EkaBlog - Site Blog for Ekaweeka the Small Business Community

Today we put the spotlight on Akira Zosens, a Fashion Designer from Melbourne Australia - Akira describes her influences as "Eastern fusion of wild music and deserts" and the "rococo innocence... paintings such as 'The Swing' by Jean-Honore Fragonard". We're big fans and you should be too - go take a peek :-)

There hasn't been any clear and easy way to get the Ekaweeka Events rolling so to follow some of my own advice we're going to start with one small event here in Los Angeles. We'll rent out a space in
Hollywood probably somewhere between Beverly and Hollywood Blvd and Highland and La Cienga. We'll have 4-10 different users displaying their creations or information about their service. There will be live music, beverages, and some other related stuff. Considering we need to find the location, the tables, the users, and the entertainment - this should be slated for no earlier then June 20th. which gives us about 10 weeks to put it all together. If you are in LA or are going to be around then please contact us for more information on getting a table at the first Ekaweeka Event ever!

I have no idea how it started but about two weeks ago our entry trackbacks started getting spammed. What the hell are those things for anyways? I mean I get what they are for but who uses them... maybe we don't need them? If anybody has experience with trackbacks, blog spam etc. hit us up!

What a surprise! This morning I woke up and went about the usual Ekaweeka chores when I saw that last night we had acquired a new member all the way from China. Our community already spanned to Korea, Australia, England, and Ukraine - but this was really a treat especially because they listed some handmade crafts.

As the user list grows I occasionally get questions from some of them on how they can improve their sales. There are lots of improvements everyone should be making. Today I'll focus on product photos.

Until you have had to take pictures of your products and look at the end result you probably never thought about what goes into a good product photo. I never did, fortunately though my friends take pictures for a local retailer professionally and I get to see first hand what goes into a good product photos. Before any advice is given I should drop a disclaimer that is; many businesses find an excellent way to feature their product without following the safe guidelines I am about to give. So while these suggestions will help you get quick quality results, they may not necessarily fit the big picture as far as the culture of your product.

A few of the product photos on Ekaweeka that I have seen (including my own) are taken among other items or on a colored background. They might be slightly out of focus or taken at a bad angle, or they might just not be cropped properly. All of the above should be taken into account when getting your product photos ready though.
1) For starters unless you have a specific theme it's safest to use a white background. Get a roll of white paper at least 36" wide and 10' long from your local art store, it can be used over and over and by having the product in-front of a seamless white background the focus of your product will stay on the product, colors will appear as they are, lighting will be easier to control, and cropping should be a cinch.
2) Next use a tripod for your camera, no matter how steady of a shot you are, the tripod is even more steady, this will make taking a crisp-in focus picture a no brainer. If you don't have a tripod ask a couple friends, tripods are usually given away for free with camcorders and tend to be sitting around someone's house.
3) Lighting is key, if you don't have enough lights to get a good bright setting go on your roof, backyard, sidewalk, local park etc. in the late morning or late afternoon (when the sun is high but not straight overhead). If you do have lights make sure to avoid distracting shadows, be mindful of the color your lights produce: household lights like incandescents (which you shouldn't have cause they waste tons of electricity - so if you do switch them to CFL asap - available at any home depot) or florescents can look too yellow or green.
4) Cropping and resizing is perhaps the most difficult part of the process cause a photo editing program even when on hand can be hard to learn on the fly. The staple software for this is photoshop but most out of the box photo programs (already on your computer) include image sizing and cropping these days. Even then it isn't the easiest thing to do. You should have a high resolution version of each photo (300 dpi) and in addition to full size (1000px * 1000px +) you should have some smaller versions (400px * 400px) for easy emailing and uploading. If all of this is over your head .... send me an email, I'll be happy to crop and size a few or explain how to do it on your own computer.

