Australian Business Directories are a proven way to get your business found online. It's increasingly important to position your business as a leader in it's niche. That's why a relevant, human edited Business Directory listing can make all the difference.
Australian Business Directory
We have a list of new directories for 2019.
Australian Yoga Directory - features Yoga Studios, Yoga Teachers, Yoga Training, Yoga Retreats, Yoga Supplies and Yoga Accessories.
Australian Tattoo Directory - features everything to do with Tattooing and Ink - from Studios to Artists to removal and skincare.
Australian Pet Directory - Finding the right Pwet Accessories for your Cat, Dog, Bird, Fish or Exotic Pet can be tricky! Not any longer with the Australian Pet Directory!
Oz Baby Directory - When you have a small child, any extra help is appreciated - that's why we are happy to share the Australian Baby Directory with you!
Crystal Directory is a global store featuring the best of Healing Crystals from around the globe.
We hope you enjoy our new sites and you're welcome to apply for membership!
Your mind can be your best friend or your worst enemy as any sufferer of anxiety, excessive worry or depression can attest.
Meditation and mindfulness are a way to quieten the inner workings of your mind. When you ave achieved a level of inner peace, it is simple to take that presence and use it constructively in other situations.
Wellness Meditation
When you are upset or out of alignment with your usual self, having the inner skills to reset and refocus yourself is a great skill.
Luckily, the answer lies in meditation - and we have the tools for meditation with us everyday, all the time. What a bonus!
Meditation can help us access a deep inner knowledge, make more conscious decisions and live with greater wellness on all levels. Think of your mind as a lake and your thoughts as waves that wash across the lake - not changing it, but just moving through it.
I've started a new project these last few months, and it is entirely in keeping with the handmade local and artisan niche we have been cultivating here at Merewether Life. It's a brilliant lifestyle, working with people who are following their passion and making a difference in their own communities and actually getting to meet the stallholders in their element.
I've had some good times travelling around markets in New South Wales and meeting the people behind the brands and having them reveal the story that is behind their successful markets stall.
Here's an excerpt from Find Handmade - an New Australian feature designed to inspire and promote those working handmade artisans but also others who are considering taking the leap into starting their own business.
Here's just a glimpse of what I have learned by talking with literally dozens of stallholders selling their handmade wares at the markets.
I meet handmade artisans every week and we get talking about what they are up to and where they want to be.
And every now and then, a stallholder will tell me she doesn’t want to
know anything about growing her digital profile or being more effective
at selling online.
And I can see where she is coming from – who wants to climb the online digital mountain when you’ve already come so far? |
You’ve moved away from your boring career job, you’ve got a loyal core
of customers, and you are managing the practicalities of producing
handmade – now I have to do the whole online thing?
The key moment I am working with some stallholders is when they choose to make the step into online sales and turn their hobby into a thriving online business. If you would like assistance or help following this path, you can read more here.
Read feature interviews with
inspiring individuals who work as
#handmade #artisans.
Toby and Rosie
Here's an excerpt from the interview with two Sydney based markets stallholders...
Toby, proudly calling himself a hippie at heart, initially made a body
butter and as is often the case – it was soon sought out by family and
friends and before long he was making larger batch sizes to meet
demand. Combining this with a love of natural, authentic ingredients
and Toby and Rosie was born – not before meeting Rosie in her native
Guatemala and launching back in Sydney.
Charlie Middleton is a successful brand of handmade artisan leather goods...
Like many others I meet at find handmade, Ben’s journey to his current
position began in a different niche. And again, his journey to being a
successful stallholder began with a humble start up selling handmade
t-shirts, hoodies and jackets. All handmade, with handmade printing.
Then, a chance exposure to a three hour leather working course turned
Ben’s attention to leather – and he began producing hard wearing belts
for friends and more as word spread.
Charlie Middleton is an international brand with a solid reputation based on Ben's attention to detail and committed work ethic - you can read the full story here.
Milly Molly Mandy
Milly Molly Mandy is a delightful concept impeccably managed by handmade artisan Shannon who finds the time to balance her work with a pretty full family lifestyle.
The products at Milly Molly Mandy are all designed, cut and handmade by
Shannon and you can sense the real innocence in the eyes of the soft
toys – something that engages with customers instantly. The stall layout
is relaxed and inviting, with soft tones and products displayed like
they are arranged in a child’s bedroom. I could feel the quality of the
fabric and the balance of the stuffing – and it is no accident that
these toys are sold as heirloom quality.
You can read all about Milly Molly Mandy and how Shannon has built for herself a niche with wide online exposure in find hand made.
I will be posting regular updates as things evolve and would love to have you along for the ride! Good luck and see you next time!
This year, the event was alongside the Honeysuckle precinct and there was a definite gourmet edge to the stalls - we missed the little pancakes on a skewer - and trying to get a cool non-alcoholic drink was simply not possible.
That said there was a stunning parade of bamboo and tissue paper marine creatures - held aloft by a dozens of primary school children.
Is worth visiting every year and we were very grateful for the lady handing out free glowsticks.
Also, on asking a man where he bought the flashing halo head piece, he said there weren't any left, and then gave us his!
