A recurring theme I saw in 2010 was falling off the horse, both for myself and for many of my clients. One moment, we were riding high, feeling motivated, and full of ideas. The next moment, we were sitting on our butts in the dirt looking at the backside of the proverbial horse.

So now it’s January, a time for reflecting on the past year, and planning for the year ahead. For me, this means taking a good hard look at last year’s goals, successes, and failures, though I prefer to think of them as Things I Did Well, and Things I Can Do Better. With that knowledge, I can make plans to move forward in 2011.

What about you? What things did you do well in 2010? What things would you like to do better in 2011? Tell me in the comments!

My sister Tracy loves Olga’s Kitchen. Always has. Specifically, she loves their Three Cheese Olga. She orders lunch from Olga’s Kitchen approximately once a week.

Recently, she placed an order for her beloved Three Cheese Olga (she’s a vegetarian, so there aren’t a whole lot of options for her on their menu), and she left work to pick it up. When she got back to work, she realized they had mistakenly given her an Original Olga which is beef and lamb. Did I mention Tracy is a vegetarian?

Her lunch break now over, she didn’t have time to return and get a replacement. She called the restaurant, and was offered coupons in the mail for a free Olga. Tracy gave her address and waited.

When the coupon arrived, it contained ONE coupon for ONE free Olga. Which, when you think about it, wasn’t really free since she paid for an Olga she never received. And, you know, got one she couldn’t really eat.

The icing on the cake is the form letter she was sent. In the letter, it indicated there were TWO coupons enclosed. But the TWO had been crossed off and ONE had been written in its place. Maybe they wanted to save a few bucks?

How To Do It Right

Making customer satisfaction your top priority might cost you a few bucks up front, but it’ll almost always pay you back more in the long run. Let’s say a customer orders a piece of jewelry from you, and the chain breaks 6 months later. What are your options, and more importantly, what are the consequences of your choice? You could:

1. Do nothing
   It’s not like she’s a return customer. She’s only ever purchased that one little thing. And with a coupon!
2. Charge her for the repair
   You don’t guarantee your jewelry beyond 30 days. After 30 days, you can’t be responsible for normal wear and tear that leads to a broken clasp.
3. Fix it for free
   You’re happy to repair the chain at no cost, but she’ll have to pay for the shipping herself. And she should probably pay the extra money to insure it, just in case.
4. Send her a new chain
   Okay, so you’re going to lose a few bucks by giving her a new chain, but you’ve set your prices to include profit and overhead, so this won’t really hurt you at all. And besides, you want her to be happy with her purchase, and you want to cement your reputation as someone who cares about her customers.
5. Bonus!
   You send her a new chain, along with a handwritten note of apology, and a small gift as a token of your appreciation for her patience and understanding. Congratulations! You realize the importance of good customer relations.

Want some real life examples?

• The Land’s End return policy is “Guaranteed. Period.® They say, “If you’re not satisfied with any item, simply return it to us at any time for an exchange or refund of its purchase price.”
• Zappos offers “free shipping both ways” and a 365 day return policy.
• Naomi Dunford of IttyBiz offers a money back guarantee on her small business marketing products. In her words? “Like with all our stuff, there’s a full guarantee. If you think it sucks we’ll give you your money back. No big deal. We’re not dicks.”

So, which will it be? Do you want to save a few bucks and possibly lose a customer for life? Or do you want to be known as the person with the happiest customers?

Have a customer satisfaction story you want to share? Tell me in the comments below.

I found another great resource for your craft business. The Handmade Marketer is offering Free Classes to help you wholesale your handmade goods.

I only just found this site myself, so I can’t tell you whether or not this gal knows her stuff, but her free classes would be a great way to find out.

Are you a Twitter Newbie? Want to know what all the fuss is about? You’re in luck!

Online presence coach Laurie Foley is giving a FREE class for Twitter Newbies on Friday. It’s only open to the first 100 callers, so block off some time already!

From the Mailbox…

“I started selling beaded mommy bracelets to the other moms at my daughter’s play group last year. I had a booth at my church holiday craft show and did pretty good. I’m ready for the next step, but I don’t know what that is. Do I need a website of my own?”

Thanks for your question, Sue. I’m often asked by crafters just starting their business whether or not they need a website or a blog of their own. The short answer is, YES, you absolutely need your own website. Having said that, a website is probably not necessary for every craft business. There are three aspects to consider when deciding if having a website of your own would be beneficial to your business right now. They are: the Craft Business, Your Audience, and You.

