Ever feel like you’re working really hard on your handmade business, but not getting the results you want? We’ve been there. RESILIENT – A Virtual Conference for Makers is here to help you grow your online handmade business to be pandemic-proof.
Purchase the RESILIENT conference video to learn directly from three business owners who have successfully scaled their business and get answers to your questions to jumpstart your online sales.
Click here to purchase your copy of the RESILIENT conference replay.
Featured Topics & Speakers:
“Your Online Business and the Power of Content Marketing” – Maya Dukes @maya.dukes
“How to Get More from your Social Media” – Gwanyan Barker @kpelle.designs
“From Random to Intentional: Creating Business Plans that help you Scale” – Chantel Powell @playpits.
As a maker, one of my biggest challenges is generating fresh content for my clothing brand. A flat lay is when you shoot items from directly above. Usually those items are arranged or styled on a flat surface.1 Flat lay images are an easy way to communicate why your brand is relevant and set it apart.
Here are three reasons to use flat lays in your content:
#1Flat lays help customers see how your brand fits into their life.
Flat lays give the sense of taking a peek into someone’s personal space. The items placed around the product can spur the imagination about where the person is or what they’re about to do. The viewer naturally puts themselves in the story and thinks, “Oh, I wear mine like this” or “Great idea, I think I’ll try that out”. Either way, flat lays help customers create a mental story around your brand and hopefully see themselves in that story.
Travel inspiration flat lay by Oui Yogurt
#2 Flat lays set your brand apart in the market
Similar to the first point, flat lays are about telling a unique story around your brand. By playing around with styling choices and color, you can communicate your brand as luxury, all-natural, modern/minimalist…whatever makes it distinct. Bloggers frequently use flat lays to share corporate brand stories, but I don’t see as many indie brand taking advantage of them. Distinguish your brand in a crowded market with flat lay content.
African print blazer flat lay by suakoko betty
#3 Flat lays are
(relatively) easy to shoot
Finally, flat lays are a no-brainer because they’re easy to create. You don’t need a model, expensive equipment or a perfect backdrop to create one. I’ve shot gorgeous flat lays on my front porch (natural light is best) using items from around my house, a foam board ($4 at the craft store) and my trusty I-phone. You can make one in about 15-30 minutes with a bit of patience and creativity.
Smartwater flat lay by Mattie James
Consider flat lay photography as a memorable way to tell your brand story. Do you already use them? Drop us a note and share your thoughts on flat lays.
1 Fat Mum Slim “So what the heck is a flat lay” – Jan 2016
Content is king, queen and tough to keep up with! As a creative entrepreneur, you can spend a lot of time and resources creating memorable content that will pull potential customers in. The good news is, you don’t have to start from scratch every time. You can get more bang for your buck by spreading content across various marketing channels (social media, website, email, blog, etc) in creative ways. Here are 14 ideas for repurposing content:
Turn your FAQ page into a video series – This is a great way to head off questions you get frequently and to engage customers by letting them see your face and hear your voice.
Write a “Tips & Tricks” blog post – You can probably name 5 insider tips and tricks related to your craft/product off the top of your head. Summarize them to create a helpful blog post for potential customers.
Use behind the scenes videos for IG stories – Have fun videos or pictures that aren’t up to par for your IG/FB feed? Use them in your IG stories, which are meant to have a more laid back, behind the scenes feel.
Turn old IG posts into a poll or survey – Think “one item, worn two ways” or show the same item in two different colors and ask the audience to vote on their favorite. It’ll drive engagement because believe me, everyone likes to give their two cents!
Share a picture of your raw materials – When customers see your raw materials, they can better appreciate how you transform them into a finished product. Consider shooting a picture of your materials against a well-lighted white background to share on IG or in your newsletter.
Showcase customer photos in a newsletter – Create a round-up of photos of customers using your product and share it in a newsletter. It’ll build trust and inspire potential customers to give your product a try.
Turn a newsletter into a blog post – Take an interesting piece of content you created for your newsletter (i.e. how to wear it 3 ways, press write up, influencer picture, etc) and copy and paste it into a blog post.
Convert a blog post into a podcast – Want to give podcasting a try, but worried about coming up with topics? Start with blog posts you already have and pull your talking points from there.
Turn event experiences into blog posts – If you participate in craft markets like Craft Savvy Market or other business-related events, share a few pictures and points about your experience. It doesn’t have to be long; you could talk about lessons learned or what you liked about the event. Image features Shanti & Celeste Accessories
Post videos on your website – High-quality videos created for social media or YouTube can also be used on your website homepage to drive engagement and help customers spend more time on your website.
Refresh and repost old blog posts – Update your graphics/images and use a fun, engaging title to give old (but still relevant) blog posts new life.
Convert an old blog post into an infographic – If you have graphic design skills or can get help, reshape one of your blog posts into an infographic. The infographic can include stats for your industry, a timeline of your story as a creative or the process you use to create your product.
Turn your favorite quote into an imagefor social media – Share a funny or inspiring quote with your audience to break things up a bit on social media. WordSwag is low-cost, easy to use app for doing this.
Share product reviews on social media – Did you receive a great customer review via email or Etsy? Make it into an image (see WordSwag above) or share it as a caption with the product picture on social media. Customers LOVE to see your product getting love from a third party.
There are lots of fun ways to get more juice from your marketing content. Be creative and don’t worry about getting “busted” by customers. Chances are they don’t remember the first time you posted it or they’re glad for the reminder. What is your favorite way to get more use from content you already have?
