DIY Business Association

  By Meghan Keedy Saya Hillman throws a great party. And while her guests are drawn to the familiar promise of food and fun, they also come for the adventure. Think of them as a mixer, with a twist of lime. Under the moniker of Mac ‘n Cheese Productions, the Chicago-based company serves up anything but [...]

DIY BUSINESS OF THE WEEK (3/11/13): Contributor Eleanor Whitney wrote Grow: How to Take Your Do It Yourself Project and Passion to the Next Level and Quit Your Job! and is here to share her tips on how crowd-funding the community is an awesome way to make your creative dreams monetarily viable and also spread a lot of love.

15 MINUTES OF DAME #16: We live in a world overflowing with content and products and services. If you try to target the masses, you can’t. There are too many of them, and they have too many choices. You will get lost or ignored.

Though it’s impossible to list out an unequivocal way to experience flow, learning a new skill—like coding—can be an avenue to experiencing flow and, therefore, a path to happiness.

DIY BUSINESS OF THE WEEK (2/18/13): Designers Kyle Van Horn and Kim Bentley opened up a studio which made pricey letterpress and screen printing materials accessible to DIYers. They didn’t expect a sharing-centric business to help them focus and provide perks for their own work, too.

15 MINUTES OF DAME #15: 7 kick-ass tips for curating content for a niche community.

DIY BUSINESS OF THE WEEK (2.11.13): Determined to scale their baked-good business, Chicago’s Bang Bang Pie Company endured two years of “underground” food-trucking, Kickstarting and strategizing. The result? Their storefront will soon celebrate its one-year anniversary.

DIY BUSINESS OF THE WEEK (2/4/13): Caroline Mak and Antonio Ramos started Brooklyn Soda Works in 2010 and have been growing ever since. Both are now full-time and they’ve even brought on three regular employees. They’re also a couple and live together. Mak explains how to keep the business thriving and the love alive, even when it’s the busy season and only get Monday afternoons off each week.

15 MINUTES OF DAME (1/30/13): You’re probably already on Facebook and Twitter, and maybe not even sure why you’re there. Now you’ve wondering if you should now add Tumblr to your social media suite? The answer is yes if it makes sense, and no if it doesn’t. (That was super helpful, wasn’t it?)

DIY BUSINESS OF THE WEEK (1/28/13): Vanessa and Dan Lurie started their vintage and handmade fashion emporium Wanderlust in a trailer, in 2010. Last year, they opened a brick-and-mortar in Portland, Oregon with confidence, experience and a loyal following. Vanessa explains why sizing up at the right time makes all the difference.