So I'm very new to corsetmaking as a business. I've sold a few OTR corsets, but have yet to get anyone to follow through and pay me for a custom corset.

I get lots of inquiries, from friends and acquaintances who see my corsets and people I meet at events that I vend. But no matter how serious I think someone is, I have yet to have someone follow through and actually commission me. A few times we've gone so far as having several conversations about exactly what they want, them agreeing to a price, and in one case I drew up a contract and sent it to be signed, at which point all communication ceased and I got no reply to emails. Another friend dropped the subject entirely and pretends we never discussed it.

I had two people lined up who wanted me to make them corsets "after the holidays", one who has purchased from me before and was very enthusiastic, but when I asked her for final details and money, no response. Another is a friend of a friend who I spent a whole evening talking with about what she wanted and told her when I would be available and she said over and over she definitely wanted me to make her a corset and she hasn't responded either.

I realize a certain amount of this is understandable, especially as someone just starting out, but it's getting extremely frustrating. I need the money, frankly, and it's also messing up my mental schedule of when I will be working on what projects and how much time I have to get ready for events.

So does anyone have any advice in this regard? How to get people to commit or possibly how to attract more reliable clients? (Although, as I said, these last two were people I considered "serious" as one was already a satisfied customer and one works reenactment and therefore has a professional need for it.)

Some general thoughts. Your mileage may vary - some of these might work well for you, some probably won't work at all. I'm not in business, though I've had a few narrow escapes, but I've worked as a sales person for small and medium sized businesses for a few years now.

First: if there has been no exchange of money, they are not on your calendar. Not that you can't inform someone about what your current availability is! But until they put down deposit, you aren't scheduling them, and that slot you had free last week could just as easily go to someone else (or your own project, or your vacation). Be upfront, calm, and clear about this - it's not some kind of pushy tactic, it's a very common and reasonable business practice, and it will encourage people who are serious to get on the ball. In my current job we say "...but we are not holding space for you until after deposit." Especially if someone acts like everything is all ready to go and when is the project starting? when you haven't got any money, be very clear and firm that everything is not ready to go and the project is not starting until dollars.

Following on that: Charge deposit. Pick a convenient number that covers your starting costs and will mitigate the blow if someone backs out. Make it nonrefundable. Make it big enough that someone wouldn't want to just walk away, but reasonable given that you haven't actually done any work yet. Charge extra if the start costs are going to be extra big, or if they're demanding a huge commitment of time or energy. Don't justify any more than you have to: "This project needs to be done in two weeks and will require ordering large quantities of expensive things. Your deposit will be my usual $X, plus $Y rush fee and $Z materials fee. It is nonrefundable, and I will not be able to start without it."

Ok, it's bedtime and besides I'll probably be a lot more coherent in the morning. I'm going to post this so my login cookie doesn't expire, but I'm leaving the window open and I'll come back and add more later. Ta!

Yeah, this happens unfortunately...

One option is to charge for your time. I've recently gone back to charging a Design Consultation fee. Basically, you need to communicate (however you do it) that your time is valuable. All that time on emails, chats, designs, scheduling, sourcing fabrics, etc. etc. (even before the price is agreed and deposit paid) is time (and money) lost if the commission never gets off the ground. About 50% of my enquiries go no-where and sometimes that is only after 3 meetings in the boutique trying things on, after swatches are sourced for consideration, after designs are refined, after the price is set, and after the contract is written...

But is the client to blame for my being out of pocket by having wasted that time? No, I'm to blame for allowing my time to be wasted. So I think the key may indeed be to put in place procedures and rules which make it clear from the word "go" that your time is valuable and to be taken seriously. If a fee is to be paid early on in the process, it quickly cuts through the time-wasters and lets you focus on those enquiries that are more likely to go somewhere.

Best wishes for your business!

I agree with Sparklewren. If you charge a consultation fee, you can always have a policy that it counts towards the deposit if they decide to move forward.

The third point I was going to make, which fits in with everything else here, is that you can't give away too much (including your time and enthusiasm) to someone who is not a client. It's best if you can have resources for them on a website or printed out, so you can just say "Ah yes, you can see my gallery of work with prices and find all my policies and procedures online at [website], here is my card" rather than just leaving people in the dark - that's good business and will help people decide if they want to work with you. It's important not to shut potential clients out, but making it clear that there is only so far you're willing to go for someone you're not in a business relationship with will help cut down on people wasting your time. See if you can discover the balance of chatter that leaves people interested without providing everything (so they're satisfied and wander off).

Some people are also commitment-phobes and will talk it up but never come through. Sometimes you can recognize them and cut your losses. Sometimes you can't. A consultation fee will really cut down on window shoppers, and probably won't be too much of a deterrent to someone who is specifically interested in your work. However, if you don't have a very strong personal style yet, a consultation fee might turn off people who figure they can get much the same thing elsewhere.

You may want to check out the blog Work Made for Hire, which is aimed at freelancers and talks a lot about getting what you want out of your clients. She talks about how to get paid and ways you can make it more likely people will come through on their end of things.

About 10 years ago I walked into a well-established corset shop. When I inquired about the process of being fitted, I was politely informed that it would be $50 and a signed contract before the tape measure was even brought out. " $50 for a fitting toward my custom purchase." [At the time, I felt shell-shocked! Devastated, yet determined to own my own corsets.] This is standard business practice and this shop is still in business and doing very well, as far as I understand.

But I think this question may be even deeper than that. I run into the same issues. And the only thing I can figure out is to create a solid body of identifiable work, and to begin to mentally command respect for one's time and work. Recently, at an event I attended, I had a ton of ladies hanging around my table. One of my friends was annoyed and mentioned that they could have at least purchased something from me, or commissioned something. I made the point that having an admiring entourage was not a bad thing. I was flattered. I try to think positively because I think when we are ready enough, the business will come. Especially if we take the time to learn and establish good habits, like deposits and contracts, setting customer's expectations by identifying their needs and desires, and doing our best work. I do struggle with positive self-advocacy. Coco Chanel is quoted as having said, "Elegance is refusal."
I often think about that in terms of what I"m willing to put up with, time-wise, as well as interaction-wise. Not everyone is our potential client.

"I often think about that in terms of what I"m willing to put up with, time-wise, as well as interaction-wise. Not everyone is our potential client."

Yes! I really like the point you make here. I think that a lot of makers (a lot of crafters and women, in general) feel the pressure to be "all things to all people"... to make whatever they're asked, for whatever budget, for whoever, in a bid to be kind and keep everyone happy. But there are plenty of makers at every price-point and style, to match the plenty of different types of customer... We don't each need to please everyone. I think that if we focus on "mentally command[ing] respect for one's time and work" as you say, we build better foundations for the future of our businesses.