Shownotes
The beginning of January can make us determined to have a fresh start, try new things, to not let December leave us this broke ever again.
Does this mean that you will finally get started selling your crochet this year?
It doesn't have to be difficult or complicated to start making money from your crochet. In fact you can get set up and start making sales in just 1 day.
Listen to this episode of the Crochet Business School Podcast to discover more and grab your Quick Start Guide here
Thank you for listening to the Crochet Business School podcast.
If you are loving the show, I would appreciate it if you would leave us a review here, and don't forget to subscribe to my free Substack here
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Transcripts
Hello and welcome to the
Crochet Business School Podcast.
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:I'm your host, Kelly Thomas, and I'm going
to help you to make your crochet dreams
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:a reality stitch by stitch, and show
you how you can create a successful and
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:profitable business using your crochet.
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:Keeping a flexible lifestyle
so you don't have to sacrifice
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:too much time with your family.
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:Is your New Year's resolution to finally
get started selling a crochet or making
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:a bit of money from your crochet?
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:Is that what you finally
want to get doing?
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:Maybe people have been trying to persuade
you to do it for years, maybe thinking
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:it'll be great to have a, a change of
direction when it comes to your career.
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:Maybe it's just something you've always
wondered if you can actually do it.
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:Well, why not make that
your goal for:
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:Because there is absolutely no reason why
you cannot get started from making money
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:from your crochet right now because you
have everything you need, you actually do
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:because you've got yarn, you've got hooks.
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:If you are listening to
this, you've got internet.
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:If you've got a smartphone that can
take pictures, you've got it all because
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:those are just the basics that you need.
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:Yes, there are other things that
are you could do with doing,
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:but none of it costs very much.
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:So if you're worried about the cost
of actually selling your crochet, you
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:don't have to pay a thing up front.
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:If you've got your yarn, if you've
got hooks, then you can start your
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:business with what you have right now.
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:You need the internet.
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:You need to be able to take pictures.
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:That's it.
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:It is really, really easy to start.
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:Now, depending on where you are
in the world, you may have local,
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:um, licenses that you need.
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:Here in the uk you don't need one,
but I believe in some parts of
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:the US you do, you are going to
have to check out, um, your local
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:business center to find that out.
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:But otherwise, you're good to
go In terms of materials, you've
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:got everything you need, so.
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:Surely it's not that easy, right?
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:Well, it can be.
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:It absolutely can be.
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:The hardest part of selling your
crochet is one, discovering your
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:niche, because we kind of just want to
crochet whatever we want and sell that.
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:If you are just looking to make a bit
of extra cash to fund your yarn or
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:just have a little bit of fun money,
then you absolutely can do that.
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:Yeah, but if you want to make your
crochet business something that you
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:can live off that pays all your bills
and gives you the money to live,
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:then you've gotta get more strategic.
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:You need a niche, because think of where
you find lots of different random items,
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:and it's gonna be things like discount
stores, bargain stores, jumble sales.
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:Places where you don't
expect to pay very much.
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:Think about when you go down the
High Street, think about the stores
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:that they have, and they tend
to specialize in certain items.
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:So there'll be clothing stores
that specialize in kids,
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:babies, teens clothing, women's
clothing, men's clothing.
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:And if they have all of that in one
store, they tend to be the big department
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:stores, but they have them separated
into their own individual departments.
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:It's not all mixed up together.
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:Higgeldy, Higgeldy, it's all
arranged nicely so that you can go
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:to each department that you need to.
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:But most stores on the high streets
in your shopping center, they tend
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:to specialize in certain things.
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:So here in the uk, if I go
down the high street, if I want
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:electronics, I can go to Curry's.
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:If I want, um, shoes,
I can go to Shoe Zone.
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:You can tell how long it's been
done since I went down the high
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:street with what I'm saying here.
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:I don't, I do all my
shopping on the internet.
