About
Illustration by Ken Clubb
I have long wanted a special website just for crafters and other creative people and now, thanks to my dear friend and business pal on the Web– Promo Diva® Traci Vanover–I have it.
My profound thanks and gratitude to her for designing this site and my Web header to my specifications and then doing the initial setup for me with all the “bells and whistles” I might never have had the time or inclination to learn how to do myself. After she gave me a “crash course” by phone on how to manage categories and posts and then add content, I was quickly up and running and having a lot of fun in the process. If you need help in setting up a blog, or converting your existing website into a blog site you can easily manage yourself, you won’t find a more creative, caring, or knowledgeable business person than Traci to work with.
About the Links on this Site
For your convenience, this site will eventually abound with links to many other Web sites, as tag lines in my articles or posts, in articles by guest writers, and in the form of helpful resource lists. Such links are for your information only, and do not imply a direct endorsement or affiliation with the business being linked to. Unless expressly stated, I do not personally endorse or guarantee satisfaction with any products or services other than my own.
About Article Categories
Most category titles are self-explanatory, but these need a little introduction:
* Best of Artisan Crafts
Here, I’ll be taking you back to my early days as a magazine publisher in 1971 when my husband Harry and I launched Artisan Crafts magazine for art/craft sellers and shop and gallery owners. This department will feature some of the most interesting and still timely content from the magazine and illustrate how artisans and craftspeople of that day felt about their work and the crafts industry. I’m sure many creative people today will relate to these earlier counterparts. Artisan Crafts survived until 1976, at which time Harry and I declared it a “literary success but a financial flop.” If not for that magazine experience, however, all that I learned about myself and my abilities in the process, plus all the people in the crafts industry I met during that period who helped me up the ladder of success, I would not have written my first book or be here on the Web today.
* Success Stories
Here I will be profiling some of the creative people that have been featured in my books, with an update about what they’re doing now. If one of my books has helped you to start or grow an art or crafts-related business, please share your story with me. I’d love to showcase you in this department and enable people to communicate with you.
About Illustrations on this Site
Illustrations by Ken Clubb are from Crafts magazine; used with permission of PJS Publications Inc., a K-III Communications Company. Copyright © 1987-1996 Crafts magazine.
NOTE: My “Selling What You Make” column (later renamed “Profits”) ran in Crafts magazine for twenty years. After it was renamed Profits, original illustrations by Ken Clubb added new excitement to the column and, later, to the pages of my Handmade for Profit book. Now I’m delighted to have been given permission to share some of Ken’s colorful illustrations on this site.
About Barbara’s Books
Barbara is the author of eight home business books, two self-published titles no longer in print, and six trade books available in libraries and online bookstores. For detailed content information, Table of Contents, and reader/media reviews for each title, click the following links to each book’s pages on Barbara Brabec’s World:
Handmade for Profit–Hundreds of Secrets to Selling Arts & Crafts (2nd edition, M. Evans 2002). Details
The Crafts Business Answer Book–Starting, Marketing, and Managing a Homebased Art, Crafts, or Design Business (2nd edition, M. Evans, 2006). Details
Make it Profitable–How to Make Your Art, Craft, Design, Writing, or Publishing Business More Efficient, More Satisfying, and More Profitable (M. Evans, 2000). Details
Creative Cash–How to Profit from Your Special Artistry, Creativity, Hand Skills and Related Know-How (6th edition, Prima Publishing, 1998; first published in 1981, now with more than 110,000 copies in print). Details
Homemade Money: First published in 1984, this book was published by different publishers through the years, enjoying sales of more than 128,000 copies in print as it went into its sixth life as a “dynamic duo.” Details
Homemade Money–Starting Smart–How to Turn Your Talents, Experience and Know-how into a Profitable Homebased Business That’s Perfect for You (M. Evans, 2003)
Homemade Money: Bringing in the Bucks–A Business Management and Marketing Bible for Home Business Owners, Self-Employed Individuals and Web Entrepreneurs Working from Home Base (M. Evans, 2003)
Barbara Brabec . . .
“. . . is the best resource for crafters’ questions regarding all aspects of the crafts industry. ” – Crafts ‘n Things magazine
“ . . . is America’s bona fide craft business guru.” – Booklist
“. . . knows more about how to run a successful home-based business than anyone in the nation.” – Alan Caruba, Bookviews
“. . . speaks from a lifetime of experience. She has weathered the storms and knows what it takes to create a business that has longevity.” – Barbara Winter, Winning Ways News
