Friday, June 21, 2013

Webby of the day



I have come across a few great arty links this week and thought I would share them with you.
The first one is an arts photography project in which the entire food for one week and the family it provided for were photographed.

It was so interesting to see what people ate and how many it was providing for - I was especially interested in how much processed food was eaten by western countries compared to others.

Go and have a look HERE.


Now I don't know if its the stalker in me but I found this next one so interesting. This web page shows photos of people suitcases that were admitted to a mental asylum in New York from 1910-1960. There were 400 suitcases found in an attic, forgotten and unclaimed. They are little suitcases of history, ready made time capsuals and each have their own story to tell of that person the moment that they were admitted. So intriguing, imagine the stories that could be told from these.

You can view the photographs HERE.

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Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Great Tasmanian Maker



Here at MWL we are looking to extend our support for Tasmanian creative types. 
We want to promote them - to pimp them out to the wider world. Because we think they are pretty special.
We love what they do and feel their unique qualities and talents should be seen by more people.

So proudly I would love to present our "Great Tasmanian Maker" program.
Here we will feature an artist/artist/crafts person - their studio/workspace - and have a chat with them about what they do.

The artist of the month will get huge promotion on our blog and market facebook page, a blog badge and the distinction of becoming one of our favorite movers and shakers in our beautiful state.

Sounds interesting.... you say ....Where do I sign up? You say...well first the rules...

Criteria = Must reside and create in Tasmania
That is all.

We are already working on bringing you our first Maker but we are on the look out to discover some more.

If you feel like you would love to be one of our great Tasmanian Makers then please email madewithlovebazaar (at) gmail (dot) com with a short description of what you do and where you live (photos are good too) and you will be placed on the selection list. You must be prepared to be photographed - interviewed and generally pimped out.
I also have another task that will be required of our artist but that is all a bit hush hush right now.

So do it! Lets make you a super star 
xoxoxoxo
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10 tips for a great market stall



Here is another great article from Hot Choccy about running your first market stall. I have added some notes {not in itallics} that I think are relevant to our regional area:

1. Research your markets, there is no point paying to be involved in a market where your product doesn’t fit. Our very first market was for a dog charity and all of the stalls were for pet products. We had no idea, our friend ran the market and asked us to be part of it so we said yes. We make chocolate powder…we didn’t quite fit and as a result didn’t sell much product. In fact we had some people asking if we sold chocolate powder for pets!
I've done a lot of markets personally and it really does make a difference to find the right one. At the local foreshore market you find a lot of second hand and is not really 'right' for handmade. So much so that the girl and I that attended sold $9 worth of product between us, the guy next door with garage sale crap sold $900.

2. Do I stay or do I go? At the moment we’re in a couple of markets that are slow for us. You need to do a cost-benefit analysis and work out if the market is really working for you. On the flip side you need to give it time to build a customer base for repeat sales as well as new sales. It’s a balancing act but there comes a point where you need to make a decision whether you stay or leave.
I find that at our market it takes a few visits for people to get to know you - I don't like it when people only come for one market then dont' come back - as often I have people asking after their product the next time. Also sometimes attending a market is more about the after sales and self promotion than  the sales made on the day


3. Make sure your stall looks great. I don’t think there’s anything worse than going to a market and it’s obvious when a stallholder hasn’t put any time into making their stall look good. It’s a reflection on you and your product, so spend a little extra and make it look great.
We expect this from our stall holders - it lifts the overall market and how people perceive your professionalism.


4. Make sure it’s obvious by your signage what you sell. We weren’t good at it at the start. Our stall looked great, but unless people took a close look at our products it was difficult to tell what we sold. So we had a sign made that runs across the top of our marquee that says who we are and what we do, and we’ve got a sign on our table that has some key points for why potential customers should buy our product.
Consistent branding and marketing should be a very important part of your creating strategy.

5. Don’t just sit there and wait for customers to come to you. You’d be surprised how many stallholders read a book or surf the net on their iPhone or iPad while potential customers walk by. Stand up, interact with people, ask them questions. If people walk past my stall and even vaguely give me a sideways glance, I ask them “do you like hot chocolate”? If they say no I joking tell them they must be fibbing because everyone likes hot chocolate right? It breaks the ice and leads to sales.

