After speaking with any craft business owner for more than a few minutes, the question “how do I sell more crafts” enters the conversation with unwavering regularity. And of course, this is not surprising. Every businessperson wants to know how to sell more. But this is more than just a question of “how do I do it?” There is often a level of frustration and sometimes even despair about it. This is a real problem that is hurting not only the bank account, but often the self-esteem of the craft businessperson.
If they can think of where to advertise, they may have tried an ad or two, but can rarely make enough sales to even pay for the ad. Certainly not enough to make a decent profit. They may have heard that the Internet is like the “goldrush” of the wild west, and that if they build a website their business will skyrocket. So they do. And it doesn’t. In fact, it just becomes a mass of confusion because it’s so unclear exactly what they’re supposed to do with it. It’s just another “advertising method” they’ve tried that doesn’t work. Hence the frustration. Their craft business has reached a certain level of sales, but it just doesn’t seem possible to move beyond it.
