Hi, I’m Rob Anderson, owner of ThingsToMakeAndSell.com

I’m passionate about helping crafters maximize their crafting business potential. From the early 1990s through 2009, I was a full-time crafter with an obsession for learning marketing strategies and sales techniques.

When I transitioned to selling online and helping other crafters do the same, it opened up a whole new world of possibilities.

One of the biggest challenges we face as crafters is that most of us start with a hobby mindset.

We see something beautiful and think, “I’d love to try making that.” So we do.

Then we make a few more pieces, our family raves about them and says, “These are amazing! You should sell them!”

There’s nothing inherently wrong with starting a craft business this way.

However, if you’re serious about transforming your hobby passion into a genuine, profitable business, there are several crucial things you should be doing differently from the start.

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

While your entire business obviously revolves around the products you create and sell, I’m not here to teach you how to make them. Instead, I want you to focus on one crucial step after completing your research.

Create multiple variations of the product your research indicates is in high demand and within your skill set. Make large versions, small versions, detailed ones, simplified ones. Experiment with as many variations as you can imagine.

Throughout this process, meticulously track every detail: production time, materials needed, costs, and other relevant factors. While researching a product line is important, understanding the ease of production, manufacturing costs, and practical details will either validate your research or send you back to the drawing board until you find that perfect sweet spot.

Remember to stay close to what your research indicated was in demand, and test your sample products at markets or similar venues to gather genuine feedback.

I promise you’ll know with absolute certainty when you’ve created something people want to buy repeatedly. Once you can confidently say you’ve completed both the research and testing phases, your business will be well on its way to success.

This process might take weeks or months to perfect, though it could also happen after a weekend of research and a few days of testing. Personally, I’d invest one to two months to ensure I’ve examined every angle and tested all variations thoroughly.

CRAFT MARKETS

The craft market landscape has dramatically changed since COVID-19. While the pandemic affected global economics and reduced disposable income, people are still spending money—just differently.

COVID-19 forced market cancellations, which shifted consumer behavior toward online shopping and weakened traditional craft markets. Additionally, millions discovered they prefer staying home, leading to a flood of new businesses, with crafting at the forefront as people converted hobbies into businesses.

To succeed at craft markets today:

• Choose larger, established markets. Small church, school, or local craft fairs are where time goes to die.
• Be the biggest and best presence at your chosen market. Invest in the largest booth, highest setup, and most extensive inventory.

While I believe online sales offer greater potential, I love using busy markets to test products. There’s no better way to observe what catches people’s attention and what they gravitate toward touching first.

YOUR WEBSITE

Stop listening to random social media advice about website platforms. You’re receiving “recommendations” from people who may lack real expertise but sound convincing enough to be believed.

FACT: You absolutely must have a self-hosted website as your core online business foundation. It needs to be bulletproof. Self-hosted WordPress is an excellent choice for your business.

In our AI-driven world, other website builders can be installed on proper hosting companies, and if you’re comfortable creating content on those platforms, that’s fine too.

Having Shopify, Etsy, and similar platforms as secondary websites isn’t wrong, but aside from Etsy, you don’t really need them.

FACT: Without self-hosting, your business can disappear overnight. You might argue that you’ve been on a particular platform for three years without problems, but that likely means your business isn’t large enough to threaten established competitors. When your business grows enough to attract attention from opposition, that’s when you risk losing everything instantly. One legal letter to your platform claiming you violated their terms, and they’ll simply remove your business.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Social media can drive massive buyer traffic to your business, but it can also consume all your free time until you’re ready to return to a day job.

Proper research—not a casual Sunday afternoon browse—will reveal which social media platforms your target buyers actually use. Focus on those platforms and transition to paid advertising when feasible.

ETSY

Done correctly, Etsy can generate significant business. Success depends on research and optimizing your popular listings properly. Remember, you still need a real, self-hosted WordPress website.

Etsy works well if you’re generating sales. Yes, their fees exist, but if you’re paying fees, it’s because you’re making sales.

ADVERTISING

The fastest path to substantial wealth is advertising with decent ROI. Even better, direct those advertisements toward digital products when possible. It’s far more profitable to sell 100,000 rocking horse patterns for $25 each than to physically create 5,000 rocking horses for $500 each.

PARALLEL BUSINESSES

Consider these additional revenue streams:

• Affiliate marketing
• Printables
• Print-on-demand
• How-to courses

WHAT I CAN OFFER YOU

• Free books and resources
• Premium books and guides (see some of the books at the bottom of this page)
• Free website templates (see the link above for website stuff)
• Professional website services
• Keyword research packages ( see the bundles page in the menu)
• Comprehensive bundles (still building those…)
• Extensive craft-related content, posts, and videos

LINKS AND RESOURCES

This introduction comes with a companion video series that’s more conversational and should clarify the concepts discussed here. Fair warning: I have extreme ADHD and frequently go off on tangents, though I try to cover core points before exploring those rabbit holes.

Since I continuously add and remove content from my website and online properties, I can’t provide links to specific items. Instead, I’ll direct you to my homepage where you can explore and find resources that work for your business.

I’m creating specific pages for major crafting niches, so check if yours is available. If not, feel free to email me asking when I’ll cover your niche—it might motivate me to tackle yours next.

One final note: I’m just one person running this crafting resource hub, which is my excuse for not having everything built simultaneously. Most of my current books will receive at least four bonus books each. Some are still being formatted or exist only in my head. If you purchase something from my site and bonuses aren’t immediately available, keep your receipt and email me. I’ll send completed bonus materials and additional resources if you follow up after six months.

LINK TO VIDEO SERIES – [Click Here]