beehive search
 
shopping cart
     
Home >> Blogs
Beeblog
Subscribe
Include comments
Tag Cloud
"setting the table" A. Fine Shirt Alabama Chanin Alabama community americas mart announcing Beehive Co-op Cincinnati art festivals artisinal garments artists be persistent when it comes to pr Beau Beaux Inc. BeeBlog Beehive beehive coop Beehive Co-op beehive co-op atlanta Beehive Co-op in Real Simple Beehive Co-op New York Beehive on Wheels Beehivers beehiveshop.com being a mother and entrepreneur books books on CD boutiques brand development branding Burt's Bees business business issues Buyer's Market of Craft buying locally Charitable collaboration community compost computer recycling computer refurbishing consignment consignment agreements consignment with boutiques copycat designs copyright copyright forms costs craft Craft Fairs craft festivals craft show craft show guide entrepreneurship iram-inal designs marketing organization small business planning sustainable business time management trade show components trade show materials wholesale wholesale market wholesale show
 
Recent Posts
How do you plan for the unknown?
  Comments: 0
  Rating: 0 / 0
10 Top Trends for Fall 2009
  Comments: 0
  Rating: 4 / 2
Managing Business & Life
  Comments: 0
  Rating: 5 / 1
10 Practical Tips to Please your Retailers!
  Comments: 0
  Rating: 0 / 0
Small Business and Credit Cards - A Cautionary Tale
  Comments: 0
  Rating: 2.8 / 5
Spoonflower... a great new resource!
  Comments: 0
  Rating: 0 / 0
Feeling Fall
  Comments: 0
  Rating: 0 / 0
Resourceful Entreprenuership
  Comments: 0
  Rating: 0 / 0
Website Commerce - To Sell, or Not to Sell?
  Comments: 0
  Rating: 5 / 1
Thinking Outside of Outside
  Comments: 2
  Rating: 0 / 0
 
Recent Comments
Thinking Outside of Outside (2)
Freshie wrote: I like the idea of merchandising your products in ... [More]
Thinking Outside of Outside (2)
Petra Geiger wrote: I think one of the benefits of being in a collabor... [More]
Choosing Where to Sell Your Wares (2)
Heather Swanepoel wrote: I have to say, your blog posting woke me up early ... [More]
Holiday Gift Guide Media Event (1)
Kristina Hjelsand wrote: Yay!!! :-)... [More]
Choosing Where to Sell Your Wares (2)
SEO wrote: The topic which you chosen for discussion is reall... [More]
Entreprenuer's E-tailing Part 2 (1)
srdha wrote: i gust want to say some thing "great job"

U... [More]
Now, I can sleep at night... (1)
Christy wrote: I will have to say, I have been using Carbonite fo... [More]
...Goddess of Perseverance (1)
Petra Geiger wrote: I think that's the first requirement of being a su... [More]
It's A Great Time to be Self Employed (2)
Space/Lift wrote: I couldn't agree more! I'm so glad that I have the... [More]
It's A Great Time to be Self Employed (2)
Freshie Beth wrote: Here here! We as business owners are responsible ... [More]
 
Archive
2010
 
2009
 September (1)
 August (6)
 July (5)
 June (7)
 May (9)
 April (8)
 March (10)
 February (9)
 January (9)
 
 
Authors
Amy McClure (8)
Erica Jong (3)
Heather Swanepoel (17)
Karen Meyers (9)
Kristina Hjelsand (9)
Lynn Tennille (8)
Malene Davis - iram-inal designs (15)
Meg King (2)
Merideth Sorrentino (3)
Petra Geiger (32)
Viviana Campbell (4)
Viviana Campbell and Merideth Sorrentino (1)
 
Categories
Designer Connection (12)
Entrepreneurship (46)
entrepreuership (7)
Fabulous Find! (1)
Peer-to-Peer (54)
Sustainable living (14)
 
Blog Roll
No Blog Rolls Available
 
10 Top Trends for Fall 2009
By Petra Geiger
8/27/2009 8:50:00 PM  
Since I'm down with a nasty summer cold this week, I thought I'd take the easy way out and just reiterate the top ten trends for fall 2009. The bigger designers and retailers are already buying and producing for Spring 2010 but for those of us who are a little more tuned into the upcoming season here are the trends (in no particular order). Do with them what you will!

1. Everything 80's - puffy mini dresses, neon hues, big shoulders (it makes me shudder)

2. Dark Layers of gray and black

3. Hats!

4. Chartreuse, bright pink and jewel tones

5. Sparkle, head to toe

6. Ruching - lots of draping all across the body

7. Capes, Capelets & Cloaks

8. Bold and chunky accessories

9. Animal prints, dots, stripes and geometric patterns

10. Cinch belts and big buttons


Happy creating and here's to back to school!


