How to make soap

I always wanted to make soap and sell it,

here is the one way of making soap at home...

How to Make Cold Process Soap

Equipment you need:
An accurate scale , it needs to weight down to 1/10th of an ounce
A stainless steel pot or enamel painted pot
A plastic or stainless steel spoon
2 Rubber Maid Plastic Pitchers, at least one needs the lid.
(make sure you write "LYE & Dangerous" all over the pitchers)
Rubber gloves
Goggles to protect your eyes
A heavy Apron
A thermometer which reads as low as 90 degrees and higher than 200.
A stick Blender (used for making milk shakes in a glass)
A corrugated box, approximately 8"x8"x9"
A small size plastic trash can liner.
OR instead of a the box method, enough SoapCrafters.com Molds to hold Seven Pounds of soap

Supplies you will need :
(All ingredients are weighed, even the water)
11.2 ounces of lye. (I use Red Devil brand, you can get this in the drain opener section of your supermarket)
32 ounces of water
1 Pound of Olive Oil (any type will do, the cheaper the better)
3 Pounds of Lard
1 Pound of Coconut Oil (76 degree)
1.4 ounces of Soap Crafters Fragrance

Directions:
Put on your gloves and goggles. Read the warning label on the lye. It is a caustic and dangerous substance. It makes wonderful soap, but it is not your friend as it will burn a hole in you.

The first thing you need to do is put your scale in your sink, place the empty container on it, THEN turn on the scale, THEN start pouring your water in.

Weigh 32 ounces of COLD water in a plastic container. Never use hot water to mix with lye, it will volcano!
	Very slowly, pour the lye into the cold water. Make sure you leave everything in the sink. It is safer that way. Lye has a lot of static cling, so spills are easy to do.
You'll notice the lye reacts with the cold water and it gets very hot. It'll also give off a gas, that's why you should be outside. Don't breathe the fumes. When it is stirred, put the cap on the lye solution and bring it back inside.
Let your lye sit in a safe place (out of the reach of everyone including pets) until it cools off to room temperature. This will take two to three hours.	You can make this lye solution the day before. Lye solution is a very dangerous substance, it can cause death if ingested. Make sure everyone in the house knows what it is and it is not to be touched.
	When the lye gets back down to room temperature you're ready to start making your soap, start weighing out your fats.
Put your weighed fats into a stainless steel container or porcelain (enamel) painted pot.
Put the pot full of fats on the stove. Heat on the stove, stirring often. Keep a close eye on it because it reaches temperature somewhat quickly. Stir well before taking its temperature. You're looking for a temperature between 120 and 130 degree Fahrenheit.	Always wear your gloves and goggles when working with the lye! Always clean your thermometer before using it.
	When your fats reach between 120-130 degrees Fahrenheit, put your pot in your sink. If you made the lye solution the day before, it is now at room temperature. Put on your gloves and goggles. Very carefully and slowly pour the lye solution into the fats.
Use a large spoon (slotted spoon works best) to stir it in. Hold your head back while pouring to avoid any splash back getting you. In this photo we are adding the lye solution to the fats.
	Once the lye solution is mixed in, (a couple of minutes), use the stick blender, use it off and on (continuous use will blow it up, I know). Blend for a minute, stir with a spoon for a minute, that kind of thing. You should come to a very thick soap with this equipment, probably in about 5 minutes
You will see changes in your creation. It will immediately start to become more opaque. It will become thicker and more opaque as time goes on. This is the mixture changing into soap.	The lye, water and fats are turning into something completely different. SOAP! If you weighed accurately and had your temperatures accurate, then the bowl the mixture is in will stay warm to the touch.
If you don't have a stick blender, you can stir with that spoon for about 1-1/2 hours. A stick blender costs about $20 or less, I highly recommend it. Your wrist will thank you!
	Stick blenders do have their disadvantages, they tend to give a soap that's done being stirred, but it is still so raw, the soap may burn your skin. When I used to hand stir, I didn't have this problem. But it really isn't much of problem. You should be using gloves!
Stick blenders also tend to cause overheating of the soap from time to time. But this really isn't much of a problem unless you really overdo the mixing.
	After one hour of stirring, (If you're using a stick blender, this point will happen about five minutes into stirring), you'll notice that if you drop some of the mixture from your spoon onto the surface, that it kind of dents the surface. It looks very thick and this particular recipe that you're making has a light tan color.
Now is the time to use your stick blender to stir in the SoapCrafters Colorant if you are using one.	Stir in your weighed SoapCrafters Fragrance that is cold process certified.Do this with a spoon, do not use a stick blender to stir in fragrance.
Immediately pour your soap into your molds. The molds we sell at SoapCrafters.com do not need any oil or grease on them. :)

