6 Great Marketing Tips for the Creative Business

Now that I have my new business, I've been reading more & more about marketing & how to get the word out there that I have this new enterprise.  I'm still learning a lot about this, but I wanted to share what I've leaned thus-far about marketing your creative business.

1) Know your market - Think about the product you are offering.  Think about the person who would purchase this product.  Imagine a specific person.  Is the person male or female?  Young, middle aged, older?  What kind of clothes does this person wear?  Where do they live?  What kind of haircut do they have?  What do they do for a living?  Once you have a picture of them, think about where this person hangs out.  Do they hang out on blogs?  In coffee shops?  Do they read fashion magazines?  Do they work out at the YMCA?  Once you think about where your ideal customer likes to hang, you can have more information about where the best places to market your business might be.

2) Present new items as soon as you can - Whether you have an etsy shop, a web shop, a web service, or a real store in town, present your new items as soon as you can.  You can't sell it if it's not out there.  So when you have something new, add it to your shop.  Let people know it's there.  See how they respond.

3) Participate in community - Spend a little time each day talking to others that do similar things as you do.  Ask questions, answer questions, lend support.  Even if you think you don't have anything to say, you actually probably do.  Have coffee with the shop owner down the street.  Attend creative courses in your community.  Attend creative events or join creative groups in your area.  Attend conferences.  Make sure you hand out your business card to everyone you meet at these events.  Wear your product (if they are wearable) as much as possible & have your business cards with you to hand out all the time.  Join some teams on Etsy & be active in the forums.  If you are an Etsy seller, try to post 5+ treasuries per week.

4) Start an email newsletter - I just started mine recently - you can sign up here:

Subscribe to our mailing list

An email newsletter is a great way to remind people that you exist.  I do this all the time: see something at a craft fair or online that I LOVE, but don't have the money today to buy or want to give something like that as a gift at Christmas so I don't want to get it just yet, but really want to remember it for later.  If I'm not on their email list, I'm totally gonna forget about that thing.  Getting people to get on your list gives you the opportunity to market to them in the future & make them remember you & purchase your item.  I think sending an email to your list once every two weeks or every month with your new items or new things going on in your shop is plenty.  Make sure you give your list special incentives, like maybe let them know first about new product lines, offer free shipping, or:

5) Have a contest - When you're just starting out, this is a great idea.  Host a contest on your own blog.  Contact blogs where your idea customer would read & ask about having a giveaway with them.  Host a giveaway in your community or put out your email list at your next craft show & let people know that those who sign up today will be entered into a drawing.   This will entice more people to sign up, then you'll be able to market to them again in the future!

6) Participate in social marketing - Twitter, Facebook, blogging, Flicker, & Pinterest are the big ones I think.  I used to think Twitter was so lame, but now I love it!  Pinterest is the newest thing & can really bring in the new customers if something you sell catches on there.  I've just started a Flicker account, so I can't tell you too much about this one, but I hear it's supposed to be a great place to market your things for free.  If anyone has any Flicker tips, let me know in the comments!  These are all ways to obtain followers & again, remind them that you exist.  It's also a place to build community, find friends & people that you can talk to about your business & help each other out by marketing each other.  Make sure when you use these you're not ONLY marketing.  People want to see that you're a well rounded person.  You should market for other friends & products that you really like.  You should show some of your personality.  People purchasing from a creative business owner often want to feel like they know the person they are buying from, that's part of the experience.  Let your customers into your life to the extent you feel comfortable.

I hope these ideas point you in the right direction on how to market yourself & your business.  There is so much you can do to market, so it can be overwhelming.  Set aside a certain amount of time every day for marketing.  Maybe you have only a half hour every day to spend.  Maybe you can spare an hour.  Just make a time & do something for marketing every day.  If you do this daily, your little marketing items out in the world will build up & slowly start to pay off for you!

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