What to Sell at Craft Shows to Make Money
I’m sure you’re already aware of what to sell at craft shows under the main categories. Typically they are: Accessories Bath & Body Clothing Food Home Decor But you can’t just apply to a craft show with your “accessories” or “bath & body products”. For your application to stand out to organizers and…
How to Know if your Handmade Product will Sell
You design your handmade products, build up tons of stock, set up at a craft show and wonder if your products will sell. The hard part is; you’ll never know 100% what people will and won’t buy until you put it out there. But….you can increase your chances of creating a handmade…
What to Work on in Slow Times of a Handmade Business
It’s not uncommon, and so easy, to feel a little down and stuck after December. You’re tired from the holidays, have the back-from-vacation blues and are returning to your handmade business after one of your busiest months, filled with sales and craft fairs, and into a slow time full of crickets and empty inboxes. …
How to Make a Best-Selling Handmade Product
If you’re struggling to make sales in your
small handmade business, one of my first suggestions is to take a look at your
products. When you have a great product, people brag about it for you, write
good reviews, become repeat customers and if they own a shop, they carry it in
their store. Having a great product also helps take pressure off when it comes
to marketing and selling.
How to Display Jewelry at a Craft Show
Craft Show Display Tricks to Stand Out is one of my more popular craft show display-related articles with over 20,000 people reading it each month (and growing). Through that article, I’ve received many emails and comments from craft show vendors asking for ideas on how they can create an impactful display for their products. “How…
25 Ways to Market your Handmade Business without Saying a Word
Marketing is my least favorite task as a handmade business owner. But it has to be done. As much as I wish I could create all day, the things I create won’t sell if I don’t dedicate just as much time to marketing and selling them. But if you’re like me, and self-promotion doesn’t come…
How Other Craft Fair Vendors can Increase Your Sales
I often looked at other craft show vendors as my competitors. They could potentially take sales away from me. But there’s another perspective you can have that may help you increase your sales at a craft show. Think about how you can work with your fellow vendors to promote each other’s products. Cross-promote with another craft…
10 Times a Vendor should say “No” to a Craft Show Shopper
This article outlines the requests I’ve received from craft show shoppers over the years. They’re ones I wish I hadn’t accommodated (or at least not with some serious thought first). Shoppers don’t head to a craft fair with the intention of insulting the vendor. They’re usually just asking a question they see no harm in…
7 Ways Handmade Businesses Lose Money (when trying to please customers)
At the beginning of every business I’ve started, I’ve bent over backward for my customers. There’s nothing wrong with caring about your customers and their happiness, however, it can’t be at the expense of your profits. These are 7 things small handmade business owners often do, thinking they’re helping them make sales, but they can…
10 Ways for Introverts to Speak Less But Sell More at a Craft Show
Not every introvert is the same, but this article is written from the perspective of an introvert who gets drained from talking and selling for hours. Whether you’re an introvert or not or love speaking or not, creating a display that helps sell is beneficial for everyone. Here are 10 elements to have in place…
How to Use Product Collections to Boost Sales
Imagine you’re heading to a craft fair and are looking for a knitted scarf to go with your new cream winter jacket. You spot two vendors selling knitted goods. One has scarves in a variety of colors, folded in rows on the table. You think you see a couple of colors you might like but…
How to Attract More Shoppers to your Outdoor Market Booth
These are simple ideas and can work regardless of what type of products you’re selling at an outdoor market. It should also only cost you a couple of pennies per customer. What you’ll gain are shoppers who are more enticed to come into your market booth and shop, stick around a little longer and be…
How to Display & Sell Customized Products at a Craft Show
Customized or personalized products are one of the benefits of selling handmade. Selling products that shoppers can put their own touch on isn’t something many big companies offer. If you sell customized products that take longer than a few seconds to customize, you may be wondering how you’d ever make it work at a craft…
10 Ways to Boost your Craft Business’s Sales in Slow Months
Regardless of what type of product you sell, every handmade business experiences a period of slow sales. These tips are here to help whenever that time strikes. You’re not alone if you feel your sales drop as the days get warmer and longer. Consumers are outside enjoying the nice weather and going on family vacations….
Top Product Photography Tips for Handmade Crafts
You’ve heard it before; product photography is important to your handmade craft business. But are you aware of how important? You quickly snap a photo with your camera phone and some decent lighting because it’s more important to get your handmade product posted with an average photo than to not post it at all. Those “quick pics”…
10 Tips to Prevent Theft at a Craft Show
You wouldn’t think people would steal from a small handmade business at a craft show, but it happens. You want to assume the majority of your shoppers are stopping by because they’re interested in supporting you, and we never want to deter them from shopping. But as a small business, you also have to protect…
How to (Easily) Start a Conversation with Craft Show Shoppers
Although I don’t love selling, I picked up a few tips while working for major retailers that are easy and effective. I’m not one for pushy sales tactics but you also don’t want to hear crickets when people are at your booth. Craft show shoppers want the experience of chatting with the maker; there’s a…
7 Ways to Make your Craft Business More Profitable
If you’ve started selling your crafts, it’s likely because you want to build a profitable business. Many makers realize, several months into running their business, they’re not profiting. Here are 7 ways you can squeeze more profits out of your craft business. 1 – Lower production costs To keep things simple, your craft business’s…
10 Tips to Prepare for a Craft Show when you’re Short On time
There’s often more to do before a craft fair than there is time to do it. If you’ve signed up for a craft fair last minute, or you’ve procrastinated a little too long and are scrambling to get ready for one, these tips will help get you focused and organized. 1) Look at your…
How to Make your Handmade Business Stand Out from Competitors
We’re taught from a very young age to follow rules and fall in line so it’s no wonder we’re a little timid when it comes to questioning the rules, stepping outside the box and wanting to stand out. My favorite story that teaches us the importance of thinking for ourselves is about a mother and a ham. Yes. A…