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marketing

It costs how much?! aka, Marketing with Price

This month we're looking at marketing without promotion and the other ways to market: using Place, Product and, today, Price to share your work.

This whole marketing-with-price thing is a tricky subject. You want to think about using price to find new (or repeat) buyers…but you don't want to slip into doubting your price, or worse, trying to compete on price. So before we start thinking about pricing and marketing, let's get one thing straight:

Your customer doesn't buy on price, she buys on value.

Value = How much your product is worth to the Right Person. (This has nothing to do with numbers, and everything to do with how it makes her feel when she buys it).

Think about your last haircut. Did you pay $5 for it or $35 (or more!) for it? Why? Was the action the same? Before you got your haircut, you couldn't be sure of the results, so you didn't really pay for a better haircut, you paid for the promise of a better haircut. And you probably paid for a nicer environment in which to get a haircut. And a friendly hairdresser.

Or your last cup of coffee or tea. Did you drink it at a gas station? Or a coffeeshop? Or did you make yourself a cup of the good stuff at home (with your favorite creamer and sweetener, in your favorite mug). If you drank it at the coffeeshop or at home, it wasn't because of price, it was because of value – you wanted the experience of enjoying that cuppa.

So how do you market with Price, without trying to compete on price?

Start by thinking about your price range.
What's your most expensive item? And your least expensive? Is that a very big range?
If it's a wide range, could you fill it in with mid-range items?
If it's a narrow range, could you add a lower-priced item? A higher-priced item?

Be careful! A lot of my students immediately think of offering a low-priced item to their range. You may want to do that, but before you jump to that conclusion, take a minute to think of a few other options. What could you create that would be worth a higher price?

When considering which to do, keep your Right Person in mind. What else could she buy from you that goes with her current purchase? Or how could you reach a new segment of your Right People with a new price?

Another way of marketing with Price is to group products together (a higher price, but perhaps a savings overall), or to break up a group of products. Or you can change the way people pay for and buy your item.

For example, I no longer sell single skeins of yarn online (you can find it in yarn stores) – instead I offer Monthly Yarn Mail. 1 skein of yarn, every month, delivered right to you. You sign up and are charged monthly, automatically. Or, you can buy a whole year of yarn at once.

While I didn't alter my pricing much, I did alter the way my customer interact with the price. They don't choose to buy a new yarn each month, it's automatic, and that makes the price less of a factor.
Other fiber artists offer “clubs” – where you sign up once and get three or sixmonths of yarn. It's the same principle – grouping something together, since we know our customers usually buy multiples (repeatedly) of what we sell.

Let's look at a few examples:

A jeweler can offer a high end range of jewelry and a more affordable teen-inspired line.
A bag maker can also offer wallets – a great, low-priced add-on to your order
A knitwear designer might create multiple lines – one of affordable basics and another that are very detailed, very intricate knit shawls.
A bookmaker might add a line of handmade bookmarks.

What else? How can you market using price?

Do you want fries with that?

Using Product as a marketing tool.

This month, we're talking about the difference between self-promotion and marketing. Marketing is made up of 4 aspects: Place, Price, Product and Promotion. Last we talked about using Place to market your work and today we'll look at how 2 makers used Product to reach a new market.

: Collaborative Cthulhu necklace

Amy makes art.
Shannon makes laser-cut jewelry.

They met in the Starship and got to know each other while chatting in the Holodeck (our Starship-only chat room). When Shannon visited San Fransisco and stayed with Amy (a side effect of the Starship: you've always got a couch to crash on), they got to see each other's work up close. And they realized that their target markets (or Right People) aren't that different.

Shannon makes jewelry that geeks (math and science geeks) like, and Amy makes art that geeks (horror and sci-fi geeks) like.

They collaborated.

They talked, they asked the Starship questions, they sketched different ideas.
When they decided on what to make, Amy created the art and Shannon took those files and turned them into the right sort of files for the laser cutting software. They figured out the costs (and paid them up front) and now they each sell the work in their shops.

This collaboration is a really great example of reaching a new market by creating a new product. Amy now has a high-end jewelry to offer her card-buyers. Shannon now has geeky/gothy jewelry with a slightly different aesthetic to offer her current customers.

The trick of creating a new product is to look at your existing customers.

What do you offer them? What do they use it for? What else might they like?
(Bonus points: what could you give them to help them use your main product?)

