Dec 1, 2015
3-ways to promote and sell during the holidays
1- what the hell to sell- This time of
the years gives artists alike many outlets for creativity and the
ability to sell their created work. With Black friday kicking off
the holiday sales theres no better time then now. Starting at least
a month in advance for planning the new items and beginning the
promotonal side as well is recommended and often can be quite
confusing. With so many ways to sell, promote, and market your art
its getting easier to sell but alos easier to get lost in the sea
of other artists. If you are consistant before, during and
after the holidays with marketing your work, you will find that you
will begin to grow a following and these fans are the ones you
truly want to keep in mind when coming up with new ideas.
This year I decided to start an annual
ornament sale, creating a unique onrament yearly in hopes to bring
collectors back seeking out these items annually. What kind
of unique ornamnet would you create? Make these items limited
to a small amount made. Maybe the first year youo nly make
10..then the following year make 15-20...each year if you have any
left overs you can also add those to the sales and offer an even
bigger disount or sell it as a set wth the current years ornament.
Most ornamnets that I have found that are glass and or hand made
run between $15-50.00 depedning on brand and material used.
In episode 58 I discussed the different items to make that
arent the typical icicles, even though they are a great staple and
have been for years, there are hundreds if not thousands of glass
artists that make these annualy. This type of classic item should
be left to sell at the art/craft show where you could sell a pair
for $20.00 . but the again could be one more item to add to your
shop.......... just a thought.
2-outlets:
- ETSY- myself personaly uses etsy but becauseIi am very new to it I figured it would be best to share this link that is a great reference to selling on etsy..its not easy to just figure out but once you get setup and the hang of it its a breeze.
- EBAY
- AMAZON- newest and seemingly one of the most popular onlne sites period.
- BIGCARTEL- i dont use but a lot of artsists in the community do
- LOCAL ART/CRAFT SHOWS
most local municipalities will have a website that posts their
upcoming shows in advance giving you the opportuity to get signed
up and a spot. Depeding on your city along with the size and
popularity of these show, you may be required to send in
photos of your work and booth as it would look set up. Tthese are
easy to take care of especially if you setup the same way
everytime. BE PREPARED
- SOCIAL MEDIA
FACEBOOK,-RUN A FACEBOOK ADD FOR ONLY $5.00 THIS
GIVES YOU A CHANCE TO PROMOTE A PRODUCT OR SALE TO A SPECIFIC
(CHOSEN) GROUP OF POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS
INSTAGRAM- PROMOTE IN ADVANCE ON INSTAGRAM FOR
SALES AND ITEMS FOR SALE THAT ARE POSTED ON OTHER OUTETS..SUCH AS
ETSY AND BIGCAFRTEL
TWITTER- TWEET LINKS AND PICS THROUGHOUT THE DAY FOR A WEEK
AHEAD OF A SALE..QUED POSTS MAKE THIS EASIER https://hootsuite.com is a great
company and tool to use for promoting and pre-posting on all your
social feeds..becaus eof the new algorythms and the amount of
traffic on these sites its ver easy to et los in the sea of posts
so post alot and throughout thenday..some of my favorite podcasters
and profesionals post every hour on the hour everyday..dont be
afraid to repost something after on a week.. sales and content are
crucial to bring traffic
to yourwork.
with a little trial and error you will find what works best
for yo and your work. it may take an entire year of promoting and
investing a little on adds. set a monthly bduget and do the math to
see if its profitable..a facebookadd can be as low as
$5.00
- pricing- Think of the majority of the items that you would potentially sell as stocking stuffers. i do recommend however that you also have several items in a higher price point ($50.00 and up) as this will not only make your pages attractive but also show you have variation in your work. try holding 1- day sales where an item or all items are a certain percentage off..typically 15-4-% off is great..dont give your work away but make the enticement enough where customers are more apt to purchase the day of the sale and also more likely to purchase more items. Try running a Black Friday sale on the customers entire purchase and run the sale till SUnday. Then on Cyber Monday run a sale exclusive to that day and offer 1 or 2 items at a big discount to move volume. sites like ETSY allow for coupon codes and discounts added to purchases that can be set to expire on a specific day..(this is an area Im till learning about) the goal is to not give yur work away but to make it sellable and profitable. Staying abpve wholesale is key.
heres an example- Offer an Ornament CYBER MONDAY SALE
for $15.00 in the post make sure to include that The
following day it will go up to $25.00. maybe even throw in free
shipping.
now do the math...make an item that you can produce 3-4 an
hour
ornament cost to make $3.00 (include material and time)
*i estimate it costs an average of $10.00/hour to manufacture
anything im making.. this includes materials, gases,
rent,electricity*
shipping approx $4.00
time to post item plus small fee 15-min @$10.00/hr (if
your are posting 1-item but are offering 10 as available its
cheaper..do the math)
est totals: manufactures costs $3.00
shipping/handling $4.00
time to post/fee $2.00
est
total cost $9.00
if you can make 3-4 and hour and sell 20 at $20.00 its a
decent profit for a little bit of work...
20-@$9.00each costs $180.00 from start to shipping
If retailed for $20.00 and all sell its $400.00 in sales
$400.00 retail sales
- $180.00 man/sell
profit $220.00
Not bad for approx 6-8 hrs of work.
thats around $30.00/hour before taxes.
speaking of taxes one more note... if retailing at
a show make sure to charge your local sales tax to all debit sales.
cash sales not necessarily(cash is cash ;P) and put
the sales tax aside for your quarterly
taxes.
heres the link to my ETSY SHOP WWW.ETSY.COM/SHOP/WYZGUYRADIO