As a creative business owner, you’ve got a lot on your plate. I know how it is — you’re not only the president of your company, but also the production manager, the sales rep, and the entire customer-service department. And when you add promotion, advertising, and PR responsibilities to the mix, and it’s no wonder [...]
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About a week ago, I bought a bike! And I’m still so pumped about it. Now, I don’t know a whole lot about bikes — but I do know that this particular model comes with a heavy dose of awesome. It’s got a comfy seat, a loud bell, and a rack in the back to [...]
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Welcome to Part 4 in a series about Target Markets — or those awesome people who want and need your stuff. Marketing your successful indie biz requires a clear understanding of your target audience: who they are, what they like, and where you can find them. So far in this Target Market series, we’ve covered: [...]
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Quality information about your customer base is one of the most important tools in your marketing toolbox. Describing your perfect customer is a good first step, but if you want to minimize risk and improve your chances of success, nothing beats good old objective data. When you want to really understand your customers’ needs and [...]
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This post is part 2 in a series about identifying your target market. We’re discussing what they are, why we need them, and how to find them. If you missed yesterday’s post, Target Market: Finding the Right People, click on over to catch up. We’ll wait. The problem with mass-marketing is that there is no [...]
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Do you know who your perfect customer is? What does she look like? Would you recognize her if you saw her in the grocery store? We’ve talked about a few of the factors that go into pricing handmade products. Price can be calculated by adding costs + labor + profit. Price can be a starting [...]
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I thought we’d do a little market research this morning. Wanna help me out? You see, I have a hunch that handmade-sellers are often handmade-buyers as well. But I’d like to test this assumption. The results of this poll could help us better define our target markets. Because on one hand, fellow sellers might buy [...]
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Yesterday we talked about the balancing act between the prices we charge for our handmade products and the value that our customers perceive in our products. Perceived value is tricky — it’s different for different customers. For example, the value I perceive in a handmade quilt is different from the value my brother perceives in [...]
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Pricing your handcrafted product is a balancing act, to be sure. And, like many of you, I’m tired of seeing under-priced products out there in the market. Devaluing craft does none of us any good. “But pricing is hard!”, they say. I see it all the time in handmade forums: “If I price my items [...]
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I really enjoyed reading the results of last week’s poll, didn’t you? 82% of voters blog, and 14% of voters say they need a little help getting started. Maybe — and correct me if I’m wrong — one the barriers to starting a blog is simply choosing which blogging platform to use. And I can [...]
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