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PR for Handmade Businesses: What I’m Doing Differently This Q4
As we head into Q4, I’ve been thinking a lot about what I want the holiday season to look like for Moss Bags.
Not only how much I want to sell, but how I want to get there.
I’ve spent plenty of years believing growth meant doing more. Creating more products. Posting more often. Running another promotion. Doing another market. Coming up with something new because I needed another reason to send an email.
Eventually, “more” simply became too much!
This year, my Q4 marketing strategy looks different.
I’m putting more energy behind the products that have already proven themselves, and I’m working on getting those products in front of more people through PR, holiday gift guides, organic search and email marketing.
In other words, maybe I don’t need five new products.
Maybe I need 5,000 more people to discover the product that is already selling.
Start With the Products People Already Want
One of the easiest traps to fall into as a maker is believing we always need something new.
We’re creative. Making things is what we do.
But every new product also means new inventory, new photography, new product descriptions, new marketing and another choice for our customers to make.
So before creating something new for Q4, I’m looking at what Moss customers are already telling me through their purchases.
- What are our best sellers?
- What are people already coming to Moss Bags for?
- What products are we becoming known for?
Those are the products I want to amplify.
The same philosophy applies across the Moss world, including Moss Dogs: understand what your customer already loves before assuming the answer is another new product.
Once I know the products I want to focus on, my next question becomes:
Where would this product naturally belong?
That’s where PR and gift guides come in.
Why I Started Doing My Own PR
I have a slightly painful history with PR.
A few years ago, when I was feeling stuck in my business, I hired a PR agency. I spent over $13,000, in addition to making and shipping a lot of expensive product.
In the end, I could directly connect the experience to one feature and three orders.
For a large company, maybe that gets absorbed into a much larger marketing budget.
For my handmade business, it hurt.
Eventually, though, I realized something important: I didn't necessarily need to give up on getting press. I needed to understand the process better myself.
So I started learning.
This year I've become much more intentional about looking for PR opportunities, product roundups and gift guides that genuinely make sense for Moss.
How I'm Finding Holiday Gift Guide Opportunities
The biggest mindset change has been to stop asking:
“How can I get Moss Bags featured?”
Instead, I try to think about what an editor, journalist or creator is already working on.
They probably aren't sitting at their desk hoping a woman who makes leather bags emails them that morning.
But they might be working on:
“Best Gifts for Her.”
“Holiday Gifts Under $50.”
“Stocking Stuffers.”
“Gifts From Women-Owned Businesses.”
“Gifts for Travelers.”
“Handmade Holiday Gifts.”
That's a very different way to approach PR.
Rather than pitching my entire business, I can choose a specific Moss product and ask where that product naturally fits.
And the product itself doesn't necessarily have to change.
The angle does.
A product that works in a holiday gift guide today might fit a travel story in the spring or a Mother's Day roundup a few months later.
That gives a proven product many more opportunities to be discovered without requiring me to constantly reinvent it.
Keep Your Product Pitch Simple
When I find an opportunity that looks promising, I'm not trying to send someone my entire life story.
I want to make it easy for them to understand why the product belongs in what they're creating.
I think about the fit for their audience, why that specific product makes sense for their story, and what makes it interesting.
Then I give them what they need to evaluate it easily: strong photography, clear product information, pricing and a direct link.
And don't forget the follow-up.
That's one I'm reminding myself of too.
How I'm Using ChatGPT for PR Research
One of my favorite additions to this process has been using ChatGPT as a research assistant.
I've given ChatGPT context about Moss Bags, our products, our best sellers, price points and the types of gift guides we're interested in.
I use it to help surface possible angles and opportunities that I can investigate.
The important word there is investigate.
I don't automatically pitch an opportunity just because AI suggests it. I still check the publication, make sure the opportunity is current, confirm the writer or editor and verify the contact information.
But instead of beginning with a blank page every time I sit down to work on PR, I have another tool helping me spot possibilities.
For a very small business, that saves a lot of research time.
