 |
Craft Selling Opportunities:
|
I'd like to tell you a story about one of the craft selling opportunities that cropped up for me. It just kind of happened, but I took it and ran with it, and it really worked!
A few years ago I lived and worked in an Outdoor Center in the Lake District, England. (It's still one of my favorite places!) We had groups of about 60 kids stay for the whole week every week. We'd teach them canoeing, rock climbing, hiking, etc. I loved the job, but the pay was lousy as I was just an assistant instructor. I had to find a way to make more money.
One day I was sitting in the lounge with some other instructors and we got talking about ski hats. One of the guys said he wanted a certain style of hat that he'd never been able to find.
My ears pricked up! I had a pile of polartec fleece with me and my sewing machine (just in case I needed it), so I asked a few more questions.
I ran upstairs, grabbed a piece of fleece, came back down and measured his head. Off I went back upstairs. A snip snip here and there, a buzz around with my sewing machine and about 20 minutes later I was back downstairs with a finished hat. Voila!
Well - little did I know what effect that would have. Of course - the other guys wanted them too! I ended up making about six that night in various colors and they each were chuffed with their cosy new hats! I didn't ask them to pay - they were friends after all.
The next day was freezing cold so all the guys were wearing their new hats. Free advertising! The kids started asking where they got them as they looked up to their cool instructors. ALL the instructors wanted them too!
When I found out there were so many questions about them, I started making more - fast and furious. I said I'd have some ready to sell at the 'tuck shop' the next night. I had about a dozen made, and they ALL sold - I had to make more!
Of course every week after that we would get a new group of kids. The instructors wore their 'cool' hats. Kids loved them - more sales for me. I have no idea how many I sold, but I made double the weekly pay I got from working just by making and selling these hats. What a moneymaker this craft selling opportunity turned out to be!
I refined my hat making so that I prepared the tassels beforehand. I would cut out a bunch of hat shapes at one time, sort the tassel colors and stack a hat piece and tassel pieces together ready to sew.
I could sew up a hat in 10 minutes flat - finished. Add 5 minutes or less per hat for cutting out and cutting tassels for a total of 15 minutes per hat. Cost of fabric per hat - about 50 pence. They sold for 5 pounds each, which was pretty cheap really.
When I left the Center, my Mom took over making the hats as the boss would buy them 60 at a time, and mark them up a little. She paid for several vacations for herself and my Dad from that craft selling opporunity I stumbled upon.
Those hats were great sellers! All I had done was pick up on what someone wanted. It's amazing what you hear when you really listen. I'd never have found that craft selling opportunity if I hadn't listened.
Also, I used the power of free advertising. I had to give something away in order to receive the way I did. It sure did work for me.
Many people are so concerned with what they already have, or can do and want to sell. My advice is, no matter where you are, no matter who you're talking to... LISTEN! You never know when your craft selling opportunities will crop up. When you hear about something that interests you - pick it up and run with it. You never know where it might take you...
"Craft Selling Opportunities" was written by guest author Jill Wright, who runs a website called Woolcrafting.com. There you'll find easy to follow instructions and full color pictures to help you learn crocheting and felting. You'll also find patterns, tips, stitches, ideas and more. Learn what you can do with felted wool sweaters and how to take good care of your wool clothing.
Click here to submit an article to Craft-Selling-Parties.com - all guest authors receive a free link back to their own website.
Have you made the most of any craft selling opportunities that came your way. Click here to share your story.
