What handmade business to start? Focus on THIS for a successful craft business.

Trying to decide what handmade business to start?

Maybe you’re wondering what types of handcrafted products would be most profitable?

If you’re only focusing on WHAT type of handmade crafts to make and sell, you’re already headed in the wrong direction.

But in this video and the blog post below, you'll learn the secret that most successful craft business owners know.

Let’s talk about one of the most important things you need to figure out for your creative business.

By determining this as early as possible when starting your handmade business, you'll find it easier to write product descriptions for your Etsy shop or ecommerce website, it will make branding your handmade business easier, and it will be easier to find customers who want to buy your products.

“What handmade items sell best?” is the wrong question.

If you head to Google and type in the question, "What handmade business to start?" you may have seen lists of different types of handmade products.

You may also see some related questions like, “What handmade items sell best?” or “What is the easiest business to make money?”

If these are the only questions you’re asking while trying to create a successful handmade business, you’re going to get off to a rocky start.

The articles that typically appear as answers to the question, "What handmade business to start?" often include lists of products like jewelry, candles, handbags, greeting cards, and other handmade products that you could potentially sell.

Sure, those are totally valid things that you could start selling.

But if you're only focused on that, what to sell, you're going to run into some problems.

If you're thinking about starting a handmade business, you need to make something, for sure.

But what if you want to have a successful handmade business for the long-term?

What if you want to create a business that won't make you want to quit in just a few months or within the first couple years?

If you're focused on long-term success, I encourage you to think more deeply about who you want to be selling your products to, instead of only focusing on what to sell.

When you start with the question of who instead of the question of what type of products, you're going to give yourself more freedom to add other products later down the line.

You'll be much more focused about who you're marketing your products to. And I promise everything about running your handmade business is going to be easier if you can figure this out as early as possible.

Focus on who you want to sell your handmade products to.

Recently, I was out shopping in this cute little beach town with a few friends.

We were exploring the boutiques, art galleries and shops in the area. We went into this one art gallery which was full of artwork and handmade products featuring coastal images like crabs and seagulls. The type of thing you might normally find in a beach town.

But then I noticed this really nice collection of ceramic pottery, including handmade glassware and these little shot glasses. I noticed a set of shot glasses that stood out among the beach-themed glassware.

One set of glasses featured these dice that I recognized:

These 20-sided dice may not mean much to everyone, but for anyone who's ever played Dungeons & Dragons, these dice are instantly recognizable.

My friend Leo was there with me, and he's a huge gamer. He loves Dungeons & Dragons.

I pointed the 20-sided dice themed shot glasses out to him just because it was such a surprising thing to see in this little coastal beach town. He was so into it, that he ended up buying both shot glasses which were at least $20 apiece. Leo spent more than $40 on two handcrafted ceramic shot glasses, just because they featured something that meant a lot to him.

Who do your handmade products appeal to?

This is why I encourage you to think about who instead of what when you're starting a craft business.

The what is definitely still something to consider, however.

You probably already have some sort of artistic or creative skills or interests, or certain types of crafts that you enjoy making.

Maybe you already know how to knit or crochet. Maybe you're a painter, designer, or illustrator.

Certain types of handmade products might come more naturally if you already have certain skills or interests.

But if you're only focused on the what of what you're making, you're going to be much more likely to burn out at some point.

I've seen this happen to a lot of craft businesses and handmade artists.

If you're only focused on making the thing over and over and over again, it’s going to get old after awhile.

If you only focus on making a trendy or profitable product, but don't have some deeper connection to what you're making or who you're making it for, it's likely that eventually you may start to feel like a one-person factory.

If you want to have a craft business that lasts over the long term, I encourage you to think of something that is personal and more interesting to you. This can also help you connect to your ideal customer.

The other thing about being really specific about who you're selling your handmade products to is it makes it easier to market your products.

Ask “Who do I want to serve?” instead of “What handmade business to start?”

Let's go back to the D&D example. If your target customer is someone like my friend Leo, who loves tabletop role-playing games and will easily recognize D20 dice, whether they're pictured on a t-shirt, tote bag or a ceramic shot glass, that customer will be easier to market to than if you're selling a plain, generic product.

Now, I wouldn't build an entire business around Dungeons and Dragons, because that's a copyrighted game. It's somebody else's intellectual property. Even using that name in your product listings could potentially get you in trouble.

However, most of the people that I know that play Dungeons and Dragons also play other tabletop role-playing games. People who are enthusiasts of tabletop role-playing games could be a potential ideal customer for a handmade business.

I play D&D and other tabletop role-playing games. Most of the people that I play with have little bags that they keep all of their dice in. One of my friends even uses a cute little handmade crocheted bag for her dice.

If you're also a D&D enthusiast or a role-play gamer, you might know of other products that you could make for people like that.

When you get super specific about who you want to serve, suddenly, it makes it easier to to market your products.

You can focus the way you style your product photography and the way that you write your product descriptions, whether for your Etsy shop or your own website, so that they appeal to your ideal customer.

It also makes it easier to find in-person events. If your target audience is geeks and gamers, instead of focusing on craft shows, you might want to focus on comic cons, fan expos and gaming conventions instead.

Having a specific target customer will make it easier to find stores to sell your products. If your ideal customer is gamers, you could partner with local game shops.

Let me give you another example.

Lots of people are big pet enthusiasts. This is my rescue Dachshund, Iggy:

Maybe you're also a pet lover who wants to create products for other dog or cat lovers. You could create handmade products that are specific to people who love their Dachshunds or their Golden Retrievers or their rescue dogs.

In this dog example, this also opens up opportunities for specific types of events that you might want to participate in or partnerships that you might want to create.

You could partner with a local veterinary clinic or dog groomer to sell your products in their shop.

You could also partner with a local pet rescue organization. Maybe you could donate a small percentage of your profits to the pet rescue and in return, they could help send you customers and promote your business.

Now again, when you're thinking about who your ideal customer is, you should make sure you're not infringing on anybody else's copyright. It's never a smart idea to build an entire business around someone else's intellectual property.

Just because there are other people on Etsy selling products featuring Disney or Marvel characters, does NOT mean that you should do the same. You're setting yourself up for trouble if you sell products featuring characters or brands that someone else owns.

But if you're an illustrator who can draw your own original cute cartoon characters, you might want to target people who love kawaii, or the Japanese culture of adorable cuteness.

Your target customers might also share a specific interest with you.

Maybe you're super into yoga or hiking. People with the same passions could potentially be your ideal customer.

As soon as you get specific about who you want to make your handmade products for, your marketing efforts will be much more clear.

It will be easier to figure out where you can find those people, whether online or in person.

You'll be able to create a brand that will speak directly to those people versus trying to make your stuff interesting to as wide of an audience as possible. Trying to sell to a very broad audience will make it really hard to stand out among the competition.

Selling to a broad, non-specific audience will make it really really hard to grow your handmade business.

Targeting a specific group of people or niche will make it easier to create a successful handmade business.

Want more tips for starting a handmade business?

If you're just getting started with your craft business, be sure to subscribe to Badass Creatives on YouTube for more handmade business tips and marketing advice.

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Etsy or Shopify: Which Is Best for Artists & Handmade Businesses?

Etsy or Shopify? If you're just getting started selling your artwork or handmade products online, you might be wondering which of these ecommerce platforms is right for your handmade business?

Well, there are definitely pros and cons to both. And you don't necessarily have to choose: many artists and makers use both Shopify AND Etsy, for different reasons.

In this video and the post below, learn more about the benefits and drawbacks of Shopify vs Etsy. I'll help you weigh the options to decide what solution is right for YOUR creative business.

Okay, so first let's talk about Etsy.

Etsy has been around since about 2005. I actually started my first handmade business about a year before Etsy launched. In those pre-Etsy days, it was really difficult to figure out how to sell your products online. It was so complicated!

When Etsy first launched, it was really exciting for the handmade community. I actually entered and won 3rd place in Etsy's upcycling contest in 2007. They bought my FEMA blue tarp dress and had it on display in Etsy Labs in Brooklyn for their opening night celebration, which was so exciting!

But a lot has changed since then. When Etsy first started, it was really easy to launch a shop, get some traffic, make sales and build a following.

