Selling Crafts Online...Without Etsy
Ahh, the craft artist life! So overwhelming, so confusing, so many options…wouldn’t you agree?
There’s no real playbook on starting a craft business, and for me personally, selling crafts online has always been the dream. But even dreaming up my ideal business model took years to discover.
When I was starting out in my business, I’d hear this from a lot of people:
“You should open a shop!”
“Are you going to open a shop?”
“Hey, have you thought about a shop?”
(insert eyeroll)
I thought this was a totally ridiculous thing to say because it’s not something that had ever really appealed to me.
I had no intention of opening a shop.
And over 10 years later, I still have no intention of opening a shop.
To me, the entire point of starting my craft business was so that I could have freedom.
Freedom to create what I wanted.
Freedom to work when and where I wanted.
And freedom to sell my crafts how I wanted.
I wanted a job that worked for me, and not the other way around. And maybe an online shop.
I saw my friends with their corporate jobs who were getting paid well, but who were also at the mercy of their bosses and their 9-5 schedules. It didn’t make sense to me.
(…of course, craft business owners have their own struggles!)
Back before I knew any better, I had tried to become one of them.
Companies in the design industry wanted me to spend years working my way up the corporate ladder, just so I could do the design work that I was already doing.
Obviously, I didn’t expect to be considered the best in my game at that point, I needed more real world experience, but why did I have to start out doing busy work in a cubicle?
Did 8 years of art school not count for anything? Why did I have to start from scratch again?
In my head I thought, “There’s got to be a better way”.
At the time, I was working part time as an in-house artist for a friend’s web design company.
After a few years there, I was able to stop going in as much and started working remotely from cafés and home.
It felt amazing to be able to work on my own time, and to feel like I was working with someone, rather than for someone.
It also felt very freeing to just be working from my laptop. All I needed was a wi-fi connection, and I could work from anywhere!
That little taste of freedom was all it took. I saw the light.
A few years later I moved to San Francisco and started my craft business.
I designed and handmade all my own products, never entirely sure what crafts would actually sell, yet loyally lugged them out to craft fairs every few months, then lugged everything back home at the end of the busy weekend.
Many times, it wasn’t worth it.
There could be a huge crowd of people at the craft show, yet no one would be buying.
Sometimes the weather would be bad, and no one would come.
I would ditch my booth and hop around to talk to my other friends selling. They’d always say the same thing…lots of people, very few sales.
This started to not make sense to me either. Selling crafts at these shows was SO MUCH WORK!
Especially for me since I worked solo. 2-3 days on my feet, talking and standing for hours…then having to wake up and do it again the next day…
It was mentally draining and physically exhausting. I never thought starting a small business could be so hard.
At times I thought, “Maybe I should try selling crafts online”…but I didn’t know how to start, or where to sell (Etsy? My own site?? Instagram?)
After way too long of trying to sell at these craft shows unsuccessfully, I threw in the towel.
I had also lost my passion for creating because of all the inventory I had to make for the shows was extremely tedious.
I had a pile of craft supplies and product and nowhere to store it.
I also hated being stuck at home working as if I was a one-woman assembly line.
Looking back, I think that this was just another lesson I had to learn the hard way to get me to where I am now.
The good thing was, at this point I had learned that there were a lot of different ways you could make money selling crafts…and I wasn’t afraid to drop everything and try something new.
Giving up on craft shows was the best move I ever made. I started thinking hard about what I really wanted out of my business.
I eventually narrowed it down to being able to have more freedom. Financial and location specifically.
I wanted to travel while creating, and provide resources to others so that they could create too.
That meant I had to start moving my business online, while still somehow keeping things handmade and crafty.
I always knew that selling crafts online through an online marketplace (like opening an Etsy shop for example) would give me a lot more exposure to people around the world and would allow me to work from home as well.
It seemed a little intimidating because I knew nothing about shipping or selling online, but it soon became my next goal.
After a little bit of a learning curve, I had created my profile and was making semi-consistent sales online.
I still didn’t love the tedious part, making the same product over and over part, but the sales gave me some confidence, and I could deal with it for the time being.
