Have you ever wanted to build a craft website? You’ve landed on my site probably by doing a Google search, or via some social media. I built this site myself, from having no knowledge a year ago to what you see today. Even I’m impressed and it’s my own site!
Do you want to know how I did it? I’ll rewind and give you a bit of history. After losing my hubby last year, I found myself in need of an occupation. Not only to keep me busy but to give me an income. After some extensive online research, I came across a training program called Wealthy Affiliate
I’ve seen many free blogging sites, like Blogger or Weebly, I’ve used them myself in the past. This time, I wanted a “proper” website, one that not only helps people but also gives me an income.
If you’re a crafter, there are more ways of using your website than selling your handmade crafts. This is where the training program at Wealthy Affiliate comes in. The training teaches you to create a solid online business.
Keep reading and I’ll explain!
I was skeptical I must admit, but the reviews were very good, in fact, I didn’t find any negative ones at all. What encouraged me to join was the FREE membership.
No Such Thing as a Free Lunch!
Ah, I can hear you thinking, “there’s no such thing as a free lunch!” Wealthy Affiliate has 2 levels of membership, Free Starter and Premium.
Now when I say free, I don’t mean a trial. You can stay a free member forever, keep working on your websites AND, you don’t need to enter any payment details.
Of course, there are many advantages to the premium membership and I’ll delve into that in a bit.
How Can My Website earn an Income?
There are a number of ways, not just selling your crafts. These are just a few examples with very brief descriptions to give you an idea of what I’m talking about!
- Affiliate Marketing – this is when you, the affiliate promote product/services online for companies (MERCHANTS). You earn commissions when products are purchased.
- Google AdSense – A program run by Google that lets publishers in the Google Network of content sites serve automatic adverts. This is done by targeted advertising on your site. Every time someone clicks the advert you earn a few cents. Not a big money earner but once it’s set up you don’t have to do anything else. I use my revenue to buy fat quarters!
- Membership Site – is where you have a special section on your site that can only be accessed by using a password. This can be in the form of training, tutorials, videos, patterns etc and people would pay for this service.
- Email Marketing – most of you have “subscribed” to a website at some point. Maybe a free pattern was offered, or a free ebook, in return for you email address. All the people on your “list” then become potential customers.
Why did I choose Wealthy Affiliate
As I said earlier, Wealthy Affiliate is an online training program that teaches you how to build an online business. You’re taken from the very basics of putting your website, together, search engine optimization, right through to monetizing it.
You can just build a craft website and blog about your projects, you don’t need to monetize it. The Starter Membership allows you to do this for free.
This is my experience:
I joined the Free Starter Membership initially, just to find out what it was all about. For the first 7 days you have access to most of the premium features, including 24/7 support through the live chat.
There is a lot to take in and the first few days were very intense. Using WordPress to build my site was a learning curve, but help was on hand whenever I needed it!
The first thing I noticed was the community, it is VERY friendly with everyone helping each other.
Many members have competing sites, yet still the help is there. Questions I asked were answered quickly and I was able to move efficiently through the lessons. My website was built within a few hours and I was ready to start writing articles.
The lessons are set up in a methodical way. At the end of each section, you are given tasks before you move onto the next lesson. If you get stuck there’s always someone to help you out. Everything is covered within the classrooms with the opportunity to ask questions. There are also live video training sessions every week covering all aspects of an online business.
The owners, Kyle and Carson have built a “pay it forward” ethos within Wealthy Affiliate and it shows. They are very active within the community, both in the Live Chat, (you can see Kyle in the live chat in the pic) answering members questions, and keeping the training updated.
After my 7 day access to premium features ended I upgraded, it wasn’t a hard choice! The 1st month was $19 and after that it’s $49 a month. Not much for building a business, step by step training, top notch web hosting, and an awesome community.
There are no upsells, the only extra thing you’re encouraged to purchase is your own domain name at around $10, but you don’t need this to set up your site. The following chart gives a breakdown of the 2 packages.
Building a Craft Website – what it’s meant for me
Joining the Wealthy Affiliate University has given me a way to use my hobby to earn an income. What I didn’t expect were the friendships I’ve made (and continue to make) within the very active community. The support is not just for technical aspects, but also comes across on a more personal level. Motivational blogs, success stories, personal triumphs, these are all shared on a daily basis. You’re having an off day, tell someone within the community and you’ll soon be up and running again!
So whether you want to build a craft website for fun, or to earn an income, I recommend you give Wealthy Affiliate a try.
Pop over now and sign up for free, you’ll be amazed at what you can achieve!
Thanks Kathy! I’ll pass this on. This will be perfect for my lady friend. She is all tossed up on where to start with her business. I advised her an online business is always a good start, and this seems like a real easy way to do this.
All the best to you!
Thanks Damien, I hope she finds the information useful 🙂
Hi Kathy, This was such an interesting read. It’s always good to know why people have set up their own niche websites and how they did it. It is interesting to read how you felt it was intense to start with, because this was my own experience too. What is it, do you think, that you have got MOST out of having your own website?
The interesting thing is, it’s the confidence to know I can do it, that’s been the most important for me. Using the training from Wealthy Affiliate I now have the confidence to build sites for other businesses, not just craft websites, but other niches too.
