Sunday, April 26, 2009

Rules To Sell By


Everyday I try to learn something new about how to sell successfully online. During this learning process I have found certain things that I can group together. This grouping allows me to get a better idea of how to go about using information that I have gathered. The groups are real simple : WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, WHY, HOW, and WHO. The hard part is knowing what goes where, why it goes there, and when to put it there. I feel like I should have Bud Abbott and Lou Costello here to help with this.


WHAT is the easy one to answer, What do I have to offer? Handmade homedecor items made of wood. Easy answer!

WHEN is my product available? Another easy answer, 24/7 online at my website. The website is OldTimeCountryCrafts.etsy.com. That also answers the WHERE question. Now is when it starts getting tougher.

WHY should people buy from me? Can't they get the same thing some place else? What can I offer that no one else offers? This must be what politicians go through during a campaign. Yes, I make a damn good product, I have a good selection, and I can build it specifically for you to fit your color and size needs.

HOW may well be the hardest to work on. HOW DO PEOPLE FIND MY PRODUCT ? Simple right, it's online. Then the reallity appears, there's millions of things online!! How are they going to find me? After hours of looking and reading posts from other people I have to wonder, am I learning how to sell online or am I just killing time and having a little fun? Promoting on a limited budget is a real challenge but I'm going to keep trying. I will post on social networks and any other place I can find that will let me post for free. I'm starting a mailing list also. Learning KEYWORDS was not as easy as I thought but it does real well.

WHO is the question I like best. And just like Abbott and Costello, WHO's ON FIRST? WHO is on first because WHO needs my product!!!!!!! WHO is the consumer!!!!!!! WHO is YOU!!!

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Thursday Thoughts

I often wonder why I'm not satisfied with the way things are. Why can't I just be like ever other Tom, Dick, or Harry and never try to change who or what I am? Why do I want to do something that other people might find rather foolish? Maybe they are right and maybe I am foolish but I'm still going to do what I'm doing.
I like to take a piece of wood and make a useful and decorative object out of it. No two Items are identical even though they are built to be. The wood itself creates a unique design in ever piece. When I was working as a contractor on a house what you were doing soon became apparent to all who looked. Now they just have to look in a different place.
I don't mind being different and not just do the same old thing over and over again. I probably will never get rich building and selling my products but I'll bet that I have some fun in the process.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Where does the time go ?

It's already the middle of another week and almost the middle of another year. Where does the time go? Have I gotten anything done or has the time just been wasted? No matter what I get done, I always feel that I should have been able to do more and do it faster. Oh well , I guess what will be will be. So it's on to my next project, list more items in our shop, finish a project or two that I have started, Then see if I can find my kitchen table again. I know it's under there somewhere.
In honor of EARTH DAY , I am offering a framed print of Yosemite National Park for 25% off with free shipping in the continental United States , TODAY ONLY . You can get it in our etsy shop. Here's the link @http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=24026083

Monday, April 20, 2009

Not just another Monday

Another week-end is gone and now begins another work week. Hmmm, I just remembered, I worked all week-end so where is the begining and the end of work? Just one more perk for being self-employed I guess. I'm not complaining, this is what I choose to do and I do love doing this. I always thought that a 40 hour week meant that you only worked part time, so the hours I devote to making and selling my products doesn't bother me. If you truly like what you do I don't think that you are bothered by time invested.
So I guess I was right. It's not just another Monday.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Something Different

I'm going to be different today. I've decided not to complain about things as much as I usually do. The fact remains that I still have alot to learn about marketing and promoting online. But if I spend my time working on learning how to do a better job, I'll have less time to complain.
So, as it's a nice day here in central New York, I've spent my day promoting. I talked to my son this morning. My 2 1/2 year old grandson was helping make breakfast with his mother while my son was playing with the baby. It still seems strange to think that I'm a grandfather. Where did the years go.
Time to get back to work. I'll learn something today and maybe even sell something

