Create || Collaborative Post
Having a blog has without a doubt changed my life and it's amazing the impact of even the simplest of websites can have on our first impressions of a business. With my art work and crafts, I'm currently selling via larger collective sites, but I am considering setting up a separate site to sell directly to my customers as the market is so saturated on creative selling sites that I don't think we see any benefit but also give away a large chunk of our profits in the process too. It all just starts to feel a little pointless when you're getting few sales then literally giving money away for nothing!
For small businesses nowadays, creating a website is the biggest and most important investment we can make when it comes to reaching potential customers and sharing what we have to offer. It's more important than ever to stand out from the crowd and creating a website that reflects our branding and ethos is crucial. Ultimately, everything we make from our website goes to us, so once we've covered our own costs we're no longer paying those dreaded listing fees or giving a percentage of our hard earned money away. We also have totally free creative control, win win win!
For a small business, the thought of starting a website can be daunting though and many are put off by the thought of the initial outlay costs, but they don't have to cost the earth. Investing a little in a website can broaden the potential for our business so much, that they are truly worth the investment. Sites such as Silky Ocean Studios create beautiful sites for small businesses like mine all over the world, giving us the professional yet personal touch we want to portray. Also, if you're not very tech savvy then they can support you through all the things you may be unsure of such as hosting, design and updating your site. Click Here to see what a company like this can do for your business and how they have helped other great companies such as Lynda Mills Kitchen designs, Polished Pigs & Worthingtons the salon.
The benefits of having a unique website I think are beginning to far outweigh selling with millions of others on a shared platform. When shops like Etsy started out, they were perfect for selling our unique artworks and crafts, but with millions of creative people now worldwide competing on one site, the platforms like these just don't work for many of us like they once would.
So is a website for your creative sales the way to go?
I think that absolutely yes, we would all benefit far better from selling independently, sharing our work on social media and guiding our customer base directly to our website. This way we can easily track our progress, see what's working and best of all, keep our profits. Although having the ease and security of a big brand to sell under feels like the better option, there are far too many downsides for most of us to ever make it a success long term.
Having our own eCommerce site means that we are not surrounded by competition. People visiting your site are much more likely to buy your product when there's not a million other similar items popping up in the same search. Your site, your products, your sales.
Having a proper website to make sales feels like a much bigger achievement and shows your customers you're serious about your product. You are free to market it as you wish, not bound by any strict listing or photography rules and have free reign to make it 'completely you through and though'. Oh, I do love a rhyme!
Although running your own site will take time and of course money, in the long run I think for anyone that's serious about expanding their business long term, it's the way to go to increase sales, exposure and opportunities.
How do you prefer to sell your arts & crafts?
