If you’ve got a creative flair combined with an entrepreneurial spirit, you could consider setting up your own online craft business. You could create beautiful handmade products for your customers and make some extra cash doing the thing you love. Whether your talents lie in woodworking, jewelry design, or pottery, you could definitely turn these into a lucrative business. It’s important to establish your brand online, however, and this requires marketing savvy as well as crafting skills. Here are the top five tips for setting up an online craft business.
Find a profitable niche
When you’re first starting out, the important thing is to find your niche. This will be largely based on your talents or passions. You can then identify your target audience. If you would like to design jewelry, for example, you could then try to create buyer personas according to demographic. It’s also a good idea to study the market and your competitors as this will help you learn who are the most profitable customers and how to appeal to them. Here are a few important steps to finding a profitable niche.
Invest in the right tools
You don’t want to use up all your resources but invest in the essential equipment you need to start your business. This depends on the type of craft you do. It’s also advisable to budget for quality materials. This is often an important selling point for artisans. Whether you’re working with high-quality sustainable leather or precious metals, you should highlight this in your marketing material.
Consider outsourcing certain services
Rather than buying expensive equipment, you could outsource certain services. If you would like to offer personalized products to your customers you could outsource engraving to Universalengraving.com, for instance. As your business begins to grow you could also consider outsourcing your fulfillment to a third-party logistics provider. This includes storing, packing, and shipping your products.
Boost your online presence
In order to ensure a future for your business, you’ve got to build a strong presence online. This means focusing on digital marketing efforts and optimizing your website. Social media is a great tool for independent designers and it’s very cost-effective. Showcase your talents on social media with videos and professional photographs. You could also use targeting advertising on platforms such as Facebook. Set up a Google My Business account as well and optimize this with plenty of pictures and information about your products.
Get involved in local events
Even though your business is based online you can promote it at local events. Get involved in a local craft market or contact brick-and-mortar stores to help sell your products. This way you can network with more people and boost brand awareness. Customers will want to see your products up close, so it’s a great way to make an impression. This should result in good word of mouth for your business. Make the most of as many marketing channels as possible and you’ll create a name for yourself in the field.
