Make $100 a Day with Cricut

February 6, 2023 by Cyn Gagen Leave a Comment

What if we told you that you could make $100 a Day with Cricut? In this post, we want to show you how you can use your Cricut machine to make profitable craft items. You can make money with your Cricut and we’re going to show you how!

We will give you our best tips and tricks to get into the right mindset so you can figure out just how you can make money with your Cricut. We are going to break it down for you into a step-by-step process. If you’re ready to open up a whole new world of Cricut projects you can sell, let’s get started.

Make $100 a Day with Cricut

Step One: Know Your Numbers.

Don’t overthink this. You just need to know a rough range of what your expenses are to typically make a project. If it’s something that costs less than 50 cents, it probably isn’t worth your time to count up every one of those little expenses. For each of those, just count them as 50 cents to make it easy. Remember to include your blanks, your materials, and all of your supplies.

Step Two: Focus on High-Profit Margin Projects.

Once you know how much it costs to make these Cricut projects, you can then focus on the 2-3 with high-profit margins. We know that you may have all kinds of projects that you like to make, but if you really want to get to a place where you’re making $100 a day, you really need to hone in on the ones that will bring in the most profit. This way you can spend less time but make more money!

Step Three: Recognize that Bulk Orders are Your Friend.

By taking bulk orders, you can work with fewer people and still get big results. You don’t have to worry about sales and marketing as much and can put more of your focus on the creative part. And let’s face it. That’s our favorite part!

Offer a discount for bulk orders to encourage people to order in bulk. This will ultimately save you time and effort while still bringing in the money you want. Once you make an order, it becomes easier and easier to replicate it.

Pro tip: Think about businesses, churches, schools, and other similar places to partner with. They often need shirts and other custom items for their special events. Once you have had a successful custom order, we find that these often become repeat customers!

We encourage you to sit down and do the math to figure out your costs and the items that would be most profitable for you to sell so you can get started on your Cricut business journey!

Start a T-Shirt Business for Under $400!

March 10, 2022 by Paula W

Want to start a t-shirt business to make a little extra side money – or maybe even a full-time business? We’re going to show you how you can get started for under $400!

How great would it be to have a side hustle that you can start right within your own home? Work your own hours and build your very own business and be your own boss. If you’ve been wanting a home-based business that’s easy to set up and fun to maintain, this might just be the one for you.

Start a T-Shirt Business for Under $400!

One of the things about starting a t-shirt business is that you can often do so without a big investment into designs. You see, often you can build a very profitable business making and selling t-shirts to companies who will provide their own logos or other similar designs to you. They just need you to put them on shirts!

Supplies Needed:

Cricut Explore Air 2: https://amzn.to/372w6F4
Cricut StandardGrip Mat: https://amzn.to/2KLq7sl
Our Favorite Weeding Tool: https://amzn.to/3pwnJc2
Cricut TruControl Knife: https://amzn.to/3cMCmAG
Gildan Shirts: https://amzn.to/2WuKqPH
Starcraft Vinyl: https://bit.ly/3uP2GUo
Siser EasyWeed: https://bit.ly/3hjLgLP
Cricut EasyPress 2, 10”x12”: https://amzn.to/2xMNbEp
Cricut EasyPress Mat: https://amzn.to/3eMd0r6

Investments to Make in Your Business:

The first investment we’d suggest that you make is a Cricut Explore Air 2. Yes, there are newer machines available but this one is a high quality one and it is available at a great price-point. You can currently find these for under $200 (the most recent pricing we found was for $170), making them an economical investment.

Tools you will need include a weeding tool and the Cricut TrueControl Knife. These will help greatly with making the best use of your vinyl and weeding it properly. The weeding tool is a must; the knife is super handy and would be a great addition to your toolkit if you can afford it.

Next up, of course, you will need t-shirts. A couple of weeks a month, Michaels puts their Gildan t-shirts on sale for 3 for $10. That’s a great price and these are good quality shirts that we love to work with. We don’t recommend stocking up on too many shirts until you have taken some orders. Target, Walmart, and Hobby Lobby also often have great deals on t-shirts so be sure to check them out too.

PRO TIP: We recommend getting at least 30-40% of the payment for a shirt order as the down payment. That will give you some money to put towards buying the shirts and other supplies when you need them.

Next, you’ll need some heat transfer vinyl to apply to the shirts. We prefer Starcraft HTV or Siser EasyWeed heat transfer vinyl to any other brand we’ve tried (including Cricut) and they are some the more economical brands too. Use what you can of your budget to buy some in basic neutral colors – black, white, gray to get started.

Pro tip: We’re trying to keep your starting costs as low as possible. In addition, it’s important to note that some craft materials like vinyl don’t last forever so you don’t want to stock up too far in advance.

Finally, you will need a heat source to be able to heat the vinyl and adhere it properly to the shirts. We highly recommend a Cricut EasyPress and an EasyPress mat to go with it. These allow you to have steady, even heat that will give you the best results.

PRO TIP: As your business expands, we would recommend our Makers Gonna Learn membership as the next investment in your business. To get started you can, as we mentioned before, simply have businesses send you their logos and use those as the designs for the shirts they order. But when you want to expand into offering other shirts, we have a library of thousands of cut files and fonts you can use. With a yearly membership, you get our commercial license, meaning you can use our designs in your business!

