A weekly round-up of craft, design, and business related news and links*:
1,000 True Fans – This 2008 article seems to be getting a lot of recent coverage, and its a must read for every craft business owners. It looks at where you need to situate yourself on the long tail to make a living. (Hint: its not the head or the tail.) Aren’t familiar with the long tail theory? I highly recommend you read Chris Anderson’s book: The Long Tail, Revised and Updated Edition: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More
Should Designer Knock-Offs Be Illegal – It’s Complicated – an interesting look at the eternal intellectual property debate.
The Protocol Society – now we make sets of instructions instead of stuff. But how does handmade fit in?
Hobbyists Use Etsy to Trade Day Job for Hard Work – ok, so this came out last week. Still a really interesting look at making a living on Etsy. Plus 2 more related links:
How to Make Money on Etsy – good advice from Design*Sponge founder Grace Bonney
Etsy.com Peddles a False Feminine Fantasy – i have to say I agree.
Design and Craft: A History of Convergences – September 2010 conference in Belgium. And there’s still time to submit a paper.
Etsy’s New Old Young CEO – Rob Kalin returns as Etsy CEO. But what does this mean for the site?
Really great tips for artist blogs (don’t be scared off by the crazy picture – its actually useful), commerce blogs, and ecommerce blogs to help drive sales from Remarkablogger.
New Retail Landscape Starting to Emerge – Trend Bible’s predictions for the changing face of retail. They think it will be more customer driven, for one thing.
*Note: this column will normally appear on Fridays, but because of the holidays will be on Thursday for the next two weeks.
Megan, thanks for the mention! I’m glad you found my posts valuable enough to share with your readers. Happy Holidays! 🙂