Selling crafts is not easy. Books have been written on the subject. I have a few tips that I think work. Everyone's style and craftsmanship will be different so no one idea will work for everyone. Decide if you are selling crafts or art. It can be hard to differentiate between the two but you market them somewhat differently. I don't want to get into the debate of what is art and what is craft but I know it when I see it.
I think it is critical to find a niche. If you make many different items you will just confuse your buyers. Typical niches would be portraits, clocks, toys, signs etc. Then you can refine your niche even more by catering to what sells well in the area of the world you live in. For instance I live in Lexington KY. The area is known for thoroughbred race horses. If I make art pieces with the scroll saw that reflect this local industry and tourist trade I am much more likely to get the piece displayed in a gallery or local craft store. Just because you enjoy making every different pattern that comes along does not mean they will sell.
Once you have some idea of the niche you want to cater to start thinking about a product line. Don't over do it. Come up with a few really good patterns that you can produce at a price that will end up making a profit. If you are going to be selling in a craft market the projects need to be very cheap and fast to produce. You can't spend 10 hours on a project then only be able to sell it for $10 in a craft store. You can however spend 10+ hours on a project that will sell in a high end gallery as a piece of art for $300.
After you have your product line get very good at making the projects. By this I mean reduce the time and cost of materials as much as you can without killing the quality of the piece. If you cut very intricate portrait patterns that take hours to make then stack cut to double your output. Design a process that makes your work flow as simplified as possible. For instance pick a day of the week to prepare rough outs and do all the grunt work. When you walk into your shop to make art have everything prepared so all you have to do is scroll.
After you have refined and perfected your process calculate how much you need to charge for the piece. This is another topic that books have been written on. Many crafters neglect to successfully run a business simply because they under or over charge. The subject is to large for me to write about here so I'll leave it up to you to do your due diligence. Trust me it is important to get it right.
While you were picking your niche and designing your product line you should have been thinking where you want to try to sell them. Arts and craft shows, local galleries, tourist traps, flee markets, your own gallery or shop, roadside table, ebay.com, etsy.com, your website are just a few places. Each one if different and requires different strategies for success. It is obviously different to set up a table on the side of a road than designing an effective online marketplace. Some products are better suited for one or the other market places. If you try to sell $300 -$1000 dollar pieces of art on a roadside table my best bet is you will fail quickly. You might very well be able to sell bird houses with a local theme on the side of the road however.
Become a salesman. Many craftsmen are terrible at selling. They are much more comfortable producing things than selling things. That will not work unless you can afford an agent and even then it's a weakness you should try to overcome. Study artist that are successful as salesmen. Take Thomas Kinkade for example.
http://www.thomaskinkade.com . He is one of the best selling painters in the world today. He is also a great salesman. Many art critiques would not consider his work that remarkable but he sells to collectors all over the world. He found a niche he calls "Painter of Light". He narrowed his product line to mostly landscapes. He defined his clientele. He perfected his process including having other on staff artist help finish the pieces. Take a look at this video and watch how Thomas handles himself. Watch how eloquently he talks about his work.
http://www.thomaskinkade.com/magi/servlet/com.asucon.ebiz.home.web.tk.HomeServlet . I'm not trying to say Thomas is just a salesman and not a fine artist. He is both. I'm just pointing out that he has taken is god given talent and maximized it to the fullest commercial extent possible. Bravo for him. In my mind he should be looked up to by all artist but many mock him. Jealously?
Lastly be willing to start over and reinvent yourself as many time as necessary until you come upon a niche that makes you happy and makes you a profit. This will go against the grain of artists that tell you to be true to yourself even if nobody likes your art. Bullpucky!!! If you want to make art for arts sake then that's fine but if you like most of the free world need to make some money to live then you have to bow to the commercialism.
Finally here is a link to a scroll saw artist and salesman. I don't know the gentleman but I have followed his blog for a long time. He works the craft circuit and discusses his ups and downs on his blog. There really is a wealth of information to be gathered from reading what has worked and not worked for him. I don't know how successful he is but he has been doing it for a while and seems to have everything I have discussed here in his processes.
http://scrollsawblog.com:8085/scrollsawblog/.
This is just a very vague overview of what I think it takes to start and be successful in running an arts and crafts business. I have come to these ideas through watching others and my own failures and successes. There are hundreds of details inside this discussion that I did not even mention here. Like I said, selling crafts is not easy but it is extremely rewarding when you get it right.
I hope you find this somewhat helpful in you quest. I would like to say don't give up but that is not always the right answer. I say give it your best shot. If the business side of the craft turns out not to be your thing then you have a great and rewarding hobby.
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