Introducing Artist SarahLou Designs
SarahLou Designs is an upcycled clothing business 
run by two friends, Sarah Daly and Michelle McGowan. We turn clothing with a drab and dreary design past into fun and interesting pieces that people want to wear time and again. We are like the fairy godmothers to the Cinderella’s of the clothing store.
Launched in: 2009
Inspiration: “We love vintage clothing design and vintage patterns, movies from the 30’s – 70’s, nature, nautical and tattoo designs.”
Direction We’re heading: “We are saving money to open our first boutique. The store would be home to our designs, as well as other regional and national artists and designers.”
Best Advice for artists: “Always set up your goals with rewards for yourself. It helps make the work to get there quick and sooo much more fun.”
Favorite social media sites that help with promotion: “We love Facebook. Right now, we have a “like” page but at the beginning, we had a profile page. It was easier to communicate with our fans that way and we regret changing it.”
News: “We are booking twice as many craft shows this year as well as redesigning our booth to a more refined look. We are excited to meet new people and see all our fans again this year!”
You’re Invited: Our first show will be in Macon March 24-25 at the Mulberry Street Festival. You an also keep up with us be “liking us on Facebook, or signing up for our emails at: www.sarahloudesigns.com
Contact us for more information.
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Introducing Flex Family Arts
Launched in: “We opened our first etsy shop (Squidflex) in 2011 to start selling James’ photography prints. However, the real fun started when we combined some images James had drawn for me of classic circus performers with my self-taught embroidery skills and launched the Pilous Percilla shop in November 2011. Shortly thereafter, we opened the All Night Diner to house our non-circus-related work and it all took off from there.”
Inspiration: “We are mostly inspired by each other and the regular idea bouncing and banter that occurs in our daily lives. We are also extremely influenced by music, film and television as well as literary characters and social rapscallions.”
Direction We’re heading: “We began selling locally last year at art festivals and plan to do much more of that this coming year. We are also branching out into selling in some local and (gasp, international) boutiques. In the fall of 2012, one of our pieces will be featured in a book about the film The Big Lebowski.
We simply plan to continue to get our work out as much as possible and make a ton of new patterns. Last year was so buy, we didn’t have as much time to create new work as we would like.”
Best Advice for artists: “Create what you love and try not to worry about the rest. Easy to say…not so easy to do. We get bogged down on occasion with sales numbers, blog stats and the like…comparing ourselves to other artists. This sort of thinking only slows you down and holds you back. Freeing up that mental space means more room for creativity!
Also, network with other artists and bloggers. We have made some great new friends this year both locally and all over the world. It has helped tremendously to have a community to help you along!”
Favorite social media sites that help with promotion: “We are primarily blog and Facebook folks. We also have found some great promotional opportunities through the etsy teams!”
News: “We recently launched a new blog design, created for us by one of those wonderful online contacts and we plan to start selling soon in the Young Blood Boutique located in the Highlands area of Atlanta!”
Special Discounts: Social Brand Aid friends can receive 10% off in any of our etsy shops with the code SBA10.
Contact us for more information. Shop online at Flex Family Arts Shop.
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Tip Me: How to Write a Follow-Worthy Twitter Bio
We read this article from Social Media Today and had to pass it along.
Courtesy of Social Media Today
This article gives you 4 easy steps towards creating a “follow-worthy” twitter biography. It only takes seconds for a fan to determine whether or not he or she wants to follow you or not. Because it’s make or break, be sure to follow these 4 tips:
Read MoreSquare Is The Perfect Payment Tool For Entrepreneurs!
Square Lets Entrepreneurs Round Out Their Payment Options
By: Todd Wasserman
If you’re an entrepreneur in the retail sector, you’ve no doubt heard the following phrase that has brought many transactions to a grinding halt: “Do you take credit cards?”
If the answer is no, all the goodwill in the world won’t help you. These days, people just don’t carry that much cash around with them. That was the situation that Chip Forsythe encountered last year. Forsythe is one of the founders of Slo Down Wines, a San Francisco vintner. Forsythe started the company with two college buddies. Having no budget to speak of, he soon found the company’s primary marketing vehicle — wine shows — was quickly depleting their resources.
By Forsythe’s estimation, each show would cost around $300 or so to participate in. Then the company would distribute hundreds of dollars in wine for free. What was frustrating was that people at the shows appeared interested in buying Slo Down’s wines, but didn’t have cash. Last year, Forsythe’s younger brother told him about Square, a free device and app that let you process credit cards on your smartphone. It was a huge change.
“We went from losing money at the shows to making thousands of dollars,” he says. Fair enough, but why didn’t Forsythe just go the traditional route and get a merchant account with one of the credit card companies? “It seemed too beyond us,” he says. “We didn’t have any money.”
It’s hard to turn down free, though. Square entices vendors like Slo Down by sending its quarter-size Square reader device free. After that, the company takes a 2.75% cut of every transaction. You can also set up an account pretty quickly, says Katie Baynes, a rep for Square. “We do a credit check, but it’s not a traditional check,” she says.
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