Working in Cricut Design Space:

When you are sent a logo from a company, they may want you to place a design on the front and back of the shirt. To do so, you may need to divide up the logo file so you can use parts of the design separately.

To do this, begin by adding a shape to your canvas. You want this shape to cover the part of the design you’re trying to separate from the other.

Then, select all of the layers and choose Slice. This will cut up your design so that you can remove the two parts of it separately. Discard the slice results.

The two parts of the design are now separate and you can size and use them as you’d like.

Cutting and Placing Your Design:

Once you’re ready to cut out your design, click Make It. Instead of taking the time to copy and paste it as many times as needed for the number of shirts you’re making, you can instead click on Project Copies in the upper left corner of this screen. Design Space will lay out your designs for you and you’ll be all set to cut the vinyl!

PRO TIP: Don’t forget to mirror your design since you’re working with heat transfer vinyl. You also want to be sure to apply the HTV to the cutting mat shiny side down.

Next, you will need to weed your design. We like to weed on the mat because it’s like having a third hand to hold the vinyl in place for us while we work. Remove the outer part of the design first and then the inner parts of the letters and design.

Heating your design:

Preheat your EasyPress to about 300-320 degrees and set it for 30 seconds. Lay out the t-shirt, doublechecking it for any tags or stickers that need to be removed. Use the EasyPress to preheat the area of the shirt pocket for about 10 seconds before applying the design.

Place your design about 3 inches down from the collar. Heat it with the EasyPress for 30 seconds, applying firm pressure.

PRO TIP: Make sure that the shirt is clean and free of any threads, lint, or other debris. Use a lint roller to remove anything that might interfere with adhering the logo.

For the back of the shirt, we like to use a little trick for centering the design. Fold the shirt in half, making sure to line up the sleeves and everything. Use the EasyPress for about 10 seconds to make a light crease.

Line Up The Design About 4 5 Inches Below The Neckline

Then, being careful not to bend the vinyl itself, you can add a little crease to the backing material in the center of your design too. Line that up with the crease in the shirt. Easy peasy!

PRO TIP: Line up the design on the back of the shirt about 4-5 inches below the neckline.

Once The Htv Cools For A Minute Peel Up The Transfer Tape

Once you have allowed the heated design to cool for a minute, you can peel away the transfer sheet.

See how easy and relatively economical it can be to start your t-shirt business? What are you waiting for? Your new home craft business awaits.

Start a T-Shirt Business for Under $400!

Cricut Business Mistakes

June 7, 2021 by Paula W

When you’re just starting out with a new craft business, it can feel so overwhelming. There is just so much to think about! It’s easy to make some Cricut business mistakes that cost you time, money, and customers and we want to help you avoid those.

Often, it’s those mistakes you might not have realized you were making that could cause problems with selling your Cricut projects and turning your business into a profitable one! We’ll show you what those are and how to fix them.

The first step to building a Cricut business you love is to grab our FREE Roadmap to Success. Our roadmap gives you a step-by-step plan to starting a successful Cricut crafting business right from your own home. We’ll show you the steps you need to take to start a business that you love AND that brings in a profit!

Cricut Business Mistakes

We’re going to talk about the 4 most common mistakes people make when starting a business using Cricut. Let’s get started!

Cricut Machines - Cricut Maker, Cricut Explore Air 2, Cricut Joy

Supplies we used:

1 – Selling crafts with fonts that haven’t been kerned.

We talk about this one often! Kerning your fonts means moving them closer together and in the case of script fonts, ensuring that they join. Cricut has recently added automatic kerning for some fonts, but it’s important to know how to do it yourself because this function often needs some tweaking.

Kerning your fonts takes your projects from beginner to professional and can make a huge difference in being able to sell your crafts. The text at the top of our Cricut Design Space canvas is not kerned and the word below is. See how much better that looks?

To kern your cursive fonts, begin by selecting your text. Go to the top of the Layers Panel and choose Ungroup. Now the letters can be moved independently of each other.

Use Arrow Keys On Keyboard To Move Letters Closer

Select the 2nd letter in your word. Use the arrow keys on your keyboard to move that letter closer to the first one. This keeps it in line with the other letters and helps prevent it from being moved up or down accidentally. Continue until the whole word is kerned.

Don’t forget to weld.

Once the word is fully kerned, you need to select the whole word, and over at the bottom of the Layers Panel, choose Weld. If you don’t weld, your word will cut out in order but each of the letters will still be treated as a separate layer. If you look at our example above where we changed it from a Cut to a Draw line (so you can visualize it better), every place where you see those letters overlapping is going to be a cut.

This shows you what the word looks like after welding. The letters join together seamlessly in one layer.

Now your word will show up in the Layers Panel as just one layer instead of individual layers for each letter.

2 – Shipping out your products without care instructions.

It’s so important to let your customers know how to properly care for your products. You want them to last as long as possible and for your customers to be satisfied with them, so this step is essential. A satisfied customer is often a repeat customer and one who will sing your praises to others as well!

For example, if you’re shipping out t-shirts, you may want to advise them to turn them inside out before washing in cold water. With unsealed mugs, you will want to let them know to hand wash them and that they aren’t dishwasher safe and so on. By helping your customers care for the items they purchase from you, you’ll help them get the most out of what they buy.

