This information in this article is predicated on 2 assumptions: That you've a number of beading projects you'd like to make beneficial, and that you've 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 doesn't mean "no work required," or "you do not have to talk to anyone." Rather, it means that the bigger bulk of the work occurs on the "front end" and that when the work is concluded, your passive promoting efforts will continue more or less on their own, indefinitely, with only minimal added effort on your part.
This is critical for you as a bead crafter because it frees up more of your time, which you can dedicate to your present beading projects, or, if you feel you are ready for it, develop wholly new beading projects to expand your line.
We'll cover two examples of passive marketing. One, promoting your finished beading projects locally, and the other, advertising them globally.
Among the very greatest ways to market your beading projects locally is via consignment. Here, your goal is to show your line to people with a well-known business and ask if they'll display and sell your products in exchange for a part of the profits. This works to your benefit on a number of levels. First, the well-known business already has regular clients you can make sales from. Furthermore, most will allow you to display your business cards next to your wares, so if a customer likes your product, their next purchase 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 just one or two such relationships, but to try to engage as many sources as you can keep supplied. Not only does this raise your publicity, but it also allows you to see how several shops handle your products, 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 stores carrying your line. If your beading projects are focused on necklaces/bracelets, you could obviously 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 stores 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!
Considering the worldwide market, the extremely best thing you can do to advertise your projects is niche web marketing. There are 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 need 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 visitors to your page
3) Describe what you're 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 purchase from you online
Again, the beauty of passive marketing is that once the primary work is done, your beading projects get exposure day in, and day out with very little effort on your part.
Note that passive marketing doesn't mean "no work required," or "you do not have to talk to anyone." Rather, it means that the bigger bulk of the work occurs on the "front end" and that when the work is concluded, your passive promoting efforts will continue more or less on their own, indefinitely, with only minimal added effort on your part.
This is critical for you as a bead crafter because it frees up more of your time, which you can dedicate to your present beading projects, or, if you feel you are ready for it, develop wholly new beading projects to expand your line.
We'll cover two examples of passive marketing. One, promoting your finished beading projects locally, and the other, advertising them globally.
Among the very greatest ways to market your beading projects locally is via consignment. Here, your goal is to show your line to people with a well-known business and ask if they'll display and sell your products in exchange for a part of the profits. This works to your benefit on a number of levels. First, the well-known business already has regular clients you can make sales from. Furthermore, most will allow you to display your business cards next to your wares, so if a customer likes your product, their next purchase 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 just one or two such relationships, but to try to engage as many sources as you can keep supplied. Not only does this raise your publicity, but it also allows you to see how several shops handle your products, 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 stores carrying your line. If your beading projects are focused on necklaces/bracelets, you could obviously 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 stores 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!
Considering the worldwide market, the extremely best thing you can do to advertise your projects is niche web marketing. There are 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 need 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 visitors to your page
3) Describe what you're 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 purchase from you online
Again, the beauty of passive marketing is that once the primary work is done, your beading projects get exposure day in, and day out with very little effort on your part.
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