The Maker's Playbook - TopPodcast.com

Latest Episodes:

Ep: 319 - Figuring Out What Works for You with Andrew Linderman Oct 28, 2022

Show notes

Should I sell online? Or should I sell at in-person markets? Should I accept wholesale? Should I teach? These are just a handful of the myriad of questions we makers often ask ourselves when trying to figure out how the heck to get our small businesses off the ground. But it’s hard to know what the right choice is for yourself until you try many of these things. And when I say try, I don’t necessarily mean just throwing up a table at one in-person market, where it rains on one day of the weekend, or maybe the hosts of the market don’t do as much marketing beforehand and the turn out was bad, so now you’ve decided that in-person markets are crap and you’re never do one again… No, often times we have to try all of these different routes to supporting our craft a couple of times, or maybe, if you’re like today’s podcast guest… 22 times. That’s right, twenty two.

If you are looking for a supportive group to talk through all of these questions before you do give something a try, consider joining us inside The Community. The Community is our online membership where makers from all over the world join in supportive dialogue to figure this all out. Rather than the free-for-all posts of the massive Facebook groups out there, The Community has intentional monthly themes where we can dig deep on anything from Instagram (our June theme) to pricing (last month’s theme) to finding your ideal clients (our theme happening right now!). Oh, and it’s not on Facebook. Or any other distracting social media channel, for that matter :)

If you’ve been feeling like trying to crowdsource answers to questions on the internet has been wasting your time, and scouring through endless YouTube videos haven’t really answered the questions either - this is the place for you! Learn more at makersplaybook.com/community

Guest Details:
Andrew Linderman's Instagram

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Looking for support in building your own creative life? Come join over 100 other makers from around the world, having these very discussions, inside of The Community. Click here to learn more.

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Ep: 318 - Values-Based Pricing with Rebecca Ickes Carra Oct 21, 2022

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Pricing your art… It’s part math, part alchemy, and a whole lot of emotion. It should just be simple math, but somehow it's never that simple. On today's solo episode I dig into the differences between cost-based pricing and value-based pricing (and why the second one is so important specifically for artists). Of course, as is true with most things in life - The topic is a bit more complex than we would probably prefer.
If you are looking for more support and help in navigating the complex questions we all have to answer in order to even try to make a living from the things we make, come check out the conversations happening inside of The Community - where makers from all over the world, newbies and makers a few decades into their career, are problem-solving together in order to figure out how the heck to take this shared dream of all of ours - to make a living from the things we make - from dream to reality. Learn more at: https://www.makersplaybook.com/community/

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Looking for support in building your own creative life? Come join over 100 other makers from around the world, having these very discussions, inside of The Community. Click here to learn more.

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Love this podcast? Support an episode!
Follow The Maker's Playbook on Instagram @themakersplaybook

Ep: 317 - How having a Full-time Job allows Cory Brown to be an Artist Oct 14, 2022

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Most of us dream about quitting our full-time jobs in order to do what we love. In fact, that might just be why you are listening to this very podcast. But what if, instead of thinking of your full-time job as the thing holding you back from being creative, you approached it from the perspective of the thing that allows you to be creative. Maybe not necessarily while doing that job (although this week’s guest one could argue gets to do that too), but thanks to the reliability of that job - you get to make whatever you want to make. Whatever you are most curious about. Without worrying about whether or not you can sell it…

If the conversations here on the podcast leave you asking more questions rather than answers, checking out The Community just might be the best next step for you. The Community is our online membership where makers from all over the world join in supportive dialogue to figure this all out. Rather than the free-for-all posts of the massive Facebook groups out there, The Community has intentional monthly themes where we can dig deep on anything from Instagram (our June theme) to pricing (last month’s theme) to finding your ideal clients (our theme happening right now!).

If you’ve been feeling like trying to crowdsource answers to questions on the internet has been wasting yoru time, and scouring through endless YouToube videos haven’t really answered the questions either - this is the place for you! Learn more at makersplaybook.com/community
Guest Details:
Cory Brown's Instagram

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Looking for support in building your own creative life? Come join over 100 other makers from around the world, having these very discussions, inside of The Community. Click here to learn more.

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Love this podcast? Support an episode!
Follow The Maker's Playbook on Instagram @themakersplaybook

Ep: 316 - Starting Before it’s Perfect with Juliette Davin Sep 30, 2022

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How many of us feel like we need to have every single detail figured out before we start something? I know I sure do. If this is your first podcast episode, you will soon figure out, I am awfully (obsessively) Type A for being a creative. And while at times that has served me really well in systematizing processes and being organized in order to use my time efficiently, at other times… it’s slowed me down. Analyzing every pro & con to every website platform out there for months and months before just simply starting the darn thing!

