[Gary Mulkey]

I believe that the best marketing for our type of business is still to get in front of the public first hand. Buying a custom knife is not just the purchase of an item but buying a piece of the maker as well. All of the marketing ideas mentioned here have their place and I use many of them but my foremost avenue will always be "meet the public". Do whatever is necessary to get in front of potential customers be it through shows, hammer-ins, maintaining a public showroom, etc.

I make it a habit to greet each person who enters my shop and give them a cordial, "Thanks for coming in." as they leave. Let them get to know you and explain how you make your knives. I can't tell you how many times I have gotten a "thank you" for explaining the process as many are ignorant of all that it entails. If you make a friend as well as produce a quality product, the sales will follow.

Gary

[Dale Huckabee]

Cheyenne makes a good point about women customers. Years ago I ran a hunting and fishing store. I had a lot of women customers because I treated them the same as I did the men that came in. The women said that some of the other stores either ignored them or talked down to them. At a knife show, several years ago, a young woman came by my table and was looking at a particular knife. I talked to her some, about hunting and such, told her about the knife and how it was made. She walked away but came back a little later and bought it. She said that she had looked at several other knives, but that none of the makers would talk to her. She said that she was buying mine because I had taken the time to talk to her and to tell her about the knife.

Dale

[BrionTomberlin]

While we are on the subject of customers. Be at your table or have your wife, significant other, or somebody there to greet customers and talk to them. You would be amazed how much the act of simply talking to a potential customer can fix you in their mind. Also do not just sit there behind your table with your nose stuck in a book. This gives the impression that you would rather be doing something else than being at the show. These little signals can make a lot of difference. I have seen makers at shows that spend the whole show reading a book and then wonder why they did not sell anything.

Another thing I have found is have a bowl of candy or something similar on your table. It will draw people to your table. We especially like the Hersheys miniatures. The only problem is that we end up eating a lot ourselves.

Treat every person that comes to your table as a potential customer and friend.

Brion

[Phil Dwyer]

Haven't done any knife shows, but have done a fair share of arts and crafts ones. Yup, being actively present with your display--enjoying yourself, your craft, conversing with folks--goes a long way. I've recently started doing a monthly weekend show in Waikiki with some of my high school students. Without fail the ladies out sell the guys by a long shot as they are genuinely engaging with folks.

If I might make an observation about the cyberspace aspect of marketing. I believe the same type of comments about shows apply here: being actively present--enjoying yourself, your craft, conversing with folks--goes a long way. The fellas that chat up their work and do lengthy informative WIP (work in progress) posts are promoting themselves as well as their product.

Not sure if anyone has said anything about perfecting one's craft as part of marketing, probably because it goes without saying. From what I've read on the forums it seems many guys feel they need to make a perfect product of a master craftsperson before selling it. I believe sales can be made along the way of developing your craft, it just needs to be done in context. When I started crafting as a young pup hitching around the good old US of A, I was carving deer antler and bone with pretty primitive tools. I sold and traded a fair amount of this stuff before progressing to sterling silver and fabricating simple jewelry. Sold thousands of pieces. Progressed into lost wax casting and sold thousands more. At my zenith I was gold smithing in Beverly Hills. Sold fewer pieces, but they had higher price tags. I guess the point I'm trying to make is you can sell as you go along developing your craft. Just don't try to jump into the deep end right at the beginning. Grow your marketing and sales along with your craft.

Make sure you grow your management skills, resources and systems along with everything else, but that's probably another discussion.

[Jonathan Stanley]

Quote

Another thing I have found is have a bowl of candy or something similar on your table. It will draw people to your table. We especially like the Hersheys miniatures. The only problem is that we end up eating a lot ourselves.

Very true Mr. Brion, very true

Whenever wee have a garage sale at our house us kids usually sell cookies and lemonade...... but in the end more go to our mouths than our customers

[ABS Webmaster]

Create a YouTube Channel

You should consider creating a YouTube account for yourself. The accounts are free and you can upload videos telling about yourself and how you build your knives. You can have videos that show the techniques that you use to make your knives. Talk about and show the latest knife that you have made. The possibilities are unlimited and anyone with Internet access will be able to find and view your videos and learn how to contact you.

I created a YouTube Channel for the ABS as part of the development of the new ABS Website and our Forum. It has proved to be very successful in not only promoting the forged blade and our organization but also providing educational videos which are viewed in countries around the world each day. You can easily do the same for yourself.

There are many videos on how to create a YouTube account and channel and I have embedded one of them below for your convenience.

I use the administrative tools in YouTube to manage our ABS YouTube Channel to see which videos ,and more importantly which kind of videos, are the most popular on our Channel. I also use the analytical reports to check on demographics, view numbers, playback locations, likes and dislikes, and comments. The top video for us every month in every category is "Bill Moran and the Forged Blade". The top ten countries where the ABS YouTube Channel is viewed are the USA, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Brazil, Germany, Poland, Austrilia, and the Czech Republic.

You would be able to use the same tools to manage your YouTube account and the videos that you have uploaded to it.