In the end taking the steps above will make your products look as amazing as they really are and will definitely improve the response you get from potential customers. Selling stuff over the internet is still a new concept to a lot of people, giving customers a clean an professional look at what you're selling will help reassure them they are in the same hands as a local shop where they can pick up the product and see it with their own eyes.

Many of us have chosen to start our own business because we don't like working for "The Man". We have some skills, some talents, a dream - whatever. But frequently these people who take the alternate path also aren't naturally gifted with classic business skills. You don't have to be a shrewd business person for your business to succeed, but understanding protocol can help to overcome certain hurdles. Today's tip is about communication via email. Guy Kawasaki - a popular start up and entreprenial topic blogger - has an excellent post on email etiquette. Check it out if this topic interests you but I'll keep my covering of the topic short and sweet (which is part of the technique we'll discuss).

By far the biggest problem with the emails I've received or sent wasn't that I used the wrong salutation, or didn't provide enough info. It was because there was too much information. It's safe to assume everyone has A.D.D. these days, and those who don't have learned to deal with the rest of us. As a rule of thumb Guy says to keep your email under 5 sentences, I'd say you can do it in 2-3. Many people will think they cannot communicate everything they need to in 2-3 sentences but thats the point. You don't want to say everything, just touch on the topic, and leave all the questions your email raises (in its 2-3 sentence form) unanswered. This way the recipient will have to write back for more info. Large lengthy emails are so long people take one look at them and think "boy I'll need more time to read this, I'll come back to it later". But then more emails arrive, things happen, and before you know it your lengthy email has been lost in a sea of emails that never got a reply.

So keep it to 2-3 sentences, if you want to pitch an idea, don't pitch the idea in your email, just say:
"Hey Joe Shmoe,

Good talking to you the other day. I've got an idea about your electric vehicle business, it could bring in loads more customers!! Thanks.

Tom Bob"

Joe Shmoe will most likely be intrigued with the prospect of more business, you haven't told him your ridiculous idea about buying a $500,000 advertising package from your business, and this gives you a chance to feed him a little more info without turning him off before he's even heard the whole story.

Keep the subject line short too, a simple "hi" can do the trick... they will have to read your email cause your subject gives them no hint as to what you're bothering them about.

Guy might point out that my example doesn't include a signature, signatures deserve their own posting in my opinion but in this case the example conveys that I know who I'm writing to... in this scenario I could include a signature but frankly it takes up more space and isn't necessary. If I wanted Joe Shmoe to check out my website I might include the url in the signature knowing he would possibly check out the site to investigate what I could be pitching to him. But without any more information he has no choice but to wonder forever what might have been or to follow up and find out.

Thats all for now, see you space cowboy ;-)

For all the people who have been enjoying the new MP3 loading feature for your profile, we just added a little something extra to it. Now your MP3 player lists the artist and song title and you can enter a link for the artist's website. We'll get around to making a fancy schmancy player shortly but we figured the tunes couldn't wait!

Also on the agenda: The website URL feature no longer requires you to enter the HTML yourself. Anyone can go in enter the website URL and the website title click save and you're done. There isn't any obvious way to replace your old links but by hand in our database so give it a few days and we'll eventually have em' all migrated.

Happy (sort of) Earth Day!

