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When people dislike my custom order starting price, I ask them how much they think brands like Calvin Klein would charge if you wanted them to make you a custom piece! Great video and I couldn't agree more about craft shows!

"I will never do a Custom order again . . . " yep. I used to do a lot of it, until I realized that the 10+ emails back & forth, along with the design/redesign time just didn't make any additional money, & in fact cut into my profit.

For me Craft shows work as I live in a small town. The craft fairs that I always go to one is like 10 minutes walking distance the other 20 minutes from my home, so it’s easy because I don’t have to spend a lot of money. I also love it because my sister in law also crafts (different stuff) and gets a table beside me and it’s like a day out. It relaxes me, I love meeting new people, I love the praises I get and if we’re outside and it’s a lovely sunny beautiful day even better! It’s therapeutic.

your channel is literally saving me

So, craft shows/ trade shows/events are a Catch 22, in my opinion. Considering my products are niche, I aim toward markets that fit my niche. I know I'll do well in these, versus a generic country craft show where the locals might throw holy water at me over even coming anywhere near my table. However, I think the greatest value comes from growing an e-mail list, a social media following, or future customers through these events. Even if I come home shorter than I thought I would in profit, I know the people I've met who followed me on social media will buy a product in the future or offer me some sort of free advertising by word of mouth, or even liking my images.

Returns/refunds, something a handmade or vintage business can not afford, that’s my guess! I’ve been at it for 20 years and everything you are sharing here is GOLD, thank you very much. Now I’m gonna check out your jewelry! 🌞❤️

You explain clearly; create a relationship with your listeners, and provide superior advice in a relatable way that results in people listening all the way to the end..

Blogging is such torture for me, I'm glad to hear someone say 'I'll never do it again!'

I'm so glad custom orders were included on this list! I've run into problems with them as well when its come to completing custom orders. I crochet stuffed animals, and a customer put in a custom order for a highland cow that i agreed to. My brand/business has nothing to do with cows or farm animals, and I actually want to focus more on fantasy creatures. However, because i accepted this custom, I now have a bunch of yarn that I dont typically use for anything, and a crochet pattern that i will likely never use again. Something that i think I'll implement in the future is giving an option to choose what color something is made in, but not really doing a custom design. They can choose products that I already offer, and not something new.

“I could do that.” Then you should. Everyone should. But do you know how much materials cost just to make one painting? Are you going to buy M Graham paints and silver brushes? Arches paper? Cheaper to buy from me. Over it too.

This video is excellent information!! I had a pottery business and much as I liked meeting customers at markets/craft shows the weekly grind and totally unpredictable income wore me out. Same with custom orders. Ceramics is labour intensive, colours can change in the firings and the process has a long turn-around time so I never made back anything like what it cost me to make. Yes, with the blogging too. Thought that if people knew the 'story' of the product they would respond better to buying it, but it took up a lot of time. Medical issues and not working now. Have not developed an online store so thinking this is the way to go for me if I re-evaluate my product offerings to suit the necessities of shipping. Thank you so much for your channel, have been learning a lot in your informed, clear, uncluttered presentations. TFS!!

Totally agree about craft shows! We only keep doing shows where we make at least 10x the booth fee, it’s just not worth it if we don’t make that much! My plan is to stop doing them in 2-3 years as we build up other parts of the business. Thanks for another great video Mei!

New subscriber! Love your videos so far ☺️. I've been on Etsy a long time (since 2009), and selling at fairs and markets all that time too. Finally looking at moving my eggs out of the Etsy basket...It's scary, but I'm gaining the confidence with every video of yours I watch. Keep it up! You are so relatable and I love that you share things that haven't worked in the long run, and (as you say in many of your other videos) to focus on your own brand. It just dawned on me that I have been driving traffic to Etsy for 10 years and not my own brand 🤯

I’m so glad I found you! I’m from Singapore living in Illinois. Just started doing craft shows. It’s dead but my Etsy would sell a few stuff. I had to buy a tent and all the set up booth stuff. I’ll do it going forward for fun but it’s like a Carni life. Move in, pack, sell, pack, move out. It’s exhausting.

I’m surprised you would never do blogging. I’ve found it pretty helpful. Having said that, the ROI isn’t as high as other SEO tools. I’ve used blog posts written by myself and others. You’re right that the conversion is low though.

The information that you have given has just stopped and made me think for the first time about my next step. I have gone through every one of your Never again's. Thank you. Great!!

