Posts Tagged ‘selling knitting’

An Update On Knitting Pattern Copyrights

Monday, May 11th, 2009

The comments after my post about quick knitting patterns were great because they highlighted an issue that most knitters who sell their work will face, whether you can use a someone else’s knitting patterns to make knitted products to sell (even if the knitting pattern is free). So I’ve done a bit of research on copyright and how it applies to knitting and crochet…

Copyright is a form of legal protection for creators of original works (whether literary, artistic, dramatic or musical) which ensures they are credited (and/or paid) for that work for a certain period of time. This includes original knitting and crochet patterns.

Copyright laws were created because there needed to be a balance between sharing ideas and information, and making sure that the original creators of those ideas are credited for them. Without copyright laws, people may be much less willing to share their ideas for fear that others could use their creation to make money, with no credit or reward to them for their inspiration. But sometimes copyright works against the author, with people unwilling to use an idea or inspiration for fear of infringing copyright, and so the work is never widely known.

When you find a knitting pattern, whether it is in a published book or free on the internet, it is automatically subject to copyright laws, which are in essence the same around the world. If it says "All rights reserved", that means you basically can’t do anything but knit it for yourself or perhaps as a gift. If it just says copyright or says nothing at all, then the best course of action is to contact the designer and ask.

Obviously, you can’t just change a couple of stitches and claim a design as your own, but you can use the ideas and techniques in a pattern to create your own designs. Exactly how much different it needs to be to not infringe copyright is like asking "how long is a piece of yarn?". A lot of it is down to common sense and courtesy really – if you’re not sure, just ask the designer. The knitting world is generally a friendly and sharing community, and every author can decide what you are allowed to do with their patterns. If you ask, most are quite happy to at least discuss it.

There are also patterns available that are in the "public domain". This means that their copyright term has ended, and you are completely free to use them, reproduce them, modify them and resell them as you wish. Generally these are vintage knitting patterns published before 1963 (this is for the US, and providing their copyright has not been renewed).

These days there is a big swing towards "free licence", which means many people are putting their original ideas and works out into the world happy for people to use them as long as they credit them as the original creator. I really like this model because it encourages sharing and collaboration, which is something that sits very well with the knitting community spirit.

If you are a designer, it is also a great way to get your patterns known by lots of people, because they will be more willing to share and recommend them. You are also likely to make more sales worldwide with this model because it opens up whole new markets – especially people who want to make money from knitting and need unique patterns that they can sell from!

And when you think about it, the actual knitting pattern is really only part of the creative process of the finished knitted product. The knitter will choose the colours and yarns and fix mistakes or make small alterations to a pattern. So every finished piece will probably be a bit different from the original design!

If you have patterns that you are happy for people to sell the finished work from, feel free to post your web address and details in the comments section below and get some free traffic! Or if you have any comments or other information about copyright of knitting patterns, please post a reply and let us all know.

 

 

 

Tags: crochet pattern, knitting business, knitting copyright, knitting pattern, knitting pattern copyright, selling knitting, vintage knitting pattern
Posted in Knitting Patterns, Make Money Knitting | 27 Comments »

Top 5 Tips For Selling Knitting At Craft Shows

Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

Craft Shows are a great way to get a lot of people to see you and your knitting business in a short space of time. Plus there is the potential to make a lot of money too! But competition at large craft show events can be intense, so you need to know how to maximise your time and exposure to make the best of your investment.

I have displayed at many large shows, and have paid a lot of attention to which stands get the most customers. This is a great way to learn what works, and get innovative ideas for your craft show booth.

Here are 5 ways you can ensure that you get the most for the time, effort and money you invest into a craft show booth…

Tip #1 – First Impressions Are Everything!

Even though it sounds like common sense, it’s worth remembering that many customers are going to decide whether or not to come and look at what you have to offer based on their first impression of the stand as a whole. If you can catch their eye with something interesting, you are going to be getting more traffic to your stall, and traffic means business!

There are some little inexpensive tricks you can use to make your booth stand out (and you can do this for small markets and fairs too).

