As someone who has built a career around blogging, I may be biased when I say blogging is not dead, it’s just changed. And, that’s to be expected as technology and how we engage with it evolve. For example, the advent of social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram ushered in an era of micro-blogging. This shift initially saw people abandoning their website blogs before figuring out that they could run the two side by side. By using their social platforms, not only connect to their audiences but also promote and drive traffic to their website, people can better connect their audiences to the products and services they sell.

Today, AI is disrupting how we generate and search for content, impacting blogging. So, despite the plethora of online promotional channels, leveraging a blog to promote your craft business remains a worthwhile part of a marketing strategy.

If you’re curious to find out how a blog can help you market your craftwork and boost your visibility, get answers to your questions in this article. First, we need to look at what a blog is.

What is a blog?

To appreciate why you should have a blog to promote your craft business, here is a definition from the Oxford Dictionary, and a brief introduction to what a blog and blogging are.

‘A blog is a regularly updated website or web page, typically one run by an individual or small group, that is written in an informal or conversational style‘. A blog comprises individual diary-like entries called Blog Posts. Blogging is the activity of writing and creating content for a blog post.

So, now that you know what a blog is, here are the reasons why you should use it as part of your marketing strategy to promote your craft business

1. You have greater control over how you create and share your content –

With a blog, you have greater control over how you create and share your content. You also have more options to customise your blog design to suit your brand, in areas such as layout, typefaces, backgrounds and button colours. A blog offers you the ability to use different media types in one post: written words, images, video, or audio clips. And, with a blog post, you can link to other posts on your blog or to external content, enabling you to direct your audience to where you want them to go next once they’ve seen and read your post.

And, unlike most social media platforms, a blog on your website has no restrictions on content length. You can say as much or as little as you want in your posts; just make sure your content is relevant, helpful, informative, educational or entertaining. Blog posts can also be edited to correct mistakes after publishing and, if required, updated to keep the content fresh.

2. You own your user data –

User data refers to the information you keep about visitors to your blog. This information is in the form of names, email addresses, age, location, interests and so forth. As explained in the definition, a blog is a type of website, typically set up on a hosting platform* i.e. GoDaddy, Doteasy, Bluehost. You can connect visitor data collecting tools to your blog, such as Google Analytics and mail subscriber providers such as Mailchimp, Flodesk, and Kit.

With these tools and, in addition to those that come with your hosting provider, you can keep track of and connect with visitors to your blog in many different ways, as they go through the journey from finding and reading your posts to making a purchase.

Customer management and mail subscriber tools enable you to save your user a data in the form of downloading a spreadsheet with the information. This means if something were to happen to your website and blog, you would still have your user data. The same cannot be said for social media platforms such as Instagram, which owns all the user data from traffic coming into their platform, in this case, your followers. Unless you persuade all your followers to visit your blog, website or sign up for your newsletter, you cannot engage with them outside of the social platform. And, if you were to lose your social media page or leave the platform, you would have no access to the community of followers you’ve spent precious time growing and nurturing.

3. You’re not tied to algorithms

Websites, social media and search engines run on algorithms. Algorithms help to enhance the user experience through functionality, performance, content delivery, searches and recommendations based on user interests and demographics. Algorithms, while useful, can hurt your digital marketing efforts by preventing your audience from seeing your content unless you play by the platform’s rules, i.e. paying to boost posts in your audience’s feeds.

Algorithms are constantly updated, and when a platform does so without warning, it can also impact your content’s visibility by restricting who sees it and when. In contrast, when someone visits your blog, they can see and browse all your posts. You can also react quicker to search engine algorithm changes by editing and updating your blog posts, as highlighted in Point 1.

4. You have the freedom to access, move and download the content you create

Some social platforms limit the access you have to download, edit or move around the content you share on your dedicated page. A blog gives you the freedom to move your content around to suit your needs. More importantly, you can save your blog content by creating backups of your posts, images, videos and so forth, to your preferred storage location, i.e. downloading to your computer.

By having a backup of your blog posts, should the worst happen, you can always upload them again- just remember to actually backup up your files! You can do this through the control panel on your web host.

5. It’s a traffic driver

People conduct millions of content searches daily on search engines and increasingly on AI platforms such as ChatGPT and Perplexity. When you create blog posts that provide information and answers to what your audience is looking for, you help to drive traffic to your website. The marketing strategy for doing this is SEO (Search Engine Optimisation), which refers to the words and phrases you use throughout a particular blog post to target a specific topic.

You can also use a blog to build your authority. If you create content that offers information centred around your industry, it can raise your profile. This helps attract the attention of journalists, curators, stockists, customers or fellow makers and students if you offer coaching, courses and workshops.

6. You can monetise your blog

You can turn your blog into an additional income stream by hosting ads, preferably from vetted suppliers and complementary sector-related businesses, rather than the random ones from Ad provider networks. The type of ads to consider could be: the shop where you get your materials from, an upcoming craft market, or a maker’s conference you enjoy attending.

Showing ads on your blog works best if you have steady traffic coming to your website, which is what blog posts do. If considering this monetising option, I would caution you to take a less-is-more approach to minimise interruptions to the reading experience, the sidebar tends to be the best place to place ads. And, be selective about who you partner with. What you choose to promote reflects on you, impacting the trust relationship you are building with your audience.

If you choose to manage the ads yourself, you will have to create a price list outlining how long the ad will be on your blog, in addition to having a set of guidelines regarding the ad size, design, and so forth. There are software platforms and plug-ins that can help you do this.

I hope you found the reasoning for having a blog useful, and if you are interested in using a blog to market your artisan hand-crafted items, find out how to get started in my post How to successfully start a blog and use it to promote your craft business.

– Tapiwa Matsinde

* Note: I run my website on DotEasy shared hosting and use Mailchimp; other than that, I am not affiliated with the hosting and email platforms mentioned, and by mentioning them, I am not offering advice to use them. If looking for a web host, I strongly recommend you do your research to identify the ones suitable for your needs.

[Image credits: The image shown belongs to Arina Krasnikova, sourced via Pexels. If downloaded and used elsewhere, please credit accordingly.]

The post 6 great reasons why you should have a blog to promote your craft business appeared first on Tapiwa Matsinde | A curatorial and artisan brand visibility consultancy for craft businesses.

Blogging has been a labour of love for me—a way to connect to and inspire my readers. Blogging is also the main way I promote what I do and get found on the internet. I view blogging as my essential marketing tool and seek to help artisan retailers, makers and designers who are looking to maximise the benefits of blogging to promote their business.

Like any new venture, if you’re starting a blog from scratch, the process can come across as daunting. If you want to start a blog to promote your artisan business, here’s my quick start guide with actionable tips to get you on your way to publishing your first post:

1. Set your objectives

Before you set up your blog, I encourage you to create a plan that outlines the objective of why you want to have a blog. Your plan will keep you focused on what you need to do and help you make the decisions related to the other steps.

Actions to take: Set aside an hour or two to jot down how a blog can help promote your artisan business i.e. drive traffic to your website, build your reputation, grow your mailing list, educate your customers about the different aspects of your work, or actually start a craft business if you haven’t yet done so.

2. Name your blog

If your blog is not attached to an existing business website or you’re simply setting up a blog to share your thoughts or plan to eventually turn it into a business, you will need to give your blog a name. Once you have a name, proceed to purchasing the domain name of your blog name. The domain name is the address that people will use to access your blog, i.e. if your blog name is My Beautiful Blog, the domain name will be www.mybeautifulblog.com. If your blog is part of an existing website, you can still give it a name that is a bit more exciting than ‘blog’ and include it in your menu, i.e. Journal, Stories, The Maker’s Diary, Inspiration.

Actions to take: Spend some time brainstorming suitable blog names. Choose a name that reflects what your craft business is about. Keep your blog name simple yet memorable. If you don’t have a website, purchase the domain from a domain name registrar- this service is offered by web hosting providers. If you already have a website, come up with a list of inspiring names to call your blog.

3. Choose a web host and blogging platform

A blog is technically a web page, so it will require a web host. A web host is an online-based platform that provides the software and technology needed to create your blog and/or website. Web pages are built using coding and programming languages such as HTML/CSS and JavaScript. The good news is that you do not need to know how to code to set up a blog. Web hosting providers remove the need for you to know how to code, making it much easier to set up your blog and start blogging. Web hosting providers offer several options, including shared hosting, managed hosting, and dedicated hosting. Shared hosting is suitable for beginners as it’s affordable and relatively easy to set up. Popular web hosting providers include WordPress, Wix, and Squarespace. Each provider comes with benefits and limitations, and pricing options to suit a range of budgets. If you already have a website, the software to create a blog will often be a feature offered by your web hosting provider.

