How to Turn Your Crafting Into a Lucrative Side Hustle

If you don’t want to quit your day job, but you’d love to make money from your crafting hobby, you’re in good company. More than 44 million Americans have a side hustle, according to CNN Money, allowing them to explore their passions without leaving the comfort of a steady paycheck.
If you’re ready to take your crafting to the next level, keep the following tips in mind. From setting goals to getting the technical details right, you’ll set the foundation for a lucrative side hustle.

Commit, Set Goals and Ask Yourself “Why”

Turning your hobby into a side hustle takes commitment. When you’re putting in extra hours, feeling like you’re burning the candle at both ends, staying dedicated to the journey and end goal is critical. That’s where your “why” comes in. When you’re burnt out, feeling like you don’t want to stick with it, turn back to this to fuel the fire.
Another important step in staying committed is to set goals and deadlines. These will help you manage your time and stay on track. For example, every Monday, Wednesday, and Sunday you dedicate 3 hours to crafting and the business, whether that means working on your website or photographing the newest items.
Don’t forget to set long-term goals as well, such as:

• A launch date for your new site
• Goal amount of product to sell each month
• Quarterly or annual milestones

Find Your Niche

To be lucrative, you need to solve a problem or offer something that others aren’t. In other words, find your niche—allowing you to stand out and provide value. For example, a woodworker might create and sell wooden blocks for babies.
This is their niche, and “the smaller the niche, the less competition, which means you have more chance of the buyer finding you. It also means less potential buyers. So you need to balance the level of competition with the size of the market,” according to 5 Secrets to Selling Products Online Successfully.
How do you find your niche and maintain a steady flow of customers? Start with these steps:

• Research your competitors: Evaluate your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses. Is the quality of your product greater because of better materials? Are you able to offer customization where others can’t? Use this information to develop your USP, unique selling proposition. This is what differentiates you from the rest and will help determine the best way to present yourself and your product, both on your website and in marketing.

For example, perhaps you make knit gloves and realize that simply adding a layer of faux fur to increase warmth is something no one else does but is an inexpensive addition to your product. Hand-made, fur-lined gloves, at an affordable price, may be your niche. After building a customer base that trusts your product, you could branch out to hats and scarves with the same style of the lining.

• Think about your customer: Put yourself in your customers’ shoes. What are their biggest pain points and needs? Does your product solve or cater to those needs? Could you modify what you make to better solve the problem?

• Test your idea: After you’ve zeroed in on your niche, the next step is to test it. Start by giving away free products to friends and family, with the caveat that they have to give you feedback. You can also use a service like Survey Monkey to poll social media followers about what they like and don’t like.

With a valuable product ready to be made, it’s time to get your store set up.

Choose the Right Platform

Most crafters sell in one of two ways: on their own website or using a platform like Etsy. Both have their own pros and cons, making it important to consider every option.
Etsy is a great option if you need an out-of-the-box, ready-to-go shop. You don’t need to hire a web designer to set up a user-friendly website or learn the process yourself. Simply create your site and follow their guide for getting it ready.
Platforms like this also have all of the bells and whistles, including freight tracking, stats on web traffic, and a payment process system. Ultimately, however, the greatest value in an Etsy site is the built-in traffic. Etsy already drives thousands of daily users; your page just needs to be optimized to stand out when consumers search for your products.
On the other hand, having your own eCommerce site gives you ultimate freedom and flexibility. You’re not tied to a specific’s sites policy or design, and you can choose which eCommerce platform to use. While it may take more time to set-up, the benefits of having full control may outweigh the convenience of your other options.

Time to Hustle

A side hustle allows you to take control of your income and make money from something you already love doing. To make it lucrative, however, you have to commit to the work, set goals, find your place in the industry, and create an online presence so people can find you. This sets the foundation for a side hustle that will provide income for many years to come.