Where do you sell your hand-crafted arts and crafts?

Do you sell online at a place like Etsy, Artfire, Ebay or do you have your own website?

Do you sell your crafts at art and crafts shows, fairs, festivals, bazaars, boutiques? Do you license your art to companies or do you sell it in specialty shops like gift stores?

There are so many places to sell your works of art including:

• art fairs, festivals, craft shows, bazaars and boutiques, flea markets (not a good choice for higher priced crafts), antique markets
• local restaurant and hotel lobbies
• local gas stations
• small hometown grocery stores
• libraries
• gift shops, visitors centers, and other tourism sites
• specialty stores including Bridal shops, flower shops, salons
• Online places like Etsy, Artfire and more. Read this great list of places to sell crafts online and this article that tells you a little bit about them http://smallbiztrends.com/2011/10/29-places-sell-handmade-creations.html.

So where do you sell your arts and crafts? What places have the best results for you? What do you think?

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Shasta McLaughlin is a lifelong artist and crafter. She has attended craft shows as a vendor and produced them. Her life has been dedicated to improving her families living conditions through building her business. She believes all problems have a solution that can be found through greater creativity. Her goal is to share with you the things she has learned, to give people greater confidence in their abilities to provide for themselves, to improve the world one crafter at a time. Visit her website The Extravaganza Craft Productions at www.extravaganzacrafts.net.

Are you collecting the contact information of the people who enter your Art Festival booth and buy your one of a kind works of art? If no, why not?

Collecting a customers contact information is simple and makes it so much easier to make sales increasing profits greatly. Why?

Well let's start with the fact that the person who just bought from you has told you that they like and want your product, trust your service, and are willing to spend their hard earned money with you.

Also read How to Add Art and Craft Buyers to Mailing Lists and Simple Inexpensive Ways to Collect Your Customers Contact Information.

I started The Extravaganza Craft News without this knowledge and I spent most of my time chasing new customers. I struggled because I really didn't know who was interested in buying my products. I felt like a dog chasing my tail-going around and around in circles but never getting any results.

As I learned about marketing I found that you will spend more time and money always chasing new customers than you would if you just sold and resold to those who had already bought from you.

Now I'm focusing my time and attention on ways to get people to tell me they need my products and services and then sign them up for email marketing.

I send slightly different emails (designed to keep my current customers coming back) to people who have bought from me and the results have been much better profits and less work.

Barbara Perelman of one of my LinkedIn groups had this great suggestion on how to sell custom arts and crafts on Etsy. I feel her suggestion could work any where you post your items for sale.

" I do 90% custom knitting. I don't think many people read shop policies.

What I do is post, say, a blanket that has been personalized. The title should say personalized or custom as should the tags and the description. In the description list how you would customize an item, give a link to your FB page that shows all your customized items that you have done. Use the pictures in your listing to show what you have done.

If you have small items that you repurpose see if you can get on a blog, use it as a give-away. I get a lot of traffic from that sort of thing.

Good Luck! - Barb "

Please thank Barb for her tip by visiting her sites:
www.blazingneedles.etsy.com
www.facebook.com/YORKnits

Also read Karen's tip Crafts That Sell-Selling Customized Arts and Crafts and Holly's tip How Giveaways Sell Arts and Crafts or Veronica's tip How to Do Live Demonstrations at Art Festivals

One day I was riding in my sisters car. The roads were slick and the car slid off the road into a deep snowbank. The car was very stuck and trying to drive it out did no good. Along came a car with 5 guys in it. They couldn’t pull the car out using their car. They all got out and stood at different points around my sisters car then lifted up her car and put it back on the road.

One guy couldn’t have lifted the car alone, but together the 5 of them easily moved it.

Business is like lifting heavy objects. Doing it alone it’s too heavy but with many people working toward the same goal it becomes light.

Craft businesses often go out of business before they even get a good start when business owners try to do it all alone. There is just too much work to do and too many things to learn for one person.

Have you noticed that KFC and A&W teamed up? Have you thought about why they would do that? I have.

KFC and A&W are in direct competition with each other.

They chose to work together because they share costs and reach a wider customer base.

