Make It

Ask an Expert - Karen of Clothes-pin, Part 4

This marks Karen's last week as our expert, this week the topic of discussion is approaching buyers, an important step that can make our break your relationship with a store. Karen, thank you so much for providing us great insider info into an aspect of crafts business that many are not yet comfortable with. I think you've given readers confidence in this process by taking some of the mystery out of this experience. You can visit Karen daily at clothes-pin.blogspot.com and if you ever want to refer back to the entries she did here this month, they can always be found by choosing the Ask an Expert category at right.

Approaching buyers

 

Buyers hate to be cold-called...it should be Oprah, Lucky, or a customer on the other end, not another darn sales person. Guess why...they get it all day long and it must be so annoying! Don't fear though, that's mostly in fashion where they forget to eat so they must be cranky.

 

Take a deep breath and just do it, remember that you're taking time out of their day and keep it quick and polite. First- address the person with hello/good morning, etc (no matter how they answered the phone) then be quick. Never try to sell on the spot because you have no idea what they're in the middle of.

Keep it to a few queries- whether it's buyer name (most but not everyone will tell you this), address verification (just give the street address/zip to make sure you have it correct, sometimes they give it to you or they will interrupt you if it's incorrect).Try not to forget anything because you don't want to have to call back.

 

Lat say thank you to the person who helped you, it may be a small measure but always maintain in your voice how important their time is to you. Sometimes you will speak to the buyer/owner themselves and they will ask what you're selling. Keep the description down to a minimum " I'd like to send you some information about my leather jewelry collection, or "it's a hand made collection of jewelry that uses leather and crystals". A helpful hint to make the connection more personable is to note the person's name when they answer, a simple "hi Anne" can really go a long way. These conversations should be less than a minute each to find out the basics.

 

If a buyer expresses interest in your products, whether at a tradeshow or through your mailing, there are two words to live by. Follow up. It can mean the difference between someone who forgets that you exist or an order. Sometimes it leads to nothing, but a greater loss than nothing is the order you may have had. Also, remember when you're at a tradeshow that your face is your product. Refresh the retailer on your product when trying to form a relationship because they are bombarded with images.

 

A quick note: the difference between email and snail mail when selling products can be critical. From a personal point of view I think the most sales occur when a buyer can have something to touch and look at, if you can't afford to do a mailing of a multiple page catalog but have an extensive, easy to view website, try a product postcard. Put a stellar product on the front and your information on back. Vistaprint is a great source for inexpensive full color postcards.

Last of all, remember that business is 20% product and 80% business skills and patience. Keep at it and it will come.

Experts Needed!

I need experts for my monthly Ask an Expert feature.

Email me with suggestions, recommendations or shameless self-promotions.

We've had two great experts so far and I'd love to keep 'em coming.

Ask an Expert - Karen of Clothes-pin, Part 3

Putting together packages

When putting together packages try to see yourself on the other end. Many buyers receive multiple packages a day and most of them are from people who haven't done their research. Imagine having a high end clothing boutique and you receive a package touting a collection of hello kitty themed tee shirts. It can get really tiring to be on the retailer end of things, but every retailer I've ever spoken to says when they get a package that's worth it they keep it and contact the manufacturer (you), even if it's a month later.

 

It's helpful but not necessary to send items in an attention getting (but not obnoxious) package. The real deal is your photographed items inside and a comprehensive listing of products and pricing. I can't explain how important this is; an ad exec explained it to me like this-- think of people as stupid, they need to have things explained in detail as easily as possible and that's the only way they will get it. That's a very blunt statement but my version is something like this; people are used to sensory excitement- color and composition is one of the best ways to emphasize this. Think of television, popular movies, MTV magazine ads; all of these things use color and comp. to draw people in and in turn sell a product.

 

You don't need to be a professional but do a great job of making your products easy to understand and you'll get a long way. Don't forget how many similar products buyers see in a day, the person with the better display can very well win out. A great way to see at once what it looks like in a buyers eyes is to walk a trade show, everyone screams for attention and the best booths get the most attention. So imagine if you're sitting among a bunch of manila envelopes; when they do get around to opening your package you really want to make a statement.

 

The actual package should consist of product photographs, a small "about" if you feel it's a part of your overall aesthetic and presentation (ex: if you're selling another winged charm necklace the buying decision will be based on how pretty it is; if your necklace is inspired by a friend's bout with cancer and your proceeds benefit research you've got an "about"). You should also include prices next to each product so that buyers don't have to flip back and forth and possibly an order form at the back. Some buyers have their own purchase order forms and most just email or send you a quick handwritten faxed order.

