As a sewing professional wanting to grow your business, you can take the approach we use, which is employing a fully complied suite of digital marketing efforts to reach new customers and keep current customers interested. As you might imagine, however, publishing content over several digital channels or a regular basis is extremely time-consuming.

You're probably more interested in where you can find places to reach a large and interested audience without creating digital content daily. After all, you signed up for sewing, not all this marketing madness. Or you’re here to find a cut sew shop to work with. You’ve obviously already done a Google search and found the contract sewing companies who are paying boatloads of money for Google AdWords. And since you are trying to dig deeper, we created a shortlist of places you can fish for contacts or just show your skills to reach new customers. 

The Industrial Quick Search Manufacturer Directory isn’t going to come up high in a Google query these days, but that doesn’t mean it’s not pertinent. These guys offer a huge listing of commercial companies in both the U.S. and Canada for over 20 years. They fancy themselves as a database with sophisticated search algorithms. That’s why the charge to list your Sewing Contractor Company with them and even offer premium listings to help originate leads for your business. If you’re searching for a contractor, you will find it free to use and pretty helpful as they really have fleshed out a good, albeit incomplete, list of sewing contractors across the nation and in Canada.  

If you haven't heard about this organization yet, then you must be new to the game. This group formed in 1912 and is probably the most active group benefitting one-person shops to multinational corporations. They hold events, offer training and education, provide resources galore, and have a member directory among many other services. There are several different levels and types of memberships starting at $345.00 annually. If you're looking to contract, you can easily search the member directory by specialty type, or by geographic area. We really cannot say enough about this group. Just visit the website by typing ifai.com into your browser bar.

This B2B Industrial matchmaker has been around for 120 years but be sure they have modernized since their origins. They now offer a myriad of solutions including marketing services from SEO to website design, lead tracking devices, but most notably, the Thomas Network. It's free to list your business here. We know for a fact we have had a few leads originate from our listing on their Network Listing. If you haven't browsed this site before, take the time. It gets very specific and is a long-standing resource for business to business services.

You don’t have to have a large company to find industrial sewing work online. You’ve probably heard of UpWork, but did you know you can list a freelance or agency sewing profile for free on the site? Like ThomasNet, they also offer marketing services. Unlike ThomasNet, looking for contractors isn’t free. They do charge to post gigs. 

More than just a listing website, the ASDP is a global organization of industry professionals that interact as members on different cost levels from students to formal pros. Their primary focus, however, is on sewing and design for garments. Non-Apparel is non-existent here. However, if it’s clothes or décor that you’re looking into, this is a great resource to join the referral directory – or browse it if you’re looking to employ. If you’re a joiner of professional associations and you create garments, then this is something you will definitely want to look into.

If you've gotten this far and are thinking more in terms of product diversification or other markets, then check out our brief overview of the sewn products industry and contract sewing for lists of thriving domestic apparel industries and domestic non-apparel markets that maintain demand. You'll also find a list of the particular sewing skills and capabilities that are in demand today. If you were instead hoping to just maybe find a gig or a job then you're in luck. Just below are some resources for you!

If we must explain this one, then you are new to the internet. You can look for or post-contract sewing jobs. Although they are not very specific to freelance, sewing, or industrial sewing, you can still find a gig or a machine operator here. It’s free for job searchers and paid for job posters.

While we’re on this tangent, we must mention glass door. It’s the same exact thing as ZipRecruiter but with company reviews left by employees of the company. 

This site was hugely popular a few years back. It’s cheap to list a job. It’s also easy for job searchers. However, we’re just mentioning it because you can list or find gigs here too.

We recently created a Facebook group called; “CutSew Industrial Sewing Group” and hope that you will join. It’s another free resource for you to showcase your work and sewing capabilities online in a community that interfaces with contractors and sewing pros alike. Of course, we are trying to develop this group so that when we are asked for recommendations, we can just send our customers here. This is a resource you take advantage of while it is still in its’ infancy. Also, make sure to check out our YouTube channel and make sure to subscribe as we are releasing new videos frequently. You’re sure to watch one that helps you achieve a task or formulate new ideas to grow your own business.

This group has the occasional gig or job listing but is mainly postings about the industry. The group seems to be active. Maybe find a gig, maybe make a friend.

I guess there is one more thing Cut Sew shops may want to consider is government contracts. That would be a whole article unto itself though. Maybe later. Until then we hope you found this article helpful, but we really hope you will use the resources that we offer. Happy Sewing until next time!