• Choose a colour and theme for your booth that suits your knit or crochet products. For example, if you produce knitted baby items, decorate as you would a babies room. Add props like a crib if they will fit (a dolls pram or crib is small enough to fit on a table and will attract attention), and use colours like pink, baby blue, light purple and light green. If you’re niche is organic and natural yarns, then add props like a potted plant, cardboard trees and a green and brown theme.

• Props are great! They attract attention and are excellent conversation starters. I have used mannequins, stuffed toys, plants, cardboard cut-outs, a model house, and even a racing car game (some of these were not for a craft show obviously!)

• Your main display table should be covered in a clean and ironed cloth (don’t laugh, I have seen some surprisingly scruffy looking displays in my time), of a colour that compliments or highlights the colours of your products. If your knitted products are mostly white, don’t use a white table covering, or your products will be lost in a sea of white.

• If you have been to the craft show event before, think about what colours everyone else tends to use, and choose a different one so you stand out. Make sure you pay attention to these things when you are at a craft show. Try to get time to look around at everyone else’s displays and make notes!

• Place boxes underneath the table cloth to give your display height and texture.

• Remember to decorate the walls of your booth, drape them with cloth or examples of your work. This adds height and depth to your display.

• If you are offered overhead lights for the booth, use them! They will make your stand brighter and more noticible – good light is one of the things that really isn’t worth skimping out on.

Tip #2 – Make It Easy For People To See, Touch And Try On Your Knitted Products.

Again this may sound simple, but if people can’t easily see and feel things, they will be less inclined to buy. The following ideas are straight from retail research about the way people shop and buy. All the large retailers use little tricks to get us to buy (like putting sweets at the checkout counter, or placing items they want to boost sales of in the front right hand side of the store because that’s where people tend to go first…)

• If you have racks of knitwear, make sure people can get easy access to them without having to squeeze past tables or boxes. Admittedly it can be very difficult to achieve this when you only have a space that is 3 metres square, but you need to get a bit creative with how you lay things out so people can get to your products. Try placing tables in a U-shape inside your booth so they can come right in and reach everything. Corner booths are good for stalls that have racks, so people can wander through them more easily.

• If you are selling knitted or crocheted clothing of any kind (even scarves and beanies), make sure you have a mirror that people can see themselves in.

• Try not to make people bend over to reach your products – if you have shelves, only use the ones that are at about hip height and above. When people have to bend over, they bump into other people and make everyone uncomfortable.

• Remember, you don’t have to display everything all at once! Don’t make your stand too cluttered or it will become confusing. Select a range, and if someone wants a different colour or size, you can get it out for them.

Tip #3 – Invite People In.

If you make eye contact with people and invite them in to your display, you’ll get much more traffic than if you stand mute and just hope they’ll come your way. I was always completely exhausted after a show because I spent the whole time talking and interacting with people. But it meant that we made good sales, and introduced as many people as possible to our business.

Tip #4 – Run A Competition.

This was by far the best way I found to excite interest in my stall, as well as get the names and addresses of lots of people who were interested in my products.

You’ll need to check with the event organiser and possibly register for a competition licence (check if there are local government regulations, the licence is usually easy and cheap to get), but it’s well worth the effort!

I usually gave away $50 to $100 worth of my products in a lucky draw – which was a small price for the extra traffic and interest in my stall. It’s a great, easy way to invite people in by asking if they would like to go in the competition. And after the show I would follow up with an email to say hello and remind them of my website.

Tip #5 – Brochures and Knitting Business Cards.

Vital for exposure and follow-up sales so make sure you have plenty on hand – and not just for customers, but for networking opportunities too! Craft fairs are a great place for meeting people who can help you and your knitting business. Retailers who want to stock your products, other crafters who you may want to work with, suppliers and wholesalers who can reduce your costs. So make sure you have professional business cards that clearly state your name, niche and contact details – see my post on Knitting Business Cards for more information.

I hope these tips will help you get the most out of your craft show investment, and also help if you have a stall at smaller craft fairs and local markets. If you have any other tips or ideas that you have found worked well at craft shows, please leave a comment for everyone below!

Tags: craft show booth, craft show event, craft shows, knitting business, sell knitting, selling knitting
Posted in Make Money Knitting | 2 Comments »

Make Money From Knitting – The Top 5 Questions

Saturday, March 7th, 2009

Here are the answers to the 5 most common questions I get about Knitting For Profit. If you have another to add to the list, feel free to leave a comment and I'll do my best to include the answers in another post, perhaps titled "A whole lot more questions about Knitting and Crocheting for Profit!"

