Marketing yourself is just as important as marketing your product  It can be daunting but can be essential for small businesses like mine.

If you have been reading some of my other posts you will know that this is not my first attempt to build my own business.  I have always been happiest making things with my own hands.  It gives me such a sense of achievement.  My problem is not with self belief when it comes to making because I know that I am good at that.  The problem comes when marketing myself, which is key to selling the products I design and make.

In the beginning I thought that all I needed was a good, well-made product.  I could put it online, or on the table at a craft fair and people would come and buy it.  Unfortunately this is not the case.  In this amazing world we can find anything we want!  We also have so much choice with availability of products.  And, thanks to services like Amazon Prime delivery – we can even have it delivered to us on the same day!  It is difficult for one maker to stand out and be noticed.

This is where marketing yourself, as well as your product, becomes so important.  To show myself to my customers can be so daunting but it is an essential for them to be able to relate to me.  I want to show that my notebooks are handmade and the best way to do that is to show me making them.  Showing that nothing I sell is mass produced in a factory adds value to my items.

How I Market Myself

I use social media, especially Instagram to show the photographic inspiration behind the prints I create.  I also post pictures of me making my notebooks.  And of what I write in them!  Being such a visual person this community works really well for me.  Pinterest is similarly visual, although I am still trying to get to grips with making it work for my business!

In my experience people are starting to appreciate the hard work that goes into every beautifully made item and are willing to pay for it.  For a handmade business I believe it is essential to show the making – and the maker!

Marketing Yourself?

I’d love to hear from anyone who also is working hard to sell their handmade items.  How do you help your customers to relate to your products?  How do help them to appreciate in the joy of handmade?