than my average!
♥ I was invited to sell at a big International Women's Day event in Leeds (taking placein March) so that should be fun!
♥ I led a simple drop in workshop where we made bracelets from beads and laser-cut shapes at Bradford College. It was loads of fun!
xoxo
♥ Colourful ♥ Kitschy ♥ Funky ♥ Fun...
Add me on Twitter
Add me on Facebook
T Minus 24h til BOOTCAMP begins!
That's right, with all places filled it's just a 24 hour countdown until Abi from SewYou and I lead our Twitter course from SewYou Studios in Saltaire. It's going to freakin' rock and will include the following awesome shiz:
♥ Developing an identity on Twitter that works
♥ Tips and tricks for good tweetin'
♥ Demonstrations
♥ Group tasks
♥ Discussion
♥ Case studies
♥ Making the most of Twitter
♥ Developing a strategy that works for you
Best of all, it all centres around the participants' own perspectives.
Tomorrow's session is fully booked but if you are gutted you have missed out, you can register interest for the next session by emailing Abi (hello@sewyouhandmade) or me (hello@kitschensink.com) and we'll sort something out!
Follow the build up, tweets in the session and feedback after using the hashtag #SocMedBootcamp (if you don't know what a hashtag is... time to enrol!)
xoxo
♥ Colourful ♥ Kitschy ♥ Funky ♥ Fun...
Add me on Twitter
Add me on Facebook
♥ Developing an identity on Twitter that works
♥ Tips and tricks for good tweetin'
♥ Demonstrations
♥ Group tasks
♥ Discussion
♥ Case studies
♥ Making the most of Twitter
♥ Developing a strategy that works for you
Best of all, it all centres around the participants' own perspectives.
Tomorrow's session is fully booked but if you are gutted you have missed out, you can register interest for the next session by emailing Abi (hello@sewyouhandmade) or me (hello@kitschensink.com) and we'll sort something out!
Follow the build up, tweets in the session and feedback after using the hashtag #SocMedBootcamp (if you don't know what a hashtag is... time to enrol!)
xoxo
♥ Colourful ♥ Kitschy ♥ Funky ♥ Fun...
Add me on Twitter
Add me on Facebook
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