The ability to work from home as a mom is an amazing privilege, and something that more and more moms are looking for. While many choose to go back to school, or talk to their current bosses about working from home, a growing number of moms are turning to the business of homemade crafts.
In fact, there’s one woman that makes nearly $1 million a year with her Etsy shop, selling handmade legwarmers, scarves, and headbands. This is the kind of business that many moms are looking for, even if the monetary goal is on a much smaller scale.
However, these businesses often fail. The economy doesn’t look good for home-based startups, after all. But there are many other craft businesses that work quite successfully, shining a bright beacon of hope for those just starting out. One of the secrets of a successful craft business is knowing how to effectively spread the word.
The Importance of Word-of-Mouth Marketing
Word-of-mouth (WOM) marketing is the concept of using customers to tell others about your products, gain referrals, and grow your customer base. It’s one of the most effective forms of marketing out there, and even multi-million dollar companies rely on these methods.
Some of the strongest evidence for this is that 84 percent of customers trust product recommendations they hear from friends and family, versus hearing about it from a brand, according to a Neilsen survey. In addition, 43 percent of customers who hear about products via WOM are more likely to make a purchase.
WOM marketing is particularly important for home-based craft businesses. Because you likely don’t have the resources to practice the traditional, but highly expensive forms of marketing, WOM is your best and most effective option for building brand awareness and growing a loyal customer base.
Spread the Word
It’s not always easy to spread the word about your products. Unless you have a boisterous personality, it can be hard to get up the nerve to mention your business to others, let alone encourage them to buy your products. But in the long run, it doesn’t matter what kind of personality you have. You can actually market your products by using a few proven tactics.
- Start with the Product: Before you begin spreading the good word about your product, start by making your product something worth talking about. According to ReferralCandy, creating a “wow” product is the key to getting people to talk about it.
- Use a Referral Program: If you have some monetary resources available, a great place to start is with a referral program. These programs show you the strategies, skills, and techniques you need to adopt in order to get your product out there.
- Become More Social: This goes for both meeting new people and starting company social media pages. Facebook, for example, is a great place to spread your brand, show images of your products, announce events and specials, and find new customers with a customized business page.
- Start Blogging: Those who find the most success in their home-based craft businesses generally have a blog that tells about their crafting adventures. You can use this as a platform to share tips and tricks, post links to your product pages, and get more people aware of your brand. Before starting your own blog, research some of the top “mommy” and craft bloggers to see what kinds of content they share, as well as the structure they use to make their blogs successful.
Starting up a home-based craft business can be an amazing experience if you know how to spread the word out about your brand. As you implement some of these techniques and work diligently to engage customers, you’ll start to see your customers grow and your profits multiply, all while enjoying the luxury of working from home.
