Positive Yarn

A Groupon offer nudged us into having our ductwork cleaned. After all, we’ve lived in the house 10 years, own two very sheddy pets and don’t dust nearly as much as my mother-in-law thinks we should. Ignoring the data the Environmental Protection Agency puts out saying that the results are more anecdotal than concrete, we took the plunge.

Yesterday, a pair of Sears technicians came to the house around 12:30, a perfectly acceptable time within the “noon to 3″ window we were promised. They did their job professionally for the most part, although I was a little uncomfortable that one decided to use our upstairs master bathroom without asking (we have a guest bath on the first floor). My husband maintains the tech probably did not ask because our office door was closed and he didn’t want to disturb us further.

This morning, Sears sent an email survey.  I have always been partial to this retailer, despite all its bumblings over the years, because I was a Sears Associate from age 17 to 21. In the late 1980s, at least, it had been a great employer for a teenager who liked to spend her days at the mall anyway.

But I have to say I was amused by the way the survey was presented. It had all the standard questions — “Did the technicians conduct themselves professionally,” etc. — but rather than having me choose a response to each question, all the responses were defaulted to “extremely satisfied.” I only had to click a button if I was anything less than amazed, evidently.

I can’t decide whether I like this approach. On one hand, I was giving mostly fives (“extremely satisfied”) anyway, so it was kind of nice to scan the question and know I literally didn’t have to lift a finger. On the other hand (no pun intended), it means that had I missed a question, Sears would still take it as a win — “Ah, she hates us on every level but question No. 6, in which she was extremely satisfied!” In the end, I left the majority of responses as they were and dropped a couple down to fours as I deemed appropriate.

Still, it got me to thinking. I have created my fair share of online surveys for clients over the years, and was unaware that providing a default response was even an option. Maybe I’d better brush up on technique there. Or maybe it’s a shade of gray in ethics that I shouldn’t go near.

Now it’s your turn: In your business surveys, do you have a default response on? Or do you think that brings in some murky ethics? Sound off below or drop me a line at heather at goochandgooch.com.

I’ll be attending the Council of Smaller Enterprises’ annual Small Business Conference later this week, and I just received an email from them titled “Things to Know Before You Go.” I assumed it would include tips for wearing sensible shoes and drinking plenty of water, so imagine my surprise when the first bulleted item in the email was actually this:

• The Brand New Small Business Convention Mobile Application: For the first time ever, the Small Business Convention features a mobile application! Available through either the Apple or Android markets, this app is customized to each individual attendee. Simply visit your marketplace and search for 2012 COSE SBC. Once you have the app, enter the email address you used to sign up for the Convention. Once logged in you’ll have access to your own personal schedule, information on all speakers and workshops, near-me attractions in the Sandusky area, and a GPS enabled “you are here” icon so that you will never get lost.

Naturally, I grabbed my phone and downloaded this free app. It’s pretty cool – everything is pretty much as described in their copy above. 

COSE has sweetened the “download it!” deal by offering $50 gas cards to two lucky attendees who use the app. Of course, another item they slipped in, while you’re presumably still psyched about a new app to play with on your way to Sandusky, OH, is that they are not providing any handout materials this year for their seminars — rather, attendees are instructed to visit a web page to print handouts out on their own time and paper. It’s a bit of an odd cost-cutting (excuse me, “green”) measure to make, but on the other hand I can see at a glance ALL the materials of sessions running concurrently with the ones I’ve signed up for, so in that respect I’m getting bonus info.

I think this is a taste of the future — that eventually, every industry event will have a helpful app and web page to guide attendees through their FAQs, hotel directions, dining options and more. It could be a good thing, but on the other hand, the added frustration of attendees who can’t get it to work or who perhaps just would like to talk to a real person instead of reading through blocks of text on an itty-bitty screen might outweigh the benefits. What do you think, dear readers — have you experienced an event via app already? Or does this all sound like smoke and mirrors? Sound off below or drop me a line at positiveyarn@goochandgooch.com.

Photo credit: slideshow bob on Flickr.

The aptly named Warm n’ Fuzzy yarn shop opened on Aug. 1 in Cary, NC. According to a writeup in the Raleigh News & Observer, owner Rebecca Hart is focusing on the therapeutic and stress-busting aspects of knitting and crochet, as well as a sense of community.

After teaching at a local shop, Hart decided to open her own. As she states on her site, “For many years, I had this crazy idea of running a yarn-café. I pictured people sitting, sipping, stitching, and sharing.”

She has made her idea a reality, selling coffee and baked goods from La Farm, a local bakery. From the photos I’ve seen online, the shop looks gorgeous (I only wish I lived closer!). And judging from the positive response on Warm n’ Fuzzy’s Facebook page, it’s already building a loyal following in its first week of business. I wish her much success.

