To Do: Grow Your Crafty Business

grow your crafty business

Grow Your Crafty Business

I ran a crafty business from 2005-2010, and for a long time I resisted marketing. It felt sleazy to pimp what I was doing! It took a couple of years for me to realize that marketing myself and my business wasn’t the bad sort of bragging. If I wanted to change the world with my crafts, people needed to know that they were out there!

In case you can’t make the webinar or are running across this article after the 30th, I thought I’d share a few of the marketing tricks that worked well for me when I was selling my crafts.

  • Create business cards. If you’re trying to reduce your crafty impact, you may think business cards are a waste of paper, but they’re an important part of networking! Instead of skipping business cards completely, choose green business cards that have a lower impact.
  • Sell at craft markets. Wait, what do craft markets have to do with marketing? EVERYTHING! When you’re out there selling your goods in person, you’re making more than just sales. You’re making contacts, and you’re promoting your business. So make sure your booth has great signage and displays, that your business cards are handy to give potential customers and wholesale clients, and that you talk up your work when folks pop into the booth. Speaking of wholesale, if that is a direction you’d like your crafty biz to go, print some wholesale price sheets and bring them with you! Buyers for shops sometimes scope out local markets for new suppliers, and you’ll look extra professional if you can give those folks a one sheeter with your products and pricing!
  • Email blogs. Launching a new product? Having a sale? Tell people about it! Scope out blogs that your customers would read and contact them. Write a press release and include some good photos. As a blogger, I can tell you that the easier you make it on me, the more likely I am to feature you!
  • Find local networking groups. Connecting with other small business owners is a great way to spread the word. You can promote each other, and sometimes you can even find customers right there at networking events. Also, they can be a lot of fun!
  • Use social media. Social media might seem a little daunting, but it is a great way to get the word out about your product! You don’t have to use every platform – just find one where you feel comfortable and embrace it! Just remember the golden rule about social media: don’t just talk about yourself. If your whole Twitter stream is updates to your Etsy shop, chances are you won’t get a lot of followers. Make sure that no matter what social media platform you choose.

I’d love to hear from other green crafty biz owners out there! How are you marketing your work? Let’s keep the ideas going in the comments!

Image Credit: Grow Your Crafty Business image via Shutterstock

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