By Liz Raad

If you want to be successful at Knitting For Profit, it is very important to know the right way to start. Your first steps can mean the difference between success and failure, so here are the top 3 things you need to do to start making money from knitting. These steps may potentially save you from making lots of expensive mistakes and save you valuable time – so pay attention!

Besides being incredibly effective and beneficial to your knitting business, these steps are also quite easy and exciting! This is where you get to brainstorm knitting ideas and inspiration, decide on your knitting business path and begin your journey to making money from your knitting.

Step 1: Assess your skills and desires. There are many ways of making money from knitting and ideally you should follow a method that appeals to you or that you are attracted to. For example, you could be a fast knitter so you’ll be able to produce lots of knitted items to sell, or you could be skilled at designing patterns, or you might like to teach others how to knit. What do you like to do? What are your strongest (and favorite!) knitting skills? This will guide you towards the various ways you can make money from knitting.

Step 2: Find a Knitting Niche and research your market. This is absolutely essential for your knitting success. First you need to find a niche market – a group of people who are passionate about something that you can provide a product for. (An example is hypoallergenic clothing for people with allergies, or scarves with the local football club colors). Then look at the marketplace and make sure those people are interested in buying what you have to offer.

Step 3: Write a knitting business plan. This will be your map to guide you on your journey to making money from knitting. It will help you decide who your customers will be, what knitted products you will sell, where and how you will sell them, and what knitter resources you will need to start out. Using a knitting business plan template will make this process much easier, because all you need to do is run through it and answer all the questions.

Follow these three steps when starting your knitting business and you will be well on your way to successfully making money from knitting!
Liz Raad is a small business coach and author of the book “Knitting For Profit – Your Step-by-Step Guide To Making Money From Knitting and Crochet”. She also gives great free information and ideas about how to make money from knitting on her blog at http://knittingforprofit.com/blog.

Article Source: Liz Raad == How You Can Start Knitting For Profit

by Tommy Venable

Turn on your local news these days and you would think its 1933 revisited. They say we’re not quite in a depression but I guess it depends on who you ask and what part of the country you’re from. The percentage of Americans out of work is almost record breaking. Times may be difficult and job opportunities may be few and beyond reach. These are the times when you have to dig down deep inside yourself and come up with a solution on how you’re going to survive in this economy.

If you’re the creative type, you may want to try making extra cash in the arts and crafts field. This hobby can quickly turn into a very profitable business. With today’s technology, you’re able to reach a wider audience to sell your arts and crafts. Believe it or not, there are people still out there willing to buy handmade crafty items. You just have to be creative in finding where these people are and placing your craft items in front of them.

So, what crafty item should you make and sell? Well, that depends on your creative passions. The crafting field is vast and there is always something for everyone. Some suggestions are; crocheting, knitting, polymer clay, sewing, handmade toys, handmade home decoration, the list can go on and on. Think about what craft items people might want to buy. How would your craft item benefit the buyer? Can your craft item be of use as decoration? Is it a functional craft item? What purpose does it have for the potential buyer? These are the questions you should ask yourself when coming up with ideas on what craft item you want to make and/or currently making.

Now that you have decided on what craft item you want to make, how do you know if there is a market for it? You don’t, unless you do some research. Browse some of the online auction sites that are out there on the web. Type in your craft item into the search field and take note of how many bids are placed or how many items are listed. This is not a sure fire method but will give you a sense of who else is making something similar to your craft item. Another way to find out if there is a market for your craft item is to search for possible stores or internet stores that may be selling what you want to make. Research, research is the key.

You discover there may be a possible market for your craft item. How do you make money? Where do you sell it? This is where you need to get extra creative of getting people to buy your craft item. Research local craft fairs in your area and sign up to ones that fits in with what you want to sell. There are many online internet sites like Etsy and ArtFire where you can setup an online store to sell your craft item. Just make sure you read all the fine print about listing fees and final sale fees but are a good way to sell online. Make sure you take good pictures of your craft item and remember, the potential buyer can’t hold your creation. Describe in detail everything about what you are selling.

Along with selling your craft items on online stores, you can also turn your knowledge of making your craft item into a tutorial or eBook. The quick and simple way is to create the tutorial in word .doc and then convert it to PDF file. List your tutorial on your online store. When people purchase your tutorial, you would email them the PDF of your tutorial. There is also online eBook creating software out there on the web. Do a search on your favorite web browser for; creating eBooks.

These are just a few ideas of how I am trying to survive in today’s rough economy as a crafter. Keep your head up and happy crafting.

Tommy Venable is an artist and jewelry maker. He often post ideas on how to sell and make handmade crafts on his blog and crafting site. http://tommyv.vengraphic.com / http://www.mycraftspage.com

About the Author

My name is TommyV. I am a business owner, entrepreneur, artist, jewelry maker and want to be chef. I was born in Maryland 4 decades ago, was married now divorced with two beautiful children. I now reside in Northern Virginia with my high school crush. My life has been a whirlwind, least to say and I will not depress you with the trials and tribulations that I have gone through. Over the many years of trial and error, lets say I finally understand.