There were only four factors that contributed to my polymer clay charm shop achieving its highest-ever sales year, $200,000 in revenue with a 53% profit margin.

These aren’t the usual things most creative business owners are doing, but trust me, they still work today.

Sure, artists are hustling on social media or at craft shows, but we’re not going down that rabbit hole because, let’s be real, those are super time-consuming.

So I’ll show you what those four things are, how you can do them yourself for almost no money, and the tricky challenges to watch out for so you have the best chance of success.

MEDIA OUTREACH

The first “boring” strategy that totally changed my business was media outreach.

But I want to talk about it a little differently than I usually do in my other blogs.

You might even already know the steps for doing outreach, but here’s the thing: most people still avoid it.

So instead of giving you the usual step by step tutorial, I want to focus on the why.

Why does this actually work? Why do so many people skip it? And most importantly, what really matters if you want this strategy to bring in real sales?

Most handmade sellers today think media outreach just means TikTok or Instagram influencers.

It’s the obvious route, everyone’s on those platforms, and it’s the first thing that comes to mind, right?

Here’s the problem: platforms like TikTok and Instagram aren’t really built to send people straight to your shop. The only clickable link is in the bio. So you’re basically asking someone to leave a feed they’re addicted to, tap into a creator’s profile, and then click through to your shop.

Most people won’t do all that. And even if they do, the buying intent is low, they weren’t looking to shop in the first place. They were just scrolling for entertainment.

And this is where psychology comes in. Promoting your work on social media feels useful because it gives you immediate feedback.

Likes, comments, views, shares, they all give your brain a little hit of dopamine, even if the feedback is small.

So you keep doing it. It feels productive, even when you’re not actually making money.

Media outreach? Not so much. You send a pitch and then… you wait.

You might not hear back at all. That silence is tough for a lot of artists, so they avoid it.

But here’s the thing, it’s actually easier to get rejected on social media than through pitching.

Social media rejects you quietly, low views, no engagement, hours of work that disappear in a day.

Outreach, on the other hand, gives you a direct yes or no. And that directness makes people uncomfortable.

It triggers the same feeling we get when someone says no to our face, so we come up with excuses to avoid it.

We tell ourselves it’s complicated, it takes too much time, or it’s “too this” or “too that.”

The truth? It usually takes less time than managing a social media presence, and the return, when it works, is way higher!

Another thing no one ever really talks about is how discerning the creator themselves are.

If a creator is just accepting every product that comes their way because the paycheck is good enough, that’s not true discernment and honestly, that’s probably not someone you want to work with.

Why? Because it can break trust with their audience. A good creator vets each product, making sure there’s a genuine connection between the product, themselves, and their audience.

What most people forget is that there are so many types of people and platforms you can pitch to.

Blogs, digital magazines, newsletters, podcasters, YouTubers, niche communities, they’re all hungry for interesting products like yours.

The people consuming content on these platforms aren’t scrolling for entertainment. They’re reading, watching, or listening with intent. 

That’s why just one good feature can bring in more sales than months of posting on social media.

I was featured in a magazine, and I even made it into a couple of newspapers! One of the spreads was almost a full page.

I also got a feature back in my home country, Malaysia, and let me tell you, my parents were beyond proud!

Media outreach isn’t about volume like it is on social media. It’s about one good partnership.

One website feature, one newsletter mention, one video from the right person. Just one can replace weeks or even months of social media effort.

Because of that, you need patience and persistence, you need to be okay with hearing “no,” or even hearing nothing at all.

You need to send the pitch, even when you feel nervous or not quite ready and most importantly, you need to trust that this invisible work can still bring real results.

If you want the step by step version of how to do this, I’ve got a free workshop that walks you through the whole process.

Just click here: https://tinyurl.com/mrybwdy8

But honestly, the mindset is just as important as the method.

Media outreach rewards people who really understand their product and who it’s for, and who don’t give up after a few unanswered emails.

It’s not flashy or sexy, but it is powerful.

WHOLESALE

Wholesale was the second thing that really transformed my business.

Instead of selling one charm at a time, stores would order ten, twenty, sometimes even hundreds at once like that time I got an order from Debenhams, a British department store.

