This entry is part 4 of 7 in the series 7 Ways for Your Art or Craft Business to Outsell the Retailers. Read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7

by Shasta McLaughlin
The Extravaganza Craft Productions

Parts of this 7 part series have been reprinted with permission from the article “7 Common Disconnects In Retail Business” by Pam Grimm of Ideaco.

7 Common Disconnects In Retail Business

By Pamela Grimm, Ideaco

4.  Assuming not Assessing: When a staff person could speak about products, she often told everything she knew about it before asking any questions. Most of the time the information was not even relevant to the question or need. We found most staff members don’t bother to probe for information to meet a customer’s need; they download all they know in hopes they have covered it.

How to Assess A Customers Needs

They say to assume makes an @$$ out of you and me. To assess what a customer needs you need to ask questions and hear the answers. Don’t get ahead of yourself and spill everything that you know about the product instead simply answer the question. When you’ve answered the question if they don’t say anything wait a few seconds and ask another question, it could be that they are considering one product over another or how much money they have to spend or it could be that they are waiting for you to ask for the sale.

Questions that might help you know what they would like are:

1. Are you buying for someone special today? This tells you if they are looking for childrens items, items for teens, adult items or items for the elderly.
2. Are you buying for a special occasion? People need different kinds of things for birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, and everyday.
3. Are you looking for a particular style? Depending on your craft your merchandise will have some varying styles some things might be more modern or contemporary, others might be more country, some things will be Victorian or classic. Things like jewelry will vary from an abstract random pattern to a symmetrical pattern that repeats itself. Some of your items may have an Americana flair while others might have an ethnic flair from other regions. Some items will be more natural while others may be more synthetic, some may be recycled.
4. If they are buying for themselves you can ask if they are buying to match a particular outfit? What color is it?
5. What are their favorite colors?
6. When the choices have been narrowed you might ask if you have answered all their questions.

Your job at this stage is to discover their questions and answer them while narrowing the choices. It’s a fine art but you’re a creative person you can do it!

What is a Jewelry Shopping Service?

copyright by Rena Klingenberg

I first stumbled onto the “jewelry shopping service” approach to marketing my handcrafted jewelry a few years ago.

I couldn’t believe I’d never heard anyone talk about this before – because it’s a wide-open field with TONS of opportunities to sell your jewelry. It’s the main way I sell my jewelry now. Personal shopping services are a growing trend in all kinds of market niches.

Typically a personal shopper helps clients determine what they should buy, locates the best deal on an intended purchase, or finds the perfect gifts for customers to give. Personal shoppers tend to specialize in a particular area of expertise, where they know a certain market and its suppliers inside and out.

Above all, personal shopping is a service business, and as people get busier and shopping options get more overwhelming, there’s an increasing demand for specialized personal shopping service businesses of various types.

What if you operated your handcrafted jewelry business like a personal shopping service?

There are absolutely immense opportunities for jewelry artists to sell their work this way, as you’ll see in “Secrets of a Handcrafted Jewelry Shopping Service”.

A jewelry shopping service could easily be your entire jewelry business, or just one income stream of it.

It’s a very flexible way to sell your jewelry, and I’ve found that it’s very easy to fit it in around all the other things going on in your life.

Why It’s Such a Profitable Way to Sell Your Jewelry

By operating as a jewelry shopping service, you’ll be selling directly to your clients at full retail prices, so you won’t be paying any booth fees, shop commissions, party hostess incentives, wholesale discounts, etc.

In fact, one of the best things about it is that you have very few sales-related expenses, because there’s no “middleman”. Nearly 100% of the proceeds go directly to your business.

And what’s more, many of your clients will be fairly big spenders. They’ll shop from you over and over again because they love your customized products, personal service, and the way you take their problems out of their hands – and they’re willing to pay quite well for it.

The book also has a chapter describing a clever strategy that will increase your profits even more; I give an example of this strategy from my own business, and explain why it’s so profitable.

Everything You Need to Know
to Start Your Own Jewelry Shopping Service

In this ebook I share my entire successful business model with you. It’s easy to do, and it really works. I’ve tested and refined my jewelry shopping service strategies, and I describe them in detail in this step-by-step guide.

I also share dozens of real-life examples of successful products, services, marketing methods, and stories from my own jewelry shopping service, to help you get started.

You don’t have to re-invent the wheel and go through the same learning curve I did to figure out what really works (and what doesn’t!). It’s all in the book.

