Setting up a handmade crafts business can be a very daunting endeavour. There is so much to think about, such as where you are going to sell your crafts from, how much you should charge for your products, and what kind of advertising needs to be done.
However, as anyone who has gone through the experience of starting their own craft business will be sure to tell you, the task of setting up is nothing compared to the task of actually running the business and making it profitable. This is where the real challenge lies and it is the primary reason why many people often resolve to simply stay away from taking steps at all.
For those who actually resolve to pursue their craft business, the primary question that invariably persists is how can I increase my profits? Social media marketing can provide a useful avenue to boost the sales that you make from your handmade crafts and in the recent years, more people are appreciating its true value and turning to its use.
So what exactly is social media? Social media is an umbrella term to describe the use of different communication tools that allow you to connect to people around the world and start to engage with others on a more personal level. Social media is a great way to promote your craft business and better still its free! It can be used to advertise your business but not in the traditional way of paid advertising. In social media you won’t last long writing on your accounts about what you are selling everyday. You’ll have to be a bit more creative and build up relationships by letting your potential customers know more about you personally such as talking about your creative process or posting a ‘how to video’.
It is not possible to talk about social media without referring to Facebook primarily due to the fact that it is the single largest social networking platform in use today both in terms of outreach and number of users. Learning how to implement Facebook to boost your craft business should be a priority for you if you want to reach people interested in your crafts. There are a number of things that you can do to make Facebook work for you in improving the performance and presence of your craft business, some of which are discussed below.
1. Build a separate Facebook page for your business. Most people have their own profile page but this should be kept separate from your business page. It’s obviously not professional to have a photo of you drunk at a party next to your brand so keep it separate.
2. Create a ‘group’. It can sometimes be tricky to find fans for your page if your handmade fairy wings business is under a name like ‘Wendy’s Wings’. So why not create a group page where people who like fairies can join. or people who like handmade crafts. This will attract hundreds of more fans for you to then share your business page with.
3. Get more ‘likes’ on your page. Facebook is a big popularity contest. It’s all about getting ‘likes’ so how do you get them? Well, first of all start with your friends, send them a message and ask them to click the ‘like’ button. It’s unfortunate but we all want to be part of the bigger group, it’s a case of ‘well if this many people like them they must be good’ so why not cheat a little to get your numbers up? Check out fiverr.com where you can buy a few hundred fans for $5! Of course these probably wont be people interested in your crafts but having a larger number of likes will encourage more fans to join.
4. Use Facebook advertising. Have you ever noticed the advertising down the right hand side of your Facebook page seems like it is made just for you? That’s not by accident. Facebook knows what you are looking for and personalises the advertising to each person. So what does that mean for your business? Targeted traffic! You choose who sees your adverts their gender, age group, what country they live in whatever is important to you, so your adverts are not wasted on the wrong people.
For more information on how to sell your crafts successfully visit http://www.sellcrafts.com.au/
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