Helping Artisans Reach Global Markets

1. 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. 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.eduDraft 052907

3. Marketing My Business • List all the different kinds of marketing you do for your business 10 minutes

4. Are You Flying Blind?

5. Do You Have a Plan? The product The industry The customer The strategy Marketing is EVERYTHING you do on behalf of the business

6. 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. Doing Your Homework? Develop your marketing plan. Do it before going online!

8. Hobby crafts Fine art Tourist souvenirs Museum art Furniture Interiors Toys Gifts Folk art Wearables Know Your Industry Activity: Search for information: Size, location, support, competition, trends, types of ecommerce

9. 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. 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

11. 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

12. Who is Using the Internet? GLOBAL • 445 Million people • 51% of most developed countries • Source: www.clickz.com 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

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

14. Target ‘Everyone’ - NO • Segment customers to understand what they want 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!

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

16. 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. 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. 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. 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. Build customer loyalty – good/bad?

21. 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. 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. Craft Retailers with Web Sites Source: The Crafts Report, 2004

24. 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. 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

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

27. Artists On-Line Source: The Crafts Report, 2004

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

29. 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. An Example Of A Log Analysis www.HerbalTurtle.com

31. Log Analysis from Herbal Turtle Discuss service with Web Host

32. Check This… • www.clickz.com/stats/sectors/software/print.php/3578366

33. Are You Ready to Expand The Business? • Costs • Personnel • Inventory • Sales • Time/energy

34. 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

35. Doing Good Business Practices • www.newyork.bbb.org/goodbusinesspractices/?lid=1&page=sell • www.artofohio.com • www.bbb.gov • www.thecraftsreport.com • www.ftc.gov

36. Market Venues • Selling retail vs. wholesale • Exclusivity • Trade Shows • Sales Reps

37. 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 Market and Price Potential: The Marketing Plan

38. “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. Summary Customers And Competition: Know BOTH or lose! • It’s your job • Stay current • Listen to both customers and competitors • Be flexible