Start a handmade business blog? Yes you should. If the thought has EVER crossed your mind to start a blog then you absolutely should. It all started with a thought in my head too.This article is not for crochet blogging alone, whatever your craft or niche you can glean something from here. I am only touching on crochet because it is what I’m about.
Disclosure- this post contains affiliate links
Back Story
I always knew I wanted to be a stay at home mom, so when we had our first child in 2014 thoughts of working outside the home didn’t plague me. What did plague me was not doing something with my hands. Overtime, I became antsy because my creative spirit wasn’t hibernating anymore, haha. I needed to do something with the extra time on my hands and it seemed raising a child didn’t give me all the fulfillment I thought it would (don’t get me wrong. I am grateful for my role as a mother, I just needed something more).
I come from a crafty family (like we do stuff with our hands). My brother sketches fantastic images, my sister is a fashion designer, my mother used to be a fashion designer as well, and I have dabbled into a number of crafty ventures ranging from bead making (one of my great loves), calligraphy and making greeting cards.
With the antsy feeling came my love for Pinterest (thank the good Lord for Pinterest). I browsed and browsed and became more obsessed until I decided to try a new craft. Guess what it was? Knitting, ha! I got quickly frustrated with it, then I moved on to crochet and things fell into place.
Starting my Blog
My thanks go to the pioneer crochet bloggers out there. I especially thank Tamara Kelly at Moogly blog. When the thought of first starting a blog crossed my mind in 2015, she was the first person I went to. I asked her all sorts of questions- and she answered EVERY SINGLE ONE of them. I’m truly grateful for her.
I also had a few other bloggers give insight into starting a profitable blog that helped firm my decision. I decided there was no more time to waste.
Starting a blog was definitely getting out of my comfort zone. To say I was terrified would not be an exaggeration. Many thoughts plagued my mind about what to crochet, what would people lke, would they like my designs, endless thoughts….Though I didn’t have all I needed, I started with what I had- I had the skills, I had a phone (as of this moment, 95% of my blog photos were taken with my smart phone and I recently got a dslr camera which I’m learning to use), I had the tools to crochet.
Now about my phone, the broken screen came about when it fell for the upteenth time. Having boys running around the house and a sometimes clumsy hand can make that happen, but it is one sturdy phone. And I just discovered more ways to use the camera settings- it is just amazing. This phone is an absolute asset to me. I do very minimal editing on the photos you’ve seen on this blog so far. Yea, they do not all look fantastic, but the job gets done and I now have a professional dslr camera to use.
Think about it- most of us do not use up to half the capacity of our phones. Just take a look at all the functions on your smart phone, how many do you actually use? Why not turn it into an asset instead?
So in January 2017 I got a hosting with the very best internet host. Of course, I didn’t launch the blog immediately, I was trying to upload as many patterns as I could, which didn’t amount to much eventually. I think I was just having cold feet so I didn’t launch till March. You can see my very first pattern here
But you know what, I’m glad I paid for the hosting when I did, that way I got my domain name- LoopinglyMade saved and it was also a reminder that money was running out and I needed to get going. So it was a good thing while I set up.
Why Start a Handmade Business Blog?
There are many reasons, but it comes down to the basics.
- you’d be reaching more people than you probably are now with your designs.In case you’re thinking there’s already a lot of crochet blogs out there, you’re not correct. The population of the United States alone is around 325 million people. Let’s say 10 million of those people love crochet and crocheting, and there are just 1,000 or even 2,000 crochet bloggers in the U.S- tell me, you think those blogs can cater to the 10 million crochet lovers? i don’t think so. And remember, this is the U.S alone. So you see, there is space for everyone. You will be reaching a worldwide audience with your skills.
- it has the potential to replace that job you dislike going to. Would’nt it be a thing of joy for you to earn good money from something you actually love doing?
- you’ll be channeling your natural strengths, skills, talents to making a profitable business for you, not someone else.
- what other benefits can you think of?
What About You?
Now, you’ve read my story. Perhaps you’ve also thought of starting a blog but have put it off for one reason or the other. I encourage you to put it off no longer. Don’t wait till you have all you need, start with what you already have. If I had not started then, what story would I have to tell you now? And all the experiences I’ve had? Gosh, I wouldn’t trade them. If I had waited one more year to get a dslr camera I probably would have let go the idea to start a blog, and I would have constantly looked back and said to myself “coulda, woulda shoulda”. haha.
I know you don’t want to look back 6, 12 months or even 2 years down the line and tell yourself those words. So, start your blog now, like right now. Pay for hosting (which costs less than getting a DSLR camera even when you get a 3 year plan), use what you already have- your design skills, your phone, hooks, yarn and just start.
In case you’re thinking, I don’t have the time or money for a blog, then you should read how to start a blog if you have no money or time, where I share practical tips on what to do.
Are you ready? Yes. Start your crochet blog today.
A Quick Start Guide
First things first. If you intend to make money from your blog, then you need to use a blog platform that gives you access to that. Free blog sites like WordPress.com or Blogger won’t empower you to do that. But with WordPress.org you have all the tools to monetize your blog.
Sure, there’s a lot to learn, but if you intend to start right, go with bluehost
On bluehost, choose a domain name and check its availability under ‘new domain’. If you already have a name that’s free, go under ‘I have a domain’- good thing getting a domain name is a free service with bluehost. As I mentioned above, even though I didn’t launch my blog immediately, I was able to save my domain name when I first registered with them, so you want to do this early as names get snagged up pretty fast.
Right this minute you can check for an available domain in the box below. If it is available, all you then need to do is sign up.
Sign Up
Next, you choose your payment plan. Being a newbie, you can go for Basic- which is what I started with and later upgraded. But nothing says you can’t go for Plus, Prime or even Go Pro, as they obviously have more benefits.
Account info.
Next, you fill your your account info, package info and payment info. They’re all on the same page, but I’m breaking them down here
Package info.
Here, you choose what features you want with your plan. Domain Privacy is pretty important, this protects your address and other account details from being accessed by ‘outsiders’.
Payment info.
Then you go on to Create your Password. You will receive an email from bluehost that will take you to the C-panel, this is basically the control room where you install your WordPress site and many other features. This detailed video from bluehost walks you through the process of setting up your WordPress site.
For blog themes, you can get affordable ones from Beautiful Dawn Designs. I use their Enamored theme. The advantage of getting a paid theme is that it comes with more features than the free ones. And unless you have coding skills, you want to go for one that’s already designed for use.
Once you get your hosting and start blogging please send me a link, I look forward to seeing it and having a blogging buddy, yea. I will also add you to my Pinterest group board so that you can share your pins there for wider reach.
If this article has inspired you in anyway then inspire others by saving to Pinterest
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