When you think of marketing crafts, what comes to mind first? Business cards, buying advertisements, writing your blog, and having a Facebook fan page. All of these tactics are great, and each is useful in its own way. There are other ways, though, that you can market yourself and your goods without even thinking about it.
Posting on crafting forums and websites is a great way to get your name out there. Marketing crafts is that simple— getting your name and product seen by as many people as possible. By just being active on crafting forums and websites, you can reach a wealth of customers and friends. Remember, though, by building these relationships and participating, people will naturally want to look at your shop and blog. The crafting forums aren't a place to show up, say, "Check out my shop," and then leave.
Here are some of the numerous crafting forums where you can correspond with people, make friends, and share tips and projects. You will be spreading the word about your business and marketing crafts that you make, without saying a word about them.
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You might already know about Craftster, but it’s a big one. This crafting forum is an amazing place to talk with new people, share projects, and really integrate yourself into the craft community. There are city guides where you can see what opportunities are around your area, sections dedicated to specific crafts, and a host of other great tools and information. If you have some advertising dollars, you can buy ad space here and reach a ton of people.
This is a great crafting forum that connects crafty women in business. You can connect with the nice group of people on the forums to share business ideas and tips. There are sections of the forums also for fun swaps that also help get your name out there when you're marketing crafts that you make and sell. It is a fun way to participate and enables you to swap out your handiwork while getting something awesome in return.
The blog on Craftzine is a great place to be seen around the web. You can submit projects and articles, which are read by thousands of people. Craftzine also has a Community section which includes forums, Flickr updates, and Twitter updates.
This is also a really great place for marketing crafts that you've made by hand. Besides the crafting forums, the site has everyone who is a GetCrafty member listed, so you and others are easily accessible. The site also has a blogroll of recently updated blogs. You can list your blog there, and you can also submit pictures to your photo album.
Building connections and integrating yourself in the craft community is a really effective way of marketing yourself and your business. Marketing doesn’t have to just be handing out business cards and buying advertisements. These crafting forums are just as effective (and free!) when marketing crafts, and you can gain valuable friendships at the same time.