We have some care tag cut files that you can use for many of these items:

Mug care – unsealed (mug shaped)

Generic unsealed product care

Tumbler care – unsealed (tumbler shaped)

Wine glass care – unsealed (wine glass shaped)

Shirt washing instructions

You can also easily create your own custom tags in Design Space. Remember if you are sealing your products, you need to be sure that your customers know that they need to wait for the curing time to be up before using it. This is really important to make it long-lasting, food-, and dishwasher-safe.

Tag Wait 3 Weeks Before Use To Allow Curing

We wrote up the text that we wanted and then welded it to a plain white square. We flattened our design to make it a simple print then cut. You can use this again and again and tuck it inside your shipments.

3 – Not sealing your Cricut projects.

You can either choose to go ahead and seal your mugs, tumblers, and other similar products and include that in the price or you can offer this as an extra service for your customers at an additional cost.

Sealing your projects will obviously increase their lifespan and give your customers more value for their money. If you are sealing them, be sure to let your customers know and to give them the appropriate care instructions.

This is a great option to offer your customers and will be a bonus to your business. If you choose to offer it, be sure to tell your customers all about the benefits of sealing and how it can extend the life of their purchases as well as making them easier to care for (putting them in the dishwasher as opposed to having to hand wash for example). As a business owner, helping your customers to make informed decisions helps you appear more professional and can give you an edge over other sellers.

We’ve got some amazing tips to ensure that your products are sealed correctly here –

How to make waterproof stickers with your Cricut

Making Cricut projects dishwasher safe

Sealing vinyl decals

4 – Not packing your items well for shipping.

This is so important! We’ve got five major points you need to follow when packing your items for shipping:

Use proper-sized packaging for the item you are shipping. Too big and you’re going to be wasting money by increasing your shipping costs. You’ll also need more packing materials inside to keep it safe from bouncing around. Too small and you won’t be able to provide any cushioning to protect it from damages from being bumped and banged into during shipping.
As mentioned, you need the correct packing filler to keep your item safe from damage. Fill in gaps with paper. If your item is fragile, use bubble wrap.
You need to use good packing tape. Your package may be tossed around a bit during shipment or it may encounter different weather conditions (humidity, for example) and you want your tape to hold up. This is especially important in large, heavy packages that tend to be more prone to packing tape issues.
The bottom line is that you want to keep it safe. There’s nothing worse for a customer to order something they’re really excited about and then open the package to find it broken. Do what you can to pack it with care – think ahead to what could happen to your package along the way and prepare for it.
Keep it professional. You want your packaging to look very intentional. Create custom labels for it to match your branding. Look for packing materials in your brand colors. Be sure to include those product care instructions and a thank you note – these extra little touches make you look more professional and present a positive impression to your customers.

More shipping tips: How to pack and ship vinyl decals

By avoiding these mistakes, you can get your new craft business started on the right foot. We can’t wait to watch you grow!

How to Make Large Car Decals

June 2, 2021 by Paula W

We are often asked about how to make large car decals. This is something people seem to really want and if you’re running a Cricut die-cutting business, this will be a popular item in your shop, especially with small businesses wanting to add their branding to their vehicles.

We are using a 12 x 24 inch cutting mat, but if you want to make a car decal that’s even bigger than that, be sure to check out our tutorial for how to make a larger than mat project. Our hacks will be really helpful when you want to tackle a vinyl decal that’s especially big.

How to Make Large Car Decals

If you want to take this one step further, you could offer a full service to your customers and not only make their custom car decals for them, but you could apply them as well. Often, customers want those vinyl car decals but they’re a bit concerned about being able to apply them properly. You can take that worry off their hands!

Materials we’re using:

Important notes before we begin:

Use good quality vinyl.

It’s important to note that you really have to use an excellent quality vinyl for this project. You’re applying it to a car and you want it to cut, weed, and apply well. And of course, you want it to last as long as possible. Our favorite vinyl is linked above.

We have put this vinyl to the test – leaving the decals exposed to the hot sun, rainstorms, and all other kinds of weather conditions and it stands up to them beautifully. If you use a good vinyl and follow the steps we outline today, you’ll have a long-lasting decal for cars.

Start with a clean surface.

After washing the car (where the decal will be applied) with soap and water, it’s important to follow up by cleaning it with rubbing alcohol on a paper towel. This ensures that there are no oils from your fingertips or any other last traces of dirt and debris that could interfere with a clean application and a decal that lasts.

Measure the space you have available.

Before you start designing your car decal, you need to measure the space you have available, whether it’s on the side of your car or one of the windows. Measure twice just to be sure!

Step by step tutorial

Begin by uploading the logo you want to use into Cricut Design Space. Size it to fit the space you have available for your decal.

Pro tip: It works best when you work with a large, bold design for these car decals. You want great surface area to be able to stick to the glass. This may mean that you need to simplify the design of the logo a bit. If you leave a lot of tiny little pieces in it, those will be the first things to fall off. Remember, the whole point of a car decal is that it can be seen easily from a distance while driving down the road and that won’t happen if it’s too small or too detailed.

