Marketing Overwhelm: How to Win Customers without Losing your Cool

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 you feel overwhelmed sometimes.

Throw in marketing and social media tasks, and well, it’s a wonder your Day Runner doesn’t explode.

You’re not alone. All indie biz owners struggle with this — especially those with itty-bitty marketing budgets. Do any of these concerns ring true to you?

Should I buy online/print advertising? Where? How do I create an ad?
Should I set up my own e-commerce website? Should I redesign my existing website? Is anyone even visiting my website?
Should I send out a newsletter? Spend my time writing a blog?
Should I jump into social media? Which sites should I join? All of them?
How long will it take before my marketing efforts start to pay off?

Business worries can keep a gal up at night!

Overcoming Marketing Overwhelm

Today, I just want to encourage you in the fact that being your own boss doesn’t have to be fraught with chaos and overwhelm. You can do it — you have what it takes! You just need a solid plan.

A lot of our biz-related stress and procrastination comes from our tendency to flake out on the plans we make with ourselves. We say that we’re going to do some marketing, but then other things get in the way, or we get discouraged, or we get distracted by videos of cute pugs on Youtube.

But when you commit to a list of smart, actionable goals you’re much more likely to follow through and achieve real growth in your businesses.

1. Dedicate time to focus on Marketing

Marketing your shop is JUST as important to the success of your business as making the products themselves. Yes — I hear you — you need to spend time creating remarkable products — but you also need to prioritize time to attract customers who will buy your products. Make a marketing appointment with yourself, and commit to it. Carve out a small block of time to focus on one marketing task. Follow through.

2. Take it One Step at a Time

Maybe your marketing plan includes writing a blog, sending a weekly newsletter, building a solid presence on Twitter, and submitting your work to print magazines. Awesome. But you don’t need to accomplish it all today.
Here’s the practical solution: Break down your long-term business goals into smaller, more manageable steps. Make these “action tasks” as concrete as possible. Prioritize the tasks.

Then, for each “marketing appointment” you make, decide what one thing you’re going to work on. Then, work on that one thing with focus. Give it your full attention, knowing that you can work on that other thing tomorrow.

3. Get a Helping Hand

If you don’t like marketing — or if you’re maxed out on time — there’s no reason why you should have to do it all alone. Just because marketing is important, doesn’t mean you have to do it yourself. Consider outsourcing marketing tasks to help your business grow. By hiring other folks to do the things that you are not interested in, you free up time to do the things you love.

4. The Secret to Success.

My biggest tip, though, is to actually DO something. You can read all of the marketing advice on the internet, but it won’t help you if you don’t implement it in your own life. The step you take today doesn’t have to be earth-shatteringly huge, and it doesn’t have to be right this minute, but plan to start taking some action in your marketing.

If you’re ready to take your shop to the next level, but need a helping hand, never fear. Consider booking a brainstorming session with me. I’m a marketing coach for makers. Learn more about it here.

Image via Bird & Banner

Use Benefits to Pump Up Your Product Descriptions

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 carry $50 worth of groceries. (We’re a one-car family, so when my husband’s off learning up a storm in grad school, my bike will be my modus operandi.) It’s just what I need to make a quick trip ‘round the neighborhood.

And the sales guy at the local bike shop? Couldn’t have been nicer. He understood that I was just looking for a decent bike with a classic design that would help me get around town. He sold me on the benefits, like a comfortable ride, an easier commute, and the ability to run errands.

Notice: He didn’t try to sell me on the features:

Specifications
Wheels	Alloy front hub, Shimano RM30 rear hub; Bontrager 750, 36-hole rims
Tires	Bontrager H2, 700x35c
Shifters	Shimano EF50 trigger, 7 speed
Front Derailleur	Shimano M191
Rear Derailleur	Shimano Acera
Crank	Shimano M151 48/38/28 w/chainguard
Cassette	SRAM PG730 11-32, 7 speed

If you are a more serious cyclist — you care about those details. But me? I have no idea what these specs mean. If the sales guy had tried to sell me on the features alone, he would have have lost the sale.

What does this have to do with marketing your Etsy shop?

If you are reading this blog, you’re looking for ways to turn your indie biz into a success story. You need to make your shop stand out above the competition. You need to convince shoppers that your products present a compelling value.

One way to differentiate your shop from your competition is to emphasize the benefits of your products in your item descriptions, instead of just listing the features.