Sound familiar? It can be scary to start, so I think (at least it’s true for me) we give ourselves a false feeling of security by analyzing things until their final breath, thinking we can solve every possible problem that might come up before we even start. When, in reality, you just have to start in order to figure it all out. At least, that was the case for this week’s podcast guest, Juliette Davin.
Juliette is one of the founding members of our online membership, The Community - where makers from all over the world are joining together to have meaningful conversations around many of the questions that plague us all - Etsy vs. your own website, how to start an email list, managing Instagram without loosing your sanity, how to price your work, and so much more!
If you’ve been looking for a supportive Community of makers also trying to figure out how to make a living from the things you make, come to check out The Community at makersplaybook.com/community (there’s even a 2 week free trial!)
Sign up for our monthly free photo tips email newsletter by visiting: makersplaybook.com/newsletter and start taking better photos, faster!

For full show notes and links to all of our guests' resources visit: www.makersplaybook.com/podcast
Guest Details:
Juliette Davin's Instagram

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Looking for support in building your own creative life? Come join over 100 other makers from around the world, having these very discussions, inside of The Community. Click here to learn more.

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Love this podcast? Support an episode!
Follow The Maker's Playbook on Instagram @themakersplaybook

Ep: 315 - Slow Growth with Ricky Blanding Sep 23, 2022

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Today on the podcast, I’m discussing one of my favorite, most insightful, yet most difficult to stick to topics… growing slowly. If I could do it all over again, and go back 12 years in time, the one thing I would do differently would be to actually hold onto the work outside of starting my own business longer. I was in such a rush to feel the false legitimacy of being “full-time” that I missed out on the benefits (and support) that was possible when you weren’t only relying on your craft to pay the bills. This week’s podcast guest has strategic patience about growing his ceramics studio which is deeply refreshing.

As always, if you are looking for help in taking better photos of your work - whether it be with a cell phone or regular camera, old or new - I’ll be sending out our free monthly, photo tips newsletter in 2 weeks! And for the next couple of newsletters, I’m focusing on tips to help get those holiday shop update photos done in half the time. So pop on over to makersplaybook.com/newsletter to sign up for our list and start taking better photos, faster.

For full show notes and links to all of our guests' resources visit: www.makersplaybook.com/podcast
Guest Details:
Ricky Blanding's Instagram
You can find Ricky's work with Scrap Soils at www.scrapsoils.com.
Also mentioned in this episode, was the work of Princess Odilia, Ricky's mom. Check her out on Instagram, @Transformingdetroit

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Looking for support in building your own creative life? Come join over 100 other makers from around the world, having these very discussions, inside of The Community. Click here to learn more.

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Love this podcast? Support an episode!
Follow The Maker's Playbook on Instagram @themakersplaybook

Ep: 314 - When Plans Change with Ben Carter Sep 16, 2022

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There are two very exciting things happening on the podcast this week! #1 - I’m excited to announce that for the first time since starting this podcast, we have a bit more support to help me get new episodes out into your headphones! For the next couple of months, the one and only Amaco is sponsoring the Maker’s Photography Styling System! And I couldn’t be more grateful & excited. #2 - This week’s interview with Ben Carter is actually Part 2! Part 1 can be found over on Ben’s show, Tales of a Red Clay Rambler. But you can really listen to them in whatever order you want, so don’t stress :)

If you missed out on signing up for The Maker’s Photography Styling System last week but are still in need of photography tips & tricks specifically for potters and makers, then be sure to sign up for our newsletter. I’ll be once again sending out our free monthly photo tip email 3 weeks from now and for the next 2 months, I’m focusing all of those tips specifically on helping makers get prepared for those big holiday shop updates! Sign up for the newsletter by visiting: https://www.makersplaybook.com/newsletter/

For full show notes and links to all of our guests' resources visit: www.makersplaybook.com/podcast

Guest Details:
Ben Carter's Instagram
Listen to Tales of a Red Clay Rambler

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Looking for support in building your own creative life? Come join over 100 other makers from around the world, having these very discussions, inside of The Community. Click here to learn more.

---

Love this podcast? Support an episode!
Follow The Maker's Playbook on Instagram @themakersplaybook

Ep: 313 - The Myth of Growth with Rebecca Ickes Carra Aug 25, 2022

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Why do you want to have 10,000 followers on Instagram? What will that do for you? Or rather… what do you think that will do?

Today’s world is full of encouragement to grow - have more followers, make more content, do more, diversify income streams - do more and grow, grow, GROW! But have you ever stopped to ask yourself, “Why?” On this week’s episode, host Rebecca Ickes Carra sheds a bit of light on the Myth of Growth and how it might not solve the problems we think it will (it could in fact create more problems. Or at least create a deep feeling of burnout…). Encouraging us all to think critically, she also discusses the ways we can approach growth strategically in order to build the lives of our dreams.

