Many artists and crafters are learning that to really succeed at your hobby as a business you need to market your crafts well.

Marketing involves engaging your customers in a relationship that builds trust and friendship.  It is easiest and most cost efficient to maintain this relationship using the resources that the internet provides us.  For instance online stores, web sites, e-mail marketing, and more.

Selling crafts online gives customers who want to buy but don’t have the money right now another place to buy when they are ready.  Include a coupon and link to your online store or website on your business card and give it to every customer who enters your craft show booth.  Let customers know if they visit your online store and enter the coupon code they will receive a discount.

With more crafters than ever looking to sell crafts online more and more places to sell crafts are popping up all over the internet.  I’ve created a page to help you sell your crafts online.  http://www.extravaganzacrafts.com/index.php?pr=SellCraftsOnline

Please comment below and let us know if you’ve used any of these sites and how you felt about your success with them.  Also please include the price range of your arts or crafts, and what you sell, if you sell crafts online feel free to include a link to your online store so we can take a look.

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The article contains suggestions that help you cut costs at craft shows and market your business to grow your craft show business during tough times.

View the article at http://www.art.mt.gov/soa/pr.asp?ID=1289

Thank You Montana Arts Council!

Recently I signed up to do business with a big company and have had nothing but a terrible experience.  They have however helped me to realize what good customer service is and what it is not.

Good service is delivering what was promised, on time.  It is realizing that as a business person it is your job to deliver value for your customers dollars.

Good customer service is having a way for your customers to reach you regarding any problems they are having with your art or craft, your policies or your business in general.  It is having a clear effective way for them to report problems.  It is listening to them and valuing their opinions.

Good customer service is NOT giving people the run around.  It is NOT making them call and leave several messages to resolve a problem.  Customer service is NOT WAITING two weeks before returning phone calls.  It is returning their calls within 2 days of them calling even if it is only to tell them you are sorry for the problem and working to resolve it.  Then resolve it and let them know.

Providing good service ISN’T about correcting customers misconceptions about your business after they happen.  It is preventing them in the first place, or taking responsibility for them if they do occur.

Good customer service is having a 100% satisfaction guarantee that states:

If you are unsatisfied with our product or service for any reason we will refund you money completely.  No questions asked.  However if you would like to tell us what is was wrong with our product or service we would be happy to listen so we can improve our business in the future.

It is informing all your employees of this policy.  It is telling them that listening means not talking.  It is giving them the authority and resources they need to refund the customers money.

Lastly good customer service is about seeing upset customers as an asset.  Upset customers can do the most damage to your business OR you can see that they are your best opportunities to grow.  By hearing your customers complaints you know the places that your business needs improvement.  If you resolve their problems with your business satisfactorily they may even become your best customers.

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I received an email the other day from Give to Get Marketing expert, Joe Gracia, that shows how Mullen’s Ice Cream Shop uses their business card to do double duty.

The business card contains the business contact information including name and phone number, but also includes an offer to the business’s customers.

The business card functions as a coupon for $1.00 off purchases of $6.00 or more, $2.00 off purchases of $12.00 or more, $3.00 off purchases of $18.00 or more, or 2 scoops for the price of one.  They easily fit all this information on one side of a business card.

There are several ways this concept could be adapted to any business, but I immediately thought of art and craft festival vendors.

Different craft vendors can use different offers.

For instance lower priced jewelry might use an offer very similar to Mullen’s offer above with just a small increase in savings for a slightly larger purchase.  Instead of two scoops for the price of one you could use get a free pair of earrings valued at $x.xx with every necklace valued at $xx.xx purchased.  For higher priced items like fine art or furniture you might want to increase the size of the discount (or use a % off offer) and purchase to fit more with your items.

The idea is to encourage a customer purchasing one item at craft festivals to purchase an additional item or complimentary item as they will receive a larger discount or savings the more they purchase.

Other offers that could be used on a business card include:

• $x.xx off offers
• x % off offers
• buy x get x -1/2 off and other similar offers
• buy x get x free

The back of the card should have a picture of your best seller and say, “Bring this card and a friend to any show and receive xx offer.  See our website for current show schedule.”  It should then list your website address.  NOTE:  Your website should tell what shows you will be attending, have other places they can purchase your items (such as galleries, specialty shops, etc.), and have pieces for sale.  By including a coupon code beneath each offer on the front they could use the coupon on their online order to encourage larger online sales.

