Tip #2: Learn to Sell
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No matter how excellent, unique and wonderful your chip carvings are, they will not sell themselves! I’ve talked to some carvers who were obviously frustrated at the end of a Show because they didn’t have many sales. But I wasn’t surprised at all because every time I walked by their display, they were sitting on a chair in the back of their space either drinking coffee, chatting with
friends or intent on carving something. More on this coming up…
When it comes to Learning to Sell, the first step is to
Determine Your Goal
How much money do you want to make in the next 12 months? Maybe you want to make just enough money to support your carving habit, let’s say $500. A yearly vacation for you and your spouse is another reasonable goal, $4000. If you’d rather carve than work your part-time job at the Quick Mart, how about $12,000. If you’re really serious and want to replace your day job income, you know how much you make each year so that number is clear. Each goal
requires a different approach to hit the bull$eye.
Let’s look at them one-by-one.
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Support your Habit - $500 Selling $500 worth of your carvings is achievable by word-of-mouth marketing or by attending a large carving Show. But...you still have to know how to sell.
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Vacation - $4000 This is more than pocket change and requires a clear plan. Your carving is unique so identifying your audience is more important than ever. Where are the buyers located who will like your style of carving? Nautical theme? Southwestern style? Wedding plates? Fantasy card game boxes and trophies (look back to Tip #3)? Determine a plan where these
buyers can be found and how you will market to them.
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Part-time job - $12,000 Replacing your part-time job will most likely involve working more hours to earn this same amount of money than the hours you were working at the Quick Mart. If you’re not ready to make this commitment, better plan on working your part-time job. To sell $12k worth of chip carving would require a very strong network that’s been established
over many years. It’s more realistic to plan to sell as many of your chip carvings as you can, but to have the bulk of your sales consist of selling chip carving related items. Knives, patterns, carving blanks, Scary Sharp Sharpening Kits, Pattern Transfer Tools, etc. Yes, as you can see, I will sell wholesale to you if you’re interested. Most likely you’ll need your own website or sell on Ebay, Etsy, Facebook, Instagram and/or the largest shows you can attend.
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Full-time work - $30k+ Generating a full-time income selling chip carving doesn’t happen overnight. I give everyone interested in starting their own business this advice - Don’t quit your day job! Work on your business at night and on weekends while working your regular job. That way you will be able to support yourself while your business grows and until the time
when your venture is stable, growing and making enough money for you to live on. This is a big commitment and will require a lot of work. There are many ways to structure your business and market your skills and products. You’ll understand why I can’t get into all aspects of starting a business in this short post.
Pricing Your Work:
Over the years I’ve been asked many times, “How much can I sell my work for?” The answer has to do with each of the 4 Tips I’ve already shared.
How good is your chip carving? The quality HAS TO match the price.
Is your work unique? If no one else has carvings similar to yours, not only are you reaching out to a unique audience but you’re also in your own marketplace when it comes to price.
How well-known is your work and have you made a name for yourself? Have you put yourself out there?
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What’s your goal? Setting a price on your work to make some spending money to sustain your carving habit is much different than pricing your work to provide for your family.
With each of these in mind you can then determine a price for your work that is both reasonable and appealing to your audience.
When you’ve set a price and sold several of your pieces, don’t make apologies for the price. Sell with confidence knowing that each item is well worth the price.
Ask for the Sale
I sold new and used cars for a short while and I’m so glad I did. You know that there’s a huge “used car salesman” stereotype to overcome when meeting car shoppers at the dealership. I was determined to break the mold and find success. Learning how to sell was the first step. The lessons I worked through were very helpful. I can’t say I was completely successful in “breaking the mold” but I was successful in selling cars. I learned a lot about selling and part of it was knowing how to “ask
for the sale”. If you never ask you’ll never sell. Same is true with your carving. I’ll be glad to help you with this part of the sale when you’re ready.
Engage with your Audience
If you're displaying at a Show you need to be available, friendly and conversational with everyone who comes by your space. If you like to carve at your booth, carve at the front so potential customers can see what you're doing! Greet everyone and start a conversation. Everyone likes to meet a friendly person.
Don't make excuses like, "I'm an introvert." "I don't know how to start a conversation" "I don't know how to sell my work" Being a warm, engaging, funny and interesting person is a huge step forward. Remember that most people like to talk about the think they are most interested in - Themselves! Ask interesting questions that help them see why it's a good idea for them to walk out with one of your pieces.
There are online resources for all areas of selling your work. Search for:
How to sell at a craft show
Interesting ice breakers questions
Go to Square.com for tutorials on making your first online sale and setting up a website.
Would you like to attend a free webinar on How to Make Money with Chip Carving?
Yes - I'm interested! (click Here to be added to the list)
