Crafty Bastards is approaching, and with only a few shorts days of prep time left before the big event, hundreds of crafters are working around-the-clock to sew clothing, create prints, assemble jewelry, and complete the innumerable tasks of their trade in the hours that remain. Crafty Bastards is one of the biggest, if not the biggest craft event of the year in DC, and while the many fabulous crafters and performers make the show the success that it is, there is an unsung class of show participant that contributes to every vendor’s success – the craft show helper. The Helpful Bastard, if you will.

As a Helpful Bastard, vendor boyfriend, and booth babe for four years of Crafty Bastards, plus many other shows both large and small, I would like to offer a few notes and tips for anyone acting as a show helper this year. The Helpful Bastard can be the boyfriend, girlfriend, or spouse of the vendor, a supportive parent, a friend or even an employee who is there to lend an extra pair of arms and some moral support. Done well, the work of the Helpful Bastard can speed up the setup and breakdown process, charm customers, keep yourself and your partner flush with food and drink, and make the day an incredibly fun, memorable experience for yourself and your friends. Done poorly, one day of volunteerism can spoil the experience of craft shows and crafting in general, create resentment between you and your partner, and damage your brand. The audience I have in mind for these tips are the newbies who have never worked at an outdoor fair in their life, but veterans may find some value in these notes.

15 + 1 Steps Towards Becoming a Valuable Craft-Show Helpful Bastard

1. Remember the essentials, even if you assume your partner will. Bring a handkerchief or rag to daub sweat from your face. For outdoor shows, don’t forget bug repellant and suntan lotion or spray. Have some bottled water (preferably chilled the night before), or know where to get some nearby. Have some extra cash so you don’t have to borrow from the cash box when grabbing a bite to eat. You’ll want your charged cell phone, so you and your partner can stay in contact if you get separated. Finally, dress comfortably, stay loose, and wear your most comfortable shoes. Consider bringing an empty side bag for your own purchases and personal items. If possible, make sure you and your partner have a key to the vehicle you used to travel to the show. That way, each of you will always be able to get your vehicle, load in or out, or otherwise have access to transportation in case the other is unavailable.

2. Strongly consider bringing a good book or small, portable project you can work on. You need something that you can dive into quickly when business slows, but can put down in a flash when your partner needs something or when customers swarm your table.

3. Be prompt and be reliable. If you agree to meet your partner mid-day to help, be there on time (especially if you’re relieving another helper). Call in advance and see if they’ve forgotten anything you can bring (like the items from the previous bullet point).

4. If you can, wear something that promotes your product (e.g., a t-shirt, button, or sticker).

5. With #4 in mind, don’t be overly concerned about appearances, but don’t look like you just rolled out of bed. Yes, it’s important to look comfortable and stylish (business casual, as craft goes), but be prepared for potentially hours of physical labor under the hot sun or in the chilly damp. Accept that you may get messy and that you may not have a proper bathroom to fix your makeup or hair in.

6. Keep a supply of business cards on you. People will recognize you from your booth, and you may run into curious shoppers while off a lunch run.  Be prepared to talk about how they can learn more about your products after the show.

7. If you can, make friends with your booth neighbors.  Many people in the craft community make friendships quickly, and in case of an emergency it’s good to know that someone you have a token relationship with can watch your booth for you for a short while.

8. Be considerate of other vendors. This will improve the social standing of yourself and your partner, and avoid negative feelings towards your business. It will also make tasks that rely on cooperation, like unloading and loading, faster and easier. Remember, many other people you meet will be like you – faithful boyfriends, acquaintances, mothers, etc. – who are there as volunteers or for love of craft, and they most likely just want to have an uneventful day in front of the customer.

9. Offer to help your partner set up the booth or display, but don’t make assumptions about what you think looks good or is the best approach to solving a problem. Your partner, if she or he is the primary brains behind the business, has probably already spent a great deal of time thinking about exactly how their booth should appear and probably has a pretty good idea of how things should be done. As an aside, be sensitive to your partners verbal and physical cues.  If they want you to hang back and let them run the show, then stand back and await instructions. Otherwise, be enthusiastic and offer help and suggestions.

