If you want to succeed in today’s over saturated business environment, you need to have a story for your craft business.

Why? Because people are completely overwhelmed by the amount of information they process on a day-to-day basis. With hundreds of television channels, regular and satellite radio, and not to mention the Internet, today’s buying public is exposed to hundreds – if not thousands – of marketing messages each and every day. It’s getting harder and harder to stand out in the crowd, and most businesses are becoming part of a generic landscape with very little distinguishing them from the next provider in their market. You can barely distinguish one pizza place from the next, one gas station from the next, one plumber from the next.

Which businesses stand out from the crowd? It’s the businesses that have an easily identifiable story that resonates with their market. A story that defines what the business is about, and what customers and potential customers can expect in every dealing they have with your business. And, a story that your customers will tell others, passing your story along and championing your cause.

Let’s take a look at some established, well-known brands that have a story that’s recognizable:

• Life Is Good – This clothing company, started by two brothers, espouses a philosophy stated by their company name, “Life Is Good.” Having expanded tremendously over the past decade, Life Is Good offers not only clothing, but books, pet goods, and other items that have really hit a nerve with people.
• L.L. Bean – Since 1912, L.L. Bean has been guaranteeing everything they sell, for as long as you own the product. You can bring back any product of theirs for any reason, and they will refund your money or give you credit, no questions asked. This is a powerful story about how much the company believes in everything they sell.
• The Body Shop – Even though founder Anita Roddick recently passed, The Body Shop carries on her five values for running the business; Protect the Planet, Support Community Trade, Against Animal Testing, Defend Human Rights, and Activate Self Esteem. Millions of women (and men) feel great about purchasing the naturally-inspired, ethically-produced beauty products.

What all three of these businesses have in common is a great story – Life Is Good’s message, L.L. Bean’s ironclad guarantee, and The Body Shop’s community consciousness. And, because their customers identify with the stories, they go back again and again, and they tell all of their friends and family about their love for these companies.

You have the same opportunity to craft a story around your own craft business, and if you want to survive and thrive, you need to come up with your unique story. It’s no longer enough to just create great craft products to sell. You need to stand out from the crowd AND be memorable above and beyond the initial transaction (whether it’s a sale or just an exposure to your goods). Your story will drive all of your marketing decisions, and help you achieve the success you desire.

Crafting Your Craft Business Story

Coming up with a compelling story for your craft business doesn’t have to be a chore. In fact, it can be kind of fun to brainstorm story ideas and get involved in the creative process. In fact, creativity is the reason you want to have a craft business to begin with, isn’t it? If you just wanted to make money, you could sell cars or work at Home Depot.

So, here’s a quick primer on how you can come up with your unique story:

1. List all of the core values you have about your craft business. Are you making traditional crafts? Do you use unique styles or materials? Have any celebrities (local or national) used your products? What do you believe about customer service? Just list anything and everything you can think about your existing craft business, or what you wish about a craft business you’re getting ready to start.
2. Create a list of things about your favorite businesses that you think could be applied to your craft business. What do you love about your favorite restaurant? Which companies stand out to you for their customer service? Who do you think of when you think of your favorite business? Put down anything unique, or if they have a good story, some ideas that you can use for your craft business.
3. Ask friends, family, and past customers (or people you have given your crafts to) what is unique about your craft business. Do they have a common theme? Does everyone have a different idea about what your business’ story is (a warning sign)? Can you group their comments into a few main categories? Get input from those who know you best.
4. Visit local stores and craft fairs to do some field research. What types of items sell best? Are there some common themes that run through the local offerings? What is the price range of the crafts that sell? Are there any low-priced items – $5, $10, $15 – that sell well? Find out the conditions in your local market by keeping your eyes open.
5. Digest all of your research and come up with a few different themes for your craft business story. Based on everything you know, what would be a good story to tell about your business? Are there some themes that seem to “fit” you better than others? What would you like your story to be about? Narrow down your choices to two to five good story ideas.
6. Present your story ideas to some trusted friends and associates. Which ones do they like? How well do the ideas resonate with your trusted advisors? What other ideas do they suggest based on your list? NOTE: Make sure these are people who will give you an honest opinion WITH some explanation – not just people who only want to tell you what they think you want to hear.
7. Pick your story theme and start refining the story to fit your craft business.

Ultimately, you need to be the final say in the decision (it is your craft business after all), and you need to be very comfortable with the story idea that you select. This story will be the major driver for all of your business decisions going forward, from marketing messages, to customer service interactions, to developing new products. In fact, with your story in hand, you can:

• Create a name and unique identity for your business
• Design your product line to complement your story
• Develop the look and feel for your logo, packaging, and marketing materials
• Use your story to guide you in creating a web site
• Write press releases and work with local newspapers and magazine to promote your business
• Build your product displays and booth for craft fairs and local gift shops
• Define customer service policies and instinctively know how to deal with customers and prospects
• Follow up with customers in a natural manner consistent with your story

As you can see, your craft business story will help you define your business as unique in an over-crowded marketplace. When you have your story in place, you’ll be able to command premium prices and customers will naturally tell their friends and family about your products, and the very unique craft business.