But I was curious as to whether having food and drink in a retail environment helps or hinders business. My own LYS is situated on a town square where local eatery options are just steps away, so it probably doesn’t make sense for them to offer customers more than a cup of tea or coffee.

Looking at random reviews on Yelp.com, which admittedly is a forum for just as many Grumpy Guses as it is Positive Paulettes, yarn cafes in general are a mixed bag. Some customers are not sure what to make of their local destination (not enough room for yarn selection, not enough food selection, depending on the point of view); others are delighted that theirs offers so much in one space. Nearly all of their happiness levels hinged upon how friendly the staff was. And the ability to have a glass of wine next to your needles seems to be a definite plus!

So, my question to readers today is, have you dabbled in dining options with your shop? What have been the benefits? Have there been drawbacks? Any best practice tips? Please sound off below or email me directly.

The following is a press release from Interweave I received today. Copyright has been the topic of several conversations I’ve been having with colleagues lately, so I’m sure I’ll be revisiting the topic in a future blog post soon. In the meantime, kudos to Interweave for tackling the subject in this manner:

Loveland, Colo., April 27, 2012: Yesterday was World Intellectual Property Day, and Interweave celebrated the day along with the U.S. Copyright Office, American Chamber of Commerce, World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), and others around the world to give credit to the talented writers, designers, artists, photographers, and innovators who work with us to share with readers and customers their products and ideas.

To mark the occasion, Interweave released a new eBook for artists and crafters, Know Your Rights: Copyright 101, to raise awareness for the issues surrounding copyright and the problems with copyright infringement that are currently impacting our industry.

The 10-page eBook is available for free download in each of Interweave’s 10 online communities for artists and crafters:

• Know Your Rights: Copyright 101 for Artists 
• Know Your Rights: Copyright 101 for Knitters
• Know Your Rights: Copyright 101 for Crocheters
• Know Your Rights: Copyright 101 for Spinners
• Know Your Rights: Copyright 101 for Weavers
• Know Your Rights: Copyright 101 for Beaders
• Know Your Rights: Copyright 101 for Jewelry Artists
• Know Your Rights: Copyright 101 for Sewists
• Know Your Rights: Copyright 101 for Art Quilters
• Know Your Rights: Copyright 101 for Mixed Media Artists

“Most people think of pirated movies or music when they hear about copyright violations,” says Eunny Jang, editor of Interweave Knits magazine. “But we answer questions about copyright for crafters, artists, designers, and authors every day—copyright and other intellectual property issues are a big deal in the DIY marketplace, where the “I can do that!” spirit and respect for original, independent design and authorship need to coexist peacefully.”

Questions around copyright can range from simple queries, like “Can I make a copy of a pattern?” (Answer: For your own use, yes; to give to a friend, no) to more complex issues, like “How can I be inspired by other artists without infringing on their intellectual property rights?” (Answer: By executing your vision independently, and asking permission where necessary).

“Ultimately, copyright is about protecting the creative process, ensuring that the creator of a work can benefit from that work,” adds Jang. “Our goal at Interweave is to educate our consumers about what copyright is, and why it matters—and to give authors, artists, and designers everywhere the tools they need to protect their own rights so they can continue to create new works and share them with the public.”

A virtual bouquet goes to Kathryn Sutherland of Cornerstone Yarns, Richfield, OH. Last week, my family went on a Saturday adventure based on me skimming an article for the “Cabin Fever Tour” going on over in the next town. You see, each October our city is fortunate enough to have a Fall Foliage Tour that has oodles of family-friendly activities. We figured this event would be similar.

The operative word, however, is that I skimmed the newspaper article — it turns out the Saturday tour consisted of several local businesses, a couple historical societies and the local library being put on a map and handed out at one of the historical societies. While I think it was a marvelous attempt to get folks to explore the area and buy local, the primary focus on retail wasn’t much fun for the kids. (Still, the day was not lost: The weather was nice enough for us to walk through a nearby park, skip stones and eat ice cream.)

But back to Cornerstone: We had allowed our younger daughter to bring a friend, and while my husband and older daughter took the opportunity to mill about a soldiers memorial with their cameras, I’m certain the two giggly fourth graders trailing behind me as I walked into the shop didn’t exactly inspire confidence for Kathryn! She was a true professional and greeted us heartily.

After looking at the yarns, the girls took a seat on the sofa and began thumbing through the knitting magazines on the coffee table. With a final glance to make sure no trouble could be gotten into, I began to look in earnest for an easy capelet pattern.

