February 2021 Handmade Seller Magazine 65 | Page 19

Put simply , it can take a few months to get your shop off the ground the right way and to see sales rolling in consistently .

WHAT I THINK ABOUT THIS SPECIFIC DATA POINT

It appears quite normal to me . This isn ’ t specific to the handmade world , but to entrepreneurship in general . Very few businesses make over 6 figures in their first year .

Something that often saddens me is how many makers email me thinking they are “ not doing it right ” or that they are “ failing ” when they don ’ t see the success that ’ s advertised all over the internet .

It saddens me because I know these glamourized stories are not the norm and that these makers are not doing anything wrong , they are just frontloading the work , pushing through that first year where you do need to learn a lot of different things you never thought of before ( marketing , bookkeeping , social media , photography , etc .).

It ’ s all about the “ compound effect :” small incremental progress in that first year always leads to long-lasting success after that .

So I quite like this survey insight because it grounds us . It can help remind many that they aren ’ t doing anything wrong . They ’ re just

getting started .

Social media remains the top marketing channel , with Instagram and Facebook leading the way , and Pinterest just behind . 32.5 % of survey respondents have said that social media marketing was their most successful marketing channel .

Instagram and Facebook were both used by 88 % of respondents . This means that while not all of those 88 % used both , many did . Pinterest was only used by 57 % of respondents .

WHAT I THINK ABOUT THIS SPECIFIC DATA POINT

I was honestly surprised ! I would have thought more makers were using Pinterest because I know Pinterest is a fantastic platform for handmade sellers and the