While chainmaille itself is still somewhat niche (although we can probably all agree it has been growing by leaps and bounds in the last few years!), the craft world is actually quite large—a $29 billion industry.  It’s for this reason that we’re always so surprised how little benchmarking information is available for craft businesses.  With little collective information, it can feel like you’re reinventing the wheel sometimes when it comes to making business decisions, whether you’re an individual or the owner of a shop.

We’ve decided to take this matter into our own hands.

With your help, we plan to do a series of benchmarking surveys on jewelry-making/teaching/crafting/craft stores/supplies, etc. and publish the results for everyone’s benefit.  The way we look at it, knowing things like how much other teachers charge for classes or inventory turnover rates for shops across the country can only help us all in our quest to make the world a more creative place.  Here’s how we hope this will work:

Throughout the year, we’ll create and publish surveys here on our blog and promote these surveys through social media channels and emails to our peers.  If you see a survey that applies to you, take it and share it with your peers as well.  If you feel the survey doesn’t apply to you, send it to your favorite craft supply store and encourage them to participate.  Make sure they know that we’ll publish the results for them to use as well and you can even send us their contact information to surveys@bluebuddhaboutique.com so we can make sure to share the results with them specifically.

Sound good?  Let’s do this!

Our first two surveys (links below) focus on jewelry classes and teacher pay because this is the number one question we are asked by instructors when people start teaching.  Everyone always wants to know “How much should my teaching fee be?”  New craft stores also sometimes are unsure how to pay instructors for classes.  It can be a difficult question to answer, because the fee will vary greatly by location, type of class, type of location and instructor experience.  We hope that doing a survey like this will be enlightening and provide some benchmarking information for various demographic groups.  The survey also touches upon other areas, but payment is the main focus.

Everyone wants to know about money, but no one wants to talk about it!  Hopefully this survey can help in that regard!

We have two separate surveys – one for jewelry instructors and one for locations that host jewelry-making classes.  Please do take note these surveys are intended to gather information about jewelry-making classes only, no other crafts for this round.

INSTRUCTORS:

BEFORE filling out the survey, you may want to take some time to gather the following information:

•    How many hours you teach in an “average month”?
•    What are your busiest teaching months?
•    How are you paid for your classes (per student, per hour, or some other way)?
•    How much are you teaching fees?
•    What have been your positive/negative experiences regarding payment and interaction with a hosting location?
•    What items/equipment do you expect the hosting location to provide?
•    Additional questions will be asked, but those are easier to know answers to on the spot, which is likely not the case for the bullet points above

The instructor survey is 26 questions, with 13 required questions.  Allow 15-30 minutes to complete the survey, depending on how many non-required questions you answer and how much detail you provide for open-ended questions.

Survey for instructors – http://survey.constantcontact.com/survey/a07e6fnk4r0h7ksbpmt/start

HOSTING LOCATIONS:

BEFORE filling out the survey, you may want to take some time to gather the following information:

•    How many hours of class instruction do you offer in an “average/typical month” (for year-round locations, not for one-time or quarterly bead shows)?
•    What are your busiest teaching months?
•    What percentage of offered classes run? (an average for the past 2 years)?
•    How do you pay instructors for your classes (per student, per hour, or some other way)?
•    How much do you pay instructors?
•    What have been your positive/negative experiences regarding payment and interaction with instructors
•    Additional questions will be asked, but those are easier to know answers to on the spot, which is likely not the case for the bullet points above

The survey is 31 questions, with 16 required questions.  Allow 15-30 minutes to complete the survey, depending on how many non-required questions you answer and how much detail you provide for open-ended questions.