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Marketing Woes

Mother's Day is coming, everyone is either buying or selling or both. Everyone is looking for the perfect gift for mom, so how do we get them to shop with us becomes the big question. Finding the right way to do this can take time, time costs money so we have to find the right way fast or lose the sale. Just what we need, more pressure. And I thought I knew everything when I was in school, what a fool I was. It seems like I'm calling myself a fool quite often lately. There's nothing like being an "old dog" trying to learn "new tricks". The learning process never stops, we just don't realize this when we are young. Today I'm wondering if I can learn how to have a successful
internet business or will I go crazy trying. That is the question that I need to answer correctly. The future is ours, all we have to do is find where we fit in it.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Marketing Online

I'm a complete novice at online marketing but I need to keep a record of my "progress", or at least I hope I'm making progress. It's a different and difficult world online (as if my life offline was easy). As of today, this is what I learned about selling my handmade goods online.

(1) I didn't do any research into how to successfully sell online, list and sell right? What a fool. It would be nice if it worked but much to my dismay, it doesn't.

(2) How to get customers to my site? $64 question and my answer may not be worth 2 cents. Do I use free ads or do I pay and where in the heck do I do this?

(3) At first I wondered, what the heck is social networking and how the heck is this going to help me sell my woodcraft? To repeat myself from earlier, what a fool.

(4) So now that I know a little about social networking, and a little how to promote my woodcraft, what's next? Keep learning you FOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok. So I guess what I've learned most about so far is myself. Since I hate to call myself a fool, I had better get back to work and learn how to do a better job of online marketing.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

You know you want to look ......So................LOOK

I know, everybody wants you to look at their products, everybody has a deal "To Good To Pass Up". Believe me, I've heard them all just like you have. So , I'm not going to make you any promises, I'm not going to tell you that you have to buy from me. All I'm going to say is that I would like you to check out our store and see if you like our products or not. We make everything we sell and we sell everything we make. We also welcome custom orders. So stop by, look around, and tell us what you think.


Etsy
Buy Handmade
OldTimeCountryCrafts

Friday, April 10, 2009

What works best?

When it comes to promotion, what works best? Do we keep posting on social networks, or do we pay for advertising, or do we use both? The world is our marketplace, how do we promote our product to the consumer who wants and needs it? I know I'm completely baffled by all of it. Doing craft shows was easy, you go,set up, sell, pack up and go home. That was not complicated at all. The internet is something completely different and I'm not sure I'll ever get the hang of it. Generating hits and getting sales may be out of my league. This competing with the"big guys" is far tougher than I thought it would be, learn as you go may be to slow.

Monday, April 6, 2009

Give me a BREAK

Well the week-end is over, so now we get to do it all over again. Right? Wrong. The first thing I have to do is see if my old truck is repairable or if it will cost more than it's worth. The new parts that were installed on friday were defective so now I may have more problems than before. Time will tell. On the bright side, we had a good time at the craft show. Seen some old friends, made some new one's, and sold some items. I wish we had sold more, but then I always wish that. All in all, I can't complain. We had a good location and there was a good crowd so it was a good time, all except for the truck incident. Better days are coming, oh , if I only believed that was true.

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Craft show

We went to set up last night for today's craft show and I wish I could say it went smooth and uneventful but that was not the case. Rainy and cold all day for loading and driving, then just for excitement we had truck problems on the way. Fun, Fun, FUN. How boring would life be if everything went right? I don't know, but it would be nice to try it once just to see if I liked it.Oh well , it's 5:45 am and time to get dressed to go and drive 60 miles in the rain. On the bright side, at least the show is inside so the rain won't bother me all day. I hope it doesn't keep the people away.

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Week-end Craftshow

Getting ready for what I hope is a good show this week-end, but don't we always hope it's going to be a good show? I mean really, would we go through all the work that's required to do a show if we already knew that we had no chance at any sales? We all love what we do but I'm sure most of us like to sell it almost as much as we like to make it. People love to shop, but the real challenge is to get them to buy from you, not someone else. Your presentation and your product don't stand a chance if the show isn't promoted well and attendance is poor. So many things to consider. Oh well , in reality it comes down to us promoting ourselves. Craft shows are good exposure for us. We will give out business cards and get e-mail addresses for future contacts and hopefully make some sales. I know that I will see some old friends this week-end and I will meet some new ones, so it will be a good time.