Click Make It. Because this is vinyl and not iron-on we don’t need to mirror so we can just click Continue and select our material. We’re choosing Premium Vinyl. Then, you can decide whether you need to choose more pressure or not. If you’ve been using your blade for more than a month or two, you should probably give it more pressure. We have a guide on how to determine the best cutting pressure here.

Place your vinyl on the cutting mat and then load it into your Cricut machine. Press the flashing Cricut button so your design will cut out.

Once it finishes cutting, take your burnishing tool and burnish the vinyl to the mat. This will help ensure that it stays well-adhered during the weeding process. Pick a corner of your design and start weeding away the excess (negative) vinyl.

Especially with a large design like this, we like to rip the vinyl from around the design rather than trying to lift the whole thing from side to side.

Use The Pin Pen Tool To Weed Out All The Centers Of The Letters

We like to use the Pin Pen tool to weed out the centers of the letters and other smaller pieces within the design.

Next, it’s time to apply the masking paper transfer tape. We like to use the taco method to minimize any bubbles or creases.

Apply The Transfer Tape About 2 To 3 Inches Above The Top Of The Design

We’re applying it so that it extends about 2-3 inches past the top of the design. This is a great hack that is going to help us with placement on the car.

Using True Control Knife To Trim Away Excess Vinyl

Once you’ve laid the tape on the design, burnish once again. Use the TrueControl knife to trim away the excess vinyl from around your design to make it easier to work with.

Applying your design to the vehicle

As mentioned before, you want to be sure you’re working with a clean surface. Start with soap and water. Follow it up with the rubbing alcohol on a paper towel. Let it dry.

Line up your design on the vehicle. Note that we left the backing in place for this step. This is where those few extra inches of transfer tape at the top are going to come into play.

Line Up Your Design With A Measuring Tape

We are using the red taillight that is in the center of the back of the truck as a point to help us line up the design, but finetuning it with a measuring tape to ensure that it is centered. See how that extra bit of tape at the top helps us work hands-free?

Starting at one corner, begin to carefully peel away the backing. You want to be really careful here and move more slowly than you think you need to. Burnish to the car as you go.

Because we have cleaned the window so well and used the rubbing alcohol, this vinyl is going to stick beautifully. That’s great, but it also means that it will be nearly impossible to reposition it. So, just take your take and work slowly.

Now, you can slowly peel off the transfer tape to reveal your beautiful design!

Final Design Of Car Decal Applied To The Windshield

Hidden Cricut Business Startup Costs

May 26, 2021 by Paula W

We love sharing our tips for getting started with a Cricut craft business here on Makers Gonna Learn. It’s so great to be able to turn a hobby you’re passionate about into a money-making venture. One of the things we find that many people don’t consider, though, is some of their Cricut Business Startup Costs.

When you’re beginning to build your business, it can feel so overwhelming. There is just so much to think about! Our business-building checklist can help organize your tasks and get started on the right foot. Be sure to grab a copy of it here.

Hidden Cricut Business Startup Costs

The startup costs we’re going to be talking about today aren’t necessarily expenses that you’re going encounter immediately upon beginning your business, but they are certainly ones that are going to crop up early on in the process. These are the ones we find that many people forget when first starting out. We want you to have a heads-up so you can plan ahead and budget for these.

1 – Business License

One misconception about getting a business license – many people think that you have to register as an LLC (corporation) in order to get a business license as well. Why get a business license? Well, in many areas it’s a legal requirement.

More than that, though, a business license will then allow you to create a separate business account using your business name. This will help create some separation between personal and business expenses which can really help you pinpoint how much profit you’re making. It will also help a great deal when it comes to tax time.

Pro tip: Anything that you make from your business under $600 doesn’t have to be reported on your taxes. Anything over that amount does.

Another advantage of having a business license is that you can then create an EIN number. This will allow you to make wholesale purchases which can save you a lot of money on your supplies.

A business license generally costs between $30 and $200. You can find out more about it by contacting your local county clerk’s office. Every county and state handles it a little bit differently.

Cricut Machine Cutting Out Infusible Ink Design

2 – Your Logo.

It is so important to create a logo to reflect your brand. This will help you stand out and look professional. It also becomes something recognizable that people will see and instantly know it’s your business!

It reflects your vibe and lets the consumer know what you’re business is all about. We do not recommend that you create your own logo. This is definitely one area where you want to hire someone to make it look really polished and professional.

You can find someone who will create your logo for you for pretty much any budget. Obviously, if you’re spending $25 you may be a bit limited in your options, but it’s still possible. When you’re just starting out, you can consider creating a “temporary” logo yourself using something like PicMonkey or Canva, but be sure to build this into your startup expenses. You will want to upgrade it as soon as it’s affordable.

3 – Transaction Fees

We don’t have the ability to process transactions safely and securely on our own. So, as business owners, we have to rely on some other service to provide this for us. This will be something provided by Paypal, Stripe, ETSY, or other similar entities.

What is often forgotten is that each of these services charge a transaction fee for handling your payments. If it costs you $10 to make a product and then you charge $30 for it, you can’t just think of this as $20 profit if you haven’t taken those payment processing charges into account.

Pro tip: Keep track of these fees. They can be added to your taxes as a business expense.

4 – Shipping Supplies

We find that business beginners often forget or underestimate the cost of shipping supplies. You want to be sure that your items arrive at their destination safely, so you want to take care to invest in good quality shipping supplies. Then, you need to build this into your business costs and your product pricing structure.

