Brand (new) People

At the start of the year I was working on my business as a whole entity rather than just a way of selling and found a great website called Copyblogger and a series about branding your business there. Since then I have been working my way through all of the steps he suggests and I’m putting the step-by-step online. It’s a very useful site. Have a look if you’re interested/involved in small business marketing. This is the fourth part, the first is over here and the second is here and the third is here.
I’m still getting really lovely emails etc. from people about this series so I’m going to carry on for a bit longer.

In other news I am cold. Really cold. I’m down two radiators at the moment and a lot of our house doesn’t have double glazing. Send gloves. Please. To make up for the weather I am cooking even more than ever and playing around with a lot of new recipes while I still have the kitchen to myself. Unsurprisingly none of them are particularly healthy. I don’t care.

26. What gender is your audience?

I think most of my audience is probably female – from seeing the gender spread at both craft fairs and also on Etsy. My art is certainly not designed just to appeal to women but the demographics of the places that I sell is certainly skewed to female rather than male. I think that starting out in jewellery making means that my base audience is also more inclined to be women. Hopefully as I find more places to sell my artwork and cards as well as my jewellery I will get a more even mixture of men and women.

27. How old are they?

The audience for my art seems to be older than for the jewellery which is generally bought by a much wider age range. I am hoping after a few more craft fairs I will have a clear idea of my age-range as well as other social identifiers and should be better able to target my marketing after that.

28. What generational values do they have?I have no idea. When describing individual works, especially in my collages, it amazed me how different the styles were once I sat down and thought about it. I have some very traditional pieces which while still different as is the nature of collage work they are also quite conventional! I definitely have some more wacky pieces of art and definitely some much more modern bracelets.

29. What is their household income level?

Because the business is based on selling people something that they do not ‘need’ it is reasonable to think that most of my products are bought with extra income after necessities have been paid. I guess that means that my audience has enough to cover their means and then a little extra.

30. Where do they live?

One of the wonderful things about Etsy is that it’s worldwide and I ship anywhere. At the same time the best part of craft fairs is that you get to meet and talk to your local buyers. I like both aspects but I think that the majority of my audience would be local because I do much more business through craft fairs and the local shops that I sell in.

31. What are their hobbies and interests?

I would hope art. I know that most sellers on Etsy are also buyers. Same goes for craft fairs where most people with a stall end up buying something from another stall while they are there. However, if people are interested in jewellery making and collage then it’s unlikely they would therefore buy my products rather than using their own.

32. What is their marital status?

If my jewellery or art is bought as a gift for a partner I would be thrilled. Of course I think that my collages would make the perfect gift. Ahem. Otherwise I would say it’s probably a mixture of people.

33. Do they have kids?

Yes I think many of the people buying my products are likely to have children, more so with my jewellery than with the artwork. From seeing people at craft fairs and fetes I have had a lot of customers with children and they are often included in choosing pieces (I have lots of things that sparkle!).

34. Do they have pets?

I have no idea. Certainly nothing that I make is likely to particularly attract pet owners and I don’t keep any pets so it’s not likely to be something that we connect on.

35. What kind of computer are they likely to own (if any)?
They all use Windows because I put subliminal anti-Apple messages into all of my work. I am joking, of course. Etsy has apps for most types of technology, not all of them work well, certainly the Android one has bugs but I don’t think there should be any major issues. I would hope that people looked at my site, especially the Etsy parts on something bigger than a cell phone because it is so visual and thumbnails are not all that accurate. I also love meeting people at crafts fairs who have no idea that you can sell things online (yes, it does still happen sometimes) and naturally seeing things in the flesh is better and the tactile element is brilliant.

36. Do they have any special needs or health issues?

Nope. Well, they might. I have a disclaimer for small parts on my jewellery kit but if a kid swallows a piece of art in a frame…

37. What TV shows do they prefer?

I don’t have a clue. I don’t really watch TV so, erm, Radio 4?

38. What blogs do they read?

Well I guess it would be nice if they read this one. I think I tend to get a fair bit of exposure to new audiences through blogs and Etsy forums etc. and as I am trying to reach more people online through Etsy as well as local selling those people are likely to read blogs more regularly.

39. What other websites do they visit most often?

Etsy, Folksy, Craftsforum, Polyvore, Pinterest, Tumblr, Flickr, various online style magazines. And Google (well, it’s pretty likely isn’t it?). Again I am just guessing, I’ve never asked.

I’ve found most of this branding survey really useful but the next eleven questions really don’t seem relevant and are along the lines of “47. What is their greatest hope or dream?” Which I am sure I would just answer for myself, as we so often end up doing. So I am going to jump ahead in the next blog to question #51 which is dealing with competition. I’m looking forward to that as I sell craft products that are made my so many people. It’s a tough market and I think that looking at my competition will be really helpful.

Now I have a scarily long to-do list and a very good book to read so I must dash.
Happy weekend everyone,

Vick.

vclinde@gmail.com
www.vclinde.co.uk

http://www.etsy.com/shop/vclinde
@vclinde