This information in this article is predicated on two guesses: That you have one or more beading projects you would like to make profitable, and that you have some level of inventory at the ready for when sales begin coming in. If that's you, then this article will outline severa avenues open to you for "passively marketing" your beading projects.
Note that passive marketing does not mean "no work needed," or "you do not have to talk to anybody." Rather, it means that the bigger bulk of the work occurs on the "front end" and that once the work is concluded, your passive marketing efforts will continue more or less on their own, indefinitely, with only smallest added effort on your part.
This is vital for you as a bead crafter as it frees up more of your time, which you can devote to your present beading projects, or, if you feel you are ready for it, develop wholly new beading projects to develop your line.
We will cover 2 examples of passive marketing. One, promoting your completed beading projects locally, and the other, advertising them globally.
Among the very best ways to market your beading projects locally is via consignment. Here, your aim is to show your line to people with an established business and ask if they'll display and sell your products in exchange for a portion of the profits. This works to your advantage on a number of levels. First, the recognized business already has regular buyers you can make sales from. Furthermore, most will let you to display your business cards next to your wares, so if a patron likes your product, their next order may be made direct from you. Also, once you have a current relationship of this sort, it is normally easy to introduce new products to your display as you develop the number of beading projects in your line.
The key here is not to limit yourself to only one or two such relationships, but to try to engage as many sources as you can keep supplied. Not just does this boost your publicity, but it also lets you to see how various shops handle your merchandise, and you can use this information to see where your products sell the best, then try to gain a similar in-store position at other shops carrying your line. If your beading projects are focused on necklaces/bracelets, you may certainly be drawn to locally owned jewelry shops in your town, but I encourage you to think outside the box here! Hospital gift stores, gift shops in retirement homes and old fashioned country shops are all great pleases to inquire, as are normal gift stores and specialty shops such as Hallmark, and any place that caters to local artists!
Thinking of the worldwide market, the very best thing you can do to advertise your projects is niche web marketing. There're dozens of books on this topic, and it is beyond the scope of this article to completely explore the process, but in broad strokes, what you require to do in order to market your beading projects in this form are:
1) Identify keywords describing your beading projects that get some daily searches (10-30+ per day) and have minimal competition (under 50k).
2) Design a niche site around these keywords to drive traffic to your page
3) Describe what you are offering. These descriptions should be mixed in with original content on your website
4) Offer would be customers a means of contacting you
5) Offer them a means to buy from you online
Again, the great thing about passive marketing is that once the initial work is done, your beading projects get publicity day in, and day out with very little effort on your part.
Note that passive marketing does not mean "no work needed," or "you do not have to talk to anybody." Rather, it means that the bigger bulk of the work occurs on the "front end" and that once the work is concluded, your passive marketing efforts will continue more or less on their own, indefinitely, with only smallest added effort on your part.
This is vital for you as a bead crafter as it frees up more of your time, which you can devote to your present beading projects, or, if you feel you are ready for it, develop wholly new beading projects to develop your line.
We will cover 2 examples of passive marketing. One, promoting your completed beading projects locally, and the other, advertising them globally.
Among the very best ways to market your beading projects locally is via consignment. Here, your aim is to show your line to people with an established business and ask if they'll display and sell your products in exchange for a portion of the profits. This works to your advantage on a number of levels. First, the recognized business already has regular buyers you can make sales from. Furthermore, most will let you to display your business cards next to your wares, so if a patron likes your product, their next order may be made direct from you. Also, once you have a current relationship of this sort, it is normally easy to introduce new products to your display as you develop the number of beading projects in your line.
The key here is not to limit yourself to only one or two such relationships, but to try to engage as many sources as you can keep supplied. Not just does this boost your publicity, but it also lets you to see how various shops handle your merchandise, and you can use this information to see where your products sell the best, then try to gain a similar in-store position at other shops carrying your line. If your beading projects are focused on necklaces/bracelets, you may certainly be drawn to locally owned jewelry shops in your town, but I encourage you to think outside the box here! Hospital gift stores, gift shops in retirement homes and old fashioned country shops are all great pleases to inquire, as are normal gift stores and specialty shops such as Hallmark, and any place that caters to local artists!
Thinking of the worldwide market, the very best thing you can do to advertise your projects is niche web marketing. There're dozens of books on this topic, and it is beyond the scope of this article to completely explore the process, but in broad strokes, what you require to do in order to market your beading projects in this form are:
1) Identify keywords describing your beading projects that get some daily searches (10-30+ per day) and have minimal competition (under 50k).
2) Design a niche site around these keywords to drive traffic to your page
3) Describe what you are offering. These descriptions should be mixed in with original content on your website
4) Offer would be customers a means of contacting you
5) Offer them a means to buy from you online
Again, the great thing about passive marketing is that once the initial work is done, your beading projects get publicity day in, and day out with very little effort on your part.
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