Friday, October 29, 2010

Crafters Shall Not Live on Internet Sales Alone...

Crafters!

I have something to tell you. Not like divine crafting wisdom or anything, but it did dawn on me today....

I've been spending pretty much 18 hours a day on the computer, either crafting in front of it, posting things to it, editing photos, all in an effort to make my internet shop better.

Now...this isn't a bad thing. It's important to have a nice, cohesive online shop...something I've yet to attain but am working on...and it's important to have a number of venues from which to function and sell. But here's the thing...

If you go to a craft show, and you pay..say less than 100 bucks to go there. You make a lot of items. And you have an inexpensive but nice looking display. You will sell something there. And if you do it right and get enough practice in, you can be extremely profitable at craft shows.

So...I have a plan for 2011 and maybe it will work out and maybe it won't...but I am going to limit myself. After I get all my photos done, and I can focus solely on what I make from here on out, I am going to make items for my shop and post them at the end of the day and let it be.

I spend so much time online, praying, wishing, tweeting, hoping, doing a sale dance you know...whatever...and nothing comes. But then it dawns on me. Once I posted everything I have....um....there's nothing new.

So why am I spending hours a day drueling over my online shop (unless it's making 20 sales a day and I have people to talk to, which, it's...well...not) when I could be spending 18 hours a day making things. 18 hours? Seriously? Do you KNOW the items I could get made in 18 hours?

Do you know the items YOU could make in even 8?

Think about it. Here's my philosophy. I'm starting New Year's Resolutions right now.
1. Make great items, take good photos, edit them well and post them with nice descriptions.
2. Tweet and facebook when it's NEW.
3. Pay for advertising on CraftCult, Craftopolis or wherever.
4. STOP! Yeah...after 1-3 you STOP lol. Stop it with the online drueling! You go CREATE!

How many times have I tweeted the SAME items....over and over...hoping for people to visit. And they do. But not many.

Well....the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

How much more exciting would it be if you had NEW items every time you posted instead of the same ones? The point is getting people to your shop in general. Right? And getting them there so they can see all your new items is way more interesting than them going and seeing the same old ones. You will start to be ignored.

Now....on to my original point of shows....

With all of this creating you'll be doing now, think of the stock you'll have! Certainly it won't all sell in one day or 2 weeks right? I'm hoping to have 2 shows a month next year, at least one a month. Because of this reason:

Posting new items + Having more time to create + Going to 12-24 shows a year = MORE SALES!

Now this isn't rocket science, but here's why....
We can get really trapped in the land of ArtFire or...or...oh I can't even say the name...E...Etsy...(long story for another day). This entity shall now be called E Who Should Not Be Named. (If you don't get this please go read Harry Potter and join society. Right now. Do it.)

We edit, we post, we tweet, we edit some more, we do all of this. But that's not getting anything accomplished. Here's the cycle I've discovered.

Create items--> Post them online--> Let people know about them--> Go create more items--> Go sell at shows--> Hand out business cards with your shop name--> Pepole go to your shop--> Create items--

Now you can see...the more people go to your shop, the more sales you'll get...and chances are if someone has stopped at your craft booth long enough to take a card and then goes to your site, they really like your stuff.

Final result?
New items keeps your online crowd interested.
Only concerning yourself with new items gives you more time.
More time means more creating means more shows.
More shows means more people to bring to your site and thus become part of your online crowd who is interested in....yup...your new items!

Voila! Now some of you are sitting there going "um...yeah?" But don't judge me! *dramatic fake sob* I may be ignorant in the ways of common sense at times, but I am certain there are others out there who are just as shocked by this "Why didn't I think of that sooner?" moment as I was when it dawned on me....

Now...go! Go create! Shoo! And seriously....if you didn't get the reference...read Harry Potter. <3

Favorite Artfire Finds of the Day:
                        This beautiful item can be found on ArtFire, made by CleggFarmCreations HERE

                 This awesome soap from TwoLittleBlackbirds on ArtFire, which you can view HERE

Last but not least this AMAZING lime Palm Wax candle from FreshPickedCandles on ArtFire, which you can view HERE <3

I hope you love these great handmade items. I pretty much want to eat that candle and I'm sure it smells great! All of these handmade sellers deserve a look, so go and see what they have! And remember, on ArtFire, you don't need an account to purchase anything so what have you got to lose?

I am currently updating my ArtFire. I will post up a widget for it when it's completed, as I mentioned. Hope everyone has a great Halloween. Be safe!

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