But now the competition is stiff. It's grown into this huge online marketplace, which has both its pros and cons. When Etsy first started, the focus was purely on handmade products and vintage goods. But as it's grown, they've added more offerings: things like craft supplies and digital downloads. And while those options are great in some ways, they also dilute the focus from handmade crafts.

As Etsy has grown, so have the fees. In addition to the transaction fees and credit card fees that you're going to have to pay on almost any ecommerce platform, Etsy also has listing fees. Every time you list a product on Etsy, you have to pay a fee.

Here's some pros of selling on Etsy:

It's an established marketplace, and it's been around for a while. It's got built in traffic, which could meet some potential sales for you. And it's trustworthy among consumers. When people think of buying handmade online, they think of Etsy.

Etsy is also easy to use and to get started with. If you've never sold anything online before, Etsy really can be a good place to start and test the waters of ecommerce.

It's also low risk and low commitment if you're just getting started. If you're not sure if you want to have a handmade business or if you're just thinking about selling some things online and want to see how it goes first, Etsy is great for that. With Etsy, you don't have to commit to long term things like website hosting and domain names.

There's also a lot of community and camaraderie when it comes to selling on Etsy. In addition to resources that they provide, like the Etsy Seller Handbook, there's also forums and teams so you can get advice and help from other Etsy sellers.

But there's cons to selling on Etsy:

Remember those fees that I mentioned earlier? They seem to just keep rising. In fact, in April 2022 many Etsy sellers went on strike to protest those continually rising fees.

And look, no matter where you sell online, you're gonna have to deal with some sort of fees. Those are just a cost of doing business. If you want to take credit card transactions as a small business, the credit card processing companies are going to charge a fee. It's just that those fees might be different depending on what platforms you use.

Competition is another big con of selling on Etsy. While it's great that it's this huge marketplace which can bring you traffic, you're also competing directly with all your competitors.

When people shop on Etsy, they don't really think of shopping with your specific brand and your specific store. The thing that they go away from the experience remembering is that they bought a thing on Etsy.

When you sell on Etsy, you have limited control over how you can differentiate yourself from all of that competition.

You don't really have a lot of control when it comes to branding. Yeah, you can upload a banner image and a shop icon and you can change your shop's name. But at the end of the day, your shop looks like an Etsy shop. It doesn't look like your unique storefront online.

That limited control extends to all sorts of aspects of Etsy. They could change their policies about what's allowed to be sold on Etsy, meaning that your shop could potentially be removed without much warning.

Your customers on Etsy aren't really yours. Etsy is designed so that you can't easily collect your own customer's contact information. You can't easily collect their email addresses so that you can stay in touch with your customers and continue to build your relationship with your own customers.

At the end of the day, if something happens and Etsy makes a big change, you could be screwed.

Now let's talk about some of the pros of selling on Shopify:

When you sell on Shopify or other ecommerce platforms like BigCommerce or WooCommerce, you have control.

You get to decide what works best for your business and your customers. You'll be able to totally customize the branding of your online shop so you can make your shop feel uniquely yours. Your online customer's experience will feel just as familiar as if they've shopped with you at a craft fair or in-person event.

Shopify also offers some great marketing and search engine optimization tools to help you promote your shop to customers.

You can set up things like abandoned cart emails, do text messaging directly to your customers, or even connect your shop directly to Pinterest so that you can do shoppable pins.

Shopify is also built to scale, and it can accommodate all sorts of ecommerce businesses. So whether you have dreams of growing your handmade business to a large scale, or you want to open a brick and mortar store and integrate it with a point of sale system, or if you want to sell wholesale, Shopify can handle it.

Okay, but what about cons?

Now of course, there are some cons to selling on Shopify. No platform is perfect for everyone or every situation.

With Shopify or any ecommerce platform, you are responsible for marketing your handmade business.

There's not some magic traffic fairy that's just going to bring the customers through your virtual doors.

But here's the thing:

You should be building a marketing strategy for your business no matter what platform you sell on. If you're running a handmade business, part of being a business owner is having a marketing strategy.

With Shopify, there can also be more of a learning curve than with something like Etsy.

You can customize it to your heart's content, of course. But if you've never set up a website before, or if you don't consider yourself a very technical person, it could potentially feel overwhelming. You may end up wanting to hire somebody to help you set it up exactly like you want it.

And with Shopify, while it is super customizable, some of those extra bells and whistles may come via apps and integrations that could have additional fees. Those costs could vary.

Shopify is, like I said, built to scale. It works for so many different types of businesses. You have to figure out what features are really critical for your business and what those costs would end up being.

Etsy or Shopify, what's right for your handmade business?

Okay. So Etsy or Shopify, what's right for your handmade business?

The answer is...

You don't necessarily have to pick and choose. You could use both. It's perfectly fine to do so.

Etsy is a great place to start if you're just getting started with your craft business. I just don't recommend that you solely rely on Etsy for the long term.

And when it comes to building your ecommerce website outside of Etsy, you don't have to choose Shopify, if it doesn't feel right for you. There are other options. BigCommerce and WooCommerce are a couple of popular Shopify competitors.

That said, I + most of the ecommerce experts that I know do recommend Shopify for the majority of ecommerce businesses.

Aeolidia's Etsy vs Shopify Fee Calculator

Speaking of ecommerce experts, one of my favorite Shopify experts is a company called Aeolidia.

(In full disclosure, I used to work on their team, but I've been a fan of theirs for years. They've been around for nearly two decades, and I'm pretty sure they pre-date Etsy.)

Aeolidia has built Shopify websites for a lot of really successful artists, makers and handmade businesses including Lisa Congdon.

Aeolidia has a great free to use Etsy vs Shopify Fee Calculator on their website, which I highly recommend checking out if you're trying to decide which platform makes the most sense for your handmade business:

Etsy? Shopify? Which is right for your craft business?

So, based on everything here, which option do you feel is right for your handmade business? Etsy? Shopify? Both? Another option entirely?

If you're struggling to figure out all the tech stuff when it comes to marketing your handmade business, be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel and let me know which topics you'd like me to cover in a future blog post or video.

You might also be interested in my program, the Badass Creatives Marketing Accelerator, where I help simplify things like ecommerce and search engine optimization and we dive deep into how to market your handmade products.

Threads App: Should your small business be on Instagram’s Threads?

Instagram’s Threads app is the latest and fastest growing social media platform. With all the buzz about the Threads app you might be wondering, "Should my small business be on it?"

In this video and below, I'll share 3 questions to consider before deciding if your handmade business should jump onto the latest new social media platform - whether that’s the Meta Threads app or any new social media channel that appears.

Plus, learn where you should be focusing MOST of your efforts when it comes to marketing your creative small business.

In case you haven’t heard of the Threads app yet, in early July 2023 Meta (the parent company of Instagram and Facebook) debuted Threads app as a competitor to Twitter.

To access the Threads app, you simply log in with your Instagram account, which made it become one of the fastest growing social media platforms EVER, with more than 100 million users just 5 days after launching.

Maybe this feels familiar? Like back when TikTok was suddenly going through explosive growth and it seemed like you HAD to join or you'd be missing out?

But what if the familiar feeling you feel is OVERWHELM?

Many of the small business owners I speak to already feel overwhelmed by all of the different social media platforms out there and their constant algorithm changes. Especially as a solopreneur or small business, it can be hard to keep up!

3 questions to ask yourself before joining a new social media platform as a small business:

Before you dive into the latest new trending social media platform, whether it’s Threads or any other new platform, ask yourself these 3 questions:

1. Do you have the bandwidth to manage a new social media channel?

2. Is your ideal customer on that channel?

3. Do you genuinely want to participate in this new social media platform?

I'm going to dive a little bit deeper into these three questions. But let me just say first, it's totally okay to check out a new platform and experiment with it to see if you enjoy it and if your target customer is using it.

If you as an individual person want to experiment with the latest new social media platform, whether it's Threads, TikTok or whatever happens next, I encourage you to check it out for yourself.

But when it comes to using it in your business, you’ll want to carefully consider where it fits into your overall business model AND your marketing strategy.

Do you have the bandwidth to manage a new social media channel?

The handmade business owners that I typically work with are often solopreneurs. They are single owner small business owners, and they often don't have help. And if they do have help, it's one or two people, and they don't have the capacity to be on every single social media channel that exists.

When I ask the question of "Do you have the bandwidth to manage yet one more social media channel?," I mean bandwidth in a lot of different ways.

