We caught up with Perth-based artist Gill Cordiner to discuss her delightful enamelled designs!

Your beautiful jewellery is so vibrant and colourful! How did you find your niche?
I think I found a niche because enamelling is not such a common medium and as I am a trained fine artist I have a different perspective than most jewellers. My use of whimsical shapes and strong colour used in a contemporary way makes my work unique.

What inspires and motivates you?
I am inspired by every random event and chance occurrence that happens to me in my day to day. I have a very encyclopaedic brain - I take in everything I see and it reappears in the form of art and metal. I am a very self-motivated person I strive for more and more and more - I keep pushing myself to be better and make more.

What does a “normal” day look like for you?
My days are rarely normal but on an average day I do the school run, walk the dog, play my guitar for 10 minutes then hit the studio. I work very hard and try to be as productive as I can. I love to sit in my garden at lunch amongst the trees and enjoy the peace, then back at it sawing, firing and filing. I enjoy the solitude but all too often there are custom pieces to make and emails to answer. A quiet uninterrupted day is my dream day.

What has been the biggest challenge you have faced with your business?
To fill the demand for my work and to fit it all around the family time is my biggest juggle. Next year I hope to take on an intern. This year has been so busy.

What, in your opinion, makes your business so special and unique?
I think my business is unique because I don’t copy anyone. I don’t follow trends or try to make what I think will be popular or cool. I stick to my own ideas, my own designs and hope that somewhere in the universe there are like-minded people. Thankfully there are not too many but just enough to be selective and individual.

Where would you like to see your business in 5 years?
I’d like to see my business a bit more streamlined and not such hard work for me. I hope an intern will help. I also want to pursue my competition exhibition side. This year I won a visual art award for my necklace 'A Mermaids Kiss' and I have been picked as a finalist in a major prestigious competition in the USA - this will give me more global recognition. I am enjoying my work. It makes me happy to have little pops of Gill colour all over the world.

You can visit Gill's website here and Facebook page here.

We chatted to Andrew of chic Coast label Farmer Drew about his eco-friendly fairtrade products...

Your beautiful baskets and fouta towels are both chic and practical. How did you find your niche?
When I arrived in Noosa I went regularly to the Noosa Farmers Market and noticed something odd. While the locals and visitors were supporting the local farmers and growers by buying home grown, spray free, organic, handmade etc, they were still...

carrying their goods away in single use plastic bags! I saw the need for an alternative and voila Farmer Drew was born! My fouta towels are also eco-friendly. For example; since they are thin and lightweight (the opposite to a bulky and sandy filled ‘toweling’ towel), they take up less room in the washing machine and they dry in no time on the line instead of in the dryer. Just a small thing but every little bit helps!

What inspires and motivates you?
I am inspired and motivated knowing that in some small way my products ‘won’t cost the earth’. I like to think that I am helping save the planet in style.

What does a “normal” day look like for you?
I get up at about 6.30 and take my Labrador Sambo for a walk through the National Park behind our house. (There are tracks where you are allowed to walk dogs through the park that lead to the beach). He loves his walks and is nudging me to get out of bed each morning! I get back check my emails and pack the online orders that have come in overnight and take them off to the post office a bit later in the day.  I have recently completed Ben Angel’s ’30 day business turnaround program’, which has given me some great tips on how to improve my business. I spend part of each day working on this.

What has been the biggest challenge you have faced with your business?
Getting known and building a following is a challenge with a small business. There is so much choice out there for the consumer. Building a good reputation takes time and effort but definitely pays off in the end.

What, in your opinion, makes your business so special and unique?
My brand values are: Environmentally friendly. Quality. Value. I also pride myself on offering an excellent and prompt service.

Where would you like to see your business in 5 years?
Ideally I would love the online side of my business to be 80% of the business. You can buy online and yet still be supporting local businesses. Unlike a few years ago, when the trend was buying online from overseas, there is now a turnaround and we are buying more online from local Australian businesses.

You can visit Farmer Drew's website here and Facebook page here.

We caught up with dynamic mother & daughter duo Vanessa and Glynnis of Pennybright Studios to discover more about their creative business.

Your creations are so unique! How did you get started?
After working with polymer clay for many years, we were looking for something we could do together. We had always been a fan of fabric art and were both collecting inspiring fabric creations on Pinterest! So we decided to take ourselves on a fabric adventure where we could combine our love of vintage textiles with polymer clay, paint and other media to create unique and very special animals...

What inspires and motivates you?
We are constantly inspired by everything around us! Colours and textures in nature and our love of animals particularly inspire us. We adore vintage fabrics and where possible, we use them in our creations.

As business partners, do you work well as a mother and daughter team?
Oh yes! We have an absolute blast together. We have the same sense of humour and very similar tastes so we have a wonderful time dreaming up new creations. Our skills complement each other too – Mum does all the sewing and I do most of the painting and decorating! But we always dream together!

What does a “normal” day look like for you?
 When we work together we usually sit around my kitchen table, with ready access to coffee and good lighting! Intense focus is regularly punctuated by lots of laughter. It’s lovely sharing these experiences with each other. So much love and laughter goes into each creation!

