Copycat Crafters - 5 steps to protecting your work

As a crafter you spend hours dedicated to making beautiful unique items. So finding out that someone else has stolen your idea can be heartbreaking.

on the 1st of October 2014 the Intellectual Property Act 2014 came into force. This means that it is now a criminal offence to intentionally copy a registered design.

In today's world of Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram It's difficult to protect your ideas, but there are ways that you can reduce the chances of someone poaching your intellectual property (IP).


First lets talk a little about Intellectual property rights.

It is possible to own the intellectual property of;

• something you have designed.
• something you have invented.
• the name of your product or a brand.
• something you have written or produced.

Step 1 - Protect your name and logo

Your brand is possibly the single most important part of your business. It encompasses the combined reputation, standard and quality of your enterprise. The last thing you want is to find out that someone has been riding on the coat tails of your brands success by imitating it.

You can search to find out if your business name is available to register as a trade mark and apply HERE. 

Step 2 - Protect your designs

These are classed as "design rights" and automatically protect your 3D designs from 10 years after they were first sold or 15 years after they were created. 

if your design is 2D, for example a fabric or wallpaper then you MUST register them to be protected. 

You can register your 2D designs HERE.

Step 3 - Protect your images

I have written a much more detailed article regarding how to protect your images HERE. 

Step 4 - Protect your data.

This may not seem that important. But remember that all of your product research, images, passwords and written content is most likely saved on your computer.

80% of cyber attacks could have been avoided by taking steps such as updating anti-virus software. IPO, IP Basics 2016

To protect your designs you must first protect your computer.

Step 5 - What to do when you find someone using any of your IP

If someone is using your IP on Facebook

If they are selling through a group then report the post to the group admins and to Facebook. 

You can do this by clicking the downward facing arrow to the top right of the post and selecting "Report Post".

If they keep using your IP than you can escalate the issue to Facebook directly HERE.

If someone is using your IP on Etsy

Report IP infringement to Etsy HERE. 

If someone is using your IP on their own website

It is much more difficult to implement an IP notice on a website. This is because website hosing providers are not held responsible for the content held within the sites that they host. You can try to report infringement to Wordpress etc, but as they are not legally liable it is unlikely that they will do anything about it.

In this instance the only option you have is to contact the website owner yourself. Often the site owner has no idea that they are infringing copyright, and will be more than happy to credit any images that belong to you. 

If they refuse then you can enlist the help of a copy righter or a solicitor that has experience if working with IP infringement.

If someone is using your IP on Instagram

I have found a great article over on the Me & Orla blog all about what to do in the event of Instagram IP infringement.

Read it HERE.

For more information on where you can go to register your designs, click HERE.

What does your brand say about you (and your Squirmlets) behind your back?

Victoria Reece-Heal from DHBS Marketing is here to help us understand how a little brand awareness can help improve your business image within the marketplace.

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You’re creative, so crafting a fantastic brand should be a doddle (or is that a doodle).

Wrong.

Your wonderful creations are a personal testament to your creative ability and your passion. You spend hours carefully stitching detail, moulding intricacies and blending colours. This is about what you want to do and what you want to sell. However, your brand isn’t about you, or even totally about your amazing creations... it’s about your customers and what they want and like.

To show you what I mean, let’s go back to the birth of your creations...

Introducing Squirmlets.

One day you have this wonderful idea and you turn that idea in to (for the purposes of this blog) a ‘Squirmlet’. Now this Squirmlet is soft and squishy and adorably cute. They come in a range of colours and there are ten different characters to collect, each with their own personalised poem about their individual likes and dislikes. Fantastic idea and absolutely perfect for primary school aged children to collect.

So how is a brand going talk about your Squirmlets behind your back?

Well, your brand is how your Squirmlets (and your business) are perceived by others, and most importantly by your target audience (i.e. those mums, dads, aunties, grannies, etc of primary school children, as well as the kids themselves). Your brand literally speaks to your customers, telling them what to expect from you (quick delivery and quality craftsmanship) and your Squirmlets (hours of fun and swapsies with friends).

So how does your brand do this?

• Through the words and pictures on your flyers and adverts;
• By the quality of your Squirmlets and how you package and present them;
• With your Squirmlet (and non-Squirmlet)posts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest;  
• Through your Etsy descriptions, images and price-points;
• By how your Squirmlet website and online shop look and how easy they are to navigate and purchase from...

Everything that is seen by those mums, dads, kids, etc. is your brand and each one of those elements will create an impression about you and your Squirmlets. So you need to be sure you are creating the right impressions.

So what impression are you creating right now?

• Is it an honest and representative impression?
• Is it the right impression?
• Is it an impression that will interest and entice your customers?

Here’s how to craft a brand that will say the right things (up-front or behind your back!)

1. Define your best (and actual) customers. You need to know exactly who your target market is in order to understand the best way to promote to them, with right images, best words and most suitable methods that will grab their attention.
2. Know your competition and define how/why you are different. What makes you stand out, and what sets you apart from others offering similar products/services, is what will make customers come to you. Shout about what makes you (and your Squirmlets) special and unique.
3. Create the right logo. A single image can convey numerous messages, and these messages are providing your potential customers with their first impressions of your product/service. Creating a first impression only happens once and creating the right impression is vital.
4. Set the right tone. People don’t always remember the words and images you use, but they will remember the impression and the feelings they created. So how you say things is just as important as what you are saying. The right words delivered in the right way can influence your customers and persuade them to choose you
5. Define your message. Strong, clear and consistent messages are needed across all your promotional and sales activities, in order to sell yourself to your customers... to get their attention and guide their actions.
6. Be consistent. Make sure your customers recognise YOU instantly on your website, your Facebook page, your Etsy page, your Eshots, your craft fair signs, etc. So that means the same use of colours, imagery and messages in the same way across everything.

