FRIENDS OF THE CRAFTS FAIR NEWSLETTER #3
From The Crafts Fair Online- http://www.craftsfaironline.com
HAPPY HOLIDAYS
If you missed an issue, they are available online at-
http://www.craftsfaironline.com/Newsletter/BackIssues.html
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In this issue-
*The crafty web master- GET ON BOARD
*This months's craft project- CUT WOOD MENAGERIE
*Learned along the way- I'VE BEEN SEARCHING
*Site review- FLUFFY'S PICK
*Fun stuff on the web WHAT'S IN A NAME?
*Your webmaster's ramblings- HELP!
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THE CRAFTY WEBMASTER
Get On Board!
The first two articles in this series were directed at people who already have web sites, this time I thought I might talk to those of you who haven't yet taken the plunge into getting on the web.
Aside from the possibility of making direct sales on your web site, there are many other good reasons to set up a web site to show and sell your crafts.
1. Are you working real world craft shows? It can be difficult to create a base of loyal repeat customers. A web site provides your work with a "home" where people can always find you.
2. It's not unusual for browsers at craft shows to pass up on something they might have wanted to buy simply because they don't feel like carrying the item around the rest of the day. Or, perhaps they really love your work and think it would be the perfect gift for someone but they don't have an occasion in mind at the moment. Having brochures, business cards and tags with the address of your web site gives shoppers a chance to "come back" later and a chance for you to make some of those sales that otherwise would have been lost.
3. While web site customers can't pick up and hold your works, you can provide a lot more information about your work than you normally could at a craft show booth. Providing information about the process of your work helps create interest.
4. It's fun! Once you get a web site established it can be a great joy to sign on every day and see how many visitors you've had, read the comments in the guest book, etc. And, a web site can be many things, not just a virtual store. It can also be a place to teach, to entertain, to share other interests.
Still, the main reason to have a web site is to sell your crafts, so are people really making sales? Well, in our survey of 237 craft sites only 31% said they have found the web profitable. However, keep in mind that 82% have been on the web for less than a year and it takes time to build traffic to your site. Also, interestingly, 72% said they make from 1 to 20 sales per month and since you can put up a web site at practically no cost, 20 sales per month is not bad.
There are some great success stories out there. One interesting twist that I have heard from crafts prople who are selling a lot on the web is that they use their web site mainly as an adjunct to selling in real world craft shows and craft malls, home shows, etc. where they strongly promote their web site with each item they sell.
So, now's the time to get your works on the web. But where do you start? We have a section of The Crafts Fair Online called The Crafter's Web Development Center where you'll find all the information and help you'll need to create an independent web site at little or no cost. You can even get hands on help by posting your questions on the "Web Craft" bulletin board.
You'll find it at- http://www.craftsfaironline.com/CWDC/
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WINDOW DRESSING
If you already have a web site it's not too late to dress it up for Christmas! Here are a few links to places with free Christmas web graphics-
http://1webworks.com/christmas.htm
http://www.geocities.com/EnchantedForest/Tower/3280/gifshoppe.htm
http://www.enterzone.net/~ken/christmas.htm
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COOKIES IN A JAR Finding What You Want On The Web
I frequently get emails or posts on our bulletin boards from people trying to find this or that on the web. It always feels like a little victory when I am able to track down what they are looking for. Sometimes it turns out pretty simple but sometimes searching for something is like solving a little puzzle. So, I thought I would pass on a little of what I have learned about finding what you want on the web.
If you are relatively new to the internet you may not even realize that there are many different ways to search the web and that different search engines will give you different results. Once you gain a little understanding about how the search engines differ you'll have a better idea of which to use when searching for what.
Yahoo is one of the most popular search devices on the web. Technically, Yahoo is not a search engine but a directory. It doesn't search out web sites. In order to be included you have to submit your site. Then Yahoo includes it in a searchable, hierarchical database of sites. Because of this highly structured form Yahoo is great for searching for structured information like finding a hotel in a specific city or finding the web site of a specific government agency. Yahoo is not so good if what you are looking for is something that doesn't *fit* well into a specific category.
However, one extra nice feature at Yahoo is that if you don't find what you are looking for there, they have links at the bottom of the page that will automatically run your search on several other search engines, AltaVist, HotBot, InfoSeek, Lycos and more. You will find that each of these may give you different results depending on the way they work.
AltaVista, HotBot and WebCrawler (note, WebCrawler was bought out by AOL and is the same as AOL NetFind) all differ from Yahoo in that rather than just indexing the information given to them about a site, they actually go out on the web using robots or "spiders" that crawl around the web indexing whole pages and following links to other pages. The big advantage to this is that if you are looking for some obscure information, you may be able to find it hidden in the depths of a document. Just because there is not an actual web page *about* the subject doesn't mean the information isn't on the internet somewhere. You may come up with a post on a bulletin board where someone mentions it and that may turn your search in a different direction.
