Hannah MBA - The Ceramic School

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Step 1/14: Introduction

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Introduction

Hi, my name is Hannah, and I am writing my MBA master thesis about the effects of Globalisation and Digitalisation on the pottery market.

It would mean a great deal to me if you complete this short survey.
This survey will help to understand how the ceramics industry is performing and what potters can do to improve their businesses.

There are 15 main questions which require an answer. All other questions are optional, multiple-choice, and it should only take you about 5 minutes to complete.

Thank you so much!

Your Age

0-20

20-40

40-60

60-80

80+

Your Country

In terms of your skill level, do you consider yourself a:

Beginner

Hobby Potter

Semi-Professional

Professional

Do you consider your pottery business as:

Just a Hobby

I enjoy it, not interested in selling.

Casual sales

I sell sometimes to friends and family to free up space in the studio

I work half-time in my pottery business.

I am able to sell my ceramics to support half of my income.

I work full-time in my pottery business.

I am able to sell my ceramics to support all of my income.

Your Ceramics

Where did you learn ceramics?

College/University

Community Studio

Learning by doing

Self-Taught (YouTube, Blogs, etc)

Paid Courses (Online or Offline)

Which kinds of ceramics do you make?

Mugs/Cups

Bowls

Plates/Platters

Teapots

Vases

Sculptures

Installations (Public Art)

Other

Would you say your ceramics appeal to everyone (broad market) or only a small set of people with a particular interest (niche market)?

Mass Market Appeal

100% Absolutely Everyone would be interested in buying my ceramics

Broad Market Appeal

Not for everyone, but lots of people would be interested in my ceramics

Niche Market Appeal

Only a few people interested in a certain topic would be interested in my ceramics.

How do you think most of your audience finds you?

Most of my audience discovers me online

(social media, search engines, website, etc)

My audience finds me in real life and online about 50/50 split.

Most of my audience discovers me in real life

(shops/galleries/markets etc)

How many hours do you spend making ceramics per week on average?

(not including administrative tasks like sending emails, taking photos, etc)

0-1 hours

1-5 hours

5-10 hours

10-20 hours

20+ hours

How many hours do you spend on administrative tasks per week on average?

(For example, sending emails, taking photos, uploading products to your shop, posting on social media, etc)

0-1 hours

1-5 hours

5-10 hours

10-20 hours

20+ hours

How many pieces do you make per month on average?

0-5

5-10

10-20

20-50

50-100

100-500

500+

Your Social Media 1/3

Do you use social media for your Pottery Business? (required)

Yes

Do you use Facebook for your Pottery Business?

Yes

How many followers do you have on Facebook?

0-500

500-1000

1k-5k

5k-10k

10k-50k

50k-100k

100k-500k

500k+

Do you use Instagram for your Pottery Business?

Yes

How many followers do you have on Instagram?

0-500

500-1000

1k-5k

5k-10k

10k-50k

50k-100k

100k-500k

500k+

Do you use Pinterest for your Pottery Business?

Yes

How many followers do you have on Pinterest?

0-500

500-1000

1k-5k

5k-10k

10k-50k

50k-100k

100k-500k

500k+

Do you use TikTok for your Pottery Business?

Yes

How many followers do you have on TikTok?

0-500

500-1000

1k-5k

5k-10k

10k-50k

50k-100k

100k-500k

500k+

Your Social Media 2/3

Please click on Continue if you do not use Social Media.

Which formats do you post to social media?

Text

Images

Videos

Reels

Stories

Links

Live Streams

Which kind of content do you post to social media?

Product Photos (White/Gray/Gradient Background)

Lifestyle photos (Magazine style images of your ceramics in use)

Behind the scenes of your business

Sales posts (Upcoming shows, online sales, etc)

Personal Life (not ceramics related)

Random posts (not ceramics related)

Entertainment posts

Educational posts

Political posts

Videos of your process

Posts promoting other artists

Do you re/post the same content to all of your different social media channels?

Yes

Do you use hashtags in your social media posts?

Yes, 100% all the time

Yes, most of the time

Yes, sometimes

Your Social Media 3/3

Please click on Continue Again if you do not use Social Media.

Are your followers on social media mostly:

local

national

international

global

No idea

How often do you post to social media?

Multiple times per day

Daily

Weekly

Monthly

Other

Do you plan your social media content in advance?

No, I don't plan

Yes, I plan for the day

Yes, I plan for the week

Yes, I plan for the month

Yes, I plan for the year

How did you learn about using social media for your pottery business?

Learning by doing

Self-Taught (YouTube, Blogs, etc)

Paid Courses (Online or Offline)

Outsourced / Assistant

Websites

Do you have a website? (required)

Yes

Do you use any tracking codes on your website?

