One super-simple thing that will increase your craft sales drastically.

Are you participating in craft fairs or any face-to-face shows this holiday season? How have your sales been?
Do you know there is one simple thing you should be doing that will increase your sales drastically and create loyal customers? One easy, obvious thing that you probably aren’t doing.

Place your work in their hands. That’s it. Easy peazy, right?
When I attend craft fairs, I notice artists only speaking to people who ask them questions and mostly just saying “hi, how are you?” or “thank you”. Or worse,
sitting in their booths texting, reading or looking bored.
People who shop in-person for crafts want to have face-time with the artists, to know the person who makes the art. To be able to tell the gift recipient or their friends who admire the piece they met the artist.  They want to touch and feel the work.

Try this next time you display your art: Greet every single person who walks by your booth. If they hesitate, they are interested in knowing more. Invite them into your space and tell them a little about your work. Talk about the process. If they are looking at a particular piece, put it in their hands and even invite them try it on if it’s wear-able.

I guarantee you will have a lot more sales and happy, return customers.
Let me know how it works for you.

Some time-pressure relief for artists and crafters.

Are you feeling time-pressured to produce enough to have holiday stock and fill customer orders? Are there parts of your process that you might be able to delegate? Whether it’s cutting out patterns, attaching jump rings, polishing or simply packing up orders to ship, you can probably find someone happy to have a little temporary work.    If you are a jewelry artist, consider contacting the metal smith program at your local community college. If you’re a potter, you may be able to find a ceramics student who can help you fire or glaze. Do you make baby clothes? Put a “seeking intern” notice  on the bulletin board in the fashion design department. Often college students will work for a small stipend in exchange for experience or possibly course credit.
Be creative about finding assistance. Another solution would be to ask someone to do a trade. They may be thrilled to help you in exchange for a piece or two of your work either for themselves or as a gift.
Whatever it takes, don’t miss out on business or sleep because you are worried about being unable to fill orders. A little help now will go a long way toward better cash flow and peace of mind

How being generous can help you sell more crafts over the holidays

Are you wondering how you are going to find time to market your craft over the holidays? A lot of people let their marketing fall by the way-side between Thanksgiving and New Years but this can lead to slow sales in January and February.

One of the best methods to sell more craft is to make sure it’s seen at holiday parties.

If you have friends or family who host holiday parties in their home or office, ask them if they would like to borrow some of your art for the party. Whether it’s wall art, table-top or  wearable, your work will be seen by lots of new potential customers. Just be sure your friend has cards with your contact info handy to give to anyone who admires your work.

Obviously, if your make jewelry or wearable art, you should wear it every single time you leave the house, even to run to the grocery store. And always have cards with your contact info in your pocket. But especially over the holidays, you can get other people to be your billboards as well. My employees and friends always knew they could borrow a piece of handmade jewelry, a scarf or other wearable art to attend special luncheons or parties. The only requirement was that they keep my cards in their handbag and anytime someone complimented the piece, they told them who made it and where they could purchase one or something similar. It’s not imposing. They’ll love wearing and talking about your work. It’s often a good ice-breaker at cocktail parties.

If any of your friends work in a place where they see lots of people every day, they can be a great source of marketing for you just by wearing what you make and telling anyone who admires it how they can contact you.

Don’t over-look how many women are shopping for the perfect outfit to wear to the holiday parties. They will need accessories as well so it’s a great idea to approach some upscale boutiques and ask them to display your work with their dresses. If they don’t already sell jewelry or whatever accessories your make, they can up their average ticket by showing the customer a piece of yours to match the outfit. They have nothing to lose if you do it on consignment. And you have everything to gain.

For more tips, get your free copy of “13 Easy Low-Cost or NO Cost Tips to Turn Your Crafts into CASH NOW” at the right of this page.

Are you getting your work in front of discriminating buyers?

If you’re looking for more exposure for your work, how creative are you about where you sell you crafts? If you make items for dogs or their people, do you sell strictly to pet boutiques? Have you thought of approaching handcrafted galleries? Shoppers who value handmade will pay more if they see your work in a craft gallery rather than a pet boutique beside inexpensive imports. If you make baby gifts, don’t just sell them to children’s shops. Try to get them into shops with other hand made products. Why put your handcrafted pieces in a location where they are compared with manufactured goods? Get your work in front of buyers who are discriminating enough to appreciate handmade. What other locations can you think of where your work will get the attention and price it deserves?

Are you missing this HUGE segment of the RIGHT buyers for your crafts this season?

Are you counting strictly on Etsy, Artfire or other online platforms to sell your crafts for the holiday season? If so, you are missing a huge chunk of the market and a ton of revenue.  Here’s why:

There are a lot of web-savvy buyers who just don’t like to shop online. Even those of us who do purchase manufactured products, books or music  online, want to see and touch art in real-life. For many shoppers, meeting the craftsperson face-to-face is part of the attraction of buying hand made pieces.

