3 Essentials in Planning a Craft Presentation

Going on the road with your craft gives you a chance to share your skills with others. Planning the event well will give you confidence and help to 'sell' yourself.

Before you get there it's essential that you do a little homework.

1. Who are your audience?

The organisation that engaged you will be your first step in planning your presentation

When will you start and what is likely to be their state of mind as they listen to you? How long have you got to sock it to them? What are they expecting from you?

Many's the time I've been 'on' after a group of ladies have finished lunch or had a chat. My preference, if I have the opportunity, is to talk to people at the start of their meeting rather than after all the meeting paperwork. If I come on after they've talked about the paraphernalia of their group's ins and outs then I may not be the main thing on their mind.

Talking first means that their minds are not full of any other information (that I know about) and I can get straight on with things.

It helps to have some idea of what they want from you in terms of the level of presentation. The most important factor is some indication of how long they want you to 'speak' for.

When I say speak, I really mean 'perform' because if you just speak you'll lose them. In your planning you need to think how to wow them with only sensory stuff. Don't just rely on the voice. Go for the other senses too. Include things to touch and look at if appropriate. It'll also take their eyes off you.

2. What are their interests?

Do you know what their interests are? Do you know their abilities and levels of skill in your area?

It may seem basic, but knowing something about the audience's level of skills will help you to pitch your 'performance' more accurately. If they are professionals they will expect a certain level from you.

If they are a general interest group then be general. If you don't know, ask. It will help in your planning.

3. What do you know about the venue?

How long will it take you to get there? What equipment might you need to take? What about light, and the position of the chairs? Do they have the table space and covering that you need? Can you park nearby?

I always plan out timings to the venue carefully and leave plenty of time to set up. Look at a route map, check the route and add on time for other eventualities (filling up with petrol).

You may have decided to take other equipment with you: projectors, PC's etc. Find out what you can reasonably expect to be there already (but does it work?). Ask about the light in the room. It's important that they can see you well enough and you can see them (well the whites of their eyes anyway!).

I once had to set up behind grouped chairs. The audience faced away from me to begin with, listening to their Chairman and then at the appointed hour, 50 or so chairs scrapped the floor and turned their full attention 180 degrees to face me and my table. Both scary and comical!

Finally, if you are carrying heavy boxes it's important that you can park nearby to save your back. Think about taking a trolley of some sort to help you as you can't rely of assistance.

At one venue a lady sent to help me most certainly couldn't have lifted anything. If in doubt, be prepared to do it all!

They are basic ideas but they'll help get you on the road to success. Don't forget that you'll need to think about planning what you do and thinking about your resources and samples too.

Thinking a little about what they want first will help you to plan what you want out of the experience, and how you can bring both together.

Geraldine Jozefiak is passionate about crafts and their place in education. Be part of raising standards in teaching and learning by using the best possible craft instructions. http://www.the-craft-teacher.com Article Source: http://www.the-craft-teacher.com/RecentArticles/.

How to Craft a Garden Scrapbook

Garden scrapbooks can present a natural feeling when the audience is reading your storybook. Flowers are one of the popular natural-based elements that many people cherish. You can store flowers in a scrapbook to craft a garden style creation. To start you will need a dried flower. Compress the flower placing it into your scrapbook pocket, such as the memorabilia. Next, glue, tape, etc, the flower so that it is sticking on the page securely. You may have seen flowers preserved in bibles. The process in scrapbooks is similar, only you want to stick the flowers so that it does not fall out.

How to craft flowers for scrap booking:

You can use corsages, bouquets, or the colored part of the flower to craft your garden scrapbook. The compressed and dried flowers should be in a straight line, added to your scrapbook page, and smoothly seated near your photographs. The dry flowers and compressed flowers should be laminated with Xyron, or any acid-free product .

The season of fall is the best time to pluck materials to make up a garden scrapbook. As you make up your garden scrapbook consider title page, captions, journal, lettering, photos, plant species, headings and more.