I mean actual time in the day, as there are only 24 hours. (And no matter what they say about how Beyonce has the same 24 hours as the rest of us, she also has a lot of money and a lot of people that can help her out!)

But I'm not only talking about the actual time it takes or the amount of money that you could pay somebody to manage that platform for you. I'm also talking about the mental and emotional bandwidth.

Many of the small business owners that I work with are often drained emotionally and mentally by spending their time scrambling and stretching themselves too thin among so many social media platforms.

My advice to people who feel like that is to narrow it down and say no to platforms and things in your business that don't bring you energy and don't have a return on investment for you in all of the ways that that means.

For me personally, I have not yet joined Threads app, and I don't plan to do so anytime in the near future. Threads is a direct competitor to Twitter. While I've had a Twitter account, Twitter has never been one of my favorite platforms. Short form written content that just disappears immediately is not where my zone of genius is. It's not what brings me energy. Things like Twitter and Threads drain my energy. If you feel the same, I encourage you to think twice about jumping on the Threads app bandwagon.

Is your ideal customer on the hot new social media platform?

Next let's talk about the question of is your ideal customer on the latest new social media channel.

Now with Threads app, of course it’s grown so rapidly and there are so many people who are technically on it. Within five days, Instagram’s Threads had 100 million users already. But just because somebody signed up on the platform, are they actively using it past that initial first few days or weeks, once the buzz dies down? I've seen news articles on sites like CNBC and Gizmodo talking about how the engagement rates on Threads have already started to dip.

On short form content platforms like Threads, Twitter and Tiktok, you create these bite-sized nuggets of information which, quite frankly, can take a lot of time to create. But then they sort of disappear pretty quickly too, and you have to wonder... is all of that work worth it?

And truly - for some brands and for some audiences, it IS worth it. But if your ideal customer isn't on that platform and isn't going to engage with your content there, is being on that social media platform really going to have a valuable return on investment for your handmade business?

Do you genuinely want to participate in this new social media platform?

Now, I'm all for experimentation. If it brings you energy to experiment and play around and see if your ideal customer is indeed there on the latest platform, go dive deep into that blue ocean of possibility.

But if the hottest new social media app doesn't excite you, then I give you permission to skip it.

Whether it's Threads app, or any other new social platform, is it something that really excites you and interest you? Or do you feel like you should do it?

Feeling like you should be on a platform because someone told you to or because the world is telling you, "You're gonna miss the boat if you don't get on this social media platform for your business," isn't a valid reason to do anything.

Life is short.

And if you've ever spent any amount of time on any social media platform, I'm sure you understand how easy it can be to waste hours of the day, just going down endless rabbit holes.

If exploring those rabbit holes on Threads, TikTok or whatever social media platform is next really excites you and lights you up and makes you feel good, then go for it.

But if the thought of joining Threads or any social media platform fills you with dread, it's not worth it.

A better way to prioritize where to focus your small business marketing efforts.

When I work with handmade business owners, I like to introduce them to this framework that I call the Badass Creatives Marketing Pyramid. It's a helpful tool for thinking about what you should be focusing on first:

At the bottom of the Marketing Pyramid is your foundation, your brand.

Your brand includes all the things that make your business uniquely yours. It's your products, your art, your creative vision, your brand identity. It includes the voice and the tone that you use to communicate with your customers, as well as the visual brand like your logo, your colors, your fonts, and your aesthetic. Your brand also includes your ideal customer and your target audience.

Your brand is your foundation. It's the thing that everything else is built upon.

The middle of the pyramid is your owned marketing channels.

Your owned marketing channels are all the things that you own and can control in your business. These are things like your website, your email marketing list, your search engine optimization, and your blog on your website. These are things that you have control over. They are assets that you can continue to grow and build and develop that will continue to bring profit and revenue.

And at the top of the pyramid, we have 3rd party marketing channels. Third party is just what it sounds like: it's another person or entity.

Third party is also valuable, but it's at the top of the pyramid for a reason. Third party includes things like social media platforms, paid ads, working with influencers, getting press and publicity for your business.

One of the mistakes that I see a lot of small business owners and handmade businesses make is that they start a business and they know that they need to market it. They're familiar with social media from using it as an individual user. And so they immediately gravitate towards social media as their primary marketing strategy. But these things are in the third party, the top of the pyramid. And they haven't built the foundation of their pyramid yet.

First, we should be focusing on creating a strong brand and our owned marketing channels before we try to focus on 3rd party marketing tools.

If you already have a strong idea of what your brand is, who your ideal customer is, if you have a really great website, you've taken care of search engine optimization, and you have a strong email marketing list that you have direct contact with your customers... and you also feel confident and like you have the time and the energy and you want to be on Threads or whatever new social media platform, then go for it.

But I encourage you to consider these questions before you dive headfirst into the latest, greatest, hottest new social media platform, whether that's Instagram's Threads app or the next thing that comes along.

Looking for more marketing advice for creative small business owners?

Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel for more handmade business marketing tips, or check out the Badass Creatives Marketing Accelerator, where I focus on mindful marketing, based on the Marketing Pyramid that I just described.

I'd love to help you grow your handmade business and market your products in a way that feels sustainable for you to manage over the long term.

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How to Name Your Handmade Business the RIGHT Way! (5 essential steps)

Trying to come up with a name for your craft business? Whether you’re launching a new Etsy shop or getting started selling at craft shows, you'll need to figure out how to name your handmade business.

In this video and in the post below, you'll learn the 5 essential steps for naming your handmade business:

Picking the right name for your handmade business is an important step to getting started as a new small business owner. A brand name can help you establish trust and loyalty brand awareness with your customers. It can help differentiate you from your competitors. You'll want to get this right. Right?

Here's the 5 steps to take to name your business:

1. Figure out what makes your handmade business different

The first step to picking the right name for your handmade business is to figure out what makes your business different and unique from your competitors.

One of my favorite branding experts and marketers is Sally Hogshead. She's the author of a book called Fascinate: How to Make Your Brand Impossible to Resist.

If you're just getting started trying to figure out your brand and what makes your brand different, I highly recommend this book.

One of my favorite quotes from Sally Hogshead is, "Different is better than better."

Often when we're just getting started as business owners, we might think that we need to be better than our competition. But that's not necessarily the case. We just need to be different. And we need to make that difference clear for the right people.

Think about what makes your brand different, and what makes your products different.

What makes your handmade business story different and unique from your competitors, whether that's other people on Etsy or at a craft show, or big box stores like Walmart and Target?

You'll want to make sure that your company name matches the essence of what your company is all about and what you want to convey to your ideal customers.

As you start coming up with potential names, think about your core values and your company's core values.

Why are you in business? Why do you create your handmade products?

You’ll also want to think about your ideal customer and what's important to them.

Your business name should be unique, it should be memorable, and it should be easy to say pronounce and spell.

You want to think about both how it sounds when somebody says it out loud, as well as what it looks like on paper and on a screen, whether a phone screen or your website.

You'll probably want to stay away from mentioning the exact product you make in your business name, because if you want to expand what you do later on, you're kind of stuck.

For example, if your name is Jennifer and you make jewelry, you might think, "Oh I can name my business Jennifer's Jewelry." But what if you want to add people to your business later on? Or what if you decide you want to make other accessories or fashion or add other types of products? In these cases, you may feel stuck if you put your own name or "jewelry" in your business name.

Your company name needs to evoke a feeling or a story about what your company and your products are all about. But it also needs to differentiate you from competitors. It shouldn't be too boring or beat basic or generic.

For example, a clothing store called Fashion Forward or a bakery called Decadent Desserts make it really clear what that business sells: clothing / fashion or desserts. But they're also pretty generic and basic. They don't really stand out from their competitors and they're not very memorable.

I've had a few business names of my own throughout the years. My very first business was called dismantled designs. I started this company right out of college in the early 2000s. I was making one of a kind handmade clothing from upcycled materials, taking things like old denim jeans and turning them into skirts.

"Dismantling" to me felt like the idea of what I was doing. I also liked the alliteration of dismantled designs. And by using the word designs it gave me more opportunity than just calling it dismantled clothing. I could sell accessories I could sell other types of products because design was a much broader word than clothing.

After doing that for a few years under that original business name, I started a company called Miss Malaprop.

