Shownotes
What do you need to have to start a crochet business?
You probably have everything you need already at your fingertips
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Transcripts
Hello and welcome to business school podcast.
Speaker:I'm Kelly, and I'm here to help you, to discover all the ways that you can create your own dream cruise business.
Speaker:Your business does not have to look the same as anyone else's, and you can do it the way you want.
Speaker:So what do we have on the podcast today?
Speaker:What do you need to start a business?
Speaker:Well, this is an easy answer than you might think.
Speaker:You probably already have everything you need to start selling your croquet.
Speaker:Of course, you need your yarn and hooks, but otherwise all you really need is a smartphone.
Speaker:If you have a fairly recent phone that was made in the last couple of years, then it will have everything you need on it to do the essentials of selling croquet.
Speaker:You need a decent camera, and your smartphone camera is more than good enough.
Speaker:You can make videos using your smartphone as well.
Speaker:You don't need any fancy video camera's or anything like that.
Speaker:I use my smartphone for everything.
Speaker:In my business.
Speaker:It can be done on my phone.
Speaker:I will do it on my phone.
Speaker:It's just it's so convenient and it's so handy to have everything in one place, especially on something that I'm going to have with me all the time.
Speaker:So if I have a spare 10 minutes while I'm waiting for my son to finish his football, I can just get on my phone and a few pictures, just down a few ideas for future products.
Speaker:It's just so handy.
Speaker:There are very few things these days that you need a laptop for your computer.
Speaker:There are some things, but most of that will come later just to get yourself started.
Speaker:Phone hooks Yann.
Speaker:That's really all you need to get started to begin marketing your products.
Speaker:You just need to take really good pictures.
Speaker:I'm gonna say really good.
Speaker:You need to make sure that they are sharp, that it's clear what you're selling.
Speaker:Using too many props is a bit of a mistake, because it can hide what your product is and what is included in the sale.
Speaker:I need them to be taken in bright, natural light.
Speaker:You can edit your photos on your phone.
Speaker:There are plenty of free APs available to just tidied up a bit.
Speaker:I use one called the funky.
Speaker:There's snap seed that's also very popular.
Speaker:But there are loads.
Speaker:If you just go into your APP store, you'll find the free versions, and then you can add writing on to them.
Speaker:So if you want to add your logo or a watermark, you can do that in Canada.
Speaker:Canada is a free online program.
Speaker:You can use the graphics and you can use the free version of the free version is absolutely brilliant, and you'll find that you won't need the paid version until you're much further into your selling journey.
Speaker:Then you need somewhere to post.
Speaker:So Social media is a fantastic place to start selling.
Speaker:It gives you a chance to build an audience and find out what your customers are looking for so you can show them what you started making and then see what products they would like to go along beside it.
Speaker:It's a great place to do some research into what kind of products people looking for, um, where your audience hangs out so you can go and find your customers.
Speaker:And of course, social media is free.
Speaker:The one mistake I do see people making is that they try to be on all the platforms because the businesses that you're trying to emulate there on all platforms.
Speaker:But here's the thing.
Speaker:If someone has been in business for quite a long time, they often have help.
Speaker:They will have virtual assistance.
Speaker:They'll have other people working for them that will help them be everywhere.
Speaker:As a soul seller that is doing it all yourself.
Speaker:You do not have time to do this.
Speaker:And the thing is, if you don't do a platform properly, then you're not going to get traction on it.
Speaker:Focus on one platform.
Speaker:Don't spread yourself to thin focused on one platform.
Speaker:Learn to use it really, really well, Once you've done that, then you can look at something else.
Speaker:Don't try and be everywhere because it won't work.
Speaker:There's just not enough hours in the day to do it, and you're gonna burn yourself out.
Speaker:It's a big problem, but if you just focus on the platform and choose the one that you find easiest to use, okay, it doesn't matter which platform you use.
Speaker:It could be Facebook instagram.
Speaker:It could be Twitter.
Speaker:It really doesn't matter.
Speaker:Just choose one and just one, and that's it.
Speaker:That's all you need to start selling.
Speaker:Okay, So what can come next in starting to sell your croquet?
Speaker:Well, you might also want to look at a site, a third party site.
Speaker:They can start selling your clothes on.
