Crafter...Learn the secrets to promote and sell crafts

Are you considering becoming a "professional crafter"? Do you have a desire to make money doing what you love: making crafts?

Most artisans share this desire, but there's much more to consider than just the actual craft you would like to sell.

Once you decide to go into "business", you'll need to budget your time wisely. In addition to the time needed for making the craft, you'll also need time for packaging, pricing, promoting and selling.

Finding an Outlet

If you're still determined to start your own crafts business, then try selling to your family, friends, and co-workers first. This will allow you to work out all of the kinks, without too big of an commitment.

Where Should You Sell?

You can choose from consignment shops, craft shows, malls, boutiques and more.

A Winning Combination

By teaming up with other vendors, you can go into business without the headaches that often come from going it alone.

The 6 P's...

1 - Purchasing - Even if you plan to sell your crafts through a boutique or mall where the owner will collect the sales taxes, you will still need a state resale license and order your supplies in bulk.

2 - Preparing - Plan to make at least six to twelve similar crafts in each session. Working like you are on an assembly line, do the repetitive tasks all at once. This will boost your profits by decreasing the time it takes you to create the craft and you can create more inventory in less time.

3 - Packaging - You will probably want to buy some price tags and labels with your name printed on them. You can also use your PC to make some tags that create an "image" for your line of products. This will encourage potential customers to directly contact you for orders.

4 - Pricing - You should shop around to aid you with keeping your prices at a competitive level. But while you need to be competitive, you don't have to under sale your talent or time. Most people appreciate quality, so if your goods are better than the competition, don’t hesitate to ask for a higher price for them.

5 - Promoting - Advertising pays, but as with everything else in life, you must pay for advertising.

6 - Professionalism - Never promise what you can't deliver. Do what you say you will do. Taking an order for 50 candles when you aren't sure that you can do it is very unprofessional. Don’t be afraid to tell a customer, that you are sorry, but you won't be able to do that." Most people will appreciate your honesty and they might come back to you on another occasion and ask for something that you can deliver!