Miss Malaprop started in 2006 as a blog and it really became a another identity for me. I was the blogger and I was the person behind this business. It eventually became the name of the company where I sold most of my handmade goods and did craft shows for many years.

I became known as Miss Malaprop to the point where people would run into me around New Orleans and recognize me as that name from the internet or from craft shows.

When I first came up with the idea for the name Miss Malaprop, it was kind of a twist on my name, Mallory. I was a theater kid growing up, and there's a character in Richard Brinsley Sheridan's play The Rivals called Mrs. Malaprop, who frequently misused words. My business name was sort of a twist on that, except it was Miss Malaprop instead of Mrs. Malaprop.

The other thing was that I couldn't find many other businesses using similar names. The one exception is a long running bookstore in Asheville, North Carolina. They've been around for many years, but they're called Malaprops. So while it's slightly similar, my business was different because it was a very different product that I sold (I wasn't selling books), and I wasn't in their location.

2. Brainstorm potential craft business name ideas

The second step is all about brainstorming potential ideas.

Now, during the brainstorming phase, it's all about quantity over quality. You don't have to worry about narrowing things down right now. We'll do that later.

During brainstorming, you really just want to come up with as many potential ideas as possible for business names. The more crazy, wacky and wild you can go -- the broader the range of ideas you can come up with, the more you'll have to work with. You might be able to mix and match some of those ideas together in new ways to come up with a perfect business name just for you.

Some tools I like to use during this phase of a brainstorming process include things like Post-It notes. You can write your ideas on sticky notes and stick them all over your wall and then move them around later.

There's also some great digital tools now, including Miro boards or Apple's Freeform app where you can create digital sticky notes. You can also just start a list, whether on paper or on a Google Doc or your favorite note taking app.

Start making a list of all sorts of words:

• words that you love

• interesting words

• words that reflect your brand's mission and values

• words that reflect the aesthetic or look of your products

• words that reflect your ideal customer and what they're interested in

• family names that have some sort of special significance to you

• place names or location based names

You could even make note of sounds or non-word words, things that just sound fun to say. As long as it's still memorable and easy to say and spell, it's fair game.

Think about Etsy: that's not a real word, but it's short and sweet and easy to type and remember. It worked for them as a business name.

If you're stuck for ideas, try flipping through a dictionary or thesaurus, or head down to your local library and just start picking up books and see which words catch your eye. You could even look at foreign language books and see if you can come up with words that might be interesting.

You can also use AI tools like ChatGPT to get the wheels turning:

Now, if you're going to use a tool like ChatGPT, this can be a great tool to help with writer's block. But I don't necessarily recommend taking their exact business name suggestion as your own unless it's truly amazing and unique and then passes the rest of the steps that I'm going to cover. But tools like ChatGPT can be helpful for getting the wheels turning if you have writer's block.

3. Research the marketplace and your competition

The third step is to research the marketplace and your competitors.

Now that you've started coming up with some potential ideas for business names, do your research and figure out if anybody else is using any of your business name ideas. If they're already in use, you won't want to use them. You need something that is both unique and memorable.

You'll also want to see which of your potential business names still have a domain name available for a potential website, plus which ones have social media handles available that you can use.

You should probably also check for any potential trademark and legal issues. NOTE: I am not a lawyer, so I'm not going to go much further into this. But just know that if you're planning to run a business, you should probably consult with a professional to just make sure that you are doing everything correctly and that you're not going to pick a business name that a few months or a few years down the road, you might run into issues with. What if you have to rebrand everything because you've picked a name that someone else already has trademarked and is using?

If you're in the United States, one resource that I would recommend checking out is a company called Indie Law. They specialize in trademarks specifically for small business owners and independent entrepreneurs.

4. Narrow down the options

After you've done your research, the fourth step is to narrow down your options.

Remember the criteria that you really want to focus on. Your handmade business name should be:

• unique

• memorable

• easy to say

• easy to spell

• easy to pronounce

As you narrow down the options, you'll want to look at everything you came up with during the brainstorming phase.

You can mix and match things. If you were using Post-Its, you might want to reorganize and put things together in new groupings, because they might spark new ideas for business names.

You can use things like a sticker or a marker to highlight the ideas that you like or cross out the ones that you don't like. If you know you hate an idea, delete it or move it to another area.

It's time to start narrowing down your options, but you don't have to narrow it down to the perfect one right away. You just want to start narrowing down the list.

As you begin to narrow down the options, enlist the help of some friends and family members.

Try to get feedback from a diverse group of people. Ask them to look at your options and tell you:

• Which business name ideas really seem to express what you want to say about your products?

• Which options match the brand that you're trying to create?

• Do any of the options have potential pitfalls, or could they be offensive to anyone?

There could be options you've thought of that may mean something different to other people. You'll want to steer clear of business names that could have a negative connotation for your brand. You should try to avoid accidentally naming your business in a way that could be offensive to people, especially your ideal customer.

As you narrow down your options, also think about what your name might look like in potential branding. How might it be displayed on your website, on business cards, or on product packaging?

Think about potential ideas for what your whole brand identity and the visual look of your brand would be with this chosen business name.

This fourth stage of the business naming process is one that you really don't want to rush.

Spend the time that you need to get it right. Hopefully, you'll be using this business name for a long time. You don't want to have to rename your business or rebrand just a few months down the road. So take your time, do your research, and make sure that the business name you choose really feels right and aligned for the brand that you're trying to create.

5. Put your new handmade business name into action

Once you've chosen the business name that you love, the fifth step is to put it into action!

You'll want to register your domain name for your website using your new business name, plus lock down all of those social media handles.

You should also take any necessary steps to register your new business name with your local authorities.

All of the laws about registering your new business and your business name can vary a lot from place to place. I recommend finding a local expert in your area, whether it's an accountant or a small business lawyer.

In many places, there are also really great organizations that you can help you with these business basics of getting everything set up.

Here in the United States, a few helpful organizations are the Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) and SCORE. Organizations like these often offer free business counseling and mentoring, plus other helpful small business resources. I highly recommend searching for resources like these in your local area and using them.

Once you've decided on your business name, you'll also want to incorporate that name into your branding materials and your visual identity. You'll probably want to have a logo with your brand name, which you'll want to incorporate into your website and/or Etsy shop. If you have special packaging materials, you'll want to add your new business name and logo. If you're selling at craft shows, you might even want some banners or signage that has your business name on it.

You'll also want to tell customers about your new business name.

If you are at the very beginning stages and just getting started with your handmade business, this is a great opportunity to announce yourself and your new business name.

Or maybe you've been using another business name for a little while and this is really a rebrand or rename of your craft business?

Either way, you could throw a party and/or create a launch campaign to celebrate your new name. You could literally host a party or event to launch your new business name. You could also do something like offer a limited time sale to the first 50 or 100 customers that purchase from you after you've announced your new name.

The launch of a new business or a rebrand can also be a great opportunity to reach out and do a press release to your local media and try to get some publicity.

Want to learn more about marketing your handmade business?

I hope all of this information has been helpful!

If you're just getting started and trying to figure out all of this branding stuff and your target customer, this is exactly the kind of thing that we cover in depth in my program, the Badass Creatives Marketing Accelerator.

Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel for more handmade business marketing tips.

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How To Sell Your Handmade Products In Stores (5 Easy Steps to Get Started)

Want to sell your handmade products to stores, whether on a wholesale or consignment basis?

If you’re curious about where to start when it comes to getting your products in boutiques and independent retail shops, you’re in the right place!

Back when I was running my own handmade business, Miss Malaprop, I actually carried work by other makers & artists in addition to my own handmade products.

My goal at the time was to eventually open up my own brick & mortar retail shop. I never quite got to the point of signing a lease on a storefront, but I did work with many artists on both a wholesale and consignment basis to sell their work at craft shows, festivals and other events.

I also worked in customer service at independent retail boutiques here in New Orleans for years, so I know a thing or two about what shop owners look for when working with independent artists & designers.

That said, all retail buyers and shop owners are unique individuals, so your mileage may vary.

Check out this video or keep reading to learn my 5 tips for getting started selling your handmade goods to retail shops:

1. Do your research.

Before you start trying to sell your handmade products in stores, you should have a pretty clear idea of your ideal customer and what makes your brand unique.

Start your research by making a list of which stores you think might be a good fit for your products. You'll want to look for stores that have a similar target customer as your own brand.