———————————————-

Unlock the secrets of a new way to sell your jewelry to customers who are VERY willing to buy from you, again and again, in Rena Klingenberg’s ebook “Secrets of a Handcrafted Jewelry Shopping Service” -
http://www.jewelry-books.com/shopping-service.html

When you are selling your art online little is more important than the quality of your pictures.

You won't get many sales if the quality of the pictures make it hard for the buyer to see the quality of your art or craft. Worse yet the quality of the pictures can make the buyer picture in their mind that your items are poor quality because you didn't seem to care if the photos were low quality.

Taking pictures of our handcrafted items is something that overwhelms and irritates many artists and crafters. It seems like it is too complicated and our photos are never good enough causing us great frustration.

I was very excited to learn of an inexpensive tool that can help us all take better quality photographs of our crafts. I would like to thank Nancy for this wonderful information please visit her sites below and say thanks.
Nancy's blog
My Artfire shop
Nancy's Etsy shop
Find me on Facebook

The tool that Nancy uses to take better pictures of her handcrafted jewelry is a 17" light tent from Cowboy Studios. She found her light tent on Amazon.com. Actually I found quite a few there and was pleasantly surprised at the price.

Nancy's described her lights as "just clamp lights, about 8 bucks at Lowes, with 23W 5000K natural daylight compact fluorescent bulbs.

Nancy also shared with us this link to a great video tutorial on product photography. http://www.prophotolife.com/prophotolife-instructional-video-diy-studio-product-photography/

Thanks again for sharing such great information with us Nancy!

Entry 3 of 6 in series My 30 Day Plan to Greater Craft Show Profitability.
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

Recently I’ve been working to make my business more profitable each and every day.

Week one I worked on catching up on left over unfinished projects from previous weeks to prepare for my 30 days of greater profitability. As usual I accomplished some of the things I intended to do, did some things I planned to do later early, and didn’t accomplish some of the plan.

Week two I learned new things about my email marketing to keep my messages from being flagged as spam. I joined a networking site I’ve been meaning to join for months when they ran a special I couldn’t pass up. I did a client consultation which was a new service for me. I blogged about what I was doing and I did all this while keeping up with requests for information about my business.

This week I got less accomplished than I had intended but what I did do I feel good about.

Week 3 what I accomplished.

• I did mail coupons to show promoters.
• I had a second client consultation.
• I learned something new about my facebook profile and group page. Added links to my group from my profile page.
• Worked on creating my profile on LinkedIn. Added a few contacts there.
• Worked on cleaning out my overly full email box.
• Signed up for a MySpace account. You can follow our posts at http://www.myspace.com/extravaganzacrafts.
• I blogged about my experience working toward greater profitability this week.

Here is what I didn’t accomplish.

• I still didn’t get my accounting done.
• I didn’t call the people I just mailed free newsletters to in the last few weeks to ask them what they thought of the newsletter. It is probably too late but I will try to fit this into next week anyway.  Call your prospects right away they are only interested about 7 days!
• I didn’t create any articles to send to show promoters that will encourage them to list their shows with me.
• Since I didn’t write the articles I also didn’t start calling my huge list of show promoters. Obviously I didn’t sign them up in my email marketing system.
• I didn’t contact Power Pay and get signed up to accept credit cards.

I hope that this series is inspiring you to work along with me to improve your businesses profitability by doing something each day that will make your business stronger. I know that I’m a bad example but I would really suggest that you write your goals down on a calendar. This way you can truly see what you did accomplish and will remember what you didn’t get done so you can work on it in your spare time or in your next 30 day plan.

The plan for the next 7 days:

• Day 16 -Call the people I sent newsletters to. Ask them if they would like to receive free articles. Sign them up as prospects.
• Day 17 -Create articles for show promoters.
• Day 18 -Call show promoters and ask them if they would like to receive free articles to make their businesses more profitable.
• Day 19 -Call Power Pay and get set up to accept credit cards.
• Day 20 -Find my friends who are already on MySpace and try to connect with them.
• Day 21 -Do my accounting!
• Day 22 -Write article for my newsletter.
• Day 23 -Blog about my accomplishments this week.

How many times has someone who was trying to help you actually hurt your chances of getting what you wanted? How many times has someone with good intentions tried to help you reach what they saw as your full potential but actually stood in the way of you reaching your dreams? How many times has a pushy salesman stood between you and the car you wanted trying to sell you a different one?

Your job as a business person is to help a customer who already has an idea what they want, find it and then sell it to them. Remember not to stand in the way of them buying your handcrafted art.

