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Five Great Places to
Market
You’ve
decided to start your own craft business.
You’ve got a great product and lots of enthusiasm, but no clue of how
and where to sell your product. If you
have no business background, then it can be intimidating to start talking about
markets and sales pitches and your target customer. In reality, marketing your hand made crafts
is easier than you could ever imagine.
Here’s a quick overview of some of the best places to market your craft
products.
Family and Friends
It
sounds too obvious, right? In fact, your
family and friends can be one of the most important tools in getting your new
craft business off the ground. Your
family and friends will probably be more than happy to buy your products, but
also help you sell them. You will talk
to your family and friends about your crafts and they in turn will tell their
family and friends and it will continue to grow from there. Word of mouth is really important in the crafting
industry.
Many
businesses allow crafters to come in during the holiday season. Maybe one of
your friends or relatives works for a company that does this. It is usually through personal connections
like this that crafters end up at the businesses.
If
you don’t have enough money for a table at a local craft show, you can host one
at your own home. If you know other
crafters, you can include their items as well – for free or for a small fee. You can invite family, friends and
neighbors. This is an excellent way to
start selling your products with minimal cost to you.
When
you do decide to do a local craft show, ask for help from your family and
friends. While it is important that you
spend a lot of time at your booth so you have a chance to interact with your
customers, family and friends can offer a lot of support by taking turns
manning the booth and helping with the set-up and tear-down of your display.
Local Craft Shows
Before
you start traveling all around with your crafts, you should try displaying your
products in a few local shows. With a
crafting business, you should try to start small and gain as much experience
and exposure in your local community as possible. These local shows also give you a can to work
out all of the kinks in your display and sales pitch before investing all your
money in traveling to out of area craft shows.
Crafters’ Marketplaces
and Local Gift Stores
Many
gift stores will accept crafts from local artisans on consignment. This is a great way to get your craft products
out into the community. Often times
these sorts of displays will lead to greater exposure and custom orders. It is a good way of reaching people who do
not attend craft shows. Many communities
also have crafters’ marketplaces where you can rent space on a monthly basis to
display your crafts. The concept is
similar to a craft show – you just don’t have to be there to sell the
products. The store looks after all of
the selling for you. You do need to ensure that your stock remains high enough
and that you have an attractive display that will help your crafts stand out
from all of the others.
Magazines and other
Publications
You
can consider advertising your new business in a magazine or a newsletter. Even better, you could try to have yourself
featured in an article in your local paper or a craft magazine. This way your potential customers will learn
more about you and the back-story of your craft. With crafts, a lot of customers like to know
the process and story behind its creation, so this is an excellent way to
connect with them and generate more interest in your new business venture.
Online
Just
a few years ago, there were very few crafters online. Now, you can have a website devoted to
marketing and selling your products. A
website that displays your products and provides some background on you and
your craft can be a really effective marketing tool. You can also sell your products directly
online. This will allow you to sell your
products to people all over the world with minimal advertising costs to
you. Just think of the exposure!
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