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Posted by Shasta McLaughlin on May 18, 2012 at 2:01 PM under
• 0 commentsHave you wondered what arts and crafts are selling well at craft fairs this year? Need to know what colors are in style this season? Want to know if one neckline is more popular now than another, for either your jewelry or clothing festival booth?
This is just another way that Facebook and Pinterest can help.
Why?
They have derived a way to get people to tell them exactly what they like. In other words with some research on your part on Facebook or Pinterest you can also know what people like. With a little insight on your part on who exactly is your target market you can even narrow your research to just them so you can know exactly what your target market does and doesn't like.
It can be as easy as asking your friends or followers on Facebook to share a picture of their favorite sweater, their favorite color or their favorite clothing style and asking them why it is their favorite.
Another way to know whats trendy this season is just do a search on it. Search for popular styles, stylish women's clothing and take a look what people are saying about what's in and what's out.
Create your own boards or posts and invite people to comment on which color, style, pattern they would prefer. It gets your followers interested and allows you to get to know them better and provide for their needs.
This can come in very handy when creating handcrafted works of art knowing which colors, styles, pattern and stitches are popular this season.
Say you create home decor items for the kitchen and you would like to start selling them to your friends and then spread outward from there. Begin by looking at your friends boards on Pinterest, many of them will have boards labled for the home, my dream home, my dream kitchen etc. A quick glance will tell you if your friends styles are mainly country, elegant, formal, informal and what colors they are drawn to. Some friends will even pin color combinations that they like together.
Now you know if you should create pot holders that are simple elegant colors or cute and country. You will probably already have a pretty good idea of exactly who they will appeal to.
How else could you use Facebook or Pinterest to research the popular and not so popular trends this year?
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Posted by Shasta McLaughlin on March 18, 2012 at 6:19 PM under
• 0 commentsDetermining which handcrafted items will sell at craft shows is a very hard process. Each and every buyer at a craft show will have their own individual experiences, styles, tastes, and needs. Many other factors may also play a role in sales such as local economy, demographics of residents, what other events are happening in the area, etc…
So how can you know if your art or craft will be a profitable business for you?
First you have to determine if there is a market for the craft you’re making. Be sure there is a large enough market for your specific product not for a broader category that includes your product. For example…
While there is a large market for handcrafted jewelry each buyer of one of a kind (OOAK) jewelry has their own individual needs.
Not every jewelry buyer will buy EVERY kind of jewelry.
Jewelry buyers have styles as varied as Western, Oriental, Vintage, Classic, Contemporary, Magnetic, and many more.
You will only waste your time and money if you try to sell Vintage jewelry to every jewelry buyer. Unless you’re extremely talented and have unlimited time and resources you probably won’t be able to create OOAK jewelry to fit every style.
If you’re making vintage jewelry you need to determine how many jewelry buyers are buying vintage creations and then you need to determine where they go to get it. Remember that if they go to flea markets looking for vintage jewelry they will expect the price to reflect the “flea market idealism” which might make the product unprofitable. Yet if vintage jewelry buyers go to up scale, high end boutiques in a classy area, you might be able to make the same product very profitably.
So how do you guarantee that the craft you sell will be profitable.
- Do your research.
- Choose a niche market. Choose a specific group of people to serve and meet a specific need they have.
- For instance: Meet the needs of women who buy vintage jewelry, create and sell vintage jewelry. Don’t just create jewelry in general and try to sell it to vintage jewelry buyers or create vintage jewelry and try to sell it to everyone.
- Verify that the niche market you choose has a large number of buyers and a small number of competitors providing that service.
- Sell your product to the right people, in the right place, at the right time, and at the right price. Read How to Price My Art or Craft Show Product
- Offer a complimentary upsell to every purchasing customer at a small discount.
- Collect your customers contact information (with their permission of course) and continue to contact them regularly with relevant product information, discounts, services, your show schedule, etc. Also read How to Add Art and Craft Buyers to Your Mailing List
Don’t abuse this or you will do more damage to your business than good.
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Posted by Shasta McLaughlin on January 22, 2012 at 9:29 AM under Art & Craft Business Tips, Art & Craft Vendor Hints and Tips, Art Show Vendors, Arts and Crafts, Craft Show Businesses, Craft Show Vendors, Craft Shows, Documents and Craft Business Forms, Handmade Arts and Crafts, How to Make Art Shows Better, Improve Sales of Arts and Crafts, Increasing Profits from Handcrafted Arts & Crafts, Knowing What Crafts Sell, Make Money Selling Arts and Crafts, Marketing Crafts, Marketing Handcrafted Jewelry, Pricing Crafts to Sell, Selling Handcrafted Jewelry at Art and Craft Shows, Tips for Craft Show Promoters, Using Social Media Sites to Sell Arts and Crafts
• 2 commentsIn order to have a successful full time business selling your arts and crafts (defined as making enough income to support yourself or your family without having a part time job) two things must happen.
- There must be enough people interested in buying your arts and crafts.
- You must be able to persuade people who are interested in your art to buy.
These are two very separate and distinct problems with different solutions.
First one needs to realize that to be very successful selling their handcrafted goods they must chose to create a craft that is wanted and needed by a large enough group of people to support the number of sales the artist needs per day, week, month or year.
Most artists choose which craft to sell based on which one they like to create the most, the one they get the most compliments on, or the one they like the best. This is actually backward and can be detrimental to your business ever succeeding.
