hello hello crafters welcome to today's
video my name is shea before we start
grab yourself a coffee a tea or whatever
beverage of choice let's have a little
chat today about ways you can run your
own business selling your handmade items
you don't need to have an etsy shop okay
and i'm saying that because etsy can
sound super intimidating and i have
found great success selling things on
facebook so the topics i'm going to be
touching on in this video are three main
ones facebook marketplace opening up a
facebook business page how to do that
and why it's important and three selling
items in facebook groups now the reason
that i am sharing this today is because
these have been a game changer with my
qriket business and crafting business
and i was able to turn my crafting hobby
into an income so let's chat on how you
can do that on facebook do you have your
coffee my husband always jokes do you
want some coffee with your creamer
because
it's not even coffee color
now we're ready to go
the first thing i want to touch on is
what i call headquarters hq and that is
going to be a facebook business page
it's free to make one it's actually
really quick and easy it takes about
five minutes so i will try to show you a
brief overview of mine all you have to
do is set up a little name
name your craft business whatever it is
i make sure to include my business email
in there that way if people prefer to
email me they have access to that i add
a little picture and then i like to
upload a couple photos of my previous
work it doesn't necessarily have to be
something you're selling at this time
but it's just a lot better when someone
goes to your page and there's something
actually there i would also create the
about section and make sure to write a
little bit about your business what do
you sell what kind of things can you
offer if you want to add prices in there
that's always an option because i know
when i go to purchase something on
facebook or other places i'm always
pressing to find the prices i don't want
to have to message the people and then
go back and forth and find the price out
i like to just see it right there in
front of me so definitely a great idea
as well if you are looking to sell some
items just on facebook business pages
the reason that i call a facebook
business page hq or headquarters is
because this is kind of the hub that i'm
going to keep referring back to in all
of my posts on facebook to drive traffic
towards me the biggest thing of this is
getting yourself out there so you can
get return customers and word of mouth
out there they'll tell their friends
family and then your business is just
gonna grow so if you're just starting
out the key to this is local now we're
going to hop on over to the next topic i
wanted to touch on today facebook groups
now there are facebook groups that you
could sell your items in that are like
handmade and homemade crafting items and
to give you an example the one that i
live in would say
handmade in toronto and then you can go
on there and find all these handmade
sellers and people purchasing things or
people will type on there i'm looking
for someone who can make a wood sign for
my mom's birthday and things like that
and that's a great way to find business
but an even better way that i have been
able to get a lot of returning customers
is actually finding a business page
similar to your niche that's local if
you haven't quite chosen your niche for
your business or you don't know what i'm
talking about at all i have talked about
it in this video right here which i will
leave up above for you but
essentially what it is is choosing your
kind of target audience or what you're
wanting to make i'll give you an example
for me my target audience for my
business is mainly moms parents that
type of thing i would post things in
local mom groups that i'm a part of and
do personalized back-to-school items or
personalized stuffed animals and things
like that and because the people in the
group
like those kind of things you know for
their kids it works great and then they
end up coming to me to purchase my items
now let's talk about ways that you can
get yourself out there because
most facebook groups will not let you
just join and start willy-nilly posting
all of your information and business
pages out there they don't like that
type of advertisement so a great way to
do it is actually doing giveaways now
yes initially you would have to give
away an item for free let's say i want
to sell one of those starbucks cold cups
an example right here one that i've made
this cost me under ten dollars to make
but it made me hundreds of dollars
because of a giveaway depending on the
group that you're in and their rules
within the group you could post it and
either say like my page to enter the
giveaway make sure any time you post
anywhere if you're allowed to make sure
that you include your business page the
little name or the link that way people
can go on to there see what other
products you offer maybe they're not
looking for a starbucks cold cup that's
in your giveaway but they see that you
also sell t-shirts or wood signs and
that's what they're looking for so it's
a great way to have hq like i said that
little hub that people can go to and
find all of the things because if you
wrote that in a huge long post no one's
going to read that make sure you are
referencing your business page in any
post giveaway groups facebook
marketplace which we'll touch on in a
minute that's a big one and it kind of
ties it all together if you see the the
trend going on here continuing with the
example of using a starbucks cold cup
that i made and personalized and using
it in a giveaway i would say for example
like my business page to enter the
giveaway and then like post a screenshot
that you liked it
and then at the end of the day a
giveaway winner it's a local person they
come pick it up from me or i drop it off
whatever ship it to them whatever you
choose
and then that one free item equals
