5 Ways To Tell Others About Your Shop

Let's give your shop a "shout out" and let people know you exist. No, I don't mean standing out in the middle of the street and shouting. Not only could that be dangerous, but someone might think you're a little off your rocker today.

But don't let me discourage you if that's really what you want to do. There are, however, other ways you can tell others about your great shop of handmade goodies.

1. Tell your friends you've opened up a shop. Not strangers, your friends. Those people you see most often and on a regular bases.

2. Make an announcement to interested parties. For example: Writers often announce when new books are coming out. Why? Because over time they develop a readership who are interested in reading their books, or a certain type of book. When you announce you have a new product, certain type of product, it generates excitement through interested parties.

3. Create memorable advertising flare. Leave business cards or little samples after you've gone to a restaurant, at conferences on freebie tables, and other tactful places where some might pick up your shop name and hold on to it.

4. Become and accessory to a charitable event. There are many charitable organizations and other types of fund raisers that are looking for small businesses to donate to help raise month for their cause. This is where you give your best work, not that painting that just didn't come out right or the half bent book cover copy that isn't of any value to you. Here is your chance to shine, and do something good for other. It will come back to reflect brightly upon you if completed in a professional and resonating way. Customers like to see that shops they buy from are involved outside their studios and craft tools.

5. Throw a party. I think I may have mentioned this back in January. But hey, throw a party anyway. Invite friends to invite there friends. Share your new space (studio or store front), have an online gathering with hash tags from twitter or a facebook fan page commodore. You get the picture. And don't forget the candy!
You need to feed your attendees. If you're having a physical party, throw out the party platters and open the buffets of snacks and punch.

If your party is virtual, then you need to give them some eye candy to go with all that reading and waiting in front to the computer. Free samples, games that lead to a chance to receive discount coupons or free goodies from your shop.

Now that's the kind of party I like!

How will you tell others about your shop?

How To Promote Your Shop Online

I realized back in February I promised we would talk about promotions online and offline for your shops. So today, I'd like to pick up where we left off.

It has been a long time hasn't it?

First let's talk about all the ways we can promote our shops and then we'll break it down the following days.

1. We can promote our shops by telling others. (Dah! right? Be patient. We're getting there.)
2. We can promote our shops by having others tell their friends about us.
3. We can promote our shops by putting ourselves out there for the public to see.

Seems simple enough, yet those three things are kind of broad when trying to figure out exactly how they are supposed to work. So tomorrow, we'll break them down one by one and get down to the details.

What's selling in your shop today?

Do You Have a License to Sell?

Retail stores need licenses to sell, but today's question I hear everyone asking themselves as they get started in their chosen profession is: Do I need a license to sell my craft?

But really, you should first ask yourself -- Is my craft taxable?

If you are selling a handmade product vs charging for your talents, then most likely your answer is going to be YES.

You'll more than likely  need a Sales Tax License. You can obtain a sales tax license through your state department.  A lot of craft shows and vendor establishments will require you to have this licenses before allowing you into their facility.

If you don't make a lot of sales in a year, don't sweat it. Most states give you the option of filing your sales tax monthly, quarterly, semi annually, or annually. And now adays, you can fill out the form online or enlist the help of an accounting professional to assist you.

It's a cake walk, believe me, if I can do it, so can you. If you need help, just give me a shout and I'll be happy to assist you with it.

Now, let's go back to talking about retail. What is it? Retail is basically setting up shop in a physical place where your customers come to you. In this case, you will need to check with your local chamber of commerce in the town where your retail shop is located for their policy and regulations of licenses and requirements for retail locations.

And lastly, let's not forget those online shops like Etsy, Artfire, and eBay. Do you need a license to sell your craft online? Absolutely. You might think because you're floating in cyberspace that you're not covered by any state license laws, but it just ain't so.  You will still need to collect sales tax on all applicable items sold online for the state in which you live.

So for example. I have two shops - one at Etsy and one at Artfire. I live in Pennsylvania. So, I only collect sales tax from customers who purchase that live in the same state as I do.

See how that works?

Imagine how overwhelming it could become if you had to collect sales tax in all 50 states!! And let's not even think about the hassles of international orders!

So for today, we'll stick with were we are. Do you have a license to sell?

Tomorrow we'll move onto another aspect of selling your craft.

Why Sell on eBay?

EBay started out as an online auction site for selling virtual anything, and I mean anything. That is until restrictions began to apply.

