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July 24th, 2009 at 00:01 am »
Comments (0)Am I the only one this concept bothers?
Does the answer “but we sent every one we could think of $250” just not seem quite right.
Aren’t you glad to know that potentially $100,000,000 of our tax dollars aka/the bailout to the banks, is going to single individual.
Someone please explain the “justice” of the following:
_________________________________
News Alert from The Wall Street Journal
—————————-
Sponsored by NASDAQ OMX
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A top Citigroup trader is pressing the financial giant to honor a 2009 pay package that could total $100 million, setting the stage for a potential showdown between Citi and the government’s new pay czar.
The trader, Andrew J. Hall, heads Citigroup’s energy-trading unit, Phibro LLC — a secretive operation that occasionally accounts for a disproportionate chunk of Citigroup income.
__________________________________
Given the government track record (can’t even run a cat house in texas without losing money) IF
this is how the Fed manages OUR money, I cannot wait to see what they will do if they get Socialized Medicine (okay I can wait, for years and decades and generations and forever would certainly be preferable) We the people of these United States will be the losers.
Healthcare reform without tort reform is going to be a death sentence and a huge tax on already struggling families and small business.
Let us all pray that Common Sense
And as long as I am being political, let’s also make sure that not only does the Government NOT get between me and my doctor, but let’s see that they also do not get to force THIER Beliefs on mine. Abortion is a choice that should be made by the woman, her doctor and in consultation with an involved potential father. NOT by some bureaucrat.
Call your congressional representatives NOW and support those who have the guts to risk say no to Socialism.
Wheat
July 18th, 2009 at 18:04 pm »
Comments (4)It is my sincere wish (but without much hope) that the following will NOT be seen as a personal attack in any way shape or form.
This message is posted here, so you will have to guess which group(s) inspired it – there are more than one or even three or five….
However, some “announcements” over the past year have bothered me and so caused me to “think about it” quite a bit.
YES I do know how my delete key works, in fact TH says he does not know of any other actual incidence of needing a new keyboard because the DELETE KEY wore out – something I have managed to do twice. Perhaps I need to develop a gentler touch with more than just my words
It is of concern to me that many a new designer might think what they see in these groups, meant to help find their footing on the journey of becoming a professional in the Needle Arts, as how they can best “go on” in other venues.
What a ‘working professional’ needs/wants is often different than what our consumers prefer.
It is with this in mind that I don my new flame proofs and sincerely hope we can have a conversation about the Who, What, Where, When and WHY (and How) of making such announcements.
As we each prepare a product or other “new release” type of message here are some of the things I think each of us needs to consider
WHO is the audience – and what is acceptable signal to noise ratio of that group.
Not all that long ago, Tink was criticized for advertising her books in a designer group, or products that would be helpful to any working professional. When it became an issue for even one member of that other group, she stopped any mention of her e-books or other similar products that would be very helpful to those just starting out. But, it was clear that the group “did not want to hear it”
Artists ?? I personally think of groups like QuiltArt and FreeFormations as gatherings of those who have advanced their skills to take their projects to the next level – But mostly produce “one-off” (yes, I do know many also write books, teach, and otherwise are “stars” within their particular niche(s)
Designers ?? these groups might also include those who do create original designs but do not actually produce the Chart/Pattern – so what they need is different too.
Pattern/Chart Author? Those who actually produce not only the design but also the instructions, packaging, presentation and may or may not offer their products for sale at wholesale
Independent Shop Owner? Why constantly post ads seemingly geared to shops in a designer or artist groups?
I have no objection to “paying” sponsors offering the occasional sales message – after all they have paid for that privilege, although I do find it annoying when someone who has not paid for that right does it anyway, thinly if at all disguised as “asking for help”
If your product “works for both” then you should be using other designers as examples of your services – not shops.
If your product is useful to more than just one of these groups, you STILL need to create a message geared to their interests and needs, not yours.
Designers and Artists can be the worst – although not so much now, many domains we maintained the “designer” did not want anyone to know they did not do it themselves. Why I will never understand because the skills to design and develop a web site are very different.
We have provided a wide variety of professional services to many different businesses over the years and it has always been my position that if they want someone to know we did the work, then it is up to them to recommend us. Otherwise, long as their bills were paid on time, that was and is fine with me. Well I did draw the line once or twice that is a long story for another day
WHAT is the purpose of the message –
Maybe because many of the members of this group are not just beginning their journey to becoming a working professional Pattern or Chart Author – that some feel it is good to announce all their new releases of such, simply because many in the group are still more consumer than producer.
