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Today’s guest post is from Lisa Verdi of MindfulBIZ.  Lisa is sharing some strategies for tweaking your website to line up with the goals of your business.  Be sure to read to the end of the post for a chance to win a website critique from Lisa!

Some designers and makers get caught up in the hoopla of starting a creative business and focus on the how-to details while avoiding the difficult big questions. I’m referring to the who, what, and why behind your creative venture.

But that’s not you! You’ve been devouring the wisdom at Crafting an MBA and have a business plan that describes the unique approach that sets you apart, the people who will want what you create and how you’ll attract those people to you.

Great! But have you put your business plan into action on your website?

Your website is your primary tool for promoting and selling your products and services. If there’s a disconnect between your business plan and your website, you’re missing out on a lot of sales.

Most people…

Crafting an MBA

Eric Roberts just sent out a note of concern to the ACM Education Council, and he kindly allowed me to share it here as a guest post.  When I read his note, I thought about my May 2009 CACM column on “Teaching Computing to Everyone” where I argued that, once non-CS majors figure out the value of what we have to offer, our problem won’t be declining enrollments, but dealing with capacity issues. Two years later…

Just before heading off to the CSTA Advisory Council meeting at the end of last week, I sent out a few thoughts to the other Advisory Council members about what’s been happening this year at Stanford in terms of computer science enrollments. Enrollment trends have been a major topic of concern for CSTA in recent years, just as they have for the Education Board and Council. For most of the past decade, enrollments have been falling, and they remain low at many institutions, some of which have been cutting staff or even closing departments in response.

In many ways, that…

Computing Education Blog

I’m about to hop a plane Wisconsin to be a visiting artist at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, but luckily I’ve got a great guest post  from Meredith of Smaller Box to share while I’m gone.  Meredith is talking about 5 mistakes rookie marketers (and sometimes even more seasoned marketers) often make.  She’s also got a new ebook out that guides you through all the steps of putting together your marketing plan (details at the end of the post).  Thanks, Meredith!

If creativity is the passion that prompted you to start your business, it’s easy to let marketing be an afterthought. Even if you’re committed to marketing your business, there are so many pitfalls that can keep you from the success you deserve. Below are 5 of the most common mistakes people make when trying to market their small business.

Unrealistic Expectations
When we start a business we’re full of enthusiasm and high hopes. We think “I’ll create a website and a Facebook page and, because my products are so…

Crafting an MBA

Today I’m thrilled to share a guest post from Tara Gentile on a topic that seems to be coming up a lot lately – moving beyond perfectionism.

When it comes to making a profit, perfection generally doesn’t get you more dollars in your bank account. Quality counts but perfection is overrated.

What counts is execution. You need to release a product to sell it.

Megan is very found of quoting Seth Godin:

Prototype & ship. Prototype & ship.

What the heck does that mean to you? What you create doesn’t matter if you don’t put it out there. All the ideas, functions, techniques, and materials in the world are meaningless unless someone can work with them, touch them, experience them.

In this way, art & software have few differences. So allow me to venture into the world of tech for a minute to illustrate this.

Striving for Enough

It’s been just over a year since the iPad was announced to the world. I got mine in June and I’m thrilled to pieces with it. I will be in line to buy an iPad 2 when…

Crafting an MBA

I’m off to the Buyer’s Market of American Craft today, but I’ve got a great guest post to share from Eleanor Mayrhofer of e. m. papers.  When Eleanor mentioned in The Creative Empire forums that after raising her prices she sold MORE product, I immediately asked her to share the story with CMBA readers.  If you’ve been wavering when it comes to raising prices, I hope Eleanor’s story gives you the confidence you need to just do it!  Thanks, Eleanor!

In the fall of last year I decided to raise prices on my flagship products, printable wedding invitation kit templates. As an entrepreneur, it was one of the scariest things I’ve done in my business yet. Here’s a rundown of the why, what and consequences of my decision.

Why?

1. The market started to validate what I had to offer - When I launched my products, I wasn’t sure if people were really going to go for form-based printable wedding invitations. After offering a free black and white version of one of my kits that almost crashed our…

Crafting an MBA

After my post on hiring your first employee, I got a lot of questions about the other employment scenario I mentioned – VAs.  So I asked Carrie Keplinger, VA extraordinaire and forum moderator for The Creative Empire, to share what a VA is and how hiring one can benefit your business.   Thanks, Carrie!

Lots of folks are talking about virtual assistants these days, and just as many are labeling themselves such. It’s even kind of trendy to hire a VA. But just who are these people, and do you need one?

I fell into being a virtual assistant quite by accident. What I mean is that I never intended, in all my wildest dreams, to become a VA until an innocent conversation about web assistance found me saying, “Well, I could do that!”

I have a varied background. My professional life started out in the dry, technical realm of manual writing and streaked quickly into journalism, where I eventually became a magazine editor. When the field tanked several years ago, I fell back on two of my…

Crafting an MBA