Friday, December 06, 2013

Advertising Is Important

Pictured in the photo above are my three daughters along with a table full of unique and beautiful handmade items. My mother, Daughter #2, and I decided to go into business one beautiful autumn day. We gathered all our wares and set up a table at the flea market in Keyport.

Yes, once upon a time, in the dark ages before the internet, I thought I could make extra money by selling crocheted ornaments I had made. It took me at least forty-five minutes to make each ornament and then I had to stiffen each one. However, crochet thread was inexpensive. Though I knew I would not be making a decent hourly wage I was sure I would sell enough of my ornaments to make up the price of the materials. I believed my low, low prices would have everyone snatching them up.

My mother was a terrific artist. She always hoped to get extra cash selling her paintings. She hit upon a popular idea of decorating old saws with lovely scenes. She went to garage sales, bought old saws for next to nothing and turned them into beautiful pieces of decorative art.

Daughter #2 sewed doll clothes for the popular American Girl dolls. For a youngster, she had talent.

We did not advertise. At all. :-( Still, we expected hordes of delighted customers to show up at our table and purchase our exquisite handiwork.

A few people walked by. I sold two ornaments. It was very disappointing. If we had rent to pay, we would have been bankrupt on day one. :-(

I gave up crocheting ornaments. Now I'm trying to sell books. LOL! In 2011 there were three million books published. That's a lot of competition, but now we have the internet and social media marketing. I am doing my best to get the word out about my books, but it isn't easy. It does take time, but if I don't toot my own horn, nobody will know I exist.

I found a great link, SMALL BUSINESS MARKETING. It offers plenty of sensible suggestions for marketing your wares. I know now how important advertising is!

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