If you're thinking about reaching out to local stores in your area, do a visit to check the store out first. You don't need to talk to the store's owner or buyer just yet, but notice which product lines the shop carries and pay attention to the other customers in the store. Does this shop seem like a good fit for your products and your brand?

If the store is in another city, check out their website and look up online reviews on Google or Yelp.

2. Respect their time.

Whether the store is local or out of town, check out their website to see if they have any information or instructions for artists who want to sell their work to the store. Some stores that frequently work with handmade artists & makers will have a page on their website dedicated to this.

For example, Miette is a great shop located on Magazine Street here in New Orleans. They've been working with indie artists for more than a decade and they have a page on their website about selling your wares to them. If a shop you're interested in has a page like this on their website, be sure to follow their instructions for how to pitch your products to them.

If you can't find this info on their website and you're in the same city as a store where you’d like to sell your work, send them an email requesting an appointment to show them your products in person.

Since you’ve already done your research, you should let them know why your line would be a perfect addition to the store. For example, "I noticed you carry “X designer. My line is very similar, but with a twist…"

Email should be your first point of contact. Independent retail shop & boutique owners often manage everything themselves, and phone calls can really disrupt the flow of their day, so emails are typically the way to go.

3. Follow through.

Many boutique owners get TONS of emails every day from makers & designers who want to sell their products to the store.

And since a lot of these shop owners handle EVERYTHING by themselves, sometimes things just fall through the cracks.

Just because you don't hear back right away, don't take it personally! It doesn’t necessarily mean that a shop owner isn't interested.

Be persistent, and be sure to follow up at least once or twice. Remember though -- no one wants to be pestered, so wait a bit between emails and just offer a gentle nudge.

When you first reach out via email, I suggest setting a calendar reminder or using an app like ToDoist to set a reminder for a week or two later to follow up in case you don't hear back.

4. Keep it simple.

Maybe you've seen fancy catalogs or lookbooks with professional models contorting their bodies in exotic locations while wearing one-of-a-kind artisanally handcrafted clothing or jewelry.

The truth is, for most handmade business owners, these fancy printed lookbooks are usually a waste of money. They'll end up in the trash or recycling bin almost immediately.

Most shop owners just want the basics:

• Your contact info (name, company name, mailing address, email address, and website address)

• Images of your work

• A simple line sheet, with wholesale and suggested retail pricing

They also usually want to know where else your work is sold, especially if you sell to any other stores that are located in the same city or neighborhood as them.

Provide all of your info in a clearly organized & easy to use way. Try to include things like color choices, sizing options and prices all on the same page so that a boutique owner can easily see all the info they need in one place.

You want to make it EASY for them to write a Purchase Order and buy from you!

If you have a wholesale section of your website or an online linesheet, that's great. You can save a ton on printing costs and easily add new products or update the availability of products.

Some independent shops and makers prefer using a site like Faire for wholesale buying & selling. If you're really serious about selling more of your handmade products via wholesale, this can be a great option, as it will help you connect more directly with thousands of independent retail shops from around the world.

Either way, many boutique owners these days prefer placing wholesale orders online, whether through a site like Faire, or through a special wholesale section of your website.

The easier you make it for retailer shops to order from you, the more orders you'll get!

5. Offer samples or provide a trial.

When first pitching to a new shop, some store owners may request a sample of your work. This isn't usually a requirement though, because they usually won't return any sample products to you.

If you're just getting started with selling to retail shops, some store owners may be risk averse and hesitant to try a new line. If this is the case, you could offer to provide your products on a consignment basis for a specific period of time. This could help you get into the store and let you get some feedback on how the shop's customers like your products.

If you're going to do consignment, make sure the boutique has a system in place to pay their consignors regularly, AND make sure you have a written contract that clearly outlines the expectations and responsibilities of each party.

Need more help with wholesale?

For more tips on selling your handmade products to stores via wholesale, check out this series of Skillshare classes by my friend Casey Sibley, a designer who used to run a wholesale business selling her line of handmade homegoods and accessories to shops across North America:

1. Wholesale for Your Handmade Business | PART I: The Basics

2. Wholesale For Your Handmade Business, PART II: Building Linesheets and Catalogs in Adobe InDesign

3. Wholesale for your Handmade Business, Part III: Get The Word Out!

And for more handmade business tips, be sure to subscribe to Badass Creatives on YouTube.

How to Make a Living as an Artist or Crafter!

I’ve been making stuff for as long as I can remember. In college I had professors who told me I should sell my creations. After a trip to London during my final year of college, where I saw the amazing creations up for sale by artists at Portobello Market, I was inspired to come home and start selling crafts.

A few months after I returned home, I participated in my first craft fair. It was the Alternative Media Expo here in New Orleans, in the fall of 2004, which highlighted work by a wide range of artists, creators, and makers. My creative business has evolved a lot over the years since then, but I’ve been hacking away at it ever since.

I started writing under the name Miss Malaprop in 2006, and since then I often get asked for my advice for new artists and makers. I’ve experimented with a lot of different ways to make a living as an artist over the last few years, including selling on Etsy and other online venues, as well as selling at local craft fairs, art markets, and festivals. I’ve learned a lot during that time, and hopefully some of what I’ve learned can help you too!

It’s a marathon, not a sprint!

When you’re just getting started trying to sell your artwork, the amount of information out there, things to learn and things to do, can be overwhelming. Just remember, making a living as an artist or creative is a marathon, not a sprint.

Every artist has to find his own way. I know some artists who make a living almost entirely off of their Etsy sales. Some artists, like myself, have been much more successful with in person sales events, like local art markets, craft fairs and festivals.

Some creators have great success licensing their artwork. Other artists make money by adding their designs to tangible items such as coffee mugs or greeting cards, either by paying to have the products manufactured for them or by using print-on-demand services like Redbubble and Zazzle.

Emily Martin, a.k.a. The Black Apple is a great example of this. She has one of the most successful Etsy shops of all time (with over 50,000 sales as of this writing!), but her artwork has appeared on other objects as well, and now she even has a few books featuring her artwork!

Being successful in making a living as an artist is all about diversifying and figuring out which mix of products and sales venues works best for you and your art.

Online Resources for Craft Businesses

There are also a lot of really great blogs & online communities out there that will help you in your crafty business education. Here are some of my favorites:

• Badass Creatives YouTube channel – I recently launched a new YouTube channel dedicated to marketing advice for makers, artists and handmade businesses.

• Badass Creatives podcast – I produced this podcast to share lessons I’ve learned from running my own business, as well as share the lessons learned by other artists and creatives. In episode 007, I share the top 5 marketing mistakes that I see many artists and creatives make that prevent them from selling more of their work online. If you prefer video, I also have a free Skillshare class about the same topic.

• Skillshare classes – I’ve created helpful classes for artists and creatives covering marketing topics like SEO and Pinterest.

• Aeolidia’s Shipshape Collective – Aeolidia has been working with independent online shops for 15 years, and they offer lots of free tools and paid training for creative shop owners, including an active Facebook Group and lots of great blog posts.

• Designing an MBA – Designing an MBA is a great site by Megan Auman, who has a background as a jewelry artist. She now offers up her own advice for makers who want to make a living at it.

Selling at Art Markets & Craft Fairs

Selling at local events, like art markets, craft fairs, and festivals, is where I’ve found most of my own success as an artist. It’s a tough life, to be sure, and totally exhausting at times. But it can also be really fun, meeting new people all of the time and selling your artwork in person!

Selling your artwork or crafty creations in person can also be a great way to test what works and doesn’t. See which themes or styles people respond to the most. Ask questions of your customers to find out what drew them into your booth.

Depending on the types of shows you plan to do (indoor, outdoor, a mix of both?) and what types of art you sell (paintings, photography, handmade jewelry?), your setup needs will vary. Check out my craft fair display tips here.

There’s tons of information online specific to the art market display needs of certain artists, but be sure to check out my 5 Craft Show Must Haves and my tips for increasing your sales at craft shows:

P.S. I’ve written a book on this very topic, with everything I learned from a decade of selling at craft shows! It’s called How to Make Money at Craft Shows, and it’s available on Amazon.

Selling to Stores & Boutiques

I’ve both sold my own handmade work on consignment to other shops and galleries, plus I carried work made by other artists when I ran my online shop and sold at fairs and festivals, so I’ve seen both sides of the coin.

