Printed from EventLister.com - Website Phone Support: 570-504-4304 Revised Top Tips for Artists and Crafters to Increase their Sales, Profits, and Total Revenue Site Newsletter - Release Date: 6/15 08 Question Received: I am the newsletter editor for a craft guild.  Is it permissible for me to use information such as "Top 10 Tips for Artists and Crafters to Increase Their Sales" in our newsletter? EventLister.com Response: YES! Please republish any of our information that will help others! Any site, newsletter, competitor, craft guild, craft show, etc. is free to republish any of our articles/newsletters/write-ups in part or in full with NO cite or credit required! All past articles are online here:  http://www.craftlister.com/newsletters/ This particular topic is on many folks' minds. Even I was already going to update and re-send out the ' Top 10 Tips for Artists and Crafters to Increase their Sales, Profits, and Total Revenue' article this week anyway. Given the gas prices, almost everyone is reconsidering every event they do and trying to cut their costs. Below are some priceless tips on exactly this and more gathered from others in the industry – Thanks! Please send in any additional ideas here:  http://www.craftlister.com/contact/ --------------------------- ARTICLE: Top Tips for Artists and Crafters to Increase their Sales, Profits, and Total Revenue Making money as an artist or craftsman is difficult. It takes planning, trial & error, and lots of consistent, hard work  As a small business, money goes out almost everywhere, but usually only comes in from one place: SALES. Therefore, to increase profit, costs must be identified then reduced and sales must be increased while product production time/effort goes down. You must know where you already are before you can intelligently choose a decision to go in. Start you analyzing and questioning everything!       IMPROVE EVENT SELECTION TECHNIQUES – ASK MORE QUESTIONS of Promoters whose shows you are considering.   Make a Question Sheet  to fill out while on the phone with each promoter asking for an application and ASKING QUESTIONS. You can save a whole wasted day at most bad shows by asking all promoters the critical questions:      PRICES vs. SALES - What is your spot price $____  & how much do average vendors make at your show in total sales $______?      Average product price at show $_____?            EXHIBITORS -  How Many? ___  Percent that return each year ____%  and first time exhibitors ___%? What is the avg vendor quality? Are you flea market, crafts, art and craft, fine art, etc. What %___ of crafters are mom and pop operations and what %___ are full time professional crafters?  What % of exhibitors have more than one booth?      HISTORY - How many years ___ has the show been running? Has attendance in recent years gone up, same, or down?           ATTENDANCE - What was last years attendance ____ , year before____? Weather each? Door admission cost? Has it gone up in the last 3 years?      ADVERTISING – What Advertising do you do? How many newspapers? How far in advance? Street signs? $ spent on ads? Changes in advertising this year compared to last?           QUALITY - Is the event more of a street fair with info booths or is it mostly Artists? Do you allow non-hand made? Do you Jury? What is your process? What percent of Applicants are accepted? Do you limit by category? How many categories do you recognize for that purpose. How many in my category? How broad do you consider my category; What other types of products are in my category? Do you and have you removed merchants with non-approved products? Will you remove with verification of  non-approved products?      ** Make a list of all your events categorized according to event type (e.g. Farmers Market, Craft Show, Taste of..., Balloon Fests, Wine Fests, Street Fair Craft Shows, Info Booth Street Fairs, Music Fests, etc. - your list will be unique!). Calculate the average profit made at each event type, then try more, better, more exclusive events of that type.      ** Make a list of all your events categorized according to state/region/county/city (depending on your radius). Calculate the the average profit made at each region, then try more events in that area.      ** Ask EVERY customer what other events they go to! Write down on special list, track and tally votes per recommendatory event and even $'s purchased.      ** Raise your show standards and drop the lowest quarter or so of your shows and try new ones. Shows that cost more, if long running, often cost more for a reason.... Try a few 'better' shows. Raise your show standards and drop the lowest quarter or so of your shows and try new ones each year.       Lower Your Costs      Make components you currently purchase already fabricated. Sell or Re-use 'waste'. Buy More Supplies at a Time - At some purchase point they will be 20% less, at another 50%! Re-evaluate suppliers of most costly supplies, any money saved is FREE profit! Make Products Faster with Less Effort           Work in Assembly Line Fashion - Produce more efficiently - Reduce the time needed to produce a unit. Your production time is your most valuable! Make it more productive. If you make 10 items at once, but finish them in later stages differently as appropriate, your time for each will be much reduced that if you had only made one. Artists must maintain uniqueness, but to compete with bulk from china, they must also  produce in bulk - but with quality and variation. There will always be a market for true one-of-a-kinds, but even then, other supplies and prep steps can be production lined so you do many items at each stage on many at a time rather that each item all the way through at a time.      Subordinate idiot prep work, clean up, shopping, ordering, labeling & tagging, etc.      Keep up with industry techniques, tools, knowledge, alternate supplies, etc.      Buy the Right Tools.      Set Production Goals, then work to meet them      Experiment! Keep a journal log and refine techniques for productivity.      Find the bottle-necks in production and concentrate improvements there      Set a Work Rhythm. Then gradually increase it.      Make multiple items at once if normally one. Make 50 if normally 10. Then try to make 500 at once! You can do it! I know you can!           Make Jigs, Tools, Masks, Templates, etc. -      Create your own tools, devices, jigs, clamps, patterns, templates, etc. to help you do your repetitive work faster and more accurately. Have someone help you construct it once you conceive of it, heck it might be sold online already as a tool of your trade! EVERYTHING  is online – templates, kits, parts, specialty tools, advice forums, etc.      Learn or Invent new Production Techniques by Experiment with new production methods and designs. Tinker, Play, and have Fun! Consider that changing an existing design in some small way may not affect sales and might half your production time for it. Display and Carry More Inventory      Get better racks that show more at once. Make them if necessary.      