10. Don’t make the day harder than it is. Yes, you are a great guy/gal for volunteering to help, but ultimately you volunteered, and the goal today is to promote your partner’s craft and make money, not celebrate you for being a really cool boy/girlfriend.  That can (should!) happen after after the show. In my case, I demand celebration in the form of complimentary fried dumplings, but you might want to set your sights higher.

11. If you’re not doing anything during setup or another time when your partner may be busy but you aren’t needed, offer to get coffee/bagels/lunch, but don’t hover.

12. Be mindful of the space you occupy. Even if they aren’t using it, vendors are entitled to their assigned space. Try to keep your materials within the borders of your area, and try to ask politely before entering another vendor’s space during setup and break down. Conversely, make sure you have the space you need to be comfortable and productive throughout the day. Plan to bring two chairs – one for you, one for the vendor – and plan a space for both! You can skip the chair if you plan to be on your feet all day, but make sure your space layout takes your presence into account. Furthermore, make sure there’s enough space to maneuver around your partner and in and out of the booth area – you need to retain your mobility in order to help customers, manage your space, and slip out inconspicuously.

13. Tips for interacting with customers: Even though you may feel like you’re dead weight during the day, you are still part of the public face of the enterprise. Smile, make eye contact, offer to help customers, and keep an eye on the merchandise. Even if you’re a total introvert, learn to make eye contact, smile, and ask them if they have any questions or are looking for something in particular.  You don’t have to chatter at the customers, especially if they’re studying the product and not you, but you need to be attentive to their physical cues.

14. Be honest about the product and the prices. If someone wants to haggle, or ask questions about price or product you can’t or don’t feel comfortable attempting to answer, direct them to your partner, either when she or he returns, or via the website or email. It’s OK to say, ‘Thank you, I’m not the artist, but I’m sure she’d be happy to answer any of your questions when she gets back from the bathroom/lunch break/etc. in a few minutes. Feel free to check everything out in the meantime!’

15. Hopefully, all of your craft shows will be pleasant, happy occasions. However, stresses can occur sometimes, and – although I hope it never happens – sometimes there are unpleasant events when you’re out dealing with the public or other vendors. When you’re at a craft show, misunderstandings with your partner, crazy customers, bad weather, or things breaking can all contribute to a tense environment. The thing to remember is that unless it’s a real emergency, don’t make a show of hostility and never shout at your partner or customers. It’s OK to walk away, fume, and then have a stern conversation later, but causing a scene wrecks the atmosphere for you, your partner, and everyone in the vicinity.

And finally…

16. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Unless you’re a co-equal participant in the business, you can’t be expected to know all of the ins and outs of the vendor experience. Have your partner walk you through the experience of solo selling, in case you find yourself working the booth for an extended period of time. Do you know how to complete a transaction? Do you know how to calculate sales tax? If you use a credit card machine or need some kind of specialized knowledge to complete a sale, have your partner walk you through it, and then do it yourself. Don’t assume that just because someone once showed you how the Credit-Matic 5000 worked, that you’ll be able to operate it again when five customers are urgently waiting for you to ring up their sale. Likewise, practice setting up and taking down tents and umbrellas. Both tools can be maddeningly complex despite their simple appearances.

You can help yourself by becoming familiar with the pricing for your products, and by having a rudimentary understanding of the cost factors involved in custom work (if available). If you can, make a ‘cheat sheet’ of prices for everything that can bought off-the-shelf, so you don’t have to stand up and consult the display along with the customer. It’s OK to say “I don’t know, you’ll need to get in touch with the artist” and encourage the customer to wait to meet the artist (if she’s stepped away), or at least hand the customer a business card.

In conclusion, be patient, willing to work, and be enthusiastic and polite towards customers and your fellow vendors. Working a craft show as a volunteer can be difficult, especially as you may not be personally invested in the financial success of the business, but think of it as an opportunity to participate in a special event much larger than yourself. Craft shows will introduce you to some of the most creative, dedicated artists and entrepreneurs in the world, and you can learn something from everyone you meet. So have fun, stay cool, and come say Hi! to Rebound Designs at Crafty Bastards, booth 52, this year!

