Expert: Shasta McLaughlin - 7/16/2008

Question
I am looking for a means of making some side income selling crafts of some kind. I am interested in creating beaded jewelry and I also build miniature house kits. I was wondering  if you have any suggestions of how I might get into that, or how I might find out if there is any market for that (perhaps selling them on ebay or on my own website). I realize it wouldn't be a get rich thing, I'm looking more to make a little money selling things I enjoy making. Do you have any tips on how to even get started? What I should do first, what to watch out for or avoid, where to find legitimate information on the subject....just any information at all that you could offer. I appreciate your time!

Answer
 Marketing experts say the best way to know if there is a market for something is to use a program like wordtracker https://www.wordtracker.com/trial/ to search for your keywords.  What this does is tell you how many people are searching for the product and how many people are providing the answer.  When you find a product that lots of people are looking for and not many people are providing the answer/solution then you have found what is called a niche market.  A niche market is obviously the best way to have a successful business.

 The answers you get from wordtracker only apply to the Internet because they can't know how many people are searching for the product at art and craft shows, in retail stores, etc. but the results are probably proportionate to the results you would get in the world outside the Internet.

 Another way to measure your competition would be to attend art and craft shows in your area and look at how many jewelry vendors there are, how many of them do beaded jewelry and how many jewelry buyers there are in attendance.  While you're there look at things that are making certain booths more profitable than others such as display, price, signage, quality, and customer service.  Make a note of anything you notice that makes one booth better than another also make notes of things that make you pass up some booths.

 Yesterday I found a very good post about the demographics of jewelry buyers on Google answers (http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=339097).  What the demographics tell you is who is buying jewelry, what age groups, what income and education levels, how much money they spend on jewelry in a year, etc.  This information might help you choose a group of jewelry buyers to serve.

 Even if there is competition among that category if you choose a specific group of people to serve and then solve a problem that they have, for example: poor quality, poor customer service, too high or too low of a price, service located too far away, etc. you will get some sales.  Market your product directly to this group don't waste money trying to sell it to everyone.

 I can tell you from experience that many jewelry artists apply for every art and craft show and that both jewelry artists and customers complain about shows becoming jewelry shows.  This is because jewelry is a fairly easy thing for anyone to create.  There are many buyers of jewelry but each one has highly individualized tastes so the key is to find a kind of jewelry to sell that has a lot of buyers but not a lot of people are making that kind and then to develop the talent of doing that kind very well.

 Ebay and etsy are both places to try out your jewelry market without incurring too many costs.  Knowing what sold on ebay may give you an idea of what the market is for your items.  If items similar to yours are selling for prices that will make your business profitable then you know there is a market for them.

 As far as the miniature houses go I'm not sure I understand are they doll houses, bird houses, or similar to the villages that you see around Christmas time?  I don't see many of these around but I don't know if it is because there isn't a market for them or if they are something that is harder to create, or if they are more of a seasonal item (more will sell around the holidays), etc.

 Again do some research on every word (or group of words) that describes them that you can think of using wordtracker.  I did a quick Google search on "miniature houses" and came up with 341,000 results which is not a lot of results compared to some keywords that come up in the millions but this doesn't tell us how many people are searching for those keywords either.

 Call your local chamber of commerce, small business administration, and SCORE (www.score.org) and ask for suggestions on how to know if there is a market for your items.  I'm pretty sure they will have a few suggestions. The small business administration and chamber of commerce should also be able to help you comply with any tax laws regarding craft shows and special events in your area.

 Another way to test the market is to attend a few inexpensive (but well attended craft show) to see for yourself what kind of interest there is.  Try one that is a holiday gift show if your houses resemble the ones sold around Christmas, or a summer show if they resemble bird houses, if they resemble doll houses try holiday and summer shows.

 Having a website is an inexpensive way to show your items all year round.  It is like having a salesman on staff 24/7.  My website costs me less than $100/year.  The first year it only made that much back but with some help from an expert Internet marketer this year will make approximately 4 times that.  The thing about it is that at only $100/year you don't have to sell a lot of merchandise to cover costs and begin to make a profit.  You can also use it to make sales between shows and to let customers know about your upcoming shows.

 You can also try taking your items to stores (handcrafted boutiques, gift stores, collectors stores, even salons) that sell that type of thing and ask if they would be interested in carrying your items.  Ask what doesn't appeal to them if they say no then consider if it is something that is worth it to change.

 No matter what else you do if you have a website every time you make a sale at craft shows, on ebay, etsy or through a boutique (if their contract permits it) include your web address with the merchandise.

Good luck,

Shasta
For more information on selling your crafts see my blog at http://extravaganzacrafts.net/blog.