WHERE am I posting
Rarely would I post in a consumer group about some service I offer, because the purpose of that group is not to sell my services, but to help other “practitioners of the needle arts” to reach a successful conclusion ot their projects.
WHEN (how often) especially when/how often I am posting the “same” message.
Personally I think in a professional group such as EITHER DBiz or NWBiz, no more than once a month – lest you be perceived to be filling the group with your personal promotional messages.
Personally, if you have new product announcements more often than quarterly, then you should have a newsletter built from the names of people who WANT to receive it rather than using a group that is not your personal “news” list.
>>> I do not mind “QRS Stitching is pleased to announce our new products for JULY releases can be viewed at: http://itsalljuststring.com/new-products/
<<< WHY are you posting? The answer to that “should” be different for each and every place you post a message. Rarely would I post in a consumer group about some service I offer, because the purpose of that group is not to sell my services, but to help other “practitioners of the needle arts” to reach a successful conclusion to their projects. Believe me, if you analyze the amount of time spent in these groups as compared with the volume of sales generated, well, we all will see those “help” messages are a lot more a labor of love to promote the craft, than an investment in future sales
So, if I want to write about a new product, then I am going to have to put in the effort to make that product part of a how-to, response public or private. And, I really think it needs to be about a NEW product, not just a derivitive of one we already offer.
So, certain recent somewhat interesting accusations (exactly how does someones inability to find evidence of a business relationship constitute its existence) I have “stopped” posting in retailer groups about products we sell Wholesale to the Trade and limit my product recommendations to those we sell in our Retail business interests. Products and ideas that are directly contributing to our RETAIL business(es) bottom line – if another benefits, well I do rather like the theory of abundance most days.
The necessity remains, NO MATTER WHERE, I may be, it really may be necessary to”tailor” the message for each group (as this one will be before posting “to the groups”) Another reason why this rant is here and not in any particular group – so no poor hapless list owner has to deal with the potentially emotional and irrational responses.
Thanks for listening and I would welcome hearing what each of you has to say about how and when you want to be reading promotional messages.
JSTTA – Just Some Things To Think About
Wheat
June 17th, 2009 at 00:01 am »
Comments (1)
EMAIL:
USING THE NEW TECHNOLOGY
“I think this is a great time for the craft industry. It’s a matter of the ‘suits’ fine-tuning their messages…
… you have to CONNECT with your followers. Folks should be hiring viral marketing craft experts to do these jobs for them; the return on the investment would be significant.”
From the 2009 June 15 edition of the Creative Leisure News and written by Margot Potter used with their permission
To say this hit a nerve will soon be obvious ( and yes, this is a day for understatement)
It might also help if “the suits” AT LEAST hired some one to make sure their emails are easily read. A.C. Moore comes to mind – all greyed out graphics and no text other than a copyright statement.
Now Michael’s does have some newsletter issues, but AT LEAST the link is there to view on line. AND they make it easy to print their coupons – besides their stores are usually cleaner even if the aisles are too close together.
Someone needs to tell the graphics department that Internet Exploder continues to steadily lose market share to FireFox, Opera, and even a growing trend towards Google Chrome browser.
Why is this important?
If I CANNOT READ OR SEE CONTENT,
what’s the point of cluttering my mailbox.
The FIRST line of every e-mail promotion SHOULD be a link to the “if you are having difficulty seeing this add, click here or cut and paste this link…”
Some stores, like JoAnne’s, puts out a readable newsletter each week. However if they are interested in that part of the population willing to spend a bit more for a better quality product, well let’s just say JoAnn’s increasingly seldom has what I want to buy. Still read their ads – even if the links never work – but I can print coupons for use at either JoAnn’s or Michael’s .
Please also make sure the text does not show up in
inch high or larger letters
Just another way of saying PLEASE DO NOT USE WORD to create your news letters and convert them to HTML or other silly microsoft product (Interweave, Kalmback, and others) these get immediately deleted –
NOTHING will make me leave a website faster that “BEST VIEWED WITH….” Who are you to tell me what Browser I should use. Especially if you are telling me to use one that is so insecure as Exploder. Emails just get deleted unless I need the coupon to use at Michael’s and almost never do I visit those sites.
