By Contributing Columnist Jay of Haffina Creations

Not many people know, but I am the mother of twin boys, and as such I understand how challenging it can be to be creative with twin bundles of joys dancing like a whirlwind through your house. Now let me introduce you to another mother of twin boys, who creates beautiful items whilst being a fabulous mom to her darling boys. Teri Landow is the driving force behind The Beaded Branch and my featured ArtFire artisan.

What will people find when they drop into your studio/store? What types of items do you sell?
An eclectic mix of bead jewelry, sterling silver chainmaille, Bug Bag pouches, and of course, my very own line of Present Past Treasures.

How did you come up with your studio/ shop’s name?
The name for my shop came about by combining several ideas:
1) I really love trees, and wanted to incorporate the idea of trees into my business name somehow.
2) I loved the idea of “branches” being related to arms, necks, ears, etc of a person and them being decorated with my jewelry.
3) When I started out, my designs were very simplistic bead earrings, necklaces and bracelets. I never really thought I’d expand out past the beaded branch of jewelry making. Of course, I was wrong, but I still try to incorporate beads in everything I sell.

How long have you been selling online?
I started my own online shop over 10 years ago. I ran into the trouble that so many do, though. After I got married, and started a family, the huge time commitment of having to maintain a website just got to be too much. So, I started exploring my options, and came across Etsy, then ArtFire. In November of 2008, I opened my Etsy shop, and then in May of 2009 I opened my ArtFire Studio. I still have my own website, and might actually get around to updating it now that my children are actually starting school.

What lead you to join ArtFire?
Many, many factors lead me to joining ArtFire. The sense of community was the main thing, but other than that, all of the wonderful features that AF offers. The guilds, the ability to have ten pictures of each product, the coupon and gift certificate codes, being able to edit everything in my store with a few simple keystrokes, the list goes on and on. The real clincher for me was when I made my first sale in my ArtFire Studio. I was so excited, I tweeted it on my Twitter page. When the owner of ArtFire sent me a direct message, congratulating me on my sale, that meant the world to me. I’ve never deleted that tweet, and still read it when I need a little boost. The fact that he took that time to do that was a real sign to me that ArtFire cares about the artisans that choose to sell there.

What is your favourite feature on the site?
I have to pick ONE? (lol) It’s a toss up between the coupon codes and the bulk editing feature. I love how easy it is to set up coupon codes for my customers. The fact that I can pick what code for the coupon will be is awesome, because it makes it much easier for me to keep track of when it was used.
The bulk editing feature is awesome. Being able to go in and reprice everything in my studio, or add tags to everything with just a few keystrokes, is wonderful and so time saving. It’s just so easy and convenient.

What tips/advice would you give to others considering joining the site?
Read up on how to take really good photographs of your products. Make sure your photos are nice, clear, and in focus. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Learn how to market using blogs and social networks. Figure out all of your shipping prices before you start listing. Set aside money for advertising. Join guilds and participate. Make a lot of friends in the crafting world. We are the best support to each other when sales are slow, and we need a little mental boost.

How do you want people who visit your studio/shop to feel, what mood are you attempting to create?
I try to create the feel of a cozy and relaxed slightly upscale boutique where you never quite know what’s going to spring up next.

What types of things do you do to try and create that feel/mood?
I don’t necessarily revolve my stock, but whenever I add pieces, I always try to make sure that I add an assortment of pieces in a new line at the same time, as a boutique would do when they received a new shipment, instead of one piece here and one piece there.

What is your favourite tool or material to use at the moment?
Right now, at this moment, I don’t really have a favorite. Actually, at any moment it would be hard for me to narrow down my favorite of anything to one thing. I love pearls, and would incorporate them into every piece I make if I possibly could. I’m also currently exploring materials and techniques that are new to me. Polymer clay and epoxy resins are the big ones right now, and since I’m still in the learning phase of those two mediums, I get to play with them, and learn how to make pieces that are good enough to sell.