Because while features tell the facts about your product, benefits tell customers why they would want the features in the first place.

Benefits focus on the awesome results of using your product. And customers like benefits.

“What’s in it for me?”

To come up with the benefits of your products, focus on the customer’s reasons for buying it. How will you product make your customer’s life better? Why should they care about the features?

To turn features into benefits, make like a teenager and ask yourself the question: “So what?”

Example time: Let’s say you sell handmade tote bags.

Feature: Your tote bag has 5 interior pockets.

And that’s good because…?

Benefit: Your well-designed tote bag helps a busy mom stay organized.

By spelling out the benefits of your products in your item descriptions, you can better demonstrate their unique value to potential customers. And benefit-driven descriptions are more compelling descriptions.

Next Steps

Think about all the features and benefits that customers in your target market think about when considering your product versus that of the competition.

List the features of your products: the facts, the specs, the data, the dimensions.
Match each feature with a benefit.
To find the benefit, ask (and answer) the question: “And that’s good because…?”
Include the benefits in your item descriptions.
Rinse, repeat.

Connect the dots for your customers, and make it easier for them to click the Add to Cart button.

Bonus round:

Features: This blog has an RSS feed.

Benefit: You should subscribe, so you’ll never miss another awesome post.

Target Market Part 4: Taking Aim and Reaching Your Customers

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:

Why your marketing success depends upon finding your target market.
Gaining an understanding your market through demographic data.
Getting the cold hard facts about your target market through customer surveys and people-watching.

Now, with the image of your “perfect customers” in mind, think about ways to tailor your marketing efforts to reach your target market. Based on your research, do you know where your target market hangs out? Where can you find them, both online and offline?

Advertise in Niche Publications

There are, approximately, a gazillion blogs out there on the Internet. (I counted.)
And lucky for you, there is a niche publication written for every target market. You can reach your target market on the blogs and magazines that your potential customers are most likely to read.

Example time: Let’s say I sell baby quilts (aw, cute). I might have several targeted groups: successful young parents with the budget for a $300 baby blankie, hip aunts and grandmas who can’t wait to spoil the new baby, first-time mamas who want only the best for their little ones, gracious gift-givers looking to make a splash at the bridal shower, and more.

I wouldn’t (necessarily) find those customers on crafty sites and how-to-quilt blogs. So I wouldn’t waste my ad dollars there. Instead, I’d consider advertising on sites like these, where I’m much more likely to reach my market.

www.firsttimepregnancy.com
www.forbabygifts.com
www.savvyauntie.com

Using Google Adwords is a another way to reach the people who are already searching for your product. So spend your advertising dollars on websites your customers visit — don’t waste it on sites that won’t get you results.

In the same way, make sure you send your press releases to niche publications relevant to your target market. Think outside the indie box.

Fish where the fish are.

Smart Social Media

Social media is a great way to connect with your crafty peers and creative mentors. But is that all you are doing on Twitter and Facebook? Don’t get me wrong — I’m not discouraging you from having fun with social media.

But, if you are not interacting with potential customers on a regular basis, then don’t expect to see sales coming from social media. To find those potential customers, try using keyword search to look for people who are interested in the products you sell.

Same goes for blogging. When you blog, do you write for yourself, for your peers, or for your customers?

If you are trying to promote your business by blogging, write about topics that your customers will find interesting, entertaining, or enlightening. Giving readers an occasional sneak peek into your studio process and inspiration is encouraged, but it shouldn’t be the only thing you blog about!

Is your target market on Etsy?

Two years ago, Etsy conducted a survey to find out more about its users. For a summary of the results, download this file.
Here are some important highlights:

Most users are buyers:

46% of users are buyers
39% of users are both
10% of users are sellers

Demographics

Female – 96%
Average 32 years old (41% are between 25-34)
Live in the U.S. – 82%
Well educated – 63% graduated from college
Students – 17%
Majority employed full time – 49%
Full-time moms – 23%
Household Income – $67K

Behavior and Attitudes

Find Etsy through friends and blogs
Visit Etsy for unique, well crafted products
Many are “occasional artists” (68%)

Webographics

72% have a profile on at least one social networking community
Frequent online shoppers
Most likely to use text based search over other search options
36% blog

How does these stats match up against your target market?

