7 Pro Tips for Makers - How To Get Better Sales and Engagement

Makers are talented at their craft, but sometimes they can use a little help with marketing. Here are seven pro marketing tips to help makers maximize their sales and engagement.
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​1. Make a Calendar.
Whether you're a cosplay prop-maker, a quilter, a knitter, a carver... plan your year out and give your audience something fresh every season (or more often if you can).

Make something (or many things) with upcoming calendar dates in mind. Make your Halloween quilt and post the video or article about it a month in advance. Give your audience a chance to reach and have fun with it well before the event. This will put you ahead of the market and in your customer's minds just in time for various events throughout the year.

2. Tackle One Thing Per YouTube Video (or Article).
​Your YouTube videos (or blog articles) should each focus on something specific (unless it's a life update or general rant). People perusing your channel are looking for something to click on that they find engaging. Keep your videos interesting, focused, and fun as much as possible. 

3. Show Behind The Scenes.
The process is what most audiences want to see. Whatever you're making, show your process; the ups, the downs, the details that only you know. Keep it interesting and engaging.

4. Update Social Regularly.
You don't have to post a new YouTube video every single day, but as a maker, your audience assumes you're always doing something fun or creative. Whether it's a Twitter post, an Instagram photo or Facebook post, share something interesting on a regular basis. It can be something you found inspiring, a project fail, a neat quote, a past project, or something else.

5. Set Goals and Manage Your Time.
Making can be a lot of fun, and it's easy to lose track of time when you're having fun. Write down the main things you want to accomplish so you don't lose track of them. Find the times of day when you are most productive and try to work within those times.

6. Use Tags and Descriptions to your Advantage.
Get creative with your tags and descriptions. Consider the kinds of phrases people will be searching for and the larger markets and categories your products fit into. Keep these tags on your phone's clipboard for easy access when you're posting in the filed.

7. Link to Yourself So They Can Buy Your Stuff.
Have links to your site (or store) at the end of every article, and in the description of every video you make.