HomeOfTheGumbles
Posts: 77
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« on: March 26, 2008, 02:29:51 pm » |
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Ok, I have my business cards (designed and printed by yours truly. I LOVE them!) and I'm looking into two craft shows. I'm also in the process of designing a flyer to put up in different places around town.
What else does everyone do to promote their shops?
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knotart
Posts: 63
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« Reply #1 on: March 26, 2008, 06:14:20 pm » |
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not much now! But I'm trying to find the way to put my baner (add) on some of the commercial sites - don't know how much it will cost  the world of mouth (hope I spell it right) ... I gave some of my jewelry to friends as a gift and make a deal - they bring customers - I make them the other set for free  (to my friends ) .. |
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Marys Garden
Posts: 46
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« Reply #2 on: March 26, 2008, 08:02:18 pm » |
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Word of mouth is - so far - my best sales aid. Next to that is just getting out an showing my items. Every once in awhile I drop by a friend's workplace (with permission of course!), I go to craft shows, my area has a small farmers/crafters market, lots of events at my church or community. Every once in awhile I put an ad in the local paper if it's close to a holiday or other event during the year.
I also belong to some online forums. Although that is on-line you can get some great tips for offline selling there. One of my favorites was from someone who made jewelry - every so often when they went out to eat she would leave a simple pair of earrings on the table with a business card with the tip.
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iCraft Updates
phpBB Site Admin
Posts: 221
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« Reply #3 on: March 26, 2008, 08:55:23 pm » |
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Some crafters I have had the pleasure of chatting with passed along these ideas:
- Rent display space at a shopping mall for a weekend.
- Hold open houses which can also be helpful for developing mailing lists.
- Design business cards and pamphlets which describe and illustrate your work.
- Send press releases to the feature editors of local newspapers and magazines.
- Build a portfolio of photographed pieces, which can be particularly effective when meeting with gallery owners, retailers, architects or interior designers.
- Enter competitions which offer exposure and often some compensation.
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CurlySue
Posts: 53
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« Reply #4 on: March 27, 2008, 12:45:52 am » |
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Just a few ideas.. * Start a blog about your craft, visit and comment on other blogs * Add a link to your i-craft store at the end of all your outgoing emails * Set up a Flickr Account and post all your photos, join lots of groups * Take advantage of free promo sites like Indiepublic and Talent Database to show off your portfolio * Start doing home parties if poss...big money spinners Hmmm, that should be enough for starters, HTH! Carla |
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HomeOfTheGumbles
Posts: 77
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« Reply #5 on: March 27, 2008, 06:44:19 am » |
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Great ideas everyone. I'm working right now towards approaching a B&M. I'm really excited about that! I think I pretty much have the online part of it covered. It's the offline part that I'm struggling with.
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The Jellico Cat handcrafted for you
Posts: 2
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« Reply #6 on: March 28, 2008, 08:03:12 pm » |
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I, too, do some promotions offline...I have work in a local gallery here, in
bethlehem, PA and am presently negotiating with a second gallery...Business cards are a good promo tool, as well, although I have to redo mine to reflect my presence here, on iCraft...by the way, this is a very good site and one I am pleased to be associated with. I hope we all find the success each of us as designers/artists need and deserve. Judging by the work I've seen as I meander about the site, that should not be long in coming.
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Cupcake n Kisses
Posts: 65
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« Reply #7 on: March 28, 2008, 10:09:53 pm » |
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Decal back wondow of your car! advertise everywhere you go!  |
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HomeOfTheGumbles
Posts: 77
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« Reply #8 on: March 29, 2008, 07:24:09 am » |
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Cupcake, I'm planning on getting a Howard the Gumble decal with my website on it when I get that up and running. I can just see Howards big eyes staring at everyone as they drive past! LOL!
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62Suebu
Posts: 17
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« Reply #9 on: March 29, 2008, 05:18:58 pm » |
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I try to promote wherever I can....the more people see your crafts...the better things will get; in terms of sales.
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SharonFosterArt
Posts: 8
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« Reply #10 on: April 02, 2008, 11:50:08 am » |
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You can buy ads very affordably - even free sometimes and link buyers directly to your Creator Exhibit here. It is only $5.00 to start and you pick the websites/blogs you want to advertise on.
