Know Your Market!!!

For those of us who have on-line stores, sometimes trying to get them noticed is a full-time job it seems! But when the hard work we put in to our stores pays off with sales and gets us noticed (whether the attention is good or bad), it's then we realize why we do what we do and why we continue to create beautiful handmade items!!

Lately, I've received some feedback from the redesign of my store logo and new tag line for my business. If you would like to see my new logo, you can visit www.shadesjewelry.etsy.com. It's nothing special, rather plain as some have put it, but I like it! It clearly represents my store and what I do.

But the tagline I have added (stylish-unique-affordable) is what is causing some to raise their eyebrows at me in the big internet world! Not that first time it has happened and I'm sure it won't be the last. Some are saying that I'm not being fair to the creative world in offering my jewelry at such low prices and that I shouldn't have the word "affordable" in my tag line. When I receive these comments I simply back and laugh. Having had my business for 6 years now, I must be doing something right to continue to receive sales and interest in my jewelry!!

It is then that I proceed to share why I sell my jewelry at the prices that I do. A lot of my business comes from my off-line promotional work. I have several repeat customers that are friends and family and they like my affordable line of jewelry that I offer. They like being able to get something handmade and that is one of a kind, but without breaking the bank.

The area in which I live is one of the poorest areas in the country. We have lost hundreds of jobs and what most make in this area who work full time is well under the poverty level believe it or not! And since I have no major plans to quit my job and do jewelry designing full time, I feel that I can offer my jewelry at lower prices to recoup my cost and put a few cents in the bank afterwards! I realize that many in the handmade world are creating their items to supplement their incomes and to live off the profits. I commend those who do this!! But I'm not one of them.

Jewelry is a competitve market these days. And I take nothing away from the many who create it and sell it for much more than I do. Only YOU can know your market and what you can get out of your jewelry. If you can sell your bracelets for $20-$50, then I encourage you to do so. But my market won't pay that for my jewelry!!

In closing this article, I want to encourage you to know your market. Ask your customers why they shop with you. Is it price, quality, customer service, a combination of all these?! Once you know your market, you can advertise your business more effective to them and begin to stand out in a crowd. Then you can stand firmly on your response to those who may want to critcize or claim you are hurting your particular handmade items by advertising them as "affordable!"

And in return, figure out why a person markets themselves as they do...especially before you criticize them or get upset at them for pricing their work as they do. All of us who create handmade items have a different agenda in mind with our stores. Let's all celebrate those differences and do what we can to support the handmade idea in general!

Until next time...Blessings! ~ Dawn

Find Your Niche...Then Market

My new article has been published at www.handmadenews.org!

Please check it out....http://www.handmadenews.org/article/index.php?id=1347

Feel free to leave comments, suggestions, and vote for my articles if you find them helpful! As writers we need your feedback! ;-)

Thanks and have a great week!

Until next time...Blessings! ~ Dawn

Teaching As A Marketing Strategy

New Article on Handmadenews.org! In this article I share with you how teaching a class on your craft is a great way to market your business! Enjoy!

http://www.handmadenews.org/article/index.php?id=889

Please leave feedback or comments on articles! We appreciate it. You can also vote for the articles if you like or dislike them! As writers, we need your feedback!

Thanks, Dawn

Re-Evaluating What We Do - A Lesson Learned

Lately I've received a few emails asking me how many craft shows I do each year. The answer is....ONE! The only reason I do one anymore is because it supports the high school I graduated from and it has always been a successful show for me, mainly because its labeled as a "gift show" rather than a craft show and it happens right before the Christmas shopping season starts and most people are looking for quality gifts and are ok with spending a little more on something at this type of show than most!

I quit doing craft shows about three years ago. Not saying they aren't good events or worth doing for some artists, I've just found for me that they aren't really my target audience.

In my first two years of designing and selling jewelry, I felt this was the only way for me to get name out there and sell my jewelry. I found while doing these shows though that more and more people would walk by and look at my jewelry and say, "oh that's nice, not in my price range though," "beautiful work, don't wear jewelry," "can't afford it" and many other words of wisdom. Upon hearing those words and realizing that I was loosing money in doing this type of event, I decided it was time to stop and find a way to get my website created or find a way to sell on-line. Spending about four weekends a year or more at these shows, lugging my merchandise, tables, displays, etc. and spending 6-8 hours each day at the booth, I quickly changed my mind and thought there has to be a better way to sell my merchandise! There has to be a better way to invest my time and money!!

