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magazines. Some magazines are designed specifically for marketing crafts. Submitting an ad to a magazine of this kind can be rather costly but you may be able to reach a large audience that specifically targets craft-loving customers. Be prepared for the response to the ad, both positive or negative. Make sure any craft supplies you purchase are returnable in case the response to your ad is disappointing. At the same time, be rigged with supplies in case you're inundated with orders! Specify a lead-time for orders in your ad and stick to it!

There are a variety of venues for selling crafts online, as well. This can be particularly helpful if you live in a remote area. If you're feeling adventurous (and patient), you can try your hand at designing a website. Beware that this can be surprisingly time-consuming and tedious. It may be more effective to hire someone for your site's design, but this can be extremely expensive. You also must be prepared to set up a merchant account with a bank in order to process orders online via a shopping cart.

There are also a variety of websites that will assist with the promotion of your crafts. Etsy.com is a popular site for artists and crafters. Specifically intended for the buying and selling of handcrafted goods, the site allows vendors to set up their own "stores" within the site and select accepted payment methods. Etsy is small, but it's catching on quickly.

Online auction sites such as Ebay.com and Yahoo Auctions create another venue for promotion of your crafts. These sites sell everything from thimbles to vacation homes so handcrafted items can sometimes be overlooked amongst the deluge of goods made available there.

Don't discount a simple free ad posted on a craft-related website. Many sites allow crafters to post ads along with email addresses at no charge. But beware that email addresses posted on these sites may be harvested by web crawlers. This could result in a mailbox filled with unwanted junk email. It's a good idea to create a new email address that will be used specifically for ads such as this.

As the craft market continues to grow and change, you may need to explore new venues for your products. As you branch out and learn during your venture, always remember to seek out new ideas, improve the old ones, and make certain that your work is always top-notch quality. A good reputation is the best venue available - and it's free!

Learn more about this author, Di Reiter.
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