“Nothing happens until somebody sells something.” – Charles Tandy
We have a shared passion. We love what the leather can do, how it feels, how it smells, and the feeling of accomplishment when you create something with your own two hands. Most leather artisans didn’t begin tinkering around with hides so that they could become marketers, advertisers, or salesmen.
Nevertheless, leatherworking is little more than an expensive hobby if you don’t figure out how to sell your goods along the way. Many aspire to practice their craft full-time, making a business out of it. Most of us, at some point, would at least love for our projects to at least pay for themselves, and maybe even make a little money… if nothing else, to justify the time and expense of leatherworking to our spouses.
You can do the most amazing leatherwork in the entire world, but it won’t sell if nobody knows about it. You could hire a team of people to market your business for you, however, for most, that is fairly cost-prohibitive. At least when you are in the early stages of your leatherworking business, you need to figure out how to promote yourself, communicate the value of your work, and grow your audience.
I’m here to help.
This is the first of what will hopefully become an ongoing series here in ShopTalk! Magazine. When I’m not sitting at my workbench, I am an Advertising professor at Texas Christian University and run a small-but-mighty advertising agency, Magnus Opus. I also had the pleasure of working with Jim Linnell while serving as the Social Media Manager at Tandy Leather several years back, and continue to collaborate with him through our joint venture, Elktracks Studio.
With my unique position as a marketer, a teacher, and a leatherworker, I feel almost an obligation to help other craftsmen and women learn how to grow their businesses, advancing our industry in the process. Part of that is a self-imposed notion, however, part of that is Jim’s passion for the craft is contagious if you hang around him long enough.
Month-to-month, I’ll be sharing general business advice, answers to frequently asked questions, and insights on running marketing campaigns. Each of these half-page columns will be written with the leather industry business owner in mind, brainstorming on actionable tips to increase sales. You’ll also likely hear quotes from familiar names like Jim Linnell, George Hurst, Annie Libertini, and more.
I have a long list of topics to write on, but I’m also curious what information you’d find helpful and interesting. Feel free to reach out to me directly at michael@magnusopus.com to submit questions for the column or to see if there are ways we might connect to help build your leather business. You can also reach out to mshaw@burns1876.com with inquiries.