So I took all that energy (good and bad) and worked hard at continuing to sell my jewelry to friends and family that were familiar with my business until I had saved enough to get a website designed for me. Also during this time I did some research on-line and began absorbing all the info I could on small business marketing, jewelry business marketing and more. Once I got that site established, then I really started looking at my own marketing and advertising because having that site made me feel like I could "compete" in business. Having that site then lead me to opening my store on Etsy. My website is still up, but its now basically used for advertising and directing customers to my new store on Etsy.

My point with this post is that I took a step back from something that really wasn't working for me and decided to invest that time and energy in to other resources that I felt worked better for my business and helping me spread the word about my jewelry. I realized the craft show circut in my area wasn't a good target audience for me. They were looking for cheaper items or more bang for their buck and that's ok. There are tons of crafters and small businesses that find this IS their target audience and do amazingly well at these shows! If you are one of those people, I encourage you to stick with it and you have all my support!!

But if you've been doing these types of shows (or some other type of marketing) and you find yourself leaving at the end of the day exhausted and no money to show for it, then you might want to reconsider this. Take this time and energy and do a little research. Find other ways to market or advertise your business that are more effective in reaching your target audience.

Don't waste anymore of your time, money and good energy on things for your business that aren't working. As I've written before, spending a little time researching how you are marketing/advertise your business could be the best investment you make in it.

Remember to take a few minutes each day to "evaluate" things!

Until next time - Blessings! ~ Dawn

In Marketing Overload Right Now?

Lately I've been seeing several business owners on various sites and forums talking about how they are overwhelmed with having their small business. Running a business isn't easy, that's for sure, and its especially hard when its just YOU to do EVERY aspect of the business!

One of the main areas that most business owners seem to be struggling with is the marketing. Marketing isn't easy that's for sure, but it doesn't have to consume every second of your business time either! And I see that happening for more businesses more and more and that's not good!

Upon seeing these posts and reading the emails I receive about how I do my own business marketing there is one common factor I see for those who are overwhelmed. They are trying every concieveable type of advertsing and marketing they can get their hands on because someone else suggested it or it worked for another business.

If this describes you...do me a favor...STOP what you are doing!! :-)

I'm not telling you to stop marketing your business!! I'm simply telling you to take some time and thoroughly study all the areas that are available for your business to be marketed or advertised in. You are overloaded and stressed right now because you think you have to do everything everyone suggests and that's not always the case!!

You need to do a little homework before investing your time and money in to advertising. Make a list of all the types of advertising you see talked about, such as twitter, myspace, facebook, artfire, project wonderful ads, personal blogs and blog ads, and the countless other resources that are available. Then find out how they work. Who is reading those sites, who is seeing those pages? Who is already advertising on those sites? Is it a busy site? Where will your ad be placed? Will your blog you write attract readers?

Once you have done this research, then seek out the best advertising for YOUR business. What works for Pete's Pottery in Yazoo, MS might now work as well for your custom candle creations in Topeka, KS!! :-)

Invest a little time and money (if paid advertising) in a couple of "ads" or "promos" at first. Give them time to work. Think out well thought ads or posts for these sites. Read other blogs and see what makes them interesting and makes people follow them. See how these few "investments" go for a little while. If you don't feel they are working, then you might drop one and pick up another marketing idea or ad in another outlet.

Trying to do everything you read or see talked about when it comes to marketing your business is what is overwhelming you and makes you feel like you can't handle running your own business. You can run your own business, you just need to think it through a little bit and make wise marketing/advertising investments that will HELP you!!

You can't possibly keep up with all these sites, ads, blogs and more and still have time to create, list new items, handle the paperwork, package and ship your items and also have time to go the bathroom, among other things.

That's why taking a little time to do some research and find marketing outlets that will best market YOUR business effectively will pay off in the long run with more time to do the other aspects of your business and also bring in the sales you want and need.

Until next time - Blessings! ~ Dawn

New Service Being Offered

Just a quick note to let you know that I am now offering a new service for small business owners! Notice on the right side of the blog that we are offering small business reviews! After some requests from business owners and wondering if I would do personal reviews of their businesses, I decided that I would offer this service for those interested.

