If you have a family like mine, they request to have the peach skins removed from their peaches. I personally like them, but they are a little papery and fuzzy at times. So I learned this trick long ago and it’s great for peeling peach skins, especially if you need to do a lot of [...]

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You knew that owning your own business would be time-consuming — even if you are doing what you love. But between managing your social networks, stocking your online shop, and keeping in contact with your customers, you might begin to feel like your computer is less like a useful tool and more like a ball and chain.Enter the smartphone. Need to run errands, but you’re waiting for an important e-mail? Just feel like going to the beach? With a smartphone, you’re not tied to your office — your office is tied to you. (Well, not literally. Unless, of course, you’ve created a cute strappy little wristlet for your smartphone, in which case you’ve made my analogy completely problem-free, and for which I should thank you. Thanks!)Take it from Jemellia Hilfiger, who runs the shop JemJam on Etsy."I get e-mails on my phone, so I am notified immediately of a sale. If I do not print my postage at home, I can take it to the post office without wasting any paper and pull up the buyer's address right from my phone."Here are five ways that upgrading your flip-phone to one with brains will help you with your business.1. Shock them with superior customer service. A smartphone lets you receive “push” e-mail notifcations, so when you’ve got mail, you know right away. Then you can reply instantly, no matter what — even if you’re away from your desk.Says Jemellia:"I am able to reply quickly to questions about products or shipping with a phone, especially in the summer when I am out and about with my family. I also do not have to put my shop on vacation as much since I can communicate with customers as needed."2. Cure for the common fuzzbrain. For those moments when you’re standing in line, staring into space, and suddenly remember you have to restock something in your shop — you can! All before it’s your turn at the Fifteen Items Or Less register.3. Keep up with social media while you’re out and about. Updating your status from your phone takes only a minute, and periodically checking for updates keeps you looped in to what your customers and contacts are talking about, without the need for a long, time-intensive session at your desk.4. Stay inspired. Get out to museums, metroparks, eclectic business districts downtown — and take pictures of inspiration while you’re shopping or walking. Better yet, post them online while you’re out and share your inspiration with customers and colleagues. If you had "blog post ideas" on your to-do list, you can cross it off!5. Addicted to the health of your shop? A smartphone allows you to keep up-to-date tabs on sales, stats and shipping, even if you’re away from your studio.So there you have it: five great reasons to put your business manager in your pocket.Already have a smartphone? Share your productivity tips in the comments! And don’t forget to check out our list of top iPhone aps for online entrepreneurs!Main image courtesy of Jorge Quinteros.

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Many of us struggle to find the right words to describe our products or to talk about our creative work with others. It's an awkward balance: you want to show your enthusiasm, without coming off like a used car salesperson. One of the best ways to sidestep the "sales pitch" approach is to use storytelling techniques when describing your product. Rather than listing product features as you would vital statistics and telling browsers how much they will love the product, you want them to fall in love with its personality and spirit.Here are 4 tips on writing product descriptions that tell a story. 1. Your product gets its personality from youIf you're not convinced that attaching your story to your products is important, consider this point from Christine Gierer, in a list of tips for writing handmade jewelry descriptions:"People often buy handmade jewelry so they can feel wise or insightful and you, believe it or not, YOU are often the biggest selling point, especially if your work is very distinctive and unique, or if you yourself are distinctive and unique."Gierer goes on to list various ideas for telling stories about your work: What funny thing prompted you to make this handmade necklace? What is the story behind an interesting bead in that necklace? 2. Put your heart and soul into itWhat's the difference between your hand-printed stationery and the printed stationery stacked up at any number of retail stores? Yours has a soul.You are selling your creative product because you believe that people value the difference between something that comes from human hands vs. a machine.So your product descriptions and marketing efforts should be imbued with the life, spirit and personality that go into your product.If the public nature of written product descriptions feels intimidating, imagine yourself describing the product to a friend and apply the same tone to your description.Your spirit can also be reflected in many contagious ways: a clever "about" page, a profile shot that makes others smile, lively blog posts or beautiful product shots. 3. Let other people do the talkingWe're all skeptical when it comes to advertising and sales pitches. One way to throw more credibility and creativity into your marketing efforts is to include voices other than your own.You can ask buyers for testimonials to include on your site or in your product descriptions. A quote from someone else saying that the product solved a problem, made a great gift, or simply makes them happy to look at every day can go a long way.Mogul Mom Heather Allard found a great example of using feedback in this ad for Swaddle Designs - it lists 14 reasons why retailers love the company's products. Even if you don't use testimonials on your site, it will help to simply get feedback from others about your product. They will see it, describe it and use it in ways you haven't thought of.Perhaps a client tells you that she wore your handmade earrings to a job interview and got the job. That's a useful anecdote - all of a sudden you're selling "great first impression" earrings. 4. Make our dreams come trueRemember those "Calgon, take me away!" commercials from the 1980s? They promised that a relaxing escape was contained in a box of Calgon bath salts. Creating a mood or feeling for your customers can often help make the difference between a browser and a buyer.I love the way Paco+Lupe, makers of handbags and other fabric items, have named their summer bags after cities known for their beautiful beaches. There's the Valencia bag, the Costa del sol, Mar Azul and the Baga Beach. When you pair the look of the bright fabrics with the feeling conjured by the name, you can practically taste the margaritas. Not into the beach? They also sell a bag called New York Weekend.Some other ways to inject personality into product descriptions are to give voices or characters to your products or get creative with color descriptions. Thanks to Simply Said for pointing out a page that lists all kinds of creative color names.Main image courtesy of tsuacctnt.How do you feel about writing product descriptions? Do you have fun with them, or are they low on the priority list?