This post has some great tips for Packing and Shipping Vinyl Decals.

5 – Shipping Costs

Besides shipping supply costs, there is also the cost of actually shipping your projects. You need to know this ahead of time in order to build this into your expenses and either add it into the price you charge customers for your products or to add it on as an extra charge for them to pay at the time of purchase.

If you can fit your products into those USPS flat rate boxes, that will give you a really good idea for exactly how much it will cost. But, for other items that can’t be accommodated with those flat rates, your shipping will vary according to the size of the box, the weight, and where it’s being sent.

You’ll want to check into your options and do some shopping around so that you can figure out exactly how to handle these shipping costs and how to incorporate them into your expenses so there are no surprises for you or your customers.

Pro tip: You might want to do so A/B testing on this. Try listing products at a price that includes shipping. Be sure to let the customer know “Free Shipping!”. List those same products with shipping as a separate charge. See which option works the best for your customer base.

Cricut Project Pricing Mistakes

May 19, 2021 by Paula W

We know it can be difficult figuring out how to price vinyl crafts. You want to make a profit, but you also want to make sales! If you’re having problems with your Cricut craft business, or you are about to start your own business making vinyl projects, these 5 Cricut Project Pricing Mistakes are a must-read.

You want to get off on the right foot with your business and begin making a profit as quickly as possible. Knowing what to do, and what not to do, when it comes to pricing your handmade Cricut items will help you jumpstart things and start bringing in that money. We’re so excited for you and your business and are here to help in any way we can.

Not sure what projects are most likely to sell? Be sure to also have a look at this post: Top 5 Cricut Projects to Make Money

Dont Make These Cricut Project Pricing Mistakes

The Top 5 Cricut Project Pricing Mistakes

rolls of twine with ball of yarn on top and money sticking out of the top

1 – Trying to have the lowest prices

This seems to make sense, doesn’t it? If I price my craft projects lower than everyone else selling similar projects, customers are going to choose mine, right? Unfortunately, this doesn’t really work. All you are doing is devaluing yourself and your work.

In fact, if you decide to offer the lowest prices, you might not make a profit at all. If you don’t take into account your material costs and the value of your time, you may find that you are actually losing money, or at best, breaking even.

We aren’t suggesting that you can’t have the lowest prices, but it needs to be done effectively. If you can outperform your competitors by finding a better, less expensive source for materials, or by finding a faster, more efficient way of making your crafts while maintaining quality, that’s great.

If you’re doing it to simply have the lowest prices, you are also going to attract those “cheapskate” customers who are only looking for the lowest prices too. You want customers who value you and your work and who are willing to pay for that value. This is often the biggest of the Cricut project pricing mistakes we see.

2 – Not having a clear pricing model

“How much is this?” “Hmmm, I don’t know. How much would you like to pay?” <<<NOT the way to price your Cricut craft projects.

We know that pricing your work can feel intimidating. However, trying to base it on how much your customer wants to pay is not the way to go. Most people will, of course, choose the lowest price possible and once again, this may result in little to no profit for you. Remember, that you are the professional and you want your customer to have confidence in your abilities. This includes having a clear pricing model to present to them.

In addition, your customer has NO idea how much time or money went into the project you made! In fact, often, consumers see products and greatly underestimate the amount of time and work that it takes to produce them. You have to be the one to use a pricing model that takes into account the cost of materials and the value of your time and effort.

Pro tip: Be sure to not only present your prices clearly but document them as well. Put what you are providing for the customer and how much it will cost into writing. You may also want to require a deposit with the balance being paid upon completion.

cricut joy machine with vinyl, glue gun, and other craft supplies

3 – Not valuing your time properly

We see this one time and time again! So many people seem willing to short-change themselves when it comes to the time and effort it took to make their Cricut projects. Please don’t do this. If you truly want to make this a business, this is something you need to take seriously and take into account.

Pro tip: Don’t just estimate how long you think a project will take to complete. Do some benchmarking and actually track your time and the materials you use so you can accurately price your craft projects.

4 – Not charging more for custom projects

You absolutely can and should add on an extra fee to customize craft projects for your customers. This is a premium service for your customers and it has value.

With craft projects that you aren’t customizing, you could make a lot of them, assembly line fashion and have them sitting in your craft room ready to ship out whenever you get an order. This is not the case with custom orders. There is still work to do! Don’t forget to charge for that.

In addition, there is an extra level of responsibility with a custom order. After all, you have to get all of the customer’s specifications right! You will likely design your project in Cricut Design Space, take a photo, and send it over for approval or edits from your customer. This takes extra time too!

Pro tip: Be sure to specify the number of free edits your customer will have. Obviously, if it’s an error on your end, you want to fix it, but you also want to protect yourself from that customer who may repeatedly change their minds.

5 – Not knowing your local shipping costs.

You can use services such as ETSY’s built-in shipping service to provide shipping to your customers. However, if you are doing it on your own, you want to make sure that you have all the information you need to calculate it correctly and include it in your costs.

Shipping is calculated based on the size of the box, the weight of it, and where it is going. You need to decide if you can come up with a flat rate for each project that is already built into the cost of your product or if you need to let your customer know that it will be calculated for them and added to the price.

One of the reasons we love ETSY is because they do have some built-in services like this. It makes it so much easier than trying to figure it out on your own. But, if you prefer not to use their service, please just make sure that you don’t shortchange yourself on these shipping costs.

Getting your pricing system in place from the beginning is the best way to ensure that your business is making a profit. Avoid these pricing mistakes and your business will begin to soar!

Where to Sell Cricut Projects

May 12, 2021 by Paula W

We love teaching how to make money with your Cricut, but one thing we haven’t covered yet is WHERE to sell Cricut projects! In today’s post, we are going to cover the best places to sell your die-cutting craft projects.

We hope this information helps you build your Cricut business and make lots of money! If you’re a Cricut beginner looking to add some extra income to your household, then selling Cricut projects is a great way to do that. We would love to help you along your business journey.

Where to Sell Cricut Projects

There are so many things about starting your own business that can feel overwhelming. If you are making your own craft projects and hoping to sell them, you may be wondering, with all the options out there, where the best place to sell them is. After all, you have limited time and you want to use it to build a business where it’s going to be successful.

Where To Sell What You Make With Your Cricut Machine 1

Selling on ETSY

ETSY is often the easiest and fastest place for crafters to begin selling their products. We know that some people think that this market is too saturated, and are reluctant to try it, but we actually find that it has many advantages.

You can start selling on ETSY for minimal cost. The posting process is very easy and your product is visible to a larger audience, because ETSY is a platform with a lot of traffic, worldwide.

By making use of tags in your posts, you can draw in the audience you are looking for from around the world, giving you many more opportunities to sell your craft projects. ETSY is also very user-friendly in that it will do some of the work for you, if you’d like.

If you don’t want to deal with packing labels or figuring out the cost of postage, for example, you can have ETSY take care of that for you. They will also do some advertising on your behalf, which can again, be helpful in getting your products seen.

Using social media

Of course, you still need to promote yourself and your Cricut craft projects. You can’t just list them on ETSY and hope that people find them. We want to encourage you not to use your personal social media accounts for this.

We know that it’s a great way to get some instant likes and amazing comments – but because those are coming from family and friends, it can give you a false idea that your products are being seen and your business is thriving. Unfortunately, this doesn’t always translate to sales. Yes, it’s great to let your family and friends know about your business, but you need social media channels dedicated to it where you can reach a wider audience.

Once you have your logo, business name, and branding established, set up those business pages on social media. We have found that currently Facebook and Instagram tend to be the best for this type of business. Then, you can start growing a customer base there. Share from those accounts to your personal accounts to let friends and family know what you’re up to because we’re sure they’d love to support you too. But be sure to concentrate on growing these pages as a business.

Social media is there to help you let people know who you are and what you do. Get them excited about it! Then, drive them over to your ETSY shop to see those sales start rolling in.

Be sure to offer a variety of products or product options and display it beautifully to attract those followers to your social media accounts, website (if you have one), and ETSY shop.

Top 5 Cricut Projects to Make Money

May 5, 2021 by Paula W

We love making money with our Cricut! If you would like to know how too, learning about profitable projects you can make is a great place to start! These are the Top 5 Cricut Projects to Make Money – guaranteed!

We wouldn’t want you all to waste time and money creating projects that aren’t going to sell. You need ideas that are surefire hits and we have found 5 of them to get you started when planning and building your business.

Top 5 Cricut Projects to Make Money

If you are planning to start a new crafting business, or are just ready to really build up the one you’ve got, you need to grab our FREE Roadmap to Success.

And be sure to register for our FREE Masterclass – Crafting Can Be Profitable: The 5 Secrets to Using Your Die-Cutting
Machine for a Successful Business too!

One of the most important considerations when it comes to being able to make money with your Cricut machine, is to think about which craft projects will be easy and inexpensive to ship to your customers. There are many different types of crafts you can make, but if shipping is going to be so expensive that it eats into your profits too much, you might want to consider something else.

Another thing to think about – if you can offer customization of your products, you can charge more money. People love to buy things with their names or monograms or other such information on them and they are willing to pay more to get these.

So, let’s jump into our 5 ideas of things to make and sell with your Cricut:

Doormats –

Doormats are something that are easy to make and easy to ship. You can roll them up and use a skinny box and ship them off to your customers. Because this is something easily customized with freezer paper stenciled-on designs, you can definitely charge more for these. The most popular option for these is personalizing them with a customer’s last name.

Blank Doormat

Working within your comfort level, you could offer a variety of fonts and designs available for customers to pick and choose on to assemble their own custom design. Providing these options means you can stick to designs you are comfortable making while still offering choices to your customers.

Mugs –

Mugs are incredibly popular! We know lots of people who have mug collections, meaning that they have the potential to be repeat customers. Mugs make great gifts too, so this is a product that will sell really well.

If you can find a good price on the mugs, the investment into making these is quite minimal. They typically use very little vinyl. In fact, they’re a great way to use up vinyl scraps. As with the doormats, you can offer custom options as well – names, monograms, first initials, and more.

Colorful Mugs

Mugs Designed With Vinyl And Cricut Machine

You can also offer your customer the option to seal the mug. This adds another layer to the service you provide and obviously, you can charge accordingly for it too.

