Before she became Violent Cat Lady, one of KnitTok's top designers, she was Jade Berghoff, a finger-knitting enthusiast on the school bus and a bow seller in high school. Now, with over 2,000,000 likes and 100,000 followers on TikTok, plus another 66,000 on Instagram, Jade has turned her craft business into her full-time job. She not only designs patterns and knit kits but is also releasing a new yarn line, Bloom, inspired by the Montana wilderness surrounding her backyard. Welcome to the Business of Craft podcast, where we'll talk about business models, marketing strategies, and crafting tactics so you can grow your business and your passion for your craft. One viral TikTok video helped Jade go from a full-time marketing job to a yarn-sourcing, pattern-designing, knit-kit-bundling career. Jade grew her business organically, through social views, a (surprisingly powerful) email list, and a focus on her audience, not the view count. If you want to get into the monetization of your following, Jade offers some crucial considerations: Will you be an influencer with brand deals, or will you use the following to monetize your own business? And: why views aren't the point; why Instagram Stories are much more effective than you think, and why being the brand is a double-edged sword (that's worth the balancing act!). Stitch Markers from Jade: Why selling patterns, not production crafts, may be what your audience really wants You don't need to go viral to build a following (and a brand), but you do need to do this Email is far from dead: how Jade uses it to reach a more dedicated audience than she imagined What you should (and shouldn't) be selling on TikTok Shop Being the brand: how to grow a business when it relies on your time, energy, and face Turning your small craft community into advocates for your products ____ Schedule Your Free, 30-Minute Consultation with Lisa Check Out "Bloom," Jade's New Yarn Line! Follow Jade on TikTok Follow Jade on Instagram Get the Pattern Jade Wore on Today's Show!
