Craft Business Part 1 – No Craft Sales at Etsy, ArtFire, etc?

Oct 30

Craft Business Part 1 – No Craft Sales at Etsy, ArtFire, etc?

Here’s an internet craft business myth for you. All you need to do is go to Etsy or Handmadecatalog or Artfire or one of those online craft selling sites, set up a store and sit back and count the money! Oh you’ve tried that, and it doesn’t work? Hmmm… so what are you missing?

Call it promotion, call it marketing, but basically what you’ve done so far is you’ve set up a craft business that nobody knows about!

Don’t worry though, you can fix it. There’s nothing to stop that craft store becoming popular. There’s nothing to stop you selling your crafts to anywhere in the world. What you need is a bit more information than you’ve had up until now.

Whatever you might be feeling, it is not the fault of Artfire, Etsy (or whoever). They want your craft business to be a success so you continue to give them money for listings, site rental or whatever the deal is with your particular store solution. The more money you make, the more money they make, so it stands to reason they want to encourage you.

Of course most of them also make money whether you sell anything or not, from those listing fees or site fees or feature spots or a number of other things. They perhaps won’t point out to you that if you have, for example, an Etsy store, you could also list a dozen of those same craft items at Artfire – which will cost you precisely nothing.

That will give you wider reach, which can only be good for your craft business. Can you imagine Heinz or Kellogs selling in just one store – of course not, so it makes sense for you to spread your offer if you can afford to do it.

You also need to be promoting your crafts at other places. Like your own blog for example. If you just rely on people stumbling across you at an online store it’s a bit like winking at someone in a dark room. You know you’re doing it but nobody else does!

More on that in Craft Business Part 2 – Craft Marketing Success Secrets

I’ve done it, and although it was challenging at times most of it was a lot simpler than I feared. I now run a blog helping people like you to grab their own slice of freedom. Visit Crafts Business Online for loads of free advice and a copy of the highly acclaimed ebook “Craft Success Online”. Of course you could just keep going to work every Monday…

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