Shiny Crafty People Holding Hands

Are you just getting started with an online craft business, website or blog? Feeling alone and worried that no one will ever find your site? Join a craft forum and make friends with fellow crafters.

One of the great innovations of modern computing is the advent of community forums or message boards. These online communities give people a place to share ideas, get advice and develop friendships with people all over the world.

The great news for crafters is there are numerous online crafting communities. I recommend visiting several forums and spending time at each to get to know the members and feel of the community.

Look for forums that suit what you are looking for. If you are mainly interested in new ideas and feedback, one of the larger communities might be a place to start. If you prefer to develop close ties to other crafters then you might want to join a small or new crafting community.

When you find a crafting community that you like, register for an account and introduce yourself on the boards. You might be amazed at how quickly you can become an active member of an online crafting community. And once you do, the members become a wonderful resource for support and friendship.

If you do join a craft forum, be sure to read the posting rules and guidelines. You may find that you are allowed to include a link to your site in your signature and even promote it in certain boards. Just be certain not to spam, a practice that is not appreciated by other members and may even get you banned.

The camaraderie and sense of community you’ll find at a crafting forum can be a real benefit to you and to the crafters you’ll meet. So when you’re not busy crafting, get online and join a craft forum.

Below are some craft forums I like for various reasons.

Cash Crafters Forums – Obviously, this is my top pick since it’s my own site. The Cash Crafters forums is very small and only a few months old. If you are looking for a craft forum that offers help on starting an online craft business, this is the place for you. There are also boards that are craft specific for sharing crafting ideas and questions, as well as an Off Topic board. Stop by and say “hi.” I’d love to chat.

Craftster – By far the largest crafting forums that I have come across so far. Craftster is huge and covers nearly every craft project imaginable. I find it to be a very friendly place with helpful moderators. Many large communities this side can be a little unfriendly to beginners, but Craftster is not like that at all.

Craft Happy – The name says it all. This is a very friendly, happy community. It is considerably smaller that Craftster, so a bit easier to get familiar with the regular members and feel at home.

Fresholi – An up and coming new community of crafters who specialize in soaps, cosmetics and other body and health related crafts. Fresholi is a very new community but quite active despite their newness. Say “hi” to Helen, the admin over there, she is a friend of mine.