3 Ways to Make Your Crafty Biz Stand Out

One of the biggest areas of confusion I hear about from other creative makers in marketing their crafty businesses is figuring out where you stand out. What’s your niche? How do you market to your key customer or target audience? What’s your brand voice? 

I get it. It’s a lot to keep at the top of your mind when all around you are new shiny projects or ideas. New materials, mediums, or accessories and trend announcements from the so-be experts in the industry.

It’s hard to keep your key customer, who’s an imaginary friend you may have written down on a slip of paper in your planner, at the forefront of your marketing. 

After years of being in the crafty, creative, fashion business world here’s what I know about honing your niche and being able to keep your creative ADHD brain from making her look like she’s all over the place.

3 Simple Questions to Ask Yourself so you can Stand Out as a Creative Maker

What economic level of customer do you seek?

This can sometimes be the hardest area of figuring out your niche or target customer because it can easily confuse you when it comes to figuring out pricing. Deciding what economic availability the main customer you want to reach is important to establishing a true brand presence. You’ll find a lot of target customer worksheets that will ask, “How much does your key customer make per year?” Where you might get hung up with that question is feeling like only people who have that yearly income will buy from you. Nope, even Susie who has been saving up is going to buy. Knowing your key customer’s economic lifestyle is meant to help you when you are choosing products, sharing content, and presenting yourself. It helps you make sure you are presenting with that specific economic demographic at the top of your mind. For crafty businesses, this can be difficult to figure out. 

First, make sure you are figuring out the cost of your items to pay yourself, your time, and your supplies. I have a free download worksheet I share in a YouTube video all about pricing here. After you figure out the price of an item, now think about where you are getting your supplies. Are the shops you frequent also promoting that their items are high-end, exclusive, and limited run or preorders? If so then, you most likely will be promoting to a more high-end, exclusive, and limited-access customer base. If the shops you frequent for supplies, are focused on providing more of a “best bang for your buck” or more of an everyday use focus, then you most likely are seeking more of a value-based customer and your pricing should include room for sales and a variety of price ranges.

Do you have a trend or community customer focus?

When deciding on your target customer you might not be thinking about getting your customer to show brand allegiance. However, this area of building your niche is one of the areas most creatives tend to struggle with a bit of scatterbrain. What’s trending and what is hot for a specific community may or may not be something you want your brand to showcase, so make some decisions. I tend to look at this yearly. All of us are a part of multiple communities. #DogMoms #DisneyAdults #StarbucksFan #DunkinFans #Preppers #HomeSchoolers #80sKids etc etc etc. Just make sure the hashtags you’re community connecting with are truly areas you want your brand represented. Just because you are a part of it, doesn’t mean your business needs to be.

When deciding what your target customer’s communities are, don’t overthink it. Most likely your key customer’s communities are your communities and that is completely normal. Again, just make sure you want that trend or community to be a part of your brand. 

I can remember when I first started out having my own online business and was told to create my key customer. I was told they should not look like me, and I think that is complete hogwash! It’s your business, and if you aren’t excited to hang out with your customer you probably aren’t going to have a very successful business. Remember business is about relationships, and your target customer needs to be someone you want to have a relationship with in order to be successful.

Take some time to think about the communities you’re a part of. How could they fit into your crafty business? Are there any communities you haven’t seen represented in your crafty genre? 

What are you the ONE STOP SHOP for?

All of us want to be known as “oh I got it here!” or “they are the only shop that has…” so when thinking about your target customer what is something they NEED that would make YOU their ONE STOP SHOP?

This is also known as your “signature product” and it’s a product that leads to all of your other items. It’s a product that you potentially don’t offer discounts on, custom designs, and maybe even giveaways. This doesn’t mean that you offer it cheaply, it just means you offer it all the time and the type of customer who would buy that item is the core of who you want to attract. 

Here at The Thunderbird Farm, PA we have two items that fall into this category for us. Our Signature Loose-Leaf Tea Blends and our FLILLOWs Floor Pillows. These are items that will show up with every line we offer because our core value is to promote selfcare and a daily focus on remembering YOU.

I’d love to hear from you on how you are setting yourself apart in the crafty business community or any questions you have about figuring out how to develop and promote to your key customer. Feel free to send me DM or PM on our Facebook or Instagram account @thunderbirdfarmpa