Hiring interns can be a great way to train a potential future employee–off the payroll (whew!)–and at the same time providing an ambitious student with much needed experience.

While you may not have an official “internship program,” here a few tips to create what can be rewarding experience for both you and the student……

1. First You Have to Find One–Many people find interns by placing an ad on a random job search site like craigslist.  However if you don’t feel like going through a flood of resumes you may want to work directly with the career centers of fashion schools such as the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, Otis College of Design or The Art Institutes.

2. Make a Plan–Interns like everyone else in the world still love the classic radio station WII-FM, also known as What’s In It For Me.  While you set your expectations for the work experience make sure you get feedback from the student on their short and long term goals.  With this in mind you may choose to design pet projects that will keep your students engaged, loyal and motiaved in the absence of a paycheck.

3.  Put their Web Skills to Work–Your intern may be inexperienced in fashion but its likely these young 20 something’s are ahead of the curve when it comes to new media like blogging and social networking sites.  If this is the case reserve some one on one time for brainstorming sessions to figure out how you can up your company’s online marketing game.

All in all, interns can be a great asset.  It’s important not to take them for granted…and always make an effort to create a win-win situation.

Making a living as a freelancer is not for everyone.  While working at one job you’re looking for the next.  You may even be working multiple jobs at once…adjusting yourself to the demands of each company like waitress on a busy lunch shift.

It’s hard.  But given the current economy now is not the time to specialize in “Inflexibility.”

While juggling different hats may not be appealing for the long term…it could be a great short-term solution, keeping you afloat financially as well as giving you some leverage as you negotiate a permanent gig.

So while you are working towards getting your dream job… try marketing yourself as an independent agent.

Here’s a few tips to get you started….

1.  Place an Ad–Take out a Work for Hire ad in a trade publication, such as California Apparel News.  Many of the papers are struggling too so ad rates aren’t as high as you might expect.  You can also split the cost with another type of worker that would complement your services. Example:  Patternmakers and Graders.

2.  Get Some Cards–Showcase yourself as a true professional.  Simply print up some cards with your name, the services you can provide and your contact information.  Keep them on hand for networking events and and even job fairs to help you stand out from the crowd.

3.  Approach the Competiton–If you’ve been laid off from a company, let them know you’d be interested in freelance assignments….if that is the case.  If working at your old job is not possible…or appealing look towards their competitors who may be able to use your skills and experience.

Coordinating your first photoshoot can be a nerve-wrecking and costly experience.

Here’s a few tricks to help save you some time…money and mistakes…

1.  Go With a Pro: While you may be tempted to use your cutest friend as your brand model keep in mind a highly experienced model can drastically improve the flow and timing of your shoot. At the minimum look for a semi-pro that may not be signed with an agency but has clocked some hours in front of a camera.

2.  Work with an Agency: If you’re a savvy negotiator don’t be afraid to call on the top agencies like Ford and Elite.  They have different levels of models and many times will negotiate costs based on the model’s need for experience/photos, timing and the notoriety of the photographer you use.  Sites like modelmayhem.com are also a good resource for finding someone on a more minimal budget.

3.  Get some Raw Pics:   Not like that…  But, you want to see your model in their current hair and no makeup…as they would appear on the set.  Before the shoot date share these pics with your photographer as well as your hair and makeup person so they come prepared with everything they’ll need to turn her into a glamazon on shoot-day.

Search Engine Optimization or your Google rankings strongly depend on the words you decide to use on your site.  For example if you are a retailer, you want to use the names of the products you sell in a text format as much as possible on your site.

Think about what your customers would search or “Google,” for in order to find a site like yours.  Those words will be your key words…. So attach a blog, sprinkle your key words in your descriptions, add page titles and ask your web designer to add meta tags with your key words to help you increase your world wide web exposure.

And remember….key words embedded in an image don’t count. Just a precaution….Search Engines hate SPAM.  Use natural sentences so you don’t jeopardize potentially good rankings because the search engine thinks you’re trying to out-smart it.