Check out this blog post or watch this video for my 5 tips to get started selling your handmade goods to retail shops and boutiques:

My friend Casey Sibley, who sold her line of handmade homegoods and accessories at shops across North America, also has a popular series of Skillshare classes on this topic:

• Wholesale for Your Handmade Business | PART I: The Basics

• Wholesale For Your Handmade Business, PART II: Building Linesheets and Catalogs in Adobe InDesign

• Wholesale for your Handmade Business, Part III: Get The Word Out!

How to Approach an Art Gallery for Representation

For artists who make fine art, like paintings or photography, getting representation in an art gallery is a different ballgame than for craft artists who make functional goods that can be sold in clothing boutiques or gift stores.

Excuse the sometimes shaky camera work and sound quality of this video, because artist Cedar Lee lays out some really great advice, from the heart, on how to approach an art gallery for representation:

This is something I personally have never had to do, since I don’t specialize in fine art, but for painters and other fine artists, getting your work in galleries can be a big part of making your living! Artist Cedar Lee has a whole series of YouTube videos with advice for artists. You can find more of her work on her website.

For fine artists, I also recommend checking this article by my friend Marrus: Online Marketing & Promotion for Artists. She's a painter & artist who has been turning the fantastical pictures in her head into a roof over it since 1992. You can also read her book or listen to my interview with her on the Badass Creatives podcast:

Where to Sell Your Art Online

If you’re just getting started selling your handmade crafts, you may be wondering if you should use Etsy or Shopify to sell your products. I talk about the pros and cons of each of these popular ecommerce platforms in this video:

A lot of craft artists start out selling online on Etsy. But it is not the only online venue that can be good for selling your art or craft. I’ve used a variety of different e-commerce platforms over the years. In addition to Etsy, I have also used Storenvy, and when I ran an online boutique selling work by a variety of artists I used the CoreCommerce platform. While working at the marketing agency FSC Interactive, I worked on client sites that run on Shopify, BigCommerce, Squarespace and many other e-commerce platforms.

For an artist brand-new to selling their work, I would say that Etsy is probably your best bet to start out with. Give it a go, but feel free to explore other options along your way.

Whether you’re selling on Etsy or on your website, it’s important to understand the basics of SEO (search engine optimization) so that your products can get found.

Here’s a video about Etsy SEO for beginners:

I also have a full playlist of videos about SEO (search engine optimization) for artists and creatives here on YouTube.

As you grow and start selling more, I recommend creating your own website.

If you only sell on Etsy, you’re subject to whatever changes Etsy might make. And if you only rely on traffic from Etsy to drive your sales, that can be a problem if something changes.

There is no one right e-commerce platform for everyone. Here are a few classes about getting started on Shopify, which is one of the most popular ecommerce platforms:

• Shopify - Setting Up Your First Shopify eCommerce Store

• Build your Shopify eCommerce Store step by step

• Creating and Selling Your First Product using Printful and Shopify

Whether you’re planning a new website, a website move or a website redesign, OR you're still stuck at trying to figure out “What website platform should I use??” ... There’s a few questions you should consider & answer for yourself BEFORE you ever talk to a web designer or developer or go too far down the rabbit hole of researching website platforms.

In this video, I cover the 5 questions you should be asking yourself and getting clarity on BEFORE building or redesigning your website:

You can also check out this blog post and video interview I did with Shopify expert Holly Marsh about some beginner Shopify SEO tips and quick wins that you can use to improve your search engine optimization on Shopify:

Every business is different.

If you need some hands-on advice to figure out what’s best for your biz, check out the Badass Creatives Marketing Accelerator.

Photographing Your Products

Use natural lighting and a neutral background to make your product photos pop!

One essential key to successfully selling your artwork or handmade goods online is great product photography. If you don’t already have a knack for photography, you will either need to learn how to take better photographs of your products, or be willing to pay a good photographer to do so.

Crochet designer Kristina Turner offers a great 20-minute video course, Product Photography Basics for Your Handmade Business, which is specifically designed to help you learn to take better photographs of your handmade products:

You’ll need to make sure you show your products in the best light possible (literally). Good, natural lighting is key to a great product shot. You can build an easy DIY lightbox, or find a spot outdoors or near a window to take your photos. You don’t want direct sunlight which will create harsh shadows, but you don’t want your products to look dark or blurry either.

Writing About Your Products

Another key part of selling your handmade products online is writing great descriptions and giving your products good titles. This helps with search engine optimization.

A good product description will not only help a potential buyer understand everything they need to know about your product before they can make the decision to buy, but it will also help search engines like Google to find your product listing.

Telling stories about your artwork and describing your products online as if you are talking to a friend about them will help give your product listings a personal touch. Shoppers who love handmade art want to know the stories behind the artwork. Talk about the materials you used, what inspired this piece or how you made it.

Be sure to also include basic descriptive details like the size of the object, what the color is (colors on computer monitors may vary from screen to screen, but writing out the color in your description will also help Google to find you), and who the object is meant for.

If it is a functional piece of art, like jewelry, clothing, or an object to be used in your home, talk about how it could be worn or used, or what you might pair it with.

Popular fashion site ModCloth does a great job of giving descriptive titles to their products and making a potential shopper envision how they might incorporate it into their lives.

Check out their product description page featured above for a pair of Swedish Hasbeens shoes. Notice how they gave the shoe a descriptive name - “Mary’s Savor Every Step Heel” - that tells a story, instantly.

Their product description also tells a story, but includes details about the shoe, including the color, and what it’s made out of. Then they also give styling suggestions about what to wear the shoe with.

Marketing & Branding Your Products

How you package and display your products is part of marketing. I consistently used these cobalt blue organza jewelry bags, stuffed with a business card, to package my jewelry when I sold it at a local event or online.

Marketing and branding is a huge, HUGE topic with so much to cover, I couldn’t possibly mention it all here.

It includes everything from creating a brand for your art business, to social media marketing, email marketing, networking at in person events, to advertising and search engine optimization (SEO).

My YouTube channel and my program, the Badass Creatives Marketing Accelerator are focused on helping makers and artists learn the basics of how to market their products.

I also have a few Skillshare classes on marketing your creative business:

• DIY SEO for E-commerce: A Search Engine Optimization Intro for Artists, Makers and Online Shops

• The Power of Pinterest: Learn A Pinterest Marketing Strategy for Creative Small Business Owners

• Marketing for Artists: Learn the Top 5 Marketing Mistakes Artists & Creatives Make

Many of the articles and podcast episodes here at Badass Creatives also cover various aspects of marketing.

In episode 024, I share all of my Instagram tips and tricks, and in episode 003, I share my DIY tips for getting publicity for your projects:

Get All Your Ducks in a Row

At the end of the day, if you want to make a living as an artist or crafter, you need to remember that you are also a business person.

Unless you are lucky enough to be hired to create art full-time for another company, you will have to learn some business basics and treat your art or craft like a company.

You’ll want to learn the basics of things like bookkeeping, your local business laws, and proper inventory management to make sure that your creative business is profitable!

Business regulations vary wildly depending on where you’re located, so it’s best to seek out a local lawyer and an accountant who are familiar with the local rules.

It’s also important to note that many areas require you to carry a certificate of insurance if you’re running a business out of your home, and some craft shows may even request to see your proof of insurance.

In episode 036 of the Badass Creatives podcast, I talked with lawyer Wesley Henderson about the legal basics of starting a new small business, such as forming a legal business entity like an LLC, as well as the basic kinds of contracts a small business might need to protect themselves.

If you’re based in the United States, the U.S. Small Business Administration can be an amazing resource. They offer Small Business Development Centers throughout the country. I turned to my local organization many years ago when I was just starting out and they offered guidance as well as grants to help get my business to the next level. More recently, I’ve even partnered with my local chapter to teach classes on occasion! I definitely recommend reaching out to contact your local SBDC.

My friend Melissa Capps is a bookkeeper and advisor to creative business owners. She’s run her own Etsy shop and handmade business for years, and she has more than 14 years of experience in restaurant accounting and management industry. When I was ready to switch to Xero for my own bookkeeping needs, she walked me through the basics in a few one-on-one Skype sessions. I interviewed her about understanding the financial side of your creative business in podcast episode 022:

Books to help you learn to make a living as an artist:

Here are some of my favorite great books that cover a lot of the basics for starting your own art or craft related business:

• Craft, Inc. Revised Edition: The Ultimate Guide to Turning Your Creative Hobby into a Successful Business by Meg Mateo Ilasco. This is one of the best books for crafters looking to start selling their work!

