Crafters blogs are something that amuse me a lot – for good reason

I have been a crafter all my life, and a self employed businessman for most of that too.

However whenever I visited the internet I was always amazed at the amount of crafters blogs that there are online.

Then I became involved in the business side of the internet, and found out some amazing facts and hope to point out the flaws and problems relating to 95% of crafters blogs online. There are quite a few different things that crafters online tend to do every time. I do not know if it is because the obvious ways are the easiest things to do, and then crafters just copy what other crafters are doing online.

I suspect that this is actually the main reason, and that crafters that have graduated leave the ordinary crafter type blogs behind and almost allow the blogger versions of the crafters online to remain behind with their online efforts.

I have written a more detailed page showing all the points that I have noticed, some of the pitfalls to avoid and hwta really counts – and that is -How to go about making your blogging and website efforts actually help your crafting business.

Please go here to the page that I have written on crafters blogs

The reason that I need to point that difference out is that if you already have a hobby or craft that you have been doing for a long time, and are very proficient at it, then how you go about setting up the business side of your craft business will be completely different from choosing a new craft idea from research.

Let me explain.

If you are already doing a craft, then your research will be more along the lines of finding out which marketing method will be the most effective. You could see if your product sells well on the craft markets and the flea markets, you could do research into the idea of franchising out the idea or getting agents to sell for you. The direct marketing from shopping malls etc are all different aspects of your business planning that you should look into.

What I am really saying is that you cloth is cut, and you simply have to find out where to find the most buyers for your product.

Doing that sort of research is something I would suggest that you start to do online first, as keyword research will immediately tell you which aspects of your craft is the most in demand. No guessing there.

Now this is not a bad thing – but yeah, sometimes you will be busy with a craft product that does not have a big demand. Your research should tell you that fairly quickly though.

Now from the other aspect, How to start a craft Business from scratch.

This method becomes a lot easier.

You have the advantage of being able to make a much longer list of crafts that you do (or might) enjoy as a business.

This would make your efforts in the initial planning stages a bit more detailed and drawn out, BUT once you have been through that part – you should have found a business that is likely to be a lot more profitable.

Ok, let me not ramble on too much here I have done a more complete page that covers this aspect in greater detail

Please click the link below

How to start a craft business

Where to sell your Crafts

I am so passionate about these two words that putting them together makes me all worked up about telling you all the manageable options that there are in relation to crafts online.

An Overview

Blogs websites and forums are online in their millions and this is very good for you. The general trend is for crafters to not be very skilled at marketing and they tend to teach each other which big crafting websites are the ones where they can go to and offer the products that they have designed.

While this is a very solid way for many crafters and artists to earn extra money you will never get extremely affluent using this method.

True there are many ways that a hobbyist that does not want to turn themselves into a big business, and would like to still have time to do their products and run their businesses, can get ahead online with their websites

Serious about business?

If you are not inspired by the likelihood that you could get a great income from your crafting skills then I respect that, I would also prefer to be able to only need to share my efforts with those friends that I have both from home and online and not need to make a living from my crafting items.

If you are happy with the friends and family route, a simple free blog or one of the free Word-press websites would be more than adequate for your happiness, and you could go and join some of the chat rooms and pretty soon you will have all your needs taken care of online.

But if you are planning to have a more serious businesslike internet business, then a few different things that you will need to take care of with your website. However this is rather a lengthy list and I would not have the space to go into all the details here, but needless to say that you would need to be serious about the idea. Enjoy yourself by all means but you will still need to adhere to a step by step plan and then you will then need to stick to for your business organization to reach its potential.

Possible problems

To have any sort of online presence can and in fact will certainly affect your manufacturing time. That is and more than like always be the biggest stumbling block with artists that are also online, a business domain needs a minimum of 2 hours a day for it to develop and flourish online and if you commence to neglect that side of your website then you might fail.

Another problem here is that if you do not have a guru that has extensive marketing knowledge about the internet, you are likely to find yourself chasing education and even worse applying incorrect marketing methods. Beware of this issue.

The good news

Promoting your crafts online is good because it gives you the choice on which direction you would like your website or internet business to proceed in. You could do drop shipping and sell in bulk to different crafting outlets around the world. You could write and promote e books and reports and sell those to beginners that need training.

