![[Valid RSS]](/valid-rss.png "Validate my RSS feed")
If you’re a CraftyPod subscriber, you can get this show and over 100 others, plus two new episodes each month. Click here to learn more!
You can also enjoy the current archive of free podcasts over here.
In this show:
- An interview with Victor Domine, Public Relations Manager for the Craft & Hobby Association.
- Victor’s take on that inaccurate Indie Craft Report that circulated at the January CHA show.
- Some thoughts about how CHA is working to bridge the gap between indie crafters and the craft industry.
- A bit of perspective: we are one market segment among many.
Links:
- Visit the CHA website to learn more about membership and benefits.
- You can find the full text of that indie report here. (Published at Creative Leisure News, but written by Craft Marketing Connections.)
- Here’s my original post about that report, and all your interesting comments.
thanks diane for this!
my two cents –
i think the term “indie crater” needs to be either eliminated or redefined. what does it really mean? is it an age range? is it someone who has a blog? is it someone who marketing companies and focus groups define as such?
when you really think about it everyone who is making something for their own pleasure or perhaps to give as a gift is indie. i think my mom and ladies of her generation were totally indie. what’s more indie than whipping up some crafts in your spare bedroom or garage using some old oatmeal boxes and walnut shells?
is someone who has a company or creating products for sale really an “indie crafter”?? don’t get me wrong there is nothing cooler than someone achieving success and getting a paying gig as the result of their crafty abilities. but really what the heck does indie really mean??
i totally understand where victor’s coming from. in my “day job” i have the occasional corporate client and i have had exposure to the inner workings of marketing and i know that’s it’s essential that you are on top of the trends – if not ahead of them. it is inexcusable in a marketing plan (for any industry) to use a 2 year old report and not to spell check. that spells disaster. if something’s a trend then 2 year old info is no longer valid. this is not serving the CHA members very well. in fact they should be more pissed off than the “indie crafters” because they have been given some misinformation. information that could be vital to them in planning what products to create or to help decide what they need to purchase for their shop.
as a crafter i just want to go into a store and find the basic supplies i need and not be bombarded by dumb products that a focus group thinks i am supposed to need.
thanks diane for this!
my two cents –
i think the term “indie crater” needs to be either eliminated or redefined. what does it really mean? is it an age range? is it someone who has a blog? is it someone who marketing companies and focus groups define as such?
when you really think about it everyone who is making something for their own pleasure or perhaps to give as a gift is indie. i think my mom and ladies of her generation were totally indie. what’s more indie than whipping up some crafts in your spare bedroom or garage using some old oatmeal boxes and walnut shells?
is someone who has a company or creating products for sale really an “indie crafter”?? don’t get me wrong there is nothing cooler than someone achieving success and getting a paying gig as the result of their crafty abilities. but really what the heck does indie really mean??
i totally understand where victor’s coming from. in my “day job” i have the occasional corporate client and i have had exposure to the inner workings of marketing and i know that’s it’s essential that you are on top of the trends – if not ahead of them. it is inexcusable in a marketing plan (for any industry) to use a 2 year old report and not to spell check. that spells disaster. if something’s a trend then 2 year old info is no longer valid. this is not serving the CHA members very well. in fact they should be more pissed off than the “indie crafters” because they have been given some misinformation. information that could be vital to them in planning what products to create or to help decide what they need to purchase for their shop.
as a crafter i just want to go into a store and find the basic supplies i need and not be bombarded by dumb products that a focus group thinks i am supposed to need.
great podcast Diane! As a marketing coordinator at craft industry publisher/manufacturer C&T Publishing I get to go to CHA each season. As an indie crafter my heart really sank when I read the indie crafter report on the signage at the last show. Thanks for starting this dialog with CHA – I have renewed hope that CHA and the Indie crafters will come to more of an understanding of one another and will work together to keep the industry exciting. It’s so true though that manufacturers won’t get very far by approaching the indie market with the same old traditional marketing tactics that have worked in the past with other markets!
great podcast Diane! As a marketing coordinator at craft industry publisher/manufacturer C&T Publishing I get to go to CHA each season. As an indie crafter my heart really sank when I read the indie crafter report on the signage at the last show. Thanks for starting this dialog with CHA – I have renewed hope that CHA and the Indie crafters will come to more of an understanding of one another and will work together to keep the industry exciting. It’s so true though that manufacturers won’t get very far by approaching the indie market with the same old traditional marketing tactics that have worked in the past with other markets!
