Ways to promote your work - How does it work for you.

[Jan Simpson]

How many of us out there find it hard to self promote ourselves - Galleries, exhibitions, craft shows, outlets - there are so many ways to sell our work but I certainly am always looking for new ideas. How about a discussion from people sharing their experiences - what really works for you, what does not.

I have tried many ways and as far as approaching galleries - have found that the best way to really get a result is to find out by phone what days the owner is in, have a little chat and then appear on the doorstep with a box of goodies to show them. Usually they are really polite and the one thing with gallery owners is you really tend to get an honest opinion - not often I have come across people who are totally up their own ...., but you do have to be pretty thick skinned to take the criticism when it is levelled at you.

Anyway, thats this discussion started - let's see where it goes.

[Green Tambourine Designs]

Hi Jan, your work is beautiful. I love unusual glass.
I sell a lot of my work through shops that specialise in Handmade Arts and Crafts. They work a sale or return policy taking a third of whatever the item sells for. Some places are betther than others at paying me regularly. Others seem to payout every three months or so. That can be quite frustrating when you know something has sold and you have to wait ages on a cheque. That's where I am not assertive enough when it comes to demanding the money!
I have eight shops selling my work for me and with each one I just turned up as you say with a box of goodies and most times have been successful in getting another outlet.
My main business is Aileen Clarke Crafts. See my work at www.myspace.com/aileen_clarke and www.aileenclarkecrafts.etsy.com
I use the pseudonym Green Tambourine for my paper crafted work.
Etsy is a nice way to set up an online shop. I don't get that many sales through it though. I also have a Flickr site for networking and showing off new work.
Today I am having a House Ceilidh with around 40 friends coming. I have a stall set up in the kitchen with a selection of my wares on sale. Plenty of business flyers too so people can get back in touch with me should they require any commissions at a future time.
There is a fellow UK Artist and Crafter called Sara that has endless amounts of info on self promotion on her myspace site www.myspace.com/sarastexturecrafts
All the best, Aileen.

[Jill]

Hi Aileen

I had to go and look at your sites again when I read this. You have some lovely things. In fact I fancy the butterfly dreams for my Mum's Mothers Day present but I have taken an oath of allegiance only to buy things from our Salesrooms. When are you going to list more of your lovely things?!

Your glass is lovely as well Jan. And it is good to see you have started to list your things in our Salesrooms as well. In fact I think you had a sale in there in the first week didn't you?

I do not have much advice on promoting your works in general other than it is a good idea to list a lot of your works for free in our Salesrooms because we will soon have buyers from all corners of the earth swooping down and buying them up!
Of course I am not biased. What makes you say that?!

Bye for now Jill
http://creativecafesalesrooms.com

[Jan Simpson]

Thanks Green Tambourine designs for your comments - you have to chase them hard for your money - if I am selling smaller items I try to get them to buy up front by giving them a wholesale quantity discount - most of my galleries are ok at paying on time but I do have to keep track of them and call them regularly to see what is going and what is not. Have not got my act together this year as far as galleries are concerned as have been staying at home lots trying to get stuff made.

Have put up a load of stuff on the salesrooms today and amhoping to find time to email all my past customers to let them know where this site is - hopefully that will attract a little more trade - how about everyone doing the same at there end - the more people know about the site the better it will be for us.

[Aileen Clarke]

I joined today and added some items to the Salesrooms too. I'll add a badge to my Myspace and a bulletin to help raise awareness.

[Margaret Hamilton of Slackstitches]

I have to admit I am useless at self promotion. I was brought up not to be a procoscious child, I ended up the total opposite.

I have tried one or two craft fairs but have not had much luck so far. My experience has been that people would rather buy imitation designer goods imported from abroad. I also think that a lot of "craft fairs" charge a lot of money that in reality you have no possibility of making at their function. I realise that you have to pay for promotion but it gets a bit much when you are always paying out and never even meeting your costs. I also have difficulty in finding out what is happening, where. Communication by events organisers is not always what it should be. I thought I was being so organised this year by contacting a large event in the N.E. of Scotland at the beginning of the year and getting on their mailing list. The application arrived on Saturday, they work Mon-Fri, I phoned on Monday morning to be told the craft fair was full! Why did they send the application?

By the way Aileen I had no idea that you were also Green Tambourine

Margaret

[Jan Simpson]

Hi Margaret,

It might help you to know that although these craft fairs are very expensive, there are other ways of getting started on the ladder. I spend some time phoning every private school and charity organisation in my area to find out when their annual christmas shows will be occuring. These organisations often charge as little as £10.00 for a stand and I did about 17 shows last season. I think I only didn't make my money back at one of them. I didn't make a fortune but instead of spending of £380 for a stand plus all the time attending over a two or three day period, I was able to be up and out in the morning and generally back by about 3.00 pm. It is a bit hit and miss, but having done two seasons, you quickly work out what is a waste of time and what isn't. It also gives you a chance to work out what sells and what price.

[omshanti]

Oh, that's a brilliant idea! I never would have thought to do something like that. Thanks, Jan!

I'm wondering if churches would have similar shows. I'll bet they would; I'll look into that, too, and report back.

[Margaret Hamilton of Slackstitches]

Thanks for the tip Jan. It seems really simple now that you have mentioned it. I think maybe the sewing room walls restrict the lateral thinking!

[Jill]

Hi

I am just wondering what members think of Etsy? They certainly seem to get a lot of publicity for the Etsy site and members who have an Etsy shop do seem to have made quite a few sales on there. I am not sure how much the charges are to have a shop on Etsy but I think the commission is 20cents per item and 3and a half % of any sales. Is this a reasonable charge do you think? I would love to know how Etsy got to be so well known in the 3 years since they have been open. I think they started with 3 workers and now have 45. I hope Creative Cafe Salesrooms will have as many sales for you as Etsy does in 3 years time!

Bye for Now
Jill

[Margaret Hamilton of Slackstitches]

I have a shop on Etsy and did quite well at the start. I also was able to pick up some work through alchemy ( buyer posts what they would like made and crafters/artists make offers ). Last year they changed a lot as they got so big, the alchemy was promised to return but no sign so far. For me there are too many gimmicks on the site now. My sales have been poor for a while now but then again I couldn't produce enough new items to list as often as it takes to stop you being buried. Their costs are not extortionate but it is slow moving for certain kinds of sellers. I am seriously considering running my shop down. Decision will be made very soon. I am kind of sad about this as I have met some lovely people there.
I must start blogging and participating in forums again and get the message out about here. This has been a bad winter for me in many ways but I feel the energy starting to flow again.

[Aileen Clarke]

I joined Etsy last Spring and think that their fees are fine. I certainly don't depend on my sales from there, I just like having an online outlet. I also use Dawanda which is Europe based and of couse I hace my outlet here at Creative Cafe. I have made up this flyer to put in with all purchases to raise the awareness of the buying public to these on-line places to buy Handmade.
Could do with a direct link to my Salesroom shop Jill. Is this possible?

[Jill]

Hi Aileen

Yes it is possible to have a link to your Salesrooms Shop Eileen.

The url for your shop is http://www.creativecafesalesrooms.com/storecatalog.asp?userid=26

To write the code I am going to put some deliberate mistakes so it won't just show the link up.

Instead of the < and > signs you should put in I have used { and }

Ok so write the following
{a href ="http://www.creativecafesalesrooms.com/storecatalog.asp?userid=26"} Eileen Clarke Crafts{/a

That should put a link to your Salesrooms shop. Where I have written Eileen Clarke Crafts you can write anything you like to describe your shop.

Hope this works for you. Let me know if you want anymore info.

Bye for Now
Jill