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Double Your Church Attendance! How To Profit At HomeSelling Your Art or Craft Item (A Beginners Guide) | ||
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Tip #1: What to sell? There are limitless possibilities of profitable craft and artistic items that you can make very inexpensively at home and sell! The challenge is to discover which items or products are presently in demand and will sell well, and to decide whether you want to make them. Gather information by attending art and craft fairs and shows. Walk around and observe what people are buying and the prices they are paying. Take note of which booths are the busiest. Visit retail stores and galleries and see what is available and what is selling. Look for inspiration in magazines, newspapers, and periodicals. Tip #2: Pricing your work. Most beginning artists and crafters are shy about charging enough for their work. You must be able to sell an item for enough, and in enough volume, in order to cover your cost of materials, indirect costs (electricity, transportation, etc), labor and production costs (including paying yourself!), selling costs (the cost of your booth, show fees, commissions, etc), as well as provide an additional profit margin that will enable you to expand your operation. Unique and one-of-a-kind items will sell for more, but will present a much more limited potential market. Tip #3: Succeeding at Art and Craft Shows. A craft show is an excellent starting point for anyone selling their work. Beyond the actual dates of the show, there are no further committments. When a show is over, it's over. You can do one or two and walk away with a minimum of expense and time and money. Or you can make doing shows a full-time venture and travel the country, as many crafters do. Start small and stick to shows close to home. Choose the kind of event that will attract the most likely buyers of the products you make. Types of shows include fine-arts-only shows, juried arts and crafts shows (very selective), country craft shows, state and county fair shows, renaissance fairs, mall shows, and large trade shows. Each has its own particular advantages, disadvantages, and market. Tip #4: Setting up a successful craft booth. In popular and well-organized shows, it doesn't much matter where you set up, you're going to sell. Usually, booth spaces on a corner, near the center, entrance or exit of a show are better than spaces on the aisles. Avoid spots near food vendors or near entertainment. Design your booth to show your work in a neat orderly arrangement. It should be easy and inviting for the customer to walk in and browse. The fuller the display, the more you will sell. Gaps in the display, scattered piles of items, and disheveled garments give the impression that the selection is poor and has been picked over. This may mean spending a lot of time straightening and re-arranging merchandise during the day, but the customer should feel like they are the first to see your work. Experiment and see what works best for your items. Set things up at home first and make sure that everything is sturdy. Label everything with a tag that includes your name and address. Since many items will be given as gifts, use a separate label for the price. Do be sure to price each item. If a customer has to ask what the price is, they may not and you will lose the sale. Visit big retailers and other retail craft stores and imitate their display methods. In general chrome and metal fixtures are better than wood as customers have been conditioned to buy from these kinds of fixtures in the big stores. Tip #5: Build a Mail-Order or Internet Crafts Business. Mail order, and now the Internet, offers many attractive benefits as a home-based business for craftpersons. Orders and payments arrive in the mail (or directly by e-mail and direct deposit), you fill the order and send it to the customer. You do much of your business without leaving home. Success in mail order, or internet e-marketing, or in any other traditional form of marketing, comes by targeting the particular groups of customers that want what you are selling. You focus your time and resources on selling to this group. You can even market supplies and instructional materials to other crafters and artists. This is especially true for unusual and niche crafts. Many people may enjoy a little-known craft activity, but may find access to instruction, materials, and supplies very limited or non-existant in their home town. A mail-order and Internet-based business can reach these people, and make it possible to form a virtual community of like-minded artisans and crafters. Editors and Webmasters: You are encouraged to reproduce, post, or link to this page in your publication or website providing that the article, this copyright notice, and links are reproduced or are displayed in their entirety with the article. | |