Do I need lots of money to start up a knitting or crochet business?

The great news for knitters is…NO! Having a big idea and goal is great, but the best way to start a business is small, and you really don't need much money to begin with. In fact, most of the successful knitters I have found started out with very little money – many were work-at-home mothers or students.

Knitting Business Start-up Tip…

One of the secrets to business success is to test your markets, so you can provide what the market really wants, rather than what you think they want. To do this, you don't need to knit or crochet a huge range all at once. Start out with one or two knitted products at a time, see how well they sell, and focus on the ones that do well. There's an old rule that 80% of your profits will come from 20% of your products, so that's what you need to try and find. The actual costs of starting up a business vary around the world, but these are the main things you will need to allow for in your start-up budget:

1. Your knitting supplies and yarn

2. Some promotional material like business cards and brochures

3. Business registration or license

4. Insurance

5. Some advertising like a website, craft shows, local paper or yellow pages etc.

Do I need to have business experience to start knitting or crocheting for profit?

If you read the knitting success stories here on this blog and in my Knitting for Profit book, you'll see that most of these knitter women had absolutely no business experience when they first started out. And when you think about it, every successful business person had to start somewhere. Most of them admit they just jumped in and learned things as they went along! If you would like help from the start, there are lots of government and not-for-profit organisations that offer start-up support and advice. My Knitting for Profit book has a step-by-step guide to starting a knitting business, and links to these resources in many countries around the world. And I think it's really interesting that the most common piece of advice that successful business people give to newbies is not about complex business strategies or start-up budgets, it is simply…. 'Just do it!'

Knitting for $$$ – Can it really be done?

Absolutely!! In my extensive worldwide research I have found many examples of successful knitters making money from their passion. One of my main reasons for writing this blog and my book 'Knitting for Profit' was to share these amazing and inspirational stories of knitter women who have achieved their dream of making money from knitting or crochet. You can read some of their stories here on this blog. When you do, you will realise that they started out just like you, some with no money, some with no business experience, some with small children and mortgages. Anything is possible, especially when you have the right information and resources to start with.

What if I'm not a good salesperson, or I don't think I would enjoy trying to sell my knitted products?

Selling your products is just as achievable as knitting or crocheting your products, it may be new to you and feel a bit strange at first, but once you learn the three simple rules of selling (see my blog article 'Three Essential Rules For Selling Your Knitting'), you'll see that sales is much more about genuinely helping your customers choose what's best for them, rather than pushing them into something they don't really want. Besides, there are many ways to sell your knitted products without ever having to talk to the buyer, and if you make a great product that appeals to a niche market then you won't have to sell it, because it will sell itself!

What do I do first?

The very first steps for starting your knitting business are actually the easiest and most exciting ones! This is the part where you get to shop around for ideas and inspiration, decide on your path and begin your journey.

Step 1: Research your market and assess your knitting skills and desires. One of my goals in writing the Knitting for Profit book was to make this process easy for you. I have uncovered and developed five main strategies that you can use to make money from knitting and crochet (in the Knitting For Profit book I go into great detail about these five strategies). You need to choose one of these paths based on your knitting skills and what you are attracted to.

Step 2: Find your niche market and decide how you will make your knitted products stand out. This is absolutely essential for your success.

Step 3: Write a business plan. This will be your map to guide you on your 'knitterpreneur' journey. It will help you decide who your customers will be, what knitted products you will sell, where and how you will sell them, and what knitter resources you will need to start out. There are lots of standard business plan templates available for free online (have a look on the US small business site, it has a fantastic range of resources for new businesses at www.sba.gov), or you can use the specialised Knitting Business Plan Template that comes as an extra bonus with the Knitting For Profit book.

At the risk of sounding repetitive… if you would like to know more about these steps and how you can easily achieve them, read more about my new Knitting for Profit book at www.KnittingForProfit.com

Tags: crochet business, first step, knitting business, Make Money Knitting, selling knitting, start up cost, top questions
Posted in Make Money Knitting | 5 Comments »