Survey for hosting locations – http://survey.constantcontact.com/survey/a07e6i35xbsh87gce25/start

We plan to publish the results later this year, so check back here on our blog if you’re interested in this information (and we hope you are!) Also, if you have requests for other surveys you’d like us to conduct, let us know! Leave a comment or send us an email at surveys@bluebuddhaboutique.com.

craft business · craft industry · data · hosting classes · information · jewelry industry · surveys · teaching

As I reflect back on 2012, I am once again touched, humbled and amazed at all of Blue Buddha’s wonderful customers as well as our highly dedicated team.  For the past 12 months, we asked time and time again for you to support us, either by voting in various contests, or through our Jumpstart program geared to help ease the financial burden a small business faces when expanding.  And over and over again, you were there for us.  We received nearly a thousand votes for my Poseidon’s Embrace necklace to be on the cover of the Crafts Report magazine.  We received hundreds of votes for both the Chase Small Business grant and the FedEx Small Business grant contest.  While its true that we didn’t wind up winning any of these, that certainly doesn’t dilute how proud and happy we are that you believed in us and wanted us to win.

And of course, we are also exceedingly grateful for the financial support so many of you showed during our Jumpstart crowdfunding campaign. As you know, we have moved into a new space and are facing a huge number of expenses in order to open this store that so many of you desire.  I struggled with deciding whether to crowd fund or not.  I thought that some people might think that a business should be able to take care of itself and not need what they might view as “handouts.”  But on the other hand, I know that most businesses don’t experience the incredible growth that our business has.  Along with that growth comes growing pains–finding ourselves needing a much larger space for the future, but not quite being able to afford it this fiscal year.

Our new space so far - just temporary workstations while construction is finishing up but we're still thrilled to be moved!

We wanted to teach classes, but had no classrooms or tables or chairs. We wanted to expand our product line and begin carrying rubber rings again, but we had no space to store the product.  So we surveyed you to see what you thought about our crowdfunding idea, and overwhelmingly, you loved it.  Through your support, the Jumpstart program ran from October through December, raising nearly $20,000. Stay tuned for a round-up as to how that money was spent!

Looking forward to the rest of 2013, I think you’ll like what’s in store for all of us:

Anniversary: 2013 marks our 10th year of business!  We’ll definitely do some sort of online promotion as well as a gala event in Chicago to celebrate this milestone.

Retail Space: We are continuing to work on the buildout and hope to open our retail store in the summer or fall.  In the meantime, at least we’ve moved to a larger location so our team isn’t tripping over one another every time they turn around!

Classes: Even though the retail space won’t be open as soon, we’ll start Classes and Open Studios by the end of February!

Account Enhancements: We are continuing to work on the customer account pages, adding the features you request most often.

New Products: We’ll be launching many new kits and other components.  We’re also looking to debut new colors of Anodized Aluminum.

Internal Development: We are beginning Open-Book management, which will educate all B3 team members on the ins and outs of business finance and help us all work toward building the foundation of a fiscally strong company that can endure for a century.

Chained #2: Yep, I am finally starting to write the followup to the incredibly successful CHAINED.

Dedicated Customer Experience Manager: We are in the process of hiring our first Customer Experience Manager to ensure we continue to deliver top-notch service and stay in tune with all your needs and desires.

Oh, yeah, and there will probably be more contests in 2013.  Just ’cause we didn’t win this time around, doesn’t mean we won’t keep tryin’!

We are looking forward to 2013, and we can’t wait to see what you create in the new year as well.  As always, keep showing off your work on our page on Facebook.  We love being able to help you make your creative visions a reality.  You are the reason for our existence, and we thank you deeply.

May you all have much success, health and happiness in 2013!

blue buddha business · jumpstart · new location · Rebeca Mojica

Blue Buddha is eligible to win a $250k grant through Mission: Small Business, sponsored by Chase Bank and LivingSocial.  The grant would be used to help support the buildout of our new retail space (complete with chainmaille “genius bar” and classrooms to house lots of great classes and guest artists) as well as to build desperately needed back-end systems that would allow us to reduce out-of-stock issues and get orders processed and shipping much more quickly.  In short, this grant would help us catch up to demand for our products and services, which has grown far more quickly than we could’ve imagined in the past few years. If that all sounds pretty great to you, you can help us get to the next level!