Let it sit undisturbed in a warm room for 24 hours. As the chemical reaction is taking place it generates heat. If you put your hand on the side of the box in about 1 hour, you will feel its warmth.

Twenty-four hours are up. HURRAY! It should still be a little warm to the touch. You can now remove your bars from the mold! They should just pop right out. If you have to struggle, then put the mold in the freezer for 3 hours. Take it out and use a blow dryer on the back of the mold. When condensation forms, it will slip right out.

If you used the box for a mold, just pull the plastic liner out of the box, remove it from the soap and cut into bars.

The soap should have a nice, solid consistency. It may be a little oily to the touch. But it should be the same texture throughout. It will resemble a cheese, like monterey jack, and have a similar texture.

If you are going to melt the soap, now it is ready for shredding. If you're not going to melt it, just cut into bars and let the bars cure for 4 weeks or more for the best soap. You can use it in a day or two, but a well cured soap lasts so much longer and has better lather. So go ahead and use a bar, but let all the other bars dry in the open air for over a month.

To be sure that your soap making project went well, purchase some ph testing papers from SoapCrafters.com. A good soap will fall in the 7-9 category. A successful batch does not burn the skin in use. It is rich, bubbly, creamy soap that is extremely gentle to the skin. The reason I give this recipe is that it is the only soap that I can use on my overly sensitive skin. It keeps me from scratching all winter long. :) If you're seeking out soap making, I'm guess you're having problems with the detergent bars/harsh soaps in the store too! So enjoy!

Notes
When your soap is almost thick enough and you're hand stirring, now is the time to weigh out your essential oil in a very small bowl (not a plastic one because the essential oils will mar it) or shot glass. You want to weigh this now, because if you had weighed it before all that stirring, you're missing some of it. Pure essential oils are not stable. They evaporate away rather quickly. So weigh your essential oil or fragrance and pour it into your mixture. Stir well with a spoon. A stick blender used to stir in scenting material may seize your batch of soap! (If you will be using this soap for soap crafting, do not add any essential oil nor fragrance.)

If you'd like to avoid that white powder that forms on top of soap, you can put a layer of plastic wrap right on top of the soap. It needs to be touching the soap. That way the air won't react with the soap making what we call 'soda ash'. But that step isn't necessary, you can just scrape that white powder off when the soap is done. This step can also cause soap to overheat in the molds.

Overheated soap has a bit of a rind appearance around the edges. You probably wouldn't notice it unless you cut into the soap. Overheating is also the main cause of a soap's scent disappearing. The soap can sour up to 200 degrees in the mold due to insulating it and this will cook your fragrance or essential oils. Many people who have instructions on the internet mistakenly think this 'gel stage' is a disirable event, it is not. Originally it was talked about in Liquid Soapmaking by Catherine Failor. She was discussing a HOT process of soap making. Cold process soap making should not go through this stage. If your soap overheats, then remove whatever insulation you have on it and move it to a cooler spot. The soap is still great to use, it just has lost it's scent typically and has a rind appearance in the soap.

The most common problems
There are no "air bubbles" in soap usually, but a stick blender can actually cause little tiny empty holes in the soap. If you have bubbles in your soap, and there is liquid in them then they are really lye pockets and this is not safe to use. You might be able to save it by crafting it.

If there are tiny pin holes with no liquid in them through the texture of the soap, these are caused by overstirring with a stick blender. They are nothing to be concerned about. :)

Gone Cold.: If your soap goes cold during the first 24 hours or turns to mush, you probably lost the saponification process. There can be a lot of reasons for this. Your weights of oils, or lye may have been off causing a bad batch and Mother Nature shut down your operation. Or your temperature was not high enough with the fats and it just lost temperature. Or it just caught a chill. :) After thinking long and hard about what you did during weighing, and if you're sure your weighing was correct, then pour it into your soap pot, put it on the stove. Heat it while stirring constantly. When it reaches 130, remove from heat, pour back into a fresh mold. This is what I call 'kick starting' it.

