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I’ve mentioned the need for small business crafters to stay safe on this blog before when I wrote about handling local pickups. Similarly, keeping your personal information (and your customer’s personal information) private while owning a small business is equally important. Here are a few of my tips for keeping your personal information, well, personal!
1) Use a post office box (PO Box) for your business needs. Once you register or incorporate your business, some of your information becomes public records. This includes the address you use for your business. To keep your privacy, you can use a PO Box in most states as your official address. PO Boxes are inexpensive, mine runs about $30 per year. Additionally, use your PO Box for your domain registration, return address on packages, and mailing address for customer returns or customer payments by paper check. If you don’t want to invest in a post office box, consider a virtual mailbox.
2) When creating sample items for sale with identifying information, such as a street address, last name, or other identifying details, make up an address. Or, when sharing completed items online, always remember to blur or cover personal identifying details. You can easily edit photos with your favorite photo editor or download free apps for your smartphone. (My personal favorites are Pic Monkey – free online, Gimp – an open source photo editor, and Blur It Free – from the Apple App Store.)
3) When sharing customer submitted photos, especially those of children, if the person in the photograph can easily be recognized you’ll need to get a photo release form signed. Free photo release forms can be obtained from the American Society of Media Photographers.
Remember, it’s always better to err on the side of caution when putting someone else’s personal information or photos online.
Keep another crafter safe by sharing this on Pinterest:
Since 2015, Christine Schinagl has been helping crafters start and run craft businesses through her blog, Cutting for Business. As a Silhouette and Cricut crafter herself, she has a unique take on what works and what doesn’t work in the craft business world. She also enjoys teaching other crafters how to create digital SVG designs, available through the Design with Me series.
Carolyn
Friday 5th of January 2018
Awesome site. Full of information.
Christine
Friday 5th of January 2018
Thanks for reading it!
Ella
Saturday 1st of July 2017
Hi Christine! I am actually wanting to start my own crafting business and this article has helped but, I am not old enough to have a PO Box... I am also wondering how to get a fake address at my age? Thanks
Christine
Tuesday 4th of July 2017
I'd recommend that your mom or dad get a PO Box on your behalf.
Deidre Layne
Wednesday 1st of July 2015
Thank you so much!! I had actually just heard about Adobe Illustrator yesterday morning but wasn't sure if that would work or if something would be better, and I'd hate to invest so much money in something doesn't work to well for what I need! I'll definitely be checking your blog out from now on, especially in July! I'm so glad your doing a post about websites! I hope you and your family have a wonderful vacation and thank you for answering my questions so quickly :)
Christine
Wednesday 1st of July 2015
My pleasure! While I don't think I'll be covering much of Adobe Illustrator - I'm really a novice user of AI - there are tons of videos and help around the internet.
Deidre Layne
Tuesday 30th of June 2015
Hi! I've been a Pinterest addict for years now, and I've always wanted to make things I've seen on there but haven't been able to until recently. I bought a Cricut Explore a couple months ago when I found it at Wal Mart on sale for $150. I love it and have become addicted to it lol I use it everyday and have to force myself to stop lol!I've seen a lot of things about the Silhouette that really interests me, mainly because it seems to do a lot of things the Cricut can't. Sorry for rambling.. lol my point is that I'm interested in selling things that I make online (in the soon future) but didn't have a clue where to start or anything, so I just want to say that I'm so happy I found your blog! This page will be an enormous help to me!! I just found it, so I haven't had a chance to look through everything yet, but I can't wait!I don't know if there is anything on here about this yet, (if there is I'm sure I'll find it lol) but if not, I was wondering if you could give any tips, or maybe make a new post about good domains to use when making my own blog, and websites/programs I can use to make my own vectors and such? I would really love to be able to make my own stuff instead of buying other peoples. I'd like to be as original as possible and maybe be able to offer freebies to readers. I know about Photoshop, but didn't know what else there is. Thank you so much, and again, I love your blog!
Christine
Tuesday 30th of June 2015
Hi Deidre! Thank you for the compliments and congratulations on your Cricut machine! I'm so glad that you found my blog, too! Your best bet for creating vector graphics is probably Adobe Illustrator. I think you'll be excited to read this blog post about what is coming up on Cutting for Business in July - many of your website questions will likely be answered.
Vicki D
Thursday 18th of June 2015
Great tips, thank you