Sharon
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designs by vickyvk
Posts: 187
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« Reply #11 on: April 02, 2008, 02:08:46 pm » |
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SharonFosterArt... do you have some examples of sites that do that for $5 or for free? I'd be interested.
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SharonFosterArt
Posts: 8
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« Reply #12 on: April 02, 2008, 03:19:57 pm » |
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Hi, Had to wait until my lunch to answer. The website is www.projectwonderful.com Craftser, We Love Etsy, Miss Malaprop, Etsy for Charity - quite a few of the groups on the ning ring have pages with ads. To start you put $5.00 from your Paypal account into your Project Wonderful (PW) "bank" . Then you search for the keywords, it shows all the available ads with the number of visits per day and the cost of the ad. You create your ads on the PW site - different sizes - button, banner, it's easy and the application guides you through it. Then you are ready to big. Some of big sites are $50.00 but you can search by price. There are some ads that are $0.00 but you can only bid for 2 days so other people get a chance. Your ad stays up until it expires or someone outbids you... some ads are only 2 cents per day. And once you place the ad they have statistics so you can see how many people visited your link from the ad. I hope that helps. The Admin there is nice like the one here and very responsive. Sharon |
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Bunnie
Posts: 26
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« Reply #13 on: April 07, 2008, 02:34:39 pm » |
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i promote on indiepuclic.....and run ads there too !!! i have gotten some wholesale sales from there !!! good site !!!
bunnie
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Earth Expressions
Posts: 3
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« Reply #15 on: July 21, 2008, 04:02:51 am » |
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I just have a Flickr Account where you will find photos of my products, then I share them on Indiepublic and some other Ning sites... Offline, only sending cards and promotional material with my orders... any other ideas? Thank you! Great comunity |
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« Last Edit: May 27, 2010, 10:55:52 pm by iCraft Admin »
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Fairy Cardmaker
Posts: 1115
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« Reply #16 on: March 29, 2009, 11:13:26 pm » |
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OFFline advertising?
Word of Mouth
Promos
Teaching
I send promos whenever there are calls for them for goodie bags at craft events since I don't attend shows myself.
I teach beginner card-making classes for charity. Half the class fee goe to materials, the other half to the charity (which is the labour portion, really.)
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Loopy4ewe
Posts: 84
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« Reply #17 on: March 30, 2009, 10:14:33 am » |
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Bartering/Trading is great for off-line advertising!
-I had a small magazine contact me (through iCraft!) about using one of my hats in their mag and I received a business cards sized ad in exchange for it.
- I also trade hats for professional pictures:)
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Zahra
Posts: 1
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« Reply #18 on: April 30, 2009, 11:30:26 am » |
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Am glad to be in the site Woud appreciate your advice on how I can better promote my items - I believe they are very unique.   |
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Beadlam
Posts: 161
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« Reply #19 on: May 01, 2009, 05:29:05 pm » |
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I hate to even say this, but just one word of caution re: decals - especially if your url indicates what you do. I make jewelry, and since my studio is at home, that's where my jewelry resides. Unfortunately, I've heard about people being followed home to find where the "loot" is. I don't know - this may be urban legend - but it stopped me from doing this. What I am considered, however, is getting a magnetic sign that can be attached to a bumper (if the bumper is metal) and using it when traveling (rental car).
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Fairy Cardmaker
Posts: 1115
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« Reply #20 on: May 01, 2009, 06:36:45 pm » |
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You should also be concious of the insurance impact if you use your car to advertise your business. You may have to upgrade to business insurance level on the vehicle.
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Nikki
Posts: 5
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« Reply #21 on: May 27, 2010, 10:01:06 pm » |
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I do alot of networking in my community. I belong to my local Chamber of Commerce, Ewomen business network, and 2 other women's business networks. They get me out of my studio and I have met so many great women and learned so much! I have a blog, facebook page and twitter. Subscribe to your favorite facebook pages and re-post and add comments often, it all helps!
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« Last Edit: May 27, 2010, 10:57:08 pm by iCraft Admin »
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iCraft Admin
Administrator
Posts: 1695
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« Reply #22 on: May 27, 2010, 11:04:55 pm » |
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Welcome to the iCraft community, Nikki! It's nice to see new faces here.  Agree, it all helps! It's important to stay connected to your local community and use all tools available to you to promote your business. |
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