Why PR Can Be Valuable Even Without an Immediate Sale
One of the most interesting parts of this experiment has been seeing how everything begins to connect.
Someone discovers Moss Bags through a gift guide.
They visit our website.
Maybe they purchase immediately.
Maybe they don't.
Maybe they sign up for our email list.
Now I have another opportunity to introduce them to Moss, show them our products and stay connected.
The publication may also link back to our website, giving us another relevant backlink and another independent place online where Moss is being talked about.
Those mentions can contribute to a stronger overall web presence and support traditional SEO.
They also add credibility.
Someone other than Moss is talking about Moss.
That matters.
And as consumers increasingly use AI tools alongside traditional search engines to research products and brands, having accurate, relevant information about your business appear across credible websites can become another useful part of your broader digital footprint.
That does not mean one magazine mention suddenly guarantees that ChatGPT or another AI system will recommend your products.
It simply means I'm increasingly interested in building a brand that exists beyond our own website and social feeds.
I've also been watching our Google Analytics, and it has been exciting to see more orders and visitors coming through search.
For me, the goal isn't one giant PR moment.
It's the trickle effect.
The System I'm Building for Moss
This is the part I love.
The pieces that used to feel separate are beginning to support each other.
We make products people love.
Someone else talks about those products.
A new customer discovers Moss.
They visit our website.
Maybe they subscribe to our newsletter.
Our email system introduces them to the brand.
And our opportunities to eventually earn that sale increase.
PR supports the website.
The website supports email.
The mentions and backlinks support our larger search presence.
Email gives us a way to continue the relationship.
It's one system instead of a collection of unrelated marketing tasks.
PR Resources for Small Product Businesses
If you want to experiment with this yourself, Q4 is a great reason to start looking for journalists, editors and creators who are actively putting together holiday content.
Here are a few FREE places worth exploring:
HARO
HARO has historically connected journalists looking for sources with businesses and experts who can respond to those requests.
Current signup/resource link: https://www.helpareporter.com
Google Alerts
Google Alerts can help you monitor phrases related to your products, industry and possible PR opportunities.
You might create alerts around terms such as:
“holiday gift guide submissions”
“gift guide handmade products”
“small business gift guide”
“women-owned gift guide”
or very specific phrases related to your product category.
Google Alerts: https://www.google.com/alerts
This is also useful beyond Q4. You can build alerts around Mother's Day, Valentine's Day, back-to-school, travel and other seasonal opportunities relevant to your products.
Substack
Substack can be another interesting place to discover writers and niche publications covering subjects connected to your brand.
Rather than blasting pitches to everyone you find, search for writers whose audiences genuinely overlap with yours. Read their work first. Understand what they cover. Then determine whether your product or story is actually relevant.
Substack: https://substack.com/
The goal isn't to get featured everywhere.
It's to find the right places.
My Q4 Game Plan
Going into this holiday season, I'm narrowing in rather than expanding.
I know which Moss products deserve more of my attention.
I'm looking for gift guides and stories where those products naturally belong.
I'm pitching.
I'm following up...this is something I need to work on!
And I'm making sure our website, product photography and email marketing are ready when someone does discover us.
Because getting someone to click is only the beginning.
The rest of the business has to be ready for them when they arrive.
If you run a handmade or product-based business, take a look at your own numbers before automatically creating something new for the holidays.
What's already selling?
What are customers already telling you they want?
And where could that product belong this Q4?
Maybe you don't need to make more.
Maybe you need more people to discover what you've already made.
Have a PR Tip?
I'm experimenting with all of this in real time, and I'd love to hear what's working for you too.
If you've landed a holiday gift guide, found a great PR resource, discovered a pitching strategy that gets responses or have another tip that could help small businesses get noticed, send it my way →
I'd love to keep adding useful PR resources here so more handmade and independent brands can benefit.
And if you discovered Moss through a gift guide, search, a friend or even an AI recommendation, I'd especially love to know how you found us.
Explore Moss Bags and Moss Dogs at mossbags.com, and follow along as I keep sharing what I'm learning while building this business.
