1. 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

2. 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, lovell@tarleton.edu Draft 052907lovell@tarleton.edu

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

4. Community Resources & Economic Development Are You Flying Blind?

5. 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

6. 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!

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

8. 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

9. Community Resources & Economic Development 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

10. 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

11. Community Resources & Economic Development More Resources for Artisans  Texas Commission on the Arts –www.arts.state.tx.uswww.arts.state.tx.us –www.arts.state.tx.us/craft/ciform.aspwww.arts.state.tx.us/craft/ciform.asp A registry for Texas artisans  American Crafts Council –www.craftcouncil.orgwww.craftcouncil.org  Craft Organization Directors Association –www.coda.orgwww.coda.org

12. Community Resources & Economic Development 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% Source:www.pewinternet.com GLOBAL  445 Million people  51% of most developed countries Source: www.clickz.com

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

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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???

18. 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

19. 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

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

21. 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. http://americandemographics.com http://cyberatlas.com  Resources to learn about customers –Research publications –Trade Journals –Conferences –Periodicals

22. 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?

23. Community Resources & Economic Development Craft Retailers with Web Sites Source: The Crafts Report, 2004 2001 Surveyed 91 Websites 64 2002 Surveyed 68 Websites 53 2003 Surveyed 149 Websites 102

24. 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 www.searchenginewatch.com/

25. Community Resources & Economic Development Find Your Competition  List competitors  List keywords to describe your products/services  Use metasearch engine to search keywords http://dogpile.comhttp://dogpile.com  Use other search engines: www.ceoexpress.com www.ceoexpress.com

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

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

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

29. 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

30. Community Resources & Economic Development An Example Of A Log Analysis www.HerbalTurtle.com

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

32. Community Resources & Economic Development Check This…  www.clickz.com/stats/sectors/software/prin t.php/3578366 www.clickz.com/stats/sectors/software/prin t.php/3578366

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

34. Community Resources & Economic Development Art Organizations as Promoters  www.artofohio.com www.artofohio.com  www.tamarackwv.com www.tamarackwv.com  www.arts.state.tx.us/txoriginal/index.asp www.arts.state.tx.us/txoriginal/index.asp  www.niche.com www.niche.com  Other: Depts. of Tourism, Art Commissions, Guilds, Cooperatives, Art Associations, Colleges/Universities

35. Community Resources & Economic Development Doing Good Business Practices  www.newyork.bbb.org/goodbusinesspracti ces/?lid=1&page=sell www.newyork.bbb.org/goodbusinesspracti ces/?lid=1&page=sell  www.artofohio.com www.artofohio.com  www.bbb.gov www.bbb.gov  www.thecraftsreport.com www.thecraftsreport.com  www.ftc.gov www.ftc.gov

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

37. 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

38. 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 www.garyweeks.com

39. 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