Actions to take: Have a look at web hosting providers. Compare what each offers and select the one that suits your requirements. To help select, ask for recommendations from your peers.

4. Customise your blog design

Most web hosting providers will provide a selection of blogging themes or templates tailored towards different industries, i.e. A booking system for a hospitality business, an e-commerce facility for retailers, and recipe functionality for food bloggers. I find that these templates tend to be limited and fairly generic in style. To find a stylish template that suits your brand personality and business needs, you can design your own template if you know how to code or purchase and install one from a designer, developer or third-party provider. Whether you choose to use your web host’s themes, buy or get one made, you will need to customise the templates with your desired layout, brand colours and typeface fonts. Where relevant, you will also need to add your brand images and information such as an about bio, contact details, and anything else that is needed or is a legal requirement, i.e. privacy policies.

Actions to take: Select and customise a suitable theme. Review the theme demos before purchasing, and do ask questions if you are not sure about any features.

5. Create your blog posts

Your blog designed, it’s time to create, upload and publish your blog posts. This is also referred to as creating content. Blog posts are the individual published entries that make up a blog, similar to diary entries. The content you create for your blog posts will comprise one or a mix of written text, images, video, and audio media, to name a few. Choose relevant, eye-catching images and graphics. It is good practice to plan out the content for your blog posts. This will help you see and keep track of what content to create and when to publish it.

Actions to take: Set aside time to brainstorm ideas for your blog content. You want to publish posts about your business that tell the stories about the products you sell, and help your audience get to know you. Create a content calendar and populate it with ideas for the blog posts you want to publish. If you need help with crafting the stories of your business, have a look at Unfold Your Story, my signature brand storytelling course.

6. Optimise your blog posts for SEO

Search engine optimisation, commonly known as SEO, is how your blog posts will get found on the internet by showing up in search engine searches. SEO is centred around using keywords. Keywords are the words and phrases that someone will input into a search engine, such as Google or Bing, to search for the information they are looking for. When you create your blog post content, you want to ensure that you include the relevant keywords to maximise the chances of your blog posts showing up in the search results.

Actions to take: Put together a list of keywords that are related to your business, products and industry. Use these keywords in your written blog content, paragraphs and headings, and image names. Don’t overdo it, though, as that can have the opposite effect of hindering the chances of your content showing up.

7. Review and publish your blog posts

When you are ready to publish a blog post, review it to check for spelling mistakes and ensure that the content flows. If possible, view the post in preview mode on a desktop, tablet and mobile screen to see how a reader will see the post, and catch any responsive errors. Once satisfied that all looks good, publish your post

Actions to take: Run a spellcheck of your content. You can ask another person to have a read to catch anything you may have missed. Check the responsiveness of your blog post on different devices. Publish your post.

8. Promote your blog posts

Using a blog to promote your artisan business means promoting the blog posts you create. While SEO helps with getting your posts found in search engines, you will still need to actively promote your blog posts to maximise the chances of your audience seeing them.

Actions to take: Tell people you have a blog. Share links to your blog posts in your newsletters and on your social media platforms.

9. Maintain your blog

A blog requires nurturing. Technology is always changing, and this will impact your blog. Your web hosting provider will notify you of changes, but if you use any third-party tools such as templates and plug-ins, you may need to manually update them to ensure they remain compatible with your web hosting provider’s software upgrades.

Actions to take: Keep on top of web hosting updates. Review past blog posts for outdated content, and update where necessary. Consider refreshing your theme every few years.

That’s your brief guide to starting a blog. I hope you find it useful. Starting and maintaining a successful blog takes time and effort, so keep in mind that the results of blogging will take time to come through- it pays to be patient yet consistent.

If you dream of creating a blog that promotes your artisan business and inspires your audience turning them into customers and could benefit from a review of your existing blog or guided support to start a blog from someone who knows what it takes to build a successful, award-winning blog then do have a look at my Storytelling Services here to find out how I can help.

– Tapiwa Matsinde

[Image credits: The image shown belongs to cottonbro studio via Pexels. If downloaded and used elsewhere, please credit accordingly.]

The post How to successfully start a blog and use it to promote your artisan business appeared first on Tapiwa Matsinde | A curatorial and artisan brand visibility consultancy for craft businesses.