I see you Handmade Hero!

I know the products you make are amazing and that you’ve put so much time and love into growing your business.

You’re now trying to grow your craft business online, but you’re struggling.

Maybe no one is finding your site, people are only sporadically finding you, or not as many people as you want are finding you.

How do I know this? Because I see many of my students struggle with this.

This is actually one of the biggest problems I see with online handmade businesses in general and it’s no good because there is such an easy fix!

You may make one of the most beautiful and unique products, have perfect photos and the best product descriptions, but if you’re not driving any traffic to your website then you won’t be making any sales.

So how do you drive traffic to your site and fix this problem?

The key here is to create content for your social media.

The even bigger key is to create CONSISTENT content for your social media.

Yes, I mean you need to be creating content for your business EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.

Not once a week, not every other day, and especially not daily for a few weeks and then nothing.

To grow your sales online, you have to show up for your audience daily and this will create a consistent flow of traffic that will turn into more sales.

First things first

Before you jump into posting randomly on your Facebook or Instagram account, you must first identify who your ideal customer is.

Remember, the content you’re creating is for them (not you), so you want to make sure you’re posting things that will resonate with them.

For example, my ideal customer is a cat person. For fun, I’ll post cat memes and they always get a lot of engagement.

If you don’t yet know who your ideal customer is, take some time to find out!

The best way to turn your ideal customer into a paying customer and raving fan is to CONNECT with her (or him) via your content. And, you’ll need to understand who they are before you can connect.

Answer these questions:

Where does my ideal customer hang out?
What are some characteristics of my ideal customer?
What problems does my ideal customer have?

Once you have this information, you can create your strategy for posting.

Now, if you are already thinking, “Amika, there is no way that I have time to post each and every day, nor do I have time to think up topics to cover,” hear me out!

This can actually be done pretty easily and I have an awesome resource for you so keep reading!

Creating content doesn’t have to be complicated. Blogging or creating videos can be time consuming, but that isn’t the only way to reach your audience. (*Note, I do think using video to connect with your audience is amazing, but I recommend you don’t start with that.)

The easiest type of content to create for social media and the place you should start is by posting graphics/photos with an engaging caption.

Using this type of content will grow your engagement the fastest, plus I’m sure you already have tons of photos of your products that you can use on your phone.

If you don’t want to use photos of your products, you can create graphics for free using canva.com. That’s what I use for my business and recommend my students use. It’s user friendly and has pre-sized templates for all the different social media platforms.

Now if creating graphics still sounds a little scary to you, let’s talk about that handy resource I mentioned!

Each month in the Handmade Hero Hamlet membership, my team and I create social media graphics with pre-written prompts for you. The hard work is all taken care of! All you have to do is grab the link, open in canva, and download for your use.

Normally these templates are only available in the paid Hamlet membership but for one month it’s totally free! You can get access to the full Quest Kit here.

Download the templates and get posting!

The algorithms on Facebook and Instagram both love consistency, which is why you need to be posting something every day.

The beauty of these platforms is that this is something that you can start today. At first, your posts won’t be shown to many people, but in three or four days, you’ll notice that your content is getting more engagement.

As your engagement increases, the platforms start to recognize that people enjoy your content and continue to show it to more of your followers.

Instagram Tips

On Instagram, you also need to make sure that you are using hashtags in your captions to target your ideal customer. You are allowed to use up to 30 hashtags and I recommend you use all of them.

If you aren’t sure which hashtags to use, you need to do a little research and find out what your ideal customer is searching for. You’ll want to use the ones they’re using and not ones that you think they would use.

Another key tip for Instagram is you need to be interacting with other people’s posts.

Find your ideal customers and start engaging with them. You want to take it a step beyond just “hearting” their posts. Actually comment on their pictures and ask them a genuine question to start a conversation.

Where do I post on Facebook?

When you’re first starting out, you can post on your personal page, but eventually you’ll need a Facebook business page. They’re free!

The downside of business pages is that only about 1-3% of people who like your page will see your stuff so that’s why you need to take it one step further.

You will originally post on your business page, but then you want to share your content into relevant Facebook groups.

Find different groups that your ideal customers are hanging out in and post in there. When people comment on your post, make sure to engage back.

One thing you want to make sure you’re looking at before posting the first time is the group rules. Each group will have different guidelines that you will need to follow.

When you’re posting on your page and into Facebook groups, you want to make sure you aren’t just asking people to buy something. That will not get you far!

A tip here is to note that people like buying from people, so share some stories about you and your business! You can tell a story behind why you started crafting or you can teach how to do a step in your craft. Keep it light and fun.

Now I have one more thing I need you to keep in mind as you are creating your content strategy:

Do you have a multifaceted business?

If you have many different angles to your handmade business, it is best to start off with focusing on ONE THING and post consistently about it.

Here’s what I mean: in my business I own a sheep ranch, sell sheep handmade products, and I also teach other handmade crafters how to grow their business.

If I were to post on social media about all parts of my business, my message would be blurred.

I chose what my main focus would be (teaching crafters to grow their businesses) and as I got really consistent with that, then I started introducing the other aspects.

Do you feel ready to start posting on your Facebook and Instagram accounts now?

Don’t forget, I’ve made this whole process easier for you with the canva templates, plus you can unlock all the other Handmade Hero Hamlet loot for free! Grab your Quest Kit HERE.