Are there any skills or techniques that you would like to learn, or materials that you would like to work with, aside from what you already do?
Oh, several. I would love to learn to work with glass, and also I want to expand my knowledge of polymer clay, epoxy resins, metal clays, painting, and sewing. I love to learn new skills and techniques that can cross over from one medium to another, seeing how and what I can combine to create some new, unique pieces.

Are you still selling the same kind of items as when you started selling, or has it changed with time?
Yes and no. Yes, I still sell my basic bead jewelry. I’ll never fully get away from that, and wouldn’t want to. But, because I get distracted easily, and my desire to explore new techniques often overwhelms me, I switch off what I’m working on at any given moment, and my lines are continually expanding and growing. That’s the one problem with having so many friends who are so very talented in different art forms. I see their work, and think “Ooohh, I’d like to try that!”, and I do.

Which part of being an online seller do you find the most challenging, and what do you do to deal with that?
The whole process of listing products in my Studio- pricing, photographing, descriptions, tagging, all of it. It can really drag me down. The way I deal with it is to just bite the bullet and do it. Generally, I wait until I have a stockpile of products made, and I do a several day long photo shoot of everything. Then I spend another day editing the photos, and then another day or two listing. It’s a very draining week or so for me, and I always refer to them as my “necessary evil” days.

How do you balance your online and offline life?
I try to keep it balanced, but there are some days when the lure of the online world is just too great, and I’ll spend all day chatting, and drooling over my friends new works. There are other days, however, when I have no desire to go online at all, so I just check my email once or twice those days, and leave it at that. Having kids helps keep the balance, because their needs come first. So, I do have to spend time offline feeding them, playing with them, reading to them, and doing arts and crafts with them.

What kind of supplies do you always seem to buy, even if you do not really need them?
It used to be beads. Now, I have to admit, it’s pretty much whatever comes into view that I think I might be able to use. If I find a new craft that I find intriguing, I’ll buy just enough of the basic supplies to try it out. But even that I’ve slowed down on. I need to use up what I have before I buy anything more.

To see more gorgeous creations from The Beaded Branch check out her ArtFire Studio.

Photograph courtesy of both the show participant and the banner maker who is www.promopixie.artfire.com. The craft show participant is: www.callunacreationsllc.artfire.com

By contributing columnist Donna Knox of GlassandWireGems

It’s that time of year where summer craft shows are popping up all over. Some are attached to special area events and others are stand alone events. When you are thinking about participating in one there is a lot to consider. Participating in a craft show involves a lot of hard work. So where do you begin? This is a tale of two craft shows run on two consecutive weekends about two hours drive from each other. Both of these shows were stand-alone events not connected to any holiday activities. I’ll be telling this tale as though I was the vendor. In reality, this is the tale of several friends who have participated in recent craft shows.

Upon arriving at the site for the first show, I started setting up my tables. I don’t have a tent but in this instance my spot was under several trees and the weather wasn’t too hot. My tables are set in a U-shape so that people can walk in and look at everything on all of the tables and ask questions if they have any. Holly from Royal Designs (ArtFire and Etsy) said, “I think once people are into your ‘shop’ they are more apt to stay and look. And buy.” As we all know, getting people into your shop is always the first step.

The foot traffic at this show wasn’t as good as I had expected. It was a beautiful day so weather wasn’t a factor. I was wondering why things were so slow when a lady stopped to look at my jewelry and mentioned that she didn’t even know that there was a show. She lives across from the park and noticed the tents and people and came over to see what was going on. After hearing that, I knew why things weren’t going as well as I had hoped.

The second show was a week later. The weather was hot and my spot didn’t have any shade. What a difference. I will certainly have a tent for future shows. One crafter I talked with not only had a tent but also had fans that she would turn on to encourage people to come in, shop and cool off. What a great idea! My morning sales were great. The afternoon sales during the hottest period were slow because there was little foot traffic. I sold a lot more at this show because there was more traffic even though there were slow hours during the heat of the day.