You want to be careful not to create something for an entirely different kind of customer. For example, If you sell geek-themed wall hangings, you might not want to make cutesy, Disney-themed baby blankets. (But baby blankets that go with your wall hangings = perfect!).

The mistake I see a lot of crafters make is to branch out into products for other crafters. This makes sense if you already sell something to crafters (patterns, yarn, supplies), but not if you sell the finished work to non-crafters. Remember, the girl who buys your jewelry probably doesn't make jewelry…so what else would she like?

Whether you choose to collaborate to create a new product or just come up with something yourself – what kind of new product might introduce you to a new market?

Here are a few ideas from the makers I've worked with:

A knitter who sells scarves can make custom-ordered blankets
A fine artist can sell cards
A knitwear designer can teach classes
A lotion-maker can make soaps
A jeweler can create a line of men's jewelry
A purse-maker can create wallets, or big beach bags
A yarn shop can create their own kits with yarn + patterns
A yarn-maker can carry someone else's handmade kitting needles
A glass artist who makes beads can make holiday ornaments
An embroiderer who makes wall hangings can create embroidered jewelry

How about you? What new kind of product could you make?

Where ARE you?

Last week we talked about the difference between self-promotion and marketing. Marketing is made up of 4 aspects: Place, Price, Product and Promotion. In my next few posts, we're going to have examples of how you can use each one to share your work with more people.

The following example is an amalgamation of the work I've done with several fabulous knitwear designers.
If it sounds like you, that's a sign that your worries are normal!

Went to Lambikin's Hideaway yesterday for some needles

Lindsay creates knitting patterns. She has an online shop on her site and sells through Ravelry. She has a well-read, well-liked blog (she's writing about the kind of things her Right People – knitters – want to read about).

But her sales have plateaued. She wants to reach a bigger audience and is thinking about doing some sort of promotion (buying an ad in a knitting magazine, offering 2 patterns for the price of 3)…and she wonders – is this the best way?

The problem with this plan:

Holding a sale is not a good match for her objective (reaching a broader audience) because who will she tell about her sale? Her current audience! A sale might generate more purchases from your current audience, but unless you pair it with something else, isn't going to introduce you to many new people.

While buying an ad on Ravelry might increase her Ravelry sales, buying an ad in a magazine is going to reach a lot of people who don't shop online, and who shop mainly in their local yarn shop.

And there, buried in her problem, is a hint for the solution.

She can reach a broader audience by focusing on Place instead of Promotion.

She can make her patterns available to more people by being in more places.

What are some of the places she could offer her patterns?

She can offer a wholesale line of patterns to yarn shops.
She can submit patterns to print magazines (the magazine pays you and their subscriber base becomes familiar with you and your work).
She can vend at knitting and stitching shows, fill her booth with samples of her work and sell printed versions of her patterns.
She can hold a trunk show at her local yarn shop (or even a regular boutique!) with samples of her work in a variety of sizes, so knitters can try on a pattern before they commit to making it.

Where else could this designer put her patterns to reach her people?

Have you thought of how Place is a marketing tool you can use? Where else can your products show up?

Don't know where your people are looking for your product?
Let's research that during an Exploration.

Self-Promotion vs. Marketing

I'm allergic to the term “self-promotion.”

Lots of crafters call it that, getting their work in front of other people, and it's not just a malapropism; it's dangerous! It distracts you from what you should be doing.

Beau begs you to stop calling it self-promotion.

Self-promotion sounds gross. In fact, just promoting yourself, telling everyone how great you are, is kinda gross. No one wants to be around the girl who can't stop talking about how great she can sing. (You know the girl.)

But calling it self-promotion is dangerous.

If “promotion” is the only way you're thinking of marketing, you're avoiding it. And that's dangerous, because you're probably avoiding all the other aspects of marketing, too.

(Or you're the other kind of creative, that just accepts the gross aspect of self-promotion and fills your twitter stream with “just listed [link to shop]”…but I'm pretty sure that's not you.)

Marketing, however, is the process of communicating with your people, about your product, your business and how it can help them.

Promotion is only (a small) part of the marketing equation.

It might help to know that traditional marketing (as defined in my past-life, MBA marketing classes), Promotion is just one of the 4 P's of Marketing.
In other words, it's only a quarter, of all the marketing you do for your business. In creative businesses, I have a theory that it's even less than 1/4, but we'll get into that in a bit.

The 4 P's of Marketing is a framework for thinking about your marketing mix (all the things you do to communicate with your people). Inherent in the concept of a marketing mix is the belief that Promotion isn't everything; that your focus should not only be on telling people about your work.