It’s mid October and definitely time to be getting your work out there for early holiday shoppers. So, how can you get your work in front of the people who value made-by-hand? If you shy away from the large seasonal craft fairs like Harvest Festival, I don’t blame you. The booth fees are hefty and the whole experience is exhausting. Many artists who previously exhibited at the big festivals report more sales and a better bottom line when they exhibit at smaller venues such as school, church or community craft fairs. If there aren’t any small festivals in your area, you can approach schools, churches or clubs and offer to set up an exhibit of your work and give a percentage to the organization. (Think of it in place of a booth fee.)

House parties are another good way to sell your work. Ask friends, relatives or co-workers to host a party where you can display your work for their friends. Maybe partner with a caterer who is willing to make appetizers just for exposure to new clients.

Retirement homes are often happy to let you set up a display at no charge. It gives their residents an activity and chance to do their shopping independently. Look for upscale independent living communities, not nursing homes. Many of these residents have good disposable income, are educated in the arts and thrilled to have unique gift options without having to depend on anyone to take them shopping.

Corporations and hospitals are open to people setting up a lunch time or after work sale for their employees. It cuts down on personal days or “sick days” which are commonly used as shopping days around the holidays.

Ask gallery owners or boutique retailers to host a trunk show of your work for a percentage of the sales. Particularly if you make jewelry or smaller gift items, it benefits them as well. Galleries sell fewer large pieces of artwork before the holidays so this is a way for them to offer something to their clients that they may not show the rest of the year. If it ‘s a success and your pieces sell well for them, they may agree to carry your work year round.

For more ideas on how to sell your craft, download a free copy of “13 Easy Low-Cost or NO Cost Tips to Turn Your Crafts into CASH NOW” on the right side of this page.

5 Signs you are you courting the wrong clients

Do you feel like you spend so much time trying to grow your client list but you aren’t bringing in the revenue to show for all your efforts? You may be wasting a lot of energy courting the wrong customer.

Many fledgling entrepreneurs make the mistake of trying to make everyone their customer. Motivated to grow their business quickly, they fear turning any business away so are too general and don’t take the time to define and target their ideal customer.

I see this in every kind of business from coaching to retail to service. In fact, I just heard a story this morning about a young woman who in an attempt to build a Mary Kay business, held a party for all her friends, college students who are mostly on financial aid.  No one at the first party purchased except the host who received a huge discount. But the representative wanted to build her customer list so she asked each of the girls attending to host a party. The idea is for each of them to bring in other friends who will purchase and bring their friends who will refer their friends and become repeat customers. But, if none of them purchased at the first party and they each have a party to get the free hostess gifts she is going to waste more time and effort doing several more presentations to the same girls who will do nothing to grow her business. She’s wasting energy wooing the wrong client.

I saw this in my own businesses as well. Years ago I studied massage and wanted to grow a practice quickly so gave discount coupons to everyone I knew in hopes that some would become regular clients. Thinking I should practice all the different bodywork I had learned,  I would do whatever type of massage the client wanted. What I saw very quickly was that many of them enjoyed the massage but couldn’t afford weekly or even monthly bodywork. Then I sat down and wrote out criteria for my ideal client.  I decided to specialize in one modality and only target clients who could benefit from upper body, neck and shoulder work and who could afford to pay for the work regularly. Then I made a list of people I knew who either fit that profile or who were in a position to refer my target client. Rather than offer discount coupons, I gave this targeted group gift certificates for a free session. Instead of attracting clients who were only taking advantage of a free or discounted service, these were chiropractors, physicians and people with the means to pay and refer. By putting my time and effort into targeting a very specific profile rather than courting everyone,  I very quickly built up a thriving practice.

When I opened a gallery of contemporary american craft in a tourist town, I realized that the majority of people walking down the street patronized the shops that sold souvenirs and imported nicknacks. I quickly learned that only a small percentage of the visitors either valued or would pay for handmade items. I knew in order to make it, I would have to adjust my inventory to appeal to at least twenty percent of the foot traffic. I could have started carrying chinese knock-offs and thus brought in more customers but I had made a commitment to support American crafts people. Also, if I carried the same old trinkets everyone else did, I would appeal to a larger population but what would differentiate me from the other shops in town? So, I made the decision to stay focused on a specific client and added in some more affordable pieces that were still handmade and continued to target the customer who would refer and return. Yes, I missed eighty percent of the foot traffic but the twenty percent who I did reach were my ideal client and became loyal, long-term customers.

If you’re you working too hard to be everything to everyone and finding it frustrating and unprofitable, ask yourself the following questions about your client list:

Can most of them afford to pay you fairly for your product or service?