Speaker:You may have heard of Etc or Amazon handmade.
Speaker:And these are third-party sites where essentially you're renting a space on their website that you can call your own.
Speaker:You have a link that you can post on your social media to direct people to your shop, and it has a more professional look.
Speaker:The advantage of having space on these sites is that they also get you found in Google search results.
Speaker:The problem with social media is that they are not searchable.
Speaker:Unless you are local and still have the location in your name or people already know your name, you can't have people find you on social media.
Speaker:They can't research to find you, you have to go find your customers.
Speaker:But if he used third-party sites like S E and Amazon handmade, then these guys are searchable.
Speaker:People can search for the type of product they're looking for, and yours will come up in the search results and that will also apply to Google.
Speaker:You can appear in Google search results, and this means that customers can find you.
Speaker:It's less work.
Speaker:I much prefer it because I don't have to be on social media so much.
Speaker:Looking for customers.
Speaker:I found that to be the most tedious part of my business, if you're an extrovert, is much easier.
Speaker:But me, I'm very much an introvert, and I find that very hard.
Speaker:And so I found much more success using etc.
Speaker:Now, using these third-party sites, you do need to know about C O and keywords, which can sound quite scary and mambo jumbo.
Speaker:But essentially, it's just describing what your product does is about describing who it's for, what it looks like, what is made of and just knowing what your customers will be typing into that search box.
Speaker:If you know what they're searching for, use it.
Speaker:So if you're making um or say bright pink will the hats, then you're going to put in your descriptions and your titles pink wooly hat.
Speaker:Nobody searching for okay, that is the secret is that the fact that it's okay is not important?
Speaker:What is important is that you're making a pink wooly hat because that's what people will be searching for.
Speaker:So, yes, you should be proud that you are saying yes, you should be proud of your expertise, but just be aware that your customers don't care.
Speaker:That can be quite a hard thing to here, but what your customers care about is that the product will do the job that they want, and we'll look the way they want.
Speaker:Yes, they may love the look of okay, but it is unlikely that they are searching for a house.
Speaker:It's more likely than they are searching for pink wooly hat, and then they will click on the picture they like best.
Speaker:So that is something to bear in mind.
Speaker:If you go down this route, Do these sites charge well, that's a bit like eBay.
Speaker:They will charge you for the initial listing, but then you don't have to pay any more money until you make a sale, which makes them actually really cheap to use.
Speaker:And it's a lot more cost effective than you realize.
Speaker:Yes, there are fears once you sell, and there are a lot of people who complain about those fees, but it comes down to Do you make more sales on these third-party sites?
Speaker:Or do you make more sales on social media?
Speaker:You need to choose what works for you.
Speaker:What works for one person will not work for another social media selling didn't work for me, but it works with plenty of other people.
Speaker:Something I actually worked for me, but it didn't work for others.
Speaker:There are lots and lots of options out there for you.
Speaker:But you need to decide what will work for you.
Speaker:What you like doing your business should not be a chore.
Speaker:Otherwise you're not going to get anywhere.
Speaker:What do you find?
Speaker:Easy.
Speaker:What do you find?
Speaker:Difficult?
Speaker:Unfortunately, there are no hard and fast answers.
Speaker:Building your business is about you.
Speaker:How do you want to do it?
Speaker:How do you enjoy doing it?
Speaker:You kind of have to try things to find these out.
Speaker:And that means you will make mistakes.
Speaker:But what matters is what you learn from those mistakes.
Speaker:So I'm here to give you your options.
Speaker:I'm here to help you discover what works for you so that you can build your business.
Speaker:So we can give you what you're looking for, whether that be more time with the kids, whether that be so, you can quit the day job and have more time and freedom to do what you choose, whether that be just to raise some extra cash so you can go on holiday or buy more Christmas presents.
Speaker:Success means different things to different people.
Speaker:So let's build your business the way you want to do what you want to do, and in a way that you enjoy doing it.
Speaker:Thank you for joining me on the podcast today.
Speaker:I hope that's given me something to think about.
Speaker:And if you'd like to hear more about what's going on in a business school and would like tips, advice and I want to know when the next podcast is out and subscribe to my newsletter using the link below.
Speaker:So that's it from me, and I will see you next time for the next episode.
