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

This entry is part 1 of 1 in the series Social Media Networking for Artists and Crafters
Read Part 1 Use LinkedIn to Build Your Art or Craft Show Business

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. Have I included 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.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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.

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.