Tips for Success You Can Use Today

ow do you market yourself? Advertising, sure, and having a marketing budget as a percentage of your yearly income is always good. But the simplest strategies, the ones you can start using today, do not involve a lot of money. Here are five tips requiring only effort and time that will make your clients sit up and take notice of you.

It’s all about the client

Your first tactic is to focus on the client. The customers are not just there to acquire a product. They can do that at a store. When they buy craft works from you, they want to experience the life of the artist. Talk to them. Even when they don’t seem to want to talk, you can welcome them into your booth and thank them for coming to the show.

Then take the opportunity to follow up if they are admiring a piece. Tell them something interesting about it, from the name of the color to a sentence about how you make it. Keep it short and light. Smile when you talk. It makes a big difference.

Know all about your client

Who are your clients? Are they men, women, children? Are you seeing people with pets or with gardens? Do they buy for themselves or as gifts? How old is your client?

What are they wearing? If most people in your booth are wearing sweats and baseball caps turned backwards, your audience is different from the booth filled with trendy or conservative dressers.

What color sells best? What do people say to compliment you? What do people ask for? How many people ask for that? If one person asks for a beaded barrette, it’s not a sign that you should go out and make 30 for the next show. But if you get five to 10 requests at show after show, make 10 barrettes and see how they sell next time. Knowing how to respond to the needs of your specific client base will set you apart from the competition. Position yourself as the one who can meet all of their needs.

Follow through on signs of interest

People ask different questions while in your booth. Sometimes they are just chatting, sometimes they have a genuine interest. Ask everyone with whom you have a brief booth conversation to sign your guest book. (You have a guest book, right?) Make a note in the margin so you remember their specific interest.

Follow up with an e-mail or note after the show giving your Web site that has more information, or just say that you enjoyed talking to them. It will cause them to remember you, or recommend you, or visit you again, and that leads to a purchase.

Act like a grownup, even if the client doesn’t

Visitors to your booth can say things that range from thoughtless to hurtful. They can be rude or fail to control their children, their dogs, their cigarettes, and their gooey, dripping food.

It’s happened so often, you probably have a clever remark to put them in their place. We all have those comments, but save them for when the client is out of hearing range — bite your tongue. What to do instead?

Dig deep into the last shred of patience you have, and turn the remark into a selling platform. It will not turn every lout into a grateful client. But part of our job as artists is to educate the public, particularly the public who hasn’t had much exposure to art.

Replying calmly with a directive that sounds like help is your best tactic. Keep wet-wipes in your booth for those who bring in messy food; tell the family who is having a reunion with strollers and blocking your booth entrance that there are tables or benches right down the walk; tell the cigar smoker that you’re allergic to smoke while looking apologetic; tell the parent who is not paying attention to a destructive youngster that you are concerned for the child’s safety.

You can also use facts to follow up a thoughtless comment and create a selling situation. When they say, “I’ve seen this at [name of big box store],” you can reply, “This is my original design so I sure hope no one is copying it.” When you hear, “Your prices are high,” you can reply, “I keep my prices reasonable based on my time and materials.”

When someone says, “I’ll come back later, it’ll still be here,” you can say, “My items are one-of-a-kind; when this one is sold, there won’t be another one exactly like it.” If you are ambitious, you might add, “I can hold this piece, but only for an hour.” Then put a sign next to it, “On hold till 2 p.m.”

You’ll get new questions about the sign and perhaps a backup buyer. And when a client says, “I can make that myself,” you calmly reply, “You could make it yourself, but after you buy the equipment and supplies, will you still have the time and energy?”

There are very few times when a stern word works better than turning aggravation into a selling situation. I have asked people to leave my booth when they make racist remarks. Other then that, I have tried to give a helpful or pleasant retort, and that includes the teenager who told her mother she thought my work was “crap.” I asked her what she didn’t like about it (fighting to keep calm) and discovered she didn’t know I made the pieces, didn’t realize she had insulted the artist, and was simply disagreeing with her mother, who did like the work.

Take rejection seriously, but not personally

If booth visitors tell you why they don’t like your work, consider it information to use when thinking about using new colors, shapes, or changing the direction of your work.

After hearing people talk about their aching feet, I threw out my carpet and added rubber-mat flooring. People began spending more time in the booth. After noticing people squinting at the mirrors, I raised my lights to keep the glare out of the mirrors and sales improved.

After hearing people say they only wore “delicate” necklaces, I introduced a line of shorter, smaller pieces. They never sold well, so I created a bold piece that could be worn both short and long. It’s been my bestseller for five years.

You will never please every visitor, and not everyone will buy, but pay attention to how you can improve your work based on your client’s information. Make them feel like their opinion counts. Your audience will tell you a lot about your work, your booth, and your approach. Filtering it through your experience and your expertise will result in better sales. Marketing and positioning yourself successfully doesn’t always have to cost money, but not doing it will always cost in the end.

Quinn McDonald is the owner of QuinnCreative. She is a jeweler and a co-active coach who works with artist and people in transition. Visit her at www.quinncreative.com.