6. Have a spiel ready when people are at your stall or walking by. You’ve got 30-60 seconds to sell your product. For us we push the benefits of our powder over commercially available alternatives – low in sugar, low in fat, gluten free and still tastes awesome. Make sure if the potential customer has a question you can answer it. It’s amazing how many times when I ask if they like hot chocolate their response is they are watching their weight. I need to very quickly assure them we sell a product that is a better choice than other commercial alternatives.

7. If you’re selling a food product have samples for people to try. It sounds obvious, but you’d be surprised how many people don’t. If there’s two of you in your stall, then one of you should go out into the crowd and give away samples. If there’s only one of you, put some on the table and encourage people to try them. We have a lemon chocolate product, it doesn’t sound nice I know, but I push it hard at markets and 9 times out 10 when people try it, they buy it.

8. Have EFTPOS facilities available, whether it be through your bank or Pay Pal Here or whoever. People don’t carry as much cash around with them as they used to, even at markets, and when people say “sorry I’ve got no cash on me” you can say “that’s ok, we accept credit cards”. It leads to more sales.
I think this is correct especially if you are selling big ticket items and you attend a lot of markets. However this is not achievable for those starting out or only attend markets sometimes. There are a lot of good apps for smart phones and ipad these days that you can investigate should you want to look into it further. PS make sure you have a float - always.


9. Have some cards available for people to take away. Tourists don’t like to carry things home with them, but will buy online when they get home, as do people who have no money OR cards with them.
 This is an investment into your after sales.

10. Have a sheet for people to sign up to your newsletter. We have one on our table but don’t push it hard enough. The bigger your distribution list, the more future sales you will make when you e-mail them information about your products. We need to be better at this, it’s important.

Thankyou to Hot Choccy for your ideas :)
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Wednesday, June 12, 2013

DIY - Your first market stall




Want to have your own craft stall or perhaps already do but love to find out how others do it? I found this lovely article via Retro Mummy. I think it has some great and simple tips on conducting your market stall. The following is some of the tips that she recommends:

1. Be organised.
Make a list of everything you need to take on the day and tick off as you pack it. My usual last minute supplies that I need to top up on in the last week are paper bags, price tags and updated price signs.
 
2. Have plenty of business cards or flyers on hand.
 I learnt early on to skip the fancy business cards for markets and save them for conferences and meetings. I go for vistaprint as I was using a box of pretty glossy moo cards in a morning so I now buy by the 500 or so and it’s much more economical. Make your own flyers on a printer and pop one in each bag too. Cheap and easy.
 
3. Dress for style and comfort.
Even if you’ve been up late sewing for a week or so layout some clothes that you know you look and feel good in. For me it’s my favourite white shirt, jeans and silver birkenstocks (the comfort part) or a simple dress – you’ll be on your feet all day with no time to sit down but you also are the face of your business and your stall. It’s worth looking nice. Trust me.
 
4. Smile and talk.
Being a total chatster myself, one of the things I love about a market is all the chatting I get to do. But it can be daunting standing at your stall with strangers walking by – will they stop, will they keep walking, what do you say? My secret is just keep smiling, adjust things, straighten those business cards. When someone comes up to the stall always say hi and I say just let me know if there is anything you’re after! Just remember this is fun. Even if you’re having a crappy day just keep smiling!
 
We hope to bring you some more tips - so pop back regually and don't miss a beat. And show Retro Mummy some love for sharing her tips on her blog for us.
Mxo
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Monday, June 10, 2013

Virtual tour

A little video from our especially talented market photographer Naomi Fenton of look see

Have a little look see at how talented our makers are:

<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/68029700" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe> <p><a href="http://vimeo.com/68029700">made with love market june '13</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/lookseebynaomifenton">Naomi Fenton</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>

XoXoXoXoXo

We are a group of great Tasmanian Makers - Tasmanian Crafts People - Tasmanian Farmers Market - Tasmanian Artist's.
We are a local Tasmanian market bringing to you the finest Tasmanian talent that we can every month. We operate our Tasmanian market ever second Saturday of the month from 9am till 1pm.
We hope that this little video tour of our special makers market will give you a little peek into what we do and the amazing Tasmanian talent that we have in our area.

We may not be the biggest market in Tasmania but we can offer you the biggest quality made products from our region. 
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Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Welcome


Welcome to our little corner of the web.
We hope that this blog can add to the experience  of our monthly market.

We also hope to provide you with a more in deepth look at our makers and provide opportunities to promote our individual makers and growers.

Stay tuned for some LOVEly stories
XoXoXoXoX
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