Many women, and also some men, make some extra income from their homemade crafts, though few of them appear to be earning enough to make a living in this business. We have no real way of knowing because no one has done a survey about this that I know of. What I do know from simply communicating with so many people, however, is that most of them are simply too busy with other things to devote this much time to a full time business. Those who do try to sell crafts full time online or at craft fairs often have a hard time making enough to support their families on their craft sales alone. The craft business, like almost any other, is very competitive now and craft prices in general have come down in recent years.
It can still be a good business though.
So how do I get started in the online craft business?
1.) First off, try to read several craft-related books to find out how others have succeeded in the craft business. Many individuals have started and succeeded in the craft businesses and have written books about how they did it. Learn from their successes and failures as it will save you a lot of time, heartache and money!
2.) Try to determine up front if you want to make crafts as a part-time hobby or if you will try to develop it into a full time business. Either way is good but if you decide to go full time, make sure you have some money set aside to carry you through the first year or so as it takes time to develop your business and to be profitable. Try to set aside a space inside your home that will be your personal office. I would not recommend you try to claim this on your income taxes though unless it is only used as an office for your business as the IRS frowns on home offices as a tax deduction.
3.) Set realistic goals for how much money you want to earn from selling your crafts online. Once you goals are set, determine how much time you are willing to spend to make your goals a reality. You can’t say for example, “I would like to make $30,000.00 a year from my online store” and then spend 2-3 hours a day working on your business. It is like any other business as you get back what you put into it. The bible even mentions this concept. It says “As you sow, so shall you reap!” So as in life, it is the same in business, you get back what you put into something. If you work at something half-hearted then that is what you will get back.
4.) Be honest in your business dealings! This is vital as I truly believe if you try to cut corners and run a dishonest business it will come back to haunt you eventually. The internet is full of scams and scammers and once people see that you’re an honest business person that can be trusted they will give you more of their business and refer others to you. You will sleep better at night also knowing you have treated people as you would like to be treated.
5.) Seek out other people who make similar crafts like you do so you can learn from them and maybe even refer business to each other. This is very important when you are on the internet.
6.) Read a book or an online article about time management. The lack of time management is the biggest roadblock I think to your success on the internet. There are so many sites, so many opportunities to make money that you get pulled every which way and get easily side-tracked. KEEP FOCUSED ON YOUR GOALS!
7.) Get your family members approval before you begin. Any business run at home will be difficult especially if you have small children around. If you can enlist the help of your spouse, mom, older children, neighbors, etc. it will help you to keep focused and get your work done more efficiently. Let them know you need uninterrupted time to do your work also just as if you had gone out and were working at a place of business.
8.) Try to explore the market to see if there are other people selling the same or similar products already on the internet. The internet is a HUGE place so the chances are pretty good that someone out there has something similar to what you want to make and sell. See how they are doing with their business. Is it profitable? Do they sell a lot of products? How is their pricing compared to yours? You can also visit craft fairs, craft shops, shopping malls and other retail stores that have similar products. The more original your products are the more likely they will sell.
9.) Price your products correctly. A large mistake you can make is to price your products incorrectly. If a product is priced too high it will not sell that much. If it is priced to low you will get more sales but your profit will be too low and you will be working for nothing. Again, do your homework here and see what the market will bear. Don’t value your crafts too highly or too lowly. Price them right!
10.) Stay in touch with the market. I cannot stress enough the importance of reading craft magazines or online articles. Article which focus on such industry and marketing trends, what people are buying, what is selling and what is not. One of the best magazines for professional crafters is The Crafts Report. A great source of info can be found at About.com. They have two different sections about crafts that are very good. Here are some links to these sites:
http://artsandcrafts.about.com/ This is run by William Lasley.
http://familycrafts.about.com/ This is run by Sherri Osborn.
11.) Use the power of the internet to accomplish FREE MARKETING! The internet is an incredible free marketing tool! There are many excellent web sites for crafters that offer a wide range of business and marketing information. Our online mall, Lilly’s Craft Stores Mall, is the number one ranked craft store mall on the internet. We are the first listed true craft stores mall on Google and Yahoo search engines for the search term “craft stores”. Our prices for store rent I believe are the lowest cost for a true stand alone individual store that you can call your own. I think if you check around you will see that for the price that we charge, you get the biggest bang for your dollar at Lilly’s Mall.
Please see my article entitled “Ways to promote your online craft store” for ways on how to use the internet to create free traffic for your store.
Thanks for reading and please email with any questions or comments. You can find my contact info on the main LillyPlace.net page. – Neil K. |