And one final thought for you...

Does your brand whisper sweet reminders when you deliver your products... a branded gift tag, a logo’d sticker on the packaging, a leaflet about your product range inside the package?

Or does your brand sneer and say ‘you can’t find me’ as it hides on a plain white carrier bag, a blank Facebook cover, or a missing strap line?

Blog post by Victoria Reece-Heal, who helps small businesses get new customers. Check out her blog for more marketing know-how and advice:

http://dhbsmarketing.blogspot.co.uk/

What a load of Blog! How blogging can help your business identity.

Newsflash! Tesco is blogging about 5 things you can do with a pineapple......

OK I'm not sure if they actually are, but its the sort of thing that they would blog about.

In today's social media culture, nothing is private. Your savvy customers want to know everything about your business so they can make an informed choice about who you are, and if they want to do business with you. 

And that's a good thing! 

A customer that is engaged with your story and your brand is far more likely to buy from you, and more importantly keep buying from you. 

Blogging is about strengthening your businesses identity. Creating and sharing content that promotes your businesses core values instils interest in your customers and helps them to trust you. This makes them want to buy from you, because they feel that they know you better than they do your competitors.

Blogging is the human face on the mechanical business machine.

I'm not saying that your business is a faceless robot. But if your looking to have hundreds or thousands of customers that could be spread all across the globe, It's difficult for them to really "know you" unless you help them out a little. 

But your blog doesn't need to sound like a teenagers diary entry.

"Dear diary, today I made a sale *happy dance*"

Blogging needs to set the tone of your business. The blog of a legal firm will sound very different to that of a sweet shop. Imagine you are talking to your customers sitting in front of you. What sort of language would you use? How formal would you sound? Is the tone conversational? Frank and to the point? Chatty?


What will it cost you?

Quite often, nothing.

If you have a website already then you probably have everything already in place to start blogging. You may want to add a page to your website that you can keep updated and use as a blog. Alternatively you can use a free or very cheap blogging platform and link it to your site.

These are two of the most popular free blogging sites;

Wordpress.com

Wordpress is so simple to use! 
You can create a very professional blog in literally minutes. It looks great, but it costs.  The most basic packages are available for a minimum of £2.50 per month but these are so basic that I'm not sure that you would find them much use for business purposes. 

Their business package means that you can use your own domain name, remove the word "Wordpress" that would otherwise be plastered all over your blog as well as a host of other benefits. 
But with prices starting at £20.83 per month, (that's a whopping £249.46 a year) you need be sure that your blog is going to be earning you some revenue before you leap in. 

You can get a free website or blog through Wordpress. But if you are serious about blogging then I would recommend upgrading to one of the more professional packages.

If you want to monetise your blog or use it as a store/shopping platform for your product then it's great.

Blogger.com

This is hosted by Google. The advantages to this are that you blog will be fully integrated into your google profile, making sharing your content and getting it seen easy peasy. Blogger also includes Google analytics free. So if you like to know where your audience is coming from and what they are looking at, then this is the one for you.

Blogger is compatible with Google Ad-sence, so making money from having ads on your page is as easy as clicking a button.

It is also absolutely free. 

The downside it that it is not as user friendly as Wordpress. It's also quite complicated to try to set it up as a shop.

How often do you need to blog?

This entirely depends on your audience. You want to keep your content fresh so that your readers have something new to interest them each time they visit. 
Popular blogs with 10,000 readers a day need to update their content every few hours but that's because they have a huge reader base to be kept entertained. 
Blog as often as you think your readers will visit, whether that be once a week or once a month.

What content should you put into your blog?

Content needs to be;

Honest

Part of the reason why you are writing a blog is so that potential customers can get to know and trust you. If you value your businesses integrity (and I'm sure you do) then you will only write about what you know to be factually correct. Giving your opinion is fine so long as you make it clear that's what it is, and so long as that opinion fits into your brand. If in doubt, leave it out.

Interesting

If what your writing is boring, your customers won't read it. If what you are writing about is fundamentally boring (tax legislation for example) then use interesting language and try throwing in a few info-graphics to liven it up a bit.

Relevant

If your business is a bouncy castle rental in Croydon, don't blog about the political situation in Cuba. Leave that for your own Facebook page.
Do however blog about the largest bouncy castle ever made, or link to an article about throwing the best ever kids birthday party (just make sure it recommends bouncy castles).

Helpful

Your customers want to be better informed about your business, so inform them! 
Write an article on how your product has helped someone live a better life. Or how your service has helped someone save a ton of money. Your blog is about promoting YOUR business.

Shareable 

Shareable content is like the philosophers stone. One article that hits the right note with your readers can be shared countless times, propelling your business ahead of your competitors. There is no real formula to what makes something go "viral". 
New, innovative content that makes people go "wow, I haven't seen that before! everyone I know needs to see this!" is what makes people press that magic "share" button.