Some Don’ts. Don’t stand in front of your craft show booth (or anyone’s booth) talking to people you haven’t seen in a while catching up. Get their number so you can call later and allow them to move on. Don’t read in your booth. If you work on a project in your art festival booth talk about what you’re doing even when no one is around. Don’t get so caught up in the project that you become unapproachable.

As an art or craft vendor it should be
your goal to discover what every customer
who walks into your booth wants.

First establish a relationship. Smile, say hello, and introduce yourself. Give customers an idea of how things are arranged in your booth. For example say, “Hello, my name is Shasta. Necklaces are here, bracelets over there, and rings are by the checkout stand.” Tell them your special of the day. For example, “Today we’re having a sale on jewelry buy one necklace (valued at $x) and get a free pair of earrings (valued at ($x).” Some art show promoters don’t allow sales so be sure that you are not breaking the rules. If you are not allowed to have sales then show the customer the featured item of the day. You don’t always have to run the same special, but if you find one works particularly well for you, use it often.

Narrow the choices. You might allow customers to shop a few minutes or you could try to help them narrow their choices. Ask them if they are shopping for themselves or for someone else today. When you know who they are shopping for you narrow down which questions to ask to help make their choice easier.

By asking where a person is from you establish a casual conversation which can give clues to what styles they might be looking for. You can ask them if they like the style most common to their area. For instance people from Montana might like a western or outdoor theme, while people from Florida might like a beach theme. They might like that theme but be looking for something different just because they like to be different. The question is really just meant to give them a way to express what they do and don’t like and what they might be looking for.

You can always ask if they had a specific item in mind, or if they would like you to show them some of your ideas.

Close the sale. When they seem to be stuck ask if they would like to see more options or if you can ring up their selections? They might just be waiting for you to ask for the sale.

Offer an Upsell. Never let a customer who is purchasing just buy the one thing they have picked out. Offer an additional item similar or complimentary to the one they purchased at a small discount. For instance if they decided to buy a platter ask if they would like the matching gravy pitcher for 10% off or offer them two platters for $x.

Keep in contact. Try to collect every customers name, address, phone number, and email address. Ask their permission to add them to your mailing list. Tell them you will be sending relevant product information, specials, notices of where they can find your products. If they will share their birth date with you send them a special discount on their special day. Only mail to customers who give you permission and keep all information relevant. Remember how much you hate junk mail and spam!

For automated email responders I use AutoWebBusiness.com . I highly recommend you check them out if you don’t already have some kind of automated follow up/email system in place.

This entry is part 1 of 7 in the series 7 Ways for Your Art or Craft Business to Outsell the Retailers. Read Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7

by Shasta McLaughlin
The Extravaganza Craft Productions

Parts of this 7 part series have been reprinted with permission from the article “7 Common Disconnects In Retail Business” by Pam Grimm of Ideaco.

7 Common Disconnects In Retail Business

By Pamela Grimm, Ideaco

Many of you have contacted me wondering where I have been; as you may have noticed, I haven’t had an article in this magazine for several issues. Well, here’s your answer. For the past several months we have been working with a major financial institution analyzing why their stock value has decreased and where they are going “wrong” in their front line business. We identified some major issues that have simple solutions; these changes will ultimately have a huge impact on their business practices and their front line behavior, but will require a paradigm shift in their thinking.

Our results were not a surprise, however the reaction from the company was interesting. They basically indicated that they had moved from being unconsciously horrible at the business to being consciously horrible at the business. They couldn’t see what they were doing wrong even though it was right in front of them. Sometimes it requires an “outsider” to come in and take a good look around. Our end results brought us to 7 key disconnects in their business practices that needed to be addressed. These problems have been seen both in mainstream retail and independent stores, so we decided to do an “unofficial” business audit and note similar business practices. Here are the 7 common disconnects found on the retail level within the craft industry:

1. First Impression Failure: When a customer comes into a store, she is either there for the first time, is a repeat customer or she has come in with a problem. Regardless of the reason, every time a customer comes in, she gets a certain impression of the store. We found, in the majority of the stores, that the first impression failed miserably. Often staff members were too busy to say hello and didn’t know how to approach a customer to see if she needed assistance. Many times, the staff wouldn’t even talk to a customer and she could walk out as quietly as she came in. Sometimes the atmosphere of the store was uncomfortable, like a fight had just happened between the staff and the management, and everyone was in a terrible mood. It showed on faces and in the manner they moved products around, or just in the way they spoke to each other.