• The Handmade Marketplace: How to Sell Your Crafts Locally, Globally, and Online by Kari Chapin. This is another good book on the subject, which covers most of the basics you’ll need to know.

• Lightsurfing: Living Life in the Front of My Mouth by Marrus. My friend Marrus (who I interviewed on the podcast) makes her living entirely off of her artwork, and has for years. This is her story, written by her, about her experiences as an artist. She sells her artwork and does face-painting at Renaissance fairs and fetish and sci-fi conventions as well as at more traditional art markets.

• The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It by Michael E. Gerber. To succeed as an artist making a living at it, you’ll have to become as much a business person as an artist. This is one of my favorite books on small business.

Note: This post features Amazon Associate affiliate links, which means if you purchase a product via one of these links, I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases. This helps to support this site and does not affect the price you pay.

Questions?

I hope all of this information has been helpful.

If you’re still feeling confused, or you’re ready to dive deeper and grow your business, check out the Badass Creatives Marketing Accelerator!

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This post was originally published at MissMalaprop.com

Etsy SEO for Beginners: 6 Areas of Your Etsy Shop You MUST Update To Improve Your SEO Rankings

Getting started selling on Etsy?

If you're just getting your Etsy shop up & running, you might have heard about SEO (search engine optimization). Maybe you know that Etsy SEO is an important part of marketing your handmade products. But do you understand how to actually DO IT and make your Etsy shop stand out in search, both within Etsy’s internal search engine as well as on Google, Yahoo and Bing?

In this video and in the post below, I'll share some tips for Etsy SEO for beginners:

You can use these SEO tips to help your potential customers easily find your Etsy shop and get more traffic to the products you sell.

Here are six areas of your Etsy shop you should update to improve your SEO rankings:

1. Your product titles

2. Your product descriptions

3. Your tags

4. Your shop sections

5. Your shop title

6. Your shop announcement

I’ll go into more detail about all of these shortly, but first, a few key things to remember:

Think in terms of long tail keywords.

If you’re just beginning to learn about SEO, you might hear “keywords” and think of a single word, like wedding.

But when you head to Google or another search engine to look for something, you are probably using a string of words in order to help you find a very specific thing, like wedding gift ideas for geeks or beach wedding dresses.

These strings of words, usually 3-4 words put together, are known as long tail keywords or keyword phrases. When you start optimizing your Etsy shop for search engines, think in terms of these long tail keywords rather than single words that are not very specific.

The more you can tweak your Etsy shop to accurately describe what it is you are selling by using the same keyword phrases that your customers are naturally using to search for those things, the more likely it is that they will find you and buy your products.

Use keyword phrases your customer would use.

Think like a BUYER - how would they be searching for your product?

The phrases a potential customer would use to search for your product might be very different than the first thing that pops to mind when you think about your own products.

As makers, artists and business owners, we have an inside view of our products. We need to learn how to see our products from the outside view and describe them the way another person would.

Back to the wedding dress example: I once worked with a client that sold wedding dresses. They called themselves a bridal boutique and they called the products they sold bridal gowns. But when most people start shopping for their products, they'd be searching for wedding dresses, not bridal gowns.

Don't use jargon or specific terms that only artists or makers would understand. Use words that your average customer would use to look for what you make and sell.

When in doubt, ask a friend or family member how they would search for the types of products you are selling.

Adjectives are your friend.

In order to come up with useful and relevant long tail keywords, remember that adjectives are your friend.

If you’re searching online for the perfect pair of shoes to wear to a friend’s wedding, do you head to Google and type in shoes? Not if you want to actually find what you’re looking for, you don’t. You’d probably use adjectives and other descriptive words in your search. You might type in something like cute high heels with bows or comfortable dress shoes for women.

When you create product listings on Etsy, think in terms of adjectives and the ways that people might naturally search for what you have for sale, and be sure to include plenty of descriptive words about your products.

Don’t just describe the item itself — use adjectives to describe what the product could be used for or reasons why people would buy the item (as a wedding gift, for example).

Okay, now that you’ve got those tips in mind, let’s talk about the specific areas of your Etsy shop you should focus on to improve your Etsy SEO rankings:

1. Your product titles

Your product titles are one of the most valuable pieces of SEO real estate in your Etsy shop.

The maximum limit for product titles is 140 characters, but search engines like Google will only show less than half of that, so put the most important keywords first. You’ll want to include a mix of the most relevant and popular long tail keywords related to your products.

Remember: think like your customer. Focus on using the words and phrases THEY would put into a search engine to find your products.

2. Your tags

Any experienced Etsy seller knows that tags play an important role in getting your shop discovered by potential customers. Be sure to utilize all 13 tags, and whenever possible, use long tail keywords as your tags.

Tags have a maximum length of 20 characters, including spaces, so you may not be able to include your longest long tail keywords as tags, but try to use tags that form a descriptive 2-3 word phrase rather than adding single words as tags:

Etsy shop TrueMementos does a great job of using long tail keywords in their Etsy tags.

Look at some of your best-selling competitors to see what tags they use. Don't copy them directly, but do some research for inspiration to find ideas for what tags you could be potentially missing.

3. Your product descriptions

While your product titles and tags are the 2 most important elements when it comes to getting seen by Etsy’s own internal search engine, there are plenty of other spots that will help you get found in search, both on Etsy and by Google.

Your product descriptions offer plenty of room to write about your products in great detail, so be sure to do just that! Your product descriptions should include relevant long tail keywords, but they should also answer any potential questions your customers may have about your products.

Think in terms of benefits as well as features… how does your product help a customer, and how will wearing or using your product make them feel?

It is also important to note that Google and other search engines will often pull from the first line or two of your product description when showing your product in search results. Be sure to include your most important long tail keyword in the first sentence of your product description.

4. Your shop sections

Did you know that the names of your shop sections are also searchable, and should be optimized for SEO?

If your shop specializes in personalized wedding gifts, you might break up your shop sections by recipient. For example: Gifts for Bridesmaids, Gifts for the Bride and Gifts for Groomsmen. Include descriptive phrases and adjectives when naming your shop sections.

5. Your shop title

Much like your product titles, your shop title is also very important for search.

You can use your shop title to help describe the kinds of products you sell. This will help with Google search, as this is the title that Google and other search engines use when your shop appears in their search results. Be sure to include important long tail keywords that are relevant to your entire shop in your shop’s title.

6. Your shop Description

Finally, your shop description should also include important keywords that describe your shop as a whole.

Your shop description helps build trust with potential buyers AND with search engines. It appears near the top of your Etsy shop, under your shop name. Google often pulls from this section when your shop appears in Google search results, so make it count

You can include relevant long tail keywords here, but you can also use your shop description to share the story or inspiration behind your brand.

Want to get more traffic to your website and make more online sales?

Do you sell your handmade work online? Want to sell more? Search engine optimization, aka SEO, is the process of tweaking your online shop to help your potential customers find you more easily in search engines.

My class, DIY SEO for E-Commerce, offers an introduction to e-commerce search engine optimization specifically designed for artists, makers and online shops:

5+ Craft Show Must Haves (and then some!)

I did my fair share of craft fairs for more than a decade, and I learned a lot of tricks along the way. (I even wrote a book about it.)

My craft show tool kit evolved a lot over the years, with a few handy items I couldn’t live without bringing to a craft fair.

Whether you’re preparing for your first craft show and wondering what to bring, or you’re an experienced craft show vet looking to improve your arsenal, I hope you’ll find my top 5 craft show must haves useful.

Watch this video to hear me talk about my craft show must haves, or keep reading:

Disclosure: This post features Amazon Associate affiliate links, which means if you purchase a product via one of these links, I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases. This helps to support this site and does not affect the price you pay.

1. A great tent!

If you’re planning to do outdoor art markets or festivals, a good craft show tent is an absolute MUST! Many event organizers require everyone to have white 10×10 craft show tents, to keep things looking classy & uniform.

My EZ up tent lasted me through many years of craft shows, and it was worth every penny!

I had the pop-up canopy kind of EZ up tent with four zippered side walls, which are great for closing up shop overnight or keeping out the elements on a rainy day.

