Marketing Materials for Your Homemade Crafts

By Kari Chapin
Published on July 18, 2013
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“The Handmade Marketplace,” by Kari Chapin, guides readers through the ins and outs of selling their handmade crafts – from building a business brand to using the perfect marketing materials.
“The Handmade Marketplace,” by Kari Chapin, guides readers through the ins and outs of selling their handmade crafts – from building a business brand to using the perfect marketing materials.
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A well-lit subject is the first step in taking a great photo of your product.
A well-lit subject is the first step in taking a great photo of your product.

It’s an exciting new world for crafters. Handmade is hip, creativity is what the market wants, and there are many profitable sales opportunities that didn’t exist a few short years ago. For crafters who have more confidence running a sewing machine than setting up a Web site, The Handmade Marketplace(Storey Publishing, 2010), breaks down and makes sense of the global possibilities for marketing and selling crafts. The following excerpt comes from chapter 4, “Marketing Basics.”

Okay, you have created the most beautiful handmade crafts. Your workshop — or spare room — is filled with your fabulous pieces. Now what? The answer is obvious, right? You have to sell your stuff. And this is where many artisans run into the proverbial brick wall. After speaking with crafters from all over the world about starting a business, I’ve learned that the one thing that most mystifies you ingenious folks and causes you to bury your heads in your yarn baskets is -marketing. And yet marketing can be so creative and fun, it’s truly a big ol’ shame that it’s so scary to you.

What Is Marketing?

Let’s start with the definition of marketing: Marketing is simply how you sell what you make. You make things, you want to sell them, you need to market them. It’s as simple as that. You can be the best painter in the world, but if you can’t sell your paintings, you’ll never have that feeling of satisfaction that comes with being financially successful from selling your work.

Sure, the feeling of satisfaction you get from making something amazing is undeniably terrific. But the satisfaction you get from sharing your amazing work with the world and selling it so that you make money — well, that’s something else entirely. And don’t forget that ultimately it will enable you to buy more supplies and paint more paintings.

Marketing is one of the keys to your success, and I promise it can be fun. You already know that you’re artistic and talented; marketing uses those same skills to spread the word about what you do. It’s reaching out to your audience and inviting them to interact with you — to purchase your work, to converse with you about your creations, or to get excited enough to spread the word about you and your craft.

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