First impression from a physical standpoint failed horribly in the independent store sector as products were disorganized and crammed in anywhere…or there was a great lack of products. Samples seemed old and tired, and handmade signage promoted classes that had already been taught weeks prior. Many stores had no personality or flavor, leaving the feeling that you had walked into an overpriced dollar store.

How to Improve the Customers First Impression of Your Booth

We need to recognize that their mistake is our opportunity. When retailers fail to make the sale they leave the door open for anyone with a similar product to make the sale. What is the first impression that you are creating?

Always greet every person who is passing your booth. Your greeting may be the only reason they look your way. Ask them if you can help them find something. Point them in the direction of whatever it is they are looking for even if it’s somebody’s booth.

No matter how slow the sales are that day remain positive and don’t discuss the slow show with other vendors or customers. Remember there are opportunities everywhere so be prepared to take them with a smile and positive attitude.

Set-up your booth at home and take a good look at it? Consider the first impression that you’re creating. Is your booth professional, clean, organized, warm, inviting, interesting and attractive? Is it cluttered or empty, disorganized, confusing, and unprofessional? Ask the show promoter for an additional space (or half space) if you need more room to keep your booth looking it’s best. A larger booth makes it easier for customers to enter and leave making it feel less claustrophobic as long as there is enough product displayed to fill the space. Display more arts or see about sharing booths, if your booth looks empty. Set-up products between your knees and eye level for the best visibility. Don’t lay things flat on the table, use packing boxes under table cloths to add some height. Arrange items that have something in common together and then display attractively. For instance all the T-shirts should be together, then all the large T-shirts might be together on the rack, then medium, small, and extra small.

Are the colors of your booth showing off your crafts well or are they distracting from and competing with them? Make corrections now to improve sales.

Set-up early at a show and use the extra time before the show to get the opinions of other artists and crafters. Ask them to tell you as much about their first impression of your booth as they can. Record what they say in a notebook for reference after the show. Carefully consider their opinions and you will know which ones make sense for your business. Take a good look at the booths around you and record the things they are doing right and the things they aren’t in your notes for later.

Next do an informal survey of your customers. During your conversation with them at the show tell them that you are working to improve your customer service and ask if they would be willing to spend a few minutes telling you what they thought about your booth. Always take notes.

If show promoters won’t allow surveys or drawings in your booth print some simple business cards that have a link to your online survey. As customers make a purchase include the card with their purchase. Tell them it’s there and that they will be entered to win a prize or will receive a small gift for answering the survey. Ask about things like first impressions, colors, displays, greeting they received, how prompt service was, price of product compared to value, etc. Make the survey as simple as possible while collecting the information that you need. Don’t forget that the survey will be skewed if you only ask people who purchased so ask people who check out your booth and a few passers by to take an extra look at the booth and do the survey as well.

Make signs on the computer for a more professional appearance. Check them for wear and tear. Update them occasionally be sure to make them timeless, simple and as clear as possible.

Your customers won’t buy art from you if:

• They don’t know where to find you or your product.
• They aren’t prepared to buy now. For instance they weren’t expecting to see a product they wanted so they don’t have money right now.
• They don’t know what you are selling.
• You aren’t selling what they want.
• If your handcrafted product is hard to get, the wrong price or bad quality.
• You haven’t asked them if they would like to buy.

We were selling World’s Finest Chocolates as a fundraiser to earn our trip to Jamaica with ROC Wheels in March 2011.

The first day the kids sold chocolate bars, they sold very few. The next day more people knew they were selling them and several bought. The third day their sales increased again because people knew they could count on them having them and had their money together.

• Problem: Not knowing it was available!
• Solutions: Consistency, advertising, marketing your finished crafts to correct market, having a website or blog to show case your art work, email marketing.

One day my son took the chocolates to school. A child asked him if he had Mint Meltaways. He answered yes and was swarmed by kids who wanted the mints. They hadn’t bought before because they didn’t know he had them.

• Problem: Not knowing what was available! Not offering enough variety.
• Solutions: Better advertising and signage, having a website or blog, email marketing. Offering the right product to the right customer.

We arranged to sell the chocolates at a grocery store in town, set up a table and sat down to wait for our first customer. I noticed that although we were directly in front of the door many people walked right by or bought a product right next to us without even seeing we were there. When we asked if they could use chocolate for stocking stuffers many people checked out what we were selling.

• Problem: Not knowing where to find you. Not knowing what you are selling.
• Solutions: Consistency, better advertising and signage. Not being afraid to offer your product and ask for a purchase.

