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If you take a look on the right side of this page, you will see a Gadget that reads, "Sign Up for Cool Stuff."   That is exactly what I would like for you to do. Sign up to receive a periodic newsletter, free patterns, ebooks and other cool fun and free stuff.  It's simple:  Just fill in your email address and your first name.  I don't need anything else.

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Karen Pope is Madam Crocheterie, the Hooker By Night.  She CROCHETS in her spare moments, makes time for CROCHET,  and sells her creations on Etsy.  Follow her on Twitter, and Facebook.  Find her on Google+
She writes about CROCHET and creating a CROCHET Business

Nice Hat

My daughter-in-law likes to tell a story that involves one of her friends who got very aggravated with another driver over some infraction, real or imagined.  The two met at the next red traffic light and the other driver flung out some unkind words to my daughter-in-law's friend.  Expecting the friend to respond in kind, my daughter-in-law was surprised when her friend yelled out of the window to the other driver, "NICE HAT!"

Perhaps everyone could take a lesson from that event and yell, "NICE HAT!" to the next person who aggravates us.

The purpose of that story is to show off a cutsey crochet creation that I have titled, "Nice Hat."

I crocheted the Nice Hat right before the snow storm and was very happy to wear it to work today.  It doesn't keep my ears warm, though.

I used a pattern found in the December 2013 issue of Crochet World magazine on page 50.  I used Paton's Canadiana Yarn in Medium Gray Mix for the hat and Black for the band.  The beads are 6 x 9mm pony beads in clear translucent sparkle.  I had to increase the hook size to a "J" because the "F" hook made a hat only a child could wear.

Karen Pope is Madam Crocheterie, the Hooker By Night.  She CROCHETS in her spare moments, makes time for CROCHET,  and sells her creations on Etsy.  Follow her on Twitter, and Facebook.  Find her on Google+
She writes about CROCHET and creating a CROCHET Business

New Year, New Post

It has been a crazy few months with moving into my new home and trying to get it set up properly.  Then, there was my yearly let's-see-if-I-can-totally-avoid-the holidays mind set and a 3 week long visit from my parents.

Realization set in that I have neglected my blog for quite some time.  I have neglected my online business.  I have neglected my Avon Business.  

The New Year is here and I have set a few goals for myself.

So, here is my 2014 Checklist:

1. Make items to sell on Etsy and/or ebay
2. Solidify the Steampunk Barbie ideas
3. Update biz plan
4. Market, Market, Market the ideas
5. Complete Website www.chesapeakecrochet.com

Karen Pope is Madam Crocheterie, the Hooker By Night.  She CROCHETS in her spare moments, makes time for CROCHET,  and sells her creations on Etsy.  Follow her on Twitter, and Facebook.  Find her on Google+
She writes about CROCHET and creating a CROCHET Business

New ByLine

I am creating a Google Authorship ByLine to sign all my posts.

Read about creating an online persona with Google+ and start linking all your posts to Google.

My New Byline:

Karen Pope is Madam Crocheterie, the Hooker By Night.  She CROCHETS in her spare moments, makes time for CROCHET,  and sells her creations on Etsy.  Follow her on Twitter, and Facebook.  Find her on Google+
She writes about CROCHET and creating a CROCHET Business

So, I intend to add this byline to the bottom of every Blogger post.

Happy Crocheting!

Karen Pope is Madam Crocheterie, the Hooker By Night.  She CROCHETS in her spare moments, makes time for CROCHET,  and sells her creations on Etsy.  Follow her on Twitter, and Facebook.  Find her on Google+
She writes about CROCHET and creating a CROCHET Business

Back On the Band Wagon

The move to my new house is finished.  Of course, there are the usual things left to do, such as buying that new sofa, an entryway table, a comfortable chair for the family room.

But, for the moment, I have to wrap my head around this crochet business, again.

How to keep your business plan lean and efficient

So, to get me started, I have a series of questions to ask myself.

How much do I want to earn this month:  $50
How much do I want to earn every month (Or my goal):  $500
How will that be done?:  That is the question that must be answered.  Creating this blog, of course.  

• Listing items for sale on eBay, 
• Etsy, 
• Facebook page, 
• Driving more traffic to my blog and website, 
• Setting up the website.

How to drive traffic to my blog, THIS BLOG, is the next big question.  I am one blog in a sea of bloggers.

A part of this business, any business, is the BUSINESS PLAN.  I have started my plan, but put it on hold because of the job move and the dwelling move.  To review my plan, go to Make a Business Plan, Still in the Planning Stages, Marketing Plan: Step Two, I Have a Home, and Progress. I will be doing that over the next two or three days, just as a personal refresher.

Happy Crocheting!

Karen

Three Weeks?

I can't believe it has been about 3 weeks since my last post.  Things are progressing, albeit slowly.  I have a new house to move into... that will happen this weekend.  AND it has a craft room all for ME!

We have moved to the new location where I work and I am getting settled in, there.

I have been working on my Barbie dress in my spare moments.  I will post some more pictures of her very pretty dress very soon.

For now, the business plan is sort of stagnant and so is my marketing plan.  These will resume when I am settled in my new house and actually have time to think about it. I have taken my own advice and I am not trying to do everything at once.  I felt like I was spinning my wheels and they were totally out of control.

I daily remind myself to take a deep breath, slow down, then reflect.  Crochet is still my favorite relaxation routine.

Happy Crocheting!

Karen

Progress

The work on my new venture progresses.

Today, I found a great tool that will help with tracking the progress of my online sales.

It is a spreadsheet that can filled out on a monthly basis.  The link can be found HERE

The blog owner said this about her spreadsheet:

I created an excel spreadsheet earlier this year and I fill it out at the end of each month. Why? Because I was feeling discouraged. I felt my business wasn’t growing fast enough, that I wasn’t making enough progress. 

Do you know what I found out? My blog readership doubles about every 5 months. My Esty income doubles every month and my and my social media accounts grow slow but sure. I call it my growth report card and I’m always pleased to see the numbers grow each time I fill it out. It’s slow growth but it’s there, and the spreadsheet doesn’t lie. I’ll include a copy for you. It’s an excel spreadsheet so feel free to change it around and include other areas in which you want to measure your business growth.

I have included the link to her spreadsheet above.

At this stage of opening your new business, have you:

• Decided what to sell?
• Decided where to sell?
• Counted the cost of setting up your business?
• Thought about a website and/or actually purchased a domain?
• Set up an Etsy store?
• Ordered business cards?
• Started your business plan?
• Started your marketing plan?

Now may be a good time to review your progress.