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:I, I don't like in-person shopping,
but, um, you'll get the jewelry shop,
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:you'll get the shoe shops, you'll
get the shops with just baby stuff.
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:Uh, you get the mobile phone shops.
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:They have their own specialty
and your crochet is the same.
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:It needs a specialty.
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:If someone is going shopping, what
are they shopping for you for?
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:Because your niche can't be crochet.
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:Your customers.
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:They don't care that it's crochet.
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:And I think this shocks a lot of people,
but no one cares that you're crochet.
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:No one cares how it's made.
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:They care what it looks like.
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:They care that it's quality.
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:They care that it's exclusive, and
that's what you gotta tap into.
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:And that's why you need a niche.
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:They need to know what's remember you for?
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:Are you making bags?
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:Are you selling things that
you need for a wedding?
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:Are you selling things for baby's nursery?
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:It's these kind of niches that
you need, and the more you niche,
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:the more it helps your prices.
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:Because if you have a
niche, you can charge more.
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:The more specialized the niche, the
more you can charge and is that price
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:point that you are looking for in order
to make a living from your crochet.
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:Because what you need, always
need to remember is, is that
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:your crochet is a luxury.
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:It is not an everyday good.
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:It is not an essential.
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:Nothing about crochet is essential because
you can never outprice someone who sells a
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:hat that is made through machine knitting.
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:You can't do it.
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:Machines will always be faster.
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:They can be mass produced.
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:Crochet can be made by machine,
which means it always needs to be
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:handmade, which means it's slower
to make, which means you just cannot
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:compete with that price point.
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:Don't bother.
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:Crochets are luxury.
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:Price it like a luxury.
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:It can be difficult to do because
all the mind monkeys get in your
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:head saying, you can't charge that.
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:No one's gonna buy it at that price.
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:They will, because you are going
to tell them that it's a luxury.
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:You're going to tell them
how well it's crafted.
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:You are going to tell
them how exclusive it is.
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:That all becomes part of
how you sell your crochet.
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:I might be jumping too
far ahead for you here.
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:But if you are determined to make
a living from your crochet, these
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:are things you have to think about.
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:They are fundamentals way we
price is directly related to
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:how much money we bring in.
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:'cause just because you make a sale
doesn't mean that that entire price
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:is your profit because you've got
to cover the cost of your yarn.
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:You've gotta cover the cost of your
time, or how do you pay yourself?
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:You've got to cover the cost of the fees.
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:Because no matter how you
sell, there are fees involved.
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:If you set up a social media page
and you only sell on Facebook, for
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:example, you still gotta take payment.
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:Most people take it through
either PayPal or Stripe.
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:They charge their fees, so
you still gotta pay a fee.
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:If you sell through Etsy or Shopify,
you've gotta pay their fees.
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:Most of the ways that we sell a crochet,
the fees only get paid once we sell.
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:So you don't necessarily
have to pay anything upfront.
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:So getting started selling a
crochet is free, but there are
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:fees that come later and you've
gotta build that into your prices.
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:If you are going to make money from
your crochet, you've gotta start
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:thinking about the finances and
how you charge and how you pay for
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:everything straight from the goat.
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:Just because you have yarn in your
stash that you're going to use to
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:get started, it doesn't mean that
that yarn doesn't have to be paid
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:for because you did pay for it.
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:At some point,
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:you gotta start thinking like a business.
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:Just because you know how to crochet,
it doesn't mean you know about
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:how to make your business work.
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:It's a completely different
skill, and you've gotta learn
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:these things along the way.
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:That's why I'm here, to help you to
make your crochet business a success
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:so that you do get paid what you're
worth, so that you do sell your crochet.
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:And, you know, have happy customers.
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:Sales are coming in, but you also get
paid what you and your crochet are worth.
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:And it's a journey.
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:It's a lot to take in because
you've got to be the, um, the
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:product line, product making line.
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:You've got to be the secretary,
you've got to be the finance
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:officer, the accounting person.