Take 2 spots instead of one. The extra room allows you to display much more and gives a larger distance between you and the customer so you are not looming over them as often happens in a single spot booth.      If you put out one of an item it will go unnoticed. You need a whole rack or booth of an item type before it often takes off.            Evaluate and Refine your Business      Determine Profitability of each Product: Profit = Number Sold  x  ( Price Per Unit - Supplies Cost & Time Cost Per Unit ) -  Incidental Business Expenses      4 methods exist to maximize profit:           Sell More Units,  Sell Same Units for a Higher Price, Produce Units at a Lower Cost, Reduce incidental business costs and Sell more Units without increasing them      Determine How much Profit you make on each Item Type per year      Adjust your product line and prices. Drop your least profitable items after calculating profit on each multiplied by the number sold per year, then diversify and improve upon the types of items you made the most on. Any items that sold faster than you could stock a few, should be raised in price!      Duplicate and develop your most profitable products into More lines and types.      A product for every price should be your goal. If you don't have an expensive item, you can't sell an expensive item. Make a High-end line of your most profitable products!!! Increase Sales      Post LOW prices conspicuously. Have prices marked on each item and on each self or table area and have a large price board posted. Offer multiple item discount specials like 3 for ...      PRETTY PACKAGING – Packaging SELLS!: Display items in individual Boxes or Bottles.      BE  NECESSARY! - do you have 'functional', necessary items, that folks buy anyway? Repeatedly or even regularly?? Do you offer easy reorder, contact, and 'find us again at shows' methods?      Clearly post Prices with signs, item tags, and even a large sandwich board style sigh.      Accept Credit Cards - many artists say that this has significantly increased their sales since many people do not carry cash or even checks anymore, even while shopping.      Charge tax as added, not included. Add tax onto even dollar priced items. $5 sells as well as $4.95. Since you must pay the sales tax anyway, you might as well not have it come out of your product price and your profit.      Add Loss Leaders, the cheap ones in main walkways that get you into the isle of higher cost ones.      A Sandwich Board style price board has been said by many to improve sales.      A Workshop Photo Album and posted Sign with prices stating you make everything improves sales.      Quickly get rid of lookers that want your attention but not your items. Spend time on others!      Improve your appearance and that of your booth and product packaging.      Accept Credit Cards and have a sign stating an at least $25 minimum charge.           Encourage and direct their envisioning the use of your product. Ask them where they would wear it, where they would place it, etc.      Get an item into their hand!      Ask for the sale -  Ask 'Would you like this in a box?'      Encourage touch and try on with SEVERAL prominent mirrors. Don't have items behind glass!      Make Clear that your Items are Hand-Made by YOU ( IF they Are...) This MUST include a SIGN, a PHOTO ALBUM of your shop, and your VERBALLY STATING it to customers you do talk to as in 'we do make everything ourselves, so I can answer anything' . Everyone with such a sign and album has told me it DOES INCREASE SALES.       Improve your Product Line      LISTEN to your customer. What they say they would like and what they ask if you have. Diversify and carry more of your top sellers in more styles, seasonal varieties, etc. Make some practical items that customers need and buy anyway. Design Products TO sell - Increase their Perceived Value. Add Value everywhere you can; improve upon the industry and your 'standard'. Watch and record color selections, styles, etc. Then, make more variations on and give more display space to those that SELL.      Keep consistent in style and colors so customers can collect and match, but always offer FRESH designs within your style!    Adjust your product line and prices. Drop your least profitable items after calculating profit on each multiplied by the number sold per year, then diversify and improve upon the types of items you made the most on. Any items that sold faster than you could stock a few, should be raised in price!      A product for every price should be your goal. If you don't have an expensive item, you can't sell an expensive item. Higher Prices. More selective variety of price ranges. Create a Distribution Chain! - Home Gift Parties, Get a Crafter / Artist Representative, Approach Craft malls, crafter collectives, galleries, stores, consignment, gift shops, etc. and ask them to carry your local, hand-made product. Trade table space with other Artists. Get helpers so you can do more shows or target more stores, your time is best spent creating, hire experts in sales. Seek out wholesale opportunities. Place flyers about such in every sale bag. Do Wholesale Shows, Crafter Clearance and Cash & Carry Markets. MAILING LIST!      Make a name for yourself, create an image. Take custom client orders w/ surcharge for them Alternate Sales Ideas - Seek Out Unique Selling Opportunities that Others are Passing Up! * Sets, multi-item displays, coupons, show special/sale/clearance items, frequent buyer card, gift cards           * Emotional sales pitches - emotional brain buys, not the intellectual brain. * Offer Free-bees, samples, trials,.... * Advertise, track, then refine advertisements * Fundraisers - Offer your goods for use by local Fund Raisers. * Seek out business purchases rather than selling to individuals - Market to Local Business Professionals as * local made crafts for clients / accounts. * Seek out Corporate Vendor Shows.   * Offer to take special orders. * Contact local interior designers as a possible supplier of even custom pieces. * Most Colleges / Universities let vendors setup near the cafeteria, bookstore, or common area. * Offer wholesale hand-made components to other artists and crafters, parts that most buy...                Think BIG! - You will unlikely see much more, let alone many times, your current yearly profit unless you do more, better shows AND sell more at each AND make more profit on each item AND sell more items per sale. You CAN do them all with a little planning! Set Goals, write them down, look at them and work towards them daily. Print this out and pass it on! It is online as most recent newsletter here:  http://www.craftlister.com/newsletters/ Share with anyone for whom you care! -Louy Promoter Add On: Vendor Add On: P or V Add On: V NON-Member Add On: Member Add On: P w/ No Listings Add On: