Sales are the lifeblood of any business, whether they offer a service or a physical product. In the woodworking business, of course, we produce physical products, and they can range anywhere from simple toys for children to very expensive fine handmade wooden furniture.
Whatever niche your woodworking business falls into has a major influence on the type of marketing strategy you will have to use to create sales.
So what exactly is a sales channel. A sales channel is the way of bringing a product or service to market so it will be purchased by customers.
A sales channel is direct if it involves a business merchandising directly to customers, or it is indirect if an intermediary like a distributor is involved in merchandising to customers.
Let's discuss indirect sales channels first because they fit very well with a woodworking business. Depending on the type of woodworking projects you produce will determine which types of distributors you should be looking for.
Let's for example, say you are making fine wooden handmade furniture. Of course, you would not start looking at the big box furniture stores that sell mass-produced furniture, because that is not your market.
I suggest you check out small specialty furniture stores that sell high-end one of kind merchandise. Try and find out who their distributors are and contact them to see if they will handle your woodworking projects.
You should get a brochure printed with examples of your best work to hand out to both distributors and retailers.
Another great indirect sales channel for specialty woodworking businesses is that I have had a lot of personal experience with our interior design firms.
My wife owned her own interior design firm for almost 20 years and she used a large number of woodworking businesses to make fine furniture for high-end clients. So get that brochure made and send them out to all interior design firms in your area.
Indirect sales channels work well with any woodworking business because it lets you market your woodworking products through a number of different outlets.
Now let's discuss direct sales channels as it pertains to your woodworking business and how to develop those channels. Remember a direct sales channel is where you market your woodworking products directly to your customers, with no intermediary involved.
Use trade shows and craft fairs to show off your products, a good weekend at a high-end craft show can generate a good deal of revenue.
You can develop direct sales channels through the use of different print media. You can take ads out in newspapers and magazines because there are still lots of people that read print media, but as time goes on I expect this will inevitably give way more and more to the Internet.
Creating a direct sales channel using the Internet can be accomplished in a number of ways. You can start a blog for free at sites like blogger.com, where you can post articles about your work.
You can take part in forums but look for forms that are dedicated to woodworking. You can also start your own website, but if you do, you are going to do your research on SEO (search engine optimization), which no matter what anyone tells you is extremely hard to accomplish. Remember you're competing with literally millions of other sites.
In order to have a successful woodworking business, you will need to develop both direct and indirect sales channels as part of your marketing strategy.
Now Listen Very Carefully Here:
Make money with your woodworking skills!
If you'd like an easy way to earn part-time income by doing something FUN, go check out WoodProfits now
It is a no-fluff step-by-step guide to creating a part-time woodworking business, selling easy-to-build wood crafts, from HOME... with little to no capital.
He started out with little carpentry skills and run a business in a 10x20 feet space with almost nothing...
And managed to make $9000 per month as a one-person business within the FIRST year!
The cool thing is, you don't have to be an expert woodworker to start this business as it's packed with solid STEP-BY-STEP instructions and information on what to do to turn your passion into profit.
Act on this quickly before the door shuts as the offer may be taken down very soon...