Can you make money selling crochet? Yes, you can! I’m not talking about pocket change. With proper marketing, custom orders, pattern design & blogging, you can build a substantial income each month. Crochet can be more than a hobby, you can make crochet your career.
I don’t have to get dressed for work. I don’t have a commute to a job. I don’t even have a boss. Do you know why? I quit my job to crochet full-time! In this article, I’m going to tell you exactly how I did it.
Before we get into exactly how I quit my job. I should tell you what my job was. For the past 17 years, I’ve been working as a teacher/counselor working with individuals with intellectual disabilities.
I absolutely loved my job. 10 years ago thing changed after my son was born.
Since daycare is so expensive, it was necessary to switch to the night shift. My husband worked day shifts, therefore somebody was always there for our son. At the time, this was what worked for my family.
While working midnight shifts, it began to have wear on my body. In 2015, I decided maybe I should start looking into other ways to make an income.
That’s when started creating custom orders and selling crochet to friends and family. My first venture as a crochet entrepreneur was addictive!
With my new addiction, I tried to find more ways of making money with crochet. Once I learned how to market myself, my opportunity flourished. Before I knew it, I was selling my custom orders all over the US.
When I started to make REAL money by selling crochet, I then began thinking of some MORE ways of making money with crochet.
Custom orders were providing me with quality revenue but it wasn’t enough to quit my day job.
In 2017, when I started my YouTube channel is when Littlejohn’s Yarn as a business began to take off. While doing YouTube, I was still fulfilling custom orders, working midnight shifts, and trying to figure out the ins and out of YouTube.
So of course, I researched all that I could on the topic to learn how it all works.
In 2019, I began putting real effort into my blog and other ways of making money, but we’ll get a little bit. Now let me tell you all the ways that I make money as a full-time crocheter!
1. Custom Orders
Crocheting finish items or custom orders is one of the most basic ways to make money. There isn’t much cost overhead (yarn). But this route does require most of your time.
Remember this is not the movie Field of Dreams. If you make it they will NOT come. You will need to learn how to market yourself.
After talking with many struggling crochet entrepreneurs, their main complaint is that no one is buying. They put their work on Etsy, crickets.
No Sale. Etsy will not work for you, YOU have to work on Etsy. Putting yourself out there on Social Media is the key.
If want to learn how to market your crochet, I have written, “The Secret To Selling Crochet”. You will learn the in and outs of gaining a trusted audience that can’t wait to buy your next crafted item. They will know you can’t buy your work at Walmart, lol.. . They will know you can’t buy your work at Walmart, lol.. !
2. YouTube
The way that I earn income on YouTube is through AdSense. Have you ever noticed the commercials you’ll see before you start your YouTube video? That 15 seconds or longer ad that you can skip. Well, that’s how I get paid!
I receive 60% of the ad revenue from those commercials. YouTube takes 40% of that. I know that may seem like a steep cut, but this is their platform. Without them, you would never know who I am!
YouTube has allowed me to reach a bigger audience than I could have ever imagined.
You won’t make money immediately from YouTube. Before your channel can become monetized (able to make money), you need 1000 subscribers & 4,000 watch time hours.
In the beginning. I didn’t make a dime. So expect to work hard in the beginning with little to no results.
It took 6 months before I started earning money on this platform. I made $30 the first month being monetized. It was a small amount but it gave me enough motivation to keep going.
3. Blogging
Blogging is another way I make income also through AdSense and Ezoic (ad network like Adsense). If you ever go on any website, and you’ll see the little ads placed all around the blog.
That’s how I get paid. When somebody clicks on any one of the ads while looking at my free patterns, I receive a small commission.
If you would like to know more about starting your own blog. I wrote an article & step by step pictorial and how to do so. Blogging has become one of my larger income streams. I wish I would have taken it more seriously years ago.
Some people use web builders to create their blogs. I prefer the more traditional route. For the past 3 years, I have been using WordPress with Bluehost to run my blog.
This combination is the blogger’s standard. You can start your own blog with as little as $2.95 a month with Bluehost.
4. Affiliate Marketing
On my blog and YouTube channel, I use affiliate marketing. If you ever seen me recommend a product that and link to, such as the Addi Express circular knitting machine (my favorite gadget!).
If anyone purchases from that link I will receive a commission.
I’m a part of a few affiliate networks. The most popular are ShareASale, Amazon Associate, and CJ Affiliates. Through these affiliate networks you can recommend pretty much anything.
As a crocheter, I stick craft all craft items. If crochet or knitting is your niche, please don’t try to sell your audience a car. That is not why they came to your site!
5. Book Sales
I’ve also written a book called, “The Secret To Selling Crochet”. Who would have thought in a million years that I would be a published author. Guess what? You can too with Kindle Direct Publishing (KPD).
With KDP, you can self-publish your book on Amazon and start making money in as little as 24 hours.
That’s a lot better than waiting months or even years to find an agent, get a book deal, and go through all the rigmarole of working with a traditional publishing platform, right?
Writing a book isn’t for everyone. But this was a great way to create passive income for myself. Yes, it took me a while to write the book but after the initial work is completed I can continue to sell the book for years. Of course with edition updates.
If you would like to learn how to gain an audience and get traffic your crochet shop, then you must read, “The Secret To Selling Crochet”.
6. Pattern Sales
I make money from my crochet patterns. That’s pretty much obvious! Designing patterns is my #1 love. I probably have over a hundred crochet patterns. You can find them on Etsy, Ravelry and Lovecraft.
My crochet patterns are listed in as many places as possible. The more eyes on my patterns the more likely I am to make a sale.
7. Sponsorships
A sponsorship happens when a brand pays you to use and talk about their product. It is pretty straight forward. I will link to a sponsored video I did for Red Suricata blocking pins. Once again, please only do sponsored content for brands that you trust.
8. Merchandise
I sell Littlejohn’s Yarn merchandise in my Teespring shop. You’ll find t-shirts with funny sayings, stickers, bags, sweatshirts, and mugs.
Of course, I have to push my own shop now, lol. If you use the Promo Code THANKS you will get 25% off anything in my shop.
Conclusion
Now that you know exactly how I make money, you realize it won’t be any easy journey. You have to be consistent and persistent. Don’t stop. Each accomplishment stacks on the last.
Don’t expect to make much money the first year as a crochet entrepreneur. This is where the strong rise to the top. Most people quit within their first year. Never realizing what they could have accomplished.
Sure, many of you are thinking, “I don’t have time to make money doing any of these things”. I understand. I’m a wife, mother, homeschool teacher during pandemic, and I was worked rotating midnight shifts.
It’s a lot. If you truly want to do this you will push yourself to reach your goal.
If you are interested in knowing exactly how much I make, then check out my monthly income report.
Last tip I want to give you. Please don’t rely on one stream of income. Warren Buffett cautions individuals to never rely on a single source of income. If you lose one you still have multiple streams to fall back on.