I'm currently offering it at a low price of $30 for a limited time. I feel this is a great deal as I will spend at least two hours or more reviewing all the information you give me on your business and I will then prepare the report which will give you detailed information regarding your business. This is a reasonable rate for probably 3 or more hours of work! :-) But I wanted to keep it affordable!

Feel free to email me with any questions regarding this new service! shadesjewelry@aol.com

Until next time...Blessings! ~ Dawn

Developing A Class

Wanted to send a quick update to let everyone know that I'm continuing to work on developing a class or seminar type event to host for small business owners. My goal in offering this class is to make it a very casual, relaxed and affordable time in which small business owners can receive information that will be useful and helpful in helping their business succeed.

I feel that this class should be a learning time in which you will receive lots of information that will be helpful and useful in marketing your business. There are tons of wonderful ideas and resources out there and my goal is to compile this information for you and present it to you in a fun, exciting way!

I would also like for this class to have a question and answer time in which all of us can sit around and share additional business information and ideas. Having a chance to talk and network with other business owners is important and this class will give you that opportunity.

Having been in and around small business management and ownership for over 15 years with my sister's business as well as my own, my goal is to try to help others and bring small business owners together in a relaxed, fun format to share ideas and thoughts with other like-minded individuals!

I hope you will consider answering the survey below in the previous post if you haven't already and share your thoughts and suggestions you might have about this class!

Thanks for your interest! Until next time, Blessings! ~ Dawn

A Business Survey - Answer & Win!

With this survey, I'm hoping to find out just how much of a market there is for a small business marketing/advertising/promotional type seminar. I've received emails and convos from several business owners (through Etsy and other sites) who have said they wish I would offer a class or seminar on this so they could talk and interact with others and find good resources and ideas.

I've recently partnered with my sister's business which sells promotional products of all types and also does imprinted clothing (t-shirts, sweatshirts, etc.) and does some work on logo design, etc. and we thought together, we could offer small businesses a great opportunity to get items they can use in their business, without breaking the bank! They can get special pricing on items and can also do on-line presentations of items you might be looking for and email it directly to you! This is a great time-saver and money-saver as well!

With this I would also be sharing some of the information like I've covered on my blog, but of course, this would be a little more in-depth and there would also be some additional information not covered!! We would also offer a time of questions and answers and a time to network with the other business owners in the class.

I would like to keep this in a very low-key, low-pressure setting that is relaxed and fun! I also want to keep the price down and affordable because we all know as small business owners, times are tough!! I would be traveling to some area cities that are larger and easily accessible by highway or plane, and be at hotels that will offer great rates with nice accomodations, in towns such as Columbus, Ohio, Cincinnati, Ohio, Louisville, KY, Lexington, KY, Nashville, TN and possibly others if there is enough interest!

Please copy and paste the following questions in to an email and then give me your response to each question. You can write as little or as much as you would like! Please email your response to: shadesjewelry@aol.com. I appreciate you taking the time to help with this!

Everyone who answers will be automatically entered in to a drawing in which you will receive a gift card worth $25 for my Etsy store and the opportunity to attend this seminar for FREE!!

SURVEY

1. Does a small business marketing/advertising seminar sound like a good idea for your business?
2. Would you be willing to travel (and how far) to an event like this if it was cost effective?
3. What type of detailed information would you expect to receive in this class?
4. What would you be willing to pay for this type of class (seperate from your lodging/travel expenses)?
5. Does having access to promotional products as part of this class sound good to you?
6. Please share any other thoughts, ideas or questions you might like answered regarding this seminar...

The Press Release Worked!!

I posted last week about doing a press release to your local paper about your business. As a part of that post I shared my press release with you. I emailed that press release the next day, along with my photo to my local paper.

On Sunday, much to my surprise, since business articles are usually in on Tuesdays, my press release was published. I knew they would publish it but I didn't think it would make it in on Sunday, which is the biggest day for the paper!! That was definitely an extra perk!

The article has done the trick. I've been contacted by a couple of local retail locations on carrying my designs in their stores and with the help of Googly Analytics now on my Etsy site, my views have been unbelieveable! ;-) I've also received a couple of emails about custom orders as well.

The increased exposure this article produced has been great. Writing the press release took a little less than 30 minutes and it cost me nothing!! And its given me sales, increased traffic to my store and two retail locations wanting to work with me on adding my jewelry to their stores.

