Puppet-Planet those are excellent ideas!  This whole topic has been helpful to me.  Thanks guys!

Well sounds like you have a lot on your plate.  This can be overwhelming.  From other talk on the forum I've heard that building a puppetry business is slow because you have to spend a great deal of time and energy just making people aware that its there.  Only you can decide what you have the time and resources to do.  Whether you pick up another job and do puppetry as a side or continue to plugg at it.

Best wishes

I'm getting a lot of interest, but not so much actual commissions. I guess people are getting quotes from a number of places, and perhaps I'm not as competitive. There's also a small percentage of people who want things that I don't know how to make, and another percentage of people who simply don't end up wanting to spend the money required to make a good puppet.

I'm getting lots of interest though because I'm one of the few Aussie puppet makers who actively market on the net; which is where I'm guessing most people are looking these days.

Balancing work with my creative side has always been an issue, and last year I was lucky to have a flexible job... I actually don't want to have to do something else, but at some point, well, we've got to pay bills don't we?  :P

Na
I agree with Shawn.Don't give up.Word of mouth is the est form of early advertising.You should also tactfully remind people,"You get what you pay for."
Pay me now or pay me later.What that means is pay for quality now or pay for a second rate product now and again and again and then buy a quality product,so in the long run what you spend on poor quality ia usually 2x or 3x what you woulad have spent by buying quality to begin with.I hope that makes sense to you.

Thanks guys.

I woke up this morning and am completely rethinking what I'm doing. I've been so self-involved in getting my website working, that I've practically forgotten about all the things I was planning on doing in the 'real world'.

I've decided that I will split my mind in two: one product strategy for online, and one for offline. I'll be adding physical products as I make them online, but will mainly save publicity/sale of those for market stalls and craft fairs. For my online stuff, I'll stick to making patterns, where they can be easily sold to an already interested market audience for puppet patterns.

Since doing my shadow puppets, I really feel I have more an affinity with that type, and I've started on making a new design. I'm hoping to have a selection of really nice shadow puppets that I can take to a market in the future.

I'm not 100% sure what I'll be doing with the classes, but I know I have to cancel the first because otherwise I end up getting charged for the venue. I will probably continue to market the second, in the hopes of getting some interest, and I already have some new plans of how to do it.

Thank you all very much... It's very nice to have so many people to bounce ideas off of, and to have great advice offered!

I don't know about where you live but here in the suburbs of New York City they have these craft fairs in the train station parking lots on the weekends. It is usually packed with Craft type people, and of course all the customers buying all this stuff!

Tables are generally really really cheap to setup since afterall it's a bring your own setup type of thing. No reason you can't rent a cheap tent for an afternoon and setup shop there to get hooked into the craft circle. You're a puppet person, so chances are you have that type of personality that ingratiates you upon others and makes you easily approachable right? Well use it to your advantage, swoon the old ladies of the craft fair, and hook your wagon up to theirs

Just an idea..  I pass those fairs every weekend going to our new house and it's gotta be 50+ vendors and a constant stream of people. Imagine a craft fair puppet show @ 12:00, 2:00 4:00 or something like that. Hell you might just end up being the face of the craft fair.. Puppets are a lot more exciting than wood duck carvings (sorry to the wood duck carvers out there) that I always see on the side of the road when passing!

Now if they don't have those kind of craft fairs in your local area, I'm sorry for teasing you with the idea

Craft Markets can be very successful and a failure.  You really need to make a puppet that is cheap in price....people go to markets to get a bargain on a homemade item, keep this in mind as you build up puppets.  I would also put up a sign announcing your workshop and display the type of puppet you can make at the workshop.  I would have forms ready to fill out and be ready to take the cash....it is a great way to get the word out on any workshops.  I would even rebook a room for another date and try this out at the next market and see how it goes.

I started to do schools and have moved into adult workshops.  I can't stop getting booked for schools and it is constant and I needed to slow down for a bit to get my "ducks in a row" before continuing due to the success and word of mouth.  I have done very little advertising and I am at a nice pace at commissions, workshops, connections to producers and other artists in the community.  I also have not needed to rush things along.  I still do not have a website however I do have a business card with an email and phone number.  Like you I have very little competition in the area that I live and I am running with that and not worrying about other "puppeteers" in the community.  All the community/information I need I have on this site as well as the internet in general. 

I don't understand why you think you need insurance to go into schools (I understand a police check) I have no problems at going into schools and I don't have any insurance....I guess I don't understand whether this is a Australia thing or if YOU think it is something that you need.  I have a variety of workshops for schools ranging in times and needs of the teacher.  They range from 6 weeks workshops for a couple of hours per week to a 1-3 hour workshops. 