Now, the not-so-good news is that this survey is outdated. But the GREAT news is that Etsy is conducting a similar survey right now.

Etsy says: “Our goal is to get a better understanding of our visitors and what is important to our buyers, sellers, and our community in general … If you’re up for it, encourage your buyers, friends and other community members to take the survey as well.“

Just as you are, I’m eager to see the results!

Now I have mini survey for you. What two points about target markets would you like more information about? What questions do you still have about finding your target market? Your comments will have a big impact on an up-coming workbook!

{Images by Dream Gallery on Etsy}

Target Market Part 3: Surveys and Stealth

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 preferences, conduct a little market research.

Eye Spy Necklace

Market research: gathering the information you need to make decisions about your business.

You can conduct research about your customers, your competitors, the larger business environment, and the effectiveness of your own marketing programs. But for this post, we’ll focus on researching your target market.

Market research can tell you key information about your customers, including:

Their demographic profile
What they like and dislike about your current products
Their feedback on new products

And with some time and know-how, you can do it yourself. The key to successful research is asking the right questions and knowing what to do with the answers.

Golden Magnifying Glass necklace

Survey Your Existing Customers

If you have a list of e-newsletter subscribers (that you’ve collected through your blog or shop), you could ask subscribers to participate in a market research survey. By surveying your past customers and blog readers, you’re gathering information directly from the source.

Websites like SurveyMonkey and Google Docs allow you to create an online survey for free. (I whipped up a quick survey on Google Docs if you’d like to see what one looks like.)

Caution: Make sure you have permission to contact the people on your List. If they haven’t opted in to receive emails from you, you can’t send them a customer survey.

Some guidelines:

Know your goals. Have a strong reason for conducting the survey, and keep your objectives in mind as you write every survey question. Start by clearly defining what you want to know. Only include questions that directly serve your goal — nothing extra.

Write clear, precise and short questions. Make it easy for respondents to complete the survey in a reasonable amount of time. Each question should ask for one piece of information only. Keep it focused.

Avoid bias. Don’t word your questions in a way that indicates your preference for a certain answer. Bias negates the value of your results — so edit your questions carefully.

Use multiple question types. When you create a survey, you’ll choose between multiple-choice questions, check-box questions, scaled questions, and open-ended questions. One one hand, scaled and multiple choice questions provide specific and quantitative answers. On the other hand, open-ended questions provide subjective and anecdotal answers, which might be the best way to glean the subtleties of consumer opinion. Each type of question is helpful — choose which type best meets your objectives for the survey.

Make sure anyone taking the survey can complete it within 5-10 minutes. If it takes longer than 10 minutes, you run the risk of respondents losing patience, quitting, or worse — giving inaccurate answers just to finish the survey faster.

If you can afford to provide a small giveaway to participants, you’ll likely guarantee a larger number of respondents.

Remember: In marketing, everything matters. This survey represents your brand. A great survey will help you learn about your customers, but a bad survey could negatively influence their feelings toward your brand. Make it relevant, make it respectful, make sure it’s free of typos.

Once the survey results are in, look for trends within the data. Use tools like Excel to play with the numbers. And remember to read all of those open-ended comments.

After you’ve analyzed the results of your market research, you’ll be able to develop a targeted advertising campaign, expand your product offerings, and take other steps to grow your indie biz.

Go Where the Customers Are

You can also conduct informal market research through observation. You can probably think of several brick and mortar shops in your local area that sell products similar to yours. Maybe you are lucky enough to live near a shop that sells exclusively independent design and handmade items! (Or maybe you live near an Anthropologie store.) Take some time to visit those independent stores and boutiques and engage in some quality people-watching.

Be on the lookout for your target market.

What sort of person shops there?
How old are they?
What kind of cars do they drive?
What type of customer comes out with arms full of packages?
What type of customer browses, but doesn’t buy anything?
Do customers look like they are buying gifts or something special for themselves?

By scoping out your local indie shops and galleries, you can gain useful demographic information about your target market.

Ask for Help

There’s no getting around it, designing a survey takes time. And if you don’t know the right questions to ask, or what to do with the answers, it’s worth your time to hire some help.

P.S. Sign up here to get the weekly Makery newsletter — positively chock full of free goodness. You lucky duck!

{Images by Thirty Six Ten and Sea Unicorn}

Target Market Part Deux: Demographics

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 average customer. When you try to market to everybody, you won’t sell to anybody. And that’s why you need a target market — a group of perfect customers — to aim for.

