Crafty Articles

Selling Crafts Online

CraftyTips.com shares some free tips about doing business on the web for crafters working on their first websites or updating their existing ones.

Selling Crafts Online Without a Website

A variety of opportunities exist for crafters wanting to sell their wares online.

Paid vs. Free Webhosting

Paid hosting offers credibility and more options than free webhosts.

Creating an About Me Page

Use your About Me page to sell your trustworthiness and professionalism.

What is SEO?

Learn what SEO is and how to begin using it to promote your site.

Get More Potential Visitors with the Right Keywords

Learn what keywords are and how to pick the right ones.

Pictures Lure Them In, Descriptions Make the Sale

Turn your item descriptions into sales copy and make more craft sales.

About Me pages are about Selling Yourself

Your About Me page should exemplify your crafty and professional skills. Leave the cutesy, personal stuff for your diary.

Convince Them

Whether you are 16 or 50, your About Me page is where you convince potential customers that you make quality items as well as can be trusted to deliver those items after receiving payment. You don't have to look far to find complaints about unfulfilled Internet transactions. Like it or not, you will be assumed guilty until you prove otherwise.

When writing your About Me page, keep reminding yourself it should really be called the "Why you should trust me and spend your hard-earned money on the craft items I sell and not buy those items from someone else" page.

Write it Right

The good news is that conveying this information isn't really that difficult. Think about what you say the first time you meet someone you want to impress. Now with that in mind, here are the main points to make on an About Me page for a craft business:

1. Welcome the visitor to your site.
2. Introduce yourself and your company. If you have an actual company with physical place of business, it wouldn't hurt to show a picture of it.
3. Tell how long you've been doing your type of craft; if interesting, who you learned it from; and just generally explain why you do what you do. If you want to convey a professional image, leave out references to needing beer money, fooling around money, or other things that convey youthful irresponsibility.
4. If you use special techniques or superior supplies - tell them. Remember this page is about showing you are an expert.
5. Leave out your age, unless it makes you a prodigy or a highly experienced old-timer.
6. Don't undersell with comments like "My friends just love my things so I thought I would sell them". This makes you look like this is a game for you. Change that to something like, "Everywhere I went friends and complete strangers would ask me about my ______. I took these votes of confidence and began selling my ______ in earnest." and now you begin to sound like a professional.
7. If your items are being sold somewhere, list the location(s). This invites potential customers to visit these stores and seek out your crafts for sale. And again, this enhances your credibility as a business person.

Tell Them Who You Are

This list is by no means complete, but it should serve to get the ideas flowing. Use a conversational style, but keep it at a professional level.

Remember, your About Me page is your opportunity to convince people that you are a true professional. Let your personality shine, but don't tarnish your professionalism in the process.