We received an inquiry from a newbie designer wondering how to start producing her designs. So how do you get from the idea to the garment.

Here’s the skinny….

1.  The Idea–Before you get a pattern created of course you’ll need to solidify your idea.  This can be in the form of a product sketch or even other pictures or samples of garments that you want to pull together into your own creation.  (ex. a sleeve from this…a collar from that…the length of that).

2.  The Pattern–Once you have your sketch or idea on the table you’ll need to work with a patternmaker to create the pattern.  When you first meet with your patternmaker its best to have all the same materials you’d like to use for production including things like elastics, and fusing. The accuracy of the pattern and the ultimate fit of the garment will depend upon what materials you use….so you don’t want to waste the patternmaker’s time or your money working with materials you don’t plan on using.

3.  The Sample–The patternmaker or a separate samplemaker will make samples from your pattern.  It’s rarely right on the first try so get ready for a series of fittings…likely 2-3, before you’re able to really see your vision come to life.

4.  Grading–Your first sample should be in the medium size of your product.  From there the pattern will be graded proportionally up or down.  Sometimes the patternmaker will do this other times you can source it out again to a computerized grading serivce.  Although the more you can combine services under one roof the better.

5.  Production–Once you have all your patterns and a final sample..and yes of course….Orders– you’re finally ready to go into production.  Some samplemakers will do small production lots (under 200 units), which can be ideal for a start up company.  And since samplemakers are used to small lots they can be a lot more flexible in helping you get your hands on re-orders so you don’t have to invest in too much inventory.

Overall the production process is a lot more complicated than it seems at first blush.  Everything from your fabrics, trims, pattern, cut and sew techniques all work together to make your garment what it will ultimately become.  Set up a good system for tracking your production process so you’re able to meet your delivery dates and accountability is always clear.

Check out the Microsoft/Fashion Business Inc. Job Skills Training Program feature in L.A. Business Journal.

The credit industry is known for the classic bait and switch.  They could get you hooked in on a 2.5% rate and 3 bills later that rate could jump to 5%…and even worse you could be locked into a contract.

It’s best to have a working relationship with your credit card processor or bank so everything you need to know isn’t simply written in 2 point font.

One of the most important considerations in choosing a processor, next to their rate competitiveness is the value of their customer service.  Is their someone you can speak to?  What if their is a dispute?  Can someone explain the most economical plans for a business like yours?

Although the value of this relationship can be often overlooked…it’s important to see your credit card processor as the gatekeeper to your money.  If something happens will they be around to help you out?

March 1, 2009 (Los Angeles, CA)–The educational non-profit organization, Fashion Business Inc., has partnered with Microsoft Corporation to provide free apparel specific job skills training for the unemployed. This innovative educational program helps laid-off workers update their apparel related computer skills at absolutely no cost to qualified participants.

The 8 week training curriculum includes: Microsoft Office for the Apparel Industry, Tech Packs Using Microsoft Excel 2007 and, Accounting for the Apparel Industry using QuickBooks.

Also as major bonus participants will become certified in Apparel Information Management Systems AIMS, the widely used apparel management software which serves as the framework for the program.

“With Microsoft’s support we are able to help displaced workers take advantage of these slow and challenging times, helping them to come out stronger on the other side,” says FBI Executive Director Frances Harder. “People are excited about being able to re-group and strengthen their skills without any additional expense.”

The program has two new sections starting this spring.

For more information on the Microsoft Apparel Job Skills Training Program and how to enroll please email info@fashionbizinc.org.

Microsoft Free Job Skills Training Open House:

Date: Thursday, March 5, 2009

Time: 2-3pm

Location: Fashion Business Inc.

110 E 9^th Street Suite C798

Los Angeles, CA 90079

Phone: 213.892.1669

RSVP at: info@fashionbizinc.org