We need 250 votes to be considered for the grant.  To cast your vote, simply go to www.missionsmallbusiness.com and scroll down to the big blue button that says “LOG IN & SUPPORT”.  You will be prompted to log in with your Facebook account. (And yes, you do need a Facebook account to vote. If you don’t have one, perhaps you could get a friend to vote on your behalf? *grin*)

Once you have logged in, type “Blue Buddha” in the blank space for business names. You don’t need to select the city or state.  After you click the SEARCH button, our company will be displayed at the bottom of the page. Click the SUPPORT button to cast your vote.  For extra credit, you can share your vote with your friends on Facebook by clicking the “Share Vote” link, and then clicking the Facebook icon.

That’s it!  We’ll be sure to keep you updated on how this goes.  In the meantime, keep your pliers crossed for us!  We’d love to use this money to really improve our service! Thanks for your votes; we appreciate every single one of them.

SUPPORT US NOW!

grant · Mission Small Business · support B3

At the end of last year, Blue Buddha’s founder Rebeca Mojica made the leap to launch her own brand, focusing on her finished chainmaille jewelry.  In this post, she talks about why she decided to do this and offers tips for getting the most bang out of your branding, even if you’re on a shoestring budget.

Have another question for Rebeca on this topic?  Leave it in the comments, post it to our page on Facebook or send it in an email to community@bluebuddhaboutique.com!

What made you decide to start the Rebeca Mojica brand rather than continue to sell as Blue Buddha?

Over the years, people have come to recognize Blue Buddha as a supplier of premium jump rings and instructions. The brand began as an artisan jewelry design company, but evolved into a jewelry supplier. When people hear the name Blue Buddha Boutique, they may think of innovative chainmaille designs, but they think in terms of “That’s something I can learn to make from Blue Buddha!” as opposed to, “I want to buy a completed version of that necklace!”

I had been contemplating this move for a few years. What finally sealed the deal was an art fair I did in the winter of 2010. Every single day of the four-day show, people came to my booth asking to buy pliers. I realized the time had come to make the switch once and for all so that I could have a jewelry brand that could stand on its own.

Is it common for larger brands to have subbrands?

Large companies almost always have sub-brands and/or multiple “divisions.” Actually, it’s a little creepy how big some of the huge corporations are, once you add in all their holdings, but that’s another topic. *chuckle*

What is more common in the artisan world, is for a designer to have two or three brands, each serving a different market. For example, some jewelry designers create high-end pieces that sell in museum shops and luxury boutiques. However, they still wish to make pieces for the “masses.” Unfortunately, if they were to sell high-end items right next to much more accessible items, it could dilute the brand. Customers might be confused: “Is this a luxury brand, or not?” Worst-case scenario, the mixed-message could lead some customers to avoid purchasing items from this designer.


So the solution is to have a secondary brand, possibly even one that allows the designer to sell directly to the customer via craft fairs, a company website, or an online marketplace such as Artfire. The prices for this brand can be lower because the middle men, if there are any, take a much smaller percentage than galleries and reps, who combined can take much as 70% of the retail price. If artists were to sell both lines under the same name, then the galleries would likely feel as though they are being undercut because customers could simply go to the artist’s website and purchase a similar piece for half the price.

Having multiple brands allows the designer to create distinct product lines that appeal to different tastes and budgets. Additionally, some artists like to take more chances with subbrands, because if something “bombs” it won’t affect their meat-and-potatoes line. Some designers use a subbrand to support controversial causes or non-traditional lifestyles; they can do so without ostracizing their core customer base. I know more than a few artists who successfully sell their work under a couple of different names, each with their own branding, and each targeting a different market.

Where you at all nervous about making this switch?

Truthfully, I was far more excited than nervous. It was like starting a business all over again, but with much more clarity and vision than the first time I started a business. I got to concentrate on all the fun stuff: new business cards! New logo! New tagline! The creative part of my brain loved it!

I was also reassured because I knew I already had a customer base; I wasn’t trying to start a jewelry line from scratch. I knew that having a jewelry business can be tough, and part of me half-expected to hear crickets chirping after we sent out our first official email announcing the Rebeca Mojica website. But instead, we were overwhelmed with emails of support … and of course, orders for jewelry! Yay!