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT: We’re bringing back our Free Live Webinar: The 4 Most Common Instagram Photography Mistakes (and how to avoid them). Spaces are limited, so be sure to reserve your seat for whichever time works best for you by visiting: makersplaybook.com/instagram-photography

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Looking for support in building your own creative life? Come join over 100 other makers from around the world, having these very discussions, inside of The Community. Click here to learn more.

---

Love this podcast? Support an episode!
Follow The Maker's Playbook on Instagram @themakersplaybook

Ep: 312 - On Reflective Learning with Tom Kemp Aug 18, 2022

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On today’s episode, Tom Kemp manages to hold space for both a deeply philosophical conversation while at the same time providing pragmatic advice for all of us working to figure out how the heck to make a living from the things we make. I personally, have never connected much with the philosophy and the “what is art?” conversations that often spring up, but when married side-by-side with the realistic, and the pragmatic - the benefits of things like social media for artists to test out ideas in the marketplace alongside the difficult slog that is practicing a craft and teaching your body how to physically do something new in order to express that “what is art” idea? Now that is a conversation I could have had last twice as long as this interview.
You’ve heard us talk a lot about Instagram here on the podcast in the last few weeks and it seems on continuous best-practice, how to succeed & grow on social media that every maker - whether side-hustler or full-timer - has said is rooted in consistency. Consistently showing up. But I know a lot of times consistency is hard if you don’t have a way to create photos and videos that you are actually proud of.
This is why I’m so excited to say that we are preparing to open the doors to a new cohort for the Maker’s Photography Styling System in just a couple of short weeks! If you are listening along in real-time, the exact date is September 8th, 2022 for when doors will open to the public. BUT, for those of you that are savvy and on our waitlist, the doors will open over one week earlier on August 29th. Spots are limited, so if you want to make sure you don’t miss out, CLICK HERE to be added to our waitlist for first dibs!

For full show notes and links to all of our guests' resources visit: www.makersplaybook.com/podcast

Guest Details:
Tom Kemp's Instagram

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Looking for support in building your own creative life? Come join over 100 other makers from around the world, having these very discussions, inside of The Community. Click here to learn more.

---

Love this podcast? Support an episode!
Follow The Maker's Playbook on Instagram @themakersplaybook

Ep: 311 - Choosing NOT to Grow with Becca Otis Aug 11, 2022

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Is the thing you are dreaming of doing actually going to provide you with the life you are dreaming of having? On today’s episode, I sit down with Becca Otis (yes, from Wheeltalk Podcast!) to dispel some of the myths behind a lot of goals we self-employed artists often set. Dream of owning your own studio & hosting classes, she’s done it. Dream of selling your work to make a living, she’s done it. Want big-name brands to contract you for elusive wholesale work? That’s how Becca actually started her business! And now… she’s intentionally working in someone else’s pottery business instead.
If you are looking to keep this conversation going and engage with other makers who are figuring out how to make a living from the things they make, you just might want to check out The Community - our online home for makers to have meaningful conversations in this very, very noisy world. Inside The Community, we have makers who have been self-employed for decades and those that have only recently taken the leap. There are makers who worked decades in other careers and are now beginning a 2nd act after retirement and returning to their passions. And, of course, there are plenty of side-hustlers, still just testing the waters. Makers are coming from all over the world to challenge our presumptions while also encouraging each other to keep striving forward. To learn more click here.

For full show notes, visit makersplaybook.com/podcast
Guest Details:
Becca Otis Instagram

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Looking for support in building your own creative life? Come join over 100 other makers from around the world, having these very discussions, inside of The Community. Click here to learn more.

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Love this podcast? Support an episode!
Follow The Maker's Playbook on Instagram @themakersplaybook

Ep: 310 - How a Big Goal Determines Everyday Decisions with Sam Lopez Jul 29, 2022

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Have you ever felt overwhelmed by all the things you think you are supposed to be doing as a maker in 2022? Post a reel every day to Instagram! Don’t use Etsy, build your own website! Raise your prices!! The world can often feel like it’s constantly yelling at us to change something, fix something, do something more, and more and more… And if you are anything like me, that ever-growing to-do list is impossible. There isn’t enough time in the day or resources available to accomplish all the world yells at me to do.

So what if you had a guiding light on how to decide what things on that ever-growing list, you actually really and truly needed to focus on? What if raising your prices wasn’t actually the solution, but lowering them was? It sounds crazy, right? But thanks to Sam Lopez’s vision for not only how he wants his work to be used in everyday life, but also what he wants his life to look like in the future as an independent maker and educator, he’s been able to make some decisions that, on the surface, could appear completely nonsensical if you are only listening to what the internet is shouting at you.

Guest Details:
Sam Lopez Instagram

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Looking for support in building your own creative life? Come join over 100 other makers from around the world, having these very discussions, inside of The Community. Click here to learn more.

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Love this podcast? Support an episode!
Follow The Maker's Playbook on Instagram @themakersplaybook

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