Craft Life - Lifestyes of the Professional Crafter

Happy New Year - Time to get moving!!

2010-01-07T10:37:00.000-08:00

It's been over a month since I posted here, sorry about that! November & December are very busy months for us between business and personal celebrations. But it's the New Year and time to roll.......

With the new year comes new opportunity and a chance to start anew! Now is the time to find those craft shows for spring and summer as many require you to apply months in advance; I'm applying now for one in September. For those starting out in small, local shows you should scour the newspaper and call the town offices of the most affluent towns in your area. Why call the town office? Well because often they are the ones who run shows in their towns or they can point you to those who do. When you go to a show ask the vendors what other shows they will be at; you can often find shows by visiting the websites of other local crafts people as many will have a list of shows they are doing.

Start big or start small? It's easier to do small local shows because often you are not required to have a whole, fancy booth setup but just a table or small area with shelves. The cost is also much lower and I have to tell you that lately the return on investment doing a small show vs. that of doing a large one has actually been better. You can spend $500 on show fees, $300 on a hotel plus gas and food money to do a big show in Boston or New York and make $1000 or less profit OR you can spend $100 on a show and drive home at night and make $500 -$1000 profit... hmmmmmmmmmm But realize it really depends on what you are making. A high end furniture craftsman can't sell many items at a local high school show.

Which brings me to your product again. It's important to have a wide range of prices so that you can fill many niches. I have products that retail starting at $10 but also have products that retail for $300 or more. Many fine craftsmen don't do this and I've been at shows with them where they haven't sold one thing. It might be more appealing to sell one chair for $1200 but you have to have a customer who can afford it and in this troubled economy it's wise to not put all your eggs in one basket. Think about your product..... now think about what you can make with the same materials, maybe even with the scraps, that would be nice but can sell for under $15.00. THAT is your cash cow.

More next time....

~WhiteLotus

Creating a Website - or Not

2009-11-19T11:32:00.000-08:00

Should you create your own website?

At this point in the game I don't recommend it because you have too much on your plate trying to get your business off the ground. However, you might consider checking out Etsy because you can link your Etsy shop in your MySpace or Facebook page, on your own Blog etc.... Etsy is sort of a cross between an Auction House and a Website. Spend some time there!

There are other websites that will host your work for various amounts of money. I've been on a number of them over the years and never really found them all that useful. I do get a fair number of orders from my own website at Glass Orchids but I was a programmer for 20 years so am able to maintain my own site. It takes a lot of time to keep your site current and it's not for the faint of heart. But, if it's something you enjoy then go for it. I do recommend that you get your own URL and don't use one of the free hosts that give you a web address like http://myfreewebpage.com/yourwebname.html it's much more professional to have your own URL.

One common mistake I've seen a lot of artists make is that they don't put any contact information their site. People want to know who you are and to feel safe ordering from you. So whether you have your own site or an Etsy or eBay shop, make your customers feel at home by providing some info on who you are and what your policies are.

Let me know what you're doing!

~WhiteLotus

Selling on an Auction House Site

2009-11-11T09:40:00.000-08:00

So you've worked out your pricing and you've decided on an Auciton Site to do a test sale. Good for you! Spend several hours browsing the site for other 'similar' things people are selling. Pay attention to all they offer, including how much they charge for shipping, do they offer a gift box, do they give a discount for multiple wins, how much do they charge? Are their auction selling? You can usually see past sales (closed auctions.)

Since you are just starting out I'd try to undercut any competition by a few cents. You can build interest using a low starting bid with a reserve price. A reserve price means the item won't sell unless the minimum bid placed is at least that much so make this the lowest price you are willing to sell the item for.

It's a numbers game; items sell better if they sell for something like $19.99 vs. $20.00, $17.77 vs. $18.00. Play with the pricing and see what gets you the best return.

Post your auction for the longest time possible; on eBay this is 7 days, this gives buyers time to find your auction.

Don't be discouraged if your items don't sell the first time; it takes time for people to find you and to build up a following.

Post a few and GOOD LUCK!

WhiteLotus

Doing a Retail Craft Show

2009-11-05T05:15:00.000-08:00

I won't be posting a real article today as I'm preparing to go down to Boston for my own retail craft show. I typically don't do that many retail shows in a year but this month I have 3 back to back. Usually I do only 3 or 4 per year but this year we've added some extra ones due to the flagging economy. Our mix of business consists of a varying combination of:

Retail shows (3-4 a year)
Wholesale shows (1-2 a year)
Sales reps (who also do shows)
Consignment (some of my best customers)
Website sales
Supply sales (we sell supplies to other artists)
Teaching
Auctions online
Studio sales in our little gallery

You don't have to do all these yourself but diversifying a bit can help bring in more income.

I'll post on Monday when I get back and let you all know how it went.