The price per item is lower, but the total revenue from these orders is huge.

It does take time to fulfill bigger orders, and the profit per item isn’t as high, but the payoff? A big payday and some financial breathing room.

Selling wholesale also teaches you to run your shop like a real business. You learn your numbers, build systems to make products at scale, and start thinking in batches instead of one-off orders.

Once a store loves your work, they usually reorder, giving you stability when online sales slow down.

Even just one or two solid wholesale accounts can replace months of direct to consumer effort.

And the best part? Most creative sellers aren’t doing it, so it’s not nearly as competitive as the online space.

If you want to get started with wholesale, there are a few places you can list your products.

Faire is the most popular marketplace right now, but there’s also Stockabl, IndieMe, and Hubba for more niche audiences.

And if you want full control and higher profit, you can even set up wholesale directly on your own website.

The other thing you need is a clear wholesale package. And no, it doesn’t have to be fancy.

It’s just the basic info a store needs to work with you, your wholesale prices, minimum order amount, reorder minimum, turnaround time, terms for returns, exchanges or damages, and your packaging (which might be different from what you ship to online customers).

Having all of this in place shows that you know what you’re doing.

You come across as professional, trustworthy, and reliable and it makes it an easy “yes” for stores to agree to carrying your products.

I recently dug up some of my old wholesale marketing materials, and I thought I’d share them to give you some ideas for how you can do wholesale marketing for your own products.

Back in the day, I used to print postcards that I’d send out to stores just to spread some brand awareness.

They were affordable to print and ship, and they helped get my name out there. I also had a printed wholesale catalog that I sent to stores. It was simple but effective.

The catalog included a list of all my necklaces and jewelry items, plus a separate sheet for seasonal holiday items that I could insert only during the right season, no need to reprint the whole catalog every time.



Another separate sheet listed all the prices for my products. I kept the pricing separate in case it changed, so I wouldn’t have to reprint the more expensive catalog itself.

I also created a little informational press kit with more details about me, how we make the jewelry, and the fact that it’s all handmade polymer clay, hand-sculpted.

I included lifestyle photos and places we’d been featured, too.

I still keep all of this stuff because it’s so pretty. It was a labor of love, I designed and made everything myself and it represents a really cool phase of my business.

MULTIPLE MARKETPLACES

The third thing that helped my business grow was selling on multiple marketplaces at once.

I treated each platform as a passive sales channel.

My philosophy? When you’re just starting out, you want to show up in as many places as possible.

If a customer was already shopping somewhere, I wanted my products to be there too.

Most shops stick to just one platform, usually Etsy and when Etsy slows down, their entire business slows down.

My approach was the opposite, I listed my products wherever I could.

Some marketplaces have come and gone, and there are new ones today that you can check out.  Some platforms would bring in a few orders a week, others just a handful a month.

But when you add up all those small trickles across multiple channels, it adds up to some solid revenue.

Selling on multiple online marketplaces works because these platforms already have traffic.

You’re not trying to convince someone to visit your shop, you’re showing up where they already are.

And when sales come in from several places, you’re not dependent on one algorithm or one marketplace.

But this strategy isn’t for everyone.

If you don’t have your own website as a home base yet, marketplaces can actually be a bit distracting.  It can suck up a lot of your time and energy in a way that doesn’t generate positive ROI if you’re not careful.

Having your own website keeps you grounded, focused, and makes it harder to get pulled in too many directions.

If you don’t have your own website yet, check out Hostinger.

Hostinger is a one-stop shop for everything you need to get online. You can easily set up a free domain, get a professional email address, secure hosting, and even create your own online store in under 20 minutes using their AI features.

All you have to do is type in your business name and a short description, and it generates a website that’s already about 80% done.

So all you need to do is customize it.


Now, is Hostinger the most powerful platform out there? No, but it has just the right amount of features you need to get started for a very accessible price.

Honestly, this is what I wish I had when I was first getting started. If tech overwhelms you, Hostinger makes it incredibly easy to build a beautiful website without the stress.

They also just launched a new Printful integration.

So Printful is a print on demand company that we use and like for our art shop.

