Knitting information, ideas and success stories from women who create real cash flow from their knitting and crochet.
Archive for the ‘Knitting Resources’ Category
Sell Your Knitting And Crochet Online – Without A Website!
Friday, July 17th, 2009
Did you know that you don’t have to have your own website to make a profit selling knitting and crochet online? In this post I’ll be revealing the top online craft sites for selling knitting and crochet, and what may surprise you – E-bay isn’t one of them…
But isn’t there heaps of opportunity on E-bay because it’s so huge? (you may ask), isn’t there heaps of traffic and don’t people pay more because it’s and auction? Well I wouldn’t list any knitting or crocheted items on there…ever.
Why not? Most people who are shopping on E-bay are after one of two things – something that is very rare or hard to find, or a BARGAIN. And most people who are shopping on E-bay do not put enough value on the time and effort that goes into making handcrafted items. It breaks my heart to see such beautiful pieces being sold on there for so little money.
I would much rather see your products listed on quality craft and knitting sites where people appreciate their value and you aren’t paying outrageous listing fees.
So here is a list of quality craft sites with their advertising and selling fees. I have listed them in order of highest traffic first (according to Alexa at time of writing). Try them as a great way to sell your knitted products without having your own online knitting website, and safe in the knowledge that the people who come to these sites to buy are more likely to realise the true value of your skill and time.
www.etsy.com – Probably the most well known craft mall, with a wide range of high quality crafts and lots of traffic (ie customers!). Etsy lets you set up a "shop" with your own URL based on your username, for example, http://niceknits.etsy.com, and a customised banner, profile and shop policy. It’s easy and you dont have to be too web-savvy to set it all up. They also provide secure shopping and an artisans community where you can ask other sellers for advice or tips. Fee: Free to sign up, $0.20 to list each item for 4 months, plus 3.5% comission upon sale.
www.kinfolkcrafts.com – Great for country crafts, this site has a friendly country feel. Created in 2000 as a resource for crafters who want a web presence but don’t have time to maintain their own site. They offer customised service and will design a web page and even a unique logo for you. Fee: The Standard package includes one web page for 10 of your products and costs $75 for set up and design, then $10 per month for hosting, minimum 3 months hosting and no commission fees. As you grow, there is an option to upgrade your site, and you have the ability to have your own unique URL, eg www.niceknits.com (no mention of kinfolk in the name)
www.handmadecatalog.com – A nicely presented site, designed for crafters to be able to sell online without maintaining their own website. They do national advertising in the US, and marketing to bring in targeted customers. There are there levels of membership, with the premium allowing you to have your own webpage address eg www.handmadecatalog.com/niceknits and list up to 1200 items. Fee: Basic is $4.95 per month, plus a 15% commission, Standard charges $7.95 per month, plus a 10% commission, and Professional is $12.95 per month with a 5% commission on top. Annual payment discounts are also available.
www.craftmall.com – Large online mall, wide range of categories Fee: Basic accounts range from $7.95-$47.95 per month for 15-500 products, Premium accounts range from $14.95-$54.95 a month for 25-650 products. Alexa Ranking (at time of writing): 816,209
www.artsefest.com – Another large online mall with a big range of categories Fee: between $14-$18 per month if you build a site through them, $8 monthly if you already have a website (long-term sign up discounts also available)
www.youcraftylot.com – This is a UK based site created by Hazel Allen, who aim is to create an online crafting community and become the biggest craft sales site in the UK! Fee: Free to join, 10 pence listing fee and no sales commissions!
www.handmadefusion.com – This is a relatively new site offering quality handmade items. Fee: $0.15 c perlisting for up to 4 months, 3% commission on sold items.
www.artisansmarket.com – This site was created by a group of artisans and small business owners that wanted to provide a network for artisans as well as better services and education for the public. It is a clean and well presented site. Fee: $10 a month plus 10% of sales. Annual payment discounts are also available.
Three Quick Tips:
1. When you chose a site, you should take into consideration how much it will cost to list or rent ‘space’, compared to how much traffic they actually get.
2. You should also make sure that the site is relevant for your products, for example, don’t list on a country-craft site if you are trying to sell high-fashion products to young city-dwellers.
3. You may need to test a few different sites to see where your products sell best.
My Knitting For Profit Book has more tips and advice for listing in online malls, and how to sell knitting online without your own website. If you have found another good site for selling knitting or crochet online, let us all know by leaving a reply below!
Online Knitting Success Story – Emilda From Hectanooga
Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009
Emilda is a knitting designer with a difference, and you can’t help but be inspired by her positivity, generosity and joy of knitting! She is part of a growing group of designers who create with “knitterpreneurs” in mind, with fast easy to knit designs that she is happy for people to make a profit from knitting.
