Book Review - The Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable

I finished this book a couple weeks ago, and with all the "graduation" stuff floating around, I really wanted to make note of it.

It's a great book for the entrepreneur - The Purple Cow, written by Seth Godin, it asks how each of us can take our business above a business, and make it extraordinary. Like The Purple Cow. As for my purple cow, I'm still looking for it, but I think a few of my lines have the potential to be one. The trick is not only to have a purple cow, but to get it out to the "sneezers", who gladly spread the word about you and your product.


My idea to build on this cow for my calligraphy business was to create a promotion to give away free calligraphy for a bride - invites or place cards. (You can read more about that here, the deadline is June 31st!).

I really recommend this book - you have to read it to understand the importance of the cow. The greatest lesson I learned from this book was that it is more dangerous to play it safe (i.e., milking your cow) than to take a risk. Take a risk, business owners!!

And speaking of risks, I'm seriously considering opening a gallery, now that I'm graduated, in my hometown. It would be in a barn of a family friend, and I'm working out the tweaks. Wish me luck! :)

Sidewalk Sale: A Great Success!

I just wanted to thank all who came and checked out my work at the Sidewalk Sale last weekend. I hope that you all got something nice, for Mom or yourself!

It was a smashing success! I doubled (and then some) my profit from last year - which was amazing considering we had a freakin scary torrential downpour with scary thunder. Due to my busy-ness, I sucked at documentation :( But my table display was great!! I had a black tablecloth with my handmade jewelry scattered around. I also had my new handmade journals that I blew out of - once I make more, they will definitely be for sale on the website! Lastly on display I had a representation of my handmade sail products, like the sail notebooks and wallets.
As always, I had my embroidered necklaces, which did fairly well - the biggest hit were my $8 earrings, which were the perfect Mother's Day gift at the perfect price :D

I also did some trading at the very end, which is my favorite part - I traded earrings and necklaces for some awesome ceramics: I got two bright blue mugs, an earthy colored mug, a bowl, and a sterling silver wire ring. Fun!! (Pictured below is a piece by Sara Eustis: I custom made a pair of earrings for her mother for Mother's Day, and she traded me a mug that was similar in style to this vessel - I love the look of her pieces!!)

Here were some of the advertisements that we received for the event!

Boston Globe – Thursday, May 6

“Bargain Bin”

Circulation: 264,105

Going.com e-newsletter

“10 Things Boston is Doing this Week”

Style Carrot blog

“ARTevent: SMFA Sidewalk Sale”