HOW TO ATTRACT CUSTOMERS LIKE A MAGNET
Marketing is all about ‘helping people get what they want.’ Simply do that and you’ll have all the customers and sales you’ll ever need. Learn this simple formula and your business will begin to grow instantly. For more information, visit:  Give to Get Marketing

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Recently I’ve been getting a lot of calls from craft show vendors who wanted to sign up for my newsletter about craft shows.  When they called they needed a little information about the newsletter and then asked how they could sign up.  I lost the sale when I referred them to my website because I’m not set up to take orders over the phone.  What could I have done better?

I could have  signed on to my website and walked them through the process.  This way I would have guided them through the purchase rather than leaving them to go to the site on their own.  I could have also collected their name and address while talking to them so that I could contact them later if they didn’t go and sign up right away.

Craft show vendors know when your customer is ready to make a purchase and guide them to the cash register.  Don’t walk away before the sale is completed.

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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 show 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.

Constant Contact and AutoWebBusiness.com are two inexpensive ways 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 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.

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What does Real Estate have to do with selling arts and crafts?

The way I see it your art or craft show booth is kind of like trying to sell a house. If you try to sell an empty house people can’t see in their minds what the house will look like when it’s all finished, painted, furnished, and decorated. You will also have a hard time trying to sell a house that is full of clutter, people can only imagine that the rest of the house hasn’t been taken care of well. They will see that the house will be too much work and cost too much money.

Your art or craft show booth is like selling your house. The booth will help your customers imagine using the product they have purchased from you. You have to do the imagining for them. How?

First you need to think about your product, who is it designed for, how and where will it be used? The answers to these questions should affect the theme and design of your booth.

Is what you’re selling for boys, girls, men or women? Is it for children, preteens, teens, young adults, or mature adults? Don’t present children’s items in an adult setting or adult item’s in a child like setting. Use colors that appeal to the ages you’re selling to. What ideas and themes appeal to them?

For instance fancy jewelry for teens might be presented as if at a prom, towel racks might be presented as in a high class hotel bathroom, and clothing needs to be presented as if it were in a fancy closet but also as outfits on the person.

When you created your product you had a vision of how people would use it, your booth is your opportunity to present them with that picture.

Stage your booth just like you would a home that you were trying to sell. Imagine yourself as a customer walking into your booth. Critique and criticize as if you were the customer, ask friends and family to do the same. Ask for them to point out things that are distracting, look odd, and especially anything they feel is not safe.

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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.  Click here to see Pam’s full article.

7 Common Disconnects In Retail Business

By Pamela Grimm, Ideaco

7.  No asking for the business: Not once did anyone say… “We want to be the store you come to for your crafting needs….we want your business!” There was no attitude of we want to impress you and guarantee your return to keep you as a customer. No one asked “Have we met your needs today?” They would say… “Did you get everything you needed?” instead of asking if there was more that they could do to meet my needs today! I was surprised at just how little interest there was in gaining my business.

How to Ask for Business

Remember that the value of every customer is equal to the total of their purchases over the length of time they will be your customer.  When you remember the potential value of every customer over a life time of purchases it’s easier to offer exceptional customer service.  Customers are looking for exceptional customer service something that sets your business apart from everyone else.

Remember make a positive impression, show your interest in your customers, share your product knowledge, and find the customers needs.  Present the customer with the benefits of the product as they apply to them, offer the options they need like customization, ability to pay by check, money order or credit card, free gift wrapping and shipping to any address.

Ask the customer if you have met their needs and listen quietly to what they say.  Take notes if necessary and carefully consider if you can provide their needs. Is the value of that customer worth the time and money that you will spend to meet their needs?

Meet the needs of your customers with a wow and they will keep coming back for more!

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With Christmas just around the corner I thought a few of you might be interested in getting this for your spouse (or yourself everyone deserves a gift from themselves sometimes).

Get your craft workspace organized!  It gives you so much more time to work and frees up you mind to be creative.   You don’t have to think about where you placed that tool or what that other part to this craft is.

My affiliate link is below.  I will get a commission if you order from this link.  Mention “100ship” and get $100 off the total shipping price of any purchase.

The Workbox: Black Beadboard Craft Storage Furniture – $ 1295.00 High-end craft furniture on wheels folds up into a and comes with a collapsible work table and adjustable shelves. Dimensions 31d”x36w”x72h” includes 85 canvas totes and 20 clear zipper pouches in 3 sizes.