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How to deal with theft and property damage

Written by: Ollie Style
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How to deal with theft at home and in the office.


Whether at home or in the office you can not totally eradicate loss or damage on your property so you have to ensure or at least minimize the loss or damage on your property or investment.



You could do these things to protect your property:

• Have an inventory of all your valuables
• Get a log book and then
• Track all the usage of your office equipment
• Install a security camera
• Delegate someone to ensure the security of your things [in other words get a security guard]

Sometimes even with all the above mentioned measures you can not totally eliminate theft or damage on your property but at least you have a certain degree of control and peace of mind.


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How to automate your distribution

Written by: Ollie Style
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Consider what kind of product you have if it's a book like mine you could contact book distributors or magazine distributors in your area who might be willing to carry your book in their inventory.

I'm sure you will find several distributors in your area who specialize in distributing your kind of product use the phone directory or the Internet to find them.

Once you find the listing of distributors do the following:

• Visit their website and see if they fit the kind of product your are selling
• Know their terms, know when you will get paid and how long
• Know how much their cut or commission from your product
• Ask around if they are legit and if they are good payers
• Ask if they purchase outright, they usually don't
• Also ask the minimum number of items you need to give them to start the distribution
• Read the consignment contract carefully, if you read something that you don't understand ask them and ask professional help
• Don't go in agreement with a company who will cut your throat in the end
• Find a distributor that's fair and will give you the maximum profit from you product
• Write a proposal letter and the market potential of your product if you could create a graph to accompany your letter that's even better

Distributors usually charge 30% to 60% sometimes even more if they accept your product for distribution. If you agree on everything your own your way to automate your distribution.

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How to utilize other people's location

Written by: Ollie Style
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How to utilize other people's location




Location is everything if you are selling a product, so if you want to succeed in business you have to position your business in a busy location.




But what if you can't get the location you want because the rent is too high, or there you can get a good location for your business, what should you do?




You could do the following:




Ask the store owner to have your product on their display or rack, and encourage them to display your product. You should offer an attractive share from the earnings of your product. You could give 30 to 50% of the sale to the store owner, if he accepts your proposal to display your product on their rack or display.



Leave a few pieces of inventory for the store, and if your product starts to move you could stock more inventory. But before you stock more inventory make sure you are able to retrieve the earnings from your products first, you should also have a tracking receipt for your consigned products.



Here are some things you could do to increase the sales of your consigned product.

• Advertise
  You could either advertise online or offline, but advertise never discount the fact that you could earn money by advertising your product or services.
  

• Flyers
  Print out flyers, and give it away to people in busy places like churches, schools, flea markets, and malls. But be careful, in some establishments it is prohibited to give away flyers. Ask the administrators first if you could give away your flyers inside or outside their establishment.
  

• Freebies
  People like freebies, your freebie should be something the people will use. The freebie should also include the name of your business or your website address to maximize the returns.
  

• Streamers
  Have streamers printed out, but it should have the directions on how to order your product, otherwise you are just wasting your money.
  

The above marketing techniques would only work if you direct customers to the store where your product is displayed.

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Create your own mind map, it works.

Written by: Ollie Style
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Create your own mind map, it works.



Use a mind map to give your blog direction, you could use pictures and different shapes to make your mind map, and now you could do it on line. The good thing about this MIND MAP is that it's totally FREE.



Make a mind map of your own, to shape the future of your blog. It's really effective, because you could create a visual representation of what you want to accomplish. As a blogger you could utilize a mind map by doing an outline of your tasks for your blog, it doesn’t need to be perfect the first time you do it. You could edit your mind map as you go.



I found a this free resource on the Internet and it has all sorts of cool add ons. There is a task manager, you could put your tasks on priority, or put a completion date a start and end date for blog postings or projects. On the format tab you could choose the layout, shape and color of the lines and elements of your mind map. You could even group the topics of your mind map by using the "boundary shape" tool.



