Welcome to Business of Craft, a show designed to help entrepreneurs with fabric or fiber businesses become more successful.
This is our 8th season of BOC and today we have another solocast to cover one of the topics in our new book, Marketing Magic for Savvy Craft Businesses. I’m super proud of this book which my whole team wrote in 2025. The book is available for sale in Kindle and print version (and soon to be audio) on our website or Amazon.
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Today I’m diving into one of my favorite topics from the book: Generosity Marketing.
We call this chapter “The Generosity Charm” because, truly, this is where the magic starts. And if you’ve been feeling like your marketing is just… not connecting the way you want it to, this might be the piece you’ve been missing.
We all know the retail landscape has changed. Your customers can shop anywhere, anytime, with just a few taps. They’ve got price-comparison apps, influencer reviews, and big-box competition breathing down your neck.
So how do you compete?
✨ You build connection.
✨ You build community.
✨ You lead with generosity.
In our Craft Retailer Survey, we found that 75% of retailers said creating community was a top priority. But only 19% said they felt successful doing it.
That gap is where Generosity Marketing comes in.
Here’s the thing: if your social media or newsletter feed is just a parade of “Buy Now!” messages, your audience is tuning out. No one wants to feel like a walking wallet.
What’s more, if your entire customer base IS responding to that, you’re going to be locked into a pricing race to the bottom because as soon as your competitor is selling that yarn or fabric for $1 less than you, you’ve got nothing else to offer them in terms of value.
Those are the customers who like the Joann’s customer (rest in peace Joann) marched in there with a fistfull of coupons and that was their main motivator. There was no sense of community, of belonging or loyalty. If Michaels had a better deal, that’s where they went.
I had a client recently who told me her newsletters were really successful because she put all her discounted and sale items in there and she announced her annual April liquidation sale where you could go in and buy the remaining dye lot of any yarn and get 30% off. Are you surprised to learn that her sales were TERRIBLE from mid Feb until May? Why? Well, over the years, she essentially trained her customers to wait for that sale to buy. And she never spent time nurturing other value propositions in her business so price and discounting was the only thing she had.
You’re going to do it differently, however. You’re a student of the Stitchcraft Magic way and you know that customers want to connect with brands that give—brands that offer value, community, a sense of belonging to something, and purpose before asking for the sale.
This is the magic of Generosity Marketing:
When you give freely—whether that’s your time, knowledge, humor, or resources—you build trust. And trust leads to loyalty. And loyalty leads to sales that last.
And, if you’re a regular listener of our podcast, you know that I say this a lot:
People buy from people they know, like and trust.
So, your real work as a successful marketer is to build that trust in the course of your daily operations and everything you do with your social channels, your website, your newsletter, your blog etc…
OK, so now you hopefully have been convinced that Generosity marketing is the path to trust So how do you actually do generosity marketing?
I’ve got a few steps for you:
Social Commitment
Today’s customers care about what you stand for. In fact, Hubspot found that 50% of consumers expect brands to do more with social advocacy. That means supporting causes that matter—whatever those are for you and your brand you can get behind those.
Maybe you donate a portion of sales. Maybe you align with a local nonprofit. Maybe you tell stories from your community. The point is to show your values in action.
Reward Social Engagement
User-generated content is gold. Your customers are already posting about your products—so reward them for it!
Be generous by acknowledging their posts, offer a freebie, or feature them on your page. It builds authenticity and makes them feel like part of something bigger.
You might even consider starting a brand ambassador program with your most loyal fans.
Reward Loyalty
People love to feel like VIPs. Give them a reason to stay connected.
Start a loyalty program
Host exclusive events or sales
Offer early access to product drops
Create private groups or communities
Small touches like this create big returns in customer retention.
Share Your Knowledge
This one is especially near and dear to us at Stitchcraft. You have so much wisdom in your business and on your team — share it!
Write how-to blogs
Record YouTube tutorials
Host free virtual classes
Curate resources and bundle them into newsletters
Be a generous educator. It builds your authority in the space and deepens connection.
Give It Away (For Real)
We all love a freebie — but the key is to make sure it’s actually free. That means no bait-and-switch.
Examples?
Free patterns
Product samples
Trial services
Tools or templates your audience finds useful
And a gentle reminder that a “coupon” is not a freebie… It’s a discount. Buy one get one is not a freebie–to a consumer, it feels more like it’s a quid pro quo.
You know I always talk about measuring your ROI on everything so keep in mind that generosity is much harder to quantify.
Here are a couple of ways to track this:
UTM codes in your links
Newsletter open and click-through rates that convert to a product
You’re also going to see lifetime value of a customer increase if youre doing this correctly.
And remember, this is the long game. You’re building relationships. You’re building brand love.
So here’s your challenge for the week:
👉 Pick one generous act you can offer this week.
Maybe it’s a free video tutorial.
Maybe it’s sharing a customer spotlight.
Maybe it’s donating a portion of this week’s sales.
Just do one thing that gives without asking.
I promise — the return will surprise you.
Again, if you want to do a deeper dive into this concept, reference chapter 8 of our book, Marketing Magic for Savvy Craft Businesses. You can order your copy today on our website at Stitchcraftmarketing.com/magic