Ellery has had to explain to a few people that the single greatest influence on the ability to come up with and develop Ekaweeka, was my unemployability. Meaning by refusing to take a regular job I was forced to come up with my own businesses to make a living. I could probably get a job... but the idea is I haven't gotten a job from my resume - EVER. I could probably have more luck with this area in my life but I think it just happens that I cannot wipe off the look on my face / tone in my cover letters that silently hints "I don't want to work 40 hours a week for anyone else".
I still need to get work from time to time either in the form of a short term gig or business for one of my small businesses. I believe I owe all my success in obtaining those fruits to my friends. The people I've met casually, via other friends, via the internet etc. And so once again I cannot stress enough the importance of networking. Sooooooo many people I know that are starting their own business hate the idea of "networking" but what they don't realize is networking isn't just going to some aweful lounge and paying $10 per drink to socialize with people you would never speak to otherwise. Networking is gettting off your ass and going out there to do something - anything! This volunteering thing I just did last weekend was totally for the environment and piece of mind, however I met at least 8 people doing things that were relevant to my green consulting business. Now that we've met if I hear of an opportunity for one of them to do work - I'm going to tell them and that goes both ways. And that's just it, by meeting new people, finding out what they do, and telling them what you do - you are not only learning, you are expanding your potential client list and list of resources which will eventually come back and pay you a visit in the future (you never know how - the universe is magical and works in mysterious ways).
Think of it as building new synopsis in your brain.. you know those little bridges that are made between one part of your brain and another everytime you learn something new. The more you learn the more you know and can do. So in the same model - by meeting new people the more people you know and know you - and the more possibility there is for someone to find you and your business.

And that is how I have found all my work going back to my very first job at Round Table Pizza - which my friend Rachel told me about. So start right now, go to lunch with some friends encourage them to bring their friends. Or organize a small get together and have your guests bring someone from work. Make it fun - let the universe expose all the possibilties you were locking out before!

I've created a new category of blog posts: "suggestion box". Posts in this category will discuss an issue we're debating for a particular section in Ekaweeka.

So today's suggestion box: What category do we file bloggers under? I don't mean a painter that blogs. I mean user that blogs full time.

Got answers? Let us know.

KC recently commented on my post about blogging professionally. Here is a snippit of his comment:
"One thing that not too many people will tell you is to be prepared for the long haul. (So ask yourself now - "am I the type of person that will keep at this project consistently, without faltering, for, say, a whole year?"). I mention this because so many people become dispirited that they don't seem to be getting much reward for their efforts in the early days, so many people fall by the wayside."

Couldn't have put it better myself KC. A valuable lesson for anyone - so folks, are you ready for the long haul?

Fire Arts Collective - enough said.

As we look for more places to reach out to other small business communities we've discovered a number of artist communities. Many of them like the San Juan Artist Community are dedicated to artists in a city or town, some like Passion 4 Art which bring together visual artists - are for a specific retreat or craft.
How great would it be if we could form an alliance with these communities - to connect the networks (or dots)! After-all we probably are already connected just not in any obvious way. If you are familiar with any other communities for small businesses, artists, crafts or anything else - let us know we'll be happy to introduce ourselves!

Well we may have found an organization to work with for our first event. Talks are young, plans too premature to speak of the details but it is exciting none the less. Once there is a better idea of what where and when we'll start disclosing the potential details.

In the interim all designers such as fashion, graphic, interterior and web and all creators such as artists, photographers, and crafts should contact us if you are interested in having a presence. Even if you aren't going to be in Los Angeles - the more Ekaweeka businesses we can get involved the better the event will be.

Along with the artists, shops, and services we'll have music, drinks, and other party stuff to keep the fun meter blowing through the roof.

For Earth Day we attended a meeting of "Divine Synchronities". In this meeting 15 people who mostly didn't know each other came together to share stories of experiences in their life where serendipitous / coincidental things happened. Synchronicity is described in wikipedia as "the experience of two or more occurrences (beyond coincidentally) in a manner that is logically meaningful- but inexplicable- to the person or persons experiencing them".

The point of the meeting was as described in the invitation email:
"Where two or more are gathered, the wisdom and power accumulates as we gather in groups to inspire each other. Amazement and renewed hope comes from listening and sharing with our hearts as we create infinite possibilities in our lives."

It may sound a little hippy dippy to some but as the description of the meeting suggests it was very inspiring and encouraging. Everyone has moments of doubt and fear but when you hear 15 different people all sharing stories of miracles and magic in their day to day life, you realize there is a level of wonder everyone can attest to. It cannot be predicted but it can counted on.

