Profile & Story Tips

How is your customer?

So you have a product that you love to make and you have skills that people are asking for. You have been making them for friends and family or maybe you have an existing business that used to be in a physical store location And now needing to move online. No matter the keys, online customers are an important type of customer for any business.

If you are just starting out and wonder who should I sell two, we would recommend doing a bit of research may be going to Etsy Oracle Facebook group do you identify who is interested in the type of product similar to yours. Where do they connect and what are they interested in?

If you are a seasoned maker who is just now learning to sell online, we would recommend reaching out to your previous customer, to talk to them and understand if they would be open to transact online.

In both cases, it is a good idea to start from a small group audience and to be specific because it's actually really hard to create a business that sells to anybody.

Pick a name for yourself

What do you want to be known to us? The name should reflect the great things about you and the products that you sell. It should be short, easy to understand, and reflects your service/personality.

Look back into your childhood and your favorite things and picked up a couple of different words that you like. Then use one of the name generator tools that would help you look at the combination of these words to create a unique name for yourself.

Whatever you do, make sure that your name is available as a domain name more on that next.

Reserve your domain name

A domain name is a web address that your customers will be able to type in on the Internet to find you. The most common domain name is .com, followed by.io but there is also some unique extension such as .shop or .design.

When you brainstorm your names, make sure that you go to a tour like Namecheap or Godaddy to search for your domain name and register it right away.

There is often a great discount for the first name register. Be sure to look for those!

Create a video introducing yourself

Customers want to know who you are and they want to relate to your story. Creating a video introducing yourself and what you were passionate about will help you build trust with your customers and help you tell your story.

Keep your story under 1 min and Share a little bit about your journey as a maker, the services, the style, the passion, and why do you decide to start a business. Tell them why this matters to you and they will come.

You can upload this video onto your website, social channels, or youtube to start connecting with your customers.

Create a video of your process

As makers, we make things by hand and have a process that allows us to create beautiful products. As such people are very curious and interested in knowing what goes behind the scene, how much work it takes to create every small little detail.

Create videos of your process from start to finish and give them a glimpse into your inspirations, thought process, and what matters to you.

If you're into upcycling, sustainability, vintage - let it be known!

Start a blog or youtube channel and document the process

This is probably a step for a more experience maker but once you have a collection of projects and content under your belt, consider creating blog posts on your site or leveraging other blocking platforms such as medium and YouTube to engage with other audiences and extend the reach of your story even further! further exposure.

Photograph by Roberto Reposo