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:You've got to be the marketing person.
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:You've gotta do it all.
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:All by yourself, and it's a lot to learn.
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:It's a very steep learning curve
if you want to do it properly.
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:Most crochet business don't
fail because they can't crochet.
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:They fail because they can't make
it pay and not being able to make
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:it pay is a much of a problem with
all the voices in your head that
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:have been really negative as it is
about putting the right price tag.
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:You can be your own worst enemy in
this, or you can say, yes, it can
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:be done, and I'm going to learn how
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:crocheters are notorious
for undercharging.
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:We are notorious for
underestimating our abilities.
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:We are notorious for
underselling ourselves.
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:We kind of like to be a bit too modest.
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:Instead of shouting about how fantastic we
are, we tend to cower down and go, yeah,
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:it's, it's just a bit of something I made.
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:Yeah.
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:Sorry about the price.
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:It's a bit expensive, but I've
gotta pay for the yarn and Yeah.
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:So yeah, it's just a, yeah.
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:So it's all this and that's gotta go.
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:Don't do that.
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:You don't have to explain your
prices, you don't have to apologize
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:for them, and it's not just crochet.
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:It's a skill.
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:It's a handcrafted skill.
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:And what you make is very exclusive
because there's only so much crochet
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:you can do in the time of you have in
the day, which makes everything you do
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:exclusive, which makes it luxurious.
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:And why shouldn't you charge for that?
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:Your time is worth it.
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:And that's what you have to
remember from the get go.
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:If you are crochet, gonna pay
your bills, you have to do this.
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:You have to get used to thinking
that way, and you have to
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:get used to talking that way.
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:You have to be confident and show
the quality, show the exclusiveness,
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:and that's what means that you
can price the price that you need.
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:Nothing to do with anybody else
because there will always be
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:people who will self lower.
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:We are not doing a race to the bottom.
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:We are not in the bargain basement.
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:We are handcrafted, exclusive artisans.
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:Skilled.
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:The price is high.
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:It's got to be,
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:and that takes a lot
of gain news to I know.
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:It does.
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:I've been there, done that.
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:It's really hard.
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:And actually my biggest enemy was myself.
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:I did not charge enough when I
first started, purely because
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:of the negative voices in my own
head, and that was no one else.
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:That was me.
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:We can sabotage ourselves spectacularly,
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:and so you've gotta get
over this very quickly.
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:So if you are ready to make your
crochet business a success, get started
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:and make sure everything's in place.
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:That you are charging what you need, that
you have all the foundations in place for
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:a successful year of selling a crochet.
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:I've got a quick start guide
that'll walk you through the five
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:things you need in your crochet
business to make it a success.
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:So right from the get go, if you go to
crochet business school.com/quickstart,
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:it's a $7 ebook.
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:And it's got all the five steps
in details on how you do it and
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:what you do and do not need.
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:It's the five foundations,
so@crochetbusinessschool.com
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:slash quickstart.
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:And you can download, download that
ebook right now and get started.
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:Because a crochet business
doesn't have to be complicated.
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:You can set it up very simply.
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:You can get started with
what you have right now.
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:But there are five things that every
crochet business needs to be set for.
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:The long run mindset is a whole
other thing, and it's something
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:you'll probably battle with the
whole way through your business.
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:I do all the time.
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:We can be our own worst enemies, but
knowing that right from the get go
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:is gonna get you prepared so that
you can sell your crochet and bring
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:in the money that you need it to.
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:No one else has the right to
decide what you charge for
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:your crochet except for you.
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:And getting the pricing right
is absolutely fundamental.
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:'cause if you don't make the money
that you need from every sale, then you
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:may as well be giving a crochet away.
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:And we definitely don't wanna do that.
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:So welcome to Crochet Business School.
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:Welcome to the world of crochet sales and.
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:He's wishing you a very successful
:
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:make that happen and let's make your
crochet give you the lifestyle that
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:you've been craving for so long.
