Craft Marketer Newsletter

Craft Business Ideas

Issue Number 1, May 22, 2000 
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IN THIS ISSUE 
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1. Welcome from the Publisher 
2. Working with Wholesale Reps 
3. Are You Getting Traffic to Your Arts & Crafts Web Site? 
4. Double Your Internet Connection for Free! 
5. Subscription Management 
6. Contact Information 
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1. Welcome from the Publisher 
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Welcome to Craft Marketer Newsletter. In this letter, 
we will be covering a wide range of business topics 
for the arts and crafts person who is selling their work. 

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2. Working with Wholesale Reps for Crafts 
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I recently received heard from Sara Gaston, a crafts artist 
who is working with wholesale reps to increase her store 
sales. Sara presented me with the following question 
which I thought might apply to many who sell to stores. 

Sara: <<<< I have a wholesale rep who's pressuring me to 
lower my wholesale price because she feels she could 
sell my items better. I have already come down $2 per 
item from our original agreement ($18 down to $16). 

Another rep of mine is able to sell them at the 
current cost - steadily but not briskly...the rep 
who is pressuring me insists that it is worth my 
while because of the volumes i would be dealing 
with. 

My problem with all this is (a) I feel my work & 
artistic style is more valuable than that and 
(b) - I try to tell her i need to make so much an 
hour to make it worth my while and she insists 
that isn't relevant because the volume would be 
so high...but she can't seem to show me any 
business formula to back this up and she 
refuses to accept the argument that this is 
highly detailed, tedious work.>>>> 

My reply: 
The issue with the sales rep is an important one. 
If you can't produce the items in question profitably, 
no amount of volume will help. The fact is, you'll just 
go broke quicker. The rep seems to be primarily 
interested in money above you or your work as an 
artist. This especially seems the case since she is 
unwilling to listen to what you have to say about your 
labor costs. 

I tend to stay away from anyone who thinks they know 
what I need more than I. 

Although you have to make the decision about whether 
to work with her, I personally would not choose to do so. 
Handmade work isn't a "buy low - sell high" market. Your 
craft business is a reflection and an extension of who 
you are, not a commodity that can be hawked down 
in value. 

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3. Feature Article 
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Are You Getting Traffic to Your Web Site? 
By James Dillehay 

If you are trying to promote your arts and crafts online 
through a web site but aren't getting enough traffic, 
consider this: your site's ranking in the search 
engines will increase rapidly by getting more sites 
to link to yours. 

Web site popularity - as measured by links from other 
quality sites - is a major determination in where your site 
shows up when someone does a search on a keyword 
related to your products. 

For instance, if you are selling hand made dolls, you would 
increase your positioning in the search engines for the 
keyword "dolls" by getting as many other sites to link to 
yours as you can. Contrary to popular belief, it is not
that difficult to get other craft sites to link to yours.

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