If the act of making craft were the key to selling craft, there would be millionaire artists all over the place. But that’s not the case. Marketing your craft can be the hardest part of running a successful craft business. And if you’re new to making, you may be overwhelmed by where to start.

The PA Guild of Craftsmen has a wide range of craft-relevent business classes scheduled in the next two months. All classes are managed by the Guild but occur at three locations. Registration is online and easy. Plus you’re going to recognize a few names below.

At HACC in Harrisburg:

• March 10 – Social Media with Ken Mueller

At Millersville University:

• February 27 – Photoshop for Artists with Jeri Robinson
• April 17 – Business Basics with Megan Auman
• April 17 – Wholesaling for Artists with Megan Auman
• May 11 & 12 – No Excuses Arts Marketing with Alyson Stanfield

At Guild’s headquarters in Lancaster:

• March 20 - Blogging your Passion for Craft with Tara Gentile
• March 27 - Starting an online shop with Sara Selepouchin
• March 27 – Running a Successful online shop with Sara Selepouchin

While the year is still new, take a craft business class and see where it takes you.

I recently shared some craft show etiquette tips on the Pennsylvania Guild’s blog and thought this would be a great one to get additional advice from HiP-sters.  Here are 7 new tips for newcomers and veterans of the craft show world. Be sure to share your tips in the comments.

1. Be you. People are buying you as much as your work.
2. Stay awake and never look preoccupied. No reading. No napping. No txting, tweeting or phone calls. You should always be available when there’s a question.
3. If you are bored and looking for something to do, re-arrange items in your booth. It draws attention to your work.
4. Say thank you when someone compliments your work. Compliments can turn into sales.
5. Always greet people who walk into your booth. A simple ‘hello’ breaks the ice.
6. Small comments can open big discussion. Such as ‘do you know what that’s for?’
7. Always smile. If you’re unhappy, fake it.

So what are your tips?  Share them in the comments below!

A recent post about the culture of cheap on the new Crafting an MBA blog got me thinking – A LOT – about the importance of talking about handmade and its essential role in our lives.

As craft-makers and lovers, we sometimes think the act of making a craft is the most important part of then selling it.  But, it’s essential that you talk about the story behind the piece: inspiration, materials chosen, process, setbacks, resolution, etc.  Tara Gentile has great insight on the PA Crafts blog today about sharing your space in pictures.

The story of the work’s creation is why someone wants to buy the piece. Sure they may want to buy it simply because its red and matches their shoes.  But that story is why I, for example, bought a $30 woodturned dish for my son’s first food bowl instead of a $1 piece of plastic.  I want it to last, I want it to matter and I want to care about what it is.  I didn’t want it to just fill my immediate need of having a bowl.

I want us all to commit to talking about craft more often, more openly, being open about pricing and explaining the real cost of handmade goods.

If you’re a craft-maker and have neighbors or friends or family members that don’t know what you do, tell them what you do. Show them how you do it! And state why your work costs what it does. It’ll go a long way. If you love craft, share it. Make the norm to give handmade and include a business card of the maker. It connects the person behind the work with its new home.

Yes, handmade craft costs more than plastic junk (or craft imports), but its actually a real cost. It pays a living wage. Not just a ‘fair trade’ wage but a living wage. And one worth paying.

Thanks for listening to my little rant.  I hope you share in the comments below about your thoughts on the subject.  I’m leaving you with this video from Craft Scotland called ‘The C Word.’ I hope it’ll inspire you to share your craft.

2010 is not meant for Pennsylvania football.  Not so good.  Since neither is going to be in the Super Bowl, start a new annual tradition.

Take this challenge from Wendy Edsall-Kerwin and make a bowl on Super Bowl Sunday.  She made a bowl last year as a challenge to herself and this is Wendy’s challenge to you…

This year, I challenge you to join me!  You can make your bowl out of metal, wood, plastic, bread, papier-maché, anything that you want.

I want you to have plenty of time to come up with an idea.  The bowl can be started before the 7th, but it should be finished (if possible) on the actual Sunday.  There’s plenty of time before kick-off to work on your bowl, so don’t worry about missing the game.  You might even be able to use your bowl for chips or dip if you plan right!

There is a Super Bowl Challenge 2010 Flickr group set-up where we can display our finished products and I’ll showcase some of them right here on my blog.  There is also a Super Bowl Challenge Facebook event page and, if you have your own blog, show us the progress of your bowl and we can link to each other.  And make sure to tell your friends, too.  The more the merrier!

