Last update: 6/9/01; 19:44:33.
Thoughts and ideas as they occur to me.
Thursday, January 4, 2001
Are Craftspeople Making Money on the Internet? (01/04/2001 07:24 EST) The Results of TCR's 2000 Survey Are In ... And They Might Surprise You, by Noelle Backer
(I just re-read this and don't want to give the wrong impression. The article linked to by the title is written by Noelle Backer. Everything following is written by me and expresses my opinions and views, not hers. Hope there's no confusion. -- JD)
The Crafts Report has recently posted an article based on the results of a survey they ran last year. I haven't had time to really study the charts and reach any insightful conclusions, but I've gleaned a few obvious facts.
If you don't advertise your site using online and/or offline promotion, you're less likely to make significant income than those who do promote their sites. You have to spend money to make money.
These don't surprise me, and perhaps I'm just looking for something to validate my beliefs. I'll be looking at this much more closely over the next day or so.
I think it's pretty clear that an arts and crafts business is just like any other business. In order to succeed (at whatever level you define success), you must present the right product at the right price at the right time to a customer who wants to buy. I don't think anything is going to change that, as long as people remain people.
So, assuming you have a good product and your price is inline with the quality and type of product you're presenting for sale, the equation seems to hinge on two factors: the right time and a customer who wants to buy. I think both of these factors collapse into a single issue: either the customer is looking to purchase an item similar to yours, or she stumbles (someway) onto your site and you persuade her that your item is just what she wants.
This means that you have to get the customer to your site when she's in the mood to be receptive to your offer.
I don't know about you, but for me, this is a fragile mood. Even when I want something and I'm ready to buy it, there are any number of factors that will stop me from purchasing.
I won't buy anything, no matter how good the price or how great the quality, if the seller is disinterested or rude to me. I won't buy from someone who is too pushy. Both of those are immediate deal killers.
So, assuming that the seller is cooperative and at least marginally friendly, what else turns me off? I don't much care if you're selling something in a top-of-the-line gallery or from the back of your pick-up. I don't much care if you have a multi-thousand dollar booth, or if your item is sitting on a table. Others, I know, do have preferences in these areas, and it seems that a more professional presentation will generally help your sales more than hurt them. Keep in mind, however, that a professional presentation can have many different facets, depending upon what you're selling and how you present the entire feel of your product and business.
I don't care if you're a "name" artist or crafter or brand new, as long as you make a quality product at a price I'm willing to spend, and I have to admit to being on the cheap side. I don't get an ego boost from spending too much money for anything, but I used to when I was younger. I used to equate how much I spent for something to somehow be a reflection on my quality as a person. I've outgrown that now.
Now, having spent lots of time making products, specifically my steel roses and other forged products, I've learned to place an intangible value on anything that is hand-made by someone who loves what he or she is doing. This product, to me, is just better than an equivalent product made in a factory by people and machinery that is indifferent to the product itself or the customer who may purchase it and bring it into their home. For that reason, I'm willing to pay more for an item that is hand-made. I'm willing to pay more for an item that is different from the run-of-the-mill.
Not everyone has that attitude, and it's reflected in visitors at shows who say something like, "I can get that for less than half as much at Wal*Mart." In situations like this, I think the sale is already lost, so I wouldn't spend much time or effort on the sale. I'd still be friendly and courteous, but I wouldn't try to persuade someone who has such a different world-view than I do. Treat 'em nice and let 'em leave with a smile, unless they adopt a rude attitude, in which case they're just critics and I have little tolerance for critics. If you can do it better, do it. If all you can do is criticise, move along.
Again, it's a matter of targeting your customers and separating the "wheat from the chaff."
So, once again, it seems to boil down to numbers. In order to sell your products and make a significant income, no matter what you do, you have to get a certain number of visitors into your store, show, website, or wherever you're doing your selling.
But, contrary to what I keep hearing, it's not the number of hits or visitors that count. It's the number who are buying. That means that you don't want to attract just any visitor, you want a visitor who is targeted to what you're offering. You must be selective. Don't waste your promotional efforts on someone who isn't interested in what your selling.
(Just keep in mind that most of us have many different interests. Just because we're interested in one thing doesn't necessarily mean we aren't interested in something else. So, learning where to market your products is a good bit fuzzier than it might seem at first.)
Then, when that one gem appears (a man or woman who can afford your product, likes what you're offering, and is in the mood to spend his or her hard-earned money), it's up to you to treat this person with gentle respect and courtesy, show your product in its best light, answer questions, soothe worries or suspicions, and -- when the time is right -- close the sale. Ask for the order and make it easy to pay.
I don't know how many times I've been in a store, had something in my hand, was ready to buy, and then couldn't find someone who could be bothered to take my money. I've left more than one item on a counter and left in disgust when the clerk couldn't be pulled from the TV they were watching or the book they were reading.
On the other hand, I've enjoyed purchasing something I truly liked from someone who greeted me with a smile, took my money, packed up what I'd purchased so I'd get it home safely, thanked me for my business, and then invited me back.
Which business would you return to?
I truly believe that there is information missing from The Crafts Report article I've linked to here. I think the majority of the people who are making significant income -- at crafts or any other business -- are the ones who treat their customers with respect and invite them to come back and to tell their friends. I truly believe that your sales job starts only after you've made your first sale to someone.
The key is how to maintain contact with your customers, keep them updated on new offers or changes in your business, and entice them to return for further purchases, without annoying them by contacts that are too frequent or unrelated to what they want to hear from you.
This is an issue I'm still wrestling with. I'm not much of a people person. I hate talking on the phone. I don't like it when someone tries to manipulate me. On the other hand, I like to learn some about the people I like to buy from. I'm not generally interested in their vacations or their grandkids, but you might be. It all depends on a variety of factors, and I'm very fuzzy on this part of the process. So, I guess like you, I'm still learning and experimenting.
You want to invite people to return and purchase from you again, but you don't want to push them away by becoming a pest.
Repeat customers are much more valuable to you than a first-time customer and they're happy to tell their friends about you. Over time, a repeat customer can represent many, many times the income of a one-time purchaser because of their referrals.
But you have to remember that a one-time customer won't become a repeat customer unless you do your job.
And, that is a perfect topic for more research and articles.
More to come....
** JD ** 8:32:23 AM
© Copyright 2001 John L. Dilbeck, jd@johndilbeck.com.