Arts and Crafts Business
Online Benefits for Craft Businesses
By Narelle Davison
The internet has an endless number of benefits for craftspeople, not just as a medium for selling the end product but for each step that leads to sales. The fact that you are reading this shows that you already utilise the web for information but perhaps you have not yet considered some of the following points presented.
The ideas provided in this article have come from interviews with craftspeople, conducted for AussieCrafts.com, in the interest of sharing information with our peers. When boiled down to its bare essentials this is the true essence of the internet but it sometimes gets lost in all of the advertising and sales. The interviews spawned a host of ways in which the internet assists the crafters, both in their business and creatively, and provided much insight into untangling the web.
Inspiration
When asked about the sources they use for inspiration most
craftspeople have said that the internet is a much used research
tool. This is particularly useful with commission pieces,
where a client gives a basic idea and there is a need to familiarise
yourself with the subject. Browsing websites is also great
for when you want to start a new piece but are not quite sure
where to begin.
No matter what craft you do if you are stuck for ideas on what to create there are always plenty of places to get some quick inspiration online. The obvious way to get ideas is to search for your craft in the search engines but some other methods are:
-Type your craft name into Google image search
-Yahoo groups on your craft often have galleries
-Online stores that sell your craft
-Craft directories
-Historical sites related to your craft, most crafts did after
all come from very ancient beginnings.
-Try searching for crafts that are similar to yours, if you
do pottery, for example, search for glasswork.
The colours and shapes are likely to spark new ideas. It’s a more abstract inspiration that you need such as colour or texture then art, photography and nature sites are fantastic sources of ideas. Stock photography sites (such as http://www.dreamstime.com/), for example, have thousands of images of almost everything imaginable. Let’s say you want to create a bead necklace that reflects the colour and movement of the ocean. If you browse the sea and ocean category of a stock photography site you can jot down ideas based on what you see as you view page after page of photographs that cover every aspect of the ocean.
Education: patterns and tutorials
There are very few crafters who believe they know everything
there is about their craft. Who of us do not want to learn
something new? The internet is the best source of tips, tricks,
patterns and tutorials on every craft imaginable, so much
so that many craftspeople no longer purchase books about their
craft. Many sites offer this information for free, as a way
to attract and keep surfers, much the same way as articles
like this are utilised. Others charge a subscription or a
cost per tutorial, often downloaded as an e-book or a pdf
file. For many crafts there are also online classes or lessons
via email, again some are free (and often include advertising)
and others are subscription based.
To find these valuable resources consider using some of the following terms alongside your craft name: tutorial, pattern, learn to, ebook, lesson, techniques, instructions or projects. These keywords were tested using Google search and beading, for example ‘beading projects’, and the results were astonishing. If it a particular technique you are searching for then add that to your search query, for example ‘beading peyote technique’, where peyote is a type of beading stitch.
Purchasing tools and materials
The internet has brought about a convenient way to buy almost
anything, from anywhere in the world, and to craftspeople
this has been one the most important benefits of being online.
Often there are supplies needed for craftwork that are not
available locally and this can be the case no matter where
you live. It may be because it is only manufactured in a small
area of Europe or that there are few people working in the
same craft as you and therefore there is little demand.
Apart from availability issues nothing is better than being
able to browse many stores in a short space of time and not
only get prices but also see things without having to leave
home. Ebay is popular with many craftspeople due to the range
of goods and their prices, you can find both new and secondhand
tools and materials there. Shopping online means more time
for doing what you enjoy or what brings in your income. The
world is becoming smaller and shipping costs and delivery
times are too.
Often the websites that sell crafts materials also have a range of useful resources such as guides to using their products. They also have convenient contact information, like email, and as they are often craftspeople themselves can give advice on craft specific problems.
Publicity and exhibition requests
Many of the sources that are traditionally used for publicity
such as magazines, newspapers and event organizers are now
using the internet as a way to find craftspeople. Not only
is the internet often a faster way to find what they need
but it is also a visual medium. Therefore having a website
for your craft business is not just about gaining sales and
commissions but it also provides a way for the media and galleries
to see your work.
One example of this is an artist interviewed on Aussie Crafts
who has in the last few months been contacted by a lifestyle
magazine to do an article on her work, as well as another
contact to request her involvement in an exhibition. Both
of these publicity avenues have stemmed from her website,
which contain galleries of her work.
This same artist is also a member of an organisation supporting her medium, which has a website that lists galleries showing members’ works at any given time. There are organisations such as this for many crafts, both global and local, that are worth having a membership with.
Sales and commissions
The most obvious way that craftspeople are using the internet
is to sell their products to a wider market than previously
possible, what is not so obvious is that there are many ways
to do this. One artist interviewed extolled the virtues of
the internet as, "It's been huge for us. We sell artwork and
DIY kits all over the world and so put virtually all our marketing
energy into our website. We get well over five thousand visitors
every month at basically no cost and the whole world has become
our target market."
Some of the reasons people decided to sell their crafts online include not having to deal with galleries, no commissions to pay, less overheads than a store and the fact that there is more time crafting and less selling.
Apart from setting up an often expensive e-commerce website there are other means to gaining online sales:
- A ‘brochure’ style site, which displays the products you
make but does not sell them online. Instead it can be used
to promote a market stall, shop front, commission enquiries
etc.
- Many craftspeople are selling their work in auctions at
Ebay; this can be a lucrative option for the right products.
- Online craft malls are a way to have an online presence
without the hassle and overheads of building an e-commerce
site. Search for craft malls in the search engines and you
will find such sites as craftmall.com, aokcorral.com and lilysplace.com.
These sites generally use Paypal as a payment option to take
the headaches out of online payments and are similar to Ebay
without being auction based.
Human contact
One of the common problems that people who craft for an income
mention is loneliness. Oftentimes they work at home alone
and this can be very isolating. The internet can provide avenues
to have contact with others who craft. They could be in the
same locality as you and allow for face-to-face meeting or
they may be on the other side of the world.
There are many group and organisations for most craft genres,
such as Yahoo groups or MSN chats. Often if it is a location-based
group there are classes and retreats organised for people
to come together and learn. These groups can become invaluable
for technical advice, feedback and learning but also that
human contact that is a necessary part of life.
Client contact
Email is a fantastic way to keep in touch with clients and
industry contacts. It is so much cheaper than a phone call
(i.e. free) and is much less time consuming. Email provides
a simple means to show clients’ examples or progress on a
work via photograph attachments. It also provides a record
of all communication.
Online messaging systems, available for free from MSN and Yahoo, are also useful ways to keep in contact with customers. These can even be used to give online support by providing your identification name on your website. However these systems can become a time waster instead of saver if you are not careful.
About the author
Narelle Davison comes from a craft background but
changed careers to marketing and web development. She has
created the Australian
arts and craft site, Aussie Crafts, to provide information
and promotion for craftspeople through interviews, articles,
forum and directory. The interviews provide great reading
to both admirers of each craft and fellow crafters. If you
are an Australian craftsperson and would like to be interviewed
please visit http://www.aussiecrafts.com/interviews.html.