This isn't enough to warrant a whole article so I decided to post to our blog instead...

Today in the forums Kathleen Fasanella's wonderful site, Fashion-Incubator is being discussed. A user, Britannica, commented that she had contacted Kathleen and asked for permission to reference some of her fantastic posts in an article that Britannica is writing for FSO. Kathleen is absolutely wonderful at sharing whatever knowledge she can and she does it for free even though consulting and charging for that information through private consultations, her forum (first year free with book purchase then $45/yr I think), and her book ($60) -- which btw is a must have for anyone who wants to do more than just learn and go on to manufacture and sell their products.

Kathleen caters to a more professional crowd than FSO. Fashion-Incubator is for those who are ready to step out into the world of production and of business...and also for those who are already there that are open minded enough to learn a thing or two. In fact, a lot of the people who are members of F-I are not fashion grads at all. They are people like you who decided they wanted to do something and they wanted to do it right so they set themselves up to do it. Fashion school teaches you a lot of things but what it does not usually teach is how to actually have a sewn product business. And so in a way FSO is kind of like elementary school where you get to play with paints and cut stuff up and have fun learning the creative processes behind fashion and F-I is the real thing where you deal with all that "boring" stuff like the technical fit of patterns, what industrial machine is best for what, how to write a Cut & Sew contract, deciding on style numbers, etc etc etc. I put boring in quotes because it might sound boring to you now but if you are anything like me, as soon as you learn a little bit, this other part becomes equally as exciting and fun!

Now here is the point of my writing this post: Fashion-Incubator is a blog and as is the nature of the blog she attracts people of all demographics to the free portion of her site. The paid members only forum is a different story, full of professionals and professional hobbyists who are serious about the content and value that has been shared with them. But the free side is full of people that are used to getting the world for free and they expect the world when they write and ask questions.

If you plan to contact Kathleen (or any blog owner for that matter) make sure you address her properly in emails...remember she is an industry professional and treat her the same way you would treat any professional. Do not automatically become formal and use slang and "how R U?" language just because it is email and she has a blog. For all first-contacts you make, even those that you think being informal is okay, you should always no matter what act like you are writing a letter via regular postage mail. Forget about the fact that it is email. For some really awful reason the Internet Generation has come to think that if it's digital it means it is not professional. This is a fallacy and it is in your best interest to forget it.

First contact = polite and formal with a greeting, a short intro of who you are, and a professional signing of your name. Anything less will mark you as someone who does not value the time of the person you are writing and for many people will either warrant no response or will only get you 10% of the information you would have been given had you given the recipient the respect they deserved.