I learned a lot from these back-to-back experiences. Here are some things to consider when you’re thinking about signing up for a craft show.

The first show was the more expensive of the two and cost over $200 for registration alone. The show had been ongoing for several years and because of that the crafters assumed it would be well attended and they would do well or even better than they had in prior years. They also felt that people would return because of its history. This turned out to be not true. The show’s promoter did not do a good job of getting the word out about the show. There were even people in the immediate neighborhood that didn’t know about the show and only showed up because they saw the tents that day.

Promotion for the second show was much, much better. It had been ongoing for several years as well so that wasn’t an issue. Having flyers available, ads in various papers, etc. all helped to get the word out that this show was occurring. One of the things that you need to do is to check out the show’s promoter before you sign up to make sure that you’re getting what has been advertised. You might also want to check around the area to make sure that it is happening.

Another consideration is that registration fee. When you spend $200 for registration, you want to have, at minimum, twice that amount in sales to break even and triple the amount to make a profit. I didn’t at the first one. Getting ready for a show is a lot of work. There’s time spent in creating items for the show. There’s time spent setting up and tearing down for the show. Then you spend a lot of time at the show itself. Try to find others who have participated in previous years and see how they did. In my case, the registration fee for the second show was much lower and I did quite well at it.

Another consideration is the number of crafters with similar items. If you’re a jewelry vendor at a show where there are 50 vendors and ten or more of them are jewelry vendors, you’re not going to do well unless you have something really, really unique. If there’s a way to check this aspect out, do it. It will help you decide if this is a show that you should participate in. The vendor ratio was about the same in both of these shows and it was higher than I would have liked but was more evident in the show that had less foot traffic. Here too promotion plays a factor because it brings in more foot traffic and, if more people are going through the show, the number of competitive vendors isn’t as big of an issue.

For me it was like night and day between the two shows as far as the business part goes. My sales were so much better at the second show. For the most part, the vendors I met and the people that came to shop were great at both shows. I’m sure that I’ll see several of them at other shows and next year. A number of people took my business cards and I’m hoping that they’ll shop on line as well. I know that I’ll be more aware of who is promoting the show and checking out how they’re doing it.

I’d like to encourage you to try a couple of craft shows. They can be enriching and fun even with all of the hard work. Many towns offer Chamber of Commerce juried shows which are less costly. These can be very good. My experience has lead me to believe that the less expensive shows are better for me because I don’t have to sell as much to break even and come away feeling better about the process. Check them out and see what works for you. After all, once the summer shows are over, there are always the holiday shows to look forward to and, for the most part, you don’t need a tent for those!

Image courtesy of It’s all about the graphics

By Contributing Columnist Amy of MissBaclartdesigns

Craft sales are down, money is tight and advertising costs are high. So how do small craft businesses really survive through these tough economic times? Well, to be honest, if I knew the definitive answer to this question, I would be laughing. My little business would be booming and I would be taking over the world! So what do we do to try to answer this ever-puzzling question?

Marketing, marketing, marketing. This is truly the key as far as I can see. If we take for example my business, Miss Baclart Designs. A small business, run from home, funded by my full time job as a PA. I have many great ideas and a maze of avenues to venture down, but I am limited in what I can do, because of funding. How do we get more funding? Making sales of course! However, as we all know making sales is more difficult than ever. People are struggling to pay their bills, let alone thinking of accessorizing their houses or buying themselves little hand made delights from shops like Folksy. However, I think with a little bit of clever advertising, we can all uplift our spirits and more importantly, uplift our bank balances.

It is all about getting yourself out there. I had a stall in the craft tent at a local agricultural show recently. It cost around £50 to hire the stand for the day, which included a 6 ft table and two chairs. Not a bad price for a craft stand considering some of the other craft events I have looked into. So, I was £50 down for just requesting a stand and with stock on top of that it was nearer £150. In the end, I covered the cost of being there for the day and made a small, yet much appreciated profit. Despite the very small amount of money made from the days events, the networking opportunities that came from the day were of far greater value to my business.

