| |
| |
|
2sew.com guide to Crafts & Hobbies Information |
|
|
|
Tech-Savvy Crafters Can Go Global
The image of a crafter or artisan is often serene, even pastoral. It's easy to imagine a potter spinning his wheel in his barn-turned-studio and then selling his wares at the little farmer's market down the road. Or a knitter, knitting quietly with a dog at her feet and a cup of tea as she gets ready for this year's Christmas craft fair. But, in today's global market, such crafters, artisans, artists and designers need not rely on farmer's markets and craft fairs alone. The Internet provides such crafters with access to a global market, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, traditional methods of selling just can't compare in terms of sales and exposure. An online presence can be a great benefit for any type of crafter, be it a jewellery maker, a knitter, a glassblower, a potter or a painter. It gives crafters credibility as a legitimate business because now their customers can easily access their information, including contact details (in fact, customers may consider you less credible if you don't have a website). Crafters can advertise their domain name on their flyers, business cards and signs, and potential customers will automatically go to their website to find out more about them and their products. Crafters can have a complete, updateable inventory of their products with photos on their website, making it easy for a buyer to simply click and order. A presence on the Internet is essentially like having a store opens every day, all year long - no waiting between those craft fairs or local tourist season. And their customer base grows automatically from a limited local market to a worldwide one. Considering all these benefits and the knowledge that if you're not online, your competitor will be - having an online presence isn't so much a question of "Should I?", but "How do I?". But the thought of managing a website, especially one that offers online ordering, can seem daunting for many small entrepreneurs. Crafters can hire a website designer to create an online presence with ecommerce capabilities for them. There are often high costs associated with the design and management of websites, of course. There are also concerns about things like security and payment, which must be handled appropriately in this day and age of identify theft. Another option is to join an online crafters' mall. A good crafters' mall will make things easy for crafters, as it will have created the basic infrastructure already and they won't have to worry about the logistics of maintaining the website; they will only have to update their personal information and fill the orders that start coming in. Catherine Stabler is owner of the virtual craft mall Gold Leaf Crafters (http://www.goldleafcrafters.com), which brings together crafters, artists, artisans and designers with interested buyers worldwide via the Internet.
MORE RESOURCES:
Crafts-Hobbies - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
PE-Design Embroidery Digitizing Software: Getting Started This article is in response to the emails I receive from my website asking for my thoughts on PE-Design. If you are considering purchasing embridery digitizing programs, I hope this information will help your research. Depression Glass Patterns Collectors of Depression Glass find not only its beautiful colors fascinating, but its patterns, as well. With many glass producers making this type of glass, as you can imagine, many patterns resulted, creating a wide array of pretty, practical, and inexpensive glassware affordable to every American household in that lean era of history and making Depression Glass one of the most collectible items today. Ideas for Making Gift Baskets Do you want to give gifts to your friends or family for birthdays, Christmas or some other holiday, but you just don't know what to get them?Just take a decorative basket and you can create a gift basket filled with great items that either your friends or family will love.The items basically you will need to create a gift basket will include:**A decorative basket;**Shrink wrap;**Any color tissue paper;**Different assortment of shredded paper. Money Making Hobby - Do You Have One? Everyone has a hobby. We love all kinds of music, sports, movies, books. Embroidery Designs Sewing Denim is a twill weave and runs diagonally and any diagonal weave is difficult to control, whether you are attempting construction sewing or machine embroidery. Twills are designed to give the wearer ultimate wearing comfort by the natural "give" it has. Need A Scrapbook Journaling Idea? Try using song lyrics in your next layout.Song lyrics can be a great source of title and page inspiration for a scraper. Diet and Fitness - Help from Your Hobbies Everybody battles with their weight from time to time. It's either too much junk food or not enough exercise. Woodworking Tools: Right Selection And Care Will Save You Money, Part 6 Woodworking: Tools Of The Trade, Part 6 - Finishing EquipmentA civilization's maturity and intelligence is judged, in part, by the diversity and sophistication of its tools. When it comes to woodworking, the human race is quite advanced. Make Your Own Professional Gift Baskets Ever given your family or friends a beautiful gift basket? Gift baskets are such a wonderful gift and can be given for any occasion. However, if you are like me you don't have a clue where to start, let alone how to put one together?. Using Your Dogs Hair Dog hair (called chiengora)can be spun into yarn, much like sheeps's wool, alpaca, or any other animal fiber. The process is the same. How to Clean Your Jewelry at Home or Work It looks like a million dollars but after a couple of months it doesn't have the same 'Sparkle' or look it once had (a bit like me really).So what are we to do?The first thing is to make sure it is SAFE to be cleaned!Naturally, delicate items should be best left to a professional Jeweler to clean. Decorative Metal Work Techniques From The Early 1900s Today's Metal Craft workers should truly appreciate the artistic skills & techniques used exclusively by the highly skilled metal artisans from almost one hundred years ago.Decorative metalworking is undergoing a new renaissance as more & more people become involved in hobby metal craft. Printing on Canvas Given the progress in inkjet and media technology, demand for printing photographs and art on canvas is growing exponentially. Whether you have a good inkjet printer or you prefer to have your work done by a professional outfit, it is worth to explore this option for any type of image. The Surprising Popularity of Cigar Smoking The practice of cigar smoking has been on the rise in the U.S. Leather Work Tips For leather work, consider the basics: an awl and spare point, a retractable X-acto knife and spare blades, a retractable knife with a break-off blade and a rotary punch. In addition, you'll need needles, a lump of beeswax and some waxed linen thread. Scrapbooking Yourself as a Girl, Youth, and Your College Days Now that you grasp the importance of scrapbooking yourself and see how it can add value to your life, you've decided to go ahead and do it.The next question would be, "What's there to scrapbook about me? I don't have a fabulous or most interesting life like Rosanne. How Could Your Hobby be the Key to Financial Success? Virtually everyone has the knowledge they need to make a fortune. Everyone has an interest, hobby or has knowledge about a particular subject. Making a Chunk Candle Making chunk candles is an and fun activity for all ages. A unique technique using wax chunks of different colors gives the finished candle a beautiful texture and look. Scrapbooking Tips And Tricks For Photos And Images When you're incorporating pictures of any kind into your scrap book, why not set them off with an unusual finish? This could be an original idea for a border or frame -- or an arrangement of several items on the page to add a little drama. Here are a couple of tips that might do well for a children's album -- perhaps a keepsake baby scrapbook, or just a page for a boy or girl. Airbrush for Profit - Sell Your Services to Colleges Colleges, schools, university and the like are one way you can make money from airbrushing. Why they are a good market is that there are plenty of students to begin with.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