Do they come in regular contact, either in person or virtually, with others who are your ideal client?

Are they people you enjoy working with who will tell their friends or clients about you?

Will they become long-term repeat clients?

Are they likely to purchase other products or services you offer in the future?

If you answered no to any of the above questions, you are courting the wrong client. Stop and make a list of the qualities your ideal client possesses and then figure out how you can reach those people. If you stop trying to reach the eighty percent who won’t become long-term paying clients, you’ll find the twenty percent you do target will bring in the majority of your income.

What NOT to do when you purchase a craft business.

It’s always a mystery to me why someone would pay a lot of money to purchase a successful craft business and immediately change things. This happens so frequently that I feel it warrants addressing.

My friend Cyndy spent a decade building a profitable business selling items from her native country. She had a strong following with repeat customers and great relationships with her vendors. When she decided to return to her homeland, she sold to a local man and trained him in all aspects of the business.

The week the new owner took over, he began “cleaning up” the shop, which meant changing all the displays and straightening up all the inventory. Several of us who knew the business explained to him that part of Cyndy’s success was that she had figured out how the traffic patterns in her shop drew attention to particular items and she had placed things strategically where they sold best. He continued to make changes and complained that business was slow. Recently, I noticed he had moved the store to a less expensive and less than prime location. It’s no coincidence that sales are suffering.

In my little seaside town alone, I’ve seen this happen whenever shops or galleries change ownership. It makes sense to make changes if you purchase an unsuccessful business with the intent of turning it around and making it profitable, but if you buy a business based on it’s profitable track record, the biggest mistake you can make is to change anything immediately.  What you pay for when you purchase a successful business is the previous owner’s  knowledge, reputation and relationships. If you aren’t going to follow their lead, save your money and start your own business.

Sure you want to give the business your own style and flavor but when purchasing a successful, profitable business, my recommendation is to soak up every bit of information the previous owner shares, ask questions and listen. Ask for introductions to clients and artists. Ask the seller to attend your first trade show with you and help you with your initial purchase orders. Then model their practices exactly for at least the first year. Put aside your own preferences for now and do things exactly as the previous owner did, making notes on improvements you think of but don’t implement any changes yet. Listen to clients. Ask what they like about the business and what improvements they would like to see. Note comments that you hear repeatedly.

Assuming your numbers are as good at the end of the first year as before you purchased, you can begin making small improvements a bit at a time. Don’t alter too much at once so that you can monitor the results of each modification. If you see positive results, keep the change. If your numbers begin to slide, either make adjustments or return to the way the seller did things.  Remember, you paid for that know-how.

Even an artist or Craftsperson can make a living and a difference

When I tell people my favorite clients to work with are aspiring social entrepreneurs, they frequently ask if I help people open non-profits. Maybe it’s time to clarify what a social entrepreneur is.

Yes, some social ventures are not-for-profit but it’s a common misconception that you can’t drive social change AND make a profit. By definition, social entrepreneurship is “a process involving the innovative use and combination of resources to pursue opportunities to catalyze social change and/or address social needs.” Whether a business is a non-profit, for profit or NGO, determining if it qualifies as a social enterprise comes down to a basic question: does the business add value to society or drive social change.

Two well-known examples of social entrepreneurship are micro-financier Grameen Bank in Bangladesh and Aravind Eye Hospital in India, a provider of eye surgery at a fraction of the usual cost. Both are for profit businesses that improve lives.

When we think of social entrepreneurship, most of us think of the international do-good organizations tackling hunger and disease in developing countries. Sure, we’d all love to change the world, but we can make enormous differences starting in our own little community.

Because my expertise is in the area of for profit, I only work with people wanting to set up a for-profit business.  Aspiring entrepreneurs come to me when they want to start a business that has more meaning, makes a difference and a profit.  Every business needs a profit and loss statement but I leave that up to the accountants. I have a different balance sheet we work through that helps aspiring entrepreneurs work out their multiple bottom line-a value in addition to financial profit that’s measured in how the business improves lives. It doesn’t have to change the universe. it can be as small as making a difference in your own neighborhood, what my friend Alice Barry calls your “YOU-niverse.”

Even as an artist or craftsperson, you can be a social entrepreneur. Let’s say, for example, you design a line of jewelry that you’ve been fabricating yourself. Your business has grown to more than you can supply yourself but rather than outsource it to China, you want to help local women earn a living . By training local women to do part of the production for you, you are enabling them to feed and care for their families by teaching them a skill they can do at home. You save on overhead by not having a manufacturing facility and you’ve provided livelihood for women who may otherwise be dependent on social welfare. Your profit from your sales and the change you make in these women’s lives is your double bottom line.