How did you decide what colors would represent Rebeca Mojica brand?

First off, I knew I wanted nothing to do with the blues and lilacs that are associated with the Blue Buddha brand.  I figured if I was creating an entirely new line, it needed to be distinguishable. I wanted a palette of three basic colors so that we could mix and match for the website and other branding materials. From the three basic colors, each color would have one additional tint/shade that would be the exact same hue, just a lighter or darker version of it.

Gray was an obvious choice, because I work with metal. OK, one down.

Then, on to the difficult part of choosing another two colors to go along with the gray. Jenna, my marketing gal, and I read dozens of articles about color theory and choosing colors to represent brands. We read studies about what perceptions people had regarding colors (including A Guide to Choosing Colors for Your Brand and Colorize Your Brand). We looked at hundreds of photos of home decor in various color palettes. It was fascinating, but also easy to get a bit overwhelmed with analysis.

The next color we chose was a chocolate brown It is a good, neutral color, and to me, it’s also very organic. Even though I’m not making jewelry out of wood, I still think many of my designs have a real organic feel to them, and I am always inspired by the shapes I see in nature and the fractal-esque form of trees. The deepness of the color is elegant, as is much of my jewelry. It is also suitable to represent men’s jewelry, which is important because I plan on developing a men’s line later.

Having chosen two earth tones, I wanted just a splash of brightness to counter the neutral tones of the gray and brown. The deep red we selected represents the color used in my work. The way I use color is sometimes daring, sometimes whimsical, but almost always attention-grabbing. And the color red says all of those things to me. Also, I admit that I adore goth fashion and so red’s appearance in my branding wasn’t a complete surprise. *grin*

Once we had the basic colors nailed down, Jenna created a few different variations on the theme (okay, more than a few – see them to the right) so we could compare exactly which hues we liked best. Should the red be more on the orange side, or violet? What about the gray? Warm gray, or cooler, almost slate? We played around for a bit and settled on the final colors that you see on our marketing materials today.

As a post note, it’s funny that after we choose the colors (we ended up going with palette #3 – shown right), I later realized that the gray really had a huge blue undertone. “But I was trying to stay away from blue!” I agonized. Ultimately, though, after looking at other warmer shades of gray, I realized our shade really did work the best … and no one could possibly confuse it with the blues used in the Blue Buddha branding. So I had to let this one go, and I’m glad I did, because now I really love the colors of the Rebeca Mojica brand.

Do you think it’s important to have a logo? What if I’m not a designer, what should I do to create one?

If you are more than a hobbyist, and wish to earn actual income from your craft, then yes, having a logo is crucial. You’ll want to use your logo on your marketing materials–your website, business card, jewelry tags, care sheets, banners at shows, etc. If you have a clever, memorable logo, you’re more likely to get repeat customers. And if you do the same craft fairs year after year, you’re more likely to get new customers, too, for the simple fact that people will remember seeing your logo and work, and will feel as though they can “trust” you because you’ve been there for several years.

At this point in my business, I’m lucky to have Jenna as a full-time marketing person. With some input from me, she created the Rebeca Mojica logo and tagline, and created the clever interlocking circles above my last name (which I adore).  Obviously the vast majority of artisans will not have a full-time marketing person, or even a contractor, to handle a logo design.  We are, however, strongly visual people and many of us will be lucky enough to create a strong logo on our own.  Even if this is you, however, I do recommend eliciting feedback from friends, current customers, and peers whom you respect. Sometimes your vision doesn’t shine through in your logo, and you’re too close to it to notice a potentially humorous or confusing flaw.

If you can’t design your own logo, see if you have any friends or current customers that can do it for free, or in trade. When I originally did the Blue Buddha logo, I knew what I wanted, but didn’t have the skills to make it real, so I found a friend in design school who did it for me. The deal we worked out was $50, some beer and a piece of jewelry for his ladyfriend. Nine years later, that was money clearly well spent. We still have a design credit to him on our website to this day.

