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Why You Need a Marketing Plan + Basic Steps to Put One Together

- January 11, 2012 | by April -

You have a product that you’re proud of and want to sell. You tell your friends and family members, and they all hope that you’re just going through a phase. In a condescending tone, your mother asks, “Do you really think you could make a living selling YOUR paintings?” Instead of throwing a tantrum like a two-year-old, you take a deep breath, plaster on a smile, and try to explain that people actually do make a living by selling their art.

You spend hours taking pictures. You realize your pictures suck–they’re too dark and blurry, and the polka-dot background completely distracts from your products. You read your camera manual and learn some tips on lighting and macro photography. You spend another few hours retaking pictures. They’re much better than the first batch, especially after you edit them.

You try your very best to write product descriptions that don’t sound too pushy and salesy. You attempt to write in your own voice to make them sound unique, because that’s what everyone says you should do, even though you don’t really know what that even means.

You bite your lip and start to sweat as you put a $15 price on a product that took you three hours to make, because you really want to sell something. {If this is you, raise your damn prices!}

You upload your products on Etsy…and you wait…and you wait. You check your shop every 3 minutes hoping that someone has favorited one of your items or actually purchased something.

Then, you think, “Maybe I’m not good at this. Maybe I’m crazy to think people would actually want to buy my stuff. Maybe I should give up.” That’s when you reach for the wine bottle and have a glass or two or three and hope that no one asks, “So how’s that little online art business of yours going?”

This is where today’s lesson comes in.

Even if you have a unique product, magazine-worthy product photos, and well-written product descriptions, you still have to bring people into your shop. You need a marketing plan. Now, watch the video below:

If you don’t have a marketing plan, I have two suggestions for you:

The first is a blatant way for me to sell one of my products. Buy my book, Marketing for Creatives: How to Spread Your Message and Boost Your Sales, and learn how to market your stuff. {See how I’m marketing to you right now?}

The second is a basic way to start a marketing plan. Follow these steps:

1. List six places {blogs, websites, online magazines, print publications} where you would like to see your work featured or you would like to be featured.

2. Assign each of those places to one month over the next six months. Example: February: Design*Sponge, March: Oh My! Handmade Goodness, April: Real Simple, May: Decor8, June: Creature Comforts, July: Artful Blogging.

3. For each month, concentrate on getting your product featured on that site or in that publication. Learn what you need to do to submit your work and submit it.

Note: Your work may not get featured in that month. For instance, you might submit work to a print publication that doesn’t get featured until six months down the road. That’s okay. It’s just important to focus on getting these features.

Leave me a comment below letting me know one place where you’d like to see your work featured in 2012. I love hearing about your plans!

40 Comments · Filed Under: ARTrepreneur, Creative Business Development, Marketing

Comments

  1. Alicia says

    January 11, 2012 at 10:32 am

    April, you crack me up! The Wiggitys at the end gave me a giggle fit! You’re right — if you’re not marketing then how will people be able to find you?!

    Reply
    • April says

      January 11, 2012 at 10:37 am

      I was going to keep that part in the actual video, but my husband made this face that completely cracked me up and I couldn’t keep going….that’s what you see as the blooper!

      Yes, you’ve got to get found!

      Reply
  2. Laura Simms says

    January 11, 2012 at 10:41 am

    I enjoy listening to your wise words, April, but I can hardly get past your hair. How does your hair always look so good? You’re giving me fits.

    Reply
    • April says

      January 11, 2012 at 10:50 am

      Thanks lady! It takes me about an hour to get it to look like that. It’s definitely not a daily thing 🙂 Just a video taping and date night thing!

      Reply
  3. Lisa says

    January 11, 2012 at 11:03 am

    I plan on making more patterns and link them to a free site because that has changed my traffic considerably in the past two months.. but I do want to change the focus a little bit, to have people move from my website to my online shop to actually buy a pattern.. I need to find blogs that cater to the people that buy patterns. I’ve got work to do!!

    Reply
    • April says

      January 11, 2012 at 11:06 am

      I think you hit one of the big marketing nails on the head. You’re going to have fans and people who like your stuff, especially your free stuff but never buy. Then, you’ll have customers. Both groups are important. Fans often bring you traffic by promoting you on social media and their own blogs, and they give you support and encouragement. But, you’ve got to focus on customers if you want a successful biz.

      Reply
  4. Brenda says

    January 11, 2012 at 11:46 am

    Seeing as I do many great kitchenware items, Kitchen Therapy is on my list among a few others. You are so right about this marketing.

    Reply
    • April says

      January 11, 2012 at 1:12 pm

      Awesome! Thanks for sharing.

      Reply
  5. Irene Zuccarello says

    January 11, 2012 at 12:55 pm

    Great advices Ap!
    I too need to make order on my 2012 plan, and it’s good to keep in mind the importance to fix a date to our goals.

