Sell Handmade Stuff On The Internet – The Greatest Challenge

I was talking with a friend who wants to build up traffic to their blog when I was reminded of this cartoon from Hugh Macleod.

The best way to get better search engine ranking is to get more links from more sites. The best way to get more links to have some content that someone, anyone, will care about.

Why should anyone care about what you are selling on your site? Why should anyone care about your site at all?

That could be a very depressing question, but it’s not. There is an answer. You have products that are special and have value that no other products in the world have. What is it?

I want to make you think about the value that you bring to your reader. There is some value. You have the funniest posters or the most unique rings or necklaces made out of a specific kind of glass. You must have something that sets your products apart and makes your stuff special.

It’s easy to focus on what you want to do or say or why you think your products or ideas or words have value. No one cares what you think. They only care what they think. There are other people in the room besides you and you need to think about things from their point of view.

You need to think about what you are trying to sell and why anyone would want to buy your products. What makes your products different? or special? or more valuable? or more desirable? Write these reasons down.

If I wanted to get academic, I’d tell you that this is your “Unique Selling Proposition“, or UPS. You should know what it is. You should know how to define it and communicate it. The only way someone will care about your products is if they understand your UPS.

Now that you can communicate that UPS, then you need to say it explicitly and repeatedly. People need to understand it. They want to come to your site and link to your site because you are the best place to get what?

If you can communicate your unique selling proposition well, then a few of those 6 billion people may care about your products enough to come to your site and buy one.

The greatest challenge is to make people care.

Since you care, it shouldn’t be hard to make them care.