Kathryn came over, asked the right questions and offered her expertise. As you may recall, I’m still a beginner when it comes to knitting. I’m only two hats, one scarf and one iPhone cover in. I am not yet counting the two baby blankets I began and set aside…

Her selection was great; her prices were fair, and I was thrilled to learn that she threw in the pattern for free since I bought all the yarn for it. She then proceeded to wind two of my three skeins — just in case I didn’t need to use the third one and wanted to return it. She signed me up for her newsletter, reminded me to stop back in if I had further questions, and sent me on my way with a smile.

I’m glad that Cornerstone signed up to be part of the Tour, because I certainly didn’t expect to wind up at a yarn shop several miles from home last Saturday afternoon. Nor did I expect to actually make the pattern and yarn idea that I’d been kicking around in my head for weeks a reality. But Kathryn’s assistance made all the difference.

I believe it’s important for local businesses to participate in community-wide programs and events, to show customers both old and new why their custom selection and service beats the heck out of any big box store. Case in point: This weekend is our guild’s Needle Arts Show, and one of the local businesses we approached did not participate in sponsorship because the owner feels that none of our members buy from her. This is not true, although I suppose we don’t all announce at her register, “Hi, I’m a guild member and I sure hope you sponsor our needlework show next year!” Maybe we should.

With that in mind, it’s your turn: Do you find it beneficial to add your name to the roster the next time local officials come around with a community-wide event idea?  Or am I off-base here: Has your experience been that it’s extra effort for no benefit? Sound off below or drop me a line at positiveyarn@goochandgooch.com.

If you have an idea for a large-scale project, but don’t know where to get funding, check out Kickstarter. It’s an online funding platform that lets users describe their project, set funding goals and pledge rewards, and then watch as the fund tallies rise. There’s no smoke and mirrors here: From your pledge, Kickstarter takes 5% of the funds, while Amazon Payments (the only way to make the pledges) takes between 3% and 5% to process the transactions. That said, if the fund-raising goal is not met by its agreed-upon date, there are no charges taken.

According to a post written by my distinguished colleague (and husband) here for an engineering blog, “Kickstarter has brought 13,000 projects off the drawing board and into production. Maybe yours could be next.” Neither of us have any ties to Kickstarter or to any of the projects on its site, so please don’t think I’m trying to sell you on it. I’m just personally fascinated by many of the projects there, which include:

• Gaia Yarn, a hand-dyed yarn business in development whose owner, Megan Kiehna, is trying to cover the costs of her first yarn base purchase, packaging materials, initial webhosting fees and business start-up legal fees. A $5 pledge gets you a handwritten thank-you note; a $100 pledge (and yes, there are levels in-between) nets you two full skeins of yarn. At press time, she has five backers, who have pledged a total of $240; she has 21 days to go to reach her $750 goal.
• A Kickstarter project that more than doubled its $2,000 goal, thanks to 85 backers pledging $4,830 belongs to the Ladies of Mischief, a group that wanted to publish a book “featuring the work of numerous knitwear designers, costume designers, writers, photographers, illustrators, and independent yarn and fiber artisans. Our goal is to use our talents and skills to publish a book unlike any currently available.”
• Obviously, there are many non-craft related projects as well. There’s a rather high-profile one by Sam Nelson, who has access to hours and hours of recently unearthed interview footage of his famous grandparents, Ozzie and Harriett Nelson (he’s Rick’s son). He is planning to restore the footage and turn it into a documentary — and has received plenty of support in his Kickstarter quest.
• A friend of ours was on the site recently and became taken with an iPad stylus design he found as one of the projects (he’s the reason why we even know of the site). For a $15 pledge, he received one for free. His figuring was, “I’d pay at least $15 for that at the store, so why not?” As you can see here, approximately 4,974 other pledgers were similarly minded.

The site seems to be a win-win, no matter whether you’re looking to pay it forward as a businessperson who wants to see someone also succeed at his or her dream, or you’re the one with the dream looking for both backers and exposure. I’m only bummed I didn’t know about it when I went through publishing my own book this year!

So, now it’s your turn: Have you done anything on Kickstarter, or used a similar platform to either become a small-scale project backer or get funding for your pet project? I want to know, and feature you, too! Sound off below or email me at positiveyarn@goochandgooch.com.

I recently had the stomach knot-inducing experience of having a credit card company tell me that because “one of its partners had been hacked,” there was this teensy-tiny chance that some of the purchases recently made on my card weren’t mine.

Turns out, they weren’t.

The purchases weren’t extravagant; I think perhaps the users were still testing the waters at the time of getting caught. For its part, the card company waived those charges. Nonetheless, it was irksome to have to figure out which vendors had my old account on file so I could update them with new. Bonus gripe: I was unable to use my card for about four days until a new one arrived in my mailbox.