Wow, amazing that you have a site for quilters and crafters specifically, and helping them actually sell their stuff. Wealthy Affiliate indeed has the perfect set up to teach you these kind of things, especially if you want to sell stuff, you got to make a connection with the people and that’s exactly what we teach around here. Thanks for the awesome review!
Matt TheDopestMatrix
Many crafters believe the only way to make money from their craft is to sell what they make. I tried this a few times and the hours I worked never gave me a decent return. Building a craft website is a good way to do something you love and still earn an income, sounds good to me!
Glad you enjoyed reading and thanks for leaving a comment. 🙂
Hey there Kathy , there is no greater satisfaction when you build something on your own.It is like a “child”…
Oops…things turn dramatically here , I am very sorry for your loss.But you did not give up and that is awesome , meaning you have a very strong personality.
I prefer Affiliate Marketing as a starting point , I am not a fan of Google AdSense although can bring some income , but their design is awful and usually not in big relevance with the content of the websites.Of course the 2 additional options you present are great and can be implemented as soon as a site gets some decent amounts of traffic.
You are a lucky person to find out Wealthy Affiliate.There is no program out there so comprehensive.They always update their content and they follow all the internet guidelines and rules very strictly.
The live chat is awesome, I had many of my problems solved in minutes when I got started, from fellow entrepreneurs that were so kind and generous.
The owners participate in the forum and the chat and they are very experienced and decent gentlemen.
WA is an online family that hugs every member.Very nice to see you making friendships inside this community
I wish you good luck and strength for the future.You are doing a great job here and helping people is very rare to these modern days of corruption.
Yes, many people who have crafting hobbies believe selling is the only way they can earn an income from it. Building a craft website and using the methods taught at Wealthy Affiliate is great way to do something you enjoy and gain monetary benefits from it.
Thanks for taking the time to read and leave a comment. 🙂
This page is amazing! So much information here on how to create a website. The idea of a craft website does sound like a good idea as I’m a huge fan of paintings and modeling with clay. Wealthy Affiliate looks like a great place to build a website, whether you want to make money from your hobby or not. My girlfriend loves to quilt so I’ll be passing your site link to her, I’m sure she’ll enjoy it. Are there any other costs involved can you tell me?
Thanks Paul, I’m sure your girlfriend will enjoy browsing through Tools for Quilting if she’s a keen quilter!
The only extra cost if you upgrade to premium is if you want to purchase your own domain name. This costs in the region of $10 a year. This isn’t mandatory though, you can continue to work with the free site as long as you wish. 🙂
I love the content in your page. If I came across this page first before I learned about Wealthy Affiliate I would have definitely tried it out after reading your article. You covered just about every detail that needs to be portrayed and I can certainly see how building a craft website could help my hobby. Anyhow, me being part of Wealthy Affiliate I will double vouch that this place is genuine and the place to go.
I’m glad you enjoyed your visit and can see the benefits of having a crafty website! Wealthy affiliate certainly make the prcess easier!
There are so many scam sites out there it’s hard to know what to believe anymore. But I have to say that like you, after doing extensive (and I mean EXTENSIVE) research online, the one name that kept popping up time and time again was Wealthy Affiliate. And all great comments with no shouts of “scam!”.
I’d also tried the free site builders, but got frustrated wth the lack of functionality, I decided to give Wealthy Affiliate a go and joined using the free membership. Ah sure wouldn’t you know, in no time at all I had upgraded to Premium and I haven’t looked back. It’s not just the training. It’s the community support that goes hand-in-hand with it. You can’t go wrong.
And just look at the amazing site you have built up, it’s a perfect platform for building a craft website , in fact for any website!
Tthanks Jyl, Wealthy Affiliate certainly isn’t a scam as you’ve found out! What I liked about the program was being able to try most of the premium features for free without the need for payment details.
Getting feedback from the community before signing up to premium was a key factor in my decision and I’m sure Kyle and Carson the founders realize the importance of this strategy!
Many people don’t associate this type of program with building a craft website, but Wealthy Affiliate really works for most websites no matter what the subject.
Sure, I know all about it 😀 I have a playing card website which is an extremely narrow niche. But you know what? It’s my interest and as long as I’m getting traffic (which I AM..!) then I’m happy. WA All The Way!!
This is very helpful information! This looks like the real deal. I’ve been ripped off by the online gurus before, but I’m going to try Wealthy Affiliate: there seems to be no risk. How easy is it to create my own craft website there? It seems kind of technical. Why would I ever need more than 2 websites? I noticed that the Premium account offers way more websites.
Hi Michael
Wealthy Affiliate is good for building a craft website , many people think it’s only for Internet marketing type sites. It can be technical, but even without any prior knowledge the training takes you through the steps. The community is also great for answering any questions you have. The premium membership is more than just being able to have multiple websites. In my review, I detail the benefits there. Also, with the free 2 sites, you never own them as they are on a subdomain, if you leave, you leave the sites behind.
Hi Kathy, I myself have witnessed the hours and dedication it takes to see a return for your work. My mother does embroidery and sews, a good bit of it is for family but they typically don’t pay. But Wealthy Affiliate is such a great place to build a craft website, no doubt about it. How is your business doing at this stage? And I hope you are well as well.
My business is doing well thank you Taz, thanks to Wealthy Affiliate. Best of all I’m having fun, combining my interests, crafting and building websites!