Grab our new badge for your website or blog! Just cut and paste this code into your website or blog:

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<a href=”http://myehive.com” > <img border=0 src=”http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l2x2oorgI41qzo52jo1_250.gif” alt=”MyEhive.com help create wealth in your community!” border=0> </a>
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You can even include a link back to your myehive shop - just replace the code ”http://myehive.com” with your shop url eg: ”http://yourshopname.myehive.com”

The Big MyEhive.com Giveaway starts here! 

Please send us samples and examples of your handmade goodies by Tuesday June 1st 2010.  The first hamper of goodies will be available to win at the We Make London Summer fair at Chelsea Town Hall on 26th June 2010 with over 82 stalls and over 1,000 people through the door and the event sponsored by Etsy - you goodies will be noticed - it’s FREE advertising!

We’ll be running the Big Giveaway the first Monday of every month. With a winner chosen at random from our newsletter sign-ups list, so make sure you have signed-up! 

If you are sending goods to be included in our giveaway - make sure they are with us by the last Friday of every month. Thank you!

Your goodies will be photographed by us and your business will be listed under the photo plus a URL to your website/shop or blog, and included in our newsletter which goes out to over 1,000 people every week!

Please send your goodies to:

MyEhive.com HQ

63 Lytton Ave

Letchworth

SG6 3HY

All you have to do to win -  is sign-up for our newsletter. We’ll generate a random number every month and if your email address corresponds to that entry number on our list, you’ll win! 

Happy Silver Surfer’s Day. Help the over 50’s get online!  #SilverSurfersDay Spread the word. share your success. train your employees. train your customers. show friends and family how to… help in your community.donate money. give equipment. do something great for Silver Surfers’ Day. get involved with an iTea & biscuits event. do something big during Get Online Week.  run an event. do something else.

We’ll give free 1-1 help to any over 50’s who would like to open a shop on MyEhive.com if they need help. Please Get in touch 0800 084 2288

FlairDesignRhyme have caught our eye recently, they have a fantastic selection of handmade cushions, unusual handmade note books and handmade ceramic tiles. Guaranteed to brighten up any room in your house or office.

We just love Omo’s fine blend of fabrics and cushion shapes, her handmade cushions just get finer and finer. Omo is a prolific artisan, we are glad to have her selling at MyEhive.com we have watched her style develop over the last year and it is really great to see her style blossom. This is one of our favorite shops on Myehive.com.

What is your USP?

So you’re making things, photographing, listing them in your online shop and selling not much. Sound familiar?

Want to sell more? You need to sit down and define your creative edge — USP — Unique Selling Point. If you don’t, you will struggle for survival.

In my teens I loved stain glass windows. I looked around and came to the assumption that if every one in the UK had at least one stained glass window in their house, this would be a good business idea. WRONG!

Ask yourself some tough questions. If you don’t, you will struggle for survival.

I have seen sellers at handmade fairs sell little or nothing because they made something that no-one particularly wanted, or they did have a strong USP but did not have a good stand location at the fair —near the entrance— where people could find them. To survive you need to be remarkable, smart, observant and opportunistic. 

Your brands USP and market positioning works similar offline to online. Take time to “test the market” (but also remember your mum is not your test market) don’t base your business on personal taste, this is a risky decision as not everyone, has your taste. Rule number 1. Test the market.

Emerald Reclaimed, Cute Designs and Melissa Leon are 3 examples of artisan myehive.com sellers who have a well defined USP. We have used these examples before, if you are a MyEhive.com seller and know you have a strong USP, get in touch and we’ll feature you here!

Emerald Reclaimed is owned by Cath Friend she is a Master Craftsman Framer, all her items are made from reclaimed materials, she has her own studio space and works closely with local interior designers to help increase her profile and business. 

Take Notes: Every time a customer buys a product or service, it involves a decision, and that decision is made based on one or more of the same six elements: price, product/service quality, innovation, marketing, convenience and extensions.

• Will your customers find value in your USP?
• Will your USP benefit customers?
• Will your USP motivate customers to make a purchase?

Talk to your customers. They will tell you everything you need to know to help you create a bestseller. The companies who succeed are the ones who ask: What did you like about my product? What didn’t you like? How can I make it better? 

Strong demand should come from your product or service once you have made or released your product into it’s niche marketplace. If it doesn’t it is not the markets fault your product didn’t sell. 

Want to share examples good, bad or ugly experiences you have had of selling alot or nothing of things you have made? Share you comments below, and make sure you buy a copy of this. A Marketing classic Seth Godin’s Purple Cow - Transform your business by being remarkable. 

Featured items in this weeks shopping guide are silk organza scarves made in London by Irina Stoyanova, perfect for the summer and a steal at these prices. Check out Irina’s full collection, and even photographed on a model to show scale! Thanks for sharing your designs with us.

Welcome to our new natural eco-friendly Shopping Guide of low-carbon goodies available from MyEhive sellers. We’ll be reviewing products we’ve bought (impartially) tested and love. We are super lucky to get to choose from hundreds of great products to treat ourselves with, and this is one of them: Rose & Geranium natural hand cream made in Cornwall by Taymar Valley Organics.

Smells amazing. Go on treat yourself. We love keeping it in our handbag to dive into when our hands get dry. Taymar Valley’s  ”deeply moisturising range of TVO Natural Skincare products are bursting with natural and organic ingredients and are suitable for all skin types. Each and every product is drenched with natures most effective plant extracts and pure essential oils.” Yum Yum, gimme gimme more …

Send us a photo of your Creative Space! It’s a brand new section in our blog. This is where I work, most days I’m here, it’s a sunny happy place. Photo reply to this post or email it to us and we can post it here with a brief description of why you love it (or hate it) we are soooo nosey. Where do you work? 

An example of great photo & presentation:  J.ova Jewellery, Cambrideshire 
You can see with a little effort and not much expense you can create a ‘must-have’ look for your collections. Visit: http://jova.myehive.com

1. It’s in focus.

2. The background colours complement the item.

3. You can see scale.

4. Creative use of props.

5. Excellent daytime light to show detail.

Show us your before and after shots here - got any top tips to share with us?

http://gorgeousknitting.myehive.com :: Essex

Knitted open front poncho with matching hat for girls
Description:  Hand knitted multicoloured open front poncho with matching hat for girls aged 2-2.5 years old 
Care: Machine washable on gentle 30C. Comes in a gift bag