In my recent post on friends and networking I outlined the idea of building your business through your connections. Many of the stories I heard at the meeting last night included examples of the power in networks. Try it out for yourself if you don't believe, engage someone - anyone in a conversation about a magical synchronicity that has happened in your life, get them to share on of theirs and you will see - the world is full of possibilities. The hardest part is letting go, following your instinct and allowing the occurrences to happen.

This doesn't mean you should quit your day job and allow the universe to drop a 10K project on your hands, but it does mean that if you follow your intuition and allow the road to unfold things won't be so... unclear.

If you like the sound of the Divine Synchronicity meeting, hit me up, I'll be happy to help you put one together.

Anyone browsing through the hundreds of different artists, crafters, services, clothes, paintings, designers and more in Ekaweeka's browsing system today will notice a different layout. We've moved all the filters and categories to a column on the left. We're also working on adding more hand picked featured content. We have few options for beefing up this area but it all depends on the balance we can keep between ease of browsing, more interest generating elements, and the distraction they could produce. Meanwhile in the sandbox we've got location browsing, directory (think phone book) and many more fun developments. Hope you're having a good week!! Happy Tuesday.

In what can be called the first joining of forces Ekaweeka has formed a relationship with the members of Box Eight. Box Eight Studio is an Artist Collective leading the Downtown LA art and culture revival with monthly events, and galleries. Just back in March for LA Fashion Week they hosted a group art showing followed by solo presentation of Jared Gold's, and they produced Eduardo Lucero's fashion show at the Los Angeles Theatre.

Ekaweeka will sponsor Box Eight and participate in applicable events and gallery openings.

Today's Awesome Ekaster is Mariano Otero. As a storyteller by heart, Mariano David Otero’s work is a profound exploration of both internal and external realities, which invites the viewer to engage in a discussion with the theme and the ideas hidden within his compositions. The nature of his works explores an interest in a greater meaning beyond all the outer measures of physical reality. I dig Mariano, very surreal very colorful, the subject of each painting has very strong and unique focus. All of them evoke powerful emotions and trigger past feelings and dreams of my own.

Ekaweeka got a big fat shout out from Craft Revolution's Blog. Craft Revolution is very much a part of the culture we love at Ekaweeka. As they put it: "Craft Revolution is restoring the awareness and appreciation of crafts in today’s world by promoting them, and the talented people who create them, as high-value, desirable alternatives to the mundane....By bringing together craft professionals and buyers alike, CraftRevolution.com is creating a well-informed, powerful community."

Amen Craft Revolution, Amen!

This weekend we stopped by the Fairfax Flea Market here in Hollywood. The market is located in the parking lot of the Fairfax High School at Fairfax and Melrose, it happens every Sunday from 9am to 6pm and not only hosts your typical used items and collectibles. Many of Hollywood's Small Businesses try out their products here or simply come to meet new clients for their regular business. Some of the other local's here including painters, fashion designers, jewelry designers, craftsmen who make shabby sheik furniture from old throw out pieces. The Fairfax Flea Market is one of 6-7 Flea Markets in the Los Angeles area. Getting a booth at one of these varies from spot to spot but they generally cost anywhere from $100-200 for a space, and some take a small percentage of your sales.
Many of the artists who take up spaces at the market end up meeting prop scouts for local studio television and film productions, some just meet each other, others meet casual foot traffic that occasionally turns into future business. One of the vendors that caught my eye was Hitch Couture. They had a chrome camper trailer converted into a mobile boutique. Now this was a brilliant idea. They must save thousands of dollars on rental space, and they can set up shop anywhere.
Hitch Couture created a niche for themselves - making them stand out from all the other vendors. By use of astroturf and plants outside the trailer, a complete changing room in the back of the trailer, rack space, and glass display boxes they were 100% in control of their atmosphere. There are roughly 80 vendors at the Flea Market, Hitch Couture got my attention by simply going a few steps further. Check out their website www.hitchcouture.com.