When we started the Academy of Handmade, our goal was to help craft artists really shine like they never had before. We looked around and saw so many driven and talented people becoming successful in this industry and felt like they needed to be celebrated. But we also saw people who had been doing this for a bit and had kinda hit a wall. So we thought of ways we could help get people thinking outside the boxes they seemed to be stuck in.
Our dream for the Next Level Business Workshop is to help people get unstuck and/or push to the next level. We created a day to all of the things that you are always saying, "I will do that when..." You want to do these things, but getting it all together can seem overwhelming. We're going to be going in depth in the next couple weeks more on why you need to be at this workshop, but for starters...
- YOUR PICTURES NEED TO BE AWESOME: Like it or not you will be judged on your looks in this industry. If what your showing people doesn't look professional and well-done, it will look like you are not serious about your business. You might also be asked for photos of your product or yourself for blogs or magazines, but if you are sending them bad lighting and weird angles, they may not want to use you at all.
- YOU NEED TO BE PREPARED WHEN BUYERS APPROACH YOU: Buyers know that shows are a great place to find new merchandise for their shops. Are you prepared to have a discussion about wholesale? Do you have anything to show them? Know your prices? You'd be surprised and how much information you'll need to produce to close that deal
- YOUR BOOTH SHOULD BE MEMORABLE: If someone wants to come back to your booth or go to your website later, but you have no sign or have such an unmemorable set up you are indistinguishable it makes it very hard to gain and retain customers.
- YOUR MERCHANDISE SHOULD INSTANTLY MAKE SENSE: When people walk by your booth it should be obvious what your product is and why they need to have it. They don't have a lot of time and will quickly move on if you haven't captured their interest.
- YOU NEED TO TAKE A STEP BACK: If you've been doing shows for a bit now and feel like you've "got it down," now is the time to take a step back and see what you can do to refresh. Best way to do this is with some feedback from experts and your peers!
We hope to see you October 26!
