Why Too Many Products will Harm your Craft Show Sales
When I started my handmade business, I thought more was more. The more options of handbags I offered, the more sales I could make because I’d be appealing to a wider variety of customers. I had: No clear customer I was targeting. No clear style I was known for. No product collections. Just a pile…
3 Tips to Avoid Awkward Shopper Silence at a Craft Show
The very first craft show I sold at was in a small community league hall with fewer than 20 vendors. Craft fairs were fairly new and indie at that time. Although people showed up, it wasn’t exactly a buzzing scene. So it made my lack of conversation/selling skills even more apparent and awkward. When an…
The Best Kept Craft Fair Secret for More Sales
I love reading Yelp and Google reviews. I like knowing what throws a customer’s experience off enough that they’ll take the time to go online, give a business one star and write a bad review. I’ve noticed that so many bad reviews are more about the experience than about the product or the outcome of…
How to Attract Wholesale Orders at Craft Shows (or on Etsy)
Selling your products wholesale to retailers can be a great revenue stream…if you’ve priced your products properly. Selling wholesale often means bigger orders with less effort. Instead of having to sell 50 items to 50 different customers, you can sell 50 items to a retailer in one transaction. Of course, profit margins are lower when…
3 Steps to Boost your Craft Business’s Holiday Sales
November and December are two of the busiest shopping months of the year, thanks to all the gift-giving opportunities. Many businesses earn the majority of their revenue in the last quarter of the year. Are you ready to make the most of holiday sales? By the end of October, there’s not a lot of time…
A Craft Show Sales Strategy that Turns Shoppers into Buyers
This article is yet another lesson taken from the exciting pages of my life, this time when I was bathing suit shopping. Who wants to try on bathing suits, right? Especially after you’ve just finished a big dinner and a pint of beer. I’m sharing why I was persuaded to try on and buy an…
How to Ask for the Sale at a Craft Show (without being pushy)
Asking for the sale is not as awkward as it sounds. The sales technique isn’t about coming right out and saying “will you please buy?” But rather, asking questions that help a shopper decide to buy. If they’re not interested in buying, they’ll simply let you know. But if they’re on a fence, you’re helping…
5 Ideal Customer Mistakes Craft Businesses Make
Simply writing down the demographics of a person who might buy your products isn’t enough. For an ideal customer profile to actually help you make sales, it needs to reflect how real people think, live, and make buying decisions. Here are five common mistakes craft businesses make when defining their ideal customer. 1. Thinking…
Want to Stand Out at a Craft Show? Try these Display Tricks
Relating your craft show booth or table to a store window is a good way to look at your space from a different perspective and ensure you have elements that will catch the eye. Although you may only have a few feet, you also want to think of your table or booth like the inside…
How To Use the Trojan Horse Method to Promote your Handmade Products
It’s important to understand the tale of the Trojan Horse in order to understand this concept. If you’re not familiar with it, here are the Cliffnotes: The Trojan war, a war between the Greeks and the Trojans, had been going on for over a decade. The Greeks crafted a large wooden horse to present to…
3 Big Mistakes your Business is Making on Social Media
Your customers are most certainly on one of the major social media platforms, so your business should be too. If your competitors, or businesses similar to yours, are finding success on a social media platform, it’s a good indication that your business can also find success there. But more businesses struggle to find success on…
How to Develop a Signature Style for your Craft Business
When several businesses are selling similar products, consumers feel no urgency or desire to choose one business over the other. It often comes down to price. As a handmade business, you do not want to attract customers who are after the lowest price. It’s a hard game to keep up with and doesn’t create loyal customers. On…
What to Wear to a Craft Fair to Boost Sales
Asking what one should wear to a craft fair is sort of like asking “what should I wear to work?” The answer would depend greatly on the type of work, the environment and who you interact with in a day. There isn’t a straightforward answer to “what do people wear to craft fairs?” because it…
How to Turn a Failing Handmade Business Around in 5 Steps
A little over a year ago, I felt completely hopeless about my business. I started each day with a pit in my stomach and went to sleep each night with sweaty palms. Made Urban was a failing business and I didn’t know what to do. I had one big light bulb moment that turned my…
4 Reasons Your Handmade Products Aren’t Selling
Who doesn’t want to sell more handmade products? Of course, that’s what every handmade business owner is after. But there’s a common misconception when it comes to sales. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard from business owners when wondering why they don’t sell more handmade products: People love my work, but they’re…
8 Ways to Add Branding to your Craft Show Booth
At a busy craft show, shoppers walk past dozens…maybe even thousands of booths in a matter of hours. Most of them blur together. Same tables. Same racks. Same “handmade with love” signs. Branding is what makes your booth stick—not just look nice, but feel intentional and memorable. Good branding doesn’t mean expensive displays or flashy…
Monthly Plan & Checklist for a Craft Business
To make money and run a profitable business… you must be organized. Let’s stop treating our businesses like a hobby and flying by the seat of our pants. Instead, let’s take a hard look at our numbers, what we need to make in revenue and profit to be able to call our operations a successful…
8 Mistakes Craft Businesses Make with their USP
A USP is a unique selling position and should be considered an important aspect of your handmade business. Starbucks vs. Dunkin’ Donuts, Pepsi vs. Coke, Lululemon vs. Nike; each company is selling something very similar to the other so they must have a product feature that stands out or market their products in a way…
3 Big Legal Mistakes Crafters Make
Many handmade business owners don’t look into the legal steps involved when they start selling their crafts. It often begins as a hobby, sewing bags, making jewelry, knitting scarves, and then the idea comes along that money could be made selling those items. The next step is often signing up for a craft show and…
Fun Products to Make & Sell at Craft Shows
This article shares several ideas in a variety of categories for products you can make and sell at craft shows. Crochet Crochet water balloons These are a great idea for summer and I love that they reduce the waste broken balloons create. They’re simply meant to be soaked in water, not filled with water. Sort…