• They rent/own one building instead of two as well as sharing equipment.
• KFC and A&W share advertising costs. They put out one ad with both chains specials mentioned.
• They both use one set of employees rather than each company having to hire their own.
• KFC and A&W foods compliment each other. You might want rootbeer and ice cream with your fried chicken and mashed potatoes. You might want fried chicken and mashed potatoes while your friend wants a coney dog and tator tots, and everyone wants a rootbeer float. Both companies get more sales by working together.

In the business world working together is called a Joint Venture (JV for short). Jeff Dedrick says doing a joint venture isn’t like if I would make $1000 selling jewelry and my friend would make $1000 selling hair bows that we would make $2000 together. He says that if I would make a $1000 working alone and she would make $1000 working alone it’s possible that we would make $5000 working together.

So how do you make joint ventures work for your art or craft show business?

1. Choose someone with similar products but not exactly the same.

• Jewelry-Handbags-Accessories-Clothes-Other Types or styles of Jewelry-Makeup
• Woodworking-Furniture-Home Decor-Pillows-Curtains-Florals-Pictures-Light Plate Covers-Wood Carvings
• Pottery-Table cloths and place mats-Furniture-Florals
• Body Care-Embroidered Towels-Bath Fixtures
• Rugs-Furniture-Lamps-Curtains

2. Choose someone with a different style than yours if you choose a product that is very similar to yours. For instance two Asian jewelry artists can work together if one does very elaborate work and the other does only very fancy work. They would be able to offer products that closely match their target audience but would be able to offer a wider variety of price ranges, making more sales. Both jewelry artists would be experts in the same field and able to share information on the use and care of Asian jewelry.
3. Ask show promoters if it’s okay to share a booth or rent two booths next to each other and mix products.
4. Make an agreement to know each others products and to offer them equally if someone is looking for that item. Offer each others product as an upsell or downsell.
5. No one likes to work for nothing. Be honest with your partner and keep good records making sure they get paid for their items that sold.
6. Evaluate partnerships and adjust or discontinue as necessary

Why do you need a free Facebook business page for your craft business?

• There are more than 800 million active users on Facebook.
• More than 50% of active users log on to Facebook in any given day.
• The average user on Facebook has 130 friends

More statistics from Facebook https://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics

Facebook business pages appear on search results on their site.

Does that answer the question? 800 million people with 130 friends they interact with and influence in some way. Who wouldn't want their art or craft business out there interacting with them?

A craft business page gives you a place to post your business related messages including but not limited to:

• links to blog posts
• links to your craft web site or web store (Etsy, Artfire, etc.)
• information about upcoming art festivals and craft shows you will be attending
• sales, specials, or discounts on your handcrafted works of art or services you offer
• community events and fundraising you are participating in 
• other places people can get your crafts
• information about the materials and workmanship of each piece of art
• pictures of yourself creating your art
• personal discussions relating to the creation of your crafts
• business happenings, awards, contests, recognition you receive etc.

So are you asking how do I get my Facebook page?

First things first, you need to sign up for a free Facebook account-if you don't already have one-at www.facebook.com and choose a password.

Create your craft business page on Facebook here.

Here are some links to articles that might help you understand how Facebook and other social media can help your art or craft show booth flourish.
Why is a Page Better than a personal account?
How Your Facebook Page Helps Your Art or Craft Business Know Who Your Customers Are
5 Ways to Use Facebook to Sell More Arts and Crafts
Use LinkedIn to Build Your Art or Craft Show Business
Art and Craft Group "Facebook Like" Exchanges on LinkedIn
Is Facebook and Social Media Selling Arts and Crafts?

Being an artist or crafter is about so much it's about having an idea, a talent, and a skill and developing that into a business. It's about learning there are proper ways of marketing those skills and that when done properly any business can succeed to some degree of success. It's about knowing what you define as success-as each person defines it differently.

The stigma surrounding home based businesses comes from the many mistakes that you see home based businesses making. For instance:

• posting hard sale messages
• posting numerous sales messages
• lack of marketing skills
• lack of salesmanship
• lack of customer service skills
• the idea that all home based businesses are MLM
• the idea that it's impossible to make a living selling your own hand crafted arts and crafts.

