15 Minutes of Fame

Wow, I'm posting 3 days in a row!  I had to follow up on my Boxing Day Mittens experiment.  Yesterday the pattern slowly slipped down the ranks and this morning it is on page 2 - clearly, my 15 minutes of fame are over.

That being said, the experiment was a huge success - we all know free is good and on Ravelry it seems to mean a lot too.

I promised to share how I promote my patterns when they come out...hopefully, this will help anyone who is a budding designer.

I always post my patterns on Facebook once they are released.  I also have them for sale on Craftsy.  I have a Pinterest account that includes a board of my designs and my new patterns go up there too.

There are also many ways to promote your patterns on Ravelry without buying ad space.  When you have a project of your new pattern you can share it with any groups you belong to.  This will have a picture of your FO pop up on the group.  I've joined several groups of interest that apply to my designs - such as, hat and mitten groups, yarn manufacturer groups, etc.

Often yarn manufacturer groups (Berroco, Cascade) have a discussion thread about sharing independent designs - I tend to post my patterns there as well.  Sometimes interest groups have a similar discussion thread.

Lastly, I listen to podcasts.  If there is a contest on a podcast, I will contact them and donate a pattern or two as a prize.  While this hasn't resulted in lots of sales, you get your name and patterns mentioned on a podcast and it helps bring your efforts to the attention of a different audience.

Okay, enough of that...there is more but I won't bore you.  If you want more info, feel free to PM me or post a question in the comments.

Next post I promise will have knitting on it - my LYS had a sale and I purchased yarn for my daughter and my son is finally letting me knit a sweater for him.  He insisted on Berroco Vintage which is what I used for his college blanket - he loves how soft it is!