Find out why her products sell so well, and how this self-confessed technophobic now makes most of her sales online!
How it all started…
Emilda grew up in a small country village at a time when skills like knitting, crocheting, quilting and sewing were part of everyday life. “Women could do everything, and it was all of necessity, not a leisure activity as it is today. As a young girl, the clickety-click music of my mothers knitting needles, and the rhythmic movement of her hands dancing above her knitting needles was a mesmerizing and almost hypnotic nightly occurrence in our kitchen as we sat around the big wood stove by the light of a kerosene lamp!”
“We had no access to patterns back then, so I became adept at finding a way to make what was in my mind, and bring it into reality. I have always sewn without patterns, and knitted and crocheted without patterns.”
From knitting by lamp-light to online retailer!
Over the following years, Emilda built up a wide and wonderful range of knitted items, which sold well at countless craft shows and markets. But she wanted to go the next step, and start selling online.
The only problem was that she believed she didn’t have the knowledge or skills to be able to run her own website. “At my age, I probably just have a limited expectation that it is just too complicated for me to comprehend” – but this wasn’t going to stop her!
She decided to list her knitted pieces on a couple of crafting sites, but was disappointed with the results. Then one day she happened to find a discussion on a blog about Etsy.com, and after reading their positive comments she decided to find out more.
“When I saw how little the costs were, and realised that they do all the maintenance of the site, I was determined to join up!
“I had sales the first day I placed listings on the site! After that, I shifted my compulsive urges to listing, and making new items, and listing and listing and listing. My first sales were for wooden buttons which I make from tree branches, and in the beginning that was the main attraction to my site” she says.
Why are her products so popular?
Emilda started her Etsy.com store in November 2008, and in only 7 months she has made over 400 sales!
“When I joined Etsy, I was only selling the finished products. But I received emails from people who had visited my shop, asking if they were they my own designs, and if they could they buy the patterns. And so, being entrepreneurial in spirit, I saw that there was a need for that type of thing. I began the task of having a clipboard handy, and writing the instructions as I was knitting.
I think what makes my items unique, is the mere fact that I have not followed a pattern. When I was selling at craft shows, which was the main outlet for my creative endeavors for a great deal of the past 30 or so years, people would buy the finished hats, scarves, ornaments, and they were attracted to my booth because my items didn’t look like others.
Now my pattern range consists of over 100 hats, cowls, neck warmers, scarves, crocheted jewelry, knitted fashion accessories, mittens, shrugs and shawls. And I find that people keep coming back for more because once they have used one of my patterns, they realize how simple and easy they are. My biggest focus is on how to make an item with the least possible increases, decreases, or complicated patterns – without losing the cuteness factor!
And my tutorials include pictures of the progression, which is very helpful. When you have the visuals, it really leaves nothing to figure out.. you read the directions, and look at the picture, you pretty much know what is being explained!”
And you don’t mind people using your patterns to “knit for profit”?
“I want people to love knitting and crochet as much as I do, so my patterns aim to be simple, easy, quick, and made for people to be able to make a profit from them.”
I have lots of people coming back for more patterns, simply because they are free to sell and profit from the finished items they make. And I love that they will be giving birth to something that was in my imagination, because I just don’t have the time anymore to mass produce. My mind is full of patterns, so I think my purpose is to supply the whole world with wonderful patterns!”
Emilda is now retired, but loves that her hobby provides extra income and keeps her busy. “The best part of making money from knitting is being able to work whenever I want to. If I have a sleepless night, I just get up and let the creative juices flow – for me, the hardest part is actually shutting my imagination off!”
A great tip for using Etsy…
I wish I had known that I could have started on Etsy with just one item. I thought I had to have a store full, so I was pressuring myself to hurry up and make lots of things, and then go through the photography and listings all at once. It is actually better to list slowly, because it keeps you at the top of Etsy’s search engines.
And her advice for someone who wants to make money knitting?
“Make one or two things you love to make, then open a store on Etsy!
You know, I don’t have any shares in Etsy… but as far as I am concerned its a great deal. Anyone, anywhere can try out their products on a well maintained, and well managed site…. and all for just 20 cents, because that’s all it costs to list an item. There are no registration fees, no start up costs, just set yourself up, and list an item! What have you got to lose?”
If you are interested in starting an Etsy store, you can click here to get started (and I don’t own shares in Etsy either, but maybe I should!!)
And have a look at the new Knitting Patterns pages right here on the Knitting For Profit Blog to see some of Emilda’s beautiful designs that you can buy through her Etsy store at www.hectanooga.etsy.com
A Quick Lesson In Speed Knitting
Wednesday, April 29th, 2009
If you want to make money knitting, then being able to knit faster not only means you can get more done in a shorter space of time, it also means you are being paid more per hour of work – so it’s worth taking some tips from the worlds fastest knitter!
