When I was making Christmas dinner for the first time, I had a lot of questions for my mom. I asked how much poultry seasoning she puts in the dressing and she said: “I don’t know…until it smells like dressing”. It’s an odd way to determine how much seasoning to use, but it works. If…
Repetition is important in all aspects of your business. It creates consistency and familiarity your customers can rely on. Repetition is equally important in visual design and should be used in your craft show display. Imagine a living room with white walls and grey furniture. If you place one red pillow on the couch, it…
There are a lot of things that need to be right to get shoppers to buy. But what if you can’t even get shoppers? You’re marketing your products but no one is paying attention. People aren’t even stopping to like, comment, or share your social media posts, browse the products on your craft show table,…
There are many people who have never heard of Etsy. Hundreds of thousands of people discover Etsy each month when they type keywords into Google and a page on Etsy shows up as a result. Below are just some of the handmade products people are viewing on Etsy, after a Google search. If you create…
To share the lessons in this article, I’ve replicated a craft show display I saw online that I thought could use some improvement, and have explained what I would change and how. Does the “before” display work? Yes. Could it use some improvement? Also, yes. I chose this display to replicate because it illustrates the…
I create this list by going through last year’s trends and looking at search volumes, as well as competition. I do use a tool that tells me the search volume a keyword has, as well as how competitive the term is. It’s not an exact science, however, I am basing my trend predictions…
Starting a craft business is relatively easy and low-cost. Once you make a product, you need a way to sell it. And although there are hundreds of options to choose from, it’s important to find a sales channel that’s a fit for your products, your brand, and for you. No matter which sales channel you…
I worked as a regional merchandiser for a major retailer and loved it when they sent the upcoming season’s lookbook that shared the new product collections. It was for employees’ eyes only and explained the inspiration behind each product collection. Their collections were always named after a popular movie, phrase, song, type of person, etc. For…
Farmers’ markets require a lot of work to prepare for. Chances are, you’ll be tired the morning of the event and have a lot of thoughts running through your head (what if I don’t sell anything? Do I have enough stock? I wonder if it’s going to rain?). A checklist is extremely handy…
Farmers’ markets are a great way to test a business or product idea and gather consumer feedback. But it can be difficult to be profitable when selling at a farmers’ market, due to the overhead costs. This article will explain the steps you must take to sell at your first farmers’ market, outline…