Put another way: would you rather buy something marked “one size fits all,” or something made specifically for you? I’d pick the item made with me in mind — and I’d bet you would too.

It’s the same with your customers. People buy things that are made “just for them.” So your job as a marketer is to find the people who will pick up your products and say, “This has my name written all over it!”

Walk in the Shoes of Your Target Market

In order to reach your target, you have to get to know them. So put on your imagination hat and start thinking like your customers. What do you know about them?

Note: Now of course, your customer base will include a variety of people with individual differences. But try to answer the questions below about the majority of your market. Think about the center of the target, the bulls-eye, so to speak, and you’ll find that your marketing efforts will hit the mark.

Let’s Play 20 Questions

When identifying your target market — or that special group of people who need and want your stuff — you first need to identify their demographics. Think about the people you want to reach, and write down the answers to these questions.

Intro Level

What is the age range of the customer who wants your product or service?
Which gender would be most interested in this product or service?
What is the income level of your potential customer?
What is their marital or family status? How many children do they have?
Where does your customer live? In an urban or rural area? In what state? In what climate?

Keep in mind, too, that your target market might change throughout the year. Let’s say, for example, that you sell knit scarves. In December, most of your sales might come from the US and Canada. But in July, most of your sales might come from Australia.

Dig a little Deeper

With those basic facts in mind, think about your customer’s lifestyle, personality, and values:

What magazines and blogs does your customer subscribe to?
How else do they enjoy spending their free time? What are their hobbies? What do they do for entertainment?

What does your customer value most? Low price? High quality? Trendiness? Uniqueness? Special features?
Which, if any, special features are most appealing to them?

Is your product or service something they need, or is it a luxury item?
Is your product an impulse purchase, or something customers save up for?

What kinds of problems do your customers have that you can help solve?
Where do they get most of their decision-making information? Do they research the Internet, newspapers, books, or television?

Market to One Perfect Customer

When you know the facts about your market, you’ll be able to figure out what’s important to them. When you know what’s important to your customers, you’ll be able to understand them. And, when you understand your customers, you’ll be able reach them more effectively, and cost-efficiently!

For example, when you know what special features your customer finds most appealing, you’ll know what to emphasize in your product descriptions. And, when you know what blogs she reads, you’ll know where to spend your advertising dollars.

My advice: Take some time today and really answer these questions about your customer. Don’t just think about them in passing, but take some time and write down the answers. Your answers to these questions will help determine what products will be the most successful, how to position your products, and at what price to sell your products. Homework isn’t always fun, but it will make your marketing efforts more successful in the long run.

Was this post on target? Then you should subscribe to the RSS feed right here.

P.S. Stay tuned for a few techniques to get the cold hard facts about your target market in an upcoming post.

Target Market: Finding the Right People

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 point for product development.
Price can be a balancing act between calculated value and perceived value.

But, practically speaking, I think there is another, more important, concept to nail down before you attempt to price products.

You need to know your market. No excuses.

Target market — target audience — target demographic

Here’s the most mind-numbing definition I could find:

Target market: The particular segment of a total population on which the retailer focuses its merchandising expertise to satisfy that submarket in order to accomplish its profit objectives.

Um, gross. How about, “Your target market is made up of people who need and want your stuff.” Think of your target market as being made up of a big group of “perfect customers.”

Imagine that perfect customer. There’s a person out there who’s in love with your shop and your products. She has the money to spend (it’s practically burning a hole in her pocket!) and she wants to spend it on you.

All you have to do is find her.

Now, some budding indie entrepreneurs assume that everyone is their customer. “My target market is everyone!”, they say. Err, sorry. No.

Assumptions like this can lead to poor pricing and an ineffective marketing strategy.

Some shop owners are afraid that the idea of a target market is limiting. But the reality is this: no matter how hard they try, no shop can be all things to all people.

You are not Walmart — and thank goodness for that!

Not everyone is going to want to buy your product. But that’s okay. Finding your target market is about finding the people who appreciate you for who you are and what you do. These are the people who need somebody like you to bring a little handmade goodness into their life. These are the people who want to buy everything you have to sell. And these are the people who will go out of their way to tell their friends about you.

Let’s try a sports metaphor, just for fun.