I sincerely hope ALL of the “CHA/Chain” stores need to “get” that Cheap may well be costing them dear…
Those suits seem to think their only customers are unwilling to buy any thing but the cheapest of cheap.
Lately it seems that when the cashier says “did you find everything you need” Our answer is almost invariably “No, but that is not your fault”
It may take a coupon or two to bring’em into the store. Once there, it is that next group, who may buy less but are willing to pay for better quality that will make them money. IF you stock in in your store.
So, Margo, it would be nice if the “suits” realized that lip service to the WWW and the Internet would certainly have a better ROI if ONLY they would THINK – perhaps even take a look at the demographics of who is buying their stuff.
Better yet would be to NOT ignore the “style” of the internet in favor of continuing to use what “worked” in print media or even junk mail. Mr Suit might not be “comfortable” but the people who shop in your store will be.
Please note I am NOT Anti-Chain – I keep WANTING to buy things but if the local stores Chain or Indie, who employ my neighbors and thus are worth supporting continue to eliminate better products
Many Indie’s could use some help as well, but few can afford the services of “professional marketing” so we will cut’em some slack.
Want My Money?
Give me a Newsletter I can read, and quality products and often as not, coupon or not, many like me will buy something and more than one item.
At least then I won’t have to keep opening wholesale accounts and offer these products through my own e-commerce site because I REFUSE to wait 10-14 days for the Chain fulfillers to be me the product.
Wheat
P.S, My thanks to Mike Harnett of Creative Leisure News and Margot Potter for their permission to quote.
P.S.Jr. I am working on taking my own advice – July will be work on a newsletter for our E-tail store
P.S.III – Note to Philadelphia Lawyers and thier friends, NO ONE PAID me to write this – in fact it will probably end up costing me money.
March 20th, 2008 at 00:08 am »
Comments (1)Or how to get thrown out of a “professional group” run by a hobby organization.
Throwing all caution to the winds, (and having grown tired of responding every day or so to individual messages) here is the fateful message that caused me to be removed from “Professional” group
It has been edited it for clarity and to provide context where it was necessary to remove quoting since I do not have permission to post the writings of another.
It is very important to know that all this is in the context of what a serious fan of the work of the Craft Yarn Council for the Yarn business I really am.
Wheat is a HUGE fan of the Wonderful Information provided for Consumers and Hobbyist by the Craft yarn council at its many websites and particularly Yarn Standards
In fact, had the original post not complained about Yarn Standards was not detailed enough (although it turns out the info she needed WAS there, but she lacked the experience in pattern authoring to know it)
Along with the unwillingness to do what it takes to become a professional by investing in professional resources such as those offered by ASTM in thier 7.1 Textile Standards documents containing information that a well authored pattern should contain.
There is a reasonable chance I would have ignored the message completely.
Instead that message was a “trigger” to the following is really a reaction to a number of messages posted here and in other Designer groups and an out growth of conversations “off the lists”.
First, please understand – at least in my observation –
Yarn Standards is a “volunteer” effort, intended for use by “the average crafter”. Its content reflects the information needed by that audience to successfully complete a project based on the patterns and tools “generally sold” “in the chains”.
It never was or should be considered as anything more than a good starting point, not the place a professional should be looking for the kind of information that comes both from experience and education.
There are some excellent resources at YARNstandards STILL lots needed for good pattern writing are missing since they are not appropriate to the intended use of the site. So, its primary use by design professionals is to have some clue as to what the consumer may expect – a starting point, not the end of your research.
Education is very much available in books and other resources – about 90% of what I know about any of the NeedleArts was learned from books mostly borrowed from the library and often as not Thur inter-library loan.
Part of the path to becoming a professional in any field is the acquisition of the “tools of the trade” and there are many resources for those willing to make the effort.
Over the years I have developed my reference library mostly by haunting used book stores and today it is often easier to find must haves using the WWW.
All this while either working full time or raising children and for at least 15 years BOTH – not too mention acquiring a series of Association Degree in things of interest to me at the time.
Today my “business” time is about evenly divided between our other business interests, working in NeedleArts, and self-education because the world is always changing and what I learned 50 years or 50 weeks ago, may not be relevant today.
There have been many times in my life when financial resources have meant making hard choices based on available resources.