The other P's:

Product
Price
Place

Product – It all starts with what you're selling – Is it something people want? If so, what about it do people want? Is that clear? Is it remarkable? Is there a new product you can add (or delete) from your line to reach a new market?

Price – We already know that pricing is not a benefit…but it is a tool for marketing. Not just special pricing (a sale or discount), but the overall pricing strategy: Do you have a range of prices? Do your prices appeal to one market over another? What does your price say about the quality of your product?

Place – Where your product is sold directly effects the market it reaches. Is your product where it's people can find it? If you only have an online store, do you know your Right People shop online? When you pick a craft show, do you make sure your people will be there? How do you pick a shop to carry your goods? Where does news of your business show up? Is that really where your buyers are?

See, there's lots of marketing to do that doesn't involve promotion. In my next few posts, I'm going to share stories of how specific businesses can market (and grow) using the other Ps.

What Ps do you use in your marketing mix?

Is there one you want to explore?

Notes from the BOOK: A spoonful of my own medicine.

Notes from the BOOK is a weeklyish peek into how the BOOK is taking shape. Lessons learned, moments of bing, and excerpts.

Last week I wrote this for the book:

“Get clear on YOUR strengths and your product's unique awesomeness before you start thinking about your customers. If you do it the other way around, you'll create something bland and not-you. Your you-ness is the main selling point when you make something by hand, so we're going to do everything we can to make sure we don't dilute it.”

And then I got stuck.

I couldn't write another word.

I outlined my next few points, the rest of the chapter…but I couldn't seem to turn my outline into coherent sentences (even the above sentences are a little murky for me, they're sure to go through a rigorous editing before they end up in the book).

A few days later (3 days of no writing! The world was caving in around me!), I recognized something else lurking, some un-book-related stuckness. I've been feeling a bit drifty about what I want to do next (I know, I know, the BOOK should be project enough). This sense of unease seeped into every other aspect of my work.

I didn't feel like my Work has a Mission. It seemed random, piece-meal and unfocused.

So I went in search of a Mission.

Many journal pages, and days, later I talked to Jay about it.

His first, uncluttered response: Isn't your Mission to Be Tara?

Oh, yeah.

I spent another few days trying to figure out what this meant for my business.
Obviously, it's not a business model. It's not a marketing plan. It might be my personal mission, but how could it lead the business?

Uh, what did I write up there?

The first job, when you're selling something so very YOU, is to get clear on what that YOU is and then make all decisions from that. Your strengths, your vision, your you-ness guides everything (in fact, my whole BOOK is about HOW you make smart marketing decisions based on your you-ness).

The drifty, unfocused feeling came because I lost sight of that.

I've been making decisions based on what I thought I should be doing.

On other people's definitions of my business.

And other people kept thinking I was a consultant.
So I had to set up my site like a consultant.
I had to market and make offers and products like a Consultant.

Except I'm NOT a consultant. I'm not a person-who-knows-better.
And I'm so totally not a coach (unless it's napping. I could totally be a napping coach).

I'm Tara.

(my own Tara, not other people's versions of Tara)

An explorer.
A writer.
A sharer.
A big-sister (a smidge more experienced, a little bossy, mostly goofy).
I share that here.
I create tools and spaces for you to do YOUR OWN exploring.

In those tools and spaces, I'm a silly, friendly, encouraging fellow traveler. I share my path and help you figure out yours, all while protecting and respecting YOUR experience.

Knowing that, respecting that and paying attention to that Tara-ness IS a mission.

It is a business model.
It is a marketing plan.
It guides my decisions.
It helps me focus.
It keeps everything coherent and heading the right direction.

And back to the BOOK…

The last week of not-writing, it was my own good sense trying to fight through the what-everyone-else-says clutter to assert itself in my life. To bring me and this place and everything I do in alignment with what I was writing.

(why yes, it is a little frustrating that I didn't recognize it before spending a week gnashing my teeth)

What's your mission? How does it want to assert itself in your business?

Bake Sale Jitters: I don’t want to be annoying!

Bake Sale Jitters is a regularish look at the stuff that keep our business from being as much fun as a bake sale. If you have something that's giving YOU the jitters, let me know.

Along with fear of rejection (we'll get to that tomorrow!), the biggest thing y'all tell me about Sharing Your Thing is that you don't want to be annoying.

