Featured Image credit to Indie South, an amazing local shop in Athens GA!! Check them out at www.instagram.com/theindiesouth
I feel like there has been a BOOM in the world of Handmade, Makers, Artist and full time, “stay at home” artisans lately. Maybe I feel this way because I spent two years as a part of this group before going back to work full time or maybe it is because I live in a city where handmade items and artists have LOTS of opportunities to get their goods in front of consumers and feel supported in their community. I try not to be a “pusher” of my goods when it comes to friends & family but I definitely don’t get a lot of orders from this group of people. Most of my orders come from local craft shows and local shops willing to stock my product. This is not an issue and it does not upset me as I am VERY supported by my family and friends in all of my “crafty” endeavors and understand that they can’t empty their pockets each year to “support me” but I saw a post circulating this holiday season and thought it very relevant and a great subject for a blog post.
If you have lots of friends and family members who “make” things as a living or even as a “side hustle” please understand that this additional income makes a HUGE difference in most cases. It may mean the difference in paying all of their bills in full vs. letting one or two of them roll over on a credit card. It might mean the difference between their child staying home every day after school or getting to go to dance class. It might mean a few more gifts for their children for Christmas. I feel like these are much sweeter reasons to spend money on Christmas gifts than growing Amazon’s bottom line, am I right?? BUT, I know that many of us are unable to support all of our crafty friends during the holidays so here are a few things you can do to help that will cost you a whopping ZERO dollars!
SHARE SHARE SHARE!
If you are able and willing, just sharing a friends post can be super helpful! Even if it doesn’t lead to any sales, it is such a great feeling when people see that a friend shared their post!
LIKES & COMMENTS MATTER!
Maybe you don’t want to clog up your feed with lots and lots of posts from friends, that’s okay! Just liking and commenting on a facebook/Instagram post can actually BOOST your friends visibility on the platform! The more likes and comments that a post gets, the more likely Facebook/Instagram’s algorithms will see that post as relevant content and boost its visibility on the platform!!! So spread and love with your likes and comments this holiday season!
POST A PIC & TAG AWAY!
If you have purchased things from this person in the past see if you can go out of your way to include their products in your posts. I like to do this as often as possible, tagging people who have made things that I have around my home (the lady who hand-carved my crochet hooks, my favorite candle and mug makers, the artists whose work is on my walls, the artisans who crafted my jewelry… etc, etc.! Try and tag them in the post or in the photo to spread the love for their brand!
PLEASE PLEASE LEAVE REVIEWS!!!
This is so important!!! I KNOW you read reviews when you are looking to buy things (don’t lie to me, I know you check them out!) so please be sure to leave reviews if you do buy something from a friend, especially on sites like Etsy where the review process is super easy! You can also recommend their facebook page if they don’t have an online shop! Every little bit of positive feedback is very helpful and very meaningful!
Do you have other ways that you support your friend’s small businesses? I would love to hear about them in the comments!!
Happy Holidays!!!
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Shop: www.pinksheepdesign.etsy.com
Featured Image credit to Indie South, an amazing local shop in Athens GA!! Check them out at www.instagram.com/theindiesouth