So we were once again impressed with the good nature of the people of Newcastle.
Here are the new chickens - some fourteen week old pullets I bought off a lovely lady at the Maitland Wyandotte Show last weekend. They are settling in nicely with the established flock and will soon be free ranging with the rest. Oh, and you pronounce it Why-an-dot.
The Wyandotte Show was my first real chicken show and it was crowded with chicken fanatics from across the state. We saw some impressive roosters (the noise was unbelievable!) and many lovely variations on the typical Wyandotte form.
I learned that the fluff of feathers at the bottom of the Wyandotte is called the cushion - and it is particularly pronounced in this type as well.
Here is an update on the growth of the backyard - the tree ferns are thriving and the red cedars are getting established too. I have not watered for months but will start now in preparation for the spring as the drying winds of August make for slow growing weather.
Here is another image of just how thick the tree ferns are getting with regular cow manure, chemical all-purpose fertilizer and deep watering. Oh, and the little garden fairy is growing well too on a diet of freshly laid warm eggs and plenty of cuddles!
This is the view from our bedroom verandah, looking East. I have planted tree ferns right up against the verandah and in the fifth year they are thick and thriving.
The bedroom verandah again, this time looking out over the mist. See the smooth gums that provide the tall cover for the garden, a dappled light that is not too harsh in the middle of summer.
The lomandra longifolia I planted to out compete the weeds. This is the steepest part of the property and instead of a formal terrace arrangement (which is too much work and too much money) the grasses will thicken and act as a natural soil holder. The thick cover of mulch is from the trees above. You can see the stumps of some dead trees i cut down and other stumps of noxious weed trees.
Looking southwest, you can see all the ferns in place - note how the southerly aspect makes for a naturally protected and damp micro-climate, this is ideal for the ferns. Plus, there is something rich and timeless about tree ferns - they are lush ad soft and vibrant green when so may other Australian native plants are dull greys and olives.
Looking south, you can see where the 'garden' ends and the bush reserve starts. I have made steady progress taking out the lantana and bitou bush, although it is a frustratingly slow process doing it alone. I hope that once the tree ferns are established for a decade or so they will be the understory, with us walking amongst them like umbrellas over our heads.
This is a boulder! Duh! The backyard is littered with boulders like this, made from a conglomerate of sandstone and green with moss and lichen. The chickens have made great progress eating their way through the weeds so that the rocks are now visible - it wasn't long ago that they were more like big lumps of green.
This is the mulch we are planting in. You can see that it is loose and airy and made of big pieces of organic material. Over time it breaks down especially when layered with chicken manure.
Here is the top of the cliff, the fall is about five meters. The rocks make a distinct line between the house and the top garden and the bottom fern garden. The chickens do not come up past the rock cliff, which is great because many chicken owners have to deal with walking the poo through their house.
Antartic tree ferns - these were slow to get started as bare trunks, especially in the middle of a drought, but they have thickened up nicely. I just hope the chickens aren't too fastidious around the base because they might fall over.
I love Kentia Palms, they are almost mathematical in their structure and once established look like they have been there for ages. Here is a detail of a new frond emerging behind.
This is the postcard for our bed and breakfast promotion. Wouldn't it be great if we could rent our place out whilst we are away on holiday so someone could help with the chooks?
Something about pictures and a thousand words? In the early morning half light I took some images and they are very descriptive of where the garden is at in midwinter.
Oranges, lemons, limes and mandarins - how's that for a little suburban orchard? Have bought a four citrus over the last week and planted most of them in the backyard - in a sunny, sloping position which was otherwise covered in weeds. You might recall I planted native grasses all through the weeds to establish and outcompete the weeds, now I am adding an understory of citrus.
This is the Meyer Lemon, full of buds, I think I should remove most of these for the first season so it concentrates on getting good root growth instead of impressing us with fruit then falling over.
The Joppa Orange Citrus x aurantium Joppa is, (according to the label), a Californian juicy variety that has a fine flesh and a rich flavour. Fruiting mid season, it grows well in coastal areas into a beautiful small tree 3m - 6m. This is the discount plant a season old, looks like it has been moulting, should be right for spring.
The citrus will be productive because there is so much sun from the northerly aspect, but also because they will be growing in what has been a green waste dump for the past few decades. So the soil is a deep dark organic humus crawling with life and especially legless lizards!
Can you see the three citrus? Maybe not yet, but they are there, this is the space I want thick with citrus in the next few years so we can make jams and swap recipes etc like in the olden days.
It is a real shame to cut them up with a shovel, so I am making just one slice of the shovel, then working the soil with my hands to open it up. The citrus just plop into the hole and then I cover the space with some of the bamboo mulch that I have everywhere.
The citrus I have planted includes a tahitian lime, a mandarin, a joppa orange and a meyer lemon. I have my eye on some exhausted grafted citrus at a local nursery from last years stock, they are less than half price at $15, but bedraggled and a bit ugly with not many leaves. But at least they are hardened to local conditions, and not green from being in a greenhouse.
Update: Have been back and bought another mandarin and another orange, this one a washington navel.