Many hand crafters make the mistake of posting messages that are self serving with no benefit to the readers of the group. When posting messages on social media sites like Facebook be sure your messages really benefit the reader on their path toward success. Gear posts toward providing value to the readers not toward yourself.

So my piece of golden advice would be to be sure when ever you post on Facebook think about 5 things:

1. Why am I posting here? What am I trying to accomplish? Am I trying to drive someone to visit my website, my blog, get them to follow or like me on Facebook, LinkedIn etc.?


2. Am I in the right place to do that?

Facebook is a great place to drive sales when your posts are providing value to the reader, but will harm your reputation done incorrectly.

Don't try a hard sale with people who aren't interested in your product or service instead try posting in a place where people are looking for your product or service.

Hard sells don't work and that is why so many people receive complaints about the self serving ads. Instead...

Try giving relevant information to the topic at hand tie it into why your product is necessary to the reader and include a link to your site.


3. Have I given the reader information that is valuable to them?


4. Did I include a clear call to action that accomplishes my goal in #1?


5. Am I developing a relationship with the reader or am I pushing them away?

Guide each of your contacts gently to the desired goal. Don't expect anyone to buy from you when they first meet you. Give them several chances at getting information that is relevant and valuable to them with each piece taking them a little closer to the desired goal-making a purchase from you.

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Entry 1 of 5 in the series Social Media Networking for Artists and Crafters.
Use LinkedIn to Build Your Art or Craft Show Business
How to Setup Your Art or Craft Show Booth Facebook Business Page
How Your Facebook Page Helps Your Art or Craft Business Know Who Your Customers Are

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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.net to get her newsletter, The Extravaganza Craft News, that will help you avoid mistakes, save time and money when preparing your craft show booth.

The biggest difference between a craft show and a trade show is the buyer who will walk into the show.

Buyers at craft shows are the end consumer or the person who will use the product. Many buyers at trade shows are representatives or agents of retail stores. They come to trade shows looking to buy large quantities of various items which will then be resold to the end consumer.

These representatives will expect to pay a much lower price (usually half) than the customers at a craft show because they will then need to mark up the price again to make a profit on the resale.

Things to Consider

1. Will I be able to make my product quickly enough to fulfill many wholesale orders in large quantities? Will I have space to create, pack and ship large orders?

2. What price should I charge for my product wholesale?

Most retailers will mark up the price you give them at least 30% and in some industries up to 700% is standard. The key to knowing what price to charge is to do some research.

Call the owner or manager of retail stores selling products like yours and tell them you are doing market research on your product. Ask them about the product you are considering, the usefullness of the product to their customers, the style and other design elements of the product. Ask what price they would expect to pay for such a product and what they would charge for similar products.

The most common rule for wholesale pricing is to charge two times the cost of producing the item (don’t forget to add costs not directly associated with the item like studio rent, travel, shipping, electricity). Expect retailers to at least double your wholesale price, when setting retail prices.

3. Am I able to create my product for this price and still make a reasonable profit on my business overall?

4. Do I want to offer:
• A discount for buying larger quantities?
• A guarantee, how long is my product guaranteed, and what is covered?
• Additional materials to help with the sale?
• Samples?
• Marketing materials?
• Case prices and packaging?
• Product buy back if it doesn’t sell?

5. Am I going to continue to sell my product retail? How am I going to set my retail price without competing with my wholesale buyers?

The Pros and Cons of Trade Shows
Pro: Larger orders
Con: Lower price

Pro: Larger orders
Con: How to produce those large orders in a short time?

Pro: Trade shows may target my exact industry or customers for instance a Toy Trade Show would be perfect for selling handcrafted toys.
Con: Cash Flow -Cost of preparation and having enough supplies on hand.

Pro: Less time spent selling. I now sell my product to one person whose job is to sell my product.
Con: Less connection/ feedback from/with the customer.

Pro: Selling to a wider audience.
Con: Chance of creating competition with people who bought from you. In essence competing with your self.