Do you have a humble hobby you want to transform into a thriving business?
We’ve all had to keep ourselves entertained during lockdown. Perhaps you’ve mastered the art of cracking cupcakes or discovered a flourish for flower arranging, and you want to earn a little money on the side.
You might even have grand plans to turn this lockdown venture into a full-time career. If it’s your first foray into the world of business, it can be a little intimidating. That’s why we’ve compiled five fantastic tips to get you started.
Get Online
Your business isn’t going to go anywhere if people can’t find your products.
When starting out, you’ll need a business website with an eCommerce platform for online selling. It’s also worth having a good social media presence – this is an excellent way for creators starting out to find a following and raise brand awareness.
High-Quality Photographs
Research shows that users spend more time looking at highly detailed images.
Remember the days of actually visiting a store? It feels like a lifetime ago now, but customers who could touch products were more likely to buy them.
That’s hardly practical for an online business, so you’ll need to compensate with your images. Let your customers feel like they have a product in their hands.
Remember the golden rules: less is more, and customers appreciate quality over quantity, so don’t overload with images!
Make Reproduceable Items
This is really just to save you time – and keep you sane.
It takes an incredible amount of effort to photograph, list, and describe a product, so the fewer times you have to do this, the better.
Try to establish a core range. Not only will this help your brand recognition, but it will also increase the desirability of any limited edition ranges you might produce.
Keep Profit in Mind
One of the most common mistakes people make, especially when they’re just starting out, is to dramatically under-price themselves.
Go into your business with the goal of making a liveable wage from your products – even if it is just a side-hustle. Don’t just price to cover supplies, especially if you’re selling handmade products.
Your time is valuable and you should treat it as such!
Advertise
Word of mouth is all well and good to start with. You may have even gathered a group of loyal followers.
But eventually, you’re going to need to expand your customer base.
One way to do this is through PPC (pay-per-click) advertising. PPC is great for connecting you with new online customers, as the ads are triggered when a user makes a related search.
Use a company such as Maratopia Digital Marketing, experts firms like this will be more than happy to get you started and guide you through the waters you have yet to chart!
PPC can also be optimised for social media, so you’ll have plenty of opportunities to get your brand out there!
Have you transformed your lockdown hobby into a business? Share it in the comments!