Wish me luck!
~Nancy

Preparing to sell

2009-11-04T08:04:00.000-08:00

You've thought about your goals and how/where you want to start selling. Now it's time to think about the product itself and how you are going to market it. I'm breaking it down into a few categories to cover a broad base of venues. The first will be online selling.

Selling Online via an auction site or a website:

First and foremost you're going to need photos. If your work is flat you might be able to get away with laying it on a flatbed scanner and doctoring up the image with Photoshop. If it's 3D you're going to want to take some shots with a digital camera. Realize that this isn't a photo of the family at Thanksgiving; it's a photo of your work. Nothing else should be in the photo. Use a backdrop of some kind and good lighting. If it's sunny outside that might be a good option and you can blur out the background. I'll add some links at the left for some info on taking photos of your work. Multiple photos of the piece from different angles is often desirable.

Second you're going to need a catchy description of your work. Try to be creative here and include the benefits of owning your product. Here's an example:

Water Totem
This pendant resonates with magic. In it's depths colors swirl like a full moon reflected in the cold northern ocean waters. Bring some magic into someone's life (even your own) with this powerful piece. Approx. 1/4" wide x 1 1/2" long. Sterling chain included - 18" snake. Solid Sterling bail.

At first it's difficult to write this way but, with practice, it gets easier. People seem to really respond to this type of artistic description.

There are a number of sites where you can sell your work in an auction format such as eBay, JustBeads and Etsy. Check them out and see how other people are doing it.

Before you can sell you need to figure out your pricing. Pricing is a whole science unto itself but I'm going to give you a basic, easy way to get started. Many hobbyists make the mistake of pricing their work too low. The problem is that if your business grows you will have painted yourself into the proverbial corner price wise. A little spending money may be fine when creating as a hobby but it will not sustain a business. I always encourage people to price with the assumption that, one day, they will want to sell to a store on a wholesale basis. Selling wholesale means you get 50% of the retail price so if your miracle widget sells to your customers for $12, you'll sell it to Mom & Pops Wonder Emporium for $6. Can you live with $6 and still turn a profit?

Time to do some math. Your retail price is based on:

Cost of materials
Labor (pay yourself an hourly wage)
Overhead (electricity, heat for your space etc..)
Marketing cost (ebay fees, photographer fees if you pay one etc...)
Sundries (stuff you use up in creating such as glue, paint, tags etc...and wear and tear on tools)
Profit % (how much profit do you want to make? 10%, 20%, 40%?)

You'll need to figure out how much it costs to produce 1 piece. How I do this is that I set down to create a batch of earrings from start to finish. I watch how much time it takes me for each step. When I'm done I figure out how much time it took for each pair. So if it took me 1 hour to make 60 pair of earrings then each pair took 1 minute. Sundries and overhead are a bit trickier but you can figure out how much you spend on electricity, phones, heat per month and guesstimate how many miracle widgets you make per month and then divide. Or You can start with a fudge factor and ajdust later. If you make a lot of widgets you can add 50 cents per widget as a fudge factor, if you make more expensive piece but fewer then adjust the fudge factor accordingly. Here's an example with totally made up numbers to give you the idea:

Post earrings - 1/2" square art glass

Materials used: Art glass (10cents), sterling post(50 cents a pair) , clutch (12 cents a pair)

Other stuff used: glue (5 cents worth), earring card (20 cents), kiln wash, electricity for kiln, water to wash glass, paper towels to clean and dry, kiln wash for kiln shelves, kiln shelves, glass cutter
Labor: from start to market - 10 minutes per pair (@$20 per hour that's 20/6 pair per hour = $3.33 per pair.
Profit: 10%

.10+.50+.12+.05+.20+.50+3.33 = $4.80
+ fudge factor for overhead @50 cents = $5.30
+10% profit = $5.83

This is your Wholesale price. Your retail price would be 2x5.83 or $11.67.. round it to $12.00 and your wholesale cost to $6.

Now you've done some market research before and you know there are other people selling a similar product for $10 and some selling them for $20; what do you do?

Well obviously you cannot sell them for $10 or you will be losing money. Why is someone selling them so cheaply? They either didn't do their homework and don't know they are losing money OR they are just selling as a hobby and don't care OR they get their materials more cheaply than you do (we'll cover that later.).

You could increase your price to match the $20 but you're just starting out so I suggest you keep your prices a bit lower than most to corner some of the market.

I know this is a little complicated and I've tried to keep it as simple as possible. Please do ask any questions and I'll do my best to help you with your specific situation.

I think that's enough for today, your head is probably spinning.....

Best,
Nan

First Steps................