Your Craft Business: What do you want to communicate?

A website is really nothing more than a communication tool. If you have nothing to communicate, you probably don’t need a website. For those of you wishing to communicate more than what can be found on a standard business card, a website may be a good choice for you. Your craft business may benefit from a website if you want to…

• Sell your wares directly from your site.
• Tell people what inspires you and why you started your craft business.
• Direct buyers to other sites selling your goods.
• Give buyers your contact information.
• Show photos of your work and/or your process.
• Promote events.
• Build relationships with potential customers as well as other artists and crafters.

Your Audience: Who are you trying to reach?

A website is a great way to reach people all around the world. If your primary audience consists of people who don’t use the internet, you probably don’t need a website. A website may enhance your audience’s experience if they are…

• Located outside your local area.
• Comfortable using the internet.
• Interested in connecting with you.
• Eager to learn about your upcoming events.

You: Do you have the time and necessary skills to maintain a website?

Let’s face it, if you don’t have the time or skills, or if you’re not interested in communicating with your audience, you probably don’t need a website. You may find value in having a website for your craft business if you are…

• Familiar with the basics of maintaining a website.
• Interested in communicating with your audience on a personal level.
• Willing to devote the time and energy it takes to keep your website updated.
• Prepared to become addicted to the satisfaction you receive from having your own website.

There are many options available for the crafter who decides a website would be beneficial to her new craft business. From blogs to ecommerce sites, and from free services to ultra-pricey customized services, there is sure to be a good solution for any crafter who is ready to get a website.

I’ve reviewed the Thesis Theme for WordPress before, so it’s no surprise I love this theme. This is my first free template for the Thesis theme. (Some people call these “skins”, but I think that’s yucky. I like “template” much better.)

This theme is called “Oriana” which means “Rising Sun”. I hope you enjoy it.

Click thumbnail to view larger image.

Oriana ~ “Rising Sun”

Oriana is a simple two column theme perfect for crafters who are just getting started on the web. It’s easy to customize, and your readers will appreciate the straight-forward navigation. Free download.

***Requires Thesis 1.6.

Download Oriana

***Updated: Dec. 31, 2009***

For the new craft blogger, choosing the right hosting plan can be tough. I’ve hosted my websites with several different companies over the years, all for different reasons. Below is a comparison of six companies I’ve personally used.

All of these companies offer more robust packages than those I’ve listed here. The featured packages are the basic economy plans offered, and will in most cases be suitable for the new craft blogger. [Please note that all these links are affiliate links. If you don't like affiliate links, that's cool.]

BlueHost

BlueHost.com is still one of the companies I would recommend, and I still have a few sites hosted there. For less than $10/month, their basic plan is a fantastic option for your craft blog. This is one of the plans I use.

Features:

• Unlimited disk space.
• Unlimited bandwidth.
• One FREE domain name registration for life.
• Unlimited domains on one account.
• 30 day money back guarantee.

Other cool things:

• One-click WordPress installation to get your blog up and running right away.
• Your own email address to give your site a professional image.
• Basic mailing list to keep your customers informed.
• Getting-Started-Wizard and How-to Videos to help you make the most of your hosting package.

Real cost

• 3 months: $69.85 ($9.95/mo. + $30 setup + $10 domain registration)
• 6 months: $99.70 ($9.95/mo. + $30 setup + $10 domain registration)
• 12 months: $107.40 ($8.95/mo. + free setup + free domain registration)
• 24 months: $190.80 ($7.95/mo. + free setup + free domain registration)
• 36 months: $250.20 ($6.95/mo. + free setup + free domain registration)

Learn more about BlueHost

GoDaddy

GoDaddy.com offers a basic blogger plan for less than $5/month. The combination of a short term contract and inexpensive hosting makes GoDaddy a great solution for a new craft blogger who can overlook an obnoxiously ugly site.

[**Update: I've noticed I'm frequently unable to view WordPress sites hosted by GoDaddy while I'm using Safari as my browser. For this reason, I cannot recommend GoDaddy as a web host at this time, however, I still use them to register my domains.]

Features:

• 10 GB of disk space.
• 300 GB of bandwidth.
• $1.99 domain names.

Other cool things:

• Easy WordPress installation to get your blog up and running with little hassle.
• Your own email address to give your site a professional image.
• Short minimum 3 month contract is good for new craft bloggers who are just testing the waters.