All of the search engines have help areas that explain "Boolean" search terms and other details of searching. It's good to learn that stuff and use it. But I have most often found that if I am having a hard time tracking something down it's because I'm thinking of it the wrong way and using the wrong search words. Someone recently wrote me and asked-
"I had a link to go to a craft of making homemade cookie jars that included the ingredients for making cookies in the cookie jar. I lost the link, unfortunately. I thought it would be a good idea for a Christmas present for my friends. Now I can not find it anywhere. I wonder if you could help me?"
So, I did a little search for "Cookie Jars" and found lots of sites about collecting cookie jars but nothing like what she seemed to be talking about. And, of course, a search for "cookies" brought up to many sites to try and narrow down. So, I gave up and got busy with something else and neglected to write back to her. A few days went by and she wrote back again with "Cookies in a jar" in the subject line of her email. I replied to her that I had done a search and didn't come up with anything. However, later in the day, that subject line was nagging at me. Maybe I was misunderstanding just what she was looking for. I did a search for "cookies in a jar" (putting your search words in quotes will make it search for that exact phrase) and Bingo! I found a bunch of sites about decorating Mason jars and putting the cookie ingredients and recipe inside. Turned out it was exactly what she was looking for.
In conclusion, you should have at least two or three different search engines bookmarked and if you aren't successful with one, try another. And try to think of different ways of saying what you are looking for.
You'll find links to many of the major search engines at-
http://www.craftsfaironline.com/Searchpage/search.html
Have fun searching!
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THIS MONTH'S CRAFT A Cut Wood Menagerie
Several years ago I saw some plans in Sunset Magazine for this really cute reindeer made of parts cut out of pine boards. The reindeer turned out really well so I thought it would be fun to do some other animals too - an elephant, a giraffe, a kangaroo, a rabbit and a rhino.
Using 1x12 pine boards I drew out the parts, the main body shape, the legs, the ears, etc. I then cut these out with a jig saw adding one inch notches in the body and the other parts so they would fit together into a 3D animal. For most of the animals this notching was all that was required to put the parts together although for the kangaroo and the rabbit I wanted the legs to go on at an angle facing slightly forward. So, for those I used a little glue and some small nails.
You can have a look at my results at-
http://www.craftsfaironline.com/Menagerie.html
As always, if you decide to try making them yourself, I'd love to hear about your results! And yes, you may feel free to copy my designs.
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FLUFFY'S PICK Our link reviewer Anne's pick of the best of the recently added sites.
Hi Crafters!
This month we uploaded over two hundred and fifty new links to the Crafts Fair OnLine! Whew! Some folks waited a long time to get their listing posted. I'd like to take this opportunity to apologize for the wait. Sometimes my day job gets in the way. Or should I say night job? I'm a nurse, by night, on Labor & Delivery.
So, with all those links, picking a favorite was even more difficult than usual. I'm always so impressed with the beauty and ingenuity of the various crafts, as well as the web crafting skills of the crafters. My "Fluffy's Pick" for this month is a site called Studio Direct Artlet, where "you can choose from exciting, affordable artworks directly from the artist's studio. A great way to find that unique gift and save too."
The site is shared by several artists. My personal favorite is the garden sculpture and whimsy of Gail Chavenelle. Working in sheet metal, Gail Chavenelle hand cuts one-piece images and folds/bends them into 3-D forms. Her work is based on paper sculpture rather than heavy metal construction. She explores metal's kinetic movement so pieces can bounce, fly or dance on its tensile strength.
Other Artlet artisans include: Levon Jackman, a talented colorist, who captures your garden in brilliant oils. Larian and Sharon, offering dreamlike and thought provoking images. And Cynthia Nelms Byrne, who works in oil, watercolor, acrylics, soft pastels, colored pencil, graphite pencil, pen and ink, scratchboard and on the computer. Have a look! The URL is http://artlet.com/artlet/index.html
I would like to join with Steve in wishing you and your loved ones all the blessings and joy of the holiday season. See you at The Crafts Fair!
Anne
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FUN STUFF ON THE WEB
What's in a name?
Find out the origin and meaning of your name at-
http://bnf.parentsoup.com/babyname/lookup/
Or, want to know where the most people with your surname live?
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HELP!
It is always a great joy to read wonderful comments of praise in our guest book, "Great site!", "This is just what I was looking for", etc. But lately there is an extra blessing in that I am hearing that crafts people are selling and succeeding with their web sites and that they credit The Crafts Fair Online with helping to get shoppers to their sites. Although we offer a lot of services and information about crafting and selling crafts on the web, the real point of The Crafts Fair Online has always been to provide a way for individual crafts people to band together in one web location where they can be found by prospective craft buyers. So, a lot of the work I do everyday is trying to promote the Crafts Fair in anyway I can to get more visitors and in turn, more visitors to the hundreds of independent craft sites we represent. At present we take in a little money from banner advertising but barely enough to cover expenses. On that limited budget it is difficult to promote the Crafts Fair in real world media as I would like.
So, I am asking your help! Do you have any media connections that might be interested in doing a story about the work we are doing here? Do you have a newsletter of your own or a crafts discussion group where you might give us a mention? Are you active in a newsgroup or bulletin board where you could give us a mention? Anything you can do to help promote The Crafts Fair Online helps all the independent crafts people we represent!
Happy Holidays! And Happy Crafting!
Steve