Community Resources & Economic Development Helping Artisans Reach Global Markets Pamela J. Brown, Ph.D. Associate Professor & Extension Entrepreneurship Specialist (Retired) Texas Cooperative Extension Texas A&M University System Funded through a grant from the Southern Regional Development Center, Mississippi State University

Community Resources & Economic Development Module 3* How 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, Draft

Community Resources & Economic Development Marketing My Business  List all the different kinds of marketing you do for your business 10 minutes

Community Resources & Economic Development Are You Flying Blind?

Community Resources & Economic Development Do You Have a Plan? The product The industry The customer The strategy Marketing is EVERYTHING you do on behalf of the business

Community Resources & Economic Development 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!

Community Resources & Economic Development Doing Your Homework?  Develop your marketing plan.  Do it before going online!

Community Resources & Economic Development 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

Community Resources & Economic Development Read About an Artisan Go to these sites: Or Or

Community Resources & Economic Development Define The Handcraft Consumer Demographics Identifying AND defining your market 30-50Urban Affluent Educated Psychographics – how people use/spend time Targeting your customer Form Quality Function Travel

Community Resources & Economic Development More Resources for Artisans  Texas Commission on the Arts – – A registry for Texas artisans  American Crafts Council –  Craft Organization Directors Association –

Community Resources & Economic Development Who is Using the Internet? U.S.  81% of teens  63% of adults % % % %  60% women  66% men  Ethnicity Whites -68% Blacks -42% Hispanics -60% Source: GLOBAL  445 Million people  51% of most developed countries Source:

Community Resources & Economic Development Internet Usage by Age Group... Who Are YOUR Customers? *Pew/Internet, Pew Internet and American Life Project Primary purchasers of craft

Community Resources & Economic Development Caution - Don’t 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! Target ‘Everyone’ - NO Segment customers to understand what they want

Community Resources & Economic Development Source: PewInternet.org, 2005 Total U.S. online: >70 million Broadband access will change who and how people use the Internet The “New Normal” American Way of Life

Community Resources & Economic Development 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

Community Resources & Economic Development 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???

Community Resources & Economic Development Why Consumers Don’t 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

Community Resources & Economic Development Will Customers Be E-loyal?  Multiple retailers  Price  Good service  Emotional connection/loyalty  Relevance to customers  Keep customer as central focus of e-commerce

Community Resources & Economic Development Build customer loyalty – good/bad?

Community Resources & Economic Development Activity  Do a search to find your business’s target market characteristics. –Hint: Search for demographic info Search for psychographics Search by age, location, income, ethnicity, etc.  Resources to learn about customers –Research publications –Trade Journals –Conferences –Periodicals

Community Resources & Economic Development 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?

Community Resources & Economic Development Craft Retailers with Web Sites Source: The Crafts Report, Surveyed 91 Websites Surveyed 68 Websites Surveyed 149 Websites 102

Community Resources & Economic Development Looking at the Competition  New products, marketing ideas, news  Search engine specialties –Google- Lycos –Yahoo- AltaVista –Excite- Hotbot –Infoseek- Northern light

Community Resources & Economic Development Find Your Competition  List competitors  List keywords to describe your products/services  Use metasearch engine to search keywords  Use other search engines:

Community Resources & Economic Development Activity List the key information about your competitors: –Advertising –Prices –Packaging –Hours of operation –Target market

Community Resources & Economic Development Artists On-Line Source: The Crafts Report, 2004

Community Resources & Economic Development Source: The Crafts Report, 2004 Craft Producers (Artisans) Using E-commerce In Business

Community Resources & Economic Development 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

Community Resources & Economic Development An Example Of A Log Analysis

Community Resources & Economic Development Log Analysis from Herbal Turtle Discuss service with Web Host

Community Resources & Economic Development Check This…  t.php/ t.php/

Community Resources & Economic Development Are You Ready to Expand The Business?  Costs  Personnel  Inventory  Sales  Time/energy

Community Resources & Economic Development Art Organizations as Promoters      Other: Depts. of Tourism, Art Commissions, Guilds, Cooperatives, Art Associations, Colleges/Universities

Community Resources & Economic Development Doing Good Business Practices  ces/?lid=1&page=sell ces/?lid=1&page=sell    

Community Resources & Economic Development Market Venues  Selling retail vs. wholesale  Exclusivity  Trade Shows  Sales Reps

Community Resources & Economic Development 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

Community Resources & Economic Development “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 I’d 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

Community Resources & Economic Development Summary Customers And Competition: Know BOTH or lose!  It’s your job  Stay current  Listen to both customers and competitors  Be flexible