Marketing Handcrafted Leathergoods

[UKRay]

This week I wrote down my ideas on marketing handcrafted leather and published it as a Google Knol - not for any particular reason other than I wanted to try out this rather exciting new technology.

Here is the link: http://knol.google.com/k/ray-hatley/market.../uhfjt5pdr2mt/2#

I'd appreciate your thoughts and comments, but please give me a minute to hide under my bench! LOL

Ray

[TomBanwell]

Ray, looks good. Besides mentioning an Ebay store I'd suggest an Etsy store. I have found it to be much easier to set up and maintain, and buyers know these are handmade goods, unlike Ebay where anything goes. On Etsy a listing that costs 20¢ stays up for four months. I personally have had great success on Etsy. For reference my store is tombanwell.etsy.com.

[rickybobby]

This week I wrote down my ideas on marketing handcrafted leather and published it as a Google Knol - not for any particular reason other than I wanted to try out this rather exciting new technology.

Here is the link: http://knol.google.com/k/ray-hatley/market.../uhfjt5pdr2mt/2#

I'd appreciate your thoughts and comments, but please give me a minute to hide under my bench! LOL

Ray

Ray,

Great information!! This is a very good tutorial for those of us starting a business. Thanks for posting. I have never heard of google knol I will investigate more!!

Rick Jorgenson

[UKRay]

Ray, looks good. Besides mentioning an Ebay store I'd suggest an Etsy store. I have found it to be much easier to set up and maintain, and buyers know these are handmade goods, unlike Ebay where anything goes. On Etsy a listing that costs 20¢ stays up for four months. I personally have had great success on Etsy. For reference my store is tombanwell.etsy.com.

Thanks for the kind words, Tom. I have edited the Knol to cover your suggestions - I hope you approve. I also gave your excellent Etsy shop a plug! As internet sales get more difficult - with more and more sellers and less disposable cash - taking every opportunity to promote your website makes good business sense. I am exploring a number of promotional ideas right now and will gladly share the results if anyone is interested. For what it is worth, one of my 'tricks' gave me a 500% increase in visitors last week... no really, it is absolutely true! I was getting around 150 visitors a day to my little blog site and by adding it to Stumbleupon's database I momentarily lifted my visitor numbers beyond my wildest dreams and picked up seven new customers. Okay, the stats haven't stayed impossibly high but they have remained a little higher than they were before. I'm looking for the next trick now!

Ray,Great information!! This is a very good tutorial for those of us starting a business. Thanks for posting. I have never heard of google knol I will investigate more!!Rick Jorgenson

Glad you approve Rick. Thanks for the endorsement.

[Johanna]

Ray- I would really like to pin a copy of what you wrote to the top of this section. Good practical advice. Do I have permission?

~J

[celticleather]

Well done, Ray - another excellent topic!

I get quite a bit of traffic from http://www.craft-fair.co.uk/ - which is pretty big in the UK, but I'm not sure whether it has much relevance in the US or elsewhere. At least it makes another link, and I'm pretty sure that Google uses it as a source.

[UKRay]

Ray- I would really like to pin a copy of what you wrote to the top of this section. Good practical advice. Do I have permission?

~J

Absolutely, Johanna - I'd be delighted to see it there!

[JohnBarton]

This week I wrote down my ideas on marketing handcrafted leather and published it as a Google Knol - not for any particular reason other than I wanted to try out this rather exciting new technology.

Here is the link: http://knol.google.com/k/ray-hatley/market.../uhfjt5pdr2mt/2#

I'd appreciate your thoughts and comments, but please give me a minute to hide under my bench! LOL

Ray

Very good introduction to marketing on a small scale.

One thing that was missing is networking to peers and suppliers in all aspects of your life. You have to make sure that everyone you deal with knows what you do. Not in an obnoxious way that makes you "that guy" at the party no wants to talk to because you like a advertisement every time you open your mouth. But work on ways to converse about you do that educates and interests people and you will find that those you deal with a lot will end up being your customers or bringing you customers.

[UKRay]

Very good introduction to marketing on a small scale.

One thing that was missing is networking to peers and suppliers in all aspects of your life. You have to make sure that everyone you deal with knows what you do. Not in an obnoxious way that makes you "that guy" at the party no wants to talk to because you like a advertisement every time you open your mouth. But work on ways to converse about you do that educates and interests people and you will find that those you deal with a lot will end up being your customers or bringing you customers.

As you say, the whole networking thing is so important, John. People like to deal with folk they know and trust. Unless you make time to go out and talk to people and learn how to discuss your work in a way that isn't confrontational or dull you are definitely inhibiting potential sales. I think this probably warrants a seperate thread as there is a lot to discuss here.

[JohnBarton]

I have been in China way too long. When I reread what I wrote it comes across like Chinglish. :-(

The same thing happened to me when I lived in Germany.

[UKRay]

I have been in China way too long. When I reread what I wrote it comes across like Chinglish. :-(

I knew where you were coming from, John!

I have started another thread over in marketing about the value of networking and hope to gather enough information to put together another KNOL. I'd appreciate it if you could take a look and add your comments and suggestions.