Having good quality business cards and flyer available for people to take away with them is such an important element of marketing. Business stationery speaks volumes for your brand. Good quality business cards, flyers, even promotional pens, give people confidence in your brand. If you can take the time and money to design and print decent business stationery, it shows your customers that you are proud of what you do and that you believe in your brand.

If someone buys something from you, give them bag for their items with your brand on it. This does not have to cost you lots of money; I brought 125 brown handled bags for £6 from a local supplier and made my own tags to hang off the bags. Now, this took a bit of time and a lot of creative energy, but the final product was well worth it. So long as you make sure your brand name and brief description about what you sell is on there, it is a great marketing tool. Not only do people the walk around the rest of the craft fair advertising your brand, think how many bags you re-use. I know that if I get a nice bag from a shop, I keep hold of it for shopping etc. Everyone is keen on saving the environment and this is yet more advertising for your brand, because there is the chance that you may then get your buyer going home and re-using the bag, thus spreading your brand even further; this has cost you minimum amounts, but could potentially give you a maximum effect.

Speak to as many sellers as you can when you are at craft events. Find out what they do, ask if they are having a successful day, see what they are selling and make sure you take their business details, as they are then more likely to take yours. Do some market research and try to find out how other crafters are finding the day. If you find they are making a profit and you are not, stand back and look at their stand to see how they are marketing their products differently to you. You are not stealing their ideas, but just observing what is working for them and finding ways to apply the marketing style to your work.

Make sure your brand is clear and distinguished. You need to make sure that your company name is clearly visible with a snippet of what you sell detailed on it. Think about big brands like Kelloggs or Tescos, they are brands we recognise in an instant because their logos are so distinctive. Obviously those specific companies have had lots of money ploughed into their marketing, but we all have to start somewhere. Too much information can be confusing, but too little information can be misleading. Get it right, or your brand could loose out to your competitors.

Essentially, what I am trying to say here is look around, see what marketing tools work for others and use them to elevate your business to new heights. Think about your product from a consumer’s point of view and be honest with yourself; would you buy what you are selling? If the answer is yes, then that is great. Go for it full pelt and get out there! If it is a no, then I am afraid it is back to the drawing board. Get thinking and get creative. Good Luck!

Tracy Smith of Cinnamon Jewellery

We all know how exciting is it to make the decision to sell online. Deciding where to sell and setting up your brand new shop is all part of the fun. So. You’ve got your shop set up, your items are photographed and looking good, you’ve worked out your prices, listed your beautiful creations and finally your online shop is ready for business! Now all you have to do is wait for all those lovely online customers to stampede through your open “door”……….

But unless you are selling something so wonderful that everyone simply must have, you may be waiting quite a while for your first sale. I’ve seen several posts on the Folksy forum along the lines of “Not had a sale yet”, “How do you get people to buy?”, “What’s the secret to selling on Folksy?” There is no secret formula to selling on Folksy or anywhere else online. Although having a good product to start with gives you a big advantage, the only way to let people know you are there is to shout about it. In other words PROMOTE!

Quick! Grab that megaphone and start walking the streets shouting about your new shop! Or better still, try promoting from the comfort of your computer chair where you’re less likely to get arrested!

There are so many ways to promote your shop online, many of them free and easy to do. Sites like Facebook, Twitter and flickr allow you to post comments and photos and put your stuff “out there”. Blogging is a great way to promote your online shop and lets people get to know you, the artist/designer, and get behind the counter, so to speak, of your shop. Giveaways on your blog also help and promote your shop. Taking part in forums like the ones on Folksy and Etsy helps get you noticed as people will often click on the link to your shop to check you out.

Free listing sites such as Craft Juice, byhand.me and UK Handmade that allow you to post photos and comment on other people’s photos are another great way to be seen plus you can post your shop/blog link there too.

And of course you can also advertise your shop on IndieSmiles for a small fee!