Finally you could simply take orders on your crafts and trade them direct to people who would like to buy directly from you.

The future

I am a firm believer that the crafting industry will grow stronger and stronger online; It is becoming increasingly easier to do web seminars and other methods of interaction with customers all across the world. I am convinced that there will come a time when we seldom even notice that the world is really becoming smaller and we will be happily ensconced in it and still loving our crafting.

I know that websites that we now call membership sites will have become the norm, and crafters internationally will be co operating with each other on many levels.

Are you going to be there?

Getting the best advice possible

I have extensive flea market experience, and now 26 months of internet marketing, and the combination of these two skills can be a massive advantage to your craft business. If you would like more information or any help at all, I suggest that you contact me, get the free report or simply buy my training course on Flea markets and craft markets

Free crafting report here

I have put up a short list here on some ways to get your flea market ideas all planned out and then put into action.

Firstly I do need to tell you that I have a full training product that does a comprehensive training system – all designed to get you small home crafter business into a really profitable zone.

At the end of this page I also offer you a free get-started-report

Here are a few tips to get you started.

RESEARCH METHOD ONE

•Go to ALL your local markets and make a list of every type of flea market stall at that market.

•Try to make a note of how busy they looked – did they always have customers?

•Put them into categories on a spread sheet (or in a note book)

RESEARCH STEP TWO

•Take out all the quiet looking products.

•Make up a short list of the 10 busiest product types

•Choose three of those that you think might be a product that you would like to produce and sell

STEP THREE

•Go to your computer – do keyword research on EXACTLY what the most popular terms are for that product

•E Mail me for help here – if you do not know how to do this step

•Now you know exactly what people want.

•Take action!!!

NEXT STEP

•Once you know what is popular, and which part of that product is the most popular – get started.

•I suggest choosing the biggest product in that list. EG – do not make a jewellery box if you could make a jewellery cupboard.

PRODUCT RESEARCH DONE

•Now you need to do the next business steps

•A proper business plan

•Financial research

•How your business will grow

•Step by step start up system

•YOU ARE NOW IN BUSINESS

IMPORTANT STEP

•Get your website built first

•It takes time for a website to grow – so the sooner you start the sooner your site will become busy

•Do your website properly – e mail me for details on that one

GET THE FREE REPORT

Download a copy of my free report. It should give you a head start into the crafter and flea market business.

Thank you

Rob Anderson

Getting great craft ideas is almost as much fun as starting to do the actual craft.

What I probably need to point out quickly is that everybody looks for craft ideas for different reasons. Firstly let me cover the different searching types, and then I will show you some great places to get ideas and inspiration.

Existing crafter with existing tools

This person that is looking for craft ideas and has already got the tools and systems in place in their home to be able to do that specific craft – and is simply looking for inspiration for new projects.

Brand new crafters

Someone who is creative and wants to discover all the different ways that they could express their talents by starting up a small crafting idea from their home, either as a hobby or as a small home business.

Crafters looking to make money from their idea – or from new ideas

Crafters are known to want (or is it needJ) to try new and different crafting things and methods. One of the nicest things about doing crafting is that for everybody things turn out differently. If you sat down with a group of 10 crafters and you all made exactly the same thing, they would still all turn out differently.

Because of the crafter training systems that I offer I also realise that even those searching for profitable ideas need to be taught how to search for new and different crafting ideas.

Crafting types that are looking to make money from crafting

Now this is different, because when you are looking for a money making crafter idea you are really doing keyword research and niche research.

You would still need to follow the links that I have included below, but you would also need to do more intensive keyword research.

Places to get craft ideas and inspiration

• Blogger is often one of the best sources, as bloggers that are also crafters have found each other and link between their sites. Also blogger itself has a system where you can search for blogs within the blogger site. Nice!
• Searching Google and the other search engines, by putting in search terms like “how to make” – very often those tricks will bring up ideas that you had not thought of before.
• Search online for you keyword but add forums to the search string. For example crafter forums, beading forums or scrapbook forums and you should get a great source of websites that you could join and meet other like minded crafters.
• Go to Amazon or Google books and look through their stock to get ideas, and even buy some of their books to keep as a reference.