So put on your thinking caps, start designing, and set aside February 7th, 2010 to make your own Super Bowl.

Remember: after you make your bowl, take a picture and upload it to the Super Bowl Challenge 2010 Flickr group.  I’ll share the work later on so everyone can see the great creations.

The bowls shown are:

1. Bud Hohlfeld (Doylestown)
2. Wendy Edsall-Kerwin (Elizabethtown)
3. Umelecky (Punxsutawney)

Update: I’m now offering three separate prizes: 1 person gets $100 Google Adwords and the Flickr Pro account.  And then 2 other individuals will receive $100 Google Adwords each.

To try something different this week, I’m giving away two things related to growing your business online.

1. $100 credit for Google AdWords – use the $100 to setup advertising through Google promoting your online store or simply driving visitors to your blog.  Its your choice how you use it.  Disclaimer: this is for new ad accounts only.
2. A one-year Flickr Pro account subscription – easily one of the best photo management tools online.  Upgrade to unlimited image uploads, sets and collections plus get all the juicy stats related to your profile.  $24.95 value.

In order to win, you must:

• be a resident of planet earth.
• visit the Handmade in PA group photo pool on Flickr and upload at least one image.  If you’re not a member of the HiP group now’s the time to join.  Then leave a comment below about what you posted.
• OR comment below what you would do if you win.
• to receive 1 extra entry, use the “Share/Save” button below – or other bookmarking tool – to share the giveaway on your favorite site. HiP’s favorites are Facebook, Twitter, and Stumble Upon.

This giveaway ends Friday, January 22 at noon EDT. The winner will be chosen at random and notified by email on Monday, January 25.

Carrie Nardini – the brains and sheer force of will behind Pittsburgh’s I Made It! Market – is looking for an intern interested in gaining experience with all aspects of running an indie craft market!

Here are the details:

I Made It! Market, a nomadic indie-crafts marketplace is currently seeking an intern for the remainder of 2009 as well as for the Spring 2010 term. I Made It! Market partners with non-profit, arts and community organizations to raise awareness and funds for organizations working to improve our communities AND provides opportunities for local artists and makers to introduce their work in diverse neighborhoods.

For more information on the I Made It! Market, visit www.imadeitmarket.com.

Find IMI on:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/imadeitmarket
Twitter: www.twitter.com/imadeitmarket
Blog: www.imadeitmarketblog.com

For more information and to apply, contact Carrie!

Most people will walk by the standard 10’ x 10’ booth at a craft or art show in less than 5 seconds. Even with your unique designs and outstanding craftsmanship, you need to put some time and effort into designing your booth to make the instant impression you want. How can you make your booth inviting, memorable, and stand out so your potential clients slow down, take notice, and engage with your work? Here are 6 general ideas to consider in booth design:

• Grab their attention…Place an especially eye-catching display or piece towards the front of the booth. If you are selling small items, use large pictures of your work to magnify the view. You can get large color copies of images made at a copy center rather inexpensively and these can be framed or mounted on foam board to display on empty walls.


we placed this unique cabinet at the front of our booth at a recent show and it was a great conversation starter

• Guide their eyes…Tier the levels of your booth to draw the eye inward. Place taller displays towards the back and shorter displays in the front to lead the eye into your booth. Angle items to direct attention to a focal point…an eye-catching display or your sign.
• Invite them in… Can people easily walk into and around your booth without feeling trapped? We have learned that having something in the center of your booth greatly affects people’s perception of openness. Fewer people will enter a booth if there is something in the middle even if there is plenty of room for them to get around it. Our neighbor at a recent show discovered that her pushed out L-shaped layout was keeping people from seeing half of the work she was exhibiting. The next day she arranged every thing straight across the front and found that more people approached her booth and she started selling pieces from the side that had previously been ignored.





• strong>Keep things within reach… Display cases can give the impression that your work is high-value and definitely serve a purpose, but they also inhibit people from interacting with your work. Mary Kay Donnelly, a successful jeweler from the Pocono area, uses display cases, but usually has up to 4 people working in her booth to assist customers.
• Create a mood…Use color to evoke the emotion that people will associate with your work. Our booth is orange which might seem to be a little out there, but it serves several purposes. It gets attention and is memorable. It also highlights the colors in our naturally finished wood furniture and jewelry boxes. In terms of emotion, it elicits a balanced state, and that is exactly the mood we want people to connect with our work.
• Make your mark…Keep fonts and colors consistent on all literature, signage, and photos used in your booth. Extend this to your website and other marketing materials to establish your unique memorable brand.

