How to run a successful craft or jewellery workshop
Recently, I ran a jewellery workshop in-person at a fab new venue in Devon called Makers Mews. I’ve been teaching silver clay workshops since 2018, and it’s proved to be such a boost to my business. One of the women even said at the end:
‘That was the most satisfying thing I’ve done in a while!’
There’s something magical about taking a raw material and creating something beautiful out of it, with your own hands. We makers know this in our bones, and so it’s often easy for us to forget that for many people, it doesn’t come so naturally and they are craving a creative outlet.
This is where we can come in, by sharing our passion and skills in a well-thought-out workshop, we’re not only teaching a new skill, but perhaps more importantly giving people the chance to connect back with their enate creativity (which we all have, even those who don’t feel creative) and helping them to make something they feel proud of.
Plus, a creative workshop is a really fun way to while away a few hours – both for the teacher and the people taking part!
Whilst I love the online world, I really feel that more and more people are valuing in-person connection and experiences now, and we as artists are in a very unique position to be able to provide them.
If you’ve been thinking of running craft workshops as another string to your business bow, here are my 5 top tips to get you started:
1. Pick one aspect of your craft to teach first
When I started teaching workshops, I thought I needed to develop a whole course with multiple lessons. Whilst this can be great for people wanting to learn a new skill, I did some market research soon realised that most people actually just wanted to spend a few hours being creative, often with friends, and coming taking away something special at the end of the day.
2. Practice on friends and family
I ran a few practice sessions first and the feedback I got was invaluable. It enabled me to refine my workshop so that I could make sure I was delivering the best experience for my customers on the day. Over the years, as I’ve taught more people (over 300 now and counting!) I’ve refined my workshops even more to ensure people are happy with what they create. Practice also helped me to nail down my timings so that I know exactly what needs to be done and by when.
3. Less is more
This leads me onto my next tip – I’ve found that giving people less choice with what they can create actually enables them to be more creative, because it takes away the stress of not knowing where to start. There will always be people who go rogue and have their own ideas, which adds to the joy of a workshop – often people get ideas from each other as they go along too which is something I love to see!
4. Price for profit
I know your number 1 priority is creating a lovely experience, but as a business owner it’s really vital you make a good profit too. A profit enables you to value your time and look after yourself, so that ultimately you can serve even more of your dream customers. Include all your material costs in your pricing, as well as a fair hourly rate for your time (including set up, pack down and marketing!). When I first started, I was a horror for literally giving away extra silver clay to people – not only did this massively eat into my profits, it also mucked up my timings which had a knock on affect to the smooth running of the day too.
5. Share, share, share!
Once you’ve got your tickets up online, you need to keep sharing them wherever you can. You might feel like it’s overkill, but it’s really not. Think of marketing as helping your dream customers to find something they really desire. By sharing your workshop far and wide, you are doing them a big favour because they don’t need to hunt to find it. Just some of the places I like to share include: my own social media, local Facebook groups, the social media of the venue, posters & cards in the venue and online listing sites.
