I’m beyond excited to tell you that I’ll be leading a workshop at the Etsy labs on April 19 at 7pm EDT.

If you can’t make it to Brooklyn, no problem, you can join me live online. Pretty cool, huh?

My mom’s story, from Etsy’s blog:

When I was a kid, my mom woke up regularly between 3 and 4 a.m. She got up, made coffee, and sat in front of her sewing machine. She sewed and sewed until it was time to make breakfast, ask my brother and me how we slept, and see us off to the bus stop.

Then she would sew more.

My mom had to provide for two children: feeding us, putting a roof over our heads, sending us to countless summer camps. She did it all on the income she brought in with that sewing machine. When faced with a daunting, near impossible task, she didn’t balk.

She simply asked, “Can it be done?” Every day, she answered, “Yes.”

I have built my business on the same question. Constantly asking and reasking, reframing the challenge to move myself and my goals forward. I must thank Mark Frauenfelder, of MAKE magazine, for posing the can-it-be-done question in his book, Made by Hand. He applied it to the almost inexplicable drive to create, to DIY.

When you’re your own boss, it’s up to you to seek out challenges, to do terrifying things, and to get comfortable with failure. Building your business so that it’s sustainable, profitable, and rewarding is the ultimate challenge.

In my Dare of DIY workshop, we’ll discuss what it means to challenge yourself, why we thrive on personal challenge, and how you can dissect your problems and liabilities into challenges that push you forward. Instead of focusing on the difficulties of building a business, attendees will tap into their DIY ethic to create exciting ideas and opportunities for their business by asking: can it be done? There is no right answer or correct methodology, only the unique answers we each have to share.

Attendees will leave the workshop with a fresh approach and positive outlook on their growing businesses. Please join me!

Click here to all the info!

If you’re selling your art or craft on Etsy, adding an Etsy Mini to your blog or website is a must!

If you’re using WordPress (self-hosted), it’s also a snap. For my web design clients, I like to suggest using very large Etsy Minis to mimic the look of a custom ecommerce site, even if they’re not ready to make the leap off of Etsy. Take a look at the example below to see how that looks:

Watch the video above to learn how to add this detail to your website or blog – then use the Facebook Like or Twitter buttons to share it with your friends.

Need more help kick starting your website? Sign up to receive advanced notice – and a sweet discount! – of when my Website Kick Start ecourse reopens: click here.

this is probably how you’re used to typing your etsy shop address. easy to remember, easy to tell someone, easy to put on a business card. it looks great without the “http://” and gives your brand a little zip!

but: it’s not giving you everything it could be!

that etsy address of yours has always been handy but it’s always resolved to another URL, the URL your shop is actually located it. up until a few months ago, your actual URL involved a random user id number. well, it doesn’t anymore!

now your etsy URL looks like this (above). that’s the URL your shop actually resides at, no resolving or redirecting. whenever you’re linking to your shop on your blog, twitter, facebook, or anywhere that search engines may scan, use this URL.

if you’re telling people your shop URL in “real life” or using it in printed marketing materials – even in email marketing! – feel free to use the easier to remember URL (top).

nailing your shop URL is a quick & easy way to improve your shop’s SEO and page rank!