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All images by Tara Swiger, used with permission.
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In this podcast, I talk with craft entrepreneur Tara Swiger, who can usually be found at Craft Your Independence and Blonde Chicken Boutique.
Tara talks about the many income streams she’s developed for her small business. She explains how she evaluates a new business idea before she puts effort into developing it, and how she can tell whether an income stream is successful. She also shares some tips for staying organized when you’re doing lots of different kinds of work.
Artists and crafters will gain valuable insights into why diversifying your income leads more business stability. Don’t be afraid to branch out!
Some other links you might find useful:
• Tara did this great post on multiple income streams at Crafting an MBA.
• Tara’s Map-Making Guide may help you arrive at some good income stream options for your business.
• This is an oldie but a goodie – Knitting author and podcaster Brenda Dane talks about why she develops income streams on CraftSanity.
• I can recommend Laura Bray’s ebook on multiple income streams.
Hooray for Craftypod 2.0! I’ve really missed listening to your voice as I work. :)
I’ve been a fan of Tara’s for a long time, and somehow, you always manage to provide a podcast totally relevant to what I’m going through. It’s a real struggle, deciding where one business ends and another begins. Do they need to intersect? Do both audiences need to be aware of each other? And what’s the response of potential clients when/if they see you have so many balls in the air– some that may not have anything to do with what they want to hire you for? The fear of making the wrong first impression keeps me almost frozen in place sometimes.
I totally agree that you should be yourself across the board, but the you that shows up at a job interview is still different than the you that has lunch with friends. And how deep in is too deep in to change things like your twitter handle, etc. Okay, I’m just babbling. As you can see, I’m still figuring it out too, lol. Thanks for giving me some great things to think about, I’ll definitely be checking out the additional resources.
Welcome back! :)
Thanks, Carmen!
Definitely, any time you change the course of your business, there can be a lot of moving parts to settle around that. I’m in the midst of that kind of stuff as I re-launch this podcast, in fact. But if you just take the questions one at a time, and accept the fact that we are always in some kind of evolution, the details do work themselves out over time. I think the internet era has given us a lot more leeway to evolve our ideas and livelihood over time. You do not have to be perfect right out of the gate, and you’re allowed to try things out anytime. No failure comes without really great information you can use later.
I’ll ask Tara to comment over here, too.
Hi Carmen!
Oh, and you’re so sweet!
I think Diane hit the nail on the head when she said that things will shift and grow and you (and your brand) along with them. No matter how hard you plan, things have a way of shooting in a new (unexpected) direction…. openness to that seems to be a hallmark of the most successful businesses I’ve gotten to know (when success = longevity + a happy work life for the maker!)
You asked “And what’s the response of potential clients when/if they see you have so many balls in the air– some that may not have anything to do with what they want to hire you for? The fear of making the wrong first impression keeps me almost frozen in place sometimes.”
I completely understand this!
But here’s what I keep realizing: your People, the people who love what you’re making, they want you to succeed, they like to see what else you’re doing.
The only caveat – make sure you’re delivering what you promise them. If you do that, you can do a zillion other things and they’ll still be happy. (the only exception might be if you were selling your time…and then it was clear you didn’t have the time you promised them. But again – just deliver what you promise.)
As for the different *yous* – yes! Consider this! My policy is not to be any version of *me* that I couldn’t show my family, when I’m online…no matter what the venue. It’s all cached, it’s all google-able, and being comfortable with THAT is a big part of the building-a-biz-online process.
Thanks for your awesome question!
This is working beautifully on my work system, which is internet explorer
Congrats on CraftyPod 2.0 – I’m really happy to see the podcast move forward in a way that is sustainable for you :)
I think in the old days, people used to say that you are spreading yourself too thin, delving into many projects or streams of income.
I like the perspective of evaluating money versus time, in respect to our life and total income, etc… to see if it is worth it or not. I think some people thrive on doing lots of different things…makes them happier! Although there’s always the complaint of not getting to the full potential, because it’s only one piece of your work… that your efforts are split…
Very true, Linda – I met a business coach at HelloEtsy who talks about “the gold at the bottom of the well,” meaning that there’s real value to developing a very tight niche for yourself, so you can become an expert worth higher fees. But there are definitely personalities out there who will have issues with this approach. (I love doing several things at once!) But you’re right, the downside is always time – each stream needs time to develop and grow, and there isn’t always enough. It’s a challenging balance, to be sure. I think it helps to commit a finite span of time to a new income stream and set yourself a reasonable income goal to reach within that time. If you get there, the income stream may have staying power. If not, there’s probably something unsustainable in the idea or your true interest level. As Tara said in the podcast, you can always put a pin in it and come back later.