Currently rated 4 by 2 people

Tags: Fall trends
Categories: Peer-to-Peer
Bookmark and Share Subscribe:  Email  | RSS  
10 Practical Tips to Please your Retailers!
By Petra Geiger
8/18/2009 7:44:00 PM  
So as these hot days of summer wind down and the economy improves ever so slightly (I think) and we enter the "selling" season again, here are 10 practical tips from me "retailer" to you "seller". (And these are in no particular order)

1. If you have a product that is priced at $60 but is not moving, try recommending a price of $58. Sometimes that little psychological reduction down to a lower price group will spark a different mind set and some additional sales. Don't be afraid to play with price.

2. Always send your merchandise with your own tags pinned or affixed to your product nicely. It's a must in branding for you and it saves the retailer time when they have to stick a price sticker somewhere and merchandise quickly.

3. Clothing designers....think about where you place your hang tags from the point of view of the shopper. Digging to find the tag (and the price) inside the clothing is a royal pain. How about affixing it to a sleeve or under arm of the garment where it is visible and accessible.

4. Always include washing instructions with your garments or soft goods - and test to make sure your garments stand up to what you are recommending.

5. Always send your contact info at the bottom of every e-mail. Retailers are usually time starved and generally not as well organized as they should be (except me) so your contact info should be handy dandy each and every time you contact them.

6. If it is feasible consider providing merchandising support to the retailer. Display items, signage, special hangers. All of this helps promote your brand and may just ensure that you get premium spot in the store.

7. Don't be afraid to check in with the store owner or manager. The more visible you are the more chance for a re-order! Also, the feedback and insight to how your product is received is invaluable - even bad news can steer you in a good direction.

8. Always send your items with a clear and professional invoice and itemized list both for your records and the retailers.

9.  Have you received any press? Scan it and send it to the store in a frame or laminate it and affix an easel to it.

10.
Always include a catalog or pricing sheet with every order shipped to encourage future sales or feature new products.

Currently rated 0 by 0 people

Tags: Practical tips for designers, retail tips
Categories: Entrepreneurship
Bookmark and Share Subscribe:  Email  | RSS  
Spoonflower... a great new resource!
By Petra Geiger
8/11/2009 8:37:00 PM  
Firstly, let me say sorry for the inconsistent blog entries this summer! We've all been a bit remiss in posting and I've been downright lazy. But if you can't take a few weeks to smell the flowers and recharge then what is the point?!

Ok so with that out of the way, thanks to my good friend Polly out there in California I was reminded of this great resource at www.spoonflower.com. They are this North Carolina based company that will custom print fabric that you design! OR you can choose from designs that are already uploaded. They launched in May of 2008 and although I have not yet personally tried this, being a graphic designer my creative juices are already flowing! If anyone out there has used them, I'd love to hear your comments! It seems like a great resource...here are the basics!
  • All your designs are private unless you choose to make them public
  • There is no minimum fabric order and no set-up fee. You can order a swatch of quilting-weight cotton for $5 or a yard for $18. Registration is free.
  • Your designs can be placed into a variety of repeats, and the preview of your fabric item is online and immediate.
  • You can print on quilting-weight or upholstery-weight 100% cotton, or organic cotton sateen.

Happy designing!

Currently rated 0 by 0 people

Tags: Spoonflower, fabric printing, designer resources
Categories: Fabulous Find!
Bookmark and Share Subscribe:  Email  | RSS  
Making opportunity
By Petra Geiger
7/11/2009 1:15:00 PM  
Just want to take a minute to let everyone know that Beehive was mentioned in the August issue of Real Simple Magazine as a great place to find artisan-made goods. Congratulations to ceramic designer Cara Gilbert for a lovely shot of her wares. As everyone knows it's been one of those years where things just don't seem to come easily and it's an uphill struggle just to "keep on truckin", so something like this is really energizing and rewarding for all of us. It gets me thinking about how important it is to just keep putting yourself out there, even when the response is less than stellar, even when it feels like your just spinning your wheels, even when you want to throw in the towel. Half the battle is having the courage and passion to believe in what you do and keep working it from all different angles. The other half of the equation is just dumb luck and good fortune. Being in the right place at the right time. But in order for the stars to align you have to keep making opportunities for yourself. Or that's what I tell myself!

