It's that time again!  You should have issued a W-2 to all your arts and crafts employees by January 31.   The W-3 is due by the last day of February.

Preparing Form W-2 and W-3 originally appeared on About.com Arts / Crafts Business on Tuesday, February 7th, 2012 at 05:22:16.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

Call for entries for the Fifth Annual Digital Graffiti Festival.  You create digital original works that are then projected across the white walls in various areas (doors, courtyards, and pedestrian paths) around Alys Beach, FL.

Florida Travel and Life lists Digital Graffiti Festival in their January/February 2012 issue as one of the must-not miss "52 Amazing Weekends" for 2012.

For more info and to enter, visit the Digital Graffiti website.  The submit entry button is on the top right-hand side of the home page.  Good luck!

$10,000 in Prizes for the Digital Graffiti Arts and Crafts Contest originally appeared on About.com Arts / Crafts Business on Sunday, February 5th, 2012 at 06:27:35.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

Louisiana artists - don't miss this opportunity to apply for  grants of up to $3,000 to support their work.  The deadline is short - The Louisiana Office of Cultural Development's Division of the Arts is accepting applications for its Artist Career Advancement grants through Feb. 3.

Deadline Coming Up for Louisiana Arts and Crafts Grants originally appeared on About.com Arts / Crafts Business on Thursday, February 2nd, 2012 at 05:58:25.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

Read this great article on the Business Insider that talks about adapting to the marketplace. While not specifically tailored to arts and crafts, I recommend it to all arts and crafts (or hopeful) business owners.

Differentiate Your Arts or Crafts Business originally appeared on About.com Arts / Crafts Business on Wednesday, February 1st, 2012 at 06:22:20.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

Two new arts and crafts contests:

• Sponsored by the wind industry : photo contest with a grand prize of  EUR1,000 Amazon voucher and winning photo to become part of  professional photography archive. Deadline to submit is May 6.
• Sponsored by Vans: For high school art classes (get with your teacher), design your own Vans shoes. $50,000 prize to the winning school.  Registration starts now with submission of your designs in March.

Enter These Arts and Crafts Contests to Win originally appeared on About.com Arts / Crafts Business on Tuesday, January 31st, 2012 at 06:35:17.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

Another great article about promoting your arts and crafts business by combining forces! This one is from the NewsChief and discusses the collabortive efforts of two galleries in Bartow, FL.

I've also written some articles about holding cooperative crafts shows and running a retail pop-up shop.

Combining Arts and Crafts Galleries to Gain Exposure originally appeared on About.com Arts / Crafts Business on Monday, January 30th, 2012 at 06:36:34.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

Another way to promote your arts or crafts is to publish a book about them - how to make them, the history of the craft etc. After publishing six books, I know that the road from idea to seeing your book in Barnes and Noble is a rocky one that involves much back work and support from the publisher.

If you are interested in being an arts/crafts author, the publisher behind the Harry Potter books is rolling-out a step-by-step online guide to getting published. Their program costs  GBP99.99 (excl. VAT)  and is called 'How Strong Is Your Book Idea?'.

You submit a synopsis and a sample chapter of your work to have editorial and marketing experts evaluate your book idea in two weeks and provide advice on whether the idea is strong enough to appeal to a publisher or agent.

Promote Your Arts and Crafts Through Publishing originally appeared on About.com Arts / Crafts Business on Sunday, January 29th, 2012 at 06:55:23.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

If your arts and crafts business has employees, you need to give them a W-2 by January 31.   If you have even one employee for your arts and crafts business, you have to submit Form 941 four times a years.

Check out my tutorials showing you how to prepare a Form 941 and Form W-2.

How to Prepare a Form 941 and W-2 originally appeared on About.com Arts / Crafts Business on Saturday, January 28th, 2012 at 07:52:35.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

If you work in the jewelry crafts, particularly fine jewelry, you probably already know that the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) is the creator of the famous 4Cs (Color, Cut, Clarity and Carat weight), as well as the International Diamond Grading System™.

They have a ton of great info on their website about educating your customers  about the 4Cs, which will help close your sales. Check out their iPad app,  downloadable for free on iTunes. 

Plus don't forget that GIA offers many fine classes and programs in this field.  If you don't have the time to learn in one of their brick-and-mortar classrooms, they also have some great distance learning classes.

Image Diamond © GIA and used courtesy of GIA

GIA Promotes Gemstone Knowledge for Jewelry Crafts originally appeared on About.com Arts / Crafts Business on Friday, January 27th, 2012 at 06:46:46.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

Building on the fruit or flower by month business model, I found an article with a clever idea about starting an arts and crafts subscription service.  This article discusses KiwiCrate's target market which is parents looking for children's projects. 

However, this can be modified for many types of arts or crafts.  How about a jewelry-making subscription service for adults or a cooperative where many artists and crafters participate and the subscription service is sort of a creative potluck for the subscribers?

Build Sales With Arts and Crafts Subscription Services originally appeared on About.com Arts / Crafts Business on Wednesday, January 25th, 2012 at 05:56:57.

Permalink | Comment | Email this