 

Especially if your items are on the pricey side....very rarely should you send a sample. If a buyer has received your package and says I want to see more they may ask for a sample, all I can say is go with your gut and enclose a return envelope/box prefilled with your address.

 

The same applies for sending packages to press. A press release is great but ho-hum, put something together that will grab their attention. In this day and age I actually find a press release to be a bit of a yawn, what I find sells items is a story. Something that can engage a person and allow them to form a connection with what they're seeing. If you don't have a story don't force it, even with a catchy store it's best to have a great item that's well packaged. With regards to press I try and come up with something eye catching or enclose a gift along with some samples. When I read Pamela Barsky's book she had the genius idea of sending her travel journals to magazines enclosed in vintage suitcases, in turn she got covered in Vogue and editors called her to send packages to their editor friends. I'm sure a move like that wasn't quickly forgotten.

Ask an Expert - Karen of Clothes-pin, Part 2

Here is information about finding stores to sell your product via Karen of clothes-pin.blogspot.com. Karen's advice is valuable for creative companies of all sizes, so regardless of where you're at with your small biz, you'll find something worthy in her sage words:

First step...have a very open mind with regards to your product. Many people think their work is phenomenal and everyone should buy it...but, it's often about where it fits. Is it a Barney's product or is it a Mom & Pop product. What is the quality like? Try to be honest with yourself and if need be ask an honest friend or approach a neighborhood store and ask their opinion. Buyers see the sun and moon in products so at worst you will get a "needs more work" or at best an unexpected sale. Remember there's a market for everything, just make sure you provide the best quality, keep at it, and do your research.

 

Find and compile stores

 

-Finding stores is one of the first things I ever learned in my business of fashion sales. Your first step in getting ready to sell is research, research, research. Checking out your market is one of the most important things you can do as a business. Learn who your competition is; if you were at a tradeshow who would you be next to, if you are in a store who's merchandise would your wares "sit" next to? So the baby step of scouting the market ensures that you find comparable products that can then lead you to your store list.

 

What to do when you find these products? Cheat code alert...go to their websites. Under stores/retailers/where to find us, etc you will find their store listings. If you have done your work and found a few comparable products on the market you will find hundreds of stores. Yes hundreds; don't be afraid of that number because the return on any mass listing is 1% to 3% at best. Also, don't feel like you're cheating anyone who has worked hard on getting into their listed stores. Just because you find it on their website doesn't mean that any or all the stores are going to buy from you. Remember you're not calling to say I sell this basket that is better than the one you get from No-Nu, that will get you nowhere.

Don't expect your initial list to give you everything on a silver platter, most sites will list store name, city/state, and phone number at best. The rest is up to you to make the calls and verify the buyer name and the correct address (addresses change, stores close, and typos occur). I often use google to get the address (insert store name and city/state and up pops the address. An easy way to make the call " hello, I'd like to send some information to the store buyer (specify buyer, since owner and buyer may be two people). May I verify your address (or email if you're not sending a physical catalog) ". This is a lengthy process when you're starting from scratch so start before your projected time to begin selling your items.

Hint: your google search/store list may also show a website, this is a great way to see if you may actually fit and quite often an "about" page will give you the store owners name and "contact us" provides an email address.

 

Your neighborhood is a good way to start small and get the hang of things. Scout the store keeping in mind if you think your products would fit. Feel out the situation but I usually don't approach the buyer on the spot; every customer that walks in is a potential sale and you could very well get the cold shoulder if you try and pitch a product. Take a card and email, call, or send info later. If you want to try right away just give a breezy greeting, say you're just looking or make their day and buy something small. Then you can say " I really like your store, I have a jewelry collection and was wondering if I can send you some information".

 

Google is your friend. Just typing in "jewelry stores in seattle" can lead you to a list of stores or add more to your growing list. Also Yelp.com is great for lists and customer reviews, and Citysearch allows you to search for a compiled list of stores by city and category.

 

Reps are a possibility if you're not a seller and never will be. Be very careful as many people will take you for a loop; when using craigslist for example to source reps, be sure to check references. When looking for showroom reps the major locations are NY, LA, and Dallas. Try a search like " gift showrooms in Dallas, TX", it will likely lead you to a building that houses a number of showrooms and you can search from there. Also rely on trade magazines and tradeshows to find showrooms, be prepared for space fees and sales percentages to boot. The advantage to showrooms is that they take care of every aspect of sales for you and they often have relationships with buyers already; the whole point of a showroom is that your products are always sitting there so that buyers can make appointments  or stop by and see it at anytime.