The favorite chocolate we are selling seems to be the caramel candy bar. Chocolate sales increase when we keep those in stock and decrease greatly when we run out. Some people will buy another variety, some won’t.

We noticed however that when we sold to a wider variety of people (at the store instead of the school) the different flavors all sold about the same.

• Problem: Not selling what the customer wants.
• Solutions: Find the right market for your product by selling to a different group of people. Change your product to meet the needs of the group you are currently selling to. Offer a wider variety of products or narrow your products to the ones your customers buy.

People at the store weren’t expecting to see us so they didn’t have a few dollars cash on hand. They usually went to buy groceries and came back with money to spend.

• Problem: Customers aren’t prepared to buy now.
• Solutions: Follow up through mail, email, a website or blog or even an occasional phone call. Remember just do it respectfully always giving the customer something they want for instance information they need, a discount, or even a special just for them.

One problem we didn’t face was resistance to price or quality. The problem is that a low price can give the idea that a product isn’t high quality, but if the price is too high customers won’t buy. The solution is to do your research and carefully set your price within a range the customer will pay. Decide if you want to have the lowest price, the highest price, or some where in the middle.

ByAmrendra Singh

If you have decided to try your hand at setting up at craft shows, festivals, or flea markets, then you’ll need to have the right craft show display to make your wares stand apart from the rest. This is especially important if you are selling something like jewelry or any other staple craft show item. Having a great craft show display can make a big difference between having someone walk right by you or stop for a look and hopefully a sale. Here are some great ways to create an eye-catching craft show display.

Craft Show Display Basics

When you first get started you will have to purchase the right equipment and this can be a bit of an investment, but if you think you will continue doing shows then you’ll need the following:

• Canopy or tent – The proper canopy or tent will protect your goods from rain and sun. Delicate crafts made from fabric, paper or handmade clothing can become damaged from just a few hours of direct sunlight.

• Tables – Most craft show displays require at least table or two for their set up. Buy the lightest, easiest thing to carry around. You can find many aluminum models that fold up with ease and can be tucked away in almost any vehicle. Don’t forget a small chair for yourself.

• Weights – Make sure you carry weights, large water bottles that can be filled, or small sand bags. You will need to tether these to your tables or tent with bungee cords in case of a windy day.

• Display cases – No matter what you are selling you can find the right craft show display case for your items. Look at retails suppliers or ask other vendors. A thrift store can give you some great items on the cheap.

• Quality fabric – Cover your tables in bright fabric. Take your time to come up with a great color scheme for your craft show display. Work your tent color, table covers, and products into a harmonious craft show display.

Beyond The Basics

Once you have the basic equipment that you’ll need for your craft show display then you’ll need a few creative ideas to get people into your booth.

• The set up – Make sure that your tables are positioned in a way that is easy for customers to see. Keep your tables near the front of the tent so people can walk by casually. Don’t expect people to walk to the back of your booth, it may seem obvious, but people want to keep going unless something really interests them.

• Height – Try hanging things from the tent to catch people’s eye from afar. This can work for a lot of items. If you can’t do that, make sure you vary the height on your tables. Use small shelves, boxes, or other display items to give the tables a richer feel.

• Mirrors – Always bring a mirror for people to look at things they may want to try on.

• Signage – Have a banner or business cards on display is a great idea. Even if someone doesn’t want something today, they can come back and find you or email you.

• Pricing – For many people seeing clear price tags on items is very helpful. Lots of shoppers don’t feel comfortable engaging in chitchat over every item in the booth. If you are getting really busy, this will save you lots of time from answering questions.

Hints To Keep You Ahead

If you are a newcomer to the festival scene then you may not yet realize what an ally other vendors can be for you. Although they may seem like the competition and in some cases they are, they can also help give you invaluable advice. Remember to always respect your boundaries with your craft show display. Most arguments between vendors center around just an inch or two! When space is at a premium people can become very territorial, just remember to take care with your craft show display and stay on your neighbor’s good side. He’ll be the guy you entrust with your craft show display when it’s time for a bathroom break. Follow these tips to have a great craft show display no matter whether you’re a newbie or a festival regular!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Amrendra_Singh

Buyers at art and craft shows love to hear the story of the person creating the crafts.  They love to feel that they know person they are doing business with and that they are doing business with a real approachable person.  This is an important part of the trust building process that must go on between a buyer and seller.

A craft blog (short for weblog) is a great inexpensive way to share your story with buyers at the markets, both before and after they attend craft shows.  There are many different providers of free blogs including WordPress.  I used WordPress because when I built my website I had no technical knowledge of HTML, installing blogs, etc.  WordPress was fairly easy for me to figure out and install, yet it has many different plugins that add functionality.  You pick and choose what you need your craft blog to do.

