I have a pretty new (8 weeks) old Ribblr shop and was wondering how long it took for other designers to get their first sale. 
I have 0 so farā¦ 
Iām also up fort tips and ideas on how to get my first sale. I was thinking of maybe hosting a mystery crochet along?
UPDATE! I sold my first pattern! 
Advertising on social media and running sales are the two biggest things. Once you get established as a designer and people buy one of your patterns theyre likely to pick up more if they found they liked it!
Another great tip is to be active in the community, so your profile shows up more and users can click your shop if theyāre curious! Plus it helps to know the designer is active so if any questions arise I know theyāll probably answer it 
something that increases the chance of me buying something is if thereās journals so I know for sure itās a readable pattern
I got my first sale yesterday. Ive had my shop for a few months
Thank you for your insight Alyphira! I have my own Shopify store so I drive my traffic mostly there, but maybe a sale or some other event only here on Ribblr would help.
I really like the community section and Iām trying to comment on relevant post. I find it a bit hard to come up with my own topics though. 
Wohoo! Thatās amazing! Congratulations!!! 
Being active on social media and running sales helped me too. It is also good to have a pattern that āmatches the seasonā. So now maybe a spring- or easter-related pattern could help you get attention 
Thank you for your feedback! Iām planning to release my Easter patterns here on Ribblr this month. I have 4 so I thought I would do it once a week and maybe make it into a spring/Easter bundle at the end. After that I guess itās quickly onto summer patterns.
I know what you mean, I rarely post as well just mostly commenting on posts by others
Thank you!
I only had a few sales in my first few months on Ribblr and they were all bundles. Sales picked up in November when I dropped Christmas patterns and February was pretty good because I ran a half off sale and some other promotions. Most are just one off sales, but Iām fortunate to have a couple of very loyal customers who have purchased my entire line! Now Iām working on new spring designs, hoping to bring sales up again next month.
Iām currently only selling on Ribblr, but plan to branch out to other online marketplaces when I have a library of 50 patterns and several bundles (my designs are quite small, and itās most profitable for me to sell bundles since fees eat away at the ones that only cost a dollar or two). At that point Iāll increase my social media efforts as well, Iām on Instagram but dont post much and only add tutorials on YouTube when I need them for my patterns.
As others have mentioned, I do require testers to publish journals with at least one picture of the finished project so potential buyers will have more confidence in my patterns. I write good descriptions for my patterns, too so theyāll know what is included.
I continue to listen to feedback from my followers, they asked for more free patterns so Iām delivering that with my simpler designs and occasionally a more complex design to celebrate business milestones, like the Avocaduo Bundle for getting a thousand followers here. I just released the first part of the pattern, it will be F3 for a couple months then shift to a paid pattern.
Itās hard to deliver a lot of free content though because Iām not currently monetized in any way besides selling patterns. Thereās so much free content out there itās hard to compete in the beginning so Iām taking the long view of building a loyal customer base who will keep coming back for well written, well illustrated patterns. Iām also taking free classes with my local Small Business Development Association to learn more about running a small business.
Good luck with growing your shop! Donāt forget to include your $elfee link in posts, it does help reduce the amount of fees you pay when you start making sales on Ribblr. Hereās mine in case anyone new wants to check out my shop.
Thank you for sharing your insights! It sounds youāre buildig a good strategy.
Thanks, Iām working on it! Of course Iād rather spend all my time on crochet design and none of it on managing the business but thatās not how it works, right!?
Nope, I spend at least 80% of my time running my business. I like that part too though.
Iām hoping my wife will help with the biz management part as it grows, otherwise I think Iāll be in the same boat! Dealing with the taxes alone is like 
Itās great that you have someone to help you. I got a bookkeeper last year and it was a game changer. Would love to outsource more parts of the business but at this point Iām focusing on automatisation instead to free up more time to design and take care of my club members. When did you start your business?
I feel like it comes down to these:
-your price
-uniqueness and quality of your design
-reputation
These arenāt always fun to talk about but are necessary if you want to get sales. I would suggest asking yourself if your prices match the value of your design. If you only get sales when your shop is hosting a sale? You might have pricing issues. Now the design. Is it well thought out? Does the pattern have pictures and videos? How big is it? How long does it take? How many similar designs are out there to compete with? Can you add an element that makes it stand out from the rest? And the hard to achieve reputation. That cannot be rushed and as others already said, includes being a part of the community. You gotta take ownership and market yourself where you can when you can. People want to see your work and patterns, but YOU have to facilitate that. Videos, giveaways, crochet alongs, etc get people involved with you and your brand. The crochet community is very supportive!
Good luck with your patterns, donāt give up. That first sale is just around the corner.
Thank you for sharing your insight! This is very helpful information for new crochet designers and business owners. I agree with you on every point.
Hehe Ive been here just over three months and have yet to make a sale 
I did most of my patterns free so far tho haha