The Crafty Jury has met for the last 5 years of the fair, with a different jury from year-to-year.  We rate each applicant through a unique system that keeps the vendor selection process fair for all crafters.

We’re excited to share our Jury process this year! If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment.

How long does the Jury process take?
The Crafty Jury meets for two days, approx. 10 hours per day.

How are the applications judged?
Each application is reviewed one by one, with special attention paid to the 3 photos and vendor statement. From there, each juror rates the applicant on 9 craftigories; the first 8 craftigories receive a score of 1-10. The last craftigory is an Overall score, which is worth 20 points.

So the best possible score for an applicant would be 100 craftaculous points! The lowest is 10.

All of the applicants’ ratings are then compiled and each applicant is given a total score based on the average score from all 7 jurors.

At the end of the jury process, those applicants with a score of 75 or higher are automatically accepted into the fair. We then take a look at the categories of craft that we might be missing, and try to fill in the gaps from there. For example, if there are 5 spaces left in the fair, and we have not accepted any ceramic artists, we will take a look at the highest rated potter applicant and may decide to accept them into the fair.

This process allows for an excellent shopping experience for our attendees, and a profitable day for our vendors.

What are the Craftigories?
1.) Craftsmanship/Skill
How well-made are the crafts? We keep in mind some things are meant to look rough or undone.

2.) Inventive use of materials?
Does the crafter use pre-manufactured materials or do they make their stuff from scratch?

3.) Labor/Time Investment
Does it look like there was time invested in the concept/design/product?

4.) Physical Design – How much thought was put into the aesthetics/function of the work?

5.) Alternative Subject Matter/Vision?

6.) Rarity/Singularity – How unique are the products?

7.) Excitability – Would we buy this or recommend it to someone?

8.) Appeal – Does this vendor appeal to a large group of shoppers, or would their products only appeal to a very niche group?

9.) Overall (worth 20 points)

Why do you use this rating system?
This rating system provides an equal opportunity for all crafters to have a chance to vend at the fair. Where some applicants might get a high score in the uniqueness of their work, others may get a higher score in how well their products are made.

Is there a wait list?
Yes. We usually pick a small number of applicants with scores closest to 75 to be on our Pending List. Those on the Pending List will be notified of any booth space that may open up for various reasons.

Who is on the Jury?
The Crafty Jury is comprised of award-winning art critics and designers, as well as crafters and Directors of Hello Craft — the non-profit which is powering Crafty Bastards this year, alongside Washington City Paper.

Meet the Jurors:

Kriston Capps

Kriston Capps writes about art around the nation and life in the District. His writing appears in the Guardian, Dallas Morning News, Art in America, DCist,  and other places.

Jeffry Cudlin

Jeffry Cudlin is an artist, curator, musician, and award-winning art critic. Since 2004, he has written features about museum and gallery shows for the Washington City Paper. He has been recognized with First Place awards for Arts Criticism from the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies in both 2008 and 2009. His visual arts blog, Hatchets and Skewers, is nationally recognized.

Since 2007, Cudlin has served as the Director of Exhibitions for the Arlington Arts Center. There, Cudlin curates five exhibitions of contemporary art each year, focusing on the work of mid-atlantic artists, but also bringing national and international art stars to the D.C. area in themed exhibitions exploring topics of the moment. His current show at the AAC, PARADOX NOW!, features historical reenactments, parodies, and anachronisms, and includes video works by New York new media artist Mark Tribe and British filmmaker Anna Lucas.

As an artist, Cudlin has organized projects in Washington, Baltimore and Richmond. In 2007, his mockumentary, Ian and Jan: The Washington Body School, appeared at DCAC and received accolades in the Washington Post. For that project, Cudlin and his collaborator, Meg Mitchell, performed an art-historical intervention by interviewing local art luminaries and asking them to describe a nonexistent D.C. art movement. Cudlin will have a one-man show next June as part of Flashpoint’s 2009-2010 season.

