With that said, there’s a few things you should know about auctions.

1. Get GREAT photographs. Good photographs sell online. That’s true for all online selling, but especially true in auctions, where people may be browsing for products instead of searching out for you. So entice people with great photos – clear product shots worn by PEOPLE, not mannequins will make a difference.

2. You won’t make as much as you could selling on your own site, generally. Most folks on auction sites are browsing for a deal, so expect not to profit as much. Because of that…

3. …make sure you start the auction bids at the price of your materials first. If you’re selling online, you can underwrite the cost of your time with the cost of getting clear, publicly posted and linkable customer feedback, but you don’t want to be out the cost of the materials at the very least.

4. Because one of the biggest reasons to sell via auctions is the feedback, make sure you follow up with your customer afterwards if they haven’t immediately left feedback. That also means you should leave stellar feedback first – reciprocity and follow up sure beat the underhanded “feedback hostage” many sellers now employ. If you act in good faith, buyers will more likely give you a break if things don’t go totally perfect.

5. Broadcast your auctions – let people know that you’re selling (along with what you’re selling). Just remember to treat the channels you broadcast with online the same as the the channels you use offline (that is to say, don’t be the person everyone tunes out because they’re always self-promoting whether in real life or online – be selective in your messaging).

6. Brand your auctions. There are auction template creators everywhere and the templates they spit out can be easily personalized. If you did it to your Myspace, you can easily do it to some code. Don’t let your auction look like everyone else’s.

7. Being professional matters. From spell-checking your listing to replying promptly to all inquiries, everything matters. Because these sites are generally filled with people who are not familiar with you or your work (unlike online community sites) you need to ensure their impression of you is nothing less than stellar.

8. Communicate, communicate, communicate. Remember – customer service is also included when people are leaving feedback. Give the buyer as much information as you can – when things ship out, the tracking number, when they can expect it and when you’ve left feedback. It’s better to overcommunicate about a buyer’s purchase then to undercommunicate.

9. Time things appropriately. Depending on your demographic, you may want to ensure your buyers can be online for when the auction ends. If you’re going for a young, office-type worker with quirky style, an afternoon end time may be better. Similarly, if you’re going for a high-school/university student buyer, early evening may be best. Moreover, if you ship only on certain days, time the ending so the shipping day is a day or two away from the auction’s end, so your buy doesn’t have to wait a week if they pay right away for your item.

What do you think? Did I leave anything out? I’d love to hear your thoughts! Leave me a comment!

Next Tuesday: Business plans – what you need (or don’t need)

1. Post a fantastic show-off of your products with amazing photos
If you’re a part of an online community, create something remarkable and post pictures of it. The key is being remarkable – don’t invest the time in creating a product just like everyone else’s. Being remarkable will set you apart and elevate your work. If you’re just posting photos of how much your product is like everyone else’s, you’re competing with more established sellers and the only place where you can compete with them is price. That’s just a game where you lose in the end.

2. Tell a story & have a sale
My customers used to know that around September, I’d always have sale. Why? That’s when I had to pay my university tuition and I needed to raise funds. So I had a 20% off sale. It helped to give back to my existing customers base but also pulled the attention of people who would hesitate to buy from me for 2 reasons. First, the lower price would help them take the leap and second, there was a connection. They knew something about me, that I wasn’t some automaton and that by buying my products, they were actually HELPING someone. It helps to remind customers that there’s a person that is buying food, going to school or supporting a family with their dollars.

3. Reward customers who spread the word
I would give discounts to customers who would post positive reviews online about my products and service. Why? It helps push people who are happy with your products to tell people that they’re happy. An old adage reads that a happy customer tells 1 person, an unhappy customer tells ten. The happy customer will want to buy from you again, and by rewarding them with a discount in the future, you get them to spread the word about how happy they actually are. It’s not sneaky or underhanded – if these people weren’t happy, they’d tell everyone anyways and certainly not buy from you again. You’re just rewarding loyal customers. And nothing tells others to buy from you like the word of folks who are happy having bought from you. Well, that is other than photos of folks who are happy having bought from you. Which brings me to the next point…

4. Reward customers who send you photos of themselves in your product
Nothing tells the world how great your stuff is and how amazing your service is like someone who has paid their hard earned cash to wear it. It helps if the photos are nice, but that’s not the point. Photos of happy customers aren’t intended to sell the product themselves, but the idea that you too can be happy with this product. So entice customers to send you images of them wearing your product with rewards like discounts. Moreover, in my experience, customers who take pictures of themselves in your product will also post those images in other places – like their Facebook or blog. This sends images of your work to their network and help bring you customers you wouldn’t have even had access to reach.

5. Be generous with your techniques
Posting tutorials on how you make your work in communities that are relevant to your industry elevates you. You become an expert. By being generous with your knowledge, it educates your customers. Sure, people can try to recreate your work, but generally, most will see how skilled you need to be & how much work it takes and as a result simply order from you.

