Help Marketing Craft Business.

Go to and join etsy.com - Hope it helps.

https://www.etsy.com/

hi IMtoThepoint

Marketing a specific niche business needs some considerations.

- The target group has a specific interest, they know what they want, and aware about pros and cons of the product or service.

- It takes time to build up a loyal audience after which they make decsion to buy .

- While they are going through awareness , comparison , decision phases, value is what they are looking for ,

So when you talk about marketing your craft business , you need to set a platform for linking to the above platform. Facebook is one platform and very successful to get quick sales, but at the same time from comprehensive brand building point of view. you need to find a right mix and then give proportionately equal effort to each of them

If you would like to know more or discuss , don't hesitate to drop me a line.

Cheers
Ashok

A few quick thoughts about maximizing the Facebook Page potential, based on my experience.

1. Don't post only selling materials. If the type of product your wife creates promotes recycling materials for example, it's a good idea to start posting content (images, videos) that are related to the bigger picture.

2. That brings us to finding your unique selling point (this might be already settle though) and focus on developing it in new, unique and exciting ways. Testing what works best will be required. Don't be afraid to adapt.

3. People love stories and because you will want to go beyond your circle of friends, you'll need to attract them on your page with: good content and good stories.
A few things that come to mind now are perhaps short, cute videos showing how a certain element of the frame is designed or manufactured, how the materials are harvested and things like that.

4. Find who your perfect audience is and use ads to target them. Male, females, age groups, family status, even schooling and earnings, stay at home mums, grandmas, grandpas and so on.

5. Study what others are doing. It's so easy to do this on Facebook and find other Pages and Groups that are related to your Page and you can literally "steal" ideas and apply them to your own business.

6. You can hold contests and giveaways on your Page to help it grow (and grow your list). You can offer a free frame for people who like, comment and share your page/posts but you can also have them sign-up to your list for a chance to win a free frame.

7. Build a list. Always. That's one of the most important aspects of the online business. The list is the one you usually want to monetize, unlike your Facebook Page. Meaning that it's better to not have promotional materials and links to your sales/squeeze pages inside your posts. Facebook considers this content as low value and it will show it to a a very limited crowd.

In other words, you want to have great, engaging content on you Page, have contests that help you build your list and monetize it through an email sequence.

8. Since your product is "short-lived" (as in people would probably only buy a frame once) you'll have to think either of expanding on different platforms (Instagram/Pinterest) or create complimentary products (personalized candles, candleholders, baby gifts, wedding favors and so on)

Anyway, these would be my quick suggestions.

Alexandra

1. Etsy
2. Dawanda
3. Artfire
4. Folsky
5. I made it market
6. Zibbet
7. ICrafts
8. MadeitMyself

Create a blog
Join Fb grups about crafting

Twitter
Instagram

Recruite Affiliates that blog about crafting and offer them a nice commission

Many other ways...but you can start with this in the meantime...

You can also try to let people know about your business through guest blogging. If you have a great article or something that can promote your business, get in contact with bloggers that have the right type of audience.

Bravo Katrim those tips can be used across the board in marketing.

I would just add get some testimonials.

And if you can find local or national celebs to respond after you sent them a complimentary sample that will create some momentum.

Good luck it sounds exciting. You just never know how big it can go.

I think she can sell her personalized frames on eBay. She can list it there for a fixed price or allow buyers to send their best offers.

Pinterest might work too since women make up 60-70% of the audience there, and they've known to buy crafty stuff like jewelries and scarfs.

Join local arts groups and be networking. Personal relationships are important.

.

I agree with going the art route rather than auction sites.

Is there a limit to how many orders she can fill per day or per week? I had a friend who launched a hand-made purse business online - and failed because the orders poured in and she couldn't handle that many orders.

If there is a production limit (at least in the beginning) you may want ramp up promotion gradually until you reach the order threshhold.

Ideally the profit margin would be sufficient to hire help if she needs to - that would be a best case scenario.

You say you already have a business page set up - well Facebook has 900,000,000 as a minimum people using FB each day, don't use the 'Boost' function but head over to the 'power editor' in the create adverts section and set up your targeted audience, along with geographical locations you wish to hit. Ensure you have populated your FB page with some interesting posts, knock out a home-made video about the business with a back story, introduce yourselves and tell a few anecdotes, include the dog/cat/tortoise (animal) you can use your smartphone camera to make video.
If you can build some emotional rapport with visitors this will boost your sales-read up on how to use the advert creation tools if unfamiliar.
Facebook although commonly referred to is not actually appreciated as a marketing tool-but lots of biz are gaining traction with it. $5 per day for a week, or two and you will have built up your numbers.
Instagram, link your Instagram account to your FB page-post intriguing photos of the frames, your wife building them, context pictures with large text messages, this will boost your numbers.
Pinterest - use Pinterest to build interest, largely a female user population but increasingly business is using.
For very little outlay you can leverage these platforms to authentically build your business.

I wish you success for your new business .I think the best way to market your product is to give a little bit of history about your product.e.g design a jewelry which holds particular significant with different cultures.High paying clients value things that portray some history with it.Also gain some experience to capture appealing photos of your craft.e.g prefer natural or filtered white light for your photos and develop different angles with contrasting background.

Hope it helps. Cheers

Etsy all the way. It takes a lot of work to make your first sale their, it is much like Internet Marketing. I make bird feeders from antique china and old lamps. I make spoon and fork jewelery. I don't do etsy full time but good.

Etsy is like my hobby. I love to make things from recycled throw away and Etsy is a great place to do that.

If you into Ebay or Amazon, check out my friends on scavengerlife, you can google them to find them. They take what they do and put it on the web. I have been helped and helped them some. They are a great couple. Started by digging in the college dorms trash and reselling. Now they have investment property and everything else from their work.

Ebay is good too, as well as Amazon, like I said it is not automatic money, she has to work it to get good, this means research and work hard.

Just a hint, facebook and pinterest will be her best friends on etsy, ebay or amazon.