I have learned to never say "NO" to anything even if I don't know how to do it.  I will quickly learn and add it to my area of "expertise"
so to say.  When you are a puppeteer/maker you need to learn on the spot and learn to be open to peoples suggestions.  I get asked if I do workshops on __________(fill in the blank) and I say sure and ask them what they want out of the workshop and off I go to the internet or my library and find the information or answers.  All the information is written somewhere nothing said or done has never been not written somewhere......if that makes sense.

Personally I have had little luck with adult workshops when I organize them myself......however I have done workshops for educators, counselors, and librarians.  These workshops get around by word of mouth and I just continue to get booked.  I still have not tapped into much of the churches because I am busy with everything else but it will be my next big step.  I am not associated with any churches myself but I am not scared or worried about providing this wonderful art form to help them pass on their message to all ages at their church. 

Another area that is over looked and is needed desperately are with actors.....They love to learn new skills because they never know when they will be needing to use a puppet for a production or camera.  Actors love to learn bits of skills to perform so they can put it on their resume for the future and they can say that they have skills in performing with a puppet on or off the screen.  This workshop would be more focused on performance and not making the puppet. 

Na, I agree with Jon that you are very hesitant and lack the confidence that you need to make it in this business.  YOU are better than what you think you are and you need to get over it.  I hear you say that you are the only one in your area doing puppets, get in there before someone beats you to the punch at spreading the word on puppetry.  You do not need to rush but you have to be spending at least 6 hours per day thinking, reading, making, and performing with puppets and another 2 hours making calls and connecting to potential people/work in the field.  Some days I am on the phone for hours connecting with people.  I do little leg work because I make a call and then decide whether these people I could persuade into work by showing up with one of my puppets for either a workshop or to buy puppets from me.  Between the phone and the internet I do little "legwork." 

In summery jump in and never say "no."  People want to hear "yes," then when and where and you will start.  I have just been asked to do a show locally and tape some segments for it.  I will be making simple puppets with a couple of kids for parents to share with there kids (rainy day activities) (these segments are about 5 minutes long).  I have never done such a thing like this before for TV....guess what....I said yes and ready to tape in the next couple of weeks.  I looked at how other shows present craft idea's on TV and took what I liked and ready to show my stuff.  I think to myself, more exposure, and who knows this might become a regular segment if they get a good response.  If nothing else it will get the puppet word out there again.

I just love puppetry so much that I want to make it popular and share the pleasure that puppets bring to me.  I like to think that I am the puppet guru in the area and I need to have others join my enthusiasm for puppets and I will not stop until everyone is touched by puppets or my enthusiasm....no pressure of course.   

Daryl H

Now if they don't have those kind of craft fairs in your local area, I'm sorry for teasing you with the idea

Yes, we do have fairs like that here, which I believe I mentioned before. I haven't had a proper chance to look into it, as I need to do a whole bunch of other things first; namely get a proper set of products finished.

Also, I'm totally rethinking what I'm doing. I've always been more of an online business person (I set up and ran an online magazine for Aussie theatre people for four years, worked for two websites), and because my site is so popular, I'm now turning it into a paid subscription site. From a different thread, I'm realising more and more that I'm giving too much info away for free, and if I can get more patterns and instructions online, then it's much cheaper for me.

In the meantime, I can focus on making a number of designs offline that I will sell and not share.

Craft Markets can be very successful and a failure.  You really need to make a puppet that is cheap in price....people go to markets to get a bargain on a homemade item, keep this in mind as you build up puppets.  I would also put up a sign announcing your workshop and display the type of puppet you can make at the workshop.  I would have forms ready to fill out and be ready to take the cash....it is a great way to get the word out on any workshops.  I would even rebook a room for another date and try this out at the next market and see how it goes.

My aim is to have a set of shadow puppets for sale. I was working on a new one last week, but got stuck and left it to try another day. I'll come back to it soon; I also went out and bought materials for a new shadow puppet screen, that will be portable, functional and pretty. It's my hope that once I have a decent set of shadow puppets, I can take them and the screen to a fair and showcase them that way. They're cheap and should be easier to sell amongst other craft stalls (than say, large muppets). Most people in my area will be more interested in having it as a decoration than as a performance item, which is why I'm going with the shadow puppets.

Even though I had to cancel the workshops due to lack of interest, I did have a couple of inquiries. I believe I underestimated how long I would need to market them, and should have booked the room two or three months in advance to really get the word out beforehand. However, I'm turning the bad into good and once my muppet pattern is finished, have promised to let these people know - they can buy the pattern instead if they wish. Alternatively, I may just set up one workshop for the end of year holidays.