My brother and I play HORSE sometimes. It’s fun. He usually beats me. Moving on.

If I close my eyes and fling the basketball up, aiming somewhere near the backboard, odds are I’ll miss the shot. H for me.

But if I focus, and aim for that particular spot at the back of the rim where the rim meets the net, I’m much more likely to make the shot. And then, I’m much more likely to win.

Aim small, miss small.

And so it goes with your marketing efforts. If you try to sell to everyone, you’ll miss out on your Right People. But, by focusing your marketing dollars on your target market, you’ll dramatically increase your chances of reaching it.

While pinpointing your Right People takes a little extra effort, taking the time to determine your target market will lead to better marketing decisions in the long run. You’ll be able to build a stronger, more recognizable brand. You’ll have a better idea of where to focus your advertising dollars. You’ll know where to look to find blogs and zines that cater to your target market. And, you’ll be more successful in attracting loyal and dedicated customers.

So, you know you need a target market. And I want to help you define it, and then find it. Best stay tuned for tomorrow’s post, then. Or, grab the RSS feed.

P.S. If you are one of my right people, you should sign up for the weekly Makery newsletter!

{Images by Summersville}

Poll: What’s your Handmade Habit?

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 handmade less often, choosing instead to DIY.

But on the other hand, fellow sellers might buy handmade more often, choosing to support the crafty community.

confetti

So, what’s your ratio of handmade items sold to handmade items purchased?
[polldaddy poll=3343399]
Feel free to elaborate in the comments.

And as for me, I would say that for every 1 handmade item I sell, I turn around and buy 2 handmade items.

Thanks for participating!

{Images by inaluxe and spinthread on Etsy.}

Price as a Starting Point for Product Development

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 a handmade quilt. One of us could justify spending $300; one of us would rather go to Target.

So, savvy business people that we are, we want to do the whole Marketing thing to find those special people who value our craft as much as we do.

We take time to define our niche. And then we make it smaller.

We brainstorm our benefits and feature, and define our competitive edge.

We analyze our costs, we pay ourselves a living wage, and we formulate a price.

And then (and why is it only then?) we look for a target market who is willing and able to pay the price for our passionately-made products.

Isn’t that backwards?

Why is pricing the last step? Why do we create a new thingie, saying “Oh hey, that would be cute!”, without pausing to consider if consumers have a need for our new thingie? Or big enough wallets to pay for our new thingie?

So, what if we work in the opposite direction? What if we used price as a starting point for product development?

Start with the price that your ideal customer is able to pay, and then engineer a product to be profitable at this price.

Do any of you do this already?

I have a potter friend who does. She makes beautiful ceramic pieces: platters, mugs, bowls, pitchers — you name it. And she is particularly well-known for her elaborate, and highly involved, glazing techniques. Needless to say, the prices of her larger pieces reflect her level of involvement and expertise.

But when she attends craft shows, she takes a different approach to her work. Throughout her years of experience, she has found that casual craft show shoppers are looking to make $25 purchases. In other words, they are looking for mugs.

So she finds ways to make mugs more efficiently. She throws simpler shapes. She works in larger batches to cut down on production time. She uses fewer glazes, and less complicated application techniques. And you know what, sometimes she even skips attaching handles. (Handles take a lot of time, you know!)

As a result — she can produce mugs in a shorter amount of time. She can sell them at a lower price that, while still fair to her, is agreeable to her customers.

Now, her goal is not to be the cheapest. She’s not trying to cut corners and cheat her customers. She just wants to make something beautiful that casual shoppers can afford to buy.

Are her mugs still high quality? Absolutely. Are they still beautiful? You better believe it. Are they still a good value? Incredibly.

A Creative Challenge

Would you ever consider using price as a starting point when developing new products? It’s sure to be a creative challenge!

You probably wouldn’t use this production strategy all the time. But you might use it if you were looking to appeal to a different customer base, or perhaps land a wholesale account.

Can you produce a quality product that your customers can afford to pay for? Can you create a marketable product while not compromising your artistic merit? Can you hold the quality standard high, while making your products affordable?

(images courtesy of Susan DeMay)

Balancing Price and Perceived Value

green vase

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 for what they are worth, no one will buy them.”

Because on one side of the equation, an item’s price must accurately respect its maker’s skill, effort invested, time spent, and materials used. On the other side, an item’s final price must present a compelling value to the consumer.

