“country crafts”... others in artisan-quality “fine crafts.” Your work will not sell if it varies substantially from that of the other exhibitors in terms of quality or price. The Web site FestivalNet.com can help you locate your area’s crafts fairs. Visit each of the crafts fairs in your region before selecting those that are most appropriate for your work. Expect to pay around $25 to $50 for a booth at a weekend church bazaar or local fair... up to several hundred for a booth at a large-scale, high-end crafts show. You typically have to bring your own booth for outdoor events, which can be as basic as a 10' x 10' canopy/tent starting at $100 from a discount store, such as Sam’s Club, to more expensive displays that can cost as much as $2,000. You can find a list of suppliers on my Web site at
www.craftmarketer.com/craft-shows-booth-covers.htm.
What to charge: Lower prices do not necessarily result in higher sales at crafts fairs. If you try to sell your crafts for bargain prices, potential customers might be suspicious of their quality. The correct price to charge is the amount charged for similar crafts by other exhibitors.
At each fair you participate in, ask for and record names and e-mail addresses of anyone who expresses interest in your crafts, then send out Internet newsletters about your recent projects and your upcoming schedule of fairs.
Area gift shops also might be willing to sell your crafts on consignment.
James Dillehay is a weaver and fiber artist (creating wearable art) based in Torreon, New Mexico . He has written several books about profiting from crafts, including Sell Your Crafts on eBay (Warm Snow).
www.craftmarketer.com.
DIGITAL PHOTOS
There are several ways to make money if you are skilled at photography. How to find buyers...
On-line stock-photo sellers, also known as “microstock sites,” are a great resource for skilled amateur photographers to make a few dollars from their hobby. These sites are happy to work with amateurs, but they do expect high-quality photos, so you will need a good digital camera and some talent.
Customers range from art directors with large budgets to nonprofit organizations and small firms looking for art for newsletters and other projects. You must either submit lots of pictures or have each of your pictures licensed many times to make a meaningful amount of money. Sites usually do not charge a fee to photographers to offer their photos, but they usually take half of what a photo sells for. Many images sell for just $1, so the photographer usually makes 50 cents per image.
Photos of people in the workplace and “lifestyle” photos of people enjoying themselves are in the greatest demand. Nature photos and pet photos generally are of little interest because the market is already saturated with this type of imagery.
Leading microstock sites include iStockphoto.com... Shutterstock.com... Bigstockphoto.com... Fotolia.com... and Crestock.com. Read the sites’ technical specifications and submission requirements before sending in pictures.
Magazine photo editors generally are not interested in working with amateurs, but publications with small budgets might be willing to do so. Mail samples of your work or e-mail digital photos to the photo editors at smaller niche publications, such as magazines for cat lovers or ballooning enthusiasts. Include a short note explaining that you have photos to sell. You might also offer to shoot pictures on a freelance basis. You might be paid $50 to several hundred dollars if a magazine runs one of your photos. You can find titles of these magazines and contact information in Bacon’s Magazine Directory, available at some libraries.
Family and wedding photography are two more ways to make money with your camera -- if you have considerable skill and you don’t mind working directly with sometimes very demanding clients. To locate customers interested in a family portrait, post flyers in stores that cater to young parents, such as children’s clothing stores.
To give wedding photography a try, ask local wedding photographers if they need an assistant. Be sure that the wedding photographer you work with lets his/her assistant take pictures, not just set up shots and look after gear. If you intend to become a full-fledged wedding photographer later, don’t choose a photographer who will require you to sign a contract with a noncompete clause.
Donna Poehner, based in Cincinatti, is a fine-arts photographer and editor of the 2008 Photographer’s Market (Writer’s Digest), a guidebook to selling photographs.
WOODWORKING
Experienced amateur woodworkers can sell their work at a profit. The most salable woodworking projects typically are items intended for the kitchen, such as cutting boards, bowls and plates.
Examples: If you own a lathe, it is not hard to carve bowls out of blocks of wood that you have produced by gluing together wood scraps. I know a retiree who makes shaped wooden salad tongs with his band saw and sells them for $25 apiece.
Alder, a light wood that is easy to stain, is very popular now, and walnut, cherry and mahogany never go out of style.
Hand-carved wooden art items that have no practical use can be more difficult to sell.
Larger woodworking projects, such as tables and sets of chairs, require a substantial up-front investment in wood -- not to mention significant skills and an investment in more types of tools -- making them financially risky to undertake unless they are made on order.
Crafts fairs are the best place to sell woodworking. Also, consider taking examples of your woodworking to community gatherings, such as flea markets, church bazaars and mall shows. Display the pieces, and explain that you do woodworking semiprofessionally. If your work is good, you will be surprised by how often people ask to place orders.
Local gift and housewares shops might be willing to sell your work on consignment, but between the high cost of wood and the stores’ profit margin, this is a difficult way to make money.
Helpful: Professional woodworkers and carpenters who specialize in large, high-end projects sometimes have little use for their scrap wood. Visit pros based in your area, and ask if they would be willing to donate their scrap wood to a hobbyist.
Sal Maccarone is a professional woodwork designer/craftsman based in Mariposa, California . He has 40 years of experience in the field
www.waypt.com/maccarone.