Jeffry received his M.F.A. from the University of Maryland, College Park, and his undergraduate degree in studio art from the University of Virginia.

Pete Morelewicz

Pete is the former art director of City Paper and currently designs several magazines you’ve never heard of. You may have seen him at Crafty Bastards’ in the past, whether squishing Crafty Bastards pennies, selling his paintings of Bob Ross, schlepping tables in the pre-dawn darkness, or just generally harassing the vendors. This is the fourth year Pete has had the honor of sitting on the Crafty Bastards jury, and in the process has learned more about sculpey than he ever thought possible.

Tina Seamonster

Tina Seamonster is a podcaster, blogger, crafter and mom to 4 year old twins. She usually writes in third person like this because it either scares people or makes them laugh.

Seriously, I really am honored to be a part of Crafty Bastards. This is my 6th year as a vendor and 2nd or 3rd as a member of the team. My credentials for job as juror include my many trips to shows with my own products (this includes getting into shows AND being rejected from them), my work with organizing the Craft Mutiny’s local holiday shows, blogging for the Etsy Storque, Cut the Craft Blog and Hello Craft. My newest and most loved project is a listener-generated podcast for Hello Craft, where crafters call a toll free voice mail line and tell me their stories. I love the stories that I hear from crafters and customers. If punk rock saved YOUR life, indie craft has saved mine.

You can check out what I make (including my world famous line of Zombies Plague Holiday Cards) at tinaseamonster.com. You can check out my podcasts at hellocraft.com and televisionzombies.com.

Kelly Rand

Kelly Rand is an arts writer for DCist.com, lead writer for Crafting a Green World, and is co-founder of Hello Craft, a non-profit trade association dedicated to the advancement of indie craft and the handmade movement. This will be Kelly’s second year serving on the Crafty Bastards jury. Kelly received her BFA from the Savannah College of Art and Design and is a compulsive knitter and avid maker. Kelly believes that handmade will save the world.

Kimberly Dorn

I’m a crafter and an event planner with a penchant for all things Hello Kitty, Lingonberry Juice at Ikea, and crafts that combine cute with functionality.

When serving on the Crafty Jury, I’m looking for crafters that take an innovative approach to whatever they do. My favorite category to review is Housewares, because I like to see how crafters merge their design ideas with functional pieces.

My background in crafting started with a BFA in Sculpture from SUNY Albany, which eventually turned into printmaking, which led to photography, and now also includes knitting, paper arts, making hair accessories, silk screening, and leaving trails of yarn, felt, fabric and other craft bits all over my house.

Being part of the handmade community has been an awesome experience, and has led me to meet many amazing, motivated and inspirational crafters and artists. As one of the Festival Directors behind the Crafty Bastards Arts and Crafts Fair and the Handmade Mart, as well as being the Executive Director of Hello Craft, I’m excited to once again serve on the Crafty Jury.

Sara Dick

I enjoy fresh produce, bumpy yarn, Etsy browsing, craft brews, Frank Zappa and smart people. I make stuff and love to buy handmade.

As a crafter, I’ve sold my work at Renegade Brooklyn, Handmade Arcade in Pittsburgh, Holiday Heap and Pile of Craft in Baltimore, Crafty Bastards and a handful of smaller shows in the DC area.

I’ve helped organize and curate Crafty Bastard since 2004, putting the number of CB vendor submissions I’ve reviewed somewhere in the thousands. The past two years I’ve worked with DC’s Craft Mutiny to produce the Holiday Booty Market and most recently, curated Hello Craft’s Show of Awesome.

As a handmade shopper, I am proud to have supported artisans (and filled my apartment) with purchases at craft shows like Renegade Chicago, Crafty Wonderland’s Super Colassal Holiday Show in Portland, Bust’s Spring Craftacular and all the shows of which I’ve been a participant. Can’t wait to see what I’ll be buying this year!

