You love craft-making, and you're good at it?everybody tells you that you should start your own business. After all, eBay alone sold over $38 million in crafts and craft supplies in 2003, and those sales have been climbing at a rate of about 60% each year! Why shouldn't you have a piece of that pie? James Dilehay of craftmarketer.com will tell you that to build a successful craft eBiz, you'll need more than just your art?you'll need marketing skills and a game plan.

Do Your Art Homework: a 3-Part Assignment

If you're contemplating turning your hobby into a serious e-business, Dilehay advises, "The first thing I would do is do some research." It's important to know if there's any interest in your product. You need to educate yourself about your market:

? Use a keyword research tool, such as http://WordTracker.com. You can type in your idea or concept and get a feel for the supply and demand that's there. You can see how many people are searching for your kind of craft, how many competitors you have, etc. The Market Research Wizard, available at http://WorldWideBrands.com, is another great tool for tracking product demand. If you plan to sell on eBay, they have a tool called Terapeak that gives you sales data on your product-type: what's listed, what sold, what didn't sell.

? Look at the cost of making or getting your craft item before putting it on your webstore. Add up your cost of goods, your cost of labor?all costs involved directly or indirectly?your website fees, your shipping costs, etc. If the amount you need to break even is less than the average market price of your item, the difference is your profit. If the amount you need to recover is greater than the market value, consider other items or look for ways to lower your costs.

? Locate product sources to fill your needs. For craft supplies, try browsing the mixed lots in eBay's wholesale category. Take a look at http://Andale.com for a list of suppliers you can draw from. If you are buying finished products for resale, you might check out http://craftmarketer.com/aid.htm for a list of agencies that help third-world craft artists sell their products in the U.S. Or try http://wholesalecrafts.com, a webstore for craft artists who vend to retailers.

Consider All Your Options

There's another option besides making or buying your crafts, and that is affiliate marketing. Dilehay defines affiliating yourself as "putting out information for another company and directing people to their website, and if they make the sale, then you get the commission." http://Guild.com represents a lot of craftspeople and has an affiliate program you can check into. And you can affiliate yourself with craft-related sites that are already doing well. The difference with affiliate marketing is that you spend more time driving traffic and less time managing inventory or dealing with customer service.