6. Give you product away for free in exchange
The photo at the top of this post of of the amazing Apnea and was taken by Philip Warner of Lithium Picnic Studios. I traded the product she’s wearing (plastic lacing falls) for the shot. When I posted that shot, orders went through the roof. I don’t believe in free because I feel it undermines a business, but I heartily believe in trade. Offering products to reviewers in exchange for photos, unbiased reviews, helpful critiques and so forth can be very worthwhile and draw eyes to your products and gain you customers.

7. Buy carefully selected ads and sponsorships
There’s a lot of folks selling ads in this day in age. If you’ve done all the other tricks and have some money to invest in also building your brand, this is an expense that may be worth it. I’ve bought banner ads from various Goth sites, print ads in a few publications and sponsored some local events. If they price is right,they generally pay themselves back in sales – you just have to know what the price point is for you (my price point is that the ad campaign must pay for itself in one average sized order). It also helps define your brand in the mind of the ad viewer, so they may not buy from you, but if they have some (even subconscious) recognition of your brand in the future, it may be enough to push them to purchase then.

Note: I’ve never bought ads from Google and I will never suggest you do. They end up in the funniest places, and are very poorly targeted for small businesses who sell handmade crafts.

Questions? Comments? I’d love to hear them! Just leave me a comment!

Next Thursday: Auctions – The Who, What, Where and How

But pricing is easy. Just follow this simple equation:

Cost of materials + (Number of hours worked x hourly wage)

The part people stumble on is how much to pay themselves. By this time, you’re not learning to perfect your craft (at least, not if you’re intending to sell it as a business). You already know how to do it, you’re established in skill. So it’s not an issue about how fast or slow you work.

Moreover, you deserve to pay yourself at -least- minimum wage.

Setting prices isn’t hard – it’s just difficult because we tied emotionally to what we create and we have a hard time putting a price on it.

Now if you’re working in trade for portfolio photos, other products or services, it’s obviously different, but that’s another post for another day.

Next Tuesday’s post: Attracting new customers, especially when you’re starting up

Our society has made young people feel as though their skills aren’t developed enough and that they don’t have enough experience, thus what they offer is somehow less valuable. So, in order do to things we love, we feel compelled to do them for free – to offer our services for free.

In this post, I’m going to talk specifically about how offering free services actually hurts sales (in terms of finding takers) and in what situation free is actually a very good thing to encourage future sales.

Imagine you’re a parent of a child. You see two listings online for babysitting. Both listings have the same years of experience in babysitting, both are certified in first aid, and both are perfect strangers to you. One listing charges 20 dollars per hour for babysitting, one says they do it for free.

Which babysitter seems more credible, trustworthy and someone you’d be more willing to entrust with your child and which one seems the more likely kidnapper?

The one that charges is the one that seems easier to trust, and free one seems to be the one to raise the most questions. We’re meant to be wary of free.

Why is that? In the mind of a buyer, free raises questions about what the seller’s agenda is. By charging, it’s very clear what benefits a seller gets from offering their services. Free, on the other hand, doesn’t make clear why you’re doing what you’re doing. It also makes what you’re offering seems less valuable somehow.

Photographers and models, even when they don’t charge, never work for free. In that industry TFP/TFCD (trade for pictures/CD of pictures) is extremely common for up and comers to build their portfolio. TFP makes it clear what the benefit is to the model/photographer.

If you’re offering to do things for free, take a lesson. Maybe you’ll notice nobody is taking you up on your free offer. The solution is simple: don’t offer things for free – offer things for motive. Be clear why you’re not charging, but state how it benefits you. You’ll find people are less suspicious and more willing to take you up.

So when is free a good thing? Simple – when what’s free isn’t a service, but rather a product.
You’ll have noticed that you still find plenty of business out there giving away freebies. Free product samples are a fantastic way to start a relationship with a potential customer and maintain a relationship with an existing customer. Particularly in an age of online shopping, free samples and free gifts with purchase get people poking their head in to see what you’re products are about.

Take, for example Lush. I love Lush – the stores themselves are an experiential buffet to the senses. I try all the products and buy the ones I like. But how does Lush recreate this for their website customers? Simple: they always include a free sample of a product based on what the customer bought previously and what they’re looking to promote in the future.

This does two things.
1. Free samples create a familiarity with a product. I’m therefore more likely to buy that product now then when I was unfamiliar with it.
2. Free gifts create a psychological need for reciprocity. There’s a psychology to selling and part of it is the human need to reciprocate. That means if you give me something for nothing, I feel as though I owe you, we’re friends and we’re linked. It creates loyalty within a customer. It strengthens the relationship.

Here’s the tricky part: after multiple orders, I start EXPECTING a free sample from Lush, because they ALWAYS put one in. If I don’t have it, I feel as though I’ve been duped, looked over, or neglected. Had Lush been more random with their samples, or gave samples for special occasions (first purchase, large orders, birthdays etc.) or randomly, this wouldn’t be the case. There’s a point where the payoff for free starts declining – so be aware of this.

The psychology is tricky – but if you can master it, it’ll yield rewards.