Vlogging – Craft Tutorials

Some online handmade sellers are nervous to make the jump to utilizing video in their shop’s marketing scheme.  Here’s an idea:  Sharing your craft with others via video!

We received a tip from Etsy seller Patricia Barrett about how to utilize video to connect with other handmade artists.  You can see Patricia’s use of videos on her blog.

“Since geographical barriers make it impossible to share “hands on” learning,”  Patricia told us, “I thought video tutorials would be the next best thing. This way anyone could sit at their computer with their hooks and yarn, and learn via the “Internet classroom”.”

“I really can’t take credit for creating the video myself,” Patricia said, “and must give credit to the originator. Lacking my own video equipment, and anxious to get going on my blog posts, I set out to find a good Internet video tutorial that I could post to my blog, with permission from the author, of course. I finally found one that was up to my standards and very professionally done, so I secured authorization from the author for posting it.”

Patricia continues, “So far I have posted 3 video tutorials, and plan to add more, completing all the crochet stitches of what the author calls “Crochet 101″. I plan to follow-up with a written list of all the abbreviations and tips for following pattern instructions, which, in the end, will complete a somewhat lengthy series in the art of crochet. I met someone in the Etsy forums who is interested in learning bead crochet, so I may include instructions for bead crochet as well.”

So, has there been an increase of traffic to Patricia’s shop (Gladraggz) or to her blog?  “Since this is my first week of posting the crochet series, I haven’t really seen an increase in my Etsy shop sales, but as if by magic, I seem to have attracted several new blog followers! I doubt that I’ve really done anything very revolutionary by utilizing video tutorials when blogging, but if even one visitor learns to crochet, then my efforts to serve and enlighten will have been worthwhile, and I’ll be very happy!”

Thanks for the video tip Patricia!

Do you have ideas about Etsy-focused videos or want to show yours off?  Have you seen an increase in shop or blog visits as a result of posting videos?

Join HandmadeMarketing.org by suggesting a tip about utilizing videos when you are marketing your online shop.  If our editors like your idea, we will feature your tip and cite you as the source.