How to make mugs dishwasher safe

Because mugs are fairly small, they are easy to ship, but you do need to be sure to have good packing material on hand to keep them safe during the shipping process: paper for wrapping, bubble wrap, and items like that will be really important here.

Pro tip: Be sure to bulk buy where appropriate. Try out a few to start with, and if you like the results, then you can buy in bulk to save even more on your material costs.

Kitchen Towels

These flour sack kitchen towels are very popular and so easy to make and ship! Small and lightweight, they don’t cost much to ship. Because they only use a small amount of vinyl (scraps for the most part!), they’re really inexpensive to make too.

You can whip these up in such a short amount of time, pop them into a bubble mailer, and get them shipped off in almost no time. Take your customer experience to the next level by including care instructions.

Remember that just like with the doormat and mugs, you can offer to personalize these (Rachel’s Kitchen, for example) and charge more for that.

Flour Sack Towels

Vinyl Decals –

Making vinyl decals is another great way to make quick and easy money. People can buy these and then use them on their cars, apply them to their own mugs or laptop cases, or, if you use HTV, they can even add them to their own backpacks. There are so many possibilities. These sell really well!

Obviously, being as small and flat as they are, they are incredibly easy and inexpensive to ship too! They only take a small amount of vinyl and it’s easy for you to offer your customers sizes and colors to choose from. There’s no dry time so as long as you have the vinyl in stock, you’re all set to make these and get them sent out quickly.

Bulk Adhesive Vinyl

T-shirts –

Last, but not least, we have t-shirts. These are super popular! They’re so easy to customize and ship out to your customers. Just like with the towels, they don’t use much vinyl and they’re really quick and easy to make.

Shirts are a great option for selling a whole set at once – they could be shirts for a company, a team, or a bridal party, for example. You can offer your customers color and font options to personalize them. It’s easy to find wholesalers where you can buy shirts in bulk to make even more profit when selling them.

Comfort Colors Shirt

Through our extensive research, these are the top 5 best-selling items that will help you make money with your Cricut machine. They are overall incredibly popular, while at the same time, inexpensive to produce and ship. If you’re starting out with your Cricut craft business, these are great products to consider.

Problems Selling Cricut Projects?

April 28, 2021 by Paula W

You learned how to make amazing Cricut crafts and thought it would be a perfect thing to turn into a business. But now, you’re having problems selling your Cricut projects. Don’t worry – we’re here to help!

In this post, we are breaking down the issues you may be struggling with in your small business and how to overcome them. Every business has its strengths and weaknesses and we are here to help you make your business stronger. Let’s dive in!

Problems Selling Cricut Projects?

If you’re like us, we love selling the projects we make with our Cricut machines. So, if you’re interested in making money with your Cricut, we can help you build a thriving business!

Let’s start out with some reassurance. You are not alone. Successfully selling your craft projects is the biggest struggle that those just starting out with their own businesses have.

Getting started is the hardest step, but once you manage to overcome it, your business can really take off. Here are our top tips for selling your Cricut projects:

Believe in your pricing

Whatever you price your projects at, you must then have confidence in them. That confidence will carry through to your customer and they are far less likely to even question it. And if they do have questions, you can provide them with strong answers that you believe in, reassuring them that they are getting a good price for this item.

Pricing can be one of the hardest things for business owners. You may be used to working for free, making projects for friends and family. So now, to charge for your craft projects can bring on some negative feelings, even guilt. This requires a shift in mindset and a confidence in what you are doing!

Put yourself out there

You can’t make any sales if people don’t know about your products! You have to get out of your comfort zone and letting people know that you have started a new business and sharing your craft projects with them.

This can start simply, with family and friends, but then it could also look like: networking with other small business owners, signing up for craft shows, or even going into a local boutique to share your portfolio with you.

They might say no. That’s usually what scares people the most, but really, you just need to look at it a different way. Getting a no allows you to practice. You’re putting yourself out there and getting more comfortable with letting people know who you are and what you can do.

Studies show that, on average, you will receive an average of 5 “no’s” for every yes. When you get a no, you just haven’t found the right customer at the right time. Keep trying!

Scale down to scale up.

When we see beginners starting out with new businesses, we often see them trying to sell everything! They have t-shirts, tumblers, masks, mugs – you name it. They’re basically trying to throw spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks.

This seems like a good approach. The more variety I offer, the more chances of a sale, right?

What actually works better is to focus in on 1-3 products that you have mastered and know will do really well. Scale down! Concentrate on what you’re most passionate about.

Then, once your business takes off, you can look at scaling up from there. You need to take a look at the 1-3 items you have been making and make sure they can scale up with you.

For example, if you are selling frames, think about making the frames in batches and then customizing them as the orders come in to save time and money. Also, think ahead to how you will ship your projects and find ways to streamline that as you scale up your business.

Perform a self-audit.

If you have been struggling to sell your products, it’s time to sit down and take a good look at what you’ve been doing so far. Where have you been selling? What have you been doing to get your business out there? What have you been doing to ACTIVELY sell?

It’s so important to take this step. You want to assess what you’ve done so far so you can see where there might be any holes in your plan and find ways to build on that.

What are you already doing well? What could you improve on? Set one week, two week, and one month goals. What will you accomplish by the end of each of these time periods?

Stay on top of the trends.