If you don’t have any design friends, then try going to your local college–or if you’re really rural, try the local high school. Nowadays, many students can do amazing things on computers. Yes, you’ll have to spend money on this, but if you’re working with a student, your investment will be minimal, and sometimes a student might even be willing to do it for free (or in trade) in exchange for being listed on your website as a resource. With any luck, you’ll connect with an exceptional person with whom you can work with again later on other projects you may need.

If you have someone else create your logo, be sure to have some idea of what you want, and what you don’t want. Designers aren’t mind readers. If there are colors you want used, be sure to say so and to state why. If you feel specific motifs represent your brand, let them know. Bring in examples of fonts you like and fonts you don’t like. All of this will help the designer develop a logo that you like sooner, rather than later, and it can save you both much frustration.  If you have a really good idea of what you want your logo to look like, you can even try sites like 99 Designs where you describe your exact specifications and receive design ideas and quotes from tons of designers affiliated with the site.

Finally, make sure you have a couple of versions of your logo that can be used. I’ve found it is best to develop a square one as well as a horizontal one. That way, if your horizontal logo is too long for your jewelry tags, the square one may be perfect. This gives you greater flexibility with your promotional materials.

You are always great at making a big impact on a small budget. For crafters, what branded items do you think give the biggest bang for the buck?

1. Website (or logo if you are on an online marketplace, like Etsy or Artfire or even just Facebook) — in today’s age, you need to be online, and you need to make sure your brand shines though on every page of your site.  I used IndieMade to create my site and highly recommend them for folks who need their own website and want to be able to start selling things right way.

2. eNewsletter – It is never too early to start a newsletter. (My first mailing only went out to a list of 6 customers … but they didn’t know that!)  Some mailing list services like MailChimp even offer free plans for lists of less than 2,000 names.  Every time I do a mailing with a promotion, we get jewelry orders. Without fail. So what are you waiting for? Get to it!  (Click here to join Rebeca’s email list and find out when the next sale is!  Enter your email address and select “Rebeca Mojica Jewelry” from the list choices on the next page.)

3. Care Sheets – Care sheets can be super inexpensive–ours are simply 1/3 page double-sided black and white copies. If you put enough useful information on your care sheets, customers will keep them. Which means they’ll see your name over and over again, and every time they refer to the sheet, they’ll be reminded that you are a trustworthy source of information. Keep a digital copy of your care sheet online–this is useful not only for customers, but it can increase traffic to your website if other people are searching for how to care for an item.

4. Banners for craft shows – If you do shows, you need a banner to grab people’s attention. You want someone who is walking down the aisle to see your banner and think, “Man, I gotta get to that booth right away, even if I skip this next booth!” Make sure to have a banner that is displayed over your head, rather than hanging off your table. If you’ve got a crowd of people looking at your stuff (and you do want a crowd of people looking at your stuff, right?), then no one will be able to see your banner if the only one you have is on the table, hidden behind everyone’s legs!

5. Business cards — Note that business cards didn’t even make it into my top 3! That’s because we live in a digital age, and the paper business card is not as important as it used to be. Sometimes at craft fairs, people just go around gathering business cards…and then never look at them again. So you don’t need to spend a lot of money on your cards.  If someone is interested in your stuff and grabs your card, it doesn’t need to be the most spectacular thing they’ve ever seen. It just needs to have enough information (including images) to remind them what you make, and then they’ll probably just go to your website anyway… and then throw away your card.  If you don’t have a designer, using a site like Moo cards can make the post of the images you do have along with your logo (they also have lots of modern premade designs to choose from!)

What can we expect from Rebeca Mojica brand jewelry as you continue to develop its new identity?

I’m looking to dive more into the Japanese family of weaves. I’ve already started creating several pieces that will make up the Bubble collection…essentially large statement pieces with lots of white space that look like, well, bubbles! I’m looking to develop a few new lines at different price points. And, I plan to come up with 1-2 haute couture pieces (think Poseidon’s Embrace) each year. There’s a few ideas for chainmaille clothing that have been tugging away at my brain for a few years, so I expect they’ll start to take shape–literally–over the next couple of years.