What has been the biggest challenge you have faced with your business?
People buy our creations for all sorts of reasons – as special newborn gifts, for Christenings or other special occasions, as heirloom gifts, for children’s bedroom décor, for the man who has everything, or for home décor. It’s challenging to know how to market our creations as they appeal to such a large range of people for such a diverse range of reasons!

What, in your opinion, makes your business so special and unique?
Our business is unique because we use such a wide range of techniques to create each beautiful animal. We are often incorporating stitching, polymer clay, painting, needle sculpting and air brushing in one creation! We spend hours sourcing vintage materials and learning techniques to give our creations that vintage feel. And the fact that we do it together, as mother and daughter, means that every stitch and brush stroke has been surrounded in warmth and laughter as we create.

Where would you like to see your business in 5 years?
We’d love to see our creations continue to be recognised for their uniqueness in our field, both within Australia and overseas. We want to continue to develop our skills and our “look” so our creations will be instantly recognisable as ours, but each still individually unique. And in 5 years we’d both love to be able to stay home and create all week, as our full time job!

Visit Pennybright Studio's online store here and Facebook page here.

Many people believe having a logo is enough to define the brand identity of a company, but it's actually much more complex than that.

Great brands are easy to recognise, their mission is clear, and they have a ridiculously high level of customer loyalty (think Apple). When there is a strong successful brand identity, the consumer can detect the brand without having to see the logo.

We've put together a checklist to get you started with refining your brand identity...

What makes your brand unique?

What unique experience do customers receive when purchasing from your brand?

How would customers describe your brand?

Where do you want your business to be in 5 years?

When your customers encounter your product, what emotions do they experience?

If your business were a person, how would you describe their personality?

What is your brand promise? (Both on a practical level and an emotional level).


For more in-depth brand development mentoring, please email Lilli at info@fiercepublicity.com.

We caught up with Tina of TRaewyn Earthy Artisan Jewellery to chat about her Victorian-based creative business.

Your whimsical creations are so very beautiful. What inspires you?
That is a hard question, simply because so many things inspire me! I have a section on my website where I wrote this: "TRaewyn Jewelry is inspired by Gaia, by Mother Earth, The many different Goddess's, The Wild Woman and the Love of the Earth, the Forests, The Mountains and the Ocean...

Jewelry celebrating our connection to Mother Gaia. Representing love and gratitude to her, for all that she gives. To the ancients, gemstones and crystals were a bridge to the sacred energies of Gaia, Mother Earth and a direct link to the unseen realms of the Divine, a connection to the sacred medicine of the earth.The jewelry captures the essence of the wild woman, the woman who is in touch with her instincts, loyal of heart, the dreamer, the storyteller, her strength and her endurance." I love the concept of a 'wild woman': wild in the sense of being free, true and soulful. This is what inspires me!

What made you decide to set up your own business? It all began when a lovely friend of mine started making jewelry from clay... we had done crafty little projects before, and I had always been painting, drawing & creating. But I had never used clay. She handed me a lump of terracotta, and I proceeded (as most people do) to make a clunky & slightly awkward looking clay animal. After a few attempts, I eventually created a pendant which I was quite proud of... she taught me how to add a patina effect to the piece, a little mica powder for some 'shimmer', and before I knew it, I had transformed a lump of clay into something quite beautiful. I was addicted. I immediately purchased a couple of slabs of terracotta, a handful of gemstones & some leather strapping - and I vanished into a world of ideas and imagination. Then something I never imagined in my wildest dreams happend....I was wearing one of my creations at a market and a lady offered me $100 for it. I actually gave it to her for nothing, as I was so absolutely thrilled that someone had noticed my work! With encouragement and support from my husband, and friends, I devoted almost all of my time to creating jewelry...with the intent to start selling my work.

What has been the biggest challenge you have faced with your business?
When I started my own Etsy shop, I had to learn ALL of the tools of the trade - the photography, the editing, all of the different skills associated with search engines, media and marketing my items. As well as all of the purchasing, pricing and inventory needs. This has been the biggest challenge, me being an artist who just wanted to 'play'.

What, in your opinion, makes your business so special and unique? I hope that it is because I try to make the experience more personal, my customers are buying directly from the artist, they get to talk to me, ask questions, and we end up forming wonderful friendships.

Where would you like to see your business in 5 years? I am so happy with the business as it is, but a secret dream of mine, would be to have a beautiful large studio and gallery, where people can come and see my work - hold it in their hands, rather than just the online shop. I love that idea so much! I even have a little dream board with a sketch of what I would hope it would look like!

Visit TRaewyn Earthy Artisan Jewelry's website here and Facebook page here.

We recently caught up with Anne of Annie's Workroom to discover more about her eco-friendly business...

What made you decide to set up your own business?
Working with the environment around me and making led me to begin the workroom. It gives me an opportunity to use my traditional handskills to make objects and art, and to share these skills with others as a way of honouring our mixed heritages...

