Hi everyone! If you’ve been in the craft business for a while and feel like you’re doing everything wrong, pull up a chair. I want to teach you how to avoid the mistakes that took me more than 10 years to correct.
Quick intro for the newbies: My name is Alyona. Before moving to the online side of things, I had a physical shop selling craft supplies (beads, ribbons, all the shiny things). Then I moved online – first selling handmade jewellery, then clothes, and finally landing on digital PDF sewing patterns.
Here is my confession:
For years, I was collecting leads (email contacts), paying good money to my email provider, and… doing absolutely nothing with them. 🤦♀️
I contacted them maybe twice a year – Black Friday, Boxing Day, or when I urgently needed cash.
If you are doing the same as me – sitting on a list of emails but barely making enough money to cover your website costs – believe me, I have been there.
You are doing it wrong. Like, really wrong.
But the good news? You can make serious money from handmade if you know how to actually use those leads.
(Note: If you don’t know what a “lead” is, go read my previous article: How to Generate Massive Leads for Your Craft Business and Explode Sales. I’m not explaining that again here, otherwise this article will turn into a novel, and we have sewing to do! 😅)
The “Do or Die” Moment 💀
I remember sitting with my husband one evening. I had collected about 3,000 people on my list, but I was ignoring them. Meanwhile, I saw other businesses selling crappier products than mine and making decent money every month. I could barely pay for my website.
My husband looked at me and said: “Look, I have one last nerve left. I’m about to give up on this business. If this doesn’t start working now, we close this sht and you use it as just a hobby. That’s it.”*
(He is a supportive husband, I promise – but he’s also a realist).
That was the last shot. We had to make it work. And the secret wasn’t making more products – it was nurturing the leads.
Why Manual Emails Are Impossible ?!
You need to be in constant contact with your people. They need to remember you exist.
But doing this manually? Forget it. It is impossible to remember who bought what six months ago and who needs a reminder today.
You need a system that does this automatically while you sleep (or eat cookies).
Here are the three automated email flows you need to set up yesterday.
1. The Welcome Flow (The Money Maker) 💌
This is the sequence that triggers immediately after someone downloads your freebie (lead magnet).
How it works:
- Email 1 (Immediate): “Hi, here is your freebie! I hope you enjoy it.” Because they just joined, offer a 20-30% discount on their first purchase.
- Email 2 (A few days later): Introduction. Talk about your brand, your vision, and how you started. Do NOT sell anything here. Let them know who they are dealing with.
- Email 3 (Social Proof): Share feedback from happy customers. This re-establishes authority so they know you aren’t just bragging about yourself.
- Email 4 (The Nudge): “Hey, your discount is about to expire!” Remind them it’s their last chance.
Here is a little secret to help you master this:
Next time you buy something online (or just subscribe to a newsletter for a coupon), pay attention. The second you hit “Submit”, you enter their Welcome Flow.
Don’t just delete those emails! Sit there and track them.
- What email did you receive first?
- How many days later did the second one come?
- What are they saying?
Once you know how this system is built, you will start to notice the patterns. All the big marketing pros use the exact same strategies. Believe me, once you see “The Matrix,” you will never look at your inbox the same way again. 😉
My website went for years without a welcome email. People say it’s the email that makes the most money, and they are right. Since we implemented it, it was a game changer.
And don’t worry about being “techy.” Nowadays, email programs have automation buttons. You click one button, and it creates the sequence for you. You just add your brand colours and text. (If you don’t have a brand style yet, I talk about branding in this article: How to Turn Your Handmade Hobby into Profitable Side Business – go read that if you need help with the basics).
2. The Abandoned Checkout (The “Oops” Recovery) 🛒
This is when people put products in their cart, get to the checkout, and then… life happens. The dog barks, the kettle boils, and they close the tab.
You need to remind them: “Hey, you were about to buy this but you forgot. Do you still want it?”
My “Sh*tty” Email Success Story: Back in the day, my abandoned checkout email was poorly built. It was basically one line: “Do you still want this?”
If they didn’t buy after an hour, I sent a second email: “Okay, since you haven’t decided, here is a 20% discount.”
Even that terrible, basic version was bringing me £200 per month regularly. My whole website was only making £350-400 total (max), so that email was half my income!
When I stopped paying for the email service to save money (I know, silly me), my income dropped instantly. Even a “sh*tty” email is better than no email!
Pro Tip: If they still don’t buy after the discount, send an email asking: “What is blocking you? Is there a problem?” Gather that info so you can fix it for the next customer.
3. The Win-Back Flow (The Reminder) 👋
This is for the customer who bought from you once and then disappeared into the void.
Set up an automatic flow to email them 6 months after their purchase.
What to say: “Hey, we haven’t heard from you in 6 months! I hope you are still enjoying our product. We have a new collection/discount for you.”
It keeps people warm. In a world where brands send 10,000 emails a day, it is so easy to be forgotten – not because they don’t like you, but because their brain is cluttered.
“But Alyona, I Hate Computers!” 💻🚫
Look, I am a girl who likes to create. I don’t like to mess around with computers.
But if I don’t put my “Manager Hat” on, the business will crumble.
You can create 10,000 fabulous things, but if you aren’t bringing in fresh leads and contacting your people, your creations will just gather dust in your house.
(I highly recommend the book The E-Myth. It changed my perspective on balancing the Creator vs. the Manager role).
Scared of Tech? You Are Not Alone. I know the technical side can feel overwhelming, but listen: there are heaps of people on YouTube who can explain step-by-step how to set up these Flows on your email provider.
I’m not saying it’s going to be easy, but I am saying that you are not alone. There are so many people who can help you. By being a little bit patient and following someone online who actually knows what they are doing, you can set up your Flow properly.
Just pick a few experts, stick with them, and follow exactly what they say.
The most important thing is to just get some flow running. It doesn’t have to be perfect from day one. Get it up, monitor it, and then tweak it bit by bit until it suits your niche and your business perfectly.
We didn’t build this overnight. My husband and I were completely new to this too. But trust me – it is doable, even for someone who is not computer savvy.
The Bottom Line
If you are truly terrified of tech, take a “money day” and pay someone to set this up for you.
I struggled with this because I am very frugal (I didn’t want to let go of my hard-earned money), so my husband and I suffered through building it ourselves.
But whether you pay someone or do it yourself – build the flow.
Even the simplest, messiest version will do better than having nothing.
Build this system, and money will start to flow. You can finally say “Bye Bye” to your 9-to-5 job and live the life you want: sitting calmly, eating cookies with a cup of tea (or something stronger 🍷😅), and just creating.
That is all we want, right?!
If you are struggling with setting this up, drop a comment below! Every comment helps me see what you need help with so I can write the next article for you.
See you later!
And don’t forget to grab the free panty pattern here to see how a lead magnet works in real life!