Before I used Mindomo I have a mind map drawn on my white-board and almost all of the things that I put on it has already been realized. First my new PC, the wireless phone, and $1 a day from the adnetwork [but of course this is fluctuating – but I earn more than $30 a month so it’s just like earning $1 a day] and soon I will be publishing that I wrote. Whether you use the online mind map or you create on your on a piece of paper the important is that you have one.



Create your own mind map, it works.


Mind Map
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Put the best on top of your Blog

Written by: Ollie Style
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Put the best on top

Yes put the best information on top of your blog otherwise people won’t be able to see it. I made this error when I posted a blog entry about Viral Marketing.

I committed this mistake with one article in the past, I placed the best info at the bottom of the blog entry, as a result the response was really not that great.

Not a lot of people went to the FREE VIRAL MARKETING SITE even if it was totally free, because the important information was at the bottom of the page.

In a call center where I used to work the managers would put the best agent on the top of the queue in order for the agent to get the sale or the survey for the company.

If the managers placed the weak agents on top of the queue the company will not produce anything, this is also true with blogging or anything that is supposed to earn money, do not hide your best product put it out, put it in front of your customers, in your case your readers.

So place your best product where people could see it, your best inventory should not be in the stock room, it should be seen by potential customers in order for you to get a sale.

Remember that internet readers browse your articles more than they read it, and if the information that your readers are looking for is not on the first few paragraphs they will not be able to go where you want them to go.

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Tips for buying wisely for your business

Written by: Ollie Style
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Most of the time you purchase something out of sheer impulse, and when you do that you are actually wasting the money on something that will you will never use or something you already have. If you are the type who buys things out of impulse you need to ask your self these questions first before parting with your hard earned cash.

Do I really need to buy this product / item?
Most of the time you already own a similar product or item at home or in the office and you are just buying it becuase you like the color or there is an upgrade that is previously not available in the product that you already have.

Will I get a discount?
Ask if you can get an item for a discount, sometimes we fail to ask or we are too shy to ask for a discount. Always ask for a discount, sales people or sales agents are there for that reason, always ask them they could give you a lot of discount, and even if it's just for a single product always ask.

How much will I save if I purchase wholesale?
It's wiser to buy it wholesale than per piece, remember the old saying cheaper by the dozen if you buy in bulk you will always get your money's worth.

Have you exhausted all the options in the market?
Always shop around for other deals, you will find something cheaper if you just look around. Yes it takes time but you will get the product or item a lot more cheaper, and you might just get a better option when you survey the market.

Will this purchase enhance my business?
Always ask this question, if your answer is yes, go ahead make the purchase specially if it will boost your current business.

Can I resell the item later?
This is also a good question to ask your self if you are buying something. It's good if you could resell an item after you've used it and served its purpose. By reselling an item you could get your money back if not in full atleast part of it. A good example is a photocopying or printing machine, you could use a printing machine for several years and make a profit out of it and if you are ready to upgrade or if you no longer need a printing machine you could resell it and at least get a partial return of investment.

Will this purchase earn money for me?
If you are going to make a major purchase always ask yourself if the product will make you money. If not you better rethink and analyze if you really need the product. A good purchase is one that will earn you a lot of money just like our example above, a brand new printing machine will definitely make you money if you subcontract some printing jobs with other businesses.

How soon will you make money out of the purchase?
If you will profit from the purchase immediately without an extra cost or additional manpower that's a good buy, but if you have to hire someone just to operate a machine you might want to think twice about the purchase.

Always ask yourself if you are going to make money out of the purchase, if not, you should not buy it. Make a cost analysis of a product, how much income will it generate, it's depreciation, and it's resell value in the future.
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Get a job if you want to start your own business

Written by: Ollie Style
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Yes get a job. Why? These are the reasons:

• You will learn to value your time and you will learn time management, once you have your own business it is essential to manage your time if not you will not be able to accomplish anything.
  
  

• But don't just get any available job in the market. Get a job that is similar to the business you would like to start. Example, If you want to start an advertising business. Go work for an advertising agency or a company that handles advertising accounts.
  
  

• Learn the routine of the business. This is essential if you are starting out on your own. The daily work routine will be second nature to you once you start your own business.
  
