Q&A: Best platform for handmade crochet items

This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.

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A listener is ready to sell her handmade crochet items, including baby blankets and seasonal decorations. So what's the best platform for her? And does she need to make a website as well? That's what she's wondering about. Now in this situation, what you're often trying to do is not just get the information you need, but also move beyond whatever resistance you're experiencing as a result of so many options.

So it's a bit of a practical dilemma, but there's also something usually beyond that as well, I think, at least in my experience. And I hope I can help Don our caller, but maybe somebody else out there as well. And just in case you don't make handmade crochet items, or just in case you aren't wondering about a certain platform, how can you make these kinds of decisions when they come up for your side hustle or business idea? So let's see if we can help with both the specific and the general, the detailed question and my answer coming up after this quick message from our sponsor. [Music]

Hi Chris, my name is Donna and I'm from New York City.

I've been listening to the show for a few months now. I'm thinking about starting a side hustle to sell my handmade crochet items such as hats, headbands, baby blankets, and seasonal decorations. My question is, how do I decide which platform is best to use to market and sell my products when there are so many options available? I started doing research and I'm getting slowed down with all of the information and weighing the pros and cons. To sell items, there's Etsy, Shopify, and Instagram shops.

Then I also need to create a website which comes with another set of options like Wix, WordPress, Squarespace. Most of these platforms have fees and I don't want to spend a lot of money trying them all out to see which one works best. With all of the options out there, I feel like I'm suffering from decision paralysis and it's holding me back from getting my side hustle started. I'd love to hear if other side hustlers have had this problem and what they did to get through it. Thanks and I look forward to taking this next step so that I can finally launch my side hustle and start making some money.

- Hey Donna, what a great question. Thank you for asking it. I think that even just by asking it, you understand basically the root of the problem and you are moving forward, taking action and such. I think a lot of people just get overwhelmed and they're like, "Oh my gosh, what do I do?" So a couple of things here. For the first thing like choosing the platform, you mentioned Etsy, Shopify, Instagram, I'm sure there's some others.

The key point here is where are the buyers? So like where are the potential buyers of your handmade crochet items? Unless you already have a good size social media following, then you need to go to a place that is buyer friendly, even buyer centric and so that would be Etsy in this case. You can set up an Instagram account and start posting pictures, but people don't go to browse on Instagram to shop in that way, the way that they do with intent, with specificity on Etsy. I think that solves the first part.

Second thing, you do also need to create a website. You don't need to do it right away. Like if it holds you back, I would say start with the Etsy shop, but it is usually a good idea. And what we see in lots of stories is, starting a website to compliment the Etsy or whatever other platform it might be, because in time you hope to get customers over to you, not just shopping through the platform. So there, think about what you need, what features do you need?

And you mentioned several options there, they're all good. For this, you specifically want something that has e-commerce capability. Now I'm sure all of them do in some way or another, but Shopify specializes in that. I think Wix now has something for that, but there are also plugins for WordPress. So you're right, you don't want to try all of them.

You definitely don't need to try all of them. Probably any of them will work. So for that, I would just say maybe spend up to an hour, just looking, watch the short little video, look at the features, look at the pricing of each one, an hour total, right? And then just make a decision and move forward. You're really not going to have a bad decision there.

If for some reason you decide to change to something else later, you can do that quite easily. So I would say, don't get hung up on that decision. Focus much more on marketing, on getting those items up for sale, on connecting with potential buyers. And so many things you could do from there, but those are the first important steps. And those are the first important steps for anyone facing these kinds of decisions.

Thank you, Donna. I look forward to seeing the shop wherever it ends up. So let me know how things turn out. And listeners, if you've got a question of your own, just come to sidehustleschool.com/questions. We'll continue to feature them throughout the year, along with updates from other listeners as they launch and grow their projects.

That's it for today, but a new episode's coming up tomorrow. Crazy how that works. New episode every day. My name is Chris Guillebeau. This is Side Hustle School.

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From the Onward Project.