Eco dyeing is an interesting concept. How did you get involved with this?
The first time I saw eco dyeing was in a small store in Surry Hills, Sydney, I was still working in the fashion industry and fell in love with the work of a women called India Flint. Years later when we made the tree change, India was teaching in Brisbane, so I attended a weekend workshop. My first attempts to recreate some of the effects from that weekend were dismal, but after a year of intensive dyeing, researching and experimenting it started to give me more pleasure.

What does the eco dyeing process involve?
The process of eco dyeing can be quite simple, you take some leaves and place them on fabric, roll or fold the fabric, secure the bundle with some string. Next you place the bundle in a cooking pot and simmer for a few hours. No harmful chemicals are added, the fun is using only the things you find in your local environment and seeing how you can manipulate the fabric to get varying effects and unique one off prints.

What has been the biggest challenge you have faced with your business?
Getting the balance right, so that I can maintain the flow of work. Juggling exhibition work, with teaching and other making commitments is always a challenge. Its easy to get side tracked into making and playing with new ideas, when really whats needed is some focused productive work to get a project to completion.

What, in your opinion, makes your business so special and unique?
Having a foundation of traditional craft practices is what makes my work so unique, it takes age old methods and combines them with new ideas to produce one off unique hand crafted art and objects. All of which are environmentally considered from conception to fruition. I choose slow processes, to make slow art that can be used and treasured in our fast paced world.

Where would you like to see your business in 5 years?
The nature of the work I do ensures that it will always be made in a slow unique way, this ensures the integrity of each piece. I would like to see my studio work shared in the format of workshops to help keep the traditional skills alive, and continue to grow my exhibition work. As long as I am making and playing, and have an outlet to connect with an audience to share my stories and skills, I feel content.

Visit Annie's Workroom's website here and Facebook page here.

Did you know that products targeted towards women have the majority share of the market?

Regardless of why this is there are still plenty of small business making products and offering services designed for men.
Here is our Top 5 List of hints for how best to market your product to the male gender.

1. Do your research. Figure out what type of man would get the most out of your product or service.

2. Men love Social Media too. Make sure you have a presence on a number of Social Media sites to best reach your target man.

3. Men aged between 24 and 40 are highly influenced by top search results from their favourite search engine.

4. Men are 10 per cent more likely than women to make a purchase based on a mobile ad they received on their smartphone.

5. Don't market to out dated male stereotypes, it will only make your business seem out of touch.

As a small business owner you are probably aware of, and perhaps even use yourself, marketing and sales buzzwords. Buzzwords or industry jargon are commonly thought of as the phrases or words that will ensure the success of your advertising or promotional material. 

That may have once been true but no longer works on today’s savvy consumers...

Thanks to the internet the average person is completely immersed in
information most of the time. Due to this consumers have learnt to see buzzwords
for what they are, vague jargon designed to trick and convince them. 
 
There are hundreds of examples of buzzwords, some of which may have
already made their way into promotional material for your business. Whether it
is on social media or paid advertising try and push aside the tricky jargon and
instead go for a more genuine approach. A great way to do this is to speak to
your loyal customers directly and ask them to describe what they love about your
product. This is a fantastic way to include honest, fact-based statements in
your marketing. For example, instead of using condescending buzzwords such as
easy-to-use and user-friendly find a way to utilise facts and customer opinions
to prove your point. 

Look after your customer relationships and your honest reputation by
avoiding buzzwords and jargon in your promotional material.

For more information contact Fierce Publicity at info@fiercepublicity.com

Networking events can seem as intimidating as a first date for
small business owners. Worrying about how you’re dressed, if there’s food in your teeth and what on earth you’re going to talk about will heighten any anxiety you’re feeling.

Here at the Handmade Exchange we know the feeling and offer nervous business owners our Top 5 hints to get you through the awkward phase and into successful business relationships. 

1. Do your research prior to attending network events. If you know what you’re walking into you’ll feel more confident. 

2. Networking events are a place to promote your business in a relaxed manner, don’t treat them like a business meeting.  

3. Don’t be afraid to ask for advice from more experienced business owners. 

 4. Networking events are a great way to find out what is going on in your community and how that can benefit your business.                       

5. Speaking to other business owners in your area is a great way to develop creative solutions to problems you may be experiencing within your company. 
 
For more helpful tips on networking events and all your business marketing needs contact Fierce Publicity. 

Email: info@fiercepublicity.com

Reaching out to Generation Z can be daunting for a small
business owner. After all, this is a generation whose lives have been entirely connected through media technologies. Today's teenagers have even been dubbed the 'digital generation'.

So how does an independent business market their product or
service to a generation infinitely more technology savvy than
themselves?

 1.    
Make sure your business has a social media presence. Link your website
and ensure that it has networking capabilities such as a
blog.

 2.    
Talk the talk. Ensure that your social media posts are authentic and
relatable to your teenage consumers.

 3.    
Keep all social media content short and punchy. Teenagers will not
respond to wordy posts.

 4.    
Don’t rely on just Facebook. There are many social networks out there
which appeal to many different types of consumers. 
 
5.    
Do your research. Speak to teenagers and those with teenage siblings or
children. Personal experience is invaluable when it comes to marketing your
business.