With your story in place, you’ll be positioned for long-term success.

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I’m getting ready for work, but I just found this incredible interview of Dana Meanor of DLPom Hancrafted Expressions. Dana combines soaps and paper making in her craft business (as well as some incredible jewelry). Her soaps are handcrafted pieces of scented art, and her packaging is made by recycling ink-free paper into her packaging sleeves. Not only is she creating a very hot craft product – the soaps – but she’s also making some great marketing moves by recycling paper and making some innovative – and eco-friendly – packaging.

I know a lot of the crafters on the Crafting Biz list are interested in soap making, so I thought I would share Dana’s Top 5 Tips for a Soap-Making Beginner:

• Be very aware of safety precautions when handling lye. ALWAYS pour the lye crystals into your liquid, and not the other way around. NEVER pour water onto the lye crystals as this can cause a very dangerous volcano effect in the container you are using. The lye solution can cause a very serious alkaline burn. Accidental splashes from raw soap can also burn and irritate the skin. Have a bottle of white vinegar handy to immediately neutralize any contact with your skin.
• Assemble all your equipment and tools ahead of time. Sometimes the process moves quickly, and you need to have everything handy.
• Use a simple soap recipe with only 2-3 oils that has already been tested as a successful recipe. Creating your own soap recipes is an advanced technique that requires more understanding of soap making chemistry.
• Buy your fixed oils, essential oils, fragrance oils, and additives from a reliable company that has experience with cold process soap. Bad or inferior ingredients will lead to bad soap. One exception I’ve found is for olive oil, which can be purchased from your local grocery.
• Get an electric stick blender solely used for soap making to help speed up the tracing process. Otherwise, you may wait hours (and I do mean many hours!), for the soap to reach a trace state. And you can’t pour the soap into a mold before it traces.

And, I’ve been talking to a top soap making author about doing some kind of training for the Crafting Biz community. We’ve almost got the details worked out, so watch your email for a notice of what we’re going to do.

And, make sure you check out Dana’s interview. Here’s the link again:

Crafts of Texture: Spotlight Feature #15 – DLPom Handcrafted Expressions

Happy Crafting!

Jennifer

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Craft business owners live for the seasonal craft fairs and trade shows that allow them to showcase their goods during the holiday buying season. But if you decide to exhibit at one of these events – and why wouldn’t you? – remember that the craft fair or craft show will be packed with men and women displaying their finest crafts.

So, how do you make the most of your craft show booth space in such a way that you stand out from the other crafting faces in the crowd? There are a few things to keep in mind:

• First, try as hard as you can to get a space near the main entrance. That way you’ll be able to “wow” people whether they’re coming to the show or leaving the show. It’s also a way to engage attendees in conversation. For instance, if someone walks into the craft fair and he or she looks lost, you – stationed at your booth – could say something like: “Are you looking for a particular type of craft?” If he or she responds, you might be able to compel him or her to take a look at the products you have available in your booth.
• Another tactic to employ involves having a unique booth to display your crafts. If, for example, you can do whatever you want with your booth, feel free to customize it to make it look very different from all the other booths at the show or fair. That way, attendees will naturally be drawn to your booth out of curiosity.
• Also, make sure everyone who is working in your booth is on their best behavior. If you can, make sure there are enough people so you can do shifts – taking turns during the show. Standing on the hard floors of a craft fair can be tough, so you want to make sure you have a chance to rest every couple of hours. And make sure your booth staff is trained to greet people and answer any of the questions that may arise. A little pre-show training will go a long way in preparing your booth staff for the show.
• In terms of what you bring to the fair or show, bring a wide selection of your best crafts, at a range of prices. Different craft shows will have different price points that sell. For some, it could be a lot of smaller items, priced from $1 to $10. Other craft fairs do a good job of attracting crowds ready to spend significantly more. Once you know a show, you can plan accordingly. But remember… there will always be a market for low-priced items, so you’ll want to bring a lot of these high-volume sellers.
• Another surefire way of attracting potential customers to your booth is to run a raffle for a free prize. You don’t need to go overboard with the prize, but try to make it seem valuable enough for people to want to enter. Everyone likes to receive free goodies, so you can be sure that people will stop by your booth and enter win a prize. And, a contest serves double duty as you are also collecting contact information from the people entering the contest. And make sure you collect email addresses as this is the cheapest way to stay in contact with customers and potential customers.
• And finally, you absolutely must bring sales materials to hand out. People who go to craft shows like crafts. So the people who attend are your target market, even beyond the day of the show. You need to have brochures and flyers to hand out to anyone who wants them, complete with a story about your craft business, and contact details (including your online web address) so people can get in touch.

Craft shows and craft fairs offer excellent opportunities to showcase your unique crafts and to make some sales. But ultimately, your craft fair booth – and how you present yourself and your craft business – are as important as the crafts you make.

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