2. A professional looking tablecloth!

After years of fussing with big pieces of fabric and homemade tablecloths, pinning and tucking just so to keep it looking nice, I made the move to these fitted polyester tablecloths. They’re so much easier, and they look super professional. They come in a variety of sizes to fit different lengths of folding tables.

You could always screen-print or add appliqués to the front to customize it with your business name or logo!

You can see my own tablecloths pictured below, from my craft show booth at Gretna Heritage Festival:

For my 6 foot tables, I used a pretty standard size plastic folding table I found at a hardware store. These tables are durable, but they can sometimes be heavy and bulky.

I also found that products made for camping worked great for craft shows, as they folded up easily and often didn’t weigh as much. For instance, I also had a lightweight aluminum folding camping table that I used for craft fairs.

3. A comfy & tall chair!

I spent years sitting on low chairs, uncomfortable stools or just standing during craft shows, to stay eye-level with my customers so I could talk to them. My tall fold-up director’s chair became a lifesaver!

The best directors chair for craft shows is one that can put you at the same level as your customers, yet be light-weight, portable and comfortable. It helps you to make a personal connection and sell more than if you’re sitting down low, almost hidden behind a table in a traditional outdoor folding chair.

After years of doing these events, and often times standing all day or sitting perched on an unsupportive folding stool, I started seeing other artists in their booths, sitting on tall directors chairs that were portable and made for outdoor use. After searching high and low around local sporting goods stores with no luck, my search eventually led me to Amazon, where I found this chair and immediately ordered it.

Once I got mine, other artists asked me all the time where I got it. I love this chair and it has lasted me years of pretty serious use and abuse. The heavy-duty aluminum chair frame is NOT physically heavy at all, but it IS super durable. I love that it has side pockets, which are great for storing things in while I’m working behind my booth. (Sometimes I’d use a plastic grocery bag in one of the pockets as a liner for a make-shift trash can on the go.) This chair is definitely on my list of craft show must-haves.

Even if you don’t sell at craft shows, this chair is great for outdoor use at home, not to mention for other outdoor activities like sporting events, or selling at flea markets or garage sales! This is also a great portable director’s chair for makeup artists who may need to bring a chair to locations for their clients to sit on during makeup applications.

4. Shopping bags or gift wrap!

You’ll definitely want to have some sort of shopping bags or gift wrap available!

If you can make sure that your packaging matches your brand, even better!

In this video, I discussed some branding basics with my friend & small business branding expert Holly Marsh of Ecommerce Arcade:

Holly suggests, "Use color as part of your brand identity and try to stick with that. It's okay if not everything matches exactly. For example, if you're trying to buy solid colored tissue paper for your online orders, it's not going to be that exact Pantone color, and that is okay! But if you're using basically the same colors throughout, people will start to associate those colors with your brand."

It's important to create a consistent color palette and visual aesthetic in your craft show booth.

Your color palette should guide your packaging, like shopping bags and tissue paper, as well as how you design your booth display at a craft show.

What size you need depends on what you sell, of course. I usually keep a few sizes on hand – small organza bags for jewelry and some bigger paper shopping bags for larger items.

5. A convenient hand truck or dolly!

Finally, if you’ll be hauling all your stuff to and from your car or truck to your craft show booth, you’re going to want wheels! I cannot begin to tell you how much using a Magliner convertible hand truck changed my craft show life!

I don’t know how I could have done Frenchmen Art Market so many nights without it – I was able to get everything I needed on it in one trip and haul it a couple of blocks back to my car with ease:

It’s pretty high end, but considering all of the physical labor involved in doing craft shows, the Magliner was worth it for me. Your body will thank you!

If you’re a craft show newbie just getting started, I also used a smaller (and cheaper) Magna Cart for shows where it’s easier to do multiple trips back and forth to my car.

You’ll notice from the picture above that I also used a lot of stackable storage bins with latching handles to transport my products to and from the craft fairs. These made it easier to stack everything on my Magliner, and they also protected my inventory, particularly during outdoor craft shows where I might encounter rain or mud.

Bonus craft show ideas:

Okay, so maybe I fibbed. I mayyyy have more than just 5 craft show must haves. Here are a few more of my favorite art show display ideas:

A curtain backdrop for sun protection and visual appeal!

Doing outdoor art markets can take a lot out of you, especially if the sun is hitting your neck all day long. That’s one reason I came up with the curtain backdrop for my art show tent seen below:

I made it by sewing together three semi-sheer curtain panels. On each outside edge, I added a few pieces of ribbon to make it easy to tie off the edges to the sides of my tent poles. At the top of the curtain, I used spring clamps to attach it to the top of my tent. Easy-peasy!

Not only was it great for blocking the sun, but it also provided a colorful and eye-catching background for my booth! (Hint: sew in something at the bottom of the panels to give them a little extra weight so they stay more secure when it gets windy!)

Gridwall for displaying your art!

Many artists use gridwall panels to display their artwork. This type of portable craft show display setup works well for fine artists who have paintings or photographs to show off, but most gridwall systems have other accessories available like clip-on baskets or shelves or hanging racks, which can also show off clothing or accessories too.

Above you can see a photo from one of my own craft show booths. I’m not the artist using the gridwall seen here (that’s the back of the booth next to me), but you can see here how the back of the artwork is attached to the gridwall with clips or zip-ties.

You can also see some of my own display systems here, including a vintage suitcase. I sewed a few ribbons onto the suitcase lining so that I could clip greeting cards to the inside of the suitcase. I also found an old shutter that I turned into a display for earrings.

Stackable jewelry trays became another lifesaver for me. After many craft shows where I'd spend a bunch of time laying out necklaces and jewelry on my table, and then carefully packing each item up again at the end of the show, I discovered the magic of stackable jewelry trays! These made the booth setup and breakdown process so much faster!

I took the above photo at one indoor art show I did. Even though we were inside, the artist used his tent frame to hang these screens from so that he could then attach his artwork.

There are definitely plenty of expensive, professional art display panels out there, but I found this DIY video tutorial that explains how you can make similar art display panels for around $50 per panel using materials found at the hardware store.

Craft show checklist:

While this is by no means a totally comprehensive list of what to take to a craft fair, this should cover most of the important things that you should plan to have on hand, but might otherwise forget to bring with you.

• plenty of cash for making change

• a way to process credit cards, like Square

• price stickers for jewelry or hang tags

• extension cord

• bungee cords

• zipties or reusable Velcro straps

• spring clamps

• safety pins

• antibacterial wet wipes and/or hand sanitizer

• tape

• scissors

• calculator

• business cards

• sunscreen

• bug spray aspirin / ibuprofen

• a small cooler to hold water or drinks, plus reusable freezer ice packs to keep it cold during summer

• a Thermos filled with hot tea or coffee, and hooded blanket for outdoor craft shows during winter

Craft Show Display Ideas

Want to learn how to make your craft fair booth look great so you can sell more art?

Check out this blog post and this video for ideas on how to display your art and crafts in your booth! I discuss craft show display ideas with my friend & craft show organizer Nicole Stevenson.

Nicole is the founder of Dear Handmade Life’s Patchwork Show - a series of craft shows throughout California, showcasing local handmade and independent businesses alongside food, crafting, activities and more.

Craft Show Tips for Beginners

Are you just getting started with craft fairs? Lucky for you, I wrote a whole book full of my craft show tips, tricks and advice, full of everything I learned from more than 10 years of doing art markets and craft shows regularly:

If you found this post useful, you should also check out my book, How to Make Money at Craft Shows – Art Market and Craft Fair Tips & Tricks. In it, I cover the basics of getting started selling at craft fairs, as well as how to design a great looking booth, how to give outstanding customer service & sell more, and even how to find and create additional events at which to sell your handmade work.

It also includes how to define your target market, where to find good shows to sell at, how much you should expect to spend on a booth fee at a show, promoting your show & getting your customers there, dealing with crazy weather & unexpected events, theft prevention, how to give great customer service, how to use craft shows to create after-the-show sales and lots more!

You can also check out my full Craft Show Tips playlist on YouTube for more advice!

Badass Creatives podcast

Listen to Episode 005 of the Badass Creatives podcast to hear me talk about my craft show tool-kit:

What did I miss?

If you’ve been doing craft shows for awhile and think that I missed something here, please contact me and let me know!

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This post was originally published at MissMalaprop.com