About CustomMade

CustomMade is an online matchmaker connecting Buyers who want one-of-a-kind Creations with professional and passionate Makers.

A Simple Tutorial on Using Google Docs to Collaborate & Get Organized

Posted by Marcie in For Makers, The Pro Shop on January 16, 2012

An informative  article written by CustomMade guest blogger Doug Turner of Turner Custom Furniture. Doug is a very talented woodworker as-well- as a savvy businessman. Doug likes to share his business and marketing tips with other craftspeople in order to help them run efficient, successful businesses.

Think of Google Docs as an online version of Microsoft [...]

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The Bespoke Controversy

Posted by Pedro in For Makers, The Pro Shop on January 9, 2012

What’s in a word?

Take the term, “bespoke,” (more commonly used in the UK than in the US) and substitute it with the phrase, “made-to-measure.”

In 2008, a complaint was filed in the UK with the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) against Sartoriani, a shop that advertised their suits as “bespoke,” a term previously used by [...]

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Meditations of a Woodworker – Stewards of the Past, Present and Future

Posted by Marcie in For Makers, The Pro Shop on January 2, 2012

Guest contributor CustomMade woodoworker Patrick Kennedy of Superior Woodcraft, Inc.

I often sit in my 1760 farmhouse daydreaming about how craftsmen created the home’s hand-hewn beams, posts, pegs and wide plank floors and doors.  I think about the hard work required to fell the trees and shape the wood into useable, structural, materials which [...]

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Preserving the Architectural Past in the Internet Age

Posted by Pedro in For Makers, The Pro Shop on December 26, 2011

The distressed look is a wonderful way for a new piece of custom furniture to gain the appearance and character of an old heirloom piece, but when the item is actually made from salvaged antique elements, the furniture doesn’t just look the part; it is a part of the past.  Take this rustic table with [...]

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A Marketing & Business Model Checkup, Part 2: Your Business Model Clean-Up Checklist

Posted by Marcie in For Makers, The Pro Shop on December 21, 2011

This is the second part of a two part article written by CustomMade guest blogger Doug Turner of Turner Custom Furniture. Doug brings marketing tips to woodworkers through his own experience of running a successful, profitable custom furniture business in Atlanta, GA.

Part 2:  Your Business Model Clean-Up Checklist

In the second half [...]

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A Marketing & Business Model Checkup, Part 1: Your Marketing Clean-Up Checklist

Posted by Marcie in For Makers, The Pro Shop on December 19, 2011

The following article is written by CustomMade guest blogger Doug Turner of Turner Custom Furniture. Doug shares insightful and useful marketing tools for woodworkers looking to showcase themselves and their work in order to educate consumers about custom and increase productivity.

This article will be presented in two parts.

Part 1: Your Marketing Clean-up Checklist

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The Dolls of Japan Are Not Just Child’s Play

Posted by Pedro in For Customers, For Makers, The Wide World of Custom Making on December 18, 2011

What do you get for the man who has everything?

How about a doll?  An inanimate doll.  Ok, let’s try again.

You have a wide range of choices for the grown-up boy such as action figures, models, toy soldiers, and miniatures.  But there is a stigma attached to men playing with dolls … or collecting, [...]

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Meditation and Business

Posted by Pedro in For Makers, The Pro Shop on December 12, 2011

Meditation is frequently considered an inwardly turned spiritual discipline.  How can it apply to a very people-centered business like design/build remodeling? John Happel, owner and operator of H&H Builders LLC, addresses this question in his article, “How to Use Meditation to Grow Your Business,” for the University of the Heart, Institute for Applied Meditation website.

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Art to Lunch: Japanese Character Bento

Posted by Pedro in For Customers, For Makers, The Wide World of Custom Making on December 11, 2011

What’s the coolest thing you’ve ever found in your lunch box? Pudding? Fruit cup? Candy?

How about Indiana Jones?

Beyond the artistry of food preparation itself, we’ve all seen art made from the medium of food, from cookies and cakes created in special shapes or decorated for particular themes to sculptures and mixed media creations [...]

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Dale Carnegie in the Digital Age: “There is No Such Thing as a Neutral Exchange.”

Posted by Pedro in For Makers, The Pro Shop on December 5, 2011

Social media has been a recurring topic on our blog.  We’ve recently focused on the ideas of Reggie Bradford and Joe Pine and their exhortations that businesses should go boldly into that new frontier: the virtual world of friends, comments, and likes.  What are the keys to making the most of social media marketing, according [...]

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