Miriam Tegels is in the Guiness Book of World Records for completing an amazing 118 stitches in one minute!
KnitPicks has released this video with tips from Miriam for increasing the speed of your knitting, and it’s really fascinating to watch her in action. Miriam knits in the continental style for competition, but her tips are still useful even if you knit in other styles.
To really get your needles burning, Miriam suggests:
• Don’t tense up – make sure you shoulders are relaxed
• Keep all your movements small, your hands should move as little as possible
• Keep your left index finger low, almost in line with the needle
• Drape yarn over your left index finger and down through the middle and ring fingers of your left hand. Keep tension by clamping down on the yarn with these fingers
• If you want to compete, practice continental style on size 8 needles with DK weight yarn, once you can knit more than 200 stitches in 3 minutes you’re ready!
If you’re not interested in competing, stick to your preferred style and just keep practicing! When you are knitting for profit it’s well worth the effort to increase your speed and productivity.
Another way to speed up your knitting is to choose projects that are simple and fast to knit. There are some good books available that specialise in fast projects, and remember to have a look at Ruth’s projects which are designed to be fast and easy too.
The Knitters Guide To Business Cards
Tuesday, March 10th, 2009
Business cards are absolutely essential for knitting for profit, so how do you make sure they help you sell more of your knitting, and where's the best place to get them?
When you are knitting for profit, one of the most important things you'll need to do is get your name and knitting product range known to your customers. If you have been smart and chosen a niche market, you will have a very clear idea of who your customers are, where they are shopping, and what they are looking to buy.
Now you just need to find them and let them know that you have the solution to their needs and desires! One of the ways to do this is to make sure you have professional looking business cards that immediately tell people who you are, what you sell and who the knitted products are meant for.
Many knitters make the mistake of only putting their name and address on their knitting business cards – but that tells your customers nothing about how you can help them! When you design your card, you must make sure you include a clear description of your knitting product range or service, and how it will benefit your customer. For example:
If someone with sensitive skin sees Jane's card, they are much more likely to (a) keep the card, (b) call Jane for more information about her knitting range or (c) pass the card on to someone else they know who has sensitive skin or allergy problems.
Now this is just a quick mock-up I did on my computer…and realised afterwards that I left out Jane's last-name…we all make mistakes 
, but the point is, even with seemingly important details like that missing, people would still be more likely to call Jane's knitting business from this card, than if she just had a plain old boring card with only her name and contact details on it.
Business cards are so important for getting free publicity for your knitting business. If you display at craft shows or markets they give customers (and potential customers) a way to contact you later. Every knitted item you sell should have a swing tag or business card attached, because people who have already bought from you are the people most likely to buy again, and they need to be able to find you.
So where do you get knitting business cards?
There are lots of online business card providers, but always remember – you get what you pay for! If the deal seems cheap, its probably because they are using cheap or thin card and low quality printing inks and processes. I have been burned by this – ordering what was described as “premium” business cards and getting undersized cards on thin paper that looked like I'd printed them myself on a home inkjet printer!
So if you use an online provider, check the SIZE of the cards (standard business cards are 89 x 51mm or 3.5 x 2 inches), the WEIGHT of the card they are printed on (should be at least 80lb stock, 350g/m2 or 12pt thickness or they will look and feel cheap) and the FINISH of the surface (the best, most popular finishes now are low-sheen or semi-gloss.
Some people still like high-gloss and matte finishes, but be aware that many people think these finishes make their cards look cheap). Also check postage costs as they can make seemingly cheap cards very expensive!
I have used ClickBusinessCards.com and been happy with the results. I live in Australia, so use the Australian branch, but they also have sites for the USA, UK and New Zealand. Like most card companies online, they have standard templates that you can modify yourself.
Try typing 'business cards' into your local google search and you'll find plenty of different sites. The other site I like is zazzle.com, which has some beautiful templates you can use for swing-tags.
The other option is to go to your local printer or graphic designer. This means you'll get much more personalised service, and is a good way to go if you are not confident designing yourself, or would like some advice about layouts and colours for a knitting business card. Just remember, on your knitting business cards you should include:
►Your Business name (if you have one)
►Your name (and title if you want, eg director, creator or owner)
►Your postal address
►Your phone number(s)
►Your email address
►Your web site or craft-mall address
►A description of your knitting products or services
►Their unique features
►How they will benefit your customer
This will help you get more customers, and make sure that your existing customers can buy from you again and again, helping you to make more money from your knitting!
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About Liz
Welcome! My name is Liz and I am a work at home mother of two. I am also the author of the new book “Knitting for Profit”. I have created this blog to give you more great information, ideas and resources for making money from your knitting passion! [more]
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