I also got an email from a local newspaper who wanted to come and review the workshop; but after I cancelled. I was so annoyed that it was too late!

I don't understand why you think you need insurance to go into schools (I understand a police check) I have no problems at going into schools and I don't have any insurance....I guess I don't understand whether this is a Australia thing or if YOU think it is something that you need.  I have a variety of workshops for schools ranging in times and needs of the teacher.  They range from 6 weeks workshops for a couple of hours per week to a 1-3 hour workshops.

This is partially my thinking and partially an issue within Australia. I never feel comfortable working without insurance. Too many things can go wrong, and I don't want to be liable. Secondly, performers who tour shows to schools are required to have PL; I'm guessing that workshops also fit within this category (I don't know for sure, but why take the risk?). Luckily I have found relatively cheap insurance locally.

I have learned to never say "NO" to anything even if I don't know how to do it.  I will quickly learn and add it to my area of "expertise" so to say.  When you are a puppeteer/maker you need to learn on the spot and learn to be open to peoples suggestions.  I get asked if I do workshops on __________(fill in the blank) and I say sure and ask them what they want out of the workshop and off I go to the internet or my library and find the information or answers.  All the information is written somewhere nothing said or done has never been not written somewhere......if that makes sense.

I'm trying to always say "Yes". I'm finding lately that it's leading me to bad decisions and working with dodgy people. My issue at the moment is trying to do too much!

Another area that is over looked and is needed desperately are with actors.....They love to learn new skills because they never know when they will be needing to use a puppet for a production or camera.  Actors love to learn bits of skills to perform so they can put it on their resume for the future and they can say that they have skills in performing with a puppet on or off the screen.  This workshop would be more focused on performance and not making the puppet. 

That was my thinking to. But not so. I marketed my workshops mainly to actors and didn't get much out of it. I agree that performance workshops would be more popular (I did have an inquiry about that too), but am not sure how well I'd fare given I don't perform and don't often direct either.

Na, I agree with Jon that you are very hesitant and lack the confidence that you need to make it in this business.  YOU are better than what you think you are and you need to get over it.  I hear you say that you are the only one in your area doing puppets, get in there before someone beats you to the punch at spreading the word on puppetry.  You do not need to rush but you have to be spending at least 6 hours per day thinking, reading, making, and performing with puppets and another 2 hours making calls and connecting to potential people/work in the field.  Some days I am on the phone for hours connecting with people.  I do little leg work because I make a call and then decide whether these people I could persuade into work by showing up with one of my puppets for either a workshop or to buy puppets from me.  Between the phone and the internet I do little "legwork." 

Thanks for the encouragement. Some of the things mentioned above I'm considering a learning curve. Partly due to my lack of knowing the market, or simple 'commonsense' things that really are only learned once you do them (ie. needing more time to publicise). I'm taking from everything a bit of knowledge, and trying to fit it together to find a niche.

You can't know how much work I am doing offline - a day ago I spent three or four hours figuring out how to add one piece of code to my site to get it to work with this new 'subscription only' thing. I worked most of the night getting one part of the muppet pattern finished. I'm working on a couple of products at any given time...As for 'connecting', I have given up on that. I did that a number of years ago, and by pretty much everyone in Melbourne have been told to go to VCA before approaching them about work. Although I try to maintain contact with local puppeteers and groups, there really is a very small industry here.

My lack of confidence comes mainly from having to do this on my own terms and without help... (I could do with someone to take on the marketing for me, if only because it takes away from time that could be spent making stuff to sell - a catch 22 really).

I know Rome wasn't built in a day, but nine months without an income is really starting to get to me.

A puppeteer a while ago mentioned I was trying to shoot stuff out of a cannon and seeing if something sticks. He didn't know he right he was!

To be honest, I know my skills are good, and that I'm producing good designs. But it's hard to feel confident when those within your own industry (here) don't give you the time of day.

Don't misunderstand me - there are people who've been kind and helpful here (a number of them I met in Perth), but with everyone trying to make a living in an arts industry which is woefully funded and most often ignored by the general public, I can understand that they can't offer me work even if they wanted to.

... Anyway, this is why I'm heading more towards an online business instead of offline. I have a high ranking website, and yet I'm not taking advantage of it. Patterns and tutorials that are online are extremely popular, and I believe I can cash in that way.

I've always wanted to do an online 'bible' for theatre people, so here's my chance.

... By the way, I'm also going to be offering royalty-free scripts. I came up with a great idea for a children's glove puppet show, and am already writing some of it. It's going to come with patterns and info on staging, etc.