What Makes Hand-making Different?

What makes hand-making different to High Street fare? Ever really thought about it? And, suffice to say we'll ignore the literal retort, "duh, it's handmade".

Bet you haven't given it much thought. But, people don't buy handmade for handmade's sake, do they? I doubt it.

Handmade (Or is it hand-made? Feel free to correct me), says something to buyers. It means something. It invokes some kind of expectation, possibly even imagery.

Of course, not all handmade is the same. Handmade in China don't mean diddly to anyone - save exploitation. It's got to be handmade in the UK, mainly - for UK buyers at least. Except for with chocolate, where Belgian is usually understood to be the good stuff.

So, your product is handmade in England, Scotland, or Wales, but what does that mean? Why should I give a damn? Well, to answer this question is really to understand what it is you are actually selling. And, that makes selling a lot easier.

Handmade but what does that mean?

I haven't done any research into this, so no definitive answers here. I think it's probably one every handmaker should ponder. I'm not a hand-maker, but here's what (UK) handmade means to me:-

1) It's rare. Not something to be found on every High Street the length and breadth of the land. So buying this gives me the opportunity to own (or give) something that few people have.

2) It's inspired. It is the product of creative passion, not market research. It was designed by an inspired individual, not a design committee. An idea was nutured and developed and ultimately fashioned by its creator.

3) It's been made with love. It was made with care and subjected to individual attention, not churned out by machines. As a result it has character. There's something of the crafts-person's hands and 'eye' evident in each, slightly imperfect (and unique) edition.

4) It's different. It stands apart from High Street fare. I certainly wouldn't want it to be mistaken for such. It almost has to be noticed, because only then can one explain how special it really is.

5) A romantic notion of craftsmanship; an antidote to consumerism and a mass produced world. It evokes a certain imagery and sense of supporting an alternative to more factories, roads, concrete.

6) Implicitly, it is worth more. I believe this without thinking and I have been trying understand why. Certainly, it is in part down to answers 1 through 5. But, I think it's actually more fundamental than that. It boils down to a subconscious belief that the work of a man (or woman) is worth more than the produce of a machine (or industrial process). And, I guess that's because I 'know' that the aim of industrial processes is to produce identical products of acceptable quality at the lowest possible cost. I like to think that, whilst a handmaker may also want to be efficient, their's is a less ruthless brand.

So that's my feeling, but what does it mean to you? Make your own list. Ask some friends and family. Guess what, that's what you should be selling.

OK, let's be absolutely clear: I'm not asking you to redesign your product. I am asking you to think why people buy it. Then, I say, give them that by the spade full, across your entire Marketing Mix.

What's your Marketing Mix? We'll return to that next week....

Why Bother With Beads?

Many hand-makers start out with beaded jewellery. Almost certainly, that's because it's so accessible. I mean, the skills are relatively easy to learn, little specialist equipment is required and the working stock is fairly inexpensive. It's also hugely fun. There's such a wide range of beads and semi-precious stones available. And, I suspect, it's very rewarding when you turn out that first head-turning design.

Beading's accessibility is great if you are just doing it for fun. If you intend to make it your livelihood, then its very accessibility is definitely not great for you. Accessibility - or low barriers to entry, as an economist would describe it - means competition... and lots of it.

You don't have to be an economist to know that competition drives down prices. It makes you work harder for less.

At this point I should emphasize that I do appreciate that all beaded jewellery is not created equal. Some is better than most and that comes singularly down to great design/ composition.

But, even with great design capabilities, individual artisans will have their work cut out standing out. The old monkeys and typewriters law is going to play havoc with your uniqueness. No idea what monkeys have to do with beading? I should clarify: give enough monkeys a typewriter and eventually, according to the laws of probability, one will type out the entire works of shakespeare word-perfect purely by chance. My point is, with so many 'beaders' out there, how long is your wonderfully original work going to be well, original? And, of course, the monkeys are not smart enough to copy. Figure that in and what hope have you got?

The other bother with beading is that it's so limiting. Can it really be true that you can fully express your creativity by crimping and twisting alone? I didn't think so.

If you're beading now, look at this as period as your introduction. Your rookie period. The hors d'oeuvres or maybe the entree, but not the main course. After all, you're barely getting started. There's a whole world of extra possibilities to cater for IF you're prepared for the next course: silversmithing.

Get some silversmithing skills and your creativity will be unchained. It's an investment in you and your future. Otherwise, ask yourself: "What is the difference between me and tens of thousands of dabblers and hobbyists?" I can't answer that. But, I can tell you the similarity: no real commitment.

Spread the Handmade Word and Win!

Bloggers and website owners - I need your help promoting our Hand-making Heroes New Gift Competition. And, I am offering a handmade freebie as your reward.

Get Your Free Handmade Mootiful Keyring

It's no accident that roughly 25% of our range of gifts and cards over at pressies4princesses.co.uk is UK handmade. Nor is it coincidence that our first major 'event' is a competition to encourage hand-making in the UK and help hand-makers get their businesses booming. Or, that I write this blog in my spare time. It's all on account of the fact that I am fanatical about the incredible ingenuity of UK 'cottage industry'.

I really want news of the Hand-making Heroes competition to reach hand-makers up and down the country. OK, so over at pressies' the team is launching a major charm offensive on the media. But, I figured I could do my bit over here by enlisting the help of bloggers and webmasters.

