Canva has massively changed the game for small businesses like ours. Not that long ago, our marketing stood out as a poor second to those who could afford to hire graphic designers or who could buy expensive photo editing software. But now we have an amazingly simple tool that is affordable too. So can using Canva in your crochet business make you look more professional and increase your sales?
From Amateur To Professional
What used to be marketed as professional grade graphic design software was out of the reach of small independent businesses. The software was too expensive and they were complicated to use, meaning they took a looong time to create anything. It was only really accessible to large companies or those who specialised in graphic design for a living.
There was nothing even close to on par for people like us which meant all of our promo and marketing looked really sub par and amateurish.
But then along came Canva, and suddenly our marketing can be indistinguishable to those with big budgets. We can make our own social media templates, Pinterest Pins, Facebook banners, logos, business cards, the works. All in our brand colours and fonts and without having to hire a graphic designer.
What Is Canva?
Canva describes themselves as
“an online design and publishing tool with a mission to empower everyone in the world to design anything and publish anywhere.”
The site was first launched on 2013 and now has over 75 million users worldwide. It allows any business owner to take their branding and their marketing into their own hands instead of relying on a third party to understand what they are looking to create.
How Can Canva Help Me Sell My Crochet?
I use Canva for everything in my crochet business:
- Adding my logo to my product photos
- Resizing my pictures for different social and selling platforms
- Creating my patterns pdfs
- Creating Pinterest Pins
- Creating my own social media templates
- Making Facebook page and group banners
I can do all this and much more just using Canva. Anytime that I need to create a picture or a document that needs pictures, colours or my logo adding in, I immediately turn to Canva.
It’s a tool that I simply cannot do without when it comes to running my crochet business. Its a rare day that I don’t open up Canva to edit or start creating something. Especially as they make it such an easy tool to use as it has a phone app as well as a desktop site.
Images are really so important when it comes to selling, that you will need to use some sort of graphic tool pretty much from day one of your crochet selling journey.
Canva also has a huge library of stock images that you can use to create engaging posts for your social media. You can take one of these stock images and size it for the social platform you’re using – every platform uses different sizes. Then go to work. Add your logo or shop name, choose a font and write a question over the top of the image. You can add graphics such as arrows, flashing stars, a pretty border. Then you can change the colour of all these elements to suit your brand colours.
Is Canva Hard To Use?
Canva is incredibly easy to use once you get over the overwhelming number of features it offers.
It’s basically a drag and drop editor. You click on the image you want to use, then select the text option and type your words. With the text box still selected you can alter size, colour, font etc
All the main features are in the left hand menu, then the top bar allows you to edit what you have selected.
Canva is very intuitive, so it’s fairly easy to find your way around. The best way to learn how to use it is to just dive in and experiment. Don’t worry if you do something you didn’t want, there is a handy undo button as well.
Here is a screenshot of the Canva workspace, from when I was creating some Pinterest pins. This is the pro version layout, but the free version looks very similar. On the left is the main menu where you choose your big elements like pictures, elements and text. You then use the tools on the top bar to refine those elements such as changing the colour, font and even add animation.
It’s a very intuitive layout, and you can create images like the Pin I created here, very quickly once you get the hang of it.
Is Canva Only For Pictures?
You can do so much more in Canva than just edit and create pictures.
You can also create videos, slideshows, presentations and pdfs. You can use short video clips and add an overlay of text and elements, or you can make a video from a series of photos and make a slideshow type video.
You can also add moving elements to a picture to make it more eye catching. Do you want a star that actually twinkles? No problem. How about an arrow that flashes on and off to draw attention to your offer? Canva has that covered.
Best off all, many (but not all) of these features are available on the free plan.
How Long Can I Use The Free Version Of Canva?
You can use the free version of Canva for as long as you want. There is no trial period or time limit. You only need to purchase the pro version when you have the need for the extra features.
The pro version of Canva has more fonts and templates to choose from. It also comes with extra features such as background remover, resizing existing images, being able to organise your designs into as many folders as you need. All this for a really reasonable monthly or yearly fee considering how immensely useful it is. I consider Canva to be one of the most reasonably priced tools in my whole business!
Once you get into the ins and outs of selling your crochet, you will discover just how much you rely on great looking pictures and visual elements to bring attention to your crochet creations. Canva is a one stop shop to help you take the easy way to stunning crochet selling graphics, pictures and videos. Why not give it a test run today? Click here to sign up for free now
For more tips on how to start and grow your crochet business, check out my Free Resources here. Grab whatever takes your interest to create your ideal crochet business. You can also follow my free Substack here for more crochet building tips.
