Crocheting is a skill. It’s not something anyone can do. If you can do it, guess what? You have a valuable skill that people will PAY you for. WAHOO!
But who is going to pay you, and how? Here are the 7 best ways I know of to make money crocheting.
- Etsy. This is how I started out. It’s super easy to get started, and it doesn’t cost very much to list your items (I think $0.20 per item for three months of advertising). There is a hefty transaction fee, but you can (and should) include this additional cost in your pricing. I honestly haven’t had much luck here getting organic sales, but it helped me organize my online store that I sent my own traffic to later, and it got me started taking payments.
- Pattern tester. You can get paid to test other people’s patterns! And often at any skill level, since pattern designers want to find out what level their pattern is and see how technically challenging it is. Just google “crochet pattern tester.”
- Affiliate marketing and blogging. Yep! If you’re a crafter and a blogger, you can embed affiliate links into your free patterns or crafting stories and get paid for clicks. You need your own website to do this, and you need to generate your own traffic. If you haven’t learned SEO, now is the time! But the big perk is once you write a good article, it can generate clicks (and cash) for years to come, so it’s a pretty good use of your efforts if you’re good at the above skills.
- How-to videos on Youtube. Get sponsored! But beware, this niche is SATURATED, and I don’t know how to hack it. From my experience as a viewer, videos need to be ultra short and to-the-point (like, under a minute if you’re showing a technique. Maybe under 3 minutes for an entire pattern). I’ve tried making videos and this is challenging. You need video editing tools, good lighting (or equipment to make it), something to prop your phone/camera up in front of you, and plenty of storage space for the videos.
- Selling patterns. Have you made something that is just DARLING? Sell your pattern! Etsy is a fine platform for this. You can also sell them on your own website/online store.
- Crochet freelancer on Upwork. I was wandering around the interwebs the other day and actually found many listings for “crochet freelancer” on Upwork. I had no idea! You have to market yourself, and you have to be skilled enough to do custom jobs. If you’re good at amigurumi, this might be a good option for you. All I know is that these people are advertising their services, but I don’t know how often they get hired.
- The one you might not have heard of: selling your handmade goods at markets and events! This is not as hard to get going as you might think. I’ve taken the time to write out a free guidebook for you to get started for less than $200 in startup costs (you need a tent and some tables and stuff).
Regarding number 7, I can’t cover all the pros quick enough. No website required. No advertising required. No SEO required. No social media required. People show up in front of you ready to buy your stuff (assuming it’s cute, which I’m sure it is!). And it’s flexible; you choose when you want to do markets! This makes for an excellent side hustle.
And best of all…it’s fun! You get to meet other small business owners and market patrons, get instant no-strings-attached feedback about your products, sell your products (of course), and you get to know the people who want to buy your stuff. That is priceless business information.
Didn’t think you could make money doing your favorite hobby while watching TV? Think again! Get all the info you need to start selling your crochet products at markets here.