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Need help or at least a plethora of opinions. A HUGE arts/crafts festival we paid for months ago has decided to change to a VIRTUAL ONLY format for their late July date. We have the option to either receive a full refund or use what we've paid toward the virtual format. Here are our issues - it was fairly expensive for what we usually pay (almost $500); we sell high end bags (ranging from $45 for a crossbody to $285 for a larger tote-type bag); we feel that MANY other festivals/fairs will be available if we do decide to cancel. We are VERY concerned that the virtual format is not for us in anyway. People (in our experience) tend to buy waaay more if they can smell/touch and hold our products. On the flip side...it would be more online/social media exposure than we can ever generate on our own without paying considerably more than the booth fee. It is possible it could be enough exposure to really get us out there online...which we'd just plain love. We'd love to hear ANY thoughts! (Even the bad ones ). Thanks!

I'm not so much a beginner in leatherwork itself. But i am a newb on selling handmade leather goods. I'm looking for advice as to how to start a buisness. I tried selling on etsy and it went ok but it wasn't really a buisness. Does anyone have any ideas on where i could start? There is this farmers market every saturday in my city and i was thinking I could try selling there. Im open to any ideas whether it be online or out in the real world. What worked for you?

If you are looking to increase your company exposure, increase local traffic to your leather shop, traffic to a link, promoting a product or even promote your start-up company or blog. Then I would recommend the almighty little Instagram. Instagram is a mobile phone app that allows you to take pictures of things and share them with the Instagram community which is massive and still growing. Currently Instagram has over taken Facebook as the biggest platform for building a fan-base and driving traffic to websites. It costs nothing and is the biggest trend for companies and individual people wanting to promote. All you need is the know-how. If you have never used Instagram before or have and need some tips then here are some steps I have prepared that I think make a successful Instagram post. 1. Download to your phone and create an Instagram account. Filling in all the account details like, website, name, email and so on. Use a good business name user I.D. You want to come off as a business or someone with a brand or leather shop. 2. Post an image. The image should not be a graphic designed image but an interesting photograph of something related to your field of business or an image of the actual product itself or just about anything that seems to do the trick. 3. While posting the image you will be promoted with adding a filter that changes the attitude of the image by giving it a splash of vintage or monotone colors. I prefer to use nothing at all when posting product images, just because I want viewers and followers to see the actual product I am showing. However If I am posting an image of a scene that is not directly related to the importance of showing the product then I will use a filter to enhance the scenery. 4. In the text area for the image posting you want to be a bit radical in a positive way or make a strong point about the image or be humorous. Instead of saying something common like "Genuine leather backpack" in all of your posts, you should mix it up and say something like "The first and last bag you will ever need", “20 years and counting, almost like it was never used”. 5. Followed by the text you want to write your website web-link of importance. Example: www.leatherworker.net 6. After you have written the text you want to begin adding hashtags. Instagram allows up to 30 hashtags. Hashtags make you discover-able through Instagram's search function and some other unknown functions. Your first hashtag after the text and web-link should be your company or products unique name hashtag. Example: #leatherworker. Yes, use your company name to make a hashtag. 7. After your company hashtag, you want to add 29 more. These 29 more hashtags should be related to your product and its scope of business. I usually add 14 hashtags directly related to the product itself and 15 hashtags related to the industry. As you input hashtags into your Instagram postings you will be given random lists of different hashtags showing the amount of users who have used these hashtags in the past . This is important because the more people using your choice of hashtags basically means the more exposure you will get from using that hashtag. Example: 14 hashtags related to the product itself would be #backpack #briefcase #bag #messengerbag #satchel #laptopbag etc...and then 15 hashtags related to the industry #menswear #mensfashion #mensstyle #businesscasual #travel #hiking #business #mensaccessories #leathergoods #leatherwork etc... Here is an example posting from my Instagram account. At the bottom it shows the amount of people who have liked the posting. It doesn't show the amount of followers you obtained from the posting, but once people follow you they will see everything you post in their home feed and in search as well. Example Instagram Post This is my personal way of posting on Instagram and it has played a decent role in giving my company and product extra exposure. I hope this post was very helpful to you. If you have any question about this feel free to reply.

Have any of you sold goods on iCraft before.? I just found out about them today. ETSY is too big and it's hard to get your foot in the door when you are new to selling online. iCraft says it only sells handmade goods and crafts, and no retail. If you have tried them how have your sales been? Thanks!

Hello All, After spending an ungodly amount of time scowering all the resource threads I am having a hard time locating a good avenue to grow your business through an industry forum. We are currently in numerous local shops in the Indianapolis, Indiana area but looking for a forum that will provide communication between craftsmen and the buyer (wholesale). Leatherworker.net is such a great tool to share ideas and processes but I am trying to find something that can connect to the industry. We have attended trade shows such as MAGIC and Desert and Denim but would love to connect on a wider scale throughout the US. Any info helps! Cheers,

Hello everyone! I'm new to this environment and would like to introduce myself (I tried looking for the specific board to introduce myself as a newbie but not sure if I overlooked it). Name's Chris [from California] and started this leather craft journey about close to 2 years ago. I've been in my cave honing in on the most efficient methods of constructing quality leather goods. I'm still in the fetal stages of blossoming the business. At the moment still developing templates and prototypes for more elaborate products (bifolds, messenger bags, holsters, etc.). So my inquiry is moreso based on the presentation/marketing aspects [i.e. What draws you in or away?] ANYHOW... Would love to get a critique on what I have out so far before I officially launch my own .com webstore. My .com domain is (for now) directly attached to my blog template which has a link to my shop at top. But in a few months I will be migrating that domain name to an actual webstore for my "brand". Just wanted to know if there was anything I can improve upon in terms of the presentation. My website at the moment is: www.mojobazaar.com and my shop link is: www.mojobazaar.etsy.com I infinitely appreciate the time! And if there is anything I should know about forum etiquette, please let me know if this was an inappropriate post. Cheers, Chris

I found this great series of articles on how to get that first sale -- or improve your current sales. Here is the link: https://ecommerce.shopify.com/guides/make-your-first-ecommerce-sale I don't think anyone can do everything they suggest and still have time to make anything. But a few of these ideas should help. Let me know what you think.

Hi Wondering if anyone makes videos/have a youtube channel to draw more engagement and sales to your etsy shop? I did a video, but not too sure how to use it yet.. Will like to hear your ideas/thoughts!