Another category of social entrepreneurship is the buy-one, give-one model made popular by Tom’s Shoes. Other business donate a portion of their profits to a particular cause. My favorite is a business that actually teaches people how to help themselves so that they are no longer dependent on hand-outs. That method of making change is more sustainable than charity because it enables people to always be permanently independent. The giving continues even if the funds for the program are no longer available.

One way to decide what changes you want to make is to think about what really irks you. What do you think of as a terrible injustice or lack? Most likely if it’s an issue that really bothers you, it’s something you are passionate enough about driving change that you will be effective in creating lasting change. That’s the ultimate in social entrepreneurship.

Thinking about expanding your niche? Think twice!

Sometimes it’s tempting in a slower economy to try to be everything to everyone but it could be your demise. If you’ve been successful in a particular niche, you are likely thought of as the  expert in that specific area and that’s what attracts your customers or clients to you.

This was never more evident than yesterday when I visited a glass gallery that has for nearly thirty years been one of the premier glass art galleries in the country. They had a strong following both on and off line with great tremendous loyalty from both the customers and artists they represented.

The merchandising in the  gallery was exactly as it should be in a tourist area. A few items priced in the thousands were sold infrequently but necessary to draw attention. Serious collectors purchased the many medium priced items. Then there were lots of smaller, affordable pieces that were the galleries bread and butter. The gallery carried only handmade, American glass. Nothing else. They were THE go-to place for American glass art.

A couple of years ago, the gallery was purchased by a long time employee. She saw business slow as it had a number of times over the years as the economy dipped. The previous owners successfully rode out several economic slumps, probably selling more of the less pricey pieces and held in there until the next recovery. The new owner, however, has tried to compensate by stocking  wood, metal and other fine craft. (note: I will go into more depth in a future post about the mistakes new business owners often make when they purchase an existing business.)

In a village with numerous galleries featuring multi-media, the once renowned glass gallery now blends in with all the others. The gallery is obviously suffering slow sales and low cash flow. They built a reputation over many years as a specialty business with a very specific niche. Why would they want to blend in and become “generalists”?

In your own business, does fear of not having something for everyone tempt you to broaden your specialty and become more heterogenous? Are you tempted to diversify so that you appeal to a wider audience? If you want to grow your business, or compensate for sluggish sales, what can you do to maintain your own niche so that you are still known as the expert in your specific area? Can you provide other products or services to the same customer group? Wouldn’t you rather be known to have the best selection of products and services in your own specialty niche than have a little something for everyone? When you are tempted to diversify, be careful not to become too general because blending in can mean becoming invisible. If you’ve found a niche that works when times are good, stay true to it and things will be good again.

How will your business grow? By replicating what’s working or creating a community of complimentary businesses?

Recent conversations with clients and friends about how they can add additional revenue started me thinking about how we traditionally grow our companies.

When my partner and I had success with our first home furnishings business in Tucson, we knew the easiest way to expand would be to replicate this model in other cities. It never occurred to us to open other, complimentary stores in the same city.  Duplicating our flagship store made sourcing, merchandising, marketing and managing simpler and the lessons gained from our early mistakes benefited each of our next sixteen locations. Expansion was formulaic and systematic. It worked well financially and, for awhile, personally. It served my need to explore new places and meet new people. My restless nature was satisfied by several moves to new geography in the service of expansion, but eventually I became bored and needed new challenges.

I now view expansion possibilities differently. I could have stayed in the first location and grown the business by capitalizing on reputation and an existing clientele, offering the same customer group other complimentary products and services.

The food service industry is a good example. Restauranteurs most frequently grow by replicating their first business in multiple cities. Occasionally, we see one person or company open numerous but diverse restaurants in the same area. One of my favorites is a group in Carmel, Ca who own an Irish chowder house, a seafood and steak grill, a Greek cafe and a couple of Italian bistros all within a few blocks. They cross market to customers, offering coupons at each restaurant for discounts at their other locations. While the menus are different, they can share staff and have the advantages of using local vendors. This model of creating a community of businesses in one area based on an existing reputation and customer base works for brick and mortar as well as virtual enterprise.

Because many of you have online businesses rather than brick and mortar, let’s look at how you can use this method of expansion. If we’ve worked together, I may have suggested at some point that you leverage your knowledge and boost your income by replicating and repurposing what you do. In other words, let’s say you teach a metalworking class. I’ve probably encouraged you to record your lessons and sell them as a home-study tutorial. Using the model of capitalizing on your existing business, you might also think of selling some jewelry making supplies, kits and possibly even doing some affiliate marketing of complimentary materials or classes.

How can YOU create a community of businesses that cater to the clientele you already have? What other products or services can you offer to meet the needs of your existing customers? Can you align yourself with other business owners who already serve your ideal customer and provide complementary services?

AS always, your comments below are welcome and appreciated.