– Buy Yarn for a “charity ” project vs buy a book that I would use for my entire career (and I have many of those)
– Buy a range of hook sizes in utilitarian materials (aluminum) vs one “designer/collector hook”
– Take a 2nd job I did not like to have the $$$ to invest in attending my first TNNA a zillion years ago
Many times local Knitting & Weaving Guilds have extensive libraries – another resource I have been fortunate to avail myself of over the years… when I could afford the dues.
AND one of the reasons many of us fought so hard to see that CGOA did not sell of its library – the long term value to members far outweighed any cost to maintain it for the benefit of members today and in the future.
There is quite a bit more to the Business of Design then just working up a finished article or changing the colors or yarns used by someone else. So NO, while you may be quite artistic and creative, you are not a designer unless the project started with a blank piece of paper and possible a stitch guide ‘for technical reference’
If the work to obtain the education and other tools needed to be a competent pattern author are not part of your plans, then perhaps you need to reassess your current plan.
There are many paths in the NeedleArts Industry for those who love string.
Teching patterns requires that you have even more experience and background AND a love of the esoteric details of sizing – and not to mention access to a good technical library.
As someone who loves to teach, I know that can be just one of many extremely rewarding paths within the NeedleArts Community – although certainly those who are “good” spend a great deal of time developing their expertise.
Other equally important if less demanding of experience and education are the tasks of testing or model making. This, BTW, is not a bad way to “learn by osmosis” some of the fine details of what helps make a pattern a better product and lots of aspiring pattern authors start there.
Teaching… Just as you have apparently taken the time and devoted the resources to obtaining your
CYCA certification, you also need to be prepared to devote even more time and greater financial resources if you wish to publish in any form.
You might find it worthwhile to also consider obtaining the guidelines for TKGA’s Education programs for technical excellence or the
COE’s (Certificate of Excellence”) Guides offered by the Handweavers Guild of America – All very low cost self study programs. Certainly HGA’s COE’s are well worth the $12 I paid for each of the booklets JUST for the Bibliography of References and is where I probably learned more about YARN than any other single resource guide.
It is so truly wonderful that we have so many resources so reasonably if not free, available to us thanks to the Information super highway,
We are fortunate to work in a field where so many are willing to offer a Hand UP (but growing tired of those who expect a Hand OUT)
But like my daddy used to say,
The Best Place To Find A Helping Hand
Is At The End Of YOUR Wrist.
It is up to each of us to decide if we can afford the time and resources required to become professional in any of the areas of endeavor associated with our chosen trade, the Business of NeedleArts Design
JSTTA – Just Something To Think About
Wheat
The YARNandTHREAD Group
P.S, if you still reading, you may some of the leads helpful in my resource domain, FiberArt.Net and some have told me that the articles about the business of design entries in my blog have also been helpful.
August 27th, 2007 at 00:03 am »
Comments (0)
Whenever I need an acid dose of Yarn commentary, I spend a few minutes visiting “What Not” blogs.
Often times I agree -especially when “Fun Fur” is involved – although it has its place, like maybe for the manes and tails of Knitting At Knoon’s Safari Animals
Certainly much of what is being offered today deserves at least a passing “What Were They Thinking”
Although it should be pretty obvious, quite Simply they may not have been.
- Besides, they have every right to their opinions. What I don’t accept is the claim it is not personal. Satiric humor is always personal.
- Ridicule is always personal. Both are sometimes amusing, but always personal.
- So… IF you are going to play the dozens, at least be honest about it
.
Now to those passing thoughts or some might say, some snits & tizzys:
1. Why do the author and many of the commentators fear what is obviously intended as art
2. Why is the recurring commentary theme almost invariable related to “fit” – and it is the same over and over. Always talking about how the style is not fitted at the waist, shaped to the human figure.
Do the blogger and her commentators realize that some of the designs were not intended for either the anorexic waif or the hourglass figure shapes. Probably not, at least not anymore than so many of the those offering their work have “done their homework” in order to properly author a pattern.
3. One wonders what they look like and what they choose for themselves, but like so many who hide behind a “screen name” and a “free” server, we may never know.
So with a small WARNING, the following are NOT G-Rated and likely will offend many – but then you are reading this blog, so although I avoid profanity and sexual content, you likely can take strong opinions – even if written by those lacking the courage of convictions to sign their name.
Here are the links:
