The Golden Rule of craft pricing is: Charge most market will bear and you will still make less than you anticipated. Set your expectations – and prices – accordingly.

Ask yourself, “What is market willing to pay for my unique crafts?”

Show your craft to friends and retailers and ask them how much they would expect to pay for it. Then you want to expand on that basic data. Go window shopping wherever you think your type of product could possibly be sold: local retail shops, catalogues and/or Internet.

Be sure to consider relative raw materials employed. If you see a beaded bracelet similar to one of yours, but using semi-precious stones, where yours is made with glass beads, adjust your craft's price down. Or vice versa.

If Wal-Mart sells a mass produced version of your craft, made in China, don’t be discouraged. Know you have a competitor. Make your product obviously better, but keep competition in mind when you set your price.

One more thought on pricing: if your initial price turns out to be too high (i.e., more than market will bear), you can easily lower it. However, reverse is much harder to do.

This is a complex subject. You want to maximize your profits, but you don’t want to drive your customers away.

Fortunately, there are resources that can help you determine proper price. Please visit http://www.theartfulcrafter.com/ craft-pricing.html for information about a great program you can use. There is also a wealth of information on my website that any crafter and, for that matter, any small business owner can use to get their enterprise up and running whether it be online or off.

6) How do I know if something is really just a pyramid scheme?

The word pyramid has gotten a really bad rap. Every viable organization takes on shape of a pyramid. The president at top has several department heads under him, who each have several managers, who supervise teams of employees, etc.

The problem lies not in structure, but in value (or lack thereof!) of product and compensation being passed up and down these lines. If product is non-existent, or promises to be materialized in future, or is grossly over-priced, then you are dealing with schemers and thieves. If, on other hand, you are engaged in a business that pays according to a matrix, (be it 2 x 2, 4 x 4, whatever), as long as product is a good value for money and each representative is being compensated fairly, then you have a legitimate multi-level marketing (MLM) structure. It’s good, old-fashioned, legitimate SALES.

Oops! There I went and said it. The dreaded “s” word. I can hear you already. “But I don’t like sales!” “I don’t know how to sell!” “I don’t want to make a pest of myself!” “I don’t want to bug my family and friends!” Believe me, I understand. That brings us to our final point.

7) Does your company supply you with state-of-the-art marketing strategies and ongoing training and support?

If you’re like me, you probably shy away from anything that even resembles hard-sell tactics. If that’s case, you will want to look for a business that is fully automated with professional websites and internet tools that do all promoting and background work for you.

Using internet tools is not difficult, BUT if you have never been shown what to do, why, it’s nearly impossible! And nobody likes to be made to feel like an idiot, so it’s important to find an organization that takes you from square one, trains you in basics, and teaches you, step by step, how to become a professional, and never ever abandons you.

Well, I’ve given you a lot to think about, and I sincerely hope I have helped you. Internet marketing provides us all with a truly wonderful opportunity to realize our dreams. I mean this in most literal sense. Once you find right company for you, and get support you need to go distance, why, you’ll find that there is plenty of wealth out there to go around for everybody. Isn’t it high time you stepped up to stake your claim?