| The image of a crafter or artisan is often serene, | | | | click and order. |
| even pastoral. It's easy to imagine a potter | | | | A presence on the Internet is essentially like |
| spinning his wheel in his barn-turned-studio and | | | | having a store opens every day, all year long - no |
| then selling his wares at the little farmer's market | | | | waiting between those craft fairs or local tourist |
| down the road. Or a knitter, knitting quietly with a | | | | season. And their customer base grows |
| dog at her feet and a cup of tea as she gets | | | | automatically from a limited local market to a |
| ready for this year's Christmas craft fair. | | | | worldwide one. |
| But, in today's global market, such crafters, | | | | Considering all these benefits and the knowledge |
| artisans, artists and designers need not rely on | | | | that if you're not online, your competitor will be - |
| farmer's markets and craft fairs alone. The | | | | having an online presence isn't so much a question |
| Internet provides such crafters with access to a | | | | of "Should I?", but "How do I?". But the thought of |
| global market, 24 hours a day, seven days a | | | | managing a website, especially one that offers |
| week traditional methods of selling just can't | | | | online ordering, can seem daunting for many small |
| compare in terms of sales and exposure. | | | | entrepreneurs. |
| An online presence can be a great benefit for any | | | | Crafters can hire a website designer to create an |
| type of crafter, be it a jewellery maker, a knitter, | | | | online presence with ecommerce capabilities for |
| a glassblower, a potter or a painter. It gives | | | | them. There are often high costs associated with |
| crafters credibility as a legitimate business | | | | the design and management of websites, of |
| because now their customers can easily access | | | | course. There are also concerns about things like |
| their information, including contact details (in fact, | | | | security and payment, which must be handled |
| customers may consider you less credible if you | | | | appropriately in this day and age of identify theft. |
| don't have a website). | | | | Another option is to join an online crafters' mall. A |
| Crafters can advertise their domain name on their | | | | good crafters' mall will make things easy for |
| flyers, business cards and signs, and potential | | | | crafters, as it will have created the basic |
| customers will automatically go to their website to | | | | infrastructure already and they won't have to |
| find out more about them and their products. | | | | worry about the logistics of maintaining the |
| Crafters can have a complete, updateable | | | | website; they will only have to update their |
| inventory of their products with photos on their | | | | personal information and fill the orders that start |
| website, making it easy for a buyer to simply | | | | coming in. |