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Sunday 26 August 2012

Why Choose Craft Fair Central?

There are many craft websites out there, many of which are well established, so why would you choose Craft Fair Central?

There are many reasons to choose our website, but the main one is because it really is a central resource for craft lovers, artists and organisers alike.  It has various sections all of which are detailed below:

Craft Fair Calendar

The Craft Fair Calendar is how the website began.  I noticed there was a lack of a comprehensive list of local craft fair events for those interested in either displaying their own products at fairs, or for those wishing to attend them.  There is information all over the place but it is not always freely available.  Some are only for crafters to access, some charge to view them, some are for publicising certain events only etc etc.  The Craft Fair Central Calendar however is freely available to everyone looking for this information, is easy to add your own events to and, as the name suggests is provided in a calendar format for ease of use.

There are several Calendars available including one for Northern Ireland, one for Southern Ireland, and most recently added is one for England.

Work Shops Calendar

The Calendar feature has recently been extended to provide information on when and where craft related workshops are being held.  Again this website allows for addition of your own workshop details.

Craft Artists Showcase

The Craft Artists Showcase section allows for specific craft artists work to be presented on a personalised page or pages.  It is like having a mini website to display and sell your own products on.  Of course many craft artists have their own websites but find they don't get a lot of visitors to these.  Craft Fair Central has already got a regular 800 - 1000 visitors every week.

The showcase is the perfect solution for those who wish to have an online presence without having to pay for website design or have an understanding of how to get included in search engine results.  It is also a less time consuming option than adding items to the Worldwide Auction Section yourself.  It gives the additional benefit of being featured on a popular craft website where people interested in crafts already visit.

Worldwide Auction and Shops 

This section does what it says on the tin - it is an auction and selling area for people all over the world to use. This area allows for products to be added by the sellers using an auction, buy it now or shop listing.  This means the seller can choose which option suits their own business best, including having a fully integrated build your own personalised shop feature such as Funky Junk Crafts has done.

The benefits of listing here include:

It is in the format of the highly popular site Ebay but is limited to craft products only.
There are a large variety of items available to buy which encourages those interested in craft products to visit.
There are items available to purchase which are not available elsewhere.
It provides the opportunity to sell handmade products without having to attend craft fairs.
Items listed here are frequently promoted (at least 3 times per week) on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest to approx 2000 people all interested in craft products.

Directory of Crafters

In addition to the craft artists shops and pages being available to view, the Directory of Crafters allows for links to be included to facebook pages and websites of many different artists as well.  This is also a very useful tool for organisers of craft fairs and workshops.

Tutorials

Another very recent addition to the website is the Tutorials section.  This will prove to be a useful resource for anyone interested in learning how to .... as many new tutorials get added.

This section also provides the opportunity for artists using the site to have another form of contact with those interested in crafts.

Charity Product Sales

Many crafters like to support charities, and Craft Fair Central will continue to promote this activity via the Charity Product Sales Page.  There is currently a listing here for fundraising on behalf of Tinylife, Northern Ireland's premature and vulnerable baby charity.  I expect this will become a very popular section with more listings being added very shortly.

Business Development

As many craft artists tend to know quite a lot about making products and struggle at times with the Business Development side of things, this new section will be made available to members who pay for access and one to one support with their business.

Blog

Last but not least, this blog is also available via the website, giving access to all sorts of useful information.


Craft Fair Central, despite being so new, has already developed considerably into a one stop resource and selling site for craft artists throughout Ireland.  Content continues to be added on an almost daily basis and associations in crafting circles continue to develop as well.  The website continues to go from strength to strength and even more plans are underway already.  Watch this space as they say.......and i hope you enjoy using the site :)


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