leather — The Leather Beast Blog

3 Steps to Converting Your Ideal Customers into Raving Fans

If I came to you in the future and asked you to look back on your business in the very beginning, and tell me what you see, what would you say?

Would you tell me about the STRUGGLE AND FRUSTRATION that you experienced day after day from not know who your customer is and not having any sales?

Or

Would you tell me how you knew WHO your customer was and WHAT they wanted and so you knew exactly HOW TO PROMOTE your leathergoods to those people?

And would you tell me all about how this allowed you to MAKE CONSISTENT SALES month after month?

Top Blog Articles, Latest Post #2Mary SavelJanuary 24, 2019leather, leatherworkshop, leathercraft, leather business, ideal customer, what does my customer need, what does my customer want, promotion, how to sell handmade leathergoods, how to make sales, selling handmade, selling leathergoods, BLOG PAGE #2

How To Price Your Leatherwork for Profit

Whether you’re currently selling your work or you have plans to start selling your work, the fear and frustration behind product pricing is real.

A lot of leatherworkers don’t know where to start when pricing their products so they guess or they ask people in a Facebook group what they would pay for a certain product.

These are BIG mistakes for a few reasons.

Latest Posts, Top Blog ArticlesMary SavelApril 2, 2018leather, leatherworking, pricing, product pricing, pricing for profit, profit, small business, side hustle, how to price your products, beginner leatherworking, BLOG PAGE #2

Are you making this big mistake that beginners often make when buying leather?

I know exactly how confusing that first leather purchase can be when you're a newbe.

Navigating the "leather seas" can be overwhelming to say the least!

But I see one common mistake that beginners make over and over again...

Latest Posts, Top Blog ArticlesMary SavelFebruary 28, 2018leather, leatherworking, leatherwork, leather hides, leathercraft, buying leather, how to buy leather

Things to Know Before Buying Leather Hides

It can be really overwhelming for the beginner leather worker to know where they should purchase leather from for a number of reasons. Budget is usually the biggest concern.

I reached out to a few of my favorite leather suppliers and asked them all the same question...

What do you think is the most important thing that a beginner leatherworker should keep in mind when purchasing leather?

Check out their responses in no specific order in the post.

Latest PostsMary SavelFebruary 5, 2018leather, leather grades, leatherworking, leathercraft, leather tutorial, leatherwork, leather working, leather work, how to buy leather, leather hides, leather weight, BLOG PAGE #2

5 Steps to Creating a Custom Zipper for LeatherWork

Have you ever wanted to create a custom sized zipper for a leatherworking project that you've been working on?
Maybe you were making your own leather zipper pouch or dopp kit or a leather purse or handbag with a zipper closure.

Creating your own custom sized zipper can save you a lot of time that would otherwise be spent hunting for the right sized zipper.

Using a custom zipper can also save you money because purchasing a roll of zipper tape instead of individual zippers is cheaper if you’re going to be using zippers in a lot of your leatherwork.

Using zippers in your leatherwork doesn’t have to be intimidating.

Latest Posts, Top Blog ArticlesMary SavelJanuary 25, 2018leatherwork, leather, leatherworker, leather working, leatherworking, leather tutorial, leathercraft, leather zipper, how to cut a zipper, how to make a customer zipper

How To Get Started With Traditional Leatherwork

This is one of the most frequently asked questions and luckily the answer is pretty easy.

You need to know what type of leatherwork that you're interested in and then we can talk about tools and materials that you'll need.

So if you're not sure what tools you need, what the different types are of leatherwork are or how best to choose your leather as a beginner, then keep reading.

Latest PostsMary SavelJanuary 5, 2018leather, leatherwork, leatherworking, leathercraft, leather tutorial, leather working tools, leather types, leather grades, vegetable tanned leather, leather tooling, how to get started with leatherwork, BLOG PAGE #2

5 Ways To Find Your Ideal Customer

If you've been reading along with the last few blogposts, you've already determined who your audience is, what they need or want and now it's time to find out where they are so you can get to know them better and interact with them.