Today, however, you can set up shop on eBay and sell your craft along with tons of other commerical products and services. It's just not an online auction anymore thanks to their "buy it now" feature and ability to create your own store front.

So why would you sell your craft on eBay vs/ or along with somewhere else?

Selling on eBay gives you these benefits:

* well known site filled with repeat customers
* listing fees and commission fees for each listing sold
* high traffic area (enhance the repeat customers)
* feedback ratings
* eBay bucks (buyer incentive)
* flexibility in product sales
* search engine ranking

I personally have both sold and bought on eBay, ranking from craft supplies, gifts, and a multitude of items. But is it the best place for you? That's for you to decide.

Why Sell on Artsefest?

Artesfest is an online craft show. It features crafters from all over the United States.

Not nearly as popular as Etsy or Art Fire, this site doesn't rank as high in the search engines, but I did come across it never-the-less.

One of the biggest benefits this site promotes is it's way of bringing together crafters and buyers in a virtual craft show atmosphere.

Site features:

* Monthly fee for listings

* Limited space with option to purchase more space for photos and listings

* 100,000 unique visitors every month

* Online Craft Show - open 24/ 7

* Inventory Control

* Site Builder

* Domain URL

* SEO

You can read more about Artsfest craft benefits on their page: http://artsefest.com/pages.php?pageid=9

And their pricing at: http://artsefest.com/pages.php?pageid=7

What do you think? Would you sell here?

Why Sell on Art Fire?

 Today we start our series on where to sell your craft.

In all fairness, I thought we'd go alphabetical, starting with Art Fire.

I jumped over and visited their site. And in the words of one of their current sellers (right off one of their pages):

"Where else can you have a custom studio website within a venue that does your SEO, ranks you top in searches, links a Google friendly blog to your studio, provides comprehensive marketing insights & advice for networking your business, teaches you how to photograph, write descriptions, make video commercials, and allows you to promote yourself with live links to other places you sell? Only on ARTFIRE - and these cutting edge Mavericks are always introducing the latest tools, features, tech trends and giving insights that you could apply to other places you sell. They give you the tools AND teach you how to use them - you can't put a price on that education and you can't find this anywhere else on the web!"
Natalie of Swank and CapriciousAdornments

Art Fire offers sellers a place to sell their craft with no additional commission charges. Just one flat fee per month. Just like a regular website fee, it gives you a place for unlimited listings of your product, a built in blog, and promotional tools.

Key Features of Art Fire:

* One Monthly fee - no commission
* Blog/ Website set up layout for shop
* Personal Domain URL
* Global Shipping Profile
* Multiple Payment Processors
* Analytics
* Vacation Mode
* Rating Feedback System
* Tweet Your Items
* Pod Casts for sellers
* Search Engine Optimization
* Community

If you're interested in finding out more about setting up a shop on Art fire, you can visit: http://www.artfire.com/groupdeal

If you're already selling on another venue, Art Fire has this great article on comparing it's service to others: If You're From Etsy.


If I've left anything out or you'd like to leave a comment of your own experience on Art Fire, please do so!

Where to Sell Your Crafts Online

The Internet is full of places to shop. Type in any keyword and come up with at least a hundred places where that item can be found.

But where do you go when you're the seller? What keywords come to mind when looking for a place to sell your special craft?

Automatically, we find places like eBay, Etsy, and Artfire. Yet, there are a few more places out there, aren't there?

Where to sell your crafts online can be more of a chore of finding a reliable site, than deciding which online shopping site is right for you to set up shop.

Think of it as driving down a street or walking through a mall and seeing an empty shop. The possibility is there, but is it the right place for you to sell your craft?

When seeking a place to sell your craft online, you need to ask yourself the following questions: (just like you would if opening a store front of your local mall.)

1. Is this a good location for me?
2. Is the price to sell (rent, listing fees, etc...) affordable?
3. What benefits does one shop offer that appeals to selling my craft more than the other (comparison shopping).
4. How much traffic is the online site drawing in?
5. What type of promotion does the site offer beside you promoting yourself?

Over the next couple of days we'll be looking at each online venue available to sellers to set up shop and sell their craft online. If I miss an online venue, please let me know and I'll check it out and post it. Please feel free to express your own experience with these shops: Etsy, Art Fire, Ebay, Artsfest, Craftsu, and Handmade Catalog. (In no particular order).

Where do you sell your craft?