While in lockdown I’ve been watching a lot of video tutorials, subjects from gaining instagram followers to having a great Etsy shop to becoming a pro at photoshop.
This current situation has changed the crafting world for many, we can no longer pop out to Hobbycraft, everything we buy has added postage. I’ve heard negative comments from delivery drivers about having to deliver non-essential items, so there’s the added guilt of buying something you could live without, but the knowledge that your mental health could suffer with nothing to do.
Craft fairs, farmers markets, wool shows… all cancelled.
We’re now in the place where online is the only way to go if you want to make it as a crafter and so I’ve been watching videos to prepare for the new way of being.
Here’s what I’m learning:
- You should be putting images on Instagram daily, but not the same style of images, and not all about your products.
- You should share the images at a set time every day, and that time changes with the country you want to reach, so if your main followers are on the other side of the world, you need to adjust your time for them.
- People react better to images of beautiful people in stunning locations. Followers like to see the lifestyle you live, they want to be you.
- Blogging isn’t the best way to reach people these days
- Etsy would prefer you to post items for free and if you do, they’ll put your listing to the top of the page. Yep, that’s free posting to the US. They recommend just putting your prices up to cover the cost.
- You need around 10,000 followers before you can monetise your social media.
- You should choose what you’re selling and stick to that, don’t confuse customers with too many options.
It’s not all bad stuff though, I’ve joined both websites into one to save the confusion of which website to post on. You might have noticed I’m finally blogging regularly and I’ve added more YouTube videos in the past few weeks than I’ve made in years.
But I’ll never fit into the mould of the social media icon, I don’t have the figure for the swimsuit images. I live in a council flat in Leeds, not a hotel in the Bahamas and I’m 9,800 followers away from making money from the internet.
My Etsy shop is looking more like a Woolworths than a professionally edited store, but after weeks of videos I’ve come to one conclusion. As long as I’m happy, it’s ok.
And so, in recognition of promising myself to never have images showing me in a bikini or pretending I live in a minimalist decorated penthouse overlooking the river, I painted this…
… also available on T-shirts!!!