Thank you so much for all the information you put out there for us! I specifically loved this video because now I know that I was right about my intuition!

Yet another superb set of suggestions with excellent detail. Mei, you continue to offer great wisdom and always presented in a highly intelligent manner! You’ve no idea how grateful I am. Thank you. My best!🙌

One of my favorite channel on YT. Thank you so much for always worth watching content! ♡♡♡

You've got amazingly helpful content. Thanks for all the effort you've put into these videos! I've been going through your videos as I consider restarting my crafty business. I completely agree with your points about craft shows and custom orders. Perhaps it depends on what you make but they didn't work for me either. You're 100% right about custom pieces. They always take more effort and its always a challenge to fully meet customer expectations.

I am so glad you mentioned that blogging is not helpful for handmade businesses. I was considering it, but I wasn't sure if it would be worth my time and energy. Thank you!

A fellow Minnesotan who knows the cold struggle🤣😂 I find you are 100% on point! Thank you for a few new tips! Subbed😉

Fantastic information and speaker! Straight to the point and complete!

You read my mind on all these things. Great advice to any handmade seller. I remember doing lots of vendor events when I started my handmade business 14 years ago. I was so exhausted and never got the return I needed for my time and Investments. So now I just think of them a marketing and public feedback events like you mentioned. But I can spend my marketing money more efficiently with internet ads. Another thing I don’t do anymore is buy advertising space in places like magazines and community spaces. You can’t get a clear picture on your ROI like you can with internet ads.

Thank you for sharing your experiences with us! Makes all the difference!

Thank you so much for your videos, I been watching KZfaq videos about sales for a wee bit now and I swear yours is the more realistic advice! I been changing my type of sales, still doing caricatures but trying to expand and do more illustrations and creative works. I also want to do tutorial videos!

You're a joy to listen to

Your videos are so incredibly informative! Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge.

Here’s a custom order story for you guys. I did a custom order for a small home-based spa business for a customer appreciation event. The project: twenty pairs of handcrafted polymer clay earrings, in variety of designs, done in mint theme (brand colour). This order took me a handful of weeks to produce and I was hustling hard! And because I was making such a variety of styles, I underestimated the time frame for completion. Lessons I’ll take with me for next time include: setting a realistic turnaround time and being transparent with the client about it so they’re not checking in to see if it’s ready. I would also charge more next time! That’s a whole other discussion for another time. 😂😊

thank you so much again. your videos really helps us handmade makers and sellers keep it up plss

Keep up the good work in helping us do it right. Continue not to let anyone from keeping your eyes on the prize. You are doing great

You are great, clear and complete in your presentation. What a joy and a help. Thank you.

I learn very much with your videos and your experience!! I love them!!

OH gurl- I hear ya!!No custom work- I have NEVER nor would I ever consider it- they don't want to pay and then they don't like it or complain about the most trivial horrible thing. Most customers are wonderful but there are those few out there- I had one lady bring back a necklace that she had for 15 YEARS!! Oh, do I have the stories- I'm an old timer in the biz.

Love all your info

Great video Luv!

SEO isn’t difficult to do once you learn how to implement it on your listings. With all of the valuable & free resources on KZfaq anyone can learn.

Thanks for sharing the resourceful tips

Thanks for the great tips.

I’ve just subbed! Thank You for sharing this! I’ve been looking for a way to “step down” from Etsy!. I’ve been with them since 2013 and have made a “somewhat profit”and even come up with my own product that was a made to order that was in high demand but took too much work and was backed up! The fact that you cannot answer to people’s feedback which in my case was ONE PERSON who ruined sales for months! She wanted a refund AND KEEP HER ITEMS WHICH WAS OVER 100 dollars worth of beautiful handmade art I had worked really hard on! I’m so frustrated with their confusing new rules and shipping that they made mandatory for us to pay while we have to offset the cost of our items to make up for it ! I miss the old Etsy and don’t know where all these confusing apps are coming from ...Etsy “patterns , Etsy “square” etc..I have pages on Facebook and would like to just start selling that way and you tube only ! Do you have any advise on how I can turn my FB pages into clickable sales? Or comments on what the customer wants using pay pal? I love what you had to say and you are very smart and Handmade business savvy! ANY ADVICE ... ILL TAKE IT!!!! The Jar fancy /Leeann 🙏🤷‍♀️❤️⭐️

You give great advice and information

Your videos are giving me liiiife. Thank you so much 🙏🏼

Ty so much!! 💕💕

Your lipstick, shirt and pegboard are all color coordinated very well

Good advice, thank you.

