All the News That's Fit to Blog
How do you get inspired when deciding to create a new collection? When I had my handbag line I always found the most inspiration in books about vintage handbags – not that I made many vintage inspired bags, but the I was always drawn to the vintage shapes and somehow my mind twisted them into a modern version! Don't ask me how – it just seems to happen. Was always one of those, "if I move this here, make this bigger, reshape the strap" it will be cool kinda thing……:O)
I also found inspiration in Museums, art books, fabrics, and trend reports. I tried NOT to go into very many stores and look at actual bags as I found it confusing and would often feel like I needed to do what the haute couture designers were doing – which was so …
How do you get inspired when deciding to create a new collection? When I had my handbag line I always found the most inspiration in books about vintage handbags – not that I made many vintage inspired bags, but the I was always drawn to the vintage shapes and somehow my mind twisted them into a modern version! Don't ask me how – it just seems to happen. Was always one of those, "if I move this here, make this bigger, reshape the strap" it will be cool kinda thing……:O)
I …
When thinking about a new product, it is wise to figure out if there is a real NEED prior to spending a lot of time and money developing this latest fab idea. If you do your research, and really dig around, you'll quickly find through the internet and by looking in stores if your product will be in demand, or just get shelf space for a week before it goes on sale.
Another option is to reinvent something you already do well, and make a "new" or "knockoff" version of your …
Stylists have always been rather mysterious and illusive in my opinion. You often see their names in magazines, in Oscar reports and sometimes in tabloids, or on Celeb driven TV shows like Extra, E! etc…. but getting your product to them is a different story.
We all know that getting your products to celebs is usually a sure fire way to get more media exposure but you don't always know if they "really" got it, and liked it, or just received it and passed it on to their BFF, or even …
I know you already know this……but just in case you don't think about it all the time……you want to be sure you are incorporating trends into your line each season. One thing to keep in mind is that your collection will be on the same shelves and hanging next to everyone else who is following the trends……and you want yours to blend in.
According to the Chinese lunar calendar, 2013 is the year of the snake – specifically the water snake. Whether or not this influenced designers while creating their spring …
So let's get down to basics. The whole lynchpin of your business is your target market (TM)…. next to the quality and need for your products of course! But the bottom line, is that if you don't know who you are selling to, it really doesn't matter how awesome your designs are……if no one is there to buy them, there is no money, which is super disappointing.
Let's change that right now!
Here are some things to think about to find and market to your exact TM.
1. Figure out where they LIVE. …
I still feel the buzz from just having spoken to Barbara. I admire her honesty and passion and think you will feel super inspired after listening. And for those of you who have a secret desire to audition for Shark Tank, but have been afraid……she really encourages you with an insider tip… that if you send in a video of your presentation…… you stand a better chance of being picked out of the over 70,000+ applicants! Holy Moly…….I am in awe of how many entrepreneurs are out there.
Click here to …
Road Reps are independent reps that sometimes work for a larger group, or on their own, and don’t have a showroom. They travel around their “territory” showing products to the stores they service. This can be a more cost effective choice as there is no showroom fee for road reps – they work strictly on commission. Another bonus is they are always out and about so they often have more opportunity for a sale then someone sitting in a showroom waiting for a client to stop by.
A great place to look …
Invoicing can be confusing so let's spell it out here. I have always used Quickbooks for my accounting software so I use their invoicing program too. It keeps track of your inventory as well which makes production much easier to keep up with than counting stuff all the time. If you don't use Quickbooks, you can create an invoice in Word or Excel too.
Most boutiques are used to getting the Invoice with the inventory. You can either put it inside the box or purchase those little plastic envelopes that say “Packing List” …