  
  

• You could emulate the best practices of the company you're working for, and you could apply them to your business later on.

• You can build up contacts from your job. [But do not pirate the business contacts and deals, I don't want you getting into trouble.] These contact would be valuable in building your own business in the future, start building your network while you are working.
  

• You will also build up the confidence you need to make it on your own, if you get a job that is similar to the kind of business you are going to start up it will not be hard for you to go from employed to self-employed.
  

• Having a job will help you get the business loan you need to start up a business, or you could simply save a portion of the money from your salary for your future business.

• Most of all you will always have a fall back if your business is not getting enough customers or clients yet. Remember that in order for a business to stand on it's own it takes a few months to a few years. Your job will be the source of back up money.
  

So get a job, before you even start your own business. Get the necessary experience and expertise to succeed in your own business.

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Do you have your own product or service?

Written by: Ollie Style

I don't have one yet. But I'm on my way to having one. It's a book I wrote last year, I will be showing you the book when it's published. I'm not trying to market it before it's published but I would like to reiterate on having your own product or service.

If you look around and analyze rich people they usually have a product or service that they offer, while average guys like you and me buy from them or subscribe to their services.

I think it's high time for you and me to have our product or service, in order to achieve wealth in or lifetime. [isn't this what most of us want?]

In order to have your own product or service you have to start with what you know or what you are interested with. In my case I'm into writing so it's easier for me to finish a book. So find out what your really interested with and think of a product or service that a lot people would need or subscribe to.

If you are into drawing or cartoons, you might want to sell comic books or specialized books about drawing. Or if you are into cars you might want to start your own second hand car sales business.

Don't simply offer something or produce something which is in high demand. Your product or service must be something that you really want and enjoying selling or offering to people. Because if you enjoy what you are doing the rest will follow, you will be breezing through any task and will be selling more of your product or service.


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Between an online and an offline business which on one do you prefer?

Between an online and an offline business I prefer having an online business than an offline business.

Here are the reasons why:

• Easy to set up and start up. You could get a site/ or a blog and have it working in minutes.
• Low investment, you could even start up one with out having to pay the essentials like web hosting, and domain name registration you could get free on the internet for free. Sometimes all you need is a personal computer and you will be on your way to earning from home.
• You don’t need to maintain any stock for inventory if you are only selling digital products or offering membership sites, job posting site, or online advertising.
• You could reach a lot of people with email, opt ins, feeds, bookmarks, article marketing and some other method without spending a lot of money.
• Few or no employees to maintain. You would not need to hire people if you’re an affiliate marketer promoting other people’s business but if you are selling books or any tangible product you might just need employees if the orders become too many to handle. But in most cases, specially if you are an affiliate marketer you wouldn’t need to hire people to help you, you could handle your business on your own.
• You can operate at home or anywhere you want as long as there's internet connection, and you can work at your own hours

On the other hand an offline business you would need a lot of money to start.

• A storefront to display your products or an office is what you will need to start an offline business
• Since you will need an office or store front the initial capital outlay will be a lot, you might want to consider borrowing from friends, relatives, or from a bank to raise the needed capital for your business.
• You would have to maintain stocks, you would need a separate room in your store front for your stocks
• For advertising or promotion, you could go from newspaper advertising, TV, radio, billboard advertising or other forms of offline advertising. You could even go for online advertising. Newspaper, TV, radio, and billboard advertising however would cost you a lot of money.
• You will most likely need a helping hand in your offline business, you would need to hire at least a few employees to help you with your business.

Like me you may want the online business better than a bricks and mortar business, but it's a good idea to have a good mixture of both online and offline business. Let's say for example your business is a bookstore, you must also have an online presence in order to go full circle. Because if you don't you will be missing out on a lot of sales from people who buy online.

