By Anna Cragin

If you are just joining us, catch up on all the amazing info in Part 1 and Part 2! 

How to Put All This Together?

Phew!! That was a lot of info, wasn’t it?
My goal is not to overwhelm you, or to add even more tasks to your growing to do list, but to help you build the best darn website that actually works to grow your business, not just take up time and space.
I’ve created a bonus, completely FREE Game Plan that you can download at the link below this article, that includes a checklist of your website strategy. Make sure you keep an eye out for it after this section!!

So here are the steps to putting all you’ve learned today into action:

Step 1: Make a strategy for what you wish to achieve with your website

The number one goal should be to collect email addresses of folks interested in your stuff. This is the best metric for gauging the growth of your business.  You may think that the first goal should be to get more sales, but actually that’s a goal for your email communications, which you can’t send out if you don’t have email addresses… see how that works?

Step 2: Decide what freely available content you can create

This will go hand in hand with defining your ideal customer (if you haven’t already). This in itself is a whole ‘nother topic, so I don’t go too much into detail here, but suffice it to say that your customer online isn’t “everybody” or “women”. So get specific!!
Then, decide what problems or pain points your ideal customers have. Then think about how you can use your skills to create solutions for them in the form of content.  For example: my ideal customer is a beginning online seller who has a product based handmade business, and is looking for ways to get educated about how to run a handmade business online.

Step 3: Decide what exclusive content you can offer your subscribers

Think of ACTIONABLE content you can offer those who subscribe to your list. These should provide a quick win for your audience that they can feel great about getting.  This can include resources to help them navigate their pain points, ways to participate in your business by providing feedback, even things like coupons for discounts or chances to get entered in giveaways.  You can create a birthday club, where they’d get a special gift on their birthday. Or a subscription to receive goods from you on a regular basis. The list goes on and on, and is only limited by your imagination!

Step 4: Get it all out there

Lastly, you’ve got to put all this into play. Create your website, set up your email list, and start telling everyone about it!!
Remember, you have something unique to offer the world. Make sure that people can find it 🙂

Now over to you…!!

All this learning is great, and I applaud you for taking the initiative to learn about business basics to really make your handmade business profitable.

Now is the time to take ACTION, baby!!

So here’s what you can do next:

Head on over to download my FREE Strategic Website Game Plan (the link is in my bio at the end of this post). It is a step by step checklist to help you set up a strategy to make your standalone website work for you + your handmade biz. Plus, I’ve made it printable or fillable on your computer.  And in the comments, let me know: what is your biggest challenge when you’re thinking about building your website? I’ll stick around for the next couple of days to answer your questions!!
About the Author
Anna Cragin is passionate about helping handmade business owners rock their online
presence. She writes about websites, online stores, social media, email outreach, and how to
juggle all the tasks that are required to run a small business. She’s on a mission to inspire and
educate crafty folks to run amazing businesses, and to that end, she has created this Strategic
Website Game Plan that you can download for FREE .