Name: Tara Swiger
Age: 30
Location: Johnson City, TN, USA
Online homes: Tara Swiger // Twitter
Favorite Karina dress (if you have one): Meghan
You help small businesses and crafters make a name for themselves on the internet. What are three easy, small steps a crafter can make towards internet domination?
1. Know yourself: What do you love doing? What are you great at? What makes your thing different from everyone else’s (because of the YOU that’s in it?)
2. Know your people: Who would really LOVE to get your thing as a gift? What need/desire/hole does it fill for her? (And remember: a desire for beautiful, well-made things is a very real desire!) What does she care about most in her purchases?
3. Find the language to communicate the two: Talk about what makes your thing awesome in terms that your person cares about most. Tell stories. Be goofy and YOU, with an eye to what it is she wants from you + your thing.
In your opinion, what are the biggest mistakes self-employed types make?
A huge mistake creatives make: Thinking they’re not enough to succeed rightthisminute. Believe they have to learn more, read more, study more in order to rock their business. Yes, you need biz basics (profit, marketing, etc), but don’t spend so much time learning that you don’t spend time DOING. Your business grows by working ON it, testing, experimenting, trying new stuff. You have the tools, smarts, and creativity to start playing with it now.
If you could give your 16 year old self advice, what would you say?
You’re doing fine, honey. It’s all going to work out, and trying harder and harder doesn’t get you any closer to knowing the answer to life, the universe and everything (but it’s adorable, and so Tara-like that you keep trying.). I love you bunches and I’m so proud of you. Thanks for making me, me.
Your perfect day. What would it look like?
Coffee. PJ pants. Pancakes. Books. Snuggles (puppy + husbandly). Writing, with a soy latte. A great conversation (or two) where the person feels heard, understood and I ask the just-right questions. A great movie in a theater full of laughing-out-loud people, with knitting in my hands. Exploring someplace new. More reading + snuggling. Asleep by 10.
Thanks so much for sharing, Tara!