I read somewhere that if you add the readership of all blogs together, it would far outsize that of the professional press. I don't know if that's true. But, I know that blogs and niche websites can reach the parts the media doesn't!

As a blogger, I know writing takes time and affort. So, as an added incentive to spreading some worthwhile news, I thought I'd giveaway something. What to give? A handmade something - of course!

We have these great Mootiful handmade porcelain keyrings over at pressies'. I have nicked ten to give to the first ten write ups and links published back to Pretty Somethings - Hand-making Heroes New Gift Competition.

To claim yours - they are especially relevant if you are a 'mad cow' or indeed have one in your life - write, link and then email me with the url and your name and address.

Thanks for helping promote the cause!

£1500 prize for best new hand-made gift

Give your hand-making business a leg-up with this cash and money-cannot-buy prize offered in conjunction with my employer, pressies4princesses.co.uk.

What would you do if I gave you £500 in cash to invest in your hand-making business? And, how about if you had guaranteed orders worth £1000, for starters? Could your business use bags of priceless free publicity? And imagine how confident you would feel approaching other retailers, when you can show them you already supply a high profile gift retailer. Can you picture your handiwork beautifully presented and enthusiastically sold on pressies' pages? Great. Then get your entry in.

The buyers over at pressies4princesses - myself included - spend an awful lot of time hunting for new niche gift suppliers. We're fanatical about offering our customers something different; something that can't be found on every high street. Gift shoppers want to give something special, unique, unusual - probably because it shows they put some effort into choosing the gift. So, tired of the tireless search, we hit upon the idea of coaxing craftspeople out of anonimity and on to pressies' gift pages with a worthwhile competition.

I hope this competition will attract some serious talent and maybe even kick-start someone's hand-making business. Perhaps it will give you an incentive to have a go and wind up being the start of a whole new working life! That may sound a bit melodramatic, but ask established suppliers like Claire Wood and you'll hear just what a difference pressies' can make.

Claire Wood's Handmade Jewellery

The competition is open to anyone. The proviso is that you are serious about hand-making and will be able to supply hand-made gifts to pressies' on an ongoing basis. No five minute wonders, please.

Your gift must be handmade in the UK, though it can be produced from component parts that are not. It can be a bespoke/ personalised gift, but cannot be an unrepeatable one off. Yes, it may be (almost certainly will be) subject to variations in the components and handmaking, but you must be able to "make more of the same". For personalised gifts, the style must be repeatable. So, in the case of our pop art canvas print, each purchase is based upon a different person, but the concept is the same - a pop art style picture from a portrait photograph.

We are looking for exciting unusual handmade gifts, so creativity is important. Any beaded jewellery is going have to be very unusual and truly remarkable to win. Also, the gifts should be relevant to pressies' shoppers, men and women buying for women. No gifts for men, or children or pets. New baby gifts are welcome, because these are usually more appreciated by the mother than the child!

To enter you need to email or mail a good quality picture (spend a little time on this as it'll be all we have to go on) and your sales pitch in your own words to pressies by the end of February 2008.

Submit your entries online here: Hunt For Hand-making Heroes - Handmade Gift Competition

Post your entries to: Hunt For Hand-making Heroes, Net Alternative, Po Box 653, Rickmansworth WD3 0DY.

So, get to it... please. We really would love to see what you have to offer and look forward to the prospect of working with you. Don't forget, there may only be one prize, but the pressies4princesses buyers will be pouring over every entry looking for future gift suppliers. Don't delay, make your entry today!

Making jewellery to desire

Every handmaker wants their jewellery to be desirable, but what exactly does that mean? Desirability is a subjective judgement. And, guess what? Somethings that I love, you'll hate. So, how to go about designing desirable jewellery?

Well the first thing is to accept that you can't be all things to all people. And, similarly, if you want to create a strong urge to buy in some people, that's going to mean turning others off entirely. Try to tread the middle ground and please everyone and you'll probably wind up being uninspiring. Failing to get anyone really salivating over your work probably won't help your fortunes. Better to accept that you'll turn some punters off, whilst turning others very much on. But how do you know whose buttons to push and how?

If you've read some of my previous posts, you can probably guess what sermon's coming next: niche positioning. You've got to decide who your customers are and why they are going to buy your jewellery. There is no secret universal pheromone-like characteristic that'll have everyone queueing up for your craft. You need to narrow things down by choosing a smaller part of the market to focus on - your niche. There's more about developing niche products here.

Addressing your products toward a clearly defined niche is a good start, but there is more to desirability. Often, we think we want a product, when actually we want what that product says about us. That's why brands are so important these days. It's not enough for a luxury car, for example, to be luxurious; it has to say the right things about us too. And, fashion isn't fashion. It's D&G, Prada and Armanni.

OK, so in all probability you are not going to have the cash to establish a spontaneously recognised brand, even within your tiny niche. People are not going to flock to you en-masse. But, when punters do discover you, that's when they start 'experiencing' your brand. Your website, packaging, leaflets, invoices, personal manner - everything that customers see, touch or hear - say something about your product. So, if you want to position your work as "young and funky", BE young and funky - in everything you do. You can't afford to be boring or come over all
corporate at any point!

So, desirability is an idea really. An idea that is attractive to buyers. This idea is embodied in your product, but should also run through the fine grain of your business. When you're selling your jewellery, you are selling the idea more than the object. Or at least you should be!