Welcome back to podcasting! Loved this topic, thank you. At the end of the podcast you said that you hoped we’d consider supporting the podcast. How? By that flattr thingy? I think you wrote about how that works but maybe for new people (or old people with bad memory!) you could add a simple sentence at the end stating how to best support you.
Thanks, Betz! I’m in the process of re-launching the podcast now. This first episode is a free one, so that I can test out the new distributor I’m using. Going forward, each new show will be available for 99 cents per download.
For anyone who missed it, here’s some background on how I came to that decision: http://www.craftypod.com/2011/09/14/the-results-of-the-podcast-survey-remember-that/
…And I’m currently wrestling with a million moving parts as I settle into how I’m presenting all of this on my blog and online store. Uncharted waters and all that. Thanks for your patience!
Loved this podcast and I’m so happy Craftypod is coming back! As for multiple income streams, I’m trying to get used to the ebb and flow so that as one peaks, the other is just climbing. I tend to have all of it at once and then nothing.
Again, so happy you are back~
Thanks so much, Amy! Boy, do I get that “everything and then nothing” rhythm, too. I just wish I could relax into those “nothing” periods better. :-)
Love your work. Glad to see that you decided to go this route and I wish you tons of success. You are the one that got me hooked on web business opportunity and online marketing many years ago with your Sister Diane podcasts. I have missed them. While I am not making a living so to speak, I am supporting my habit which is all I ever really wanted anyway. Thanks for all you do!
…craft on…
Rhojo
Thank you so much, Rhonda! I’m so happy those early show were useful to you. I hope these new ones will be, too!
Welcome back Diane! I would’ve listened to this yesterday but purposefully left it for this morning to listen to while I worked on some crafty things. I’m so glad that you’re back!
Great topic too. I’m swimming amongst various income streams myself and the hardest thing about it is keeping track of what is coming from where. But as long as there is a system in place it’s very manageable.
Congrats on the big move! So many people get value from your podcast in inspiration and how-to instructions. I’m sure that the podcasts will be a bargain at any price. Looking forward to more crafty goodness from your end of the continent!
Hi Diane
GREAT to have you back – I really enjoyed this episode and am keen to support further episode. One question though – I am really trying not to use my credit card and it seems the only way I can pay for your shows is by using it. Is there any way I you could add a Paypal payment option?
Thanks for all your hard work.
Martine
Hi, Martine -
Thank you so much! I’m not sure about PayPal at the moment, but I just emailed iAmplify to ask. They haven’t been very fast to respond to questions yet, so I’ll update you as soon as I hear from them.
If I find that there are a lot of people who’d prefer to use PayPal, I can certainly look into outside options for them. It’ll really depend on the volume of requests, though, because unfortunately, the process of creating an online presence for shows for sale turns out to be pretty time-consuming. I’m just trying to balance all these factors as best I can while adhering to that 99-cent price people seem accustomed to paying.
So… more info as soon as I have some!
Thanks Diane – I can imagine it is time consuming :-) I appreciate you looking into it though. In my experience Paypal seems to be the standard payment method for lots of internet based small payments, so I’d be amazed if they didn’t do it :-) I look forward to hearing what they say and thanks for your time.
Martine
I’m just getting to this, and read the disclosures and privacy policys carefully. Just how much marketing do they send to those who sign up? Can anyone tell me? If it’s more than one or two a month, I’d have to think about it a little longer. Sister Diane, do you know?
Hi, Deb -
When you enter your purchase information, there’s a checkbox that allows you to opt in or out of “updates and news” from iAmplify. I signed up for a test subscription to CraftyPod 2.0, and thus far haven’t received a thing from them. (I opted out.) So if you do the same, I believe you’ll be fine. And it’s possible that this checkbox may not appear for the initial free show, since you aren’t entering the same purchase info.
I hope that helps!
[...] with the four podcasts she’s done of version 2.0. Such quality guests and conversations! Multiple income streams for crafters, finding your creative mission, the real work of an art career, and the irreverent stitchery [...]