 
       

Currently rated 0 by 0 people

Tags: Real Simple Magazine, Beehive Co-op in Real Simple, be persistent when it comes to pr
Categories: entrepreuership
Bookmark and Share Subscribe:  Email  | RSS  
Holiday Gift Guide Media Event
By Petra Geiger
6/12/2009 11:17:00 AM  
This past Wednesday I took 13 designers from the beehiveshop.com to a Holiday Gift Guide Media Event at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square. The event is put on by newproductevents.com and was very well run. Megan King from Oh Sweet Day came with me and helped out and we definitely gave the event a thumbs up! Showing amongst some of the big guys... Columbia Spotswear, Lego, Cold Stone Creamery, and Shutterfly to name a few, was a bit daunting at first but once we set up it became clear that beautiful, professional handmade items are being saught after. Our display was lively, colorful and had some truely fabulous ideas that the editors loved.

 

There were certainly many "editors" there that were only looking for a "free sample" but the majority were editors and editorial assistant truly looking for something new and interesting to write about. We handed out about 50 press kits which included info on Beehive and a product sheet for each of the 13 designers who participated.

The best part was that this collaborative effort made it easy and affordable ($204 each) for designers to participate in something that would have cost them over $2500 on their own including travel. So, I think it was an unqualified success (we'll know for sure when the holiday gift guides come out) especially when it comes to leveraging our Beehive Community to open up new doors! Thanks to all who participated and we'll definitely e doing more things like this.

  



Currently rated 0 by 0 people

Tags: PR events, collaboration, holiday gift guide event, beehiveshop.com
Categories: Peer-to-Peer
Bookmark and Share Subscribe:  Email  | RSS  
SEO Success Pyramid
By Petra Geiger
5/6/2009 4:07:00 PM  
Recently while searching the web for some insight on building traffic to the Beehive website I came across this article written by Matt McGee about achieving SEO success on your website. He developed this pyramid that I thought was quite useful and encapsulated all the things you need to consider while building a successful website. It's kind of daunting but it does help give an overview of the big picture! The article further talks about all of these specific points so definitely check it out! Hope it helps! http://www.smallbusinesssem.com/the-seo-success-pyramid/971/




Currently rated 0 by 0 people

Tags: SEO success, SEO success pyramid, www.smallbusinessSEM.com, Matt McGee
Categories: Entrepreneurship
Bookmark and Share Subscribe:  Email  | RSS  
Linking to the Future
By Petra Geiger
4/28/2009 10:33:00 AM  
We all feel that our world is in flux. Things are changing, priorities are realigning, assumptions are being questioned, and attitudes are shifting . To my mind this is a great thing for us as a nation and for individuals in general. For me, change brings new ideas, regeneration, and hope.

As a retailer and designer I feel a shift in how I perceive other retailers and designers. I feel as though the old model of guarded competition and stingy propriety is out dated and frankly short sighted. I am starting to look at my community as a source of strength and power. Working together, whether in micro localized physical communities or larger online communities, opens up huge possibilities for growth and exposure. As a group you tend to learn more quickly, share resources and are able to accomplish much more in a shorter amount of time.

In the online world linking is actively being used and good results depend on it. Linked in, Facebook, and Twitter just point to the craving we seem to have for connectedness. I asked myself, "why not pursue this in the world of retailing?". Without really thinking about it this is what Beehive was developed for five years ago. Linking is essential but it’s a hard transition to make – it takes courage, trust and above all confidence.

I see many people clinging to the old protectionist concept and I encourage them to explore the idea of letting that go. I believe that joining in relevant communities is the key to success in an ever expanding and complex world. Take a step beyond just linking your website with another and ask yourself, “how can this model extend into other aspects of my business”. I guarantee you'll find it liberating and productive.

To take another’s hand is taking a risk, but it’s well worth it!

Currently rated 0 by 0 people

Tags: linking, creating community, linking designers
Categories: Entrepreneurship
Bookmark and Share Subscribe:  Email  | RSS  
Getting up just one more time than you fall
By Petra Geiger
4/8/2009 8:27:00 PM  
So, I get asked alot...
How many years does it take to make it? When does the struggle end? When will I start being able to pay myself? And I am still asking myself those questions. Of course, there is no easy answer. Generally, it seems that after 5 year people either loose steam and decide to try something else or they continue to see a glimmer of hope and re-motivate for the long road ahead. There is no doubt it is a long, rough (but rewarding) haul - I struggle to keep up my motivation every day. But last week I was reading Inc. Magazine and came accross this quote from Roxanne Quimby, one of the founder's of Burt's Bees which they have since sold. She is quoted as saying,

"I had some midnight-of-your-soul type times. Once, I came home from a fair and found the window in my cabin blown in. Snow was all over. It was 20 below and 3 in the morning. I hadn't made any money and the car had just barely made it there. I really believe that success is just getting up one more time than you fall".