I probably won’t get too deep in making many new jewelry designs for about a year and a half, as I’m about to start work on a second instructional book, and that is going to take quite a bit of my attention. (Hmm, not to mention being preoccupied with opening up a new retail space for Blue Buddha Boutique … ) However, as soon as the second book is finished, lookout! Because then I’m all about making new designs! In the meantime, though, there are a lot of pieces I’ve made and sold at shows, but have never put online. Each month, we’ll be adding several of these to RebecaMojica.com, which means there will still be plenty of eye candy for you!

Ask an Artist · branding · marketing on a budget · Rebeca Mojica · tips for selling your jewelry

In part two of our “Publishing Your Crafty Project” posts, Rebeca addresses what it’s really like to publish your own book.  If you’re thinking about publishing your own crafty book, this is a must read. 

Read more in the post below and download the FREE PDF for an in-a-nutshell comparison of self-publishing vs. using a publisher.  

Publishing Your Crafty Book

By Rebeca Mojica


Writing a Book 
Writing a craft book is no joke.  It is a labor of love.  The chances of you getting rich, or even earning a decent amount of money, from your book are next to none.

The cold, hard truth

The average book in America sells fewer than 5,000 copies.  According to one source, of the titles on the shelves in retail stores, 93% never sell more than 1000 copies in their lifetime. Some of the books that have spent weeks on the New York Times bestseller list don’t even sell more than 50,000 copies.

Most new writers only earn 1.5-8% of the cover price for each book sold. (Note that percentages can vary for the same book, depending on if the book was sold through Amazon, through the publisher’s book club, etc.).  Do the math—this is not a lot of money for potentially 60, 100, 250+ hours worked. For small craft books, if the publisher pays an advance, the advance may only be $1,000.  The book might need to go to a second printing for the author to begin to receive any royalties at all … and the majority of books do not have a second print run.

So after all of this, why would anyone want to publish a book?  Well, it certainly can open doors and will greatly enhance your credibility as an artist/instructor.  It is deeply satisfying to tackle such a large project and have the wonderful feeling of accomplishment that comes from writing a book.  It can be thrilling to see your name in print.

For more info, see The 10 Awful Truths about Book Publishing and Book Industry Statistics.

Before you write your book

You need to have a market for your book so that the book will sell. If you are using a publisher, you must prove there is a market for your book. Your book proposal should list all the reasons why and how your book will sell.
To build enough influence to sell a book, you’ll need to establish yourself as an expert in your field.  A great way to do this is by having single projects published in magazines, as already explained.  Have a website where you engage your students and readers.  Teach classes.  Build your newsletter mailing list.  Do whatever it takes to get your name out there as often as possible.

Be prepared to similarly promote your book. Set up a website devoted to your book.  Write blog posts and other articles promoting your book.  Create press releases for your book.

When you are ready, prepare a book proposal.  Even if you are self-publishing a book proposal can be a useful tool to help keep your focus as you write.  Your proposal should include a complete outline of your book, the total number of pages, at least one sample project and/or chapter, biographical information as well as a complete analysis of the market: What other books exist on this topic? How will your book stand out?  Why will people buy your book? How large is the market for your book? Is the market growing or shrinking? A great resource to help you through this process is Write the Perfect Book Proposal: 10 That Sold and Why by Jeff Herman and Deborah Levine Herman.

If you want to use a publishing house, send your proposal to multiple publishers. With any luck, you’ll hear back within a few months, and with a lot of luck, you’ll have your pick of publishers. Contact authors that have used those publishers to see what their experiences were.  Some publishers will request the book be fewer pages, or you change your focus slightly. It is up to you if you want to change your original vision in order to finalize your contract.

If you are self-publishing, some places you may wish to check out include authoragency.com, Xlibris.com, iUniverse.com and “1stBook-publishing.”

Download part 2 of the FREE “Publishing Your Crafty Project” PDF for an in-a-nutshell comparison of the process of self-publishing vs. using a publisher!

chained · craft advice · publishing a book · Rebeca Mojica