Promoting online is just one way to let people know about your shop. Another way is face to face. I asked four Folksy sellers how they promote their businesses in the “real world”.

Anne of haptree has been selling on Folksy for just over six months and sells handmade pencil cases, purses and beadkits. She promotes her shop and website online but also, once she gained confidence after a few online sales, Anne decided to try selling at a craft fair, making the most of the event by handing out cards and stickers advertising her shop. The craft fair went well and resulted in lots of follow-ups and a commission.

Anne says – “I have now taken the plunge to do a more regular arts and crafts market that runs monthly closer to home. I am going to print my own inexpensive flyers and make sure that people know that I will be there and even if they don’t make it, they may visit my shop online. I’m going to pin these on all the local information boards in the area. Just as with your online shops I think it’s important not to rely on the organiser of craft fairs to bring people to your table. All of my daughters’ friends get little haptree gifts for their birthdays too which is great for promoting my shop!”
Incidently, Anne is the owner of two fantastic blogs ~ haptreeand me, full of excellent tutorials and tips to help improve your blog and the new Craft Blog UK, a great resource for designers and crafters of all descriptions.

Debbie of DinkyDaisy has been selling on Folksy since June 2009. She takes her doodles and turns them into pretty applique designs for her purses and brooches. Before opening her Folksy shop she sold to friends and family and at the odd school fair. This year she’s hoping to start her own website.

Debbie promotes her shop by printing her own thank you cards containing her details to send with sales. She says “I have done local school fairs, I donate raffle prizes to my local schools and I do parties at peoples houses. The house parties I find to be a great success and get a lot of repeat business from. I have a few new ideas for this year and would defintely like to get some items into a local gift shop and try some larger craft fairs.”

Lynne of CakeKnitsandCosies opened her Folksy shop a year ago and sells knitted and crocheted cakes and patterns. Lynne finds the forum on Folksy a good way to promote online. She does the odd craft fair and always takes along business cards to hand out. She says “My cakes usually attract a lot of attention at craft fairs and last year I was approached by a local artist The NoSuchDisco, who’s also a Folksy seller. He asked me to knit up his latest children’s character Waldo The Worm into a scarf, to sell alongside his fabulous book.” Lynne also gets her stuff “out there” by being featured regularly in knitting and crochet magazines such as Let’s Knit and the US KnittingPatternaday Calendar. She shares her knitting patterns in the magazines thus promoting her work and gaining wider exposure. One of Lynne’s crochet cupcakes even ended up in a photo shoot for Italian Elle magazine after being spotted and bought from her Etsy shop!

Kirsty of Wharfedale Woolworks opened her Folksy shop in June 2009 selling hand dyed yarn and knitted items. She promotes her shop online and is planning to use CraftJuice and IndieSmiles in the near future. Kirsty has recently joined the UK Work At Home Mum Directory which aims to promote small “Mum-run” businesses. Advertising in her local area has helped bring customers to her shop. “I have been promoting at my local community arts centre (Otley Courthouse) with posters and by leaving bookmarks with my details on. These bookmarks also double as tags for my yarns so customers receive one when they order, if they use the bookmark then more people may become aware of my business. I do the monthly craft fair there and now have some regular customers as a result. The local knitting group, of which I am a member also meets at the the Courthouse and has been featured in the local paper so that was good publicity. I have joined the Leeds Knitterati group on Ravelry and will be attending one of their meetings soon, so this may bring in some more business. Having some of my luxury yarns stocked in a lovely new wool shop in Leeds (Baa Ram Ewe) has also helped me to get my yarns seen in the Leeds knitting community.”

As these Folksy sellers have proved, there are so many ways to promote your shop other than just online. Some of them take more effort than others, but if you want people to “Look At You” you just have to take the plunge and go for it!

Thank you to Anne, Debbie, Lynne and Kirsty for taking part and now here’s some of their goodies to feast your eyes on….

