My mom quite accidentally turned a hobby into a small business by participating in instagram circles for homemade cheese, pottery and artisinal yarn. Posting h

My mom quite accidentally turned a hobby into a small business by participating in instagram circles for homemade cheese, pottery and artisinal yarn. Posting her own stuff she built a following, people started inquiring about how to buy. She would announce her presence in an upcoming craft sale, but by the time the sale started everything she had to sell was reserved on instagram. Now most of what she makes goes straight to artsy shops in funky shopping districts. My sister is a tattoo artist, she too has engendered quite the instagram following posting her work, which draws clients into the shop. People participating in these sorts of communities enjoy the fact that nobody's clubbing them over the head with a 'buy' button, and because of that the level of engagement is much higher than it is on a site like Etsy, for instance. Instagrammers follow somebody for a few weeks or months, and when they're ready to buy, they make an inquiry, and by that point they're willing to go to any length to get their hands on the product. It's the diametric opposite of impulse buying. The ongoing and intimate narrative is essential to cultivating this, and the absence of a buy button makes it a very inviting place for the types who are into that sort of thing.