If you are adding fall leaves to your scrapbook, you may want to visit a copy shop. You will need to place the leaves in a sealed container when transferring the leaves. The leaves with depreciate over time if the steps are not followed. You can add the leaves at your title page to start your garden scrapbook.

Snap a few pictures, If you are making up a scrapbook to present your garden, and make up a blueprint. The blueprint should include each detail of your garden. Following, you can add a journal to let your friends and family know how you invented your garden.

When to take photos: Spring, summer, winter, and fall provides the best opportunity to take photos of your garden. Each season provides you a variety of colors, shades, texture, blooms, etc. Once you snap the shots add them to your garden scrapbook. In addition, you can cut and paste extra pictures from magazine or books based on your garden theme and add them to your scrapbook. Also, you can add tips beside your pictures to help your family and friend learn.

During the seasons, you want to document your gardens activities as well as your own to create a genealogy, and history of your scrapbook. Record detail specifics to help your audience learn from your efforts. During the summer, record the blooms so that when winter comes you can look back on your success. When the blooms start to grow, you may want to snap photos so that you can add to your scrapbook. Try crafting your scrapbook in a chronological order so that your book tells the story you want to portray to the audience. Some people add special rocks to their scrapbook. If you decide to add, rocks try to find the small, flat rocks. The thicker, bulk rocks will only interrupt your scrapbook.

Flowers are beautiful inside scrapbooks. The flowers that set off garden scrapbooks include roses of all colors, daffodils, tulips, crocuses, and so on. Still, if you add flowers to your scrapbook you want to use petals that harmonize with your theme. For instance, if you are crafting a summer page, then use colorful flower copies. If you are crafting a fall theme, then use the flowers that flow in harmony with your theme.

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The Craft of Candle Making

Candle makers know that candles are a welcome addition to our daily dealings. This knowledge has transformed the candle making business into a multi-billion dollar industry, with big wigs like Yankee Candle Company pounding out product, small independent businesses like Kingston Candles in New Hampshire following suit, and thousands of men and women making candles from their home.

The inception of candle making is hard to trace. In ancient Egypt, candles were regularly made using beeswax in 3000 B.C. In places like China and Japan, whale fat was used for candle making. Fat from cows and sheep were used for candle making in Europe during the middle-ages. It wasn’t until 1790 that a method not involving animals, or their by-products, was used. Waxy molds—specifically called paraffin, which was derived from coal—were used for candle manufacturing with the help of a machine that could produce more than a thousand candles an hour.

Paraffin wax is the primary ingredient used in candle making today. The wax is melted down, poured into the shape of the candle mold that is desired, with the wick is placed inside. This is not exactly a detailed explanation of the process, but it is, in essence, the way in which it is done (a fully-formed candle can take several days to complete between the warming and cooling of the candle; some steps involved in making the candle can’t be done until it is completely cooled). This relatively easy process of candle making is garnering not only enjoyment for the crafty among us, but a great deal of money for the entrepreneurial among us. And for those who are really crafty and want to add their own special zip to their product, candles spiced with marbled colors, bi-colors, tri-colors as well as draping layers add a special flare that the ancient Greeks and Chinese could only dream about.

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Christmas Craft Ideas

Christmas is a fun time of year, a busy time of year, and a bumper craft sales season! You can never start planning too early, and each year you'll find you improve your results from the previous year as you get more experience.

Christmas Craft Ideas - Where To Sell Your Crafts

There are so many opportunities out there for holiday season sales, here are a few Christmas craft sales ideas:

Christmas Fairs & Markets - Do an internet search using your local search engine, and stock up on your local print media to check what's being advertised in your area. Book early! If you're too late to book for this year, put your name on the list for next year.

Retailers - Find out about the promotions at your local mall, and ask your local convenience store if you can rent a small space to display your crafts.

Charities and Fundraising Events - These are usually well supported by the community, find out what's taking place near you.

Home Party Sales - Christmas is also a good sales period for this type of selling, so arrange your own parties or ask someone you know who does home party selling to take your crafts along.

Door to Door - Offer the kids in your neighborhood a commission for any of your crafts they can sell for extra pocket money.

