February 04, 2008
If you have a friend who would enjoy this newsletter, please feel free to forward it to them.
If someone has forwarded this newsletter to you, you can subscribe here so you won't miss any of the tips in each issue.
For even more tips on building your home craft business, check out the
Inspiri Art and Craft website.
In this month's issue of Inspiri Art and Craft Business Magazine:
New at Inspiri
Create Promotional Materialsfor Your Craft Business
Promote Crafts with Catalogs and Brochures: Developing a catalog or brochure that showcases your work can be an effective option to promote crafts. These tips will help you to develop professional and cost effective promotional materials for your craft business.
Cheap Beading Supplies Online
My favorite resource for cheap beading supplies is the Internet. If you haven't really searched for beading supplies online, you're missing out on some wonderful suppliers who can provide fantastic selection and great prices that often match or come very close to prices you'd pay if you bought your beading supplies from one of the major wholesalers.
Craft Suppliers
Craft Business Resources
As Inspiri grows, it's my priority to keep the site well organized and ensure you can find the information you need quickly and easily. The Supplies and Resources section was starting to grow quite large, so I've reorganized that information and separated it into two smaller sections.
In the new Craft Suppliers section, you'll find suppliers who offer great prices and purchasing terms, and in the new Business Resources section you'll find plenty of useful and cost effective resources to help you build your business
Feature Article
Selling Your Crafts
at the Weekend Market
Saturday markets, or farmer's markets may provide a profitable place for selling your crafts, depending on the type of art or craft you make. Before committing to sell at a farmer's market, it's important to assess the image of the market. What other vendors are there? Do they reflect an image that is similar to your own company image? Would your products be a good fit for the expectations of customers who frequent the market?
I've been to several farmers' markets where beautiful handmade items are sold at prices that allow the artist to make a fair profit. Artists are established regulars at these venues, which allows them to make a consistent income. Don't assume that all markets are low end, bargain basement venues. If the market has a good reputation in the area and is known for its artisans, then you may do quite well in this type of venue.
Keep in mind that to do well at a market, you need to establish yourself as a regular; that means you'll need to be committed to be there every week. Some professional crafters will see this regular venue in a positive light, since they'll have a regular source of income. Others may find it too time consuming; it will take away from the time you have available to pursue other sales venues. That assessment will be dependent on your own long term business goals.
Tips for Selling at the Saturday Market
- Be sure to charge prices that allow you to make a fair profit. Underpricing, in the long run, hurts all professional crafters and minimizes the value of handmade items. If you can't charge enough to make a reasonable profit that accounts for your materials, time and other incidental costs, then this venue may not be a good fit for your business.
- Use the opportunity to cultivate regular, loyal customers. Many people visit their local market on a weekly basis. Remind customers that you are there each week, so they'll know to look for you again.
- Embrace a sense of cooperative competition. Yes, selling at a market means you'll have to compete with other vendors, but markets create a critical mass of vendors in order to bring in more customers than you could attract on your own. Become well know for being great, different or special in a particular niche and embrace the adage, a rising tide lifts all boats.
- Use the market as an opportunity to get to know your customers. Be aware of what sells and what does not. Immediate feedback from customers is priceless and can help you to make strategic decisions about marketing, creating new products and establishing prices.
- Selling at small markets can be a step toward selling at much larger juried art shows. Many markets have quite reasonable booth fees, so you'll be able to test customers' responses to your products and prices, and develop a great display that draws in your customer before committing to larger juried art shows with higher booth fees.
Related Articles at Inspiri:
Craft Booth Display Tips
Although written with juried art show in mind, these display tips will apply to selling at markets as well.
Where to Sell Your Craft
More venues for selling your crafts.
Pricing Your Crafts
Tips on pricing your crafts to ensure you cover your costs and make a fair profit.
Find More Craft
Business Information
You'll find plenty of information at the Inspiri site. If you're looking for specific information about building your craft business, try the Search This Site
feature to find the information you need.Online Craft Business Resource
Beadaholique
If you're looking for wholesale prices on jewelry making and beading supplies, but don't want to deal with high minimum purchase requirements that are typical with traditional wholesalers, check out Beadaholique
on EBay. I have made several purchases from them, and although they don't offer the same range of products that you'll find at some major suppliers, they do carry a fairly broad product range of items, and they offer prices that are competitive with (and sometimes better than) the major jewelry supply wholesalers I have used. They have always provided me with fast shipping and excellent customer service.
Thanks for reading the Inspiri Art and Craft Business Magazine.
Best regards,
Lisa