I hope this blog post will help you with a bit of a tick list in terms of what you need as you start out on your new venture.
Read on.......
If you have been selling or making for friends and family then they are the first port of call for people who can help to spread the word of your wonderful work.
A great starting point, but if you want to step things up a notch then you need to start thinking about social media and making it work for you. It can be a bit of a mind field on where to start and what to use.
Below are the four main players in social media and each should be viewed and used in a different way.
Its a good idea to set up a Facebook page where people can like your page and follow your journey. Social media can be a good tool if used to build friendships and relationships with potential customers. Don't see it as a way to get sales but a way for people to get to know you and feel comfortable about you and your business and work. The sales will then follow. Images are key on Facebook with a short written section inviting people to interact.
Is a great visual tool, but make sure your photos are good enough to engage people, they don't need to be polished but to tell a story. A real image that shows your work in progress and gives an insight into what you do. Hashtags help here and will bring in people who are not your followers, but don't overuse them
# Hashtags are key. Also posing a question is helpful where the written word is the main way of getting a message out there
A lot of people get confused with Pinterest but it is a great tool and if you view it as a visual search engine then you are well on the way to making it work for you. Have one board that is just for your work but also have boards that will intrigue others, such as helpful tutorials you find online or patterns that you just need to try out yourself. People use Pinterest as a learning tool, so make sure they learn something from your boards.
You do need to make sure that your content in each of these have some connection so a good logo is a good place to start. Something that you can use as your icon across each platform and then this can then be used on business cards which will will chat about in a moment. You can design a logo yourself or get someone else to design one for you.
Social media is one way of reaching a wide variety of people from further afield. But also remember that local people in your area are also a great way to sell your work. With the popularity of people wanting to support local and small businesses it would be foolish to ignore those right on your doorstep.
For this you need more tangible tools such as business cards that you can hand out when someone comments on an item, such as a shawl/scarf or hat that you have made yourself. Don't be shy and make each opportunity work for you.
I love to uses MOO they are a great company for printing a wide variety of promotional items.
Cards, postcards, stickers and business cards of all shapes and sizes.
You can click on the banner below to have a mooch around their site which is so user friendly
What I love most about Moo is the fact that at no extra cost you can include as many different images on your cards as you wish. Its almost like a portfolio of your work.
My moo cards also double up as labels that I attach to my work.
This is my logo and I use it across all my media platforms. You can also see it in use as a gift tag. The back has all the important bits of info so people can reconnect and find me again
Photos are also really important and its important to have good quality and a professional clean look to your images, play around with backgrounds or keep it simple.
I have a small lightbox that is great in the winter months when the light is not that good. It also allows me to control the background and what is seen around my work.
Its a dark evening in the image below, but when I turn on my lights and it diffuses through the box then I get a natural and shadow free studio.
Here is an image that I took with the light box. What a difference, no yellow electric light and a clean fuss free backdrop.
When you parcel off your sold pieces then it doesn't stop there make sure you include care labels, a business card (of course) and presentation is key when packaging up.
The next logical step would be to include your logo or business on your work to brand it and give you free promotion when it is worn. There are some fab small businesses out there that can make these for you. These can be buttons or small leather, fabric tabs/tags
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