Earrings Image Courtesy of Glamorous Glue
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By contributing columnist Barbra La Bosco aka All About the Buttons

Craft Show Season is Here!

I just sent in my application for the first show of the season. The show is not until March but I think it’s never too early to get ready and so I have started my prep. Having a list to check off is worthwhile and I want to share. With help from Courtney Dirks at Meylah here’s a starting point. Each crafter will adjust in respect to the items sold but here are some general thoughts for preparation.

First off, before commitment to a fair, find out what they will provide, i.e.: tables, chairs, electricity, tents.etc. Then start on your end. For the purpose of this list, let’s assume they provide tables and chairs and this is an indoor event. You have already inventoried your items, tagged and priced. You have also volunteered a spouse or friend to spend the day with you-a necessity!

• Packaging: Bags, Tissue Paper, Bubble Wrap, Product Tags, tape
• Cash: Make sure to have small bills ($1’s, $5’s & 10’s and coins)
• Money Box or Waist Apron
• Credit Card Machine (if you have one)
• Laptop (if necessary to track inventory or manage your sales)
• Display Items: (i.e.: boxes for vertical displays, jewelry stands, hanging racks w/hooks)
• Table coverings
• Guest Book It’s nice to have a good quality notebook for people to provide their email addresses for you to gather their info for future promotions & product updates
• Shop Sign
• Store Policies Sign (i.e.: cash or check only, sorry no refunds or returns)
• Item Despcription Signs: if necessary.
• Small Box of Office Supplies (scratchpad/notebook, pens/pencils, calculator, tissues)
• Receipt Book
• Tools: anything you might need if something breaks or you need to adjust an item
• Garbage Sacks
• Mirror(s): Stand alone or handheld if your items can be worn
• Copy of your Business License
• The Name and Phone Number of the Event Organizer
• Paper Towels & Glass/Surface Cleaner
• Food and Drinks: Snacks are best, things that you can easily set down or hide if a customer walks up (a small cooler works well)
• Sanitary Wipes: If you are selling jewelry, sanitary wipes or rubbing alcohol with wipes to clean off any items someone may have tried on
• Additional Lighting: consider if you will need additional lighting and if there are electrical outlets for you to use
• Camera: You can take pictures of your displays and use the images to promote your events online
• Business Cards displayed prominently

Last, but not least, your clothing. Dress in comfortable clothes and shoes but not too casual, bordering on sloppy. You are a professional but getting dressed to the nines isn’t necessary. If you can, wear one of your items.
And probably most importantly…smile and have fun! Any more ideas? Share with us!

Photo courtesy of Green Paper Package

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By contributing columnist Barbra La Bosco aka All About the Buttons

My mother used to say “Smile & bite your cheek…I know what you’re thinking but smile instead” and boy, is that advice good for those of us who do craft shows and meet buyers in person.

Fortunately,my recent show was pretty good but I still had many opportunities to bite my cheek. These comments were honestly what I heard:

 1-Oh, now I know what to make with my mother’s buttons.
2-Did you knit this? (Yes) No way…
3-My grandmother made something like this only it was better.
4-All this is is a ribbon and a button (regarding a bookmark).

Now, my sarcastic side was gnawing at my cheek while my little bitty mature side, smiled and smiled and smiled with my mother on my shoulder. But the smiles came easy as I recalled the comments like “Oh, this is so clever” and “This is beautiful. My (blank) will love it”. Across the aisle from me was an elderly woman selling scarves and dried flowers. Everytime someone picked up a scarf she ran out from behind her table with a scowl on her face. She did not make one sale all day and her work was lovely. She literally scared everyone away.
>

We are so used to the anonyminity behind a computer monitor that in person we must pause and while we wonder why people say what they say, we can only control our reactions. They want to make conversation. They want to appear interested. And maybe their grandmother did do it better and they forgot to bite their cheek! Anyway, my 2cents for today….smile!
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Happy Trees courtesy of Paper and String

3 Little Gingerbreadmen courtesy of Daintiedesigns