The beauty of putting this quick post up here on my blog is that if you have any great ideas that I have forgotten – I would love for you to leave a comment so that we can all get the benefit from your idea.

Does your girlfriend have a passion in life that she really loves – some subject or idea that she loves and talks about all the time?

I have the perfect opportunity for you to give her a complete business that she can use to show off her favorite passion, and even start to make money from the website/business.

For a very low fee of $14 – you will get a website pre-done on the topic that you know that your girlfriend loves.

naturally I cannot do very weird or obscure topics, but if it is a generally popular topic – I can oblige.

If I do not have the exact choice that you have in mind, then just e mail me and there is a high chance that I could personalize on for you.

It would still need you to pay for the domain registration and the hosting, but i couls arrange all that for you. This would be an extra fee of approximately $14 for the domain and a monthly fee of about $10 a month for the hosting.

Please allow a few days for it all to be set up…

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT ME FOR A LINK TO SOME OPTIONS

If not then here are a few more ideas…

Children love creating crafts, and Dad’s love getting gifts! What better combination can there be when the vacations, dad’s birthday and Father’s day comes around. Crafts occupies kids in a hands-on demeanor and involves them with creative thinking. Creating is much more productive then slobbing in front of the television or Wii.

Craft Gifts For Dad – TexMex Coaster

This fun project will bring the Mexican out in your lawyer dad. You’ll require pony beads ( thirteen turquoise and twelve silver ), a circle of cork, a concho, suede wire ( about 4 feet, tan or brown works rather well ), scissors and a hole punch. Punch holes with the hole punch all of the way round the cork circle, just 0.25 ‘ ‘ up from the edge, and about half ‘ aside from each other. Weave the suede wire thru these circles, and alternate the blue and silver beads as you go thru each hole. Ensure not to put any beads in the 1st or last holes, then string the suede wire thru the concho, tie in a cowboy’s knot ( overhand ), then trim!

Craft Gifts For Dad – Paper Clip Box

First you are going to require a few essentials from the craft store, for example a paper mache circular box with a lid as well as a mini wooden automobile. Get out Mom’s glue gun, paints and brushes, gold paint and, paper clips! Set down newspapers and do this outside if the weather allows. Paint the paper mache box ( red is a favourite colour for most dads ), and paint the vehicle also. It works best if the bottom portion of the box and the lid are painted in different colours ( like red and black ). Use the gold pen to write Dad’s name, or the word “dad” on the front of the box. Simply use the hot glue gun to attach the auto to the lid, then fill the box with paper clips and you’ve made Dad a spectacular gift for his desk!

Craft Gifts For Pa – Pop Rocks Paperweight

Each pa requires a pet rock! All that you need for this craft is a large, semi flat rock ( about 3” ), acrylic paints, brushes, foam music notes, instruments and foam letters. Use the paint to color the rock in your dad’s fave colors. Black would look great with white or red froth letters. Let the rock dry. Stick the letters and music notes to the rock. Spell out any phrase you wish. “Dad Rocks!” or “pop You Rock” works really well for this craft. Use the music note and musical instrument foams on the sides of the phrase to stress dad’s coolness!

Craft Gifts For Dad – memorandum Holder

Pop won’t ever have an excuse for missing a meeting again with this memorandum holder! You’ll need a mini box of tools ( can be found in tiny section at any crafts store ), twenty-five Popsicle ( craft ) sticks, glue, white paint marker and a post it note pad. Use the craft sticks alternately in box formation to create a “crate” effect. At the top, glue the mini toolbox, and if the toolbox came with tiny tools, glue one on each side of the memorandum holder, and the rest inside the box of tools. Use the white paint to pen “father” on the box of tools, then set the post it note pad within the box. Dad will be keen on it!

Our favorite gift crafts are at http://www.toggle.co.nz.

Why people would want to spend time commuting daily is totally beyond my understanding.

perfect working conditions

now look carefully at this home business tool.

If I can help you to create the correct environment for the very best way to earn your living, would you jump at the chance?

Hmmm.

Just as i thought.

So loosen your tie!

lean closer!

lets do it!

Plan your own business, plan your own family time, plan your leisure time.

It really is easy.

I promise you.

+27116161072

+825725446

rob@designsmith.co.za