Once you know where your ideal customer hangs out, you will also be able to create a marketing promotional strategy using that information.

This can be challenging for creative people who are trying to start a side hustle. Sometimes they make the mistake of waiting for their audience to find them.

Top Blog ArticlesMary SavelDecember 6, 2017leather, leatherwork, business, ideal customer, target market, social media, facebook groups, BLOG PAGE #2

What Does My Ideal Customer Want or Need?

Now that you know who your ideal customer is and what they're like, you can begin to answer the next question which is, “What is it that my ideal audience needs or wants”?

By developing something with the needs and desires of your audience in mind, you will set yourself up to be able to create something that you know your audience will respond to and ultimate be interested in purchasing.

If you really want to set yourself up for the best chance of selling your products, try and solve a problem or satisfy a desire that they have.

Latest Posts, Top Blog ArticlesMary SavelDecember 5, 2017leather, leatherworker, what does my customer need, solving a need, marketing, what does my customer want, BLOG PAGE #2

10 Questions to Help You Determine Who Your Ideal Customer Is

In order to develop a product based on your ideal customer’s needs or wants, you need to know who your customer is, what they look like and what types of things that they’re interested in.

One of the first things that you should ask yourself is, "Who am I targeting with this product that I either plan to make or have already made?"

Once you have an idea of who it is that will want your product, you will have a much greater chance at developing a marketing strategy geared towards attracting that person.

Latest Posts, Top Blog ArticlesMary SavelNovember 15, 2017leather, leatherwork, leatherworker, ideal customer, target market, BLOG PAGE #2

Hot Stuffing and other Cool Leather Terms You Should Know

Is the leather terminology getting you down like, WHAT??

I know the feeling. There is a lot to know!

Between distinguishing what the different grades of leather are, the finish types of grain leather and the main tanning processes, if you’re anything like me, your head is spinning.

But hang in there.

Mary SavelOctober 31, 2017leathr, leather, leathercraft, leather working tools, leatherwork, leatherworker, leatherworking, leather tutorial, beginner leatherworking, tradi, diy, craft, crafty, drum dyed, pullup leather, skins, hides

What to Know About Chrome Tanned vs. Vegetable Tanned Leather

Leather as you probably already know is the result of taking animal rawhide or skins and then tanning them to create a flexible and durable material that can be used for clothing, accessories, shoes and a lot more.

So how does this tanning process work?

Mary SavelOctober 18, 2017leather, leathercraft, leather working tools, leatherwork, leatherworker, leatherworking, leather tutorial, beginner leatherworking, traditional leatherworking, leather types, vegetable tanned leather, chrome tanned leather

Aniline and Other Finishes [What You Need to Know]

This might be the worst blog post title ever. And you might be thinking, "ugh, boooring" but if you want to be informed and confident when picking out and purchasing leather hides then these are a few terms that you're going to want to be familiar with.

Mary SavelOctober 11, 2017leather, leathercraft, leather working tools, leatherwork, leatherworker, leatherworking, leather tutorial, leather grades, aniline, semianiline, diy, craft, crafty

4 Grades of Leather and What You Should Know About Them.

Have you ever been shopping for leather and come across the myriad of terms used to describe the type of tannage, or leather grade, finish, etc that is involved in processing it? This was one of the most confusing things (and still can be confusing!) when I first started to work with leather.

Leather manufacture from it's earliest processes involving urine, feces and brains (still used today in smaller operations!) to the now majorly chemical and scientific processes is, well, complex.

Latest PostsMary SavelOctober 5, 2017leather, leathercraft, leather working tools, leatherwork, leatherworker, leatherworking, leather tutorial, beginner leatherworking, traditional leatherworking, diy, craft, crafting, BLOG PAGE #2

4 Mistakes to Avoid When Saddle-stitching

Saddle-stitching can be tricky business if you’re not quite sure which tools you should be using, how exactly to saddle-stitch in the first place or what the common beginner leatherworking pitfalls are!

But it doesn’t have to be a tricky process. Below i've listed 4 of the most common beginner mistakes (believe me, been there done that, don't want to go back!) to avoid when saddle-stitching.