Monday, March 06, 2006

Building Creative Businesses Expo

In looking for ways to always improve our business and serving our customers, last Saturday my sister and I ventured out to the Denver Building Creative Businesses Expo. We were very excited that an event like this was taking place in Denver. They had around 30 exhibitors from art, music, and film organizations and then offered a variety of workshops on starting your own creative business. You could choose up to 3 workshops to attend, and best of all (especially for small business owners) it was free!

In hindsight, we probably did not do the best job in selecting our workshops. Both my sister and I thought they needed to have done a better job with the names of the workshops or provided a short description on each of the sessions. Since we already have our business established, things such as business plans, licenses, branding, etc., have long since been in place. However, for those who truly were just starting a business, it was a great place to gather that type of information. From our 3 workshops, I would say we came away with 3 main key takeaways:

* Know the demographics of your customer base
* Seek out the trends of your target audiences
* Don't be afraid to put yourself out there, or in the words of that commercial, "Just Do It".

There were other important points that were stressed too, such as consistent branding and a web presence. Our suggestion for future expos would be the next step "Running & Operating Creative Businesses" with workshops on marketing for on-line businesses.

Overall we enjoyed our day and hope the expo will be offered again in Denver as well as other venues for the creative community.

Meanwhile, the Easter Bunny is working hard in the studio to bring you our fun-filled Spring-time line with Easter Cards, Stationery, Gift Tags, Felted Goodness, and more. Arriving soon at allusallthetime.com

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