[real life] How to get more sales in my craft business – 4 successful creatives share

Marketing and selling are crucial parts of your business if you want to be successful. But it can be difficult sometimes to know what really works, and to keep inspiring yourself with creatives ways to promote and sell.

To inspire other creatives we asked four successful designer makers to finish the question: “What really works to get more sales in my craft business is ….”

This is a really inspiring post! Enjoy.

Rhian Malin – Ceramicist

Rhian says: “I make thrown porcelain vessels with hand-painted cobalt blue decoration. I have been a ceramicist for just over 5 years, to be honest muddling my way through the world of sales and marketing along the way (Who knew there were so many other jobs you needed to be good at to be a potter eh!?).

What really helped to get more sales in my craft business …

I do a wide variety of things to be honest:

I’ve found Instagram the most useful platform for growing sales directly to customers, and for getting noticed by galleries, but I also use Facebook and Mailchimp for email marketing to keep my customers up to date. I try to post on social media at least every other day and to send a quarterly newsletter, although I probably do a bit more during busy times like Christmas.

I have a lovely PDF price list which has photographs of all of my products with prices and sizes which makes it nice and easy for people to choose what they would like to order.

My online shop on my website gets restocked 2 – 3 times a year, which is a great opportunity to reach out to customers all over the world (mainly customers who follow me on Instagram).

I hold a open studio event twice each year at my studio in Warwickshire – once in the summer and once before Christmas.

I have between 10-15 galleries up and down the UK that stock my work throughout the year which have been fabulous at getting my work out into the world.

I exhibit at a select number of craft fairs a year, aiming for quality not quantity, and often opt for ceramic-focused shows rather than mixed. I’ve exhibited at Ceramic Art London, Art in Clay Hatfield and Made London Marylebone. My display stand is very simple – just three levels of veneered wood, which then gives me a blank canvas to make arrangements of my vessels to give prospective customers an idea of what works well together, and I always finish off my stand with a few flowers.

My last tip is that everything I’ve mentioned above for helping me with my sales (social media, online shop, a price list, getting selected for quality shows and exhibiting in great galleries) all require brilliant photos!

I use a professional photographer, Yeshen Venema, once a year to photograph my work. I think it’s one of the best investments I make every year as I’m sure quality images help me get noticed.’

Emma Barnes – Wild Fawn Jewellery

‘Emma says: “I hand make and sell sterling silver and gold jewellery online and in over 50 boutiques in Europe. I’ve been working on Wild Fawn Jewellery for four years.

I can answer this question on how to get more sales in your craft business in one word – Ethos!

Our ethos of creating minimal jewellery with recycled sterling silver and 9ct Gold, made by hand in our London studio, with as little impact on the environment as possible, has become so important to consumers in recent years and we have been working this way since the start of Wild Fawn.

Getting our message out there on social media and reinforcing it through our mailing list is a great selling tool for us.

We sell both on our own site and Etsy (we don’t want to put all our eggs in one basket!), being such a small team this means we will not partake in any Christmas markets, but there is always next year!“

Janine Partington – Maker – Enamel and Leather

Janine says: I am a designer-maker based in Bristol combining the traditional craft of enamelling with fresh, clean, contemporary design.

In 2018, I completed a part-time MA in Design with distinction at the University of the West of England. During this course, I made the leap into working with leather, in a new and unique way. Drawing on past experiences with printmaking, bookbinding and embroidery I explore mark-making through the carving and painting of leathers to create distinctive and appealing surfaces.

To get more sales for my craft business I rely on the symbiotic relationship between galleries, shops and craft shows to gain visibility within the marketplace so that when Christmas comes sales increase in those outlets and I gain more orders through my website.

What works for me to get sales is remembering throughout the year that if my work isn’t seen it can’t be purchased.

Good customer service and having email conversations with buyers personalises the service I give and leads to a high percentage of repeat business.

I also have a large range of price points for my products that helps people to buy into my aesthetic at affordable price points.’ 

Wolf & Moon Jewellery

Simon says: “I am the Sales & Marketing manager for Wolf & Moon, a handcrafted jewellery label by British designer Hannah Davis. The pieces are inspired by nature, architecture, art and design. We make unique, wearable jewellery for the modern woman, from eye-catching statement pieces to everyday essentials.

Here is what works for us to get more sales in our craft business …

1. Limited edition (Christmas) pieces. We did a few pieces last year and they were really popular so we have done a bigger range this year. Customers love exclusivity, but it also gives a chance to design something a bit different to our usual style.
2. Black Friday sale. Love them or hate them, the Black Friday sale we do (usually around 20% off) is our biggest sales weekend of the year and a vital part of our sales strategy. 
3. Workshops. We hosted our first workshops in September, and the response was great. Our new workshops sell out pretty quickly as people buy them as Christmas gifts.
4. Our e-newsletter and social media calendar was mapped out weeks ago, with blog posts/influencers/competitions/sales scheduled to ensure we have constant engaging content. Customers really are keeping an eye out for something unique and special, so making sure your content is there to be seen is key.
5. Social media advertising. This has always been a big driver of our sales, and the spend on it increases at this time of year. However the past few months has seen costs rise significantly and probably reflects the increasingly competitive nature of this strategy.

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If you are interested in finding out how to get more out of selling events, read our blog post here.

Did you find these tips to get more sales for your craft business useful? What works for you to get more sales in your craft business? Do let us know in the comments below.