After putting all your time and effort into creating a wonderful product, the next step is getting it out there and getting people to notice and then buy from you! The team at Folksy has gone through the best ways of making your products shine!

This feature is sponsored by

To support small craft businesses and passionate makers, the UK’s best known and loved arts and crafts retailer has created Hobbycraft Plus. This unique subscription service offers discounts across the Hobbycraft range, an upgrade to next day delivery plus support and advice in the form of expert seminars. Topics include PR, social media, marketing, customer service and even TikTok!

A Hobbycraft Plus subscription costs £80 per year and includes a 15% discount* every time you shop in store and online, upgrade to next day delivery when you spend over £25 (saving £5.95 each time), three seminars focused on helping to grow a craft business (worth £30 each), access to bulk purchases and a range of packaging, seasonal newsletters, regular updates and even opportunities to be featured in Hobbycraft marketing.

Hobbycraft Plus launched in partnership with Untld Project, a PR, marketing and social media agency specialising in supporting creative, crafty and independent brands. Hobbycraft is also working closely with industry experts Folksy and Pedddle, who will offer special discounts to Hobbycraft Plus subscribers!

*Excludes digital craft machines, printers, sewing machines, Made to Measure Patterns, workshops, subscriptions and gift cards.

We’re going to start with a question. If you could be known for just one thing, what would it be?

Lots of us enjoy doing a bit of this and a bit of that, which is fantastic! Practising a variety of crafts is one of the best ways to develop your own style. But the secret to a thriving business is focusing on one thing and doing it well.

Is there something you can do that no one else does? What is it that makes your work special? What do customers love about your products? What would your tagline be if you could only use five words?

Once you understand what your ‘thing’ is, you’ll be able to build a strong brand around that – and then everything else becomes easier. You’ll be able to develop coherent product collections, understand how to talk about them to your customers and press, and create actionable plans to sell more.

Do you ever feel overwhelmed by all the things you need to do when you run your own business? All the different hats you have to wear can feel heavy. But the other side of that is that you are in control. You decide what your goals are, how to structure your day, what to make and, most importantly, you decide what success looks like for you.

So take a step back and think about that. Is success a world-renowned brand with stockists, shops and staff? Is it being able to support yourself? Or is it making enough money to treat yourself now and then?

When you know what success looks like for you, put a number on it.

Thinking about your lovely handmade business purely in terms of money might be uncomfortable, but having a financial goal is really effective, and also one of the best ways to avoid that paralysing feeling that comes with overwhelm.

Your goal could be overall profit for the year. But to make it less abstract and more actionable, it helps to break it down into chunks – eg how much revenue would you need to earn next month to feel happy?

Now break that down even further. For instance, how much revenue could come from a new product launch, how much from running a sale, how much from a gift-buying occasion (like Mother’s Day), how much from a market or event, how much from reaching out to a specific audience (like new parents or bird lovers).

Now you’re cooking with gas! You’ve got your monthly goal and identified where that could come from. This is your strategy. Time to get that plan down.

Let’s say you’ve identified that you could reach half your monthly goal by reaching a new audience of bird lovers. How do you do that?

Write down all your ideas. These could be things like creating a list of the most relevant search terms, hashtags, magazines, influencers, organisations, Facebook groups and events; uncovering new trends; tweaking your product listings to appear in particular search results; partnering up with someone on a collaboration; or maybe taking new product shots.

Once you’ve got all your ideas, turn them into an actionable plan, prioritising those that should have the most impact.

A plan enables you to approach every day with intention and clarity, so you’re less likely to get stuck in the “I’ve made something, I should probably post about it on social media, argh why haven’t I sold anything?” trap.

Top Tip: Always check your sales funnel, particularly when trying to bring in new customers. Do your social media channels have an obvious link to your shop? When people land on your shop or product page, what do they see? Is it easy for customers to find what they want? Do your product pages give them all the information they need in order to buy?

At the end of every month, look back at how you did. No judgement. How did it go? Which parts of it worked? Where did your successes come from? What would you do again, what would you ditch and what would you try again differently? What did you learn?

With thanks to Folksy for this fascinating article!

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