It was an interesting learning experience, and while I wasn’t making enough to fully support myself through online craft sales yet, I could definitely see how it was a possibility.
After a few years of selling crafts online through Etsy, I pivoted to teaching live classes and doing large scale custom work for designers.
My Etsy income didn’t hold a candle to what I was making with teaching and custom art projects, so it kind of fell by the wayside and became “extra money”.
However, I never forgot the feeling of going to bed, then waking up the next morning to an email with the subject line: “Etsy Order Confirmation for: $86.52 USD”.
As teaching my craft slowly became my primary source of income, (thanks to live classes and corporate workshops) I realized that I was running into the exact same problem again, just in a different guise.
I was teaching in my studio and other venues 2-6 times a week and it was exhausting!
This was not the plan.
Don’t get me wrong, I loved it 1000x more than dragging product out to a craft show, but it was still very draining, and I was still teaching the same thing over and over again.
The upside of this was that I got to meet hundreds and hundreds of my amazingly creative followers and learn more about how I could help them in real time (I later discovered this info was priceless!).
I knew that there was a demand for my class. And that I was good at teaching.
But having to be tied to my studio all day was not where I wanted to be. So I started thinking outside the box.
At this point I had worked with quite a few well known companies, both online and for live events. I knew there was a lot of potential for growth if I could start teaching my printmaking classes online.
This would also solve my problem of being stuck in my studio all day, and if I could get it going strong enough, would allow me to travel and work from anywhere in the world.
This quickly became my new stretch goal.
I knew it wouldn’t come easily, but I was willing to put in the work, and I had a great foundation to work from, thanks to my live classes and accidental extensive customer research.
Conveniently, around this time an online teaching company reached out and requested that I film my course for them and upload it onto their platform.
In return, I would receive a lot of exposure (especially if they featured my course), along with a certain dollar amount per minute of my course that was watched.
On top of that, they said they would send a videographer to my house to film it, and pay for all the editing as well. No brainer, right?
This seemed like a great opportunity. And it was at the time, I’m glad I went for it.
Teaching art online through another company was another great learning experience. I didn’t have to worry about people finding me, I was getting monthly income, and didn’t have to deal with all the complicated tech stuff.
I also didn’t have to update the course. It could literally just sit there online…and keep making me money.
Every.
Single.
Month….without touching it.
My mind was blown.
I had to learn more about this online teaching world.
The next thing I tried to do was to scale what I already had with my online teaching company.
The idea behind their model is that you create a course every month, or every few months, and your income starts to snowball.
Each course took me at least a week and a half (usually longer) to record, edit, and write.
This became reeeally tedious after a few months, and even more so after I noticed they changed their way of paying instructors, and my monthly income dropped significantly.
WHAT.
#bullsh*t
I quickly realized that I had no control over my own content as long as it was on their website (not to mention the fees!).
I also realized that although this company was a great initial way to start teaching online, if I wanted to build a serious, sustainable income, I needed to stop using their platform as a way to put out my content.
I knew what I had to do next, but I was really really scared to do it.
So I quit my day job and hopped on a plane to Barcelona for 66 days.
Solid plan, right?
(That sounds dramatic, but I had planned for it and saved up for 6 months before I quit. I don’t recommend drastic measures without at least a little planning ;)).
While in Spain, I started researching ways that I could take my quirky handmade business and get it running completely online without losing the crafty, hands-on vibe of my work.
I had had a website for years, but it wasn’t really doing me any favors as far as bringing in new customers and traffic. My business may as well have not existed online.
And without traffic…well, what’s the point?
I needed to somehow build up a following from scratch and create my own traffic. It seemed overwhelming and scary. And what about all that crazy tech?
But as you know, knowledge is power.
About a week of research later, I resurfaced from my sauna of an apartment in Barcelona in early June.
I had a plan. I didn’t know if it would actually work, but I was convinced I would figure it out.
It soon became clear that building my online empire was very possible, but I had a LOT of work to do.
My goal was to get my entire craft business online. I would sell crafts online and teach online printmaking workshops to my followers.
