Change One Person's World
Problem: Tourism in Bali is non Existent. Artists and Crafts Makers in Bali see 0 new sales now.
2nd Problem: And those tourists who would want a piece of Bali to bring home, don't get it.
Solutions: You should try to make something that brings the offline world online in a useful way for both parties. But it doesn't have to be a marketplace. It can be a tool to get onto Instagram. It could be information for someone to quickly catch up on what a meme is and how to create them.
Inspiration: Reading this article, and being based right now in Bali, it's heartbreaking to hear that the livelihoods of artisans and craftsmen are absolutely being devastated.
Of the 68,000 small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) registered in Bali, only a handful have social media accounts. "The percentage is very small," chief of the Bali Cooperative, Small and Medium Enterprises Agency Wayan Mardiana told CNA.
While a startup or online tool might not change the world for everyone, it could change the world for 1 person.
I implore any indiehackers here to consider the offline world when looking for a market to help.
Here is the whole article: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/indonesia-bali-craftsmen-struggle-online-wood-furniture-covid-19-13120924
Yes there might be platforms like Faire, or Instagram that could help. How do you help computer illiterate or those unfamiliar with trends, memes etc get started and in front of an audience of buyers with purchase intent.
There are literally millions of people who would have traveled to Bali this year. Where are they and where are they spending cash?
Can you build a tool, not a marketplace, to add value to someone's online experience with a little piece of Bali art?
“I told them,‘There are no customers coming to our workshops now. Why don’t you promote your work on social media? I got many orders from social media. Why don’t you ask your kid to set up for you?'”
Can you be someone's kid? Remotely?
Can you build a tool that offers "instagram savvy" to someone who might not know what to do, what a video meme is nor how to even try?
If you choose a marketplace to build, how are you going to aggregate demand?
I'm in Bali now. Happy to drop a pamphlet into the hands of 100 artists. Then what? do they need a IG account already? do they need email? a phone? a camera?
I am not sure how I could help given my skills (the only real useful digital thing I know is Bubble), but I am in Bali in normal times (can't come in now) and I care for this community, so if you crack something, I can give you some of my time. Laurence
So very kind of you!
Could you go around and photograph things for them and put it up for sale for them? Then collect when sold and ship for them? Dunno, feels like a simple service that someone local could perform for the computer illiterate? Start a collective newsletter? FB group? Bali artists acc on Instagram? Do they really need their own account? Brainstorming ...
Yes could. I think someone did that, and that's sort of the solution discussed in the article. Someone is helping the artists post on Instagram.
From the outside the hardest part looks to be creating digital content that "sells". Understanding how to translate a craft to a digital experience that makes money seems to be the overall biggest problem here since the people are not in person.
It's been true for the last 15 years easily you can make money helping people put their stuff online, still many restaurants don't even have a menu online or appear don't even appear in google map (I find it as the default way to look for one..)
Make it easy for them to open online and operate
there are also offers to just help people sell online, style "send it to us and we will sell it online" or we will buy it from you stlye pawning...
Business is hard, and many people are just operators, and they happen to some market that worked for them, and belive this is their bussiness and there is no alternative...
Specifically tourist based stuff is hard. Some of it only works because of the culture immersion and is effected from the mood people have on vacation...
Shipping makes phisical stuff less attractive online often.
Some things are better experinced phisically, sometimes it's the exprience that actually sells, sometimes it's the quality that's hard to translate visualy like a fabric feel, but things like a detailed craftmenship should be doable.
Trust might also be an issue a little bit.
Have an easy system of taking pictures of products from these craftmans and publishing it in at least one big marketplace like eBay or Amazon and a path to actually supply... (contact the owner, take care of shipping...)
It's not hard to do technically, it's time consuming.
The hard part is the competition, online your competing against everyone, if this is no unique... phisically you limit the competition space to phisical space, getting attention online is a big deal... that's why some platforms are worth the fees cause they have already buyers attention for some things..
I don't think a "SEO for crafts" is the right move off the bat for this type of artists/creator.
What about a video chat? Something that might have interacted with before to talk to distant relatives. Maybe it's not so much finding those who never used a phone but those who have limited use and would understand getting on a video call with someone who wants to buy art directly from Bali.
I'm wondering if modeling it after airbnb experiences is better since maybe they could be paid without having to sell the art. Learn a craft from an artisan in Bali, online.
I don't get what your trying to say about SEO
if you put it into a markeplace that has a high user count, some are already looking for new/distinct or just these items... so you don't have to do anything besides listing for some of the cases...
you want to sell a remote exprience with an artisan from Bali? that's doable... but you say they don't normally access tech much... do you want to make a studio for them, bring them in for expriencess you can get booked for them?...
do remeber an artisan and a teacher might not correlate in personality, work desire and such... like not every artist can teach and/or make it a nice experience...
Good point in setting up a studio. there are photo and video studios in Bali already.
Yes excellent point in saying an artisan is different than a teacher.
I know SEO
I just mean if your listing a hand carved wooden Bali statue of X with Y...
That is unique in that marketplace
With the right category and tags for easy discovery within the market, and you can call that SEO if you wish as it's the step 0...
With average description
You'd still get sales without further work
If there are 20 more that make the exact same thing you won't, than you need to fight for attention for example with SEO or if you want to make it larger...
With artisan sometime the product is unique and appealing to stand on it's own.
Some markets might be better for that like Etsy but you should just give it a go or do some initial research - is it unique? Does it have demand/interest from related/similar stuff, like wooden carved things of different styles/objects/...