Facebook pixel

Google Analytics

Pinterest Tag

TikTok Pixel

Email Marketing tracking pixel

Other

How many visitors do you get to your website on average per year?

0-500

500-1000

1k-5k

5k-10k

10k-50k

50k-100k

100k-500k

500k+

I don't know

Where do you estimate that your website visitors come from mostly?

Social media (Facebook, Pinterest, etc)

Your Newsletter

Search (Google search, Yahoo, etc)

Other websites

Business cards / Flyers / Posters

Paid advertising

Other

Do you plan Search-Engine-Optimisation on your website?

Yes

How did you learn about making websites?

Learning by doing

Self-Taught (YouTube, Blogs, etc)

Paid Courses (Online or Offline)

Outsourced / Assistant

Does your website have a blog?

Yes

What topics do you write about on your blog?

Upcoming events (Sales, shows, etc)

About your ceramics, collections, faqs, etc

Behind the scenes of your business

Personal Life (not ceramics related)

Random blog articles

Email Marketing

Do you send emails to your audience of customers / potential customers about your pottery business? (required)

Yes

How do you send your emails?

Email Inbox (e.g. Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, etc)

Through an Email Software (e.g. Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign)

Through my online shop (e.g. Shopify, Weebly, Square)

Through my Website

Other

Roughly how many email contacts do you have?

0-100

100-500

500-1,000

1,000-5,000

5,000-10,000

10,000+

I don't know

How often do you send emails to your audience?

Once per week

Once per month

Once per quarter

Once per year

Less than once a year

Which type of emails do you send?

Newsletter emails

Special offer emails

Milestone emails

Review request emails

Welcome emails

Curated content emails

New product announcement emails

Abandoned cart emails

Other

Do you offer an incentive for people joining your newsletter?

Discount codes

E.g. 10% off first order

First Access to Online Sales

E.g. first access to your online shop updates hidden behind a password

Extra Content

E.g. free video, or pdf download.

Giveaways

E.g. people join your newsletter for a chance to win something.

How did you learn about email marketing?

Learning by doing

Self-Taught (YouTube, Blogs, etc)

Paid Courses (Online or Offline)

Outsourced / Assistant

How has sending emails affected your sales?

Sending emails has increased my sales

Sending emails has not increased or decreased my sales

Sending emails has decreased my sales

How many of your sales do you estimate are made because of your Email Marketing?

ALL of my sales are made through Email Marketing

MOST of my sales are made through Email Marketing

SOME of my sales are made through Email Marketing

NONE of my sales are made through Email Marketing

Selling your Ceramics

Do you sell your ceramics? (required)

Yes

How do you determine the price of your ceramics?

Just a Feeling

I don't have a set pricing strategy.

Penetration Pricing

Penetration pricing strategy is when companies enter the market with an extremely low price, effectively drawing attention (and revenue) away from higher-priced competitors.

Competitive pricing

The competitive pricing strategy sets the price of your ceramics at the current market rate by comparing what others are selling similar ceramics for.

Cost-plus pricing

To use cost-plus pricing, you calculate the total cost of materials, labor overhead that go into making a product and then adding a markup so you earn a profit.

Value based pricing

Value-based pricing uses the customer's perception of your product's value to set prices. Using this strategy involves measuring and analyzing your customer base's ideas about your products worth. E.g. High priced luxury goods.

Other

How did you learn about sales and pricing work?

Learning by doing

Self-Taught (YouTube, Blogs, etc)

Paid Courses (Online or Offline)

Outsourced / Assistant

How many pieces do you sell each year on average?

0-10

10-50

50-100

100-500

500-1000

1000+

What's the average price of your ceramics?

$0-$25

$25-100

$100-$500

$500-$1000

$1000-$5000

$5000+

$5000-$10.000

$10.000 +

How many of your sales are made online?

ALL of my sales are made online

MOST of my sales are made online

My sales are both online and in real life – about 50/50 split.

SOME of my sales are made online

NONE of my sales are made online

What kind of customers do you get the most?

All of my sales are made from first-time customers

Most of my sales are made from first-time customers

My sales are from a mix of first-time and repeat customers.

Most of my sales are from repeat customers

All of my sales are from repeat customers

What percentage of your customers are local? (Same state/county)

0-10%

10-20%

20-30%

30-40%

40-50%

50-60%

60-70%

70-80%

80-90%

90-100%

What percentage of your customers are national? (Same country but different state/county)

0-10%

10-20%

20-30%

30-40%

40-50%

50-60%

60-70%

70-80%

80-90%

90-100%

What percentage of your customers are international? (Different Country)

0-10%

10-20%

20-30%

30-40%

40-50%

50-60%

60-70%

70-80%

80-90%

90-100%

What percentage of sales is from repeat customers?