Christmas Craft Ideas - Best Selling Crafts

Seasonal events like Christmas present great opportunities for fun craft items and new product ideas!

Decorations and ornaments are an obvious idea, and a good one, especially if you can come up with something really unique and creative.

Gift hampers with different themes are great, especially if you can create a clever package for men because they can be quite difficult to buy gifts for.

Offer discounts on some of your items that sell well throughout the year to boost your Christmas sales, or sell it for the same or a little more but with an extra item packaged with it.

For more free craft business info and resources, visit Craft Business Home.com - the free guide on how to turn your craft into a profitable home business!

Craft Sales Tips

There’s a saying among webmasters to ‘newbies’ where they try to explain that an internet business is not as simple as ‘if you build it, they will come’. The same basic principal applies here – you might have the most fabulous product in the world, but if you don’t spend quality time on marketing and sales, it’s not going to be flying off anybody’s shelves.

Unfortunately, too many people think it is as easy as just having a great product that’s going to sell itself. Of course, there’s no such thing, unless your product walks and talks for you too. The GOOD NEWS is that these people are your competitors, and they create the perfect gap for you to take advantage of! I call this type of person The Lazy Salesperson, and I love them because I know that with just a little extra effort on my part, I’m going to get loads more business than they are!

If you’re not a natural born sales person, either attend some basic training or read up as much as you can about it before getting started. Importantly though, remember that not everything might suit your personal style and the way you’re comfortable doing sales, so look for methods that will suit you so that you’re able to have more success with your efforts.

Here are the craft sales tips I’ve found to be successful, especially in picking up where The Lazy Salesperson has left off:

Craft Sales Tip #1 : Have Your Facts & Figures Available

Know what you’re talking about. If you don’t, the buyer will soon realize this and will take advantage of the situation to send you packing. Remember that buyers are skilled negotiators – they deal with prospective suppliers on a daily basis, so you’d better be able to at least match them, if not beat them, at their own game! Do some research beforehand to find out what you need to know so that you can present your products professionally.

Craft Sales Tip #2 : Personal Contact Is Always The Best

In this technological age, email and other electronic means of communication have become The Lazy Salesperson’s companion, but I’ll bet that if there are any statistics available, they will show that the person who makes personal contact is the one who closes more deals. Pick up the ‘phone and make that call! Even better, do it face to face – make an appointment and go see the buyer. Email is also an easy way for a prospective buyer to back out, because you’re not there to rebut them – they know they can just send you an email back saying 'No Thanks'. But if you’re having a conversation, you’re able to ask 'why' and to provide information that will counter their reasons for not buying. Do your research on sales tips and techniques, and be sure to look up 'rebuttals' – these can become some of your best steps towards closing the deal!

Craft Sales Tip #3 : Ask For The Business!

And be persistent about it! Don’t just comply with a request to 'send more information' – by all means, send the info, but then follow up that the buyer has received it. What do they think of it? If they can’t give you an answer now, when can you expect one? Then follow up on that (this is where you acquire a good friend – your diary). Better yet, ask for an appointment to personally bring along the info and samples!

Craft Sales Tip #4 : Always Find Out The Reasons Someone Doesn’t Want To Buy From You

This is a type of constructive criticism, and you may learn something that will help you to improve either your products, or your sales pitch. Then, once you’ve overcome the reason they wouldn’t buy, go back to them and tell them so – you might just get the order!

Craft Sales Tip #5 : NEVER GIVE UP!

'No' never means 'No'. It really only means 'not right now'. Situations and circumstances change all the time. It could be that the company you contact has already allocated their budget for that season, or they’re focusing on other products right now, or the buyer might leave and be replaced with another person, etc, etc, etc. The list is virtually endless, but the fact is that if you give up, you will not get the business. If you persist, you have a much better chance at it.

So go out there and give it all you’ve got! Good Luck, and have fun doing it!

For more free craft business info and resources, visit Craft Business Home.com - the free guide on how to turn your craft into a profitable home business!