Boredom is a problem that Heidi Hammel rarely has to deal with. In addition to running her highly successful, one-of-a-kind wearable art business, the Media, Pennsylvania, artisan oversees Heron Crest Studios, Inc., a...
Read MoreThere is nothing more you could do to add power and punch to your merchandising scheme for increasing sales than to use a point of purchase (POP) display. I can guarantee that using this merchandising method will increase your sales, for retail and particularly for wholesale. The POP is an unpaid and silent salesperson that gets your customers to notice your products. A well-designed display and engaging graphics will tell your story and help give you brand recognition better than any method I know. Plus, customers will buy more when they buy from a POP. This is particularly true with items that need to be explained or demonstrated for the customers to “get it!” Point of purchase displays are not right for all types of merchandise. But, generally, lower-end items, such as cards, soap, mugs, and toys, will fly out of your booth or the stores you sell to.
If you have, or wish to have, a home craft business, sooner or later you will want to do a craft show. Craft shows can range from the tiny (small-town celebration, six booths, outdoors) to the enormous (large city, 500 booths, convention center).
Read MoreIf you fantasize about starting your own home craft business, I’m willing to bet a lot of your dream revolves around such things as giving up the commute, being able to call your own shots, setting your own hours, and spending more time with your family.
Usually, a person’s dreams and plans like these come after a person looks at someone who already has an established and successful home craft business.“Look at these people! Aren’t they lucky! They don’t have to drive through the snow to get to an office! All they have to do is walk across the driveway, and they’re at work!”
The trouble with this vision is that the wanna-be entrepreneur is only seeing a snapshot of the business owner’s current success, and they assume it sprang – boing! – effortlessly into being, sort of like those nifty mushrooms that grow overnight on your lawn. No preparation, no planning, just boing.
Not.
Read MoreWhen running a craft business, there are two basic divisions in sales type: retail (selling directly to the customer) and wholesale (selling to a middleman, who sells to the customer). It’s entirely possible to do both, of course. But, the common element in both types of sales is marketing. How else can you earn money if you don’t market your products to people who want to buy them?
Read MoreCentral Wisconsin will be the location of an exceptional fired arts retreat where artists will create works of ceramic art with the former publisher of The Crafts Report, Michael Harbridge. Each person will make a minimum of eight large projects that will be Raku-fired in outdoor and indoor electric and gas kilns, shapes fashioned with clay methods, airbrushed, horsehair-fired, and much more.
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Free eBook: Bruce Baker Guide to Handcrafted Success. Click photo above.
Expert advice from Bruce Baker, who has run more than 500 workshops.
