The Best Way to Sell Wooden Homemade Crafts Online

Strengthen your online presence to sell homemade wooden crafts.

Are your homemade wooden crafts getting lost in the sea of technology? Just like a brick and mortal business, advertising is an important issue when selling handmade wooden crafts online. The Internet is a vast resource for making money from selling wooden crafts, however, people can't buy your products if they can't find you. When selling homemade crafts online, Internet technology, along with advertising, gives you an edge over the competition by strengthening your online presence.

Things You'll Need

• Website and hosting
• Digital camera or digital images of your wooden crafts
• Photo-editing program

Instructions

Where and how to advertise

1. 

   Plan carefully your website pages.

   Use an html (hypertext mark up language) editor or hire a professional web designer to create your web pages. Host with an Internet company specializing in websites that sell products. A yearly fee is required to register and keep your website public.
   Make sure your wooden craft website pages offer easy navigation and clear, web-optimized images (usually 72 to 150 ppi or pixels per inch) against plain backgrounds to contrast with the main colors in your images. Be sure to include your email address on the website and on all advertising.

2. 

   Post images of your products to your web page.

   The photos of your homemade wooden crafts should not compete with the background. Keep backgrounds neutral for the best effect. Shoot images of homemade wooden crafts in natural lighting for the best results. Offer a variety of products in different colors, sizes and styles. Take pictures at the largest dimensions and reduce the size of the image in a photo-editing program for clearer photos.

3. 

   Make sure your site has a shopping cart.

   Sign up with PayPal or another service for sending and receiving money on the Internet. Ensure the payment service company offers secure ordering and secure transactions. Create a shopping cart or use the links the payment service provides to create your own shopping cart storefront. Free shopping carts also are available online if your budget is limited. Create return customers by offering fast shipping. Return emails promptly. State on any advertisement whether the wooden craft is returnable, and, if so, list the conditions.

4. 

   Start a social networking page with information about your wooden crafts.

   List your web address in as many local publications, online and off-line, as possible. Include listings with online and off-line newspapers and classified ads in your area and nationally. Trade publication websites also are a good place to advertise. Place a bumper sticker or window lettering with your web address and email on your car or truck. Wherever you go, people will become aware of your website.
   Place ads for your homemade wooden crafts in Internet phone directories, such as the Yellow Pages, online craft sites and online auctions. Keep track of the sites where you place listings. Many ads last for a limited time only, but can be renewed easily by email. Some sites offer handmade wooden crafts online for percentages of the sales. Read the fine print for any hidden fees or charges.
   Start a social networking page with pictures and information about your wooden crafts. A blog will help attract people who are interested in homemade wooden crafts. Describing your art and method show dedication and professionalism toward your art.

Tips & Warnings

• Add keywords in images and advertisements. Photo-editing software, such as Photoshop, enables you to add keywords to your images.

• Make sure photographs are optimized for online viewing.

• Save images as .jpg.

• Always shoot your image at a larger size than you need, then reduce the size in a photo-editing program.

• Always use caution when providing personal information online.

• Use reputable online companies that offer secure ordering and payments.

References

• Etsy
• Small Business Administration
• Ebay

Resources

• Yellow Pages
• Paypal