Sarah is a west-coast based former interior designer who wanted to pivot into selling refurbished, hand painted found furniture and home accessories.
She joined Handmade & Paid and moved extremely quickly, building a small but mighty audience of 25 highly targeted followers, then sending out 2 simple emails.
Before she could even start on her website, to her shock and excitement she had sold a pair of gorgeous nightstands for more than $1,100!! In the span of 5 hours!! To someone on her tiny email list!!
Now that she’s got that huge win to motivate her, she’s focusing on building up her online presence and attracting more of her ideal customers to her shop listings.
This is the perfect example where you can clearly see that the size of her following didn’t matter. It’s much more important to focus on the quality of your followers. This is one of the main lessons I teach inside my coaching program for artists and crafters!
Emily is a former graphic designer/hand lettering artist that has more recently found her perfect fit with matchstick quilting.
She was working on a new quilted wall hanging that was getting a lot of attention on her Instagram, but she was super hesitant about pricing because she had never sold any product at what she imagined it would need to be priced at.
After she joined us in Handmade & Paid, she went to work revamping her website and shop listings so that it felt more true to her new direction of modern quilted accessories and home goods.
She then spent weeks creating a small batch of wall hangings and smaller pieces, while raising her prices significantly…which sold out almost immediately as soon as she posted them.
She now launches new collections every few months with the same results - her latest launch brought in over $8k in just the first day!
On top of that, she also has a steadily growing online following of die-hard fans, and she spends her days buried in fabric and cuddling with her cute cat, Lazlo.
*Update: Emily is now a full time artist, selling out her work within minutes every launch. Love to see it!
Apryl is a Brooklyn dwelling, former 9-5er and soap maker, who was lost on how to make a full time income being creative.
We initially met through a live block printing workshop I was hosting on zoom when she jumped into the chat and said we were neighbors…(we still are!)
She was selling handmade soap on the side of her day job at the time, and was starting to dabble in block printing. When I launched Handmade & Paid, she was one of the first to join!
Starting out, she was struggling with a few major decisions. The biggest issue was deciding on her niche. She was wavering back and forth between going all in on her (pretty popular) soap niche, or branching off into uncharted territory with block printing.
We sat down together and went through all her options and ideas. Her final niche? Printmaking for urban street wear and home goods.
The next issue - getting her website up. She was worried that she wasn’t that tech savvy, but with a little work, she got the basic site up and running. As her business grew, I watched her add new listings, better photos, and really show off her personality and brand.
Today, Apryl is a full time artist, showcasing her work at pop ups all over Brooklyn, selling online, and doing collaborations. She has successfully combined her in-person craft fairs with her online business to create a consistent income so she can live the creative lifestyle she wants every day.