Questions?
Please leave a comment. We will answer in the comments so that we can share the information with all of  our readers. Please note that the Jury will be in session this weekend, so we might not be able to respond right away.

Have you heard about the Hello Craft Summit of Awesome? Have you seen the line-up? Keep reading and prepare to be wowed!

Hello Craft’s Summit of Awesome is 3-days (May 1-3) filled with business seminars for artists and crafters, hands-on workshops, the D.C. premiere of the Indie Craft Documentary, Handmade Nation, and a Saturday night party. Through a partnership with the MidCity Business Association, all Summit seminars and workshops will take place in the wondrous and vibrant independent businesses in MidCity (14th and U Streets NW).

The Summit is a great mix of learning and crafting from discussions to hands on workshops, with a little something for everyone.
Special Craftnote Speakers:

• Maria Thomas, Etsy.com CEO
• Jenny Hart – Sublime Stitching

Demos/Workshops:  Learn a new technique or make something awesome with guidance from our amazing speakers.

• Fun with Duct Tape with Kristina Bilonick
• Simple Mold Making with Adam Maron – Pearson Maron
• Fiber Demo with Jamie Chan and Blas Herrera – Urban Fauna Studio
• Embroidery Demo with Jenny Hart – Sublime Stitching
• How to Photograph your Work with Sherry – Dandelion Blu
• Sew a Felt Broach with Beth Baldwin – Tiger Flight
• Make a Snow Globe with Esti Gerson
• Plate Breaking Demo with Juliet Ames – The Broken Plate
• Sewing Demo with DC Threads
• Make a Small Book with Esti Gerson
• Screen Printing Demo with Christy Petterson

Learning Sessions:  The main part of the weekend is to learn and grow your crafty endeavors. Visit Hello Craft for a full list of speakers.  Session topics include:

• Am I a Business? How and when to form a business for your crafty endeavors
• Tax Implications of Starting a Business
• Developing a Product Line. Deciding what to make and sell
• Branding and Identity
• Copyright and Tradmarks, How to protect yourself and your work
• Customer Service. Crafting with a Smile
• Selling Successfully Online 
• Craft Fair Booth Set up and Displays
• Selling in a Brick and Mortar
• The Ins and Outs of Trade Shows
• What’s a Social Network and How to use it for Good
• Street Teams. Why you should connect and collaborate
• Crafting a Green Craft
• Consumption and Sustainability. How DIY will Save the World
• Navagating the Art world with Craft
• Going out on a Limb
• Organizing a Craft Fair
• Event Sponsorship

Also in store for the weekend, you’ll have access to a screening of the D.C. premier of Handmade Nation, a make something awesome crafting area and the first even Handmade White Elephant gift exchange and swap!

Register by this Friday to get the discounted price of $150. After Friday, the cost will be $180. Discounts available for groups and craft collectives. Email hellocraftinfo@gmail.com for group rates.

On Friday, May 1st, Hello Craft will host its first ever Summit of Awesome in the heart of the Nation’s Capital.

Geared specifically for independent artists and crafters, the Summit of Awesome is 3 full days of seminars and hands-on workshops, which will provide business and technical educatation for those in the handmade arts communtiy. The Summit also includes the D.C. premiere showing of the Indie Craft Documentary film, Handmade Nation – A highly anticipated film that captures the superstars of the indie crafting world, and documents how the handmade community began and took it’s current shape.

The entire Summit of Awesome will take place in the independent shops, restaurants and bars in the MidCity area of D.C., along 14th and U Streets NW. The film screening of Handmade Nation will be hosted at the DCJCC’s Theatre J.

Seminar topics include Business Identity and Branding, How to Green Your Craft, Small Business Basics, The Ins and Outs of Trade Shows, and many more. An exciting line up of speakers who are leaders in their field include Maria Thomas, Chief Operating Officer of Etsy.com, Laura and Allison from DC Threads, and the founders of Cosa Verde, Liz Grotyohann and Jeff Fein-Worton, just to name a few. A complete list of speakers and topics will be posted soon. There will be hands on demos and workshops from some of your favorite indie crafters (wanna see Juliet Ames break a plate?!). But best of all, you will get to meet and hang out with artists and crafters just like you. People who love to make and learn.