I found that really inspiring and need I say more!!!

Currently rated 0 by 0 people

Tags: Roxanne Quimby, successful entrepreneurs, failure, Burt's Bees
Categories: Entrepreneurship, Peer-to-Peer
Bookmark and Share Subscribe:  Email  | RSS  
Renewal
By Petra Geiger
3/18/2009 7:15:00 PM  

Spring has always been a symbol of hope and renewal. Day by day as the air warms and the snow melts and thank goodness the daylight lingers it becomes easier to feel hopeful. At Beehive in Mt. Kisco we are seeing an increase in traffic as people are starting to get out and explore again. (Our write up in Westchester Magazine as one of the 34 Great New Shops certainly helped!) 



After all the bad economic news and a miserable winter it just seemed easier and more prudent to hibernate and conserve. But there is a spark of life coming through...I've even had a few customers buying something fun for...themselves. I'm seeing alot articles about buying local so I feel encouraged that the message is getting through and that people are realizing that they do have the power to impact their communities. So...after a particularly depressing winter and even though I'm sure the hardship is a far cry from over, I can't help but feel hopeful especially when I see a crocus or tulip poking up through the hard ground. My friend Eiko, the designer behind the line te plus te sent me the photo below while she was in Japan ... a pink plum blossom. I immediately made it my desktop screen shot.

If you're seeing anything hopeful out there or would like to share a positive annecdote...I'd love to hear it! Happy spring!


Currently rated 0 by 0 people

Tags: N/A
Categories: Sustainable living
Bookmark and Share Subscribe:  Email  | RSS  
Why shop local?
By Petra Geiger
3/4/2009 3:37:00 PM  

Recently, I was looking through one of my designer’s sites (www.soundearth.com) and noticed the quote they had in their sidebar, “Every dollar spent with a local company will circulate within your community 21 times. Every dollar spent with a larger "big box" store will circulate only 7 times.”

Being a proponent of shopping locally and the owner of a small business, I thought this was intriguing and refreshingly scientific. I decided to do a little more research and it turns out that it is no secret that every dollar spent at a locally-owned business generates approximately three times more regional economic activity than a dollar spent at the typical "big-box" retailer.

Very interesting. You hear a lot of talk lately of how small business is the back-bone of the U.S. economy but not a lot of discussion on how and why. And even worse, as a small business owner you feel as though you are the most insignificant and under supported group in the mighty American economy. Completely taken for granted and left to fend for yourself.

When you break it down it is a very simple and basic premise and when you magnify all the thousands of small businesses across the country you begin to realize that the simple act of deciding to shop locally as often as possible has the power to change our communities and culture as a whole, to build a healthy, sustainable economy that encourages innovation and collaboration.


Simply put small local businesses…

1. Create higher paying jobs and reinvest back into the community.

2. Serve as community pillars and maintain a community’s character. They are unique places where a neighborhood’s individuality shines and citizens can experience a sense of place.

3. Employ an array of supporting services. They hire architects, designers, cabinet shops, sign makers and contractors for construction. Local accountants, insurance brokers, computer consultants, attorneys, advertising agencies help run it.

4. Carry a higher percentage of locally-produced goods than chain stores, meaning more jobs for the community.

5. Ensure choice and diversity. Though a single local shop may carry a smaller selection than a big chain, a multiplicity of independent retailers creates great diversity. Our freedom of choice suffers when a few buyers from national chains choose what does and does not reach customers.

6. Are essential to charitable endeavors, and small business owners frequently serve on local boards and support numerous causes.

7. Encourage walking, mass transit and less of a dependence on the car.

It seems so simple and makes total sense. But the American consumer (and yes I am one who is not so perfect myself) has to realize the impact of each decision they make when it comes to their purchasing power. Multiply your single decision to shop for convenience at the big box retailers by millions and millions and the result is sterile strip malls, fast food restaurants and chain stores that encourage sameness instead of individuality. What a scary future!

Want more info…check out BALLE’s website (Business Alliance for Local Living Economies) at http://www.livingeconomies.org.


Currently rated 0 by 0 people

Tags: shop local, supporting community based businesses, why shop local?
Categories: Sustainable living
Bookmark and Share Subscribe:  Email  | RSS  
 
 


retail locations




Powered by ShopVisibleEcommerce Solution