When you’re trying to build your handmade business, one of the hardest parts is trying get your items in front of the eyes of the buyers. Trust me; I know the struggle. But since one of my goals this year has been to really put myself and my business out there, I’ve been consistently trying to search for those really active, beautiful sites that showcase curated features from shop owners.
After doing a little research, I’ve pulled together a list of 8 sites and pages that want to help your creative business get noticed, sometimes for a fee and sometimes just for the sake of the community of handmakers.
Hello, I’m Handmade Julie at Hello, I’m Handmade has a clean, visually soothing blog, full of motivational messages that’ll make any handmaker want to give themselves a big high-five. I follow her blog and Instagram page and she’s full of really helpful tips and tricks. She offers a few different feature options for a fee, but her following is enormous, and she doesn’t accept just anyone who applies, so her choices are pretty exclusive.
Handmade Loves I recently had one of my gift tag sets picked for Handmade Loves Instagram feature, and I was really happy with the response my shop had afterward. The fee system is pretty similar to Hello, I’m Handmade, but they also offer a curated collection, where artisans can offer their creations for sale. There are no listing fees to sell on their platform, but they receive 5% of each sale.
Handmade Odyssey A little newer on the curating scene than some of the other pages here, Handmade Odyssey has a following that is a little smaller, but their feature fees are lower as well. They also promote across many social media platforms for the same low fee. I was just approved for this feature, so we’ll see how it all turns out for me very soon!
Hunting Handmade Hunting Handmade offers features to their massive Instagram page under the name @EtsyHunter, also for a fee. And just this year, they have opened up their blog to guest hosting. That would be an amazing way to get some eyes to your Etsy shop! I think I’ll give this one a shot in the next month or two.
Etsy Elite Another Instagram page, chock full of handmade goodness. I couldn’t find any information on fees for these features, but there is an email address for more information. They have quite a large number of followers as well, so again, lots and lots of active shoppers that could need what you’re making.
Everything Etsy I’ve been following Kim from Everything Etsy since before I even had an Etsy shop. She offers tons of tutorials and advice on her blog, and once a quarter, opens up the ad space on her blog for shop and services to advertise in her Etsy directory. I just read that these spaces sell out in about 5 minutes, so if you’re interested, get on the email list for her ad space announcement, so you can get in on that. Kim’s also gotten on the IG feature train and has offered to promo 7 shops a week. All she asks is that you repost her special Etsy feature button photo, tag @EverythingEtsy and use #EverythingEtsy. Don’t forget to follow!
Craftsposure I just can across Craftsposure’s 100 Amazingly Free Tools for Your Business Guide and I almost fell off my couch! This is one incredibly (free) valuable resource! They also have a curated handmade feature collection on their Instagram feed, that is intermingled with blog post updates and encouragement.
Hello Love Handmade Similar in price and options to some of the other sites mentioned here, but they also have a feature upgrade to offer one of your products as a giveaway to their followers. And nothing gets more attention than a giveaway!
There are also tons of other Instagram pages that have started their own hashtags in order to support handmade shop owners. Some that I’ve found really useful are #waketomake from @TheHigginsCreative, #creativelifehappylife and #creativelife_happylife from @merriweatherc, and also#makersgonnamake, and #support handmade.
Check around for local group pages or blogs too, especially if you live in or around a larger city. There’s a lot of places that have a really active, supportive handmade community.
Just this small list alone has thousands and thousands of Instagram followers, not to mention blog subscribers, Facebook fans, and Twitter followers. And those numbers are growing everyday. Granted, a lot of those fans are other hand makers, but who says they’re not looking to buy what you’re making? Or maybe another shop owner has a collaboration idea that they’ve been kicking around and your style would be a perfect fit. What about magazine editors and trend setters? They have to get inspiration somewhere. Your handmade item could be the next big thing. It just needs to get seen by the right person at the right time.
I know there are lots of places online to showcase your creative business. What did I miss? Tell us about your favorite blog or page and what’s worked for your shop in the comments below!