Registration includes all programming from Friday through Sunday and is open now.

Are you looking to expand or refresh your knowledge of the business side of craft? As fun as it is to make crafty goods, practical knowledge is needed for your business to succeed. The Baltimore Etsy Street Team (BEST) will be hosting its first business meet-up at the Creative Alliance on Sunday, January 25th. The meet-up will feature round-table discussions led by:

• Cynthia Blake Sanders, MD Lawyers for the Arts;
• Rebecca Cason, former director of the Buyer’s Market of American Craft;
• Jen Menkhaus, working crafter and one of the founders of the Baltimore Etsy Street Team;
• Nita Gale, web designer;
• Ariella Levin of Baltimore’s Best Bookkeeper; and
• Thomas Wynn, professional photographer.

Practical discussions will include legal and accounting basics; marketing, wholesale and pricing; and looking your best– on the web and in promo photos. Lunch will be provided, a great time to get connected with other local artists and crafters to make new friends, show off your work, and share ideas.

Details:
Sunday, January 25
10 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
At the Creative Alliance on Eastern Avenue

Advance registration $25 [$20 Creative Alliance & BEST members]
Walk-in price $30 [$25 Creative Alliance & BEST members.]
Lunch is included.

Register online through the Creative Alliance.

Tina was asked to discuss making gifts for the holidays and provided a couple simple how-to’s for listeners to try on their own. The piece has already been recorded and you can read about Tina’s experience in the entry she posted on HelloCraft.com.

From Tina:

NPR Weekend Edition Sunday (11/23).
You can find out what time via your local NPR Station as each station plays the show at a different time. Locally in DC, WAMU plays it from 8 to 10. I will also be doing a live chat online at 1:30 EST at npr.org/gifts. You will have to register to chat. You can also upload photos of your projects to their holiday community page while you are in there. Please stop by and ask me a nice or funny question.

Listen in as Tina shares her indie craft wisdom with NPR’s listners. And don’t forget to join the Live Chat! We hear there will be video, too. Oooh, talking pictures. Fancy.

I’ve wanted to learn how to sew since I was young, but I’ve always shyed away from classes where you need to shell out big bucks to use machines that intimidate the hell out of me… so I say thank goodness for the DC Threads Sewing Lounge.

The DC Threads Sewing Lounge is a free program held on the second Saturday of each month at the North Michigan Recreation Center (1333 Emerson St, NE, Washington, DC 20017) from1-4pm. The first session will be held on October 11th.

Participate in a “sew-n-tell” hour where you can bring projects you are working on to share tips and exchange ideas, followed by guided projects that are fun and beginner-friendly. You’ll need to bring your own supplies, but sewing machines are provided, and best of all… the sessions are FREE!

DC Threads is a great resource for local sewers. Get info on their Lounge and local sewing classes, find out where fabric stores are near you, and lots more at www.dcthreads.org.

The event will be held Thursday, July 31st from 6:30-8:30pm at the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore.

For more information and to RSVP, please check out the web site.

You can always have both an Etsy shop and your own website, and link to your Etsy shop with an Etsy mini. (See example here: www.rebound-designs.com ) Etsy minis can be put on a blog, or a Myspace page as well.

A few thoughts on Myspace and Facebook: These can be useful tools for promoting your business, but they should not be the only online presence you have. If you are sending customers who are attempting to shop to a Myspace page with blinking graphics and embedded MP3s, it makes you look very unprofessional. Use sparingly.

The #1 Most Important Rule of Websites: Have good photos! Your online store is the only way a customer across the country can see your products, so make sure your pictures are well lit, in focus, and show the product properly. There are lots of good tips on product photography if you search online.

Accepting Credit Cards Online
Having awesome photos isn’t enough. Customers have to be able to buy your work easily online. The simplest way to get started with accepting credit cards online is through PayPal. You can do this in several ways. For no set up fee, and no monthly fee, you can use Website Payments Standard. This lets you either install a cart system, or single purchase ‘buy it now’ buttons, which link to the secure PayPal site. https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_wp-standard-overview-outside.