exposure to all of those other people
that just saw your post whether you're
allowed to post your business page in
there or not they still saw your post
they're probably interested what do you
make which is a great reason to have
your business page because i guarantee
you they're going to click on it and
scroll through and then if you're able
to actually get those people to go to
your business page whether they're
hopping over there to like it or just
take a look at what your stuff's about
they're going to see your photos that
you added remember i told you to add a
couple photos
and move on i'm sure you'll get at least
one customer from that so it's a great
way to get your name out there for local
people in the area that might be looking
for handmade items
with mother's day coming up that is a
great one to start starting off with
some type of event or holiday is great
because people are going to be looking
for handmade gifts for their moms their
grandmas their kids whatever it is so
that's where i started out and my
business blew up i was a beginner with a
cricket i was very overwhelmed making 50
shirts in one night for an order the
next day it blew up really quickly so
that's why i'm saying if you start for
some type of event i know christmas
already passed but mother's day is
coming up father's day those are great
ones to start off and don't worry i'm
not going to leave you hanging and
trying to come up with these ideas on
your own i have videos coming out very
soon on project ideas that you can make
and sell for mother's day and father's
day that worked out for me to make a
great profit even as a beginner with my
cricut so far we've talked about the
importance of setting up a facebook
business page and also joining some
local groups that are similar to your
niche or what you're trying to sell your
target audience to be able to get your
name and your business out there now
let's talk about facebook marketplace
because this is a huge one and i wanted
to save it for the end because i have a
lot of talking points here i definitely
could make a whole separate video really
going into detail but i wanted to sum it
up a little bit in this video just to
dip our toes in today i don't like to
make my videos too long so i will
definitely do a part two specifically
just on facebook marketplace if you're
interested let me know in the comments
down below if that's something you want
to see let's get into the overview of
selling your handmade items on facebook
marketplace my best advice is doing your
research and testing the waters i
wouldn't suggest going out and
purchasing a bunch of blanks for
something making it and hoping that it
sells
you could do that and it might work but
it also might not and then you're out
all that money so what i would suggest
is going to the shop picking up maybe
one or two of that item
making an example of it so making a sign
for example
and then posting it to sell if it sells
great you can go back to the shop pick
up more blanks and then go from there as
your orders come but like i said unless
you're really gung-ho about it and don't
really mind spending money make sure you
do your research first before going to
buy a bunch of supplies and materials
hoping that you're going to sell them
all
when you're just starting out
be careful test the waters do your
research
again we'll touch on that more in
another video about facebook marketplace
now with things like facebook
marketplace your business page and even
posting in any group or any social media
taking great product photos is huge you
don't have to be a photographer you
don't need a fancy camera you can just
use your smartphone that you have
there are a lot of great tips and tricks
that you can find on the internet places
like pinterest i've seen some on tick
talk and instagram reels that show you
great ways to take product photos that
look super professional
from home by yourself trust me i am not
very tech savvy with things like that
and if i'm able to do it so can you
maybe you don't have the money to go out
and get photo props and things like that
that's okay good lighting so make sure
your lights are turned on your windows
are open it's daytime and then just try
to get the best lighting you can
definitely do it just with your
smartphone not to worry when you're
listing things on facebook marketplace
make sure you are including relevant
hashtags in the bottom of your listing
you're able to add things so let's say
you're going to make a
starbucks cold cup you can add
personalized cups and personalized gift
and things like that things that people
would be searching for so make sure
you're utilizing the hashtags there
because that's what's going to show up
in the search
i would also make sure to include in
your product description with your
listing things like your business page
like i said you might not be able to
link it but you can add the name of it
on there and write like go to business
page for more
products and things like that you can
also add in there that all of your
products are fully customizable if
someone wants to add a different name or
something else to it so i like to add a
little blurb about that the last part
that i'm going to mention today for
selling on facebook marketplace is
making sure you're pricing your items
properly
not too expensive but not too cheap
either make sure you're getting paid for
your work and i do a video all about how
to price your handmade item there's
actually a formula that gives you the
perfect balance of getting paid for your
work your time and your materials and
still making a profit while giving the
buyer a good deal as well so be sure to
check out this video here because i tell
you all about that formula break it down
for you and we can talk about it there
otherwise thank you so much for joining
me today if you are interested in any
other qriket content qriket business and
qriket tips please feel free to follow
along subscribe down below and i will
see you next time bye for now crafters