Your blog is a great place to let people know what craft shows you are attending and what booth number you will be in.  It’s a wonderful place to announce new products and services, as well as to share tips on product maintenance.  Share bits of your personal story, as well as information about the techniques and supplies you’ve used.

Key to getting a lot of traffic to your blog stay on topic giving your customers the information they are looking for, and post search engine optimized posts often.  Be sure your blog points your visitors back to your website if you have one.

One last tip that was shared with me recently join blogfrog at http://theblogfrog.com I joined a few weeks ago and new people follow my blog every single day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Art and Craft Show Expert Shasta McLaughlin provides articles, hints and tips, checklists and more for artists and crafters that sell handcrafted products who want to save time looking for shows, packing for fairs, and get more sales at festivals. Now she is revealing how to collect your customers contact information, follow up with them and make more money while working less. Go to http://www.extravaganzacrafts.com to get her newsletter, The Extravaganza Craft News, that will help you avoid mistakes, save time and money when preparing your craft show booth.

Okay, I know what you’re thinking if attending craft shows isn’t about selling crafts then what is it about?

It is about selling crafts but it’s also about many other things. For instance attending craft show is about knowing who your customer is, building a relationship with a them, it’s about collecting your customers contact information and later following up with them, and it’s about getting feedback about your product.

If you base the success of a craft show solely on the number of customers you saw, the number of sales or the dollars you made there, you are missing the boat. Attending a craft show means so much more to your business.

Let’s start with market research. A local craft festival can be a good place to try out your new product idea without a large investment of your time or resources. You can create just enough of a product to fill a booth and create a nice display. Create a few signs stating the benefits of the product to the customer. Rent an inexpensive booth at a show where the type of person who would buy your product would be in attendance. Now pay close attention to who comes into your booth:

• what age are they?
• are they men or women?
• are they well educated?
• what seems to be their income level?
• do they have children? 

Make notes about your observations and soon a pattern will emerge. You now know what kind of person to market your product to. The type of person who enters your booth most often will probably be the type of person to buy your product most often so pay close attention.

Now that you know who you customer is you will always want to focus on that type of person with all of you advertising and marketing dollars.

People want to buy from companies that they trust. They want to know if they have customer service issues that someone will resolve them. Attending craft shows is your opportunity to show customers what level of customer service they will receive when they buy your product. Treat every customer like your best customer and they just might become, “Your Best Customer.” Get to know the customer and establish a relationship with them. Find out their name and say it a few times during the conversation. Try to remember it the next time you see them, they will be impressed when you remember their name.

Your best customer is the person who just bought from you, so you need to devise a way to contact them. A simple way to do this is to use a duplicate receipt book and include their name, address, phone, and email on the receipt. Ask their permission to add them to your mailing list and write that on the receipt. Include your contact information on the receipt and they have everything they need in one place to contact you if they have a problem or need to make another purchase.

Having a customers contact information doesn’t do you any good if you never contact them again. Send out a birthday discount (be sure and collect this info if they will tell you on the receipt), special occasion and holiday discounts, notices of where they can find your product, and relevant merchandise information. Tell them to bring your mailing and a friend to see you at craft shows to receive a small gift.

AutoWebBusiness.com is an inexpensive way to follow up with your customers through automated email series a.k.a. autoresponders.

The best part of attending a craft show is getting feedback on your product. This is all about your attitude. You can be offended by criticism or you can see it as market research. Anyone who comes close enough to criticize your product was probably interested in it. Criticism can help you improve your product and make more sales. If many of your customers would want what was suggested it is worth it to try to implement the changes suggested. So instead of getting down about criticism enjoy the compliment that they were interested enough in you and your product to try to help out.

Smile genuinely and thank complaining customers for their advice, write it down and consider the benefits and risks of implementing them when you have more time and energy to deal with them. Write down the compliments as well and remember you don’t want to change these things unless you can improve on them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Art and Craft Show Expert Shasta McLaughlin provides articles, hints and tips, checklists and more for artists and crafters that sell handcrafted products who want to save time looking for shows, packing for fairs, and get more sales at festivals. Now she is revealing how to collect your customers contact information, follow up with them and make more money while working less. Go to http://www.extravaganzacrafts.com to get her newsletter, The Extravaganza Craft News, that will help you avoid mistakes, save time and money when preparing your craft show booth.