 

The last resource for stores is the most costly but can yield the biggest payoff. Tradeshows are yearly or twice yearly events where thousands of buyers from boutiques and large chain stores come to find established and new designers and their products. Costs of such will include booth space, set up costs (fixtures, storage, etc), travel/hotel fees, shipping, etc...etc. The reson it's the biggest gamble is because in a good show you can make back everything you put in and then some, and in a bad show you can leave with one order. What determines a good or bad show? The moon and the stars for all I know, it is one gamble the biggest names in the business always take because it's the only way to expose yourself to tons of buyers at once.

 

Remember: having a list of stores is really helpful anyway because your business has to keep browing. We call this a "target list" and even if you're going to showcase at a tradeshow, it is a great idea to send postcards with your information to these retailers in the hopes they will stop by. In some industries they even make appointments to see you at the show.

Ask an Expert - Karen of Clothes-pin

Our expert for the month of October is Karen, the blogger behind clothes-pin.blogspot.com. Karen has experience with the sales and marketing side of business and she has graciously agreed to share some of her knowledge with us this month. Here's a little information on Karen's background about what makes her an expert in her field:

I've been an account executive in fashion for about 6 years now, basically my job is to source and open new accounts (stores) and build those relationships. I've worked with luxury brands like Dolce & Gabbana to smaller contemporary and premium brands like Evisu and Blue Marlin. It's allowed me to work with brand on all levels of development and basically help to build some from the ground up; which is pretty cool because I got a hang of what's necessary to maintain and start the brand building process.

Karen's focus will be on three areas: finding and compiling potential stores where you can sell your products, putting together packages to send to retailers, and how to approach storeowners and buyers. Later this month Karen will start to offer consulting services on her blog where she will answer specific questions about brand building/stores, etc and help for companies trying to launch into fashion and related trades. Keep an eye out for that and I'll let you know when it launches. Check back next week for information on finding and compiling stores.

Ask an Expert - Arianne of Aeolidia, Part 4

This is our last installment of Ask an Expert featuring Arianne or Aeolidia. Join me in sending her a huge thanks for the info she's shared with us. I hope you have enjoyed the tips she has offered regarding setting up your own website. Check back next Monday to meet our October expert.

What are your top three pieces of advice for a crafter who is thinking about setting up her first website?

1) Know what you want. You don't have to know *exactly* what you want, but it's best to go into your project with a good idea of your goals, your plans, and how you want things to look and to work. We have had clients change their mind halfway through the project before, and starting over can get costly, so we try to make sure to ask all the right questions at the start of the project to avoid this. We have also worked with clients who already spent a bundle of money on a bad web designer and now need our help to start over and salvage their sites. If you're not hiring a designer, it's much easier to build a site yourself if you have it all planned out before you dive into the technical details.

2) Get as much information as you can. Whether you're designing the site yourself or hiring someone to help, make sure you've done some research. Doing it yourself? Find out what your options are, visit forums for small businesses, crafters, or website owners, ask your friends how they did it. Hiring someone? Ask around, get recommendations, make sure the designer gives you all the important info along the way, educate yourself about how your shopping cart works or what your payment processing options are, etc.

3) Don't cut corners. This especially goes for people who plan to set up a shop website. Convincing potential customers to visit your site and actually make a purchase is hard. Make sure the site looks professional and works as it should. Make sure the entire shopping experience on your site is smooth and easy. Get it the way you want it as soon as you can, rather than building something haphazard and planning to update it later when sales pick up - "eh, it's good enough" isn't going to help your sales! Make sure you take the time to get your site complete and test it out before going live - rushing to meet a deadline is less important than making sure the final product is something you'll be proud of.

Ask an Expert - Arianne of Aeolidia, Part 3

Here's the third installment of "Ask an Expert" with Arianne. If you've got a question for her regarding web design, leave it in the comments and she'll answer it in the final installment.

What are the benefits of hiring a web designer instead of creating your own site?

If you already know a bit about web design or don't mind learning, I think it's great to create your own site. If you end up finding it fun to do, you will learn a lot and gain some extra skills. Most people don't think hammering away at HTML and wondering why your site looks good in IE but terrible in Firefox is that fun, though, so that's why we're here! In fact, we have worked with people who are completely capable of building and working on their own websites, but would rather devote that time to their crafting, so are happy to contract the work out to us.

