How it all Began

In February 2011 I decided that I might like to try to make a few crafty things.  I had attempted and failed to succeed at knitting as it took too much concentrating and counting and that just didn't work for me with a small child and new baby in the house.  As a hobbyist Wood Turner my husband has all sorts of 'stuff' in the garage and so when I decided I was going to try painting a wooden heart and put our eldest daughters name on it he knew about how painting 'raises the grain' and showed me how to sand things and also had a pot of varnish kicking about that he let me use.  So there is was my first attempt at making something.

Since I didn't really know what direction my new creativity would take me in I ordered a few small  cheap wooden boxes and had a go at painting them and then had what I now consider to be the best idea of all which was decorated letters with hanging name tags.  So I ordered a couple of letters and made one for each of my daughters, put the pictures up on facebook and Ebay and started getting a few orders in.













Sourcing good quality raw materials from reliable suppliers was my biggest challenge initially.  I didn't know what demand would be like for my products or what sort of things they would order so I tried a few different ideas before settling on what I now consider to be 'my style'. 

It was a steep learning curve and I had to learn fast.  Within weeks people were asking me if I could make painted boxes, freestanding letters and a variety of letter designs.  I kept uploading my pictures to Facebook and slowly but surely my number of 'likers' grew.  I knew nothing about the likes of The Supermums Craft Fair and UK Mums Who Make at that stage or about liking other pages, shoutouts and networking.  Nevermind silent tagging and liking ladders as a way of increasing your like count!

My business, although launched on Facebook, grew through good old fashioned word of mouth until I stumbled across the afore mentioned networking pages and found a number of lovely pages on Facebook and so my networking circle began to grow.

So what advice can I give to New Pages just setting up?

1. Create the best quality items you can - pay attention to the detail and the finish, that's what gets you a good reputation, recommendations and repeat business.
2. Take good quality, in focus, well lit pictures of your work.
3. Arrange your pictures into as few Albums as is possible - it's plain annoying for customers browsing otherwise.
4. Start with a clear well defined product range - you can add to it later.  Too many bits and pieces can look messy and make it unclear to customers what it is you make and sell.  Examples of pages that have an clear brand and style are Holly-Blues and Quirky Birds, Patterns in the Wind, Gracie's Dolls , Funky Vintage and Hattifers and there are many more.
5. Clearly mark each picture with a price, some people won't like to ask and that could lose you a sale.
6. Get out there and network - 'like' other pages, comment on things they do that you like and start up conversations.
7. Observe good Facebook etiquette - do not plaster your pictures all over other sellers walls.  It's plain rude and will not win you any friends.
8. Set yourself achievable targets - whether that be for number of likers, page visits or sales.
9. However much you may be tempted by seeing how well someone elses product sells -  under no circumstances should you copy it.  If you are not good enough to design and create your own product line to a high standard then may be this isn't the business for you!
10. Enjoy meeting and interacting with your customers - there will be some challenges along the way but you will also meet some wonderful people who may well become your friends!