I agree with Cathy that the term “indie crafter” is vague.
Thank you so much for bringing us this interview!! You asked Victor some of my direct questions I had about CHA (mostly, what membership applies to me?), so thanks for that!!
You are so awesome, Diane! Super Crafty Power!
Now let’s organize a trip to the CHA summer show…
Roadtrip from Portland? I bring the minivan…
I agree with Cathy that the term “indie crafter” is vague.
Thank you so much for bringing us this interview!! You asked Victor some of my direct questions I had about CHA (mostly, what membership applies to me?), so thanks for that!!
You are so awesome, Diane! Super Crafty Power!
Now let’s organize a trip to the CHA summer show…
Roadtrip from Portland? I bring the minivan…
You’re a great interviewer. It’s a rare skill!
You’re a great interviewer. It’s a rare skill!
I finally got a chance to finish listening to this interview. It’s wonderful and chock-full of great information. Thank you for taking the time to explore this issue and explain the dynamics between “us” and the big guys.
I finally got a chance to finish listening to this interview. It’s wonderful and chock-full of great information. Thank you for taking the time to explore this issue and explain the dynamics between “us” and the big guys.
Fantastic and insightful interview Sister Diane! Thank you so much for introducing us to Victor and the CHA’s philosophies!
I think so many of us Bloggers and Indie Crafters are off in our own little worlds being creative, that we often don’t take into account all the opportunities and knowledge we can gain from the craft industry as a whole. This interview is a reminder of that importance!
Great podcast!
Fantastic and insightful interview Sister Diane! Thank you so much for introducing us to Victor and the CHA’s philosophies!
I think so many of us Bloggers and Indie Crafters are off in our own little worlds being creative, that we often don’t take into account all the opportunities and knowledge we can gain from the craft industry as a whole. This interview is a reminder of that importance!
Great podcast!
This was fascinating. Finally catching up on listening to some podcasts. Listeing to a person 30 yrs in was great. Especially an older gentlemen, since most of the voices I “hear” are probably 25-45 yr. old women.
Having a better book section in places like Micheals would be great. Like, a whole section devoted to books by popular bloggers – there are enough of you now with books, and the aesthetic of the crafts and the type of craft itself is much more in tune with what's going on in the indie world.
Also, I don't think the division between indie and traditional is so clear cut. People my age are dragging their mothers and grandmothers to sites and google, saying “Look at this sweet idea.” And then we all go off to the craft store together to get supplies. We do crafts out of blogs -and- Martha Stewart. (Which, I think is a whole topic in itself. She is “mainstream” but I think her impact on the online/indie community is huge.)
I think Victor is spot on when he says that the green movement is what will help unite us more. The indie craft movement is heavily tied up with the whole DIY movement and democratization of knowledge via the internet.
Last thought – you and Victor both commented that the missing link is communication between the 2 camps. This seems pretty easy to me. There's nothing to stop the stores like Micheals/Hobby Lobby from starting their own Flickr pools, galleries, and Twitter streams that encourage people to post what they made with their supplies and actively encourage people to show things that were made differently than the norm. They have to create community. And with the internet, there's just no excuse not to – it's free.
I completely agree with you, and hope more of the large corporate craft players will begin taking advantage of the plentiful free methods for connecting with customers online. So many of these companies still do operate in a pretty old-school mindset, so what's interesting is that we're seeing a lot of them trying to build their own online community websites where customer are supposed to come to them and bear the brunt of interaction.
…Whereas, if these corporate players would just take a slightly smaller mindset, and send real human beings into the places where crafters are already gathering online, I think they'd see more results. I think we crafters (indie and otherwise) would be very responsive to genuine relationship-building. And by that I mean, relationship-building that assumes we are human beings, not consumers.
I completely agree with you, and hope more of the large corporate craft players will begin taking advantage of the plentiful free methods for connecting with customers online. So many of these companies still do operate in a pretty old-school mindset, so what's interesting is that we're seeing a lot of them trying to build their own online community websites where customer are supposed to come to them and bear the brunt of interaction.
…Whereas, if these corporate players would just take a slightly smaller mindset, and send real human beings into the places where crafters are already gathering online, I think they'd see more results. I think we crafters (indie and otherwise) would be very responsive to genuine relationship-building. And by that I mean, relationship-building that assumes we are human beings, not consumers.