Market Your Quilts

Quilts by Donna successfully fulfilled sales of $8.3 million in 2005 according to the Venture Club of Louisville. At first glance Quilts by Donna is to the quilting craftsperson what a 1,000 room hotel is to a Bed and Breakfast. However, these quilts are well marketed, giving the buyer the impression that they are purchasing a quilt from that American quilt Craftsperson. It is plausible that if Donna Sharp of Quilts by Donna were running that 1,000 room hotel, you would be convinced that you were buying a room at that cute little Bed and Breakfast.

The truth is that Quilts by Donna are mass-produced in India and China and mass-marketed, being sold by a number of retailers as well as giants such as QVC. However, the secret to much of their success seems to lie in the marketing. Quilts by Donna is doing a better job of marketing their quilts as handmade heirlooms than most quilt craftspeople are.

Now comes the good news if you are interested in marketing and selling your quilts. Quilts by Donna provides you with a multi-million dollar formula of how to successfully market the handmade heirlooms that you are creating. It would definitely be worth your time to take a look at how she is marketing her quilts.

Follow Donna Sharp's example of Quilts by Donna in marketing your quilts:

Heirloom Quality Quilt: Don't just sell something pretty you're your buyer can use to keep warm. Sell the memories. Help your buyer to visualize handing down the quilt to the next generation with all of the accompanying memories.

American Art Form: Following the same vein as Heirloom Quality Quilts, Quilts by Donna are sold as a traditional form of American Art. Don't be afraid to sell other people on the fact that your quilts are not merely functional, but that each quilt is an individual work of art.

Each Quilt is Unique: Quilts by Donna stresses that Donna Sharp selects her own fabrics and applies her unique gift for color and design to these quilts. You should be able to take this a step farther. Stress the fact that each quilt that you create is one of a kind, with careful design.

Quality Handcrafting: Quilts by Donna are marketed as having twice the normal stitch rate of hand-quilted items. I've seen what the hand-quilting looks like on many retail quilts, if you are hand-quilting your quilts you should definitely capitalize on how tight your stitches are. Even if you are not hand quilting, your quilts are definitely hand-crafted.

Attention to Design and Detail: Donna Sharp's Quilts are lauded as having small pieces, intricately detailed borders and reversible backing. Call attention to the details and design that you put into your quilts. Don't assume that your buyer knows anything about quilts, tell them why they should be awed by what you have created.

Market the Quilter: The first thing that comes up in many descriptions of a quilt from Quilts by Donna is that Donna Sharp is a 5th generation quilter and a Kentucky Native. Don't just tell people that your quilt is an heirloom created by an artisan. Even if your buyer is 2,000 miles away, you can give them a sense of buying a work of art that will be an heirloom for the generations to come that is handcrafted by someone who has created it for the love of quilting.

Help your buyer to imagine your quilt in their home: Don't just show a picture of the quilt alone. Help your buyer to imagine how it would look in their bedroom. If it is a king or a queen sized quilt, offer pillow shams to go with it. Make a bed with the quilt and then photograph it.

Don't just give the measurements of the quilt, tell your buyer what size bed the quilt will fit on.

Sign and Date Your Quilt: This seems to be an important selling point for Quilts by Donna. Each quilt is embroidered with the year that it was made in and Donna Sharp's signature. If that is a selling point for a quilt that was made on the other side of the world, imagine how it helps the one that you handcrafted here.