Crafters spend too much time looking for those who want their crafts this way. Artists don't realize they are trying to make people who aren't even interested in their art not only like it, but buy it-a losing game to be sure.
They are always looking for people interested in their handcrafted merchandise and have no real direction to look... instead of going to a group of people who are already interested in their crafts and trying to persuade them to buy.
It's like trying to tell your customers their favorite color is purple when really their favorite color is green. They aren't going to even want to stand around and listen.
Like trying to sell hand tatted doilies to every child, teen, and young single adult that comes near your booth rather than slightly more mature married adults and grandmothers.
Let's be honest here we can't make people like what they don't like or want. They just won't buy it and our time and money will be wasted in the effort.
If your artwork meets the needs of a large group of people but still seems like people aren't interested the problem may be:
- is the group of people who want, need, and like your product large enough?
- one caveat here is that you want to target a very specific group of people. Get too generic and you go back full circle.
- are you targeting your prospects well in your advertising, marketing and offers?
- are they are willing to pay your price to get it?
- are you selling where your buyers are, where they are prepared to buy, when they are prepared to buy?
What successful crafters do is choose a large group of people with common needs then meet the needs of those people.
They can do research and see if there are enough buyers in the group to support their dream of not having to work a part time job that detracts from a craft business.
You can still succeed selling your artwork this way if
- there is a large enough group of people who want, need, and like your product.
- they are willing to pay your price to get it.
- you learn where your buyers are and go where your they are to sell your product.
- you don't mind that your business will be less profitable than it could be.
On the other hand persuading a person to buy your crafts when they are already interested is much easier. It requires many skills but most of them are small and can be learned over your career.
The skills you will need include:
The difference between trying to create interest in your crafts and persuading people to buy your crafts is: You won't be able to create an interest in your crafts where there is none! You will be much more successful trying to persuade a large group of people who want, need, or like your craft already to buy.
The way I see if people really aren't interested in buying your artwork you have 3 choices:
- Go where people are interested in buying your crafts.
- Find a craft they are interested in buying and sell it.
- Find a job working for someone else.
What do you think?
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Posted by Shasta McLaughlin on December 23, 2011 at 11:15 AM under
• 0 commentsWell today I was checking the polls and there have been a lot of you respond to them. So I will let you know what the results are as they currently stand.
What is the average price of your product?
- 1 person answered $20.01-$30
- 1 person said $100.01-$125
What are the 3 biggest obstacles your business faces?
- 1 person answered How to Market/Advertise My Business
- 1 answered Displays
- 2 said it was How to Make my Website Make More Money
- 1 said Cutting Costs
- 1 said How to Make More Sales at Shows
What seasons do you do shows?
- 1 said they do Fall Shows
- 2 said they do Winter Shows
- 2 of you do Spring Shows
- 2 do Summer Shows
- 1 only does Holiday Shows
- 2 or you do Shows All Year Long
When do you start selling Christmas and holiday merchandise?
- 1 said I sell holiday merchandise all year round
- 1 starts selling holiday merchandise right after Halloween
- 2 start selling holiday merchandise right after Thanksgiving
Do you change the look of your booth to coordinate with seasons, holidays, and other special occasions?
- 2 of you said Yes, I decorate my booth for the holidays and seasons
- 3 said No, my booth stays the same through out the year
What is your average income at craft shows per year?
- 4 answered Between $0 and $10,000
- 1 answered Between $30,000 and $40,000
- 1 answered Above $50,000
What do you sell at shows?
Note: I changed some of the answers to this poll so some of the answers are skewed just a bit.
- 3 answered Fine Art-Painting, Sculptures (this is where I made some changes, I divided Sculpture into it’s own category so some of the answers here might have belonged in the new category).
- 1 of you does woodworking
- 1 sells candles
- 1 sells health and beauty
- 1 pet items
- 2 of you sell jewelry
- 3 answered Other
- 1 answered Sculpture
- 1 answered Photography, Scrapbooking, or Paper Crafts
What types of shows do you usually sell at?
- 2 answered Juried Fine Art & Craft Shows
- 3 said Unjuried Art & Craft Shows
- 1 said Fair or Festivals
- 1 of you sells at Gem and Bead Shows
- 1 of you sells at Other Specialty Shows
Do you sell your arts and crafts on the web?
- 12 of you said Yes, I have a website
- 5 said No, I don’t have a website
Do you do any marketing outside of craft shows?
Is this poll working? So far only 1 of you has answered this poll. I wonder if this is the same person that is making over $50,000 a year. Do this one thing to out compete your competitors.
- 1 of you answered Yes I follow up with my customers outside of craft shows.
Do you do arts & crafts on the side or as a regular 9 to 5 job?
- 6 people do arts and crafts to make an extra income
- 2 people said Arts and crafts are my regular 9 to 5 job
- 5 people said that they want arts and crafts to be their regular 9 to 5 job
How much of you time is spent looking for quality show?
- 2 said 30%
- 1 said 50% or more
- 2 said 10%
So that is the results of the polls. I hope that gives you some insight into your business and your competitors. Please participate in the polls on our home page.
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Posted by Shasta McLaughlin on November 23, 2011 at 11:31 PM under
• 0 comments With the economy the way it is everyone is strapped for cash. Artists and crafters can always create inexpensive gifts for Christmas, but it usually helps to have some ideas on hand for inspiration.
So it was nice to have this link shared with me. Thanks Jasmine.
100 DIY Gift Ideas for the Cash-Strapped College Kid
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