If you market through shows, craft fairs, or markets how do you make your booth appealing, inviting, and memorable?

Elizabeth Sterling and her husband John market their one-of a kind furniture and jewelry boxes at shows in the Northeast and Midwest, through their web site, and their etsy shop, so wabi sabi. Elizabeth shares her life and love of all things handmade, homemade, and homegrown in her blog so wabi sabi.

And I couldn’t agree more.

Sara, from girlscantell, has a problem with “social media gurus” who claim their one-size-fits-all strategies will build your business and net you sales. Rightly so, the whole idea of internet marketing in the age of web 2.0 revolves around building relationships, joining the greater community, and letting your personality shine through your brand.

How can you be yourself while trying to be someone else?

Seth Godin, the marketing legend that inspired Sara’s latest post on the topic, says you need to “find your voice.” He explains, “Don’t worry about someone else’s invented standards for new media, invent your own.” Be yourself, discover what works for you, and find the people who will help you fill in the gaps.

Every day I see tweets from people trying to get “hundreds of followers a day.” Or Facebook users complaining about being invited for virtual martinis and mafia games. Flickr users mindlessly adding their photos to every photo pool they find. Hey, if that’s what floats your boat – fine. But I have a feeling you have more important things to do. So make more meaningful connections with those in your network.

Be you! It’s so much more interesting that being someone else.That means actually checking out others’ links, commenting on their blog posts, dropping a personal email to someone who inspired you today. It means talking to people and not talking at them. It means making new friends, and keeping the old.

If you don’t make those meaningful connections by truly finding your own voice, it doesn’t matter how many followers you have or what influential people are signed up for your feed. You will be tweeting/posting/updating into the ether. Wasting your time when you could be busy in the studio.

Be you! It’s so much more interesting than being someone else.

On a more practical note, do your social media accounts represent you, your personality, and your brand? If you sell on Etsy or Artfire, is your profile completely filled out? Is your 160 characters of Twitter bio really saying something about who you are? Does your Flickr profile explain the inspiration & subject of your photos? Are your websites listed on Facebook?

It seems so simple but it is an oft forgotten step.

Every Occasion Cards by Stephanie Corfee

Earlier this week, my fellow columnists at the Handmade News and I participated in a virtual meeting. Their concerns about the amount of time & energy they spend promoting their articles were similar to many I hear on a daily basis. I also hear from many of you that you don’t know where to start promoting your work in social media (Twitter, Facebook, reading blogs, etc…).

The truth is you may need to completely switch your focus to accomplish your goals.

• In the time that you spend using social media, are you making new friends & cultivating relationships?
• Are you promoting others at least as much as you’re promoting yourself?
• Are you considering new ways to work with the people in your internet community?

I’ll use my own experience to clarify.

When I started Handmade in PA, I started contacting Pennsylvania crafters whose work I appreciated and whose stories would make engaging blog content. Many people were receptive to the site and I received many positive responses. People like Erin from RuJuand the ladies from Z-town Made jumped at the chance to receive exposure on my brand new site.

But they did more than answer my silly interview questions.

They told everyone they knew – and many more they didn’t know – about Handmade in PA.

In turn, more people read the posts I wrote about them, more potential customers clicked on their shops. And Handmade in PA quickly rose on search engine lists. Each time someone created a link to my site, my authority grew. And I had made some great friends!

Jessica Smith, of JessicaKnows, understands the concept of promoting others & building relationships online as well as anyone. “Not only will help in the karma department but you’ll also define who you are by who or what you choose to promote,” she explains.

Why do you read Handmade in PA? Or follow me on Twitter? Or read my status on Facebook?

Probably because I share links & information that is interesting or important to you! Most of the time, the links aren’t even to my own site. And because you appreciate that info, you pass along my name to your friends & followers – which I appreciate more than I can say!

So as we head into this week, consider your strategy for using social media – you do have a strategy, right? Are you constantly sending out links to your own shop or are you building relationships with the people who might be interested in purchasing your work?

I would love to answer your questions about promoting your work. Leave them in the comments and I’ll either respond by email or answer them in a future post!

I’ll be teaching a workshop on basic internet marketing for crafters on June 16th, at the Goggleworks, sponsored by the PA Guild of Craftsmen. There are still seats left in the class – but they’ll go quickly! Sign up today.

I’ll be discussing the “must-haves” in your social media portfollio, the basics of blogging, branding yourself to sell more, and tying it all together to save you time!