I was hoping for results sooner than later, and I knew that the sooner I started, the quicker I could reach my goal. So I jumped in.
Selling Crafts Online…without Etsy
You might be thinking, ok, so this chick started out making her handmade craft but then went into online teaching…how does that apply to me?…I don’t want to teach my craft!
It doesn’t matter.
It doesn’t matter if you’re selling a handmade item, a creative handmade service, or a craft workshop, (a sale is a sale) you’ll need this foundation to make money online and to be independent from marketplace sites like Etsy.
If you want to sell your craft items online WITHOUT the help of other marketplace sites (Etsy, Amazon Handmade, etc) taking their cut, or worse, controlling your traffic and the eyes on your product, then you need to build your online audience asap!
The thing about building an online community is that your potential buyers will follow you wherever you go…because they’re invested in YOU as a person and maker (something that’s difficult/impossible to do on marketplace sites).
If you’re making and selling soap this year, then next year you make a pivot into selling friendship bracelet DIY kits, you’ll already have that relationship established, so anything you create will still be a hit.
Now that you understand that, back to the story - and fast forward to today:
My craft business is currently 100% online.
I’ve built a small but loyal audience from all over the world who follow all my crazy art antics on multiple platforms, respond to my emails with their personal stories and thoughts, and sign up for my workshops and courses.
I get excited to create new craft projects and content for my followers as well as share my personal work with them.
My business now has a few streams of income that allow me to invest back into it, as well as allow me to keep creating.
The best part about all of this is that I finally feel like I’m helping people directly and making a difference.
Before building my own online following, I would post occasionally to social media with little result or reaction…even when I was sharing something valuable that I had worked hard on.
It felt awful to know that even before I posted, the response would be crickets.
Not anymore.
While I’m still only half-in on social media (it’s gotten so much worse!), I’ve gone in full force on my most die-hard fans…
My email subscribers.
This has proven to be the life blood of my business.
You may not think much of it, but when someone gives you their email address, they’re putting their trust in you.
In return, you create something of value that can improve their lives and a relationship begins to form.
This relationship is what will keep new people coming in, and your current followers coming back for more.
Think of it as a virtual friendship.
They may start out as a casual follower, but if you can start building a relationship with them, over time they’ll become your target customer, and one of those die hard friends that will share your business with others just because they love it so much.
Let’s wrap this up
As you start out on your own craft business journey, know that it will probably not look anything like mine.
You’ll probably have different goals, (maybe YOU want a shop!), maybe you love selling your crafts at local craft fairs…and you’d rather jump off a bridge then teach art online.
No matter what your goal is for your handmade business, it’s all good. My message remains the same.
You’re not going to get anywhere without your followers…and the best way to reach them is through your email list.
Whether you’re starting from zero, or have a list that’s just sitting stagnant…if you’re serious about building a profitable craft business, this should be one of (if not THE) top priority for you right now.
Starting from scratch a few years ago was a lot of work. At the time, I didn’t know anyone in my personal or professional circle who had done this as an artist.
It seemed to me that a lot of creatives and craft artists were pretty clueless when it came to building a website, let alone a following.
These artists all seemed to be selling crafts online through Etsy or various other marketplaces that took a big cut of sales.
And I found barely any information that was specific to craft artists and building an online audience (and not just for social media).
I thought this was especially unfortunate for craft artists because there were so many of them, (myself included), that were so clearly short changing themselves and their work by limiting themselves to selling their handmade product only on sites like Etsy.
And they do this mostly because they don’t understand how much more profitable it would be to build their own online customer base.
Now that I’ve been through this process myself and I know how building your own craft following online can completely change your life and give you the freedom you’ve been craving, I want to share everything I’ve learned with you too.
If you want to learn how to get your craft business online and build an engaged online audience that can’t wait to sell out your next product or collection launch, check out the workshop below that will reveal the entire structure of my business, and how you can use this to build your own online following and start generating consistent sales from your art.
Click the image below to instantly watch the workshop, and let’s get you moving towards your dream business asap.
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