And of course you don't! Who does?
(Other than 10 year old boys. They seem to thrive on annoying. If you doubt it, lemme send you one of my little brothers.)

First, acknowledgment.

Being annoying is one of the least pleasant things ever.

(I was a very talkative 12 year old. I know this feeling-annoying-thing intimately.)

And being surrounded, as we are, by annoying marketing, it's sometimes hard to see how we can share our thing without grossing people out.

Even after all this time, I still have little moments of Oh no! What if that's totally annoying?

(Top Secret: I just had that feeling, right before sending my tweet about how Tuesday is the last day to sign up for my Bake Sale Fun class. That's when I decided I should write this.)

It doesn't have to be annoying

First, remember this: Sharing a message isn't, on its own, annoying.
It's the way you share it.

Just think of the friend who calls to tell you that gas is $.20 cheaper down the street. She shared a message. Was it annoying?

Now, if that same message was tweeted 20 times in an hour by the gas station, you'd be annoyed.

But sometimes it is

Let's figure out what annoys YOU about marketing*, especially as we see it on Twitter, Facebook and via email.

*Marketing (in this context) = the sharing of a message that the sender hopes will lead to action (sale, info, etc) .

This is what annoys me:

Unwanted
Interrupts the conversation
Repetitive

Your list of Annoying Things may be totally different. It'll help if you make up a little list right now and keep it in mind.

Go on, make your list, I'll wait.

Ok, now. This? The above list? Is NOT the only way to share your message.

Be unannoying

One of the easiest ways is to pretend that it's Opposite Day.

If you were one of the slimy people sending a message on Opposite Day, what would your message look like?

Mine would be:

Wanted
Timely
Interesting
Connect-y (meaning it deepens our already existing connection)

Notice that the first thing on the list is Wanted.

This is HUGE.

If people WANT the thing you're selling, than they will be THRILLED to hear about it. They are waiting to hear about it. They are on the edge of their seats excited.

So if you only ever talk to those people, in a way that respects them and your own human-ness (don't act like a robot or sales-machine), you won't even come close to annoying.

Take your own list and flip it.

What would your Opposite Day super-awesome messages look like?

I know! We so totally just scratched the surface here. We'll talk more about the specifics (where and how) to share your thing in a non-annoying way in the new course. Registration closes tomorrow.

When your Thing is a Bake Sale

(you know, your thing, the thing you make and want to sell)

It's easy to talk about.
It's FUN to talk about.

You can't help but give out tasty samples.
You can't help but snack on the goodness yourself.

You are SO proud of what you've made.

You tell everyone + don't worry that you might be annoying.
You don't even think about rejection, connection, buzzwords; you're just in the flow of being excited about your thing.

New ways of telling people come easily.
Maybe it's not easy to do the work, but the idea, the energy the whole process flows.

Your thing is darn tasty and you can not keep it to yourself.
You know the people who want a taste of it and you're ready to share it with them.

That's when your thing and your business is a bake sale.

Joy.
Ease.
Flow

The truth is, your business, your thing isn't always a bake sale.
Sometimes you feel stuck or stuttery or shy.
You lose the fun, the joy, the ohmygoodness, youmusttasteTHIS immediacy of sharing it.

I'm actually in that shy+stuck place now and have been for the last few weeks.

So I'm going back to the basics.
The foundation of making my thing easy to talk about (by me and my fans).
The system of making sure the word is spreading even when I'm not spreading it (fancypants call this a marketing plan).
Reconnecting to the fun, to the bake-sale-joy of sharing my handmade goodness.

I'm doing it personally and I'm sharing my system in the new class:

Because this share-your-thing thing isn't just for newbies.
Yeah, figuring this stuff out is ultra-important when you first get started.
But it's ALSO helpful once you've been going and feel stuck or tired or suddenly shy.

I'll be talking about the in-the-soft stuff (the be-ok-with-doing-it stuff) here on the blog and the in-the-hard stuff (do-this-next steps to actually DO it) in the class.

No matter what part of the journey you join me for, I'd love to know what your stuff-that-keeps-you-from-DOING-it, questions and fears are. Please share your concerns or ask your questions privately here or by leaving a comment below.

What is keeping you from sharing your thing?

You know, your thing.

The thing that makes you happy and smiley and think oh my goodness, if I could do this for money….ooooh!

Your thing lights you up.
Your thing bubbles up out of you at parties and coffeshops and anytime it can.

But even though you love it. And you would love to sell it.