    P.s. love your pic!

    cheers cheers *

    Reply
    • April says

      January 11, 2012 at 1:13 pm

      Hey Irene! It’s great to hear from you. Glad you liked this one {and the picture!}.

      Reply
  6. lakshmi says

    January 11, 2012 at 1:32 pm

    My wiggity wiggity what marketing plan is a lot of what you mentioned in your video. I am offering a lot of digital printables for my subscribers. I started a new goal on my blog and that is getting a lot more interaction since the beginning of this year which is what I love- gives me a chance to know who is actually interested in what I do . Thanks for these awesome tips, April 🙂
    Happy New Year too 🙂

    Reply
    • April says

      January 11, 2012 at 4:23 pm

      Thanks for sharing about your marketing plan Lakshmi! Giving away a freebie to subscribers is always a good way to engage your target market and give them a little taste of what you offer.

      Reply
  7. Natalie says

    January 11, 2012 at 2:11 pm

    More than anything, I would LOVE to have my bouquets featured in Martha Stewart Weddings. But besides that, how do you go about finding places that your products are a good fit for?
    Thanks for the great tips! I’m excited to put these to use!

    Reply
    • April says

      January 11, 2012 at 4:26 pm

      Hey Natalie! Okay, if we’re talking bouquets, I’d start with wedding blogs and websites like Style Me Pretty, The Knot, Once Wed, Ruffled, 100 Layer Cake, etc. Your website is beautiful and you’ve got some really good photos, so I think you could land features on some big sites if you put yourself out there.

      Reply
    • Victoria says

      January 14, 2012 at 9:03 am

      Natalie, another thing you could do is to simply do some competitor research. Where are your competitors being featured and what’s their position in the market? You could either deliberately target the same magz and websites as your competitors or go against the grain and find out some publications that your competitors haven’t been featured in! Your website and products are beyond gorgeous!

      Reply
      • April says

        January 15, 2012 at 7:38 am

        That’s another good tip, Victoria. Thanks for adding it!

        Reply
      • Natalie says

        January 15, 2012 at 1:58 pm

        Thanks so much for the feedback, April and Victoria! I’ve been researching wedding websites and it’s a little scary, but I’m excited. Like April said, the big thing will be putting myself out there!

        Reply
  8. Kathy says

    January 11, 2012 at 4:20 pm

    Thanks for this April. I think I have to work on my overall business plan and then I will get to the marketing plan. Love the wiggity wiggity! I would love to get featured in a magazine, any magazine would be a dream come true.

    Reply
    • April says

      January 11, 2012 at 4:28 pm

      Hey Kathy! Marketing should be a part of your business plan…wink, wink!

      If you want to get featured in a magazine, you just have to start by picking one, figuring out how to submit your work and then submit it. I’ve talked to at least five different creatives who didn’t realize how easy it would be to get their work featured in print publications and once they actually took the steps, it happened.

      Reply
  9. Shirley says

    January 11, 2012 at 4:49 pm

    Hey April. I so look forward to your videos. This one was hilarious. Your hubby has a wicked laugh! Thank you for the great advice (and wickety wickety humour!) Keep it up. I can’t believe I’m typing this down for the world to see but…. I’d love to be published or my product featured in a little zine called Bespoke here in Australia.. There! I said it out loud.

    Reply
    • April says

      January 12, 2012 at 9:19 am

      Yay Shirley! Good for you for typing it for the world to see. I know {and by know–I mean we chat online and stuff} Jess Van Den, the lovely creator of Bespoke. You should start connecting with her if you haven’t already. You can easily find her on Twitter at @JessVanDen

      Reply
  10. Heather says

    January 12, 2012 at 12:01 am

    Hey April, ditto on the awesome hair!
    Marketing is definitely my weak spot. I have always been too shy about putting my work out there, especially until I feel completely confident and that everything is “finished”. But for almost a year now, I’ve been desperately wanting to be featured on a blog called “Simply Utah” and just haven’t had the guts to put myself out there for fear of rejection. But guess what?! Last Monday I submitted my shop and I just found out I was accepted and will be featured for a giveaway post on February 9th! Yay! My ultimate dream is to one day be featured in Parents Magazine. That would be Ah-mazing!

    Reply
    • April says

      January 12, 2012 at 9:21 am

      Thanks Heather!

      Thank you sooooooooooooooooo much for sharing your story! Other creative entrepreneurs NEED to hear this kind of stuff–it’s so inspiring. I know rejection is scary but it’s way worse to sit on the sidelines and not participate. Super huge congrats on your feature!

      Reply
  11. Shenee says

    January 12, 2012 at 10:31 am

    Wiggidy Wiggidy WHAT MARKETING PLAN?

    Can that be your next product, please?