Do some Pinterest searches. Look for what’s trending. Make sure that your products are meeting a need for exactly what people are looking for right now.

It goes right back to the simple principle of supply and demand. If there is no demand for it, you will not make the sales you want. You might think “oh but that market is fully saturated because there is so much demand for it”, but we have found that there is always still enough demand to go around with those trendy items.

In our Design, Make, Sell course, we teach you how to provide value to your customer and by putting those principles in place, you can have success. It takes time, work, and dedication to see it through, but it can be done and it’s so worth it if it’s something you’re passionate about.

Ready to take the next step? Sign up for our free webinar to show you more about starting a craft business.

And be sure to find out how you can grab our Build Your Cricut Business Checklist here!

Struggling To Sell Your Cricut Projects 1

Build Your Cricut Business Checklist

April 21, 2021 by Paula W

If you are ready to start a craft business using your die-cutting machine, you might be wondering how to get started. We have got an amazing checklist to build your Cricut business for you today!

We know that many people start making crafts with their Cricut machines and then begin to think of the possibility of turning it into a business. Maybe you have people asking you to make something for them again and again. Or maybe you just love it so much that you’re thinking it would be a lot of fun to make a living out of it.

Build Your Cricut Business Checklist

Want to figure out if you’re ready to build your Cricut business? Here are some things we think you should consider:

Do I Really Want To Sell My Crafts and Build a Cricut Business?

1 – Do you really want to start a craft business?

It’s easy to think that once you have developed a passion for crafting – something you love to do for a hobby – that maybe it would make a perfect career for you too. However, once you turn it into a business, you have to shift your mindset.

A hobby is something you do for fun. You do it when you want to and you make what you want. When you add in a business component, now you’ve got deadlines to meet, customers to deal with, and financial records to maintain. This can take the joy out of crafting for some people!

2 – Determine the practicality of the items you want to make and sell.

What do you enjoy making the most? This is a good brainstorming exercise. Jot down the projects you have really enjoyed making and think about which ones you’d like to make a business out of.

From that list, start considering the practicality of the items you would like to make and sell. Some items take far more time and work and you would have to charge far more for those items. Others are smaller and easier to make in bulk allowing you to get them ready for sale much faster. With these items, though, you often have to sell them in greater quantities because you can’t charge as much for them.

Think about: your profit margin, supplies, space in your home (for supplies and for making the projects)

3 – Determine your shipping costs.

Once you have figured out what you want to sell, and if you’re planning to sell online, you’re going to want to look into your shipping costs. Check out the various different providers in your area and do some cost comparisons.

If you’re planning to sell on ETSY, they will even help you determine your shipping costs right within your shop there.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>How to Pack and Ship Vinyl Decals<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Roadmap To Success Guidebook And Checklist

You can grab our free Roadmap to Success and printable checklist here.

4 – Determine how and where you want to sell.

Your best bet right now is probably online, but once we can start having in-person craft shows again, some people really enjoy the energy and atmosphere of them. They like being able to meet potential customers in person and share and talk about their crafts.

Others like to do a combination of in-person craft shows as well as selling online. This helps you take advantage of multiple ways of selling and gives you more chances to find your audience.

But you need to think about how much time you have to devote to making and selling your items. Craft shows do take up more time so that’s an important consideration to keep in mind. Remember that you need to spend time crafting, marketing, selling, and shipping each week so include all of those in your calculations.

Pro tip: Remember to look into any local laws that will affect your business so you can ensure that you are running it legally!

5 – Batch it up!

We love to use batching as a strategy for getting more done. Batching and time blocking can really be helpful in being as productive as possible. This is an especially effective strategy if your time is really limited.

For example, you might assign one day as your day to put together as many craft projects as possible. Another day is for packing and shipping. Another day could be for ordering more supplies, and so on.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>How to make bulk vinyl decals<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Consider Speaking With An Accountant when getting ready to build your Cricut business

6 – Consider speaking with an accountant.

Consider talking to an accountant as you get started so you can find out how to get set up for success and for proper compliance with your state laws and filing taxes.

You will also want to set up systems for tracking your business finances. Your accountant can be helpful in guiding you with this as well.

7 – Create your branding, aesthetic, and company name.

This is a really fun step! Think about the aesthetic you want to present with your brand. Choose the colors you want to use, design a logo, and select your company name.

8 – Set your pricing.

Start low and raise it from there. Once you have some steady customers who can provide feedback and testimonials, you’ll be able to build credibility and increase your prices.

Figure out and Establish Your Workflow to Build Your Cricut Business

9- Establish your workflow.

Think about how to set you your office and shipping station so that things can flow logically and in a meaningful and productive order. Think about the best order to do things in and how to stay on top of your orders and supplies.

Research Wholesale Prices when you're ready to build your Cricut business

10 – Do some research on wholesale supplies.

If you do your research, you may be able to find wholesalers who can offer you supplies at much cheaper prices. Often you will need to buy in bulk to take advantage of these deals. Sometimes, you also have to show proof of a business license to be able to purchase wholesale, but it’s definitely worth looking into.

This is one really great way to not only stock up on supplies. Then you will never have to worry about running out, and at the same time, can increase your profit margin.

Don’t forget to download your free Roadmap to Success and Printable Checklist here. You’ll be able to work your way through these tips and keep all of your great ideas in one handy spot!