You're just not selling enough of it.
Enough to warrant all this time.
Enought to warrant your full-on obsession.
Enough to reach your goals.

Your goals might be: paying one bill with your earnings, getting national media coverage, accepted to your first craft show, quitting your dayjob.

Here's what I know:

The problem is NOT your thing.
The problem is NOT you.

The problem is that people do not know about your thing.

And that can be fixed.
You can share your thing with people!
And then they will know!
And there will be much rejoicing!

Except…you know that already.
And you're still not sharing it.
Or you are, but it's not working.

You worry you seem spammy.
You hate feeling the rejection.
You just don't know how to get the right people to know, without being gross.

Right?

How do I know?

Because I've been there. In fact, I'm there a LOT of the time. Yes, still.

And I know because you told me. I asked and you said that you were afraid of rejection and overwhelmed with all you've been told you “should” do.

It just sucks the joy right out of it doesn't it?

Well, I'm on a mission to bring the fun, the excitement, the wooo back into the process of sharing your thing.

I'm starting with the upcoming class: Secrets of Bake Sale Fun: Marketing that's Sticky, Not Icky.

In it we'll start with the basics of sharing your thing with joy and glee and then we'll build a personalized plan for reaching out and bringing the right people in.

It starts in just a week and you can read more about it here.

And if the class isn't for you?
I still completely adore you and we'll be talking a lot more about bringing joy back into your thing right here on the blog.

Good Shtuff: dancing, comics and sanity edition

Dance!

I'm probably a little obsessed with the hilarity of Kelly Parkinson. I mention her in nearly every Good Shtuff. But it's really good! Especially, this on How to dance (when dancing = marketing).

Comics

Jay, the house comic nerd, wants me to link to this post about what small businesses can learn from comics. Good shtuff!

Focus!

I've been thinking a lot about time + planning, so the new book by Zen Habits about Focus has perfect timing. Haven't read it yet, but I'm looking forward to it.
A big thanks to @joyfulmess for telling me more about it in this interview.

Sanity!

We had a special BONUS class for the early-birds of Holiday Sanity. The post-class chat was amazing. The program's already so full of smart, helpful creatives that I can not wait to see who joins this week. If you need some Holiday Sanity, you can join us here.

Limits

Speaking of smart and helpful, I am so excited to have Kirsty Hall as a guest teacher in a class about building a business Within Your Limits. As an entrepreneur and artist and mother with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, she has bunches to share about honoring your limits + building a sustainable business. You can get all the details and watch an adorable video of Kirsty here.

Amigurumi

This has nothing to do with business, I just thought I should tell you that I'm totally addicted to making teeny tiny crocheted things.

IMAG0002
A pirate duck, for Havi + Selma

I've already agreed to make a ninja for my web ninja and a typewriter for my Kyeli + Amy. And a dog to match my dog.
(Oh, that's so ridiculous I can't believe I just confessed it.)
I'll be sharing patterns and inspirations tomorrow at Blonde Chicken Boutique in case you are similarly obsessed.

What have you been obsessed with this week?

Your questions, answered: Newsletter software

With all this talk about newsletters, several of you have written to ask:

How do you keep track of all the names? Isn't that an awful lot of administrative work?

This is a splendid question, because it reminds me I haven't really addressed the infrastructure of sending a newsletter, the thing that makes it shockingly simple: email marketing software.

I use Mailchimp and this week's guest expert Wendy uses aWeber. I know there are many more out there, but these are the ones used by, well, everyone I know.

What do they do?

Generates a sign-up form. It can be a seperate page (like this) or code for your sidebar (like you see here).
Keeps track of subscribes and unsubscribes.
Puts an Unsubscribe link at the bottom of every email, so you don't break any spam laws (yes! There are laws about this!).
Helps you design a pretty email (like this one).
Gives you stats on what got opens, clicks and forwards.

(this is what they look like in Mailchimp)

Getting started

The magic of software is how easy it is to get started. Setting up my first list (for yarncustomers) only took a few hours and I've learned more and more features as I went.

If you want to skip the random poking around that comes with teaching yourself (or if you know you'll keep putting it off if you wait to have a few hours to learn it), I can't recommend Wendy Cholbi, tech translator, enough.

Wendy's helped me figure out all sorts of confusing newsletter-ish stuff and now she's joining me to teach the basics of setting up your first list using newsletter software. She'll make it simple, straightforward and give you a checklist so you know you're not missing a step. You can join us for the class here.

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