If you have artwork you’ve created, you can have it printed on products like t-shirts, tote bags, mugs, framed wall art, and more, all without doing any printing yourself.

Printful takes care of it and ships it directly to your customer for you. All you need to worry about is making art and promoting your shop! 

If you’re interested, just click here: http://hostinger.com/creativehive

You’ll land on a page, I recommend choosing the Business Plan, it includes the AI Website Builder and all the eCommerce features you’ll need.

Next, head to the checkout. I suggest choosing the 48-month plan for the best value. It gives you the lowest monthly price and even includes 2 additional months for free.

There’s also a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can try it completely risk-free!

And don’t forget to use my code CREATIVEHIVE for an extra 10% discount, bringing the cost down to less than a fancy cup of coffee each month.

If you’re reading this and it’s still Cyber Monday, there is an amazing sale happening right now, where you can get 85% off the 48-month subscription plus my 10% off discount!

Now, going back to selling on marketplace sites, a lot of people make the mistake of thinking they need to actively manage every platform.

You don’t. You don’t need to build a community on each site or post constantly.

All you need to do is set up your listings once with good SEO so your products show up high in search results when people are looking for what you sell.

Check in occasionally to make sure everything’s working, and fulfill orders as they come in.

That’s it, all of my marketplace sales are completely passive.

Sure, it takes some work to get your listings up, but it can easily be a one and done weekend project if you already have your assets like product photos, titles, descriptions, and prices.

You can also outsource this, it’s a worthwhile investment or use AI to quickly create different variations of your descriptions.

Here’s the part most people overlook: selling in multiple places increases the chance your products will be discovered by wholesale buyers, bloggers, or anyone who can amplify your reach.

I’ve gotten wholesale accounts and media features from the most unexpected platforms. You never know who’s looking on the other side.

SUBSCRIPTION PRODUCT

Another thing that made a huge difference in my business was adding a subscription product to my line, my Necklace of the Month Club.

Over the years, it’s brought in around half a million dollars.

Someone signs up once, and that decision turns into recurring income every month until they cancel.

That kind of predictable revenue stabilizes your business in a way regular retail sales just can’t.

There are two types of subscriptions you can offer.

First, refill subscriptions for things people use up, like lotion, soap, candles, skincare, or even food products like cookies or tea.

Second, novelty subscriptions for people who love getting something new each month. That’s the category I fall into because my customers love collecting different charm necklace designs.

You don’t need a huge product line to start a subscription.

You can use designs you’re already selling and place them into a sequence, and that was the biggest shift that made my club manageable.

You can make new designs every month if you’re a prolific artist, but I’m not, and I quickly burned out trying to do that.

There are two ways to structure a subscription.

First, monthly, where everyone gets the same product at the same time.

Second, sequential, where each subscriber starts at month one.

I use the sequential model because it lets me control the customer experience and reduces cancellations.

Neither model is inherently better, it’s just about figuring out which one works best for you.

The main reason people avoid subscriptions is that the tech behind recurring sales can feel intimidating.

The good news? There are apps that handle all of it for you. I use Recharge, but if you want a super simple setup, you can even use PayPal buttons for recurring orders, just copy and paste the embed codes onto your site.

Easy start.

Subscriptions also boost the return you get on your marketing.

If you spend time or money to get one customer, that customer often buys for several months instead of just once.

Even a small subscription base can take a lot of pressure off your business and give you some real financial security.

Now that you know the four things that helped me have the biggest sales year ever, the next thing to understand is which skills you need to learn to build a shop that earns a full-time income.

Most people focus on the wrong skills and then wonder why their sales stay stuck.

Check out this blog to see exactly what you should work on to make your business succeed.

Click here: https://tinyurl.com/y4s6bx3r 

Building a successful creative business isn’t about working harder on every social post or chasing the next trend.

It’s about being strategic, focusing on what actually moves the needle and creating systems that give you leverage whether that’s landing one powerful media feature, securing wholesale accounts, tapping into multiple marketplaces, or building predictable income with a subscription product.

These four strategies transformed my business from a side hustle into a full-time, profitable shop, and the best part is they’re still totally doable for you.

Focus on these and you’ll start seeing real, consistent growth.