So...are you going to take a few minutes and write your press release now?? I hope so. You never know what might happen from it!

Blessings, Dawn

PS...if you do write your press release, let me know what kind of response you get from it!!

Keeping In Touch Can Help Your Sales!

Since I opened my online store I have offered my customers the option of joining my mailing list. I wasn't sure at first that anyone would have an interest in it, but I was surprised at how my customers signed up for it and continue to do so!

Do you offer your customers a mailing list? If not, you might consider starting one and sending out regular updates. It's pretty easy to do (you send emails all the time!) and I can honestly say that 95% of the time that I send out an update to my list, I get a sale. It easily makes the few minutes I spend in writing and sending out the note worth it!! My customers have thanked me for letting them be among the first to know that new items are in the store or for the special discounts I've offered them. I've also had others say that its a nice reminder about my store and they like that in their busy world these days. Hearing their feedback has been encouraging and has made me make sure I keep this notes going out!!

Thinking of starting a mailing list? Do you currently offer one but maybe have some questions? Below are a few questions I've been asked about how I handle my mailing lists that you might find helpful either way!

1. How often do you send out a note to your list?

I will send out a note every couple of weeks or so. I don't want to overwhelm my list with lots of mail because we all know how much mail we get at times! ;-)

2. What do you put in your notes?

It really varies! During the time between notes, I'm usually busy adding new jewelry to the store, so I make sure I let them know new items have been added. This is usually the main reason for my notes to my customers. I will also let them know if I am offering any special sales or discounts on pieces. Sometimes I've had pieces in the shop a while and they are close to expiring so I'll mark them down. Other times I'll offer them a special sale or discount. This makes your mailing list subscribers feel special that they are getting an unadvertised sale or discount!! I don't always offer them something with my notes so don't feel that you have to. If I've taken a class or learned a new technique to incorporate in to my jewelry I will talk about that and show them pictures. As you can see there are options for your notes and what you can share with your customers.

3. How long should the note be?

I try to keep my updates fairly short and to the point. Again, we all get lots of mail these days and our time is valuable, so I keep the notes short. This allows your readers to find out the important info quickly and hopefully leave them time to browse on over to your store and check things out!

4. Do you "dress" up your notes?

Yes. I usually include my banner from my etsy store at the top of it. Sometimes though, if its around a holiday I will sometimes include artwork for that particular holiday or if I'm having a sale or special offer I'll try to find some artwork that is attention getting to put near that. But its not necessary to do this so don't feel you have to.

5. How do you manage your mailing list?

Currently, I manage the list myself in my email program's address book. This set-up works for me right now, but the list continues to grow and I'm afraid I'm going to have to check out a service that offers managing this list for me. There are several options available (use google to search for these services) and most charge a fee for this service. I would suggest doing some research on this and find what fits best for you. That's what I'm going to be doing in the next few weeks!! ;-)

I hope that this information is helpful!! I find that regluar contact with my customers has been a valuable marketing tool for my store and keeps my name in front of my customers regularly. I'm sure you will find the same thing!

Blessings, Dawn

A New Year!

2009 is well underway! I, like I'm sure most of you are, am hoping that it is a better year in a lot of ways!! 2008 certainly saw its share of ups and downs, but its in the past and let's keep it there!

I was very blessed in '08 however with the opening of my etsy store for SHADES. I had purchased some jewelry supplies from a couple of etsy stores, but never thought of opening my own store until I found out how easy it was to use and maintain and also gave me the option of a shopping cart for on-line purchases and several other easy to use options that my website I had didn't and couldn't offer.

In February of '08 I posted my first pieces and was immediately surprised at how well the store was received and how well the sales started to come in. I have been fortunate enough to send jewelry to Canada, Belgium, England, Italy, Ireland and many, many states in the U.S.! In fact, over 200 sales happened for me. It's amazing that people all over the country and the world are now wearing pieces of jewelry that I have created!

I hope with the start of this new blog that I can accomplish a few things..

1. Keep my current customers posted on what's going on with my store and the new techniques I'm learning or trying in my jewelry designing
2. Help other small businesses (Etsy stores owners and others) with some of my marketing/advertising successes
3. Make some new customers and expand my business more

Here's hoping that 2009 turns out to be a great year for everyone and that we always remember the blessings we do have and receive each and every day!

Dawn