0%-5%

5%-10%

10%-15%

15%-20%

20%-25%

25%-50%

50%-75%

75%-100%

Selling your Ceramics in Real Life

Do you sell your ceramics in real life? (required)

Yes

Where do you sell your ceramics in real life?

To friends & family

In shops

In art galleries

At farmers markets

At art fairs

Open studios

Other

Are you represented by a shop or gallery?

Yes

How much commission do you get charged in shops / galleries as a percentage?

Are you happy with the commission rate?

Yes

Selling your Ceramics Online

Do you sell your ceramics online? (required)

Yes

Where do you sell your ceramics online?

Social Media

Etsy

WooCommerce

Shopify

Weebly

Square

Other

How do you sell your ceramics online?

Sell in batches (Shop Drop)

You make ceramics until you have enough to fill your shop, then put them all online at the same time.

Always available to ship right away

You make multiples of certain pieces, and customers can order them right away and you could ship them the next day.

Order on demand (takes time to make fresh)

You sell a set style of pieces, and customers can order them, but it takes you time to make them from scratch (e.g. 2-4 weeks wait time)

Pre-Orders on demand (takes time to make fresh)

You have a set style of pieces, and customers can pre-order them. It takes you time to make the pre-orders from scratch (e.g. 2-4 weeks wait time).

Auctions

People can bid on your ceramics one by one until the highest price wins.

Custom Commissions

Customers can contact you to make custom commissioned pieces.

Subscriptions

Customers can sign up for a monthly payment and receive a piece of your ceramics e.g. every month, every quarter, or once per year.

Other

How do you advertise your online shop?

I don't

Social Media

Newsletter

Website

Offline Advertising

Online Advertising

Selling my ceramics online has:

allowed me to sell my ceramics to a global marketplace

allowed me to increase my prices

increased my profit

allowed me to sell more ceramics

Saved me time (compared to selling in real life)

Would you rather:

I would rather just sell online, rather than pay commission for shops / galleries in real life.

I would rather have both online sales, and also pay commission for shops / galleries in real life.

I would rather pay commission for shops / galleries in real life and not have to handle online sales myself.

Selling online…

Selling online is MORE efficient than selling in real life.(takes LESS time)

Selling online takes the same amount of time as selling in real life

Selling online ís LESS efficient than selling in real life. (takes MORE time)

Competition selling online vs selling in real life

There is more competition selling ceramics online

The competition to selling ceramics online vs in real life is the same

There is more competition selling ceramics in real life

Has selling online affected your prices?

Selling my ceramics online has allowed me to raise my prices.

Selling my ceramics online has had no effect my prices.

Selling my ceramics online has made me lower my prices.

Shipping your Ceramics

Do you ship/post your work? (required)

Yes

Where do you ship/post your work?

I send locally

I send locally, and nationally

I send locally, nationally, and internationally

How do you charge for shipping?

Free shipping on all orders

Free shipping on orders over a certain value

Fixed price shipping (e.g. $10 for all orders)

Dynamic priced shipping based on address/weight etc

Other

How has shipping/posting your ceramics affected your audience?

Expanded customer base

It has enabled me to sell my ceramics outside of my local market

Decreased my customer base

It has NOT enabled me to sell my ceramics outside of my local market

How has shipping/posting your ceramics affected your sales?

Increased sales

Has neither increased or decreased sales

Decreased sales

Advertising

Have you ever done online advertising for your pottery business? (required)

Yes

Which kind of online paid advertising have you done?

Facebook Adverts

Google Ads

Instagram Adverts

Banners on Websites

Online Magazine Classifieds

Influencer Accounts

Pinterest Adverts

TikTok Adverts

Do you feel that paid online advertising was beneficial to your pottery business?

Yes

Have you ever done paid offline advertising for your pottery business? (Real life magazines, etc) (required)

Yes

Which kind of offline paid advertising have you done?

Posters/Flyers/Business Cards

Magazine Classifieds

Magazine Adverts

Newspaper Classifieds

Radio Adverts

Other

Do you feel that paid offline advertising was beneficial to your pottery business?

Yes

The Covid-19 Pandemic

Would you say that the Pandemic had:

A positive affect on my pottery business

No affect on my pottery business

A negative affect on my pottery business

How were your Online sales affected during the pandeimc (2020-2022)?

Online sales increased

Online sales stayed the same

Online sales decreased

How were your Real-Life sales affected during the pandeimc (2020-2022)?

Real-life sales increased

Real-life sales stayed the same

Real-life sales decreased

During Covid-19 pandemic (Berween 2020-2022), did you:

Start a website

Start selling online

Start social media

Start an Email Newsletter

Final Question:

Can we contact you to talk about your answers?

Yes

Your Name

Your Email

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