Handmade Arcade Maker Curriculum

The Handmade Arcade and CBA share a history in the regional arts and culture ecosystem helping makers, craftspeople, designers, and artists realize success.

To help creative businesses endure the COVID-19 pandemic’s economic crisis, the CBA and Handmade Arcade (HA) adapted their services in innovative and collaborative ways. One manifestation of Handmade Arcade’s evolving support is the transformation of its signature annual gift market into a virtual experience. Consumers of local products can soon engage with and purchase products from regional creative business in ways that are safe and effective. To support this effort, the CBA is delivering virtual guidance to help participating creative businesses maximize the HA’s market opportunity and emerge better equipped for the recovery economy. The schedule of guidance webinars through October and November outlined below.

Handmade Arcade Virtual Marketplace: November 28, 2020 to December 6, 2020

Learn about Handmade Arcade's support of the maker economy. Handmade Arcade

Resources for Creatives

Maker Resource List

Supplementary resources for creative entrepreneurs to get the most out of the holiday season. 

Website

Shipping

Photography

Marketing

Legal

Preparing for the Market

Business Consulting for Creatives

with Casey Droege and Sam Laffey

$150 one-hour sessions on November 6th and 19th from 1-6pm

Join Sam Laffey and Casey Droege for an hour of personal consulting on November 6th or November 19th. They’ll take a look at your resume, website, writing, or any other professional materials and give you specific feedback for your personal development. These sessions will take place online through zoom. Be sure to share materials one week ahead of the session, so they have time to examine. They will send a reminder email one week in advance.

The sign up is here.

October Maker Curriculum

Panel Discussion: Making the Most of the Gift Market

Thursday, Oct. 8, 2020 | 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

VIDEO: Panel Discussion: Making the Most of the Gift Market

On October 8, Handmade Arcade’s Tricia Brancolini-Foley was joined by Nisha Blackwell of Knotzland, Samantha Bower of Luster and Artsmiths of Pittsburgh, and Katie Johnson of the Creative Business Accelerator for an in-depth discussion on how creative businesses can plan to make the most of the upcoming holiday gift market. This group of makers and business coaches unpacked tried and true strategies to prepare for holiday sales, including analyzing your website for shopability, adding gift-related services, and other ideas.

Navigating the Post Office & HA Check-in

Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020 | 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

VIDEO: Navigating the Post Office and Handmade Arcade Virtual Marketplace Check-In (1:20:53)

Selling online is half the battle. Products must make it to the customer safely and expeditiously. Many creative businesses rely on the USPS to make it happen, but there are tips and tricks for the institution’s best results.

On Thursday, October 15, Handmade Arcade’s Executive Director Tricia Brancolini-Foley welcomed Lucy Kelly, artist/owner of bel monili & Bloom by bel monili, for a deep dive into not only navigating the post office but also how to manage holiday shipping – costs and best practices – directly from your e-commerce site.

Meet the Experts: Photography, Legal and Website Q&A for Creative Businesses

VIDEO: Meet the Experts: Photography, Legal and Website Q&A for Creative Businesses 

Effective e-commerce is a blend of compelling images, solid policies, and a user-friendly website. This “Meet the Experts” session occurred on Thursday, October 22, 2020 and offered creative business insights from the experts behind some of the great content launched by the Handmade Arcade and Creative Business Accelerator. Click the links below to view the maker curriculum content. Each panelist gave a short presentation to provide an overview of their content, leaving time for maker questions. Session experts included:

Digital content from the experts:

Marketing 101: Strategies and Best Practices

VIDEO: Marketing 101: Strategies and Best Practices  Password: Marketing101

As a maker, you have to function as a creator, marketer, business manager, and more. It can be overwhelming on a good day and career-ending on a bad one. This is especially true if you’re just starting out; as they say, you don’t know what you don’t know. When an opportunity comes up to show or sell your work, do you stay up all night to update materials or photoshop bad images? Have you given up on opportunities because you don’t have anything ready to go?

This webinar occurred on Thursday, October 29th with Casey Droege (CDCP) and Sam Laffey (Porter Loves). They addressed organizing your business, marketing, and brushing up your work presentation. They ran through tips and techniques to define your voice, clean up your brand aesthetic, and create consistent digital and physical materials.

Digital content from the experts:

Marketing For Makers 101

    • PDF is password protected: Art!stsRock

November Maker Curriculum

Best Practices for Customer Engagement & Retention

VIDEO: Best Practices for Customer Engagement and Retention

Creative entrepreneurs often love to make things but struggle to respond to emails or develop strategies to re-engage with past customers. There are also non-verbal ways to communicate with our customers and keep them coming back — excellent packaging, handwritten notes, and other details are vital to creating a memorable (and repeatable) experience. On Thursday, November 5th, 2020, our panelists discussed strategies for engaging AND retaining customers this holiday season. Session experts include Alyssa Catalano, Studebaker Metals and Jenna Vanden Brink, Jenna Vanden Brink Ceramics.

Let Your Website Work for You: Understanding SEO and Analytics

VIDEO: Let Your Website Work For You: Understanding SEO and Other Analytics

Are you an artist or maker selling online but struggling to stand out? When you’ve never worked with SEO, it can be hard to know where to start. In this webinar, learn how to leverage search engine optimization (SEO), Google Analytics, and other tools so that your e-commerce site is visible for Google, your keywords are kicking traffic into high gear, and your products get in front of people wanting to buy at the very moment they’re online looking for you. This webinar occurred on Monday, November 16th, 2020.

Session Expert: Cory Bosket, Imagebox

Downloadable Presentation PDF

Telling Your Story Online: Creating Compelling Content for Your Website and Social Media

VIDEO: Creating Compelling Content for Your Website and Social Media

Creating compelling content for your website and social media is an essential part of the puzzle. It allows you to connect your brand to the human side of your business. By telling a consistent and compelling story, you can uplift your unique brand and attract new customers with creative messaging. Sharing your story, products, and personality with your followers is more important than ever during this time when most in-person events are canceled. Join Amy Garbark, of garbella, and Jess Graves, of Una Biologicals to discuss strategies for telling your brand’s authentic and compelling story online. This webinar occurred on Thursday, November 19th, 2020.

Connect With Our Expert

Katie Johnson
CBA’s Business Support and Impact Specialist

412 201 2450 x 136 | Email