Transcript How To Market Your Craft Business Online

Pamela J. Brown, Ph.D.
Associate Professor &
Extension Entrepreneurship Specialist (Retired)
Texas Cooperative Extension
Texas A&M University System
Funded through a grant from the Southern Regional
Development Center, Mississippi State University
Module 3*
How To Market Your Craft Business Online
Objectives
– Develop a market plan
– Conduct simple market research
– Understand e-commerce trends
– Identifying target craft consumer
– Marketing online and offline
– Application to craft business
Marketing My Business
• List all the different kinds of
marketing you do for your business
10 minutes
Are You Flying Blind?
Do You Have a Plan?
The product
The industry
The customer
The strategy
Marketing is EVERYTHING you do on
behalf of the business
Hobby Or Business?
• Are you a hobbyist – making craft
that you hope will sell,
OR
• are you an artisan that makes what
will sell?
As an artisan, the answer should shape
your marketing plan!
Doing Your Homework?
Develop your marketing plan.
Do it before going online!
Know Your Industry
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Hobby crafts
Fine art
Tourist souvenirs
Museum art
Furniture
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Interiors
Toys
Gifts
Folk art
Wearables
Activity: Search for information:
Size, location, support, competition, trends, types
of ecommerce
Read About an Artisan
Go to these sites:
http://craftsreport.com/october05/oe.html
Or
www.gourmasque.com
Or
www.garyweeks.com/global_village.htm
Define The Handcraft Consumer
• Demographics
• Identifying AND defining your market
30-50
Affluent
Urban
Educated
• Psychographics – how people
use/spend time
• Targeting your customer
• Form
• Function
Quality
Travel
More Resources for Artisans
• Texas Commission on the Arts
– www.arts.state.tx.us
– www.arts.state.tx.us/craft/ciform.asp
• A registry for Texas artisans
• American Crafts Council
– www.craftcouncil.org
• Craft Organization Directors Association
– www.coda.org
Who is Using the Internet?
GLOBAL
 445 Million people
 51% of most
developed countries
– Source: www.clickz.com
U.S.
• 81% of teens
• 63% of adults
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18-29
30-39
50-64
65+
80%
74%
60%
26%
• 60% women
• 66% men
• Ethnicity
• Whites -68%
• Blacks -42%
• Hispanics -60%
Source:www.pewinternet.com
Internet Usage by Age Group . . .
Who Are YOUR Customers?
*Pew/Internet, Pew Internet and American Life Project www.pewinternet.org
Target ‘Everyone’ - NO
Caution - Don’t assume potential customers value:
Good design
Quality materials
High prices
Unique design
Time for creativity/process
Demographics of online purchasers will change as
online use and access increases!
The “New Normal” American Way of Life
Total U.S. online:
>70 million
Broadband access
will change who and
how people use the
Internet
How Are People Buying?
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28% of online consumers do not buy online
59% search aggregate sites, not merchant sites
Value the in-store, personalized experience
Delivery costs and time
Credit security
Delay in purchase satisfaction
No credit
Seeing is believing
Too complicated
Finding Customers
Like fishing, you have to think like a fish
to catch a fish!
– Think like your customers, not as an
artisan
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What do customers want?
Where do they shop?
What do they shop for?
What do they search for online?
More???
Why Consumers Don’t Buy On-line
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Cost of connectivity
Access at work?
Disrupts home/work routines
Too complicated
Communication challenging
Ordering not dependable
Trust
Overall consumer-buying experience
Will Customers Be E-loyal?
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Multiple retailers
Price
Good service
Emotional connection/loyalty
Relevance to customers
Keep customer as central focus of ecommerce
Build customer loyalty – good/bad?
Activity
• Do a search to find your business’s target
market characteristics.
– Hint:
• Search for demographic info
• Search for psychographics
• Search by age, location, income, ethnicity, etc.
http://americandemographics.com
http://cyberatlas.com
• Resources to learn about customers
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Research publications
Trade Journals
Conferences
Periodicals
Search Results
• Who are your potential customers?
• Where do they live, what will they
buy?
• What are their favorite activities?
• Are you offering what they want at
the right price?
• What can you do to “target” these
folks?
Craft Retailers with Web Sites
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2001
Surveyed
Websites
2002
Surveyed
Websites
2003
Surveyed
Websites
91
64
68
53
149
102
If it was this
much in 2003
imagine how
many Web sites
are available
today.
Looking at the Competition
• New products, marketing ideas,
news
• Search engine specialties
– Google
- Lycos
– Yahoo
- AltaVista
– Excite
- Hotbot
– Infoseek
- Northern light
www.searchenginewatch.com/
Find Your Competition
• List competitors
• List keywords to describe your
products/services
• Use metasearch engine to
search keywords
http://dogpile.com
• Use other search engines:
www.ceoexpress.com
Activity
List the key information about
your competitors:
– Advertising
– Prices
– Packaging
– Hours of operation
– Target market
Artists On-Line
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Clocks
Paper
Book Art
Garden Art
Ceramics
Metal
Jewelry
Glass
Furniture
Wood
Baskets
Toys
Fiber
Leather
These represent
both full and part –
time online artisans.
Craft Producers (Artisans) Using E-commerce In
Business
Now imagine
the
increases in
recent years.
Reasons for Not Having Web Page
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No knowledge
Lack of resources
Inability to connect store and web
Lack of training
No plan
Lack of flexibility
An Example Of A Log Analysis
WWW.HERBALTURTLE.COM
Check This…
WWW.CLICKZ.COM/STATS/SECTORS/S
OFTWARE/PRINT.PHP/3578366
Are You Ready to Expand The Business?
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Costs
Personnel
Inventory
Sales
Time/energy
Art Organizations as Promoters
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www.artofohio.com
www.tamarackwv.com
www.arts.state.tx.us/txoriginal/index.asp
www.niche.com
Other: Depts. of Tourism, Art Commissions,
Guilds, Cooperatives, Art Associations,
Colleges/Universities
Doing Good Business Practices
• www.newyork.bbb.org/goodbusiness
practices/?lid=1&page=sell
• www.artofohio.com
• www.bbb.gov
• www.thecraftsreport.com
• www.ftc.gov
Market Venues
• Selling retail vs.
wholesale
• Exclusivity
• Trade Shows
• Sales Reps
Market and Price Potential: The Marketing Plan
• Define market
area
– County, state,
region, nation,
globe
• Who is most
likely to use
or purchase
your product
or service?
• Know your
break even
point/compare
• Know the price
points that
WILL sell
• Include profit!
• Evaluate/adjust
“The Internet has been the source of
much of our business. Patrons find us
in a search of rocking chairs. When
someone calls from Jerome, AZ or
Ketchikan, AK and says, “I found you
on the web and I’d like to order a chair,”
it feels a little like hitting a line drive into
the gap in left field.”
Gary Weeks, Owner
Gary Weeks and Company, Furniture makers
www.garyweeks.com
Summary
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Customers And Competition: Know
BOTH or lose!
It’s your job
Stay current
Listen to both customers and
competitors
Be flexible