2009-11-03T04:01:00.000-08:00

You've given it some serious thought and you're dying to get started, eh? There are several ways you could get started and it all depends on your personality, your product and where you live. I'll outline some places to start selling your work and places to find information:

Online auction houses - Ebay, Etsy, Justbeads are all good places to start depending on what you make. Prices on auction houses is generally low but you're just starting out. Research other sellers to see if anyone has something similiar to yours and price accordingly.
Local Craft Fairs - depending on the season there will be more or less of these. Some require you to sign up well in advance but it doesn't hurt to contact the person running the show to see if they have any openings; often someone will cancel at the last minute so be ready! Start small with shows that have a low fee until you work out the kinks in your business and build confidence. We'll cover doing a show in detail soon.
Visit the local craft/gift stores in your area to see if they would be interested in carrying your miracle widget on a consignment basis. We'll cover the differences/benefits/drawbacks of wholesale, retail and consignment soon. Museum gift shops are usually a great place to start and love to carry the work of local artisans.
Look for local craft guilds or organizations you can join. Visit any craft show in your area and really look at the artists there. Do they belong to a guild? Do they have a website? What does their booth & display look like? How do they approach the customers. Please respect these artists, they are not there to educate you but to make a living. Don't pester them with questions if they have customers in their booth. Some artists will be happy to talk to you and others will feel threatened; read them and if you sense resistance leave them alone. They are not obligated to share what they know by some unwritten crafter code of conduct.
Visit small local museums because craft guilds often leave materials in them to drum up members. Guilds often run their own shows which are generally a good place to start. While you are there talk to the person in the museum gift shop.
Are there any craft schools in your area? Check them out. They may have a bulletin board or area where information is listed about guilds and shows.

You are not going to have only one means of selling your work; i.e. don't put all your eggs in one basket. Eventually you will find a mix that suits you. For me it's part wholesale, part retail, part consignment via shows, sales reps, auciton houses and a website. The ratio of each to each often changes year to year, season to season.

Go forth and research!

~Nancy

Living the Craft Life

2009-11-02T13:36:00.000-08:00

Your friends love the crafts you make and they all tell you that you should sell your work but you're not so sure and, even if you were, how would you do it? Maybe you're struggling to pay the bills or maybe you just want to get out of whatever job you have? I've already mentored a number of women who have successfully begun to make a living with their craft and I can help you too. Stick with me and I'll help you get there step by step.

Who the heck am I? Well, I'm a dichroic glass artist and have been living by the craft of my hand for about 13 years. I have my work in shops all across the United States and beyond. Am I top dog in my field, no I'm not, but I am fairly successful and can help you be too. Before I became a glass artist I was a Vice President in programming of a major international bank, I'm also the mother of a 13 year old girl and have been married for 19 years. I live on a 100 acre farm in Maine where I raise chickens, ducks and quail. We've converted the old dairy barn into a studio/office with a small gallery at the side.

Visit my website to see exactly who I am and what I do: Glass Orchids

How did I become a craft artist making a living selling the craft of my hand? Well, I was a programmer and I loved my work. I had studied art (painting & sculpture) in college and one year I bought myself a little kiln and supplies as a hobby to relax from the pressures of work. About a year later I got a promotion, the coveted corner office AND I had a beautiful baby girl. I had it all. Well, that little girl grew along with my responsibilities at work. I lived in the suburbs and had to drop her off at 7am and didn't get home till about 7pm from work. I was on call 24/7 for technical support. Soon it became apparent that my dreams had changed. That corner office had lost it's sparkle to be replaced by the twinkle in a little girl's eye. My husband and I decided I would quit my job and stay home with our daughter. I kept up with my glass hobby in my spare time and soon I had too many Miracle Widgets* to give away! What to do? I entered a little craft show at the local YWCA on a Saturday. This was the beginning of what was to become a way of life..... We sold our house in the suburbs, left New York and moved to an old farm in Maine... and here I am....

What about you? Don't let me scare you away! You don't have to make any life altering decisions today! Maybe you just want to be able to pay for more supplies to make more miracle widgets, maybe you just want to make enough money to go out to dinner once a month or maybe you just want to ease some of the stress we're all feeling during this economic downturn. Well, it's up to you, I recommend you start small with few expectations and high hopes.

It's time to take the first step! What I want you to do today is to think about what you create and answer these questions:

What are your short term goals? (spending money, paying off some bills, going on a vacation etc.)
Who is your product designed for? (kids, moms, dads, working women, older people)
Who will buy your product? (the end user, their parents, someone for a gift)
Are you outgoing and social or are you the shy type? (this will determine how you will sell your work)
Are there other people selling this miracle widget in your area? (your competition)
If there are other people selling them, what makes your better or different?
Do you have the money or supplies to make a number of your miracle widgets?
Are your miracle widgets easy to ship?

I am going to walk you through step by step from this moment to the day you are successfully selling your miracle widget! Post your comments and questions and I'll help you personally to make your own business a success. You CAN work from home, you CAN make money and you CAN live the Craft Life!

*I'm calling our products 'Miracle widgets' because there are so many things you can make and I don't want to squash your ideas!