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I was inspired to create some cute cookies from my neighbors sunflowers that are growing bright and yellow. Doesn’t this image simply spell s-u-m-m-e-r?! Here are the cookies that came from the inspiration, even though it might be a little bit of a stretch. But we get to use candy corn (one of my favorite [...]

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Yesterday I spent a few hours attending the Bellevue Festival of the Arts which is held once every summer in Bellevue, Washington. Essentially, it’s paradise on earth for art lovers! While I was there I visited with Julie Simpson, a fabulous artist who works with textiles and mixed media. We talked for quite a bit and she recommended that I visit another booth run by a fellow grad of RISD (the Rhode Island School of Design). Julie’s referral resulted in us purchasing beautiful earrings from the gal she directed us to, Seung-Hea Lee. What I realized in retrospect was that without Julie’s recommendation, we probably would have kept on walking right past Seung-Hea’s booth. When you’re attending a show that is bursting at the seams with phenomenal talent, it’s really easy to overlook great stuff! This experience and the art festival in general led me to reflect on two things:If you love someone else’s work or you’re passionate about something that you have in common, pass that enthusiasm along to others (you may be helping your fellow artist out without even realizing it). Engage with your customers (or potential customers). I experienced both sides of the coin yesterday in terms of engagement. Some artists were thrilled to see your interest in their work and some didn’t even respond when I said “Hello!” (Take a wild guess who I purchased from!) Trust me, it makes a huge difference. I like giving my business to artists who support others within the art/handmade community. I also appreciate artists and businesses with nice, friendly people. It’s obviously not rocket science, but I’d much prefer purchasing from people who are thankful for my business and passionate about what they do than people who aren't. So with that, I’ll leave you with the websites of some nice, friendly, and uber talented folks that I came across at the show today… people that I’d gladly give my business and referrals to: Mistura: Phenomenal one of a kind watches. Nzalamba Art Works: Amazing paintings reflecting the artist’s African heritage and personal experienced. Jon Kaplan: Fine Art Photographer capturing images and people from all over the world. Flavour Design: Buddha bowls and greeting cards. Lemon Park: Totally unique and fun, funky jewelry.Main image courtesy of Paul Nzalamba.

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101 Ways to Delight and Inspire Yourself

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Fun, big-picture, idea-generating illustrations!

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Have you been thinking about getting a video camera lately? Are you still trying to decide if you need one? Maybe you want to try and create a tutorial or how-to video, what about a short YouTube commercial showcasing you and your work, or just capture the best memories of your vacation this summer! Regardless of the reason, we wanted to share our top 3 favorite video cameras, pocket size!Flip Video Mino HD The Flip Video Mino HD is now in its second generation and it has a much sleeker look with a brushed metal body and a large 2 inch LCD screen! It's one of the best pocket video cameras out there with a USB connector and now an HDMI connector built in so you can easily share your hi-definition videos online and through your television! It has 8GB of memory equal to 2 hours of hi-definition video and is truly one of the easiest cameras to use, share and edit your videos. It's listed at $229 so a little on the spendy side, but definitely worth a look.Sony Bloggie PM5 The Sony Bloggie PM5 just sounds cool doesn't it! It also has a built in USB connector like the Flip, although it has one special feature in its lens. It has a 360 degree lens that shoots in every direction and then organizes your video into a very cool film strip. The other great feature about this camera is that it accepts multiple memory card formats like SD cards and it also has 4 GB of internal memory. The price is great too starting at $189 so make sure you check it out!Zumi Digital (2.0) The Zumi Digital (2.0), also known as the Harinezumi is one of the newest video cameras on the market and is incredibly unique! This video camera is definitely pocket sized at only 3.5 inches long and 1 inch tall...it truly is one of the smallest we've seen. It has a 3 MegaPixel sensor and 2GB of memory for up to 2 hours of video or 1600 high resolution images if you want to just take pictures too. And, it's priced at $170 so you won't break the bank on this one.We know there are more pocket video cameras out there so which one do you like? What one do you use to shoot your tutorials and how-to videos?Main image courtesy of S.C. Asher

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Easy Diagrams Map Out Your Creative Ideas!

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The Tony Buzan way!

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