Are you an accomplished crafter? Have you ever wondered what it would be like to make a living making and selling your wares? Why not find out by setting up your own online craft business?
More and more creative people are using the opportunities afforded by the internet to set up their own businesses, doing something they love, changing their lives for the better in the process. Of course, setting up your own online craft business is certainly not simple, and it will take a lot of hard work and determination to make it a success, but if you want to be your own boss and spend your days being creative, it will be worth it.
If you’re ready to take the leap and start your own craft business online, here are some tips to help you make it a big success:
Create Desirable Products
If you want your online craft business to be a success, then first and foremost, you must come up with a product(s) that people actually want to buy. You just have to look at places like Etsy to see that, although there are thousands of wonderful creations, there are also a lot of things that are poorly produced or just plain pointless and you’ll never be able to make a living out of those things. You need to, therefore, take some time to design products that are desirable and which you can create to a high standard if you want to make more than just pocket money.
Buy the Best Equipment
When you were crafting as a hobby, you could probably get away with cheaper, less effective tools and equipment, but when you’re running a business, you need to raise your standards, and that means investing in the best equipment you can afford. For example, if you’re doing to be selling engraved rings, purchasing a professional laser from boss laser, although costly, will help you to create higher quality products. Thus you’ll be able to beat the competition and make more money.
Invest in a Good Website
If you plan to sell from your own website, rather than a marketplace like Etsy, then you really must invest lots of time and a little money into creating an attractive and functional website, which appeals to your target demographic and which can be easily navigated. If your website looks bad and it’s hard to actually buy anything for it, people are just going to go elsewhere, and you will miss out as a result.
Maintain a Friendly Yet Professional Air
When you run an online craft business, the kind of people who are going to become your customers are people who prefer the personal touch. They like unique, handmade things and they like to get to know the people behind the products they buy, at least a little, which is why it pays to present yourself as a friendly person. So, don’t be afraid to chat with customers informally when you’re answering their questions, but when you’re doing so, don’t cross the boundaries unto unprofessionalism – show them that you know your stuff and have firm sales policies in place to avoid looking like an amateur or being taken advantage of.
Take Amazing Photos
When you’re running an online craft business, you can’t fall back on stock photos, and nor should you anyway. Everything about your business should be bespoke, and that include the product photos.
Of course, being bespoke isn’t enough, your product photos also need to look beautiful. When it comes to crafts, customers are much more interested in the look of the product than the accompanying description, so photos that are clear, artistic and which make the item shine will always be better than busy, blurry photos that are less appealing.
If you can afford it, invest in a good DSLR camera and perhaps take a few lessons to show you how to take really great photos, and you’ll have a distinct advantage over much of the competition.
Have Confidence in Yourself
When you’re selling handmade goods that you’ve lovingly crafted with your own two hands, it is so easy to fall into the trap of thinking that a product isn’t good enough and removing it from sale, but unless it has any major defects, you really shouldn’t do this because you could quite easily end up with too little thing to sell, making it difficult for you to make a living.
If you’re the kind of person who doubts yourself at every corner and requires everything to be 100 percent per perfect no matter what try to be a bit gentler with yourself, work to best your confidence and understand that customers don’t expect handmade items to be 100 percent picture perfect every time. In fact, it’s often those little flaws that make handmade crafts more appealing.
Embrace Change
That being said, if something really isn’t working, you really should not be afraid to make changes. Try new techniques and work in new products f something stops selling or you really aren’t happy with how it turns out, and you might just hit upon something which is bigger, better and more saleable than the last thing you tried.
Start a Mailing List
Whenever anyone visits your website, contacts you or makes a purchase, you should invite them, in the most appealing way possible, to join your mailing list. Having a mailing list is one of the best way to market your products and services to an audience who are likely to be interested in your products. It allows you to speak directly with customers in a friendly way which encourages sales. Just don’t spam them by sending multiple messages a day/week which are of little value or you could actually turn them off buying from you.
Keep Learning
You might be a whizz with those knitting needles or a pro when it comes to engraving jewelry, but in the craft business, there is always more to learn and the more skills you have, the more products you can create, and the more products you have, the more sales you will make. So, whenever you have some free time, invest in your crafting education if you want to see your business grow.
