How To Sell Crafts During Recession?

Tough times are tough for everyone- buyers as well as sellers. Fancy items like fashion accessories,  arts & crafts are certain things whose purchasing is postponed during recession or financial downtime. However, not all experience financial crunches at the same time. There are many who want to buy specific crafts, even during economic downtime. There is the need to find out those buyers. Here are some tips for marketing your crafts during recession to such buyers.

• Do a lots of personal networking- Keep in touch with friends, vendors, customers. Leave your business card at grocery shop counter, restaurants, in the envelope containing payments of bills and the like. You'll be amazed to get calls making inquiry about your products.
• Respond Quickly- Never take any business enquiry for granted. Immediate respond to client inquiries.
• Women crafts persons can be a member of some women's networking group, particularly if her target customers are middle to upper income group. Give presentation of your craft making process to generate interest about your crafts in the group. Male crafter can join recreational or some other groups to formally or informally promote his products.
• Join online craft artists’ forums and discussion boards. Follow peers, customers, gallery owners and even your competitors on social networking websites. If possible, make your own website, either for showing off your work or as a retail sales outlet. If you can't afford a website- make a blog to promote your business.
• Take help of auction and sale sites for selling wholesale crafts as well as for retail selling.
• Advertise on cellphones. Followers of many sites willingly let them advertise through SMS in exchange of some offers. Explore such more avenues to advertise your work.
• Design and sell handicraft for charity auctions or fundraising. Keep some share with you and give the rest as charity. Many people just buy things to help others. This way your business can help the needy too.
• Join institutes like Museum Store Association and get listed on their website as a vendor. This list is often referred to by buyers from museum stores, antiques or collectible stores, zoos, national parks, etc. You can even get listed on online business directories who offer a free listing to businesses. For example, if you are in making wood crafts, you can get listed on Wooden Handicrafts B2B marketplace. And if you deal in beads or beading craft, get listed on Beads Manufactures Marketplace. Just a Google search on net and you'll find many directories pertaining to your niche market.
• Leave a tourist brochure with hotels having large tourist traffic. They prove to be promising buyers of local crafts.
• Organize home craft parties at your and friends', relatives' homes and present your work there. Make arrangements for profit sharing with them for regular organizing of such parties.
  

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Wrought Iron Wind Chimes - For Style, Luck and Prosperity

Wrought Iron is mostly associated with decorative furniture, gates, and railings etc. However, the tough, malleable, and easily welded wrought iron is also used to make various handicraft items. One of such very popular wrought iron handicrafts is the wrought iron wind chimes. Feng Shui, the ancient Chinese knowledge about the flow of “chi” or energy, also uses wind chimes as a very effective tool for bring luck, prosperity and positive energy in a house. And as these iron wind chimes are so beautiful that they render unique style to one's home. So, if you want to bring good luck, prosperity, energy, popularity and all the good things to your home, just read on to know how to use these chimes in a proper way.

Choose the Right Wind Chime

First of all, you must select your wind chime according the size of your room or garden, wherever you wish to hang it- small size for small sized rooms and big one for bigger spaces. After size, sound is the most important consideration. In fact, sound is what makes a chime effective. Metal chimes produce the most penetrating sound and thus, wrought iron wind chimes are just perfect for the purpose. Now comes the Feng shui as wells Vaastu consideration- the directions best suited for wind chimes.

Place Wind Chimes in Proper Directions

Wind Chimes are mainly used as Feng Shui tools for circulating positive energy and as such they should be placed in those directions of the house where there is most of the negative energy. The north and west sides are considered such negative energy prone areas of the house.

North facing windows and entrance doors: Whenever windows and doors are north facing, a very little or no sunlight reaches the interiors of the house which in turn leads to cold, dark and depressing atmosphere. Thus, metal wind chimes placed in the north, west or northwest areas of a home can bring positive energy in the house leading to ultimate prosperity.

Western area of the House: Western direction is generally regarded to be children's area. A wind chime placed in this direction promotes the chances of having children and positively influence their health, behavior and studies. Hollow metal wind chimes hanged in western direction particularly brings more energy in the house.

What more! Wind chimes can even cure depression and laziness. Get some Feng Shui Tips about the same.

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Wrought Iron Chandeliers- Buying and Caring Tips

Chandeliers add charm and style to our homes. From among many varieties of chandeliers, wrought iron chandeliers are considered to be classic. Whatever style of home decor you chose, they look good with all. As these chandeliers are made of tough wrought iron, they are durable too. Thus, wrought iron chandeliers are stylish, durable, classic and compliment any style of home decor. So why wait? Go and buy some beautiful wrought iron chandeliers. Just keep the following facts in mind while buying one.

• Measure the height of the room where chandelier will be hung. At least 6 feet 5 inches headroom should be left from the floor.
• A room smaller than 10' by 10', can have a chandelier with 17" to 20" diameter. A room of 12' x 12' will need one with 26" or 27" diameter whereas the same should be 24" to 36" for a room of 14' x 14'.
• If buying for dining room, the chandelier should be approximately 12 inches shorter than the width of dining table. Also, the chandelier should be 30" from the surface of the table. This will ensure sufficient light and to avoid bumped heads.
• Wrought iron is very heavy. As such, the ceiling electrical box should be such that can support its heavy weight.
• Although wrought iron chandeliers are classic then also some style are more suitable to particular decor styles. A simple chandelier having square or rectangular base with candle style lamp shades goes well with a contemporary or transitional look whereas a grand multi-tiered chandelier suits best to traditional style of home decor.

After you've bought your wrought iron chandelier, now comes the question of its maintenance, you sure want it to look as good as it was on the first day it entered your home. It is, in fact, very easy to maintain a wrought iron chandelier, just follow the tips given below

• Dust the chandelier with a clean, soft cloth in every seven or ten days.
• For a more complete cleaning, soak the cloth in a mild detergent and water solution. You can even use 4 tablespoons baking soda and 1 quart of water or a cleaner solution. After wiping, rinse and dry with a clean, soft cloth.
• A thin coat of liquid wax can also be applied on the chandelier with the help of a clean cloth. This gives added protection to your chandelier.
• Never hang a wrought iron chandelier in a damp area, it leads the iron to rust over time.

These simple tricks can keep your wrought iron chandelier shining.

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