What should I do to keep the Craft Artist career successful?

Hi James

By craft artist, I'm assuming you mean someone who makes artwork that is considered useful--pottery, jewelry, woodworking, stained glass, and so on. These usually come under the category of craft, vs. fine art (painting, drawing, sculpture and so on). Of course the most important factor here is having a craft that is well made, attractively priced, and something people will want to purchase.

Crafts people want to sell their work to the public to make money, and there are two basic options. The first is having their work sold in galleries or gift shops, where the craftsperson will split the profits with the gallery or gift shop when their pieces sell, usually a 50/50 split, sometimes more sometimes less for the craftsperson. The gallery or gift shop takes care of all the business end of things; all you have to do is to supply them with work and wait for the pieces to sell. The trick is getting accepted into a gallery, which can be challenging, as there are more craftspeople than gallery space available. Again, this can be highly competitive, so make sure your craft is of high quality.

The second option is to sell the craft themselves directly to the public through craft fairs or online sites, such as on Etsy. If you go this route, you will become a small business person. Many crafts people do this successfully, but it does take work. The successful crafts person not only has a quality craft to offer the public, but they are also good at the business of selling. They must be good at marketing themselves, finding venues to sell their works, pricing their works so that they will sell, doing the actual selling of their work at craft fairs, managing their inventory and supplies, and balancing their financial books for the IRS. If it sounds like a lot of work, it is! Since retiring from teaching art, I have been selling my work through craft fairs and online, and it has been very rewarding and fun, but also time consuming. Also beware that your first few years will be a lot of work, and not much in terms of generating profits, so be patient!

If you are just starting out, I would suggest you visit some galleries and gift shops to see what is out there. Also go to some craft fairs and markets and pay attention to the vendors who are selling something like what you do. Don't be shy about telling people what you want to do, you'll be surprised at how willing older crafts people or gallery managers will be to offer you some advice. If they seem too busy to talk, then come back later; at a craft fair late afternoon, or early morning (after set-up) is always a good time to talk.

Also check out online marketplaces like Etsy. Etsy also has a section where they give advice about selling, which is very helpful. If you have any craft organizations or clubs in your area, check those out too.

Best wishes. I hope this helps.