Real cost

• 3 months: $16.96 ($4.99/mo. + free setup + $1.99 domain registration/yr)
• 6 months: n/a
• 12 months: $58.87 ($4.74/mo. + free setup + $1.99 domain registration/yr)
• 24 months: $111.98 ($4.50/mo. + free setup + $1.99 domain registration/yr)
• 36 months: $158.97 ($4.25/mo. + free setup + $1.99 domain registration/yr)

Learn more about GoDaddy

Other

Dreamhost

Dreamhost had great customer service support, but I had serious lag issues when I tried to use ZenCart on their site. I haven’t used Dreamhost since 2006, so I cannot give more updated information.

Fluid Hosting

I still have one site hosted by Fluid Hosting. I have no complaints about my experience with Fluid Hosting, but I find their interface more difficult to navigate than Site5.

Moonlight Crafter

Did you know I can host your website for you? I offer a complete package that includes website design and hosting for one year. Contact me for more details.

Who can wait until the New Year to start making changes? Not me! I’ve made a few design changes to the site, and I anticipate some long-overdue updates coming soon. Please let me know if you have any requests or suggestions how I can make this site better serve you. Thanks!

Let’s talk about crafting in real life.

As a creative person, you know it’s rare that you really get to spend time and energy to focus on your craft. You may have been making art or crafts for years and years. Maybe you’re already selling them on sites like Etsy. You know that having a website of your own, with a blog where you can talk and build relationships with your customers, is essential to getting your crafts out of the closet and into a career.

The thing is, you don’t have the money right now to do that. You certainly don’t have the time to learn the skills necessary to get a website up. Maybe it’s not such a good idea after all…

Stop right there.

I’ve been there. I know what it’s like to have the talent to be really good at my craft, but still be unable to get the tools together to take the next step.

So I’d like to make it easy for some other artist out there.

Some other artist like you.

Once in a Blue Moon Contest

I started this website and blog devoted to teaching crafters how to moonlight their art while they work their day job—and how to get to a place where they can stop moonlighting and do what they love full time. It took me many years to figure it out for myself, and I’m so happy in that choice that I want to help as many moonlighters as I can get their crafts out in the world.

I decided a contest was the perfect way to kick this whole thing off in style.

The winner of the Once in a Blue Moon Contest will receive:

• Domain registration and hosting for one year
• WordPress installation on your website
• A Thesis theme upload
• A template install of your choice from the Moonlight Crafter gallery
• Basic customization, including
• Installing your logo
• Font customization and colors to match your brand
• Copyright information in the footer
• Plugins and widgets
• Spam detector
• Flickr badge and/or Etsy Mini
• Format your contact form
• Tutorial on how to use all the features of your new site

For those of you who know nothing about website building (and if you’re one of them, you should definitely enter) this basically means you get a website. It’ll have a website address, a design, a customized header, and you can get your own logo or any other image that people are already associating with you in there. It’ll have all of the things a website needs, including hosting, and you won’t have to do any of it yourself.

I offer this exact same package on my website for a fee of $297. If you’ve looked into getting a website built, you know that is really pretty low, so if you don’t win, you needn’t despair. I’m not mentioning it to sell you, though. I have a different point in mind.

Most website designers would charge up to $1,500 for this. And that’s without offering hosting.

It’s a very big package. It’s a chance to get something that you may not be able to afford for quite awhile. And it means that instead of saving up for months, you can get started on building your business now. Today. Not a year from now when you have the money. Right now. Without having to lift a finger.

Think of all the times you’ve thought of how much more you could do if you only had a website.

Now think what it would be like if you had that website tomorrow. For free.

Now go enter the contest. It’s simple, it’s easy—and it might just be the thing that gets you from moonlighter to career crafter.

How do I enter?

It’s very simple and quite informal. Follow this link to fill out the form and write a few paragraphs (though you can certainly make it longer if you like) telling me why I should pick you for this free website. Make me cry. Make me laugh. Make me excited that you’re the person I’m going to be helping out.

On September 21st, I’ll announce a winner.

I’ve been meaning to get a video tutorial up here for a while now, so it feels pretty good to check the first one off the list. This one shows how to add a page to your WordPress site, and how to add and rearrange the tabs on the navigation bar.

I welcome any feedback about this first venture into the land of video blogging. Also, please let me know what other video requests you have.