Tips for steering your handmade business towards success

Small Business owners have a lot to learn about branding, marketing strategies, social media and advertising. This specifically applies to handmade business owners looking to grow and expand their crafts business.

So how do you market your handmade products? What strategies can you employ to ensure that your business flourishes and starts making good revenues? Read more here to find out.

Handmade business marketing ideas:

• Create a gift guide

A gift guide is a great way to start marketing your business. All you need to do is put some of your handmade items in a booklet along with a variety of other items from different vendors. Then you need to contact these vendors and offer to include them in your guide in return for some exposure. Make sure that you include the business name as well as a linkable URL for all vendors to help boost SEO for you and the participating vendors.

• Participate in awards

Go online and look for awards and competitions you can enter for your product category. Take time to check out the rules, regulations and obligations of each competition. Since some awards will require you to travel or give a speech, make sure you are comfortable with the requirements before committing. Getting picked out as a candidate is already a step for your business growth. Winning would be hitting the jackpot.

• Be creative with your business cards

Your business cards can say a lot about your handmade business. This is why you need to make sure that they are creative, professional and catchy. Having a plain white card with your name on it is one way to guarantee that it will be pushed aside or tossed out. Moreover, make sure that your business cards go everywhere you go. You don’t want to miss out on the chance of promoting your business just because you forgot your cards at home.

Bonus tip: Whenever possible, leave a bunch of your business cards in restaurants, coffee shops, local shops, magazines and even changing rooms. 

See Also: How to Find the Right Location for Your Startup

• Submit to magazine guides

A fast and effective way to get your products out there is by submitting them to magazine guides. Since magazine editors are always on the lookout for new and cool products to feature, you already have your in. However, you need to plan very carefully in terms of the items you choose to promote and the timing as well. Remember, magazines plan months in advance for holiday season guides so try to prepare your pitch a few moths in advance too.

• Spice up your shipments

Do you offer shipping to your customers? If yes, you can use shipping to promote your business by branding your boxes, bags or wrapping. Think about it this way: it is really easy to make your packages stand out from the million boring boxes that are shipped every day. Just use bright colors or big bold stickers. Furthermore, make sure that you include the name of your business and your website’s URL to allow the curious customers to find and reach you more easily.

• Join an online marketplace

Find a marketplace that offers you a free account or listing. Take the time to build a stellar storefront, brand it, then start posting images of your handmade products on it. Moreover, make sure that your images have enhancing and catchy descriptions. Once you have completed this, it’s time to get involved in the community by participating in discussions, liking other people’s products, creating reviews and so on.

See Also: How to Launch a Startup with no Money or Experience

• Create a blog

I can not begin to explain to you the importance of having a blog for your handmade business. However, creating the blog is just the tip of the iceberg. You will also need to write engaging content and share that content on your social media accounts. After sharing them, you can also bookmark them using platforms such as LinkedIn Publishing, Pinterest and Reddit. You can take things a bit further by guest blogging and sharing valuable information on other blogger sites then linking the content back to your blog. Win-win situation!

• Host contest & giveaways

Word of mouth marketing is a great tool for getting the exposure you want for your handmade business. The best way to get people to talk about your products is by creating contests via social media and giving winners giveaways. For this to work, make entering your contest fun and make sure that the prizes are worthwhile.

• Create fun content

In these days, writing and sharing text content just won’t cut it anymore. You need to create fun and engaging viral content, such as videos and infographics, to capture the attention of your audience. You can rely on images and slides to make videos that unveil your products and their benefits. Furthermore, you can just go live and create short catchy videos featuring you and your products. The sky is your limit.

• Send out snail mail

Another simple yet effective idea to spread the word about your business is to send out mail to addresses from past shipments. Your emails can be in the form of ‘thank you‘ cards or they can include special offers such as discounts, samples and small gifts.

Finally, what do you do to promote your handmade business? Do you have any ideas and tips to share with our readers? We would love to hear from you in the comment section below! 

The post How to Effectively Market Your Handmade Business appeared first on The Global Now.