My credit card provider is a huge company, but as the Wall Street Journal recently pointed out in its blog, the nightmare of hacking can also happen to small businesses directly. In a related post, the WSJ offers the following steps to protect your business from hacking (I’m paraphrasing below, so I encourage you to read the original post):

1. Train employees to not open email attachments or share documents with people they do not know.

1. Create a response plan, including such things as your lawyer’s contact information and what you’re potentially going to tell customers. Hopefully, it becomes a document that you’ll never use, but having it on hand gives you at least a basic plan of action… which can go a long way to calming the chaos.

1. Buy breach insurance. It becomes all the more worth looking into when you consider, as the article states, “the average U.S. breach costs companies $214 per compromised record.”

So, now it’s your turn: How are you keeping your credit card accounts (and those of your customers) safe from hackers? Sound off below or drop me a line at positiveyarn@goochandgooch.com.

Near-field communication, or NFC, is technology that lets two devices close to each other exchange simple transactions or data. While it has the potential to be used for a variety of things, one big focus currently is to make instant payments at retail outlets. Many smartphones these days feature a NFC chip, so that when you go near a register with a special card reader, you can just wave the phone, put in your PIN password and pay without cracking open your wallet. There’s two-way ability, so the shop could conceivably send coupons or special offers back to your phone.

A recent column in ComputerWorld describes the Google Wallet app, which is the first-to-market NFC payment system in the United States. It only uses the Nexus S 4G with Android, Sprint and MasterCard — but eventually that will change. (An article here notes that “Google will be getting around this by offering a NFC sticker that can be placed on the back of a phone, and when swiped or tapped at a NFC pay point, it will communicate via the cloud with your Android mobile phone.”) Give it a chance; it just officially launched Sept. 19!

“We in the U.S. must seem like dinosaurs to the South Koreans and Japanese, who for years have used NFC-ready smartphones to pay transit fares and make quick purchases at drugstores and newsstands,” says author Matt Hamblen.

“Cynics have said that NFC smartphones are no better than NFC-based smartcards, which can be used at the same payment terminals to pay for purchases via credit or debit card accounts,” Hamblen says. “But smartcards are one-way tools — shoppers can only use them to make payments — while smartphones will also be able to receive special offers (which will be based on users’ shopping histories and current locations). If retailers do start to send coupons and otherwise offer special deals to people who pay with their smartphones, demand for NFC-ready devices could jump.”

Ramon Ray agrees, in his article on BusinessInsider.com that asks, “Is your retail store ready for smartphone payments?”

It’s my question to you, as well. Are you going to be an early adopter in your shop, or are you waiting until it proves itself in the coffee shops, fast food chains and drugstores for a while longer? I want to know! Sound off below or drop me a line at positiveyarn@goochandgooch.com.

I was recently at an event where an older friend of mine, who uses a walker but is otherwise both spry and independent, excused herself to use the ladies room. Another friend noticed some time had passed since she had left, and went to check on her.

We soon learned she had fallen in the handicapped stall, which had both a toilet seat with a broken hinge, slipping around underneath her as she struggled to get her balance, and an improperly installed railing, which did her no good as she went from seat to floor.

The venue we were at was a fairly modern building, but these two oversights created a nightmare for her. Luckily, she was not seriously hurt.

It got me to thinking about things we take for granted — like the state of a public restroom. Check out these three great blog links on the subject of retail design for an aging population:

• Retail-display-stands.blogspot.com/2011/06/many-store-displays-going-senior.html
• WFDD.org/nprnewsstory.php/In-An-Aging-Nation-Making-Stores-Senior-Friendly/storyid135773106/topicid1091
• CBSnews.com/stories/2011/03/06/sunday/main20039772.shtml

The last one, a video piece from CBS Sunday Morning, was particularly interesting to watch as 63-year-old Rita Braver donned a special “aging” suit to make her reflexes slower, her sight weaker, etc., as she would be at 75. She then attempted to put groceries into a shopping cart.

It’s not pretty.

As the first Baby Boomers turn 65 this year, with seemingly no intention of slowing down, it may be time to take a look at your shop through an older person’s eyes.

Are your aisles wide? Your lighting bright? Your signage easy to read?

How steep are the steps outside? Is parking a maze from their car to your door? Is your door too heavy to pull open with older hands?

Last but not least, in what shape is your shop’s bathroom? Is it a possible liability?

OK, so maybe not last … as always, my question is about what your experience has been, and your opinion on the subject. Sound off below or email me at positiveyarn@goochandgooch.com.