Monday, February 13, 2012

Establishing your career in knitwear design by Leanne Dyck


Congratulations you've reached the middle of your career.

By this time...

1. You've built or are building a website, blog, and social network
(By social network, I mean a twitter id and Facebook community, etc.)

2. You are doing at least one thing every single day to promote your business

3. You wear your own designs
Wearing your designs is important for three reasons
a)it's a good way to market your designs
b)it helps you find designs flaws
c)it helps you envision new design directions

4. You always carry a business card and distribute it freely. 

5. You sell online
a)over your own website
b)a third party website (i.e. Etsy)
c)Your patterns are featured on knitting ezines (i.e. Knitty)
6. You've made connections with the editors of in print knitting magazines (i.e. A Needle Pulling Thread, etc.)

7. You have a three-prong approach to your business
a)you sell knitting patterns
b)you conduct workshops
c)you sell your knitting through galleries

8. You're mentoring with a knitwear designer you meet at a workshop

9. You're assisting a local wool producer by developing designs with her wool

10. You're continuing to build your community of support

11. You do a monthly assessment of your business to determine what's working and what isn't. (By working I mean you enjoy it and it makes you money.) After your assessment, you make necessary adjustments to your business plan.