GETTING DOWN TO BIZNIZ: with laura-jean, knitting queen

I'm sure many of you budding crafty entrepreneurs out there will be excited as I am by our new craft business advice column by craftbiz vet, Laura-Jean Bernhardson. Laura-Jean has offered to share hard lessons learned through trial and error, such as the importance of marketing and promoting your work (ie not just making awesome stuff and expecting it to sell). Here's how it works – you send in your burning business questions and she will call upon her years of experience running small, local craft businesses in answering a selection of them here on the TCA.

Please direct your questions to Laura-Jean at knittingqueen@rogers.com

[Tip: Specific questions vs. things like "How did you get started?" or "Do you have any advice for someone starting a business?" are more likely to get chosen].

Here's a little bit about our new biz guru to give you a better idea of her background and expertise:

Laura-Jean Bernhardson, aka Laura-Jean the Knitting Queen, has made her living making and selling clothing and jewellery in Toronto and internationally for 16 years. She is the designer behind the clothing label, Fresh Baked Goods and the kid and baby clothing line, Bun. She also runs 2 retail stores that operate as collectives, featuring her own lines and the work of other local designers. Her work and stores have been on countless TV shows and in tons of magazines and newspapers. She has made sweaters and dresses for celebrities, done wardrobe for movies, hosted a TV show, made a Learn to Knit DVD and she loves the fun and challenge of running her own creative business. With no formal education in business or fashion, she has learned everything along the way while building her empire. She currently resides in her Parkdale home (production studio in the basement) with her husband, musician Steve Singh, her 18 month old son Dexter and her Cavalier King Charles, Jefferson.

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Also, check it out! We’ve added a new Crafty Entrepreneur links list – always handy on the right blog sidebar. Take a look and feel free to suggest other resources to add to the list.