    Great video April! It’s always good to figure out a way to focus on doing just the stuff that’s gonna get you leads and help you out and having an ACTUAL plan instead of a “oh, I am gonna tweet now or my gosh, I should send a newsletter, haven’t done that in a while!” really helps.

    Reply
    • April says

      January 12, 2012 at 4:32 pm

      Hahahahahaha…..My husband and Mayi Carles from heartmade both suggested that as well.

      Thanks! It definitely helps to have a plan–it keeps you action-oriented and consistent.

      Reply
  12. Carrie says

    January 12, 2012 at 11:47 am

    Pretty look for this video – and that includes the background too (I know you work on those backgrounds!).
    I haven’t really thought about being featured in blogs or magazines – something for me to think about. ..probably blogs that I like – aside from yours, perhaps blogs from other artists that I like and inspire me – that would be cool and flattering!
    I also just DL-ed your “Best of 2011”!!! THANK YOU! Just reading the first post lets me know that I’m in for a good read!

    Reply
    • April says

      January 12, 2012 at 4:34 pm

      Thanks Carrie! I do work on those backgrounds–some less than others–but some can take up to 3 hours!

      Blogs are a great place to start when thinking about landing features and interviews.

      I’m so glad you’re enjoying the “Best of 2011.” That’s great to hear!

      Reply
  13. Tabassum says

    January 17, 2012 at 7:14 am

    I’m loving the bloopers! It’s such a great way to pick up my day 😉 I see a change in your title in the near future to the April + Kris Show 🙂

    Ditto on the hair
    Dito on the wigdy wigidy what Marketing plan ecourse
    Ditto on “looking forward to your Wed. videos”

    Your tip for targeting 1 place per month is brilliant! Last year I was so stressed out by the long list of places I was trying to contact all at once to get my products featured. I just got burnout from marketing and I felt like I was all over the place and not centered on a cohesive plan. So since I still working on my creative biz on the side, I’m going to implement this idea b/c I see it as being so much more of a manageable and efficient way to to get the word out about my brand.

    Reply
    • April says

      January 18, 2012 at 10:05 am

      Hahahaha…like that title!

      Whenever we feel overwhelmed and stressed, breaking things down into small, manageable chunks always helps–but it’s easy to forget.

      Reply
  14. Gaby @ Tmuffin says

    January 17, 2012 at 9:57 am

    My husband always says that I bore him by talking about hair with my friends a lot. And it’s funny that the first thing I noticed about your video was your hair…and apparently everyone else did too! 🙂

    You always put things in manageable chunks. There are soooo many websites out there and so many publications in which I would like to be featured. I forget that I don’t have to focus on all of them at once. One a month is such a manageable way to do it, and that is so less overwhelming than what my “big picture” was. Thanks for helping us make things easy for ourselves!

    Also, I signed up for your six weeks to a creative business course. I’m so excited and can’t wait for that!!!

    Reply
    • April says

      January 18, 2012 at 10:09 am

      Ha! I always ask my husband before I start taping how my hair looks, and he always says, “It looks great.” And, it doesn’t always look great. Sometimes, pieces are sticking out every which way and it’s a hot mess. He doesn’t understand!

      I’m glad this video helped lessen the burden! Always break things down when you’re feeling overwhelmed.

      I’m so happy to work with you! We’re gonna have fun 🙂

      Reply
  15. Charlie @ House of Istria says

    January 19, 2012 at 7:56 am

    Oh ok… you got me. Have just bought your digital guide on marketing.

    One place I’d like to be featured? ummmm… Blacksburg Belle? 🙂

    Charlie xx

    Reply
    • April says

      January 19, 2012 at 2:16 pm

      Yay! Let me know what you think! Your hair accessories are beautiful!

      Reply
  16. Virginia Cook says

    June 20, 2012 at 12:34 pm

    I’m really glad you’ve addressed this issue! It always seems that only crazy over the top people know how to market their stuff while the talented wall flowers stand back in awe. So there is hope for me yet! Great do-able suggestions!

    Reply
  17. Virginia Cook says

    June 20, 2012 at 12:37 pm

    It always seems to me that the over-the-top personalities are the ones out there successfully marketing their stuff while the talented wall flowers stand back in awe. So there’s hope for us yet! Great do-able suggestions!

    Reply
  18. Heidi Thompson says

    January 14, 2013 at 1:53 pm

    This is exactly the sort of thing I see in the wedding industry. By the way, I liked the “wiggity what marketing plan”!

    Reply
  19. Catalina says

    May 27, 2013 at 9:55 am

    Hmm it looks like your website ate my first comment (it was extremely long)
    so I guess I’ll just sum it up what I wrote and say, I’m thoroughly enjoying your blog.
    I as well am an aspiring blog blogger but I’m still new to everything. Do you have any recommendations for novice blog writers? I’d really appreciate it.

    Reply

Trackbacks

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