Thank you for sharing these tips, I am going to show my jewellry first time in a fair, I have saved your video for few months but watched now, that is realy informative.

Thanks for such an honest video. This springs so close to me, It's been interesting this year. I made a big effort sorting out my seos, and everything on my online stores I listened to your last video I dont just have etsy I have folksy and Facebook, I've made my first sale to America this year also and made 50 online sales in 2 weeks just selling my earrings. I think it would have been a struggle making these sales on a market stall and for the price I sell my products. It's been interesting and nice doing online Facebook markets from the comfort of my home. Markets are long days. Half the events are not advertised enough by market retailers, and are only interested in making money from vendors. Take a packed lunch...... the amount of money we have spent on coffees and lunch cuz we didnt take a tea flask. A card machine is a must. I get so up set going to markets and there attualy flee markets or "carboots with second hand tat"So your there trying to sell your £20/60 + products and people dont wana Pay the price. 😣 Research in to a local market before you go is a good I'dea go first see what it's like befor paying for a stall. It's a tedious long day if you do a stall for £30-60 and you can barely make that back. My wose pet peeve is other jewellery makers not pricing there stuff properly. So when they get to your stuff they dont wana pay the right price when they want something much cheaper, that's up to the customer is suppose but it doesnt give a true story to the price of hand made. Yet these same people are happy paying the price of brands like pandora 🤷‍♀️ I use my Facebook page to "blog" briefly what I'm making that day or night so people see the time it takes to make my item and gain an interest in to the product then they buy when its listed. In the new year I plan on doing a blog of the history of jewellery and fashion. Making my own head piece, necklace or bracelet and explaining a bit about the persons who may have wore it and the time period. While having pre made stuff ready to go on my etsy/folksy shop. I still have a long way to go though. But geting there. Thanks for your advice

Yes i had to sub I have no idea why you don’t have more subs. I made my online selling and it’s going on super. Especially now when we are in quarantine I have to sell online. Thanks

This video is quite informative. Thank you.

Love you! Awesome videos!!! 👌👏👍😀🏆🥇🎉🎯🎱🧶🧵🖼️

I am just getting started and your videos are so helpful

Very helpful. Good explanation Thank you for sharing your experience

Im really enjoying all the valuable information on your videos. Thank you once again for sharing this valuable information with us.

Great Information! Thank You!

I started my online handmade accessories made of natural crystals several months ago and now i have consistent sales from barely selling anything for the first copuple of months. I really feel the custom order problem, especially when some buyers request for a custom order made of material that is not on my stock or too pricey for a particular design piece. I already put a lot of effort of creating, designing, and deciding what stone will be the best for the piece. It is waste of time and energy to go and get a particular stone or material and only use a fraction of it just for that specific customization request. I will swear i will only limit customization on size. If its not on my inventory, then i will decline the request for customization.

u have been a great help! thank you

At least you have family support. Some of us have to do 100% of everything alone which is why we work at craft shows. It helps us network with other vendors because we are alone. People who have family support i found usually do not know what it's like to not have anyone at all. You are one of the lucky ones out there who has that support no matter what risk you take. I'm glad you have people who are there for you.

Hi Mei! You're saving my life here. I'm a Surface Designer planning on opening my own brand. My goal is to print my designs on fabric so I can make tote bags, backpacks, wallets, all of that (for now I'm just focusing on tote bags). I'm having trouble finding a manufacture that will print minimal and not cost me a liver (most places I find are charging $23-30/meter), I was wondering if in your course A Sale A Day has a list of manufactures that would do minimum for a reasonable price Best!

Thanks for all the insight

Thank you, blogging is something I would never do. Don't like writing. Also some recipes I've looked up is full of words, just the recipe please.

Hi, You have provided some valuable information on building our business.

Very good video. Thanks so much!!!

Thank you so much for sharing your priceless experience for handmade craft business❤❤😊😊 I am a beginner and your program helped me a lot🙏🙏🙏🌸🌸🌸🌺🌺🌺🌺💐💐💐💖💖💖💖

Sooo helpful ☀️Thank you for sharing your experience ❤️💎❤️🦋🎼🦋❤️☀️

I'm not convinced about the blog. I make homemade granola, and I feel like the recipes and kitchen tips I provide encourage people to purchase from me. I feel like if all I do is promote my products, customers are going to get tired of me... But, you're right, it takes a lot of time.

