Crafting can be good for the mind and boost those happiness hormones. If you enjoy knitting, crocheting, or painting, then you may be tempted to sell your creations on. But where do you start?
There is a huge market for handmade products and the demand is only growing. You can take advantage of this opportunity by starting your own online business. Even if you don’t make a lot of cash (in terms of the amount of hours you put into crafting), then you could at least earn some extra money to put back into buying supplies.
Setting prices
The first thing you need to think about is price. Make sure you do your research and find out what similar items are being sold for elsewhere. You then need to think about how long an item takes you to make, how much your crafting products cost and how much your item will cost to package and post.
You will also need to research packaging solutions. If you opt for bespoke packaging, then you could even get a packaging solution that matches your craft!
Online marketing strategies
There are many ways to promote your own product online, but you need to come up with a plan.
You will need to set up a website, or a blog with information about your products. Some people decide to sell their products directly from their own website, but others prefer to use an established selling website like Esty or eBay. You don’t have to set up a website with a shop attached if you don’t want to, but you should have your own website to show your crafts off. You can also create social media accounts that link through to your website. Your social media accounts can be used to advertise and find potential customers.
Facebook and Instagram are a great place to catch the eye of potential customers. You could also organise giveaways and contests where people enter by following you on social media.
Driving business
Google is the primary search engine used by most people. Search engine optimisation is a process that helps you to rank higher on search engines. It’s a way of getting your website to show up in the top results for certain keywords or phrases. It can take time to rank for keywords, but it is worth investing some time in this, because eventually, it could generate a steady flow of business.
There are also ways to get traffic from social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. You can post links to your website on these sites, share blog posts, or even post pictures of your products there. You could also ask your customers to post a picture of your crafts on their pages.
Make sure that you tell your friends and friends that you’re selling your crafts too. Not only may they be interested in ordering themselves, but they’ll also spread the word amongst their friends,
Manging expectations
If you decide you want to sell your crafts, then it’s important to manage your customer’s expectations. Crafts take time and energy to make and you’re only one person. This means there will be a limit on what you can do. Don’t over promise and under deliver, as this will lead to negative feedback.
Selling your crafts can be a great way of making some extra cash. But you should only do it for as long as you’re enjoying it. Crating brings many of us happiness and that’s more important than making a bit of extra money.
Note: this is a paid collaboration.
Leave a Reply