A good web designer will be able to help you with every step in the process of setting up a website: domain registration, web hosting, SSL certificates, payment processors, choosing cart software, creating a design, coding the site, checking it in all major browsers on multiple platforms, and showing you how to update and maintain it.

There is pretty much no way you're going to do everything right the first time you build a website. This goes for everyone from amateurs to professionals - my first websites were pretty bad! Not only will all the technology and options be new to you, but designers will often have more resources than you do. For instance, at Aeolidia we have multiple computers with different screen sizes, and have loaded all common web browsers on our PCs and our Mac for testing purposes. Web designers have and know how to use Photoshop, Imageready, Illustrator, and any other software useful in making a site. Your web designer will have worked on dozens of sites like yours in the past and will know what works and what doesn't and will know what pitfalls to avoid.

Ask an Expert - Arianne of Aeolidia, Part 2

Welcome back for the second installment of Ask an Expert, featuring Arianne of Aeolidia. Arianne has graciously offered to answer reader questions in addition to the questions I asked her, so if you've got a question for her leave it in the comments and she'll answer it in the final installment.

How do you recommend someone choose a web designer?

I would recommend looking at these things:

- Professionalism: is the designer's website attractive, organized, spelled correctly, and is it easy for you to navigate and find what you want? When you contact the designer, does she get back to you promptly with the information you need? Is the designer friendly, patient, and clear? Your interaction with the designer before making payment can be a good indicator of how they'll treat you during the span of your project. Before going ahead with a project, make sure you get a cost estimate, a time estimate, and a contract.

- Experience: how long has this person been making websites? What are their skills? Anyone can buy software and an instruction manual, so if you're paying for work, I recommend hiring someone who can do something you can't buy in a box.

- Recommendations: most importantly: get customer feedback! This can be as simple as reading the testimonials on the designer's website, or you can contact their past clients to ask what their opinion was. This is often the best way to tell if you'll have a good experience.

On a related note, many good designers are booked solid with work and may not have time to take on every project. Make sure when you contact a designer that you use the same standards for yourself that you expect from the designer. Be friendly, professional, and clear about what you want. The designer has a choice of clients, so be sure you stand out as someone they'd like to work with.

Ask an Expert - Meet Arianne of Aeolidia

One of the challenges I often consider when it comes to this blog is how to present new information on the variety of subjects related to crafts businesses. I'd love to write original articles on everything ranging from book reviews to packaging to copyright law, but I simply do not have the time to become an expert in all these subject, let alone write all of the articles. So, I figure the next best thing is to contact some of the experts in various fields that I've met through this blog and ask them to share some of their knowledge with us. This new feature will be called "Ask an Expert" and through it, my goal is to bring you a new expert each month who will share detailed information about their area of expertise via weekly posts.

I can't tell you how thrilled I am to start off this new feature with Arianne of Aeolidia. If you visit the homepages of any number of crafty businesses (including several of the crafters I have interviewed on this site), I guarantee you that some of them will have been designed by Aeolidia. Aeolidia's unique position as a web designer for crafty businesses makes Arianne a perfect expert to launch this new feature. Over the course of the month of September, Arianne will share her knowledge regarding the following issues: how to choose a web designer, the benefits of designing your own page vs. using a professional designer and the top three pieces of advice you should keep in mind when setting up your website. Today I present to you some background information on our expert along with information about how she got her start.

* How did you get started in web design?

I learned HTML for fun my first year of college, building a website for my zine. Playing with Photoshop and digging into HTML was consumingly fun and challenging for me, so I changed my website design very regularly, made websites for friends and always seemed to have one web project or another I was working on. I thought of it as a fun hobby for years, until I was laid off from my job and decided to get professional and work on it as a career.

I still have a lot of fun learning new technologies and coding languages and watching the web evolve.

* You've built tons of e-commerce sites for craftypreneurs, what do you like about building sites for crafty business owners?

My favorite thing about building websites for crafters is that they often have web experience, which makes projects go smoothly and easily. Many crafters have their own blog, or use some type of third party shop, while some have even learned a bit about web design and put together sites for themselves. Even the people who come to me saying they don't know much about websites end up surprised at how easy it is to work on their own sites with our guidance.

Since we do mostly shop sites for crafters and other small businesses, our relationships with our clients include a mutual understanding and respect between our small business and their small business.

See some examples of Arianne's handiwork below and her studio space. Check back next week for the next installment of Ask an Expert.