Thank you so very much for all the info and help. New subbie here, very happy I found your channel

With you on the craft fairs. Did them all through 2018. So much effort and not my target market. I do still do custom orders but it depends whether it's worth it for me.

You’re the best!! Thank you, as always!!! X

So helpful. I just subscribed thank you.

Thanks for the great info

Great information

Wish I had seen your channel before I subscribed to wordpress for the year! Next year we are going shopify! Thank you!

Great tips!

Thank you for the advice about the blogging. I was thinking it was necessary to get people to my website but now its a no brainer that its a waste of time.

Great advice , and you are so easy to listen to , a lot of you tubers put me off once they open their mouths or play loud annoying music , keep up the good work and many thanks !.

Soooo helpful. Thank you

I 100% agree on the craft shows ~ even when i have made 10 times booth rent, it still is not worth the time/effort and all the "soft" costs. I do however still do custom orders ~ most of my business is custom/personalized.............

I have watched a couple of your videos and do find them informative. My problem is my age. I don't really understand a lot about social media. Have you got a video for dummies. Lol. All the information I've seen is so beyond me. I know I could get over my fear of selling if I have an idea of a first step that I understand somewhat. Thank you

OMG I'm so glad you said Blogging! For a while it seemed like every video, email or facebook post about small business I watched kept going on and on about blogging. Something I knew I would fail at. I'm glad I never bothered.

Thanks for saving me a lot of money :-D

Thank you, so interesting, I've just starting watching you & finding your videos very helpful:)

I'd imagine that local craft or specialized craft show events (or community events) would good to start and continue with. That's what I'm to start with when I start my business. However, there probably won't be many events for the rest year and maybe longer.

Thank you for your videos

That's blogging crossed off the list...THANKYOUSOOOO MUCH!!!

Thanks. Very helpful

Thank you so much! .. I love love love your channel and I’m definitely buying your course but it says “enrollment closed “

Hi I like your advices, very helpful. Thank you. Ps. I like GG too, I rewatching Greys anatomy now while I do my products and videos like yours 😉

I haven’t don’t a craft show. All the costs involved give me a headache just thinking about it. The likely hood of breaking even is slim.

Totally agree on the art/craft shows. Though Im doing one a year because it’s not bad and there is a niche audience there. Re blogging, I am using it for SEO and to show visitors that my site is active. Being a visual product, I post a picture and link to products in my shop and slip in a keyword or two. Then I can have another pin for my website. I do accept custom orders which has really helped my business but my products are fairly easy to make. 😉

I’m new here. I’m trying to make a business card, do u have a video about this? I’m definitely going to binge watch ur videos.😊

I have never watch any of your videos before but I am going to be watching all of them I do a lot of handmade crafts and art and didn't know how to go about doing anything to promote them or to get them out for sale I haven't really learned much yet from you but I see that if I watch all your videos I'll have a much better chance of getting my product out there I do not do anything copied or reproduced everything is original so I haven't no way of doing like wholesale but I appreciate all your help and I hope that I can ask questions later if I need be

Hi Mei, just wanted to say a thank you for your very informative videos! I've only just discovered you today in light of the latest Etsy shake up.

The Gilmore Girls thing got me! My mother used to own and run a handmade jewelry business, and she would stay up and watch Gilmore Girls while making new products.

This an awesome video thank y

Thanks Mei.

Liked and subscribed . Thank you for your advice Mei your videos and advise are priceless. My small handmade polymerclay jewelry business is selling but Etsy is just so hard and slow

Shucks, number 4... I am going to be blogging for my next venture on Shopify... And now not sure if it's good or bad... I wanna do printable planners, calendars, and also selling BUJOs with my own designs, and thought about blogging about what a bullet journal is, how it helped my with managing anxiety... etc. I did a Google Trends research and keywords research and thought it was a good thing, but now I'm starting to think it over. (Side note: I have been blogging for 6 years in different platforms, I know my SEO writing, and I do it fast... so maybe that would be a good choice?)

Omg I thought I was the only one that doesn’t want to do custom orders anymore!

Good job on this video my friend. Thanks for sharing and I hope you have a blessed weekend. Dale