Here’s what we need to realize: People don’t decide to buy your product because of its actual, calculated value. No.
People buy your product because its price matches their perceived value of your product.

Like Warren Buffet said, “Price is what you pay, value is what you get.”

nebula bowl

Value is subjective.

Here’s something you might not know about me. I’m a potter. An aspiring potter, to be sure. And I love working with clay.

I am proud of my product. I am confident of the value it provides to my customers. I know what makes it different and better and awesome. And I’ve had success selling one-off pieces.

So today, I was working through a pricing worksheet. I was trying to decide if I should take my passion for pottery and turn it into a crafty enterprise. Because while I have a deep love for the craft, and while I enjoy creating beautiful, functional items from mud and sand — I absolutely do not feel guilty about wanting to make a profit. Isn’t that the point of a business?

Here is a standard pricing formula.

material costs + (time x hourly wage) + fixed costs + profit = wholesale price
wholesale price x 2ish = retail price

(It’s a solid formula for pricing products. I hope you use it, or something like it.)

Spoiler alert: After crunching the numbers I determined that a simple ceramic coffee mug made by my own two hands would be fairly priced at $45.

I can’t say I was shocked. I mean, I understand the work that goes into making a mug. I get it.

But I had to wonder: Would my potential customer get it? Would she think my mug was worth that much?

Because if the consumer doesn’t place $45 dollars worth of value on my handmade coffee mug, the reality is that she won’t buy it.

raku bowl

Now – many of us would like to argue that customers should value a handmade mug more than they value a Walmart-made mug. And I completely agree. I think we all should encourage the mindful choice to spend more money on high-quality, well-crafted items that directly support our community of independent designers and artists. Valid argument — I’m so on board.

And, as makers, it’s important to be able to educate our potential customers about the value of our products. (Hint: If you need help articulating the value of your products– check out the Makery Library. There’s a free USP workbook in there with your name written all over it!)

But, when I think about this pricing dilemma, I can’t help but think of one of my best friends.

Because you see, at first glance, she would appear to be my “perfect customer”. She’s liberal, she’s trendy, she’s from Portland, and she loves Etsy. It would seem she’s my “right people”, eh?

She’s also young. She’s on a strict budget. She makes mindful choices.

And to her mind, handmade mugs — even beautifully-designed, well-thrown, meticulously-glazed mugs handmade by her best friend– can only cost $20. $25, maybe.

Balancing the equation.

So here we are, right back at question of pricing.

I say, it costs me $45 to make a mug. The customer says, she only values my mug $20 worth.

On one hand, we have “go by the book”, pricing-formula output. On the other hand, we have “what the market will bear”.

Obviously, the equation isn’t balancing. What are my options?

Find a new customer base who values my mug $45 worth.
Find a way to produce my mug at a lower cost (material+time)– and therefore make the same amount of profit while charging a lower retail price.

I’ll tell you what’s not an option.

Lowering my prices unfairly and cheating myself out of profits I deserve, while unintentionally devaluing craft for the larger community.

And that’s not a good option for you, either.

So how do you deal with this pricing tug-of-war?

Is the customer always right? Or, do you move on and decide to look for a different type of customer who values your product more?

What is your ideal customer willing to pay for your product? And, at what price is your product a good value?

Poll: What blogging platform do you use?

I really enjoyed reading the results of last week’s poll, didn’t you?

Poll: Do you have a blog? 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 totally understand how making that decision can be difficult. In my blogging “career”, I’ve experimented with all sorts of platform options. My very first blog was on Livejournal way back in Y2K. Then I hopped on over to Blogger — which was simple to set up, but left me wanting more features. I thought WordPress.com was powerful — but lacked in the customization department.

I tried Tumblr for a while, which was really fun! And then, I experimented with Posterous, where you can post everything by email. It was so easy — but I couldn’t make it work as a stand-alone website. (Update: As of June 3, Posterous has announced Pages! Seriously, that service is getting better everyday.)

Finally, though, I bit the self-hosting bullet, and set up a WordPress blog for myself. And so far my experience has been awesome. The best, really.

But I want to know, which blog platform do you use? And then, would you tell us why you’ve chosen that platform in the comments? Your answers might help those readers who are thinking about starting a blog for themselves.

[polldaddy poll=3311452]

Feel free to leave your blog address in the comments so we can check it out!

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