Why is it (very) beneficial to your craft business have a ‘Busy’ craft Blog?
Yes I know that I do go on about this, but a busy blog is one of the best marketing tools your Craft Business can have. The larger the readership of your craft blog the more people know about you, and your craft products. Lot’s of craft business owners use their blog/s to promote their craft business (myself included) as well write about the more personal side of their lives. The question is: how to you do this in an engaging, informative, and entertaining way, and without offending your readers (e.g because the blog is one big advert)? In this post I’m going to suggest items that you could include in your Craft Blog.
A good craft blog is any craft blog that YOU’D like to read…
Think of crafty blogs that YOU really enjoy reading, what things make YOU come back to those craft blogs again and again, what makes YOU subscribe to them, and what makes YOU comment on their posts. If you don’t have lots of fave craft blogs, think of things that you would like to see in a craft blog. It really is worth taking a bit of time to answer this question and write down your answers on a sheet of paper. This is exactly what I did back in November ‘06 when I first started blogging. You see, I think that the maxim ‘treat others as you would like to be treated yourself’ works in most everything. If you run a shop, try to give the kind of customer service you would like to receive, if you sell craft items try to sell things that you would enjoy receiving yourself, and if you write a craft blog write about things that you would like to see in a craft blog and you won’t go far wrong.
My computer is sooooo slow today!
Here are some blog items which are to be found in all busy craft blogs:
- Tutorials, making advice, and ideas - these require effort, but they are worth it because one of the main strengths of the crafting community is the community’s desire to share ideas and knowledge, and anyone who takes the time to do that is regarded as ‘a good sort’ in the crafting community! Examples of tutorials in craft blogs: a whole stack of coin purse tutorials listed in Need More Fibre, and a Whip Stitch tutorial on Futuregirl, and a whole mixture of tutorials listed on Whip-up.
- (Somewhat) personal entries - and integral beauty of a handmade item is that a person has made that item with their own fingers, they have taken a fair amount of time to do it, and they have done it with love. I think that one of the best things that you (the creator of that item) can do to increase the value of your craft item is to bring it to ‘life’ giving your readers and customers an insight to who you are. It increases trust, gives your craft items ‘personality’, and it’s interesting (because we’re all nosey!) Don’t you just love it when you are at a craft fair and you can see the vendor making craft items to sell. Just the sight of seeing the artist at work somehow adds value to their craft products… A one-off or limited edition handmade item is the antithesis of a mass produced item made for a faceless corporation, so celebrate this difference on your craft blog. Get a bit personal, how about talking: about the crafting process, what things went wrong, what things went right, what your favourite cake is, things that you find inspiring, things that you find funny, recipes, your new hair cut, stories about the kids, etc. etc. etc.
- Nice photography - unfortunately not all of us are as fortunate as Amy or Heather (who’s partners are both pro photographers). But we can still try to take well lit, and clear photos. Also consider taking a few different shots of the same craft product, i.e. front, back, side, inside, this give readers and customers a clearer view of your products.
- Writers promoting others - a very good way to promote yourself is to promote others. The more you do this the more that other people will promote you in return. Share links, swap links, link, link, link! Of course, the favour isn’t always returned ‘directly’, it’s more a case of creating good ‘internet karma vibes’. Also your readers will appreciate being shown new and interesting links, just like you do when you are reading other craft blogs.
- Regular-ish posting - I know that this one can be tricky, Crafters are busy people! The thing is if you don’t post with some regularity on your blog, you’ll find that may loose readers who’ll go and find other fave blogs to read…
Further reading on writing good blogs:
Don’t forget to add your blog to Blog Directories to help you be more easily found (and it’s free!):
- Blog Catalog
- Technorati
- Blog Search Engine
- Blog Flux
- Blog Her
- Delightful Blogs
- Blogarama
- Blogs by Women
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Thank you for this very helpful article! I’ve been blogging for years, but as I’ve refined my focus I’m finding I need a few pointers to make my blog even better. Thanks for all those great links too!
My site is still relatively young (except for some old posts I moved from elsewhere). Recently I’ve realized that most of the visits that were led to my site by search engines are looking for how-to’s and that certainly enforces the sharing of ideas thing that you mentioned. =)
Yet another super duper (as my son would say) helpful blog. I have just registered myself with Blogsby women. Just to let you know they are charging $3 at the minute due to the high demand. As you know my blog is very young and i have a couple of regulars but any help in increasing it is gratefully received. Hope you have had a great weekend
Great advice. I never knew that there were search engines specifically geared toward Blogs! It took me a little while but I submitted mine to every one that you mentioned. Thanks!
Great info, thanks for sharing!! Very useful information.
OK, I really need to read blogs more closely. I swear I read this article but I totally missed that you linked to me. Thanks!! You know, I get the most emails about my tutorials.
People really appreciate it when you take the time to put some photos and step by step instructions for some crafty task. Even if you think your tutorial is too elementary, just remember, there are always more newbies who would love your help.