Summit of Awesome

If you visit my etsy shop right now, you may notice it's empty. After a lot of soul searching, I've come to the conclusion that the kinds of crafts I like to make aren't the kinds of crafts that there is a big commercial demand for or that make sense to sell online. I like knitting and other projects that take hours and hours of work. To pay myself a decent wage, even $10/hr, I'd have to charge a lot for my work. I don't want to charge a lot, and I don't think there's a huge market for expensive glitter paintings.

My bearing rings were selling well, but I was having issues with the bearings breaking off, and I was getting tired of dealing with complaints and driving to the post office every other day. I am planning to make a tutorial soon for how to make your own bearing ring, but I don't have plans to make more to sell.

So if my etsy store is empty, why did I go to the Summit of Awesome last Thursday? Well, I still want to be involved in the PDX craft community, but I'm not sure how I fit yet. I went to meet new people, reconnect with people I've met before and haven't seen in awhile, and see what I can contribute.

I left with a million business ideas, and now I'm trying to sort through what my next steps should be. Social media consulting for craft businesses? Maybe... Craft Bar? A possibility (especially if I find an investor or win the lottery!) E-books about marketing for crafters? Probably not, it seemed like a good idea before the conference, but there appears to already be a lot out great material out there and many people are already doing this really well... Teaching an art class for kids as a volunteer? I hope so!

I left the summit feeling really inspired. I'm excited for what might come next. We'll have to wait and see what that might be!