SWOT Analysis...A Primer

Hello everyone, Wayne here again. 

This week I'm going to be sharing more marketing tips for the face painting and arts and crafts industry.  Actually, you can use these tips for any service or retail industry.  But for our purposes, we will be concentrating on our own particular niche in the business world. Last week we talked about finding out if there is a need for what you are offering.  We also concluded that you don't want to waste time or money if you concluded through your research that in fact there is not much interest in your product or service.

 This week I would like to discuss a technique called SWOT Analysis.  SWOT is an acronym for: Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, and Threat.  So let's get started.  The first thing you need to do is figure out what your strengths are in your prospective product or service.  Do you offer a superior product or higher standard of service than your competition?  Can you offer a unique or particularly excellent form of customer service that would differentiate you from your closest competitor?  Do you sell a unique item that no one else sells? Or...at the very least is there not much competition for it?  Is there anything that sets you apart from others? 

Now take a look at your competition and ask these same questions about their business or products.  How do your ideas measure up once you have done the research in these areas?  After carefully considering these questions, you can then make an informed decision on whether or not there is a market for your service or product, and whether it is a viable business option.  Then you can start to tweak your idea, making changes to anything you feel may need to be changed or altered to make your idea more attentive to your target customer.

Think on these things, do a little research and analysis, and when you are done, we'll be right here with you for part two...weakness. 

Until next time...

Marketing Tips

Well as I promised last week, I'm going to start this week with a series of marketing tips for those of us in the arts and crafts industry. First of all I will assume you are in business to make a profit,oh sure you love what you do also. That's why you do what you do! But actually making money makes your craft even more enjoyable.

 First things first...have you checked to see if there is a market for your items? Have you done research for you area to see if anyone else is doing the same thing or something close to it? You can go online, ask people around your area, check your local newspaper, go to craft shows or flea markets, etc. Just make sure there is a buyer for what you are selling. You probably have a lot of time and maybe a lot of money invested, so you don't want to waste those precious resources if at all possible.

Also, find out who your target market is. Are you selling items geared towards kids, seniors, businesses, churches? When you know who your target customer is, then you can decide the best method to reach them! Maybe the best method might be in print ads,or maybe on late night radio commercials. You may be able to get a rate discount on their overnight spots. It might be something as simple as having flyers that you can get printed pretty cheaply. And of course, don't forget those business cards that I hope you have.  Make sure to give them out at every opportunity. Let everyone you meet know what you're selling; you never know - you might just discover a valued customer who in turn could tell someone they know about your items.

So just be sure to take every advantage you can to promote yourself and your items. Try to build up a good rapport with your customers and potential customers.  If you do that, they will probably be more than happy to come back to you time and again for more of the wonderful items and services that you have to offer.

Well, I will end it here for this week. Please check back next week for more tips on how to market your items/services. I hope everyone has wonderful week.

Hello from Wayne

Hello,
This is Wayne with Funnertainment.  I would love to inform everyone that I will be starting a new blog on marketing tips for the face painting and the arts and crafts industry. I hope you will find the information I share here useful in your business. I'm looking forward to getting to know many of you in the very near future.

Welcome!

Hi everyone!  Just rolling out the welcome mat on our new blog.  We have lots of exciting things to share with you, so let's get started.

First off, I'll tell you a little bit about us.  We are Wayne and Kimberley Davis and together we make up Funnertainment, LLC.  We are an entertainment business specializing in face painting and caricatures, with the occasional balloon animal thrown in just for fun.  We also do arts and crafts, home gardening and canning, and gifts in jars.  During the slower season for face painting, I make hand painted custom Christmas ornaments, soft cloth dolls and stuffies, can salsas, jellies and jams, and even paint murals on business windows.   I like to stay busy.

On a personal note, Wayne and I have five wonderful rescue dogs that keep us company.  I have an adult son who lives too far away for my liking, but we keep in touch on Facebook and phone. I'm not the best at texting but I do manage when I have to.  Wayne and I have been married a little over a year and it just keeps getting better and better.  We make each other laugh, inspire and encourage one another on a daily basis. How awesome is that?

On this blog we'll be posting experiences, tips, updates, crafty stuff and more.  We'll be testing out products, showing our work and generally having a good time. We'll share ideas, tutorials and hopefully a laugh or two. We hope you will come back often, and stay as long as you like!

P.S. If you love the design of our blog, go on and check out the fabulous Jeannette over at JDesignsHandmade on Etsy (click on the name for the link).  She is lightning fast, super friendly and does such beautiful work.

Well I think that's all for now.  Take care!