Helping Artisans Reach Global Markets

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Helping Artisans Reach Global Markets

• Pamela J. Brown, Ph.D.
• Associate Professor
• Extension Entrepreneurship Specialist (Retired)
• Texas Cooperative Extension
• Texas AM University System
• Funded through a grant from the Southern
  Regional Development Center, Mississippi State
  University

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Module 3How To Market Your Craft Business Online

• Objectives
• Develop a market plan
• Conduct simple market research
• Understand e-commerce trends
• Identifying target craft consumer
• Marketing online and offline
• Application to craft business
• _________
• Presented by Ashley Lovell, Extension Specialist
  Economic Development, Texas Cooperative
  Extension, lovell_at_tarleton.edu
  Draft 052907

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Marketing My Business

• List all the different kinds of marketing you do
  for your business
• 10 minutes
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

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Are You Flying Blind?

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Do You Have a Plan?

• The product
• The industry
• The customer
• The strategy
• Marketing is EVERYTHING you do on behalf of the
  business

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Hobby Or Business?

• Are you a hobbyist making craft that you hope
  will sell,
• OR
• are you an artisan that makes what will sell?
• As an artisan, the answer should shape your
  marketing plan!

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Doing Your Homework?

• Develop your marketing plan.
• Do it before going online!

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Know Your Industry

• Hobby crafts
• Fine art
• Tourist souvenirs
• Museum art
• Furniture

• Interiors
• Toys
• Gifts
• Folk art
• Wearables

Activity Search for information Size,
location, support, competition, trends, types of
ecommerce
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Read About an Artisan

• Go to these sites
• http//craftsreport.com/october05/oe.html
• Or
• www.gourmasque.com
• Or
• www.garyweeks.com/global_village.htm

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Define The Handcraft Consumer

• Demographics
• Identifying AND defining your market
• 30-50 Urban
• Affluent Educated
• Psychographics how people use/spend time
• Targeting your customer
• Form Quality
• Function Travel

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More Resources for Artisans

• Texas Commission on the Arts
• www.arts.state.tx.us
• www.arts.state.tx.us/craft/ciform.asp
• A registry for Texas artisans
• American Crafts Council
• www.craftcouncil.org
• Craft Organization Directors Association
• www.coda.org

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Who is Using the Internet?

• U.S.
• 81 of teens
• 63 of adults
• 18-29 80
• 30-39 74
• 50-64 60
• 65 26
• 60 women
• 66 men
• Ethnicity
• Whites -68
• Blacks -42
• Hispanics -60
• Sourcewww.pewinternet.com

• GLOBAL
• 445 Million people
• 51 of most developed countries
• Source www.clickz.com

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Internet Usage by Age Group . . .Who Are YOUR
Customers?
Primary purchasers of craft
Pew/Internet, Pew Internet and American Life
Project www.pewinternet.org
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Target Everyone - NO
Segment customers to understand what they want

• Caution - Dont assume potential customers
  value
• Good design
• Quality materials
• High prices
• Unique design
• Time for creativity/process
• Demographics of online purchasers will change as
  online use and access increases!

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The New Normal American Way of Life
Total U.S. online gt70 million Broadband access
will change who and how people use the Internet
Source PewInternet.org, 2005
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How Are People Buying?

• 28 of online consumers do not buy online
• 59 search aggregate sites, not merchant sites
• Value the in-store, personalized experience
• Delivery costs and time
• Credit security
• Delay in purchase satisfaction
• No credit
• Seeing is believing
• Too complicated

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Finding Customers

• Like fishing, you have to think like a fish to
  catch a fish!
• Think like your customers, not as an artisan
• What do customers want?
• Where do they shop?
• What do they shop for?
• What do they search for online?
• More???

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Why Consumers Dont Buy On-line

• Cost of connectivity
• Access at work?
• Disrupts home/work routines
• Too complicated
• Communication challenging
• Ordering not dependable
• Trust
• Overall consumer-buying experience

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Will Customers Be E-loyal?

• Multiple retailers
• Price
• Good service
• Emotional connection/loyalty
• Relevance to customers
• Keep customer as central focus of e-commerce

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Build customer loyalty good/bad?
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Activity

• Do a search to find your businesss target market
  characteristics.
• Hint
• Search for demographic info
• Search for psychographics
• Search by age, location, income, ethnicity, etc.
• http//americandemographics.com
• http//cyberatlas.com
• Resources to learn about customers
• Research publications
• Trade Journals
• Conferences
• Periodicals

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Search Results

• Who are your potential customers?
• Where do they live, what will they buy?
• What are their favorite activities?
• Are you offering what they want at the right
  price?
• What can you do to target these folks?

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Craft Retailers with Web Sites
2001 Surveyed 91 Websites 64
2002 Surveyed 68 Websites 53
2003 Surveyed 149 Websites 102
Source The Crafts Report, 2004
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Looking at the Competition

• New products, marketing ideas, news
• Search engine specialties
• Google - Lycos
• Yahoo - AltaVista
• Excite - Hotbot
• Infoseek - Northern light
• www.searchenginewatch.com/

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Find Your Competition

• List competitors
• List keywords to describe your products/services
• Use metasearch engine to search keywords
  http//dogpile.com
• Use other search engines www.ceoexpress.com

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Activity

• List the key information about your competitors
• Advertising
• Prices
• Packaging
• Hours of operation
• Target market

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Artists On-Line
Source The Crafts Report, 2004
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Craft Producers (Artisans) Using E-commerce In
Business
Source The Crafts Report, 2004
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Reasons for Not Having Web Page

• No knowledge
• Lack of resources
• Inability to connect store and web
• Lack of training
• No plan
• Lack of flexibility

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An Example Of A Log Analysis

• www.HerbalTurtle.com

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Log Analysis from Herbal Turtle
Discuss service with Web Host
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Check This

• www.clickz.com/stats/sectors/software/print.php/35
  78366

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Are You Ready to Expand The Business?

• Costs
• Personnel
• Inventory
• Sales
• Time/energy

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Art Organizations as Promoters

• www.artofohio.com
• www.tamarackwv.com
• www.arts.state.tx.us/txoriginal/index.asp
• www.niche.com
• Other Depts. of Tourism, Art Commissions,
  Guilds, Cooperatives, Art Associations,
  Colleges/Universities

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Doing Good Business Practices

• www.newyork.bbb.org/goodbusinesspractices/?lid1p
  agesell
• www.artofohio.com
• www.bbb.gov
• www.thecraftsreport.com
• www.ftc.gov

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Market Venues

• Selling retail vs. wholesale
• Exclusivity
• Trade Shows
• Sales Reps

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Market and Price Potential The Marketing Plan

• Define market area
• County, state, region, nation, globe
• Who is most likely to use or purchase your
  product or service?

• Know your break even point/compare
• Know the price points that WILL sell
• Include profit!
• Evaluate/adjust

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The Internet has been the source of much of our
business. Patrons find us in a search of rocking
chairs. When someone calls from Jerome, AZ or
Ketchikan, AK and says, I found you on the web
and Id like to order a chair, it feels a little
like hitting a line drive into the gap in left
field.

• Gary Weeks, Owner
• Gary Weeks and Company, Furniture makers
• www.garyweeks.com

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Summary

• Customers And Competition Know BOTH or lose!
• Its your job
• Stay current
• Listen to both customers and competitors
• Be flexible