Here are somethings you could do if you have an online/ offline business:

• Use paper click advertising to attract more people to your business whether online or offline. I recommend Adbrite and Bidvertiser because I personally make money from these ad networks.
• Use email marketing to send out email campaigns to your customers. Be careful with this thou, don't send out emails to people who did ask for the info.
• Advertise on newspapers to reach people who wouldn't even be able to go to your online/offline store front unless you advertise on print. When you advertise on newspaper don't just put your URL, but also your email, phone number and physical address.
• If your business is just starting out, billboards, radio, and TV ads might not be a good idea. But if you think your business is ready for the above mentioned forms of advertising go ahead, but be cautious when spending your advertising money. Your advertisement has to pay for it's self, if doesn't pay for itself you better stop advertising.
• Use the phone, all thou in some areas telemarketing is not allowed you could still utilize the phone to contact possible cutomers. Just be very cautious when doing telemarketing. Use a good list from a reliable list broker or you could simply use the telephone directory.
• Flyers, yes this still works. Create a simple flyer with your phone numbers, email address, URL and business address. Offer a discount, print it on the flyer and give it away in busy locations like supermarkets, and malls and you will be amazed by the results.

Let's help each other achieve our goals, if you have anything to share please feel free to add a comment.

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Traits of millionaires non millionaires should imitate

Here are the traits of millionaires that we non millionaires should emulate:

Save money

Most millionaires specially the ones who build their riches from scratch sets aside a certain percentage of money for investments or simply for retirement.


Clear goal

Successful people usually write down their goals, and the time and date they want to accomplish those goals. If your mind is not clearly set towards the realization of your goals you will easily get off track. So in order for you to have a clear vision of your goal you have to write it down.



Sacrifice

Staying late at night to finish the manuscript of the book you are writing, or doing 50 extra calls a day to invite clients to your sales presentation to boost your sales is a clear indication of sacrifice. So if you need to sacrifice something in order to reach your goal do it. If it’s not ethical and if it’s going to hurt someone it’s not worth the sacrifice, just keep your conscience meter always on and you will be sure that you are making your sacrifice worthwhile.


Wanting it bad enough

If you want something bad enough you will do anything in your power to accomplish whatever it is that you want. Most millionaires wanted to earn money and accumulate wealth more than anything that's why they reached their goals. So you have to want to earn and make your first million bad enough to make it happen.


Sure investment

Millionaires like investing and taking calculated risks, they weight things first and then they plunge into it giving it a certain amount of investment to make it work and become profitable. We as non millionaires should copy this kind of attitude toward investing.


Your own product/service

You should have your own product or service to offer to the general public if you want to become a top earner, if you don't have anything to sell or a service to offer it's going to be difficult to make your first million. So start developing a product or service that will make you money.


Multiple income

Rich people create multiple income streams to assure that they get a large portion of the over all market. So if you will start a soap business don’t just be contended with body soap, also manufacture liquid hand soaps, dish washing soap, detergent, and shampoo. Diversify your products or services in order to make more money


Power of leveraging

If you can make people participate in your money making business by giving them commissions you are on your way to making a lot of money. Adbrite, Bidvertiser, and other adnetwork programs on the internet are leveraging other peoples website or blogs. If you could find a product or a service where you could ask people to work for you in exchange for something valuable then you are on your way to becoming a financial giant.


Enjoyment

Find out what you are passionate about and build your business around it, it may be about gardening, computers, photography or writing. Find out how you could make money with it. Once you find out what you are passionate about you will not have any difficulty starting making money, and you will someday earn your first million.

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Business Tips for Artists

Aside from having passion, an eye for design and beauty, creativity and of course talent, a good artist should also think of how he could cope with the business side of his art.


Here are some tips an artist could use to promote his art:

• Don't price your creations as if it's priceless, make your art accessible to the masses and you will be loved and admired, and return you will have more of your works sold.
  
  
  
• Use the power of the internet to sell your art works, you could create an Ebay dot com account to sell your artworks there. By doing this an artist could have the world as his market place.
  
  
• Extend a helping hand, it's a good idea to have free art workshops for talented young people. It's a way of giving back your God given gift to deserving fresh talents.
  
  
• Make your calling cards stand out from the rest, you are an artist your calling card should stand out. Think of a way to make it unique from other people's calling cards. I was given a transparent business card by an architect some years ago, and I never forgot about that architect because his business card stood out. So make your business cards stand out and make an impression.
  
  
  
• Create a video podcast of how you work on canvass. Make mini video lessons about oil painting or water color and then upload them on youtube dot com or in another video community website.
  
  
• Utilize technology to your advantage and don't be afraid to experiment.