Blogs
This is a huge marketing tool for the craft world. There are hundreds, perhaps thousands of blogs devoted to discussing indie craft and design. Some are personal blogs of artists who share their creations, how to tips, favorite things, and so forth. Some are more commercial blogs, with semi- to full-time professional writers keeping up with the hippest new things, and with paid advertisements.

Some of Caitlin’s Favorite blogs include:
http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/craftybastards/
http://www.designspongeonline.com/
http://indiefixx.com/
http://poppytalk.blogspot.com/
http://www.ohmythatsawesome.com/
http://blog.craftzine.com/
http://extremecraft.typepad.com/
http://modish.typepad.com/
http://readymademag.com/blog/
http://www.boingboing.net/
http://www.ilikeseamonsters.com

Twitter
Twitter is sort of a microblogging tool, which lets you send out short messages under 140 characters. You can send them from your phone, or the web, and you can include links (tiny url is useful here). You can follow other people’s twitters, and they can follow you. You can twitter about a new blog post, or a new item in your shop, or to let people know about a craft show you’re doing.

Flickr
Flickr is a great site for sharing pictures of your work. You can have a gallery of past work, works in progress, your booth displays, or whatever, and you can tag them so others can find them. You can join groups with similar interest, and this is really the best way to get your pictures seen.

It is against the Terms of Service of Flickr to exploit it for commercial purposes, so just posting pictures of crafts with the intent to sell them or advertise them is not cool. But, you can still drive traffic to your site in many easy, legal ways.

Social Bookmarking
Check out Wikipedia for a good breakdown of this bookmarking at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_bookmarking.

Mailing Lists
A mailing list is an efficient and direct way to keep in touch with all of your customers and fans. You can send out announcements for shows you are in, upcoming sales and promotions, shop updates, etc. It’s great because past customers that may have wanted to purchase again often forget, and an email is an instant reminder. Every time I have sent out a mass mailing, I have received orders in return. The best way to send out a mailing list is to have a program that collects, manages, and sends the mail for you.

Overwhelmed?
The most important thing to remember about online marketing is that you don’t have to do it all. Try a few things out and see what works for you. But as crafting as a business gets more and more popular, it will get more competitive, and the more ways you have of reaching potential customers, the more sales you will make. The more customers are personally interested and invested in you, the more excited they will be about your work, and it doesn’t get better than that.

Read more from Caitlin on her blog, at rebounddesigns.wordpress.com.

The Next Crafty Bastards Discovery Series workshop is coming up in August. If you’d like to get the exclusive invite, just sign up for the Crafty Bastards mailing list and you’ll automatically receive the invite about a week before the event. You must have an invite to attend, and our friends at Whole Foods provide the yummy treats… cause you can talk about crafts on an empty stomach!

Yes, I am telling you to knit, crochet, draw, whatever it is you craft in public! If your craft is portable- why not take it outside the house and socialize? One fun group is the Drink and Draw social group, which has “chapters” across America. If you’re curious about the outcome, the LA group put out a compilation of their drunken drawings.

Of course dear to my heart are the Stitch and Bitch groups (or whatever the non-copyrighted name is now) that have long been bringing yarn out of the living room. Knitting meet-ups are a historical activity of women, but one that has evolved with the years. Help each other with stitches, while showing the world that knitting is not just for grandmothers anymore.

But of course you don’t need to have a group in order to craft in public. I love bringing my knitting with me to a bar, although I will admit to a couple of messed up stitches now and then. And yes, I promise I can knit and pay attention at the same time! At a Crafty Bastards info meeting at The Quarry House, I was happy to see crafty vendor “Woolarina” knitting among the beer and burgers. Also if you sell your crafts, being out in public can create interest and even sales of what you are making. Right now I’m hoping to break into a gay men’s knitting group, maybe I’ll be the token girl. I want to see you out there crafters!