Turn Crafts into Cash

Is it time to turn your passion for crafts into your own business? From woven labels for handmade items to an attention grabbing strapline, branding is key.

Whether you are a budding fashion designer, a knitting enthusiast, or perhaps you are crazy for crochet, if it is something you are good at and love doing why not turn it into a money making venture?  Surely the perfect job is doing something you love!

Your beautifully handcrafted products are made, and there are always more on the go, after all  what crafter can sit with idle hands? I have yet to meet one.  The next step is to shout about them and entice people to buy.  Don’t be shy, you know the products are good, you made them yourself, but where do you start?  Marketing of course!

We all know that big businesses have a massive budget for marketing, and we also know that it works.  How else do we know that Every Little Helps at Tesco?  Don’t panic there is no need to shell out huge sums of money with these handy ideas:

Brand your Products

It may be that up to now you have made items for friends and family, good causes, but not yet to sell to the general public.  Now you are expanding branding is essential, how else are your customers going to remember you and pass on their love of your products to others?  This is easily done by:

Creating a logo

There are online tools that can help you with this, but you may want to use a professional if you aren’t too confident.  You will be seeing it an awful lot once the design is confirmed.

Creating a strapline

A strap or tagline is defined as a useful bunch of words that makes a promise to your audience.  Just make sure you deliver what it promises. Take Subway with the strap line Eat Fresh, the delivery of a dry, stale sandwich wouldn’t live up to customer expectation.

Labels

Include your logo and add custom woven labels to handmade items to personalise and brand them.  Custom clothing tags can add a touch of luxury and class to your garments, with the added bonus of your brand being instantly recognisable. Swing tags are great for things like handmade jewellery items, bags and purses. When things look professional it increases the perceived value of the item which should lead to you making more money.

Stationery

Incorporate your logo and strapline into your business stationery, business cards, and postcards for example.  A little bespoke branded packaging will add an extra touch of class too.

Word of Mouth

Tell everyone about what you do –  yes, of course you can! You must be good at  what you do, you are making great things and the best thing of all is you love doing it so shout about it!  If you can, wear or display what you make and don’t be coy when people ask you where it came from.  Word of mouth is, after all, the best form of advertising, and it’s completely free.

The Internet

Extend your word of mouth to a much larger audience with a Facebook account.  A great platform for such a visual business to grow your brand and engage potential customers.  There is a large crafty family online, so get involved with them on Pinterest and Instagram as well as in forums and blogs.  There is a wealth of information on Digital Marketing Blogs to get you engaging with the huge audience that is waiting for you. This video will give you a little more insight into which social media platform is right for you:

Display your Wares

Get out there and get noticed.  Craft fairs are a great way to display your products and get noticed by potential stockists and the general public, it’s not all about online.  This is also a great opportunity to pick up ideas and network with other crafties and show off your new business cards!

Have your recently started up a craft business?  How is it going?  Let us know in the comments.

 

 

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